New Workshop, musings on life and meaning

[DAB]

for those of you following, it's been an up and down last week or so, with the latest estimate for the new workshop coming in around 180-200k yeah. expensive toy.

at one point last week, i was ready to abandon the idea, lick my wounds, and move on, settling for using my converted barn about 6 months out of the year for my workshop. then Mrs. DAB and I had a long talk after dinner, went thru the numbers, looked at our goals (not planning to pass along any inheritance to anyone, sorry Spence), and decided we could do this and not affect our lifestyle (it's fabulous ).

so talked to the architect yesterday, informed him this is still a go, and we plan to talk with our financial advisor tomorrow morning to sort out the best way to make this happen (aside from robbing a bank or begging money from Spence!!).

after my little heart incident a few years ago, i had a change in attitude toward life. i've abandoned the idea of setting up a for profit woodworking business - don't need the headache or the income. but i do enjoy designing and making things of utility and beauty with my hands. so in another month or so it'll be warm enough to get back into the barn on a regular basis and i can make some things both for our house and for others for fun. hang in there Paul.

as i've stated before, if i make you something, send me what you think is right. if you think it's crap, just keep that to yourself and say 'thank you'. if i send you something and tell you it's a gift. take my word for it. i mean it.

so that's the short version. hoping drawings are ready next week sometime, then it's on to permitting, wait about 3-4 weeks, and then start digging dirt.

thank you to all who chimed in in the other thread with design ideas, but I've got to trust my architect to do what is right, as well as the other professionals who have contributed.

[Rob]

I feel like I should go burn some wood now in your honor....and maybe even throw some meat in the direct path of the smoke.

Glad to see you are back on track and pursuing your dreams Doug.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by Dixievet

I feel like I should go burn some wood now in your honor....and maybe even throw some meat in the direct path of the smoke.

Glad to see you are back on track and pursuing your dreams Doug.

maybe a nice lunch burger, or a steak with mushrooms and blue cheese?

[Blademaker]

Originally Posted by DAB

for those of you following, it's been an up and down last week or so, with the latest estimate for the new workshop coming in around 180-200k yeah. expensive toy.

at one point last week, i was ready to abandon the idea, lick my wounds, and move on, settling for using my converted barn about 6 months out of the year for my workshop. then Mrs. DAB and I had a long talk after dinner, went thru the numbers, looked at our goals (not planning to pass along any inheritance to anyone, sorry Spence), and decided we could do this and not affect our lifestyle (it's fabulous ).

so talked to the architect yesterday, informed him this is still a go, and we plan to talk with our financial advisor tomorrow morning to sort out the best way to make this happen (aside from robbing a bank or begging money from Spence!!).

after my little heart incident a few years ago, i had a change in attitude toward life. i've abandoned the idea of setting up a for profit woodworking business - don't need the headache or the income. but i do enjoy designing and making things of utility and beauty with my hands. so in another month or so it'll be warm enough to get back into the barn on a regular basis and i can make some things both for our house and for others for fun. hang in there Paul.

as i've stated before, if i make you something, send me what you think is right. if you think it's crap, just keep that to yourself and say 'thank you'. if i send you something and tell you it's a gift. take my word for it. i mean it.

so that's the short version. hoping drawings are ready next week sometime, then it's on to permitting, wait about 3-4 weeks, and then start digging dirt.

thank you to all who chimed in in the other thread with design ideas, but I've got to trust my architect to do what is right, as well as the other professionals who have contributed.

Same way I feel, been doing this for years. Early in my knife making hobby, I went to many shows, talked with/dealt with purveyors, took custom orders, etc. I still owned my business then, and, after working 60-70 hours a week, come home in my spare time and make knives. Then realized I was working around 90+ hours a week. This only lasted for a few months before I realized that it wasn't fun anymore.
Now, being *Retired* I still go to the shop only when I feel like it, rarely take a custom order, make what I want, and usually sell all I make. And have a blast.
Good luck........

[Fasglas]

Good to learn you've found a way to make this work.

A couple of thoughts come to mind, alluding to "abandoning" the for profit idea.

1. A day or two per week teaching youngsters. (Church, scouts or similar.)

2. Senior citizen furniture repair, special projects.

3. Write "How-to" articles for woodworking publications. (Handy in colder months)

These are just a few. I'm sure more can be thought up.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by Blademaker

Same way I feel, been doing this for years. Early in my knife making hobby, I went to many shows, talked with/dealt with purveyors, took custom orders, etc. I still owned my business then, and, after working 60-70 hours a week, come home in my spare time and make knives. Then realized I was working around 90+ hours a week. This only lasted for a few months before I realized that it wasn't fun anymore.
Now, being *Retired* I still go to the shop only when I feel like it, rarely take a custom order, make what I want, and usually sell all I make. And have a blast.
Good luck........

some good folks send me checks, quite generous, others i tell them it's a gift. (Spence? yeah..... pay up sucker). if i spend 25 hours in a week in the shop, that's a busy week. i have other things i need and want to do around the property. i've done my share of 50+ hour work weeks. made some money, but it didn't satisfy. now i control my life, not some pointy hair boss.

some folks have specific ideas of what they would like, others just would like something cool and let me design what i feel like. when you factor in material costs, equipment costs, consumables, there isn't much paper profit left.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by Fasglas

Good to learn you've found a way to make this work.

A couple of thoughts come to mind, alluding to "abandoning" the for profit idea.

