Why do I do the stuff that I do?
I have a pretty simple philosophy ... try it.I like to see how stuff works and to try to do things with my hands. There have been too many times that I've walked into a hardware store only to be told "No one makes that anymore". It annoys me that hardware stores these days are basically supermarkets with hammers and nails. Now I make some of my own tools with my own hands ... they don't necessarily work better than one that I could buy, but I sure as hell know how they are made and how to use them! I can also fix them when they go wrong and I can tinker with them to make them work better. Some tools that I've made are infinitely better than what you can buy ... simply because you can't buy them.
I like to be self sufficient and to do the sorts of things that people on the land have done since time immemorial ... improvise.
Now that we have moved house and moved state, we have a whole lot less room to play with. I've had to put my smelting furnace on hold for the time being ... at least until I can make some room in out little back yard in suburbia. Most of my projects, now, are going to be focused on smaller projects that I can do either in the house or in my 4m x 6m shed, still, that's not such a bad thing. I've sold a lot of my power tools, so I'll be doing more by hand and using either shop bought tools or tools that I make myself (as time and space permits).
I suppose that some more background would be helpful. I am a senior IT professional with a Masters degree in ICT. I've studied music, business and paeleoanthropology. I have loads of IT certifications (amassed over a 30+ year career in IT) and I have a deeply inquisitive nature. At the moment I am working in Tasmania while living in Victoria ... it's not a particularly nice commute and it all comes out of my own pocket ... the Tax office considers this a "lifestyle choice" ... bah!
