Are you a "Handyman" or "Passion Paws"?

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Aussiemike

Aussiemike

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Location
Queensland, Australia
I consider myself a passion paw as almost everything I touch I F*&%!
That being said I consider myself a good cook and was a plumbers asshole slang for trades assistant for a year when I was 17yo that taught me to do most things plumbing. Reseat my taps if needed,washers and any dunny related fixes. Vehicle mechanic's can do most basic fitting and service.
I love gardening and landscaping and have had 25year experience managing landscape supplies and reckon I am handy on that stuff.
Carpentry/wood work forget it! Defiantly PP.
I take a leaf out of dads book that tried being an electricians apprentice at 15yo and drilled through a exterior wall into a cupboard turing a gents best sunday suit into a ball of rags :ROFLMAO: before joining the services.

Tell us what your really good (y)at DIY/handy and more importantly what your a "Passion Paws" at. (n):)
 
Not to be a bragger, but I am pretty damn good at all things mechanical and those tasks requiring skill, finess, and acumen. I attribute that to my Father who started teaching me trade skills at a very early age. Carpentry, plumbing, electrical, vehicle repair, etc. As an aircraft mechanic I excelled at trouble shooting problems and was able to perform necessary repairs faster and more efficiently than other mechanics. Pretty good at woodworking, maybe not cabinet maker level, but good enough for most projects around the house or ranch. Gotta stop here. Just dislocated my shoulder patting myself on the back, LOL.
 
Like Ranger I seem to be pretty good at stuff. I enjoy figuring things out and accomplishing them, and I'm pretty good at improvising. My wife gets annoyed because I'll spend my time fixing something that I could just replace for a few bucks, but I hate throwing something away if I can fix it. Electrical is pretty straight forward if you use some common sense; gotta admit I hate plumbing though; sometimes no matter what you do water will find a way to get where it wants to go! I can handle most wood projects pretty well both carpentry and fine work. Over time I have found out that 1) hiring someone to do something usually results in me paying more than it's worth and it's usually not done as well as I could have done myself, and 2) I find ways to get things done that others either wouldn't mess with or would want to do in ways that aren't as good as my solutions. Used to do my own mechanical work but the newer cars have made that pretty much impossible, at least for me. Also like Ranger I hate to brag, but you did ask and I ain't gonna lie...:)
 
I'm not skilled, but I'm also not afraid to try to fix almost anything. It took me too long to realize that most often, you can't screw up anything so badly that it is actually ruined. Worst case, it'll cost some money to remedy a mistake. Not to go on a diatribe, but I think that is the issue with how we teach, or maybe model, fixing things. Don't fear or be intimidated by it. Don't hurry. DO NOT HURRY. I had a jerk of a math teach in high school, but he had a useful saying that I've never forgotten: "what am I doing? And how do I do it?" Don't overload yourself, like at the beginning of a math problem. Be patient, and take the time to ask yourself those two questions at each step. To change from this hurried, impatient, scared perspective to looking at it like it is a learning experience. I like to learn, so it should be fun to repair your own stuff. Of course, it is important to know your own limits and to realize everything is a learning curve, but in general, if you take your time, if you do some research and ask questions (thank goodness for youtube these days), you likely won't destroy it beyond repair, and you'll learn something in the process of fixing your own stuff. So fear and impatience (racing through everything like it has to be done quickly) are your enemies. With each little success, you build confidence that can be applied throughout life.

Sorry for all that, but I've thought about this a lot over the years. The only reason I dreaded repairing things is the anxiety caused by thinking I'm going to ruin something beyond repair, but why exactly was I feeling that? I've not destroyed much, if anything, in my life when trying to repair it. I've made mistakes and done things the wrong way out of ignorance, but I've always been able to make it through it and learn from it for the next time (or the next time I face something similar or related). So what if it cost me a little more money? Nothing in life comes for free, especially gaining knowledge and experience.

I usually fix my own cars. My own gadgets. I do wish I knew how to fix small electric motors, because I have a small stack of old electric razors I'd like to fix for the fun of it.
 
