From one whose DH had both knees replaced at the same time; KEEP DOING PT on your own long after you're done with the PT'ers. It may save you more surgery, pain, etc down the road. I'm tickled you're doing so well.
Butterfly (got DH a bike for home -outdoor use--and he put quite a few miles on it the first year)
Of course I am. Why would I not be nice to the best nurse a fella could have? She has been a real trouper and I am going to take her for a nice vacation as soon as this thing settles down into a normal state. But then I did the same thing for her when she had a knee operation much like this one, so I guess it is pay back time. Good to be back in the land of the living. John
I found a 000 size rosewood acoustic with a spruce top, all solid wood construction with traditional joinery, and a 12 Fret neck, that is a spitting image of the long ago pre-war Martin that I had for years and irresponsibly sold for lots of money and almost immediately regretted. While this one is from the land of rice/and our foreign debt, it is an almost exact copy and the sound is probably one of the best sounding guitars that I have owned.(I have owned many, over the years, (probably close to 100). I know we often bemoan the off-shoring of our products that we buy, but I could not have found the same guitar for anywhere near the price, of $1000, for less than 5-$10,000 by Martin or any other custom maker here in the US. This guitar is one of the things that show that the Chinese are eating our lunch, when it comes to musical instruments of a certain quality. I would have loved to have bought the Guitar that I sold, way back when, but it would have cost me about $25,000, "If" I could have found one of the same age and style and type and condition. I know that a lot of people might not understand or appreciate, those sorts of costs for a musical instrument, but if they are in your blood, then, really, price is relative to what you can pay. I am extremely happy with this "girl", and when I played it after tuning it up, My wife came in and said it sounds so good to hear me playing this type of playing again. I played it for about 4 hours straight, until my fingers started to hurt, and put it away in a safe place, and went down to the basement to build a stand to hold all three guitars, in their cases, right outside my sewing room door. Thereby allowing me to grab one when the muse hits me, and get lost again in the wonders of Ragtime guitar playing, Hawaiian music, or Gut Bucket blues, as the spirit, directs. Life is getting better with age. John
That depends on when you go. During peak season, it doesn't surprise me. We did get to see the Canyon, even though I couldn't take the mule ride - but most of the mules were just milling about (off- season). It was also nice having our chosen overlook all to ourselves for two hours while the sun came up.
I was involved in those groups for a while. Great groups, even if a little rigid in some of their thinking (so what?)
Do your homework. Back in the 80s/early 90s, there were 7 model RR shops here - thanks to the internet, now there are none. Used to be many game shops as well; we still have a couple, but that's it - down from (again) around 7. There are about 7 quilt-related places here now. Hope they stay, but you can tell from the traffic here that commerce is shifting toward online shopping as well. Good luck.
We've resolved to take up pickin' agin' soon. I stopped many years ago when I shattered my left (fretting) index fingertip with a hammer. Missed it ever since. An old buddy has been goading me, and DW has mentioned she misses her banjo too. There was a time we used to get 10-12 pickers into our old Victorian parlor, or a small group on the acoustic front porch for the neighborhood. D-28 & Gold Star Screaming Duck (Flying Eagle).
I thought my playing days were over when I nicked my left index and left middle finger in a table saw. But with a really good Orthopedic surgeon, who is also doing my knee, he was able to save enough of the index to not have to remove any of the bone. I started playing slide guitar which uses either a glass finger slide or metal slide and thereby worked around the fingering that is done with the left hand. After awhile of that I wanted to see if I could still finger the guitar like a standard playing style would do. So after practicing with the National Reso-phonic in a standard tuning and finding that I could still hit all those sweet notes, It drove me to look for a dedicated finger style guitar, and lo and behold, I found one. It is so good to get back into the groove again, and I would encourage anybody who used to play, no matter how badly, to look for a instrument and give it another go. All those tunes come back and you can amaze your friends with tales of your misspent youth, in search of musical perfection. There is something about playing an instrument, any instrument, that is very satisfying. That is what you did before I- pods, and you ere the life of the party.
I thought my playing days were over when I nicked my left index and left middle finger in a table saw. But with a really good Orthopedic surgeon, who is also doing my knee, he was able to save enough of the index to not have to remove any of the bone. I started playing slide guitar which uses either a glass finger slide or metal slide and thereby worked around the fingering that is done with the left hand. After awhile of that I wanted to see if I could still finger the guitar like a standard playing style would do. So after practicing with the National Reso-phonic in a standard tuning and finding that I could still hit all those sweet notes, It drove me to look for a dedicated finger style guitar, and lo and behold, I found one. It is so good to get back into the groove again, and I would encourage anybody who used to play, no matter how badly, to look for a instrument and give it another go. All those tunes come back and you can amaze your friends with tales of your misspent youth, in search of musical perfection. There is something about playing an instrument, any instrument, that is very satisfying. That is what you did before I- pods, and you ere the life of the party.
