This morning at coffee break, the crew (led by the mischievous Brent) presented me with the 2017 Safety Award. I would like to believe that I was awarded the prize because I am always championing their safety, reminding them to put on their safety gear as they work in the shop. But I suspect the award was really tongue in cheek as I had suffered the most injuries this past year with the most serious being my broken toes. They had snuck a picture for the award from an entry to this blog where I proudly posed with all of the appropriate gear in place (as always).
Winter wonder land
As we drove through the valley today the sun was getting low on the horizon behind us. Ahead, to the south east the snow covered mountains gathered the golden light and provided us with a spectacular show. As we passed Abbotsford, Mount Baker was incredibly beautiful. Becke grabbed this picture on my cell phone at my request as we drove by. While I'm not a huge fan of the snow on the ground I love how it looks in the mountains. We do indeed live in a winter wonder land!
A shaggy dog story
I love shaggy dog stories. By definition 'shaggy dog stories play upon the audience's preconceptions of joke-telling. The audience listens to the lengthy story with certain expectations, which are met in some entirely unexpected manner.'
My SIGN INVITATIONAL entry is a visual shaggy dog story without a doubt. This story began many years ago when I built the first version of this machine. It was a hand cranked IDEAMATIC. The story goes that when I was stuck for an idea I simply went to the machine, turned the handle and out popped a creative inspiration. That's how I managed to always be so creative through the years. This latest version is the most advanced IDEAMATIC yet. It's steam powered of course. Once fired up and with a full head of steam I can simply type in what I'm looking for, pull the leaver to activate the machine and out pops the inspiration. It's never let me down yet. At the ISA show I am confident the IDEAMATIC will print out the best idea ever seen... along with the punch line to my shaggy dog story of course.
