Can she fix it?

Not so long ago, I had to make a trip to Satwa, a lively area of Dubai filled with fabric shops, electronic shops, Indian and Pakistani restaurants. When you go there you could almost be in India or somewhere other than Dubai. I love going down there, but on this particular day I was on a mission. One of the girls had chewed (?!) through the cord on a pair of headphones and I wanted to find someone to reattach the plug. After a a short walk and a bit of guidance from another shop owner I found myself walking into a shop, filled to the roof of old TVs, stereos, ghettoblasters, old computer boards and all sorts of electronics. I watched in awe as the man behind the counter soldered and snipped and put the plug back onto the headphones in a matter of minutes.

It's funny how sometimes you never really notice parts of your own personality until someone points it out to you. Skip has always chuckled at me and my need to know how things works. If we go to a hotel, I'll need to work out the lights and how the windows open and if something isn't quite as it should be I won't stop fiddling until I work it out. The same goes with new appliances or flatpack furniture. Skip will leave them and know that I won't rest until I've got it plugged in, set up and functioning. I never thought it was particularly unique, but apparently it is.

Recently, we got a new aquarium and the pump/filter started making a strange noise, before I knew it I'd pulled the pump apart and was cleaning it out and trying to work out what was making the strange noise. I fixed it. Of course I did. Then the lid to the aquarium didn't fit properly and instead of taking it back and exchanging it like a normal person, I fiddled and played and melted and shaved until I got that sucker to fit. The pump started making the strange noise again at 2am today and I got up and started to fiddle with it until I made myself just turn the bloody thing off and go back to bed.

Another time, we bought the girls these cheap tablets, after a short while the on/off button on one of them broke. Before long, and much to Skip's horror, I had pulled the thing apart and tried to fix it. I think I may have even muttered the words: "If I had a soldering iron I could fix this properly," much to Skip's mirth. I fixed it though.

I love problem solving and seeing how things work. Like other people can't rest until a mess is cleaned up or the washing put away, I can't rest until I've worked out how something works.

As I watched this electrical repair guy in Satwa, just mesmerised as he worked, I realised that he had my ideal job. In a different time or a different life, I'd be happy as Larry sitting in my own little shop, soldering away, fixing things, solving problems. Making things that people had given up on work again.

If life had taken a few different turns, do have a secret skill (or quirk) that could have set you up in new job or way of life?