…as a free man.
So, Mel. Tell us what it’s like. How did you feel when you woke up this morning?
-Steve
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Tomorrow is the true test, bathrobe till noon, 6 hours on knots, wife going ape etc.
------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Don,
Don't forget the "sent to the store" syndrome:
Mrs Mel: "Mel, go to the store and get me the flour, eggs and sausages".
(4 hours later Mel returns).
Mrs Mel: "Did you get the groceries my dear"?
Mel: "Better than that! I got a new 2" No 4 sweep gouge, a 20,000grit diamond plate and a spare nut for my fangle cutter"!
Mrs Mel: "I am just going for a bludgeon".
Lataxe, retired for some time now but as yet unbludgeoned.
I suspect the reason for his new gym membership is to be able to stay out of reach of the bludgeon....------------------------------------
It would indeed be a tragedy if the history of the human race proved to be nothing more than the story of an ape playing with a box of matches on a petrol dump. ~David Ormsby Gore
Steve,
Yea, things are different now that I am retired. Up til yesterday, the alarm was set at 5:45. No alarm this morning. I got up late, about 7am :-) I had to get a safety and emissions inspection on one car. Did that instead of going on a busy Saturday like I used to. Then got a haircut instead of going on a busy Saturday like I used to. Then I went and joined a gym. I'll miss the free gym where I worked. This evening I have my part time job at Woodcraft. In between, I have to make up my mind whether I want to start a large chip carving or get back to work on the Victorian chest that I am reworking. I think I'll go with the chest.
This is kinda nice. More freedom. I can't see any "spare time". But my woodwork is going to be interrupted by the birth of our first grandchild sometime in the next week or so (whenever he's ready). I am looking forward to that. Everyone else is going to call him Freddy. I have let them know that I will not call him "little Freddy". I want him to feel strong and important. I will call him "Big Fred".
The really interesting part of retirement will be seeing if there is any month left at the end of the money.
Have fun. Thanks for writing.
Mel
Measure your output in smiles per board foot.
But my woodwork is going to be interrupted by the birth of our first grandchild sometime in the next week or so (whenever he's ready). A Girl here comming for my new Granddaughter this month! going to be interrupted by the birth of our first grandchild..Mell, I'm sure you did not mean that literally.. You sounded like I typers stuff! :>) Just funnin you as I do myself..Any baby is like.. Well, life! 5000 cells a second or something like that.. NASA should do so good!I have one boy.. Gee. He was hard to get along with.. But I love him just the same.. Girls are MUCH easier till' they are teens!The Boy challenged me when a teen.. I took him out to chop wood and he gave up and said DAD.. I give up..I did that to the girls.. The youngest, She talked the Valley Talk to me as on TV.. I love it but never told her I did.... And I said What? I understood but never let on.. (My wife clued me on Valley Talk and we lived near Chicago!)My daughters never gave up!
Will George,
about a grandchild interrupting woodwork -- I was kidding. The baby comes first -- by a long shot.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
about a grandchild interrupting woodwork -- I was kidding.I know! Just funnin' ya!
Oh, Grandbabies are fun!
We get to keep ours three days a week. Now that cuts down on the woodworking while they are small, but there are definitely compensations!
Mike D
Oh, Grandbabies are fun!You bet! I babysit two girls from two to four days a week depending on parents schedule. I have since they were about one year old when we received our 'gift' from China. 7 AM until about 5 PM.. Makes a LONG day for this old man! Down to babysitting just one now because the oldest is now in Kindergarten (Her mom, my daughter, is her school teacher).They may be adopted but I consider them a gift from God and I love them as I do my own children. Maybe a bit closer to them than mine because when my children were younger I was always traveling for my work (bummer)..They sure taught this man a bit more about patience and handling stress!
"This evening I have my part time job at Woodcraft." I'm jealous -- would love to have a Woodcraft on this side of the water, to which I would apply for a job, LOL!
"Then I went and joined a gym." Good-on-ya!
"...my woodwork is going to be interrupted by the birth of our first grandchild sometime in the next week or so.... " Congratulations!! New grandbabies are so much fun! Ours, 7 weeks ago or so, Jacob be his name:View Image
"The really interesting part of retirement will be seeing if there is any month left at the end of the money. " Ooooo, we've run into that! ;-)forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
FG.
Jacob is one good lookin baby! Congratulations.
Will George has a grandkid on the way in the next few weeks also.
Must be something in the water :-)
Enjoy,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Congratulations for such a beautiful grandchild. Ours are reaching the 9-10 years range and are very eager to help in the shop. So far we have been building toy replicas of barns, several chessboards, trivets they give to their mothers as gifts, birdhouses etc. Any suggestions as to future kids projects are greatly appreciated.
Wishing all good health in the new year. John Cabot
A small footstool is a great project. The sophistication of design can be modified to suit the age and ability level. And - it will be useful for generations.Frosty"I sometimes think we consider the good fortune of the early bird and overlook the bad fortune of the early worm." FDR - 1922
A small footstool is a great project. The sophistication of design can be modified to suit the age and ability level. And - it will be useful for generations
When I was two years old, my aunt gave me a little red footstool with my name on it. 58 years later it is still one of my most prized and useful possessions.
Hi, John, thanks! He's a cuttie, for sure. We have a 10-yr-old grandson, little Jacob's uncle. This past Christmas, I wasn't able to get out into the shop early enough to get him involved in any gift-making, but I can pass along one idea: this year he gave us a metal-framed picture of him that is decorative and made to be an ornament, made it at Boy Scouts. I would think a wooden-framed ornament could be made for same.
