Craftsmanship

Been a while. How are ya? Yes I am still working on that damned porch. Given infinite funds and zero other time commitments, I would have been done long ago. But this is summer and I have to do a regular job as well as all the fun things my family wants to do.

Enough excuses.

I'm sitting here in my shop, surrounded by the warm clean smell of cut wood and the tart, acrid sting of wood putty. I have a chunk of wood on my sawhorses that will be the centerpiece of the porch. Back in the "leaker days" we had a rustic looking bar on wheels. The problem is that it had been made from particle board. And we all know what happens when particle board gets wet. Yup. It turned into mulch. So I wanted to put in a new bar that even though protected from the elements, would withstand damp weather.

I went looking for a nice piece of wood to mount under the windows. I was thinking a nice extra wide shelf could do the trick. Simple. Looks good. But I couldn't find a single chunk of wood that fir the dimensions I wanted. I could have shopped around and had one shipped in. But the local lumberyard guys (who really kick ass) gave me the idea of using a glulam beam as a sort of butcher block. So I ordered one up from them. But since this is a normally used as a structural member, it simply doesn't come in the finished state that furniture demands.

So now I am sanding, filling and preparing to stain and seal.

And as I sit here surrounded by these workshop smells; smells that are really foreign to my motorcycle littered shop, I am considering the word "Craftsmanship"

Now it wasn't just this project that makes me think about it.

A couple weeks ago, I took my son to see the movie "Ratatouille". For those of you not familiar with it - think of your garden variety family animated film - main character rises from humble beginnings to stardom, overcoming long odds and danger along the way...then finds happiness in much more humble surroundings. Been there, seen it. But what struck me is that the main character, Remy the rat takes such pride and effort in crafting any meal he touches. Even a mere hotplate breakfast becomes a deep labor of love and pride - and then the horror as his flatmate shovels the omelet down his gullet in a rush because he is late to work. I also felt his cringing anguish as he watches a clumsy attempt at creating a soup - and he cant help making it better even though it means a great deal of personal danger. I was delighted seeing this small rat throw himself into making, no, crafting fine food.

As I have been working on my poor, neglected house and cursing the poor work done by previous owners; I have been devouring information on proper techniques and tools for working on my house. One of my pleasurable discoveries has been Holmes on Homes. This is a TV show from Canada that has just appeared on the local cable channel. This guy is an angry, fed-up contractor who specializes in rescuing homes from shitty contractors. Holmes' demand for quality and the resulting safety and comfort is unrelenting. He is also unrepentant in characterizing the contractors he follows as thieves, con-men and dangerous. Every show I see inspires me to make my work better and frightens me at the prospect of hiring a contractor.

All of this makes me consider "craftsmanship" in my life. How and where I can introduce it into my work and my play. I have performed enough low-quality work in my life. I now go back and revisit work projects and clean up code. I make it leaner and more robust. I go back to project plans and documentation and update it so that anyone who inherits it isn't left hanging. Instead of wasting my time fiddling with the old worn carbs on my motorcycle, I am sending them away to be rebuilt properly by a craftsman.

I now find myself irritated by this world of "faster and cheaper". I cant stand "phone text" in emails. I actually got an email from a recruiter that began "how R U?". C'mon buddy, you got 101 keys there. Use them. I am not interested in poor quality in any product I purchase, nor am I willing to accept poor customer service from someone who sells me a product. I am emulating Mike Holmes as a consumer.

I also find myself convinced that in this world of poor quality and low craftsmanship in order to deliver inexpensive product, that there is a demand for high quality product. Items made with an intense eye for quality details. Not necessarily feature ridden...just really well made.

At least that is what I tell myself as I run my hands over the ever smoother surface of my new bar.