I've got to ask a question here....This has been on my mind for some time as I'm dumbfounded by the pussification of American men. How many of you don't have the mechanical aptitude to change your own oil in a piece of machinery or learn some new skill? The skill can be anything from carpentry, welding, reloading, etc. I know of some men that have no aptitude for learning for themselves and just lean on other. I just don't get it....

Mom and Dad always taught me to learn it myself if I didn't know how to do it. This seems to be a lost art anymore. To me, it's not a question of not having the money, it's about the journey of life and learning something new.

I'm currently working on a fourth language.

Interpreting Stick's posts.

Makes Japanese seem like child's play.

Different people have aptitudes for different skills.

New cars these days don't have a spare. Millennials don't know how to change a tire they just call road service on their Iphone.

Good way to put it.

Willy G......

LOL!!!

I make sure my stuff is really broke before I'll bring it to someone to fix.

Today, I was reminded to rejoice in that fact that my aptitudes don't include the Pan Flute.

Very true.

After your doctor has put in a long day at the clinic, do you want him spending whatever spare time he may have reading to keep up with the latest research or techniques, or out in his shop making or fixing stuff, especially when he can afford to pay somebody who needs the work to do it?

Mechanical skills are worthy of respect, but no more than many other abilities.

Paul

Well the first skills should be how to feed yourself and change a tire

I have a nephew like this.

I can put plumbing and AC in a hundred story building, weld and build all kinds of junkie cshit, operate all kinds of excavators ( can’t do much with a dozer ), but I can’t do anything with computers. I don’t like small things with little parts. I soon take a hammer to something small if it give me trouble. Wifey puts all the kids toys or anything like that together, cause she likes it and I hate that crap.

It’s a good thing some people like the things I can’t do. I liked changing brakes and clutches at one time. I won’t hardly touch an automobile now.

The cardiologist that put in my heart stent loves to do plumbing. I walked into a Menards store, there he was laying out 4" plastic drain pipe fittings. My mouth must have fallen open, he looked, and said, "We're plumbers".

Despite all the hollering from many about "dirty jobs" that pay a lot...the oil patch comes immediately to mind as something that pays relatively high wages for blue collar skills, what jobs pay the most? Mechanicking, oil patch, carpenter, etc. pay relatively high wages until they don't. Many require quite a bit of strength as well as skills and though the skills may or may not diminish, the strength always does. Unless you can move up into management or make a helluva lot more than most and bank it away, you are screwed when you get older. The jobs that pay the most are white collar and require college, not trades. Plumbing and electric, stuff like that...always have been in demand in the modern world and pay fairly well if you can avoid getting hurt.

Stuff that paid well and allowed you to have a modicum of being your own boss, like doctors and vets...even those have been herded into working for somebody else instead of yourself. We are seeing right now what the .gov and its owners think of small and medium businessmen.

All that said, if you don't make much money at your day job, you can save a lot by just being handy and smart enough to figure stuff out on your own.

Not only men, women as well.

Doctors only have two models to work on, which haven't changed in thousands of years, and they get to bury their mistakes. I definitely don't want my doctor messing with my car! He only gets the chance to kill me on the very rare occasions I get sick enough to visit his office- - - - -I'm betting my life on my mechanic's work every time I turn the steering wheel or step on the brakes. I just hope my mechanic doesn't find out that I'm sleeping with his wife! Wait a minute- - - - -we're both the same person! I've been doing my own car repairs for over 60 years!
Jerry

True. Some people are f.ucking idiots also.

Every man should know how to;

Build a home
Rebuild an engine
Cook a meal
Process a deer, elk , cow etc...
Wire an outlet
Cut and chop wood
Built a fire in the rain forest
Shoot a rifle & handgun
Fix the plumbing
Treat a lady with respect
Treat a whore with little respect
Change a diaper
Read a contract
Negotiate a deal


These things aren't exclusive to the blue collar crowd.......

You sound like a girl.

Probably like most here, I'm not dependent on others for most stuff I need to get done.

But, just because I've learned something and done it (at least well enough to get by), doesn't mean at 45 years old it's worth my time or aggravation to keep doing it.

I am NOT painting my own house exterior. Ever. Again. I have no desire to be 35 feet up on scaffold.

