woodbutcherbower
Member
Hey FOG guys,
Retirement is suiting me well. My 100-item bucket list is already down to 69 items, and I just got back from an ‘Item 83’ 2-week vacation in Japan - only my second proper break in 11 years. I took the 300km/hr ‘Bullet Train’ from Tokyo to Osaka (Item 84) and spent some quality time with an old friend who I haven’t seen for way too long (Item 85). Anyone thinking of visiting Japan should go. It’s incredible in every conceivable way. The food, the Sake, the culture, the hospitality, the customs, the language, the buildings, the history ….. the everything. They even have public competitions to see whose plane can shave the thinnest-possible gossamer see-thru wood wafer.
My first ‘proper’ break happened two months before the Japan trip and featured a wild coincidence. So there I was, sitting at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya at 5am (Item 72) gazing out over this otherworldly vista just as the sun was coming up, thinking that I was alone. But then - the silence was broken by a voice behind me saying “Kevin - is that you?” I spun around to see the face of the customer who I’d done my last-ever job for. That just has to be a one-in-a-zillion encounter. You couldn’t make it up. Either that - or she was taking the task of stalking me way too seriously.
After being single since forever and against all the odds - I met someone. I wasn’t looking for it, I didn’t expect it - but she just stomped right into my life and stuck herself there, stronger than heavily-clamped TB1 on a summer’s day. Her name’s Jennifer and she’s from Ireland. She’s tiny, auburn-haired, freckled, green-eyed, lovely in every way - and she’s somehow managed to inject a dose of undemanding, unbridled joy into this jaded soul - to the extent that I’m maybe going to have to add ‘Item 101’ to my list at some point. I’ll let you know how it pans out.
I said in my ‘retirement speech’ that I was keeping the van and all my tools. 100% the right decision. I’ve built myself a couple of ‘long-term-dreamed-of’ pieces of furniture which I’ll maybe get round to posting in ‘Member Projects’ sometime, but more importantly - both of my daughters now have beautiful new kitchens (Items 73 and 74) and my son has an amazing wall-mounted oak display case for his now-insanely-valuable collection of Pokémon cards which I bought him for pennies when he was a chubby little kid instead of being a 200-pound 6’6” police officer who no-one messes with. A wild card with no item number.
Some items (#94 for example) have been easier, quicker, and cheaper to achieve. I upscaled my gardening activity and grew some of the legendary ‘Reaper’ chillies, challenging the chef at my favourite Indian restaurant to create the world’s hottest curry. He achieved it. I finished it. I feel truly proud to be the owner of the UK’s only melted ceramic toilet. It sits there to this day like a white, misshapen pottery blob. Months on - and my anus still looks like a badly-assembled burrito.
I also upscaled my cycling activity and completed the 970km ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End (Item 88 - the most northerly and southerly points of the UK) in 15 days. I honestly feel fitter and stronger than I did when I was 25-30. If anyone out there wants to lose some weight and get in shape = buy a bike. The whole cycling community in the UK is super-friendly, immensely supportive, and completely non-judgemental. I’m pretty sure that the good two-wheeled folks in NA are just the same.
There’s way, way more to tell, but you get the picture. My four decades of professional woodworking was an absolute blast. But finally reaping the rewards now provided by that monumental pile of sawdust is so far proving to be an unimaginably bigger one. I never thought I’d get here.
I think of you all often, and I’ll continue to check in once in awhile.
Kind regards and best wishes from the UK.
Kevin
Retirement is suiting me well. My 100-item bucket list is already down to 69 items, and I just got back from an ‘Item 83’ 2-week vacation in Japan - only my second proper break in 11 years. I took the 300km/hr ‘Bullet Train’ from Tokyo to Osaka (Item 84) and spent some quality time with an old friend who I haven’t seen for way too long (Item 85). Anyone thinking of visiting Japan should go. It’s incredible in every conceivable way. The food, the Sake, the culture, the hospitality, the customs, the language, the buildings, the history ….. the everything. They even have public competitions to see whose plane can shave the thinnest-possible gossamer see-thru wood wafer.
My first ‘proper’ break happened two months before the Japan trip and featured a wild coincidence. So there I was, sitting at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro in Kenya at 5am (Item 72) gazing out over this otherworldly vista just as the sun was coming up, thinking that I was alone. But then - the silence was broken by a voice behind me saying “Kevin - is that you?” I spun around to see the face of the customer who I’d done my last-ever job for. That just has to be a one-in-a-zillion encounter. You couldn’t make it up. Either that - or she was taking the task of stalking me way too seriously.
After being single since forever and against all the odds - I met someone. I wasn’t looking for it, I didn’t expect it - but she just stomped right into my life and stuck herself there, stronger than heavily-clamped TB1 on a summer’s day. Her name’s Jennifer and she’s from Ireland. She’s tiny, auburn-haired, freckled, green-eyed, lovely in every way - and she’s somehow managed to inject a dose of undemanding, unbridled joy into this jaded soul - to the extent that I’m maybe going to have to add ‘Item 101’ to my list at some point. I’ll let you know how it pans out.
I said in my ‘retirement speech’ that I was keeping the van and all my tools. 100% the right decision. I’ve built myself a couple of ‘long-term-dreamed-of’ pieces of furniture which I’ll maybe get round to posting in ‘Member Projects’ sometime, but more importantly - both of my daughters now have beautiful new kitchens (Items 73 and 74) and my son has an amazing wall-mounted oak display case for his now-insanely-valuable collection of Pokémon cards which I bought him for pennies when he was a chubby little kid instead of being a 200-pound 6’6” police officer who no-one messes with. A wild card with no item number.
Some items (#94 for example) have been easier, quicker, and cheaper to achieve. I upscaled my gardening activity and grew some of the legendary ‘Reaper’ chillies, challenging the chef at my favourite Indian restaurant to create the world’s hottest curry. He achieved it. I finished it. I feel truly proud to be the owner of the UK’s only melted ceramic toilet. It sits there to this day like a white, misshapen pottery blob. Months on - and my anus still looks like a badly-assembled burrito.
I also upscaled my cycling activity and completed the 970km ride from John O’Groats to Land’s End (Item 88 - the most northerly and southerly points of the UK) in 15 days. I honestly feel fitter and stronger than I did when I was 25-30. If anyone out there wants to lose some weight and get in shape = buy a bike. The whole cycling community in the UK is super-friendly, immensely supportive, and completely non-judgemental. I’m pretty sure that the good two-wheeled folks in NA are just the same.
There’s way, way more to tell, but you get the picture. My four decades of professional woodworking was an absolute blast. But finally reaping the rewards now provided by that monumental pile of sawdust is so far proving to be an unimaginably bigger one. I never thought I’d get here.
I think of you all often, and I’ll continue to check in once in awhile.
Kind regards and best wishes from the UK.
Kevin
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