Methinks our author is too hard on himself. Tinkering is a slow process that can seem undirected, for decades even. Tinkering with stuff to figure out how it

Methinks our author is too hard on himself. Tinkering is a slow process that can seem undirected, for decades even. Tinkering with stuff to figure out how it fits together is good. When the right project presents itself, the persistent tinkerer will be ready. She or he will have the advantage of knowing how to do the project.