Or have others noticed that an unreasonably large percentage of them are completely mechanically inept? Is there a stigma among them against all things that involve threaded fasteners?
I grew up in a world where all the guys I knew could turn a wrench and fix things. Now it seems damn few can figure out how to perform the simplest mechanical operations. Is my perspective skewed?
Most likely because their lazy ass fathers did not teach them! So everybody born in the 1960-1980s did not teach their children correctly. Laaazy X´rs and Boomers.
However.. cars these days are better. Less need to know how cars work, when the Japanese started shipping quality cars over.
To me it seems like a lot of young men today, specially those who grow up in urban environments, seem to lack some basic mechanical skills. But it doesn't stop there. They also seem to be less physically active and therefore not as fit as those in my generation. I think there are a variety of reasons for this.
They grew up playing with Legos instead of Erector sets.
They spend a lot of time playing video games and watching TV instead of playing sports or spending time under the hood of a car. They don't even seem to play kick-the-can in the street or hide-and-go-seek in the front yard. Rather than playing baseball they are texting each other and they think they are actually doing something.
They grew up solving problems by programming computers and smart phones instead of fixing things with their hands and tools.
It's a combination of learned skills and the cars and other mechanical things. More and more are going to "fix" is swap a circuit board rather than trouble shoot fuel flow, ignition etc. Yes simple maintenance like oil, fluids, rotate tires are still there. But general mechanical skills are replaced with high tech.
It's a combination of learned skills and the cars and other mechanical things. More and more are going to "fix" is swap a circuit board rather than trouble shoot fuel flow, ignition etc. Yes simple maintenance like oil, fluids, rotate tires are still there. But general mechanical skills are replaced with high tech.
Yes, and no. Tinkering/practical experience/critical thinking skills, seem to have suffered. Maybe because of better reliability, you don't have the opportunity to kinda paste stuff together, to make it work a bit longer. Things don't get fixed, they get replaced. As far as computers, there is a fluency in their use, but not in understanding exactly how it works. They know what works, but not why it works. There are many, many hours of playing games and social networking supporting all that. The attitude and approach to other problems, mimics that protocol. Computers have changed how people think.
It's a combination of learned skills and the cars and other mechanical things. More and more are going to "fix" is swap a circuit board rather than trouble shoot fuel flow, ignition etc. Yes simple maintenance like oil, fluids, rotate tires are still there. But general mechanical skills are replaced with high tech.
Yes, and no. Tinkering/practical experience/critical thinking skills, seem to have suffered. Maybe because of better reliability, you don't have the opportunity to kinda paste stuff together, to make it work a bit longer. Things don't get fixed, they get replaced. As far as computers, there is a fluency in their use, but not in understanding exactly how it works. They know what works, but not why it works. There are many, many hours of playing games and social networking supporting all that. The attitude and approach to other problems, mimics that protocol. Computers have changed how people think.
This was exactly my thought. I grew up working on stuff around my dad. It seemed like I was alway tinkering with stuff because most all of what I bought was very used and cheap. I worked on it because I enjoyed it and I had to.
A great deal of why my kids are not as mechanically inclined is my fault. I have a couple of race cars that take up all the mechanical time I can muster. I do show my kids the basics. They can all change a tire and oil if they had to, but I end up doing it to make sure it is done right and logged. Probably the biggest reason that they are nearly as mechanically inclined as me is the necessity isn't there. I helped them get newer cars that were much more reliable so I didn't have to work on them also.
Must be city stuff. I'm friends with 2 'Millennials' locally. One builds floating docks and works on most things motorized as a side kick at his place.
Most of them never had a job until they were in their 20's. They've never built or fixed anything. They had it handed to them their whole lives. They've been pampered and coddled like little babies and their parents never made them lift a finger. The schools did away with auto mechanics and wood shop, they didn't help either.
My son, on the other hand, was forced to work. We did give him a little pick up when he was 16, but that was more for us so he wasn't driving our cars. But if he wanted to drive it, he needed to get a job to pay for his own gas. When that truck was done, he was on his own and had to get an auto loan and buy it himself. I co-signed for him so that he could build his credit up. He learned how operate a Bobcat when he was about 15 and when he got his truck, he was all over it as far as fixing it and taking care of it. When he was 18, he started working for me and was running heavy machinery and became a great stone cutter. If he needs something done or fixed, he doesn't come wining to Mommy and Daddy, he figures it out for himself and makes it happen. He killed his first deer when he was 11. I showed him how to gut it once, after that, he had to do his self with my supervision. He also had to quarter it, bone it and pack it too. How many 14 year old's can do that? Not too many. When he was about 20, he used to laugh at his friends because they were so lame. I'm very proud of him and what he's become. He's now 25 and owns his own home.
Must be city stuff. I'm friends with 2 'Millennials' locally. One builds floating docks and works on most things motorized as a side kick at his place.
The other one is a pretty good smith.
I think you're right about it being a city thing. I think that if a kid grows up in the country, they need to help out at least.
When I was young we had to take shop courses in high school. In the summer we got summer jobs in factories. Mostly that was low-grade maintenance but some reasonably tough stuff as well. Nowadays they miss all that.
Reminds me of the old joke about the kid who gets a job at a company and gets assigned to mop the floor. "But I'm a college graduate," he says." "In that case," says the boss, "I'll get someone to show you how to mop the floor."
I had a small conference in a city I wont name, I saw "men" there carrying purses, yes purses, one or two had a bun on the back of their head like my grannies wore up until they day they died, I would purposefully eavesdrop on their conversations if some were close while we were all walking through the city, sidewalks, subways etc, I was really surprised, ashamed, and bewildered at what we have become and what is excepted as normal in many parts of this country, I have NEVER been more glad to board a jet for home!
I have noticed this phenomenon also. Something to consider: I was relating to my stepson just the other day, that I always had a couple of boxes of tools in my vehicle, especially if I were going very far from home. I told him that, numerous times, I had to do roadside repairs to my vehicle or someone else's. I think back to the number of hours I spent in the driveway at home just working on vehicles to make them roadworthy, sometimes just to get them to run right. I never especially enjoyed that work, I would rather have been fishing or hunting. I did it out of necessity (although I took a certain amount of pride in being able to do it.) Vehicles are a lot more reliable today. My last several vehicles have needed nothing other than oil changes to hit 100K miles. The point is, young guys today have never had any need to learn to twist wrenches (unless they really wanted to, as a hobby or whatever.) I think that's a lot of it. Also, we've become a disposable society, a lot of the household stuff we used to take apart and fix is today just thrown out and replaced. In a lot of cases, it's not even fixable.
Must be city stuff. I'm friends with 2 'Millennials' locally. One builds floating docks and works on most things motorized as a side kick at his place.
The other one is a pretty good smith.
I think you're right about it being a city thing. I think that if a kid grows up in the country, they need to help out at least.
From my observations here you are partly correct...but an awful lot of it is that parents seem to treat their little dears as mini emperors.
