Imagine not having tools.

[dr_clyde]

Some years ago an older gentleman was digging thru tool bins along side me looking for tools. I asked if he was looking for tools to outfit his sons so they had a car box in case of emergencies. He said no - when asked what they would do if they broke down, they replied they didn't need tools as they would just call AAA.

I have a shop full of tools and more machinery than most guys here as well as the know how to fix my own ****.

I have towing on my cars and trucks. It is CHEAP. I'm not fixing ANYTHING on the side of the road. **** that noise. I'll flag down my wife or buddy to give me a ride to the shop, grab the shop van or my truck to drive while the car gets towed to the tire shop or whatever.

I've changed my wife's flat tire on the side of the expressway, cars zinging past me at 75mph+. And that was a simple flat tire. I can't imagine trying to do any sort of repairs that require fasteners, electronics, or suspension on the side of the road with all the assholes who can't be bothered to change lanes. Hell, if she had towing on the car she was driving, (not hers) you can bet your *** I wasn't going to be changing the flat. It cost me as much as the tow truck would have taking the two hours out of my day at the shop in lost revenue and profits.

I think towing is less than $100/year on my policy of 4 vehicles. Money well spent.

My time is very valuable to me. I am not going to waste my free time fixing or working on things I don't enjoy doing to "save money". I enjoy making things, working on classics or fun vehicles. I like working on vintage tractors and cool motorcycles. But I will happily hire out brakes on the daily driver and fixing the furnace. I pay the man to do an annual service on my lawn mower. I derive no joy from working on my mundane, daily use things. There are people WAY better at that than me, and they work for reasonable money.

I had to put a new ignition in my old 1990 F250. I paid a locksmith to do it. It was the middle of winter, the keys were long gone, and I needed to use the truck. Sure, I could have bought an ignition from the auto parts store, used my tools at home and probably have the whole thing done in a few hours. But the locksmith only charged me $160, he did an excellent job, and I got to sit in my warm living room watching TV and eating dinner instead of freezing my *** off in the driveway replacing an ignition for what amounted to less than what I charge in shop rate to my customers for the same amount of time.

Just because I CAN, doesn't mean I WANT to.

 

[jonshonda]

I just did some carpentry work for a Doctor my wife works with. His wife tries to be handy and do projects, but doesn't have the tools to do much. The husband is a typical young doc, with no desire to do much and prefers to pay to have things done.

She raved about the work I did, and is compiling a list of things she wants me to do around the house. I have to be careful though, as this is a historic home in a very busy part of town. Lots will see my work, which may lead to other wife's calling. I don't know if I need that type of headache in my life right now!! haha

 

[gtae07]

I really can't.

Even as a young child, I remember my dad fixing what needed fixed and building his own stuff. Got my first set of tools around 10 years old and maintained my bike (and later my car) with that set.

Now it's just sort of taken for granted that I'm going to fix whatever needs it, excepting a few major jobs that I just don't have the space/equipment (like a lift) to do, or things that need to be done quickly and require a crew. (Or things that need tall ladders, because I hate ladders).

It's generally faster, cheaper, and less hassle to just do it myself instead of hiring someone. Plus, by doing house stuff myself I don't have to let strangers into my house. That always makes me uneasy.


Wife asked once why I don't just take the cars somewhere for oil changes since it costs the same. My answer was that I can have it done in less time than it takes to drive there and get them started. We even had free oil changes on one of her cars, and after the third trip or so I stopped going because it just was too much of a pain in the ****. A 1.5 hour ordeal wasn't worth the $30 savings.

 

[Lassen Forge]

I can't only not imagine it, I can't fathom it. I've had tools ever since the birthday after I was chased out to the garage to "help dad" (I think to calm him down), and it was such a lifechanging experience instead of getting a E-Z bake oven or a bicycle I got - yep - a basic toolbox with tools. Pretty dam cool!

