Seven Dogs of Awesome

 

When I read the headline that was about seven dogs that have accomplished more than you have, I thought it was a bit unlikely. Now, having read the accounts, it seems a bit of an understatement. These are truly amazing animals.
 
 

My Amazon Wish List (maybe yours as well!)

 

From time to time, for various reasons, people want to buy stuff for their friends. I have found over the years that gifts from friends (and family) fall into one of three categories (and I take a guess at the distribution %):

1) Appreciated (for the gesture) but not a lot of use (one of those ones that, if you were honest, you'd regift but you don't want the giver to find out) (Hey, I'm just being honest here... we all get gifts like that... I'm sure I've *given* gifts that were looked at like that....)

Percentage: 35% (higher from family or acquaintances, lower from friends you share hobby activities with)

2) Appreciated and something you actually wanted (these tend to be useful because they both show your friends or family are thinking of you and fill a need or want)

Percentage: 55% (higher from friends, lower from family or acquaintances)

3) The odd time, one will come in that you wouldn't have said you wanted, but turns out to be something really neat that you actually do find fantastic.

Percentage: 10% (or less - this turns out to be hard to do)

Now, I ran across this many years back when I wanted to buy an e-friend across the pond a gift but had no idea what/how. He showed me that Amazon UK had a wish list and he had a bunch of stuff up there for these sorts of occasions, in all price ranges. He liked books, so it worked out well. It let me do something nice for him and get him something he wanted. It seemed somehow marginally less crass than just sending him twenty Pounds...

Well, I recently realized I've got a pile of things sitting in my shopping cart at amazon. I also realized that sometimes friends want to get you (or me) something and are struggling to think of what. Both the giver and the reciever would likely be happier if the present was desirable to the recipient. So, these wish-lists seem to fill that niche.

It would be nice if there was one place where you could reasonably store all your wish lists from all sources (ie woodworking tools, history books, sci fi and fantasy books, wargames, RPGs, kitchen tools, recipe books, computer books, computer games, martial arts books, model building and painting tools, etc). Realistically, that isn't going to happen.

But Amazon has this wishlist thing. And so I moved a bunch of stuff sitting in my shopping cart unbought out into a wish list.

You can see Thomas Barclay's entire Wish List at:
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/registry/122MQDBNI8CHD

I'm hoping that some of you might also have wishlists from Amazon or other places and will place them in the comments. Then I too can find shopping for a gift for my friends easier.

It's never about the size or even nature of a gift - the gesture is what really shows the affection and/or respect. That's what really matters. But given that, it is still nice to have your friend absolutely love your gift.

So, tell me about your wish lists too! (at Amazon, some other website, or just in text from the comments)

 
 

R.I.P. Don King: 1933 - 2009

 

My friend Susie's father passed away from Leukemia recently. From first diagnosis, it was less than a month, most of it spent in the hospital.

I attended Mr. King's funeral on Friday. Susie gave a moving eulogy and did a very good job of it considering how difficult a time it must be; Susie is a woman of surprising strengths.

Don King led a full and complete life. Lovely daughters, a long marriage, lovely grandchildren, service to his community and country (former RCMP officer, former business owner, former mayor of Picton), service to various charitable groups (the Royal Canadian Legion, the Kinsmen, more Masonic chapters than you can imagine including the Scottish Rite, the York Rite, the Blue Lodge, Preceptories (several), the Royal Arch, the Shrine, and the Knights Templar), and generally being a man well-known throughout Picton and Prince Edward County for integrity and compassion, as well as for a quirky sense of humour.

Don was among the foremost Masons in the world - having held a list of offices as long as your arm and having been included in elite groups of as few as 40, then 8, then 2 as his service continued. His contributions to Masonry have led the Masons to enshrine records of his efforts in their archives and to create an official memorial for his work. Safe journey Eastward, Brother.

Don was the sort of man you didn't ignore - he had very high standards and was fairly stern with his kids. But he had a sense of humour about life and passed on many great lessons. I learned a lot about Don from the people who gave his eulogies but I learned more about Don from having known Susie for many years.

For Susie, her sisters, her mother, and the rest of the extended King family - my condolences and heartfelt sympathies extend. For Don, I hope that he was right about what he believed in, for he did believe and he lived his beliefs. God rest his soul.

The world is a poorer place for his passing, but a greater place for his living.

Don's Death Notice

 
 

 

Students send a camera to 18 miles up, to the blackness of space, for $148.

NASA, you should hire these guys.

Story Link
 
 

The Happiness of Working with Wood

 

I have just returned from 5 days of woodworking in Almonte and Rosewood Studios taking Excellence With Hand Tools.

In this course, I learned how to use a variety of hand planes, scrapers, chisels, spokeshaves, draw knives, etc. to prepare wood from rough sawn lumber to a smoothed state (without sanding, I might add). I also learned how to tune-up and sharpen hand planes, scraper blades, and chisels (at least as critical as knowing how to use them). And I learned how to make hand-cut dovetails for boxes and drawers. There were a number of ancillary issues like understanding wood's behaviours with moisture variances here in North America and some brief examples of how to design with this in mind.