John That is why I worry every time dh goes near the table saw. He played and taught guitar music in his younger days. His playing goes through fits and spurts these days. There must be something universal about folks that play guitars. They all seem to have owned a zillion of them? They buy, sell and swap them a lot. Those around get to enjoy them a lot in the listening though. Taria
Hey, I worry about whenever I go near a table saw. They are evil machines without any conscience. I never touched myself when I was working in the trades, but when you are doing it for a hobby, maybe you are less cautious. That is why I mostly use hand tools these days. Slower and more rewarding, working environment, with fewer chances to lop off extremities. But hey, I think of myself as somewhat of a Luddite. John
DH recently nearly severed his middle finger on his left hand with a bisquit joiner. His description - nearly impossible to do. But he did. Fortunately they were able to save the finger - minus the first knuckle he sliced through. Gets the pins out on Tues. And he's always been extremely cautious. We were recently discussing his deceased father's woodworking tools which are still left in his parents home which is for sale. He said the buyers could have the house lock, stock and barrel. I asked if he didn't want those tools and he just waved his bandaged finger and said he didn't think so. He'll probably change his mind when the time comes but in the meantime he's a little gun shy. Years of table saws, band saws, etc. with little problem but this one really hit him hard. We'll see in a couple of weeks if he needs any PT. He is able to feel when the doc cleans the area and changes the bandage so that's a good thing.
I would strongly urge him to retain ownership of those tools. Once lost are they can never be replaced. Even if he doesn't use them they are part of his fathers heritage. I think a lot of woodworkers are bedazzled by all the whiz-bang tools that are available for use by amateur woodworkers. I used all of those things during my professional woodworking life, as it was to my competitive advantage to do so. But at the hobby level, they are not as necessary as the time/cost constraints are not present. I often get a kick out of Norm on TV on the Old Yankee Workshop who goes into the shop and uses $30,000 worth of machinery to make a box. That example might be somewhat of an exaggeration, but it is a rather clear example of woodworking overkill. Using only hand tools, and traditional joinery to accomplish the same thing is a much more rewarding experience, to me, and indicative of a greater degree of skills in the process, because it is easier to flub with hand tools. A flub at a late stage of the project, usually involves lots of work to get back to that stage of the project. I do the work by hand as there is much more satisfaction with the finished project, for me, than when I used to do the same sort of thing with machines. So tell him to keep his fathers hand tools. He can stick them in the basement somewhere, and maybe someday he will discover the joys of hand tool woodworking. Even if he doesn't, he will preserve a link to a time past, that was a part of his family history. John
And down the line somone else may want them and use them... I currently have Alan's grandfather's pin hammer in my sewing tool kit for hammering in studs and poppers. A perfect size and weight for me to use on the job!
AND remember it is your off/other hand that gets the hurt, left if you are right handed and vice versa.
Does anyone remember Reilly who worked with Bob Villa on his show after he left This Old House? That poor man's left hand was a mess! And he did some of the damage on the show...
Watch that fingering hand, my grandpap lost his little finger and couldn't even play an ukalele (4 strings).
I agree he should keep them. Most are newer power tools of the 20-25 year vintage. His Dad needed to replace all of his tools and then some after the house they were building (and almost complete) burned completely to the ground. He used all of them to rebuild the house. But they are good quality tools and it's quite an extensive collection. None of his brothers have a clue what to do with most of them anyhow. DH will get over his hesitation the next time there's a need to do some project or another. And I agree that he should maintain that link to his Dad. I think he'd ultimately regret letting them go at some point down the line and I would hate that for him.
When I started in building school, I received some of my father's tools, got some more from his father, including a handmade box with brass corners I used for my drafting tools. It was a beat-up old thing, but really cool looking, and I think the envy of a few classmates. I used it through my designing years, and still keep my drafting stuff in it today.
OTOH, I was promised my other grandfather's tools "when he laid them down" (if you catch his drift) but he was many states away, and you know how estates can go... I never got one of his tools, which I would have loved to have.
I think tools can be as important heirlooms to the males in a family as jewelry and sewing/quilting stuff can be to the women.
OTOH, I was promised my other grandfather's tools "when he laid them down" (if you catch his drift) but he was many states away, and you know how estates can go... I never got one of his tools, which I would have loved to have.
I think tools can be as important heirlooms to the males in a family as jewelry and sewing/quilting stuff can be to the women.
I have one nephew, out in California who is involved in the building trades. He is currently working in Hawaii doing Green Energy Designing and retrofitting of houses. One of the problems, for me, is that most of the kids these days want to use all the latest power tools, and what I have is 2 complete 3' x 4' tool boxes of Stanley and English metal planes and other items of that nature, and another box full of Wooden German style woodworking planes and chisels, and saws. There is, in effect, a complete 19th century woodworking setup, and very few people these days are into or interested in doing hand work with these type of tools. Plus a seven foot long Cabinet Makers Bench made out of Maple, that I built about 40 years ago. Oh yes, there are the collectors, who swoon over serial numbers and patina, and pay big money to acquire them, but they don't sharpen up the blades and hand saws and get to work with them. They just end up in display cases, with dust on them. Phooey. I would give these tools to my Nephew, if I thought he would use them, but I know he would sell them and pocket the money, as that is his style. So I will continue to use them and after I die, they will become the problem of the estate executor. and I won't be around to hear about what happened to them. Unless I come across some deserving young man, or woman, who takes an interest in hand made items. I actually taught a young woman who worked for my wife, in the publishing industry, to use some of the tools. She used to come over to our house for dinner a couple of times a week and then we would go down into the shop. She used that knowledge to make herself a nice bed frame and was proud as a Peacock when she called us over to see what she had accomplished. So there you have it. My dilemma. John
InspirePoint website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.