People Who Taught You

This hotlinked image got me thinking:

Who were some of the people that taught you valuable skills growing up?

I know I learned a bunch of things from my dad. Probably two of the most important traits: not to be intimidated by a new challenge or project - that most things are within your skillset if you're willing to put in the time and effort, and to solve puzzles by working them in reverse. Back in the day, he made it my responsibility to upgrade the computers when they needed it. "Here's the new [something] card, and more memory. Go ahead and install them." And just kind of leave me to it. He taught me how to maintain a bike. Later I helped him finish building an airplane. He also made me get my pilots license, and although I don't fly anymore I've learned to navigate, expect the best but prepare for the worst, always keep an eye out for an emergency out, and that "There is not place you need to get to so urgently that it's worth killing yourself."

My grandfather taught me how to deal with people, shake hands, and schmooze.

In school, I think I learned more life skills in drama than any other class. I learned to speak in front of a group, and valuable skills like carpentry, painting, and operating high end light and sound equipment.

My dad - he was an electrician that fixed machinery, restored old cars, welded, did plumbing, built clocks to "relax" and also dabbled in home construction, cabinet making... pouring his own sidewalks... whatever. Even now, retired and in his 70s he does everything himself. He was laying a new stone tile floor in his kitchen when I stopped over to visit last week.

I am not nearly as talented as he - but I learned that it was possible to do anything yourself if you just planned it a little and then got started. The basic principles are all the same - you just have to learn to apply them to each new thing. And when I fail - I just call my dad

My Dad for sure. He can and has done anything from building a house, to rebuilding a car. He's retired and practically made out of money. Still changes his own oil, and always has a home project under construction or in the planning phase. The day he stops doing projects I know to start planning the funeral.

I spent this morning with my daughter helping her chang the oil in her car and getting it ready to go back to college tomorrow. Kind of bitter sweet.

Older neighbor across the hall named Dan. He saw my love of cars at a young age and showed me how to build a model '56 Chevy Nomad and we even built a Styrofoam glider which we launched from his balcony. He was patient and was one of the few male role models in my life that encouraged my technical/tomboy side. Thank you Dan.

I had to learn most of what I know on my own. It wasn't until I started working on cars with friends that I was comfortable pulling a motor or transmission, though.

I still do all of my own work on everything that I can, even things I hate, like AC work and fixing my lawn mower. I just don't like paying people to fix something when I am capable. I guess that's my teacher, cheapness.

Derick Freese wrote: I had to learn most of what I know on my own.

Same here. Unfortunately, my father has the mechanical aptitude of a turnip. And there have been times a turnip would have been more useful.

My grandfather on my mother's side was more able, but he wasn't much into DIY. Cars were simply appliances to him.

Dad, older neighbor down the street, trial and error...

Unfortunately, there are less and less things that can be taught now. Story time:
I recently bought an electric skillet from a garage sale. Brand is Dormeyer, made in Chicago. After a quick google search and finding an ad in a TIME magazine, I determined that it was made between 1957-1962. It was NEVER used, the thing is brand new. Came with a manual/cookbook. Now to the point that I want to make: On the back of this cookbook, there is a list of places to get the thing serviced. If it broke, you could get it fixed! They actually fixed things back then! Wow! Amazing.

Ian F wrote:

Derick Freese wrote: I had to learn most of what I know on my own.

Same here. Unfortunately, my father has the mechanical aptitude of a turnip. And there have been times a turnip would have been more useful. My grandfather on my mother's side was more able, but he wasn't much into DIY. Cars were simply appliances to him.

Same here. My grandfather on my mother's side was a true shade tree mechanic but he was unable to teach me anything. His health had faded too much by the time I got old enough.

My dad. I never saw a repair guy in the house, he fixed everything himself. He taught me a lot of those skills as well.

My dad taught me the basics of mechanical stuff, he was pretty handy. He showed me a LOT. Then the guy who handled maintenance and repair on my dad's rental properties showed me how to do plumbing, basic wiring, simple carpentry, how to replace window glass, all kinds of things that still come in handy to this day. Then the techs I have worked with over the years at various dealerships and shops (way too many to list here but thanks guys!) taught me a lot more. There was also a LOT of trial and error. Dammit.

Not all valuable skills involve using tools, you know I didn't learn anything mechanical from my dad, but I learned a lot of other things. Such as how to write, from simple exposure to lots of good writing. And a lot about the world outside our doorstep. Mostly, I was supported in the various things I wanted to do, even if it wasn't something that my parents did themselves. That worked out.

My grandfather taught me a lot about electronics. And also indirectly taught me about the long view. I noticed one day how old a lot of the stuff in his house was, but it all still worked. Not because it was constantly being repaired, but because he took that extra care in everything he did. For example, instead of slamming home the door on a tape deck, he closed it gently. Mechanical empathy on a small scale, but it meant that things just kept working.

Without getting too in depth or emotional, I never learned from anyone. I taught myself every single thing I ever learned outside of school. This has been both a terrible burden and an awesome skill to have.

I had the opposite, I had a lot of great teachers, Starting with My Dad. When we were kids he owned a 7up route. He inherited it when his father died unexpectedly and wih little money, a new wife and kid learned the business and grew it well. When we were besides his route he had to do most of the work on the truck, and alot of it was learn as you go. At the same time he helped a few friend work on race cars at our house, and stayed involved with us, which often meant I was going to work or races with him. He is also a teriffic wood worker, a skill I can't learn if my life depended on it. Besides working and us he is very involved with his church. We learned early on how lucky we were to have what we did and to look out for those who didn't. We spent time feeding homeless people and working on houses and churches for people who were not as well off as us. Besides the Mechanical stuff he taught me he always took time to make sure we were going to be good people as well. There are many other's I've been fortunate enough to try and learn from but having ten thumbs often means what I know in my head to do doesn't quite come out the same, atleast not the first three or four times.

