Good morning from a new/old corner. Thank you to the many who have written to welcome me to this forum.

I had a bit of a wakeup call this weekend. An old friend was a pretty good hobbyist woodworker and dreamed of retiring to make woodworking his retirement passion. That was me in the late 1960s with so much work lined up I had to turn most down. That also was one of the most enjoyable times in my life in spite of being insanely busy. Knowing my background, he asked my help and I introduced him to an up and coming restraint owner. He built his ideal shop and spent many retirement years becoming a "go-to" guy for lots of custom woodworking for local restaurants. By total accident we were driving around and saw an estate sale sign yesterday advertising lots of tools. After following signs for miles I found this was my old friend's home. He was gone and I never even heard. Inside I found his broken branding iron that I helped him make from an old big American brand soldering iron. I was pretty blown away at how badly I had lost touch.

Hey, Bill! Welcome! Sad story you told, and reminds me of a few folks I lost track of until someone notified me. Sorry for your loss. I am happy to see you here, and look forward to seeing your posts.

Welcome Bill, that would definitely be a wake up call. At any rate, glad you're here!

 

Steve

WHEW...

sorry to hear this..

but please.. pull up a chair a set a spell...

Sorry to hear about your loss. I hope you stick around here - this is a great site and lots of awesome people!

52 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Hey, Bill! Welcome!....

 

Fred,

 

It's nice to see you here. Has been too long! Also, my thanks for your stepping up so many times and saying good things about me on the various other forums..

 

Welcome Bill. Nice tribute to your friend. Sorry you learned of his passing in such a manner, but obviously fate brought you together early in life and had a purpose again this past weekend.

 

Looks like you've hit the ground running here reconnecting with Fred. Glad you're here. Looking forward to tapping in to your wealth of knowledge & expertise.

Welcome to the forum Bill!!

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I personally want to welcome you as well.  Tough losing an old friend and especially finding out like that.

Welcome Bill.  Sorry for your loss but can be a wake up call for some.

Hi Bill, I don't believe I got to invite you aboard,so I'll belatedly say welcome aboard. I share your grief with the loss of an old friend. Getting older does have its negatives, as your friends pass on, and suddenly you find that your old friends are only memories.  Sure, you make new friends along the road but those long time friendships from years past hold special memories.

Welcome aboard Bill. 

Cal