Some things they never taught in junior high shop. The New York State Regents required all tween boys, 7th and 8th grades, to take a half year of shop, while the girls took home ec. It would not be open to intergender elective for another seven years, when girls started not only opting for shop but winning awards for things they created. I went involuntarily. The requirement had a purpose, though a stereotypical one. Girls would manage the household. Boys would do the handyman stuff around the house. Boys who really never got the hang of grammar or fractions might find their talent with their hands. Starting in 9th grade, an industrial arts program's availability might be to their liking. We needed and still need plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, and flooring installers. In those days we also still needed TV repairmen. It would not take that many years for the price of TVs to become disposables by a combination of plummeting price, solid state design, and performance enhancements. We learned how to use tools, some requiring real safety precautions. First year wood shop, second year metal.
At the risk of second guessing educational experts who probably had our interests in mind though with a element of groupthink, I never owned electric tools other than a soldering kit, sander, and a hand drill. Everything else in my basement and garage runs by hand. Saws, hammers, tape measures. I created nothing from its elements, not wood, not metal. I assembled many things that others made: bicycles with instructions written by people of a different native language than mine. A lot of shelves and bookcases. Painting. Quite a lot of that in my young parental, new homeowner years. I glued broken things together, mostly with superglue that also caused fingers to adhere to each other. And to be fair to the Regents, I did master staining and varnishing items I bought with unfinished wood.
Big projects got pros. They never taught us tweens how to fix a faucet that dripped, let alone how to install a disposal unit. Even the smallest electronic installation was worth the electrician's fee to me. Extermination of pests never made it to the NY State curriculum. My guess is the principals objected to bringing experimental roaches into their classrooms, not even live mice for biology labs. It wouldn't even cross my mind to replace a broken window myself.
Meanwhile, those kitchen skills the girls learned, I more than mastered. I can do hand sewing. While I once bought a used sewing machine at a moving sale, I never used it. Yet if I had committed myself to sewing from a pattern using a machine, I'm confident that I could teach myself how to do it. Clothing alterations, even hems, still go to a local tailor.
Now I find myself with a nudgy repair that I should be able to do but don't know how. My house, approaching sixty years of age, lived in by my wife and me for 44 of those years, has held up rather well. A few plumbing leaks, new siding, some mice, replacement of the air conditioner and roof on predictable life spans. Now I find bathroom tiles separating from the floor where it abuts the wall. Not a lot of tiles. Only seven, and I've lost two. One inch tiles. We have cleaners mopping those two floors on alternate weeks. I fear that they will start losing some of the loose tiles.
Like modern handymen, I looked up what to do online, then went to a tile store. Replacements for the two missing tiles will require a larger purchase. Not an exact match but close enough. I looked at my collection of adhesives which I keep together in a first floor closet in a bin. Nothing specifically marked for replacing tile. Internet said apply with Thin Mortar. I went to the tile store to inquire about adhesives. For floor replacement, thin mortar is what the tilers use. This emporium deals with contractors. They sell Thin Mortar in forty pound powder bags. Online tells me that other adhesives may suffice, some in small quantities at Home Depot.
For now, I lifted up the loose ones, seven tiles from one bathroom with two squares unaccounted for, one beige tile from the main bathroom with none unaccounted for. They now sit in a fold-lock sandwich bag in a safe place. Let the cleaners do their next mopping. Glue what I can easily glue back. Try to find a small sheet of off-white one inch tiles to replace the missing two. Perhaps just replace the floor tiling in the smaller bathroom. I have two other floor projects worth doing, so maybe do this one as well.
For now I want it quickly patched. Significant skill not yet needed.
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