Our Other Skills – Let’s Brag a Bit - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

elvinstheman · 03-08-2007, 01:21 PM

Of course we all love(?) our trades and like to think we’re great at them but what else can you do that makes you really proud? In what other area do you have mad skilz?

I am a kick-ass musician, if I do say so for myself. I play drums, bass (upright and electric), guitar and do some singing. I also write songs and have had a song in a Hollywood feature film. A band I was in was also courted by a major label, albeit briefly. But I get many positive comments when I play from other musicians and non-musicians about my abilities. I think the main thing about it that impresses people is that I can not only play a few different instruments, but that on drums and especially bass I have very advanced skills. Probably 8 out of 10. In fact, one band I played bass in got a write-up in a national music magazine that started out, “My first thought listening to this band was, ‘This bass player is great!’.” I was convinced for a while that I was gonna be a “star” or at the very least make a living playing but it never happened (though I’ll never stop loving and playing music).

Anyhow, please don’t get me wrong – I would normally never brag this much about myself or be this cocky. But I just had to get that off my chest, partially to remind myself that, even though my dreams of musical grandeur died a long time ago, I am able to do something other than make money, work hard and be the good husband and father.

So let’s hear it – brag about your other skills! Don’t be shy!

**Cole** · 03-08-2007, 01:33 PM

I am a great golfer, no lie.

reveivl · 03-08-2007, 10:58 PM

I'm a stunning bullsh!tter...

...or maybe not.

fez-head · 03-08-2007, 11:01 PM

I grow shrimp (called prawn) in the middle of Missouri in a farm pond. I can not figure out how to post the pics though.

**Teetorbilt** · 03-08-2007, 11:29 PM

Dad was a concert classical guitarist (played with Carlos Montoya a few times), mom was a concert pianist. It's how they met. I never got the hang of a piano but love the guitar. Been winging that forever, added a 5 string banjo about 40 yrs. ago and went electric a few years after that. Courtesy of my son, I now own a 1954 Les Paul goldtop.

I also fish, play with air boats, mess with anything that has the potential to go really fast, fly, sail, surf, party and I'm sure that I've left out a lot.

Faster horses!
Younger women!
Older Whiskey!
More money! ..... Tom T. Hall

dirt diggler · 03-08-2007, 11:38 PM

yep - music for me too

though i know 10 people (by name) that can burn me on lead guitar

i really love slide guitar and open tunings

most people learn Stevie Ray Vaughan albums --- i learned the "Blood on Tracks" album - Dylan

in school - i played at bars for beer money and chicks

(believe it or not -- THAT WORKS

)

(so long as you still throw in the alcohol factor

)

RobertCDF · 03-09-2007, 12:09 AM

I am really good at live audio mixing. Been doing it for 10 years now and is about the only thing I would leave the construction field to do. Nothing better than standing behind a large console and knowing that if you screw up... EVERYONE knows. Its not anything like studio where you mix and remix 100's of times before it goes to mastering. You get one shot at making it sound good. And I am not to bad at system setups and troubleshooting.

Other things I think I am good at: Snowboarding... I like to go fast, been clocked on a GPS at 51 MPH on a blue. I also almost got my pass yanked by ski patrol that day... Funny thing was they had to wait at the top of the lift to catch me when I came off. They knew they could not catch me on the hill.

POOLMANinCT · 03-09-2007, 12:33 AM

i can cook, like really cook, im not talking survival here

http://www.mariobatali.com/ << this is my main man!!!

oh & soccer

Bone Saw · 03-09-2007, 09:36 AM

been playing guitar since around 8 or 9, and use to shread till about 9 years ago I busted my hand up real good (pins and screws)and it has never been the same since. been windsurfing and snowboarding forever, kitesurfing was a natural progression for me6 years ago and now it basically all I think about, even more than sex

elvinstheman · 03-09-2007, 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bone Saw

been playing guitar since around 8 or 9, and use to shread till about 9 years ago I busted my hand up real good (pins and screws)and it has never been the same since.

How did you break it? On the job? That's one of my biggest fears, an injury that affects my playing. (Second biggest fear - finding a body when I open a wall.)

Bone Saw · 03-09-2007, 11:13 AM

setting sheetpile cofferdam underwater, guiding next sheet into splice plates, wake topside must have been bad (despite huge diver no wake zone signs couple hundred yards up and down stream of site) sheet on the crane smashed my hand up against other sheets

mdshunk · 03-09-2007, 05:13 PM

I suck equally at pretty much everything else I've ever tried.

Edsollen · 03-09-2007, 05:38 PM

Fair on guitar, pretty good at live audio mixing, system set up and trouble shooting, Master certified Automobile technician, spent 12 years as an instructor, loved it.

UpIACrete · 03-09-2007, 10:19 PM

I am an avid trout fisherman. It has been many years since I have been skunked.

realpurty2 · 03-09-2007, 10:49 PM

Fishin' and Flirtin'

and in my younger days, taking dad's race car out for the hotlaps.

Tscarborough · 03-09-2007, 11:51 PM

I can fly 3 dual line kites at once; I am a master-baiter, and my eye-hand coordination is such that I can catch several cans falling from an opened cabinet with no problem. I also can snow ski backwards, and if I fall I can roll and recover with style and grace. I can also spit farther, jump higher, and run faster than anyone else in Hancock county (my Grandfather's saying).

stevie.c · 03-10-2007, 08:41 AM

sex,drinking beer and playing football(soccer)

Ted W · 03-10-2007, 07:37 PM

I did some novice stained glass work a few years ago. Still have the tools and a small collection of glass, might get back into it if I ever have time. But, business is booming and I'm feeling greedy these days.

UpIACrete · 03-10-2007, 08:43 PM

I also enjoy hunting. Here is a buck I shot in '05.

**Cole** · 03-11-2007, 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UpIACrete

I also enjoy hunting. Here is a buck I shot in '05.

Nice, what did he score?