October 8, 2013
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Handyman mentors: 2) Uncle Harold
After spending the 1970-1971 academic year in the US, we returned to Medellín, and I enrolled in 7th grade at the George Washington School (where I had done grade school).
I discovered that the junior high boys had a class called Shop, taught by Uncle Harold. (All missionaries were Uncle and Aunt to us in Medellín.) He was an older gentleman; his youngest son John Mark had graduated from 9th grade in 1970 and was finishing high school at the Alliance Academy in Quito. (Harold is the father and John Mark is the little boy in this family picture, taken many years before.)
Uncle Harold taught us to use power tools and do simple soldering. But his biggest contribution was when he taught us the very basics of electrical wiring. He had us each make an extension cord out of a length of wire, a male plug, and a female.
It was so simple! Two wires, two screw terminals, one more screw to hold the plug together, and I had made something that channeled electricity from point A to point B. Outlets, lamps, appliances, stereos all worked essentially the same way: hot wire, ground wire. (I learned about earthing grounds much later.)
I went home and attached a simple ceiling light to a board and screwed it to the upper bunk so I could read in bed. Later I bought a cheap soldering iron and a roll of solder and began fooling around with stereo plugs and jacks and speakers. If the headphones broke, I stripped the wires and soldered on a new plug. I installed wall and ceiling lamps in our house. When I went off to high school at a remote mission base, I set up stereo speakers all around my dorm room. My senior year I worked afternoons at the mission base electric shop and the phone lab.
The smell of melting solder still brings back some of the best memories of my youth.
We only had Shop class for one semester. Uncle Harold and his family returned to the US at the end of that year, and he died of a heart attack a few months later. But what he taught me about electricity still affects my life today.
Comments (11)
First – AWESOME new theme! Secondly, I’m jealous that you learned so much of value from your shop class in one semester. We were allowed to take one semester of shop in 7th grade. I made a step stool and a lamp. Sadly we were not instructed as to the whys and wherefores only to do it this way. It was more an exercise in following instructions than learning how to do anything.. but then again we were GIRLS! And 1970 was so long ago.
I don’t remember being taught much theory, but it wasn’t tricky to figure out. But I quit piano and cello in grade school partly for reasons like yours; there was so much I didn’t understand! No one ever explained keys to me. I didn’t know why in some songs that note was a flat and in others it wasn’t. It was frustrating.
That, and I was lazy. I really wish now I could play an instrument.
Your background is beautiful!
Uncle Harold sounds like an amazing man! I’m so glad he was a part of your life and is now in your memories! I’m sure you think of him often!
So many good people come in and out of our lives and we will never forget them or the positive impact they had on us!
HUGS!!! and Happy Day-After-Monday!!!
I think my background is a shark attack. The shark is hidden by the post.
Actually, I don’t remember Uncle Harold being a very popular person among the kids. He was kind of gruff, not really friendly. But he was kind enough to teach us, and we learned.
A man who learns craftsman skills forever has true self worth. I was blessed also with wonderful mentors. Now we need apprentices of our own to train.
Yes. I wish I had spent more time teaching my kids stuff.
you should look for meteors tonight…right after dark above the big dipper.
How marvelous that you learned such valuable lessons in 7th grade. I wish all seventh graders are taught such good life skills.
There is so much non-practical stuff taught in school. It would be great to build real life into the curriculum so people are prepared to fix things, manage money, handle responsibility.
Yay for Uncle Harold. God put different people in our lives at different times for different reasons.
I’m very grateful for him. At least two of his children also became missionaries.