What are you bad at?

[FishFright]

I am bad at DIY
main problem is this

You know when they say "Measure twice - cut once"

well that is all well and good

but what if you measure twice and the 2 are different
Ahh - says the professional - measure again and it will match one of the others and that is the correct measurement

which is a total under estimation of my ability to cock it up

either I will get a 3rd different measurement - which leave a rather strange dilemma
or, worse , it WILL match one of the first ones - but it will be the other one that is right

Oh - and I can;t cut straight and my hand jiggles a bit at random
which also buggers up painting corners and edges

Basically I am fine for bits and pieces that need no particular accuracy - shelves in the shed and the like

but not connecting to parts of a kitchen worktop - I will end up with an inch gap at one end only!!

Measure 3 times, take the average , hope.

 

[Reynard]

Yes, I have an engineering degree and was taught engineering drawing as part of that.

Engineering drawing, I am merely terrible at as a result, vs art, at which I am truly excrable. I daresay that if I undertook a course in, say, still life drawing, I could aspire to be no worse than terrible at that too.

Maybe I buck the trend. I have various engineering degrees and did a lot of engineering drawing. I'm good at that, and I'm equally not half bad at art, albeit I am self taught with the latter.

 

[gbb]

Apparently like others...dancing.
I just feel so self conscious and completely lack the ability to relax doing it.

In my last few years at work pre retirement we automated an awful lot of machinery and processes...full blown robots, automation systems etc etc.
I quickly realised I'm just not cut out for it, the procedures are extremely rigid and I could never remember them.
Mechanically I was always good, knew more about the machinery than most...but post automation, I just foundered where younger guys flourished.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Knife throwing at the circus. Far too many unfortunate incidents

Not knives, but...:

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19cHNwkfb6/?mibextid=wwXIfr

 

[Reynard]

If there's dust then something very wrong has happened!

It's a game where you alternate between things, but yes, we brush the ice and is a skill in it's own right to get just right.

Basically melting the surface of the ice to reduce the friction between the ice and the stone by "floating" it on a very thin layer of water. The harder you sweep, the less the friction, so by varying the pressure / speed of the sweeping, you can alter the speed and travel of the stone.

Gotta love a nice neat bit of physics.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Basically melting the surface of the ice to reduce the friction between the ice and the stone by "floating" it on a very thin layer of water. The harder you sweep, the less the friction, so by varying the pressure / speed of the sweeping, you can alter the speed and travel of the stone.

Gotta love a nice neat bit of physics.

Here's the thing, the melting thing is merely a theory and a bit of an old and superseded one now, as nobody really knows exactly why it *actually* does what it does.
Yes, really.

It's not just speed you need to control, you need to know when to sweep to keep a stone straight or when to make it curl and the ice also changes throughout a game, so you need to adapt. Not all ice surfaces are born equal either!

There is now a thing called 'directional sweeping' where you can try to bias direction, depending on where in front of the stone on the ice you sweep and at what angle, but not all agree that it's worth it. We are now seeing people travelling behind the stone and reaching over the top of it to sweep at various different angles to get an even better view, but that takes practice not to hit or walk into it and 'burn' the stone, especially at speed!

In short, you need to know exactly what to do at the right moment whilst often hurtling down ice sideways (or angled or behind) whilst working with your fellow sweeper whilst listening to your skip whilst listening to the player of the shot whilst watching and often listening to what the stone is doing whilst trying to predict when to sweep/stop sweeping to get the best result whilst it sometimes comes into a crowded 'house' too, so you need to avoid hitting or tripping over any stones and ruining your chances!

Oh and if done right, it's a good aerobic exercise for the arms and shoulders too!

I hope that makes as much sense as it does in my head! ☺️🤣

 

[Reynard]

Here's the thing, the melting thing is merely a theory and a bit of an old and superseded one now, as nobody really knows exactly why it *actually* does what it does.
Yes, really.

It's not just speed you need to control, you need to know when to sweep to keep a stone straight or when to make it curl and the ice also changes throughout a game, so you need to adapt. Not all ice surfaces are born equal either!

There is now a thing called 'directional sweeping' where you can try to bias direction, depending on where in front of the stone on the ice you sweep and at what angle, but not all agree that it's worth it. We are now seeing people travelling behind the stone and reaching over the top of it to sweep at various different angles to get an even better view, but that takes practice not to hit or walk into it and 'burn' the stone, especially at speed!

In short, you need to know exactly what to do at the right moment whilst often hurtling down ice sideways (or angled or behind) whilst working with your fellow sweeper whilst listening to your skip whilst listening to the player of the shot whilst watching and often listening to what the stone is doing whilst trying to predict when to sweep/stop sweeping to get the best result whilst it sometimes comes into a crowded 'house' too, so you need to avoid hitting or tripping over any stones and ruining your chances!

Oh and if done right, it's a good aerobic exercise for the arms and shoulders too!

I hope that makes as much sense as it does in my head! ☺️🤣

It's almost like the ice has a "nap" a bit like a snooker cloth, and that the way you sweep applies a similar effect on the stones as what putting spin on the cue ball does, both of which then have a bearing on the actions of the object ball.

The basic scientific theories would still stand, though - stuff slides on ice because the pressure and friction melts the surface layer. Otherwise stuff wouldn't slide. Although you are talking about minute changes here, not massive ones. And ambient temperature and atmospheric pressure play a part as well, because those two variables do have an effect on the exact points at which a change of state - in this case, solid to liquid - actually takes place. Which, going by what you say, makes ice surfaces play slightly differently.

It's an interesting mix of Newtonian mechanics, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics and the laws of conservation of energy. I'd hate to have to make a CFD computer model of what happens!

 

[Accy cyclist]

Keeping my flat tidy, D.I .Y.....More to follow. 🤔

Filling 'official' forms in, making official or business related phone calls.....

 

[numbnuts]

Electronics is something I don't touch, to be it's a black art
simple wiring I'm fine be it house or car.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

Measure 3 times, take the average , hope.

Good way to guarantee to be wrong

better concept - measure 3 times
give up and have a cuppa

 

[Once a Wheeler]

Soap operas. I watched one as a 10-year-old, went away for a month in the summer and, on return, found that it had just as many unresolved issues as it had had when I left. It suddenly dawned on me that this was never going to resolve. Every work of art, even Waiting for Godot, resolves. I lost interest immediately and have never followed a soap opera since. If you want unresolved narrative, try every-day life.

 

[Jameshow]

Common activities you just can't do, or have no interest in.
For me music, it's just sound, ball games, taken far too seriously for simple past time s.

Board games too!

 

[Andy in Germany]

"Foreign" Languages.

 

[Andy in Germany]

Common activities you just can't do, or have no interest in.
For me music, it's just sound, ball games, taken far too seriously for simple past time s.

Same on both counts. I dislike it when people play misuc in a workshop: it's bl**dy distracting and as you say, noise.

School sports taught me to loath sports: my main skill is staying well away from the ball.

 

[Homers Double]

Plumbing. Anything else DIY related I'm fine with.
Sticking to a healthy eating regieme and lowering alcohol consumption is also up there.