Moonbear said:
Honestly, they are simple tasks that don't require a lot of intelligence. That's why people can be employed in those professions even if they haven't graduated high school. People seem overly impressed that I can handle most home repairs myself (the ones I can't generally are those that require a second set of hands to hold stuff), and I never really understand why they think these things are so hard to do. Physically taxing, sure, but not mentally challenging. Sure, there are people with the muscle mass of a twig and complete lack of coordination who couldn't handle these things without hurting themselves, but it's much more of a brawn over brains kind of thing.
I'm really surprised by your response Moonbear. You obviously lack the knowledge to make assumptions about who is and who isn't intelligent. The majority of people in those professions that I do know are skilled and have a high school education and 4 years of trade school (union) with continuing madatory educational courses. And they do make plenty of $$$$$$$. They have an extremely high level of intelligence. They build hospitals, refineries, hotels, prisons, etc. I should mention that I have friends from every walk of life. And, if I throw a party everyone is invited including scientists, the garbage man, paper boy, musician, kids, CEO's, Trustees, etc. No power play there. Just living life to the fullest and enjoying the company. (I most definitely wouldn't ever tell a child they weren't intelligent.)
Furthermore, if you had a 4,000 sq. foot house built with a pool and landscaped you would know otherwise.
Simple repairs are simply not taxing. But, we can't overlook the big ticket items!
This is why men try not to let women do these jobs...they fear that the more of us who do them for ourselves, the less they can get away with pretending it's a long, hard job to do because we'll know better.
I don't think so. It seems to me that the men you know are very different from the men I know. Plus, I have enough work to do. I like to garden, but I'm not going to chop down a 50 foot tree or build an harbor. I leave it for a professional.
For example, this weekend, one of the things I did was replace the kitchen faucet. The one I had was cheap and too low to fit pots under it, so I got a different one that's more functional. The instructions, honest to goodness, said the average time to install it was 90 minutes, NOT including removing existing faucets. Seriously. 90 minutes? It had 4 nuts to screw on...one each for the hot and cold water lines, one for the sprayer, and one to screw the whole thing to the sink top. It took me longer to clear all the stuff out from under the sink and replace it all back than it did to actually remove the old faucet and install the new one. Maybe if I had to replace the shut-off valves along with the faucet, adding some running up and down to the main water shut off, a trip to the store for supplies, and soldering in a cramped space might have taken longer, but sheesh, 90 minutes to screw on 4 nuts?
Yeah, don't let anyone convince you that stuff is difficult.
Congratulations. You probably saved yourself $250.00 on installation fees if you had had it done in my neck of the woods.
Thank you for sharing your experience. I have no desire to change my faucet or replace the roof. I have passed that age of wanting to fix everything that might break. My priorities are different then yours. My time is spent on doing what I like. It might have to do with my age. And I'm a firm believer that each person has the right to choose what they want to do. Decision making is an attribute of being an intelligent person.
Thanks for the exchange. Very enlightening. Have a great day!
Do whatever makes you happy. Intelligent people most often do that by balancing - the extrodinary with the ordinary. At least that is what I have found to be true.
