Power up!

By Special Guest-bloggers Christian and Mike

Mike: O.K. Christian, how do you want to start out this blog together?

Christian: This is the story of a boy becoming a man, in a hot, sweaty workshop. Me. Yeah, baby. Uh, huh. Thank you very much.

Mike: Where do you come from??! Alright. Let me give this a try. Our story begins with Christian trying to become one of the first cub scouts in his pack to earn all of the 20 possible Webelos badges. The only one he had yet to finish was the craftsman badge.

Christian: "Craftsman" is kind of a bad word at our house. I love my Dad. I really do. But the man does not know a screwdriver from a wrench.

Mike: Sure I do. One is a drink served to adults, the other is a river in Germany.

Christian: See what I mean? So, I asked my home teacher, Brother Thurgood, to teach me how to use his powertools.

Mike: Good choice, son. Brother Thurgood has been involved in scouting his whole life. A few years ago he was even awarded the Silver Beaver Award for his lifetime of service to the boy scouts. He is a retired Army Colonel who flew helicopters over combat zones in the Korean and Vietnam wars. He's probably the bravest man I know.

Christian: He also has his own woodshop full of powertools. The first thing he taught me was: "Always measure twice and cut once."

Christian: The next thing he taught me was that I have to "respect the tool, but don't fear it."

Mike: Brother Thurgood has a lot of sayings and an impressive number of acronyms in his linguistic arsenal.

Christian: His what?

Mike: Nothing. Now, in this next picture, take a look at Christian's face. He clearly has unconditional "respect" for that orbital saw.

Christian: It's a radial saw, Dad.

Mike: Same thing.

Christian: No, they're not.

Mike: Moving right along then...Christian, why don't you tell the people in the blogosphere what is going on in this next picture.

Christian: Yeah, this is me workin' with da power saws!

Mike: You can tell by the way my son talks that he grew up on the mean streets of Bountiful. Word.

Christian: Just keepin' it real, Dad.

Christian: Oh! And this is me using a band saw...

...and a drill press too!

Mike: This next picture is of Christian going "old school" and using a hammer. Notice the placement of Brother Thurgood's hands. Did I mention that he was a brave man?
Christian: I really liked using the nail gun; it's a lot faster than a hammer. Isn't that cute how my Dad looks like he's helping?

Christian: I also got pretty good at using the hand sander.

Mike: If you do say so yourself.

Christian: Hey...you're the one who keeps talking about having good self-esteem.

Christian: After three hours in the woodshop, here are the final products...my own bird house and bulletin-board. See that little fence around the bottom of the bird house? I built that so the bird food wouldn't spill out when the wind blows.

Mike: Brother Thurgood, you really went above and beyond the call of duty! Thanks so much for giving up three hours of your Saturday morning to help us out. You are a great man!

Christian: Yeah, thanks Brother Thurgood. I couldn't have done it without you.