Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Redneck Hypocrite

This is the dialog at the latest RH meeting I attended; 
"Hello, my name is MDR and I'm a Redneck Hypocrite."
"Hi MDR and welcome"

My shop has taken a back seat now for almost three years. In that time I have built everything here at the Mini Farm by hand except the green house and we all know how that turned out.

Giving a idea your blood, sweat, tears and even some of your religion here and there is what it's all about. Using your own skills and intellect to build that same idea into a structure, plus having the feeling of accomplishment after the project is done gives a man a high not many drugs could match. Then, the everyday self worth when you look out and see what your own two hands have built is something that can never be outdone or taken away. Yes it is a man thing and yes it's what drive me on.

My shop has been designed in my head at least a hundred times and then drawn out even more, but that is as far as it gets. Lumber and materials have been gathered, but always used for something else more pressing.  When the work shop reaches the top of the ever changing priority list it's only there a short while until knocked back down to a more lesser spot. At this rate the shop was never going to get done and everything tends to be more important, even the smallest of things.   

Over the past three years I have worked out of a little yellow wagon, pulling or dragging it along flat tires and all to the next bigger and better idea that had to built. The small wagon is so full that every time I hit a bump I have to stop and pick up whatever fell off. When it reaches it's final destination I unload the cart onto tables spreading the tools out so I can efficiently find what I need when the time comes. At night I cover the tables in tarps to keep the dew off my used up equipment and bungee them down so the high winds will not expose the tools to the same.
When the project is completed, I repeat the process in reverse by packing up my little yellow garden cart and storing it away until the next project develops.           

 A couple of years ago my buddy Dave bought a complete, turn key shop building that he had delivered and set up. They handed him the keys, said "Here you go" and that was it, an instant shop.
Of course in my manly way, I thought that was an atrocity to mankind.
I made fun of him for not building his own shop with his own bare hands and I even posted about it for all to read. I think I even used the words, "Well, I would never"

A shop to a man is like a bathroom to a woman, it's where the magic happens. It's where you transform a raw piece of material into something stunning and beautiful.
I am sure I will get some hate mail on that one, but stay with me here.
In most cases you woman have the majority say in everything about the house decor to the flower gardens. You may be shaking your heads no but look around, did we really care what you planted in your flower beds we built or the girly way you fixed up our master bath? No we didn't because if you are happy, we are happy. But a shop is our land, our last frontier to having testosterone we can call our own.
In our shops we feel two pounds heavier from our new growth and can beat our chests giving out the deepest Tarzan yell we can muster. I am man, hear me roar!
It was really hard to do that when I was pulling around a little yellow garden wagon.

Enough is enough, I decided to move forward with my shop so I did.
After much consideration and eating a little crow, I figured my buddy Dave did not have a bad idea after all. I had it delivered yesterday. Call me a hypocrite, it's okay.
So what if someone else built it for me. I still have to build all the shelves and storage spaces. I still have to design and build all the work benches and add all my own touches. I still get to decorate it to what I had pictured in my head so many times before. I will still stain the floor with my sweat and my blood and I can almost bet I will still loose a little of my religion here and there when needed.
I am not worried, with confidence I can say I am still a man. A Hypocritical Redneck maybe.

     
         
Inside my new shop sits my little yellow wagon. Her name is "Getty Up Go"
She was a brute when she was new, top of line and ready to work. 
With all she has done, her duty is almost over, just one more project left. She has seen a lot of use, been abused and even broke a time or two, but she has been there through it all and even held me up when I was too tired to stand on my own. She it hard to pull now so we had to carry her inside, tools and all. I tell ya, we have been through it and I almost hate to see her go but I will always remember the times we had, me and Getty Up Go.
       

30 comments:

  1. Wow you had a wagon, I am working my way up to that from a 5 gallon bucket.

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    1. That's funny SBF, I still had the buckets. They held the plumbing, electrical, screws, nails and everything else that would fall through the bottom of the wagon.

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    2. i hear you sbf i have a 5-gallon bucket now AND milk crates for all things storage... except the small stuff, that is in tupperware that held our seed vault before the basement flood of jan 2011..

      okay, i'm lying, we have a lot of rubbermaid totes too..

      ;-))

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  2. MDR,

    Good for you, once and awhile we need a break, from the back breaking work! I can't wait to see it when it's all organized.

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    1. Organization is the key Izzy. I waste a lot of time hunting and searching for stuff I know I have. With the new shop I will know right where that certain something will be.

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  3. MDR - i feel your pain. and i feel it for jambaloney. i just told him that he had to go and read your post. his "shop" has been our tiny, dirt-floor basement that exists under only half of the house. he has arranged and re-arranged that cramped, little stinky basement a million times trying to make a "shop". all of his time has been spent building raised beds, filling tires, weed-whacking our 1000ft road to the river, shovelling our 30ft steep driveway - and doing all of his man-chores. he needs a shop. he needs a place for all of his tools...to be organized so he can function more efficiently. soon, we will build it. after the throw-together hoophouse/greenhouse thing....after the proper greenhouse, after the proper porch (not one wrapped in plastic) and perhaps before the addition to the kitchen. don't tell him, but i am trying to save little bits of money to be able to buy him an insta-shop. you are not a hypocrite. and i think that your shop is lovely and can't wait to see how you organize it.

    your friend,
    kymber

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    1. Kymber, your plan sounds a lot like mine and at that rate the shop will never be done. I tell you what it took for me to do finally pull the trigger on it was I took the summer off. I still have a list of projects but being I plan to start them in the fall this has given me the opportunity to think about what really matters on that list. The work shop kept making it's way to the top so I just did it. Being I bought one already built, frees up most of the fall for the other projects.
      Now I can work more efficiently and the projects will be done faster.
      Thanks for stopping by.

