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General Forums => The O' Club => Topic started by: easymo on August 27, 2002, 01:44:13 AM

Title: The knack
Post by: easymo on August 27, 2002, 01:44:13 AM
I have done a lot of different things for money in my life.  At the moment am a technician (mechanic in plain english). I work on obscure machines that you never heard of. There are only about a half dozen guys in the country that do this kind of work. And I am the best there is.

I didn't bring this up to demonstrate my characteristic modesty:). I can do what I do because I have a knack. For most of my life I thought everyone had the same knack. Eventully I discovered, through trying to train others, that most folks dont have this knack.

 I can run a machine inside my head. (this is the only way I can think of, to describe it) I can look around inside of it, while its running. Watch how everything is moving, and figure out what has gone wrong. It is very rare, when I need to take the thing  apart, to figure out the problem.  Some how, I just know.

  I suspect that nearly, everyone has a knack.  What is yours?
Title: The knack
Post by: straffo on August 27, 2002, 02:23:48 AM
Exactly the same ... with software

Working as a programmer help a lot ;)
Title: The knack
Post by: Dead Man Flying on August 27, 2002, 02:54:01 AM
I have a knack for drinkin' beer.

-- Todd/Leviathn
Title: The knack
Post by: Vulcan on August 27, 2002, 05:13:29 AM
My myyyyy myyyy myyyy Sharona!


Wooooooooooooooooo!
Title: The knack
Post by: CyranoAH on August 27, 2002, 05:50:43 AM
I'd say mine is oriented towards Systems Engineering... I can see if something is not working in an organization, if it's being inefficient, etc... and devise ways to make it better.

Not much, but it's what I like.

Daniel, aka Cyrano
Title: The knack
Post by: straffo on August 27, 2002, 05:56:05 AM
Daniel ma femme se demandais si tu était de Barcelone même ou des environs  ... car on a des amis dans le coin à Vilassare (ou quelque chose dans le genre) et on pense passer par là l'été prochain (pour une petite Cerveza ;))
Title: The knack
Post by: Monk on August 27, 2002, 07:18:02 AM
I have a Knack to piss my wife off
Title: The knack
Post by: Animal on August 27, 2002, 07:25:23 AM
I have a ''knack" for psychology.
I can tell better than almost everyone else when someone is lying, nervous, enthusiastic, etc, just by the most subtle facial expressions and changes in intonation. Many people can do this, but I am *REALLY* good at it. I have yet to meet a good match, not even skilled psychologists or authorities (both wich Ive had to deal with from time to time). When I encounter these types, it always ends up being a fencing game trying to outwit the other.

There are people who are trained to do this for years, but its a skill ive had since I was a kid. In classrooms instead of drawing and spacing out, I'd just rest on my desk and analize every other kid and the teacher faces for hours.

It doesnt work online though, here I have to read between lines :)


easymo, what do you fix?
Title: The knack
Post by: Eagler on August 27, 2002, 08:12:15 AM
I thought you said snack, nm
Title: The knack
Post by: lazs2 on August 27, 2002, 08:20:41 AM
I think mechanical ability is like that... it is an ability that makes yu think of it as natural.   I am not sure but it seems to be hereditary too.     Also.. I believe there is some problem solving ability related to mechanical ability.  
lazs
Title: The knack
Post by: CyranoAH on August 27, 2002, 09:00:48 AM
Quote
Originally posted by straffo
Daniel ma femme se demandais si tu était de Barcelone même ou des environs  ... car on a des amis dans le coin à Vilassare (ou quelque chose dans le genre) et on pense passer par là l'été prochain (pour une petite Cerveza ;))


Hehe Straffo, je suis de la ville de Barcelone, mais Vilassar n'est pas loin (environ 20 Km).

Si tu penses venir ici, envoie-moi un e-mail et nous pouvons aller faire un vol ou simplement pour te montrer la cité et faire une petite degustation de la cuisine locale ;)

Daniel, aka Cyrano
Title: The knack
Post by: CyranoAH on August 27, 2002, 09:03:41 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Animal
I have a ''knack" for psychology.

There are people who are trained to do this for years, but its a skill ive had since I was a kid. In classrooms instead of drawing and spacing out, I'd just rest on my desk and analize every other kid and the teacher faces for hours.


Animal, I wouldn't dare to play Poker against you :D

I believe in such a quality, I think it is what's normally called "empathy"... or actually listening to people instead of thinking about the next witty remark as soon as they stop talking ;)

Daniel
Title: The knack
Post by: midnight Target on August 27, 2002, 09:03:59 AM
I have 2.


