It takes a special talent to be able to learn to use something by reading the reference manual. And it always seems to begin when you want to do something simple. You have my sympathy - I've been there many times, even though I have that special talent.

You'll get there. Conquering steep terrain is your forté.

Here is what I worked on in the military. But I can't thread a sewing machine.............

I just stick with my old 35+Bernina. Still works like a dream.

My radio alarm clock.

Sewing machine,,,,,,hmm. I was going to make the effort to sew a leather cover for my motorcycle.
Sooo, I bought an old machine from somewhere. I tried to read the moldy instructions to thread it and had to burn it.
Then, I think I got it threaded and managed to sew my finger to the table. Just one finger though.
Ok, after the doctor bill for one tetnus shot, one broken window from the exit of said sewing machine, and one used sewing machine, I ordered one.
I've fixed almost everything from electronics to mechanics but that unholy contraption is evil.

My first smartphone. Probably an early android

And to think, that all tech stuff is suppose to make our lives much more easier. Not!

All of it!

My phone.

I have worked in laboratories for decades, and have dealt with instruments that run the gamut of usability. Some are relatively simple, others are downright torturous. Few things are more aggravating than when you learn all the hoops to one meter or instrument, and the manufacturer rolls out a replacement with an entirely new interface you have to figure out.

I struggle every time I upgrade any electronic equipment at least for the first couple of weeks.

My sowing machine is made of cast iron on a wooden base. You power it yourself, by turning a handle, and it does not do button holes, in fact it does stitches in lines and that's it, if you want button holes or anything else you have to get a needle out. It used to belong to my grandmother who considered it old when she was a girl, but It still does stitches in straight lines fine.

Takes a geek to read digest and follow manufacturer's instructions

A building with 3 different manufacturers building control automation systems, separate lighting control system, and a different manufacturers auditing/after hours enabling system to track tenants usage.

No, I don't miss my old profession.

I would not mess with my car computer. Aside from that, no.

Trying to teach myself networking for a job....I had never done it before but the boss insisted I do it as opposed to paying his son to do it.

I think the dashboard of current cars look like a rocketship consoles.

It's.... disconcerting...

Right now, it is my laptop with a failing hard drive.

Pretty much all of them.

People think that, as a software developer, such things should be easy for me. But software development and system administration are two different skill sets. My late son was the sysadmin. I miss him in practical as well as personal ways. He could literally type away, slinging windows around like confetti, and fix intractable problems in minutes that would take me hours or even days. His intuitive grasp of which way to go to find a solution was amazing. It was of course partly experience and interest, and he had way more of both of those things than me. But it was native talent, too.

Combine a computer with a mechanical contrivance / blunderbuss like you're talking, and I'm lucky if I don't throw it through a window before I'm done ...

When Ford Motor Company first began installing robotic spot welders in their Rouge Plant, back in the 1980's, the robots would sometimes mistake passing Humans as something in need of a spot weld So they'd grab em n weld em! There were more than a few deaths that resulted!

Music gear programmes. Specially drumming...

I purchased the computerised Elna Diva 9000 way back in 1993. I think it just launched the year before. I wanted to design and make my own clothes. I also purchased four extra computer discs to slot in should I desire other patterned stitches. It would do a three metre embroidered table cloth in no time and engraving on gowns or shirts etc

...when I was a teenager I would buy clothes and get my mother to change it according to my taste.
Later on I had that fashion itch again.
...so bought this computerised sewing machine, went for lessons 6 Saturday's in a row where they'd demonstrate would how to choose the stitch and how to apply on cloth by a press of button selection. I made a few things in this time then lost interest.

Thing is I couldn't do much without someone guiding me and eventually thought to myself, I don't have time for this anymore and maybe someone more experienced would appreciate it's "smartness", so packed it away and only opened it again when I gave it to my retired neighbour in 2012 including all the extra gadgets and other enhancements. She was in her element . I found i had less time on my hands as life got busier

Today, Linda is gifting our 40 something house keeper with a Singer Rocketeer we finished re-building & tuning over the weekend. Linda has a proven "quick course" in how to use it. Of course, this is 1950s technology. I observed three ladies at a craft shop attempting to get a state-of-the-art Brother computerized, WiFi enabled, programmable sewing machine to work......
Good Luck @literatehiker ! May the sewing Force be with you!!!!

i first used a computer (on the job, yet) in 1976, but my dad was a computer specialist -- who wouldn't teach me anything about computers, so it wasn't that big an advantage, at least not directly. i can usually figure stuff out.

g