Your areas of expertise

[kerouac2]

There are sometimes game shows on television that allow the contestants to choose among various subjects before being subjected to the terrible questions.  I thought it might be interesting if some of us revealed which categories we would like to choose if faced with the dilemma.  Sometimes they are not at all our main subject of interest but just something in which we excelled in school or in our professions.

So I will give my top three.

1. Geography
2. Grammar
3. Cinema

Of course whenever I watch such things on television, it makes me realise how little I know about certain subjects about which I thought I knew a lot.  I can think of one person here whom I would be astounded if "military history" was not on his list.

[onlyMark]

Spelin.
Grammer.
Apostrofie's.

The only thing I excelled in at school was daydreaming and procrastination. If I am good at anything now it's more practical than theoretical where questions can be asked.
I'll think about it though.

[kerouac2]

I might have seen you in the area of mechanics and debate.

[htmb]

I’d agree you’re an expert in those three areas, Kerouac, but I’m sure you’d also be a pro when it comes to many other topics.



Pre-retirement, I’d say my skills were in the areas of:

1. Logistics & organization
2. Communication
3. Technology

Now, 4.5 years post retirement and mid-pandemic, I’ve developed some new skills.

1. Training the wayward lizards that sneak in under some wood trim on my screened porch. Since I can’t catch them without causing great harm, I’m teaching them how to get out. One day, once I’m sure they’re all out, I’ll fill in the hole under trim..
2. Communicating with myself, though sometimes I talk too much.
3. Learning new technology skills from the kiddos.

Though you didn’t ask, a fourth would be genealogy and tracking down mysterious family stories.

[mickthecactus]

Spelling, cricket and plants. General knowledge isn't bad.

[bjd]

Geography, history and spelling. I was good at the first two playing Trivial Pursuit and hopeless at anything to do with TV programs.

I used to think I knew a bit about gardening but then discovered Mickthecactus, Bixa, Casimira and Cheery and realized I know very little.

[onlyMark]

Mechanics and debate, hmmm, yes that seems reasonable, mind you, I used to be good on the Road Traffic Act of the UK and Zambia.
Driving? Can I have that one?
Desert expeditions?
Like most people, I think we're better than average at some things but to answer questions on I think we'd do ok even if not an 'expert'.

[mickthecactus]

I’m quite good at hanging wallpaper. Does that count?

[cheerypeabrain]

Ooer...I'm not particularly expert at anything...I know 'a bit' about stuff that interests me.

Plants and gardening
Haematology and blood transfusion...but only because I was a biomedical scientist, I haven't kept up to date with advances in the field since I retired.

I know a bit about paleontology, egyptology, physics, biology, biochemistry, English literature, bumblebees, music... maybe astronomy..but probably no more than the average 64 year old. My spelling is atrocious and my knowledge of grammar minimal.

[bjd]

I think people who know a bit about everything are much more interesting to have conversations with than experts on one subject.

[mossie]

Geography , hot rolled asphalt andbullshitting

There was a saying " show me the person who knows it all, and there is a fool"

[kerouac2]

Dec 1, 2020 7:38:40 GMT bjd said:

experts on one subject.

We've all been trapped by one or more of those in social gatherings.

[cheerypeabrain]

My niece's eyes glaze over when my sister Sue and I start waxing lyrical about plants or gardening

[questa]

A little about a lot
Different cultures in S E Asia
Comparative religions

[onlyMark]

I think I was reasonably adept at looking busy at work and doing just enough so that I wasn't told off.

[kerouac2]

I think that if we can merge all of our talents, we can transform into a superbeing.

[questa]

To achieve the skills that Mark can demonstrate, it is often wise to carry a clipboard with a few pages of papers just showing. Whether one is taking a few minutes off to have a quick smoke or settling down for a chin-wag on a quiet night in an empty Casualty Dept, the clipboard acts as a passport to all areas. Who is going to challenge a person bearing a slightly worried look and the obviously important papers as they wait for the lift? They are more likely to be catching up on the scores from a cricket match being played half a world away than fetching biscuits for the medical staff supper.

[Kimby]

Dec 1, 2020 7:38:40 GMT bjd said:

I think people who know a bit about everything are much more interesting to have conversations with than experts on one subject.

As one of those people who knows a little about a lot of subjects, I enjoy talking with almost everyone.

But I often feel like I know just enough to be dangerous about many topics.

And Mr. Kimby would point out that what I THINK I know might be wrong, as my memory becomes less reliable.

My areas of expertise:

Ornithology
Botany
Campcraft (thanks to Girl Scouting and years of backpacking with Mr. Kimby).

[onlyMark]

Dec 1, 2020 13:01:12 GMT questa said:

it is often wise to carry a clipboard with a few pages of papers just showing

Walk quickly, carry a clipboard - nowadays, put some headphones in to your phone, walk round talking to yourself of important matters, periodically stop dead, look up at the ceiling and say, "No. That's not what I said".

[casimira]

Sometimes I think I know a lot more than I actually do.
I know some things about botany, and ornithology, and anything about nature is a constant area of fascination.           I fancy myself to have a pretty good eye for design be it garden or home decor because I enjoy dong it.
I'm fairly knowledgeable about human psychology and behaviors.
Literature, music, of certain genres and different mediums of art.
If I want to know more about a certain subject I try and learn as much as I can to be able to speak intelligently about it.
I also am very interested in the local history and culture of where I live and places where I used to live and visited but, all of it is an ongoing process and I find myself delving into all these things on an ongoing basis.
Over the years, I have learned so much about many, many topics here on APIAS.
And, my husband is always a wonderful source of information on many topics and our conjoint discussions rarely bore me. (That being said, there are some areas of information he has culled and studied that I try and avoid, e.g. conspiracy theories and politics. He has buddies he shares those with thank goodness.)

[kerouac2]

I thought it was interesting when it was time for me to take the SAT tests in the United States. These are a sort of a placement test for getting into university. There was a possibility of choosing among various subjects, one of which was scientific. Even though I had just spent a year in chemistry class, I felt as though I had learned almost nothing (teacher's fault?), I selected biology which was farther in the past. And I got a fantastic score in biology, almost the maximum. It was amazing. Thank you, Mrs. McCauley.

[casimira]

I don't remember the SAT tests having any choice of subjects.
If I remember correctly there were two sections of the test. One was general knowledge of history, literature, art and the like and the other was math and science.
I scored really well on the general knowledge section but the math and science section I scored horribly.
Each section was 500 points. I scored a total of 800,mainly because my math and science was deplorable.

[bjd]

We didn't have SAT's but something similar. No general knowledge but one in English grammar, one in English comprehension and one in math. I did really well on the first two, terribly in the math. University entrance was not conditional on those tests though -- your final marks were the deciders.

[cheerypeabrain]

Then there's all the stuff I knew well in the past that is filed away somewhere inaccessible in the dusty caverns at the back of my brain...

[questa]

Much of what I know I have absorbed from just living a peripatetic lifestyle, helping kids with homework and having interesting gentlemen friends and, of course, asking questions and reading.

Thanks Mark for updating me on the electronic age of goofing off. I'd probably get the giggles though.

I had a change of schools and had to catch up the last 3 years of Geography to do the final year certificate. Fortunately the school library stocked all Capt W E John's Biggles and Worrals books and he was a stickler for accuracy in his settings, so I squeaked through in the exams.

[whatagain]

So

Military history, i guess
Geography
French grammar.

Although i must confess i make more mistakes in French than before.
I tell myself it is because i speak more english than french.

The categories i am absolutely abysmal are sports, cars, and i guess a lot more.