It is almost guaranteed that every boy, at some point, wanted to be a cowboy. The thought of hopping on your trusty steed and riding off into the sunset is too perfect a dream to ignore. Learning how to ride a horse well, though, can take years. It involves understanding the nuances of a horse’s behavior and how your own behavior communicates your intent to them. But, with a few basics you can certainly get at least a taste of that childhood dream. The first step? Getting on.
You might think that sewing isn’t a manly skill, and rely on your mom or wife to replace buttons for you when they’ve popped off a shirt or pair of pants. Yet men of yore often knew darn well knew how to patch a hole, mend a jacket, and yes, replace a button; if they lost one while marching to battle, sailing the seas, or simply traveling the world, they couldn’t rely on someone else to do it! It’s a skill that contributes to self-sufficiency.
Picking up a few basic sewing skills can prove exceptionally helpful even in modern times, especially in tight situations like losing the button on a dress shirt before an important meeting. To be extra prepared, consider carrying an emergency sewing kit with you in your travel bag, along with extra buttons in a few basic styles and colors. And don’t forget that most of your dress shirts, jackets, and pants have spare buttons sewn into the fabric near the pockets or edges of the fabric, so when the time comes to break out your new skill, they’ll be ready and waiting for your needle and thread.
In the guide above, we feature the parallel pattern for stitching a 4-hole button. You could also go with a square, an X, or even an arrow. With a 2-hole button, your options are obviously limited to just one pattern.
For most men and boys-soon-to-be-men, long gone are the days when milking a cow was a chore as common as doing the dishes. Now mostly done by high-tech machines at commercial dairies, the task of milking a cow by hand once brought farmers and their families into close bonds with the animals that helped to feed them every day. If you’re a city dweller, it’s unlikely you’ll come across a situation that demands you milk a cow, save for some post-apocalyptic future where healthy, milk-producing dairy cows are readily available and you’re in desperate need of some ice cream. But that’s not the point. The point is, milking a cow by hand is a tradition deep-rooted in the blood of our agricultural ancestors and learning how to do it is as much about preserving that knowledge as it is about practicing it.
From the rough-and-tumble tables in biker taverns to the low-key games set up at family-friendly pizza joints, pool is a game accessible to just about anyone, regardless of skill level. For most amateur players, the most intimidating part of the game comes at the very beginning, when one player is required to break the rack, which begins with racking the balls well in the first place.
Racking the balls simply means placing them in the frame so that they are all touching each other. If the balls aren’t touching, they won’t break apart correctly, which can disadvantage the player who breaks. Breaking the rack sets up the beginning of the game, and if done correctly, can offer a significant advantage to the player who gets to break. Whenever breaking, always try to use the lightest stick available and make sure to chalk the tip well before you hit your shot.
It’s a classic Hollywood scenario. The bad guy cuts the brake lines, the good guy gets in the car, and chaos ensues on a steep road. While you’re unlikely to be the target of a villainous act like severed brake lines, it’s not unreasonable for brakes to fail. If you find yourself in a runaway car with no means of slowing yourself down, your best bet might be to bail. Here’s how to do so in a way that ensures your best chances for survival.
