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Women learning how to build infrastructure

 
pollinator
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In jest, I wrote this in the "fishing for coin" thread, but it has actually been on my mind a fair bit lately.  Maybe there are other women (or men) here who want to discuss.

Topic of discussion: how women can figure out how to be involved in the infrastructure portion of permaculture.  Because I am a fit, strong woman in her prime and power tools can still take me for a ride, not to mention I don't have the physical strength to be dragging logs around to build structures.  When I need something build, I need to pay men.  That requires monies.  I'm great in the kitchen and the garden, but that limits how far I can take things on my own.



I was not raised with power tools.  That does not mean my parents raised me to NOT use them, but neither of them did a lot of projects, so I just wasn't raised in a house where projects were happening regularly.  I don't have the basic skill set.  I do have an increasing set of tools, but I'm not feeling super comfortable using them.   I am pretty darn strong, but they were designed by and for men.  They are heavy.  Keep in mind, I lift *heavy* weights to stay in shape for my job. I lift 50 pound bags for my horses.  I'm not spindly or wimpy.  I find most of my power tools fairly heavy for my hands.  

I am working with a couple of cedar 8X8s.  I tried to move them on my own and could not safely do it.  I had a male friend come over.  He simply floated it up onto his shoulder and walked off with it.  Now, he is a strong, burly dude, but it emphasized the strength disparity between the two of us.

Even if I was good with tools, I don't know how to build things.  When I ask male friends for help, they try to be helpful but offer instructions but they have all assumed I know a lot more than I know.  For example, I have a friend who is helping me with a project and was giving me instructions on what I could do on my own.  I quote, "OK, you need to make a cut here and "da da, da da, da da."  Wait, what?  What's in the "da da, da da, da da," portion of this project.   He listed off the things I would need to know, but there's no way I'd know these things were important on my own!  I'm totally willing to get into it and learn.  Recently, I learned about mixing and pouring concrete.  I did that just fine.  It was easier than baking a cake.  Add water, stir, pour, level.  Ok, great.

Jocelyn made some good suggestions about making trades and I do make a point to take care of and feed the friends that would help me out, but they have their own big projects, too.  I am more concerned about doing trades with men I do not know and having them on my property.   For example, when I had a new roof put on a cabin, I woke up one day to find five men in my yard unannounced.  No one told me they were coming.   It was sort of a sketchy crew.   I am a single woman living alone.  Men may not understand that fear, but I think most women will.

Obviously, a great answer would to be dating someone like-minded with a shared vision and interest in these things.  As much as I don't believe in divisions of labor between men and women, there are certain things I just can't do on my own.   But, until that next chapter of my life happens and just happened to be with someone interested in these things (not a guarantee), I'm feeling a bit stuck on how to really learn this stuff.  There's not too much building I want to do on this current property, but I have much bigger plans in mind for my next property that I can't even think about embarking on without somehow figuring out how to do this on my own or having a partner to do it with me.

Websites?  Books?  Women out there with blogs?   I'm open to suggestions.
 
pollinator
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I've been the primary carpenter at our place, building all the chicken coops, and half the other structures we've built, plus doing virtually all the fencing, gardening,plumbing, and hand-dug earthworks. My husband isn't that interested in these things, except as a spectator!  I mostly learned by doing and some from a couple of basic home maintenance and repair manuals.  There's loads of info on the internet.  I can't remember any specific sites, usually if I need specific info I search for it and try to find the most helpful webpage or blog.

I do sometimes ask my husband to help with lifting, and I prefer for him to use the circular saw, I'm just not that comfortable with it and it is heavy.  He also does all the chainsawing, again, a weight problem.  

Here's a book I got, but have not had to employ the ideas because not alone:  https://www.amazon.com/Working-Alone-Tips-Techniques-Building/dp/1561585459

 
K Putnam
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Here's a book I got, but have not had to employ the ideas because not alone:  https://www.amazon.com/Working-Alone-Tips-Techniques-Building/dp/1561585459  



Thank you!
 
Tyler Ludens
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Many structures can be built using much lighter framing members than are typically used. For instance, I use 1x2 and 2x2 in my coops instead of 2x4. I was trying to find some references to wooden airplane construction.  My husband just advised me to tell you to buy and build a balsa wood airplane model, so you can experience how a bunch of flimsy members when put together properly, become strong.  This may help you in designing structures in the future which can be built of light, easy to lift sections.

