The quotation, "Jack of all trades, master of none" was something I aspired to when I was younger, but honestly, when it comes to building things - I'm totally inept. (Somewhere there is an ex-girlfriend who could read this and remember assembling a bookshelf straight out of the box, while I slept.) The same goes with machinery and anything above Algebra in math. Its not that I don't think I could be better, I just don't have the motivation to pursue it. I like to believe that it was my dad's tendency to take hours to change the oil of the family car or days building something that exacerbated this regrettable flaw in my mechanical aptitude. His purpose was to appear busy so my mom wouldn't put him to work on the next thing on her "honey-do" list, a truly understandable deflection for sure, but not one that endeared me towards becoming an auto mechanic or carpenter. The truth is, I really do admire the guys that have those skills, but they are never the guys I can sit and talk with for more than 15 minutes...at least not about anything remotely related to their skill set. Listening to guys talk about working on cars, lawn mowers, boat motors, building a deck, etc, is a sure-fire cure for my insomnia. If that's what it takes to be a man's man, I'll concede temporary defeat every time and offer up instead a day of fishing or shooting guns to redeem myself.
Maybe in the grand evolution of humans within their lifetime (the only evolution I believe in), I hope to someday evolve to build something or at least take something apart and put it back together without wondering why there is always one part left over and where was it supposed to go. However, I'm sure if I ever do, it will be because someone devised an idiot-proof checklist with directions that are printed on both sides of the box it comes in. Again, this is no guarantee I will assemble it correctly, but I'm quite sure it wouldn't happen otherwise.
Aside from building some animate object, I prefer to follow directions and preferably written ones. I'm not good with oral directions, especially as my short term memory fails me, but with written directions, I'm very adept (insider info here: buy stock in index cards because I keep stacks of them with me always just for writing stuff down). I am very spatially comfortable with maps and especially good with determining directions day or night. To challenge myself for my upcoming trip to Osaka, I decided to see if I could find my friends apartment before leaving. All I asked for was the nearest train station to her home and no other directions other than a video she posted from her balcony online of a fireworks show blooming in the distance. From that alone, I was able to pinpoint her apartment complex on Google Earth in less than 10 minutes. Having known her for 11 years, she was impressed with my ability and said that would come in handy when we visited Kyoto and Izumo. She doesn't know, I'm already a step ahead and have committed both cities to memory as far as the street layout and major landmarks. This truly came in handy before visiting Taiwan and Korea. If I can just look at a map for an hour or so before a trip, I'm usually very good with finding my way around. With the advent of Google Earth, I'm as happy as a lark because I can and do mark all of the interesting places that I've ever visited..no matter how obscure or out of the way. Finding and mapping them are like treasure hunts. If I've been there once, I can always find my way back.... my laughable dialogue in the car with friends who are lost when I'm not is that I have my JPS system engaged so never fear.
So generally speaking, don't expect me to be an expert in anything and please don't flatter me by calling me an expert even if I've fooled you momentarily. First of all, flattery was not something I was exposed to as a child, so I'm still not comfortable with it. But, I tend to know enough to get by and if I do know more than the average Joe about a particular subject, I probably endured some trauma in order to commit what I know to memory. Can I tell you the names of more than 80 of my grandparents? Yes, but you could too if you spent six years of your life combing through old records, cemeteries, and microfilm. Can I look at an unedited picture and tell you if it came from a Nikon or Canon? Over 90% of the time - sure.... because I've shot Canon exclusively over 85,000 times. Can I recall any number of stupid mistakes I've made in relationships? Absolutely, because I analyze then constantly in my head. Am I an expert at anything? Well, maybe at things that tend to be "Jerry-Rigged."