I'd like to see the ability to change one's vote.

I think that offering that option is standard practice on FOG--as least I can't recall another poll where the option wasn't present.

Ned
 

A few more in favour of being able to change and we'll do it.

Larry

I'd also like to see members being able to change their vote, partly because you added a 6th option "I would like loyalty points leading to discounts" 14 hours after voting started. Some of the people who only had five options to choose from, might well want to go for this new sixth option.

Forrest

There are John Deeres and there are John Deeres. Actually B&D peeled the Dewalt name off of the venerable line of radial arm saws because they had spoiled their own name by selling so much low cost stuff. The Black & Decker Professional line of tools could stand up to anyone's but to the buyer the most obvious difference between the cheap stuff and the good stuff was the price. If you bought the cheap stuff for all day work you were disappointed and decided B&D wasn't good. Buying Elu and changing the name of their good stuff to Dewalt was smart but they are approaching that slippery slope of decline again.

Festool is different, and based on Bob's report of the big meeting at the USA headquarters it sounds like they won't be making the kind of compromises the American companies have made.

Festool did (does?) have a point system in Europe.

Good rant, James.  And I agree with you.

I'm confused by the word hubris.  You speak of pride in your work (a good thing), while hubris is the sin of excessive pride or arrogance, I think.

Ned

You're right Ned, Hubris is defined by may cultures as a sin. The typical stories are ones that basically illustrate a man's reach exceeding his grasp. Always wanting, or reaching, for more. And inevitably there's a fall.

I think that there are some very good illustrations from the corporate world these days that demonstrate conclusively to many people that Hubris is a bad thing... executives pillaging the company, and whatnot. But I think that in those cases, it's more a question of greed, and a lack of scruples.

Blame it on my Nordic viking heritage. I think that excessive hubris is probably a bad thing. But pride, mixed with a bit of arrogance, is only bad when combined with bad judgment... which is only apparent after the fact, so who really knows. But as a species, we started out with rocks and fire. Now, we're reaching for the stars, making the world a smaller place, and continually trying to go further and do more. It's an existence punctuated by massive fires and failure... and staggering achievements. 

I think there's a certain amount of pride and arrogance that goes with our trade. I think to be a builder, especially a successful and innovative builder, you really have to be willing to reach for those goals that are sometimes out of reach, or just beyond your grasp. There's a trying moment, where some folks sack up, and have to work their  off, and they sometimes pay a small price in money or time, but they  achieve the goal. And sometimes it is costly, to the point where the hero is unable to get back up again... which is where the stories come from.

But I've also talked to people who have done other things, climb mountains, start companies, go on an adventure... and even when they lose, and even after the final cost is tabulated, it's very clear that there's really no other way for them. There was no other place to be, and no other option that made sense. And they failed with the knowledge that they tried, and came close... in some cases, closer than anyone else to date. And along the way, they learned.

I've found that setting up a furniture business has been that way for me. It's been a costly affair. I started at the North Bennet Street School in Boston, while working at Rockler for a year, and for 2 years at Woodcraft. I spent a lot of time, and money, on school, and on tools. And last July I signed the lease, and started setting up shop. New equipment... good equipment. I probably spent a little more than I had to, but I knew that there was a point to which I had to just spend the money on the tools and supplies I needed, and count the cost when I had the time. Sometimes, that's the only path forward. To build a shop, you need the tools, and you need all of them. My accountant called me yesterday and said that it was really going to cost me, since the money was coming out of an investment fund (inherited part of a dead uncle's IRA.) and they hadn't been withholding. Tax season is painful.

I'm wrapping up my first commission now... a small one, for a couple of tables. I have a few small run projects in mind, and I'm putting together a portfolio of work to shop around and do what I can to shake out more work.

The whole thing has been fueled, in part, by hubris. I've had a bunch of other short lived careers, some of them very interesting. But I always have my own opinions, my own ideas, and a stubborn streak that always gets me in trouble when I think I have a better idea about how to run things. So it was high time to strike out on my own. I've had to learn to organize my work, to plan my projects, and I've had to learn a lot about these things from professional sources that deal with topics that I never had to worry about as a soldier, a technician, or a liberal arts college student. Supply issues, problems with vendors... it's a huge hassle. And there are times when I really wonder how the  I'm going to pull this off. I've had to watch my pile of money contract. And there's no place I'd rather be, nothing I'd rather be doing.

There are times when I'm really hoping that this doesn't become another one of those cautionary tales. I think I'll be ok, I think I've made the right choices, or at least some of them have been right.

But then there are the other times when there's no way in  that I'd rather be doing anything else. It's my ballgame, played by my rules, and set up the way I want it to be set up. And if I fail, it'll be on my terms, and knowing that if I lose, I'll go down swinging, and learning, and the next time will go a little better.

Pride goeth before the fall. This is true.

From failure, we learn. Success, not so much.

I think it's important sometimes to bite off more than you can chew, and reach for something higher. I don't see me/us as existing in competition with the CNC button pushers, the hack jobs, and the alcoholic handyman. I think that real builders are able to make the best use of every tool we have at our disposal. Sometimes that means subbing out a sign to some guy with a CNC machine and a functional index finger.

Are Festool purchases cheap or easy?

No.

Are they worthwhile investments?

Only if you step up to the plate and use them to do something good.

I know a lot of this sounds like a raving, egotistical rant. And to a point, it probably is. In person, I'm a pretty mellow guy, and I'm not prone to raving lunacy or outbursts. But I've worked for too many hack jobs and dumbed down professionals to care. I'm tired of settling. I'm tired of being told to settle down. I have to believe there's something better.

If nothing else, I have to believe, for myself, that I did something to ease my own frustrations and discontents. Someone else can settle for a cubicle and drudgery, and TPS reports, and subservient subsistence.

Back to the thread at hand... yes, these are expensive tools. They're also some of the best I've ever seen, and they're more capable than their competitors. The hand that reaches for such an instrument does not normally belong to someone who's that concerned about the money. They're concerned about the work, and reaching to do something better. They'll find a way to make it pay, so that they can continue to do something better than someone else. I'm not saying I don't feel the cost. But I do know where the cost goes.

Of course, there's the other category of person, too. People who bite off more than they can chew, without thought, and they fail without learning, blaming someone or something or anything else. They don't sack up, they don't reach up, and they don't aspire.

And they're not really my kind of people.

I agree wholeheartedly. Finding your passion in life has rewards of its own. As far as the money goes? You never have enough until you learn to quit worrying about it.

James, I truly could not agree with you more. The love of true workmanship whether it is in the tools you use, the work you make or the mind that concieves it all seems to be vanishing before us in a flood of Walmarts, McDonalds, Home Depots, etc. In addition we are and have been conditioned that to excel is bad. Look at our public schools, our corporations, etc. the kids/people that work hard and do well are chastised, denigrated and told to toe the line. This road of mediocrity is dangerous and very disgusting. Why do we want to be the same? Look at the best of us, admire them and strive to meet or exceed their accomplishments. Fred