The "Why" Part of the Brain

   In my world, creativity is directly related to my state of mind or mood.  Some days, I'm seemingly unable to engage the necessary faculties to produce innovative designs. I'm not sure why this is, but I recognise it and adapt. I shift gears and go into manufacture mode and pump out all the small jobs that don't need creative attention. Occasionally, a conversation or event can alter the current mood and allow me to dive headlong into an idea or design development. Why? 
   It's an ironic control issue. The more I try to drive my brain in a direction, it seemingly applies the break, slowing the process. If I leave it to drive itself, it sometimes drives erratically, forcing a countering action. Some days creativity seems to be in a glider plane on autopilot, starting from a lofty point, then gracefully meandering to the obvious destination. Why?
   Some nights I go to sleep with a problem I wish to solve. A very sound rest occurs and the problem pops into my head as if the hand of god placed it there. Other times, I dream of a problem as if it were a tin can that I kick around until it's unrecognisable. I assume that there's many factors related to sleep that contribute to those questions. But why?
  I guess there's no clear conclusions for these questions. The billions of neurons  fire like a lightning storm in my head can't construct the reasons, but if I can just help guide the outcome, I will deal with it.
  

Frankenprinter

   Back after major surgery and a glimpse of hardware heaven, the big printer is back and ready to print to the best of it's ability. He's been transplanted with a few custom fitted parts especially designed to replace flawed engineering. 
   Amazingly enough, I managed to guess the correct specs on a gear that had melted away due to a leaky hose union. Who would think to use a plastic that's adversely effected by the actual ink that the machine uses? I, in turn decided to replace it with an aluminium gear that will not deteriorate under those conditions. Although, the new pump I installed has an updated connection designed not to leak. Thankfully that shouldn't ever be an issue again. Oddly though, the new pump did cause another unfortunate problem. The gear that I replaced still had the original hub with a plastic nipple that seated into a plastic dimple. I noticed that the connection was a bit snug so I sanded it down a smidge and added a bit of lube to attempt to remedy the issue. As it turned out, it didn't work. It melted the nipple clean off, welding itself into the female recipient, while spinning the gear loose. The whole lot was then replaced with an aluminium rivit, ground down to fit the socket. Dr. Frankenstein- eat your heart out!
   Once I made the decision to resurrect the anaemic beast, I through all of my McGyver skills at it. Thank goodness my new friend Tony was there to lend a helping hand and some good ideas. His knowledge about printers makes me look like a caveman.
  To wrap this laborious story up:
The monster has awakened from it's slumber, to slave and encumber. Ink flows through it's veins, no more will it strain, to decipher the binary numbers.

Referbished: An Update

   It's always nice to put projects to bed. Especially the ones that have caused brain-strain throughout the process.
   Roger from Roger's Hair Craft in Lakeville came to pick up his referbished carved redwood with 23k gold leaf lettering today. He seemed pleased with the outcome. I saw it for the first time in the daylight and the gold damn near blinded me in one eye!
   This project wasn't as bad as I projected. Mainly because Bruce and his magic brushes performed so precisely. Plus, the original paint was in decent shape and it brightened right back up with a little elbow-grease.

The installation was done by his crack remodelling team who did a splendid job with the siding. An excellent choice of color I might add. It accentuated the sign's tones quite well. I would have liked to see the brackets hidden however, but it's too late for that- the holes have been made. Other than that small detail, I'm delighted with the finally (the payment has already been deposited). Thanks Roger and thanks Bruce of the help. Another project laid to rest. Can't wait to see what he does with the other repaint project. That's for another posting. Go Bruce!

Here's to You, Heroic Hammer Monkeys

  When it rains it most defiantly pours! The Gym floor decorating business is in full swing. WNY Floor Co. has been piling on me the last three weeks. A few little quickies, but one whale of a job which I came close to completing today.
  What a fun challenge this bugger has been. I've had to pull out some old tricks and a few new ones to make this happen. The biggest challenges are yet to rear their ugly heads though. The task of actually installing those massive panels of paint mask intended to flank the multi-colored floor adornment. I thank my lucky stars I'm not the craftsmen destined for that task. I will, however be handy at the end of a smart phone, ready to field a barrage of questions pertaining to the specifics of this manifestation. Don't get me wrong, I'm there in spirit. In fact, I've already been there-- in my mind. This has all been virtually constructed using several methods. I've been over it time and time again- trying to work out the kinks and pitfalls.
   Kudos to the hammer monkeys in the field. These guys translate all my scribbled nonsense into time transcending artwork, worthy of television time. My only regret within this process, is that I never get to at least shake those men's hands for their exocutionary prowess. Cheers my mythical heroes. You have your work cut out for you!

