Wow, Instalanche!

over the post on using your hands.

To address something Bruce said in comments:
No, if you're a lawyer/doctor/software engineer working on a $200/hour job, I don't think it's generally a good idea to drop everything to fix the furniture yourself. And not everyone enjoys working on the car, or fixing the lawnmower or whatever.

I do think it's a Good Thing to be able to do some of that, for a variety of reasons. It makes you less dependant on someone else for some work(I'm not fond of crawling under a house working on something, but knowing how to fix the problem in question saved money I couldn't afford to spend), it can save time, and, what may be the big one, people I know who can fix some things on their own are generally proud of it. May just be small things, but they like being able to take care of it. And knowing they can fix that makes them more likely to fiddle with something new and either fix it or figure out exactly what's wrong(which can save time and money when you take it to a pro).

I would flat hate taking the top off the truck engine in the driveway, especially some times of year, but it's comforting to know that I could find a manual and do it if I had to. And I'll admit that if I had to call someone to change a tire because I couldn't figure out how I'd be embarrassed as hell(which happens often enough, I don't need it over something like that). I'd much rather read, or screw around on the computer, or go to the range than fix the mower; but fixing it has saved money and time over taking it to someone else. And the kids knowing how to do some things on their own has helped them out.

Side effect for the kids? Cuts or scrapes or small injuries were generally seen as something to gripe about a bit and get over, because they were in the way of what you were doing, not obsess over. Which, in the long run, is a very Good Thing.