"The Bible is a remarkable fountain: the more one draws and drinks of it, the more it stimulates thirst."
- Martin Luther
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Popular Mechanics has a list of the 25 Skills Every Man Should Know: Your Ultimate DIY Guide. It's updated to include some computer/web related skills that manly men need in today's world. According to the folks at PM, you ought to be able to:
1. Patch a radiator hose (Check)
2. Protect your computer (Check)
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized (I guess. I've never rescued someone who's capsized, but I've spent some time on the boat and I know better than to jump in after a drowning guy.)
4. Frame a wall (Check)
5. Retouch digital photos (Not interested. My wife does all the photo stuff.)
6. Back up a trailer (Check, although interestingly, my wife is better at this than I am.)
7. Build a campfire (Check. But who actually does it the old-fashioned way?)
8. Fix a dead outlet (Check)
9. Navigate with a map and compass (Check)
10. Use a torque wrench (Check)
11. Sharpen a knife (Check)
12. Perform CPR (Never been trained in it, so unless what you see from watching TV counts, then no.)
13. Fillet a fish (Check. But it's just not worth it.)
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid (Check. But knowing how to do it and actually being able to execute in the moment are two different things.)
15. Get a car unstuck (Unstuck from what? I'll say check.)
16. Back up data (Check. The irony is that I lost the first incarnation of this post about 3 sentences in when my browser froze.)
17. Paint a room (Check)
18. Mix concrete (Check)
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle (Oh yeah, baby.)
20. Change oil and filter (Check)
21. Hook up an HDTV (Considering I don't own one, I'll have to say no. But how hard could it be?)
22. Bleed brakes (Nope)
23. Paddle a canoe (Check. But does this really qualify as some kind of special skill? Who doesn't know how to paddle a canoe?)
24. Fix a bike flat (Check)
25. Extend your wireless network (Would this be anything more than buying and installing the relevant hardware, of which there are several types? I've never done it, but I'm not sure how it counts as some critical skill. Setting up a wireless network would make more sense here.)
The above link takes you to the list, and this link takes you to a skill-by-skill descriptive breakdown of the list so you can make up for your shortcomings. How do you measure up?
This list seems deficient in a lot of ways. Of course it's a PM list, but a little more balance to what makes up a skilled man would be nice. I'd be happy to hear suggestions in the comments.
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Comments on "Mad Skillz":
2. Alan
- 10/03/2007 9:29 pm CDT
Do you think that says something about the list? I think it might.
Also, a lot of the stuff on the list might sound intimidating, like cleaning a bolt-action rifle. But it's really pretty intuitive, and once you've handled a bolt-action rifle for two minutes, you've pretty much got it down. They are all basically variations on a theme.
Similarly with mixing concrete, it's not rocket science. If you've been exposed to it once, it's simple. That's why concrete guys get paid so little to work so hard.
3. Bird
- 10/03/2007 10:31 pm CDT
The one that seems incongruous to me is the one about retouching digital photos.
4. De
- 10/03/2007 10:36 pm CDT
This is a bit depressing, since I'm in middle-aged man demo and am supposed to know everything. I'm going to count some of these as yes if I've ever done them (not that I remember what I did). Hope that's ok.
1. Patch a radiator hose (Have done. Actually, I've replaced them, so maybe I haven't done)
2. Protect your computer (Darn straight. The best protection? Don't use windows (you don't see me installing virus software on my Mac or Ubuntu). But I've done my share of installing virus and spyware software on my wind'ohs machine too. And it works. I use the free stuff - real geeks don't spend money on virus protection)
3. Rescue a boater who has capsized (I like to think I could do this but I'd probably just end up capsizing myself)
4. Frame a wall (Never done it)
5. Retouch digital photos (Yep)
6. Back up a trailer (I can barely drive forward, let alone backward. But I've done this)
7. Build a campfire (Don't you just soak it in unleaded gasoline, and then light a match, making sure you're face is real close to the wood to make sure you get fire-accuracy?)
8. Fix a dead outlet (Never done, but I think I could. I've fixed dead electric guitar cables before. Does that count?)
9. Navigate with a map and compass (Sometimes I get lost in my own house)
10. Use a torque wrench (I think I know how to do this. Don't have occasion very often, though)
11. Sharpen a knife (I have done this)
12. Perform CPR (I was trained in it years ago. Plus I've seen ER)
13. Fillet a fish (I'm too manly to do that. I just eat them raw, right off the hook. . .
. . .
not really. I have no idea how to do this. Isn't it just "knife goes in, guts come out"?)
14. Maneuver a car out of a skid (Steer into the skid, right?)
15. Get a car unstuck (This I have done)
16. Back up data (Absolutely)
17. Paint a room (Sure. Not well, but I can paint the heck out of a room if I put my mind to it)
18. Mix concrete (Have done)
19. Clean a bolt-action rifle (I am not sure I've ever even touched a bolt-action rifle. I'm a gun-idiot)
20. Change oil and filter (Yep)
21. Hook up an HDTV (Same answer as you. I can generally hook up anything)
22. Bleed brakes (I've done this before, but I'd have to read the manual.)
23. Paddle a canoe (Yep)
24. Fix a bike flat (Like actually patch the tire? Haven't done)
25. Extend your wireless network (I've got a wireless network with machines from three different OS families (Vista, Mac OS X and Ubuntu) talking to eachother. I'm all over this one)
5. Stacy
- 10/04/2007 12:38 am CDT
Doesn't it seem like knowing how to gut a fish would be more important than knowing how to fillet one? And I agree, the photo one seems out of place.
6. Milly
- 10/04/2007 1:28 am CDT
Alan,
You are welcome to join my family Saturday for a fish fry to see why you fillet a fish.
You don't need to gut them if you fillet them
BTW
I've done eighteen of those things.
7. Shrode
- 10/04/2007 4:39 pm CDT
The how to part of "extend your network" said:
Standard 802.11b and g access points can distribute a computer network to a radius of 130 to 300 ft. But you can squeeze 30 to 80 more feet of range by using an 802.11g access point with MIMO (multiple input, multiple output) technology, or up to 150 extra feet of coverage with an 802.11n access point.
What!?!!? Is that supposed to be in English?
8. De
- 10/04/2007 8:55 pm CDT
What, that doesn't make sense to you? It's crystal clear!
(by the way, welcome to my world. I feel the same way when you guys start vamping on theology)
I can't do half of that stuff.