Gordon Sampson
02-20-2003, 1:39 PM
Hello! My name is Gordon Sampson. I'm from Badger Pond and thought I'd pay a visit to this forum. I live in Pearland, Texas with my wife, Margarita, three children, Olga, J.T., and Sonya, Gypsy, our dog, and Lily the cat. Pearland is a small town just outside of Houston that's growing by leaps 'n bounds. We've been in Pearland since 1995 and really like the area.
I'm originally from New Jersey—spent most of my life just outside of Trenton—but left for greener pastures after graduating from Trenton State College—renamed the College of New Jersey—in 1982. I'm an Electrical Engineer by degree but have worked in the aerospace industry since graduating. My wife, also an Electrical Engineer, and I both work at the Johnson Space Center. We met while working on the Shuttle/Mir Program in 1995 and were married in 1996. We're both presently working on the International Space Station Program with the international partners. The work is interesting but I'm trying to see over that bump in the road that separates today from retirement. My goal is to retire in 2010 and do woodworking full time, at my leisure. No hustle, no bustle. Wonder what that’s like?
The kids are great! Olga, 18, is a freshman at Georgia Tech University and is majoring in Electrical Engineering. She’s the artist of the family and produces some really impressive work. J.T., 15, isn’t quite sure what he wants to do with his life but he’s got plenty of time. He loves football and plays Defensive End on the High School team. Sonya, 14, loves animals, is an organizer, and plays in the High School Symphonic Band. All are honor students and Margarita and I are very proud of them.
My interests include woodworking, gardening (especially organic vegetable gardening), cooking, working out, biking, camping, and doing things with the family.
Of course, my favorite hobby is woodworking. I've enjoyed woodworking as long as I can remember and have always loved working with my hands. I'm self-taught and usually learn from my mistakes—well, most of the time. My shop takes up the entire two-car garage. I seem to remember making a promise to my wife that I'll arrange the garage so her car can fit into one half with my shop in the other half. Yeah…right. It's not much room but I'm very organized and use every inch of space to my advantage. The shop is almost completed. The shop includes a cyclone dust collector that I built from Wood Magazine’s plans. Turned out really nice and is quite a performer. The centerpiece of my shop is a Delta 36-455 contractor's saw that I bought at the Houston Woodworker's Show in 1999. I designed and built a custom dust collection bin, outfeed table, and overhead blade guard with dust collection. I also have a Jet 6” enclosed jointer, Ridgid 13” surface planer with a flip-top cart, Laguna 16” band saw, Ryobi 10" CMS, Delta 10" RAS with full cabinets and cut-off storage, horizontal router table, custom router table and cabinet, Delta 4 x 36 belt sander with disk, four routers, and numerous hand tools. I really enjoy collecting tools and even picked up some old hand planes in Russia.
Margarita is very supportive of my goals and my shop and is pleased with the results. Kids, projects, and remodeling the house seem to take up most of my time these days. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks for viewing and I look forward to meeting all of you here at Sawmill Creek!
Gordon
I'm originally from New Jersey—spent most of my life just outside of Trenton—but left for greener pastures after graduating from Trenton State College—renamed the College of New Jersey—in 1982. I'm an Electrical Engineer by degree but have worked in the aerospace industry since graduating. My wife, also an Electrical Engineer, and I both work at the Johnson Space Center. We met while working on the Shuttle/Mir Program in 1995 and were married in 1996. We're both presently working on the International Space Station Program with the international partners. The work is interesting but I'm trying to see over that bump in the road that separates today from retirement. My goal is to retire in 2010 and do woodworking full time, at my leisure. No hustle, no bustle. Wonder what that’s like?
The kids are great! Olga, 18, is a freshman at Georgia Tech University and is majoring in Electrical Engineering. She’s the artist of the family and produces some really impressive work. J.T., 15, isn’t quite sure what he wants to do with his life but he’s got plenty of time. He loves football and plays Defensive End on the High School team. Sonya, 14, loves animals, is an organizer, and plays in the High School Symphonic Band. All are honor students and Margarita and I are very proud of them.
My interests include woodworking, gardening (especially organic vegetable gardening), cooking, working out, biking, camping, and doing things with the family.
Of course, my favorite hobby is woodworking. I've enjoyed woodworking as long as I can remember and have always loved working with my hands. I'm self-taught and usually learn from my mistakes—well, most of the time. My shop takes up the entire two-car garage. I seem to remember making a promise to my wife that I'll arrange the garage so her car can fit into one half with my shop in the other half. Yeah…right. It's not much room but I'm very organized and use every inch of space to my advantage. The shop is almost completed. The shop includes a cyclone dust collector that I built from Wood Magazine’s plans. Turned out really nice and is quite a performer. The centerpiece of my shop is a Delta 36-455 contractor's saw that I bought at the Houston Woodworker's Show in 1999. I designed and built a custom dust collection bin, outfeed table, and overhead blade guard with dust collection. I also have a Jet 6” enclosed jointer, Ridgid 13” surface planer with a flip-top cart, Laguna 16” band saw, Ryobi 10" CMS, Delta 10" RAS with full cabinets and cut-off storage, horizontal router table, custom router table and cabinet, Delta 4 x 36 belt sander with disk, four routers, and numerous hand tools. I really enjoy collecting tools and even picked up some old hand planes in Russia.
Margarita is very supportive of my goals and my shop and is pleased with the results. Kids, projects, and remodeling the house seem to take up most of my time these days. And I wouldn't have it any other way.
Thanks for viewing and I look forward to meeting all of you here at Sawmill Creek!
Gordon