|
|
In the event
you came here to learn more about Tango, I reprint this May 31st article
that gives some context to the tale. Looking for more stories about stools?
Woodworking? See below ...
We're Calling It: Tango
The quirky buckthorn leg that sticks out just a bit more than the other three is the inspiration for Tango, our latest stool creation. From time to time we have also been known to enjoy music & videos captured from the film Soul of the Tango [Piazzola: Libertango] featuring music by cellist Yo-Yo Ma. [Link to a great audio/video clip.] originally posted with pride and joy on 05.31.24 the day after Donald Trump was found to be guilty ... again. update: after looking at the pictures to the right for the past 24-hrs I have decided the tango participants look like youthful versions of Louise and my brother John! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Full Recovery Unlikely Sad. That's how I'm feeling since our nation's Presidential election was held over a month ago. I'm having a difficult time accepting that the majority of voters are today: Trumpians. Especially given all the destructive things the Donald has done and said since his first Electoral College victory in 2016 ... why on Earth would voters give him another chance?
Seriously, I was anticipating a blue wave in this 2024 election – particularly in light of the Supreme Court decision on abortion. Female voters have made up the majority over the past several election cycles … add that majority to the progressive base, combined with independent voters who just could not stomach another 4-yrs of Trump chaos; I thought defeating Trump and other election deniers would be a no-brainer. I figured ... surely the majority of voters who care about the future would opt to maintain control of the White House, and retake the House while expanding the Democrat's Senate majority. Seriously, I felt ... the evidence against Trump was so public and so obvious, that whomever was opposing Trump would capture 75% or more of the vote. I figured ... only the misinformed, the weak, and a small band of domestic terrorists would continue to support Trump. I mean, seriously, anyone who has paid even the slightest attention would never vote for this criminal. I thought ... and still think, that pending legal cases against Trump should proceed. Today the right wing is clamoring over President Biden's decision to pardon his son and spare the country of more bullshit – the bulk of charges against Hunter were exaggerated for right-wing political gain ... Biden had already repaid the tax liability even before he was charged with tax evasion, and the violation of gun registration laws is a misdemeanor … hardly worthy for prosecutors to take on the case reflecting minor oversights on Biden's part. So I realize now that I'm in an apparent minority and any notion of making Trump accountable obviously isn't going to happen. Though the opposition to Trump was based on facts: testimony by Republicans who worked in the WH, and facts based on Trump's own words captured on video and audio, and texts from his endless social media rants online. Prior to the election I took pride in being aware, politically, of what was happening - I read government reports like the Mueller Report, and the transcript of Trump's call to President Zelensky of Ukraine requesting "dirt on Hunter Biden", and the Senate Intelligence Committee report that outlined: "grave Russian threat in 2016 election" [Link] ... and more. I listened almost exclusively to National Public Radio, read multiple daily newspapers, watched multiple segments of MSNBC shows almost EVERY day for the past 8+ yrs. I consider myself to be highly informed of what's going on. However, it seems as if voters care less about the truth. Some folks indicated they couldn't vote for another black person, still pissed that Obama won 2-terms. Others say they just can't see a woman in the WH. (Forget the fact that women have held leadership positions - presidents & prime ministers - in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Ireland, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Iceland, Norway, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Moldova, Turkey, Kosovo, India, Israel, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Lithuania, Haiti, Pakistan, Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, Jamaica, Marshall Islands, Taiwan, Estonia, Singapore, Serbia, and dozens more.) Today I still can not stomach the reality that Trump will have a second chance to ruin this once great nation ... I can barely consume even the most basic news broadcasts. Two or three minutes of MSNBC or CNN and I'm done - fed up with the trickle of news about Trump's pathetically unqualified cabinet ... I can scan the newspaper but avoid the post-election analysis. My life has changed. I think the world has changed, and about all I can say is: "told you so" and "good luck" because I know my days on this planet are numbered - I'm on the back-9 of life, as they say. Got my health and a well-stocked workshop filled with tools and raw materials in which I can make stuff, and listen to radio that has nothing to do with politics and current events. And, I share all with my spouse, best-friend and partner, Louise, who is equally disappointed by the election results. (Oh, if you're wondering what happened to my "issues & thoughts" blog page ... I've opted to stop making further comments for now, and have archived prior articles.) posted 12.08.24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 . Cool Mike? That May Be A Stretch Yesterday Louise and I completed one of our favorite civic duties & responsibilities: We voted. And the nice people at our Township Clerk's office gave me a neat sticker (left). The happy event marked my 14th consecutive general election since casting my first vote for Richard Nixon in 1972 ... yep, I've never missed a general election. Likely I voted in every primary election too, and rarely have missed other assorted local elections. I know I missed one, decades ago. I'm proud to say, too, that I voted for the Harris/Walz ticket, and as best as I can tell, also avoided voting down ballot for any election deniers or that pathetic bunch that brought us the scandal-of-the-century: the Big Lie. You see, I used to consider myself to be a republican, but after the Watergate scandal that changed. Increasingly, I guess I've become more socially liberal - but still a fiscal conservative. Louise & I joke that if we were in-charge of finances for America, we'd probably drive it into the ground - into a deep recession ... one could say we're "tight-wads" ... I'd say we just value things differently than others. Reduce, re-use, recycle. We make things, and fix things as best we can by ourselves and hire assistance only when the task exceeds our skill-level (for Mike, that would be plumbing & electrical). That saves us money and consumes enough time that travel & vacations are rare. By design we live below our means and live a life of luxury on a tight budget & love it! We try to avoid, when possible, watching TV commercials (with the help of our trusty DVR) which might be a bit odd for a kid who's father made his mark in advertising, a career that Mike followed. But seriously folks, consider the mind-bending garbage that we could be consuming if it were not for a "mute" button! Mind-bending crap geared mainly to extract cash from your wallet or purse. Avoiding the advertising barrage helps with our mental health ... and gives us time to explore other things. Like the new "dashboard" developed online by our Secretary of State's office: that's https://www.michigan.gov/sos/elections/election-results-and-data/voter-participation-dashboard. It shows how many Michiganians have voted already ... some folks still call it the "absentee ballot" - beginning Monday voters in Michigan have the option of voting in-person, early ... avoid lines & ensure your ballot is not lost somewhere within the US Postal system. As of this morning over a million ballots have already been cast (1,005,743 to be exact). In Genesee County, where we reside (and vote) 64,246 ballots have been cast already. posted 10.19.24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
vintage arts & crafts style picture frame This past December, close to my father's 102nd birthday, I posted a snapshot of a watercolor painting of my Dad sporting his WW2 uniform in 1943. Yesterday - that picture got framed!It's actually a copy (8" x 10") of the larger original which is now being enjoyed at brother Tom's home in Georgia. Similar copies were sent to brothers Pat & John (even tho they both protested that they've run out of wall space in the respective homes). I figured, perhaps Dad's picture might be the exception? Dunno'. In addition to the article below about how and when Dad acquired this little gem, I also wrote previously about the wood used to make the walnut frame. Mike spotted the design online - an Etsy seller had several vintage "arts & crafts" style frames, like this and the one below that Mike made for Louise. It's held together with four little pegs - no glue. Benches, stools, picture frames. (Hey, we all need a "specialty".) More pix: posted 07.31.24 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Something
New ...Louise found this print at the Flint Art Fair - a charming pencil & ink drawing by acclaimed Michigan artist Marie Rust. The artwork is special so when Louise asked me to make a picture frame I knew it had to be equally special, so I tried a technique used by some arts-n-crafts wood workers: the frame is pegged! Look, Ma! No glue. Just 4 pieces of Red Oak, held together with 4 little hardwood pegs that are pounded through a hole in a tenon that is sticking through a hand-carved mortise. << “Under The Clear Blue Sky” (American Crow)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
More stuff made by Mike
The jigsaw puzzle mentioned below is cool - it illustrates assorted vintage
baseball memorabilia and oddly enough, has contributed to our latest
woodworking project. Huh? Well, Grasshopper, follow along: as
mentioned below, Louise requested a short "bench" to be placed outdoors near
our front door. So Mike set out to do just that, using the same style
& building techniques as the assorted collection of stools featured on this
webpage over the past year (scroll below). It's a simple Red Oak plank, supported by
Buckthorn
legs. And, the materials gleaned from our property were cobbled
together using old-tyme mortise & tenon construction ... then, glued & screwed.
It's pretty neat, a great little seat, says Mike. But what shall we
call it? Hmmm, the builders ponder as they resume working on the
baseball themed puzzle, noticing along the bottom of the puzzle ... a dinky,
tiny, little snapshot of famed Cincinnati Reds catcher from the '70's:
Johnny
Bench. The tumblers rolled, and clicked: presto.
Johnny Bench it
is. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
As mentioned/shown below we've tried various techniques to "sign" our work. With Johnny, we tried to carve the date: 2024 and then filled that shallow depression with colorful epoxy. Then in Trumpian fashion, after the epoxy dried, Mike signed the piece with a Sharpie. We mention all of this 'cuz we realize almost nobody will ever see that neat feature. (That last sentence reminds me slightly of some lyrics in the tune: Just A Gigolo performed by the one-and-only Louis Prima and His New Orleans Gang.) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
'tis a mixed bag in humid summer weather update #1: Not a stool but a bench ... Louise asked me to make a bench to place outdoors near the front door ... the red oak plank is about 4-ft long with thick spalted buckthorn legs. Spalted? According to the Google, "spalted wood has been exposed to fungi and bacteria over time, which causes discoloration and dark lines or streaks in the wood's grain."
#2 It's a puzzle for fans of
baseball and baseball memorabilia ... a thoughtful gift from sister &
brother in-law. Louise and I have gotten into jigsaw puzzles the past
few years and the vintage baseball theme is right up my alley!
#3
The baseball puzzle was perfectly timed as we recently saved the movie
Field of Dreams
to watch on our DVR
(for the zillionth time). Both Mike & Louise love the speech toward
the end of the film delivered by writer Terence Mann, featuring the rich
baritone voice of actor James Earl Jones, as he stands and blathers on about
the value of baseball and how the Field of Dreams will lure
patrons to help support the farm (and loss of roughly 4.5 acres of corn).
Heck, Mike even has an .mp3 recording of the speech. (Link
to audio file.)
But after viewing it again I think the
daughter, Karin Kinsella played by 7-yr old Gabrielle Mary Antonia Hoffmann (Gaby)
didn't get the credit she deserved. Gaby was the one who first said
"people will come" ... but Terence Mann always seems to be the one who gets
credited for the line. "People will come. From all over. They'll just decide to
take a vacation, see, and they'll come
to Iowa City, and they'll think it's
really boring, so they'll take a drive.
And they'll drive down our road, and
they'll see the lights and they'll think
it's really pretty."
Mike captured Gaby's audio & erased comments by
Gaby's Uncle Mark, who said Gaby's parents were broke and they'd have to
sell the farm ... so now you too can hear Gaby's big idea before Terence
Mann tries to hijack Gaby's idea. [Link]
Resplendent
Its not every day a guy turns
71 Louise asked recently what I might like for my birthday ... I said: "...
a robe. The sort of robe Cary Grant may have worn ... rather than one of those Mr. Bulky Terrycloth robes that folks rip-off from 5-star hotels." I think she nailed it!
Happy birthday to me. When asked to describe how I felt about it I said resplendent. To
communicate that in writing I had to check my spelling & peaked in a
dictionary which says:
"re·splend·ent:
attractive and impressive through being richly colorful or sumptuous".
Splendid. Magnificent. I told my younger brother that it'll come
in handy if/when I'm residing in a nursing home or hospital and finally have
something decent to wear should I have visitors. Decades ago, when
attending college, I had a snazzy black and white and grey paisley print silk robe
that had been my fathers ... somehow when wearing it after enjoying a wild
night (and now severely hung-over) it made me feel just a little better.
Dunno' why, it just did. The slick robe also gave any over night
guests I may have had with something to wear in a pinch (if you follow my
drift).
posted 06.23.24 [photo Mike is clutching: a screen grab from a
1960's movie The Grass Is Greener with Cary Grant as Victor, Earl of Rhyall.]
Meet Eva & Our Family Pet
Stories
Louise's Cat Not exactly certain how it started ... I could make-up a tall-tale, but
won't ... but, Louise's cat has quickly trained both of us to participate in
a new daily ritual: blueberry chase. In a pinch, Eva also has been
known to chase after small, round cherry tomatoes ... and amazingly enough,
she doesn't break 'em. Eva just loves to dash across the floor chasing
a rolling blueberry, flung by either Louise or Mike. Eva gets herself in a
"crouching tiger" position ... body melted flat to the floor, eyes open
really W-I-D-E, legs positioned under her tense little body ready to
catapult herself toward
the rolling berry. Her absolute fav position is crouching below the
1st step of our stairs to the lower level ... head positioned so her
line-of-sight perfectly captures her view of a blueberry rolling towards
her, right along the floor surface. Sometimes Eva will bat the berry
away and the chase continues around the slate foyer surface, or, she'll let
the berry fly over her head as she turns and bolts down the stairs in
pursuit of the berry. Louise says she's going to try to capture a tiny
movie of her cat flying down the stairs ... stay tuned.
GoodPlanet
stools №
6 & 7 As promised, here's the latest snapshots that Louise captured the other
day just as Mike was assembling two of their latest stool creations. To
ensure these puppies stay together Mike hand carves mortise & tenon joints -
then glue and screws the stretchers into the legs The Buckthorn legs
are then sunk into pocket holes on the underside of the seat, then glued & screwed in place. Red Oak
& Buckthorn plugs cover the holes, then
chiseled flush & sanded. The goal is to make a stool tough enough to
survive a plunge over Niagara Falls. Next step: 3 coats of Arm-R-Seal
oil finish. photos by Louise - posted
06.06.24
The quirky buckthorn leg that sticks out just a bit more than the other
three is the inspiration for Tango, our latest stool creation. From time to time we
have also been known to enjoy music & videos captured from the film Soul of the
Tango [Piazzola: Libertango] featuring music by cellist Yo-Yo Ma.
[Link
to a great audio/video clip.]
posted with pride and joy on May 31, 2024, the day after Donald Trump was
found to be guilty ... again.
update: after looking at the
pictures to the right for the past 24-hrs I have decided the tango
participants look like youthful versions of Louise and my brother John!
as promised: a
progress report - stools №
6 thru 10 With that little sporting diversion (vintage sports cards) now over ...
for the time-being ... we're back to work on the next generation of GoodPlanet
stools. The sub-headline mentions "stools No. 6 thru 10" ... which is
where we're at but each stool is made individually as if it was a 'special
order'. True, we did cut & craft 4 cookies: seats made from Red Oak -
durable-as-a-workboot!
But assembly of legs is as individual as each stool itself ... legs - some
straight, others curving in various directions. The selection process:
try finding 4 hunks of Buckthorn that will get along & form vital support.
Pictured to the left: our 1st mortise drilled ¾" wide x
about 1" deep & the hand-carved tenon connect the first stretcher to
leg #1. It's a nice tight fit. posted with pride:
05.28.24
[answer: Elroy]
The question came from Louise who was in the living room working on her
daily crossword puzzle ... Louise likes to refer to her husband as "game
boy" due to his fairly extensive sports knowledge ... not that he'll be
appearing anytime soon on Jeopardy! but in a pinch, Mike's
been known to knock it out of the park.
The answer flowed quickly and confidently: Elroy Hirsch,
aka Crazy Legs of the L.A. Rams (running back/receiver/end).
Actually Elroy began his 12-yr pro-football career with Chicago Rockets in
1946. The team was a short-lived rival football league to the National
Football league which already had two teams in the Windy City (da' Bears,
and da' Cardinals ... which later moved to St. Louis, then Arizona).
Hirsch's Hall Of Fame football career lead to some acting work in Hollywood
when he moved to California - after his playing days Elroy served as Univ of
Wisconsin athletic director.
Louise's crossword puzzle question also stimulated yet another trip down a
familiar rabbit-hole:
collectibles. Mike quickly snatched his box of assorted unframed
sports cards - mostly baseball, a few 1957 football cards like Crazy
Legs Hirsch and Y. A. Tittle and Jack
Christiansen of the Lions (see photo). Given the
condition (fair to good) and age (67-yrs) the cards might be worth $40-50
each ... on a good day. Stored in the same little box are a few
baseball cards from Mike's father's childhood. The Jess Petty
1930 card produced by the Goudey Gum Company ... Mike saved it for a
couple of reasons: 1) the player, Petty, was a fairly decent pitcher for
9-yrs in the majors (bouncing around in Cleveland, Brooklyn, Pittsburgh,
Chicago). But in 1930 when the card was produced, Petty was playing for the
minor league Minnesota Millers squad. Mike hung onto the Petty card
because of it's appearance (nice matte finish) and 'cuz it wasn't very
common for the sports card companies to feature minor league players who
were in the "back-9" of their playing career ... might go up in value?
Perhaps.
The football cards were from Mike's childhood collection; baseball cards
from the 1930's were from Mike's father's sports card collection.
see also -
Archived sports cards articles from 2018.
[almost complete]
№ 4:
Paul's restoration work described
below is just about complete ... just need
to apply one final coat of Arm-R-Seal topcoat. Since Mike was
mixin' batches of epoxy to fix Paul, he figured 'why not address a couple of
flaws' in 2 other favorite stools: Butterfly & Red. They're looking
better than ever! Missing from this photo-shoot is Andy ... he's busy
on laundry duty. (Andy is Louise's fav & seems to like helping her with
laundry and other projects on the butcher-block countertop/laundry room.)
Preview: now in-progress ...
construction of stools №
6, 7 & 8. Yep, the cookies (seats) have been cut, cracks have been
addressed using one of 3 techniques to minimize further splits:
butterflies, epoxy and like Tall Paul, a few Zipbolts have been sunk.
You can bet multiple photo-shoots will follow to document their development.
More ReStore: we picked up a
beautiful piece of walnut at the Urban Wood Marketplace located
inside the ReStore Shop at Flint's
Habitat for Humanity. [link
to Flint's Habitat website] It's about 6" wide x 5-feet long,
¾" thick. We'll use pieces of the walnut on
future "butterflies" for some stools we'll make down-the-road, and feel
delighted to have stumbled upon this amazing resource provided by a number
of sawmill and lumber operations in the general area ... our piece comes
from the neat fellows at Tervol's Wood Products
in North Adams (located between Hillsdale & Adrian, MI ...
link to their
website). The Urbanwood Project is a Michigan-based network of family-owned businesses that salvage logs from dead, dying, and removed trees in local neighborhoods. These businesses partner with several nonprofit resale organizations
like Flint's ReStore Shop to sell
sustainable lumber, slabs and other truly unique wood products. It's a good thing.
posted 05.22.24
Paul's Restoration Progress Report
Tall
Paul's cookie crumbles
warranty work:
We didn't hear any tell-tale sounds the other day ... but the seat on
that super thick, stellar stool known around here as:
Tall Paul cracked. Yep.
That tough-as-nails slice-of-oak seat, also
known as a "cookie", is nearly 3-inches
thick ... and, all on it's own, Paul's seat nearly cracked itself in half! The
split follows the "checking" or natural splitting of wood that
developed when it was originally drying - that initial void was
filled with colorful aqua blue/green epoxy with the intent of holding the
seat together (and stop the split from growing). The seat and legs were sealed with
several coats of an oil based top-coat.
We thought all was fine. We thought we had another winning, though
quirky, example of the sorta' stuff Mike likes to make. Then without the
slightest warning the tough, hard oak developed a major crack along the path
of the epoxy-filled checking. Ugh!
Rather than just toss it on the scrap-heap, Mike installed a
Zipbolt like he used joining sections of the
laundry room butcher-block countertop. The fastener is sunk 3/4" into
two pocket holes created with a 1" diameter Forstner bit -- the slot for the
connecting bolt is carved with a scary sharp chisel ... and soon, the
Zipbolt and the cracks will be re-sealed with more epoxy. (Photo to
left is of Tall Paul's under-belly.) Stay tuned; we'll let you know how it goes. [posted 05.04.24]
project
status - ready for finishing
Shower Seat: Louise is
showing off the new shower seat that Mike's crafted in his workshop - it's
nearly complete - finishing will take a couple of days.
It has become painfully obvious to most observers that this little beauty
needs a name ... any sound you may now hear could well be the infamous
"Jeopardy" theme song as folks ponder. Keep in mind it's purpose ... a
good shower seat will provide weary bones some relief, or a sturdy base one
may use while shaving a leg? So yes, it's going to get wet ... other
than a few photo-shoot sessions, this puppy will be spending most of it's
extended existence in a dank, damp environment.
So how about famed
swimmer
Esther Williams?
American competitive swimmer and actress. Hmmm, Esther. Whaddaya'
think?
what in
the world is going on in Mike's workshop?
Rag-in-a-Can Oiler:
Louise made us something new to keep our assorted tools healthy - she has
made us our very first Rag-in-a-Can Oiler
... which is great for protecting saw blades, chisels, planes, axes &
even a hatchet (pictured #1) from rust & providing light lubrication too.
It's not an original idea here - we read about it online and faithfully
watched legendary British cabinet maker, Paul
Sellers make one like he's used for some 50-yrs. (pictured #2,
right) Paul uses plain old/good old/readily available at most every
hardware store in America and beyond: 3-in-1 Oil.
(#3, right) Now that Mike has learned the secret behind scary sharp
chisels and maintaining most every tool made of steel it's appropriate for
the Rag-in-a-Can Oiler to have finally
arrived in our workshop! Louise watched
Seller's video and quiet as a mouse - proceeded to make her very first
Rag-in-a-Can Oiler. The Oiler was
meant to be a gift - perhaps a birthday, or the 4th of July ... but no
sooner had Louise filled a small tin-can with a VERY tightly wrapped cotton
"rag" ... she decided the joy of giving was too great to be contained ...
and that lucky guy, Mike, is delighted.
This other photo? (#4) It's
the begin posted 04.20.24 - less than one-week into Donald Trump's 1st criminal
trial. (Lock him up.)
We Had: Snow Rollers
!
Never Knew This ('til now):
Louise posted something on Facebook that got me digging and search for more
info about Snow Rollers ... particularly timely since we got a dusting of snow overnight.
Not enough snow requiring a plow - like last week's surprise accumulation of snow
- but a strong
reminder about that April a decade or so ago when we got 8" of snow (in
April) ...
which was certainly plowable!
The Monson, Maine website explains further:
"The snow roller was made primarily of spruce and oak and was equipped with round rollers each measuring about six feet wide and five feet in diameter.
With the roller in operation, the roads were smooth and made sleighing and walking easier. Most towns in New England had rollers, using oxen rather then horsepower. It was said they performed well in light fluffy snow, but heavy wet snow would stick to the rollers, which would need to be cleaned off before continuing the road. Also, as spring approached, the 8 to 10 feet of packed snow would turn to ice, and of course when that melted,
there was plenty of mud!" Pictured Below: (left) idle, refurbished Snow Roller in Maine, (right) double
roller - Trenary MI 1910.
posted 04.05.24 ... on the day our Bureau of Labor
says 303,000 jobs were created in the US
of A in March!
Nearly
A Month In The 'Making' ...
New Shower: it's taken us about
a month to replace the tile and make a few modifications to the layout - but
today, it's done. Completed. Mission accomplished. Mike &
Louise handled demo - our new favorite tile artists Steve & Jeff put it all
back together better than ever.
The porcelain tiles (grey 2" x 2" on floor; grey 12" x 24" on walls;
white 3" x 12" subway style ceiling tiles) offer a far less slippery surface
than the ceramic tiles we had installed in 1988. And Louise is thrilled with
he prospect that maintenance will be easier ... manufacturers (and our
installers) insist the "new grout" used these days effectively.