My son is pretty damn handy doing things mechanically and of repairing things that don't work . He is definitely a computer geek of the first magnitude, he has some serious skills in that area.
My son is pretty damn handy doing things mechanically and of repairing things that don't work . He is definitely a computer geek of the first magnitude, he has some serious skills in that area.
I am pretty sure those responding to this thread would have made damn sure their offspring can look to their own welfare.
The thing that gets me is that I have witnessed any number of truly horrid little scroats with abysmal parents lacking any semblance of discipline or parental ability, turn into quite reasonable and well settled adults, and I have also seen youths with doting parents and all the benefits of education turn out to be the foulest filth that have even taken breath.
As a general rule though the ones with well adjusted parents tend to be well adjusted adults.
High divorce rate has = raised by Mama. Gynocentric Pop Culture pushing Feminism has celebrated the passive White male.
On Saturday my eighteen year old daughter will be out in the paddock cutting a load of firewood with myself and my wife, my lass will be using the chainsaw and loading...and it will not hurt her to do so.
Sad but very true! The thing that pisses me off is the TV add about the teen that needs to call his insurance company to change his flat tire!
Haaaaa, I said the same thing when I saw that. Unbelievable. That was one of the first things I showed my kid when he first started driving, along with checking the oil and other fluids.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
every thing God put forth is being challenged. Now its " go to college and become a liberal neuter and never break a sweat.
Yeah my son has some pretty useless friends who for the most part come from very wealthy parents, I would say a 50/50 mix, the ones who have parents that GAS are well adjusted. One had multiple used Tahoes which he wrecked(each and every one) and when he graduated from College his dad bought him a Silverado 1500 LTX. SMH
Most of them never had a job until they were in their 20's. They've never built or fixed anything. They had it handed to them their whole lives. They've been pampered and coddled like little babies and their parents never made them lift a finger. The schools did away with auto mechanics and wood shop, they didn't help either.
My son, on the other hand, was forced to work. We did give him a little pick up when he was 16, but that was more for us so he wasn't driving our cars. But if he wanted to drive it, he needed to get a job to pay for his own gas. When that truck was done, he was on his own and had to get an auto loan and buy it himself. I co-signed for him so that he could build his credit up. He learned how operate a Bobcat when he was about 15 and when he got his truck, he was all over it as far as fixing it and taking care of it. When he was 18, he started working for me and was running heavy machinery and became a great stone cutter. If he needs something done or fixed, he doesn't come wining to Mommy and Daddy, he figures it out for himself and makes it happen. He killed his first deer when he was 11. I showed him how to gut it once, after that, he had to do his self with my supervision. He also had to quarter it, bone it and pack it too. How many 14 year old's can do that? Not too many. When he was about 20, he used to laugh at his friends because they were so lame. I'm very proud of him and what he's become. He's now 25 and owns his own home.
In short.....he's NOT A 'WUSSIE'!!
GOOD JOB!!
I taught my son to fly and he learned agricultural aviation from the ground up. Knows all about radial engines...and now turbine aircraft and runs a multi-million dollar business! He knows a crescent wrench from a Phillips head screwdriver!!
I observed two 13-15 year olds getting some un-forced exercise yesterday. Wife and I were going in to Dick's Sporting Goods and the yutes were jumping up and down and back and forth on the Kayaks that Dick's had out on the sidewalk. I decided to go act like I was shopping for a Kayak and it made no difference to the Yutes. Apparently nothing was going to deter them from getting their exercise. The sound of blow mold grinding on concrete was music to their ears apparently. I saw it going on for at least 10 minutes.
FYI- my millennial son is a welder[but may have exercised in this manner earlier in his yute-hood for all that I know].
My issue is that the millennial men never became men. They grow a beard, wear a flannel shirt, but any sort of fitness be it in the gym or in the field is foreign to them. They want to look manly - they recognize that need or that want, but it's all fake, just a costume, they don't have the manly core underneath. Broad shoulders, defined arms/body, cardiovascular fitness means nothing to them. Knowing their way in the woods, clueless. Ask them for a metric Cresent wrench and they'd go look for one. Change a tire = AAA to them. Starting a fire means flipping the gas fireplace switch. That's what irks me. It's hard to see our country, literally built on the hard labor, the drive for success, a strong military, go the direction it has. Chivalry means nothing to them.
Reminds me of a engineering intern we had at the plant back in the day. The engineering manager asked me if I had something for him to do as he was mostly idle. I had some new manufacturing chairs that needed inventory tags attached so I said sure. The job required drilling two holes and fastening the metal tags to the chair. I handed the kid a drill and a pop rivet tool and a box of the numbered tags and was showing him where to attach the tags. Turns out he had never used a drill and had no clue what a rivet tool was. This was a senior engineering student. I agree however it is mostly the parents fault for not teaching them anything along with the absence of industrial arts in the schools.
I also see reports that in the future we are going to need to double the food out put etc. and then I hear all about the poor coal field and the out of work miners what are we going to do. One obvious answer is in eastern Ky there are thousands of abandoned home places that are grown up in weeds. Funny the only folks that can seem to make that work are the Amish and Mennonites.
I was never taught anything mechanical growing up... grew up living in rented housing or on a military base... Parents had a house, we lived in for 3 years... and they rented it out the rest of the time I grew up as we lived elsewhere...
When it came time for college, I was on my own...If I wanted wheels to get around, I was on my own.
I had to learn the HARD way, of buying cheap VWs, and keeping them running...with NO one to teach me squat.... I hated it, but it beat walking...
When my son graduated High School, my folks gave him a 5 yr old Scion they had with like 30,000 miles on it. Was of course in great shape... he was attending the local Community College, and even tho he was taking a program for him to enter the medical field, I had him enroll in a batch of automotive courses also..
No one taught me, I made darn sure he was taught.. as when I showed him how to do things, he watched with a very bored looking attitude...at the college he got his hands dirty with hands on experience and instruction. they certainly taught him more than the basics....he can now do all the daily stuff to keep his car running.. from tune ups to oil changes, brakes, Alignments, Air Conditioning... He has a clue, compared to a lot of other kids his age...
I wish I'd have had courses available like that at his age.... maybe there were and I just never knew it...
on the other end, I've had him over at my buddy's place who is a retired Navy Electronics Instructor...who went and got a degree in Computers and Computer Technician.. he's taught my son to build computers, and how to fix them...etc...
He is an Eagle Scout and a 4.0 Student... to include his college at the community college level...
He's working at our local hospital fulltime as a Tech supporting ICU and the ER...while he is working on finishing his bachelor's degree on line in Hospital Administration...
He'll also finish his degree and be already employed when he does....and my biggest present to him... he won't have any college debt to deal with....after the money ran out for his completing what he has, he is paying for his own tuition and education via the online school, and then is given reimbursement from the hospital.
He' also conservative.. and most of these millennials always seem to be raised to be democRATS....
