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| MacGyver Online Forums > MacGyvering Your Life > What the show's done for me |
| Posted by: Mr. C 13 March 2013 - 07:20 AM |
| Since I started watching Mac, I've noticed a new and constant mental preparedness that I keep on a daily basis. I have a new appreciation for pocket size multitools tools  and I find that I'm able to improvise more efficiently now.After watching Mac, I've learned that often, the quickest solution to complex problems may be found in the most unobvious locations. With that being said, the show has helped me think.  |
| Posted by: MacGyverGod 15 March 2013 - 01:42 AM |
I can understand that. I'd also like to think like that. But coming up with something that actually works, still has to happen though.  |
| Posted by: AussieMacFan 15 March 2013 - 02:07 AM | ||
Ditto...   |
| Posted by: MDBfan 15 March 2013 - 02:35 AM |
Oh, I like ditto. My sister laughs at me when I say it. She thinks it's a word I made up.  |
| Posted by: MacGyverGod 15 March 2013 - 04:01 AM |
| And if I do come up with something and it doesn't even matter if it works or not, most people just frown upon it. Whatever I do or try to do doesn't make sense for them. I don't care if it makes sense or not, whatever works. But than they like to rub it in my face that there were a lot easier and faster ways. And that's their way of telling my ways suck. |
| Posted by: Mela_007 15 March 2013 - 04:11 AM |
| That is a bummer MGod. You keep using your ideas and doing things your way. Even it's not the easiest or fastest at least it works or is getting done. Think of it this way, you are trying...what are these same folks doing that are criticizing you? I tend to do the same thing as my ideas aren't always the fastest either...but it gets it done. |
| Posted by: YopeGyver 15 March 2013 - 06:25 AM |
| MacGyver has helped me think as well, and I've become more interested in chemistry. |
| Posted by: Daisy8577 15 March 2013 - 07:09 AM |
| Ya know MGod, I think people are just jealous they did not come up with the solution first. It's too bad people truly feel that way. As I have gotten older I have found the quickest way of doing something is not necessarily better. |
| Posted by: KiwiTek 15 March 2013 - 02:29 PM | ||
That's certainly true. I find also that people tend to get stuck in one train of thought. This seems to be especially true of people who are trained or educated to do the specific work because they have been taught to do things a certain way and if that way doesn't work they can't think outside of the process they've been taught. Doctors are a good example of that. All they have been taught is to treat symptoms with established processes. If they hit something the process doesn't work on, they're stuck and end up just throwing one process after the other at the problem hoping one of them will work instead of steeping back and looking at things from a different angle. As MacGyver said to Ray while playing pool. "You gotta learn to look at things from different angles." and that's what MacGyver has taught me to do over the years. Basically I think it's about being open minded, which is something we see fair to seldom. |
| Posted by: Scwilson 29 July 2013 - 10:10 PM |
| Watching MacGyver taught me that everything in the world is not what it seems to appear at first glance. Taking more of an interest in subjects at school that I found boring. Knowing something about physics helped Mac out of jams for example. |
| Posted by: MacCat 1 August 2013 - 04:51 AM |
| I don't drink and I don't smoke because of Mac. Also, I try to be polite to other people and do small things for the environment like picking up a piece of trash laying on the ground every now and then. Is a real role model or what, he sure is.  |
| Posted by: KiwiTek 1 August 2013 - 04:58 AM | ||
Yes he sure is a great role model. And nice to hear that he's had the effect on you MacCat. Welcome to the forums by the way. Nice to have you here |
| Posted by: MacCat 1 August 2013 - 05:29 AM | ||||
Thanks. I don't know why I didn't register here earlier. Very glad to be here.  |
| Posted by: Rocket 17 August 2013 - 03:30 AM |
I try to lead a pretty healthy lifestyle anyway, but watching MacGyver has made me more aware of making healthy choices. It's also made me more aware of using bad language, becuase Mac doesn't swear!  |
| Posted by: Joe SAKic 17 August 2013 - 08:55 AM |
