To ask - what is your particular set of skills? (lighthearted)

[MahMahMahMahCorona]

Household of 5: 2 adults, 3 DC.

I can - when everyone else has had a go - rework the loading of the dishwasher so that EVERYTHING fits in, rather than leaving a mountain of dirty stuff on the side (like the rest of the household) ready for the next cycle.

AIBU to ask what is your particular set of skills? Skills you have acquired over a very long career.*

*Yes I've quoted Liam Neeson...

I am extremely loud (and deep) when I shout. Good for clearing corridors quickly.

Can demolish a box of matchmakers (mint) in about 3 minutes (just done this and now feel sick).

Can drink a bottle of beer wedged between my boobs.
Speed reading. Especially if its a book that I like.
Make up.

Not so good at: walking in a straight line, spelling (ironic for an English teacher) and executive function.

@Graphista

Ooh good idea for a thread.

I'm quite a good lateral thinker so I can problem solve fairly effectively (I have ocd and overthink MASSIVELY but occasionally it does come in handy!!)

I'm a good planner

I can pack like nobody else!

Military brat and can pack for a fortnights holiday in hand luggage only in about 30 mins - no exaggeration! Have done this several times and when dd was little this included her stuff so 2 people in one hand luggage case and one handbag

When I was moving in with a former flatmate she spent WEEKS packing up her old place, carefully using bubble wrap etc - she freaked when on the day I hadn't started packing, I was done within 2 hours admittedly only a studio flat but still...

I can read very quickly. Didn't realise I was a particularly quick reader until I went to uni to do English. When passages had to be read before commenting/discussing I could have read the same part 3-4 times again compared to how fast everyone else was reading. One lecturer didn't believe I was reading every word/taking in every nuance and took some delight in "testing" me.

I can also read and watch tv/film at the same time and take in what's happening on both - again I've had people disbelieve and "test" me

Again I didn't realise it was odd until certain people pointed it out to me.

I also have synesthesia which makes life interesting! Some words have a "taste" some sights do, letters, words and numbers have particular colours for me.

This all sounds awesome - eldest DC "feels" in colours - can be a purple day (good) or a yellow day (bad...) - I am fascinated by this as I'm a purple or white person depending on the day!

Sewing decent sized pockets into girls clothes

I will look for the errors in your Excel spreadsheet, I will find them, and I will correct them.

@sal1223

Bump starting cars in reverse downhill (usually with an audience of people saying it can't be done ) and parallel parking in one quick manoeuvre 🙄🥳

Oooh yes I can parallel park effortlessly- really irritated my DM years ago when visiting DSis in university city - she couldn't get unnecessarily large family SUV into silly city street parking space so I offered to do it. She wasn't happy with my beautiful first attempt - only needed one...

Guessing the punchline to jokes. It drives people mad, so I don’t say the punchline out loud anymore, but if it’s a funny joke I’ll sometimes chuckle, and give the game away.
I’m not allowed to join in with the Christmas cracker jokes at all. grin]
I can’t think when my particular skill will
Come in handy though...

@dementedma

Keeping going through the shit life throws at me

@Bluesarestillblue - oh Lord if we met we would be unstoppable. I can talk the hind legs off a donkey, holding conversations with people I've never met before despite the fact I'm wholly antisocial and somewhat shy. Small talk, for some reason, I am good at. I think it comes from previous experience handing out canapés at my parents' frequent drinks parties 😬🙄

I’m really good at putting the empty toilet roll in the bin and the new one on the holder. In my small survey of a family of 6 it seems I’m the only person able to do this, so it must be quiet rare.

Ditto finding things in the places everyone else has looked and it absolutely cannot see it.

I am fantastic in a crisis, I go Uber calm and practical and work it through to a solution.

Parallel Parking - reversing in general.

My driving instructor said he'd never had a student as good going backwards. I did help my father move cars around his petrol station/garage in my late teens (pre lessons) and have a great visual awareness of 3 dimensional space. The instructor tried teaching me the 'turn the steering wheel when the car lines up to X point on the car you're next to' thing but it was counter-intuitive and he gave up and let me just park the way I could feel the car moving.

I can bullshit my way through any situation convincingly enough that others take confidence from my abilities.

I'm sure this is how I currently manage a team of 80 people with no prior management experience, in an industry that I have zero professional qualifications in

I'm massively resourceful and self reliant, due to being a single parent for years interspersed with 2 failed relationships. I'm a Jack of all trades and can turn my hand to the majority of jobs that need doing because I've had to!

I'm also brilliant with money and budgeting from growing up in an extremely low income family, but my parents were smart with their money and passed those skills on to me.

I can go to the shop with my last tenner and come home with enough food for 3/4 days worth of meals, plus biscuits

I can

• iron more creases in than I take out
• make it rain just by going for a walk
• see the cat sneaking into the kitchen when I'm looking in the other direction
• spend a whole day pottering around doing very little
• be unable to sleep until 2am then be unable to wake until 11am.

My Yorkshire puddings always rise and never stick.

I am great at Fridge Tetris.

Can also parallel park well ( except if the local cat is watching judegementally).

Good at managing medical emergencies. I'm the only one in the household who doesn't pass out at the sight/ thought of blood and needles.

I'm really fabulous at procrastination and can put off all manner of things until they no longer matter.

OTOH in a proper emergency I can move my arse really fast when the need arises.

Secondary school teacher - I can waft a wasp out of the window with an exercise book whilst continuing a perfect grammar explanation.

Finding my way round somewhere. I never get lost.

Reading and following instructions. This comes from my assumption that I will do it wrong not that I will do it right, but comes in handy in all kinds of ways. It does mean I do everything like it's the first time I've done it though and annoys people sometimes. But I don't find 'spare' parts at the end after putting flat pack together or forget to put baking powder in cakes, or any of the other kinds of things people around me do regularly. My philosophy is that if you do it fast you do it twice (the first time when you get it wrong and the second where you fix it) and if it's all going wrong slow down don't hurry up.

Condensing my DP's lengthy narratives into 2 sentences tops.
Unscrewing stuck things - jars, bolts etc.
Parking.

Folding tea towels.

Being able to hold my wrist against someone's forehead and tell if they have a raised temperature.

I very rarely have all the answers, but have developed a real skill for taking a huge list of problems/complaints/wants and narrowing it down to 2 or 3 questions that need to be answered so that everyone can agree the way forward. This can be used at work but also when dealing with arguing DC and even my indecisive MIL.

Unfortunately, DH has spotted my skill and often runs past me issues relating to his work. The other day I go quite pissed off when I overheard him on a work zoom meeting where everyone was disagreeing. DH listened sagely then said 'So, just reflecting on all of that, I think if we can get to the bottom of X and Y we'll all be able to agree a solution'. Everyone agreed that he was very wise and clearly very knowledgeable in his field. Except that this was exactly what I (with absolutely no knowledge of his industry) had suggested the evening before when he told me the meeting was likely to become one big argument.

Catching stuff. But not throwing stuff.

Organising, planning, and being on time. I'm never late.

Googling stuff. DH, who works with computers, can never find stuff on Google. I always seem to know what search terms to put in to get relevant answers.

I make really good fudge.

I am fabulous at parallel parking and reverse parking.

Also I somehow sense when the oven timer is about to go off and invariably get to the kitchen when there's about 15 seconds of cooking time left.