When I was just a wee lad of six or seven I was given a book for Christmas, The Way Things Work.
I do not think any gift had made as much of an impact on my life as this. Learning so many fundamentals of mechanics, physics, electricity, plumbing etc as a grade school kid was a foundation that helped me understand so much of what I needed as a small landlord that initially had to make all my own repairs.
These fundamentals also helped me succeed in my prior career in manufacturing.
How different my life would have been if instead I had gotten the Tonka dump truck I thought I wanted for Christmas.
Today, when deciding what gifts to give my grandchildren, I try to find gifts that may impact their lives as much as this book impacted mine.
In fact writing this post brought back such memories, that I just bought a used copy for myself.
