GTO69RA4 wrote:

I'm sure a lot of people know what I'm talking about. Getting known among
friends as the guy with weird hobbies and tools. A good buddy pulls up today
with his snowblower, says it broke and he remembers I had a welder. So being in
a not-completely-antisocial mood I help him out. Just as I'm about to start it
starts snowing hail the size of peas, then blowing sideways. Everything gets
covered with the white stuff, and after having trouble starting I finally get
it done. Then he happens to mention that his blower wasn't actually running,
and he heard I knew engines...

Well, at least I can feel my fingers after a few hours and he's back to making
money with driveways. Maybe I'll end up with that Stanley No. 7 he's been not
using for 6 months.

GTO(John)

Back when I was about 14 years old I was into ham radio with both feet,
and pretty damn good at fixing the vacuum toob "electronics" of that
era, if I say so myself. (Radios & TVs.)

My mom had a habit of telling all her friends that her son would fix
stuff for them and they'd drop it off at our house for me to work on.

I got tired of getting nothing back in return, with my mom getting all
the proud credit. I soon cottoned on to telling those moochers that I
had to replace something like "an octal framistat" which cost me $4.50
at the parts store. They paid up, and I felt I'd balanced the books.

($4.50 would buy me a whole carton of cigarettes or over 10 gallons of
gas back then 'yknow.)

Mom finally cought on and called me a son of a bitch for doing that. She
never saw the irony in what she said. G

Jeff
--
Jeffry Wisnia

(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)

"As long as there are final exams, there will be prayer in public
schools"