Note to those gentlemen here looking for that perfect lady:
Ask the potential partner about her upbringing.
If she was raised in a traditional nuclear family whose father figure was a naval officer/engineer, and taught his children of both sexes how to use basic tools.  You might have a winner.  My wife assembling patio furniture without 'mansplaining' required.
My real father was absent and my mother's second husband was abusive to me yet I know how to use power tools, read paper maps, build a room along with numerous other non traditional things.
It did not require a military father figure to make me a winner as I made myself one.
 Lucy_Fehr
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 28, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    Lucy_Fehr
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 28, 2019                                            
                                        Then, you're an EXCEPTIONAL woman.
We need more like you.
My dad was "career"military. He had 5 girls & we lived on what could be called a subsistence farm. If a chore needed to be done, he'd grab 1 of us & it got done. There was no "women's" work or "men's" work, it was just work. He'd have us under cars, under the house rebuilding the water pump (we had a well), or helping put up (or repair) sheds, fences, whatever. That reminds me, I'll be on a ladder tomorrow fixing my gutter.
 SallyInStitches
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    SallyInStitches
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        Does she by chance have a twin sister that is single? 
 Captain_Feelgood
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    Captain_Feelgood
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        No twins.. her older and younger sisters are "spoke for".....
@bigpawbullets  {kicks ground} Yeah, right... you showed them my picture,, didn't you? 
I noticed your wife read the assembly instructions, unlike every man I've met. Bravo!
 LiterateHiker
                                                
                                                Level 9
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    LiterateHiker
                                                
                                                Level 9
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        She ALWAYS does that. And any contract we sign.
My daughter is a lead  IT engineer at a medical firm in Oregon. We bought a IBM clone in 85 she helped me install the hard drive and as new processors came out change motherboards and do upgrades along the way she knows how to repair an older car being everything's OBD2 now plug and play troubleshooting makes it a bit easier she rides a motorcycle and does her own home repairs within reason. My current wife and I have rebuilt our post world war II cottage and I consider myself quite fortunate. We have a small solar/wind installation which covers a security system our internet capabilities and some of the lighting in the house, more to come later, at least we are not the dark during a power failure.
Rome was not built in a day, they took a week or so off for saturnalia!
 oldFloyd
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    oldFloyd
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        I salute your family's forward thinking.
@bigpawbullets when she was very young before she started school I would read her stories out of Scientific American, with attempts to make it sound more exciting. And she still is a voracious reader.
And thank you!
Appears your wife put the chair together in minutes. Kudos to her! I take after both my dad--pt carpenter and dyi-er, and mom--artist/frame maker, seamstress and dyi-er. I'm the painter, cleaner, fixer, assembler, gardener, trimmer, pruner, chain saw-er, driller, nailer, upholsterer, seamstress, etc. around here.
 AnonySchmoose
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    AnonySchmoose
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        You are welcome at our compound up in the mountains if there's a Zombie apocalypse.
@bigpawbullets Thank you for the recognition!
My father was useless around the house but my mother could do most minor repairs and also paint and hang wallpaper. I take after my father, but luckily I was married to a man who was technically brilliant at most jobs, now he’s gone I sadly have to pay someone else to do them for me. Well done to your wife!
 Marionville
                                                
                                                Level 10
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    Marionville
                                                
                                                Level 10
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        You have a winner!
 dare2dream
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    dare2dream
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        I know... can't imagine why she picked me. 
You should see how high I scored on spatial relations on those standardized tests.
My Dad was a tool and die maker - his Dad a master carpenter.
When I have parts left over from assembly? It's because they packed extra. 
Your wife rocks btw - you tell her now and then right? 
 RavenCT
                                                
                                                Level 9
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    RavenCT
                                                
                                                Level 9
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        Every day.  
I have two sisters, and my parents were a real estate agent (mom) and math teacher (dad). She was always in charge when it came to putting stuff together, never ever ask dad for help. Always ask mom. Also my sisters (both with liberal arts degrees) are both reasonably competent at Ikea type stuff as well. And I'm fairly certain either of them would also ask for help if needed, no mansplaining required. So based on my sample size being 3 times bigger than yours, I'm saying that you're wrong about women, and about the need for mansplaining.
 MarkiusMahamius
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    MarkiusMahamius
                                                
                                                Level 7
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        That's great to know.  I keep running into neighbor ladies in our 'burb who live in houses without basic tools.  Trophy wives maybe????  
@bigpawbullets maybe. Maybe they're just abusive peoole who like feigning incompetence and guilting other people into doing things for them. Maybe they lack spatial skills. Maybe theyre just dumb. Who knows,
My wife was raised by hippies and can put together furniture all by her widdle self, and she's my perfect partner.
What type of serious, long term relationship doesn't include talking about how and by whom each of you was raised anyways?
 1of5
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019
                                            
                                                
                                                    1of5
                                                
                                                Level 8
                                                July 27, 2019                                            
                                        From what I can gather on this site, @1of5, all kinds of relationships. Pretty strange, eh?
@bigpawbullets considering how many here are unpartnered, not strange at all.