 
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I am slowly working toward setting up a woodworking school primarily for youth and I am going to offer to paths, one is female only the other is co-ed.   Goal is to nurture girls in the mechanical arts with a focus on hands on use of math and geometry as well as tools, combining both wood and metal work.   Only real obstacle I have at the moment to starting is still working out the insurance portion, I have the tools, the space, the teachers and the network.

I do adult ed stuff with a local permaculture meetup group and when I do the woodworking stuff it is about 2/3 women.   I was very proud when a woman who had taken a few of my classes and at first was very timid around powertools announced in another class she had taken the confidence she had gained in my classes and designed and built her own wooden chicken coop.

We need more of this...
 
Michael Bushman
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K Putnam wrote:Websites?  Books?  Women out there with blogs?   I'm open to suggestions.



A good place to start for woodworking are two common woodworking stores, one is Woodcraft in Seattle and another is Rockler's stores in Seattle both offer classes and many are in touch or even host local woodworking groups.   Another option is to google woodworking groups in your area, Seattle seems to be full of them.

And frankly, lifting big beams isn't easy for many of us.  I recently had a chance to scrounge a bunch of scrap wood and I had to leave the 16' foot long 4x6 beams because they were just too heavy to lift out of the dumpster.

If you don't mind answering, you mentioned you could lift 50lb stuff but are struggling using your power tools, can you expand a bit on what tools you are struggling with?   I am curious if you are trying to use a full size worm drive circular saw rather than a lighter model and what sort of infrastructure would you like to build and what issues building it daunt you?



 
steward & bricolagier
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I followed this idea from the original post in Paul's fishing for money thread... I was going to start one if KPutnam hadn't expanded on it. I have a similar issue, not exactly the same, not sure if I should start my own thread.  Anyways. I am good with tools. I have smaller scaled ones and certain tools that I do well with (see below for link, it ran amok and I gave it it's own thread.) but I also lack the muscle to just flat move things around. AND lack the money to pay help. AND I just moved and have no contacts here yet for casual help that I don't pay. AND don't have a kitchen yet that I can even feed help well out of. AARGH!! What CAN small women do in this situation?  I also get frustrated by seeing the guys just pick up stuff I'd have to get creative with to move. I also REALLY resonate with KPutnam: "woke up one day to find five men in my yard unannounced. No one told me they were coming. It was sort of a sketchy crew. I am a single woman living alone. Men may not understand that fear, but I think most women will." YES. How DO you find men who will do stuff who you don't mind them being on the property?! I moved 6 weeks ago, I can already name several who will NOT be welcome to show up again. I don't care HOW skilled they might be.  Also I get SOOOO tired of reading on the net the women who say "oh yes! I am a homesteader! My husband does all the labor and I feed the chickens and cook dinner!!" AAAUGH!!!

How DO real women cope with all of this? I am fairly strong, I use a LOT of physics to move stuff, but it takes me so much longer, it frustrates me. If anyone has better ideas than "get a guy to do it" I'd LOVE to hear

I started to reply to KPutnam's comment about tools being "designed by and for men" and it ran totally amok, and turned into a book (not a real book, just long enough, good lord) and I'm giving it it's own thread.  https://permies.com/t/57572/woodworking/Tool-thoughts-women#486343  What tools work best for small women and why, how to choose them, because tools being designed for men is one of my pet peeves. Like I said, I'm good with tools. And it's not easy to learn to be good with things that aren't made for you. Like learning to drive a car by being in a huge truck with the seat all the way back and you can't move it... it CAN be done, it isn't easy. So it's advice from one woman who has been there, aimed at women who might want to learn.

And thanks KPutnam for starting this thread!!
 
Tyler Ludens
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Pearl Sutton wrote:"oh yes! I am a homesteader! My husband does all the labor and I feed the chickens and cook dinner!!"



Must be nice!  
 
Pearl Sutton
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Tyler Ludens wrote:

Pearl Sutton wrote:"oh yes! I am a homesteader! My husband does all the labor and I feed the chickens and cook dinner!!"



