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:
Note: been allowing the fact I’m behind on vacation blog posts to stall my daily blog posts.. so now I’m behind on all blog posts and getting behinder by the day. So… going to start throwing up some quick daily posts — mostly pics from said days — to get me back on the horse. Starting with today!
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Best pic from today’s gotta be this lovely tangle of crepe myrtles (across the street)… the lavender ones mixed with a raspberry one. The colors look great together, especially up against that white-cloud-dotted blue sky.
The sky sorta looked like the outer (way outer) rings of the hurricane that hit Southern California this afternoon (big doings down there!). We’re getting no rain and no wind up here, but we do have increasingly overcast skies.
Today, someone on Facebook posted this photo. It’s most of the staff and teachers from Cesar Chavez Elementary school during Peter’s tenure there. This particular photo, the poster believed, was taken in about 2009, which was the year Peter entered 6th grade, his final at Chavez.
The photo includes Senora Bugsch (first grade.. almost out of the photo on the right side), Senora Dunbar (second grade, white tee shirt with lettering, who taught with Senora [hmmm], not pictured), Senora Peavyhouse (I think) (sixth grade, on Chavez’s right shoulder), principal Senora Beck (far left).. and numerous other teachers he didn’t have. I don’t see Peter’s kindergarten teacher (Senora Gutierrez), nor his second grade teacher (Senorita Cruz), nor his fourth grade teacher (Senorita Marchand), nor his fifth grade teacher (Senora Ponce). I can’t imagine they’d all moved on.. but nor can I imagine the photo includes the entire teacher community at Chavez!
But.. whew.. remembering all these names… that was really reaching back in the memory bank.
While I’m on the subject of Peter’s teachers.. here are a few I could put my hands on quickly…
Peter with Senora Gutierrez (kindergarten):
Peter and Senora Bugsch (first grade):
Senora Bugsch and Senorita Cruz sitting on Peter’s bed (happened when we hosted one course of a progressive dinner.. a fundraiser for Chavez).. they teased that this photo could be used as blackmail one day:
This is a photo I came across today, as well… it’s a photo taken in the summer following first grade.. and it really got me. The crumbs, yes, the eyelid freckle and the fold of the ears.. but I really smiled at his name inscribed (by him) on the inside of this hat. I could stare at this photo for hours.
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One other thing happened today. We went to a memorial service for the dad of one of Peter’s Chavez friends, Anna. For a while — kindergarten and first grade mostly — Anna was it.
A couple of Anna and Peter pics (and Jack makes an appearance):
They enjoyed hanging out in the hammock in the backyard.. just talking.
So, Jim Belenis passed away a month and a half ago, a heart complication. He was sort of legendary — part of a well-known family in town — and so very well liked. Among many more important community contributions, he served on my board for many years. I really liked him a lot. It was a sad memorial, for the fact he lived life with many health issues stemming from childhood cancer. He faced so many challenges, got passed most of them, until the last thing. Died at 63 leaving a loving family and a huge community of friends grieving.
It was really lovely to talk with Anna — very grown up Anna. Still so sweet.
Peter and Maya arrived last night, this morning we mobilized — packed, Bernardo’d, then set out on Hwy 50, thinking we’d skirt the crowds at the Northwest 120 entrance and slide into our Lee Vining cottage sans traffic. We stopped for a break at Horsetail Falls, then went all the way into Echo to check that out (miss that place). We walked up to the ridge to give Maya a look at Lake Tahoe (first time), then headed over to the old Sorensen’s (now either the Desolation Hope or the Wylder Resort… that was confusing) on 89/88 and had a great lunch at the Sorensen’s Cafe. Eventually crossed Monitor Pass and dropped onto the east side — just gorgeous scenery, I tell ya. Green, sweeping vistas, Mono Lake, fire remnants/regrowth… all just beautiful. Checked into the Lake View Hotel, whined about sketchy wifi as we delighted in the funky but generous accommodations, then finally had dinner at the Mobil station, which, funnily, is the best food around. Here are photos from the day.
Oh… and I’m so so so over the moon to be with these three for the next five days in the SIERRA. Happy happy happy.
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 