Even when I was living a "migrant lifestyle" I had a toolbox I could take with me - at one point everything was adapted and squeezed into a 50 Cal. ammo can, but yeah... NO tools?

I think I'd go nuts. Or cry. Or die. Or something... No Tools? You're joking, right?

 

[Shelbylex]

The husband is a typical young doc, with no desire to do much and prefers to pay to have things done.

Do not judge doctors, Johnshonda. Very few people understand how much doctors work, spend time studying and sacrificed to get to where they are. A lot of people think it's easy work. Never mind how many years it takes to become one (college, with top grades, then medical school (where you work your crazy hours, are on call in the hospital every 4th night and in your free time have to study), then comes the residency with 80+ hours and studying in your free time, then specialization. And once they start working, they still have to work a lot of hours.
The work is also not a piece of cake: mistakes can mean somebodies wellbeing, death, etc. It's a lot of pressure. Never mind dealing with all the stresses - try dealing with very sick, the ones whom you can not help, etc.. Would you consider working in place with tons of COVID patients during the pandemic? That's why so many burn out and do not want to do much - they just want some free time to recover before the next day...
Some doctors also prefer not to do things where they can cause trauma or damage to their hands (think surgeons. Do you really want a neurosurgeon to have less than 100% control of his/her hands for a day or two?)

On the other side - I know plenty of doctors who do a lot of fixing and maintenance themselves. It all depends on how much one works, how much free time he/she has and how much one values the time (sometimes it's easier to pay somebody to do something one does not enjoy and spend the time doing something one wants). Sometimes life is too short not to concentrate on what you love - especially if your life was more of a survival between 18 and 30s (when many doctors for the first time start having more time and finally making some money to pay off enormous loans for college and med school (they do not get paid well during residency, fellowship, etc...)

 

[dungeoncrawler]

If I may chime in, dr_clyde, Shelbylex and a few other hit the nail pretty squarely. Kids getting lazy and knowing nothing is a tired old trope. Kids know a crapton of stuff - about things that matter to them and their generation, in 2021.

I like working on things with my hands, but if I was good at coding, for example, you can bet I'd be coding and making bank, paying others to work on my luxury car lease instead of "saving money" by doing maintenance on my 10 year old budget car. If someone does it for fun - that's great, but most people have a different idea of fun and have better use for their free time. Why grown men get their hides chapped at this notion I haven't a clue.

 

[Shelbylex]

Interestingly enough some things I prefer to do myself not only because I can, but also because I sometimes have strong doubts of getting a good service even if I paid for it...

Older generations often underestimate younger ones because they do not know the full extent of modern world and how much more it is out there.
It's the same thing as a lot of people bash millennials - yes, there are some lazy ones, but if you really look at them as the generation, they got a real **** of a deal with significantly more expensive education, financial crashes, worse job opportunities, less stable economy and, if we really look at it well, having older people stay longer at their positions thus not giving younger ones a chance to grow. (The reason for staying is often not as straightforward as well) What I noticed is that people often like to judge without analyzing.

Though world is getting very different our days. My grandparents were definitely much better at woodworking and building then I am. I still got lucky that I had a shop class in school (I wish I remembered it more now - we were supposed to be pretty good with lathe, etc). I heard that shop classes are being stopped our days... However, majority of the younger kids know so much more about computers and programming, I can not even compare it to what we knew at their age and what we know now...

P.S. I wonder how many doctors are on this board : )

 

[Ton ton]

Interestingly enough some things I prefer to do myself not only because I can, but also because I sometimes have strong doubts of getting a good service even if I paid for it...

Older generations often underestimate younger ones because they do not know the full extent of modern world and how much more it is out there.
It's the same thing as a lot of people bash millennials - yes, there are some lazy ones, but if you really look at them as the generation, they got a real **** of a deal with significantly more expensive education, financial crashes, worse job opportunities, less stable economy and, if we really look at it well, having older people stay longer at their positions thus not giving younger ones a chance to grow. (The reason for staying is often not as straightforward as well) What I noticed is that people often like to judge without analyzing.

