While growing up in the village back then, there were some skills that we were born with, or let me say, they were just natural things that everyone ought to know and do at home. There was nothing like learning them; we just grew up to meet that lifestyle. One of those skills is electrical work.
Whenever there was an electrical fault in our house, my dad would pick up his tools, I mean, tools that were "naturally" (compulsorily) available at home, and begin to trace and fix the fault. At the end of the day, the issue would be fixed, and if, by any chance, it couldn't be fixed, a professional electrician would be called.
I grew up knowing that, as a man or a boy, these basic tools, such as screwdrivers, testers, wires of different kinds, and so many others, must be available at home. Like, they are just basic necessities in every home.
So yeah, electrical work is something I can easily handle at home whenever an issue occurs or when I need to install something new in my house. Like I said, I didn't learn any skill to understand how it's done; it's just a skill that a boy child in our neighbourhood back then was expected to know naturally. Honestly, I still believe this even today: that every male child is born with the natural ability to understand electrical issues. It sounds strange for a guy not to be able to fix a wall socket, and it sounds weird for a guy not to be able to fix a mere extension box. In fact, I consider it totally wrong for a guy to call an electrician to attend to a minor electrical issue at home.
In the house I'm currently living in, when I moved in, there were some electrical issues with the wiring. The bulbs weren't working, even when I installed new ones, so I had to climb into the ceiling to trace where the faults were. Imagine if I had called an electrician to do such work; I would have been charged heavily.
I only reach out to an electrician when the issue has become too complicated for me to handle and requires a very professional touch. And the funniest thing is that whenever the electrician is doing the work, I usually stay with him to direct him to the areas I had already worked on. The last time I called an electrician to handle a job that proved difficult for me, I had to angrily pay him off because he was acting "too professional" and getting annoyed every now and then over what he thought I ought to replace with a new one instead of repairing. I was so angry that day, eeeeeh! I had to tell him to leave while I continued fixing it myself after he had pointed out the spot where the main problem was.
Another skill I have, which I will agree that I developed recently through watching how it's done and learning about the basic tools to use, is plumbing. Hey, plumbing is the easiest of all of them! All you need is a saw to cut the pipes, PVC gum, and the basic knowledge of the pipes to use at different angles, and that's it.
I learnt this earlier this year after a guy I called to repair the leaking tap reservoir tank in our compound collected the money and never showed up. My boss, who has a good knowledge of plumbing because of his fish pond, decided to do the job for me, and that's how I learnt the basics. Ever since then, repairing plumbing faults has been so easy for me.
However, the one area where you can never catch me working is the toilet. No way! I don't like seeing faeces.
Thanks for reading.
The Photos used are mine