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It's The Guy On The End Of The Wrench That Counts

Discussion in 'The Tool Shed' started by Frogfarm, Mar 22, 2023.

  1. Mar 22, 2023
    Frogfarm

    Frogfarm 1978 CJ5 2023 Sponsor

    Cottage Grove, OR
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    I had a shop for almost 30 years on Swan Island in Portland, OR, and did a lot more ship repair more than I wanted to at times. So over the years, you start developing a network of craft labor you can call in part-time to help with a project.

    So one day, another contractor stopped in to see me, that had been at it about 20 years longer than me and was looking for some labor. So we both got to bitching about some of the guys, and he gave me a good line. "Think of them as tools in your toolbox, the shinney ones you do not have much use for, the beat and battered ones just get the job done."

    [​IMG]
    One of my welding crews in about 2005 just after about six days of around the clock of hell welding fractures. They look a little ugly, but they sure can burn the rod.
     
  2. Mar 22, 2023
    Lockman

    Lockman OK.....Now I Get It . 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Silver Hill,...
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    ......& Every Single one of those Mug's love you to this very day , Right ? :lol:
     
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  3. Mar 22, 2023
    Frogfarm

    Frogfarm 1978 CJ5 2023 Sponsor

    Cottage Grove, OR
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    They were happy there pay checks cashed, or as happy as they will ever be
     
  4. Mar 22, 2023
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
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    Yeah, I want to work with the beat up ornery ones. They are the only ones I will learn from and the only ones I will respect. Now I am the beat up ornery one and those that don't listen to me or have something to add thats stupid get told where to go.

    Im never happy unless I have too many jobs lined up. When your'e good at what you do, thats not a problem.
     
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  5. Mar 22, 2023
    Oldpappy

    Oldpappy A.C. Fults - Curmudgeon at large 2022 Sponsor

    East Tennessee
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    A buddy of mine claims he can weld anything other than the crack of dawn, or a broken heart. He is a very good welder.

    Remembering those you worked with years ago is always a good thing.
     
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  6. Mar 23, 2023
    Jeepenstein

    Jeepenstein Me like Jeep..

    North Central FL
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    Jun 15, 2003
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    Funny, me and one of my old buddies I work with that I also served on the Philly Pig (SSN 690) started with GE about the same time and worked several projects together as young field engineers and were in awe of the "old timers" and their seemingly endless knowledge, skill and at the same time complained about their grumpiness towards us "kids".. Fast forward twenty something years and he and I are sitting next to each other one day at Monticello Nuclear station, just looked at each other and both had that moment.. "Fu(*.. We are those guys now.. ". We had a laugh and moved on..
     
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  7. Mar 23, 2023
    Frogfarm

    Frogfarm 1978 CJ5 2023 Sponsor

    Cottage Grove, OR
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    My father was a part-time pattern maker, so when I was a kid, I was his slave labor building patterns. Heck, probably at the age of 6, I was the outfeed table for the saw, and by 8 or 10, I was doing the sawing.

    Fast forward, when I got to high school, I took woodshop and dreamed of being a carpenter. Then reality set in. I soon realized that my father and grandpa knew a lot more than this teacher did, so I let him know it. I also learned the academic world does not like the uneducated that can figure something out. So short of it I got thrown out of the woodshop. They did not know what to do with me, so they sent me to metal shop.

    The metal shop was great. It was free for all, and I could build and fix my mini bike and go-kart parts.

    So one morning, I was trying to drill some holes in a sprocket and was not having any luck. The drill was squalling and squawking and not cutting. The shop door was open, and this guy was walking by, and he came in and stopped me. Pulls the drill out, held it up, and said to me, who sharpened this in rough broken english with a german accent, and I said the teacher did. He tells me he made a corkscrew out of the drill, F!!ning idiot. So he takes me to the grinder and shows me how to sharpen a drill. Then took me back to the drill press and gave me a couple of tips on drilling my holes. As he prepared to leave, he told me he would return to check on me tomorrow. Then he tells me that he has the key to the shop, and he opens it up at 5 AM every morning for a few kids to come in and work if I am interested.

    So the following day, I got up early, hitchhiked to school, and was in the shop a 5. The game changer of my life!

    What a mentor Fred Kuhan, a Hitler youth who apprenticed as a tool and die maker and then came to the US and got a job as a school janitor. A fabulous teacher to many, he found us all jobs from Boing to the Shipyards.
     
  8. Mar 23, 2023
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    USA
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    You're either smart or you're not. People and animals are born this way. You can teach a person or an animal to perform a job or a trick or a task and they can become very capable, but someone smart had to figure out that thing that is being taught. I never did do well in school, didn't get along with people whose hands were soft, but I have done well in life.

    Smart people have imagination, flexibility and the knack of seeing patterns.

    Really smart people like Tesla or Newton are on another plane. They were born this way.
     
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  9. Mar 23, 2023
    Fireball

    Fireball Well-Known Member 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Pullman, WA
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    This.
     
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  10. Mar 23, 2023
    Jeepenstein

    Jeepenstein Me like Jeep..

    North Central FL
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    And one of the best qualities to that is the "why".. Why is it like that, why does it work, why does it have that pattern.. The questioning attitude I believe is the catalyst and the natural talents are the raw materials.
     
