“Ain’t that the truth! I always took apart bicycles and derailleurs when I was little and my father gave me advice and brought home axle grease grease for me from his factory he owned. My family made things...”
Yea, I have vivid memories of working on bicycles, starting in 4th grade, with my buddy showing me how to repack the (loose) ball bearings (my dad was useless). Two years later it was taking the head off our lawn mower. And then on to cars by about 9th grade, to the point of running my own business working on cars in 11th grade (an old neighbor carried me through that learning curve). Along with way, I picked up plumbing, electrical work, AC work, and as an adult, concrete work, basic framing, and a few other skills.
Needless to say, I passed all of that on to my kids and made damn sure that they understand in tomorrow’s world, it’s those skills that will separate living in poverty from living middle class (just as in today’s world, one can live a couple of classes up from most people in one’s salary range, by just not having to pay ‘the man’).
lol.... same here on bikes. Repacking wheel hub bearings with axle grease. Tightening spokes to true up wheels. But you went on to lawnmowers and automobiles at a young age. Me, living in an apartment was not in a situation to work on lawnmower and cars. But we both got our hands dirty and sharpened our mechanical inclinations. We both know boys don’t this as much these days.
I had to caulk and paint my dad’s wood hulled boat every two years. I could not get my nephew to help me with yard work and hedge trimming when he visited. His logic is after college he’ll make enough to get people to do all that “peasant work” for him. Fine but at least do it to see how it is for others and to appreciate nature. I know he never fixed a bike or did an oil change on a car. Just like that effete pos Kenyan in the White House