Joe College

Well I made it through my first week at the community college. I even had a couple of guys call me professor! I got them set straight, however. Yet, if it wasn't for the fact that college education is so damn expensive, I might consider going for a Phd. Dr. Shop Teacher Bob has a nice ring to it. I've got an older brother with one of those. He's certainly done well by it but a little late in the game for me now, I'm thinking. The point of all this is that I'm getting aclimated to the college and learning my way around and who's who and all that. It's a relatively new facility, which in the welding game means that they mostly have inverter power sources rather than transformer rectifiers. That means also that most of the machines are multi-process. That means they've got lots of buttons and switches on the front of them. That means yours truly might need to do a little learning of my own to figure these things out. Since I'm just teaching a couple of the lower level courses, I don't really need to master the machines just yet. Just figure out how to get them to run 6010 and 7018 for right now and everybody'll be happy. After all the years of attending a number of colleges and universities, it does feel a little strange to be part of the faculty rather than a student. The good kind of strange, though.

The photo shows the bookshelf I made for the barn. Nothing fancy here. A few pieces of dimensional lumber and a piece of 1/8" hardboard on the back (installed after the photo) to keep the junk from falling off the shelves and to prevent it from racking out of shape. When they put me in the woodshop last year, I subscribed to a couple of woodworking magzines. I can keep those as well as some manuals, small tools, etc., organized and off the floor. I worked assembling the thing last night and I had plenty of light and all the tools were right at hand. I won't have the room I had at school but at least I've got a dedicated spot to make sawdust now and I don't have to worry about the dust down the basement getting into the furnace or in my shop getting into the machine tools. Now that I'm pretty well set up, I need to make some new steps for the front of the house. Maybe measure that up this weekend and start on that project next week. Should go pretty quick once I get it measured up. Of course the weather's turned hot again. More 90 degree days over the weekend. At least with the new woodshop, I can do all my cutting of parts after the sun goes down in the new, nicely lit shop.

I'll be back on the motorcycle projects pretty soon. I've got a little more cleaning and fixing then I'll be back on the 900 and the Rapido. I thought I was going to have lots of time now but through a strange set of circumstances, in addition to teaching a couple of classes at the college, I'm also a Lab Logistics Technician. It's a little more work than I wanted but it'll keep me in chips for a while why I decide what I want to do about my Social Security. I am going to order the brake calipers for the 900 this upcoming week. I'll probably need to order a new blade for the bandsaw before I can cut much aluminum but a project like this is exactly what I need to get all my stuff up and running again. I haven't used the bandsaw since I moved here. I always had access to one at the school and throughout my career I've always prided myself on being able to do as much as possible on company time and while using their tools and equipment, I might add. They've got a nice little fab area at the college, by the way. I'll see about easing my way into that. You never want to tell me to make myself at home. First thing you know there's a pile of magazines by the big, comfy chair and then you're tripping over my shoes. I am good about putting the toilet seat back down, however.

Joe College says enjoy the weekend.