Must be nice!  



That's FAR more polite than what I generally say
 
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I wasn't taught to use power tools even though my dad was an expert woodworker.  I mostly taught myself and got guidance from friends- that's on not only how to use tools but how to design infrastructure.  I started a Sustainable Learning Center in New Mexico with my husband but I've been the main designer, fix it person, and manager of building projects. My husband is the one that's great with the computer stuff.  Whether you are a man or a woman, designing building projects and just diving in to learn a new tool may or may not come naturally to you.  While I'm a larger woman, I still have plenty of physical limitations. My advice is to Build Community First!  As I have developed friendships with people with skills, my self education has skyrocketed.  Also, once you become proficient at something or have some good things to demonstrate, you can get volunteers who want to learn what you know and see your examples.  That's often how I get the strength I need to help my designs come together. (looking for volunteers in Sept/Oct by the way)  Of course I have been at this for a while and developed a reputation so that helps. I do have a blog that I post things on once in a while.  It's ampersandprojectblog
And my website is ampersandproject.org
Best to you!
Amanda Bramble
 
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When I think back to how I got started doing stuff, I think it started when I was a teen and it was just me and my mom. She was going to pay this guy down the street what I thought was too much money to install two ceiling fans with adjustable speed switches. My mom traveled for business sometimes and once while she was away overnight, I opened the box, read the instructions and followed along. I was able to install two ceiling fans with those switches by myself while she was gone. I don't remember it being traumatic. I do remember her coming home, absent mindedly flicking the switch and the fan came on. Once she realized, she was upset that the man was in the house alone with me. I told her I did it. Then she got mad that I could have been electrocuted. I told her I cut the power by turning off the breaker. She swayed between anger and being impressed. Also, my grandpa build garages on the side from his regular job and he never once told me to go away when he was in the garage doing stuff. Nor did my dad. I'm trying to teach my kids, my daughter is interested. My son thinks robots will eventually do it all or apps....

Fast forward...I got a job working on a small family crew doing renovations and such. I knew a lot already but I learned a lot more having someone teach as we worked. I think I just have no fear of trying something. I'm currently remodeling my bathroom alone. Was stymied by an injury then loss of income.

As for tools, I find that Craftsman brand has smaller handles for me to use. I love DeWalt but their stuff can be too big for me to handle efficiently. If I do find tools "for women" they are usually pink, not at powerful, and stupid.

I ended up running a lot of wire, I enjoy doing the "inside wireman" work. While I was on that crew, there were some things I just could not do. I was limited by my size. Hanging drywall on the ceiling was something I gladly opted out of. However, because I was small, I did get shoved into a lot of holes to run wires.... you win some, you lose some.

I find that just jumping in is the best way to learn. I buy tools as I need them. Just bought a "hand held" 55# demolition jack hammer. That might be a bit much for me but we'll see. I have things to do and I can't let my size stop me.
 
pollinator
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This is an interesting post to be revived and to read through. In some ways, it speaks to our culture and its teaching that we should strive be autonomous and "do it all" or "have it all". I think without cooperation and community, even just your own family, life would be miserable and depressing. This community aspect is not preached by culture, only that you can do it all.

We have soon to be 6 kids. 8 years old down to currently incubating. We slowly teach them the names of all the tools we have and their use and let them use them. We do not buy them fake plastic tools or plastic kitchen items or whatever else. The closest thing is for us to make wood hammers out of cedar logs, using tools. We can be in the middle of something on a ladder and need my 4 year boy old to hand me the impact wrench but put the phillips bit on first. We can ask the same 4 year old boy to get the eggs cracked and mixed for scrambled eggs in the mixing bowl or to take the laundry off the line and fold it.

All that being said, we also encourage cooperation and an understanding of each others strengths and weaknesses. My 6 year old boy is much faster than my 8 year old daughter. She was really miffed by this at first but he ends up being our "runner". My 4 year old boy listens and retains directions better than my 6 year old boy and so they typically carry out complicated tasks together. The 4 year old helps by remembering the directions and the 6 year old is doing the thing we asked to be done.

We try to teach them all the same things to then see what each child has by way of strengths and weaknesses and focus on the strengths.

