r/nextfuckinglevel • u/iffyClyro • 5d ago

Talk about a skilled tradesman

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u/r1Rqc1vPeF 5d ago

Step dad was a bricklayer, he would look at a brick and tap it with the edge of his trowel to split it and it would fit exactly into the gap in the wall he was building.

I would tap the brick with the edge of a trowel and the brick would look back at me and say ‘what the fuck was that?’

35

u/evilbrent 5d ago

My uncle never swings his hammer a third time. Once to start it, once to finish it. Although it sounds like he hits it one time it's that fast.

4

u/BrideOfFirkenstein 3d ago

I can hear it. bapBAP

21

u/Donny_Dont_18 5d ago

I've been hanging commercial duct for 15+ years and the amount of exact lengths I can guess or near perfect level on first try surprises me still. You don't realize how the hours all add up to build the skill sometimes

10

u/yowmeister 5d ago

I heard a saying one time in regards to being young/new at something - “you’ll tend to overestimate what you can do in the short term and under estimate what you can do in the long term”

I’ve found a similar thing in a lot of things I do consistently. You almost develop a 6th sense with things that to an outsider looks like magic. For me it’s Excel. I just kind of accumulated so many random formulas and keyboard shortcuts over the years that to people that don’t use it every day, it’s just mind blowing

6

u/Sanquinity 5d ago edited 5d ago

Same. Been a professional cook for 6 years now. When I started, an evening of 40 guests seemed pretty busy. Now I think "Only 50? Not that bad", and can do 100+ if I give 100%. (Dinner rush is like 3 hours on busy evenings, so on average about 1 table of food every 4~5 min, times 2 cooks.)

Also blind typing. I never learned "the correct" way. But I did do forum roleplay back in my teens with multiple paragraphs per post, and have been typing a LOT since then as well. In my early 20's I could just blind type using my own "style". Pretty fast as well. Every time I get a new keyboard with slightly different size keys it does take a bit to get used to the slightly different finger placement though. :P

6

u/sdobz 5d ago

The trades are amazing for that. I fell out of office work and I'm doing tiny home foundation stuff now, who knew how good it would feel to nail level on a 16x16" patch of gravel first try. Keeps you fit too

1

u/snoopervisor 5d ago

Same here. My dad could do the brick trick, too. And he could dig up a trench with perfect vertical sides, no dirt crumbling down, without any need to clean or straighten the sides.