Go Cart, Go!

   Involvement in community seems to be of utmost importance to many of my fellow business owneres in this area. They all tend to practice shopping locally and encourage others do do the same. I certainly concur. Without that type of loyalty, we would leave it all to the big companies, possibly located outside our state, or worse, outside our country. The trick is to entice the residence to adhere to the same mindset.
   Recently my neighbours purchased 8 new go-carts for their mini-amusement park operation. They were very intent on decorating them as soon as possible. After learning of their intentions, it dawned on me that they might be missing out on a golden opportunity to involve the community and incidentally earn a few duckets to put into the new rigs. Currently I'm concocting a proposal that will bring this entertaining pass-time together with local commerce.
   The rest of the story is yet to be told. What I can say is that there is plenty of interest around town in cart sponsorship. With any luck it will generate a buzz worthy of a waiting list and a renewed commitment to small town shops. Vrooom... let's go!

The Man with the Golden Brushes

   It's important to know One's limits and understand that sometimes it's better to hire an expert for a task that may take One longer to accomplish alone.
   That's exactly what I did today. I called upon a fellow sign maker, or perhaps more accurately, a sign painter. Bruce has been spending most of his time painting homes rather than signs lately so he was he was happy to use a rainy day to get back to his roots.
   A few days ago I wrote about a couple of restoration projects I decided to take on. Well, time has become a factor so I decided to ask for a little help. Bruce came through with his case of fine brushes to add the sizing (or glue) necessary for me to add the new gold leaf to the nice old carved sign. After spending a good bit of time washing and preparing, he got right to it.
  I was surprised that the process took as long as it did, but I'm glad that he took the time to do it right. Tomorrow I will apply the gold and see the true skills that brought to the table. Thanks Bruce!

Old Dog, Old Tricks

   Approximately 28 years ago, I learned how to plot provided points onto a home made grid with the intent drawing some sort of silly cartoon character. Who knew that there was actually some validity to that exercise rather than a middle school afternoon time filler. I was able to apply it to my work in effect further my existence.
   I pride myself upon having a full bag of tricks. It's necessary to constantly compile techniques and information if I want to stay competitive while working with many varieties of media and materials. Who knows when I will need to reach into that bag. It's just been a while since I've had to reach that deep down.
   The purpose behind this method is to take a small graphic and make it larger. In this case I'm able to use the computer to scale up the artwork then build the grid over it. Once I accomplished that I was able to precisely pinpoint the location of a series of arks that create the majority of the perimeter of the drawing.
   I can't help to be profoundly hopeful of the success of this project. Thank you to my 6th grade teacher for introducing my to graph paper.

Gardening in mourning

   It seems that due to blatant neglect of any common sense by the neighbouring field's tractor operator, all of my plants in my garden have been destroyed. Apparently when you back the spray rig up to the edge of the field, which happens to be 10' away from my garden, and blast the Roundup weed killer wide open, it tends to have ill effects on tender young plants.
   I realize that they have their own agenda and time schedule, but some curtsey would be appreciated. The home owner here actually witnessed the event, so they could have warned us of what was to take place.
   I personally raised those plants from seed starting several months ago. Many of them were exotic strains of peppers which cannot be replaced even if I were able to receive compensation. My hopes of a fruitful season are sadly over. All I can do is learn from the mistakes and perhaps post some signs next year stating the obvious: DON'T SPRAY MY GARDEN WITH HERBICIDE!