Installer Steve says, "this new type of grout is incredibly low maintenance. One of its biggest benefits is that it does not need to be sealed, like cement grouts. The material will not absorb water, dirt, or debris." Our plumber Jason moved the showerhead location/direction & also brought
us a new fixture. The project has been all about adapting to what may
lay ahead for us in our senior years. We sought a shower that would be
safer, less slippery, and less maintenance. The eye on safety is where the project started. The forever
romantic character, Mike, gave Louise a bunch of "grab bars" for Christmas.
Oh, but wait, grab bars need to be anchored, preferably, into the studs.
Best way to access the studs is before tile is installed. Mike
pondered: "Hmmmm." Then like the game of dominos, all the pieces lined
up and screamed: "time to remodel!" The elimination a short 26"
partition and removing the existing threshold at the shower entrance will
help make the shower wheelchair accessible ... but also created the need to
water proof the space immediately "outside" of the shower. We opted to
not re-tile the entire bathroom floor - just the shower & the entrance area. posted 03.22.24 (check-off another task on our never-ending "to-do"
list.)
Clean
Out A Closet: You Just Never Know What You'll Find
46-years ago: we buried a
little memento into a box, which got stashed in a closet ... and hauled
along with us thru multiple moves over the years. Well, we've grown to
the ripe old age when one oughta' be downsizing or at least sorting thru
clutter and stuff gathered & accumulated.
What Louise found were a lot of yellowed pieces of paper, some held
together with crispy yellowed Scotch tape™
... like this fun menu we got back in 1978 at the Wabun, an
Oscoda landmark restaurant back in the day. The menu spans 4-pages
with various olde tyme news articles from the region like the news of the
fire in 1911 that nearly wiped-out AuSable and Oscoda ... giving dining
patrons plenty to read back in that awkward era (when folks had to make
actual conversation) before we had mobile phones to entertain us.
Scattered thru the publication are bill-of-fare features like the one shown
to the right: "Wabun Favorites". What caught our attention immediately were the prices: Fried
Chicken dinner: $4.75 (and yes, this included baked potato & tossed
salad!) Adjusted for inflation, $4.75 in 1978 is worth $23.12 today.
And the reason Wabun's $4.75 chicken dinner caught our eye is 'cuz
just a week ago we celebrated a family birthday at Zehnder's of
Frankenmuth (MI) ... reportedly "America's largest family
restaurant". The good folks at Zehnder's are famous for their chicken
dinners which has not just kept up with inflation ... it's blown it away!
Zehnder's charges $38.95 for their Sunday Buffet which includes all the
chicken and one-can-eat as well as prime rib of beef, shrimp and every
bountiful side dish ever invented. Oh, you only want chicken,
you say? That's just $29.95 but be prepared to stand in a really long
line. And the math whiz in the crowd knows that's about 30% more than
the inflated price of that Wabun chicken dinner Mike used to buy for
his dates to the prom back in the 1970's. See more: post 03.02.24
... sideways, down. While waiting for the
3rd Arm-R-Seal topcoat to dry on Butterfly, our latest stool creation
... we're thinking again
about Tall Paul's unique "over/under" stretchers (shown left).
The reference reminds Mike of a 1960's song by the legendary Yardbirds the
group that brought us 3 of the most talented guitarists to ever walk on
planet Earth: Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page.
(Handy
Link to MP3 for those who wanna' hear tune.)
posted 02.27.24
Historical College Football
Story From The 40's: "Most interesting"
Readers of
this "blog" know that we've been slightly obsessed with my father's
collection of baseball & other sports cards from the 30's & 40's - many
of them framed and displayed
in my den. (Link to photos of
the keepsake cards posted on this website a few years ago.)
Louise also knows I've also followed a political story
from the '40's introduced to us by Rachelle Maddow's podcast called
Ultra. I've also read
Maddow's follow-up best-seller:
Prequel. Here's how NBC News summarizes the content of
Maddow's work/book: "Sitting members of Congress aiding and abetting a plot to overthrow the government. Insurrectionists criminally charged with plotting to end American democracy for good. Justice Department prosecutors under crushing political pressure ...
Ultra is the all-but-forgotten
true story
Over the holidays I was thinking quite a bit about my father and his service
in WW2 (1943-45, see below).
In short, I'll admit I've been dwelling quite a bit about many things connected to the period of time about ten years before I was
born.
next:
Sedition Hunters: How January 6th Broke the Justice System by Ryan J. Reilly. Since the January 6th 2021
Insurrection, I have paid a great deal of attention to news surrounding this
event ...
I watched the riot on live television ... and, viewed all of the House Select Committee hearings, read their final report. With great interest I'm
tuned-in to news reports of those participants
who've been prosecuted and jailed for their participation in the riot.
Many have plead guilty to their crimes.
It drives me (and most other thoughtful observers) crazy to hear Republicans
referring to the January 6th insurrectionists as "tourists" ... and “political prisoners.”
Lately we've heard House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) ... and Rep. Elise
Stefanik (R-NY) using a new absurd term: “hostages.” They should
be charged with fraud (impersonating a responsible legislator). So, I'm anxious to dive deeper into Reilly's new book.
Equally anxious to encourage others to stay informed and seek more
information to help crush today's Violent Ultra Right.
Butterfly and Red - siblings.
Similar height (25") and buckthorn legs around the same thickness/diameter,
red oak seat - it's cracks filled with blue-colored epoxy. Louise & I are in the process of re-tiling
our master bathroom shower ... we're doing the demo - which has been a lot
of work; professional second-generation tile layers will handle installing
our new non-slip tile - hopefully: next week! As fate would have it,
our "tile guy" Steve pulled up seconds after capturing this snapshot of
Butterfly & Red. He said he loved rustic furniture and was going nuts when I told him that yes
indeed, these were made right here in the GoodPlanet Sawdust Works using
material gleaned from our land ... he loves 'em so much he said he wanted to
buy one for his wife (anniversary gift). Sadly I had to decline
- the stools are still too precious to both Louise & I ... I'm loving all of
'em. But could that change in the future? Could Mike actually
sell on of his stools? Don't hold your breath. We make stuff. More photos to come -
bookmark the site and stop back from time to time. Posted with pride & joy: 02.23.24 (after
taking a little break to study the amazing impact Bidenomics is
having on our economy ... even though Fox News and other rabid
right-wing extremists try to claim that only Donald Trump can fix it). PS:
blue painters tape used to identify parts, rubber bands used to help hold it
all together, temporarily.
A Blake Lively / Taylor Swift
Moment Anyone good at lip-reading? This
screen-grab was captured early in Sunday's SB-58, 2nd Q after KC went
3-and-out twice ... but it appears the Chiefs may finally be running on all
cylinders ... 52-yd completion (QB Patrick Mahomes to Mecole Hardman)
the CBS camera-person captured the following fan reaction ... Taylor Swift
and side-kick Blake Lively.
posted 02.13.24
More info: Link to
"Tall Paul Preview"
Never Guess What Mike's Obsessing Over, Now ... 3 Guesses . .
.
Yep, Mike's quite delighted this season with the play by two local football
teams: the Detroit Lions and the
Wolverines of University of Michigan. During my current stay here on planet Earth, the
Detroit Lions have
had 19 head coaches (not counting interim coaches like Dick Jauron, Darrell Bevell and Robert Prince) ... how many of these guys do you recall? Buddy Parker,
George Wilson, Harry Gilmer, Joe Schmidt, Don McCafferty, Rick Forzano, Tommy Hudspeth, Monte Clark, Darryl Rogers, Wayne Fontes, Bobby Ross, Gary Moeller, Marty Mornhinweg, Steve Mariucci, Rod Marinelli, Jim Schwartz, Jim Caldwell, Matt Patricia, and now Dan Campbell. Collectively these fella's amassed 451 wins over 1,027 games
... which for the math whiz in the crowd, represents a win/loss record of
just .439143%. During that span (1951-2023) seven Lions squads
qualified for the NFL playoffs ... coaches Fontes & Parker each enjoyed 2
post-season games ... 14 of the coaches never lead the Lions to the
playoffs. Parker & Wilson lead the team to win NFL Championships (1952
1953, and 1957). Since then: goose-egg. None. Na-da.
Flop-ola. So it is with great interest to be watching the Lions win
their division this season and also victorious in their 1st playoff game.
The University of Michigan Wolverines have enjoyed greater success on
the field - but no national championship since 1997 ... 27-yrs ago.
Love the way they won too - a collective team effort with balanced pass &
running offense schemes. My hunch is that coach Jim Harbaugh will bail
... opting for the NFL rather than dealing with NCAA hassles over possible
rules violations. Oh well. Things never stay the same for
long - I'm just delighted over the fabulous seasons both teams gave us fans
to enjoy! (Detroit Lions logo above was used by the ball club
when Mike was but a little fellow ... 1952 to 1960. The Maize-n-blue
Wolverines from University of Michigan used the above wolverine cub sporting
a Popeye The Sailorman-style cap 1948 to 1964.) posted 01.17.24
Evidence: not
everything can be replicated with wood
Failed attempt to replace
missing jigsaw puzzle piece with hand-cut hunk of scrap wood
solution: Mike figured: why not craft the missing pieces
from little scraps of wood? (This is the stage of the story where
audio engineers work feverishly to insert "man-at-work" sounds as metal
tools clang in the background, the "Jeopardy" theme-song plays quietly in
the foreground.) In just a few minutes time Mike produces the
prototype wooden puzzle replacement piece.
outcome: Louise glances at Mike's rough wooden puzzle piece
which was quickly handmade by tracing the void to a slip of scrap-paper, and
then taping said paper hunk to a chunk of wood. Presto-change-o ...
Mike proudly holds up the piece to inspect ... but when placed into the
completed puzzle the "fit" is hardly snug. Mike thinks: back to the
drawing board ... Louise says: "fear not erstwhile wood-crafter hubby.
Buffalo Games is sending us a coupon for a new puzzle." Sweet.
We May Need A
Larger Bookshelf
next. As mentioned below, one hot
new book in our library is Rachel Maddow's
Prequel: An American Fight Against Fascism ... which expanded upon her 8-segment podcast known
as Ultra. It's a vital
American history story that is sadly not well known - but oughta' be ...
because it deals with a series of events very much like we're experiencing
today with the Trump inspired MAGA right-wing radicals and their
assorted disinformation campaign(s).
Prior to World War II a large portion of Americans were not interested in
defending Europe from the advances of Hitler's Nazi Germany. Some
isolationists were just tired of America fighting any wars
(having just slogged thru WW1 but a few yrs prior) - while another
faction of Americans actually sought to destroy democracy in favor of a more
authoritarian-style of government. There was also a large, vocal group
of citizens and members of Congress as well as members of various law
enforcement personnel (from the FBI, down to local police) who agreed with
the German efforts to eradicate the world's Jewish population.
Anti-Semites. Maddow's Ultra podcast series and her book,
Prequel, traces the fight to preserve American
democracy back to World War II, when a handful of committed public servants
and brave private citizens thwarted far-right plotters trying to steer our
nation toward an alliance with the Nazis. Investigators even went to
Germany to interview Nazi's there who orchestrated many of the efforts that
were employed in America by Hitler's Nazi government. Many of the
charges involved some 28 member of Congress - some of whom were actually
paid by Germany to disperse propaganda directed toward American citizens.
Many of the tactics used back in the 30's and 40's are quite similar to
those being used today by the MAGA Republicans, and the sad part of Maddow's
historical summary is that the right-wing actually prevailed. Even
with overwhelming evidence, the 28 insurrectionists charged with sedition from the 40's all got
off. They beat the wrap! Washington Post, in reviewing Maddow's book, says:
"The trial was such a failure that most of us don’t know that the politics of the era were far more divisive than
Greatest Generation mythologies would have us believe.
It’s hard to point to exactly where the Great Sedition Trial failed, but the details Maddow presents are galling."
Fearing that something similar is happening right now with delay after delay
in the assorted legal proceedings Donald Trump faces ... and the hypocrisy
demonstrated by Republicans in Congress (Senate & House leaders, McConnell
and McCarthy, flip-flopping on holding Trump accountable) ... I'll admit I'm
worried that history is about to repeat itself.
The lead prosecutor in the sedition cases from the 40's was a skilled
prosecutor from the Department of Justice named: O. John Rogge.
When the actual cases against the 28 charged with various crimes including
sedition ended the DOJ opted to not renew the charges ... but Rogge
continued his investigation including travel to Germany to interview Nazi's
arrested & imprisoned after WWII. The attorney general at that time
assured Rogge that a final report would be issued to ensure the American
people had all the facts. Trouble is, President Truman had other ideas
- he did not want to see his former pals in Congress exposed for their dirty
deeds ... and the report was frozen - put on ice - buried. It
took Rogge several years but in 1961 he published a book summarizing his
findings. "The Official German Report"
by former assistant attorney general O. John Rogge is my next book to read
and study. Stay tuned; likely I'll have comments on that material,
too.
posted early on the 5th of February 2024.
A healthy blend of
politics/current events + sports ... lots of sports!
The latest: The
Undefeated - the Oklahoma Sooners and the Greatest Winning Streak in college
football ... Dent focused on head coach
"Bud" Wilkinson who lead the Sooners from 1948 - 1963 posting
an amazing record of 145–29–4 (college). Wilkinson's teams won
3 national championships (1950, 1955–1956), and were conference champs
14 times. Much of the book focused on "the streak" mentioned in the
title ... there actually were 2 streaks but the longest
streak was 47 consecutive victories. The streak began in 1953 spanned
most of that season, 1954, 1955, 1956, and most of 1957 - losing only to
Notre Dame that year 7-0. Wilkinson's Sooners also enjoyed a 31 game
win streak (1948-50). on-deck.
Having enjoyed the Michigan High School football
championships (all 8 divisions) plus a healthy dose of college football
games (U of M, CMU
& a few MSU) and of course, the Detroit Lions record breaking division
championship season ... I'm ready to dive right back into heavy political
discussion that I anticipate in Rachel Maddow's
Prequel.
I swear Louise must have been the first person in our zip code to buy
the book! A year ago Maddow hosted an 8-part podcast called
Ultra
about "Great Sedition Trial of 1944" which was a real eye-opener for me ...
as I'm a bit of a history buff and I do not recall ever hearing this
American political news story.
As the
Ultra podcast explained
our current political situation is quite similar to a series of events
dating back to our pre-WW2 era: "Sitting members of Congress aiding and abetting a plot to overthrow the government. Insurrectionists criminally charged with plotting to end American democracy for good.
Justice Department prosecutors under crushing political pressure."
[Spoiler alert: if you don't want to know the
outcome of
Ultra ...
stop reading this article now.] For the remainder of us who are
paying attention - the radical right-wing extremists got away with it.
Seriously. There were several people murdered, and too many plot
twists to summarize here. If it sounds remotely interesting, I advise
you listen to the podcast; here's a link
to 8 individual episodes at MSNBC's website which offers bonus pictures and sample documents.
Or, if accessing streaming podcasts is not a viable option for you, see the
links below [More Things Ultra] ... we have
the mp3 files for episodes 1 thru 8 loaded right here on the server you're
already connected to if you are reading this. The average length of Maddow's
Ultra podcasts: about 45 minutes. Please note: Maddow's production
company sold (and hopefully profited from) the few ads included in each
podcast ... Mike does not benefit in any way (from these ads) other than
being enriched with the knowledge & information from the entire series.
So flash forward some 80+ years and we find that the
majority of republican voters in this country actually believe Trump's BIG
LIE bullshit. From what I understand, Maddow
became so engrossed by the story that her
Ultra podcast revealed, she decided to
expand the topic even further with this new book:
Prequel. I know I will enjoy reading the new book
and learning even more about our fractured history, which will undoubtedly
elevate my blood pressure even higher while watching the Nightly News
regarding the latest crap from the MAGA republicans who deny the
truth (that Joe Biden beat Trump in 2020 by over 7 million votes). We've been thru much of this before.
For many of
us, the lessons of the past make it that much more important that we expose
and prosecute the perpetrators of the BIG LIE and Trump's hoaxes that our elections
are "rigged". You can be sure I'll have more to share about
Prequel as I get
into the book. posted 01.13.24 (BTW: happy New Year!) breaking news handy - Listen now or download the podcasts to listen at your convenience:
Hope to finish this one today
Stools. So far this year Mike's
jovial focus in his workshop has been on stools. Listen
carefully and you too can hear the guy: "hey, let's build a stool." (see
article below ... just a few inches South) Red oak seat - check cracks filled with blue tinted epoxy ... how thick,
you ask? About 2¼"
thick and roughly 12" in diameter. Legs made from de-barked Buckthorn. (Why
buckthorn? a.) is really strong ... and b.) it's free to Mike -
plentiful on his property at HighPoint. The plywood spacer that looks like a big + with a
hole in center is Mike's attempt to encourage legs to follow a specific path
(splay = 5-degrees). And yes, it's temporary - it'll be removed this
afternoon when the seat gets glued-up. The "cross over/under" stretchers is an attempt to
modify the design ... "Dare to try something a little different," Mike says. After the glue dries, the 2nd to last step in this
Stool build out naturally is to apply General Finishes
Arm-R-Seal
oil-based topcoat. posted 01.28.24 ... just hours before the resurgent
Detroit Lions take the field vs. the 49'ers of San Fran.
Update: 01.30.24 ...
just as a few inches of fresh snow fall on us here in Michigan, comforting
us in our loss to the 49'ers ... the stool is being "finished" and now has a
name!
It's what we do. (sure
beats standing in a long line at some bigger box store!)
Regular readers of this 'blog-like' webpage likely know Mike's a bit
obsessed with stools. Portable, moveable seating. A few months
ago, after building a 'shave horse' Mike finally was able to tackle a
project he's wanted to complete for years: making a short 'milking stool' (flashback
link). The shave horse really helps hold round stock like the
stool legs when they are being debarked and shaped to fit. Assembly?
Mike's learned to use good old fashioned 'mortise & tenon' joinery and decided to call the quirky little seat: "Brooks" 'cuz
of the bowed legs - reminiscent of James Whitmore's character Brooks
Hatlen in
The
Shawshank Redemption (librarian who famously
hobbled about the prison pushing his cart of books to inmates in their cell). Next, Mike built a taller 4-legged stool that he's named "Andy"... sticking
with the Shawshank theme ... Tim Robbins' character Andy Dufresne who's a
tall, lanky sort of fellow. (Yep,
another flashback link.)
So now with a 3rd stool coming out of Mike's dust filled workshop, Mike's
pleased to dub this one: "Red" to commemorate Morgan Freeman's character in
the same movie: Ellis Boyd 'Red' Redding. Why, you ask?
The wooden seat is crafted from a slice of a red
oak tree trunk which fell in the woods, not far from Mike's house.
Legs are made from sections of the invasive Buckthorn, a deciduous woody shrub or small tree
found all over Mike's property. The heartwood of a Buckthorn is
reddish-orange ... and sorta' resembles the
color of Donald Trump's hair. So, red + red = RED.
Bet you can never guess what Mike's working on now? Yep, you're
right. Another stool. posted with pride just one day after
Christmas! 12/26/23
Check that, Mike - it's s'posed
to be Head ... feed your head. Anyway,
it's Strudel Time! Episode 8
Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow, released in 1967 was
among the first rock music albums my brothers and I owned.
Likely, big brother Pat picked it up - he played guitar and was/is musically
talented. I'm not ... but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy tunes of all
sorts: jazz, rock, folk ... toss in some big-band pieces for diversity.
Any way today's segment of Strudel Time has roots all the way
back to 1967 ... when I still had hair on my head. (Say, what is this strudel business?
Ah, good question; it's my shorthand to describe a tasty treat in layers ... like a fine pastry
... which BTW, Louise baked this week, but now I'm really veering off
course.) Favorite tune from the album? Hands-down, it's: White Rabbit
... and for 56-yrs I had the lyrics wrong. (Link
to Grace's original rendition.) My brain thought Grace
Slick, the writer of White Rabbit, was singing "feed your hare".
Like so many paths one takes exploring on the internet I'm not sure how I
got this, but somehow I stumbled upon the correct lyrics, and several neat
renditions of White Rabbit by various artists. For theatrics I like
one rendition performed by Molly Tuttle and Golden Highway - a musical group
... dressed in Alice In Wonderland costumes. Molly is playing
the lead, dressed as the Queen of Hearts. Other bandmates are dressed
as Alice, the Mad Hatter, Cheshire Cat, White Rabbit, and a Hooka Smoking
Caterpillar. (Actually I never saw the rabbit ... but the grinning bass
player, Shelby Lee Means, is a hoot & obviously having a blast. Check
'em out (link
to Tuttle's band on YouTube). Naturally after watching these video clips, YouTube suggested other
opportunities to gobble-up more of my time ... and one of their suggestions
really tickled me: The Toronto NewChoir as they are known. (Yep,
another link.) My brain tends to associate more traditional musical
selections from a choir ... instead, they're singing: One pill makes you larger,
And one pill makes you small.
And the ones that mother gives you
Don't do anything at all; Go ask Alice
When she's ten feet tall;
And if you go chasing rabbits;
And you know you're going to fall;
Tell 'em a hookah-smoking caterpillar
Has given you the call;
Call Alice
When she was just small;
When the men on the chessboard;
Get up and tell you where to go.
And you've just had some kind of mushroom;
And your mind is moving low.
Go ask Alice.
I think she'll know.
When logic and proportion, have fallen sloppy dead.
And the White Knight is talking backwards.
And the Red Queen's off with her head. Update (12/21/23) - It's a process: exploring, learning. After
posting the above yesterday I stumbled upon more info, learnin' new stuff.
'twas news to me anyway: Previous Strudel episodes: №
1,
2,
3,
4,
5,
6,
7
I'm fortunate to have a series of journals that my father maintained
throughout his military service with near daily notations about where he served,
promotions, and personal finance - like who owed him a buck or how much he
spent on snacks, meals, personal care products. He tried to account
for literally every cent. Example on May 24th, 1943: "coke 05¢;
haircut 35¢; and 60¢ paid for someone to sew his new 'suntan stripes' on his lightweight summer uniform.
After the war Dad went into broadcasting: radio (WJR) and television (WXYZ)
and set out to raise a family with Grace. His rich life ended far too
early - Dad died of a brain tumor in '72 at age 51.
posted 12.08.23 ... 82-years after the U.S. entered World War II. Congress
had just declared war against Imperial Japan, a day after the attack on Pearl Harbor.
More pictures of Ralph Dawson and his WW2 experiences can be seen in
Scan-A-Slide, Mike's collection of family photos.
We
move indoors, silly. Besides
wrapping gifts and playing with a jigsaw puzzle loaned to us by my
sister-in-law books. Resurrection: The Miracle Season That Saved Notre Dame ...
by Jim Dent. In 1964 I was 11-yrs old when Notre Dame selected Ara Parseghian
to be their varsity football head coach — and it was now his responsibility to rebuild the once-proud program and teach the Fighting Irish how to win again.
I've become quite a fan of Jim Dent's books ... Monster Of The Midway
was my first of Dent's biographies - its a great story about the amazing
one-man wrecking crew in college and pro football:
Bronko Nagurski. Since I am tearing
thru Resurrection, Louise gave me an early Christmas gift: Liz Cheney's
Oath
and Honor. I appreciated her work on the House Select Committee
investigating the January 6th, 2021 insurrection. I listened to, and
watched, multiple interviews with Cheney on various newsy shows like Terry
Gross and Fresh Air on NPR ... and look forward to learning more about what
she sees as a vital threat to our nation and our government.
stools. Multi-tasking in
workshop this past month making a few
Christmas gifts ... and crafting 3 sets of legs (4 each) out of some thin
Buckthorn tree trunks. They're just under 2" in diameter ... 25-27"
tall. After Louise & I retrieve the thorn encrusted stock, I use our
homemade shave horse to debark the Buckthorn & whittle 'em down to a common
diameter. The seats will be made from slabs from a fallen Red Oak in
our woods ... the 12" round discs (aka: "cookies") have developed a few
significant checks or, cracking as wood dries and shrinks ... which I have
filled with epoxy just as we did on previous stool projects.
posted 12.08.23
Says Louise - but what's the topic?
gator port
update - those who recall seeing
previous articles (below) about
the Gator Port we built this month may be interested to know
that we enhanced the railings. How so? Well, we added a post,
cutting the span in half. Now each section of the railing is 6-feet.
