I grew up with a father who could do everything. Honestly. He and my mother built the house in which I grew up. He rebuilt the home next to it (the one in which my mother still lives). When I was getting my driver’s license, we [he] cleaned up and rebuilt the engine of the ’67 Ford Custom 500 that had been sitting in the driveway for a couple of years (with a lot of that engine in its trunk). No matter what it was, he could innovate. He could fix it. He could sew it. He could paint it.
I can do some of that stuff…-ish. Given the time and patience…and resources, I’m sure I could pull some of it off. But that’s the thing about being 27 years in the military and staying overseas (in an apartment) to work. I don’t think a table saw would have been a good investment at any time over all of those years. Or a full set of tools to work on an engine. Or an engine…
A missed opportunity, and one that holds a smidgeon of regret for me, although one of life’s shortcomings I recognize was in the cards.
Still, there are ways to live it I guess. That’s why I love YouTube channels like “Samcrac” (car repair) and “Wristwatch Revival” (you can guess). I know a lot goes on the cutting room floor — the frustrations and the time and the failures (not to mention the actual cutting) — but watching someone tear something down, figure it out, put it back together, and get it running is just so satisfying. I suppose I could even try to do something like fix a watch. It looks to be an incredibly portable hobby, I’m sure. But…it’s also expensive. Marshall (of Wristwatch Revival) can’t go more than two episodes without bringing out a new tool…that he might only use once or twice ever, but costs a bit anyway. I mean, 40 bucks for a little plastic doo-dad whose only purpose is to close the cover of the mainspring barrel? And his mainspring winder? Forget about it. Close to a thousand bucks.
I suppose there’s the school that says, “if you invest that much, you’re more likely to stick to it.” But I can’t help but think that the farther away I get from the investment, the more likely it would be for me to eventually forget about it. “Hey. Life went on, and I’m not in the poorhouse. I’ll wind those springs one of these days.” I’ve told people many times, “If I’d stuck to that guitar I bought 30 years ago, I’d be a virtuoso by now.” On the brighter side: video games…never really took off with me (although I must insist (and correctly so), not getting into video games is one of my stronger points).
Hey, you win some, you lose some. It balances out. I’ve certainly stuck to biking (although the heat yesterday makes me wish I hadn’t (at least yesterday — kind of want to go out again today)), and through it I’ve experienced some pretty wonderful things. I’ve never considered myself a reader…but for not being one, I sure do read a lot. Even writing here over the last few years. A friend to set it up and five bucks a month (and twelve a year to rent the domain name) have gone a long way. Maybe someday after I’m gone, someone’ll say, “I never got to do the cool things Bob did.” Not what I’m shooting for, but…perspective.
I guess what this says then is, “Be satisfied with what you’ve made of yourself.” Yeah, some of us are real pieces of work at times to some degree, but something good can be found in every one of us…starting with the fact that we are all God’s work, made with purpose and value. People are interesting, right? Amazing creatures, every one of us. We should treat ourselves and others as such, both for our sake, and for everyone else’s too.
[Note: There’s much more in that statement though…but that’s for another day.]