No way I could have done any of this with any of my ex-wives around. ;)
Think of a 12 year old with some skills, lots of resources, and no adult supervision.
/johnny
As a single youth with my first apartment, I found it convenient to rebuild the hull of a small hydroplane boat in the living room. After that it was a VW motor tear down and re-assembly. And one night, my friend rode his Honda 90 up the staircase with hard-right turn midway up, then rode back down. It sure was fun being single back then! ;)
Now my shop doubles as a woodshop, with everything on casters, an auto-shop when necessary, and soon an office/desk area where I can surf the net, read and store my WW and auto magazines and generally be comfortable, complete with mini-fridge.