People ask me, “what does Jim do in the garage?” or “how much time does he spend in his workshop?” or “what kind of projects does Jim work on?”
I rarely have concrete answers, but I’m always quick with, “he loves it in there, working on whatever it is he’s working on!”
I love it when he summons me to check out something he’s done in there… like TODAY! I wended my my way through the maze of materials and tools (and other things) and saw this:
He’s pretty pleased with this one. It’s a .. mechanical thing that does stuff.
He explained to me that most of this contraption comprises parts salvaged from his mom’s old sewing machine.. cranks, shafts, gear-like things.
In his words:
What’s a guy to do with an old sewing machine that’s no longer useful for stitching fabric together? Through hard use and substandard maintenance, my mom’s old Kenmore had become an efficient needle-breaking machine, so I retired it years ago. It’s been gathering dust and taking up space ever since. Rather than just toss it out, I decided to take it apart to see what makes it tick. What I found surprised me. Made in Japan in 1967 or so, it’s almost all cast iron and steel, with only a couple of die-cast cosmetic parts and a single plastic nameplate. Most of the cast iron bits are even tin-plated, presumably for corrosion resistance. The inner workings are so robust that I took the crankshaft, connecting rod, worm drive and handwheel, added a few bits from around the shop, and made something…useless. But fun!
Fantastic, no? A question does remain, though… What does one do with such a thing?
Here are some better photos that I captured from his Facebook video:
I starting writing Life of Wry in October 2008. Initially, I thought it'd be about writing. I thought I'd write when I had something to say, and I'd make my writing publish-worthy, or at least thoughtful.
But, two things:
1) Everyone's a writer these days. Anyone can, and many do, just put stuff out there. It's not so fussy. So maybe I should lighten up. So I write fast and don't edit.
2) Life of Wry quickly became more family journal quality than literary journal quality. And I decided I like that. Something I can leave my son. My hope is that he'll learn a bunch about us, me, our life. At some point.
I also take a shit ton of photos, and wanted to put my favorites somewhere.. because where else?
I struggle mightily with the idea people are reading this. I am not necessarily writing for others; I'm writing and taking pictures for family posterity. If that holds any appeal, please enjoy! But my intended audience is our family.
Finally, if I don't do a DAILY blog, it will become a NEVER blog. I thrive on discipline. I fail without it. So whether there is anything to write about or not, there will be a blog.
Thanks for stopping by. I actually love that you're here.
Life of Wry 