This is the first course of a 6-week or 12-week Furniture Making course. There are then up to six months of further coursework you can undertake as well as individual guest workshops on various specific aspects such as boxmaking and so on.

Fine Woodworking is a craft. It's not something you become truly competent at until you have at least five years of practice - you need the experience with the wood, with how to avoid and resolve problems, with how to understand the way to get the best look out of your wood (including how to rough saw the wood in the best ways), in furniture design, in the use of various production machines like steam benders, veneer thickness planers, etc. So before anyone asks, no, I'm hardly qualified to turn out Masterwork Furniture.

On the other hand, I've started to rehabilitate a lot of old woodworking tools from around my Dad's shop (some were Granfather's). Old planes (transitional wood/metal planes, a hybrid rabbit/shoulder plane, several smoothing planes), old chisels, a spokeshave, a draw knife, and so on. I've purchased some additional high-quality woodworking tools. I'm going to start working towards having a good workbench at the family homestead. Then *maybe* I can start producing small projects.

I would like to take the remaining courses, but probably won't be able to this year. The course is continuing today and I'm not there and can't afford to be (should have looked into government sponsored retraining options sooner, but the idea didn't occur to me until late last week).

Whatever else I do know, spending a day working with wood gives me the feeling of having achieved something, having worked on building something that will be of some use to someone and that will hopefully improve the world by its existence. The last three or so years of being on software projects that were cancelled or never deployed has really quashed that feeling for me at work.

I need to recapture that sense - I think I went into engineering in the beginning to understand the world a bit better and to design and construct things to make the world a better place.

For a long time, when I was working on computer systems for the RCMP and later the military, I had that. Even working on some telecom projects and on point-of-sale systems for Canada Post, I had that. But many of the other projects left me wondering why I'd committed so much of my time and effort and feeling rather hollow at the end.

Well, working with wood looks like it is full of challenges, but at least if you apply yourself, you can produce something tangible and concrete. Eventually, I should be able to produce things that are useful and beautiful as well.

I've taken most of this year off of work. I've reconnected with old friends too oft ignored. I've spent some time (a diminishing resource) with my folks while they're still here and somewhat capable. I've started to learn how to work with wood to produce quality products. I've learned how to make home-made jam (the art of canning) and I've started to write a bit.

Still up on the year's list: A visit from my cousin in Missouri, spending more time with Dad learning how to Weld and Braze, working on consolidating the skills I learned at Rosewood, learning to sew by hand and with a machine, maybe learning how to kill and process chickens for food (from a friend who does this) and attempting to become competent at pastry work. Somewhere I have starting on the road back to better physical shape as well.

I suppose it is small wonder I've felt busy enough without work in my life. Truth to tell, I needed the recharge. I will have to start seeking 'paying work' again soon, but my life feels much more balanced than it did at the start of the year.

So maybe the year I turned 40 wasn't such a bad year!

 
 

41 Years of Marriage

 

Here's me raising a glass of awe to my parents.

Monday the 31st of August, 2009, was the forty-first anniversary of their marriage. 41 years, not all of which have been trouble free. Some were hard years, some were very hard years. But they've weathered thick and thin and stuck by one another. And here we are, 41 years and counting.

Looking at my own slow pace (if stopped can be considered a pace) towards a married life, 41 years from tomorrow would still see me 80 years old. I don't imagine I'll ever get to see that event.

As I've aged, I've appreciated the people they've been more. I've seen more of their flaws, foibles, and human limitations, but rather than make them less wonderful, that has endowed them with a deep humanity and a depth of character in my eyes. Sure, I don't agree with one or other of them on some subjects, but one way or another, I've been very blessed to have them.

If forty-one years of marriage has produced naught else, I'm one outcome. Whether that's a good one, I'll leave to the reader to decide, but certainly my parents should get credit for most of my positive aspects and no blame should afix to them for my flaws (for they are surely mine own).

I know that I wouldn't be the man I am (whatever that is exactly) without them. Any character, integrity, or honour is a byproduct of the upbringing I received in their house. Any courage, compassion, or curiosity about the world and how it works and how to improve it also can be credited to them.

I've been very lucky. I hope they have a few more decent years left in them as I really enjoy their company (except for some of Dad's rambling stories, but let's be honest - I'm not known for terse either...).

Here's to you, Mister and Missus B. As the old Scots saying goes

Wha's like us?
Damn few, and they're aw Deed!

 
 

Crazy LA Fire Pictures

Go see these. That's some fire.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bigpicturefire,0,5985825.htmlstory

And I guess say a prayer for all the brave men and woman putting their lives on the line (and sometimes losing them) fighting these types of wildfires.