Been trying get life back to a routine now that I have been home for while, but has been rather difficult. Been sorting Phil’s merchandise, a full house-and a lifetime worth of stuff, some stuff going to family, some stuff for garage sale, other stuff for Marketplace sales listing, and stuff I am keeping. Most garage sale stuff is now ticketed and in boxes or on tables in my garage, just waiting for the big day. There are also many boxes of said garage items sitting in a bedroom.
Stuff I plan to keep, do not just fit in my home. The house is already full of furniture and years of accumulation, so I have had to get rid of some of my stuff in order to swap other stuff. That hurts a little. Tools and accessories have to be reviewed. Some of my tools have been changed out with Phil’s, with many of my old tools going to the sale. I have also made room for his table saw. I had an inexpensive old Delta 8″ table saw. Now own a Delta Unisaw. Also a floor drill press-getting rid of my inferior bench top one. Now making room for a planer, a joiner, and a lathe, all with their accessories.
I don’t expect to be as productive or accurate as Phil was, but I do hope to spend some time with with family, creating wood products. I know a little. I can work with my son, who knows even more, and have grandkids to grow with these tools as well. I also will invite my brother to visit for several weeks at a time, just to make sawdust and create items. His retirement focus has been woodworking, so some good bonding time. I plan on making a few family memories with this new wave of tools in my garage.
I also had to completely re-arrange my basement living room to fit a very large hand built entertainment/curio cabinet that Phil made. All my furniture and wall hangings have had to move around to different places, or leave. In doing so, I have had to also rewire electronics for today’s environment, along with tossing my old particleboard entertainment center.
I have now turned the entertainment center into a fully functional unit for TV, movies, and stereo. It is not the electronic mumbo-jumbo collection that I had in college, but more simplified; and all electronics store behind doors.
Hidden is a hundred item CD player that I have full of old music, much like a juke box. My old stereo still powers 105 watts of power to each speaker. One set of speakers were built by Marylyn’s father. The other set is vintage Bose speakers. The TV has a DVD player, connections for I-pad, a sound bar, and can also be fed through the stereo. Great antique knick-knacks are also on display, under lights and behind glass. In the room, I also have a desk for kid’s creativity, that also doubles as my work area for book repair. Desk is stocked for both type of events. Beatle albums again hang on the wall. The room is wonderful.
My grandkids have already made the migration (on their own…must be a cool hang out!) when visiting… as have I. Between the outside workshop, new basement living room, and my adjoining library, I am living a retirement dream that my wife has allowed me to make. The rooms are a little more airy, and certainly more inviting. The garage will be also, after the sales.
I also have kept a few other items (stuff), like this great ram’s horn lamp, which is quite a statement now sitting next to my reading chair in the library.
Did I acquire any books from Phil? Indeed I have. I would like to discuss a few gems…stuff for the library.
The first is a beat up, well used one: “Cabinetmaking and Millwork” by John L. Feirer, published in 1970. It has seen better days.
This book goes into great detail about making a cabinets and other wood furniture from scratch. It is a wonderful ‘how to’ instruction manual for woodworking, from choosing natural woods or plywood, to styles, to finishing materials, and how to use all the needed equipment and tools. There are pictures and illustrations, and details on all steps. With this one 928 page book, anyone could succeed in attempting woodworking. Phil must have used it often in his earlier days. It certainly is worth owning…to use.
The next book is “The Impractical Cabinetmaker’ by James Krenov, re-published 1993.
The author of this book on woodworking, or “woodcraft“, as he states, wrote four books on cabinetmaking in the 1970’s. This is a reprint of what he termed “flexibility of knowledge” and how he came to be more creative with his designs. This is also a great book on taking another big step in woodcraft.
The next book was one I knew Phil had read and memorized: “The Lumbermen’s Time Saver” published by J.W. Giellis in 1949.
This book has charts that one uses when figuring out how much wood is needed by ‘board foot’. I have seen Phil at lumber mills, measure length, width, and thickness, then calculate how much wood he would need, to plane, glue, and piece together for finished projects. Many of those projects are in my home! Phil was good at his math for woodworking. I have kept a few other of Phil’s woodworking books, and my son will get even more specialty books, including some magazine sets of log cabin building, after I talk to my son-in-law. They both will get some of Phil’s stuff.
I have two other books on a subject that Phil was equally devoted to: “Alcoholics Anonymous” (the Big Book) third edition published 1976, and “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” thirteenth edition published in 1974.
Both of these books, published by Alcoholics Anonymous, are also well used, whether by Phil, or by others in the program. They were helpful to Phil. I also found a small Guardian Angel on Phil’s dresser, in a little cloth box. It was a little beat up, as if he looked at it a lot. There was a note inside:
I cleaned up the box, a corner was broken in. I left the note in the lid, but took out the styrofoam holding the angel by itself. I filled the bottom of the treasure chest with various AA coins, or medallions that Phil had gotten in AA. He had kept them. Most were in a little bag, and one was on his keyring. I put the angel on top of the coins.
One coin was after completing his first 24 hours-supposedly the hardest, but Phil said it never got easy. Another coin was given by his sponsor, and was engraved on the back to him. This memento of stuff will stay on the bookshelf, in front of Phil’s two AA books.
This stuff I have kept, are items that are cool on several levels. I can remember Phil because of it being around, and I can also use this stuff, some for just enjoyment, and others for education and learning. It is a win/win for holding on to stuff.
There is also another great item I found in Phil’s stuff. It is an original Swingline stapler in ‘Rio Red’ color. It is very heavy, weighing over a pound. Now it sits on my desk, “Office Space” style.
My desk is in the basement, and because of the movie, I now picture boss Bill Lumbergh’s face every time my wife comes in to my library, walks up to my desk, and asks me to take out the garbage, or fix our TPS reports…
“I used to be over by the window, and I could see the squirrels, and they were married…but then, they switched from the Swingline to the Boston stapler, but I kept my Swingline stapler because it didn’t bind up as much, and I kept the staples for the Swingline stapler…and it’s not okay because if they take my stapler…then I’ll set the building on fire…the ratio of people to cake is too big…” – Milton Waddoms
“Mmm kay,” thanks for reading. “You’ve been terrific“. You too, Phil. Thanks for the stuff.
Librarytomes 