Though world is getting very different our days. My grandparents were definitely much better at woodworking and building then I am. I still got lucky that I had a shop class in school (I wish I remembered it more now - we were supposed to be pretty good with lathe, etc). I heard that shop classes are being stopped our days... However, majority of the younger kids know so much more about computers and programming, I can not even compare it to what we knew at their age and what we know now...

P.S. I wonder how many doctors are on this board : )

I like your post.

 

[FuzzyTiger]

I was at a relative's house this past weekend and their stove top wasn't turning on/off properly. Not a problem. Usually just the dial/switch. Easy enough to test and replace if needed.

I hadn't planned on fixing stuff though so I didn't bring my tools along. I asked if they had a multi-meter - they said no. Okay. Fair enough. That's a bit more specialized for basic home tools. I asked if they had a socket set since the screws on the stove had small socket heads. Hm. A pair of pliers? Nope. All they had was 1 philips screwdriver and 1 flat head.

I told them what they'd need to do to test/replace the switch and its a simple 15 minute thing. But I kind of suspect they'll call a repair person who will charge $100 to come out, $100 to diagnose the issue, $100 for a $20 part which they'll have to order, and finally another $100 to come back with the part and another $100 to fix it. Coincidentally the appliance store sales person will also call and say "Hey, we can sell and install a new range for just a little more than repairing your old one! And also for an extra few hundred dollars, lets get that extended warranty on there so you don't have to worry about this again".

 

[FuzzyTiger]

The husband is a typical young doc, with no desire to do much and prefers to pay to have things done.

Do not judge doctors, Johnshonda. Very few people understand how much doctors work, spend time studying and sacrificed to get to where they are. A lot of people think it's easy work. Never mind how many years it takes to become one (college, with top grades, then medical school (where you work your crazy hours, are on call in the hospital every 4th night and in your free time have to study), then comes the residency with 80+ hours and studying in your free time, then specialization. And once they start working, they still have to work a lot of hours.
The work is also not a piece of cake: mistakes can mean somebodies wellbeing, death, etc. It's a lot of pressure. Never mind dealing with all the stresses - try dealing with very sick, the ones whom you can not help, etc.. Would you consider working in place with tons of COVID patients during the pandemic? That's why so many burn out and do not want to do much - they just want some free time to recover before the next day...
Some doctors also prefer not to do things where they can cause trauma or damage to their hands (think surgeons. Do you really want a neurosurgeon to have less than 100% control of his/her hands for a day or two?)

On the other side - I know plenty of doctors who do a lot of fixing and maintenance themselves. It all depends on how much one works, how much free time he/she has and how much one values the time (sometimes it's easier to pay somebody to do something one does not enjoy and spend the time doing something one wants). Sometimes life is too short not to concentrate on what you love - especially if your life was more of a survival between 18 and 30s (when many doctors for the first time start having more time and finally making some money to pay off enormous loans for college and med school (they do not get paid well during residency, fellowship, etc...)

I have a number of friends and family that are doctors or going through the process of becoming one. I would not wish that on anyone. The amount of stress that they go through to become doctors must take years off their lives.

And then there are the immigrant doctors... I've known a few doctors who went through that whole process in their home country, got through their residency, worked for a few years as a doctor and then for one reason or another emigrated to another country where all of their education and experience suddenly counts for nothing so they have to start all over again. You'll constantly find them working as lab assistants, nurses, clerks, and other 'junior' positions in medicine. Just anecdotally, a lab (front line sample collection type stuff) that someone I know works at has ~15 staff members and 3 of them are doctors that are working their way through the whole process to be able to work as doctors again. One of them recently got accepted for a residency... All so they can work hours that would be illegal in any other industry. Heck - I know of doctors that have earned less than minimum wage after their hours were factored in.

