I enjoy working with my hands. I always have. I really enjoy seeing the results of my work and there is always a sense of accomplishment when the work is done.
I have mentioned before that I worked for my father’s camera business for 20 years. During that time, I built a lot of cameras and camera related things. From sanding wooden camera parts, to staining those part, and then getting all the wood and metal pieces together and building an entire camera to ship out was always great. I also built roll film backs. That process required a lot of soldering and making sure that the electronic components worked correctly. Knowing that I was helping my father’s business, and I was building something that someone was going to use to take pictures with (make art), made me feel good about the work I was doing. And everything we built was very much built to last.
Another area is with car/motorcycle/bicycle repair. I really enjoy working on my vehicles (most of the time). I like being able to do repair work or maintenance on them so they will continue to run for years to come. I don’t mind changing the oil in my cars. It is one of the “easy” things I can do on my vehicles. While it true that doing this on my motorcycle is challenging to get setup due to the equipment I have I have loved learning new methods of supporting the bike when it is in the air. It is all about using my mind. Another thing I have done is rebuilt 2 motorcycle engines and 1 VW engine (ok I have done the VW engine top end a few times). Turning the wrenches to take them apart and then doing the steps backwards to put it all back together is time consuming, but I like it. Deciding what needs to go into the engine and what is wrong with it allows me to use my mind in ways that I find challenging and enjoyable. When my Kawasaki motorcycle lost a piston ring, I had no idea what had happened I just knew that there was a good deal of oil coming out of the right-side air cover, but once I learned what I needed to do I was able to jumped into it and had fun learning how to tear it down and reassemble it. I learned about the little things that needed to be replaced along the way (like the 2 chains that run the water pump). Yes, there were times of frustrations with that motor (like reattaching the throttle cables), but it was a great learning experience. Doing electrical work on my old VW can be so frustrating at times since the wires are all over the place, nothing is labeled, it is all 40 years old, and worked then but doesn’t always want to work now. But figuring out the little things makes it all that much fun. The other thing that working on cars allows me to do is talk with my dad a bunch. I will reach out to him and ask questions when I run into something that I am not 100% sure about. I like bouncing ideas off him and listening to his ideas as well. He is always a great help.
Bicycles have also become something that I enjoy working on since they are very straight forward. Again, taking an hour here or there and getting one working for myself or any one in my family is just wonderful. (There are times I think I would like to build a bike from pieces I purchase on my own, but I am not there yet). When I hear a noise I don’t get right away I have to find what is causing it and figure out if it is simply a lubrication issue, something is rubbing wrong, or if something has worn out.
I also enjoy working around my house. There have been some projects that I have done while living at our current house that stand out to me: a poolside ramada, garden boxes, and installing shutters throughout the house. The ramada was a project that came about quickly. My wife and I saw one at Costco and thought that would look good by our pool. So, I bought it. I got it home and then started assembling the pieces poolside. I took whatever time I had each day to screw one thing or another together to prepare the thing for assembly. Once that time came, I had a few friends and my father-in-law come over and they were wonderful and helped get the roof on the thing. I was able to get all the minor step parts ready beforehand so that it was a shorter job, but it still took a bit of time (a few hours). But once it was done it looked great by our pool and it still does. We put a table and chairs under it and when the weather allows our family eats out there. It has also served our family well with Girls Scout meetings and other gatherings. Another big project was the installation of shutters on all the windows in the house (minus the basement). This ended up being a 2-summer project. The first year we did the upstairs windows and the next year we did the main floor windows. At first the idea was to have a company come in and do it, but after some looking online, I realized this was something I could do, and it would save us a lot of money. So, we found a good place online to order from, we measured the windows (a few times), and ordered the shutters. They came, and then I started taking the old horizontal blinds out and installing the shutters. As expected, the first one took a while (like an hour or so) since I had no idea what I was doing outside of what I had watched online. But after that first one went in I got into a rhythm and things went pretty fast after that. It was still a good day job each time, but now the house has a very nice uniform and a little more upscale look to it. The benefit of having them has been the real deal though since they are each to open and close and they allow in just the right amount of light, but also keep things quite dark when needed. The temperature in rooms has certainly been affected by them. I also build garden boxes when we first moved in. This was another big undertaking since we wanted a bunch of them, and we wanted them to be tall enough so we won’t have to bend over too far. So, after talking with my friend Josh, I had a basic plan. I bought all the wood and screws and borrowed a saw from my father. Then I just went at it. It took a couple days to build the boxes, and get them setup, and then I had to order the dirt of the boxes. Once it came I had to haul it via a wheelbarrow from one side of the yard to the other and shovel it all into the boxes. I then had to setup watering for the boxes, and that took a few iterations as well until we finally had something that seems to work pretty well. After 10 years there is certainly some wear showing and I think I will have to redo the plumbing at some point, but we get good garden food twice a year in the summer and winter. And the ladies in my house love it!
These are a few examples of why I like working with my hands. Are you similar? Do you like working with your hands? What are some examples of things you have done? Or do you want to know more about my endeavors?