Field Theory: 25 Things you need to be a man
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At least one of those items is illegal in NZ.
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I have done every one of those things (at least I think I had to clean a rifle during barracks in high school - it was a long time ago).
But I don't get the 'man' thing - surely everyone should be able to do these things?
(except maybe 'bleed brakes' - I'd rather everyone else on the road wasn't doing that for themselves ...)
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the idea of man as a leader, able to give directions and take charge if needed
Aw, that's so sweet.
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Hmm, I can do all those apart from one. Is a washing machine needed for cleaning a bolt action rifle?
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This quote from Robert Heinlein seems . . . well, not relevent, but close:
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
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But I don't get the 'man' thing - surely everyone should be able to do these things?
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the idea of man as a leader, able to give directions and take charge if needed
Aw, that's so sweet.
Makes me think I need to repeat this para:
"Man", as I read it in the list, is now a concept not a sex. Men were hunter/gatherer/semen-factories and then evolved into farmers/truck-owners and for some reason you needed a penis to be that (I blame religion again). The list though seems to define man (or manly) as protector/provider but removing any gender bias (like strength or speed or hair growth).
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Outdoors
* Perform CPR
Given that most mechanics work indoors, I'm not sure what makes this an outdoor skill.
I can see it now. A mechanic accidentally electrocutes himself. Mechanics cluster around him, unsure what to do. One bright spark utters the lifesaving words: "Quick! Drag him outside so we can perform CPR!"
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_<quote>Know the fastest distance between two points (in their home town)<quote>
And if you could just add: ...and be prepared to ask for directions if you get it wrong!
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According to that list I'm only 80% manly :( but I plan never to bleed brakes or change an oil filter in my life. Happy for my local garage to do that and I'll gladly pay them.
But surely there's only one over-riding thing you you need to know to be a man.
1. Don't be a dick
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Meanwhile it seems manly square-jawed model-dating Superbowl-winning football player Tom Brady can't do the "paddle a canoe" thing
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Perform CPR
Given that most mechanics work indoors, I'm not sure what makes this an outdoor skill.
It just fitted better there.
1. Don't be a dick
Actually I rather all humans learned that one
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I would add: "Bury deceased family pets"
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This quote from Robert Heinlein seems . . . well, not relevent, but close:
This explains why my googling Douglas Adams for the same did not work.
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Makes me think I need to repeat this para:
Yeah, I get that. But oddly, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, leadership/organisation has always seemed a female trait to me. In that everybody mills about mooing until the Decider in the group goes 'screw this, here's what we're doing', and in my experience with friends and family that person is almost always female. Hence this:
In my family, things are always organised by women. That's determined by a simple, and hugely sexist, underlying assumption: men are a bit shit. A man couldn't organise a lay on a poultry farm. If you want something done properly, you get a woman to do it. First it's the mother's job, then as the family ages it becomes the daughter's.
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Yeah, I get that. But oddly, and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this, leadership/organisation has always seemed a female trait to me. In that everybody mills about mooing until the Decider in the group goes 'screw this, here's what we're doing', and in my experience with friends and family that person is almost always female.
I don't know how David and I have been coping all these years... Oh, that's right -- not giving a shit, and deciding most things only become a crisis if you let them.
And somehow, I don't feel testosterone-deficient because I've been known to hire an electrician occasionally.
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If you want something done properly, you get a woman to do it.
Doing stuff is work and being with friends is relaxing.
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Re-wiring a ceramic fuse a couple of month ago did give me a tiny, passing (non-electrical) spark of DIY pride. But that's as far as it goes.
I note that no food-gathering, gardening, cultivation or other agricultural-type skills are included to get the manly through a potential apocalypse...
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# Use a torque wrench
WTFs a torque wrench and when should it be used?
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WTFs a torque wrench and when should it be used?
It's a wrench with a dial/gauge on it that lets you know how much force you're applying when you're tightening a bolt. Useful for work on engines, I'm told, where you don't want to over- or under-tighten.
John Muir of How to Keep your Volkswagen Alive fame thought these were a waste of time, and told you just to watch until the tendon in your wrist stood out from the twisting. Mind you, he also thought that a spare tyre on the front was "all the protection you need" from crashes in a VW Kombi, so I'm not so sure...
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Torque wrench is used to apply correct pressures after replacing ahead gasket. If you tighten too much can split the gasket!
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No power tools ? Surely there should be some mandatory requirement ?
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Torque wrench is used to apply correct pressures after replacing ahead gasket. If you tighten too much can split the gasket!
I didn't know either Don (though I assumed I'd find out when I got to that bit)
Perhaps having answers is a manly thing? Or perhaps the ability to find things? (no cheap "men can never find anything" jokes please)
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I figured you could knock the torque wrench off first... "push until it gets to the right number, then stop pushing". There, done.
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In my family, things are always organised by women. That's determined by a simple, and hugely sexist, underlying assumption: men are a bit shit. A man couldn't organise a lay on a poultry farm. If you want something done properly, you get a woman to do it. First it's the mother's job, then as the family ages it becomes the daughter's.
In my family it was the other way around (except that we didn't think the women to be a bit shit). But then again I had a cadre of Uncles who were/are very good organisers.
But either way leadership is supposed to be a "manly" thing, even if the generic joke is that men talk a lot while women get things done.
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How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive; A Manual of Step-By-Step Procedures for the Compleat Idiot.
Step 1: Buy a Toyota.
Step 2: Convert Volkswagen into quirky bar/gazebo/chicken coop.
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