I observe my wife and her interactions and am blown away most times. She has a calm spirit and so much more patience than I do. On the other side, I am the one to point out to her that our 1 year old is actually fake crying. I can tell by the sound. She is always blown away with each kid that I can tell before she can. We learn to cooperate too, like the kids.  

It is really a challenge parenting all theses kids, keeping the peace and trying to teach them these things along the way. They all have their own personalities to be developed and they will all have different character strengths that will hopefully guide them in finding spouses. We encourage them to stay with us on the property if they find a spouse or not. Culture encourages getting out there and making your own way.

I say all that to say that this idea of what a REAL woman is, is very contextual. One size does not fit all. It has to do with what strengths and weaknesses you were created with, how you were raised and how your value system was developed, etc. For example, I could train my 8 year old daughter, mentioned above, to be faster than my 6 year old son I think. It would take a lot of training and time but it may be possible. They are somewhat close when they race. I am not going to do that though. I would rather use that same time to help her develop something I can see she already has a strength in, like water color painting.

In light of that, its funny reading the comment asking "How DO real women cope with all of this?". I can tell that the poster (not the OP) has applied the black and white filter and has categorized what a real woman is and what a real women is not. I don't think it is quite that simple to say a "traditional" women who is a keeper of the home with a husband who is fulfilling the role of a "traditional" husband is not a real women. I think she can be a real women and the women who is gifted with understanding to allow her to build the chicken coop and lift the 6x6's is a real women also.

Any update on the OP and how things have developed for her since the post?
 
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A good way to learn carpentry is to buy an unfinished house and then find out that no one would come out to finish it.

So dear Hubby and I took this shell and added wood framing, drywall, molding and all the other stuff that turns a shell into a house.

That was way back in 2013.  The house is still lacking some molding, has a concrete floor though we have a roof over our heads and can call this place home...
 
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I think I qualify as a real woman as I have been married a couple times and I have given birth to some live 2 legged creatures who mostly turned out to be pretty cool humans.
So here's what I have to say about this. I was raised in a divorced family. My dad doesn't do construction. My mom was very poor and had to do everything herself because we couldn't afford to pay anybody ( unless it was making the furnace turn on again or something along those lines)
I have the advantage of being 5'7 and somewhat broad-shouldered weighing in at about 150 most of my life. Now I'm old and fat and I don't want to talk about that. But as a kid I remember learning how to use my body to get things done because no one was around to help me. So I moved bedroom furniture by sitting on my butt, putting my feet against the wall and pushing things with my back. And even though I don't think I'm super physically skilled, I learned to be practical. Plus I have a really excellent sense of physics in my brain and I have kind of an engine er's mind. So, seeing how things go together is easy for me but I know I've seen people who could not put a puzzle together or could not untangle the Tangled ring game or even girls who had a really hard time getting the clothes to stay on their paper dolls because you have to get tab a into slot b and some people are just better at that than others.
I guess what I'm saying is you can't lump all women real or not or all men real or not into a monolithic group because people are intrinsically better at some things than others. So building things and using tools might be more difficult or more stressful if you're relying on a skill set that's not strong for you like body mechanics or being able to see a straight line. And I'm not kidding about that. I had a really hard time in my teens being able to see a straight line and the only thing that got better for me was practice. Now I can have just a few dots on a board and use a skill saw and get a good straight cut. But I have paid young men to come over and ended up with some crazy scalloped edge nonsense out of a really expensive piece of advantech plywood and that really made me sad 😢😭
There is a trade-off in tools and even though the current skill saw that I have is the most expensive and probably among the heaviest. It is a Milwaukee and it is a real tool and by real tool. I mean buying the cheap stuff at harbor freight is fine. It's a good way to learn. It's a good way to get things done that just have to get done. But if you're going to need a tool for a while and you're going to want to try to get any good using it. Sometimes the tools that cost more have better qualities that make them easier to use. Any person who has tried to cut something in a kitchen with a knife that was too short or too dull or the wrong knife for that kind of job will understand it's the same principle...
So that's my ramble for now. Hope some of this helps somebody somewhere somehow
Also happy New Year!
 
