Show the next generation the way and have a Merry Christmas!!

I wouldn’t

-- Don't drink and use power tools @ lasercreationsbylarry.com.au

AND I Couldn’t

-- Don't drink and use power tools @ lasercreationsbylarry.com.au

I shouldn’t

-- Don't drink and use power tools @ lasercreationsbylarry.com.au

BUT I Did

-- Don't drink and use power tools @ lasercreationsbylarry.com.au

What did ya do Larry?

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence

Helping those in need isn’t pity, it’s an act of God. I’m seeing hard times for many these days & trying to look on the bright side. The days of open credit spending are over for now. I hope to see people banding together for a common cause, survival! We all have talents & abilities that could help someone else or trade for something we need. For myself just paying the bills has become a real struggle lately. My creativity has become more utilitarian than fun, but we have to stay with reality. I believe most here have a handle on what it takes to create what we need or want. We have tools & the drive to be self sufficient. Please consider how lucky we are to have our abilities. We fall in similar categories as artists, & musicians yet we here could make something sturdy that would be something someone needs. Not to downplay the arts, I’m a musician & it’s a huge part of my life. It’s the same as Motorcycling, kind of therapeutic, calming if you will. My point is that we here are gifted & can help those in need as much as any other profession can. Thanks for posting this subject Bob, May all have a Happy Holiday season!

-- $tudie

Good deeds and good thoughts, but I do hope that folks remember that charity begins at home. I know that sounds selfish, but it is easy to help out strangers and forget about family members who are in need. I have seen this so many times where a person can be so generous with everyone except those nearest. In fact it is tragic. I’m not implying that is the case here. Thanks Bob for your heartwarming story and a Very Merry Christmas to you and yours.

-- Mike, an American living in Norway.

That’s a good thought Mike. Sometimes, people know it is a waste to try to help family because they know them too well :-))

Sometimes it is just a spontaneous response to the situations that present themselves. There used to be a lot of Filipino veggie farmers in the Green River Valley around Auburn. Seems like I used to have a rush job at the end of every year that had to be done by the first of Jan. One of these farmers called about not having any water from his well between Christmas and New Year. I told him I was too busy to come, but if he couldn’t find anybody fix it, I would come in the evening, but I told him I charged and a half after hours.

That evening, after dinner and working 10 hour day, I called back to see if they had found anyone. No, they hadn’t. It was dark, wet, windy and cold; certainly not a very pleasant night out. I didn’t want to go very bad, but I knew they were without water, so I went. It only took a few minutes to diagnose and adjust the pressure switch on the well. I watched the motor start a couple times on my amp meter to be sure that is all it was. I wrote up a bill, probably $60 plus sales tax back then. I knocked on the door, he answered and invited me inside.

I couldn’t believe the house. It was totally bare. There was a small wooden table and a couple of chairs. No doors on the cupboards, and they were bare! Just after Christmas, you expect to see a bit of holiday trimmings. There was nothing. It was the plainest, barest, occupied house I think I have ever been in.

He took the bill to his wife who was working by the sink. I could tell by the look on her face it may as well have been a million dollars, it just didn’t matter how much it was. By then I had accessed the situation. I told them to just drop it in the mail when ever they could and left. When I got home I put our copy in the files. I told my wife to never call to ask them about it.

-- Bob in WW ~ "some old things are lovely, warm still with life ... of the forgotten men who made them." - D.H. Lawrence