1. A day or two per week teaching youngsters. (Church, scouts or similar.)

2. Senior citizen furniture repair, special projects.

3. Write "How-to" articles for woodworking publications. (Handy in colder months)

These are just a few. I'm sure more can be thought up.

yeah, we've kicked that around. even discussed finding youngsters or vets who want to learn some woodworking basics. there are some liability issues i'd have to sort thru. we have a 2br/1ba guesthouse visitors could stay in.

for now, i'll stick with family visiting and some friends (yes, even Spence, if he leaves Tank at home). come, visit, do tourist stuff, we can hit the range, or make something in the shop you can take home with you. we're flexible, and we'll feed you pretty well too.

i posted here a few years ago a detailed 'how to' of how to build a cutting board, also posted on a woodworking forum. last i checked, it had been viewed about 45,000 times. i've gotten a few emails from strangers showing me their versions of that design. that's cool.

[Jobaka]

Originally Posted by DAB

i posted here a few years ago a detailed 'how to' of how to build a cutting board, also posted on a woodworking forum. last i checked, it had been viewed about 45,000 times. i've gotten a few emails from strangers showing me their versions of that design. that's cool.

That's very cool.

[Sea Six]

So long as you're happy, go for it!

[Aerovette]

Wishing you many many years of enjoyment with your new shop

[86RAG]

Now that you've made your decision I'm sure you feel like a load has been lifted from your shoulders, congrats!

[Norm]

Doug, check these out, there still may be something that's do-able, this may give you some ideas. Open the "job photos portfolio" tab.

Job Photos Portfolio

[Black94lt1]

So when will my cutting board be ready lol. Congrats, I'm glad you are able to make your dreams come true!

[erickpl]

You gotta do what you love in this lifetime. If you start to hate, resent, or regret it, then you're doing it wrong. Keep your joys in life your joys. Do them because you want to and not because you have to.

Based on the quality of what you produce, it is evident you love it. So enjoy your time doing what you love. You can't take it all with you. Your lifestyle won't suffer, and in fact be enhanced, so go for it.

Congrats on finding a way to make it work FOR you.

[DAB]

you need to slow down and think about life. what is your purpose, what are your goals? work hard and earn money until you die? knock yourself out. if you love what you do, and would do it for free, you are lucky to have someone pay you to do it.

but....

as Thoreau noted long ago, 'the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation'. they go thru life, doing what others expect of them, engaging in activities that ultimately benefit others, but not their own soul. money? it's not an end, it's a means to an end. if you live only to earn money, and then spend it as soon as you have it, you are on an endless treadmill, putting on the miles, but going nowhere.

and it's a hollow existence.

so i am truly blessed and lucky.

to be married to a wonderful lady, Mrs. DAB, who somewhat understands me, and supports me and my dreams. some pan out, others not so much. but if you don't try something and fail, you learn nothing. and once in a while, i try something and it turns out better than expected (right sea six?), and brings some beauty and joy to the world.

i don't know anyone who is stinking rich, i think the nearest person is one of the Bronfman heirs (Seagrams $$) who reportedly is about 8 miles that-away --->. i'll never meet him and vice versa, and if i did, i wouldn't know who it was anyway. but my goal is not to separate him and others from their fortune. that's his burden to bear. if you dropped $50M on my lap, i'd keep about 5M and give the rest away pretty quickly. at a certain point, more is just a burden, not a blessing.

others find enjoyment in fine, fast cars or travel, or eating out, or whatever. i've had my taste of fun cars, i've traveled for business and on my own account for years and thousands of miles. my own cooked food tastes best and is good for my health.

so if you contact me, and want something made for yourself or a friend, we'll talk, and i might do it, or i might politely decline. but i'll do things at my speed, not the fast rushing world intruding on my peace.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by Black94lt1

So when will my cutting board be ready lol. Congrats, I'm glad you are able to make your dreams come true!

ummm......

[boracayjohnny]

Very to have put yourself in position to pick and chose what and when you do.

[DAB]

Originally Posted by boracayjohnny

Very to have put yourself in position to pick and chose what and when you do.

we don't live a life of luxury, but the bills are all paid at the end of the month.

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone." - Thoreau.

yeah, good old Henry is one of my favorites.

another good one:

"This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it, reminds me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet. He should have gone up garret at once. "What!" exclaim a million Irishmen starting up from all the shanties in the land, "is not this railroad which we have built a good thing?" Yes, I answer, comparatively good, that is, you might have done worse; but I wish, as you are brothers of mine, that you could have spent your time better than digging in this dirt."

[MrPeabody]

Have you considered taking up gardening? Doesn't require any building at all, unless you want a greenhouse.

[MrPeabody]

Originally Posted by DAB

we don't live a life of luxury, but the bills are all paid at the end of the month.

"A man is rich in proportion to the number of things he can afford to let alone." - Thoreau.

yeah, good old Henry is one of my favorites.

another good one:

"This spending of the best part of one's life earning money in order to enjoy questionable liberty during the least valuable part of it, reminds me of the Englishman who went to India to make a fortune first, in order that he might return to England and live the life of a poet. He should have gone up garret at once. "What!" exclaim a million Irishmen starting up from all the shanties in the land, "is not this railroad which we have built a good thing?" Yes, I answer, comparatively good, that is, you might have done worse; but I wish, as you are brothers of mine, that you could have spent your time better than digging in this dirt."

I retired with a goal of having to never be at any place at any certain time. Between volunteering at the hospital and sitting on the Grand Jury, I am failing miserably at my goal. Cuts into my drinking time, too.