I don't know if that process selects for the 'best' doctors, but I do know it selects some of the hardest working and perseverant people around.

 

[Handyandy23]

I have a shop full of tools and more machinery than most guys here as well as the know how to fix my own ****.

I have towing on my cars and trucks. It is CHEAP. I'm not fixing ANYTHING on the side of the road. **** that noise. I'll flag down my wife or buddy to give me a ride to the shop, grab the shop van or my truck to drive while the car gets towed to the tire shop or whatever.

I agree 100%. When I was younger I always had a little toolbox I kept in my vehicle that I'd always be adding tools to "just in case this or that breaks". All it ever did was rattle around and bang over every bump.

Reality is fixing stuff on the side of the road is not fun and not safe, and 95% of the time you're SOL because you don't have the parts anyways. Very rarely does something come apart that you just need to reassemble, it's almost always a broken part.

My garage is heated, it has a 2 post lift, air tools, electric tools, everything you could need or want. You're still saving a bunch of money fixing it yourself, even if you spend a little to have it towed back home.

 

[pcmeiners]

"For his home? He's a homeowner, with that attitude? Man, that must get expensive."

Last time I figured what I saved doing my own repairs/building it was over $600,000, that is over a period of 55 years...yes it must get damn expensive, I could not afford to call "professionals".....aside from the fact I do much better work.

 

[dwasifar]

...aside from the fact I do much better work.

And there it is. That's one of my best reasons.

Once I hired someone from Craigslist to paint a bathroom because I just didn't want to do all that cutting in. She did the worst and sloppiest paint job I have ever seen. Drips everywhere, we were finding them for literal years afterwards. Not a straight cut-in anywhere. And she didn't know that you have to keep stirring paint to keep the color even, so the results were tiger striped. I wound up having to repaint the room myself anyway, which I should have done in the first place.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

I've thought about it. It'll likely never be "no tools", but I've thought about heading in to retirement with nothing but my Kennedy hand box. Not sure what I'd do for enjoyment then though?

What I did. Swapped a roll cab and top chest for a hand carry. Swapped a house for a condo. Swapped the midwest for the desert southwest. Five years in, all is good. Big jobs, I'll call someone. My back won't tolerate it anymore. Regular things like toilet overhauls, washing machine repair, etc., I still do all that. I spend more time outdoors now.

 

[vavet]

Some of my wife's coworkers probably make several times what I make as attorneys, investment consultants, etc.. At times I feel a bit insecure about that idea, but then I also hear some of them being envious of her because their husbands can barely change a light bulb. It's not always the financial resources to be able to call someone to fix something. It is the convenience of just fixing it instead of calling someone to describe what you need, scheduling a time, and everything that goes with that.

 

[no704]

When i bought my house it really set in when I needed to buy a plunger. Had lots of tools before that, but no house tools.

 

[BlakeTheCarGuy]

My mom works in a cafeteria. You would not think she would need tools since she isn’t allowed to fix anything if it breaks. But she does use them a lot if she has to tighten something or something like that. Just today the guy was there fixing the freezer and needed some wire cutters he had done been to his truck 3 times so she said here I have some my son is a mechanic and told me to have tools in case I ever needed them. Brownie points for me today haha.

 

[Junkdrawer Dog]

I often wondered where people who live in an apartment keep all their tools (sure, some have garages) because living without tools certainly is not an option. (in my book anyway)

No garage here. A packed 20" hand carry in a lower kitchen cabinet. A few screwdrivers and some pliers in the junkdrawer. Couple of plastic milk crates in a hall closet for extension cords, work lights, blue tarps, wd-40, silicone spray, antifreeze and motor oil for the car. Works for me.

 

[PFSard]

I often wondered where people who live in an apartment keep all their tools (sure, some have garages) because living without tools certainly is not an option. (in my book anyway)

I lived in a one bedroom apartment for 12-13 years prior to buying my current house in AZ. I kept my tools neatly arranged in a storage closet that housed the water heater for my unit. There was a CM five drawer rollaway with a three drawer CM box on top. Milk crates held other tools that I used infrequently. A handful were contained in a drawer in my desk.

