Handmade Picture Frame

Just completed a handmade picture frame made in cherry wood with mitered bridle joints.  All the joints were cut with hand tools based on videos by Paul Sellers.  The print is of Ichiro Suzuki which my brother did and gave to me.  He is one of my favorite ballplayers.  It is print #1.

Subaru Forester New Grille

A while back, I hit a deer and it caused damage to the drivers side light, hood and grille.  I replaced the headlight and recently did body work on the hood.  The next thing I did was make a new grille as the original grille was patched together.  I used the original grille and patched up empty spots with epoxy.  I sprayed the grille and the 3D printed Subaru emblem with Plasti-Dip Black.  Here is how it came out and for very little cost.

Broke 90 First Time Ever In Golf

It has always been my goal to score better than a 90 in golf.  Years ago when I played with my Dad, the best I ever shot was a 90.  Yesterday, on August 3, 2019, I was able to shoot an 87 at Kresson Golf course in Voorhees, NJ.  I was playing with my friend Boyd from church.  Now I will have to change my goal to breaking 80.

Baseball on Sundays

Every Sunday, we try to play baseball at the local ball field.  My brother and I have been hitting flyballs for 45+ years.  My son is taking up the tradition with us now too.

Blueberry Picking in Hammonton, NJ

I usually go the the Franklin Parker Preserve (since 2014) to pick blueberries each July, but this year I found out there won't be any blueberries there this year.  I don't know the cause.  It was possibly the very wet year we have had so far but other blueberry farms in NJ seem to be fine.  Maybe it is the blueberry species.  This happened in 2017 also.  It is disappointing since all the blueberries you can pick and carry out are free.
I decided to go to a farm in Hammonton, NJ called Blueberry Bills.  It was a bit expensive, but the berries were nice size and the farm was well kept.  I picked 12.5 lbs of blueberries for $25.

Thoughts on Education

Our classroom education system is expensive, ineffective and obsolete.  When you step back and assess the state of our education system from K through 12 and then college, it is shocking that we are just accepting it.  Is it so big that there is nothing we can do about it?  Are we left with no choice in determining the best course for our children and ourselves? 

Education spending by the US government is more than defense spending.  Unlike defense contractors, where there is at least companies that compete in cost for work, there is no competition to get funding in the education field.  With no competition, there is no need to improve processes or reduce costs.  Costs keep going up and up each year with no end in sight.  In our digital, connected world, there is no reason for this.  If you are connected to the internet, you can learn how to do almost anything.  If you don’t have an internet connection, you can learn at a local library.  Unless you are aspiring to be a surgeon or engineer, any subject or major is available to you for free.  There is no reason to still be stuck in the age of our parents and grandparents when there was no access to information with the exception of schools and libraries.

Families want to make sure they live in a town that has a “good” school system.  What does that mean in this day and age where schools are mandated to teach the same curriculum?  It is the same classes teaching subjects that the students will never put to practical use.  Real life skills, such as budgeting, money, finance, saving, home economics, physical fitness, nutrition, gardening, computers, should be the main focus of education but are sorely lacking.  Instead the students get classes on English, Spanish, calculus, trigonometry, physics, chemistry, history that they will never use again.  If for some reason the student do need that information, they can learn it when they need it.  It is high time that the learn, test, and forget method be replaced.

College education is forced upon young teenagers who don’t know any better as their ticket to employment.  Parents keep sending their children to colleges and universities because it is what they did.  The reality is that most are paying enormous tuition costs for information that is essentially free.  They become saddled in debt that they may never pay back but which they can never get out of.   The kids come out of college or high school 2.0 with no skills for all the time and money they put out.  The colleges are not held accountable for the poor product they are offering.  It is amazing how the perception of college education is so engrained that families and students continue to willingly pay for it and it has no value unless you are going to medicine or engineering school.  The colleges keep raising the tuition bar higher and higher without any improvements on their part and it is never questioned.  Students and families need to say no more.  People need to demand a change to receive some value in return for their money.  Like any other expense, there should be a money back guarantee for satisfaction.  Why do schools just get a free pass on this?  There are so many opportunities in the digital age.  The crop of new workers that colleges are putting out are not prepared for the skills that are in demand by employers today.  The fact is most of today’s office jobs do not need a college level education.  Digital technology, computer work, spreadsheets, presentations, problem solving, etc can all be learned at no cost, online. 

The jobs that require in school training are in the trades where students can learn “hands on”.  Welding, plumbing, carpentry, auto mechanics, auto body, electrician work are all skills that are in demand that don’t require 4 years of training.  Medical school and engineering are really the only courses of study that require college based learning.  

Education can progress toward providing value to students, families and the country.  The education industry can adapt just like other industries have had to adapt through the revolution of the digital age.  Disruption to the status quo will be painful, but think of how much farther our country will advance when the outdated teaching methods give way to a whole new digital paradigm.  Education will need to start being innovative just like any other industry.  The benefit to the whole will be enormous when we become free thinkers and learners.

Homemade Square Awl

I got the idea to make this tool after seeing a square (birdcage) awl that Paul Sellers had.  I made the handle out of a 1.25" dowel that I planed to 8 sides then turned on my mini lathe.  I made the ferrule from a brass fitting and the square awl from a 3.5" hardened masonry nail.  I first annealed the nail, then shaped it with files and sandpaper.  I then hardened by heating to non-magnetic orange stage then with oil quenching.  I tempered at 400F in a toaster oven.  To get the name like Paul had on his handle, I just laser printed out my name in mirror image then placed on a wetted side with clear waterbased polyurethane.  I let dry then put water on it and lightly rubbed the paper off leaving the name.