The Art of Maintenance
"Between the internet and all the do-it-yourself books and being an engineer, there is nothing that you cannot do..."
-John Seymour, lab colleague
This guy has all the damn tools in the world. Typical of human nature though, he said that he did not have half the tools he wanted. His dream list was to have some really fancy saws and planing tools and ....
My aims were simpler though. I had this busted tire and I had(wanted) to fix it (myself). I went and got all the stuff. The tire, tube (which was of the wrong specs). Which reminds me to share the

Cardinal Rule of Shopping for Spares:
Make sure you have the right specs AND the salesman gives you the right specs.

After all that and having John's really snazzy toolbox (one of a hundred that he owns),making my own measly collection of tools insignificant in the TOOL- OWNERS FIRMAMENT. This is what happened.
I figure things out, remove the tire, get my hands all greased, fix it and then I realise that the wheel was 'out of true'. Damn!! I cannot ride the bike and I have to trudge back. I hate walking-trudging.
Then the next day after checking the "RIGHT WAY to TRUE a wheel" on the internet, I trued the wheel. Truing wheels is great fun. "It's like learning to draw a straight line"-Jerry. More about Jerry some other day. It was a great experience. I am proud of my own trued wheel even if no one notices. Among the many unfinished books I have to read is Robert T Pirsig's Zen and the Art of Motor Cycle Maintenance. He mentions in the book that, most people want to ride bikes and not bother about maintaining them or even bothering to learn how.
I echo his sentiment. I am long ways off but I can understand the Joy and Pride of Living in the House that YOU built..Riding the bike YOU constructed from scrap.. and things like that.

Caveat to John's Quote (as above)
"... we can do all these things, but the question is that as engineers is it worth our TIME?
- John Seymour