Mike used his handy
shave horse to de-bark the sections of buckthorn ... their diameter
ranges from 3¼
to 2¾ inches ... before adding the post the thin
railings were, shall we say, rather springy. Not
"GoodPlanet secure" Mike says. And, Louise helped craft
the traditional mortise & tenons to ensure a nice, tight joint.
Louise says: "The post enhances the railing. It
is like the post was always meant to be there." Nice.
And get this: Mike's got an idea for a "post-topper"
which is nothing like a PO-stopper. "Don't be silly," Mike says.
"I've got an idea ... we'll see if it ever germinates into a full, blooming
reality." Mike admits that many ideas that trickle out of his goofy
head "never get off the ground, Orville." (An obvious wink & nod to
the Wright Brothers.) "Some of my BEST ideas are laying on the cutting
room floor." Stay tuned. posted with a smile on 10.30.23
Louise wants to call the stool: "Andy". Read on ...
[We thrive on projects.]
A
few weeks ago this webpage introduced the 4-legged stool Mike was making
from wood salvaged right here on our property. The seat is a slab of
red oak, the legs are sections of buckthorn, an invasive plant prevalent
along the trails at HighPoint. The first project of this sort
mentioned a month or so below was a 3-legged stool was named "Brooks"
for the character in Shawshank Redemption played by James Whitmore.
(So named 'cuz the bowed legs reminded Mike of the gnarly, seasoned librarian
seen in the movie as he pushed his cart of books around the prison.)
Anyway, Louise said this taller 4-legged stool oughta' be known as "Andy" ...
yep, we're sticking with the Shawshank theme ... Andy would be the lanky
Andy Dufresne played brilliantly by Tim Robbins. Just for fun here's a
Link
to audio clip from movie & the opera Andy broadcast over the prison P.A.
system prompted. Andy's friend Red (played by Morgan Freeman) says: “I have no idea to this day what those two Italian ladies were singing about. Truth is, I don’t want to know. Some things are better left unsaid. I’d like to think they were singing about something so beautiful, it can’t expressed in words, and it makes your heart ache because of it.”
Mike gets a similar warm-fuzzy, satisfied feeling working on these projects.
The cracks on the seat - normal "checking" that happens as wood dries - was
filled with a dark blue epoxy mixture (in hopes that the crack would not
continue or split further).
So what's with the book: "Courage Beyond The Game"? 'twas a
recent anniversary gift from Louise ... a biographical glimpse of Univ. of
Texas football star Freddie Steinmark who battled bone cancer. Louise
knows I enjoy the works of Jim Dent ... mostly sports related ... 1/2-way
thru the book and Mike's giving it a solid "thumbs up".
project watch.
(... the latest from HighPoint) 1.
24" inch high stool crafted from wood harvested right here on our property
... sitting on Mike's workbench, up-side-down. Why up-side-down?
Well, Mike's plotting the location and splay of stool-legs, and in doing
so, he's decided the gnarly Buckthorn leg furthest right has a bit too much
bend, and will be replaced today with a straighter section. Fear not,
fellow frugal minded folks, that curved leg will find it's way into one of
the next stool projects ... Mike's thinking there could be several more in
the works. The seat (which again, is still up-side-down) is made from
Red Oak ... a "cookie" ... a simple 2" thick cross-cut hunk of a trunk from
a fallen tree ... with it's edges left natural. Cross-members that
Mike is carving right now out of another section of Buckthorn will be added,
mortise-n-tenon style, for support. The Oak seat has some serious
checking - on a previous milking stool project a "butterfly" was crafted
from a piece of walnut in hopes we'd stop the crack right in it's tracks.
The jury is still out on that approach, so on this stool the plan is to fill
the cracks with epoxy. Then it's legs will be trimmed, and the entire
stool will be sanded before finishing with
Arm-R-Seal our favorite oil based top-coat product.
2.
Stool-making is fun but we know the value of diversity ... so besides
washing windows (and dishes), mowing/fertilizing the lawn, and getting the
snow plow ready for service ... Mike finally tackled one of Rachel Maddow's
books: Blowout. 'twas a gift for Louise when it came out
in 2019 just as the Trump reign of terror was winding down, and she highly
recommended that I read it. Glad she did 'cuz I found the book to be
fascinating, and well researched. Blowout highlights the impact
of the global oil & gas industry ... and the effect is has on our economy,
politics, and environment. Climate Change Deniers (as well as the rest
of normal society) should read it. Some readers asked if the Harry Nilsson piece below was actually another
in the series of Strudel Works? (You know, that tasty treat in layers ... like a fine pastry!
Yummy.)
My short answer is no. It was another plea to get the boy inducted
into the Rock-n-Roll Hall of Fame, where he deserves to be. But the
question does invite another installment of this beloved series: episode 7 ... today's focus: an interesting tune written and recorded by
Steve Winwood
back in 1980. Those sporting a touch of grey may recall Winwood played
with Blind Faith, the Spencer Davis Group, and was a founding
member of Traffic (Low Spark of High Heeled Boys).
"While You See A Chance". How many versions of this song have we
uncovered? Well, there's Winwood & 3 added variations on our playlist
- all 4 are particularly pleasant:
Joe Cocker,
Petula Clark, and Anthony Bonsera,
and of course Steve Winwood. The Bonsera rendition is becoming my favorite - though on any given day
of the week I'd probably give you a different response. Never heard of
Tony Bonsera? Well, grasshopper, Anthony Bonsera is a respected musician
(trumpet) and composer. He's also a college professor, and interesting
fellow. Today he leads a
small group known as Los Angeles Classic Rock Orchestra. What I
like most about Tony's rendition is a slight change in the lyrics ... he
dropped "fake it" after urging the listeners to "find romance".
Because, after all, it is all on you ... your responsibility.
When some cold tomorrow finds you ... some sad old dream reminds you ... no
one left to leave you? Nuttin' can deserve you? (Wish the Trump
voters would come to this realization.) Enjoy all
servings of Strudel, today. Previously: one,
two,
three (non-musical),
four,
five, and
six. 10.13.23 Do Ya' Think We Oughta' Get The Name
Trademarked (™)?
So that's another typically long-winded intro Mike apparently picked up from
watching way too many Rachel Maddow episodes ... or, maybe Mike's interest in
story telling stems from listening to a few too many Ernie Harwell or
Vin Scully broadcasts of major league
baseball games when he was a kid. In any case, a couple years ago Mike
& Louise bought a John Deere Gator ... a quirky 4-wheel drive utility
vehicle that's become a vital component to life at HighPoint. The
Gator loves chores as much as Mike-n-Louise ... hauling, pulling, cruising.
And it's gotta' get parked somewhere ... no room in the 2-car garage ('cuz 2
vehicles have "no cut contracts" which clearly state: HighPointe vehicles
shall hereby be garaged and not left rotting in the rain & snow). And,
whoever designed the 'shed' mentioned in multiple articles below,
purposely designed it to be small ... hence its name: shed (vs.
POLE BARN). Nope, no room there. What's the solution for keeping snow drifts and rain water and falling leaves
off a Gator? We hope this lean-to-style Gator Port could be
just the ticket ... adjacent to the
2-car garage (see photos). Louise posted a picture a few days ago
on Facebook of Mike digging the holes for post supports ...
Oh the joy! posted 09.30.23
Avoid
Attention Distraction: Stay Busy indictment watch.
It's going to take many months before the nation gets past the series of
indictments brought against the insurrectionists who sought to over-turn the
will of the people, so we've figured out how to cope: we stay informed and
busy. (Instant recall: grandmother repeating one of her favorite
sayings about "idle hands".) Louise's multiple interests in fiber arts, photography, nature, puzzles
and cat named Otis, her new constant companion. The picture, right,
highlights my recent activities: Stay tuned, and stay informed! Popularity Fleeting. Serious
Omissions, Dubious Inductees
music. It had not dawned on me before reading in
USA Today that Ian Anderson and his band Jethro Tull has never been
invited into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I find it to be odd that a
musical group that has performed through seven decades would not be charter
members in the Hall ... and equally curious to me that the writer of
Aqualung, Thick As A Brick, and A Passion Play seems not to care. At
least outwardly Anderson claims to not care. "Quaint though it may seem, America is a little isolated pocket of the universe that only thinks of itself. The rest of the world is where I work most of the time," he's quoted saying
in the Gannett news article.
Perhaps Ian Anderson has reviewed the list of
previous inductees and figured some bands just are not in the same vaulted
class as Jethro Tull. I would agree. Consider if you will my short list of questionable
rock-n-roll HOF inductees: There are tons of examples - but I'll stop there
before I get accused of attacking the R&B artists honored in Cleveland.
My real focus this morning is on those true rock artists, musicians, writers
and performers who are NOT enshrined in the Rock Hall of Fame. Besides Ian Anderson and his Jethro Tull bandmates,
how about Harry Nilsson? Singer, songwriter, performer Harry
Nilsson wrote tunes that have been used in some of America's most popular
movies (Forest Gump, Contact, Goodfellas, The Addams Family,
Midnight Cowboy,
You've Got Mail,
and more). Harry even wrote The Point - songs and movie and TV special.
Heck, he even created Oblio & Arrow! Recommended Listening:
Let's Put Harry In The Hall - a
performance by 30 of Harry's pals back in 2015.
books.
The other day I mentioned re-reading a childhood fav:
The Little Engine That Could (below)
but it's just one of several books I've recently consumed. The latest:
Zero Fail by Carol Leonnig, Pulitzer Prize winning writer,
explores the history and recent breakdowns with our Secret Service ... this
is the book I shoulda' been reading when Louise & I traveled for the first
time since the pandemic altered all of our lives. I opted to hijack
Louise's copy of Team of Rivals thinking that Zero Fail
may be a bit too dry to carry me through our pending road-trip. I
thoroughly enjoyed Doris Kearns Goodwin's biographical review of Abe
Lincoln's diverse selections by naming former rivals to his cabinet, just as
I enjoyed Leonnig's book. Carol has reported on the Secret Service for
a couple of decades and is well connected with agency responsible for
protecting our President and key government officials and visiting
dignitaries. It's a huge ask, and one that with no margin for error.
(Think JFK, Dealey Plaza Dallas, 1963.) Some of the other books I've recently read: Weapons
of Mass Delusion by Robert Draper, and a few sporting books by Jim Dent: The Junction Boys and
Twelve Mighty Orphans: The Inspiring True Story of the Mighty Mites Who Ruled Texas Football,
and a biography of baseball legend Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner. I'm glad to have the time to read more. Saying that reminds me of a scene
in The Godfather movie, where Don Vito Corleone is
talking with son Michael while relaxing is his backyard, nursing a glass of red wine and talking mafia strategy. “I like shed. When weather permits we've spent a bit of time on a smattering of projects ... including
repainting/staining our shed. When built 2-yrs ago we always planned on
giving the structure a 2nd coat ... so when it's dry enough, we cleaned &
caulked & re-stained. Louise wanted the doors to match the brilliant
red front door on the main house, just a slight improvement from the
original pumpkin color (shown below).
The color also is quite similar to the red toaster in the
picture above showing the books I've read so far this year.
We're having fun learning. To quote Steve Winwood from his tune
While You See A Chance: Stand up in a clear blue morning
While you see a chance, take it
posted with pride: 07.24.23 A few of my favorite keepsakes are books that
captivated my imagination as a youth and likely influenced the sort of
person I could become. The books were some of the earliest forms of
motivational thinking that I can recall while growing up. I began to
ponder these books after completing several interior decorating
projects ... painting, new carpet ... repeatedly shelves of books in
our living room and den were moved and more than once I paused and read a
bit. It had been years since I gave the books so much as
a glance. So with fresh eyes I'm finding the books to be cool, and in amazing condition for their age and the abuse we gave 'em
as kids. Big Ball of String, Raggedy Andy Stories, Little Brown Bear (which does have water damage),
While re-reading thru a few I'll admit, I got choked-up a bit … recalling the time spent reading 'em, and the emotions they generated back then. The stories are great but so are the many illustrations that I likely dwelled upon for hours. For example,
in the Big Ball of String the book's colored pencil illustrations by Marion Holland
captivated my mind and attention I recall inspecting the drawings and the details they revealed. The Little Engine That Could inspired
a bit of "can-do spirit" in young Mike. "I think I can, I think I
can," said the Little Blue Train Engine, who had just been
recruited to rescue a train full of kids and toys. "Will you pull
us over the mountain?
posted on this 18th day of the hottest month on
record (July 2023), just 10-days before what-woulda-been Mom's 99th birthday
(07.28.1924).
At Last:
Mike's Shave Horse Is Finished Building project kept getting "bumped" by
other projects
When a beautiful Red Oak had to be cut down to build
a shed (see below) ... Mike
vowed he'd make good use of all the wood! A friendly guy with a portable
sawmill helped mill several sections of the tree trunk into usable lumber,
in a variety of thicknesses. We used some of the wood to build a
bridge, and dozens of benches, and picture frames, and other misc items.
And now that Mike's drawknife has a scary sharp edge, it's time to make a
Shave Horse! The rough design and material was selected last fall, but
then other projects bumped the Shave Horse to the end of the line.
"Got painting to do ... and repair garage door, etc." But as the calendar flipped forward to June & we're
well into our summer heat wave, Mike figured it's time to get back to the
project. The design was gleaned from multiple sources online, and
besides the wood, all materials needed were salvaged from past projects. A
hunk of steel re-bar became the pivot point, a pair of old hinges allows the
Shave Horse height to be adjustable. Even the knob on the side of the
main work-surface was carved out of a piece of Red Oak. About the only
store-bought item required: a simple steel "hitch-pin" for about a buck.
Before applying the beautiful oil finish ("Arm-r-Seal" from General
Finishes) ... Mike was showing off the finished Shave Horse a few days ago and
Louise captured a short video which she posted on Facebook ... just to be
fair, Mike captured a video of Louise trying out the Shave Horse.
Videos can be accessed here >
Link to Mike's video ... Link to Louise's
video. posted 07.09.23
"To be ignorant of the past is to be forever a child" Author of the above quote highlighted in
Goodbye Mr. Chips
So, it would be fair to say that I find history most
fascinating. Not long ago my best friend, pal & spouse, Louise picked
up Doris Kearns Goodwin's Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.
Louise is a voracious reader, often with multiple books in progress ... so
when the Lincoln biography sat, collecting dust, I stepped up to the plate
and asked: "mind if read it?" We were preparing for our first trip
outside of our home county in 2+ yrs and I needed some fresh reading
material having just finished the biography on baseball legend Honus Wagner
... it never occurred to Mike that he'd be dominating control of Lincoln for
awhile ... Goodwin's tome spans 700+ pages. Even after taking "speed
reading" courses in college, Mike's a pokey reader, but that may be, in this
case, 'cuz Doris' book is filled with so many "I did not know
that"
moments.
Well, I am proud to say after 5-weeks, I finally
nailed it ... finished it, and enjoying fresh new insights in our nation's
history and the similarities with today's political nonsense. Example,
Goodwin dug us a quote from Civil War General William T. Sherman, who
reportedly said of Lincoln, several years after his assassination:
"Of all the men I've met, he
seemed to possess more of the elements of greatness, combined with goodness,
than any other." One other historical note on this 4th day of July ... for just $3,498
you, too, could be the proud owner of the first Corvette sports cars created
by Chevrolet in 1953. See the USA. (Mike was about
one-week old when the 'vette rolled out of the production center in Flint,
MI.) Just 300 of 'em were made that first year. Ah, history
... helps keep my brain engaged ... or, to quote Cicero: "A home without books is a body without soul." (Postea vero quam Tyrannio mihi libros disposuit, mens addita videtur meis aedibus). Happy 4th of July, America! And thank-you Joe Biden for all you've done
to rescue our country.
Creating drinking water 'from thin air' Solar hydropanel captures 10 liters (daily) of clean drinking water out of the air per day
You see, I'm a big
believer that the world has plenty of issues that need attention and action
... and I am betting that folks have similar lists on their
brains - other stuff that may be broken and needs attention. Example:
instead of 24/7 "news alert" coverage of the assorted trials of Trump,
or the next presidential election (Nov. 5, 2024 ... 493 days from now) ...
whaddya' say we get to work on a few other nagging issues like our
record heat wave, or the smoke from Canadian wildfires blanketing states
like Michigan? Two days ago the Detroit
News reported: "Detroit has world's worst air quality".
[cough, cough] There are plenty of 'hot issues' currently facing our world ... right now: Russian
invasion into Ukraine (with assorted acts of war crimes); or, consider
Sudanese Civil War raging right now in
Africa's largest country where nearly 1,000 civilians have died in the
past 2 months. If you'd prefer to focus on matters closer to home
there are a number of issues we can explore, such as the growing white
supremacy movement in the US of
A. Or, how about clearing the air over assorted anti-vaccination
attitudes? How 'bout women's reproductive health, library book bans,
LGBTQ attacks,
or GOP platform of disinformation? Our Department of Justice appears to finally have multiple investigations
of the Donald's assorted dirty deeds ... so can we move ahead, move forward.
We don't need a daily rant just because some people have turned this
political stuff into an industry. Nah. Follow the advise of
Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac:
go your own way (or, 'you can call it
another lonely day'.) So - as mentioned, I heard a neat story on NPR that I think is
noteworthy: these folks are making clean drinking water out of thin air!
It's not a 'pipedream' or wish-list or another sketchy scheme with a near impossibility
of coming to fruition. And the company that is making it happen is
Source® based
in Scottsdale, AZ. Source® has developed a system that is generating water in
people's homes who previously had none. (No water well, no municipal
water service.) Source® has systems
available today for
residential service and larger community/commercial applications utilizing sustainable
technology that uses the power of the sun to extract an endless volume of
clean, reliable drinking water from the air. A solar powered
hydropanel ... simply amazing. posted with delight and good cheer 06.30.23
scoot. The other day we picked up a
gift for a relative who lives in Michigan's Upper Peninsula: an electric
scooter. Naturally ... we captured a video clip of Louise who was eager to take
the scooter for a test-run. It's rather slick -
top speed: 18 to 20 mph and will go-go-go for about 10-hours on a
charge. See Louise, rolling along
>
tool. A few days ago I posted
several photos Louise has captured over the past few years that she affectionately
calls her
"men-at-work" series ... a collection of photos of hard working
folks, typically in black-n-white. And since I tend to be readily
accessible, and often working on some sort of project that can involve dirt, a goodly number of the pictures
Louise captures are of me. Not the most
flattering poses but I do realize which side my French toast is buttered
(and by whom) so I don't voice any objections. Seriously, the photos have a
nice artistic quality to 'em ... and you too can see what I'm talking 'bout
... 'cuz I posted a sampling of her work on
Scan-A-Slide,
our family's cyber-based collection of photos.
Photography
has become one of many hobbies that Louise e
book. Our book selection keeps growing
... which I can attest to because we just had to move 'em all a few months
ago during our assorted interior painting projects. The latest
addition to the sports section of our library is Junction Boys
a biography of Paul "Bear" Bryant - legendary college football
coach. Subtitle: "How Ten Days in Hell with Bear Bryant Forged a Championship Team." Louise gave me the book a while back
knowing that I had read and liked work by the author, sports journalist Jim
Dent. It was an interesting read ... but my opinion of Bryant tanked
after reading about some of his unsavory training practices. He
literally put the lives and health of student athletes in extreme danger
during his reign of terror at Texas A&M in the early 1950's. I
reflected back to the training equipment and facilities we had in Oscoda
where I played high school ball ... we toiled on a sandy patch of earth
which was challenging, to say the least. But water and occasional
breaks were not intentionally withheld "to toughen" us up, as Bryant did as
he whipped his team of Texans into shape. Louise's
"at work" photo series
Photography
has become one of many hobbies that Louise enjoys - her focused subject
matter changes nearly as often our weather here in Michigan. Often.
On any given day her camera lens may be capturing birds. Or other
wildlife ... tomorrow she may be exploring plants, or insects, or just about
any project or task that may be going on near her. Like when our
neighbors had their asphalt pavement patched. CLICK. CLICK,
CLICK. Or when we had gutters replaced on our home. CLICK.
Louise has only had this latest fixation to capture
people on the job the
past few years since liberating herself from the retail business trade that
was her life since she was a teenager. Time. She now has more of
it to pursue a variety of interests, and she's loving it.
The other
day we had s'more mulch delivered and for the 3rd time in less than a year a
woman: Daneed Fick skillfully kept her truck on the driveway
pavement (and not making ruts in our lawn). We appreciate that.
Since we are often tackling lots of chores and projects around home by
ourselves, many of her favorite Men At Work pictures depict Mike
toiling, digging, building, sweating. She could probably sell much of
her work to Proctor & Gamble to use on their Tide laundry detergent
ads. So I decided to add another album here on Scan-A-Slide, our
collection of family photos ... devoted to Louise's creative gritty
photographic work. Check it out when time allows ... here's a handy
link
... or, click the "photos" link at top of this page and look for the icon
above that I created for her work. posted 04.16.23 NBC-TV golf analyst
Gary Koch famously described a putt by Tiger Woods to be "better than
most" as the ball rolled 60+ feet down a slope, ball curving left than right
... and then one final revolution as the ball
dropped into the cup for a birdie on the famed island green, the 17th hole
at the 2001 Players Championship. Woods won the tournament by
one-stroke, but our memories get skewed over time. The famed "better
than most" putt happened in the 3rd, not the final, round. About
5-years ago I stumbled upon a cute little diner on Fenton Rd., Flint called
Kristal Jo's Diner ... what caught my attention was their slogan neatly painted on
the front window of their narrow restaurant: "sort of good food". I
liked the self deprecating vibe.
So yesterday while digging thru a drawer in search of a particular
matchbook I may have possibly saved from my college era, 47-yrs ago.
You see, Patti - a long-time friend from college - saw a photo of a simple
matchbook posted on Facebook for a place she once worked at in Mt. Pleasant,
MI ... a quirky little tavern called Tom's Foolery. The place closed in
1989, but for many who attended college at Central Michigan University in
the 70's and 80's it was an essential place to connect with like-minded free
spirited kids ... and I was hoping to find a little memento - perhaps with a
phone number scribbled inside which encouraged a sense of getting lucky in
the future. But, no such luck (getting lucky or finding a matchbook)
... but there is still hope - other stashed treasures in another drawer or
box awaits. (Interesting commentary/article found online mentioning the
Foolery...link.) What I
did find was the
pristine matchbook shown (above/right) for a dining establishment in Troy, MI that I frankly do
not remember: Joe Kool's. However, I love their slogan, boldly set in the red
reverse:
"better food than most hospitals" which is likely the
reason I retained the matchbook years ago. Both Louise & I are still
cracking-up. posted 03.23.23
My personal favorite matchbook design goes to Lindey's Place For Steak,
St. Paul, MN. At 10-o'clock: Mamma Leone's - world
famous Italian cuisine with multiple locations in NY, NY ... the last closed
in 1994. Having recently experienced a bit of the vintage baseball
card collection my father started in the early 1930's I naturally began
wondering if the matchbooks had any value. Turns out, they do ... but
nothing like the $14,000 Bronko Nagurski card we had. I found pristine,
unstruck matchbooks are selling for $20-30 each ... common variations for
$10. Shown below left: a spokeshave. To be
precise: it's a Stanley #151 ... Stanley Tool Works began making 'em
in 1911 in New Britain, Connecticut in the US
of A. It's a good
example of the many products now manufactured elsewhere - like China ... but
they really oughta' bring production back where it originated - America.
