I never worried about signing things like big kitchen installations or paneled libraries. But I always liked to sign pieces of furniture. When I was making a lot of chessboards, I always signed and dated them on the underside. (more…)

It might not seem appropriate to talk about Steve Jobs in a blog post supposedly dedicated to the business of woodworking. But I’m going to fall back on a technicality here, that being that the very first Apple computer was made of wood. (more…)

The comfort zone has been described as a type of mental conditioning that causes (or allows) us to operate within fixed boundaries. (more…)

There has been another gruesome story circulating about someone getting seriously injured while using (or misusing) a woodworking tool. (more…)

Have you been following the buzz surrounding the Gibson guitar company? Recently, two dozen (that’s right, two dozen!) armed federal agents wearing bulletproof vests raided the Gibson guitar factory in Nashville. The feds were after contraband in Gibson’s factories, ebony and rosewood they suspected was illegally imported from India. (more…)

The first and possibly the most important point I want to make about comfort zones is that, in the current economic environment, very few people even have one anymore! (more…)

What to do when you’re caught in a situation in which you have to deal with issues that have nothing to do with the work you were hired for. (more…)

A fine pickle I have gotten myself into! Two consecutive posts, each promising a follow up. Now I’m in big trouble because I have to figure out which one to follow up on first. (more…)

I recently ventured a short stint as an economic analyst. That had questionable success so I thought I’d try my hand at psychology. (more…)

We all have a comfort zone, a place or rather a mental state in which we feel secure, comfortable and confident. It may be a particular style of work that we have mastered and/or are known for or it may be a specific working environment in which we feel at ease. (more…)