Competence. Now in convenient book format

30 must-have life skills every capable adult should perfect before turning 30.

You're old enough to own property and have a family, but can you safely open a bottle of champagne? Or change a flat tire? 30 Things Everyone Should Know How to Do Before Turning 30 provides idiot-proof instructions for mastering these and other essential, face-saving, and possibly life-saving skills.

You'll learn how to...

1. wrap a present

2. start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue

3. finish a piece of furniture

4. get a raise

5. order wine at a restaurant without getting stiffed

6. parallel park in three breathtakingly beautiful movements

7. dance a “slow dance” without looking like an idiot

8. use a full place setting properly, including chopsticks and Asian soup spoons

9. clean your place in under 45 minutes, when friends, relatives, or prospective lovers are coming by unexpectedly, and soon

10. hold your liquor

11. cure a hangover

12. do the Heimlich Maneuver

13. use a compass

14. change a flat

15. jump start a car

16. open a champagne bottle

17. send a drink to someone's table

18. cook one “signature meal”

19. whistle with your fingers

20. take good pictures

21. fold a fitted sheet

22. remove common stains

23. sew a button

24. carve turkey, lasagna, and birthday cake

25. hold a baby

26. change a diaper

27. keep a plant alive for more than a year

28. make dogs and cats love you

29. help someone (an older or ill person, a woman you're trying to impress, your mother) out of a car

30. write superior thank you notes