Below right: Mike's version of the Paul Sellers' style Spokeshave Honing
Guide to make sharpening of blade accurate & quick [link].
Today, I was back in the workshop playing with a gift Louise gave to me for Christmas: a
spokeshave (upper left). It's a cute little hand-held tool that's a bit like a free-hand wood plane, often used by chair makers to craft spindles and chair legs, wheel spokes, bows/arrows. The spokeshave blade from the factory was dull
seriously needs sharpening. I've learned while sharpening chisels and plane blades that it helps to have a "honing guide" to keep the tool square to the sharpening stone (diamond encrusted plank about 4" x 8"). However, the spokeshave blade is too short for my honing guide … a problem many woodworkers have encountered (hence: a slew of YouTube "how-to" videos), or I can buy one commercially for about $60. Besides being cheap, I was also anxious to get to work on the tool (rather than waiting a few more days to have something shipped).
So this is where we'd normally cue the soundtrack for another episode of
MikeGyver … as I proceeded to make a homemade version from a piece of oak (1/2" x 2-3/4" x 8"),
and attach the short blade, red-chip guard, and my regular honing guide so that I can draw it over the sharpening stone. It took over an hour of guiding the
jig over the stone but now the blade is flat and scary sharp. Mr. Hand
(above right) is pointing out one modification I made to the Seller's jig
... I chiseled out wood to set a common nut in a bed of epoxy so that the
blade can be secured to the jig. Sellers' design just had the machine
screw sunk into the hardwood - I figured over time the threads would surely
wear out or give way - and then where would I be? posted 03.18.23, just
one day following St. Patrick's Day!
For years I've enjoyed tunes crafted by a neat group of musical beatniks known as
Dave's True Story. Louise and I are just barely old
enough to have experienced a tiny bit of the anti-materialistic "beat generation"
of the 50's & 60's ... running around with the cool kids to coffee shops, poetry readings and
frequently engaged in assorted forms of heightened sensory awareness
exploration. (Pssst: we'll let you in on tiny,
inconsequential secret: Mike's a bit of a pot-head ... has been for over 50-yrs.)
Dave's True Story (DTS) and lead singer Kelly Flint have a unique and
rich library of original works ... and a few more renditions of old
favorites. And those old fav's is sorta' where this
Strudel Story started. Somehow I
stumbled upon one of those tunes that I had thought was the written by DTS:
If Dogs Run Free (lyrics - glance to your left). Well, I was
mistaken. What is the meaning of the song:
If Dogs Run Free?
"The song is about the
reality and value of unity and creative activity, as opposed to separateness
and inactivity. It is extremely concise and exhibits the sort of complexity
and compression normally associated with metaphysical poetry," writes
David Weir, a guy who understands this
stuff better than I. The song was written and recorded by Bob Dylan. Al Kooper
played piano, and crazy scat-singing Maeretha Stewart is Dylan's guest
vocalist. Thanks to the magic of the internet you too can hear both
versions; I'm not sure I can say which I like best. How 'bout you? Previous
Strudel
Stories (below): posted 03.10.23
But as it turns out, a real-life space adventure featuring a semi-autonomous rover
was unfolding on the planet Mars. In 2003 NASA launched two rovers, actually,
Spirit and Opportunity, to explore the surface of Mars ... engineers
envisioned the rover's useful life to be short, perhaps 90 days ... 15-years
later, NASA engineers were still receiving data from the hard working little
robot, Opportunity - or Oppy for short. And the story has been
captured in a new movie from Amazon Studios "Good Night Oppy".
The film is opened in a limited cluster of theatres yesterday (not GB) or
streaming online November 22 ... darn, I wish the film were available this weekend
to provide
some relief from the political strife caused by our Mid-Term Elections. (Yes, only a BLUE WAVE on Tuesday
can safe the day!)
Links: Good Night Oppy trailer
posted with a smile on 11.05.22 (Oh, by the way, did you notice
Treasury Bonds are now paying over 4%? If that tidbit sounds
appealing, check this out: "Government bonds suddenly became a sexy investment - NPR")
One thing that we've done that's helped us adapt tremendously has been a
series of projects - many chronicled on this webpage. And, to
celebrate these recent activities Louise had a jigsaw puzzle made for me
that shows what we've been up to. It's a nifty gift celebrating our
43rd wedding anniversary and our well-lived life. Nine pictures
surround a large picture of
Mike the day his new "zero-turn" Toro
arrived.
The other pix? Start with center top, Louise captured a swell close-up
of two cabinet doors reflecting a total make-over in our
laundry room. Next, our new shed
... storing lawn and snow removal equipment. Two pix below the shed:
(L) is a small
bench, one of a dozen Mike made in the past year or two, strategically placed
around yard and trails ... and (R) Ripley in his heated bed - not a project
... the little guy is just part of our family. Lower right: the
Pod - a fun project - a quirky table that we made for brother John in
Florida.
Lower left: bridge over the "great gorge" connects North and South trails
thru our woods. "We built a bridge!" Mike likes to say.
Above the bridge is, of course, the lovely
Louise ... who makes much of what
we do here on planet Earth to be fun. And worthwhile. At 9
o'clock: snapshot of our deck and East side of home - the deck by itself is
an ongoing project, but also shown, more subtly, are the new gutters with
"leaf filter" ... which, so far, is working out nicely (keeping gutters
leaf-free). Above the deck: a wind chime Mike rebuilt for Louise that
features cypress panels on all 4-sides.
Five hundred or so pieces make up the jig saw - which Mike admits, was quite
fun - almost addicting to put it all together. posted 10.14.22 as he
hummed: "happy anniversary to us, happy anniversary."
Before
tossing the blue jeans into laundry basket Mike dumps pocket change and car
keys on table ... the shiniest coin in the small pile caught his eye.
"Hmmm, what have we here?" wondering, "sumpthin new?" The brilliant
star ... something related to the lone star state (Texas)? The
youthful female face and her flowing hair didn't register but then his eyes
focused on the name: Wilma Mankiller. Mankiller?
A day or so passes before Mike takes the time to check
the Google
to see why we have Mankiller stamped on a U.S. Quarter. Turns out
Wilma's coin is part of a new series from the creative folks at our US Mint
called American Women Quarters, recently released. Mankiller, Mike
learns, is "the first woman elected principal chief of the Cherokee Nation and an activist for Native American and women’s rights," says US Mint.
[Learn more if interested]
Other notable honorees: posted 09.15.22 ... 617 days since the US Capitol was attacked by
insurrectionists.
My apologies for neglecting my Strudel Stories - as regular readers
here can attest: we've been busy with projects! Pods & painting, bridges and
cabinets ... generating a mountain of sawdust (which gets spread on our
trails to supplement the wood chips). So you may be asking yourself: "how
did I get here?" Oh, wait, those are lyrics from a David Byrne tune.
No, you may be asking yourself: what's a piece of strudel? Hmmm, good
question Grasshopper. A piece of strudel is shorthand
" ... to describe a tasty treat in
layers ... like a fine pastry." Still lost? One can
retrace prior servings of decadent strudel treats through these links:
One,
Two,
Three, Four.
But our latest delicious bit of connected tissue begins with Elvis and his
unique 1956 rendition of a classic Rodgers & Hart tune:
Blue Moon. For years artists
performed the song much like
Al Bowlly
who
popularized the song in 1930's. Decades later the Marcels enjoyed a breakout with their
doo-wop rendition ("bomp-baba-bomp") but in-between those two
versions came the first rock-n-roll crossover by an emerging Elvis Presley
... RCA included his version on his debut album (when Louise & I were just
3-yrs old) ... Blue Moon is a tune I've long enjoyed, and have
probably a dozen or more renditions ... from Mel Torme to Billie Holiday.
But I don't recall hearing Elvis' version until just recently.
The closest any other group or singer has come to replicating Elvis' style
is probably the Cowboy Junkies ... lead singer Margo Timmins sounding much
like the female Elvis ... slow & sultry.
The next
succulent layer of strudel was discovered when YouTube, as they are prone to do,
suggested my life would be enriched if I were to select/listen to similar tunes
displayed off to the side as they attempt
to keep us online and exposed to more annoying pop-up ads. Sweet Jane, a
fun little song
Lou Reed wrote while headlining the Velvet Underground.
College party pals: Tedd & Gary often referred to one of our dorm RA's as
Sweet Jane ... which made sense ... her 1st name was indeed, Jane.
Anyway, the Cowboy
Junkies rendition is rich and timeless ... and they're Canadian! What's not
to like about talented Canadians? (Think Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Shania
Twain ... music fans whose brains are not stuck/frozen in the 70's/80's may
also suggest: famous Canadians Drake or Celine Dion.)
Which leads to the last layer of this fine pastry - website
Second.Hand.Songs is a valuable resource
when you try finding the answer to that age-old question: ok, who ELSE recorded
this song??? I know, many folks merely turn to their new best friend
Alexa in such cases: "hey Alexa ... what bands recorded Sweet Jane?"
Likely Alexa wouldn't have found Two Nice Girls, but I did,
thanks to a forum at Second.Hand.Songs. Which
reminds me:
"Did you ever see heaven right in your arms, saying, "I love you, I do"
Well, the dream that was walking and the dream that was talking
And the heaven in my arms was you!" Ok, ok, wrong song ... but it
just seemed to fit into the flow of our dialogue.
Mott The Hoople has a particularly catchy
version that I can put on a loop & listen ... Sweet Jane! But
let's get back to 2 Nice Girls
... they recorded a simple, sweet version, and then I found another version
of Sweet Jane they mashed-up with "Love & Affection" by Joan Armatrading.
Sing it, sing it! Both versions have merit.
By now ... my hunch is ... you are getting the hang of this drill ... 'cuz the next
obvious question we need to answer has to be: what else has the group
2 Nice Girls recorded? The title made me smile:
I Spent My Last $10 (On Birth Control and Beer).
Catchy little tune. [Chorus Lyrics:
I spent my last ten dollars on birth control and beer
My life was so much simpler when I was sober and queer
But the love of a strong hairy man has turned my head I fear
And made me spend my last ten bucks on birth control and beer.]
I'm resisting a smart-ass connection to Sam Alito and our insane SCOTUS ...
but it's hard. I'd hate to ruin a particularly delicious slice of strudel.
posted 07.30.22
The table Wright envisioned was referred to as a Pod because of it's unique
shape - much like the Spring House it self - loosely resembling the bow of a
boat. A Pod. John said Wright's Pod plans would be made available. "Would you be interested in producing a "Pod" from Wright's designs in your workshop?"
Goodness, what a compliment - to think big bro may be skilled enough working
with wood to tackle a FLW project. The only catch was I had to agree
to not proceed in making additional Pods for profit ... no QVC channel
selling 'genuine Wright Pods'.
Naturally I said yes. (Actually, I probably said: "absofreakinglutely!")Louise
& I were in the midst of painting the interior of our house ... a project
that was years overdue, so as much as the Pod Project interested me - it'd
have to wait a few months, if that was ok with the
Spring House Institute.
Meanwhile, a tiny copy of the "plans" were sent here electronically and the
wheels began turning it my head: how to build it given my limited workshop &
skill. I researched other building projects designed by Wright, as
well as searched for products to produce the finish & color the Spring House
folks requested.
To left is photo of Byrd Mashburn, recipient of the Pod at
Spring House, Tallahassee. The images provide us with rich memories of a fun little project from the GoodPlanet
workshop. It proudly stands 18" tall, 24" wide, 36" long.
And no,
the Pod is not going to be re-produced, traded, or sold. But, if
you're curious & wish to see how we built it, here's a link to a .pdf file
showing our interpretation of Mr. Wright's Pod and development from the
lumberyard to shipment:
http://www.michaeldawson.com/pod-project-photo-album-public.pdf
In hindsight, the Spring House Pod was much like the
Card That Never Was mentioned
below.
Article wordsmitten and
posted with pride 07.11.22 ... photo of delivered Pod 07.23.22; Spring House
logo © Spring House Institute.
It's among my fav snapshots of my father, Ralph Dawson ... captured in the
spring of '57 but not on Father's Day because I can see Mom in background,
pregnant. I was 3-yrs old going on 4. Brother Tom was born in
early June - so this may have been an Easter Sunday pose ... Louise loves
the little suits-n-ties Grace had us wearing back in the day.
Dad was a snappy dresser ... one of the original "Mad Men" ad execs,
back-in-the-day. (Previously Dad was WJR's ad sales mgr. Big
brother Pat says by '57 Dad had moved to WXYZ-TV.) He died way too young in '72, my 1st year in
college. posted Sunday 06.19.22 (corrected 11.06.23) It takes
little to divert this old guy's attention
The
other day I mentioned (last paragraph in article below) that the photo of
the woman about to dive from the dock
"... looks as if she's modeling to be the next hood ornament on a big old Packard."
I even Googled the topic and quickly found several fun articles about
automotive hood ornaments and their designs over the years ... and naturally
captured thumbnail copies of a few that struck a cord with me. No doubt
some enterprising author has published a book on the topic - probably
several. (Advance notice to relatives who like buying me coffee table
books on topics like this: don't do it. By the time my birthday rolls
around I'll have moved on to some other quirky subject.)
But shown to left are three hood ornaments that I find creative and
appealing. Cool, aren't they? Can you guess which vehicles they are from?
Greyhound - while the "Roaring Jaguar" is among the most popular
animal hood ornaments, my vote in this category is for the "Leaping
Greyhound" found in the '30's on the Lincoln.
Pontiac Motors' Chief of the Sixes is my next current fav - the
reference to the car maker's 6-cylinder car. On assorted Pontiac
models through the 1950’s ... the likeness of an Indian Chief in Lucite on chrome, mounted on the car’s hood.
Nash Rambler hood ornament designed by George Petty in Art Deco Chrome.
Shown here, the "Flying Goddess" adorns the splendid
1955 Nash Statesmen.
posted 05.31.22 ...
with a bit of diversity
This collection included two female athletes (Olympic gold medalist and World Swimming champ
Helene Madison, and golfer
Mildred Ella “Babe" Didrikson Zaharias) ... but male athletes easily dominated
the group. So I decided the collection of
characters from the Golden Age of Sport (1930’s) needed help to be a bit better balanced
... so I recruited into service another golfing pioneer and an anonymous but daring diver.
Shown above, our brilliant red wall and vintage sporting characters, now
flanked by two female athletes from the same era: Marion Hollins - 1892 • 1944
The living room is getting painted now - back to the all-white pallet.
Then after a wee pause to tackle some outdoor chores, we'll return this
summer to finish the job ... painting bedroom & bath. It's been a lot
of fun and I know Louise has wanted to tackle this for quite some time.
Then our focus will be on floors. They need attention! Stay tuned.
posted 05.24.22 ...
we love our projects!
The device with an old fashioned telephone dial attached to it may not be
recognizable to half the world's population. Dial phones lost favor to
push buttons in the early '80's and joins its place in history next to
yellow page phone books, TV antennas, and home delivery of ice and/or coal.
So ... how is that related to "joy" (mentioned in headline above)?
Oh, just follow along ... we'll connect the dots.
As regular readers here may have noticed Louise & I have been on a tear
around HighPoint with a variety of projects.
We love being busy and learning new things, and finding ways to get stuff
done ourselves rather than hiring others to do our chores. It saves us
too from an affliction some call boredom ... and, gives us great
satisfaction tackling all we can and saving money in the process. The
quest for happiness for many folks revolves around vacations and travel. For the two of us, happiness is right here
... safe and sound ... Louise creating amazing art through her looms and
camera lens (while Mike makes a boat-load of sawdust, learning how to make
his chisels scary sharp).
That's 'cuz "the joy is in the doing" which is
a
'nuther one of those mottos that Ripley often hears us repeating. Yep, I know, it's in the headline above too. About
10-yrs ago Louise wrote about the concept on our business webpage - which
we've archived here if you'd like to see it [link].
So it all came full circle this morning when brother John sent an email
saying:
"Look what’s new in the cell phone industry!"
with a link
. When we stopped laughing and rolling on the floor we opted
to read more and have concluded the rotary dial phone is actually kinda' neat. The organization
behind this genius is
Sky's
Edge, an open source tech site with a number of references that reminded me
a bit of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig.
Sky's Edge is an invention factory ... the brain child of
Justine Haupt, who shares quite a few of her personal philosophies throughout
her web-site ... the Rotary Un-Smartphone™ Kit
... a cellphone. "You know ... for making CALLS,"
Haupt says and it's just $390. Much of the site reminded me of the thoughts above &
that mantra we hold dear: "the joy is in the doing." We
found a similar notion on
Haupt's site: "The Purpose of Work" [link]
where she says ... "the end result of work is supposed to be happiness".
Check it out - might be time for a new cell phone ... for making
calls! Novel idea. ... when postal deliveries arrived more than once a day
For as long as I can remember I've had a glassine envelope filled with
assorted postage stamps. What's a "glassine envelope" you ask? It
feels a bit like waxed paper - the po
The other day I needed to sort through my stamp collection and found just
about what I needed: Ike's 8¢ stamp was close enough (I
actually needed a 7¢ stamp but given the destruction Louis DeJoy, Donald
Trump's criminal Post Master General, has inflicted on the nation's post
office, I'm happy to let 'em "keep the change"). Along with the Ike
stamps was a filler piece that caught my eye that was meant to urge consumers to "mail early in the day"
... because prior to 1950 most metropolitan areas had home delivery twice a
day. Can you imagine? Mail volume has dropped so much now in
this digital age with folks paying bills online, and zapping internet
messages to each other (vs. taking a moment to write Grandma a hand-written
thank you note for the birthday gift). We used to send lots of notes
and cards through the mail. But today when we learn about a dear
friend passing, we post a messages on Facebook.
Another goofy reminiscence by MKD on 04.15.22 (Oh, and
Happy Easter to all ... I didn't have time to send out cards.)
The short history of a fixture made for HighPoint workshop
Flash forward nearly four decades, Mike’s workshop was in serious need reorganizing. Several new shelf units were built to organize “stuff” and the array of Perry’s cigar boxes, now filled with miscellaneous parts of questionable value, had expanded … so now the fixture needed to hold 21 boxes.
Again the use of salvaged materials made expansion possible: the top was fashioned out of an old maple cutting board that was retired from kitchen duty (due to a couple cracks) … a portion of the bottom was a scrap of melamine covered particle board from a JJ Cardinal’s store fixture Mike made 17-yrs ago. The 2 new side pieces were salvaged from the 3/4” plywood used on kitchen island to support the granite countertop installed in 2004 (range cook top insert cutout). Additional pegboard backing was leftover from another ancient JJCardinal's fixture. The support strips? Plywood scraps from old laundry room cabinets that now hang in workshop (cuttings from modified shelving). The maple edge-banding on front? … they came from new laundry cabinets Mike & Louise made (2021). Even the paint was leftover from the workshop makeover in 2021.
Likely, over time, the cigar boxes will be worth more than the modified contents of bits of metal, plastic & wood. When it was time to replace
our natural gas powered forced air furnace in 2012 we opted for Geo
Thermal which uses the Earth's temp 5-feet down in the ground to heat &
cool our home.
No fossil fuel is burned. The
Geo system relies on
electric power so we added an array of 20 solar panels mounted on a neat
rack constructed in our backyard. Since then we've shared our production data,
particularly for those who think only Southern states get enough sun to
justify the investment ... because it's a false narrative. Even in
cloudy Michigan where half the year you need a sweater or jacket when
venturing outdoors ... we generate electricity from the sun. Year 'round.
Since 2012 our solar panels generated 41.8 megawatt hours of
power, reducing our energy bill by $7,140. Louise's "fixer" of broken things
keeps learning new tricks, and simple fixes. Even 'how-to' make
chisels "scary sharp." A couple years ago one of Louise (and Mike's)
nieces dubbed the latest workshop creation or repair as "another genuine
Mike-Gyver" in honor of the '90s era TV program: "MacGyver". [link
to article below] So what's the big guy been making now, you ask?
Another cabinet for the laundry room and a little crate to hold "things
worth keeping" ... like: manuals for washer/dryer. Also had to make a
repair to another project previously mentioned: fixing a broken toilet
paper
holder ... it needed a screw. "Making our world just a tiny bit
safer," Mike says with glee. Posted 01.18.22
J.J. Cardinal's Wild Bird & Nature Store recently celebrated it's 30th
anniversary ... 30 consecutive years of operation in Grand Blanc, MI of all
places! The past 4-years the store has been owned and operated by new
owners: Gretchen & Ken Giles are making it happen these days along with help
of long-time associates like Tammy.
Certainly plenty of hard work over the years and good fortune has driven
it's success and adds to the appeal this cute little shop. The product
offering remains basically the same: the best nature has to offer ... but
Gretchen's love for plant life has expanded the shop's reach into more
gardening related products including plants.
This year, as in the past, attractive gifts from J.J. Cardinal's will
certainly put big smiles on people's faces. "Stop in today," says
Louise, creator & founder of J.J. Cardinal's.
posted 12.12.21
A spin-off activity this summer dovetails nicely with our other projects
mentioned below ... that would be crafting assorted funky benches to
position around our trails thru the woods giving Louise places to park and
take a load off. (As in: rest.) If you missed the previous
thread of activity here at High Point this year, here's a quick recap (as it
pertains to a bench): First, we had to drop a beautiful oak tree when
we built our shed - and decided to turn the trunk of the tree into useful
slabs of lumber with the help of a local portable sawmill service.
Then just this past month we used some of the slabs of oak for the deck of
our new Bridge (see below). Some of the scraps and leftover pieces of oak were perfect to create a
bunch of benches (so far, we're at №14)
... shown to left is one I built today. It proudly stands 19" tall and
about 27" long ... little pieces of pressure treated wood serve as the
"bench slippers" to help the bench remain upright (and reduce rot & decay).
When time allows we'll capture pix of the other 13 benches and create a
collage. posted 11.11.21 Prior to 1957 travelers in the
state of Michigan had to take a ferry to traverse Michigan's upper & lower
peninsulas - then the original Big Mac ... The Mackinac Bridge
... was built. So we can relate in a small way to the thrill folks in
and around St. Ignace & Mackinaw City must have felt when their universe
suddenly expanded ... 'cuz we've just built a bridge of our own
which spans a depression on our property we refer to as "the Great Gorge". The
16-foot span over the gorge is dwarfed by the Big Mac's 26,372-feet
span over the straits of Mackinaw ... It took us just a few weeks to build the bridge which is a good thing
'cuz winter (and frozen turf) approaches. It's been a wet autumn
around our home ... which translates to MUD ... the trails will dry out soon
and when it does, you can bet we'll be out riding our Gator and enjoying our
special world. Louise posted the video clip shown above on her
Facebook page of the inaugural ride across
our sturdy little bridge. posted 11.02.21 Hard to say what influences us sometimes. Perhaps watching plenty
of PBS documentaries - loaded with history shapes our minds ... Ken Burns'
movies (Civil War, Baseball, Brooklyn Bridge, and now
Muhammad Ali).
Maybe images and stories on Shorpy.