I've advised him on routes to go ( something I was never given), but he's been on his own to complete the work... and it being instructed by someone else in an academic program, he's embraced it with a better attitude...and passed those courses with a 3.9 GPA.. so stuff has been retained...
I take a little pride in not always having to take my mechanical stuff to the shop. And there's often little excuse for it since Youtube came along. I spent Father's Day working on a lawnmower that I tore up. John Deere wants a grand for a new transaxle, but the transaxle maker wanted about a hundred bucks for a new axle shaft and rebuild kit. Easy decision, and I don't mind a little grease and sweat sometimes. That being said, I've got a lot of room to grow as a carpenter.....no skills there....
My father was a urologist so he never taught me how to rebuild an engine but I worked in his office for a couple of years and can take and develop x-rays (digital imaging nowadays so that's an obsolete skill), diagnose some conditions and infections under a microscope and could do a passable urethroscopy or catheterize someone if need be. Ain't doin' no prostate exams, though, not for love nor money or both.
They tend to be less competent than their female counterparts, in my experience. The only time I really deal with them is at work, though.When it comes to calling the insurance company to change a flat-hey,I did that once. It was after an F250 stopped my car rather abruptly. Totally my fault, no one was hurt thankfully, and the tire was changed when a new used car was bought with the insurance check.
I remember doing basic to intermediate repairs on my old Ford F-100 back in the 1980s, but you could pop the hood and sit on a wheel well and work on the engine there was so much room in there. No computers to fool with, just a simple V-8 302 engine. Now I can't even get my hands in past the oil dipstick on the family Honda van. You have to take half the front end off to replace an alternator.
My children are early and late (21-29 yrs old) millenials, Strangely, the girls are more competent mechanics than the boys. My youngest daughter made a 98% score on her military ASVAB test. Oldest daughter has had to teach other momma's boys how to chain up a car, pitch a tent, shoot a rifle. It is a sad state of affairs...
You know I find this kind of funny . My millennial son signed up for a hard working concrete pouring summer job. He wanted the out door under the Sun hard working job. He signed on with the structural concrete company, and when the boss saw his detail work from college, He pulled him from the field work-and stuck him in office, designing forms. Exactly what he did not want to do . My son quit, and moved on to a better job.
All 3 of my boys can change oil, do their own brakes, alternators, battery swaps, one has done a timing belt, shock changes, stuff like that. They all painted their rooms if they wanted something other than basic white. I always had them with me for major projects like laying sod, planting, irrigation and they helped me put up a patio when they were 12-13. I wanted them to know whats involved so that when they were older they could make informed decisions about car/home repairs. Their first response is usually to repair something themselves. Thinking of their friends...Ryan is a landscape/irrigation supervisor, another Ryan is a machinist, Kenny is a firefighter, Mike is a GM mechanic. Derek is an x-ray tech but did all the yard maintenance before he went to school. That's a pretty good spread for their closest friends from from a big Southern California city. I think as car technology advanced it has become a little harder for kids to work on their own cars but it's not impossible.
I was born in 1965 so I'm Gen X. My 19 yr son just changed out a head on his truck and did a brake job on my truck and last summer replaced the radiator, thermostat, and timing belt on my friend's Lexus so he knows how to turn a wrench. He also loads his own ammo for his 44 Mag Redhawk and loads for his rifles, knows how to weld and use a torch, brews his own beer, etc. I've made sure to teach him skills he will use.
My nephew bought a house last winter, and it's a block away from my father's house. He needed a lawnmower. I'm the caretaker for my father's affairs, so I told him if he wanted to, I'd give him my father's mower (a Toro, self-propelled) and weed whacker if he would spend 45 minutes per week mowing and whacking my father's lawn. He agreed. The job began around the end of April. Last week he said to my sister, "I'm beyond sick of this lawnmower. It's a piece of junk." And he proceeded to offer a new deal. He'd buy his own mower and continue the job in return for my father's washer, dryer, and queen size bed (complete with all the sets of sheets and the homemade quilt covering it, I presume).
My brother took the mower and checked it over. The air filter was soaked with gas, the mower deck was full of oil, and the mower wouldn't start. He cleaned off the deck, checked the oil, cleaned and dried the air filter, and re-gapped the spark plug. The mower started right up. Apparently my nephew didn't realize that if you tip the mower over you'll leak oil, gas, and oil will get into the cylinder and wet the spark plug.
I will admit that the mower may not be top of the line, but it's a good one. And I will add that if my nephew bought any top of the line mower and treated it the way he treated my dad's mower, it would soon be a piece of junk in his mind.
I stopped at my dad's house Friday and noticed that my nephew had whacked some 18" tall weeds and left them lay. I suppose he figured he'd grind them up with the mower at the next mowing. I raked the weeds up and also noticed that he didn't get nearly all the weeds.
This kid is a computer-savvy guy who works from home as a customer service guy for some kind of online company. He can make a computer sing, but thinks lawnmowers are indestructible no matter how much you neglect and abuse them. That's the way it is with millennials these days. Go figure.
If this comes up again, I guess I'll take the mower back, lay him off, and do the lawn job myself.
In my estimation there's a big difference between those millennials born in the eighties and those born in the nineties, with the earlier half having their heads better screwed on.
I think it depends on the millennial. In town we've got a "maker space" which is a fancy millennial name for "giant shop" you can rent access to for $30/month. They've got everything from a big TIG welder to a CNC end mill to a little drop forge. There's a guy there who fabricated his own fuel injection system. He CAD designed, 3D printed and machined the injectors. He also designed the control electronics and wrote the program that lets you set and tune the fuel-air-timing map while driving. It all worked and passed emissions and dynoed out OK.
I think the difference is that before you had to be decent at mechanics to have transportation and working appliances. Now it's a luxury skill you do for fun or to show off.
My father was a urologist so he never taught me how to rebuild an engine but I worked in his office for a couple of years and can take and develop x-rays (digital imaging nowadays so that's an obsolete skill), diagnose some conditions and infections under a microscope and could do a passable urethroscopy or catheterize someone if need be. Ain't doin' no prostate exams, though, not for love nor money or both.
I think the difference is that before you had to be decent at mechanics to have transportation and working appliances. Now it's a luxury skill you do for fun or to show off.
It's tempting to assume that's what causes this, but it doesn't stand up to the evidence.
What I see is the majority of them still needing things fixed, but they either take it to a professional, find the rare friend (or a family member) who will fix it for them, or just go on using the broken item until it is entirely unusable......depending on their financial status or associations.
It isn't just about transportation either. I see this with things as simple as a doorknob or a light switch......assembling a kid's toy - even simple ones.
I don't think it's entirely parental failure either, although parents can make a difference. My own dad didn't deliberately teach me how to use tools or figure things out. I did learn by watching by my own choice - and not just watching my dad. Then there was shop class in middle school. It was an elective, as I recall, but most every boy chose to take it. Probably made the biggest impression on me.
So, it's true that they stopped offering basic shop classes in middle school? Is this a result of aversion to risk? Or is it just not popular? Do schools not even teach how to read a schematic and use a screwdriver and wrench (where's the risk in that?) ?
