how did you learn to work on cars?

Cool stories here. Mine would be another Dad story. He was a Master Chief submariner with an electronics background and could literally fix anything. All of our appliances and TV's etc. were from the side of the road. He was so cheap but could fix anything electrical or mechanical. Everyone in the neighborhood would bring their broken stuff to him to be fixed. The only thing he wouldn't fix is my cars as a teen. He would tell me to "figure it out" and then after I failed over and over he would show me the way.

I wish he lived closer sometimes because I'm still "figuring it out".