Whatever it may be, Louise is into her "Men At Work" photos ...
many of these have appeared on her Facebook page. And it has been
quite a year of projects as mentioned below ... lots of sweat, dirt, and it
can be hard on even the toughest work clothes (like Mike's wardrobe of
Duluth Trading Company gear). Louise captured Mike as he's digging out some of the roots from the
spruce trees that were cut down earlier this summer. "Gotta' get some
grass & clover (all over) seed down so we can get some sprouts this fall
before the snow flies," Mike says. Thank goodness for the pickaxe. There were a few roots Mike
actually used his electric reciprocating saw to cut out - but most were
removed with brute force with an ax. We don't shy away from tackling
chores and who knows how many more years he'll be able to tackle the
physical tasks - so its good to have a brief photographic record of that
period when he could split a log or hand-dig a trench. (Some purists think
the tool Mike's using is actually a "mattock".) This week: spreading 6 cubic yards of topsoil over spots like this root
project and the gutter drain project. Autumn has arrived. posted 09.30.21 Bringing closure to a small piece of the madness that surrounds us ... like having
faith in science to produce a vaccine that can end a pandemic ... assuming
all the people of the world have access to it - and the lunatic fringe,
anti-vax crowd begin to realize they can have a shot, or buy a plot: 3' x 9'
... dug 6' deep.
So
we dwell on things within our control ... remain isolated - social distancing, and enjoying our own little universe
- a small one. Like focusing on a subset of like minded friends & family to
help us all to remain safe and sane. We're staying productive,
engaged, active, & fit - mentally & physically. T Back in the day we had fun making and selling little ornaments at our
store, crafted from scraps of barn-wood and rusty metal. "Who Left
The Barn Door Open?" became a theme for some of us. A metaphor of
sorts. Is the job really done? No lose ends left for someone
else to stumble over? Did you think ahead? ... plan
for potential consequences? ... prepared? One design consideration we had for our wee little shed was be able to
see from the house and confirm: "is the shed door open or closed?" Pretty
simple. But the additional consequences of leaving a shed open by
mistake ... and discovering it's open some cold rainy evening - having
to dash out to close a freaking door ... didn't sound appealing.
Thankfully, technology - albeit nothing new - solves this made-up,
manufactured dilemma. Close it, Dan-O. Damn shame this
Genie device doesn't work on wing-nuts. posted 09.15.21
My older brother Pat and I are lucky to have attended the 1968 World Series
game #5 with our father which featured one of Freehan's outstanding
plays on the field. The game story by the Detroit Free Press describes
nicely the classic action photo (shown above/right):
"In the pivotal play of the Fall Classic, with the Tigers trailing St. Louis 3-1 in the series and 3-2 in the fifth inning of Game 5, the Cardinals threatened to extend their lead on a sharp single by Julian Javier. Speedster Lou Brock tried to score standing up, but left fielder Willie Horton made a perfect one-hop throw to Freehan. The play was captured by Free Press photographer
Tony Spina showing Freehan tagging Brock while blocking him from touching the edge of home plate."
The 1965 Topps baseball card #390 (above/left) in my collection is in nice
condition two corners slightly smashed, but otherwise it's nearly pristine.
Maybe a PSA grade 4 or 5? It's likely worth more to me than what the
card would fetch in the marketplace these days.
* PSA - Professional Sports Authenticator (PSA) is a division of Collectors Universe, Inc.
posted 08.21.21
As the nation is learning, it's best to tackle infrastructure
first. So, our plumber
replaced the water and drain lines - out went the old utility tub and in
it's place sits a new hard maple cabinet that we built to hold the new
utility sink ... we patched the
Then we went to work building some new upper cabinets which got hung over
the weekend. Louise finished the doors which were hung on Tuesday.
Don't the simple, round knobs look swell? (Mike just
loves the photo Louise captured!) Meanwhile, Mike is now building the remaining 3 cabinets and L-shaped counter-top. Ripley's a bit confused ...
he thought for sure the project was coming to a conclusion. Sorry,
kitty, you're getting a new linoleum floor too. posted originally 07.14.21, updated 08.09.21 & again 08.11.21
"Michigan's Lake Huron sinkhole is a window into how Earth's earliest forms of life diversified". The
headline caught my eye ... two aspects to a news story that I spotted online today appealed to my brain: 1)
a sink hole in Lake Huron (just a few hundred feet North of Middle Island,
which is just East of Alpena, Michigan) and 2) the quote:
"cyanobacteria evolved more than 2.4 billion years ago" ... I know reference to life beginning on planet Earth more than 6,000 years ago just drives the radical right-wing Bible thumpers just absolutely MAD.
As a kid I grew up on the shore of Lake Huron, about 45 minutes South
of the red balloon on the map. CNN picked up the story [link]
published in the Nature Geoscience journal.
posted 08.03.21
Show me the way to go
posted 07.18.21
It seems that most folks who live near a bunch of trees generally battle
with leaves, gutters, and ice-dams. Keeping gutters clean along the
front side of house is never a problem - it's a single story. But out back
we're talking "two-stories" as our property slopes rapidly toward the pond
at the Northwest corner of our property. Mike is not a guy who does
well on ladders.
So, after studying the array of gutter systems available today we've opted
for a "non-branded" system featuring a perforated aluminum screen built into
our new gutters. So far, so good ... installed late fall last year
after most leaves had already fallen. That mean this autumn will be
it's first big test.
I'd like to find one of those sewer cleaner guys with a camera on a "snake"
to inspect the sealed gutters to see if any debris is accumulating (inside
the gutter). Last summer, Mike replaced the buried gutter drains that
divert rain water away from our foundation.
project completed 11.12.21
I've got too much on my plate
link Our washing machine died, and as it often happens, the solution couldn't
be a simple repair call to a repair shoppe. The unit was nearing the
end of it's projected useful life - so why toss good money - yada, yada.
Nope. Replacing the appliance simply became the launching point for a
total laundry room makeover: new utility sink to replace the 60's era
DuraTub is about to be installed in
a new cabinet that is being crafted in the freshly painted, reorganized,
casterized workshop*. A companion gas dryer with fresh new venting &
gas lines will be coming along too. 'tis an opportunity too, Mike
surmised, to justify replacing the pedestrian 1985 Black-n-Decker
circular saw with a new DeWalt. "Need crisp, clean cuts," Mike says
with a straight face. "Minimal tear-out is the goal." The B&D
saw's been a workhorse - a pretty decent saw, Mike says as he visualizes
thirty-plus years of household projects - but not a tool for fine cabinetry.
That's the goal: to craft the sorta' laundry room space she's always wanted.
"Three decades in the making," Mike says, speaking of dreams. It'll be
a furious weekend with saw dust flying ... already fetched some lumber the
other day, new LED ceiling lights too ... even ordered new/old style
linoleum tile floor to give the space a fresh, springy vibe. The Shed
project mentioned below continues to limp along: roof freshly shingled,
garage door arrived and hopefully will get installed in the coming week,
along with electric service. (Photo gallery continues to be updated.)
posted 07.10.21
We're building a shed. The picture above was captured on Day One of
framing ... today up on the roof we have some tar-paper on top of the sheathing they put up yesterday before
the rain began falling. The garage/shed project was only an idea ... a concept, for years ... but it's finally a reality.
The shed will be our handy storage structure for lawn & snow removal equipment.
We had planned to build it in 2020 then the pandemic happened. And
now we have the Gator utility vehicle which also needs shelter.
So we're thrilled: after getting vaccinated in March/April
our situation & outlook, as many folks have discovered, has improved
dramatically. We found a quality
builder: Tri-City Construction,
based in Flint the past 38-years, and even with labor & material shortages
we're feeling fortunate to have some good guys who do good work. The
cement was poured last week and framing has begun - it could be finished in
a few days if the weatherman would cooperate. The
green/blue tint on inside of OSB means nothing ... and Mike's still thinking
he'll paint the interior before moving stuff inside. The slot (8" x
8') on that back wall is for a thin transom window facing South to let some
light into the shed. updated: 02.26.24 ... photo-album removed.
Louise even captured a short action-packed video [link].
... instantly recognized. Mike's brother John sent the big guy an
early bday gift: a vintage 1962 Schwinn Racer bicycle that Mike had when he
was just 9-yrs old. Memories that took root nearly 59-years ago,
deeply imbedded - it was, after all, a really BIG DEAL for a 9-year old kid
to get a brand new bike and became an all-time fav. While opening the shipping carton Mike first spotted the seat
and the flood-gates of memories began to surface. "This is exactly as
I remember it," Mike says as he's holding the black-n-white seat he now
knows vintage bicycle collectors refer to as the Schwinn Monogram Saddle
with a big S. Natch, Mike did some light "research" and found that many of the parts on
Schwinn bikes were made by a variety of vendors from around the globe.
This was made by the Mesinger Bicycle Saddle Company, a New York
firm that has made seats for bikes since 1896. "... with extra cushioning!
for a smooth ride." The 3-speed shifter was made by Sturmey-Archer
in England - to this day they're a dependable maker of quality internal gear
hubs. Well, you get the idea ... old guy reliving a small chunk of his
youth. Louise captured the day with photos. [Link] posted 05.17.21 ... for the oak to dry. It's all stacked in garage where our
snow plow normally rests in the summer. With new garage/shed being
built, the Meyer snow plow will move into that new space - meanwhile it's
being stored at the repair shop, it's mounting connection to Whitey
requiring a quick fix. So the long oak planks mentioned in the
"sawmill" tale below have a nice dry, flat storage space. Oh, by the way, while stacking the planks we recomputed the volume of
wood pile ... the estimate of 181 board feet has grown to 207. Two more steps before closing this chapter: 1. seal end grain with
a product called Anchorseal, an oil/wax concoction Mike has on order
(to reduce cracking and checking); and 2. place some weight, evenly on
the pile to encourage boards to remain flat. Several people have asked: "Whatcha-gonna
do with it?" Not sure. The vast quantity of Red Oak
likely exceeds the volume of oak hardwood purchased over the past 42-yrs.
Most of the bird houses and products I made for Louise's store was built
with cedar. But a few projects have come to mind: like a new workshop
workbench replacing the slightly wobbly surface built in '79 ... one of my
early projects after marrying Louise and moving into our home in Mott Park.
[note to audio crew: cue audio file
Streisand and "The Way We Were"]
Posted 05.11.21
... and about 181 board feet of lumber*. (board foot defined: 1"
thick x 12" square) As mentioned last month we're planning to
construct a small garage (or as Mike likes to call it: a Gator
shed with room for lawnmowers, snow-throwers and other equipment).
We cleared a small hunk of our property East of the house, north of the
great bog, which included dropping one large red oak tree, which saddened
both of us a bit. But we figured if we did something special with the
wood, perhaps we'll be partially forgiven by the neighboring trees who
likely view such destruction by humans with the same distain as Native
Americans may have about invasive Caucasian settlers hundreds of years ago.
So, we hired a really nice guy with a portable sawmill to
visit the site and quickly turned 3 large sections of the oak trunk into
dimensional lumber. That's how we came up with the estimate: about 181
board feet of red oak which is now neatly stacked in our main garage, drying
out ... which could take a year. To reduce checking and cracking in our precious lumber we have a wax
based sealer product to "paint" on the end grain of each board, as well as
new tools to monitor moisture content. We're thinking it might be neat
to have a mini-stack in our basement right next to our deluxe dehumidifier
that keeps our "lower-level" from smelling like a basement, to see if that
may speed up the process. So ... how shall we use our red oak lumber? So chatter has been
picked-up that perhaps a new workbench could be in preliminary planning
stages, or maybe some shelving in the laundry room which is about to get an
extreme makeover. Stay tuned. But for now, here's a brief
one-minute "little movie by Louise" of the sawmill, its sawyer in action as
Mike gathers and stacks the freshly cut boards in a "tiny trailer" attached
to the Gator: link to mp4 file (be sure to turn on your audio).
Oh, and Happy Mother's Day to all ... none of us would be here without 'em! posted 05.09.21
This week, as National Public Radio celebrates their 50th anniversary
and I'm experiencing a variety of flashbacks. As a young-pup college
student, and then rookie sales guy traveling throughout nooks & crannies of
Northern Michigan ... I discovered NPR stations scattered all about the
state providing curious minds with a connection to the news of the day/week.
Mt. Pleasant, Traverse City, Ann Arbor, Detroit, Lansing, Flint, Port Huron,
Bay City, Sault Ste. Marie, Marquette. And it was essentially non-commercial - no
annoying jingles or local DJ personalities to decipher. (Apologies to my brother
who's worked successfully in radio for over 40 yrs.) NPR was a great way to start most any day with Morning Edition and
then All Things Considered would guide my way home or off to the next
town. Today ... there are 27
affiliate NPR stations in Michigan. No matter where I was, it seemed,
there was almost always a clear NPR signal to keep me company, and help me understand the news
of the day. Broadcasts on NPR this week will be
peppered with vintage recordings of the early days and recollections by
founding journalists from NPR. Susan Stamberg, Nina Totenberg, Bob
Edwards, Cokie Roberts, Linda Wertheimer. Goodness how I miss
thoughtful programs like The Diane Rehm Show!
Here are some links to podcasts for those interested in the early days at
our nation's finest radio information venue: National Public Radio: To this day NPR programming provides much of my
weekend entertainment as well - a companion in my workshop or out working around
the yard: Car Talk, This American Life, ATC Weekend Edition, Radiolab,
Wait/Wait, TED Radio Hour, The Moth and more. posted 05.03.21
Thirty-plus years ago Louise & I
planted a slew of little blue spruce trees around our 'new home' in Grand
Blanc. A friendly neighbor had referred us to a tree farm north toward
Saginaw ... we hitched up a utility trailer to our car and proceeded to the
farm which had potted 3-foot spruce trees - we filled the wagon - maybe 20
trees?
We planted two side-by-side near the garage with a nice clearing to the
South West - they grew like crazy and because of their proximity to each
other we made the mistake of naming them: 'Mike-n-Louise'.
Lovely sentiment as the branches appeared to be reaching out to each other,
and then eventually holding hands ... but naming a living thing after
ourselves became a problem when it was time to remove them. "You
wanna' butcher Mike-n-Louise?!?" we'd ask ourselves
incredulously. Well, no, but they were blocking sunlight needed to grow some
grass behind the tree and now they'd grown tall enough to be competing with
a nearby oak tree for sunlight. Spruce trees in our area have a lifespan of about 25-30 yrs a wise
farming friend of ours told us, as if to lessen our guilt for killing our 'Mike-n-Louise'
spruces. The spruces began losing lower limps and were thinning out ... they
were entering the back-nine of their expected lifespan. Time to let
them go and replace 'em with one unified conifer nearby and rework the
lawn/yard where 'Mike-n-Louise' had previously thrived. A
third spruce twenty-five feet west was even more sparse ... so Mike fired up the
trusty chainsaw and in minutes the spruce tress were flat on the ground ...
then cut up into moveable hunks to haul to our private "city dump". Chainsaw Massacre part 2 involved removal of an oak tree
that was growing right in the middle of our new, soon to be built garage
(shed) to store our array of outdoor tools: mowers, snow throwers & snowplow, and now a
handy John Deere 4-wheel drive utility vehicle. Louise tells the
story best on her Facebook page, which you may have already seen:
"I hugged the tree and told it I was so sorry. We had to cut down a huge oak today. I counted 81 rings! It was healthy and vibrant but would be directly in the middle of a new shed we are building. Not to worry, the wood is being milled and what cannot be used will be split for firewood. I then spoke to its tree neighbors because we now know the woodlands are all connected and made sure they knew we cared.
(Pictured) the vascular layer of the tree's cambium. It was glistening and healthy."
Both of us feel badly about killing a healthy tree, but we look around
the homestead and can point to a thousand or more that continue to thrive.
If you're curious there's a 'little movie by Louise' on FB of Mike cutting
down the oak ... the oak wanted to fall South while Mike was trying to guide it
the other way, North. Mother Nature and general laws of physics won
out. Now we're thinking strongly about salvaging the oak (20"
dia x
19' long) thru a local
sawmill and building something special out of our lumber - estimated at 160 board
feet ... plus a face-cord of firewood when it's dry. Time to
quickly learn more about sawmills, and drying/storing lumber ... and
figuring out what to build with it. posted 04.28.21
It's been buried some 29-yrs ... I wanted to move the mailbox forward a foot or two so the mailman would stop driving on the edge of my yard ('tis a muddy mess every spring & without fail I would utter the pledge:
"I oughta' move that mailbox someday"). Well
someday arrived - last week I yanked the pole (after considerable digging) and found the portion closest to the surface had the most decay/rot
but likely was not in jeopardy of breaking/falling for many years as about half of the wood
remained solid. However, I figured since I dug the sucker out of the ground, why not repair it? I
used a This Old House lesson/tip and cut off the old post at ground level and attached the healthy top portion to a hunk of 6x6 pressure treated wood using a
"scarf joint" ala' Tommy Silva.
I concealed much of the joint with a 1x4 band of pine, combined with a series of assorted molding scraps I had on hand, remnants of many past projects. Louise stained the assembly before we "replanted" the post … looks kinda' dark now compared to the grey oxidized cedar, but I'm sure it'll lighten over time. I trimmed the top of the post which I had cut at 45° angle … the end grain had absorbed quite a bit of moisture over time and was getting sorta' punky. The trim job looks ok, but I decided to actually spend a buck on a new copper cap.
posted 04.10.21
Bringing This Chapter To A
Successful End?
We're slated to receive "dose №2" of the vaccine this week ... knock-on-wood,
and we sincerely hope you and those you care for either have or will soon get
your shot(s). The rationale for vax-resistance has been effectively
neutralized now that millions of doses have been administered safely but
there will always be wing-nuts who don't follow the science.
Monoclonal antibody treatments - " ... new drugs that successfully treat COVID. So if you get COVID, you
won't get sick and die from it. These treatments have been around, for a
while now; some started getting approval from the FDA late last year.
President Trump, himself, got treated with one of these drugs when he was in
the hospital ... a lot of studies already showing that they are effective," said
Rachel Maddow on her show last week.
Rachel's guest on Thursday 3/25/21 was Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith, chairperson of the Covid-19 Health Equity Task Force: "The positive impact of these treatments has become pretty clear. These treatments can make a huge difference. Eli
Lilly's newest monoclonal antibody combination therapy has shown to reduce hospitalizations and deaths by up to 87 percent."
"This is not some snake-oil thing. This is proven stuff. And these treatments are a potential-exit door from the worst of the COVID nightmare. We're just not taking it. We're just not using these treatments, as a country, broadly speaking. And that's because people don't know to ask for them, or how to get them,"
Dr. Nunez-Smith told Rachel. "The patient needs to be infused,"
Maddow explained, "it's a shot that you have to sit there and take for an hour ... while the drug is infused into you."
Inconvenient, you say? Spending 2-months on a ventilator is
inconvenient.
So, exactly what are the "monoclonal antibody" treatments that are effective
with this virus? There are a variety of drugs being tested and used to
treat a host of ailments (cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cardiovascular disease
- link to more info if you wish to delve
deeper). Treatments for the virus include:
If you care to go even deeper: Rachel discussed some of these treatments with Dr. David Kessler chief science officer for the Biden administration's Covid response, about these treatments.
[YouTube video clip]
posted 03.30.21
Preparing a grocery order … lately we're using Meijer's website & curbside pick-up instead of InstaCart
to keep our pantry well-stocked. We figure we're saving on average $50 per order compared to the fees & tip we were paying InstaCart. Anyway, while formulating
said shopping list Louise & I got to talking about how several national brands are reacting to the 2020 "Lives Matter" marches and protests of various sorts … and businesses dropping ethnic or heritage images.
Case in point: NFL's Washington team drops Redskins … General Mills retires
Aunt Jemima - even changing the name of the pancake mix and syrup. Same with
Uncle Ben's rice and the black chef is leaving the Cream of Wheat box, as is our Native American Princess from
Land-O-Lakes products.
Same is true with Land-O-Lakes butter and assorted dairy products as
Mia, the indigenous woman who, for decades, was featured prominently
on all Land-O-Lakes packaging. In 1924
Minnesota Cooperative Creameries Association, representing some 320 dairy
farms, sponsored a contest to find a name to help promote the Co-Op's sweet
cream butter. Legend has it two winners each received $500 in gold for
submitting the Land-O-Lakes name ... and shortly after that Mia's
likeness began to appear on packaging and advertising.
In the mid 1920's a Chicago waiter, Frank White, was asked to pose in a
chef's hat and become the face of Cream of Wheat products. White
reportedly received no royalties for his modeling gig, but did pocket $5.
Soon, White's smiling image will be gone as parent company B&G Foods re-evaluates
its marketing strategy. Consumers will find similar changes that some
critics say perpetuated a racist caricature that stereotypes
African-American people in subservient forms of employment. Bye, bye
Uncle Ben's rice, Eskimo Pies. Can Mrs. Butterworth's
products expect the same fate? posted with a smile 02.28.21
We just completed
watching a TV series that Louise
recently recorded on PBS "All Creatures Great and Small" ... she
said the Gignac girls had read the books
back in the 70's ... and we thoroughly enjoyed the series.
Salon magazine says the show will return for a second season and maybe
beyond ... but will be missing one quirky character: Mrs. Pumphrey played by
Dame Diana Rigg who passed away in September 2020.
Apparently we are not the only viewers who enjoyed the show ... Salon
magazine
says "All Creatures Great & Small" was the 2nd most watched TV show
on Super Bowl Sunday: "PBS' reboot of "All Creatures Great and Small" premiered just days after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots that shocked the nation and those watching news reports overseas. In the wake of that crisis, it was difficult to predict what appetite Americans would have for a series set in the 1930s Yorkshire Dales about a veterinary surgeon."
"With the riots in the Capitol that was unfolding . . . I think that was the thing that struck me was how many people felt that sort of gentle peril was needed at the time,"
said series writer Ben Vanstone.
One interesting connection for Louise & I was the
season finale closing scene where lead characters sat around their living room on
Christmas night listening to a radio broadcast of King George VI's 1937 Christmas Day speech,
which we first learned about from the celebrated 2010 Best Picture: "The
King's Speech."
Let us turn to the message that Christmas brings, of peace and goodwill. Let us see to it that this spirit shall in the end prevail, and every one of us can help by making that immortal message a keystone of our daily lives. And so to all of you, whether at home among your families, as we are, or in hospital or at your posts
carrying out duties that cannot be left undone, we send our Christmas greetings and wish you under god's blessing, health and prosperity in the year that lies ahead.
--
King George VI.
[mp3 audio file - edited] Carrying out duties ... that's the line that registers in
my brain. Carrying out duties - doing a job well - completing a task
like shoveling snow on the front sidewalk "edge-to-edge." And
shoveled "down-to-the-wood" so-to-speak, to keep visitors safe.
Not a wimpy, half-hearted job that some sloven slob might render.
Carrying out duties with a sense of urgency, getting the job done right with
attention paid to details.
posted 02.26.21
'twas a narrow machine (perhaps 16" wide) a semi-self propelled
Craftsman. I say semi self propelled 'cuz the wheels would
mostly just
spin - not getting much traction and we'd end up having to push it, but the auger
held up to it's end of the bargain and tossed even wet, heavy snow into the
woods or in whatever direction it was pointed. Mike bought it to
use with his lawn maintenance business (Blister Industries) and
expand - offering services virtually year-round! So the die was cast at an early age and Mike would forever ensure
sidewalks and driveways were clear at any home he owned or rented.
Heck, he even went in to his office at Ameritech early on snow days
to make sure sidewalks were clear for the staff. Years later when Louise
bought a Jeep, we attached a snow plow ... and Mike once again provided snow
removal services to help keep the world just a little bit safer. So when we got dumped-on the other day with 6 or 8 inches of snow we did
feel a bit like kids again: SNOW DAY! In this year of the pandemic
(that did not have to be this deadly) we wondered how kids reacted to the
"snow day" news during our current "lockdown" status. It's just one
more example of how life has changed by virus. We adapt. We
putz, and tackle chores, enjoying our hobbies. Louise has connected
with her sisters via Zoom and other internet-connected tools ... even
Louise's older technically challenged sister up in the U.P. has stepped-up
to the plate and taught herself a few new skills. Louise posted a short
video clip on her Facebook page
showing a rafter of wild turkeys waddling up-hill from the Hollow
behind our home. Yep, Turkey Hollow. Thank
goodness for the internet ... this morning the service was out for a few
minutes as Comcast was repairing something ... and we realized how dependent
we are to having instant access to cyberspace. Hopefully the country, heck, the whole world, will continue efforts to
mitigate covid spread as vaccines are rolling out. Louise & I
received good news the other day: we're tentatively scheduled to receive our
shots in a few weeks.