I have known others that had to ask how to change a bulb.
At least they asked, there are plenty that just walk away.
That's a good point. I don't generally hold ignorance or ineptitude against someone if they have the right attitude. They aren't at fault for what they weren't exposed to growing up, although the case of a light bulb is an extreme example that's hard to ignore.
I have known others that had to ask how to change a bulb.
At least they asked, there are plenty that just walk away.
That's a good point. I don't generally hold ignorance or ineptitude against someone if they have the right attitude. They aren't at fault for what they weren't exposed to growing up, although the case of a light bulb is an extreme example that's hard to ignore.
That's what's eating at me the most. It's the lack of curiosity. I can understand someone being too embarrassed to ask (although it's silly), and I know reading aptitude is an issue, but these computer savvy kids seem reluctant even to turn to impersonal and passive sources like youtube for instruction.
I think it depends on the millennial. In town we've got a "maker space" which is a fancy millennial name for "giant shop" you can rent access to for $30/month. They've got everything from a big TIG welder to a CNC end mill to a little drop forge. There's a guy there who fabricated his own fuel injection system. He CAD designed, 3D printed and machined the injectors. He also designed the control electronics and wrote the program that lets you set and tune the fuel-air-timing map while driving. It all worked and passed emissions and dynoed out OK.
I think the difference is that before you had to be decent at mechanics to have transportation and working appliances. Now it's a luxury skill you do for fun or to show off.
You should see what mine can do with a laser cutter. His attention to detail is unreal.
Must be city stuff. I'm friends with 2 'Millennials' locally. One builds floating docks and works on most things motorized as a side kick at his place.
The other one is a pretty good smith.
Yep. I work with many of them, and a couple of them have a driveway full of old rigs they love wrenching on. A third just built a beautiful bar from a solid slab of Ponderosa. They're all avid shooters too.
I'm NOT a fan of Millennials as a group, but we've got some good rednecky ones around here that prove the exception to the rule.
On the other hand, the liberal side of my state has pathetic males of all ages............in over-abundance.
Just to be clear, I'm not talking about my own kids. They are exceptions to the rule as I see it. I did teach them what I could, but I think they would have done much of the learning on their own. I am surrounded by extended family members and others though who just aren't interested in learning how to do normal stuff.
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
Actually FM, it is a rare cocky that will fix anything, especially gates.
Cocky = white bird that sits in middle of paddock and squarks.
The drive and capacity to learn stuff........not everybody has it. Grew up in non mechanical household. Poor college kid with beater car...........I learned rather quickly.
Then came the Jeeps, lift kits, engine and transmission changes etc. Good times. Learned a lot, had fun too.
Too old to do that stuff anymore. Even lesser jobs.........'bout killed me just getting dang power steering pulley on new pump yesterday.
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
Actually FM, it is a rare cocky that will fix anything, especially gates.
Cocky = white bird that sits in middle of paddock and squarks.
Originally Posted by JSTUART
Originally Posted by FreeMe
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
Actually FM, it is a rare cocky that will fix anything, especially gates.
Cocky = white bird that sits in middle of paddock and squarks.
You need to hang around a better class of cockeys.
Kids with hot cars, lifted 4x4............playing on iphones. Can't run machines at work, or fix their rides. Posers. Chicks like a fake dude (evidently). Politically, moderates or democrats............they are. Fuggin morons.
Bad thing, even some guys middle aged, worked in plant forever..............still clueless on their cars/trucks. One guy asked to come over, his truck acting funny. Driveshaft about to fall off, wheel bearing totally shot on one side, bad on other. Drove it like that for a couple weeks.............lucky bastid it didn't fail or tear up other.
Bet his radio and outlet for phone charger worked.....or he'd have parked it.
My brother's step son is one of these. The kid is real smart. Flew through college and popped out getting a job at a large financial firm. I think he started off making about $70K. I'd be surprised if he even knows how to put gas in the car. I know for a fact that he doesn't even know how to check his oil. My brother said so.
His parents got divorced when the kids were little and the father is a pansy too. So the kids were basically raised by the mother (my brother's wife). He can't check his own oil, but he can tell you what the newest fashion of men's clothing is.
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
Actually FM, it is a rare cocky that will fix anything, especially gates.
Cocky = white bird that sits in middle of paddock and squarks.
Originally Posted by JSTUART
Originally Posted by FreeMe
I don't think it's a city/rural thing either. I grew up in a city, and that didn't hold me back. OTOH, I can think of several individuals that I know were raised rural, by rural raised parents, who can't deal with simple mechanical or electrical tasks. Heck - farmers around here are famous for parking things instead of fixing them anyway.
Actually FM, it is a rare cocky that will fix anything, especially gates.
Cocky = white bird that sits in middle of paddock and squarks.
You need to hang around a better class of cockeys.
The acceptance of men driving Subarus, needing a shave 3 days ago, tattoos and piercings, and baby changing tables in men's rooms is not a good sign of what has happened to the American male.
Ha! I thought you were trying to make a joke.....anyway I suppose its in the neighborhood of 8500 acres.
Fair enough...a small block here is around 30 000 acres, a large one is 70-100 000, a big one is 200 000, and a big one north/west of here is around 500 000, bloody really big ones up north are well over that.
A lot of fencing and gates to keep up, especially since most are dry-land farming with some small irrigation...mostly on dry arid country that is for most seasons barely tenable.
South of here the farms are much better land and much smaller, and more intensive.
Generally speaking.
The small block where I will be cutting firewood on Saturday is just over 30 000 acres and the farmer's son runs that by himself. when I shot 'roos for a living I had the run of over 30 properties, most of which were run by just the farmer with no permanent staff.
I would bet London to a brick that your country is far nicer and more productive than most small blocks here...the local cotton blocks deal in serious coin, as do the feedlots, but most others are one man shows.
Not big. You could walk across it in three or four days.
It is your property so if you wish to be cute about it then it is your right.
Caught me off guard. Might be a cultural thing, we dont ask each other that question.
I noticed from my time spent in New Zealand that the topic of "how big is your station" came up quite often.
No insult intended, my immediate family has had three properties, one in Victoria, one in NSW, and one in Queensland...none in this generation (including myself) have any desire to own or work land.
A couple years ago we were reading about the largest cattle ranch in Australia. It was for sale at the time so of course we all looked at it.
It was a lot cheaper than we had expected, so we looked a little closer. Turns out that the big ranch in Florida ran more stock units than the behemoth in Australia.
The acres required to summer one pair was astounding.
My father in law spent a lot of time in his youth mining up in the Territories and farming over in the West. I like to hear him talk about the sheer scale of everything, and the remoteness.
He has 1000 acres in New Zealand and it is a pretty sizable operation for his area. At one time he ran 5000 sheep and put up his own feed on those 1000 acres. Just himself and a helper.
My area is not as productive as that, but much more productive than some areas in Australia it sounds like.
