I am not a mechanic. I can read but I don't tend to do machines. When I started grad school at age 25, it wasn't long before I started making use of a computer. That was before computers were desktops or laptops. They were too big and too expensive for a single homeowner to want. The one I had access to was not touched by me or others making use of it. I wrote the lines of Fortran I wanted the computer to use, one line across the top of one computer card. I handed the deck of cards to a clerk and returned a day later to retrieve the deck and the printed pages from the computer.
But I don't change the oil in my car or rewire the doorbell. I use devices to download e-books but are there machines I use? Yes, there are. When I look around me, right in my house, aside from computing and phones, what else? The automatic garage door opener comes to mind. The car, the dishwasher, the washing machine, the dryer, the vacuum cleaner, the furnace, the airconditioner, the ceiling fan, the lightbulbs, the tv, the lawnmower, the coffeemakers, the radio/compact disc player, the refrigerator, the stove. I count 16 machines used frequently, 14 depending on electricity, two using gasoline and one using natural gas.
