Well done, sir! Well done! That pride is justified.
Thanks,Dad, For Teaching Me to DIY Stuff
- Thread starter Madcodger
- Start date
My father was incredibly smart but grew up poor, and lacked higher education. So, he pushed college like mad (while giving me great DIY practical skills, as the thread title and my original post note). I ended up getting an MBA and worked in the corporate world before starting my own company years ago.
Looking back, I've used the practical skills and reasoning ability I learned from my dad, working on a wide variety of problems we had to solve to repair or build things, far more than the skills I learned in college or grad school, even when solving complex business problems. Those diplomas allowed me entry into certain jobs and companies, but did I really learn much as I obtained them? Not really... Those companies just had screening criteria that used a college degree as an easy (lazy) filtering mechanism.
Today, I meet with several young people in our community who skipped college but completed a trade school program and/or apprenticeship. Several have started their own business, which is what draws them to me for advice, it seems. I'd take most of them over most of the college grads I worked with in my career, as coworkers and employees, and to be frank, over many of the younger folks I now meet in my day-to-day work with large corporations or via non-profit work. The "trade school kids" are serious about their work, interested in learning, and most important, they seek practical solutions rather than endless meetings and debate, which seems to be the norm for many of the "college kids" I now encounter. And to be frank, I find the "trade school kids" seem to value my experience-driven advice, while the recent "college kids" seem to think they know it all, and have no need to listen to an old fart, experienced be damned. It's a rather striking difference, in fact, now that I think about it.
ksmithaz1
Solar / EV Junkie
My son sent me a handwritten "Thank you for making me do stuff" letter while on a deployment. I will keep that one. My father was never afraid to try and do things, and always had me help. He grew up in a different world where people were more self-sufficient. I think a lot of the folks in this forum are self-sufficient, it's important to instill this in our children if we can.
tpenfield
New Member
Interesting thread . . . I think Dad's (and Mom's) set the stage from which we learn from as a child. My Dad was big on DIY stuff, from which we kids learn, some more than others. I do most of my own stuff, but have gotten to the point where I will hire out some things now.
As to the OP's situation at the watering hole, I would have pointed out to the other person that hot water does not need to be heated (hopefully to get a laugh)
As to the OP's situation at the watering hole, I would have pointed out to the other person that hot water does not need to be heated (hopefully to get a laugh)
He wasn't in much of a laughing mood after figuring out how badly he had been ripped off. Looking back on it, I've decided you just can't prevent some people from running off a cliff or into a wall. He could have saved half by getting advice from several experienced people, but he instead went with advice from people who know nothing about home repair. Ya just can't fix that.
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
Don't know about my parents for instilling a DIY attitude in me, I'd almost say it was more my grandparents who contributed more. But I think it's been my constant curiosity on how things work, and if they're broke, fix them. Guess that's why I spent 30 years as an electronic technician.
A funny, or maybe sorry aside comes from my childhood. I would often go see my cousin in the country from time to time. He was really into the life, fishing, hunting, riding his 4 wheeler, etc. His parents bought him and his brother a World Book encyclopedia set. More often than not, I'd be poring thru those books, absorbing as much stuff as I could. I didn't care much for getting outside, but I could spend hours reading about how things work.
But, that electronics part of my life ended ten years ago. I've way more of a DIY attitude since we moved to the farm ten years ago. I've had some good and generous neighbors and relatives that have helped me along. But, I've also figured out you better do it yourself or it's going to cost you more to rely on someone else. Or they're just not available in my location.
There's a lot of stuff I've done here that I would've never attempted in the big city. I'd venture to say living in the 'burbs made me a bit soft.
To go from knowing virtually nothing about solar a few years ago to installing a solar power system that is now running our 120V stuff off grid for a few months now boggles my mind. But, if you don't try it and see, you'll never know. Maybe folks nowadays are afraid of trying, fearing failure, which to me is sad.
A funny, or maybe sorry aside comes from my childhood. I would often go see my cousin in the country from time to time. He was really into the life, fishing, hunting, riding his 4 wheeler, etc. His parents bought him and his brother a World Book encyclopedia set. More often than not, I'd be poring thru those books, absorbing as much stuff as I could. I didn't care much for getting outside, but I could spend hours reading about how things work.
But, that electronics part of my life ended ten years ago. I've way more of a DIY attitude since we moved to the farm ten years ago. I've had some good and generous neighbors and relatives that have helped me along. But, I've also figured out you better do it yourself or it's going to cost you more to rely on someone else. Or they're just not available in my location.
There's a lot of stuff I've done here that I would've never attempted in the big city. I'd venture to say living in the 'burbs made me a bit soft.
To go from knowing virtually nothing about solar a few years ago to installing a solar power system that is now running our 120V stuff off grid for a few months now boggles my mind. But, if you don't try it and see, you'll never know. Maybe folks nowadays are afraid of trying, fearing failure, which to me is sad.
teal95
Solar Enthusiast
On top of the cost I've found that most of the time I do a much better job than the people I've paid. After 10 years here I've found a selection of people who do good work. They all accept that I'm going to dive in if help is needed. Some of them are to the point they'll arrange to do the work only when I'm available to help.