A couple years ago we were reading about the largest cattle ranch in Australia. It was for sale at the time so of course we all looked at it.
It was a lot cheaper than we had expected, so we looked a little closer. Turns out that the big ranch in Florida ran more stock units than the behemoth in Australia.
The acres required to summer one pair was astounding.
My father in law spent a lot of time in his youth mining up in the Territories and farming over in the West. I like to hear him talk about the sheer scale of everything, and the remoteness.
He has 1000 acres in New Zealand and it is a pretty sizable operation for his area. At one time he ran 5000 sheep and put up his own feed on those 1000 acres. Just himself and a helper.
My area is not as productive as that, but much more productive than some areas in Australia it sounds like.
My outfit would be considered mid sized up here.
A thousand acres in NZ is like winning lotto...here it is barely a holding paddock for the shearing shed.
To put it in perspective Uardry (local) when it was owned by the Black family holdings and run by Chris Bowman was somewhere around 70 000 acres and ran over 20 000 sheep and some cattle and irrigation (rice etc).
Chris is a very good operator and a heck of a fellow to deal with, and more to the point his word is absolute gold which brings a lot of business to any enterprise.
A lot of it is due to what a culture or society values. To paraphrase Ruark, "if you go to do away with the old ways and traditions, you better have something of value to replace them with,".
There are a lot of people here who I don't know...I don't know what they do for a living, but yet I recognize. All my life I've heard mid-management guys who were brainwashed by corporate types into thinking that manual labor jobs aren't worth anything. Thus, all these [bleep] you guys are griping about, men with flannel shirts and civil war beards who are utterly useless at changing a tire, can all work computers like there's no tomorrow. Computer skills and the like are worth lots of money. OTOH a guy I know worked for an Implement company that sold out to a bigger one. The owners came in and told him he was making too much money as a mechanic. This guy had been sent to all the schools and knew what he was doing, yet they'd rather do it all over again with somebody else. You see stuff like this time and again. Another guy I went to school with is a talented mechanic. He works on stuff for old guys who won't pay up. He had to go to work on the railroad to support his family because mechanic work just wouldn't pay. Yet doing it part time, he's always full up. He always was full-time too. Nobody would pay him decent money though. The old guys I'm talking about aren't even boomers. They're whatever you call the generation before that.
My kids know how to work. I can't speak for other kids. Daughter's boyfriend knows how to turn a wrench too.
My youngest son {22 yrs.} is an auto mechanic. He just bought his first house last fall and got married in April. The quickest learning, most talented students I've trained to build 1911's at work are in their early 20's. Both can now turn out a pretty good pistol. The worst I've attempted to train were in their late 50's and early 60's and are no longer with us..
Yeah, you would not ask another rancher how many cattle he runs, or a farmer how many acres he plants, not in passing anyway. Good friends would be different.
He will probably offer the information anyway......if he is having a wreck that year or if he topped the market!
You might ask him how many head he runs on a lease or how the farming is on that lease. He wont tell you that though, or tell you its really crappy.
Big competition for leases. Kinda like keeping your favorite fishing hole secret.
My son's 24, and he just mentioned this afternoon he'd done a break job on his truck because he didn't like the quote from the shop.... Saved himself nearly 700 buck in an afternoon's work.
My daughter, 23, doesn't know there are brakes on her car......
Being a farmer/rancher type, and being broke and cheap all the time, I save a lot of money doing my own mechanic work. Figure it comes out to 50,000 a year in labor costs saved.
700 bucks for a break job is absurd. Good for him.
Would some town kid need to be as handy as me? I dont see why he would need to be.
He better not be hiring the lawn mowed though or the plumbing fixed for that matter.
I believe there is hope as there are plenty of young men and women with mechanical talent. There are some that don't have it or will never attempt to develop any. Many have not found that they are capable yet as they haven't been forced into it. When there is a need many will step up and begin to build their confidence trying to do easy tasks, building upon their successes. Having the internet with videos on how to do stuff sure makes it easier.
I taught industrial arts/vocational from 1973 to 2015. I taught machine tool technology, woodworking and automotives. After retiring I still would visit one of my friends that taught vocational classes so I think I am aware of what is going on to some extent. So many kids I have encountered had absolutely no mechanical skills. They took more time to build up confidence in their abilities. It was a rare kid that couldn't improve upon his skill set if he or she wanted to do it. The lucky ones enrolled in one of the high school vocational classes and began to discover they were capable of doing things.
Sure there are plenty of "men" that can't or perhaps won't but there are plenty of others that are willing to try. . I think it has always been that way to some extent.
Just the other day my recently deceased friend's son talked to me about his evaporative cooler not working properly. His father always took care of it. He wanted me to show him how it worked so he could keep it working.....yep there is lots of that going on...when there is a need things often happen.
There are exceptions, of course, but societal movers and shakers have been trying to feminize men for quite a while now. Seems to be working. They are about like 1960's women.
I will have to agree with giving them a pass on repairing the car. Sure I've changed out brake pads, radiators, water pumps etc but it's been 30 years. With all of the computerized sensors etc on cars today , I find myself wondering what that little box does.
A lot of it has to do with work ethics. I work for a well service company, and it seems that lately it is next to impossible to find young males that will do what the job requires, it seems like a revolving door as they go out the back as fast as they come in the front. I have seen some that didn't know what a grease gun was or didn't know how to size up a creasent wrench. A lot of the problem I think is they were allowed to do nothing but play video games and not made to go outside and use their imaginations. Children shouldn't have everything handed to them.
don't get me started. i work with a bunch of them in IT. most can program the fugg out of a computer but have no clue for the manlier pursuits. when i talk about building decks, and cutting down trees, etc, they look at me like i am a caveman. (which i am). prime example, we have two schitters at work and one was clogged. there was a plunger right beside the throne. somebody put an out of order sign on the door and called the landlord who is an unresponsive SOB. i went in there and plunged the fugg out of it and flushed it right down. i think i was a hero for about an hour.
I didn't read through all the posts, but just in the last week I heard a story of a young adult male(early 20's) who came to a local tire shop with a low tire. Said he figured out where to put air in it but he didn't want to take that little nut thingy off the wheel because he figured the air would leak out faster than what he could put it in. It's both scary and downright embarrassing how much catching up a lot of young adults need to learn just to get through the basics in life. If they ever can.
my lass will be using the chainsaw and loading...and it will not hurt her to do so.
And the type of guys that you want her to be attracted to will consider that a bonus catch.
That's what I was thinking. I've been reading this thread and thinking "gee where can I meet some girls like that?"
I grew up in the suburbs but my Dad grew up on a farm. My truck is an '04 1500 getting ready to hit 300,000. I may not have the skills of a kid raised in the country but I can shoot, wrench, and run with the kids raised in the country and fit in. It's about necessity. My folks weren't going to pay to fix my truck so I had to either do it myself or get a job to pay someone else to.