I also leave carpet to the professionals. Same, concrete.

Sometimes doing it myself and learning it is part of the challenge and makes a project fun. Other times, I just want it friggin' done, like, YESTERDAY, and I will pay to make the problem go away pronto.

(I do want to learn to weld though. I've never done it because I've just never had a need, but looks like fun.)

Yeah...it's got to be REALLY broke before I call someone or take it to be fixed!

I met a dentist and a PhD biologist who did a bit of construction work and liked it so much that they changed careers, and were very successful in the construction business. The biologist said that if you take a scientific approach to building things and running a business, it works very well. It did for him.

Paul

I here ya. My wife had to show one of the "men" at her office how to jump start a car.

Some are good at singing for their supper, some are good at cooking it.

My cardiologist (and another fellow campfire member’s cardiologist) is a helluva woodworker. And he remains quite the heart transplant surgeon here. I can certainly see someone in that job needing such a hobby to depress!

An excellent post! I get tired of people valuing their own skills over those of others. For some reason there seems to be a need to denigrate those who do not possess the skills of the person doing the judging. Perhaps this is out of some sense of insecurity?

My dad was born in 1923 and grew up on a farm during the depression. People then had all the time in the world, and no money. It was worth the effort to spend hours repairing stuff. Today I have more money, but a lot less time, and the time I have is more valuable. There are a lot of things that I can do. But choose not to do. Instead of spending hours repairing a $10 item its more economically feasible to trash it and buy another.

There are a lot of things that I do, but it's cheaper for me to pay someone else to do the work on others. I do still change my own oil. Mostly because I don't trust anyone else to do it right. And I do a lot of my own home repairs. In the last month I installed a new gas water heater, cut out and replaced a leaking section of hot water line under the house. I paid an electrician to fix an electrical problem, but I repaired the sheetrock that had to come down to get to the problem.

I can't weld worth a crap though. I've tried to learn, but that just isn't for me.

Good list.

I'd add:
Garden/grow food
Basic first aid/CPR
Sew
Know at least a handful of basic knots, and know when to use them

Another excellent post!

Can I change oil? Yes. Do I like to? No. Not my thing, not a gear head, never was. I agree in that people should know how to do things in case of emergency. Same as changing tires, plumbing, reformatting a hard drive or sharpening a chainsaw.

Guess Im a wuss, I have my oil changed at the dealership while I wander the lot and look at new trucks

Think for a moment, all it takes for something as simple as waking in a warm house, flipping the light switch, getting dressed, and making coffee.

If everyone was like me, I wouldn't be special.

The world needs highly specialized talents, and jack-of-all trade folks.

Was concerned but after reading that list think have gotten all bases covered. Feeling good.

That doesn't mean I plan to head to the rain forest without matches.

.......and perhaps naval lint.

With all of the“how to” tutorials on the innanet there is no excuse for not learning how to do anything within reason.

we had a different approach when I was a kid

if you're broke, you don't have a choice.

You want to drive your POS car over to your gf's house then you better learn to change the clutch out in the driveway

paying someone else to do it is what people who had money did

now its just part of who I am. I want to try it to see if I can do it.

but someone wants a professional to do it, I don't begrudge them. They just prioritize their money differently.

No doubt!

Pan flute, or skin flute?
LOL!

willy G went to the Honda dealer to the worlds smallest funnel for his dipstick

Another "working class hero" thread. Why should I learn to do something distasteful to me if I can earn enough money to hire a pro to do it?

I change the oil in my lawn mower but my car? Yuck!

I'm in agreement with most of that list, but I think, in this day and age, you could take "Rebuild an engine" off. Unless it's for rebuilding an otherwise unobtainable original engine for a restoration, it makes no sense. First, engines last so long now the average person who takes decent care of his vehicle will never need to replace/rebuild the engine. If you did have such a need, it would make a lot more sense to just swap it out for a crate engine.

Willy G paid the nissan dealership to put a battery in his truck. they broke it off in his asssssssssss


Then he paid midsouth Honda to put in starter in his Foreman wheeler when all he needed was a battery

They nailed him for a battery and a starter

Oh well learn how to use a volt meter

Stupidity is painful

Showrooms are built by willy G types


LAUGHING

Sure illegal Mexicans will do it for really cheap..... and your women will stand in admiration.... hahahahaha

I made a living working in a mantainance department so I am able to do a lot of my own repairs. I can do a lot of my own repairs on the house, vehicles, boats ect, Many times though, depending what it is, I will hire it out because what will take an expert say a day to do, might take me a week. Then there is murphy's law that seems to come into play many times. Sometimes the job just plain sucks and even though I could do it, I don't want to.