Until the vaccine is in my arm I'll worry that something could screw up our
plans, like the weather or maybe a supply issue ... who
knows? But for now we are delighted to be heading in a positive
direction. Feels good to have
hope.
posted 02.16.21 One of my brothers mentioned he had bought some reprints of a few vintage
era baseball cards for his grandkids ... and one of the cards turns out to be the
1933 Goudey Gum Company card #144 - Babe Ruth, swinging for the fences. "Hey
... I own that card," I exclaimed ... then proceeded to the eBay website to look
at some of the current auctions. [link
to Mike's previous article on his bargain Babe Ruth card.]
And it surprised me to see several parody cards ... former President
Donald Trump inserted in several classic, vintage formats. I've
studied and own several authentic cards from this era so I couldn't help but
capture the pix and assemble the above illustration. (natch) The
cards are designed to mimic several legendary collectable card styles
popular during the "Golden Age of Sport". posted 02.11.21 Louise spotted the news
story over the weekend before I read/heard about: major league baseball Hall
of Fame power hitter Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron died at age 86.
Originally the news shared here indicated there were complications related
to the virus but Factcheck.org says that's not true. Mr. Aaron died "from natural causes, according to the medical examiner’s office in Fulton County, Georgia. There’s no evidence that his death was a result of being vaccinated against COVID-19 in early January, as multiple posts and articles shared on social media have suggested." Over the past few years I've written about some of my sports
memorabilia (below)
focused mainly on the "vintage golden age of sport" (1920's thru '40's) but
I did have several hundred cards from my childhood era ('60's) ... though
most of those cards were "well-loved" and worn. Great memories, but
not worth all that much. One exception however is my 1964 Topps #300: Hank Aaron ...
the card is in amazing, pristine condition. The edges so sharp & crisp,
nicely centered, no wrinkles or creases ... awesome color - no printing
flaws ... professional grading services would likely rate my Hank Aaron
card rather high (PSA 7 or 8?) ... worth a few hundred dollars. I recall watching Aaron on TV in 1974 when I was in college as he hit his
715th career home run, eclipsing Babe
Ruth's long standing-mark of 714 homers. Aaron went on to play a few
more years and ended with 755 career HRs ... 21-yrs with the
Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves (played his last season '75-'76 with the
Milwaukee Brewers). Only steroid abusing Barry Bonds has hit more
home runs (762) ... but most observers discount Bonds' stats because of his
use of performance enhancing drugs. posted 01.25.21 -
revised/corrected 02.01.21 Recently I wrote to my brothers about the 2020 pandemic challenged high school
football season at Oscoda High. They just went 9-0
this past year, but had to cancel the remaining playoffs. Why? … not enough players
to field a team.
"Oscoda
opts out of high school football playoffs, ending historic season"
MLive News
reported. "OSCODA, MI – The greatest season in Oscoda football history won’t extend into January.
Oscoda coach Mark Whitley confirmed Monday that his team is opting out of the high school football playoffs, which are scheduled to resume with the regional championship round on Jan. 9. “We are going to shut it down,” Whitley said. “The No. 1 thing is keeping everybody safe. When we came together and talked about it as a team, we just won’t have the numbers – for many different reasons. It is not safe to continue on and play with 11 or 12 players."
[link to news story] What a great season, indeed, especially considering it took place during a freaking pandemic!
But there's one point made in the story that requires clarification: the 2020 team's wonderful 9 win, zero loss season may have set a school record, but to say (as the complete story does) that it's the 1st "district championship in the program's history" is
technically true but slightly misleading.
Currently, Michigan's high school football championship program has 8 divisions
in which teams compete and it can be great fun. In previous years, the state finals were played at
the Detroit Lions home turf: Ford Field & televised … which Louise & I made a point to watch.
When my brothers & I attended OHS as kids we didn't have a "playoff" system
for football ... it's relatively new in MI beginning in 1974 [source].
So the current claim "best in history" really means "best since 1974" as
teams prior to that date never had the chance to compete in a playoff
system. In my senior year the Oscoda Owls football team won 8 games, lost 1 … and
were "conference champions" several years in a row. There was no "district, or regional" competition
at that time in Michigan high school football. The "state champ" was typically recognized by
polls. The Associated Press rated
Oscoda 6th in the state, while Detroit Free Press famed high school sports "swami" Hal Schram
said in 1970 that Oscoda rated #4 in the state for "class B" schools.
There's an awesome sports data website
that you may want to bookmark if the topic interests you ... they captured
virtually all high school results (football and other sports) from 1950 to
the present, and links to similar data sources in 13 other states. Glad I kept scrapbooks & mementos … I'm pictured
in the above Oscoda Press article circled in red just above Athletic
Director Pat Tate. (The "district champ" badge above is for '69-'70 OHS wrestling … which DID have district, regional & state finals, as did other sports like basketball…but not football.)
Last year I spent quite a bit of
time on this website talking about sports and baseball cards my brothers
and I collected when we were kids ... and my father's boyhood collection.
As a kid I was the original game-boy, I played most all sports at
some point with the exception of ice hockey. I enjoyed little league
baseball and at school (junior & senior high) I played baseball, basketball,
football, and even one season of track. Likely our baseball coach
would dispute that. And, when our family moved north I became
an Oscoda Owl ... 3 seasons of football, 2 seasons of wrestling ... and
enjoyed it all. Fortunately I saved quite a bit of memorabilia, and
enjoy digging into the scrapbooks to reminisce.
posted 01.03.21
While the conservation concept
may be sound I have discovered that once the sparkling clean container is unloaded
along with the clean dishes I am having difficultly throwing them away.
Case in point: this clear jar brought us some tasty
blueberry jam made in Baraga,
in Northern Michigan. And now that it's all clean and like one of
Trump's shiny objects that captures attention, my normal instinct to toss is
shattered. After donning my trusty thinking cap I decide it's the
ideal vehicle to hold assorted fasteners and
thing-a-ma-jigs in Mike's workshop. Perhaps the next one could hold
spare buttons in the utility room? Hmmm. Previously I have cut slots in the
lid and used these as a terrific "coin bank" ... after all, t'was our first
postmaster general Ben who taught us a penny saved is a ....
yeah, you got it.
So while I'm marveling over the clear jar with its plain white lid - and
keep in mind it's the holidays - so when my brain says "see it glisten"
naturally my brain's playlist automatically kicks-in: "Sleigh bells ring,
Are you listening?
In the lane,
Snow is glistening.
A beautiful sight,
we're happy tonight ... walking in a winter wonderland." Okay,
so it glistens ... is it really all that valuable to clutter one's home
with empty (but sparkling clean) glass jars? Good point ... how much
did it cost the maker or packer of foods to buy this little item, and is it
another example of mass-importing of merchandise that once was made in
America, but we're not capable of making stuff like this any longer?
The
Google tells me more than
we need to know (but I find it interesting anyway): "A16-8 AGC 38" stamped right in the glass ...
could cost about 50¢ apiece when purchased in dinky
quantities ... or half that when buying 10's of thousands. AGC =
Arkansas Glass Container Corporation*. But get
this: the lids are extra. Huh? Well, there could be a variety of
styles depending on contents of jar. Lids add 20¢ to 30¢ each to the equation ... or 70¢ per
unit to have your favorite spaghetti or barbecue sauce conveniently packaged
and stacked high at your neighborhood grocery
... but now we're getting a bit deep in the woods.
The point is: why have we become such idiots, throwing
away perfectly good containers? And at the same time dashing out to
some big-boxy store to buy more plastic tubs to store the Christmas tree
ornaments? Folks, it's insane. posted 12.27.20
Louise posted some pictures on her Facebook page with a few captions that only told 1/2 of the story: "Mike just found a pack of slides and he scanned them for us so I could share them with you! Washington DC, 1966."
What she didn't say is that after years of digging thru family collections
of pictures and photographic slides from the Dawsons it turns out the newly
found little-box-o-slides was 100% Gignac. And as Louise says, these
were taken in 1966. Here's a sneak-peek ... Louise looking all
grown-up at age 12. (Whata' cutie!)
See my Scan-a-Slide "photo" page
for the link to the new 1966 Gignac collection as well as 2 other "albums"
of Gignac Family pictures (album one -
album two). posted
12.22.20
As
the Presidential Election drew near I enjoyed reading the frank assessment
of our disgraceful President from his personal attorney Michael Cohen ...
Disloyal: A Memoir.
Sure, I heard him testify before Congress and followed his appearances
on various news talk shows over the past few years. He seems like an
opportunist and thug. I'm only partially sympathetic for the guy
... he made his choices in life and he's paid for his mistakes.
That's something I hope Donald Trump will begin to experience after January
20th. My fantasy still has Trump being arrested seconds after Joe
Biden repeats his oath of office. But hey, this posting is
supposed to be about books, not politics!
It is now a
personal favorite - perhaps the best sports-related book I have read.
Louise has been kind to humor me as I related some of the rich detail the
author uncovered & wrote about in the book which was not highlighted in
the movie. Overall, its a fabulous true story, and a book I know I'll
read again as my memory of the details begin to fade over time.
[posted 12.06.20, updated 01.01.21]
[Since Louise posted the photo shown to the left Mike figured
The snapshot to the left illustrates of "the making of a wisk handle". 1.) cut hunk of dowel, split in half and 2.) carve out inside of dowel to accommodate wire wisk
"handle", then glue and 3.) clamp assembly. After allowing the
glue to dry
and a bit of sanding Mike plunged the wooden handle into a can of
Plasti Dip ... a soft plastic coating like you might find on a screwdriver handle.
Presto: one brilliant red handle & another delicious strudel-story.
posted 10.19.20
Not
certain when it began but for as long as we can remember significant
milestones in our lives (birthdays, family holiday gatherings) are
celebrated with a treat from Oliver T's
in Grand Blanc. "sinful desserts -- in moderation" of course.
This cake is our celebration for 41-wonderful years of marriage. The
rich chocolate cake is concealed by smooth (and not too sweet) white
chocolate butter cream frosting ... & white chocolate mousse separating
layers.
Political notions are typically stashed on the "issues
& thoughts" page of this website. But, with Michigan's new "any
reason" vote-by-mail option starting this year (after voter referendum
passed by an overwhelming margin in 2018), we are thrilled to say:
"put a sock in it Donald ... we already voted."
posted ... joyfully on 10.01.20
Some of our favorite tools are stamped: "made in the USA" which
always brings a smile to my face ... especially after this past Friday's
"jobs report" which estimates nearly 1.4 million Americans went back to work
last month. Most of these are not "new jobs" like the Donald is trying
to make you believe, but rather, existing positions that had to temporarily
shut-down as the country learned how to live with the virus safely.
Our Swingline stapler in the home office is one of those products
that was made here - in Saginaw, MI. Same with several of my trusty
tape-measures, and several other tools in my workshop. Until this
country finds a way to bring manufacturing jobs back to America it will be a
struggle for America's middle class. The other part of the equation is
the consumer ... will they be willing to pay a few dollars more to ensure we
have jobs for everyone? I have my doubts.
Louise & I are buying less "stuff" than we did 30-40-yrs ago when
we were active buying properties, fixing up homes, & learning new skills to
maintain 'em. We're buying less partly because we have most of the
things we need. It cracks me up when TV news broadcasters post annual
"first snow storm of the season" report with the obligatory film footage
showing lines
of consumers buying-out the hardware store's supply of snow shovels and
sidewalk salt ... I keep wondering: "what happened to the shovel they used
last winter?" Until we recently sold Red, our beloved utility
pick-up truck, the American-made snow plow was 15-yrs old and everything was
still functioning. Our trusty snow shovel collection includes tools at
least 10-yrs old, most of which were made in USA; same with our walk-behind
snow-thrower. Or, how about several wide-fan leaf rakes that we've had
our entire married lives? We have 3 of 'em ... with over 40 years of
faithful service. Ok, I don't know where the snow thrower or leaf
rakes were manufactured
but the snow thrower still working more than 11-yrs after buying it. Knock-on-wood.
It's been said that we've become a disposable society, which is not good for
the economy or the environment. Because when you buy quality stuff and
basically take care of it, things oughta' "last" ... less junk tossed in
landfills.
So as I dumped a load of laundry this morning I noticed the basket has a
well worn, hand-written note on bottom that reads: "this basket has
been faithfully serving since Aug 2000". Yikes, a landmark
service-anniversary just passed, un-noticed until now. Twenty years.
[Note: this would be a good place to insert a short audio file of spectators
& fans clapping, much like the crowd does at a golf tournament.] Buy
quality, folks & insist on "made in USA' merchandise! posted with patriotic pride 09.06.20 (minor updates 02.27.21)
Equally curious, after selling the shop, this broken pair of scissors
found their way to our home in one of our utility drawers along with cellophane tape,
glue sticks, and grocery store coupons. Well, this week I decided to
give it a go and repair the broken scissors via
a make-over that resembled the film set on the 1985 classic movie:
Brazil ... a
quirky, unique "dystopian
satire". In the event I failed, I figured it wouldn't be a huge
loss to toss 'em. But, armed with assorted tools, gadgets, a scrap of
sheet metal and a thin steel rod I cobbled together several repairs that are
not exactly pretty ... but very functional. In fact, with freshly
sharpened titanium blades, this pair of scissors cuts like it has never cut
before. (Somehow that sentence sounds rather Trumpian.) First I made a clean cut thru the plastic on the larger "finger side" ...
drilled holes into the blue plastic base near the pivot screw and inserted
the steel rod, bending it in the same basic shape as the original plastic
part. I then cut a groove on the broken plastic parts that I had
removed & glued them back in place along the new supporting rod [see
illustration]. The "thumb side" of the scissor was more challenging.
I opted to cut a "splint" out of a piece of steel sheet metal and screwed it
in place. Presto: one really ugly pair of scissors ... saved from the
landfill and back in service, functional, and hopefully happy to still be
useful.
posted 08.05.20 (wishing I'd captured a "before" image)
The home-handy guy's quick household repair task of the week: fix a broken
toilet paper roll holder. Recently the bathroom toilet paper holder got
knocked to the floor and broke. Can I epoxy the broken end?
Nope. Too many little plastic pieces broke away - not a 'clean break'.
Hmmm…
After sorting thru my "handy-guy" stash of mix-matched parts &
thing-a-ma-jigs I surveyed various cylinder-shaped pieces of stuff (metal, plastic, wood),
and I settle on a bunch of wood dowels salvaged from countless projects &/or
dismantled store fixtures, etc. I found one oak dowel that was just a hair wider in diameter than I needed
... which is a good thing … easier making the piece smaller vs. larger.
Then off to the bench sander, carefully down-sizing the diameter so it'd fit snuggly inside the part that still held the spring … then I use a grinder to fashion the little nub that holds the holder in place. Presto.
I'll still go to hardware today to get a replacement part to have on hand in
case this patch-job fails.
posted 08.22.20
№ 4 It's happened again. And yes,
it's almost involuntary ... when a yummy
Piece of Strudel presents itself I just have to let it run it's
course. Natch. I refer of course to "my shorthand to describe a tasty treat in layers ... like a fine pastry."
"A" leads to "B" and then "C", and so-on, and on, & on.
Strudel.
And once again that crazy clown Puddles (Mike Geier) led the
charge with a creative mash-up: the theme song to Gilligan's Island
with Led Zeppelin's legendary Stairway To Heaven. I loved it
and sought to find more which is how this whole Strudel thing really transforms
the exploration (and is also a grand way to blow a few hours). In
short order I found there were more layers! The mash-up was
actually created by a group known as Little Roger and the Goosebumps
in the early 2000's, who got sued by owners of the Led Zeppelin's
original rendition for copyright infringement. The irony here though
is that Led Zep had been sued previously by a group "Spirit" who said their
tune Taurus was the basis for Stairway's melody ... but once again,
I'm getting diverted to another tasty layer best preserved for another day.
(For context purposes, here are links to renditions by
Led Zeppelin and by
Spirit.)
Those interested in the recipe for today's taste treat, let's get back on
point: so, Puddles sings this tune and creates a video with some neat
video recollections of the Gilligan's Island story ... and I liked it a
lot. We'll call that layer
04-01, the fourth piece of strudel
described on this webpage, layer one. The next layer,
04-02, is the original
mash-up by
Little Roger and the Goosebumps, which really was pressed into vinyl
and sold in record shops (back in the day when there actually was such a
thing ... a store devoted to music & recordings ... not just a short aisle
that is slowly vanishing from the aisles of big-box stores).
As they say in those late-night infomercials on TV: but wait - there's more.
Some guy named Rikk Wolf made his version: Stairway to Wisconsin with some
creative lyrics ("There's a cheese head who's sure ... that the beers
are all cold...") Slice #3: 04-03. Not to be out-done, someone produced our 4th creative version (04-04)
Stairway to 7|11. "There's a lady who goes ... to the store
that won't close..." Great fun. But, time now to dash &
hop on my treadmill.
Previous slices of strudel: 1 |
2
| 3 (a non-musical
fat-free treat)
Weather throughout Central Michigan has been so warm & humid that we've
limited our time playing outdoors. A week ago I was playing in the
woods: cutting trees that had died into firewood ...
splitting most of it
by hand ... even though we rarely burn wood (which is
strudel story of a different flavor).
Anyway, it's too hot this week.
So we are watering plants & lawn and making sure
critters and winged life have access to water, giving us plenty of
time to tackle "in-door" activities including some projects that fall into
that massive category known as: "someday I'll get around to it."
At times it seems as if "someday" may never arrive, but yesterday my
personal list of pending tasks shrunk by a count of one. I fixed a
stool.
Yep. And if Roy Underhill, the
Woodwright on PBS, was over for a visit he'd be impressed that I
used a hunk of wood salvaged from a dead tree in my woods to repair the
broken stool stretcher ... even if I don't have a froe to split the
log, just like Roy.
There's some dispute here over the variety of wood
Mike pulled off the tidy stack of firewood to craft the new part ... Louise
says the orange colored heartwood may be Osage
Orange while Mike suspects its something less exotic like common
Buckthorn ...
straight, tight grain. "Easy to cut, plane and cut out the tenons ...
and since the piece has a rustic appearance it was a piece of cake to make."
A bit of stain and polyurethane, a dollop of glue, and presto: one repaired
keepsake seat that's not being tossed into the landfill.
The rustic stool is among the few tangible things I still have that came
from Drop Anchor, my family's home in Greenbush from the mid-60's to early
'80's. One of the lower stretchers broke decades ago ... snapped
right off at the tenons. 'bout time it got fixed, don'tcha think? 07.09.20
Morris' work on Edison did not disappoint - as I've learned a great deal
about the World's № 1 inventor. I can't say I
liked the approach Morris took organizing his work in reverse
... beginning with the end of Edison's life and then working backwards
through time. Certainly there was far more source material for the
author to work with in the later half of Edison's life (which would be true
for most of us).
Next
up /"on-deck": another sporting book ... a biography Louise got for
me about the famed
baseball slugger Jimmie Foxx who played 20-yrs among the stars of the golden
age of sport. I mentioned below that I'm lucky to have a really swell
Jimmie Foxx "Heads-Up" baseball card from my Dad's collection which came out in 1938.
posted 07.03.20 [previous
"bookshelf" article];
updated 09.16.20
"Clean Cole" &
"A Case For Red" ... Miscellaneous Car Talk
Our other transportation option for
the past 15-years has been
"Red"
our hard working Chevy pick-up. Regular cab, short bed. It was
the most compact Chevy truck available at the time, unlike these behemoths
rolling down the roads today. I told Louise at the time (2005), that
Red would pay for itself ... and it's a fact.
It's quite a legacy Red leaves
behind, but its now retired and we welcome another slightly smaller Chevy
Colorado pick-up that was just screaming to be called:
"Whitey"
for obvious reasons. We'll add a snowplow later this fall. The
"other Whiteys" in photo? Whitey's Fish & Chips in Davison, Mickey
Rooney tough-guy played Whitey Marsh in the 1938 classic Boys Town with
Spencer Tracy; Whitey Ford, Hall of Fame NY Yankee pitcher; and
James "Whitey" Bulger Jr., the notorious American organized crime boss.
posted 06.19.20
Mike's Bookshelf: We Can Learn From The
Past If We Study It
During his
intentionally shortened career ('32 - '46) Byron Nelson won 52 tournaments,
including 5 majors - keep in mind this included a period when most major golf
events were put on hold during WW2. Nelson opted to go out on top in
'46 when he bought a 630 acre ranch in Texas, and retire from the tour.
Just finished this selection on Mike's Bookshelf: "D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II"
by Sarah Rose. Momma always told me not to judge a book by it's cover
... but in this case, the attractive post-art deco dust jacket caught my
eye, and the content convinced me to buy it. "The spies who armed the
resistance, sabotaged the Nazis, and helped win World War 2,"
screams the sub-header on the cover & provided ample justification ... and the
fact it's based on true stories ... made the appeal that much greater to me.
Given our current political climate and our nation's embarrassingly weak
leadership I felt I needed to consume something that was honest, real,
and
noble. During a period when Donald Trump is destroying our
relationship with our European allies, and when Republican Senators haven't
the courage to stand up to a criminal president, I needed an "inspiring story for our own moment of
resistance: a reminder of what courage—and the energy of politically animated women—can accomplish when the stakes seem incalculably high."
And the book provided that and more. It also corrected many mis-conceptions
I had on the history (like the speed of the Allies advance following the
Normandy beach landing ... took months not days like Hollywood lead me to
believe.)
posted 06.03.20 updated 07.02.20
Staying home is something that comes naturally for us during this coronavirus
pandemic ... we're home-bodies, Louise & I. But yesterday we
got seriously stuck right in our own backyard - photos to right and
below capture the terrain that caused us trouble (trouble right here in
river city .. hang on Big Guy, that's a tune that goes with a different
story).
Anyway, since mid-March we can
count on one hand how many times we've been to a grocery or drug store.
Just before the "stay home" request was issued by our highly effective Governor (That
Woman) Gretchen Whitmer we had the good sense to pick up some grass
seed & fertilizer, anticipating a few springtime yard projects. Mike
also picked up a new lawn-mower (as repairs on little red our
faithful garden
tractor, exceeds its value). Trouble is, our dealer no longer sells "garden tractors"
favoring instead a cast of "zero-turn" models
that landscapers use. "Heck, I used to be in the landscaping bid-ness,"
Mike likes to reminisce about his Blister Industries lawn care
operation in the '70's ... (but again, that's another story).
So, as grass began to sprout Mike was all set to put the new mower to work
... and it does a swell job on flat surfaces. Not so much on wet,
soggy turf. In a matter of weeks Mike's gotten "stuck" 3 times ...
right in his own yard. Embarrassing, to say the least. The
biggest problem is "turkey hollow" where all rainwater from around the house
& yard flows ... and typically is a muddy mess until late June. One
would think with that knowledge, one would avoid driving a freaking lawn
mower down into "the hollow". But nooooo. A week or so
ago Mike got stuck and needed to use a hand-cranked winch ("come-along") to
get it free.
