My wife doesn’t understand how I spend my whole day complaining about fixing things (sys admin) for work then seem genuinely happy to work on a car, bike, random electronic thing, etc.

Completely different.

On the selfish side, I might actually get to enjoy what I fix at home.

On the brains are funny side, anything physical hits different. Turning a wrench, busting knuckles, burning myself triggers a satisfaction a screen does not.

I’m not a masochist either. Why is a soldering iron so hard to hold? Probably a me problem.

All those skills transfer around too.