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Thread: Essential fixit skills for a teenager leaving the nest?

  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Koepke View Post
    Most people do not know that a furnace operates at the same intensity no matter where one sets the thermostat. It will not heat the room any faster if it is set to 90º...
    Not exactly true, depends on the furnace... my Goodman furnace has a 2-stage burner, the high-stage always fires first, then reverts to the low-stage about 3 seconds later. What exactly will keep the high-stage going I'm not exactly sure as I've never had to heat a cold house with it. And in my garage I have a nat-gas ventless wall heater with a 2-stage burner. There's not an actual thermostat on it or for it, but wherever the knob sits will keep the garage a consistent temperature. But if it's cold and you want it warm fast, crank the knob and it'll go from it's normal 22k-btu flame to a 30k flame...
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


  2. #32
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    Not exactly true, depends on the furnace...
    True, some of the room heaters in my younger days likely wouldn't pass code today. The gas flow was adjustable by the operator. They were also dangerous if the pilot blew out.

    Many common heating systems are either flame on or flame off.

    jtk
    "A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
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  3. #33
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    My Dad never taught me how to do anything. He just told me to go do whatever it was.
    Same here Tom.

    Sad part is my dad knows damn near just about every handy skill.

    My lesson in driving a clutch "here's the keys don't burn up the clutch"

  4. #34
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sam Shankar View Post
    My 18yo stepson leaves for college (god willing) in a few months. Though he has been with me 50% of the time for fourteen years, he is not a hands-on kid, and has never taken to making or fixing things with his hands. What can I say - you can lead a horse to water, etc.

    Though he is going to live in a dorm where he will presumably not need to do much fixing of anything, I still can't let him out of the nest without knowing a few things. I just have a few more months to force-feed some of that knowledge. Question is...what are those super basic essential skills?

    Here's my working list:
    • How to hang a picture
    • How to put a shelf in a wall (find studs/use drywall anchors/etc)
    • How to put on a spare tire
    • How to jump start the car
    • How to hammer a nail
    • How to pump up his bike tires and adjust his brakes
    • How to troubleshoot a dead outlet and reset a circuit breaker


    What else?
    I've found the most important item is for them to teach their father how to email them money, that seems to fix all issues......We call it "The Bank of Dad".

    Regards, Rod.

    P.S. Your list looks pretty good except for the last item, for 2 reasons, safety and there probably are restrictions on operation of electrical equipment such as resetting a protective device in a dorm.

  5. #35
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    Quote Originally Posted by William Fretwell View Post
    You could mention that fixing things for girls often has fringe benefits, they cook you lunch, then dinner, then breakfast.

    Good reason to teach your girls the same skills.

  6. #36
    Right on Stan.

  7. #37
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    Quote Originally Posted by Roger Feeley View Post
    Maybe you should think his ability to take phone advice and instruction from you. You never know what is going to come up and you are certain to get a call about fixing something that you can do. The question is whether you can talk him through it. Being a youngster, he can watch a YouTube video but may have additional questions.
    This.

    Talk about emergency repairs, especially toilet and plumbing. Everything else he/she can learn via YouTube or phone calls.

    My son switched out outlets, corrected a 3-way switch, changed spark plugs (no simple task, had to remove half the air intake system to get to two of them), installed a ceiling fan, and others over the phone. He set his smart phone on a tripod, used WhatsApp to video call me, and we did them all; he did the actual manual movements, I explained what to do and why each step was necessary from the comfort of my sofa during my covid sheltering at home.
    Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.

  8. #38
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    Troubleshooting skills. How to trace the problem to its' cause.

    As an apprentice in 1970, the first skill I learned was how to hold a flashlight for the journeymen.
    Never, under any circumstances, consume a laxative and sleeping pill, on the same night

  9. #39
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    Not exactly "fix it" skills, but a quick course in money management (checking accounts, credit cards, savings, investments) would be good to have.

  10. #40
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    So much good thinking in this thread. Here's a really important followup. What goes in the minimalist tool kit I give him so that *when* he calls asking for help, I can start by saying "now is the time to open up that little bag that you rolled your eyes at me for giving you!"

  11. #41
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    They sell these minimalist tool kits in a plastic case at auto stores you can put under the seat or in the trunk. I think it has pliers, ratcheting pliers, a couple of screwdrivers, crescent wrench, and maybe needle nose pliers. Mine came in handy in unexpected situations. Don't forget the duct tape.

  12. #42
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    They sell these minimalist tool kits in a plastic case at auto stores you can put under the seat or in the trunk. I think it has pliers, ratcheting pliers, a couple of screwdrivers, crescent wrench, and maybe needle nose pliers. Mine came in handy in unexpected situations. Don't forget the duct tape.
    Next rung up the food chain is the bootbox-sized one from Harbor Freight: https://www.harborfreight.com/hand-t...-kit-4030.html
    Way better than you'd expect...most sets like this have a gazillion hex wrenches to pad the tool count.
    Yoga class makes me feel like a total stud, mostly because I'm about as flexible as a 2x4.
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  13. #43
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    Quote Originally Posted by Stan Calow View Post
    They sell these minimalist tool kits in a plastic case at auto stores you can put under the seat or in the trunk. I think it has pliers, ratcheting pliers, a couple of screwdrivers, crescent wrench, and maybe needle nose pliers. Mine came in handy in unexpected situations. Don't forget the duct tape.
    We have a couple almost identical to this.
    AE815322-69D4-4A99-BC6B-4057F7B2B239.jpg
    Instead of the utility knife it has a level.
    The screw driver has about 12 different bits.
    I added a smaller snap off blade utility knife, fits under the indent for the pliers,
    duct tape, when I was down to about 3’ on a roll I cut the roll to be about an inch wide, then flattened the roll on my vise. it fits in the indent under the open end part of the wrenches,
    and a 9 volt snap on flashlight fits perfectly in one compartment of the small parts container
    Comments made here are my own and, according to my children, do not reflect the opinions of any other person... anywhere, anytime.

  14. #44
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    Personal finance and how and what it takes to avoid becoming a slave to debt. The wisdom of saving a percentage of income in an IRA or comparable device and the power of time’s affect on savings.
    Last edited by Michael Weber; 04-01-2021 at 1:27 PM.
    My three favorite things are the Oxford comma, irony and missed opportunities

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  15. #45
    "Personal finance and how and what it takes to avoid becoming a slave to debt"

    The hardest parts to drill into millennials heads that I've found: convincing (some of) them that they're actually NOT entitled to an infinite supply of unearned goods, services, food, shelter and cash just because they were born.

    Not even necessarily millennials, we have a 39 year old who still insists that because he's our kid, it's our job to send him cash whenever he's strapped-- which would be fine if he ever paid any of it back. About 6 months ago I offered to be his payday loan company, gave him $200, told him it's interest free, just pay it back how/when you can, and it'll be available next time. If it works out, I'll raise the limit...

    Never saw a dime come back.
    ========================================
    ELEVEN - rotary cutter tool machines
    FOUR - CO2 lasers
    THREE- make that FOUR now - fiber lasers
    ONE - vinyl cutter
    CASmate, Corel, Gravostyle


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