KathyK's thread about her woodworking project got me thinking. Here we have a woman doing a traditionally male job -- working with mitre boxes and all of that.

Well, KathyK isn't the only woman around here who handles Guy Jobs.


::flexes rather skimpy muscles::


I consider myself darn handy with a caulk gun. Over the years, I have painted every single room in my house singlehandedly (yep, ceilings too!). I also *mow the lawn*, something my mother chides me about because she believes it is just *wrong* for the wife to mow the lawn.

So. Are any of you ladies or gents out there especially proficient at a task that used to be the domain of the opposite sex?

Cindy -- who won't get near anything that can chop off a limb, and who won't do anything electrical

You lady lawyers! Gotta give you (acres) of credit. The question is...What if any, is the connection?

Ariel

P.S. I attended the Hobart Welding School in Ohio - sculptors program... We did learn industrial applications though (which is handy as sculptors don't always make it big). Although we learned a little of everything, I chose to specialize in heli-arc, as I thought I could make more money welding aluminum in fridges and air-conditioners as a side-line.

Kathyk has also installed about 20 storm windows wallpapered a bunch of rooms, installed a lamppost outside, and so forth....

jf

No question about it. The more "Industrial Grades" of women certainly have their talents.

(And one of those talents isn't necessarily appreciating my sense of humor! )

One of the adjectives people repeatedly use to describe me is "elegant," which I find extremely amusing, because I certainly don't see that -- especially when I am mowing the lawn, painting walls and trim, tilling garden beds or washing my car. When Mr. Plays installed a beadboard ceiling on our screened porch and was befuddled by the mitering process for the crown molding, guess who wound up doing that chore?

However, as I've aged, I've become more adept at finding other people to do these things for me rather than actually doing them myself.

:D

One of my favorite jobs after I graduated from vet school was the $4/hour one I had briefly mucking stalls and driving the tractor and manure spreader. I drive by these guys that are fixing our little town's bridge as they bomb around on their oversized Tonka Toys and think "Gee that must be fun!"

Boy!......

My hardworking husband is the hardest worker anyone ever saw... 5000 - 6000 calories expended daily. He does very little of that work on our property. He leaves it to me

We own and rent our neighborhood. I paint, scrape windows, make drywall patch repairs, and landscape. When a tenant leaves I totally gut the house. I've sanded wood floors. I mow and prune 3 yards, front and back and maintain the forest, shop and mow the triangle across the creek. I have sharpened the mower blades, sanded lawn furniture, power washed and bleached decks. I own a tool belt. I am slowing down as I approach 50 and at least this spring, had a week's worth of Mexicans to help me..

Cindy, I showed your post on kitchen remodeling to my husband the occasional kitchen remodeler.. as an articulate example of what a wants. He said "Wow, she is something else. Can we save that?" I said "I don't know. She's a lawyer. We might need permission".

Jodi, I hope you never feel the urge to run down to the Tonka Toy operators and tell em about all them other power tools you used to use on them poor little helples aminals.
I can't remember the name you put to it.
EMOTE? ElectroMagneticalOrgasmiTriculation Engine or something like that. All for the good of the species, of course.
But they might not understand.

Animals? Who said I used them on animals?

Ok, I found a picture of it for you, Bob.

EMOTE

It's that thing in the middle that looks like a rocket ship. It's about a foot long. You can't use it on horses, they will kill you. To collect them, you either use a teaser mare, or a dummy mare (which looks kind of like a vaulting apparatus) and an artificial va - uh - nevermind.

Jody,

1,800 bucks!!!!!!!!! Mine only cost $50.

Seriously, people DO that to animals? All I know is that you'll get ARRESTED for trying that on animals in NYC.

In Florida besides for having a mare and a gelding, we have some Nubian goats, but ol' Diablo, he does his own dirty work with the girls--he'll get no help from me!!!

My secret desire is to own one of those little Bobcat tractors...

Bobcat tractor homepage

I once watched a landscape installer whack a rattlesnake to death with one of them, then just plowed him (the snake) under. Gotta get me one of 'em!! :p :p

Nina

There is nothing on Earth more fun to drive than a Bobcat.