I'm a millennial and my Dad is an auto mechanic. I grew up hunting and fishing with him and other mechanics and I was sheltered from mechanic work mostly because my Dad didn't do it at home and I don't think he wanted me to go down that road.
With that said if I didn't know how to change a tire,or my own oil. I'd kick my own ass.
It's both scary and downright embarrassing how much catching up a lot of young adults need to learn just to get through the basics in life. If they ever can.
This is really what my OP was about. Not so much about working on cars. Just basic stuff - like replacing a rubber washer on a garden hose, or fixing a flat on a kid's bike. Or digging a hole......
True story..... This winter, I attempted to instruct four young guys on how to clear an iced up flangeway. These weren't computer geeks or baristas - they were forklift operators. They were poking at it with sticks and a grain shovel. I told them we could clear the problem in a few minutes with a couple of picks - "Where's you pick. I'll show you how". Blank stares. "Your pick", I say, "do you have one?" They all look at each other, apparently each hoping the others will know. One asks, "what"? I say, "a pick - like a miner uses" - and I mime swinging a pick over my head. Another guy holds out a stick with a metal chisel point on one end - "you mean like this?"
I would have bet any amount of money, until this time, that I could take any four guys off the street, and at least one of them would know what a pick was and how to use it.This was a real eye opener.
Or have others noticed that an unreasonably large percentage of them are completely mechanically inept? Is there a stigma among them against all things that involve threaded fasteners?
I grew up in a world where all the guys I knew could turn a wrench and fix things. Now it seems damn few can figure out how to perform the simplest mechanical operations. Is my perspective skewed?
It's not just you. And it's not just millennials, unfortunately.
There is an ad on tv for an insurance company. The 23 year old girl does the talking, and her 23 year old boyfriend just stands there, batting his eyes. And she says "Thank God I got the breakdown included on my car insurance policy. This made sure that he got home safely the other night, after all, he had a flat tire!" The guy stands there, looking admiringly at his girlfriend.
Good Lord! Millennial Boy does not know how to change a tire. Thirty years ago they never would have run an ad like this. Adult males were expected to be able to change a tire.
We are seeing the feminization of the adult male [hard to call them men] in America today.
I stayed out of this conversation, but the story about the pick got me. Was replacing a fence post this past weekend at my house. The fence separates my yard from my neighbors yard. He sees me working on it and comes out, says he'll help. Mostly, he watched me and talked. He did go get his one shovel that was one of those short, emergency shovels you keep in a vehicle and attempt to dig some dirt from around the concrete but could see he was doing no good, so he left it to me. Anyways, I had a long bar that I use to pry rocks, etc. from tight holes and was using it to see if the concrete block was loose yet. Kid was amazed, told me that having something like that would be really handy to have to use to cut through ice in the winter when it builds up. I asked if he had a pick. He didn't know what it was. I was amazed anyone could grow to adulthood and not know what a pick was. The kid is nice enough and I try to be nice to him and help him out when I can. It is obvious that he was never taught anything. Guess what? He's a computer nerd with a degree in Information Systems. I'm sure he's good at what he does, but no one ever told him or showed him about what it takes to just maintain your own residence. After I pulled the 150+lb concrete block out of the hole with my vehicle he did help me carry it to a corner of my lot. Funny thing, though. Even though I'm about 25 years older than me, when we went to grab the block, he saw one end was bigger than the other and commented that he'd let me get the heavy end! I would have never thought of doing or saying something like that when I was working with an older guy. I like the kid well enough, though, and like to have good neighbors so I don't give him crap OR harass him about being from Nebraska!
I was just thinking about my sons and their friends. One son works in the public utility field building substations and the other is a commercial fisherman in Alaska. Their friends include a lineman, Army Ranger, farmers, foresters, a carpenter, and others I know I'm forgetting. Friends sons are foresters, mechanics in the Air Force, construction workers and pilots in the Coast Guard. None of these are what I'd consider pussy jobs. I'll assume that they all know how to change the oil in a car or a flat tire.
The current television advertising campaign certainly feminizes men.
It's both scary and downright embarrassing how much catching up a lot of young adults need to learn just to get through the basics in life. If they ever can.
This is really what my OP was about. Not so much about working on cars. Just basic stuff - like replacing a rubber washer on a garden hose, or fixing a flat on a kid's bike. Or digging a hole......
True story..... This winter, I attempted to instruct four young guys on how to clear an iced up flangeway. These weren't computer geeks or baristas - they were forklift operators. They were poking at it with sticks and a grain shovel. I told them we could clear the problem in a few minutes with a couple of picks - "Where's you pick. I'll show you how". Blank stares. "Your pick", I say, "do you have one?" They all look at each other, apparently each hoping the others will know. One asks, "what"? I say, "a pick - like a miner uses" - and I mime swinging a pick over my head. Another guy holds out a stick with a metal chisel point on one end - "you mean like this?"
I would have bet any amount of money, until this time, that I could take any four guys off the street, and at least one of them would know what a pick was and how to use it.This was a real eye opener.
I was born in 1980. Not sure if that means I'm a millennial or what. I do own a pick. If you plant trees in my part of Missouri you must own a pick. And a rock bar. I've changed a head gasket on my Honda Civic that you really need to have arms the size of a 4 year old and 3 elbows to do easily. I've remodeled houses. Plumbing. Electrical. Tile and wood flooring. Pretty decent at it if I must say.
But at the risk of being lumped in with man bun wearing no tire changing millennials, what's an iced up flangeway?
A guy was telling me a story a couple weeks ago about a millennial male and his girlfriend. Apparently they got a flat tire and didn't know how to fix it. The guy with a beard that belies his true femininity was standing over his girlfriend as SHE changed the tire. He stood there watching a YouTube video about how to change a flat and relayed the directions to his girlfriend. She was doing all the work and he stood there barking orders while watching a video. The pussification of the American male continues.
Since changing a tire has now been identified as a basic skill, I'll be brave and ask if anyone else had to read the directions when they encountered a modern scissors jack. There's always been, and still is, a floor jack with a 2'x2' piece of plywood in my cars. My sister has not continued this family practice.
Since changing a tire has now been identified as a basic skill, I'll be brave and ask if anyone else had to read the directions when they encountered a modern scissors jack. There's always been, and still is, a floor jack with a 2'x2' piece of plywood in my cars. My sister has not continued this family practice.
No. Anytime you have to either ask directions or read directions, you lose some testosterone. The wife's Mountaineer had a flat last Fall and the spare had never even been off. She read the directions and told me how you were supposed to do it, while I did it. Terribly complicated compared to the old ways, but the new stuff really saves space.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
I've never had a problem hitting the hole with my crank even when I couldn't see it.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
In your defense though, you elderly gents had to deal with a heavier forest than the women of today.