Of Blacktop and Chalk

The unexpected events always keep me amused. In my business, one cannot predict who will walk through the door or what crazy ideas they'll tote along with them.
  Yesterday morning started off mildly until a large African-American man came in acting all shifty while inquiring into pricing. His eyes kept darting back and forth and he seemed to have trouble keeping his train of thought. I politely answered his questions and finally determined what sort of thing he was after. He ordered some basic lettering for his parking lot sealing business' trucks. He tried dickering the price with me but with the short time frame I was given, I felt that there was no room to move. We also decided that he would install the graphics himself to save some cash. He gave me a small down payment then rushed out. I didn't think all that much about it at the time, but as I was preparing the graphics I just had a funny feeling that something wasn't quite right about the whole transaction, but I followed through with my end of the deal. Fast forward to this afternoon when he called to see if I could stay to receive him after-hours. I begrudgingly agreed to wait 30 minutes more. Thankfully he arrived as advertised, along with his two man crew. That's when the fun began.
They blast in the door and promptly knock over several finished signs that were awaiting pick-up. The man I was dealing with was on his phone having a heated, vocally pronounced coversation that went something like this..."NO YOUR FOOD AIN'T INCLUDED! I DONT GIVE A F**** WEATHER YOU EAT OR NOT! GO OUT AND KILL A G/D TURKEY FOR ALL I CARE! I'm not sure what to think at this point. His men are just wandering around my shop while he paces back and forth. Now it's about 5:40 and I'm feeling waves of pissed-offness and amusement roll over me. He finally hands the phone off and deals with me. I hand him the lettering and he says, "The truck's out there- go put it on- you told me you would put it on- remember? I replied, "Mmmm, no. In fact we discussed it and you wanted to save cash". "Oh no!"he blurted, "for this price- you puttin' this on there!" So of course, I snatched them back from him and grabbed my cleaning supplies and followed them into the parking lot. I tear off a couple of paper towels and move towards the truck. Just then he jumps in front of me and says, "You don't need to clean nothin'- just stick it on". I thought that was odd until I smelled the faint odour of wet paint. I shouted, "IS THAT WET PAINT?". He replied, "Don't worry about it- just stick it". It appeared that he had just painted his truck before he came to visit me---with a ROLLER! So I thought, what the hell. I pulled the release liner off and quickly eyeballed the placement and...ppplllaaattt! Right into the wet paint. "There you go" I said as I wiped the red paint from my knuckles. Then it was time to be paid. "Where's the bill?" he shouted. As I handed it off to him, he demanded to his associate to give him some money. The man reached into his pocket and produced a $100 bill. He plucked it from the sad man and hands it over to me. So I say, "That's not quite enough". He replies, "Make it enough- I ain't got no more!". They then all turn face and piled into the truck and tore out of the driveway. I was left stunned, bewildered and a bit thankful that I actually got $140 of the $160 he owed. Chalk that one up to a hellava good story to tell.  

Take a mud bath instead

A liquid displacing vessel designed especially for the sole purpose of leisure. What could be more senseless and illogical? Save yourself thousands of dollars by filling your bathtub and toss a shovel full of dirt and some duck crap, the crack a beer and jump in.

To refurbish or not to refurbish

   Generally, I don't touch foreign old signs for several reasons. The first thing is that it's not my work. Who's is it and why don't they repaint it? I would be rather put-off if I discovered that some punk bastardized my work. Next, the layout or lettering is probably out dated or "incorrect" if you will. Ever attempt to put lipstick on a pig? Furthermore, the labour involved with the clean-up, resurfacing and hand painting usually outweighs the material savings.
   There are a couple of exceptions. For instance, a good customer came in with an old sign that her deceased brother made. Obviously there is sentimental value attached and certainly should be preserved. I will take great care and pride in doing so. Another example is another sign that recently came in. It's an enormous 30" x 10' plank of redwood. Unfortunately the gold leaf adorning the carved letters had degraded beyond salvage, but is still all there and has more years of life left in it.
   With any luck, the finish I'll apply to these signs will last longer than the previous application. I only hope that not too many more projects such as that wander in this year. For me, new is always the best policy.

Cotton Wood You Stop?