True enough, the bigger point is the ability to rebuild it means you have complete hands on knowledge of what makes it tick.

It's the same in all western democracies. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that we earn more money and have more comfortable lives than our forebears did. I know I'm guilty of not teaching my two sons, when they were younger, many of the skills that my father taught me. He grew up in the great depression of the thirties and went through WWII and didn't waste anything much.

It's just easier to pay someone to mow your lawns or service your car when if it's out of warranty.

I was thinking about just this topic this weekend. My son Jake is in high school. His girlfriend has a sister who's car battery died Saturday. Her boyfriend, a civil engineering student in college, didn't know what to do with the car. So, they call my son (her dad is out of town). My son goes over, tried to jump start and battery was too far gone. Pulls it, takes it to auto parts store where he discovers the battery had been bought there and gets it replaced for free under warranty. Returns and puts it on, bingo the car starts.

I was proud of him. Her dad was too.

I will say that, now that I'm older with more discretionary cash, there are a lot of things that just aren't worth it for me to do. Not that I couldn't do it, I just don't HAVE TO now.

Do your own colonoscopy?

I know people who break it by trying to fix it

Damn right, well said.

Got the ‘merit badges’ for all those, and a degree and career in geospatial analysis.

28 teeth too

And I’m not even a logcutter.


But I did that today too, so.....that nips that in the bud.

👍😀

I have enough to worry about to take time and criticize other fellows skill set. Or lack there of.

Just look in the mirror for example #1.

I knew a urologist in Norman, Oklahoma that did his own vasectomy.

Sound wisdom.

Or save one's own soul.

That takes balls.....

Have built 3 different 383 Mopar engines, 3 small blocks, 318,349,360

Rebuilt my 2.2 in my s-10 twice,

I don’t count engine and tranny swaps, don’t count the ones I’ve helped buds with.

None us have those mr goodwrench patches either.



Have two does hanging in the garage at the same every valve is bent in the head of your work truck, got a college chemistry exam next evening....

What to do, what to do....foucking sack up and pull an all-nighter

Big, swingin’ furry ones.

Can you do your own colonoscopy, son? Please show Wabi.

When changing oil on small engines, the vacuum style oil extractors that draw the old oil out of the dip-stick orifice sure are handy. Lawn mowers, snow-blowers, ATV's, 4-stroke outboards, etc typically have 0 thought put into draining the used oil. They usually just get oil all over the place making a big mess. The vacuum extractors use a straw down the dip-stick hole and build vacuum with either a hand-pump or compressed air. The oil is drawn into a graduated container so you know you got it all out before re-filling w/fresh stuff.

Well worth the ~$80 to get rid of small-engine oil-change mess.

Carpenter\Brain Surgeon here.

i can tie almost any pair of shoes. the velcro ones are a little challenging though.

Thanks Horse, never heard of that. Do they sell them at harbor freight?

I might start changing the oil on my small engines now.

No, I'm not being facetious.

I believe oneself is the only one that can.

Nobody can do that for you.

I bet I can still roll a excellent J bar.....
Many just cant..
Fumble fingers and schit, mostly fancy looking pipe smokers
overcompensating for their lack of doobie rolling skills.


Like riding a bike ....
Once ya learn ya never forget.

One thing missing off that list.

Sewing!

Go ahead, laugh! I find it helluva lot more useful than changing a diaper.

All men need to know how to use a needle and thread.

.

I don't exactly see it that way but you are correct with the "working class hero" part....

The way I look at it is a guy needs to have done all that is mentioned so far in this thread but thinking he needs to DO all these things himself will forever limit his ability to accomplish very much in life.

There just aren't enough hours in a day and a Jack of all trades will most always prove to be a master on none.

Agreed..... I sew leather as in knife sheaths and holsters.... a good skill to have.

My list is a starter list feel free to add to it!

yeah, well 1.5 bedsheets don’t count.

