Steam

OK, I promised to get back to man-caves and here I am.

On occasion you get a chance to see someone’s passion exemplified in the shop they have.  Such is the case with Jay Leno.

I watch and absolutely love the television series “Modern Marvels” on the History channel.  My kids, Andrew and Meg, give me crap about it at times, but I find pure joy in discovering the history of things and how they work.  I’ve watched everything from engineering disasters to the history of the shovel.  My son continues to give me a hard time about that episode – who calls the shovel a “Modern Marvel”?

Anyway, one of the latest episodes was about steam power and how it shaped our past and powers our everyday. Enter Jay Leno and his shop.  Many of you know that Jay is very much into autos and has a garage/shop.  It is 17,000 square feet!  The space I am working in is about 800 sq. ft. and I can’t believe how much space I have.  Jay has a fully functional machine shop in the corner of his shop; I have a small space that will eventually be an office.  BUT, either way, both are filled with what we love.

When I was young and thinking about what I wanted to be when I grew up, my father told me I should find work that I like and leave what I love for my avocation.  I’ve tried to do that with woodworking.  There are those with greater skill than me when it comes to woodworking, but I doubt there are many who love what they are doing the way I love working in my shop.  I get excited even when faced with a long list of next steps to improving my space and projects to be done.

In the meantime though, let’s appreciate those who have already made the trip.  In this case, Jay Leno who has automobiles, steam cars, and stationary steam engines in his shop.  To a gentleman that added a steam generator behind his shop to power his steam engines – my hat is off to you, Jay.  It shows your passion.  Job well done but don’t quit now.  Show the rest of us the way to go.  And for any of you who are reading this and have a shop, drop me a line and tell me about your space and your passion.  I might just include some of your stories in a future post.

Have a great day and keep after it.