BNJOMAKR - Posted - 05/18/2014:  16:02:22

Yesterday, I found a newspaper article that my mom had save from the Taylorsville Times. I,17 at the time, was a shy, pimple faced nerd. I weighed about 120lbs, and was not popular with the girls.  My after school time was spent messing with wood, with a minimal supply of tools. It kept me busy and out of trouble! Here's the newspaper article. I don't know where all that hair went!

Edited by - BNJOMAKR on 05/18/2014 16:03:55

Me at 17

Me at 17

kipperr - Posted - 05/18/2014:  16:24:42

Dude that is awesome!

And now that you play the banjo, you're finally cool!

Nancy - Posted - 05/18/2014:  16:26:18

The clocks are really neat!

Good job on them. Now you build banjos...also very neat!

Nancy

figmo59 - Posted - 05/18/2014:  16:34:35

Looked like ah nice kid....


Whut happened..?.. :0)

Clawhammer Clint - Posted - 05/18/2014:  16:52:26

Embrace your nerdliness.  I am a thirty year+ member and Fellow of the Natl. Association of Watch & Clock Collectors, and a clock on my dining room wall is a magnificent reproduction of an early 19th century Vienna regulator made by a deceased friend in the local collectors chapter.  The case is maple with ebonized trim and is absolutely gorgeous.   You would fit right in in that crowd and be congratulated on your craftsmanship.  I write articles and books on antique pocket watches, so I'm a nerd too, as if being a physicist didn't already qualify me.   

chuckv97 - Posted - 05/18/2014:  17:01:22

No worries- I once had a stamp collection.....:-)

Moxley - Posted - 05/18/2014:  17:15:30

chuckv97 - Posted - 05/18/2014:  17:22:56

Actually,that is very impressive. Never worked with old clocks,but they always fascinated me.

Paul R - Posted - 05/18/2014:  19:41:01

Very cool, Marvin.

Hmmm. Are you sure you're not British? That photo sort of looks like Freddie of Freddie and the Dreamers! Were you not on the Ed Sullivan Show? Positive? 

Paulf - Posted - 05/19/2014:  00:57:38

quote:

---

Originally posted by chuckv97

Actually,that is very impressive. Never worked with old clocks,but they always fascinated me.

---

Would have liked to work with clocks but just didn't have the time.

Paul

Klondike Waldo - Posted - 05/19/2014:  16:13:09

quote:

---

Originally posted by Paulf

quote:

---

Originally posted by chuckv97

Actually,that is very impressive. Never worked with old clocks,but they always fascinated me.

---

Would have liked to work with clocks but just didn't have the time.

Paul

---

Or the hands for it?

mike gregory - Posted - 05/19/2014:  16:26:43

Your mother predicted you would become rich "one way or another".

You are now a well -liked member of the Banjo  HangOut, with 69 registered friends, and dozens of anonymous admirers.

How much better is that, than a mere two-car garage full of gold coins?

Paul R - Posted - 05/19/2014:  17:21:43

quote:

---

Originally posted by Klondike Waldo

quote:

---

Originally posted by Paulf

quote:

---

Originally posted by chuckv97

Actually,that is very impressive. Never worked with old clocks,but they always fascinated me.

---

Would have liked to work with clocks but just didn't have the time.

Paul

---

Or the hands for it?

---

Or patience for the minute details. Or, trying to understand why the third hand on a clock is called the second hand?

Hard to grasp, at least on the face of it.

Are you ticked off yet? (Just getting wound up.)

Edited by - Paul R on 05/19/2014 17:22:57

figmo59 - Posted - 05/19/2014:  18:11:48

Keep that up..n..you'll git yer clock..cleaned.. :0)

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 05/19/2014:  18:54:56

I am no where rich monetarily, but I get by. I have given away more banjos than I have been paid for. If I built them to make a living, I would not be living! I enjoy my hobby and thank God for my full time job that allows me to support my family. Mom was right in her prediction... I am rich in other ways....

mike gregory - Posted - 05/20/2014:  08:31:32

To paraphrase an oft-repeated quote:

"If Momma ain't right, aint NOBODY gets to be right!"

mountain man - Posted - 05/20/2014:  11:18:43

That's some cool stuff Marvin, thanks for sharing. I see in your profile that you are an electronics tech, sounds like you had a plan all along.

Edited by - mountain man on 05/20/2014 11:20:46

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 05/21/2014:  02:32:30

I don't know that I had a plan, but the Lord did! I didn't always follow it, though....

oldwoodchuckb - Posted - 05/21/2014:  13:21:21

At 17 I had the glasses, but no talent for anything I could display. I was more of a reader/writer. Think about the popularity of an overweight nerd who walked with a cane. I think I was invisible for a few years there.

dat - Posted - 05/21/2014:  14:00:15

anything woodworking is great,

BNJOMAKR - Posted - 05/21/2014:  17:20:11

My woodworking got me started in electronics. I had a Sears mulitool thingy, sorta like mini Shop Smith. The first time the motor brushes needed replacing, I took it to the local TV repair shop that also repaired small appliances, and they changed them. The next time I took it for brushes, the owner, Mr. Rufty, said that he was covered up in TV repairs, that it would be a week before he would be able to replace the brushes. He asked if I wanted to replace them myself. He handed me the tools and the brushes, and so I took the motor apart and changed them. A week later he came to our house and offered me a part time after school job. I worked there thru high school, and then took electronics at a technical college while I still worked at the TV shop. I had a scholarship, and Mr. Rufty paid the remainder of my tuition. I owe a lot to Mr. Rufty. He passed away last year...

tomberghan - Posted - 05/22/2014:  03:34:12

quote:

---

Originally posted by BNJOMAKR

My woodworking got me started in electronics. I had a Sears mulitool thingy, sorta like mini Shop Smith. The first time the motor brushes needed replacing, I took it to the local TV repair shop that also repaired small appliances, and they changed them. The next time I took it for brushes, the owner, Mr. Rufty, said that he was covered up in TV repairs, that it would be a week before he would be able to replace the brushes. He asked if I wanted to replace them myself. He handed me the tools and the brushes, and so I took the motor apart and changed them. A week later he came to our house and offered me a part time after school job. I worked there thru high school, and then took electronics at a technical college while I still worked at the TV shop. I had a scholarship, and Mr. Rufty paid the remainder of my tuition. I owe a lot to Mr. Rufty. He passed away last year...

 

---

I had a remarkably similar experience. My mentor's name was Dan Kelton, Kelton Video Sevices, New Orleans. I would not be where I am nor who I am without Dan. 

OM45GE - Posted - 05/22/2014:  08:47:54

My kind of nerd.