fourlocks wrote:
...1. Watching construction sites, “just in case.” “I find it really satisfying and interesting to see the process behind things being built...”
It works for me. I have learned a lot by watching others do things.
fourlocks wrote:
...3. Buy a guy a good knife and if there’s another man, he will hand it to the man to hold who will admire it for a while and then hand it back saying, “Nice.”...
I have specific ideas about knives. I did not keep records but I estimate that I have been carrying a knife since I was about 8. Except, of course, on a plane. For about 35 years I have been carrying a one-handed knife. It's an assisted-opening knife (which is different from a switchblade) that you can pull out and open with one hand. For a farmer it's an Essential Tool. It is always in my pocket (unless I use it and set it down and walk off -- which happens more frequently as I age). There's a pocket clip which is on the end of the knife opposite to the blade hinge. That allows you to pull it out of your pocket and open it without trying to turn it around. It's surprising how many one-handed knives are made with the clip on the hinge end. I consider them useless.
fourlocks wrote:
...4. If a guy walks under a low hanging sign, he will jump up and try to tap the bottom of the sign. Men do this 99% of the time pretending the sign is 10 feet high and that they have the ability to dunk a basketball. There are those who can dunk and the rest are mere mortals...
I probably did this in my youth, but at 83 I don't jump. That involves keeping my balance on landing.
fourlocks wrote:
...6. Give a guy a new electric drill or electric saw and he’ll wander around looking for stuff that needs holes or needs to be cut...
This is NOT limited to small hand tools. The same is true for backhoes or bulldozers.
"When you get a new tool, you will find all sorts of uses for it, most of which it was never designed for"fourlocks wrote:
...7. Given a wood fire and a long stick, 100 out of 100 men will find a reason to poke the fire every few minutes. Just, you know, to make sure things are burning evenly...
Absolutely essential to get a uniform fire.
fourlocks wrote:
...8. When a tree service has to chainsaw down residential trees, neighborhood men will gather from all corners of the neighborhood to watch. It’s like a siren song...
The reason for that is that the tree service has things that the average neighborhood men don't. Tree spikes and safety belts. Bucket trucks. LARGE chippers. Chainsaws with 40" bars.
fourlocks wrote:
...9. While shopping in a grocery store, leaning forward with your forearms on the handle of the carriage while you walk up and down the aisles. Conversely, leaning way forward on the cart, stepping onto the lower rack and giving a good push to “go for a ride.”...
I do the first one all the time. Arthritis. The second I do without going for a ride, just a balance exercise.
fourlocks wrote:
...10 Skipping a stone across water an unusually high number of skips.
Have to teach the grandkids (and maybe even the kids).