I'm Sad . . . I'm Happy . . . I'm Confused

Well long story short.

I was whining about my shop being too small...Not really but it helps justify why "We" did what "we" did....yesterday.

Sue and I purchased a piece of property 1.75 acres in the country.Going to start building our new dream home...Hey!! I know!! What yer thinking…. we just built one 5 1/2 years ago...

But ya see. . . The story goes like this.

I had 3 different contractors come by our current home to give a bid on enlarging my shop...it is currently 11 X 24 feet.. Actually it is the third bay of our garage...I got a bid for $6,000…and one for almost $8,000…and one for $4,500…well he was the one I was going to choose…

I’m sad cuz he says he can’t do that until next spring….so
Sue says. You know Sue, she’s my adorable wife…..
Sue says “Honey why don’t we look for a lot and find one this time large enough to put a shop on it.
With all the air purification and air conditioning and etc you really would like to have.”
I say “Well I don’t want to spend that kind of money and start all over.”
Sue says, now mind you she’s the boss except on the third Thursday of each month when I get to be boss for the day.
I usually forget and I don’t re-call the last time Sue reminded me I was boss cuz it was the third Thursday….yada yada yada.

I’m sorry. . . I digress.

Anyway Sue said “We have always wanted to live in the country and lots/property around town are too expensive.
Let’s go look at those lots up the river we saw in June”
So we drive the 25 minutes up the river and sure enough 1 lot of the 12 is still available….We meet 2 of the nicest neighbors, had ice tea with them, and decided we would make an offer on the lot….

Wellll long story short…
I know I said that before, but hey I gotta finish why I’m sad, happy and confused….don’t I?
The seller accepted our offer….We are now the proud owners of a 1.75 acre parcel at the base of a hill, 25 minutes from town, with 11 other neighbors all on large parcels. . . so pretty quiet…has a year round stream running right through our property..

Okay so now I’m happy…
Oh yeah and Sue is ecstatic….Gotta remember who we are trying to please here…”The Boss!”

This is gonna be great…New adventure living in the country…landscaping all over…etc.

Now I’m sad…again...just learned… No DSL, No Broadband, No cable…gonna go back to dial up….
Sue says, “Oh my Gosh…Dial up…You poor baby…..”
“You are getting a 24x24 foot shop with radiant heated floors, air conditioning and a furnace, and air purification and dust collection…Yep I feel for ya! NOT! LOL”

Why am I confused?

I don’t know just usually am!

Joke for the day for my friend Paul in Kansas

A guy from Kansas dies and is sent to Hell. He had been a horrible man his entire life. The devil puts him to work breaking up rocks with a sledgehammer. To make it worse he cranks up the temperature and the humidity. After a couple of days, the devil checks in on his victim to see if he is suffering adequately.

The devil is aghast as the Kansan is happily swinging his hammer and whistling a happy tune.

The devil walks up to him and says, "Idon't understand this. I've turned the heat way up, it's humid, you're crushing rocks; why are you so happy?"

The Kansan, with a big smile, looks at the devil and replies, "This is great! It reminds me of August in Kansas. Hot, humid, a good place to work. It reminds me of home. This is fantastic!"

The devil, extremely perplexed, walks away to ponder the Kansan's remarks. Then he decides to drop the temperature, send down a driving rain and torrential wind. Soon, Hell is a wet, muddy mess. Walking in mud up to his knees with dust blowing into his eyes, the Kansan is happily slogging through the mud pushing a wheelbarrow full of crushed rocks. Again, the devil asks how he can be happy in such conditions.

The Kansan replies, "This is great, just like April in Kansas. It reminds me of working out in the yard with spring planting!"

The devil is now completely baffled but more determined to make the Kansan suffer. He makes the temperature plummet. Suddenly Hell is blanketed in snow and ice. Confident that this will surely make the Kansan unhappy, the devil checks in on him. He is again aghast at what he sees. The Kansan is dancing, singing, and twirling his sledgehammer as he cavorts in glee.

"How can you be so happy? Don't you know its 40 below zero?", screams the devil.


Jumping up and down the Kansan throws a snowball at the devil and yells, "Hell's frozen over!! That means the taxes finally dropped in Kansas!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Some People!!!!

