What Skills Do You Find Useful/Not Useful?

I

ImThinkin2019

Recycles dryer sheets
Joined
Nov 3, 2013
Messages
358
Location
Hartford
I'm wondering what skills people have learned over the years that they find particularly useful. Or not useful. I'll start.

In no particular priority order:


  • Knife Sharpening (best instruction Instructional Videos - Carter Cutlery Co.)
  • Plumbing, Wiring, Carpentry, General Home Repair
  • Weight Lifting
  • Cooking
  • Vacuuming (last birthday card from DW showed a man with apron vacuuming and said "very sexy")
 
Cycling - when you are not in a hurry, it is a great, guilt free way to explore. I find people much more accessible to chat with when I am on a bike - than surrounded by metal and glass, zipping by.

And the best thing is how much you get to eat when you cycle. :)
 
Sewing and mending.

A.
 
1. Confidence that I can figure out how to build/fix something so I am willing to try even if it is something that I have never done before and a willingness to risk failing.
2. An ability to know when something is over my head and I need to call in an expert.
 
Last edited:
Coming from a midwestern background of poor, self-sufficient folk...

I have gardened, repaired, sewed, plumbed, wired, painted, nailed, <ahem> screwed, cut, driven, built, demolished, hauled, loaded, and generally done most everything...

Sometimes badly!
 
Useful - writing skills, organizing vacation trips - great for independent travel, cooking.
 
HFWR said:
Coming from a midwestern background of poor, self-sufficient folk...

I have gardened, repaired, sewed, plumbed, wired, painted, nailed, <ahem> screwed, cut, driven, built, demolished, hauled, loaded, and generally done most everything...

Sometimes badly!
Click to expand...

Although a South-westerner by birth, I've got those poor, self-sufficient hillbilly genes. Pretty much jack-of-all-trades as well. But my most important survival skill is keeping my wife happy! ;)
 
At the top of my list is "how to find information using the internet". Because with that skill, I can learn to do just about anything.
 
In general, as some have mentioned - the skill to learn. That's a bit like asking the genie for the wish that all your wishes comes true, or 'teach a person to fish'.

I'd also say that far too much of what we were taught in school is/was useless. I think we need to take a fresh look at education, strip away everything, and re-construct just what we should be teaching. With a strong focus on learning how to learn - that is a skill that ever goes out-of-date.

-ERD50
 
HFWR said:
Most of the specific skills I use at w*rk are not useful in the "real" world...
Click to expand...

Most of the specific skills required to actually do my job are beyond the comprehension of those supposedly “managing” my work. Those skills, including getting others to do stuff I don’t always fully comprehend – is just my little pigeon hole in the bureaucratic quagmire of Megacorp.

Now the skills employed by those I get to do things–-fixing stuff--those are valuable skills. I guess that’s part of the reason why I never aspired to climb to higher pigeon holes, in the long run the knowledge and mutual respect gained from working closely with my direct reports seemed more valuable than what my manager(s) had to offer.

45 w*rk days to go! :LOL:
 
My MIL would take a drag from a cigarette, swallow the smoke, recite a poem, then bring back up the smoke, exhale and even blow smoke rings.
 
When I was 10, I discovered that I can move the muscles in my scalp which wiggle my ears. One ear at a time, or both! Other kids couldn't do it so it is probably a useless ability, versus a useless skill. But it's definitely useless.

A.

Midpack said:
I'm curious what you'd call categorically useless? Can a "skill" be wholly "useless?"
Click to expand...
 
ERD50 said:
In general, as some have mentioned - the skill to learn. That's a bit like asking the genie for the wish that all your wishes comes true, or 'teach a person to fish'.



I'd also say that far too much of what we were taught in school is/was useless. I think we need to take a fresh look at education, strip away everything, and re-construct just what we should be teaching. With a strong focus on learning how to learn - that is a skill that ever goes out-of-date.



-ERD50
Click to expand...


