I'm getting creative and painting a room purple

I am also the most impatient person I know, which means I have no time for preparation. When it comes to DIY, I can't be bothered to cover or mask. I would rather face Mrs Drew's wrath when I splatter assorted furniture and doors with magnolia emulsion than take 10 minutes to take precautions.

It is one of my great regrets that I have never been good at making things. Give me a pen and piece of paper and I can be creative. Throw me a bundle of balsa wood and a tube of glue and I descend into a lost world.

Yet I never recall ever being encouraged at school to develop my practical skills, however hard they were to find. In fact, in school in the late 1980s, the attitude was that making things was what the less bright kids were into.

The perception was, if you had anything about you, you excelled in the academic subjects. Making stuff was the realm of the less those in lower sets – they went to work or technical college, you strived to go to university.

Now, of course, all those who used their hands to make a living are the ones laughing. The plumbers, the builders, the engineers – they have found themselves in a country bereft of the skilled workers it needs to help the economy grow and thrive. That means in many cases they can name their price. The rest of us left with a wad of student debt and rich in qualifications, but low on the ways of the world or basic common sense.

I was lucky enough to host two judges for this paper's business awards recently, which meant leaving my desk for the day and taking a tour of three shortlisted manufacturing firms. The first specialised in polishing metal, the second created bespoke pieces of kit for the nuclear power industry and the third produced thousands of nuts and bolts every day.

The skills and commitment of those involved in those three companies was awe-inspiring. It was also hugely uplifting to witness world-leading factories sitting right here in the heart of the Midlands. From the tap-tap-tap of a modern newsroom, I was transported into a world of hissing, punching, grinding and drilling. I saw machines that I never knew even existed and met people with skills I would give my eye teeth for.

However, the common theme for all three was the ongoing struggle to find workers with the skills they need. Quite simply, in a region with one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, they cannot find the people they need to fill the vacancies they have. In one case, there were 75 posts going begging with no obvious pot of potential employees to dip into.

Colleges and universities in the region are finally attempting to target the problem by working with employers to fill the skills gap, particularly in the car industry with the JLR factory rising in the skyline close to the Wolverhampton/Shropshire border. And there has finally been a re-awakening among politicians that apprenticeships really do work.

All that is little use to me, I'm afraid. My life is destined to be one of wearing a suit and tie, drinking too much coffee at my desk, and continuing to tap-tap-tap into retirement.

That doesn't mean that I won't aspire to be practical though.

My to-do list for this summer includes decorating two bedrooms (one pink, one purple) and sorting the leaky garage roof out­. Wish me luck!