My dad is the most practical and hands-on person I know today.
He has always been good with tools despite working in a very formal industry.
I knew nothing he could not handle since his inquisitive nature made him learn how to troubleshoot and fix minor issues with most of the appliances in our home. He did not let the fact that he was an executive banker slow him down. My mum hardly remembers when she last paid an HVAC serviceman to fix a broken thermostat or to replace a vent cover when my dad was well. The only thing he could not do because they were time-consuming and time-dependent was a thorough system tuneup. He could do it but never really got time to go through all that was needed in the checklist. Fortunately for us, he enjoyed experimenting and trying out different tricks with us. Once in a while, he would let us try unscrewing components as long as it was not too delicate or risky enough to shock us. I did not understand how critical these skills were until later in my early adulthood when I checked my thermostats. My friends were shocked that when the AC stopped working, my first reaction was not to panic-call my HVAC professional. I took time to check what could be wrong with the thermostat. It turns out that the unit had run out of battery power, and all I needed was to change the batteries, and we were good to go. I explained to my friends a few other troubleshooting fixes that I could handle on my own, and they could not believe how knowledgeable I was.