I am pretty handy with most things,As an old codger , I was always taught to try to fix things,rather than replace them. I remember as a kid being taught to repair tv`s by buying a new tube! Now ,sadly we live in a disposable world...
I was always a pretty good painter,but my eyes are not what they used to be,which makes it difficult to cut a room. I have recently come to the conclusion that I need to start using masking tape because I can`t do what I used to.
 
I have always had the attitude that most things are achievable as long as you learn and try hard. I have found that there's little you can't do.

I try to make anything I can. I cook all the food I eat and I often get compliments for my cooking. I make candles, soap, I do 3d printing and I've designed and made everything from functional(legal) gun parts to toys for kids, I forage wild herbs and make cold medicine that evidently works better than anything off the shelf, I have designed and made unique blowgun sights that are leagues ahead of anything available on the market- they're just the best there is, I have made and gotten proficient with many shepard slings, I make and age cheese, I make chap stick annually, I recently created my own tiger balm recipe which works great, I bake bread often, I garden, I have milled and made my own pyrotechnics, I have chopped down dozens of trees to clear land, I make small dishes and bowls out of plaster which my wife paints and we use around the house, I pickle a lot of stuff such as ginger and dill pickles, I make pasta from scratch.
I build skydiving rigs, base jumping rigs, and wing suits for a living.
I have never really worked with engines or machinery bigger than an ancient ww2 era lathe. I'd like to though.

Im probably forgetting something but I think that the ability to create and build is a gift from God and creating things has become a real part of my identity. It's amazing what playing with Legos as a kid prepares you for!
 
Bill (w/eoPd) said:
If I can't do it, it can't be done.
If I can't fix it, it isn't broken.


Full disclosure:
I have had to allow for certain exceptions in the past but it still sounds good.
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Don't think I can say that about everything, but I am precocious about most physical efforts and tasks. I adhere to the old Marine philosophy, improvise, adapt, overcome, lol.
 
Aussiemike said:
It is so common for me to put of doing a fix job for weeks thinking it will be a cluster problem and when I get to doing it, it only takes me 5 minutes with no problems. Then I do what I think will be a sinch fix 5 minute job and it turns into an all day cluster *&^% :cry::LOL:
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It's always those "quick jobs" that turn out to be more effort.
 
Aussiemike said:
It is so common for me to put of doing a fix job for weeks thinking it will be a cluster problem and when I get to doing it, it only takes me 5 minutes with no problems. Then I do what I think will be a sinch fix 5 minute job and it turns into an all day cluster *&^% :cry::LOL:
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I do my best to never start any project, especially the types I'm doing for the first time, after 12PM. I do not want to go to bed with an unfinished project, or a small project that turned up a problem that went into the night. For me, it is a recipe to lose sleep, and most of the time, that can be avoided. For instance, I never start a computer/TV/internet project after lunch, and when it demands I break that rule, it really pisses me off and throws off my entire night, even if I fix it quickly. Just one of those rules I try to stick to. I don't care if I start in the morning and it goes through the afternoon, because I've asked myself "what am I doing? And how do I do it?" enough times by then that I have a clear plan set in motion. Trying to call tech help or racing to the hardware store at 5PM because I started the project at 4PM is one of my ideas of hell.
 
Aussiemike said:
It is so common for me to put of doing a fix job for weeks thinking it will be a cluster problem and when I get to doing it, it only takes me 5 minutes with no problems. Then I do what I think will be a sinch fix 5 minute job and it turns into an all day cluster *&^% :cry::LOL:
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Also, it seems like everything I go to do creates something else that needs done before I can do whatever it was I wanted to do in the first place :mad:!
 
Idlefellow said:
Also, it seems like everything I go to do creates something else that needs done before I can do whatever it was I wanted to do in the first place :mad:!
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Yep, my bro's first house, they wanted to paint the walls. Simple hey.

Once the paint was stripped the rising damp was obvious so that needed remediation by injecting silicon into the lowest row of bricks. Then the under floor space needed venting added. Then the damaged plaster needed stripping. Then we plastered the walls again and could finally paint.

It's always the jobs that seem simple at the start that bite you on the bum.
 
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