Basic skills - would you admit to lacking?

our car doesn’t have a dipstick any more

Oh, thank goodness, I was going to go out and check but there's thunder and lightning outside.

LauraNorder

Callistemon Do cars have dipsticks now?

I’d say yes, more often than not in the driving seat

?

Me today, wondering why I couldn't get DH's automatic to do more than 10 miles an hour.
It was in manual mode - which dipstick thought it was a good deal to put it right next to drive mode?

LauraNorder

Callistemon Do cars have dipsticks now?

I’d say yes, more often than not in the driving seat

LauraNorder you do make me laugh ?

Can't ride a bike, people have tried to teach me, but I would be danger to myself and other road users. I have an adult trike which I use occasionally, bu I prefer to walk unless I have something too heavy to carry.

The D can be quite helpful Calli, no offence but …

the M should have helped too LauraNorder
But why are they in the same slot?

P and R have their own slots.

Give me a gear stick any day!

I can't do a front crawl with the sideways breathing. I can swim, but not at all gracefully. When I try to do the head under, side breathing I just can't seem to master it.

I keep meaning to sign up for proper swimming lessons.

Oh, and loud whistling with fingers. I always admired this ability, but can't seem to master it.

Oh no, me neither, CanadianGran. I can do the actions of it, but can't bear the water up my nose.

which dipstick thought it was a good deal
which dipstick thought it was a good idea

My typing could be improved too.

Oh yes, I would love to be able to do that big through the fingers whistle.
It would have been less embarrassing than my yelling coo-ee in full Aussie style across a French market when I lost Orlin in Villereal.

One of my DD can do that, it's ear-shattering! So unladylike, she wasn't brought up like that. ?

As long as her little finger points upwards, as in holding a teacup, she’ll get away with it Calli

My friend can do that whistle, she’s such a demure looking woman too.

My mother could do the whistle, although as a respectable middle class lady she didn't get many opportunities.

My MIL could whistle through her fingers. She was a very respectable lady! Her Indian Army grandfather had taught her how to do it and also how to spit into a spittoon accurately.

Dh can also do the ear-splitting whistle.

SueDonim I would give my eye teeth to be able to spit in to a spittoon accurately.

A very necessary life skill, LauraNorder! It should taught in schools.

I can’t throw a ball over arm!

Hopeless at public speaking - I am a real chatterbox and very confident in social situations - but put me in front of an audience and I just clam up! Also admire people who can drive long distances and think nothing of driving to somewhere they have never been - I'm ashamed to say that I'm a real wuss and only drive locally. I also can't do front crawl but thankfully am quite a strong breast stroke swimmer. Would love to be able to whistle with two fingers, but sadly am only proficient in clicking them (to the fascination of my 7 year old granddaughter who keeps trying but failing at it ?) . I am very practical and love sewing and can wallpaper, paint, garden, cook and really enjoy ironing (!!) but can't put up a shelf and have never used a rawplug to hang a picture (DH does all the DIY tasks). DH and I have recently discussed that we really do need to teach each other our skills so if one of us becomes ill, we will be able to cope. Don't fancy my chances teaching him to iron though, he's got the patience of a toddler!

When my daughters were younger I was working full time, so my husband, who was a student then, took on the lion’s share of household duties. I once came home from work to find that both daughters had beautiful French braids that my husband had done. He’d spotted that lots of girls had them and asked one of the local mums to show him how to do them. And that’s just one of the reason’s I call him The Wonderful Man!

He’ll try his hand at almost anything and rarely gives up without mastering it, whatever the challenge might be.

Can I admit to not being able to get the TV to work? Oh for a simple switch- but now it’s switch on 4 devices, ( computer, skybox, screen, sound, selector box) wait for them to fire up- and hope I’ve got it right! Valve sets were simpler!

Oh Margiknot! That reminds me. My daughter went off for a gap year quite a few years ago and set the TV up for me, for one button switch on. Something went wrong and it didn't work, so I lived for the year without TV. When she came home, she showed me, she'd put a sticker on the TV with 'Do This!' on it to fix it. I hadn't noticed it.

Much to my mother's dismay, I learnt to whistle with 2 fingers when I was a child. Despite regular smacks around the back of my head, I perfected the skill and can still let rip with such a loud, ear piercing whistle that I managed to bring a local sheep dog trial to a sudden halt.

I'd love to be able to do the two finger whistle.... alas it's one skill I've never mastered. I can cook, sew (including tailoring and alterations), knit and crochet, garden, tile, plaster, fit carpets ( with a knee-kicker no less!) lay wood floors or laminate, set out a staircase, and French polish, but whistling other than a feeble blow between pursed lips evades me.......