Every time I opened the paper or turned on the radio – inflation, inflation.

Every time my wife came back from the grocery store – prices up, prices up. Time to do something. So I resolved to start making our own bread (also my own wine but that is another story). I bought a bread machine.

While it will make a 2 lb. loaf I have generally been making a one pound loaf using 50-50 whole wheat and white
flour. My cost savings, get this, 48%.

You old dudes out there will remember that saying from our youth “the greatest thing since sliced bread”. Well that is the problem with baking your own bread, it is not sliced. So using some acrylic offcuts and a bit of Starboard etc. I made a bread slicing jig. It works with an electric knife that otherwise only gets used to slice the turkey at Christmas. Drop the loaf in, crank up the knife, follow the slots and voila – sliced bread. Without this slicing solution making your own bread soon becomes a PITA.
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Have problem? Think plastic. You may find a solution there.

Rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated, but…… I know it has been a long time since I wrote anything.
No more writings about boats. No more boat. I sold my boat. Here is why:

​My last boat was a Tolly 24, a big step down but I could handle it myself and did not need the assistance of my reluctant wife. I was anchored in Nanaimo harbour, with probably 20 other boats within shouting distance. Off I go in the dingy to get provisions. On my return I did that age old blunder, one foot on the swim grid and one foot on the dingy, and the distance is getting bigger until – plunk, I am in the water. Even at my advanced age I was able to scramble out, and there was really no danger with all the other boats at anchor nearby. But boating alone I was frequently at anchor in some bay where I am the only boat. What if this mishap occurred there? What if I could not get out of the water? Time to sell the boat. Time to move on.
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What should I do now? With time on my hands and dollars in my pocket I thought back (many many years) to my high school days in Saskatchewan where I had had worked on a metal lathe.

So I acquired a metal lathe, followed by a big geared drill press, a power hack saw, and a band saw. Heck, why stop there, so followed a mill and a wood lathe. Most of these were used items. Now what to do? After the familiarization time had passed I decided to CNC the metal lathe, a BIG project. Lots and lots of research, lots and lots of time sourcing items and then the installation which took the least time of all. And how did it turn out? The installation went fine and the machine worked fine. But programming the machine was a nightmare. I could spend a week writing and debugging a program and then 30 minutes to produce my one off part. It drove me crazy. What to do? 

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