stapfam

I know some of us are probably very skilled in their work- but what other skills do you have besides Your profession?

If you are a computer guru- or a Finance director- I do not want to know about those skills at all. It is the other ones that I find interesting.

OK- I can maintain and repair bikes. Hopefully that is something that most can do on this forum. I am also an accomplished gardener and have been for at least 50 years. All that experience started with a 1 acre garden and parents that had always lived in London. It has progressed over the years and developed into showing Alpine Plants at Championship level and I also used to lecture and give talks to Garden societies and clubs on growing these fascinating plants.

So that's me--How about the rest of you.

I've been looking for pics but they are lost on the old computer so can't show my prowess in building compost heaps out of my Failures.

NOS88

I wish I could say I had a green thumb, but it is not so.

I grew up in my Grandmother's kitchen. She was a world class chef. So, depending on who you talk to I can cook a little. Her insistence that I learn to use my taste resulted in a fairly refined palate. I've been hired by restaurant owners to help them develop their beer, wine and whiskey menus. I've also been hired to do professional tastings with beer, bourbon, and various foods and spirits tastings.

I am able to do most of the maintenance and work on my bikes, and have built several from the frame up. I worked wrenching for two summers, but that was some years ago.

I've taught martial arts and self-defense for almost 30 years. The last 10 of these 30 have focused on teaching social workers, case managers, nurses, and others in the helping professions how to keep safe while maintaining productive relationships with their clients and the communities they serve.

Finally, I have developed some skills in setting up guitars. I'm a poor to mediocre player, but have been hired by nationally prominent musicians to do setups on their guitars. I'm not especially good at repairs, but have an intuitive sense of what will work on any given guitar in terms of playability.

My wife suggested I add one more. I really like photographing flowers, but don't necessarily think I have much skill in doing it. But, at her urging here are a few examples:

lhbernhardt

Beyond riding a bike and keeping it maintained, not much. I've been building my own wheels for the past 40 years or so, but only for myself. I typically build 28-spoke front and 32-spoke rear wheels, although I've been branching out. My latest two wheels are 24-spoke front on a 36-hole hub, and the rebuilding of a paired-spoke Rolf Vector front. I'm able to get the LSC wheels tight enough now. I rode in to work this morning on the 24-spoke front. Something very satisfying about riding on wheels you built yourself, though I must admit I rode PBP on factory-built Shimano paired-spoke LSC wheels.

I also attend a lot of operas. I recently saw my 300th performance (not counting dress rehearsals or live Met HD broadcasts). I've got season tickets to Vancouver & Seattle, and I attend various other regional companies. The big trip this year will be to NYC to see the Robert Lepage-designed Ring of the Nibelungen (my 8th Ring) at the Met, along with three other operas. My lifetime goal is to see as many operas in as many famous international opera houses as possible (taking my bike with me for rides in the neighboring 'hood). So, yeah, I could probably answer just about any question you could ever pose about opera. (The Opera category on Jeopardy is just so easy it ain't funny!)

I used to play classical guitar. Played in a dance band in college where I played an electric guitar and had to sight read. I still own a Gibson Les Paul Deluxe (small humbucking pickups)!

But that's about it.

Luis

berner

I can milk a cow but I'm not allowed to have one in my flat/apartment.

overthehillmedi

I was good at wasting time when I was working and getting even better now that I'm retired.

Bikey Mikey

I'm a decent photographer. I also dabble in drawing and other art. I make great spaghetti sauce...cooks for 7 hours at least.

Boudicca

I make jam, I make chutney and I even can tomatoes to last me through the winter. I consider these to be very useful skills. Tasty too.

bigbadwullf

Computer hacking skills, bow hunting skills, nunchuck skills...


Golf to a 5 handicap. Dirt bike woods riding. Mr fix-it. Hold the record in Tennessee for the softball throw for over-50 age group . Piss people off with replies to posts on discussion boards. You know, fun stuff like that.

dbg

*I used to design and build loudspeakers and still occasionally dabble in sound systems and home theater stuff.
*I still build golf clubs (and I invented the hybrid in 1982 when I shortened a metal 3-wood to the length of a 4 iron and amazed the golf buddies ;-)
*I now do all the family cooking --and enjoy it (I've evolved thru my cilantro and basil phase and am now learning about dill and arugula).
*I'm currently re-doing a bathroom in subway tile.
*I hope to take up welding when I retire.

leob1

I can do most any construction skills; rough and finish carpentry, plumbing, electrical, roofing, windows, doors, flooring, tile, painting(under duress), drywall finish. But NEVER let me near concrete, it will be a horrible mess. I also cook. My current cooking hobby is meat smoking. Beer brewing, using HME(keep it to youself, I like it). I'm also an above average auto mechanic, and have fixed a bike or two.
I can also take a mean Sunday afternoon nap.

