WordMan
ALLIANCE MEMBER
Ciao! Come stai?
That's Italian for, Yo, what up, dog?
I may have taken some liberties with the translation...
Hey guys and gals, I'm Bill. My ever patient wife and I live in Harriman, TN, where I am fixing up an old, block, 24'X28' garage.
I'm what you might call "semi-retired," though you might also call it, "unemployed." Nonetheless, I'm a stay at home husband to a wonderful woman who also has Multiple Sclerosis. She loves her job, and I think it would kill her to leave it, so I take care of household chores, household repairs, manage medications, do the grocery shopping, and all that stuff.
In the times when I am not working on one or more of the above, I am an "aspiring" author, working on my first novel. Well, when I'm not in the garage or on the couch with yet another headache (I'm a professional, don't try this at home). Moral of that story is, stay out of the way of semis being driven by oblivious drivers.
In my former life of employment, I sold mechanic's tools, owning first a Mac Tools route, then a Cornwell Tools route. Both were in Maryland.
This brings us to hobbies and such. I come from a family of car/mechanical people. My great Great-Great-Grandfather (there may be one more "Great" in there) was a toy maker from Germany. My Great-Grandfather was a switcher engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad. My Grandfather (all on my Father's side) was a draftsman, and my Father was a mechanic who went on to own a service station, and then a Cornwell Tools route in his "semi-retired" days.
On the other side of the family, my Grandfather was a "combination man" (body and paint).
Over the years (starting back around 1980 or so), my Father and I have restored and modified cars. Our first restoration was a 1961 Impala with a 348 (3X2 barrels) and a 3-speed, Roman Red and Ermine White. We took the body off the frame and started from there, performing all the work including paint (hand rubbed lacquer), and installing the upholstery (reproduction) on the seats.
From there we have restored or modified two 1957 Chevrolets, a 1961 Corvette (I took that to my Senior Prom), a 1966 Chevelle convertible (my first car--LS6 454 crate engine, M-20 4-speed, retrofitted factory A/C), a 1960 Impala convertible, a 1956 BelAir convertible (1996 LT4/700R4, frame clipped w/'79 Firebird, and more "options" than Chevrolet ever though of), and a 1959 Impala (LY5/6L80E).
At my house we have a few cars and motorcycles. Some are projects, some not. My "daily driver" (which is driven a couple times a week--semi-retired and all that) is a 1995 BMW 540i/6, while my wife drives a 1993 300ZX 2+2 (I hope to repaint and freshen the interior of the Z once my garage is done). I also have an '82 Yamaha 550 Seca, a '75 Yamaha XS650 (café project), and a 1969 Triumph Bonneville (project).
Car projects include a running-but-needs-finishing (paint/interior/suspension upgrades) 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (LY5/4L60E swap), and my Pièce De Résistance, a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible build (port injected 454, Richmond 5-speed, IRS, and about a bajillion other modifications).
The house/garage is in Harriman, TN on 5.5 acres. The house has great bones, and is livable, but... well... I think the previous owners only had two qualifications for any work they did. 1) it had to be cheap, and 2) it had to be in some obnoxious color.
I have many, many plans for the house, from "cathedraling" the living room/kitchen ceiling, to adding on to the front of the place.
For the yard, I hope to plant a lot of trees (fruit, flowering, etc), plus a vegetable garden, chickens, and honey bees. Oh, and miniature myotonic goats (my wife wants them).
So, that's me in a rather large nutshell.
That's Italian for, Yo, what up, dog?
I may have taken some liberties with the translation...
Hey guys and gals, I'm Bill. My ever patient wife and I live in Harriman, TN, where I am fixing up an old, block, 24'X28' garage.
I'm what you might call "semi-retired," though you might also call it, "unemployed." Nonetheless, I'm a stay at home husband to a wonderful woman who also has Multiple Sclerosis. She loves her job, and I think it would kill her to leave it, so I take care of household chores, household repairs, manage medications, do the grocery shopping, and all that stuff.
In the times when I am not working on one or more of the above, I am an "aspiring" author, working on my first novel. Well, when I'm not in the garage or on the couch with yet another headache (I'm a professional, don't try this at home). Moral of that story is, stay out of the way of semis being driven by oblivious drivers.
In my former life of employment, I sold mechanic's tools, owning first a Mac Tools route, then a Cornwell Tools route. Both were in Maryland.
This brings us to hobbies and such. I come from a family of car/mechanical people. My great Great-Great-Grandfather (there may be one more "Great" in there) was a toy maker from Germany. My Great-Grandfather was a switcher engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad. My Grandfather (all on my Father's side) was a draftsman, and my Father was a mechanic who went on to own a service station, and then a Cornwell Tools route in his "semi-retired" days.
On the other side of the family, my Grandfather was a "combination man" (body and paint).
Over the years (starting back around 1980 or so), my Father and I have restored and modified cars. Our first restoration was a 1961 Impala with a 348 (3X2 barrels) and a 3-speed, Roman Red and Ermine White. We took the body off the frame and started from there, performing all the work including paint (hand rubbed lacquer), and installing the upholstery (reproduction) on the seats.
From there we have restored or modified two 1957 Chevrolets, a 1961 Corvette (I took that to my Senior Prom), a 1966 Chevelle convertible (my first car--LS6 454 crate engine, M-20 4-speed, retrofitted factory A/C), a 1960 Impala convertible, a 1956 BelAir convertible (1996 LT4/700R4, frame clipped w/'79 Firebird, and more "options" than Chevrolet ever though of), and a 1959 Impala (LY5/6L80E).
At my house we have a few cars and motorcycles. Some are projects, some not. My "daily driver" (which is driven a couple times a week--semi-retired and all that) is a 1995 BMW 540i/6, while my wife drives a 1993 300ZX 2+2 (I hope to repaint and freshen the interior of the Z once my garage is done). I also have an '82 Yamaha 550 Seca, a '75 Yamaha XS650 (café project), and a 1969 Triumph Bonneville (project).
Car projects include a running-but-needs-finishing (paint/interior/suspension upgrades) 1989 Jeep Grand Wagoneer (LY5/4L60E swap), and my Pièce De Résistance, a 1972 Oldsmobile Cutlass convertible build (port injected 454, Richmond 5-speed, IRS, and about a bajillion other modifications).
The house/garage is in Harriman, TN on 5.5 acres. The house has great bones, and is livable, but... well... I think the previous owners only had two qualifications for any work they did. 1) it had to be cheap, and 2) it had to be in some obnoxious color.
I have many, many plans for the house, from "cathedraling" the living room/kitchen ceiling, to adding on to the front of the place. For the yard, I hope to plant a lot of trees (fruit, flowering, etc), plus a vegetable garden, chickens, and honey bees. Oh, and miniature myotonic goats (my wife wants them).
So, that's me in a rather large nutshell.