1. Driving women insane with desire.


2. roadkill
Title: The knack
Post by: Kratzer on August 27, 2002, 09:12:00 AM
Quote
Originally posted by Animal
it always ends up being a fencing game trying to outwit the other.
 


So your record is what, like... 0 and 12, or around there? ;)
Title: The knack
Post by: straffo on August 27, 2002, 09:14:20 AM
Quote
Originally posted by CyranoAH


Hehe Straffo, je suis de la ville de Barcelone, mais Vilassar n'est pas loin (environ 20 Km).

Si tu penses venir ici, envoie-moi un e-mail et nous pouvons aller faire un vol ou simplement pour te montrer la cité et faire une petite degustation de la cuisine locale ;)

Daniel, aka Cyrano


Tenu !

heu ... on peut faire les 3 ?
un vol ,une degustation et une visite ? ;)

Au fait, d'ou vient ton niveau en français ?  
Car franchement il est rare de voir des "étrangers" s'exprimer aussi bien !

Frédéric
Title: The knack
Post by: Ripsnort on August 27, 2002, 09:18:11 AM
Easymo, when I'm your age, I will be retired, and I'll be walking around a trout pond, running the trouts thoughts inside my head.  I will look around inside of it, while its swimming. Watch how everything is moving, and figure out what has gone wrong. Then I will change tackle, and attack.  :)
Title: The knack
Post by: CyranoAH on August 27, 2002, 09:33:00 AM
Quote
Originally posted by straffo

Tenu !
heu ... on peut faire les 3 ?
un vol ,une degustation et une visite ? ;)
Au fait, d'ou vient ton niveau en français ?  
Car franchement il est rare de voir des "étrangers" s'exprimer aussi bien !
Frédéric


Hehe tout a fait, vol, degustation et visite est un plan ideal :)

Mon niveau en français... haha trop gentil... bon, c'est plus facile écrire que parler ;)

J'ai étudié le français à l'école et a l'Institut Français de Barcelone. Si j'ai le temps j'essaierai de faire l'exam du DELF l'anné prochaine.

À bientôt!

Daniel

PD: Je serai en Bordeaux du 2 de setembre au 5, par si tes affaires te portent par là ;)
Title: The knack
Post by: AKSWulfe on August 27, 2002, 09:38:23 AM
I have a knack for being very lazy.

Someone wanna gimme a job?
-SW
Title: The knack
Post by: straffo on August 27, 2002, 09:41:13 AM
Non je ne serais pas a Bordeau à ce moment :(

Domage car j'y ai de la famille une prochaine fois peut être ...
Par contre si tu passe du coté de Paris je suis à moins d'une heure en train la porte est ouverte :)

Quand à ton niveau en français je t'assure qu'il est tres bon !
En tout cas plus que largement compréhensible ... plus que mon espagnol que je j'ai appris sur le tas :D

Je te file mon email au cas ou : frederic.de.jager@free.fr
Title: The knack
Post by: Elfenwolf on August 27, 2002, 10:09:43 AM
I have a knack for pissing people off. It's great- I can actually control someone's blood pressure simply by talking to them. On Furball Central one time I had a guy willing to fly from Connecticut to California just to kick my ass.

I was born with this wonderful gift of irritation. I spent so much time in grade school with my nose against the chalkboard I have a permanent flat spot on the tip of my nose. As much as Easymo can look at a piece of machinery and realise how it works and how to fix it I can look inside someone's head and know just how to screw it up.

Now to illustrate just how good I am at this I always stop just short of the point where I'm about to be pummeled. All my teeth are original equipment, and usually my "target" is left standing there, shaking, angry and empty inside as I shuffle off chuckling in search of my next victim.

This is a wonderful Gift and I thank God for my irritationalability every day. I think God blessed me with this gift because I make Him laugh and He likes me more than he likes any of you.
Title: The knack
Post by: Ripsnort on August 27, 2002, 10:25:21 AM
Sorry Elfen, thats not a talent, thats called "Sacramento Residency".  True, your a natural, but not an uncommon trait for a Californicator.
Title: The knack
Post by: Wlfgng on August 27, 2002, 10:26:04 AM
I laugh at my dumb-ass neighbors too.. are they God's favorties?

actually elf, that's an awesome talent.  I'm hoping I can introduce you to my neighbors.
Title: The knack
Post by: midnight Target on August 27, 2002, 10:28:52 AM
Quote
but not an uncommon trait for a Californicator



Is too..... wimp!
Title: The knack
Post by: easymo on August 27, 2002, 11:23:23 AM
I expected more of you to have a knack for computers.  My knack does not extend to electronics.  I have studied it out of necessity. My machines are computer driven. So I have to fix that aspect of them.  But I cant "see" how they work. I just pull cards until I get the right one.  Its all very boring.