I’ll get us a pack of 1.0 let’s see them hammered sausages negotiate a ‘pinner’

Barry, you know that is not so. Do I have to turn "Pastor" lose on you?

Schittttttt....

Rice paper..........

LOL!!!

One of the most important things a man, can do, is treat his wife well. It's the best for the children's, and sets the best example to his sons.

Kinda look like Bobby Heinlein’s list. LOL! Yes I sew lots of leather too!

Yep I know exactly what you mean. I work with some 20 -35 year olds that are what I call "stupid" .

Man, I love like an older brother...but you suck at growing your own dope

LOL

Insert the word Grow anytime the word Fight is used...
LOL!!!

Nobody showed me diddly.
Had to do my own stuff to save money.
And being a borderline perfectionist....I want to do it once and have it right. Half assing stuff doeant cut it.

Time is valuable and there's hunting and fishing to do.

I can afford to have stuff done these days. Still pisses me off to pay somebody else to do what I used to.

But bones n chit dont heal like they used to.
I can work overtime in the plant for easier money and pay somebody to do the hard stuff.

Auto work is about done now w my back and arm screwed up. Was gonna lift my Jeep over the shutdown, but had to not use arm to see if itd heal.

So.....did damn near nothing for two months.

And that's a good way to say that.

A man needs to be able to tell a woman he loves her....

If he is successful at that endeavor she will surely feed him....

Agree.
I can weld, have decent carpentry and mechanical skills, used to work on cars some. But I don’t look down on guys that are not skilled in those areas. The need for lots of skills that use older guys picked up back in the day, has decreased quite a bit.

Separate out "can do", versus "best use of my time." I "can do" most of my own automotive work. However, better use of my time to hire out the automotive work and make $$$'s on my day job... As noted above, if it was Depression Era, and I had all the time in the world to do the job, yeah, I would be doing it myself. However, at the moment, better to hire it done...

Went to my uncle’s house yesterday to eyeball some trees he wants to drop.

Got to talking, about the smokehouse. He said the same day he and my aunt got married, him, the old man and another uncle butchered 8 hogs, salted 16 hams and 16 shoulders

Told that womern to get busy with the cracklins

When I was a kid my dad couldn't keep me out of his tools.

I can plant crops, I can't fly a jet.

Those of us who grew up before computers take for granted a lot of basic mechanical skills. Who DIDN'T know how to change a tire, change the oil, set the timing, bleed the brakes, adjust the clutch, change the plugs, fix simple plumbing and electrical problems around the house etc etc That a lot of people still do these things is evident at your local Home Depot or AutoZone store.

But, since the rise of the internet, and computers, and software, and computer games, a lot of younger guys are helpless as girls out there when it comes to hands-on fixing stuff, or as noted even change a tire.

When I was a kid my dad couldn't keep me out of his tools.

Half the guys on here can't even pick out their own:
Truck
Rifle (or caliber)
Rifle scope
ATV
Generator
Bicycle


No surprise their kids can't change a tire or vehicle battery.

Someone's gotten pretty liberal with handing out the man cards

That's not it at all. Before you assume, maybe know your audience. I'm college educated; I work in healthcare in and I'm still interested in things that aren't my specialty. The point of this thread isn't about trades and blue collar vs. white collar. It's about having the interest to learn something outside of your normal skill set and having the gumption to try something new. I'm not recommending someone become a GI specialist as Wabigoon mentioned but to use tools are their disposal to make attempts at learning something new. I see it as those that have a can do attitude and others that are just plain lazy. Oh yeah, I don't always change my own oil in the car. However, I've done it in the past and have the knowledge based on past experience....Some have never attempted it as one example.

More like his women will bend over and take it up the ass in admiration.

How many have someone else mount their scopes? Should've started with that question.

How about the blue collar guy who becomes a self-taught historian?

Does he also get points for learning something outside his skill set?

Paul

Absolutely!

Some have others" zero" their rig for em too.
And pay people to clean their guns for em also.
Their "Smithy"....


Pitiful mutha fugga,s.............

I like a doc who can turn a wrench.

The surgeon who did my gall bladder, appendix, and hernia repair grew up on a dairy farm. And IIRC, cut logs for a sawmill. At one point, had business cards printed on cherry veneer. Down to earth. I like him. I trust him.