Now I know most of you won’t take the time to read the entire response I sent to this person and will probably mis-judge me as a hot head for the little you do read, however in my defense. This was a one time thing and I had just had my fill with this, this …Well I don’t need to call names.

The story begins when I was asked how much a personalized sign would cost. I responded with a price quote. I was then asked “Why” it would cost so much.

SO I wrote back within a few hours and explained how I price my custom signs, and once again explained what his quote was...He wrote back and asked “Why is it” so expensive?

Now I have always prided myself with customer service and remaining professional but this particular person had already sent me approximately 10 e-mails asking questions which any other person would already know the answer too by looking at my policy page and reading the item description on my website…and up until this point I had remained very polite and attempted to answer each of his questions in a professional manner…for some reason today wasn’t my day, and he pushed the wrong button.

Here was my final response... by the way I still got the order…

Dear JIM (name changed to protect the innocent...)

I'm going to give you a break because you are so special.

The below advice is absolutely free for the taking...

1.Go to Amazon.com and purchase a Dewalt 788 scroll saw.
2. Go to Mike workshop and order a gross yep 144 blades prolly should start with a FDSR 2/0. Cuz you are new at this.
3. Buy a comfortable chair. I hope you have a shop or your wife is going to be really upset with all the sawdust in the spare bedroom!
4. A good work light.
5. A good shop vac.
6. Create a pattern as requested should only take about 30 minutes or so...
7. Go to your favorite lumber carrier and purchase a sheet of Baltic birch.
8. Go to Home Depot get appropriate stain. Because they don't carry Baltic birch...
9. Go to Wal-Mart and get some spray adhesive and clear packing tape. Because Home Depot costs more...
10. Now set aside about 3 hours to cut this project.
11. Dang now ya need a sander....go back to Home Depot.
12. If you’re really lucky and very careful you won't break the creation using the sander. If you do....... go back to step...10


Now create a website or go to your favorite auction venue and create a listing.

Dang forgot ya have to take a picture...
Now format the picture…

Upload to your picture host.

What do you mean you don’t know how to do that?

Okay, spend almost an entire year learning how to format pictures, how to get a photo host, how to build a website, how to create an auction template etc. . . .

Now that you have done all that

go back to auction site.....
Start over because you timed out taking the picture...

answer 10 e-mails...

Allow about 10 days to pass!!!!!

lah de dah....

Yippee ya just checked your e-mail and it sold.

1. Send invoice.
2. Wait patiently for payment.
3. Now you can go and get proper shipping supplies.
4. Create shipping label
5. Create thank you note this is important cuz ya really want this dumb shi@ to come back.
6. Wrap your latest creation carefully with clean new wrapping materials.
7. Place inside shipping box.
7. Take box to post office and ship it.....learn you under charged for shipping ...but oh well you'll learn and make money off your next sale.
8. Drive home. Gas is only 2.83 a gallon you can afford to go to PO twice a week or more often if it is requested of you.


And if you are willing to do all that for $29.00 including priority shipping to Georgia with dc and insured... I'll give you the pattern and save you a step and you can make your own flippin unique custom scroll sawn personalized sign!


Thanks for asking.

If I can be of further service please do not hesitate to ask.
Customer service is after all my #1 priority!

Mike@ Mike's wood-n-things

He still made the order....When his personalized sign arrived I got a very nice thank you, because he LOVED it!

I was so upset that he asked why it was so much. I couldn't restrain myself.... Now everyone knows....

A crafter never ever gets paid enough for what they create....

My latest creations!!

This cutting is just a fun whimsical cutting I made out of baltic birch..No frame...Could be my Motto I guess?






The portrait took me about 8 hours of cutting and I think 6 blades. Yep it's scroll sawn.
I made the frame from Oregon cedar kept it rough sawn (to fit the theme of the portrait) with a routed edge to remain rustic.

This is a portrait of a friends nephew who is currently serving us in Iraq!

May he and all our troops be kept out of harms way!

This is the original photo! Thanks for letting me share it Proud uncle!

You can click on the photo to see greater detail!

Hu"Man" Powered Scroll saw plans for free!