  Also I refuse to do wood.  I hate woodworking. There is no precision to it.  A 2 by 4. Is neither 2" or 4".  My nabor is very good with wood.  Makes all kinds of things. I don't know how he does it. On the other hand, he got a free mower bed , and couldn't figure out how to make a simple pulley system to adapt it to his brand of tractor. He has no sense of leverage, at all.
Title: The knack
Post by: AKSWulfe on August 27, 2002, 11:25:53 AM
My knack is computers... and just about anything with machined parts.

If I can take it apart, I can put it back together. Doesn't necessarily have to be broken for me to take it apart either. Sometimes they are broken when I put them back together though. :)
-SW
Title: The knack
Post by: lazs2 on August 27, 2002, 02:31:53 PM
gee elf... that sounds like a terrible knack..

animal... your not saying that you have actually outwitted someone at some time.... are you?

lazs
Public Relations Officer for the BK's
Title: The knack
Post by: funkedup on August 27, 2002, 02:48:55 PM
cunnilingus
Title: The knack
Post by: Wlfgng on August 27, 2002, 02:49:33 PM
Ripsnort, why wait I'm doing that now :)

you bring the beer and I'll supply the fish
Title: The knack
Post by: SirLoin on August 27, 2002, 07:37:57 PM
I have the knack of crashing R/C airplanes.
Title: The knack
Post by: Kieran on August 27, 2002, 08:49:10 PM
Lazs- comic gold.

Animal- hehe

Funked- you looked that word up... no man that publishes a picture of his car with a vanity plate has ever seen one up close. ;)
Title: The knack
Post by: NUKE on August 27, 2002, 09:37:19 PM
Quote
I work on obscure machines that you never heard of.


Im sure the poeple that designed, produced  and/ or used said machines have heard of them, and I bet they have told others of these machines.

I therefore conclude that there is a reasonable chance that some of us have heard of these machines.

My knack is logicial thought combined with sarcasm :)
Title: The knack
Post by: Hangtime on August 27, 2002, 10:35:00 PM
Now, here's an interesting thread.

I have a knack for reading air.

Yup.

I can 'see' rivers of air.. air going up, down, eddies, lifts, shifts. I dunno how I do it.. I just do. Had it since I was a kid.. never realized I had the gift till I started racing sailboats.. by the time I was a teenager I was persona non grata at the yacht club.

When I started flyin R/C sailplanes 25 years ago, I was called a 'natural' first time out.. that's where I got the 'hangtime' handle. Nowadays, with my sucky eyesight I can't see the planes all that well.. but I can still 'see' the air. I'm still in hot demand as a 'timer'.. I stand next to the pilot and tell him where the lift is.

I met a guy once that said he could 'see' the air too.. he told me it has something to do with skin.. the billions of lil hairs, sensitivity to pressure and temerature coupled with 'simple observation' of things in the air like bugs and birds and dust and moisture and other stuff in the air. Sounded good, but I ain't never followed a fruit fly into a thermal..   frankly; I think he was fulla toejam, but since he was buyin the drinks I nodded sagely and wished him better luck in the next open class sailplane meet. ;)
Title: The knack
Post by: SirLoin on August 27, 2002, 10:59:21 PM
Lol Hangtime..Nice handle..:)
Title: The knack
Post by: capt. apathy on August 28, 2002, 06:59:44 AM
akswulfe,
  I have a simular knack.  but as I have been telling others the correct term is 'efficiency expert'.

actually my strongest one would have to be resoursfulness.  very handy at work. we often have a small trailer or work truck with tools in it (never the tools we actually need for the particular job when we get there).  then you look over the job figure out which tools you can build, which ones you can do without, then start the scavanger hunt for scraps and materials to get the job done.

in extream cases I feel like I'm stuck in an episode of 'junkyard wars'
Title: The knack
Post by: lazs2 on August 28, 2002, 08:54:55 AM
I love junk yard wars!  all those expensive tools and a junk yard full of non-junk  and all ya gotta do is make something out of something else.... what a blast.
lazs
Title: The knack
Post by: Creamo on August 28, 2002, 10:04:40 AM
I only have a limited ‘knack’ for Animal’s psychology powers, just from what his simple and rare personal training has taught and provided me.

