Middle Age Expertise is Genetic

Saturday Night Live once had a skit called "Middle Age Man", where Mike Myers plays a superhero who is a Middle Aged Guy offering obscure advice to hapless people who are in trouble. The skit was making fun of the fact that Middle Age Guys seem to have this secret knowledge on how to fix anything in the home, tune a car, use obscure tools and hardware, and use household chemicals in a way never advertised. Basically a household MacGyver.

I am figuring out that this Middle Age Guy expertise is genetic since I seem to be coming into this secret knowledge of how to do things without any formal training. Let me give an example.

With all the rains in California this year I noticed that the little cedar tool shed on the side of my house was sinking into the dirt, which of course would cause rot. I decided it needed a foundation, so this weekend I went out and built a slab for it to sit on. I didn't consult anyone on what to do. I didn't read up on how to do it on the internet. I just knew what had to be done: I cut 2 by 4s and built a form. I placed the form and leveled it. I mixed and poured concrete into the form. I compacted and finished it. 24 hours later it was cured and completed.

This sort of thing is happening with more frequency as I see 40 coming over the horizon. Sheetrocking. Plumbing. PVC cutting and splicing. With no formal training or instruction I just seem to know how to do these skills, which are a requirement for anyone who owns a home more than five or six years old.

One day I will probably be like the retired guy who lives next door to me. Not only does he know how to build and repair anything and everything, but he owns every single tool ever conceived by man. These toolsets take a lifetime to acquire since you buy the tools as you need them, so you are well into your 70s before the set is complete.