Had to change a tire for a lady a few months ago. She had some sort of minivan. She had no idea where the jack was or even where the spare tire was. Neither did I. I had to get out the owners manual and look it up. Jack was stuffed in some little hidey hole that you would never even think to look in. Spare tire was under the car, but could not be seen anywhere, even when laying flat on the ground and looking under the car. Of course it was dark so that didn't help. Turned out the spare was right smack dab in the middle of the undercarriage. Had to take out a plastic panel in between the two front bucket seats and then turn a nut that let the spare drop down. I swear I had to turn that nut several hundred rotations before the cable had enough slack to enable me to pull the spare tire out from under the car. What a royal PIA. Got the job done for her, though.
Or have others noticed that an unreasonably large percentage of them are completely mechanically inept? Is there a stigma among them against all things that involve threaded fasteners?
I grew up in a world where all the guys I knew could turn a wrench and fix things. Now it seems damn few can figure out how to perform the simplest mechanical operations. Is my perspective skewed?
It's not just you. And it's not just millennials, unfortunately.
Yup, nothing new.
I grew up in the burbs, but can handle most hand tools, power tools can work with wood or metal, weld, troubleshoot basic electronics, reload, gunsmith, wrench on vehicles and have done more than my share of home remodeling jobs. When I was a kid if my dad was changing the oil in the car or building something for the house I'd be right there watching what he was doing. When the neighbor across the street was wrenching on a car, motorcycle or go kart I'd be watching him and passing him tools. I built models as a kid and took woodshop and auto shop as electives as I was interested in working with my hands. Helped a buddy build a race car from scratch, built my own boat from plans.
My brother would sit in his room and read books. He has limited mechanical aptitude.
I think the biggest problem with millennials is most of them were plopped in front of TV's from a young age, played video games and fiddle with their phones all the time. They don't have a physical connection to animate objects.
On the flip side, it's amazing how for most any project you can google it and find youtube videos or chat forums where someone has written a tutorial of how to do the job. So it's easier then ever for a millennial to tackle such tasks if they're willing to make the effort.
Every generation complains about another generation. It has always been so, as far as I know. My grandfather scared heck out of 4 younger guys when he was a foreman on a carpenter crew. And that was long before I was born. Nails used to be delivered to jobsites in 500lbs barrels. In later years it dropped to 100lb kegs, then 50lb boxes. He had 4 guys up on a flatbed truck arguing about how to get that 500lb barrel off the truck, without success. It went on too long, so he walked over, wrapped his long arms around that barrel, lifted about 1/4" and pivoted enough to drop it down to the ground. Then turned and roared "GET BACK T O WORK!!! (They ran like frightened rabbits!) My grandfather looked a lot like Boiler-Maker Pete, the Purdue mascot. Barrel chested, long armed, hairy and a devoted Christian. He would never have hurt them, but they didn't know that. He was a gentle giant who stood less than 6' and I miss him.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
I've never had a problem hitting the hole with my crank even when I couldn't see it.
......But at the risk of being lumped in with man bun wearing no tire changing millennials, what's an iced up flangeway?
Don't be embarrassed. I didn't expect anyone to know what I was talking abut, and didn't think it mattered to the point......
Picture a railroad crossing. The flangeway is the gap between the inside of the rail and the middle surface of the crossing, where the wheel flanges that hold the train cars to the track pass through. Now - fill that space up to the top of the rail with hard packed ice. Mix a little sand and gravel in the ice. Pack it down real good by driving over it with trucks for a few days before attempting to run a train car over it to spot at an industry. Oh - and do all this while maintaining -15°F or lower temps around the clock. Imagine what happens next.
For whatever the reason, there seems to be little desire or initiative for kids to figure out many things in life with an inversely proportional dependence on social media.
But by God, the little bassturds have a huge advantage now, it's called Google, or Bing or whatever search engine they choose. Damn near everything can be figured out by (re)searching the internet, there is no excuse for not trying other than desire or initiative.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
I've never had a problem hitting the hole with my crank even when I couldn't see it.
Since changing a tire has now been identified as a basic skill, I'll be brave and ask if anyone else had to read the directions when they encountered a modern scissors jack. There's always been, and still is, a floor jack with a 2'x2' piece of plywood in my cars. My sister has not continued this family practice.
No. Anytime you have to either ask directions or read directions, you lose some testosterone......
Sad fact is that very often, the directions are either unintelligible or just plain incorrect. Reading them isn't enough. If you choose to read them, you also need to be able to evaluate their accuracy. Or even their wisdom.
I recall consulting a Chiltons manual about changing an electric fuel pump in an SUV. The process outlined therein started with dropping the fuel tank. The smart way to go about it though, was to roll up the carpet and cut a hole in the floor. Do the work from above, and rivet a sheet metal patch over the hole.
Another project on a minivan that was leaking oil from behind the oil cooler pickup had the book telling you to jack the motor up - a process that would hand you a bill anywhere from $700 to $1200 at a repair shop. The smart way was to go in from the wheel well with a $6 part, simple tools, and about an hour of labor.
Millennials have a resource that is ten times more powerful than the written instructions we old guys had to rely on at their age - youtube. How did we manage?
edit: Or more to the point - why don't they take more advantage of it?
My brother's step son is one of these. The kid is real smart. Flew through college and popped out getting a job at a large financial firm. I think he started off making about $70K. I'd be surprised if he even knows how to put gas in the car. I know for a fact that he doesn't even know how to check his oil. My brother said so.
His parents got divorced when the kids were little and the father is a pansy too. So the kids were basically raised by the mother (my brother's wife). He can't check his own oil, but he can tell you what the newest fashion of men's clothing is.
Proly blew big money on those "dirty jeans" they were sellin'.
On that same kinda thing............notice how some guys hold a pencil? There may be some correlation between that and other mechanical skills (or lack of them).
I remember girls holding their pencils the same way back in elementary school.
On that same kinda thing............notice how some guys hold a pencil? There may be some correlation between that and other mechanical skills (or lack of them).
I remember girls holding their pencils the same way back in elementary school.
I dont know about that, but I never did learn how to hold a fork properly.
The ol lady's Grand Cherokee windshield wipers went stoopid. Bad weather time too. Got a Haynes book, technical illustration really didn't show where the thing was. Book said to pull fascia. WTF? It was a 2004 so I said screw it, yanked the headlight (one bolt deal- PITA to get back in sometimes).........guessed where I needed to make the cut in grill backing plastic (it has a shelf under the light). Made a nice round hole w Dremel and got access to module. Didn't even put anything over the hole, just slapped it together and looked fine. Faster/easier my way.
On that same kinda thing............notice how some guys hold a pencil? There may be some correlation between that and other mechanical skills (or lack of them).
I remember girls holding their pencils the same way back in elementary school.
I dont know about that, but I never did learn how to hold a fork properly.
Holding a fork wrong, bad table manners...........heck, just bad grammar...............got you popped upside the head at my house. Mom was state champ cheerleader, good looking gal, but also from the farm..........she could smack you and the tweety birds would come out.
We had a class at work, VEST (vehicle electronic systems training). Made lots of gizmos for cars, so they had a class to show people what we made/how it worked. Buddy (a registered engineer) had a great idea..........that when oil light flickers 3 times it sets off the airbag. I thought it genius. Instructor might have...........but didn't say anything........... due to all the old fat mean women in the class.
