Originally Posted by
GettingBy 
Good for you Lexiecat!
My dad was super handy-man. He's the reason I'm an engineer... When was in my early teens, he gave me a book, "How Does It Work." It explained everything - appliances, pumps, heating/cooling systems... You name it! I learned how everything worked... And because of it, I can fix just about anything! I love that about myself!
And if you're curious... There is a newer version of the book out... Called. "The new way things work" by MacAuley... I highly recommend it
Ya know, I could SWEAR I once owned that book, but I don't know what happened to it.
Sadly, I didn't get any mechanical inspiration from my Dad. He always tried, but it was a family joke that if he started trying to fix something, all the parts would wind up in a paper bag and going to the repair shop. I did teach myself to tune up my own car back in the day when you could actually TUNE a car by adjusting the timing belt and spark plugs. I remember I once dropped a small screw inside the distributor and my Dad yanked the distributor out to shake out the screw, and when he put it back we couldn't get it to start. He got all ticked off and impatient and called his car-buff friend and they were poking away, ignoring me. I suggested maybe the distributor went back in backwards, and they ignored me, waving me off while they cussed and sweated. Finally I said, can't we TRY turning it around? They finally did, just to shut me up, and guess what.
I wish I'd taken shop in school...