I learned everything I know from cartoons.

Keith wrote: Mechanical empathy on a small scale, but it meant that things just kept working.

Not so much about who I learned stuff from (a lot from my dad, a lot from reading and trial and error), but I love the phrase "mechanical empathy". I picked it up from a coworker at the bicycle shop I used to wrench at.

Just thinking about what it is you're looking at/touching; what it does, what forces are acting on it, how it's made, and what it "likes" and doesn't. That frame of mind has done a huge amount for my relationship with all manner of mechanisms.

When will it shear, bind, buckle, crease, bend, strip? Developing a mental catalog of types of materials and constructions is a part of it.

My Dad was a glass blower, a dying breed that's technical vs art form. Creating a check valve inside a vacuum, the fine dance of glass to metal seals, engineer's desires against the real world.....

"The guy down the street charging $60/hour to fix your car has two hands and can read, how are you so different?"

http://www.knollslab.com/

At 80 years old, he can still stop me in my tracks with the look.

Dan

Dad is the carpenter and handyman. Soon as I was old enough I was #1 helper, installing porches, fences, roofing, pouring sidewalks etc.... while my buddies were still home watching cartoons on Saturday morning.

My grandfather taught me how to build something from nothing.. better read: junk. He'd haul his old junk to the scrapyard and come home w/ a E36 M3load of fresh junk for his next project. He built more gizmos and gadgets, mostly necessity from raising a family during the Depression. I really miss grandpa... and to think what he coulda done w/ a MIG welder. I think I inherited the drinking gene too .

Not one car guy, mechanic or welder in the family tho until me. Any of you guys here are extremely lucky to have car guy/ racer/ welder dads. I had to learn all this on my own and not until I was older.

Once in the workforce as an apprentice I took the best ideas from the journeymen and co-workers and put it all together to work for me as each one had their forte: layout, fabrication, troubleshooting etc. One of the best ideas from the old-timers tho: work w/ your brain first, not your back... make one move instead of five.

Zomby woof wrote: I learned everything I know from cartoons.

Seems plausible....

My dad taught me a ton - other stuff I just learned as I did it. Taking Metals I and Metals II as a 14 year old high school freshman pretty much took me down this path of working on all my mechanical stuff.

In our family it is "normal" to have a work bench in the garage and another in the basement. My B-I-L does nothing handy and claims it is because all they had was a small wet shoebox with a few rusty tools under a leaky sink in the kitchen.

My dad was a milrite at LTV steel in Cleveland. Every opportunity he got to take another class or get another welding certification he jumped on, even if he didn't need it for his job. I took notice of that and now every time i get a chance to learn something new or better myself i jump at it.

When i was 4 i was out in the garage with him putting a newer straight 6 in his 48 chevy in place of the broken 216. i remember how cool it was to go for a ride around the block when we were done, that's one of my earliest memories. Little did he know, he created a monster with an endless lust for building cars. I've never taken a car to a shop for anything but tires, an alignment(i did the last one myself though), and one windshield replacement. Plus it was really cool having a welder certified in all kinds of stuff in house to teach me how to weld properly, albeit after i had built my first roll cage.

I wouldn't know how to do anything on a car without my dad.

My mom taught me not to spend money all the time on lavish things, especially when you're a single parent raising a child. (she unknowingly did this if you get my drift ) She also taught me chores at a young age, so this helped out greatly later in life.

My grandfather taught me a massive appreciation to mother nature, all it's creatures, and to not take advantage of it, because it's always going to come and bite you back in the ass. He also taught me how to drive on a tractor and showed me how to take care of plants and trees.

For my grandmother showing me what patience is and also how to cook.

If I had paid attention I might have learned how to do some home repairs like painting and wallpapering from my folks...my Mom was never happy with the walls in any house we lived in.

My father knows next to nothing about cars, which is sort of surprising since he grew up on a farm and learned to drive on a horse-drawn wagon, then a tractor, then a pre-WWII Chevy truck. It's like as soon as he left the farm the part of his brain that knows cars, died. They all just became boxes for transporting the family to him.

I do REALLY simple appliance repairs from reading books.

integraguy wrote: They all just became boxes for transporting the family to him.

Funny, that. A friend of mine's first car was a Triumph 2500 saloon with a manual transmission, then a TR-7. Shortly afterwards, a late model automatic Mitsubishi econobox. Like, wtf happened there.

No one in my family is particularly mechanically minded, nor as fanatical about cars as me. My Dad taught me oil changes and basic maintenance, but that's about where his DIY savvy stops.

Oddly enough, I learned just about everything from the internet....and I'm not saying that to be a wiseass. I love my dad, but he never taught my brother or I that stuff. It wasn't that he didn't know it, he just chose to do other stuff with us.

I'm not a master mechanic, but I can do a fair amount. Yet when I graduated college, i couldn't change my own oil. I've self taught myself with the help of the internet, and a general lack of fear of taking stuff apart. I taught myself because If I wanted a race car, I knew I'd have to fix it myself. Same goes for our house. When we bought it, I didn't know a thing. I can now, do electrical, frame stuff, drywall and basic plumbing. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a good excuse to buy tools.

While the internet taught me, I also had to learn from a lot of mistakes along the way, which could have been avoided with a more experienced person to learn from. Hoping my son can learn from me.

Keith wrote: Not all valuable skills involve using tools, you know

Very true.

Best things I learned from my dad weren't specific work skills, but the basic tools of how to tackle a new problem or new challenge.