Today, Mike began researching small power winches like his buddy Joe has
attached to the front bumper his off-road, trail-blazing Jeep. "Heck,
I was a Boy Scout for a few months as a kid ... about the best thing that
experience taught me was: be prepared". Yeah ... likely a good
idea - as is Louise's advice: "Maybe we should avoid Turkey Hollow until
July." Smart gal, that Louise.
posted 05.23.20
A panoramic view of the devastation:
Water, water ...
Everywhere
Just heard on the news that the famous Smelt Dipping City of Omer is
submerged - and US-23 is closed temporarily. The news prompted Louise
to request that I dust off my archives of web-stories...this one from 2003.
sunflowers
fun factoids about Omer
After learning that bit of trivia, I imagined some poor chap who hand-carved a lovely sign that read "Homer - thriving on the Rifle River" or something like that. No one wanted to waste a perfectly good board, and being justifiably proud of their work they opted to simply cut off the "H". Now, before you start scolding me for making disparaging remarks about wood carvers, or the founding citizens of Omer, remember, I said "I imagined" … it's just a tale. I do however think that is exactly how much of our "history" is generated. Regardless, it's a mighty fine sunflower field (of dreams), near a town that has no H in it's name.
"There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew." - Marshall McLuhan
posted 05.19.20
In
These Tough Economic Times ...
During the previous economic downturn '07 - '09 often referred to as the
"financial crisis" the media created a phrase that was repeated so often
it's stamped in my memory bank:
"...in these tough economic times..." And then
we'd see a news story about mindless consumer spending, or perhaps a TV
commercial promoting a fabulous new automobile - with the price tag equal to
or greater than the cost of my first home in Mott Park. I'd
shake my head at the many ways people find to drop cash ... and not plan
for the future or save for an emergency. What seems now like just an
instant ... mere months ago ... the news was filled with a story:
"Why 4 in 10 adults can't cover a $400 emergency expense."
Ouch.
The financial crisis of '07 - '09 was largely man-made ... caused by greedy
people. Just a year before the meltdown Louise & I were pondering a
chunk of property in Michigan's U.P. so we explored the prevailing mortgage
rates with our local bank. They offered us a bonus exceeding a
thousand dollars just for the privilege of taking their cash. We opted
to not acquire the property so the loan and "bonus" never materialized, but
I do recall thinking: "this is pretty stupid" (for the bank to be making
such an offer).
What we're experiencing today with this pandemic is something that is out of
every one's control ... like a natural disaster on steroids. Since
this Coronavirus story is still being written its hard to assign a title or
designation, but it's looking to be every bit as serious as the "great
depression" that began in 1929. Which is why I am glad Louise & I are
such a great match (in many ways) including basic frugality. We have
always embraced the concept of living below our means ... and take pleasure
finding ways to repair, repurpose, recycle. So, I had to chuckle when
an ad popped up on my computer screen tempting me to spend money that I
don't need to spend. A new $75 "wallet"? Laughable. My
wallet is a nice, fat rubber band and I get a new one just about every month
from the grocery store from a bunch of broccoli or asparagus! And,
much like my nerves, they tend to snap under pressure ... temporary fix: tie
a knot.
A Very Stable Genius
- highly recommended reading for every voter in America
But when I got into A Very Stable Genius I was quickly captivated by the
detail and the way it supplemented details I was already familiar with.
The format follows Trump's occupation of the White House
chronologically so it's easy to follow and quite compelling.
And with Trump feeling more embolden & empowered now after Republicans were
afraid to remove him from office when they had a chance, the President has
embarked on a dangerous course of action: firing several Inspectors General,
turning the WH's Brady Press Room into the Trump Re-election Daily
Dump of his insane & illogical chaotic ramblings and ill-advised
policies. He's attacked the travelers, democrats, the media, Obama,
China, the US Postal Service, the WHO (world health org), the Voice of
America (seriously - in the midst of a global pandemic, he's attacking a
radio network for being too liberal). True to form the Donald has
attacked virtually all women he's had to deal with the past few months (MI
Gov Whitmer, GM's Mary Bara, PBS's Yamiche Alcindor, CBS's Paula Reid &
Weija Jiang). One minute he seems to be unhinged & losing it; then the next
day he flip-flops & reverses himself. He claims to care mostly about
the nation's economy, yet signals nothing but uncertainty to investors on
Wall Street who clamor for stability & certainty.
Other than partially restricting travel (after it was too late to have any
positive impact) the Donald has done nothing to help constrain the
Coronavirus outbreak in the US of
A. We have no national testing strategy or national testing
program, no coordination of material & equipment supply chain issues, nor a
national plan regarding medical & emergency staffing. He's attempted
to take credit (for what?) while he's refusing to take responsibility.
Then he claims "the President, not the governors & mayors" have absolute
power ... "the authority is total." A day later he reverses himself
when he realizes that the power he wanted to assume opens himself and his
administration to attack and blame if things do not go well. "He
doesn't really want to assume responsibility for anything," WH observers
say.
So all, in all, given the crazy stuff happening in Washington, voters have
to be prepared with fact and remain highly motivated to ensure we don't have
to put up with this guy for the next 4-yrs.
Too busy to read? Try the
audio book link: PRH Audio on
SoundCloud
posted 04.19.20
Groping for
positives during Pandemic? Next to the phone there's nothing better.
Knock-on-wood, our home phone hasn't been ringing anywhere near as often as
it was 2-months ago. It was typical to receive 6-8 calls daily from
scam-artists trying to extract cash from my wallet. Or, those trying
to get us to sign-up for their Medicare plan ... or, a low-low interest
credit card. How about someone from Microsoft (or Apple)
struggling to communicate in their broken-English:
"may I speak to Louis?"
Sorry, sport, no Louis here. Then a chemical lawn application firm
offers to rid our home
of unsightly weeds, bugs, critters & wildlife [your pick].
Or, perhaps we need to show our appreciation for our nation's wounded
warriors, fire fighters, police [again, your choice].
All this
silence got me thinking back ... sort of a flashback when phone calls were
far more rare and far more exciting! We'd all come a running
to the phone strategically located in my parent's house. The vintage
Bell System ad (right) reminded me of this delightful phenomenon.
Likely this will be just a brief pause from telemarketing calls that always
seem to come during meal-time ...
likely call centers had to shut down in hotbed communities due to the spreading virus. After all, these
robo-callers have to be
chomping at the bit with all of their prospects staying home. "It's like shooting fish in a barrel!"
The ad copy below the headline:
"Is it
for ME?" You kind of hope it is - for good news and good times often come
your way by telephone. Maybe it's a date for sister Sue. Or a business
call for Dad. Or Bill asking if Jimmie can go to the movies. Or
Grandma calling Mother to find out if things are all right. And
everything is more likely to be all right when there's a telephone in the
home. In many, many ways, the telephone is a real friend of the
family. And the cost is small - just pennies a call.
Aw,
reminds me of those swell Hallmark card ads from that Leave It To
Beaver world ... "when you care enough to send the very best". posted
04.10.20 by a retired "Bell-head"
Slices
of Strudel Turn Up In The Craziest Places
Strudel? Yep. This is actually my 3rd slice! And if you're
unfamiliar with the term here's a fat-free
HOT LINK to slices
#1 & #2.
"A piece of strudel" ... my shorthand to describe a tasty treat in
layers ... like a fine pastry." As Haley Reinhart says in
my strudel slice #2: It's A Mad World. Well, this
little journey is courtesy from brother John who had recently spotted a photo below/left of the "Mich-a-Gander" resort hotel in Oscoda, MI from the '40s:
"Looks like the Pack House; could it be?" I thought John was
spot-on correct but I did a quick plunge into the internet machine to see
for myself ... and sure enough: "you nailed it ... windows are in the same place, the dormer on the front has the same structural detail … same roof … even the bump-out on north side (likely a window to illuminate the stairway since it's located between 1st & 2nd floor) … I'd say your photo captured the
Pack House before the handicap ramp was built … before the parking
lot was paved … before the tree was cut down." The Pack House (and it's Rathskeller
subterranean pub) was a popular dining destination when we lived in
nearby Greenbush ('70's). I can not recall ever knowing if the
place had ever been a
"hotel" But that was indeed the case. Fifteen charming rooms
said one historical website for the Huron Shores Genealogical Society (HSGS).
Naturally, the joy of discovery didn't end there ... 'cuz there was another article
that said the mansion was
built in 1878 by a local lumber baron named Pack and his lumber mill was
located directly across the street. Lumbering was big throughout
Northern Michigan and quickly became the #1 business
in Iosco County in 1865. Some sources said the "most valuable pine timber was gone
by 1870" particularly along the AuSable River basin. Another source reported it wasn't until 1890
when the
region hit it's "peak production: AuSable & Oscoda produced 324,503,531 feet of lumber."
That was 25-years after Henry Loud was the managing partner at Loud,
Priest & Shepard - one of the largest employers of lumbermen in Oscoda.
These hard working guys made 75¢ a day ... a 12-hour
day ... likely 6-days a week. Ouch.
Just as the forest was largely depleted a massive fire
broke-out in 1911 and wiped out the entire community (colorized image
below/center). It took decades for the area to recover, financially.
"... I
say, old chap. This lie calls for a mashie niblick!" As mentioned below, after reading a swell book about Red Grange,
1930's era football star, I set out to tackle an autobiography by Francis
Ouimet, U.S. Golf Open Champion. I'm about half-way thru it
and enjoying the book tremendously, but it's taking a bit longer than I
thought - mainly 'cuz I find myself translating quite a bit of the content.
Example ... Ouimet writes:
The thirteenth hole at Flossmoor was a very short one, calling for a
mashie niblick pitch. The green sloped abruptly from right to left,
ordinarily the player tries to place his ball on the upper part,
allowing for the slope to turn his ball toward the center of the green. A mashie niblick? Louise gave me a link to a great
website: "Golf Clubs?
Mashies and Niblicks, Baffies and Spoons — Sorting Them All Out" They
say: "back in the early days ... golf clubs in a set were not identified by
number (e.g., 5-iron), but by name. There were clubs called mashies, niblicks and mashie-niblicks, among others ...
[which] had the role of the 7-iron". Ok, a 7-iron ... now I can relate. We saw the movie: The Greatest Game Ever Played based on the true story of
20-yr old Ouimet's victory over reigning champion Harry Vardon at the 1913
US Open. What I did not know was Ouimet would enjoy a long, successful
amateur career winning 28 tournaments including the US Amateur title (twice)
and the French Amateur championship. posted 03.09.20
That's the topic of the latest book I've had the pleasure reading:
'Red'
Grange - The life & legacy of the NFL's first Superstar. The book was
a gift from Louise and part of my deep dive into the characters who gave
Americans something to cheer about in the 1920's & 30's.
My current
interest stems from my father's childhood sports card collection that
Louise & I
dove into in 2018. Dad's cards stashed away for decades in a green
metal tackle box didn't include 'Red' Grange's football card so Mike bought it
... 1933 Sport Kings from the Goudey Gum Co. [link
to Mike's collection].
The Grange card from this landmark series tend to be rare & expensive so initially I
was just gonna' get a budget minded "reprint"
... but then found a nice one for a price I was willing to pay, and have it
framed with 13 other legends from the golden era of sport. Grange
is a 3-time All-American running back/defensive back from the University of
Illinois ... who signed with the Chicago Bears in 1925. Harold Grange teamed
with Hall-of-Famers like George Halas and Bronko Nagurski
to win 2 NFL titles in '32 &
'33. After Grange's playing days were over he coached a few
years and then got into writing & broadcasting - both radio & TV - and in
his free-time: sold insurance.
I'm debating which book on my stack of "must read" volumes will be next: an
autobiography from Francis Ouimet, America's 1st US Open golf champion ...
or A Very Stable Genius - Donald J. Trump's testing of America by
Phil Rucker & Carol Leonnig. Given that this week is Super Tuesday
(primary elections for 1/3 of the country) it may be wise to tackle the
book that addresses our current problem: a White House occupant unfit &
unsuited for the job. I know, I know ... politics are s'posed to be
banned on this page and discussed only on my "issues &
thoughts" page. Well, that's the nice thing about being self-employed
and the master of my own universe: I get to flip-flop and not feel the
slightest bit of remorse ... after all, the majority of Americans agree:
the Donald needs to be removed from office even if the GOP hasn't the
spine to do it. If you disagree, read the book mentioned and let me know
where it's factually inaccurate.
update 03.02.20 - watched President Trump addressing conservative
whack-a-doodle CPAC convention where the Donald called the corona virus
a "hoax" and blamed Democrats ... naturally I nearly vomited. With
"super Tuesday" primary elections looming I suspect I'll have my fill of
factually challenged "news" & will welcome an escape hatch. Yep, I
opted to read Francis Ouimet autobiography and will
tackle A Very Stable Genius next week. Besides, the Ouimet book is
short: under 300 small pages featuring large type ... published in 1932.
There just so many elements & rich detail to the Ouimet story and his
unexpected victory at the 1913 US Golf Open ... defeating legendary Harry
Varden ... living literally across the street from the course ... the ages
of the winning team: a 20-yr old amateur & his 10-yr old caddie!
Should be swell.
Friends of ours posted a note on Facebook about an
NPR story
celebrating the fiftieth birthday of The
Point. Scott Simon says:
"Harry Nilsson's concept album The Point turns fifty this year; to celebrate, the 1971 animated film adapted from the music will be released digitally and on BluRay for the first time. Nilsson, a beloved if occasionally overlooked writer of late 1960s pop hits, died in 1994, but his strange and endearing fairy tale album still resonates with those that remember it."
Digital? Cool, where do I sign up?
I do take exception however, with depicting the musical as "strange" and I just don't
quite understand why Harry is so often overlooked given the volume of work
that he produced ... but I am thrilled to finally figure out how to get
"Simon says"
into a sentence posted above.
I've been a huge fan of The Point ever since it was released as an album
(still own it) and as a TV special and then finally: as a movie! RCA wanted to beef-up the credits
on the film so they hired Ringo Starr of Beatles fame to handle the narration,
but I actually prefer the original story telling on the album by Harry himself,
who wrote and produced the songs and the story. (I don't recall if I
ever heard the Dustin Hoffman narration on the TV special.)
So what's the story, you ask? It's a fun one: The Point is a fable that tells the story of a boy named
Oblio, the only round-headed person in the Pointed Village, where by law everyone
and everything must have a point. Everyone has one ... that's the way
they wanted it, and that's the way it's gonna' stay! In the land of
Point ... every thing and every one had a point. Oblio's
best friend is his handsome and empathetic dog, Arrow, and the round-headed
Oblio wears a pointed hat to conceal his "pointless" condition from his pointy-headed peers.
It's a rich story about acceptance and resisting authoritarian
pointlessness!
posted 02.16.20 [minor tweaking 02.17.20]
CDC study
identifies the laziest states in America To remain focused on my personal weight loss efforts I find it helpful to
view myself much like the blockbuster movie
WALL·E depicted most all human
life forms who trashed planet Earth. Not familiar with the movie?
Likely you can find a copy at your local library, or, like the fellow eating
lunch on the sofa (left) you can stream it at home.
Quick-plot-summary: rampant consumerism and environmental neglect have turned Earth into a garbage-strewn wasteland
in the 29th century. Humanity is nowhere to be found, having been evacuated by the megacorporation
Buy-N-Large (BnL) on giant
star liners 7 centuries earlier. The couple wearing red suits (below left)
illustrate the affect their sedentary lifestyle has had on Earthling
descendants who made the giant star liners "home". Of the robotic trash compactors left by BnL to clean up
Earth, only one remains operational: a Waste Allocation Load-Lifter
- Earth Class ... hence, WALL·E.
Not real happy with this story line? Blame
FOX News who recently reported: "The Centers for Disease Control
& Prevention (CDC) this month released its findings from a recent study on physical inactivity levels across the U.S. The study, which combined data from 2015 through 2018
... overall, all states and territories had more than 15 percent of adults who were considered physically inactive. Physical inactivity was determined if they responded “no” to the question: “During the past month, other than your regular job, did you participate in any physical activities or exercises such as running, calisthenics, golf, gardening, or walking for exercise?” In particular, seven
MAGA states: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee
& Kentucky – reported the highest levels of inactivity. In these states, 30 percent or more of adults were physically inactive.
Colorado, Washington, Utah, Oregon and the District of Columbia were the most active areas in the nation."
(Not sure if it's significant but all 'cept UT are considered to be "blue
states".) Time for me to hop back on the treadmill ... then, I'll need to
carve-out some time to watch impeachment proceedings which begin today. Okay, that's a stretch, but
last month I mentioned discovering
some music that was new to my ears using that technique most of us have
encountered but did not have an official name ... so I called the process:
"A piece of strudel" ... my shorthand to describe a tasty treat in
layers ... like a fine pastry." You find one thing of interest
on the internet and next thing you know you find a dozen more things, and
well, there goes a perfectly good morning. "A" leads to "B" and then
"C", and so-on, and on, & on. In last month's Strudel I mentioned finding a cute little tune ... a duet
sung by that creepy clown, Puddles (Mike Geier) & Haley Reinhart. The song,
"Mad World" was written Roland Orzabal in 1982 & performed by the British band
Tears for Fears, sung by bassist Curt Smith back when MTV was the rage. Well, I liked the
original version, and especially liked what Puddles & Reinhart did with the
song ... so following the natural progression of things, I wondered: who else
has recorded the tune? Enter layer #2:
Janet Devlin a singer / songwriter from
Northern Ireland who has an excellent but rather sad version ... and that lead
to layer #3: Gary
Jules who sings a slightly more upbeat, positive rendition. But
wait! There's more, as I stumble upon layer #4 ... Gary's version of "Mad World" was incorporated into
a creative movie-short: "Mad World Remix of Moby Video" an absolutely amazing animation by Steve Cutts which "tells a powerful story, with or without the music."
Well worth viewing ... just love the way Cutts depicts all the mindless
souls walking about with their faces buried deep into their "smart phones"
almost trance-like. If, however, all of this talk about strudel has awakened other
parts of your brain and made your tummy growl, here's a fun little apple strudel
recipe you may wish to try at home. (Or dash out and buy a box of
Pop-Tarts, America's mass-produced version of fine French pastry.) posted 01.15.20
Mike's book shelf ...
rich with history “I’ve always wanted to write a book about people we never heard of,” said McCullough,
two-time Pulitzer Prize winning author. McCullough checked that
bucket-list item with the publication of his latest historical book: "The
Pioneers" which Louise got for me last year. She knows I'm a huge
McCullough fan having read just about all he's written. The Johnstown
Flood, The Great Bridge, The Path Between the Seas,
Mornings on Horseback, Truman, John Adams, The Wright
Brothers. She also gave me a copy of 1776 which I struggled
at the time to develop an interest and never finished. The Pioneers
may provide the context to help me try once again. McCullough's books
were a great companion back in the 80's & 90's when I was a young-pup
salesman out on the road ... they gave me a bit of inspiration & knowledge
as well as purpose (vs. doing stupid stuff some traveling sales folks do
when "on the road again"). McCullough's Pioneers chronicled the
migration of Americans into the "Northwest Territory" (Ohio) beginning in
1787 which expanded West into what is now known as Indiana, Illinois,
Michigan & Wisconsin. The massive chunk of land was ceded by the
British in 1783, and McCullough follows the creation of the "Ohio Company"
to populate America's new Western regions including the courageous quest of
America's pioneering settlers & surveyors. It's a worthy read. On deck: a biography on Red Grange -
America's first pro-football superstar. (Two other biographies were
found under the Christmas tree this year, so this is no time to dawdle ...
both books chronicle lives of some of American golfers: Byron Nelson &
Francis Ouimet.) posted 01.11.20
So Mike picks LSU to win the big game while Louise
was rooting for Clemson. The final score (42 - 25)
overwhelming favored Mike, but the rest of the contest belonged completely to
Louise. She owned it this year. If you're totally in the dark
we'll try to 'splain: each year around this time Mike & Louise watch
excessive amounts of football at all levels: high school, college &
professional ... and then if we're not totally brain-dead we attempt to
select the winning teams participating in the major college bowl games.
We call it the High Pointe Bowl Pickers contest. And this year Louise's
12 game margin of victory established a new household record. Mike picked
losers more often than winners (19-22). In the nine years we've
done this - the largest margin of victory was 6 wins ... in 2013, Louise won
22 to 16. The national championship game was a fun finale to our
household contest but in reality, Louise secured her victory after the
infamous Belk Bowl way back in 2019.
(Above photo:
Ohio Univ. celebrates it's 30-21 Famous Idaho Potato
Bowl win over Nevada by dumping
French Fried potatoes on coach Frank Solich.)
How did this get started? Well,
decades of ineptitude by the Detroit Lions tends to drive
fans crazy - it stands to reason that we would move on ... namely
to high school & college football. We started our annual contest in 2011 ... you may have read about it
in Mike's article: "He
Lacked" (story archived here). And, it's no wonder
Louise has dominated the event in recent years. She does her homework.
And we're not talking
about simply reading headlines off some
Twitter-feed! "Every bowl season, Mike prints out an
official
High Pointe Pickers
sheet so we can
keep track which team we pick & game results," Louise says. "I read articles
like: which team has a rookie quarterback or which key players are injured ... coaches retiring
or fired … teams with awesome defense or offence, etc. I also take into consideration their travel time to the bowl game and it may affect the team, etc." updated 01.15.20
Sort of like "show-n-tell" when you were a kid ... here are some of
Mike's favorite Christmas presents ... an official vintage Walter Hagen
golf ball from brother John, and neat display case from Louise ... the ball
goes with the Hagen Sport Kings card and biography mentioned a few months
ago [link]. Louise also got
us the cute model of the 1940's GM Futurliner
... one of 12 rolling exhibition vehicles that took information and science
"to the people" at state fairs and other venues back in the day. So where did Louise get this brilliant idea to buy Mike a model of the GM
Futurliner (above)? Well, as many of us are prone to do, Mike was
surfing the web one day and spotted these photos below of the 1941
Western Flyer vintage RV designed by
a guy named Clifford Brooks Stevens ...
who as it turns out, designed all sorts of amazingly cool stuff. All
sorts of vehicles, including the famous Oscar Mayer Wienermobile!
Boats, motorcycles, household appliances. In researching the Western
Flyer, Mike stumbled upon the GM's Parade of Progress and their
Futurliners. If you're thinking: "hey, this sounds a bit like
the strudel story below, you would be right.
The point is: we used to actually build neat stuff
like this in America. With a bit of courage, we can again.
posted 12.31.19 - updated 01.02.20
SOLD! J.J. Cardinal's Wild Bird & Nature
Store...the fun little shop that Louise launched in 1991 now has a new
owner (eff. Oct. 2017). Our beloved Little Red wagon that hauled over 4.7 million
pounds of the birdseed has such rich patina we couldn't give it up.
Brother John was kind enough to get us a new little red wagon for JJ's
new owner
Gretchen Giles so that our original little red can enjoy retirement, too.
Little Red is now Louise's "Chuck Wagon" ...helping with the daily
task filling bird feeders at High Point! Anyway, this isn't a shirt-tale, but rather, a hammock story. Louise
has bought a couple of 'em for our little utopia in the woods - strung between two sturdy
oaks with the bolts slowly being absorbed by the growing trees. It's a peaceful way to
spend some quality time with a good friend: swinging in a hammock. We made a design note
to ourselves recently that when it comes time to build a Superior home we'd be wise to
incorporate a hammock to be placed indoors so that we could use it year-round (ala'
2-shirt)! See? There was some linkage after all, to these tales. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
GoodPlanet's
stool №
6
For
the reader who is asking: "what destructive things?" I would say: stop
watching
Fox News exclusively and compare how the various media reports on any
given topic. Legal documents reveal how deeply ingrained Fox News
is as they serve as the GOP's chief distributor of propaganda. It
would require volumes just to summarize previous actions by team Donald that I'd technically classify as
crazy shit* … obviously over half of the American voters feel otherwise.