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Simple and slow solutions

We are two women aged 66 and 75 and we move, build, grow and investigate quite a lot on our 1 hectare homestead. With the technique "Brain not brawn - no strength? Use your brain" and always looking for Simple and slow solution we are achieving quite good results. With our helpers we observe that the first solution that comes to mind is often a complcated one. Here is an example of a simple and easy solution to sieve compost:
 
master pollinator
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I really like Josh's take on this.  Permaculture is not about isolating ourselves.  Granted, folks have varying views on what permaculture is and it has morphed somewhat over time.  At it's core, I think it is a design methodology that considers how the natural world works and the design is influenced by nature.  A lot of the way I think about permaculture is coloured by the 8 forms of capital, one of which is social capital.  When we evaluate what we have in the different forms, we can see where we have abundance, and where we may be somewhat lacking.  At any rate, if we build social capital, we can then utilize that capital to help get projects done.

That's part of what I think Paul is attempting to do - between building a virtual community here at Permies.com as well as in person through the Boot program and events.

Think about times past when a community would get together for a barn-raising.  People would bring their strengths, tools, and talents together and as a community would get the job done.  It meant there was a crew around and where there is a crew, they would need to be fed, and small children would need to be cared for.  Yes, there was a traditional division of labour along genders, but I think for the most part many of us are past that.  In my case, my wife always has been the primary breadwinner - at times I've struggled with this, but the end result is that, compared with the traditional divisions, I do more around the house to keep the household going.

Perhaps less convenient, but if power tools aren't built to be able to be handled by smaller individuals, hand tools may be the way to go.  I've never come across a hand saw that anyone felt was too heavy to handle.

In a similar, but different, vein, another thing to note is that power tools are generally designed for right handed folks.  Being left-handed, I've had to adapt - some, like a drill, don't matter that much, but others, I've had to either learn to become ambidextrous, or make a point of exercising a higher degree of caution to be able to use safely with my non-dominant side.

I've long struggled with the concept of equality our society embraces at present.  I do believe everyone should have equal opportunity.  They shouldn't be limited in their options by limiting beliefs.  That said, there are physical differences between men and women.  Whatever attribute one wants to look at, there is a continuum for both, and there is certainly overlap but it remains biological that males of the human species tend to be bigger and stronger than females of the species.  We do see that in some other species as well (one direction or the other).  Pretending there are no differences is completely illogical - perhaps that is why I struggle with it.

I'd better stop before I get myself into too much (more) trouble....
 
Josh Hoffman
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elizabeth mae brown wrote:
I guess what I'm saying is you can't lump all women real or not or all men real or not into a monolithic group because people are intrinsically better at some things than others. So building things and using tools might be more difficult or more stressful if you're relying on a skill set that's not strong for you like body mechanics or being able to see a straight line.



Yes exactly. Case in point; I used to work in the field with someone who could look at something and tell if it was plumb or not, down to "in between the lines" on the level but favoring one side.

I can't tell until it is outside the lines with my naked eye.
 
Josh Hoffman
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Derek Thille wrote:In my case, my wife always has been the primary breadwinner - at times I've struggled with this, but the end result is that, compared with the traditional divisions, I do more around the house to keep the household going.

I've long struggled with the concept of equality our society embraces at present.  I do believe everyone should have equal opportunity.  They shouldn't be limited in their options by limiting beliefs.  That said, there are physical differences between men and women.  Whatever attribute one wants to look at, there is a continuum for both, and there is certainly overlap but it remains biological that males of the human species tend to be bigger and stronger than females of the species.  We do see that in some other species as well (one direction or the other).  Pretending there are no differences is completely illogical - perhaps that is why I struggle with it.

I'd better stop before I get myself into too much (more) trouble....



Struggling with a situation could be a product of an correctly informed or incorrectly informed conscience. There is a grey area going in spectrum from light grey to dark grey, of course.

There are many times around our place when my wife is "in the weeds" and I jump in to do something that she would typically do and vice versa. However, most of the times, we each do the things we are good at to compliment each other. Certain religious and secular groups categorize these things into the patriarchy, complementarianism egalitarianism. We probably fall into the complementarianism label in how we function. It would look "traditional" from outside viewership. If our roles were reversed, it would still be complementarian but not "traditional", you see.

