gotta problem? fix it.

Today in the woodshop, the high school students will finish their projectile launchers and then the battle will begin. Safety glasses will be provided. I will have some photos to share later in the day, or after I arrive in Little Rock for the night.

This evening, I have a book signing at the Historic Arkansas Museum where several of my pieces of rustic furniture are currently on display. If you are able to visit, you will also find the original Bowie knife on display. It was made in Arkansas by James Black at Old Washington and carried by Jim Bowie to the Alamo. Every boy in America would like to see such a wonderful knife. (Of course, there are some disputes amongst knife makers whether it is in fact the original knife, or just one of many bowie knives made by the same Arkansas knife maker.)

You are probably like me, in that you have occasional problems with technology and would like to get some kind of handle on fixing things yourself. When you have skills at fixing things and they go wrong, instead of wringing your hands in despair, you feel a sense of glee at the opportunity to get out your tools and go to work. iFixit.com is a good place to start and they have launched a Q&A section to their website where participants can help each other to solve fixable problems. I recently ran my cell phone through the washer and got conflicting advice over the web. I don't know for sure, but I now believe that a more patient response may have offered a better solution. My old cell phone is off to recycling. But fixing things is a matter of personal growth, mastery of physical reality, confidence in being a member of society, whether you are successful or not. Who really wants to be dependent on stuff working, when we could instead be working on our stuff? It is a choice of who plays master of the universe, and slave to technology is not all the fun it's cracked up to be.