Now I have a 20 X 20 garage jam packed with tools and related goods. A 1,400 square foot house jam packed with stuff. And a 40 square foot utility room jammed packed with stuff. On a 9,000 square foot lot with more stuff than I'll ever use. If I had a basement, .....

 

[Blind1]

Older millenial here. It wasn’t until I bought a house that I truly owned more than the basics.

 

[toyotadriver]

It's amazing to me the number of young men today who have no idea how to change a tire. I encountered one 20 year old man a couple years ago who didn't know how to turn on the headlights on his Dodge Charger (it uses a simple rotary switch on the dash) and wasn't able to figure it out.

 

[Miss the Pontiacs]

I have 2 daughters both are capable and pretty darn handy. My oldest daughter was married the first time to a guy that was actually in the trades. Only problem was that he made so damn much money, he just hired everything out. One example was she was surfacing some new concrete they had poured for a patio. She gave a call and she knew what do do with the top coat. All I said was she had to wait a certain period before she could treat the new patio. She told me she knew the duration and how to apply, likely thanks to YouTube. It was a few degrees above zero and her ex husband was in the house watching tv or playing games. Many examples of this type of behaviour so that would result in him being the ex. Her mate now is an incredibly talented young man and younger than her so I have designated her the cougar. She hunts and enjoys fishing and always has a manual project. When she divorced and purchased her own house we took in some garage sales and bought a pile of tools both corded and manual. I had bought both the kids a Milwaukee cordless multi tool kit for Christmas one year.

The youngest one took home the wood working scholarship when she graduated high school. She only took manual arts for fun or as a little diversion from her other studies. Both kids were honour students and I am more than proud of both of them. She is exceptional with manual applications and my go to girl for assembling my own items. Example being if she wanted the old bbq she had to assemble our new one.. I have a thread on her redoing the main bathroom on her first home. Her husband is not handy in the least and admits it. If something breaks he calls the wife.

Both of them could change a tire or do an oil change from their first vehicle they owned as teenagers. If they could repair the problem I would buy the parts. If not they bought the parts (within an reasonable amount) and I would fix it with their help. I bought more parts and they watched a lot of YouTube.

Both my ex SIL and my one SIL had Dad’s that were not hands on in both cases it was either booze or pot that occupied their spare time. Their loss I guess. My older daughter’s second husband is great mechanically and operating large equipment. He will be way ahead of me in these areas and I bounce things off him for a resource. His Dad is a rancher and former mechanic. So he picked up a lot as a farm kid. I try and help him with carpentry and some other hands on projects.

 

[magicrat]

I’ll jump out a window before I cave man style something. Or pay someone to do something I’m perfectly capable of.

 

[2oolhound]

Things have changed. Today vast percentages of young people work with computers creating software and games etc. Some of them make amazing money doing it. There were no computers when I was growing up and I quickly discovered I couldn't afford to just hire skilled people who made twice as much as me to do work for me.

Being a mechanic covered in grease was frowned upon in my circles but driving sure beat walking so many of us learned the necessities of keeping an old affordable beater running. At the time I remember listening to blues band, John Mayhal and the blues breaker's song "when you're all alone in the wilderness and your motor fails miles from anywhere, there's just one thing you do, call it bad luck that's what I said, call it bad luck". I remember thinking to myself, not me boy, I'm going to learn to fix it, If Henry Ford could dream it up from nothing I can sure as hell fix it. I don't think it was so much we liked it or didn't like it but more that it was necessary. I always had tools in my vehicles.

