Man, this thread brings back memories.
A recent one was installing a transfer case that I had just rebuilt into my 1999 Yukon. I was doing this in the parking lot of our housing complex on base in Yongsan, South Korea. There was an automotive hobby shop on base, but it closed a few months prior (still mad about that). Anyway, it was fall, and it was freezing rain, I was halfway under the truck, trying to bench press the transfer case into place. Got it done, but that was a miserable experience.
Growing up, I can remember wrenching (term used loosely) on my project first gen Camaros in our pole shed with a dirt floor. Tool set was pathetic - small set of Craftsman sockets (3/8 only), Crescent wrench, vise grips, pliers, and a few screwdrivers. Man, I have come a long way!