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  1. #1
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    Default Lockdown Forced skills development

    So some of us has been in lockdown since 26.03.2020, unless you are an essential worker.
    If you like me that cannot work from home you were probably also fixing, painting, closing, hanging, plastering, tiling and doing whatever else i never get to under normal circumstances. But, one can only clean, fix and mend so much.

    So i've been called back to work to start on 26.06.2020 exactly 3 months later and been at work since, until yesterday we get an email instructing us to all leave immediately and go into self isolation due to one of our colleagues testing positive over the weekend.

    Here i am today back to square one, lots of time, lots to do and i thought of this.

    How many of us have ventured into a new skillset or tried something totally out of our personal perceived mindset of can do's purely because we are forced into a situation(lockdown,isolation) with an extremely valuable but often ignored commodity, TIME.

    Here i'm not talking about things we can already do, but something totally new, you wanted to try but don't get around to it.

    I did:
    1. Sewing, don't laugh. Since my mom passed away 5 years ago, i have had to pay a tailor to alter my pants or jackets or whatever(because i'm a small guy and everything i buy from a shop usually has to be altered in some way and anything that didn't fit properly my mom could fix for me for a kiss and a Thank you,love you). So i thought, there's all these machines sitting in the garage gathering dust and i have time and like a wise man once said, if you can dream it, you can do it.
    Couple of Utube vids and downloading the machines manuals and what i can remember from watching my mom when i was younger i have now altered three of my pants, two pants for the missus and going to do my fleece jacket next.

    2. All Grain Beer brewing. I transgressed from extract brewing to all grain brewing. Extract brewing is basically just add water to the ingredients and ferment. All grain is more like baking a cake. Start with raw ingredients, mix them, crush them, boil them,add ingredients at time intervals,etc.. to make a good beer. Not that you cannot make good beer with extract, but all grain is more controlled, recipe oriented and you can experiment with tweaking the recipe to your liking.

    3.Connecting with the kids. This one is the most important one for me, maybe not a new skill set, but doing stuff with the kids and wife has certainly been doing the family good. For starters, i noticed less arguments in the house, yet we are all stuck inside together for months now already.
    I've done things like help my son with his plants, painting pots and replanting certain plants in the house that refused to grow but are now big enough that we moved two of them outside permanently and starting his bonzai tree experiment which is taking off nicely.

    With my daughter i stretched my culinary skills by helping her make samosas, she 's obsessed with getting this little triangle figured eats perfected. Its not easy for a man who works with steel and big machines to work with dough/pastry that's as thin and fragile as wet paper towel and folding it into a shape that will not unbundle when dropped into hot oil. The missus was busy making lasagna and we got involved there too, later the whole family was in the kitchen having a bit of a competition about who can make a perfect samoosa triangle and who can layer the lasagna leafs evenly and so on. As we worked with this dish i googled it and found that the lasagna(singular) and lasagna(plural) is actually the type of pasta leaf used, its got nothing to do with the dish name. Lasagne is just pastry with different fillings like mince, meat, sauce and what else, like spaghetti and mince, who knew!

    So you can see from the above, lockdown has forced us to learn new skills because we have limited resources, we don't have the luxury of going to a mall to get it sorted, the favorite takeaway joint is not open for business or the service we require is simply not available due to backlogs or whatever.

    By no means am i now suddenly an expert seamstress( seamster, dunno what the male version is called), brewmaster or master chef, just an ordinary guy who realized how many more things i can do when put into a position where i have to.

    Please share what skills , beyond what you can already do adequately, you have learned or taken up learning because of the dreaded LOCKDOWN.

  2. #2
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    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    Thanks Sam - I believe that making samoosas is not child's play, so to speak, so well done.

    Family time - what price can be attached to that?

    I've also been expanding my skills in the kitchen, but aside from that, I can tell you that now, I can convert too-thick 223 cases to 300 BLK and outside neck turn like a boss.

  3. #3

    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    Quote Originally Posted by SamL View Post

    Please share what skills , beyond what you can already do adequately, you have learned or taken up learning because of the dreaded LOCKDOWN.
    Good idea!

    I haven't been quite as adventurous as you in terms of acquiring new skills, but since I spend large parts of my day in online meetings, what I have done is used these as an opportunity to practice active listening skills.

    Most people, as they say, don't listen to understand, they listen to speak. Anyone who's ever spent quality time in conversation with a really good listener knows what a profound experience that can be. Listening to others well is a gift and I hope to become better at it myself. Virtual meetings are an ideal space to hone these skills.

  4. #4
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    Sep 2009
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    Vaal Triangle
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BorisTheBlade View Post
    Good idea!

    I haven't been quite as adventurous as you in terms of acquiring new skills, but since I spend large parts of my day in online meetings, what I have done is used these as an opportunity to practice active listening skills.
    Where/how do you learn this skill? That is something I seriously lack. Eish

  5. #5
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    Mar 2013
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    Roodepoort
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    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    I have learnt how to use my welding machine. I have been blessed with a brain that picks up any kind of technical skill fairly quickly and welding opens up a raft of possibilities.

  6. #6
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    Oct 2017
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    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    I taught myself to weld. I had the gear but always got frustrated and gave up after a few attempts. I won’t be impressing any future employer with my skills, but structurally it’s good enough. Lot’s of creative juices are flowing through my mind though.

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    I've learnt how to fill samoosas into a perfect triangle, even better than my wife, so I fill and fold and she sticks the tab end closed

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    Quote Originally Posted by BBT View Post
    I've learnt how to fill samoosas into a perfect triangle, even better than my wife, so I fill and fold and she sticks the tab end closed
    But it is a bit of a challenge with thick and long fingers compared to the ladies Dainty fingers

  9. #9
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    Nov 2012
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    Stellies
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    2,088

    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    Enrolled in Herbology courses for various reason especially pertaining to health and pain management should our supply of Western medicine dry up in a SHTF scenario.

    Especially looking at cannabis as a "swiss army knife" of natural meds, if you are able to heat it up to a certain point, you get a lot of the benefits and none of the buzz, which I personally dislike.

    Although I firmly believe to stockpile as much meds as possible, it is good to have a backup. You can grow food, why not medication?

    Second is food preservation techniques.

    Third is my own fitness.

    Fourth is trying to establish a company with the wife, we are still in the brainstorming phase but hoping for the million dollar idea soon. (although I don't know if it is worth it in SA at this stage anymore.)

    And lastly is to start reading books again that makes you better person when you put it down. Busy now with Jordon Peterson's book.

  10. #10

    Default Re: Lockdown Forced skills development

    started beer brewing as a necessity

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