One time I was going to work falling trees in Fort Nelson, BC which is just on the BC side of the Yukon border. If you've driven the Alaska Hwy. you've been through there. Probably about 100 mi. shy of Ft. Nelson I threw a drive shaft in my 1975 chevy 4x4. It was early winter, 6' snow banks and barley a shoulder to pull off the hwy onto. If Prince George, BC was the ******* of the world, Ft Nelson was 500 miles up it. The middle of nowhere. There were no cell phones, no service stations and the only traffic was semi trucks and since my driver's side was almost on the shoulder line, semi trucks sure as hell didn't have room to pull off on the windy, icy and snowy road to try to help out. But Guess what? Not only did I have a set of tools, I also had a brand new U-joint! I had to slide under the truck from the driver side and if a semi came by I had to pull my feet off the road. It was past midnite and minus 30' at least. It was one of those U-joints that you had to drive out of the yoke on the shaft and just get the new cups started so you could squeeze them in on the new joint. The needle bearings kept falling out and I'd find them and clean and repack them and go again but I managed to fix it using a flashlight.

It's not always about fun, saving money or whether or not you'd rather not do it.

 

[finn]

I find it rather ingenuous that a bunch of people’s that frequent a tool sight feel that it’s their job to look down on people that can live their entire life, often rather successfully, without owning tools.

Personally, I know dozens, or maybe even hundreds that don’t have a need or inclination to own, at best, a screwdriver. Why should they. Some are Doctors, some lawyers, a commercial pilot, a couple of retired advertising executives, some software developers, a few accountants, and the list goes on.

They all have skills that most people bitching about their ilk could never in a thousand years master. They don’t need tools, and can easily afford to hire out any task that comes along.

Actually, I went throu a three year period living abroad, where I had only minimal tools. And I didn’t really miss them. The landlord was great at fixing things, I lived in an urban area with no need or desire to work on my cars, traveled a lot, worked late hours because of the time difference, and had three young kids to occupy any free time I could fit in.

I wonder If people on medical forums look down on mechanics?

 

[PelicanPines]

Wow... no tools... finally a place (my 72 drawers) to store some of my **** collection.

 

[Walkers]

The other day the wife and I were streaming episodes of Mad About You. For those who have not seen it, it's a 90s sitcom about Paul and Jamie, a pair of mildly mismatched 30-something newlyweds in a New York City apartment.

In the episode we were watching, Jamie's parents come over to visit for the first time, and right away her dad says something to the effect of, "I'll fix that door latch for you, where's your screwdriver?" And Paul does not have one. The show riffs on that for a little while, and I'm not sure who is being made fun of; Paul, or the dad.

Later I chatted with an apartment-dwelling friend, who told me that while they have a collection of basic tools, their building's maintenance person says that's unusual. The majority of tenants have no tools at all, and must rely on the maintenance staff for even the simplest repair or adjustment.

Imagine living like that. How would it make you feel? It would make me feel vulnerable and useless. I need to know I can fix what goes wrong. Otherwise what good am I?

I have a difficult time flying because I don’t like being with my EDC tools.

 

[FMB4]

No tools.... That'd be like no beer.

 

[Meursault74]

I find it rather ingenuous that a bunch of people’s that frequent a tool sight feel that it’s their job to look down on people that can live their entire life, often rather successfully, without owning tools.

Personally, I know dozens, or maybe even hundreds that don’t have a need or inclination to own, at best, a screwdriver. Why should they. Some are Doctors, some lawyers, a commercial pilot, a couple of retired advertising executives, some software developers, a few accountants, and the list goes on.

They all have skills that most people bitching about their ilk could never in a thousand years master. They don’t need tools, and can easily afford to hire out any task that comes along.

Actually, I went throu a three year period living abroad, where I had only minimal tools. And I didn’t really miss them. The landlord was great at fixing things, I lived in an urban area with no need or desire to work on my cars, traveled a lot, worked late hours because of the time difference, and had three young kids to occupy any free time I could fit in.

I wonder If people on medical forums look down on mechanics?

