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>enormous metal machines that could easily get into an accident Changing brake pads is a easy job that I did in the backyard a number of times. Then I moved t

>enormous metal machines that could easily get into an accident Changing brake pads is a easy job that I did in the backyard a number of times. Then I moved to the city and got an office job. A 40 year old engineer that works on safety critical software gave me a snide remark about how stopping a car is too important and he'd be afraid to take that into his own hands. I quickly learned not to talk about DIY on anything that wasn't toys unless I wanted to listen to people generalize from their own lack of experience and consider me reckless.

Syonyk 6y ago
> I quickly learned not to talk about DIY on anything that wasn't toys unless I wanted to listen to people generalize from their own lack of experience and consider me reckless. Yeah... I know exactly what you're talking about. Look for dirt under fingernails on a Monday morning, that's a good clue someone might do their own work. Or weld splatter burns on a beat up jacket. Of course, occasionally you get a dead giveaway like someone driving an 80s sports car to work that is clearly both well maintained and not quite stock... What I couldn't wrap my head around was the sense of "proud ignorance" a lot of people seemed to have about not knowing how to do anything mechanical. It wasn't just, "I don't know how to do that, is it hard?" - it was "I don't know how to do that, and why would I bother learning when I can pay someone else to do that?" It never made sense to me. If a vehicle is easier for me to work on, then it's going to be easier for someone else (a local shop) to work on as well. And if I know what a job requires, I can decide if it's worth paying someone else to do it. Paying someone $200 to do wheel bearings in the dead of winter? Worth the money. Paying someone $800 to replace a water pump, serpentine belt, and a few other things when I can do it in a few hours on a nice Saturday? Not so much.

Syonyk 6y ago

> I quickly learned not to talk about DIY on anything that wasn't toys unless I wanted to listen to people generalize from their own lack of experience and consider me reckless. Yeah... I know exactly what you're talking about. Look for dirt under fingernails on a Monday morning, that's a good clue someone might do their own work. Or weld splatter burns on a beat up jacket. Of course, occasionally you get a dead giveaway like someone driving an 80s sports car to work that is clearly both well maintained and not quite stock... What I couldn't wrap my head around was the sense of "proud ignorance" a lot of people seemed to have about not knowing how to do anything mechanical. It wasn't just, "I don't know how to do that, is it hard?" - it was "I don't know how to do that, and why would I bother learning when I can pay someone else to do that?" It never made sense to me. If a vehicle is easier for me to work on, then it's going to be easier for someone else (a local shop) to work on as well. And if I know what a job requires, I can decide if it's worth paying someone else to do it. Paying someone $200 to do wheel bearings in the dead of winter? Worth the money. Paying someone $800 to replace a water pump, serpentine belt, and a few other things when I can do it in a few hours on a nice Saturday? Not so much.