Really aren't men are they?

Thats to bad, I admire a man that can play the Pan Flute.

I can do a lot more than I want to do. That’s where money comes in. Anything electrical, however, and I reach for the phone.

As a drug rep, I used to be permitted to take doctors fishing. Drift boat down the river for trout, ocean boat for bottom fish, salmon, crab, etc. In the clinic I was in their kingdom, and was treated accordingly. Often, not so well. On the water, mo-fo, you’re in my world. You want to catch fish or just go for a boat ride? Great, then do what I tell you and we’ll load the boat. Going for a ride is fine, too, if you want to do it your way. Up to you.

I took one doc down my favorite river, fishing dry flies for trout, main fly and a dropper, some fish up to 16”, which is pretty respectable. He was great to row for, knew how to cast and follow directions. He caught close to 75 fish on that trip, with several doubles.

I always enjoyed the first sales call post-fishing trip. The level of respect changed dramatically.





P

While not pitting blue collar against white collar, this thread does exhibit the usual trend of placing manual skills above other skills. Manual skills are very valuable, as are (for want of a better term) non-manual skills. I believe that both are valuable and the world is a better place for having people who are skilled in both areas. Seems to me that there is much more snobbishness (again, for want of a better word) on the part of the manual skills side than on the non-manual skills side. If you don't agree with that assessment, please go back and read through the whole thread. Whichever skill set (manual or non-manual) in which a person is most comfortable, I think that it would benefit him to branch out and try other things both inside and outside of that skill set.

You sound like a fa gg ot. Go figure.

Admitting you have a problem is the first step. Congratulations.

Look who the cat dragged in. The guy with the water feature skill.

Reminds me of the butcher your own steer thread. Yeah, right - every real man should be able to process a beef and have it look like it just came from the meat market.

Another campfire dick measuring contest.

There is a legit gripe with a guy who lets his girlfriend change the battery in his Jeep because she doesn’t want him to pay a shop to do it. It happened to my youngest, and she dumped his sorry azz. She is still looking for a serious guy, because, as she told me, she wants a man who can fix and build things. Kid was helping me on the roof at 11, butchering chickens at 12(as well as helping with the processing on hogs, deer and cattle), learned to clean her own drains at thirteen. Damn long hair clogs them quick, and I did it once, made her watch, and she got to do it after that. Girl can fix more stuff than most of the guys she has dated and works in the operating room at the local hospital. The country is in a pitiful place, fellas.

Big problem is most folks these days see learning as work. And work as something to be avoided. Learning is opportunity. I never turned down a chance to learn something, even if it was dangerous or dirty. Had a lot of jobs, a decent amount of schooling, and done things a lot of folks have to pay through the nose to learn. Never spent much time unemployed, far more time trying to keep up with what people were asking for. Only thing ever held me back was finding help that wanted to work and was willing to learn.

That leaves you out.

Do you have to take a dump in every thread you enter outside of the Savage subforum?

If I want to I sure will.

Thanks for caring.

I haven't "inhaled" in over 30 years but know I can still twist one.

I occasionally borrow the tabacky and a paper from a friend just to keep in practice. Don't smoke them, just hand them back.

I can still roll backwards too.

It's like riding a bike.

Fugging doped up Boomers.....

Stupid premise. Did you ever consider there are skills that you don't possess, and haven't had the fortitude to learn them? It cuts both ways.

Not no more bro.

Not no mo'

Know of a couple men in there mid 60’s who lost their wives to illness recently. Neither can cook, handle a checking account or figure out how to run a household...

The simplest of tasks, going to a grocery store gave them both worries...No shît.

Women are great, but if you can’t manage the basics - feeding yourself. Then you’re an idiot.

😎

Pop tarts

Hot pockets

Pizza rolls

all three meals of the day...................covered.

Maybe change it up a bit with some Vee ainy sausages and some them Sketti-oes

You been hanging with Slummy??

You'll meet a LOT of guys like that in reenacting.

Applies to every era but Civil War reenactors immediately come to mind.

Fugg no, I don't eat that crap. I can cook. I even post pics in the food threads at times.

Well, perhaps the occasional Pop tart.........I have a sweet tooth. And they are convenient. I think the last one I had was on a tug, and I haven't been on a boat since summer '17.

