I have a lot of tales of people working on their own cars, motorcycles, homes etc. that I have had to re-fix. I never talk down to them- I used to know nothing but have great enthusiasm as well.

I worked on watercraft for years. Two or three time a year someone would bring in one of the old Kawasaki 440 or 550 stand up Jet-Skis and say it won't start. One look in the hull would tell the tale. A smoked electrical box. I'd ask if they had hooked up the battery backwards. Um... yeah, but only for a second! Have to explain that electricity moves at THE SPEED OF LIGHT and no way are you going to quick enough to pull that cable off before damage is done.

My best tale about myself was when Dad's dishwasher needed the door slammed several time to operate. I took the front apart, pulled out the largest component, the timer, and figured I'd take a look inside for loose wires. Upon removing the back of the box, every component inside leapt out with and audible "sproing!" and scattered about the garage. Oops. Dad and I went to the appliance store and told the guy I needed a timer. He asked why, since the timer was very expensive and rarely needed to be replaced. I said we have to slam the door to get it to work. He laughed and said we don't need the timer, we need this, and pulled out a two dollar switch. I said, "Bro, we need the timer too." I don't think I ever told Dad about that one.