   Well, it's that time of year once again...snow in spring...the cottonwood seed is flying. Luckily the new location is less susceptible to the floating menace, but is still a real pain in the rear when it comes to laying paint or vinyl. Unfortunately my overhead door is just too short to accommodate many of the vehicles I'm hired to decorate, leaving me to once again work outdoors.
   Over the years I've conceived of several methods of capturing, avoiding and detouring the darn wicked white stuff, but have never fully succeeded. Even having full coverage inside is not a fail-safe. Just when you think your in the clear- a seed rears it's ugly head.
   Tomorrow is the day when I tackle Albrights cube van. Laying out large sail-like panels of adhesive backed vinyl, all ready to attract all that lovely air bound project wrecker. The only thing I can do is to get an early start and hope for a still day. Let's hope timing and a little luck is on my side.

For the Love of Fumes

There's just something about wrenching on cars. These days I'm more of a "doll-up" & maintenance guy but it's all about getting my hands greasy. The true fun of it is helping the ladies of my family. Recently  There's been a bunch of break jobs rolling out of my shop. However my latest amusement is the ride my Mom picked up. It's a 2001 Chrysler Sebring Convertible. A well serviced southern car with low miles. Really clean inside and out.

Personally, I dig this car. It was a nice piece to begin with. Before she bought it, I drove it to my local mechanic and through it up on his lift to inspect it. It's rare to see no rust, but to see factory labels and markings in tact is extremely rare in NY State. Just then I knew we had a gem on our hands. All it needed was the regular wear items like breaks, tires, grease and filters. It was missing the center caps to the rims as well. I lucked out and found a complete set OEM set of chome rims.

Wheels are the icing on the cake as far as I'm concerned. Usually, It's the first thing I nail down- as it was in this case.
A fantastic craigslist.com find. The difference it made to this particular vehicle is nearly immeasurable.  Add the (correct size) BF Goodrich tires with gnarly aggressive street tread and she's off to the races!  Mom is just gleaming pearly whites from ear to ear. The

 tops down and those rims blinding oncoming traffic. Sam Mitrano of Mitrano Tire in Fowlerville set us up nicely while managing to keep the birthday surprise a secrete. The look on mom's face was priceless. I think that inspired her to want to tighten up all the other loose ends on this ride. Today we pulled the front wheels so she could paint the callipers fire red. That really set the chrome off nicely. Plus, we gave her an oil change while the tires were off. Perhaps a fresh set of plugs and wires are the next items to tackle.
Overall it's been a great experience working with my Mom on this vehicle. There's still a few things to button up, but it's defiantly drivable now and she's racking up the miles. Stay tuned for updates and other projects!

Catfish for Dinner

Grilled pretzel breaded catfish with fresh veggie relish and jasmine rice over raw greens to serve 5 health-hungry mouths...

Fairly straight forward dish featuring brightly colored vegetables. The trick was grilling the fish while keeping the breading in tact. I only had marginal success. Luckily I was planning on the relish topping.  Not only did it hide some missing breading, it also added a slight acid tang plus a crisp texture crunch. A needed counterpoint to the oily flesh which I marinated in milk and crushed garlic. I'm a firm proponent of using milk with the catfish. It seems to tame the natural gamy flavor.

Veggie relish:
5 small tri-colored mini sweet peppers- seeded
4 celery sticks- leaves and all
1/2 sweet onion
5 cherry tomatoes- seeded
3 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1 Tsp. granulated sugar
1/2 Tsp. celery salt
fresh cracked pepper

     Slice and chop veg to an 1/8" dice. Add wet and dry ingredients. Toss and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Catfish Marinade:
1 cup milk
3 crushed garlic cloves
1/2 Tsp. dry chilli flake
salt and pepper
1 large egg white- reserve for breading

   In a large container add 5 catfish fillets. Pour in liquid and refrigerate for an hour or more.

Catfish breading:
2 cups mini pretzels- processed
1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup corn starch

     Remove fish from liquid. Drain off 75% of milk and add 1 egg white. Whip until mixed. Dip fish in liquid then dredge in breading mix. Set aside.
     Oil grill grates then heat grill on high to 400*. Place fish on grill and reduce heat to 250* (could also be done in oven). Cook for 5-8 minutes. Carefully flip fish and continue to cook for 5-8 minutes until fish has firmed up. Serve warm over raw greens and top with cold relish and cooked rice on the side. Enjoy!