If my wife would have married someone else or I would have, it may have looked different for each of us. I guess that is what I am stressing. there are patterns to be observed in people and nature. Generally, it takes 2 entities to produce fruit. However, there are some exceptions with self pollination, seahorses. etc. Same with us as individuals. I think you can observe these patterns and figure, generally, what the outcome may be. But do not discount the outliers. There are exceptions and they are to be respected and taken one at a time.

I try to make objective statements on these forums because I do not know you personally and, in my opinion, that (knowing you personally) would be what is needed for me to form much of a conclusion about anything. So my family and I take people/families "one at a time" so to speak.

I really enjoy the dialog on this forum and am thankful that so many people can share their opinions on any given matter.
 
pollinator
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My father only "did it himself" once that I remember.  He went up onto the small one car garage to replace some damaged shingles.  As a small child, I climbed up the ladder and peeked over the roof edge.  He noticed me, yelled at me to get down off that ladder... if I had been easily frightened that alone would have sent me falling to the ground.  I stood my ground, told him I wanted to help him, and got told again to get down, that it was too dangerous for me to be up there.

My mom on the other hand, cooked and made most of our clothing when we were young.  I was sewing my own doll clothes in grade school on her big sewing machine.  So I learned some practical "woman's work" things including cleaning and such, and was allowed to mow the small yard with the push mower (not gas powered) when in junior high school.  When dad finally got a gas powered push mower, it became his job again even though I offered to continue doing it.   Guess he didn't think a girl could handle a gasoline engine.  

As a young adult I had a good mechanical aptitude, so learning came easy to me.  I bought an old schoolhouse and replaced subflooring, built walls, hooked up outlets, hung drywall (although I did hire unskilled help in the form of friends and coworkers to hang the ceiling sheets) and played a bit with supply plumbing and hung cabinets.  My squeeze at the time worked in electronics so he knew about electrical enough to do most of that work, and he did a lot of the plumbing.  

Several years later I took a class in machining, just for something different from boring office work, and got work in that field.  Then I became an apprentice carpenter in a factory and learned a ton, including my physical limitations.  I could use all the tools just fine, but needed help lifting and carrying materials when using leverage and a wheeled cart for assistance was not enough.  I figured out how to do many things myself, and my artistic detail skills were appreciated by some of the guys who were better at the brute strength stuff.  After I became a journeyman, I was slower at cutting and installing carpet tiles than my young male apprentice.  It took strength and endurance to cut through the thick commercial grade tiles, and he had more of that than I did.  

Now, retired, I designed and built a deck off the back of our house, with help from my partially disabled man to lift and place the 6x6 posts that ran from 4' below grade up through the deck to the partial roof.  I designed and built a chicken coop into our storage shed myself, as well as a lean-to shelter for our turkeys.  Since my guy has a (really) bad back he cannot help much or for long, even though he is a foot taller and much stronger than I am.  So I do as much as I can myself and only ask for his help if I can't figure out how to do something solo, or it's just too heavy for my aging body to maneuver into place.  We've asked a neighbor for help on occasion, and helped them in return, which has worked out well.  

I don't use any special kinds of tools even though I am short and female, I just use what I can handle and either work around the rest or get help one way or another.  I do use a wheelbarrow or other wheeled dolly type things to help me move heavy things, but I run up against my limits sooner now than I used to.  In my prime I could lift and carry an 80 lb. bag of concrete mix.  Now the 60 lb. ones are a bit much for me to lift.  Luckily 40 lb. bags of dog food and chicken feed are still do-able!
 
Derek Thille
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Josh Hoffman wrote:Struggling with a situation could be a product of an correctly informed or incorrectly informed conscience. There is a grey area going in spectrum from light grey to dark grey, of course.

There are many times around our place when my wife is "in the weeds" and I jump in to do something that she would typically do and vice versa. However, most of the times, we each do the things we are good at to compliment each other. Certain religious and secular groups categorize these things into the patriarchy, complementarianism egalitarianism. We probably fall into the complementarianism label in how we function. It would look "traditional" from outside viewership. If our roles were reversed, it would still be complementarian but not "traditional", you see.