I think this is more of the DIY ethos vs looking down on someone. Many tasks/services can be DIY, some can't. Doesn't have to be a repair or project with tools. It's about being self reliant. If someone want to hire out a task, there is nothing wrong with that. Me personally if I can do it myself I will. I've found it at times it to be more a headache for me to have someone else do something than me do it myself.


I do my taxes every year. Never hired an accountant. I just read the information, add and subtract some number and look up values in a table. I could pay an accountant, but why? It isn't going to save me time having a pro do my taxes since I'd have to take time to send them information and make appointments with them. They aren't going to save me any money since I take the standard deduction. No tools involved.

Injury in my foot, yes I need a MRI tech and radiologist to look at the imaging and tell me what's wrong. Well that's until Harbor Freight starts selling MRI scanners .

 

[finn]

I think this is more of the DIY ethos vs looking down on someone. Many tasks/services can be DIY, some can't. Doesn't have to be a repair or project with tools. It's about being self reliant. If someone want to hire out a task, there is nothing wrong with that. Me personally if I can do it myself I will. I've found it at times it to be more a headache for me to have someone else do something than me do it myself.


I do my taxes every year. Never hired an accountant. I just read the information, add and subtract some number and look up values in a table. I could pay an accountant, but why? It isn't going to save me time having a pro do my taxes since I'd have to take time to send them information and make appointments with them. They aren't going to save me any money since I take the standard deduction. No tools involved.

Injury in my foot, yes I need a MRI tech and radiologist to look at the imaging and tell me what's wrong. Well that's until Harbor Freight starts selling MRI scanners .

I have to agree somewhat. I have tools....too many at this point, because I like to do things. The secondary reason is because I’m a cheapskate, to some extent.

But the overwhelming number of responses here verge on belittling those that don’t have the same interest or skills that are associated with having tools, and stereotyping them as somehow inferior to the tool owners.

 

[Kscardsfan]

I find it rather ingenuous that a bunch of people’s that frequent a tool sight feel that it’s their job to look down on people that can live their entire life, often rather successfully, without owning tools.

Personally, I know dozens, or maybe even hundreds that don’t have a need or inclination to own, at best, a screwdriver. Why should they. Some are Doctors, some lawyers, a commercial pilot, a couple of retired advertising executives, some software developers, a few accountants, and the list goes on.

They all have skills that most people bitching about their ilk could never in a thousand years master. They don’t need tools, and can easily afford to hire out any task that comes along.

Actually, I went throu a three year period living abroad, where I had only minimal tools. And I didn’t really miss them. The landlord was great at fixing things, I lived in an urban area with no need or desire to work on my cars, traveled a lot, worked late hours because of the time difference, and had three young kids to occupy any free time I could fit in.

I wonder If people on medical forums look down on mechanics?

I can’t speak to the forums part, but I’m friends with numerous doctors, lawyers, and far too many college professors who think that my being able to work on stuff and being a former directional driller in the oilfield is cool as hell. They love to ask my opinion about how to approach something or ask me questions about how we did horizontal drilling a few miles underground. So while they are plenty comfortable with paying a professional to have something done, they also think it’s a skill set worth understanding at least. I also think to some degree they consider some of that kind of work to be a liability given they make their living from the wrist down in a lot of cases. I know my families orthopedic surgeon won’t use a chainsaw or anything similar since his livelihood comes from his hands. And I don’t blame him at all for that.

 

[Dakotadadv8]

The other day the wife and I were streaming episodes of Mad About You. For those who have not seen it, it's a 90s sitcom about Paul and Jamie, a pair of mildly mismatched 30-something newlyweds in a New York City apartment.

In the episode we were watching, Jamie's parents come over to visit for the first time, and right away her dad says something to the effect of, "I'll fix that door latch for you, where's your screwdriver?" And Paul does not have one. The show riffs on that for a little while, and I'm not sure who is being made fun of; Paul, or the dad.