Don't know if you ever go near a scroll saw ;-) but there are many scrolled items that kids would enjoy. Shaker boxes might be fun too!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Thank you for your suggestions. Actually I have two scroll saws, one for me and one for my wife ( she likes to make the " figures" for Advent Calendars she gives as gifts. obviously well before Christmas) The sroll saw is a fairly safe tool and will it will see a lot of use next vacation time.
Thanks again
John Cabot
John, you wouldn't happen to have one of the older RBI Hawks would you? I'm just starting to play with mine, and not sure if I might need new blade holders.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Congratulations,
Mine is a girl and is now 19 months old. Says grandpa and wants to know what everything is. I get tired watching her move around and not stopping for about 4 hours at a stretch.
Grandkids are the best.
ASK
"I get tired watching her move around and not stopping for about 4 hours at a stretch. " Ain't it the truth!forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
Well, since you showed us yours, I'd show you mine except the last pictures I wanted to post on Knots I had to send to you to post them for me.
Maybe we should set up a separate catagory for grandkids.
How's your weather out there?
ASK
A complete tangent from this thread:
Mel, there's an article in the Wall Street Journal this morning regarding GM's salvation possibly being a driverless vehicle. It pictures Carnegie Mellon's winning vehicle and acknowledges the competition your son was in.
Matt,
Thanks for letting me know about the Wall Street Journal article on the future of driverless vehicles, and on the competition. I was at the "race" in Victorville, CA back in October. GM was there too :-).My son, Mike, led the Stanford team that beat Carnegie Mellon in 2005, and came in second to Carnegie Mellon in 2007. But then again, he got his B. Eng, M. Eng, and Ph.D from Carnegie Mellon before going to Stanford. My wife is from York. I met her at Penn State. So you see, we have strong roots in the great state of Pennsylvania.Enjoy,
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Mel,
Would that be the Woodcraft Store in Leesburg? Know I know how you afford all the toys you have -- employee discount.
Dan Carroll
Dan,
It would be the store in Springfield.
Same difference on the discount.
If you are going to be in the neighborhood, please let me know. I sure would like to meet you.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Being there in Springfield, Mel, do you ever get over to Colonial hardwoods for some stock? I love that place, but it's a bit far from me.
Samson,
I like Colonial Hardwood, but I get a bigger kick out of Vienna Hardwood. Have you ever tried it?
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
Haven't been to Vienna Hardwood. I'll have to check it out. In what ways is it better than Colonial (better selection; prices??)
In what ways is Vienna Hardwood better than Colonial (better selection; prices??It is hard to describe in words but when you see Vienna hardwood, you will know what I mean. I looks like it started in 1900, and they started piling up wood on the floor, and it has now reached the ceiling. It doesn't look organized. It looks like the wood from the apple tree that Adam and Eve used is still in the shop. Going to Vienna Hardwood is not a lesson in efficiency of operations. It is "Different" - unlike anything I have ever seen. Prices aint bad. I bought a cherry board, five feet long, four and a half inches thick and 20 to 24 inches in width from top to bottom -- $68 including tax. No cracks or checks that I can see. It was air dried, but the guy didn't know how long it had been there. MelMelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
"I bought a cherry board, five feet long, four and a half inches thick and 20 to 24 inches in width from top to bottom"
That is not a board. That is a slab. A honkin' big slab, to be precise.
-Steve
Steve,
I have been trying to learn precise woodworking technology. Thanks for the lesson. I have added "HBS" (Honkin Big Slab) to my vocabulary. I couldn't lift it. The nice guy at Vienna Hardwood helped me lift it into the van. The van rode well with the extra weight.Ya gotta remember, my adventure in getting the honkin big slab started with a phone call to Vienna Hardwood, asking "Do you have a piece of wood that is at least 12" by 18" and 3" deep so I can make a bowl." He said sure. So I got the Honkin Big Slab of cherry. I can make a number of bowls out of it.But when I showed by friends at Woodcraft, one of them said, "You are not going to make bowls out of that. You should make a Boston Blockfront. You have enough for the entire front." One adventure after another.
Love this woodwork stuff.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
lol ....the guy's got a point Mel. How often do you run into a honkin big slab that is truly honkin?
Try putting on your James Krenov hat. Study the wood grain and discover what it's telling you it wants to be.....you know......kinda like be the wood......oooohhhhhhmmmmm.
Either that or just put on your Woodwright's hat and carve that puppy up.charlie -- "Count your blessings....it could always be worse!"
Charlie,
I am gonna take your second suggestion. I am gonna carve that puppy up!!!!! But that is one honkin big puppy. MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
I don't make down to Springfield very often. No way to avoid the beltway going from Walkersville to there. Leesburg is much easier (but getting worse) just ride down U.S. 15. That used to be a nice drive in the country until the builders in No, Virginia went nuts.Dan Carroll
It would be the store in Springfield.I drove all the way to Springfield Illinois and there was not even a Woodcraft Store much less you!I did find a Rockler store in Pekin Illinois!
Will,
You forgot to take a left in Springfield. Then you have to go about 600 miles East!
Regards,Bob @ Kidderville Acres
A Woodworkers mind should be the sharpest tool in the shop!
Will George,
The English language is such a wonderfully obtuse and confusing instrument. I meant Springfield, Virginia. I had Virginia in my profile, but who reads profiles. Sorry I missed you in Springfield.
MelMeasure your output in smiles per board foot.
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