Funky, even as a student, please…
Title: The knack
Post by: capt. apathy on August 28, 2002, 10:07:34 AM
I've got the tools & most of the junk.  just need someone to compete against.
Title: the knack
Post by: bushdog on September 07, 2002, 04:20:04 PM
"Some people appear to be intelligent, until they open thier mouth".  Buddy, you have no idea of what you are getting into yet.  "The best at what I do" makes me and my wife laugh out loud.  Try loading a rear diff into a Kenworth at -38 Celcius on a cutline while the unit is sinking into the muskeg, and the drill push is screaming for water, and you're outta smokes.  Try driving 50 KM up a logging road to put a clutch and transmission in the plow truck on Christmas day alone, only to be pinned to the frame of said truck when yon jack slipped, only freeing yourself by pure fear (rifle in the truck, wolves howling).  Try not getting paid for the above.  Try driving down to Burns Lake, rifle in hand, to extract payment.  Try to cash a bad cheque.  Man, you want to find a challenge, look no further, come to northern Alberta, I'll line you up with a job but if you wobble on me we'll run you right out of town.
You talk a good line...  can you back it up?
Bushdog,
Fort Mc Murray, Alberta
Title: The knack
Post by: Kanth on September 07, 2002, 06:44:34 PM
I'm pretty good at finding all the sharp furniture in a dark room..

  :D
Title: The knack
Post by: Swager on September 07, 2002, 07:38:28 PM
Due to my incredible wit, I always managed to get in trouble with people who took it personally.  My father once told me:

"In this world you will run into two types of people, those who will call you witty and those who will call you a smartass.  The only difference is the people who call you witty are more intellegent than you."

I end up with more people calling me a smartass then witty.  

I have greatly mellowed out in my advanced years so I get into no trouble.

:)
Title: The knack
Post by: steely07 on September 07, 2002, 07:39:06 PM
self recognised computer genius :)
Title: The knack
Post by: whgates3 on September 07, 2002, 10:41:42 PM
i'm with Vulcan
Title: The knack
Post by: SC-Sp00k on September 07, 2002, 11:44:50 PM
I can turn my tongue upside down.  Hey! Its a gift.
Title: The knack
Post by: von GrossenArsc on September 08, 2002, 05:44:23 AM
Wut, none of you have the knack for sports?

I wonø't be an expert in any sport, but I pick 'em up very easily. Soccer, tennis, scuba diving - anything like it cmes natural to me.

Other sky diving students were spinning out on exiting the plane or had to take some jumps several times before getting a qualified. I've been fortunate enough to go straight through it with a qualified on each jump.

I think it's related to uglyness. The uglier you are, the more of a knack you have for something. Which means I am set up for life. :D
Title: The knack
Post by: mietla on September 08, 2002, 06:01:57 AM
Quote
Originally posted by midnight Target
I have 2.


1. Driving women insane with desire.


2. roadkill


So, it is really just one "knack", huh? Admit it MT.

:)
Title: The knack
Post by: mietla on September 08, 2002, 06:07:02 AM
Quote
Originally posted by funkedup
cunnilingus


One word...

Funk, I salute you
Title: The knack
Post by: Bonden on September 08, 2002, 06:32:12 AM
Easymo:

That's more than a knack, that's genius. A friend of mine, now deceased, had a gift like that. Was a machinist, mechanic all his life, he died about 5 years ago at age 89. He was around for the steam engines, the Libertys and the rest.

John Deere once gave him a new tractor, back in 1955, because he created a new hydraulic pump for it. They wanted to buy his design, he told them "just gimme a tractor".  Would enjoy shooting the breeze with you sometime....
Title: Re: the knack
Post by: Elfenwolf on September 08, 2002, 12:16:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by bushdog
"Some people appear to be intelligent, until they open thier mouth".  Buddy, you have no idea of what you are getting into yet.  "The best at what I do" makes me and my wife laugh out loud.  Try loading a rear diff into a Kenworth at -38 Celcius on a cutline while the unit is sinking into the muskeg, and the drill push is screaming for water, and you're outta smokes.  Try driving 50 KM up a logging road to put a clutch and transmission in the plow truck on Christmas day alone, only to be pinned to the frame of said truck when yon jack slipped, only freeing yourself by pure fear (rifle in the truck, wolves howling).  Try not getting paid for the above.  Try driving down to Burns Lake, rifle in hand, to extract payment.  Try to cash a bad cheque.  Man, you want to find a challenge, look no further, come to northern Alberta, I'll line you up with a job but if you wobble on me we'll run you right out of town.
You talk a good line...  can you back it up?
Bushdog,
Fort Mc Murray, Alberta


Now I know why we never annaxed Canada. That's no way for an American to live.
Title: The knack
Post by: Curval on September 08, 2002, 04:55:31 PM
Quote
Originally posted by mietla


One word...

Funk, I salute you


That was 4 words...five if you count the salute.

A cunning linguist am I!
Title: The knack
Post by: mietla on September 08, 2002, 05:14:55 PM
Quote
Originally posted by Curval


That was 4 words...five if you count the salute.

A cunning linguist am I!


I was saluting his post, not mine :)