(*Russian interference, botched COVID response, Hydroxychloroquine, threatening election
officials, two impeachments, January 6th Insurrection, retaining documents
illegally after losing the 2020 election, and, over 30,000 documented
lies/misinformation/false statements, and so much more.)
Louise has dabbled with weaving for decades -
but it wasn't until she sold
She actually wove enough fabric to re-work the 6 chairs twice
... it turned out after weaving the first batch that she decided to
change the pattern and use the 1st run on other projects like
pillows. It was a huge task, and she said the most challenging
part was removing the old fabric without damaging the teak frames
... she battled thru a ton of tacks and glue until her hands ached.
The good thing is, the newly upholstered chairs will certainly
out-live us - these chair seats are better than ever and a handsome
element in our home. 
.
What's Next?
Trade
Secrets Revealed
Playtime
Over ... Back To The Stools
update:
05.25.24
Zipbolt (see below) inserted; cracks filled
with epoxy & Arm-R-Seal topcoat is complete ... Paul is back in action!
№
4's
nings
of what shall be a "shower seat" ... see photo below - a month ago we
completed a make-over of our master bedroom walk-in shower ... and Louise
says she loves it so much she just wants to "take a seat" and enjoy.
Mike sketched out the concept a few days ago - did some research - and then
finalized a simple "seat" which will sit just 18" tall ... the seat is 10"
deep x 17" wide and made from the red oak from that tree M&L cut down 3-yrs
ago while building Shed. Mike realizes red oak is likely not the ideal
species of wood (vs. teak or mahogany) for a damp, wet shower. It'll
get multiple coats of topcoat finish and 4 anti-skid pads affixed to legs.
Mike will resume building & finishing this afternoon - stay tuned in a few
days for the final, "another project completed" photograph. (BTW: the
seat above hasn't been glued together yet ... so fear not, the spacing of
slats will be uniform.)
The
internet machine had a lot of info, and old pictures about snow removable
efforts, back in the day. I learned a great deal thanks to the folks in Monson, Maine who celebrate
"Snow Roller Day" each
February ... and naturally have a
Here's a snapshot .
Oh, and get this: we also made a 50-second "movie" - like a quickie tour:
So
that's where Louise found herself yesterday afternoon while Mike was
manufacturing sawdust in his shop. 
completed:
The All Americans by Lars Anderson. The basic storyline appears
right on the cover:
"On November 29, 1941
Army played Navy. Eight days later Pearl Harbor was attacked.
This is the players' journey from football field to battlefield."
I'm happy to say I just finished reading the book, another holiday gift from Louise. I liked it a great deal. She knew it might well be a
fine book, right up my alley of recent sports books, and assorted historical
topics from the 1930's and 40's. The "golden age".
The author, Lars Anderson, has been a writer for Sports Illustrated and
co-authored
Pickup Artists: Street Basketball in America. The central
heroic characters in this historical summary all survived WW2 and lived rich, full
lives. When Anderson interviewed the men they were in their 80's and eager
to share their experiences.
of good, old-fashioned American extremism getting supercharged by proximity to power. When extremist elected officials get caught plotting against America with the
violent ultra right, this is the story of the lengths they will go to… to cover their tracks."
I'll repeat with emphasis: this is a TRUE STORY. Many of us
recognize the similarities with the this story and today's fractured MAGA
right-wing. 
butterfly.
Our latest stool creation. Finally got all four of it's slightly curved legs cut out
and attached, mortise & tenon
style, and than placed her next to "
situation:
those game loving folks at HighPoint are experiencing a bit of a "pause" ...
their
table top 700-piece jigsaw-style puzzle from Buffalo Games is missing
a few pieces. Obviously that means the puzzle can not be completed as
it now stands. Louise contacted the manufacturer, and they said they
do not offer replacement parts (unlike our favorite brand: Liberty
Puzzles, who does offer such customer service). In their defense, the
Buffalo Games cardboard puzzles retail for about $10 ... while the
deluxe laser-cut wooden pieces from Liberty run 10 to 15 times more
... giving them the resources to support their replacement warranty.
one
good read often leads to another
read. And I have Louise
to thank for keeping my selections of reading material "well-stocked"!
She gave me an early holiday gift last month so that I'd have something to
read after polishing-off Liz Cheney's excellent book: "Oath and
Honor" ... in which she provides specific, ample evidence that Donald J.
Trump is unfit for office and should be blocked by American voters from
inflicting more harm and danger to the country. So, to lighten-up a
tad for the holidays, I turned to one of my favorite sports authors, Jim
Dent, former sports reporter who covered the Dallas Cowboys for years.
The first book by Dent that I recall reading was Monster of the Midway: Bronko Nagurski, the 1943 Chicago Bears, and the Greatest Comeback Ever
... since reading that I've tackled six of Dent's books and have a few
more on the "must read" stack.
Admission price: 15¢. 
Tracking HighPoint Projects and Goings-On
...
project watch.
(... the latest from HighPoint) Back in the 50's and 60's the
architectural style known as 'mid-century modern' often featured car ports
instead of garages. Besides saving the prospective homeowner a bit of
cash upfront, the open and airy mid-century modern home emphasized function
and simplicity. And there is little that can be simpler than a
car-port for protecting the family sedan from the elements. Sort of.
It's gotta' roof held up by a couple of posts, and no walls. Wide
open, baby. I recall back in the 80's helping my buddy Ed close off the open walls of
his car port to stop blowing winter snow from piling up around his van in
his car port. Ed eventually added a garage door and the walls we built
were soon filled with cabinets and shelving to increase storage lacking inside
the home designed for the minimalist resident.
and the past week
a building plan was completed, the materials were secured, and the dust was
flying and the critters around HighPointe were alerted by the sounds of
hammers hammering, and saws cutting. Louise stained all the wood surfaces to match the house,
natch. On top of the rafters: 4 steel panels, painted red in a factory
setting. The two unstained horizontal pieces connecting the two 4x4 posts is
Mike's latest handiwork repurposing invasive Buckthorn tree stock. The
guy built a shave-horse and look what happens! (It'll be
a great place for Ben and Hoss and Little Joe to tie up their horses when
they visit.)
Reading, building, renovating 
to drink wine more than I used to. Anyway, I'm drinking more,” the ailing don says wistfully.
So, I'm reading more than I used to. 
shave
horse. As mentioned earlier, I finally completed building
the 
and
The Little Engine That Could. There was even a copy of one of Mom's childhood books that she got in 1933:
Hot Cross Buns ... which I forwarded to brother Tom and his household
filled with grandkids. 
Our
engine has broken down and the good boys and girls on the other side (of
said mountain) won't have any toys to play with or good food to eat ..."
It's fitting that author Watty Piper identified the Little Blue Engine
to be female because, wouldn't you know it, Piper says: "she
tugged and pulled and pulled and tugged ... puff, puff, chug, chug went
Little Blue Engine. "I think I can, I think I can" soon
became: "I thought I could, I thought I could". Positive reinforcement.
If the book were being made into a Hollywood action adventure, this is the
point in the story when the birds would be chirping and a-singin', the sun
would come out shinin', and all the kids and toys on the train being hauled
to the other side of the mountain would be hootin' & hollerin' & cheerin'
(to beat the ban, as Grandma used to say when she read the book with Mikey). Goal
setting, and tackling projects. All of
this being instilled in a 5-1/2 yr old lil' Mike ... circa 1959. I
mentioned to my brother John: "I think I'll write about the books on my
webpage one day soon." Check, another task completed.
The
project began last October. Mike & Louise have wanted to build a
"shave horse" for years after seeing all the neat things it could
help us do on the
Students
of Latin are likely familiar with Roman statesman and scholar, Marcus Cicero.
For the rest of us, we rely on popular culture to aid our process of
self-education. In
Sherman, fellow history buffs may
recall, was the brave Northern General who delivered the sort of hell on
Earth campaign during his conquest of Atlanta & Savannah ... giving the
rebels a dose of their own treatment of slaves. 
One
of Louise's pictures captured a view of sweaty Mike after cutting down a few
spruce trees ... Louise caught me holding a tool called a mattock
which many of us often misidentify as a "pickaxe".
It's a great tool for hacking
out roots or otherwise loosening the compacted, heavy clay soil found here
at HighPoint. But, as I've learned, a dull mattock is rather
inefficient and requires the user to deploy far more effort & energy than
needed - like when I'm cutting out soft spruce
roots protruding from the ground
where trees once stood. So - flash forward to the present - Mike's
mattock got a "tune-up" - sharpening both cutting edges with a steel file
just like your Grand-Pappy may have done it! 
njoys - her focused subject
matter changes nearly as frequently our weather here in Michigan. Often.
Louise calls
these pictures of interesting working stiffs "Men At Work" but it's not a
collection devoted exclusively to the sweaty male species. Men At
Work is just her catchy name for the collection of pictures, which she
likes to produce in Black & White photographs.
If
your brain is having trouble grasping the basic concept of "strudel
time" perhaps a quick review may help.
Strudel Time is my shorthand to describe a tasty treat in layers ... like a fine pastry.
In this case, we're talking: tunes. Music, Daddy-O!
In
2008 Louise & I were captivated by a fun little movie called Wall-E
that made fun of so many aspects of human life - our wasteful habits, human
laziness. 
Simple
pleasures are plentiful here in Grand Blanc. We don't get out much;
really have no need or burning desire (to get out/go out). The virus
has certainly changed us and how we interact with others. This week
Louise had a good friend stop for a nice socially distanced visit & hike
down our trails thru the woods and around the ponds ... first time in
2-years that we had company at our home.
Ever since he was a kid, influenced perhaps by his Dad's coin collections,
Mike has been fascinated by coins. So much so that even at a young age
(7 or 8?) Mike instantly identified the rare Indian-head penny a gas
station mechanic had just given to him (change for a nickel, Mister?) so he
could buy a penny-gumball.
The
plans were most likely covered in a bit of dust ... the idea for the newly
built Spring House in Tallahassee, FL was to feature furniture designed by
the architect who designed the home ... but those plans sat and ripened for
sixty-nine years. The architect mentioned would be Frank Lloyd Wright,
and the house would be just a 1/3 of a mile from brother John's home, as
the crow flies.
John has participated in several projects and
fund-raisers to help restore and maintain the unique house - the only
private residence in Florida designed by Wright, and in April John asked if
I may be interested in helping build a table or Pod ... that never was.
In June Louise & I decided to take a mini-pause from painting to tackle this
Pod and other projects that were screaming for attention (like landscaping
chores with spring in full bloom). Well, in a bit over 3-weeks our
version of the Pod was carefully packaged and shipped.
The picture above/right was captured in Michigan ... prior to transport to
Florida.
Happy
Father's Day
Today's 'Rabbit-Hole'?
Ever since writing that the notion has stuck in my mind like a jelly bean
sticks to my dental work - so much so that now every time I glance at the
newly framed pictures in our remodeled den I see the pose and think: hood
ornaments.
So
the parade of projects continues - this year the focus has been paint ... as
you may have read below we tackled the laundry & workshop last year. This
spring we continued marching South thru the back hall, ½
bath,
morning room, kitchen & dining areas ... in our den we decided to be
daring
with a wall of red. As Louise puts it on her
The Daring Diver - have no idea what her name is ... or where
the picture was taken. Do you? I just liked the picture, and
think she adds a great deal to the display. She looks as if she's
modeling to be the next hood ornament on a big old Packard hauling Ms.
Hollins around scenic Monterey Peninsula.
(Roughly 117 projects in
the past 12-months, says Mike, the keeper of lists - while
repeating the mantra learned from Janet Disbrow: "can't
manage what you don't measure.")
stage
stamps from bygone days had glue on back that one would moisten to affix to
a letter or package ... so the anti-stick quality of the glassine envelope
was a nice attribute. And why would someone have a collection of old
stamps? Well, Bucko, prior to the creation of the "forever stamp" most
anytime the USPS raised prices we'd get 1¢ and 2¢
stamps to combine with our stash of older first class stamps. (For those of
you who no longer mail much of anything in this high-tech world, I realize
you may need a moment here to scan through your memory bank to recall: 'what
the heck is a forever stamp?')
Building & remodeling projects keep us busy and help bring order to our lives in this crazy, often mad, world. This fixture was originally designed to hold seven cigar boxes containing small parts and materials like hinges, or, router bits, and plenty of assorted nails: finishing, common, roofing + an array of brads & tacks! The Tower of Thinga-ma-bobs & Whatcha-ma-call-its brought order to the stuff that often fills old empty coffee cans and dusty toolboxes thanks to a steady supply of cigar boxes from Perry Harding, family friend and cigar loving fellow from in Greenbush, MI. It was just what was needed to organize “stuff” in 1982 when Mike & Louise moved to Westover Pass, Gr. Blanc. All materials for the “tower” were salvaged from assorted projects, like the sides ... made from 1x8 pine boards that had supported curtains & valance in the living & dining rooms that Jerry Foutch former homeowner had assembled. The pegboard back panel came from some workbench project in the basement.
Ten years ago we began making energy from sunlight.
February 1st, 2012 our solar array was switched "on". Why did we become
"early adopters"? Good question - especially during an era
when the anti-science deplorable radical-right-wing-extremists continue to be
climate-change deniers ... calling it a hoax. The rest
of us are moving on (and leaving them behind).
Update: the Mike-Gyver Files
Louise's
Baby Just Turned 30
How
is it possible? 
but
it allows us to connect
the trails along the North side with the South side of HighPointe.
Men At Work
We're
tired of screaming at the TV every time the news media produces another one
of those human interest segments of well-intentioned people advocating how we
"gotta' meet people where they are at". Without being
judgmental, they say, we must answer the questions these hesitant folks may
have and
allow them to decide to do the right thing." Well, some are - too many
aren't. And the radical right-wing nuts are now attacking our public
school systems as they resist the one mitigation effort that has proven to
be effective: WEARING A FREAKING MASK. Enough!
hank goodness for the
many projects mentioned below like building our
A
few years ago Jeff Seidel of the Detroit Free Press wrote a nice
The other day we mentioned our laundry room is getting a make-over (below "
News Story
Confounds Bible Thumpers
Celebrating
(last week) what would have been Mom's 97th birthday ...
years back I posted a cute little movie clip on YouTube of Mom recalling one of her fav childhood tunes:
Mares Eat Oats - but the account changed and I seem to have misplaced the file. While I continue to search for it on some back-up discs, here's another fun little tune Mom liked to repeat..."
...
a test of a new hinge solution for the new cabinets Louise & Mike are
building for their laundry room (continuation of the article below "
In 2007 Paul McCartney (of Beetles fame for those under age 50) released a tune,
Ever
Present Past, that I've always liked - nice tempo ... creative & catchy. But this morning I was pondering the
lyrics - especially the part about "it went by, in a flash":
One Thing Leads To Another ... 
...
learn something new. In this case: how to operate a simple log
splitter. Our neighbor, Hank, was kind to offer the use of his
Huskee Log Splitter. Not the fastest log splitting device known
to man but simple to operate, and powerful. We had to drop two good
sized oak trees in preparation for building our shed and as reported below
one of the trees got "slabbed" by our portable sawmill guy, but there was
plenty of oak that got cut into fireplace length. Rather than
splitting it by hand it was sure handy to have this mechanical assist to
tackle the remainder of the log pile. I'll check moisture content
later this fall - by winter it should be dry enough to burn.
Schwinn Monogram Saddle
...
So
Now We Wait
... 
Can't
recall for sure, but we came home and began planting 'em all around the
house, and most of the trees survived. 
Recent
Project: relocate & repair mailbox post
So what
does a nation do with so many regions prematurely relaxing mitigation
measures and refusing to wear masks, or ignoring CDC Guidelines by flying on airplanes (because they are
just so sick of "big-government over-reach" or other such silliness)?
Thank goodness there are effective treatments for those who become infected
that can potentially save lives.
Each of these products have undergone a series of packaging design changes over the past century.
Take, for
example, the aforementioned Aunt Jemima pancake mix
products, soon to be known as "Pearl Milling Company" says parent
company PepsiCo (owner of Quaker Oats division). Yep,
you read that right: cola giant Pepsi owns Quaker Oats, which
owns Aunt Jemima ... er, now Pearl Milling Co. For
years the face of Aunt Jemima brand, named after a catchy song "Aunt
Jemima", was Nancy Green, a 56-yr old model often called
"the
pancake queen" who had a lifetime contract to promote the products
emblazoned with her likeness (left). If you were to
Google the
brand name: Aunt Jemima
you would find multiple images in the evolution of the famous pancake mix's
brand.
...carrying
out duties
Ah
... there's the secret: gentle peril instead of a steady diet of
Donald Trump's Big Lie, or life in America during a pandemic.
As
kids there were few things that delighted us more than a "snow day" ... no
school, but tons of things to do &/or mischief to get into. But first,
there was snow to shovel ... after that, perhaps sledding and maybe tossing
a few snow balls. Mike bought his 1st snow-thrower back in the early
70's at a garage sale on Cedar Lake Drive up North in Greenbush [
Legendary
Slugger: "Hammering" Hank Aaron passes
In an attempt to conserve a bit of water, rather than
individually washing or rinsing jars and plastic tubs that
packaged assorted food products we just consumed, we figured: "why not just put
'em in
the dishwasher and clean it along with the rest of our normal load of
plates, glasses and silverware?" Brilliant, my dear Watson! we
said to ourselves figuring it was also a good way to save a smidgeon of energy (less water to be pumped
from our water-well). 
Fun
Time To Look Back ...
Mike's Bookshelf ...
Just
finished:
The Greatest Game Ever Played.
Astute readers of this webpage will note that I previously mentioned reading
Francis Ouimet's autobiography
... as well as biographies of other legendary golfers from the golden age
in sport: Byron Nelson, Walter
Hagen and "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias. The Greatest Game book was
the basis for a 2005 movie of the same name which I've seen several times.
Over the years I've heard people say they "liked the book more than the
movie" and now I can say I relate. While Mark Frost's book was the
basis for the film, for the movie to be an accurate historical record
the film would have to be produced in serial form
- because sadly with limited time some actual events had to be modified.
Example: in the movie (spoiler alert) the margin for Ouimet's 18-hole
playoff victory was just one shot when in truth Francis won by 5 strokes.
Overall, Frost's book weaves a lovely story
that chronicles and connections of Ouimet's early career, America's first
amateur champion of the US Open golf tournament, and that of Harry Vardon,
winner of 7 majors including 6 British Open titles, and Ted Ray who
won two major championships, the (British) Open Championship in 1912 and the U.S. Open in 1920. 
When
a niece spotted one of Mike's recent frugal-guy repair projects she exclaimed: "it's
a genuine MIKE-Gyver!" A what? You may be
asking yourself ... (this story
may make more sense if you play the following audio file ... sort of like
accessing the 
So,
this week's MIKEGyver episode has a little Martha Stewart cooking flair that
we'll call: "Fixing A Wisk". Some
40-yrs ago Louise got this handy kitchen gadget and it had a wooden
handle, but the handle came off and was lost many moons ago. Recently,
on a cool summer day while
marveling over some other home-handy-fellow projects mentioned below, Louise
turns to her fixer and says: "my wisk could use a handle!"
That
is all it took for her fellow to spring into action,
especially since the fixer has become quite partial to Louise's baking and cooking.
But wait, there's more justification for this strudel-story, since Louise's birthday
was approaching. Mike donned his imaginary
mullet hair piece and pondered: what would Angus do? ... how does one craft a missing handle
that he's never seen on a tool he rarely uses? Hmmm. 
Our
Time Flies ... How About You? 
Oh, goodness ... it took more than an ounce of self-control to
NOT devour the entire small cake in one sitting.
Had
the Trump administration implemented a comprehensive plan for testing,
contract tracing, and isolating those infected with the virus, not only
would America have experienced fewer deaths, but less destruction to the
economy as well. But the jobs that are coming back now are not the
manufacturing jobs lost over the past 2 or 3 decades.
There were two
supply items at our store that never seemed to last very long and I am not
sure why: vacuum cleaners and scissors. Since we sold millions of
pounds of birdseed at J.J. Cardinal's it made sense we'd have some seed
spillage to clean-up on a regular basis ... but why the lot of vacuum cleaners took
such a beating, I never figured out. We seemed to go thru a machine every
other year. And since we offered gift wrapping we always had several
pair of scissors in the shop, but never enough it seemed, and keeping 'em
sharp was another story. There was one pair of scissors that Louise
purposely hung onto even when it got badly damaged - there were 4 breaks in
the finger side and 2 on the thumb side ... wrapped in tape and they barley
functioned.
My
brother and a niece have referred my little repair projects as Mike's
With
all that's been written about Thomas Edison, I was eager to see what new
perspectives I can find about the man through a fairly new biography by the
late Edmund Morris best known for his take on history of two US Presidents: Theodore
Roosevelt and Ronald Reagan. 
No,
it's not another shameless assault on Republicans and the "clean coal"
advocates ... it's simply a play on words. You see, we enjoy naming
things around our home (High Pointe). Louise named her Beetle "Cole" short-hand for
The
first 10-yrs Red plowed a lot of snow - in addition to our driveway, and
that of several neighbor's, and private road that the township never
touches, Red plowed. And plowed. Just the snowplowing revenue
alone paid for Red, and it's bright yellow Meyer plow, maintenance,
insurance and fuel with a ton left over. Red also hauled a
lot-o-things: dirt, rocks, furniture, even Louise's new loom! Red also
hauled tons of birdseed ... literally. J.J. Cardinal's was among the
first Michigan retail stores to sell NutraSaff, a protein rich
organic strain of safflower that our birds at High Pointe continue to enjoy.
We met with the owner of the company that developed the strain and purchased
NutraSaff wholesale requiring a jaunt to Lansing area every 3 or 4
weeks ... in eleven yrs Red & I fetched over 240,000 pounds of the stuff.
There
are plenty of reasons for me to enjoy bits of history. To those
familiar with this website you know well that I tend to dwell on politics
and business a great deal - typically on my "
The biography was a holiday gift from Louise and nicely chronicles
Nelson's amazing string of 11-consecutive wins in '45 with plenty of rich
detail about his playing partners, venues & foes. This was a much less
glamorous life on the tour compared to the modern day jet-set millionaires
we have today. Winning prize money was meager, transportation
was challenging, and even the tools of the trade: balls & clubs were scarce - affected by
war-time rationing.
Given
that bit of history, how can one explain why Mike drove the mower once more
down the slippery slope? It took a couple hours to set the zero-turn
mower free. And when the yard dries up a bit, Mike will invest more
time fixing the series of ruts carved in the turf West of the solar panel
array. Says Mike: "its like quicksand - and it sucks you
in ... " but he realizes its sounding like another lame excuse.
a town that has no H in it's name
One
writer called it a "terrifying book". And, "among the most closely observed accounts of Donald J. Trump’s
shambolic tenure in office." After a steady diet of
biographies read over the past few years I confess I worried slightly that I'd
have trouble getting into a political synopsis given how much time I already devote to
the news. I tend to watch little else on television, my radio dial is
set for NPR, but I do have WJR preset for those occasions I can
stomach a few minutes of elRushbo. (That's Rush Limbaugh for
his listeners in 
Noticeable
decline in robo-calls and unwanted telephone solicitations
Another
star from the "golden era of sport": Red Grange
posted 03.01.20 [hard to believe it's March already!]
The
album is rich with information about the Land of Point and it's residents
... including a rich illustrated storyboard depicting Nilsson's stories.
Artists even put a point on Nipper, the famous RCA Master's Voice logo
(shown left).
Plenty of music fans consider Nilsson to be the most important musician to
NOT be in our Rock-n-Roll Hall Of Fame ... a wrong that needs
to be righted. 
New
Feature Added By Popular Demand
best friends