I had a similar job and along with the reputation of being the fastest and best at it! Money, however, was not the motivator. When I was done, I could ride any horse in the barn for the rest of the day!

I do plumbing, painting, paper hanging, all the landscaping, design, furniture and floor refinishing, around here. I don't do carpentry and electrical (or computer).

I remember helping a friend hang a large travis rod in her apartment. She told all her friends for weeks that she knew a woman with a tool box!

Most of the tools in this marriage came from MY side... :p

OOh..... I've always wanted to boast a little. When I was 18 I pumped gas & did oil changes for a year (In many ways, a good learning experience). At 20 or so I had to help reshingle a garage roof. I've ripped out a 120 foot fence (The fence posts were especially difficult to remove b/c they were sunk in concrete). At age 38 I shovelled & moved a big truck load of topsoil into our backyard when I noticed our new neighbors helping themselves to it (This took til about midnight, maybe 6 hours .... I was very tired afterwards).

I forgot to mention that - having watched the Scots mason build our large retaining wall - I built a good sized stone wall myself nearby. About 15' long and 3'-4' high (also a retaining wall).

It's held up quite well, especially considering that the #$*&@!)+=^% guy who built our deck ran a backhoe over it. He had sworn up and down, he could get it to the backyard through the large gate in our carport.

Ariel

Oh Ariel, be careful! You could get kilt "doing as the Scots do". :rolleyes:

Bob

OK, I'll give you my "butch" credentials too! ;-)

My first quasi-job was selling refreshments in the stadium for the local Pac-10 college team. You had to buy a rack of sodas (big paper cups with lids, maybe 20 to a rack), and then you re-sold them for more in the stands, keeping all of the profit. The tray was *heavy,* and you were constantly hauling it up stairs for the whole 3-hour time, bending over to set it down to make change, etc., then picking it up and continuing on. The money was good, though -- you could clear $60 for a 3-hour game.

This was in the mid-70s, so they had rules to protect the delicate females. We weren't allowed to sell hot dogs, which came in a big metal case you had to carry. The mark-up on hot dogs was much better than sodas (and they are not nearly so messy). It was "hot dog discrimination!" Eventually the rules were changed and women got to sell hot dogs, and I discovered the weight was not an issue.

Eventually, the stadium concession owner realized we were making a bundle, so they put us on an hourly wage around minimum wage. Which was *totally* not worth the risk and the trouble, so I quit.

Cindy -- who eventually took a tumble down the stairs, which cost her a whole inventory of sodas, causing a large number of spectators to all cry out, "ARE YOU OK!?"

RKVS1: :D I could certainly have gotten arrested for indecent exposure on a windy day, especially bending over those little boulders.

Bob, you always give me a much-needed smile to accompany my first coffee. XO

Ariel

Well, are you?

Whether I'm OK seems to be a matter of considerable debate! ;-)

Yeah, I was OK, but quite wet and rather sticky!

Cindy

Cindysphinx,
I loved your story ..... It reminded of the year my brother & I decided we'd work in the grandstand during our local exhibition. They ran a similar scheme, but had the girls sell the popcorn & the boys sell the pop (Guess who made more $$?). The kids were made to pay for the containers & filled them up at a "distribution" centre. Anyway, my brother & I decided we didn't want any part of "sales" (The weather was poor anyway), so we became quite assertive with the man hiring all us & stated if he'd hire us for an hourly wage we'd run the distribution of the pop, etc. to the younger kids & coordinate maintenance & cleanup of the distribution area. This all worked fine, until Day 9 when I spied the band SuperTramp in the grandstand watching the rodeo. I decided to do a little "quality control" & snatched a 12 yr. old's tray of drinks & headed out toward the band. I was rewarded nicely (Autographs). Funny thing was my brother & I discovered that these little 12 yr. olds were collecting used cups & getting someone even younger to wash them out. Then they had me refill these cups for free. I was too worried to tell the guy who hired us this, but I sure checked the cups on Day 10 & I never worked there again.