Doohickie

I'm a Putterer, Second Class.

Tractortom

I can do the mechanical things, worked for years in the Data Communications field and now fix VHF radios for the State of Florida Forest Service. That said, I really like to weld and fabricate with steel and spent the last five years as an Ag Welder on one of Florida's largest cattle ranches. I also build small boats and work with fiberglass when I get a chance. I always have a beat-up canoe around the place waiting to be patched up, painted and sold. I'm also the president of the local Ham Radio Club and a General Class Amateur Radio license holder.

Tractor Tom in Okeechobee, FL

GFish

Geee.......everything I was good at, I no longer do, is this a sign of aging?

- Bow hunting
- Fishing
- Motocross racer
- Golfer +2 handicap
- White water boating

I still do a few of these, just less frequently.

Gravity Aided

Photography, light camera and bike repair, a bit of expertise on the weather, as well as photographing it . I also attract old bicycles . I also grill and barbeque . I may have a little involvement in politics , and a great deal of involvement in public speaking in my past .

Jim from Boston

I'm a pretty good ballroom dancer, as I've been told (eight years of lessons, dancing every Saturday night). Also, I'm often consulted at work about computers, and Microsoft Office Products in particular. Several years ago I was named the Smartest Daddy in the Whole Wide World, and now bear the honorific title of Pater Rex Sapiens.

Durockrolly

I build a pretty quick Sportster! I like the sleeper look.


I enjoy playing the blues!


I don't have any pics on the computer,
I love taking my bass boat out in search of double digit bass.

Oh yeah, let's not forget my BBQ and smokin' skills!

Jim from Boston

Tells pretty good jokes too.

Mobile 155

I have tried to play lots of musical instraments and never quite found my skill set. Then about the time I decided to retire I got my first taste of percussion. I got involved with a world percussion group and started going to fairs and festivals. I play hand drums better than Kit drums and I tend to hold the base line in a drum circle. Congas, Bongos, Djembe, shakers, blocks, and even a whole harmonic set of Jews Harps, not to seem non PC, Jaw harps. I may not be good with the melody but I can hold the basic beat like a metronome. (That is my secret life)

This is not me but it is some of the group I played with at Didgefest.



And then came cycling..... Now I get to play about twice a year and while it is still fun Iam more critical of my ability than I used to be....

CraigB

Lately I feel like my actual vocation is really just my avocation, since I haven't been employed in architecture for almost 4 years, thanks to the economy. I'm also a sometime-woodworker and a mediocre amateur musician (guitar, banjo, piano). And I'm the design and color advisor for my wife's beading, quilting and fiber-arts pieces.

freedomrider1

OMG . that is just to funny LMAO

BR46

amateur musician
amateur motocross racer
amateur motorcycle hill climber
amateur machinist
amateur welder
I'm a jack of all trades master of none

Dudelsack 

I'm a truly third rate musician.

I'm the first cellist I know of to record almost all of Bartok's duos for violins. Shame that it's not good, although I acquired some cover-up skills with the sound processor.

To my knowledge I'm the only one to attempt to play Terry Reilly's In C only using an iPad.

Both crimes against nature can be heard on www.soundcloud.com/klengerhasser, along with some original compositions that weren't completed because I have ADD.

OldsCOOL

Retired from 28yrs of pastoral ministry. Now working in the juvenile probate court assisting probation officers. Have also worked in the residential electrical field, cable tv (in the 70's).

Hobbies:

-weight training, competing powerlifter (have held national level bench press records)
-marksman (rifle), love to shoot and handload for my own lesser common chamberings
-auto mechanics, have restored vehicles of the 1950's

jedde

Hobbyist guitar, bass, some keyboards and drums. So one-man band.
Lifelong woodworking (Americana furniture kinda stuff) and more recently building guitar amp cabinets.
Retirement has allowed me the time to get back into electronics and build tube amps (Fender clones) from scratch. They actually sound better than previously-owned store-bought gear.

DX-MAN

Build BSO's for Walmart, last 11-1/2 years; it also includes building particle-board furniture, stamped-sheetmetal grills, and creative solutions for the store as a whole.

I have done construction -- framing, drywall, light electrical, a tiny bit of plumbing and landscaping -- and pulled a desk job for almost three years. These are things I've been paid for.

I've designed houses, for myself and family, that just never made it all the way to blueprints. I've done custom paint on my own and family/friends' cars.

When the IRS wanted to tack my Dad's hide to the wall 20+ years ago, a letter from me explaining things stopped the process.

I can pack up furniture and personal goods for moving and shipment pretty well, too.......