Sue sounds like a See You Next Tuesday.
When I first tried soldering I had non idea what I was doing. Tried soldering a cable to an audio connector with the iron on the cable or connector with no joy. So I tried melting the solder instead and spreading it on the join. Not much luck with that.
I find that having 3 arms/hands would be very useful.
Think you've both hit the nail on the head there.
if she left, and the daughter left, but the brother/husband/dad stayed, it seems like he knows the score
Try it again, but heat the work until you see some smoke (possibly about 15 seconds) then apply the solder to the work. Your soldering will improve with practice and it is much easier with 60/40 lead-based solder; I prefer it.
Yes, he might have even been grateful for the respite. :-P
I find lots of situations would be easier with 3 arms (YJ)
Unfortunately, yes. He's always clammed up with things like this, but the whole situation is something he's having trouble dealing with...e