Where Did You Learn?

[ladyjaine]

We all learned it somewhere. So, where did you learn? Dad's knee? Breaking things while trying to 'fix' them? Reading books? Formal schooling? You can't simply fall asleep in the truck and wake up knowing how it works...



I learned/am learning by listening more than I talk, reading manuals and paying attention to my truck. Dad was of the 'if you break it, you have to fix it' school, but wouldn't assist in the fixing. After a few failures had me walking for months, I stopped doing it myself and got a job to pay a mechanic...



Jean

 

[SnoDawg]

Natural Curiousity

I was always tearing things apart to find out how things worked. so I had to learn to put them back together to keep my Dad from Kicking my A--.

 

[lschultz]

ladyjaine maybe them Dixie Chicks could take some pointers from you. Especially that one that don't know when to keep her mouth shut.

I learned just by taking it apart,then I had to put it back together and make it work.

 

[SOOT]

I was always pulling something apart just to see how it works. Then I went to school and got an Associates Degree with a major in Diesel Technology and a minor in Business, so now I spin wrenches for a living.

 

[Camara]

My dad and uncles had 23 rubbish trucks, mix of gas and diesels, and all the related support equipment. I learned how to weld, do complete drive train rebuilds, hydraulic system repairs and 480 volt 3 phase wiring all from my Dad and the guys in the shop.



The guys in the shop taught me a little about girls too:{

 

[QRTRHRS]

My dad was a carpenter. I started going on the job site with him when I was eight. He was not much good for showing me things so I learned by watching. I worked 3rd shift weekends washing dishes when I was around 12-14. Learned a lot but nothing having to do with mechanics. Hung around the gas stations with the gearheads. Started working construction with trucks and heavy equipment at 16. Only thing I never learned is how to relax. I always have to be doing something. Took college courses at 22, 25, 30, and 40. Only ever finished on degree though.

 

[parcher]

Started like most, taking things apart. Went on to putting them together. Wanted to go to BOCES (vo-tec training) but let the guidance couseler tell me I was too smart for that..... what'd he know!? Went to vocational college and got a AOS degree. Then on to factory training from Honda, Subaru, Toyota, and finally (thank God) Chrysler.

 

[Silver]

I've always driven pieces of $h. . (until I bought my CTD) I never had the money to get someone else to fix them. Either I learned how to fix and maintain my vehicles or I walked. Reading books and manuals helps a lot, but the principles of how and why it works have helped me much more than just the instructions.

 

[Badunit]

One of my earliest memories is toddling underneath the tables at our community pool tightening by hand the bolts that held them together. Man I was short back then!



In kindergarten I used to take the toys apart. My teacher set up a conference with my parents to discuss it and they simply asked if she had ever asked me to put them back together. She hadn't. It certainly never occured to me to reassemble them but I did it after she asked.



Learned the basics of an automobile as a go-fer for my dad when I was about 5 or 6. Learned a lot more when I bought my first junker when I was 13 (I drove it on our farm like a bat outta hell). I bought a repair manual and used it often. I also learned how to repair junk parts with other junk parts and with whatever I could make with hand tools and an acetylene torch. No money = creativity. I had a lot of fun.

 

[Doc Tinker]

For me, it started when we got a new furnace, when I was eight or nine. Dad gave me the old furnace and told me to tear it apart and save the nuts and bolts.



When I was thirteen, I started spending summers on Gramps' farm. The first summer, I found an old reel mower with a huge one cyclinder engine, in the cellar of an out-building. The mower had been there for decades and was a sold mass of rust. I saw a great toy in that old mower, and proceeded to spend the summer rebuilding it. Everyone on the farm was pretty surprised that I found the old forgotten machine and they were even more surprised when I got it running and started using it as transportation around the farm. Needless to say, I had to fix anything that broke from then on.



Doc