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“For me, insanity is super sanity. The normal is psychotic. Normal means lack of imagination, lack of creativity.” — Jean Dubuffet
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Before my mother passed away she handed me a paper bag full of childhood keepsakes. There were handmade Mother’s Day cards, school calendars and news clippings–I made the news in third grade by getting stuck in a tree. An image of the fire department rescue made the Des Moines Register. Nice.
I also discovered every report card from second grade through high school.
My report cards were consistently underwhelming. Interestingly, I never had a grade higher than a C until I took a shop class. More interesting were the teacher comments;
“John just doesn’t seem interested in being here.”
“John does not apply himself.” (This phrase must be out of some 1950’s teacher handbook–it appeared 14 times in my stack of report cards)
“John would do better in school if he didn’t talk so much.”
“John thinks he is funny. He is not.”
“John consistently laughs at things that are not funny.”
“Two to three times a week John has to do his assignments by himself in the hall. Ask him why.”
“John needs more structure. Have you considered Catholic school?”
And my favorite; “Please advise John that all future Science Fair projects will be considered as long as fire is not involved.”
Looking back, I am damn proud of my education. It was the teachers that were the problem.
Oh, back to the WIA report card (I like to think thematically, hence the above segue). What a fantastic experiment. Four totally awesome volunteers comprised our “Dream Team” of Jointmaker Pro demonstrators; Lori Bergren, Rutager West, Paul-Marcel St-Onge, and Masood Gahari. Michael Berg and your favorite Tool Potentate were also manning our booth which had six Jointmaker’s busy making Earthquake After Detectors…
Paul-Marcel presented me with a custom hockey sweater matching his pictured below;
It is not just a normal jersey. He thinks giving me a jersey with my name “JE-1” on the back is funny. His jersey name is PM-1. But wait there is more…
My number is 34.
His number is 24
Care to guess what the next number might be in this series?
Masood, Michael and Rutager playing video games on an iPad during the busiest time of the show.
Here is a pic of Chuck Haas of Des Moines, who wanted to buy a Jointmaker Pro. This image was taken immediately after he asked me if we still offered Easy-Pay.
We all had a great time. AND, we did raise money for the Roger Cliff Memorial Fund–my favorite part. Yes, the Earthquake After Detectors were a big hit.
BTW, Cooter Ditchman is a genius.
–John
John, it was great to see you at the WIA. Your Dream Team was awesome, and apparently the JMPs spoke for themselves – all gone in the first day, with only a lone JM-SW left on Saturday. Nice work!
It was quite an experience meeting Cooter Ditchman. What a character. Hope he’s not reading your blog (does he own a computer?). Did he tell you that story about the guy at the pitchfork factory? You know – the one about the eyeball and the pig? Wild.
It sure was fun helping out at the booth. I was wishing we’d had a bench so that I could show people how amazingly well your planes work. I think we got lots of people interested, though.
– Peter
P.S. Apparently no earthquake yet…
Peter,
The SW found a home too!
Bench next year!
–John
Yes – that poor SW was feeling very left out, I think. I’m sure it went to a good home, even if it wasn’t the first one to sell…
Interesting that until all the JMPs were gone, everybody decided that having two sliding tables was better than one.
I wish I’d gotten a picture of that box with the SS and bronze shoulder planes in it. Serious drool-worthiness!
Congratulations on a great show! It’s always stimulating being around you – and your minions!
– Peter
P.S. Why won’t your blog let me (or you, apparently) put returns between lines any more?
Great show! I never imagined I’d have to travel all the way to Covington to learn I’m not the only one with a brother who managed to set his mattress on fire….
-Laurie
Glad it worked out. You must be the first to use your customers as actual salespeople and it must have been a powerful tool. The endorsement by users is very powerful.
Paul-
We all met prior to the show and the objective of the meeting was to confirm that “selling” was not on the agenda for the weekend. Our goal was to have fun–and we did have fun.
I don’t have the formula for turning skeptics into advocates, but having fun definitely is something that can be part of the JMP experience and the weekend certainly demonstrated that well.
–John
Laurie,
There is a difference between a mattress fire and burning a bunk bed down. But I agree, this is no coincidence considering we are both from Iowa.
Now you know why I moved to Oregon.
–John
Why? Is it too wet in Oregon to catch your bed on fire?
– Peter
My bed was always too-wet to set on fire – um, I mean, Woodworking in America looks like it would have been a lot of fun, maybe next year.
Gary, my bed would not have burnt down either…no further details required.
Are we related?
-John
John, As always it was wonderful seeing you though the fact that you had no plane for me this year left disconsolate. 🙁 Your Dream Team were great though at times, passing by your booth there was a very high pitched sound somewhat resembling the drill in a dentist chair. I am sure it was just an issue with one of the JMP’s needing oil. 😮 I did purchase two of your after earthquake detectors and have them set up in strategic positions throughout my house but so far, so good. Not even a hard fought but playful rumble by my two big boys has activated the detector. 😮 Fred
John,
Back on May 12th, 2011 in your blog you mentioned that you were trying to get a working prototype of a new accessory fence system for the Jointmaker ready for WIA. Did that happen?
Paul
Yup. Should have imagery posted here before weeks end.
–John
I can’t help but notice that the message above was posted on Oct. 17th … and … ummm … it’s more than a week since then. 🙂
– Peter (who’s really interested in the new fence – even though he doesn’t have a Jointmaker)
Peter: I am dealing with unforeseen circumstances. Some good. Some bad. Mostly good though!
The system is done- I can’t wait to get this on my units.
-John
Maybe I’m just immature, but “I can’t wait to get this on my units” sounds vaguely rude, doesn’t it?
I hope everything’s working out for you, with your collection of circumstances. I’m sure enjoying my collection of Bridge City tools!
– Peter
Peter-
Vague yes. Rude no :).
John