September Update

“How did I ever have time to work?” was a frequent question voiced by my former students who were retired. While I understood the gist of it, I now fully understand the sentiment. The problem for me arises primarily from two issues:

1. I am fully capable of doing most of the work around our house, so I have a hard time hiring someone to do it. Compounding that challenge, I typically do a better job than most of the people I could afford to hire. Of course it typically takes me much longer to complete the work, but the end result justifies my efforts. (My wife might disagree…)
2. When I was teaching, I devoted a lot of time my lesson preparation, which didn’t allow much time for the upkeep on our 1924 home. I am now paying for that decision. As noted in this blog, I recently completed the rebuild of our back porch and stairs. I’m now working on or recently completed refinishing two wood-framed screen doors (including the tedious job of stripping 100 years of paint from four spring hinges, rebuilding, and refinishing them); stripping the trim, sealing, and refinishing two large picture windows on the front of our house; and running a new 220-volt circuit for a dual mini-split air conditioner system (we hired someone to do the hardware installation).

Add to that yardwork, housework, and some occasional recreation…and did I mention that I had knee surgery at the end of April, resulting in no pain for six weeks until I apparently re-injured the meniscus… Reminds me of another quote from my retired students, “Getting old is not for sissies.”

All this to say that my shop time has been nonexistent and I have been unable to create any videos. Sorry about that.

On a different note, the plane that I recently restored is now listed on ebay. If you’re interested, check it out here.