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  11. Mar 23, 2023
    wheelie

    wheelie beeg dummy 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor

    York, PA
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    :(
     
  12. Mar 23, 2023
    SoCalNickG

    SoCalNickG Member 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Whittier, CA.
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    When my kids (adults now) were in school and complained about some teachers not "getting it" and blowing off good questions, I told them there is a difference between being smart and being educated. I believe that more as I get older.
     
  13. Mar 24, 2023
    dozerjim

    dozerjim Member

    western New York
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    x2.......o_O
     
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  14. Mar 26, 2023
    jeep peep69

    jeep peep69 Member

    redding ca.
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    In the whole realm of things I'm not that old at 53 but I'm that old grumpy guy who has been around since dirt was invented now. I learned about fixing things from Dad and grandpa then took some classes at the local community College went to work at a large trucking company fixing tires and greasing trucks then slowly moved up to journey man level. Then started driving and operating equipment now I just drive truck I find it's much easier on my broken down body . But it is funny to look back and realize oh I'm the mentor now.
     
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  15. Mar 26, 2023
    PeteL

    PeteL If it wasn't for physics, and law enforcement... 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Hills of NH
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    Maybe. (I suspect I've lost quite a few IQ points due to my activities over the years, regardless.)

    But also I believe there are different kinds of smart. I did okay academically when young, but I hated it - it went against the grain of my character. I eventually learned to instead embrace my 'weaknesses,' and run with them, and I became much happier.

    I'm absolutely not a chess player or math whizz, and many of you guys would run logical circles around me. But "slow thinking" allows me to develop non-intellectual solutions that work well, trusting in my experience and intuition. (Ironically, I think I am also very good in emergencies requiring instant action.)

    My daughter is smart, and thinks I'm a senile imbecile. But as it turns out, I've developed a niche where I do work I love, have no competition, and appreciative clients. Often I take large gambles, on gut feelings more than technical engineering - and extraordinary projects have emerged. My work stands the test of time.

    In hiring help, the most important thing (to me) is attitude - a desire to seek quality, and to keep learning. Then the skills can be taught.
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2023
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  16. Mar 26, 2023
    47v6

    47v6 junk wrecker! 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

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    I knew that statement, "You're either smart or you're not", would be a little thought provoking, but not exactly as I anticipated. It sounds a whole lot like, "You're either first or You're last" which is a funny silly line that Ricky Bobby says in the movie "Talledega Nights".

    What I mean to say is that you cannot teach a person to "be" smart. Its something you're born with. That, "smart" is a talent that is innate in your being, something that you have that is a bit exceptional. There are innumerable "smarts" you can have and sometimes they are fully unappreciated by people who cannot see that talent..

    Sometimes that talent is never realized and sometimes maybe there isnt one. I also happen to work in a very niche field where I can use all my skills and talents to do pretty well for myself...

    And all those terrible jobs I have had to do because I was a terrifically awful student in academic settings where some old crudmugen was kind enough in his or her own way to pass on that knowledge has made me one of the most capable people in my field. I learned everything I needed to know from some old timer at one point in time or another.
     
  17. Mar 26, 2023
    Dave Deyton

    Dave Deyton Member

    Fuquay-Varina, NC
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    There was a guy where we had a state office. He worked at a mill and fixed a ton of stuff. He never got in a hurry. He got more done than all the other maintenance people there put together.
    I admired his quiet way and the others always asked him how to fix stuff. I always figured he just had a unique way of figuring things out, that couldn't be taught. others started fixing things, he came, re-did what they did wrong, and fixed it right.
    When all the others were scampering around, looking like they were on fire, he walked like a man in the park, and out worked them all at a slow steady pace.
    Interesting to watch him work. When he retired and came by to visit, he told the others how to fix the problems they had been struggling with. He was very pleasant and had time to talk to everyone. Always ready to give a helping hand or advice.
    His knowledge and attitude really made an impression on me.

    Dave
     
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  18. Mar 26, 2023
    Lockman

    Lockman OK.....Now I Get It . 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor 2022 Sponsor

    Silver Hill,...
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    ....... My old School Trim Carpenter mentor, Would say to me when i got Frustrated : Aw,.....You just ain't holdin' your Mouth right, that's All ! He was a Very Smart Man, Indeed.

    To reply to Chris's last post , with a Smile, of course: Did you by chance learn anythin' from our Friend , Oldpappy ? He states that he's One :flag:
     
    Last edited: Mar 26, 2023
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  19. Mar 26, 2023
    wheelie

    wheelie beeg dummy 2024 Sponsor 2023 Sponsor

    York, PA
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    What Pete said. X2.

    And then you have the guy who seems to have a genius IQ but, since it wasn't cool to be smart in school, he ends up working some low blue collar job when he could be a nuclear engineer. I work with this guy. Super smart. Can fix anything. Maybe he has a photographic memory. That would help too. He totally analyzes everything before taking anything apart. From every angle. I think he is taking pictures in his mind. He works slowly and methodically at everything. His brother actually IS a nuclear engineer.

    I work slowly and methodically and usually in my own way. But I can't remember how something came apart or how then to put it back together. 20 minutes later I can't remember it. I have to write it down. Lay it out in order on the bench.
     
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  20. Mar 26, 2023
    Frogfarm

    Frogfarm 1978 CJ5 2023 Sponsor

    Cottage Grove, OR
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    Some people say to me that is amazing. How did you figure it out? And I should say luck and persistence, but one doesn't need to tell everything.
    I tell them when I come back in my next life, I just want to be able to sing, dance, and play the guitar.
     
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