Hot pockets suck, mystery meat filled into some sort of bad dough.

Pizza rolls???? My Sicilian grandpa would come out of his grave and travel 3000 miles to kick my ass.

I was kidding, of course. Can't blame a guy for an occasional pop-tart. I like the little gem chocolate donuts from the gas station, LOL.

For me, life is too short to eat crap food. I've got 2 big octopus legs I am sous vide'ing tomorrow that get sliced and goes into a lightly dressed celery leaf salad with marinated gigante beans and green olives. One of may favorite appetizers (discovered at "Echo and Rig" in Henderson, NV)

Leave out them beans and I'd be right over.

I love octopus.

Things change as to what a guy can "do nowadays", vs decades ago....

When a car tuneup was just points, plugs, rotor and condenser and a timing light, almost anybody could learn how to do that...

Nowadays, people don't have the ability to fully maintain their own car because of all the sophisticate diagnostic equipment needed $$$$$$$ in order to work with the computers/controllers.

That's why the work I do nowadays is
hunting
fishing
crabbing
prawning
golfing
boating

The other stuff I'll just buy or pay for the service.

Love that chit. I've found that sous vide low and long followed by a REALLY hot char makes it the most *tender*, smokey, charry (if that's a word) octopus - you can cut through it with a folk.

Now I am hungry.

Thomas Jefferson was once asked that since he believed a citizen had a right to be educated,at public expense, in useful knowledge—what constituted ‘useful knowledge’.
Jefferson replied that ‘useful knowledge’ consisted of 5 things
1) a Man should know how to build his own house.
2) a Man should know how to build his own boat
3) a Man should know how to plant and harvest his own vegetables and grain.
4) a Man should know how to raise livestock and butcher same
5) a Man should know how to hunt and fish

my latest new endeavors. I started making homemade bread 3 yrs ago. We went about 2 years without buying any bread at all. Also make homemade pasta that is awesome.

Bought a lathe and many other tools and make bowls, vases, and other stuff. Also make some tables occasionally.

I care infinitely more whether a man has character than if he has particular skills. I don't have much use for a friend who can fix his own car if he isn't honest. If I raise my son to be able to do everything for himself, but he is a bully or a liar, then I will have failed.

A scan tool is not expensive vs the price of a new car.

2 to 4 thousand compared to 30,000 dollars for the car?

What did a VAT 40 used to cost compared to a 77 Caprice?

I told my kids and grandkids to go to school and get a great job. Pay some other poor bastard to do the hard labor. Playing with cars and lumber is way better than having to do it. Ed k

That is a great post!

I feel the same way!

Skills you need have changed. Build your own house, butcher your own food? If you live in a city, good luck with that.

Many of the "old" skills that were required were replaced by businesses. Building a house for example. Hunting/fishing replaced by food industry.

there are however some basic things you should know how to do to just "live":

- Cook basic food.
- Clean
- Laundry
- Treat your family right and raise good kids

When it comes to change a tire, YES, but as some pointed out, some new cars don't even have a spare. I must have married a good woman, she taught our sons to change a tire, when they were out and got a flat. Rather than call me, she taught our boys to change a tire.

Change oil? Easy to do, but then what do you do with the oil? Many places you can't do anything with it as it's considered hazardous waste.

When it comes to engine repair, the need has shrunk, cars run essentially FOREVER compared to past generations. Routine maintenance, can be had cheap and you have to figure if it's worth your time. I did repairs in college, then when married, then kids came along and between not having the time and things taking longer than I thought because of rusted/stuck parts, the frustration level grew and the desire to just pay someone grew. I did teach kids to do the maintenance, but they quickly ran into the "what do I do with old oil, transmission fluid, break fluid etc". When we do have a place to take it, it's worth it. My 23 year old son came home depressed, Honda wanted about $400 to do routine "required" fluid replacements. I asked him if he had $100 and an hour. So the next weekend we were under his car doing oil, transmission and break fluids. He was shocked how easy it was. Told him if you have the time and the ability (tools and disposal), all this can be found on YouTube.

Equally important skills these days:
- Finding things on the internet
- remove virus from computer
- Basic IT for backups to save family photos etc

for those "old school" gear heads, can you swap out hard disk, increase computer memory, trouble shoot an internet connection?