Subdood
Photon Wrangler
Yeah, I'm too much a stickler, so that why I'd rather do it myself. But for some car repairs I've let someone else do it, as I don't have the time, and they are very reasonable anyways. But, I usually change the oil in all our vehicles regardless.
Tulex
Solar Wizard
I am very lucky. My dad grew up on a farm 90 years ago. Farmers learn how to do pretty much everything. After going to Korea for cleanup at the end of the war, he came back and went to a machine shop, went through the apprenticeship program, and eventually became the foreman. He left that and started his own machine shop. At first, it was behind our house, so I saw machining from a very young age, and was taught how to machine in my early teens. Both my mom and dad remodeled our house, so I was involved in that too. That led me to being able to start my own machine shop that I ran for 30 years, building a house from scratch, and now fully remodeling the current house we live in. Funny thing is, I never appreciated it when I was young. My dad wasn't warm and fuzzy, he simply demanded that we learn. Little did I know at the time what he was doing for me.
For me it has always been my dad’s love of cars, older cars to boot.
Mid 90s when I was 10ish he bought his first “antique” post kids, a baby blue 1954 Chevy 4 door, after that he’s had about +20 or so other old cars at various stages. 1972 international Scout, 1980 VW Fox, a 66 and 74 Beetle, 57 American Rambler wagon, 84 mk2 Jetta, 63 Olds 98, another 53 Chevy 4 door, 67 Belvedere, 58 Pontiac Chieftain, 3 or so MG Midgets, 87 BMW 325i convertible. 51 Chevy half ton pickup, and of course a 87 Volvo 740 GLE that was gifted to me when I went to collage in 2002.
Best one was a a 1946 Chevy truck running chassis of the cab only. Did near close to frame off restoration with new fibber glass fenders running boards and stake bed that I helped out with. Remember taking an orbital sander to the door and seeing the layers of paint come off eventually noticed a company logo on one layer.
Part of me kind of died when he sold it to fuel the next project but he did give me a sizable chunk of the profits.
Between helping my dad out on cars and spending a lot of time with my grandfather that was always the handiest person I knew, it instilled a confidence of “I can do that, or I can figure that out” to allow me to be pretty self sufficient. (That includes paying around $500 all in for a hybrid hot water heater at our house to get off oil back in 2015).
Mid 90s when I was 10ish he bought his first “antique” post kids, a baby blue 1954 Chevy 4 door, after that he’s had about +20 or so other old cars at various stages. 1972 international Scout, 1980 VW Fox, a 66 and 74 Beetle, 57 American Rambler wagon, 84 mk2 Jetta, 63 Olds 98, another 53 Chevy 4 door, 67 Belvedere, 58 Pontiac Chieftain, 3 or so MG Midgets, 87 BMW 325i convertible. 51 Chevy half ton pickup, and of course a 87 Volvo 740 GLE that was gifted to me when I went to collage in 2002.
Best one was a a 1946 Chevy truck running chassis of the cab only. Did near close to frame off restoration with new fibber glass fenders running boards and stake bed that I helped out with. Remember taking an orbital sander to the door and seeing the layers of paint come off eventually noticed a company logo on one layer.
Part of me kind of died when he sold it to fuel the next project but he did give me a sizable chunk of the profits.
Between helping my dad out on cars and spending a lot of time with my grandfather that was always the handiest person I knew, it instilled a confidence of “I can do that, or I can figure that out” to allow me to be pretty self sufficient. (That includes paying around $500 all in for a hybrid hot water heater at our house to get off oil back in 2015).
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FWIW, we interveiwed an EE with a BS degree and he couldn't answer basic questions. I used to work in process control in pulp and paper so we spilled a bucket of old photocells, power supplies, 4-20ma stuff.... he couldn't ID a thing. But don't you worry, someone in HR will hire him but he's useless to me. I'll take self taught over degree any day. Self taught shows initiative and ambition.
Lt.Dan
Solar Wizard
I had a similar thing happen to me. Dad always yelled at me for leaving the garage door open after I had left the house. I Profusely claimed I closed it everytime. After I had moved across the state, and hadn't been home for almost a year, he calls me to chew me out about leaving the garage door open again, I reminded him I live 4 hours away and haven't seen him in months... the phone went silent and all he said was, "I have to call your mother..."
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Your...I had a similar thing happen to me. Dad always yelled at me for leaving the garage door open after I had left the house. I Profusely claimed I closed it everytime. After I had moved across the state, and hadn't been home for almost a year, he calls me to chew me out about leaving the garage door open again, I reminded him I live 4 hours away and haven't seen him in months... the phone went silent and all he said was, "I have to call you're mother..."
bolhuijo
TechnoGeezer
So glad Dad would DIY most anything but also taught us to know when to call someone.
"We're gonna build a wall and run water pipes ourselves?"
"Heck yeah boy, I'll even show you how to sweat copper fittings."
