MAKE DECISIONS IN THE PROPER ORDER

Make decisions that benefit you.

Sounds easy, makes sense, like the first rule of business: Pay yourself.

But there’s always more to consider, always an angle to measure, and you’ll need the right tools.

What we have here are the right tools for a square deal.

All of the combo squares, old and new, have a little level built in.

First time I noticed.

 

Once you’ve got your lines down, it’s time to cut, chop, and score.

 

 

Make sure your blades are fresh.

You don’t want to slip and slice yourself.

Make big, sweeping, cuts along with the fine trimming.

 

Make Decisions To Shape Material

Once you’re got the pieces ready, make sure they fit together.

You may need to file a little here, rasp a little there.

Do a little scraping.

Remember, the time spent on the finishing touches prevents a lifetime of looking at something you made and thinking what you should have done.

 

Now put the pieces together and clamp them.

Clamp the left and clamp the right, clamp the loose and make it tight.

 

 

Clamping the narrow spaces takes a different clamp.

Be prepared.

 

 

 

Come Together 

While it’s clamped together it’s time to mark where the screws go.

Push one of these nail sets in to show where to drill a hole for the counter-sunk nuts.

Show your old world craftsmanship by using hand tools.

 

 

Keep in mind you don’t have to be old to show old world craftsmanship, but it doesn’t hurt.

If you see an old guy with Old Testament hair and beard using old tools, you might think Noah’s Arc.

Or it might remind you of the ingenuity of previous centuries.

How did those old guys make decisions with hand tools that we can’t do with any tool?

 

Don’t Forget To Smooth Things Over

I come to you today as a good citizen, a regular baby boomer with a twist of Portland baby boomer added.

That was, and still is, the spark added by the J&J Team.

I’m here with the eduction provided by a college degree and experience in the degree field.

I live in a state of marriage and love, or the other way around.

Without the hurt and sadness of a broken family caused by my poor decisions, I get a feeling of loftiness, like I know things.

And that’s why I write, why I keep writing; I want to know more about these feelings.

Maybe that’s a common thread with all writers?

My sense is that anything I put out with my name attached needs to meet a certain standard, has to be measure and organized and cut.

It needs to stand up on its own, which brings us to the smoothing over part.

In most everything we do, we make mistakes. Some bigger than others, some only we notice.

The art of the old world craftsman is the ability and skill to hide mistakes instead of starting over.

It’s not a mistake, it’s a design element.

No matter where you are in your life, create more design elements and less whining about the mistakes and injustice poured on you.

Take a load off, Fanny.