Sure is. Thanks, John.

Paul

July 11 , 1983 for me.
Can still twist one up.
Just like the tobacco example you stated.

JC just mad cause he didnt grow up in the late 60,s thru early 80,s.
He woulda been a party dog right their with any of us!!!


Lol!!!

Bet you be rolling them pregnant lookin spliffs. :

Conrad Blutarsky

Change your campfire handle

If you’re able to follow instructions, you can go on the internet and figure out how to do about anything from changing a tire to building a nuclear reactor. Want to make some dish you liked at a restaurant? Look it up. Want to figure out what’s causing the noise in your central heating? Look it up. Want to figure out how to wire LED turn signals so they won’t blink too fast and pull cam bearings out of an 07 Dyna? It’s all there. I wish it had been that easy back in HS when I was laid out in the driveway underneath a 73 F250 trying to stab a 4 speed tranny back in and wondering where the 2 extra bolts were supposed to go.

No he wouldnt....
He would try a couple of em I bet outta a sense of curiosity.
Then experiment and make his own improved version.

LOL!!!

Palermo is pretty cool.
Spent 3 months their.
But their pizza sucks....
It really does......
I have ate pizza all over this planet.
The ones in Palermo were bad dude, I mean real bad.

Made German made pizza look good.

Only thing worse is arab pizza with ground goat meat paste smeared on flat bread with funky cheese from god knows what sprinkled on it.
Quick flash bake back in the outdoor stone oven.
Bon afuggingpetite......

Barf.............


Lol!!!

Nice and even dude
Nice and even...
Lol!!!

Skills.....

I want him in his shop, or in the garden growing tasty produce, or at the range shooting, so he can hit his birds or big game, or whatever. The worst docs I've seen are just that. Docs. No concept of life and living. Nothing to decompress. Life has to balance. You can't be the best at anything unless you balance with other things.

A very good point, too. Thanks. In my experience, docs aren't the most balanced group out there, but it's risky to overgeneralize. Come to think about it, it's true of a lot of overdriven types, seems to go with the territory.

Paul

Blue collar or white collar, I am amazed at people's lack of reading comprehension and or character.

Way too fuggin many act like women, get emotional and abandon logic.

And then they add more stupidity to defend their twat ish behavior.

There is a great metaphorical documentary about the Boomer generation, called Easy Rider that I highly recommend.

I love lamahjoon, Armenian pizza



Of course, the ones I have eaten don't conjure the memories you likely have. I had mine in SoCal.......not some place they were shootin' at me.

Not sayin' that shootin' stuff couldn't have happened, I just tended to stay outa those neighborhoods in SoCal

Yeah, some areas of Italy don't make pizza like CiCi's for sure. Some are pretty skimpy from what I've seen.

There is a great metaphorical documentary about the pre boomer generation called Lost Weekend that I highly recommend

1) a Man should know how to build his own house..................... Have built houses for others, so I'll give myself a........ Check

2) a Man should know how to build his own boat .................... One I'm still working on doing someday.

3) a Man should know how to plant and harvest his own vegetables and grain........................BTDT, still doing it as a matter of fact...........Check

4) a Man should know how to raise livestock and butcher same .................Do chickens count (and see below) ........Check

5) a Man should know how to hunt and fish................................... Aye Aye Captain............Check

I think that earned him a hall pass with GFs sister, especially since her boyfriend is too stupid to even google why a car won't start.

I was the same way. I would watch him work on cars but he never explained what he was doing. I was taking bicycle hubs apart to grease the bearings before I was 11. I still try to do as much work on my home and cars still. I just finished the valve covers and knock sensors on my sisters car. On a Toyota camry with a V6 you need to remover the intake plenum for the valve cover gaskets and to replace the knock sensors the the intake mani has to come off. I am thankful for my mechanical aptitude. There have been a few time recently when I paid to have work done. A radiator in my truck that was just a few days before my knee replacement. My wifes Buicks water pump. I looked that job up on Youtube and decided to pay. I don't usually mess with auto electric stuff. I looked up the job on youtube and decided to pay for that. I hate painting but I guess I will do it unless I need a ladder or scaffold.

