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What Skills Do You Find Useful/Not Useful?
05-16-2014, 11:05 AM
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#21
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Moderator Emeritus
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: New Orleans
Posts: 47,473
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What Skills Do You Find Useful/Not Useful?
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.
__________________
Already we are boldly launched upon the deep; but soon we shall be lost in its unshored, harbourless immensities. - - H. Melville, 1851.
Happily retired since 2009, at age 61. Best years of my life by far!
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05-16-2014, 11:09 AM
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#22
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Flyover country
Posts: 25,199
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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.
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05-16-2014, 11:18 AM
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#23
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 2,745
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pb4uski
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.
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+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.
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05-16-2014, 11:19 AM
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#24
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Bonita (San Diego)
Posts: 1,795
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- 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)
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05-16-2014, 11:24 AM
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#25
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: Bonita (San Diego)
Posts: 1,795
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Quote:
Originally Posted by robnplunder
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.
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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!
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05-16-2014, 11:24 AM
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#26
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
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Usefull:
Computer skills
Chainsaw skills
Shooting skills
Fishing skills
General Handyman skills
Not So Much:
A lot of the detail stuff learned in college (high end math, econ and such)
Agree with the youtube content. It's the best user manual on the planet.
__________________
The Constitution. It's not just a good idea...it's the law.
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05-16-2014, 11:47 AM
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#27
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Vienna
Posts: 226
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Midpack
I'm curious what you'd call categorically useless? Can a "skill" be wholly "useless?"
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I can play tournament tiddlywinks better than anyone else in the world. Doesn't pay much, though.
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05-16-2014, 12:33 PM
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#28
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Williston, FL
Posts: 3,925
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Definitely my handyman skills. Having 24 renters, it saves quite a bit of money being able to do things myself. It all adds up.
22 months and counting down to retire from the cubicle farm.
__________________
FIRE no later than 7/5/2016 at 56 (done), securing '16 401K match (done), getting '15 401K match (done), LTI Bonus (done), Perf bonus (done), maxing out 401K (done), picking up 1,000 hours to get another year of pension (done), July 1st benefits (vacation day, healthcare) (done), July 4th holiday. 0 days left. (done) OFFICIALLY RETIRED 7/5/2016!!
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05-16-2014, 12:56 PM
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#29
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Administrator
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 40,586
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When I was a college freshman I spent a month and a half in Mexico, the host family had a son my age. One of the things he taught me was how to drink beer without swallowing - tilting the head all the way back, opening the throat and letting the beer fall directly into the stomach.
Even though this is a skill I've never used, I'm reluctant to call it useless.
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05-16-2014, 12:59 PM
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#30
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Bay Area
Posts: 2,745
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MichaelB
When I was a college freshman I spent a month and a half in Mexico, the host family had a son my age. One of the things he taught me was how to drink beer without swallowing - tilting the head all the way back, opening the throat and letting the beer fall directly into the stomach.
Even though this is a skill I've never used, I'm reluctant to call it useless.
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LOL.
The guy can probably do sword swallowing - a valuable skill when unemployment rate is high.
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05-16-2014, 01:09 PM
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#31
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: San Diego
Posts: 880
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Now that I am in retirement mode I realize the following:
Useless Skills:
Everything that made me valuable in my profession.
Useful Skills:
Everything I used to do myself when I was younger, but later hired others to do. (Gardening, metal shop, plumbing, handyman, auto, etc...)
"I don't know who l am
But you know life is for learning
We are stardust
We are golden
And we've got to get ourselves
Back to the garden"
-Joni Mitchell
__________________
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.
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05-16-2014, 01:56 PM
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#32
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Midwest
Posts: 2,962
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Two "useful skills"
1) Being able to get enough money so that I, personally, don't need any useful skills.
2) Like Dirty Harry said in Magnum Force: "A man's got to know his limitations."
Knowing my limitations
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05-16-2014, 03:05 PM
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#33
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 2,983
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Slowly transitioning into retirement I am finding that I need to hone my handyman/builder skills. My career centers around presentations and sales pitches which require a great deal of enthusiasm. While my peers are impressed I'm losing steam but can still do it with one arm tied behind my back. OMY . The useful skills seem to evolve throughout life.
__________________
Took SS at 62 and hope I live long enough to regret the decision.
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05-16-2014, 03:29 PM
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#34
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Moderator
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Eastern WV Panhandle
Posts: 25,302
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Quote:
Originally Posted by braumeister
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.
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I've often said that the typing class (yes, manual Underwoods) I took in high school was the single most useful class.
Of course, I only took it because I figured I'd be the only guy in a classroom full of girls (Wrong, one other guy had the same idea.) and I knew they couldn't make me buy a typewriter and therefore could not assign homework.
__________________
When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.
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05-16-2014, 03:32 PM
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#35
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,495
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Patience.
Fortitude.
Self-discipline.
Self-mastery.
Self-control.
Delayed gratifiction.
Lifelong learning commitment.
Lifelong self-innovation commitment.
Self-awareness.
Embracing failure.
Hard, hard, hard work.
These are all inner skills, and all have been, in one way or the other, indispensible to anything I've been able to accomplish in my life.
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05-16-2014, 03:50 PM
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#36
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2007
Posts: 3,222
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One very useful skill that I think most of us on this forum have, or at least trying to obtain, is personal finance.
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05-16-2014, 03:57 PM
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#37
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jul 2008
Posts: 35,712
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Amethyst
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.
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We need to see a youtube video proving your ability.
I remember that a classmate of mine in elementary school could do this. Are there really muscles in the scalp, let alone one that is controllable?
Anyway, a search on youtube found the following video. Jump to 1:30 if you are impatient. The speaker made successful use of this ability in his speech, so it was not useless.
__________________
"Old age is the most unexpected of all things that happen to a man" -- Leon Trotsky (1879-1940)
"Those Who Can Make You Believe Absurdities Can Make You Commit Atrocities" - Voltaire (1694-1778)
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05-16-2014, 03:57 PM
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#38
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Texas: No Country for Old Men
Posts: 50,004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Walt34
I've often said that the typing class (yes, manual Underwoods) I took in high school was the single most useful class.
Of course, I only took it because I figured I'd be the only guy in a classroom full of girls (Wrong, one other guy had the same idea.)
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I had a similar motivation with similar results - a third of my HS typing class was male.
My mom also insisted I take typing due to my brother's (16 years older) positive experience with knowing how to type. He was drafted into the Marine Corps during the Korean War and, because he was the only Marine in his Boot Camp class that new how to type, he became the company clerk and saw no combat.
__________________
Numbers is hard
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05-16-2014, 04:16 PM
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#39
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Ventura County
Posts: 1,432
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Useful:
Auto Shop
Machine Shop (wood and metal)
Photoshop
Useless:
The Ins and Outs of Extended Survival as a cog in Megacorp
(happily already forgetting this one - even though I'm still nominally employed for another few months)
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05-16-2014, 04:28 PM
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#40
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Apr 2013
Posts: 834
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Quote:
Originally Posted by zinger1457
One very useful skill that I think most of us on this forum have, or at least trying to obtain, is personal finance.
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That is a good point, something we are all striving for.
I would also hope that civility and respect in the conversation is something we are striving for. I think we have that and that is one of the things I love about this place.
__________________
The Constitution. It's not just a good idea...it's the law.
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