If my wife would have married someone else or I would have, it may have looked different for each of us. I guess that is what I am stressing. there are patterns to be observed in people and nature. Generally, it takes 2 entities to produce fruit. However, there are some exceptions with self pollination, seahorses. etc. Same with us as individuals. I think you can observe these patterns and figure, generally, what the outcome may be. But do not discount the outliers. There are exceptions and they are to be respected and taken one at a time.

I try to make objective statements on these forums because I do not know you personally and, in my opinion, that (knowing you personally) would be what is needed for me to form much of a conclusion about anything. So my family and I take people/families "one at a time" so to speak.

I really enjoy the dialog on this forum and am thankful that so many people can share their opinions on any given matter.



In case it clarifies things, part of my struggle is with some of the folks saying women are underrepresented in engineering, for example, so we need to spend money and jump through hoops and modify our education experiment to get more women in this profession, but these same people do not lament the lack of women bricklayers or plumbers, nor do they have any words regarding an "underrepresentation" of men in nursing.  There's a level of hypocrisy in that.

Of course, this is a sensitive topic, and I strive not to step on too many toes, which makes some of my messages more cryptic than I'd like.  I also would rather not cross a line that puts me in the bad books of the forum administrators...no need to make their job any more challenging than it already is.

I think that Permies are a more pragmatic bunch and I believe this thread emphasizes that many recognize their strengths and weaknesses and may require some community help to overcome their weaknesses on a given project.

I'm tired...I haven't done this much dancing around the bush in a while...
 
gardener
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Here’s a thought:  just try to build something.  Something smallish that you need.  
I tried to build an aviary for a cockatiel.  2x2 frame and hardware cloth.  6 feet high with a 2 feet by 3 feet foot print.  And a door.  The bird lived in it, it was a workable piece, and I was pleased to have it next to the dining table where I saw it every day.  

Making strong corners was my biggest challenge.

The process itself will highlight what you don’t know yet!  

Things I have learned:  using a hammer, I will knock things out of alignment.  Screws and a drill are better for me.  Or a pneumatic nail gun and air compressor.

The function of diagonal braces, bracing in general, where they’re needed.

When using a hand saw, I do better at a straight cut with a pull saw than a regular one.

The thickness of a door will affect the width of the door opening, requiring an adjustment in the door or the opening.

I also built small boxes out of fence boards with hinged lids.  And display shelves for my handmade soap at craft shows…. Which needed to tilt backwards for the contents to be visible.

A small chicken tractor is a nice project for a beginner.

Pallet wood is great material for beginners because it is free, and has irregularities you can work around or not.

When you identify a specific something you need to learn, then ask for help with that.

 
Donna Lynn
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Derek Thille wrote:In case it clarifies things, part of my struggle is with some of the folks saying women are underrepresented in engineering, for example, so we need to spend money and jump through hoops and modify our education experiment to get more women in this profession, but these same people do not lament the lack of women bricklayers or plumbers, nor do they have any words regarding an "underrepresentation" of men in nursing.  There's a level of hypocrisy in that.



I feel you.  I've always been a competence-based hiring and promotion proponent, with no regard for [other factors.]  And as a female I've been on the receiving end of "affirm ative action," sadly to my detriment.  I've also been discounted in favor of males despite being more intelligent and qualified in some instances.

When in high school, I was a math and science nerd, and was accepted into a summer program at a university for about 50 advanced math students from around the country.  I struggled mightily to understand some of the topics covered, and could not figure out why; I excelled in high school math.  My self esteem suffered. There were two other girls in the same boat.  The professor who was in charge of the whole thing called us together for a meeting about three fourths of the way through the program.  Most of the meeting was him expressing kindly disappointment in us, he'd hoped the girls would give a better showing so more would be admitted in the future, blah blah blah.  I accepted this humbly until he stated that we had been accepted into the program despite not passing the application testing, because they needed to have some girls attend.  It turned out that I did not have the prerequisite classes and knowledge to understand the aspects being taught there, so it was not my fault at all that I was not "getting it."  Being the quiet, reserved child I was, I did not rip that pompous patronizing ass a new one right then and there for causing us to feel inferior and unworthy just to give him a body count, but I'm sure he could see the shocked, betrayed look in my eyes.  We girls did our best to educate ourselves to fill in the gaps through the rest of the program with no help from any teacher, and I actually did learn quite a bit and greatly enjoyed and appreciated the overall experience.  But the old men's club got their "proof" that males were superior "look at the girls' lower test scores!" while conveniently ignoring the fact that less educated girls were competing with more highly educated boys.  

