As a kid I never fit into the neat box of being “normal”.
School made little if any sense to me. If a subject interested me, I learned it at an accelerated pace, often wanting more on the subject than the teachers could provide. In the days of no internet, I had to find my own sources, the library, book stores, watch others and learn from them, but most often than just experimenting on my own. This “attitude” was not appreciated by the school system, in the early 60’s they decided to “treat” my problem with a drug called Ritalin. I rebelled against that! I knew I wasn’t dumb, I retreated into the 2 places I felt best, The work shop and being on my own in the wilderness.
My Dad’s shop was well equipped with tools and scrap materials but he was rarely there to teach me so I learned from trial and error, cuts and bruises, disasters and successes. On one learning experience (I was @ 7 years old) my Dad brought home a broken down Mini-bike, He said ” it doesn’t work”. That next day I decided to fix it, I disassembled every nut, bolt, part and piece that could come apart. When Dad got home the look on his face told me I was in for a butt whippin! He hesitated for a moment and then finally said “I hope you remember how it goes back together” and he stormed off. Took me two days and somehow I managed to get it back together and fix all that was wrong with it.
I didn’t realize it till much later but as a kid I didn’t know that I knew nothing about mini-bikes there fore I had no fear of failure, I just jumped right in and did it. It’s not till later in life that we humans develop the fear of failure and it can cripple us. Anyway for me “jumping right in” became a GOOD habit for me.
Before I left school I learned how to survive in the woods for weeks on my own bringing no food. I learned to sew, macramé, leather work, silversmithing, worked summers in a machine shop, did landscaping for neighbors, repaired bikes, learned basic wiring and basic electronics, helped my brother rebuild his van engine, wood working and could cook most of my own meals and do my own laundry.
Just out of high school I earned my Journeymen’s card as a machinist but I did not like the indoor, oily, corporate type environment so I moved into construction. First as a roofer, at the end of the first month I was the foreman, Time to move on! Went into Drywalling then painting, insulation, finish carpentry, cabinetmaking, framing, sheet metal, learned blacksmithing in my off time, heating and cooling installation, tile setting, concrete work, masonry and stone work, plumbing, wrought iron and welding. Basically everything that goes into building a home.
Somewhere along the way I realized I had A.D.H.D. ( Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) . But I also realized that I had managed to live with it for the most part and how to focus intensely to learn new things, on my creative side anyway.
I started working for remodeling companies where I was able to do entire projects from start to finish doing all phases of the work. I even learned to do drafting and then CAD so I even designed the projects as well. To do projects efficiently I had to learn to “shift’ quickly from one trade to another so I evolved processes to do so. I also needed to set up my limited shop space so I could “shift” from trade to trade as quickly as possible. I also set up shop so it is as multi-purpose as possible. I am still learning new crafts and doing jobs that I have never done before.
It is my hope on this site to share with you the tricks, techniques and processes that I have learned through the years and how to get past the setbacks that make most want to give up. Follow my new projects and maybe give some tips on dealing with the ADHD that might be a little in all of us. I don’t consider my self an expert, I an a perpetual student. The day I think I know it all is the same day I become a complete Idiot!
Ken H. the Workshop Shape Shifter.