I don't disagree, ERD. But your comment makes me chuckle, as thinking and learning were the two main reasons I retired. I was tired of doing both and don't have any real intentions of doing either again. I am part of that subset stereotype on why businesses don't want to hire older people. Unwillingness to learn new things! :)


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Excel and other spreadsheet apps. Very useful.
 
Amethyst said:
When I was 10, I discovered that I can move the muscles in my scalp which wiggle my ears. One ear at a time, or both! Other kids couldn't do it so it is probably a useless ability, versus a useless skill. But it's definitely useless.

A.
Click to expand...

You make me laugh. One of my managers could do the same thing. He would do this in meetings, staight faced to a bunch of SR. management, turn his head so only I could see the ear wiggle. I was stuck trying not to laugh. Pretty amusing.
MRG
 
Amethyst said:
When I was 10, I discovered that I can move the muscles in my scalp which wiggle my ears. One ear at a time, or both! Other kids couldn't do it so it is probably a useless ability, versus a useless skill. But it's definitely useless.

A.
Click to expand...

The ability to curl/roll one's tongue is another fairly useless talent (I can do that as well as wiggle my ears) that I think is genetic. I cannot raise one eyebrow, though.

I was really good at making smoke rings, but have not used that skill for 39 years, 4 months, 14 days. Not that I miss smoking :)
 
Math and computer skills (like simple Excel programming) have been absolutely essential in planning my retirement and in personal finance. Without these skills, I would still be working.

Back in engineering school we were taught how to troubleshoot in an organized, methodical fashion. That skill is invaluable in almost any context.

However, I don't have any other useful skills that I can think of. I hire people to do things for me around the house like plumbing and so on. When it comes to cars, I am completely at sea.

Edited to add: I am a pretty good cook and seamstress, but to me these are useless skills. I prefer not to cook or sew any more than necessary; I enjoy getting away from these activities. After 23 years of marriage they seem like work to me. So, I buy ready made clothing and when I cook, I tend to just grill or heat simple, plain foods. I don't choose to spend a lot of time cooking.
 
Last edited:
It may seem odd, and it certainly marks me as a dinosaur, but I've been extremely grateful that I took a typing class in high school. Got to where I could type over 40 wpm with virtually no errors.

That "keyboarding ability" as I guess it would be called today, has saved me countless hours of tedium over the years.
 
pb4uski said:
1. Confidence that I can figure out how to build/fix something so I am willing to try even if it is something that I have never done before and a willingness to risk failing.
2. An ability to know when something is over my head and I need to call in an expert.
Click to expand...

+1.

  • Learned to google "how to" videos. People posts all kind of DIY stuff. Video instruction is 10 times better than reading instruction manuals that are cryptic at best. This has boosted my list of "skills" by quite a bit.
  • Learned to keep my mouth shut when DW is having one of those menopause related mood swings.
 
- General electrical wiring, safety, and skills - my biggest accomplishment in this respect was changing a lighting ballast without killing myself!
- General plumbing and mechanical skills - change out valves, sprinkler pipe repairs, etc.
- Writing - undervalued by young people today. Learn how to use a semi-colon, people!!
- Critical thinking - objectivity and analysis (sometimes too much so... ask my wife!)
- Nutrition and cooking
- Basic (very basic) automotive skills like oil change, air filter change, installing a spare, checking/changing fluids, cabin air filters, etc.
- Bicycle maintenance and repair (an ever-growing skill set)
 
robnplunder said:
Learned to google "how to" videos. People posts all kind of DIY stuff. Video instruction is 10 times better than reading instruction manuals that are cryptic at best. This has boosted my list of "skills" by quite a bit.
Click to expand...

For sure. So much is out there on YouTube... putting contractors out of work! I changed out the timing mechanism on my washing machine three years ago. Contractor wanted $300, I could probably buy a new washer for just over that. Instead I bought the part for about $50 and did it myself. Thanks YouTube!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom