When woodworkers meet "normal folks."

[Malcolm Schweizer]

We were looking at a house that has an optional downstairs apartment (read: workshop) with a small kitchen. When I saw the kitchen, I said, "Oh cool- this can be my sharpening station!" The realtor, puzzled, said, "A sharpening station?" I said, "Why of course- for sharpening my tools and knives." Still puzzled, he said, "I've heard a lot of things selling houses, but that's a first for me."

Later, Amy said, "Honey, not everyone understands your language- sharpening station, torque curves, hole shots, fly-by-wire, Lie-Nielsen, and Veritas." It was classic. Earlier I was explaining to her why I don't go slow up hills due to the torque curve and power band of the engine, if you are wondering how that got in there. The discussion turned to drag racing as an example and how torque gives you a better hole shot and horsepower gets you down the line. Also I was discussing with someone the fly by wire system on newer aircraft like the AirBus. I thought it funny that she said LN and Veritas as they are common household words for us.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

That's funny Malcolm!

My new woodshop is an old house that was never demolished when the new house, the one I live in, was built. My wife and I have spent several years fixing it up, and it is to the point that it looks nice when someone pulls into the yard finally. It's like nobody ever even noticed it before. I've been asked probably 50 times who's moving in there. When I tell them its a woodshop, you can practically hear the gears clashing in their brains. Regular people just don't see why I'd want to spend so much effort doing that...

[Frederick Skelly]

Yeah. I get the "You have a what in your house?" Treatment regularly.
Fred

[Rich Engelhardt]

LOL!

It's all a "mental" type thing to associate things you like with ***normal everyday items***...

For a while a number of years ago, I'd see how close to $19.11, I could stop the gas pump on when filling up my tank ;).

[Brian Elfert]

Every hobby has all kinds of acronyms and so on that other folks can't relate to. I do high power rocketry as a hobby and we have all kinds of acronyms like CATO, ISP, CP, CG that I wouldn't expect the average person to understand.

[Mike Henderson]

One thing I rarely ever do is talk about my hobby in social settings. Occasionally I get asked if I have a hobby and I will reply that I do woodworking but it's almost impossible to go on from there, except maybe for me to show a couple of pictures of things I made.

Mike

[Brian Elfert]

We invite the public to our rocket launches and I am sure some of the spectators have no idea what those of us in the hobby are talking about. We do have paper flyers that explain some of it. If someone in a social setting asks about my hobby I don't use any of the acronyms nobody else understands. One common question is what fuel do we use and I answer that it is the same fuel as the space shuttle boosters which is entirely true. Nobody would understand if I told them it was ammonium perchlorate (AP) mixed with R45 as a binder.

[Jim Rimmer]

One thing I rarely ever do is talk about my hobby in social settings. Occasionally I get asked if I have a hobby and I will reply that I do woodworking but it's almost impossible to go on from there, except maybe for me to show a couple of pictures of things I made.Mike

Same here, Mike. I love it when people start telling me about wood when they obviously don't know. A lady was showing us her home and a very special dining table that she was very, very proud of. I didn't recognize the wood (pretty sure it was some tropical wood I had no idea about) so since she was SOOO proud of it I asked her what the wood was. Her reply: Burl Wood. I asked, but what kind of wood. Burl Wood was her only answer so I just said OH! and let it end there.

[Jeff Erbele]

One thing I rarely ever do is talk about my hobby in social settings. Occasionally I get asked if I have a hobby and I will reply that I do woodworking but it's almost impossible to go on from there, except maybe for me to show a couple of pictures of things I made.

Mike

I have trouble telling people what I do for a living. I mange trusts, investments and personal affairs.

I am not an attorney, CPA, financial planner, stock broker or insurance agent, but work with each of those. I am not a mutual fund manager but effectively do the same thing. A trust company does what I do but I am not one.

What do you do for a living, is a common, reoccurring question. I needed to come up with short answer to the question.

After some thought I finally came up with a title that is descriptive, honest / not misleading, that I am not soliciting their business and that I am not independently wealthy. I could care less about titles or status, but "private investment manager" usually works.

As we own a travel agency, I can skirt the question with I am a travel agent which is true, but not what I work at 8 or more hours every weekday.

I love to discuss investing but like any other topic, if the other party doesn't know the basics, it can be a strange conversation. Recently it happened and it was most apparent the other person knew little to nothing. Most everything she said or thought was inaccurate, a bad idea or simply false.

That is why I like forums such as these, like SMC, where people with common interests can share in the same passion.

[glenn bradley]

Great story. Folks with a specific focus just don't walk-n-talk like "normal people". I've been a network engineer for over 30 years; my parents still have no idea what I do for a living.

[Rick Potter]

I live in a suburban area, and built my shop to blend in with the house. It's stucco, with a bay window and a porch. Like Steve said, anyone who comes to the house asks who lives there.

Too often, when I mention that my hobby is woodworking, I get the old...."hey, I have a chair, table, bed (you name it) that needs a little fixing". Even my brother brings me 'little jobs' like "Take this antique mirror surround from the 1880's and slice it down the center for me so I can use both sides". Naturally it was curved with knobs on both ends. After it sat here a year without him even asking about it, I just eyeballed it on the band saw and gave it back. He thought it was great.

Rick Potter

[Wade Lippman]

After some thought I finally came up with a title that is descriptive, honest / not misleading, that I am not soliciting their business and that I am not independently wealthy. I could care less about titles or status, but "private investment manager" usually works.

A hundred years ago (or so it seems) people would ask me where I went to college. If I answered "Princeton" the response was always "Oh, you must be really smart"; and they would try to interest me in a relative. That got tired real fast, so I started saying "a small school near Trenton". That was true enough, and ended the subject quickly.

But about woodworking... I find people are actually interested on how big panels are made, and the like. At least they ask; maybe they are just being polite.

[Tom Bain]

I have trouble telling people what I do for a living. I mange trusts, investments and personal affairs.

.

I also work in the investment industry, but I usually just tell people I work for an accounting firm. Otherwise, they always ask me for stock tips or about some stock they own, which isn't really what I do.

As for woodworking, when I talk about my hobby I usually discuss why I'm interested in it (e.g., the satisfaction from building something from scratch) which more folks can relate to, than the particular details of the craft which causes most people's eyes to glaze over.

[Steve Peterson]

Same here, Mike. I love it when people start telling me about wood when they obviously don't know. A lady was showing us her home and a very special dining table that she was very, very proud of. I didn't recognize the wood (pretty sure it was some tropical wood I had no idea about) so since she was SOOO proud of it I asked her what the wood was. Her reply: Burl Wood. I asked, but what kind of wood. Burl Wood was her only answer so I just said OH! and let it end there.

Years ago I was buying a cheap dining room table and chair set. I asked the guy what kind of wood the table was made from and he replied "hard wood". He had no other information to provide.

Steve

[Jim Matthews]

I'm on the losing end of those conversations -
my wife works with lasers and ionizing radiation.

That, and knitting is MUCH harder than woodworking - plus which - their hobby is portable.

I had to fall for a smart girl.
I brought this on myself.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm on the losing end of those conversations -
my wife works with lasers and ionizing radiation.

That, and knitting is MUCH harder than woodworking - plus which - their hobby is portable.

I had to fall for a smart girl.
I brought this on myself.

Yes Jim, my wife is getting her PhD in Nursing Education. I now know what Endoscopic Retrograde Cholangiopancriatography is.