| I think in many ways MacGyver was an amalgam of the North American Male of the mid 1980s. Scientific Research was blossoming, computer/technology booming, courtesy/manners was always first and foremost ..... and sports was what you did after work and on weekends. So, it's not so much what the show has done for me because I was already past the more formative/role model years. It was really more like watching a (albeit) dramatized, reality TV if you will. I think the producers wanted to appease the viewers with trendy-popular topics, gadgets, social situations,dilemmas - and they did that very well. Watching it today brings back great memories of the fashion/anecdotes/verbage of the times and provides an important reminder of how we were then and, as a result, better understand how we arrived at and who we are today. |
| Posted by: MACPhotog 11 December 2013 - 11:46 AM |
| MacGyver is some of the reason that I am who I am today. I remember being six years old and my grandma coming over before my first day of first grade and bringing me a shiny new swiss army knife. It was a knock off but at six I didn't realize the difference, and I have carried a swiss army knife ever since. I didn't realize how much it had affected me though until I started watching the show again. My volunteering with kids, my job for a non profit, my second job as a photographer. All of the "weird" fixes I do from time to time, even my clothing choices, though the clothing might be a little more on purpose than it used to be. Its funny how somethings just stick with us. |
| Posted by: denizen 12 December 2013 - 12:21 AM |
| Weird but true. Of all the influences in my life, even Indiana Jones, It was Mac that influenced me the most. Perhaps because we could all relate to him. His character, his friends, his lifestyle, his practicality. |
| Posted by: KiwiTek 12 December 2013 - 01:15 AM |
| Yeah that was one of the big things with MacGyver. He was essentially just an ordinary guy who did extraordinary things. But he did them in a way which made them seem possible for anyone to do. He wasn't super-fast, or indestructible or use high tech gadgets, he was just smart and had an unusual way of looking at a situation. |
| Posted by: MacGyverGod 12 December 2013 - 03:12 AM |
| That's what made MacGyver so accessible for the audience. |
| Posted by: YopeGyver 12 December 2013 - 06:29 AM |
| One of the reasons I was attracted to MacGyver, not only because of the way he utilized everyday objects, but because he wasn't indestructible. He's very much human and it shows. I think the audience can relate. |
| Posted by: Joe SAKic 12 December 2013 - 08:09 AM |
| I'm fixing the broiler element on my stove right now. One of the element prongs has broken off and the stove is a relic which means there is no replacement, so ......it's either fix the darn thing or order a new stove ... which is doable but a little tight timewise so close to Christmas. So ..... I need to extrude the ceramic insulation with a Dremel tool and hope that I can get enough of the male post exposed with in the element to clamp the female ended prong back on and to enable sufficient conductivity. Without the "Mac Mentality' it's a 50/50 project at best but with the mental imagery of Mac's track record - it's a slam dunk!!! That's the thing, isn't it - you need a track record of success/triumph to gain confidence, build steam and/or get that snowball rolling. I think I can, I think I can, I frickin' well KNOW I CAN and failure is not an option!!!!!!!!!!!!!  MacGyver empowers in more ways than one!  The Patron Saint of we DIYers.  |
| Posted by: Wheeljack 12 December 2013 - 08:38 PM | ||
Like Harry once said, "Do or do not, there is no try". Err hold on, I think that was Yoda. lol You got me thinking though, I'm gonna take a crack at the element in my oven, too, it's been broke for months because I don't have the money to spare for a new one. It's sorta melted looking in one spot, I forgot to shut the oven off and it ran all day once. Wish me luck. |
| Posted by: denizen 13 December 2013 - 09:37 AM |
| Good luck, guys. Let us know how you did! |
| Posted by: Joe SAKic 18 December 2013 - 06:09 PM |
| I fixed it but it didn't happen in an hour a la Mac. In fact, it took about 5 days in total of running around after work. After I extruded the wire and put it back together - I noticed the element 'arcing' a bit when it was firing up - not bad but still bothersome enough that I called the local welding shop to inquire about getting a better more solid connection between the two pieces. Because it was copper he said that welding wasn't an option (apparently the welding of copper is an old art that hasn't been passed on to present day so much). He recommended soldering it .... but that concerned me due to the low melting point of lead based solder. The answer, in the end, was silver based solder (which has a higher melting point), some flux, and a blow torch. The good news is that the stove works perfectly once again and that there were be roast goose on Christmas Eve ... the bad news is that I accidentally burnt the house down in the heated process  (kidding) All fine. How did you make out Wheeljack? |