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  4. hey mdr - i feel your pain too, as kymber said, not much of a shop here... back in the city i had a 3-car garage and a basement shop... but not too many projects.. now it is all projects and no shop.

    many "visions" in my head too - we will see how it goes.. i may get lucky and build in next year.. but a turnkey solution may be in the works too..

    think of the shop as another tool instead of something you had to build.. every once in a while you have to just buy it!!

    cheers and congrats!!

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    1. Jam,
      Ha, my time in the city was about the same. I had a beautiful garage full of organized tools and nothing to do with them.
      I can say for the price the turn key is worth it. Mine came with a five year warranty and if I built it myself I would have used all old lumber and not had the room or the look I have now. I am pleased with it.

      You are right. The shop is the biggest tool I have. I can do without it but it makes things go a lot smoother with it.

      Thanks for the comment my friend.

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  5. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  6. I understand what you are saying! You are on target and allowed to make your statements about men and women, you earned the right! I guess this is a good reason to "never say never" but your Tarzan roar will be contained within the walls of your shop instead of passing over Getty Up Go! You made me completely crack up...YOU DESERVE THIS SHOP! Look at all you've done with your construction abilities! It NEEDS TO BE HONORED and CULTIVATED! Just imagine, you now can have the space to built ANY shop, any structure, any Modern Day Redneck idea you can conceive. I am truly happy for you MDR!

    Lana

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    1. Lana, Thank you for the comment.
      The one problem with having the space to what I need to now is that there is now excuse what I can't. Even though it is MY shop and MY space, I can bet you I will be building a lot of what the wife wants. LOL
      It's Okay though, at least I can do it now.

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  7. Congratulations on your new shop!!!

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  8. Hey MDR,

    It's not hypocritical if it gets everything done w/o too much burden on you. Congratulations on the new 'shop'! I'm sure it will work out great.

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    1. Thanks DFW.
      I can actually work in the rain and cold now. Instead of just looking out the house window and wishing I could do something.

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  9. That looks just like what my guy needs. I think he is tired of sharing the garage with all the stuff that keeps finding it's way in there. Not to mention he is working out of buckets and boxes.

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    1. sista, I am telling you, your guy needs his spot. I have been cramped and working out of buckets and carts for way too long now. The one problem with a work shop is now the project list just got a lot longer.
      And this one is moveable.

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  10. I'm gonna say scr*w those who mock you. Ok, maybe that's a little harsh, but I remember a man with a blog a while back who made a comment about if somebody wants to come do a day of his work on his mini farm and see how he feels afterwards. YOU dear are one hard working guy and you deserve someone to come build a shop for you. You can't do EVERYTHING yourself after all. Did you build your own car? ...ok, maybe you did, I don't know, but I'd LOVE to see someone go do all the stuff I see you do.

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    1. Awww, mamamcmann5, I think you are now my favorite. You are right though.
      I can't say I have been hard at it for the past couple of months because I decided to take the summer off to spend with the family and do all the things that families do. I wished I could do it year around. It has really meant a lot to me to be able to put things aside and share the time with them.
      Thank you for a great comment. You made my day

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  11. MDR good for you!! You deserve that shop hope you enjoy it. Ellen from Georgia

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  12. Well done MDR!! I think you did the right thing :) Just think how many more projects that you or the wife can think up, now that you have a dedicated space for them.

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    1. Stephanie, yes I think the wife coming up with more stuff to build will be a problem.
      Thank you for the comment

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  13. Good job. Good thinking.
    YeOldFurt

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    1. It is good to hear from you my friend. Thanks for stopping by. Come see us.

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  14. Your gonna love your new shop (man cave) lol I was lucky when I moved to my homestead there was a 48ft semi trailer for the first 2 years we had to use it for storage being we moved to a much smaller house for those 2 years I had to work out of a old plastic truck box sitting on a Wagon to build the barns and run ins so I feel your pain lol well we finally got rid of all the unnecessary crap from the trailer and it was mine I put some windows in it a side door some electric and a Woodstove (gets a little cold here in northern Michigan) now all my tools are neat I have a place to store and work on my atvs all year rain or shine even have some tunes in there its great so congratulations on your new shop your gonna love it and no worries nothing wrong something prefabed once in awhile lol

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    1. Eric, thanks for the great comment.
      I looked into getting one of those shipping trailers for a shop, but the price was almost as much as the one I got now if you included delivery fees. I still want one for a guest house but that will have to wait till later.
      I have already ran most of the wire inside and tonight I should have full power if everything goes right. I want to take my time and do this right though.
      Thanks again for stopping by.

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    2. LOL I've been looking into the building like you have for your new shop as a guest house me and the family moved to a smaller house for a simpler life but now I have no room for the older kids when they visit but as with you its gonna have to wait. I hope you post some pics when your finished.

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    3. The place I bought my shop from also builds little cabins just for that reason. The cheapest one is around 25 thousand though. I would rather get one unfinished like mine and do it the way I want.
      Being I turned the oldest girls room into my food storage room, she needs a place to sleep when she comes home.

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