How do I prepare for a job interview?
Preparing examples rather than answers, researching what matters, and the practical logistics that go wrong.
beginner2 hr2 min read
Practical Skills
The things everyone is assumed to know already.
355 guides in Lifestyle
How do I prepare for a power cut or emergency?
A realistic household preparation for power cuts, water interruptions and severe weather — what to have, and what to know.
beginner1 hr 30 min3 min readWhy do my ellipses look like bent coins?
Nearly every bad ellipse breaks one rule: the minor axis must lie along the axis of the object, and the ends must be curves rather than points.
intermediate25 min5 min readHow do I check engine coolant safely?
Reading the level through the tank without opening anything, why the cap stays shut on a warm engine, and what a falling level actually means.
beginner10 min4 min readHow do I draw hair without drawing every strand?
Hair is a form with a shape, a value structure and a light band across it. Drawn as thousands of individual lines it turns into wire wool every time.
intermediate30 min4 min readHow do I get a properly blurred background in a photo?
Four things control how much of a scene is sharp, and aperture is only one of them. Distance is free, costs nothing and does more than any lens you can buy.
beginner18 min5 min readHow do I hem something on a sewing machine?
The double-fold hem that suits almost everything, the blind hem for when no stitching should show, and how to measure a hem so the length comes out right first time.
beginner40 min6 min readHow do I index my bike gears?
The fixed order — hanger, limit screws, cable tension, barrel adjuster — and why doing it in any other order means starting again.
intermediate40 min5 min readHow do I keep a paddling pool clean and safe?
Warm shallow water in sunshine grows bacteria within a day or two, so the answer is emptying and refilling rather than treating. Supervision, water changes, siting and using the water afterwards.
beginner25 min6 min readHow do I keep a vulnerable person safe in a heatwave?
Older people, young children and anyone with a heart, lung or kidney condition overheat faster and notice it later. The job is to keep one room genuinely cool and to check on them often enough to catch it early.
beginner30 min6 min readHow do I restore an old hand tool?
Deciding what to keep, removing rust without damaging the tool, and why over-restoration reduces value.
intermediate3 hr4 min readHow do I set up a desk so it does not hurt to sit at?
Screen height, chair height and arm position, adjusted in the right order, using what you already own.
beginner30 min3 min readHow do I treat a bee or wasp sting?
Removing the sting correctly, reducing the reaction, and the signs that make this an emergency.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I wrap presents well?
Measure before cutting, crease everything, and the technique for awkward shapes.
beginner15 min2 min readHow do I write an email that gets a reply?
Putting the request first, keeping it short, and making the action obvious — which is what determines whether it gets answered.
beginner20 min2 min readHow do aperture, shutter speed and ISO work together?
What each of the three controls does to the picture as well as to the brightness, and which one to change for a given problem.
beginner25 min4 min readWhat should I do if an animal runs into the road?
Autumn and dusk are when deer collisions peak. How to read the warning signs, why braking straight beats swerving, and what the law actually requires you to report.
beginner12 min5 min readWhy does everyone say value matters more than colour?
A painting with correct values and wrong colours still reads. A painting with beautiful colours and wrong values reads as nothing at all — and the reason is how human vision is built.
intermediate25 min4 min readWhy does my sewing machine keep breaking needles or skipping stitches?
Four causes account for almost every broken needle and skipped stitch: the wrong needle, a blunt or bent one, one fitted a quarter turn out, and pulling the fabric through instead of letting the machine feed it.
beginner20 min5 min readHow do I deal with a problem with a neighbour?
Starting with a conversation, keeping records, and the escalation routes when that does not work.
beginner45 min2 min readHow do I get the proportions of a figure right?
Measuring the whole figure in head-heights gives you a scaffold that catches every gross error, and knowing where the halfway point actually falls fixes the commonest one.
intermediate35 min4 min readHow do I treat sunburn?
Cooling, rehydrating and protecting, plus the signs that mean this is more than a burn.
beginner20 min2 min readShould I stay put or leave if there is a fire in my block of flats?
Whether you stay put or evacuate depends on where the fire is and what your building's policy is — but what you can actually see always overrides the policy.
beginner20 min6 min readWhy do my watercolours dry so much lighter than I painted them?
Dry-down is normal and unavoidable — a wet film scatters less light than a dry one. Expect to lose roughly a value step, and plan for it rather than fighting it.
beginner15 min3 min read