My wife was out with some friends one day while I was at work and one of her friends daughter called looking for help with a flat. She was on a first date with some guy. Well, they went over there and since there was liquor involved in lunch, the guy got a little bit of a haircut over not knowing how to change a flat. Her mom slipped her her AAA card and said let him sweat a little. There was only one date. Her husband now can do anything and he is a really nice guy. He works for a local city's public works department.

I haven’t seen that one but will try to check it out.

Nominated for 7 Academy awards.

Won 4

I firmly believe in the nobility of labor. I feel noble when I call someone else to perform it.

Becoming financially independent through your own effort is a skillset that allows you to have a choice in how you spend your time and money. We are not all the same. Money is easy, time...not so much.


mike r

Some Boomers think that the best part of Easy Rider was the ending.


mike r

When discussing "Easy Rider", it is important to remember its mirror twin "Electra Glide in Blue".

I figure if Presidents can have stimulus programs, so can I.

I pay a friend to bring me firewood. All I have to do is split the rounds for exercise. Should I choose to, he'd bring it split and ready to burn. He has the saws, the big truck, access to the trees on private land.........why should I go buy a saw, chaps, etc and use my vehicle when he will do it and earn a living at it?

I do like to split it though.

Next week there will be a thread bragging about getting rich through wise choices and how only morons with no discipline or planning skills are poor.

That requires a thread? I thought it was common knowledge.
But I'm sure you are correct; this is the fire.

Good point.

Man, I love splitting wood. One of my favorite exercises.

My farm manager is a guy that can literally do anything. Grow anything, weld, fix any car, tractor, implement, run an excavator, plumbing, electric.

The biggest problem is that he CAN do anything. He gets bogged down in stuff and never has time to do it all. At least once a week he tells me "we can do that ourselves" and I respond with "but we don't have the time". We just put in an alarm system, and we bought it and hired someone to install it and show us how to use it. We just don't have the time to learn the details, bend conduit, or to pull wires 300'. Do what we do best, which is growing things. As a buddy of mine is fond of saying: "before you know it you are digging for iron ore because you need a screw driver".

Naw, it was the centerfolds..........Sometimes.

You know what I appreciate?

A man that can lay a good bead of caulk and make it looks as easy as cutting a fart.

Seems like everybody used to be able to do this. But not so much any more.

Yep, only absolutes allowed.


mike r

Yeah I can fugg some stuff up with a caulk gun and a new tube of caulk. Shhit is worse than cream style corn when it comes to gettin everywhere

I see what you did there.

Dave Mann had some good stuff printed in there.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-PRO-Caulk-Caulking-Tool-Kit-09125/100666143

Squeeze and move, squeeze and move!

Oh fugk you, California.

A man cuts and and goes.

I can do it.

Many can't.

Just being helpful in these exponential times.

My favorite feature of ER mag was the 'Brothers That Are Down' section. Kind of like felons r us. A demographic of losers and wannabees. On the other hand, the Freak Brothers cracked me up. The Anarchist Cookbook was more literate.


mike r

I can't carry a tune in a bushel basket, I enjoy good music.

If it ain't broke, I can fix that!

"As a buddy of mine is fond of saying: "before you know it you are digging for iron ore because you need a screw driver""

that's a good line, I'll use that at work

My idols are the men on that Mountain Man series on INSP channel. With some of the scripts (yes, must be scripted by Hollywood boys) have me laughing my ass off. But they can do anything. Anything at all.

There are so many different materials. Cheap stuff is easy to work with. You get something like high end RV sealant, it gets everywhere and you can't feel it on your skin.

Courtesy of the Freak Bros:

"It is better to have dope in times of no money than to have money in times of no dope"....

I can remember times in the late 60's in SoCal when there were "shortages".

Rat bike articles were my favorites in the ER mag..................than and some of the ladies.

JJ Solari was hilarious, I still use the term Park Lesbian he used in his description of a trip to Yosemite (??) 🙂

I get that quite a lot.

That, or having been born on third base and bragging that I hit a triple, or any of several variations thereof. Nothing wrong with being fortunate, it's conflating it with one's own merit that's a common character flaw.

Changing oil on a truck is a total waste of time. You just fill it up whenever it runs out. Everybody knows that.

Yes I used to be judgemental too, now I don't give a fuck.