Later I chatted with an apartment-dwelling friend, who told me that while they have a collection of basic tools, their building's maintenance person says that's unusual. The majority of tenants have no tools at all, and must rely on the maintenance staff for even the simplest repair or adjustment.

Imagine living like that. How would it make you feel? It would make me feel vulnerable and useless. I need to know I can fix what goes wrong. Otherwise what good am I?

Many people who have tools and DIYer were raised with parents or relatives with the same mindset. If not many were exposed in school with shop requirements / electives, starting in the 4th grade. Desk job as a career but like DIYer projects and shiny tools. Children can't wait to get their hands on these tools.

 

[dwasifar]

Wow... no tools... finally a place (my 72 drawers) to store some of my **** collection.

You're still polishing at least one tool in that case.

 

[seber]

Even if you live in an apartment, it is easier and quicker to tighten a loose screw or tap a loose nail than to call someone else and put up with them while they do it. I don't care how high you are on the food chain, some things are best done for yourself.

 

[finn]

Even if you live in an apartment, it is easier and quicker to tighten a loose screw or tap a loose nail than to call someone else and put up with them while they do it. I don't care how high you are on the food chain, some things are best done for yourself.

My wife’s aunt is 95 years old. She has no business tapping in a nail. One slight slip and she would have bruises for months.

See how your “universal value system” as seen through your eyes, leads you to make foolish statements.

 

[PelicanPines]

You're still polishing at least one tool in that case.

I prefer to outsource the job... thank you tho... for noticing. I take my hobbies very seriously.

 

[ArcReactorKC]

This thread brought up a long dormant memory from the way back days of 2007. I was still a working jw electrician, I had a friend of mine who needed a job so I brought him on as an apprentice. He was provided the company basic apprentice tool kit. But as he was working with me we didn't do basic commercial or residential construction. Almost all of the work was industrial control work. I told him within a month he needed to buy a better meter than the wiggy he was provided, as well as control/wago screwdrivers and a few other odds and ends. His response was "why buy tools when I can always borrow them?" I was flabbergasted, I mean I owned my own conduit benders up to 1" and carried my own cordless (hilti) at the time toolkit. The thought of borrowing a tool to do my job every single day made no sense to me. He couldn't understand why I had my own cordless drill when the company provided one (a ryobi pos that was past it's prime). Prior to working with me he only owned a single multi-bit screwdriver for disassembly and reassembly of his desktop computers. Wild wild world!

 

[ArcReactorKC]

I can’t speak to the forums part, but I’m friends with numerous doctors, lawyers, and far too many college professors who think that my being able to work on stuff and being a former directional driller in the oilfield is cool as hell. They love to ask my opinion about how to approach something or ask me questions about how we did horizontal drilling a few miles underground. So while they are plenty comfortable with paying a professional to have something done, they also think it’s a skill set worth understanding at least. I also think to some degree they consider some of that kind of work to be a liability given they make their living from the wrist down in a lot of cases. I know my families orthopedic surgeon won’t use a chainsaw or anything similar since his livelihood comes from his hands. And I don’t blame him at all for that.

I totally get that mindset. I feel like I'm constantly telling someone "take care of your eyes! There aren't replacements if you go blind your blind, it's not the same as a cut on the finger" of course usually I'm talking to a tradesmen or someone similar, not someone required to make super fine adjustments inside a living body.

 

[dwasifar]

My wife’s aunt is 95 years old. She has no business tapping in a nail. One slight slip and she would have bruises for months.

See how your “universal value system” as seen through your eyes, leads you to make foolish statements.

That's what we call an edge case.

 

[zendriver]

Even if you live in an apartment, it is easier and quicker to tighten a loose screw or tap a loose nail than to call someone else and put up with them while they do it. I don't care how high you are on the food chain, some things are best done for yourself.

Some people take pride in their ability to get someone else to do those kind of jobs.

Might be the main reason handyman and maintenance jobs exist.

sounds fair to me., but I don’t care either.