"Are we gonna move that big pipe too?"
"Son, that's 4 inches of cast iron wrapped around poopeh. We're calling Don the plumber for that."
"We're gonna build a wall and run water pipes ourselves?"
"Heck yeah boy, I'll even show you how to sweat copper fittings."
"Are we gonna move that big pipe too?"
"Son, that's 4 inches of cast iron wrapped around poopeh. We're calling Don the plumber for that."
hpeyerl
New Member
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2022
- Messages
- 95
It's hard to build a career out of being 'self taught'. I'm a self-taught embedded firmware developer who started messing with my dad's accounting computer back in about 1978. I was kicked out of university for reasons we won't delve into but the end result was I got my first industry job in 1986. It was a hard road consistently making less than my degree'd co-workers, some of whom I identified as high-functioning idiots (and of course, many who were awesome at their jobs); being passed up for promotions, getting the crap-tasks, etc. It wasn't until 2007 that I was recruited by a company who wasn't allowed to hire me as an employee because I didn't have a degree so they offered to hire me as a contractor. Suddenly I was being paid a lot, valued for my skills and what I brought to the table. I was also recruited by other companies and worked on some amazing products. Finally retired at 56. The big reward for me was mentoring a high school robotics team because I craved showing kids that they can conceive of ideas, come up with a design, and build it with their hands. I love the look on kids faces the first time they use a drill press to make a hole in some metal because their parents have no tools and pickup the phone to get things fixed around the house. Many of these kids go on to STEM type programs/roles because they now have a passion for that stuff.
[self agrandizing rant over]
HalfBaked
Ever the student
I'm in the "dad didn't teach me shit" camp. In fact, I never met him. It stung here and there as a kid. But now in my mid50s, I can see that by not being around, he taught me everything.
I was working and putting food on the table at 12.
I am comfortable with all situations, I know I will figure it out, I don't ever need help. It's nice, but not needed or expected.
Signed up for the military at 18 because I was tired of working for a living and was ready to be taken care of for a while. Boot camp is made to be stressful. Especially when they only give you 3 minutes to eat. Most couldn't deal with that. I had enough time to eat all my food and clean 4 other trays.
I taught myself everything about computers in the 80s and went on to work for large companies as network administrator, then my own biz for over a decade.
I just finished building my self-designed off-grid house a year ago. Biggest tool was a wheelbarrow. I did it all. Pre-build engineering tests. Mixed about 750 bags of concrete by hand. Shoveled 160 tons of gravel. Cut the trees, peeled the bark, made the treatment. All plumbing, septic, electrical. Took me 6 years.
Currently sitting on the couch watching the rain with my minisplit whispering to me from my own solar power.
So yeah, thanks dad, for not being there.
I was working and putting food on the table at 12.
I am comfortable with all situations, I know I will figure it out, I don't ever need help. It's nice, but not needed or expected.
Signed up for the military at 18 because I was tired of working for a living and was ready to be taken care of for a while. Boot camp is made to be stressful. Especially when they only give you 3 minutes to eat. Most couldn't deal with that. I had enough time to eat all my food and clean 4 other trays.
I taught myself everything about computers in the 80s and went on to work for large companies as network administrator, then my own biz for over a decade.
I just finished building my self-designed off-grid house a year ago. Biggest tool was a wheelbarrow. I did it all. Pre-build engineering tests. Mixed about 750 bags of concrete by hand. Shoveled 160 tons of gravel. Cut the trees, peeled the bark, made the treatment. All plumbing, septic, electrical. Took me 6 years.
Currently sitting on the couch watching the rain with my minisplit whispering to me from my own solar power.
So yeah, thanks dad, for not being there.
OK, may be a dumb question. I have a large slab I need to construct for my Garage/workshop. Is it worth mixing your own concrete versus having a trucks come in for the pour? Does it save much money?
HalfBaked
Ever the student
Good question. I had to use 80lb bags, because the 1000ft dirt driveway wouldn't allow a large delivery.
No. For two reasons. The bagged concrete mix is not the best since it has very small aggregate and also the work involved to mix and pour is a lot.
With a truck you can also pour the slab quicker and it is more consistent. I mix a lot of my own with a cement mixer and if I do a small slab I prefer making my own by measuring out the Portland cement and adding sand and rock to it. Any job over a yard of cement it is just simpler to have the truck deliver.
BTW: if your concrete company has one of the front pour trucks, and a good driver, they can do a lot of the work of placing the concrete for you. The rear discharge trucks you need a person to run the chute to direct it.
Zwy
Emperor Of Solar
Run the numbers (for concrete costs in your area) but in my experience, the redi mix trucks wins. I own a 5 gallon mortar mixer and a 1/3 yard mixer my grandfather used back in the day before redi mix. I have concrete rock and sand on hand. But to fill the 3 foot x 9.5 foot holes for my next array, it will take 4 yards and I'll be ahead with redi mix just due to time.
Hopefully the rains hold off as I think I'm drilling holes this weekend.
