Lessons Brought Out of the Drying Wheel
This past summer I took up a new hobby to help with my Parkinson’s Disease. I have wanted to make fishing lures, so I decided to get a cheap airbrush, watch some YouTube videos and see what I could do. One thing I found out quickly was that it takes a lot of practice and you will ruin a lot of stuff. I also found out after ruining several lures that part of my problem after painting was the need for a rotating drying wheel so the lures could the clear coat over the paint could “cure” evenly.
Those things are expensive and I didn’t have the funds to buy one. Then I remembered something my Pa Rube (my grandfather) told me one time. He had little education, but was the wisest man I ever knew. He said one day, “Son, never buy something until you try to make it. Store bought don’t mean it’s better, just probably looks it.”
So I went out to our shed and found an old microwave that was pretty much shot. But in it was a motor that turned the plate around as things cooked. I quickly took it apart, tested the motor and it worked! I then found a set of gears out of an old printer, some bamboo skewers, clothes pins, paper clips, rubber band, hot glue and the handy man’s secret weapon, duct tape. The result was the most redneck drying wheel in all of Kentucky.
Those things are expensive and I didn’t have the funds to buy one. Then I remembered something my Pa Rube (my grandfather) told me one time. He had little education, but was the wisest man I ever knew. He said one day, “Son, never buy something until you try to make it. Store bought don’t mean it’s better, just probably looks it.”
So I went out to our shed and found an old microwave that was pretty much shot. But in it was a motor that turned the plate around as things cooked. I quickly took it apart, tested the motor and it worked! I then found a set of gears out of an old printer, some bamboo skewers, clothes pins, paper clips, rubber band, hot glue and the handy man’s secret weapon, duct tape. The result was the most redneck drying wheel in all of Kentucky.
But guess what? It works just fine. It definitely don’t look store bought, but I wouldn’t sell it for a million dollars. Because the whole time I was thinking about my Pa Rube, who died when I was 12. Now at 49, he is still teaching me lessons.
Never underestimate the wisdom of “old people.” My Pa Rube also said, “I didn’t get to be old bein’ a fool.” And never underestimate the power of lessons you teach others. They may just hang on for a lifetime.
Never underestimate the wisdom of “old people.” My Pa Rube also said, “I didn’t get to be old bein’ a fool.” And never underestimate the power of lessons you teach others. They may just hang on for a lifetime.
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