On the other hand, on Saturday mornings when some of the group got together to play soccer, my roomie and I outperformed all but a few of the math nerd boys who played.  It was so validating being chosen for teams first because we had earned it (even if the captains did make sure one girl was on each team so there would always be something to look at no matter which team was "skins," LOL!  We learned quick to both wear bikini tops under our shirts on game day.)  

So I believe that competence and ability-based is always the best way to go, for the benefit of all parties (except perhaps those with unethical agendas.)  I'd never want to be operated on by a surgeon who was given a "participation trophy" medical degree.  I prefer people who are the best at operating to be represented in the surgical field, regardless of whether other unrelated characteristics are under-represented.
 
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Considering that the intent for this thread was a request for practical knowledge and/or guidance toward practical resources, I'll not wax philosophical, instead, giving information, to the best of my ability, to honoring the request (*and as a staff note, would appreciate if following posts would do the same*). For a single woman (or those in cases similar to mine, where there is a man, but a. he is less knowledgeable &/or skilled, and b. the couple is new to the area, as we were, when we moved here) though "community" might be the ideal, it's often unavailable, particularly for things that simply can't wait for said community to be built. It's not always a pride-driven "me do it!" situation, but a necessity-driven "it must be done, and there's no one else to do it" situation.

For those in it for long-haul, more formal learning, many community colleges offer classes in not only the basics of construction, but also in blueprint reading, and more advanced construction. You'll have to do your own legwork, for that.

For more casual learning, not necessarily on a time schedule, Handyman Magazine, Woodworkers Guild of America, Homelight.com, architectrussell.com, housebouse.com, dailycivil.com are all decent sources to begin with, for basic construction information. Starting with the most basic stuff will help you figure out which things you'll need to learn, when. I've not personally used most of these, but did keep a subscription to Handyman, for years - but, I also had the advantage of not only a big DIY-type dad, but a stepdad who was in commercial construction, so the tools & interest in how to use them was a way of life, for me. Still, much of the work these men did at home (where I'd have learned) was done when I was not home, or my mom (whose dream of a girly-girl daughter was rather hopeless, in me) wouldn't allow me access, so most of what I learned as a child was learnt on the qt, and was rather disjointed.

If one heads to the local library, there it typically an entire section of the building devoted to the various aspects of construction, in all its myriad forms - including 'how-to'.

For more specific, 'must learn yesterday' type stuff, y**t*b* can be an incredible help, and one can *usually* discern the ones who know whereof they speak from the bullshitters, fairly well. This is my go-to, and typing the specific task needed into the search usually produces a good number of helps to weed through. I've also had points where something only sort-of fit with all of what I could figure out on my own or with available visual resources, and used the old, "call a friend" help, to walk me through a job, on the phone.

Often, hardware stores, both large and small, will offer classes, pamphlets, and/or practical guidance in choosing & using the tools they sell (great if it's hands on, so they can see where something is causing a handling struggle, and offer tips to overcome it) as well as other product guidance, in both quality & how to use other products specific to your project. I've personally had some of these folks tell me, 'well, you'll also need 'X', which we don't sell - but, if you go to ____, they have it, and the best one is 'Y' brand, size..., but avoid 'Z', because even though it's a great product, it's huge/heavy..., and even at 6' & 250#, I struggle to handle it'.

And, finally, posting specific queries here on permies often yields some of the best information one can find.

I hope this helps...
 
Derek Thille
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Somewhere along the way I wound up with a big orange book from Home Depot called Home Improvement 1-2-3 that covers a variety of household repairs / renovations in relatively simple language for those interested in attempting something themselves and could be good to have on hand for repairs.  Unfortunately it won't help with things like tool selection.  I've used a few times over the years, but honestly had forgotten about it until reading the most recent post.
 
Arch enemy? I mean, I don't like you, but I don't think you qualify as "arch enemy". Here, try this tiny ad:
Willow Feeder movie
https://permies.com/t/273181/Willow-Feeder-movie
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