- Joined
- Dec 16, 2004
- Messages
- 2,315
It's not everyday you start a thread w/ that for the title, but that's where I'll be on Wednesday, getting my right hip replaced. I have a highly arthritic hip joint that has been plaguing me since I was 19. It's been a long time coming and I'm excited about the changes that a new one will bring. I had meant to post this up a week or two ago and give you all some notice but the time got away from me.
It is also looking like I'll be moving back to CT in early November to be closer to family. My folks are getting older and it seems that perhaps it would be good if I were there. This has not been an easy decision on any level, and it's something I've been struggling with for a few months now. Andy and I talked, and overall the timing seems to make sense. Of course it is also a lousy time - we just moved into the new shop, I'll be out w/ the hip recovery, Andy'll be out rocking the Guild show, and no shortage of things to be done here. As such, timing for big changes like this is seldom perfect, but sometimes you have to walk through the door when it's open. That's one thing I learned the hard way every time I didn't ask out a girl I liked and had the opportunity to do so.
I'll still be around for a bit in October, wrapping things up and hopefully making a handful of fancy handle scales for you folks. In the meantime I would recommend you direct your questions to Vance (sorry Vance ). Fear not, this man knows his knives! I will do my absolute best to get back to PM's, but there'll be a delay I'm sure.
Andy, thank you so much for asking me to come work with you 2.5 years ago. I fell in love with knives as a young kid, like we all did. I remember saving up for a Cold Steel tanto, my first 'real' knife, and waiting until summertime to order it so I knew I would be home from school to catch the UPS driver and hide it from my mom. It was that important. Jump ahead a decade or two, I'm making furniture & you're making knives, and we meet at Blade Show and our bond formed instantly. When you asked me to move here and join you in this pursuit part of me went right back to being that kid in the driveway waiting for his knife to arrive. Excited. And also honored. It has been a privilege to work beside you (and Everybody else!). One of my favorite parts has been watching you drive the apprentices to be as good as they can be. It is truly inspiring how important that is for you. I'm hopeful I'll be a graduate too someday. It still freaks me out a little that I know how to and can make my own knife. That is something the 11 year old kid in me never expected, and for that I thank you more than you may know.
~ Ken
It is also looking like I'll be moving back to CT in early November to be closer to family. My folks are getting older and it seems that perhaps it would be good if I were there. This has not been an easy decision on any level, and it's something I've been struggling with for a few months now. Andy and I talked, and overall the timing seems to make sense. Of course it is also a lousy time - we just moved into the new shop, I'll be out w/ the hip recovery, Andy'll be out rocking the Guild show, and no shortage of things to be done here. As such, timing for big changes like this is seldom perfect, but sometimes you have to walk through the door when it's open. That's one thing I learned the hard way every time I didn't ask out a girl I liked and had the opportunity to do so.
I'll still be around for a bit in October, wrapping things up and hopefully making a handful of fancy handle scales for you folks. In the meantime I would recommend you direct your questions to Vance (sorry Vance ). Fear not, this man knows his knives! I will do my absolute best to get back to PM's, but there'll be a delay I'm sure.
Andy, thank you so much for asking me to come work with you 2.5 years ago. I fell in love with knives as a young kid, like we all did. I remember saving up for a Cold Steel tanto, my first 'real' knife, and waiting until summertime to order it so I knew I would be home from school to catch the UPS driver and hide it from my mom. It was that important. Jump ahead a decade or two, I'm making furniture & you're making knives, and we meet at Blade Show and our bond formed instantly. When you asked me to move here and join you in this pursuit part of me went right back to being that kid in the driveway waiting for his knife to arrive. Excited. And also honored. It has been a privilege to work beside you (and Everybody else!). One of my favorite parts has been watching you drive the apprentices to be as good as they can be. It is truly inspiring how important that is for you. I'm hopeful I'll be a graduate too someday. It still freaks me out a little that I know how to and can make my own knife. That is something the 11 year old kid in me never expected, and for that I thank you more than you may know.
~ Ken