If we could design a car like that today................think of all the man buns getting undone!
I do think Youtube can be useful. Don't think one needs to go there first on every project YT and topic specific forums............most of the people are stupid and or wrong.
Especially bad............the Jeep forums. Used to be a "can do" culture (CJ days). Today's avg Jeep driver is a metrosexual.
Big tires for the speed bumps at the fashion mall.
On that same kinda thing............notice how some guys hold a pencil? There may be some correlation between that and other mechanical skills (or lack of them).
I remember girls holding their pencils the same way back in elementary school.
I dont know about that, but I never did learn how to hold a fork properly.
I know how to, just dont. By the way, if you never learned the right way, how do you know you're doing it wrong?
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
In your defense though, you elderly gents had to deal with a heavier forest than the women of today.
I will often check YouTube before a project, to see how other folks have solved the same problem. By comparing methods, you often see where mistakes are made, or better methods found.
On that same kinda thing............notice how some guys hold a pencil? There may be some correlation between that and other mechanical skills (or lack of them).
I remember girls holding their pencils the same way back in elementary school.
I dont know about that, but I never did learn how to hold a fork properly.
I know how to, just dont. By the way, if you never learned the right way, how do you know you're doing it wrong?
Watching people on TV and others around my table.
I dont use a knife, so I grip a fork in such a manner to get enough torque out of it to cut with.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
I will admit that the jacks and lug wrenches that are in modern cars ( if you get one as most cars are w/o spares) are evidently designed by millennial engineers that have no idea what they are for. You get some 1/2 azzed folding handle about 10" long that is suppose to serve as both jack handle and lug wrench. The shallow socket end fits the lugs so loosely that they just want to slip off or round the lugs. The scissor jack is a completely useless piece of crap that takes 20 minutes to get the vehicle off he ground and the crank is setup so you get a 3/4 turn and then have to take it off and reposition it for ground clearance. Last time I used one if the engineer that designed that thing had been within reach the proctologist would still be looking for that lug wrench . The most pathetic piece of design engineering I've seen in a long time.
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
On my last truck, a '99 GMC 1500, there was a recall notice for the spare tire cranking rod used to lower the spare. Turns out that the tube or hole was too crooked for the supplied rods to consistently work. The recall notice said to go outside and try the originally supplied tools to see if it could be done before requesting the new recall rod. I didn't even bother messing with it and marked in the response to send the new rod. No way I was going to chance maybe getting lucky and making it work once, then have to mess with it for an hour on the next try. It was a stiff but flexible rod that could flex enough to make it work.
Being a farmer/rancher type, and being broke and cheap all the time, I save a lot of money doing my own mechanic work. Figure it comes out to 50,000 a year in labor costs saved.
700 bucks for a break job is absurd. Good for him.
Would some town kid need to be as handy as me? I dont see why he would need to be.
He better not be hiring the lawn mowed though or the plumbing fixed for that matter.
I would imagine you couldn't afford the down time of any of your equipment. How do you put a dollar cost on that?
Well, I have changed many a tire in my 76 years, but I will confess having nothing but trouble with a large new Chevy Suburban when I stopped to help an older lady with a flat. Struggled for half an hour trying to crank down the spare, couldn't hit the hole with the crank, couldn't even SEE the hole. Finally a stout young guy stopped and helped us out, he had one of the ultrabright new flashlites that allowed us to get the crank in where it belonged. Vehicle was stopped on the gravel on a sharp grade, made things interesting trying to jack it up. Neither one of us would have got the job done without reading the directions in the owners manual, tools were hidden in some very hard to find nooks and crannies.
I will admit that the jacks and lug wrenches that are in modern cars ( if you get one as most cars are w/o spares) are evidently designed by millennial engineers that have no idea what they are for. You get some 1/2 azzed folding handle about 10" long that is suppose to serve as both jack handle and lug wrench. The shallow socket end fits the lugs so loosely that they just want to slip off or round the lugs. The scissor jack is a completely useless piece of crap that takes 20 minutes to get the vehicle off he ground and the crank is setup so you get a 3/4 turn and then have to take it off and reposition it for ground clearance. Last time I used one if the engineer that designed that thing had been within reach the proctologist would still be looking for that lug wrench . The most pathetic piece of design engineering I've seen in a long time.
If I never have to change another tyre I will be well pleased as it seems that every one I have changed to now has been whilst bogged to the arse in mud, or I am sitting in the middle of a paddock full of box-thorn with both of my spares on already.
Kids car sounds like it has a fuel filter issue. It's on top of the gas tank so we'd have to drop the tank some. This is the kid that needs a heart/lung transplant so I'm doing all the work. It's pushing 100 degrees and the only place we have to work on it is out on the concrete driveway. He leaves tomorrow for Stanford medical center for his first operation towards getting him strong enough to survive the hopefully upcoming transplant. He wants to work on his car today so it's running when he gets back. I want to take it and drop it off at the mechanics because I'm fricken tired from working my azz off all week in 100 degree weather. In fact, I'm tired from working like a dog for 30 years.
Does not wanting to deal with it make me a bad step-dad?
Our kids would think us just as pathetic if they heard all the bellyaching about losing photobucket and needing to learn a new format. The epitome of lazy! All adults want to do is sit in their easy chair with the massager going and the neck support forward and mindlessly plug the same things in over and over! Won't even make the effort to learn a new program, while they sit there!!
Take it to the mechanic if you want. Sheesh....free country.
That was all tongue in cheek, I'm rummy I'm so beat up. The boys car is going to the mechanics with no apologies. My point is we do the best we can, pick and choose our battles, (and that is a big one), and hope they pay attention enough to learn from us.
Take it to the mechanic if you want. Sheesh....free country.
That was all tongue in cheek, I'm rummy I'm so beat up. The boys car is going to the mechanics with no apologies. My point is we do the best we can, pick and choose our battles, (and that is a big one), and hope they pay attention enough to learn from us.
I notice you never answered the question about disclosing Flave's real name publicly, and notice you're still here anyway...you should have been banned [
I'm mechanically inept myself, oh I can do the easy things, change starter, front end parts, tie rods, ball joints that sorta stuff and have had my boys help me do some of it when I'd have preferred to take it to a mechanic, but it's stuff my boys need to know how to do.
the oldest is semi competent, the younger one reminds me of me at that age, clueless. Neither my grandad who I spent the most time or my dad who I spent less time with were mechanical either.
my SIL is a top notch mechanic, knew my girl was smarter than her momma
![[Linked Image]](http://www.shreeramcotton.com/images/_cache_1_BingImages_12275.png)
It's both scary and downright embarrassing how much catching up a lot of young adults need to learn just to get through the basics in life. If they ever can.
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/hrVwKN6.jpg)
![[Linked Image]](http://i.imgur.com/hBDOBzu.jpg)