Tinkerer John Copp: Persistance Pays
This post comes from tinkerer John Copp.
First, a bit about me.
Age 73. During the last year, I retired from my two principal occupations. Software engineer nine months a year. Alaska commercial fisherman in Summer. Current passions: (1) saving Bristol Bay, where I fish, from a giant mine, (2) tinkering. Married, 35 years. Three kids.
Grew up in a working class neighborhood. My brother dropped out of high school after sophomore year to join the Navy. He never finished high school, but was an inventive mechanic, machinist, pilot, and racecar driver. When it came to tinkering with things, nobody could match him. Nobody. I, on the other hand, was more bookish and graduated from college. Still, I like to tinker, partly because of my brother’s example.
Tinkering has helped me again and again. Certainly in commercial fishing, where everything breaks. Again in the computer industry, where software, hardware, and networks break every day. When others don’t want to touch the problem, I volunteer.
Next to my brother, the biggest influence on my tinkering mindset was building models. There were no pre-built plastic models when I was a kid. But there were blocks and sheets of balsa, an infinite variety of small parts, plenty of paint, and Exacto knives galore. HA! My own kids would NEVER let their kids take on a project using Exacto knives. My parents never paid a bit of attention. They figured that whatever problems I encountered were mine entirely, to fix or not. Whining was irrelevant.
The way that I view the world truly was shaped by building models and tinkering with them endlessly, often until late at night, to get them to a state of perfection. The resulting paradigm is this: you can fix it, give it a try, and above all, persistence pays.
Do you agree with John? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
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8 Comments To “Tinkerer John Copp: Persistance Pays”
Solving problems with clever ad hoc solutions can mean survival. Here’s an example. I was working on Canada’s James Bay, just south of Hudson Bay. Several Cree Indians and myself were crossing the Bay in a group of three large skiffs. A fierce storm descended upon us. The temperature plummeted, and all three outboards began to misbehave. We took refuge in the lee of a tiny island. The guys dismantled all three engines and started switching parts as freezing winds howled around us. The result was one good engine on one boat. We all climbed in and made our escape. The Bay literally froze around us and we had to battle ice the rest of the trip. We would have died on that little island. Oh, and my job in all this? Stand in waist deep water holding the good boat as the real tinkerers worked on the engine. What do white guys know about outboards? HA! Not as much as these ingenious Cree did.
As a life-long tinkerer, it is interesting to read your story. My interest never was reflected in my occupation, but I still do everything I can myself.
Thanks for your comment. It’s great to hear from kindred tinkering souls. We’d love to hear more about you and your projects!
John, Great to hear your story. Sometimes we forget about all the others like ourselfs that are out there. I have had many great learing experiances in the shop. When I was a young boy I admired the old timers who seemed to always know how to do anything. They made it all look so simple. So as I grew up I soaked it all in and never missed a chance to learn. These men were full of knowledge and wisdom. That they had learned the hard way much of it by trial and error. My father was a car guy and as with all things in life he tried his best be pass on what he new. Now I find myself to be one of the old guys at 62 I have spent my life as a car guy, working as a mechanic in my younger days for Rambler, Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, and Cadilac. As well as a lifelong hobbist. There is very little that I have not seen or done with the beloved automobile. But it is when I am alone under a car working on a problem that I think of the old timers, and soon I figure it out. I now hope that I can pass on some of the knowledge to the young guys. Thats what its all about.
I’m only a tinker by necessity, but your words absolutely apply elsewhere in life. Pretty much everything I’m proud of in my life came directly from simply moving forward where other people thought giving up was the better plan.
Great thoughts, John. Thanks so much for sharing them.
Thanks for sharing, Jason. It’s amazing how the lessons we learn in one aspect of life can carry into other aspects of our lives. Great to have you on Tinkernation!
Great post, John. It’s those childhood experiences that stick with us, no? The older I get the more “persistence” becomes a personal mantra. I used to feel like I was a perfectionist and that’s a bad thing. Now I realize there is value in honing a craft, really caring about the details. That’s how anybody gets good at anything, right? Take my novel for instance, over ten years in the making. Seems like there’s a joke in there somewhere. But I’m beginning to let go of the “shame” of time spent and be glad for the journey. So many times I could have given up… and where would that have taken me? Anyhow, keep up the tinkering… who knows where it might lead? Marcia
Thanks for joining the conversation, Marcia! It’s great to see people pursuing their passions; even if success doesn’t always come quickly. Stay tuned for more from John Copp!
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