Have you ever wondered how to continue scrolling when you are out in the wilderness in your summer cabin? If you are like me I can't stand to be away from my sawdust making for more than a few days...It is after all my therapy. smile

Well Mike M. (nope not me) has come up with one great set of plans for a "you supply the power" scroll saw!
Nope can't plug it into a generator, ya have to use the tredle.

If you want to take a peek at the first version of the Hu "man" powered scroll saw plans check it out right here!
http://1nailbender.tripod.com/full.htm

It is well detailed and well thought out. You will need acrobat reader, but heck who hasn't already got that?

Thanks Mike for a great idea and a wonderful set of free plans....

Yep I asked him prior to posting this to make sure he was okay with it. Mike said "of course.....

Now don't send me nasty grams I know some great female scrollers too!
However I like to add a little levity just to see if you are actually reading my postings....

Hey, and no hitting either!

Some more pics of our Grand daughter!

Sue and I went to Salem last weekend, the weekend of the 20th of August and were finally able to hold Aubrey. Or should I say she held us! We couldn't get enough of her! Wanted to bring her home with us, for a little while anyway.

She is sleeping about 2-3 hours at a time and then she becomes very vocal wanting to be fed!

What a precious miracle of life!

I'll share more later!

Thanks for stopping by!

I'm a Grampa.....

I know this is off topic but hey it's my blog. LOL

Baby Aubrey was born on Aug 4 this year and was 19 1/2" long and weighed in at 7 LBS and 2 oz's.

Lots of dark hair.

Just got this picture sent to me and I apologize for the clarity but heck it's a pic.

I'm bustin my buttons!

Thanks for letting me share.....

Looking for copyright free photos and graphics?

Here is a great resource for you wood workers out there..
http://gimp-savvy.com/PHOTO-ARCHIVE/

The photo archive at Gimp-Savvy.com has more than 27,000 free photos and images, consisting of over 2.5 Gbytes of data.

Access to the free images and photos in the archive is through linked pages presenting 100 photo thumbnails per page.

You may also browse the archive's master list of keywords, view its most popular images, or help to complete the keyword index by following these links:

Finally, enter single or multiple keywords into any Key Search box followed by a carriage return to find the most relevant associated photos or images.

This is a great resource...I visit there all the time!

Tightening pipe clamps..can be a pain..

Found this great tip online..tried it and it works really great!
Tightening a pipe clamp can be a real knuckle buster when the pipe clamp sits on the workbench. So I made a couple ¾″-thick wood spacer blocks to raise the pipe clamps up and make it easy to turn the handle.

These clamp blocks have the added advantage of acting as clamps pads to protect the workpiece from the clamps.

Walter Neu
Naples, Idaho

I made mine about 3" wide by 4" tall out of some scraps I had left over...raises the work off the bench top. Sorry don't know how to include a pic here....

But here is a link to the website I found this on.

http://www.woodnet.net/tips/clamping/pipe-clamp-blocks/

I hope this gives you pause to reflect..It did me!

After being interviewed by the school administration, the eager teaching prospect said:

Let me see if I've got this right.

You want me to go into that room with all those kids, and fill their every waking moment with a love for learning. And I'm supposed to instill a sense of pride in their ethnicity, modify their disruptive behavior, observe them for signs of abuse and even censor their T-shirt messages and dress habits.

You want me to wage a war on drugs and sexually transmitted diseases, check their backpacks for weapons of mass destruction, and raise their self esteem. You want me to teach them patriotism, good citizenship, sportsmanship, fair play, how to register to vote, how to balance a checkbook, and how to apply for a job.

I am to check their heads for lice, maintain a safe environment, recognize signs of anti-social behavior, make sure all students pass the mandatory state exams, even those who don't come to school regularly or complete any of their assignments.

Plus, I am to make sure that all of the students with handicaps get an equal education regardless of the extent of their mental or physical handicap. And I am to communicate regularly with the parents by letter, telephone, newsletter and report card. All of this I am to do with just a piece of chalk, a computer, a few books, a bulletin board, a big smile AND on a starting salary that qualifies my family for food stamps!

You want me to do all of this and yet you expect me......NOT TO PRAY???