Why my life has meaning again

@TheHorse (218921)
Walnut Creek, California
May 1, 2016 2:06am CST
I had a few hours to myself today, so I took the ADS 710 vintage loudspeakers I'd been working on back to their owner. He should be able to sell them for about $350. I also brought home the Dynaco Stereo 70 tube amplifier that I may accept from him as partial payment for the work I do for him. It sounded great in my system a few weeks ago, but then suddenly went silent. A friend of his has since repaired it. But what gives my life meaning is the ADS 500 single ("orphan") he had on hand with lots of scratches. It's from about 1979. We tested it, and it works fine. So I brought it home to restore the wood cabinet for him. He'll only get about $80 for it on Craigslist, but it means another project for me, and something to look forward to, regardless of how my other pursuits are going. Do you have something you always look forward to to, regardless of how other things are going? Woodworking continues to be my "meditation."
15 people like this
15 responses
@LadyDuck (471421)
• Switzerland
1 May 16
I also love woodworking and the other thing that I consider my "meditation" is painting. Now that the better season start I will get out my easel and paint something.
5 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
Have you shown us some of your painting? I have posted "after" pictures of my restoration work, but I'm sure it all looks the the same to many.
2 people like this
@LadyDuck (471421)
• Switzerland
1 May 16
@TheHorse No, I have never shown my painting here, I plan to show my almost finished work soon.
3 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
@LadyDuck I look forward. I can barely draw. But some day I will post a link to my music
2 people like this
@allknowing (136541)
• India
1 May 16
I want to revolutionise my garden in the sense I want more seasonal flowers and vegetables and so at the moment that is my top priority
3 people like this
@allknowing (136541)
• India
2 May 16
@TheHorse I tried to do it diligently starting last year but most of the seeds I bought online did not give me the desired results.
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
Have you taken some baby steps toward getting started?
2 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
1 May 16
I am looking forward to my next travel and another entry to post in my blog. My life had been boring until I decided to make a move and do what I have been dreaming of since I was a kid. It is a good thing having something to look forward too. Before, I work just to pay bills and buy foods and other things at home. But now, I work and save harder because of my love to see foreign places. It really makes me inspired.
2 people like this
@annierose (21583)
• Philippines
1 May 16
@TheHorse Same here. After I found out that my tourist visa for Australia was denied, I am now planning to go to Hongkong and Macau. Those places are good for me because it won't require a visa.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
@annierose Do you know why your visa was denied? I've never been to Asia.
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
I am hoping to make it to Italy this Summer. But for now, little joys will have to suffice.
1 person likes this
@vandana7 (100297)
• India
1 May 16
Not really...kids are kind of fun right now...I will wait for three more years before saying goodbye to this charmed life. :)
2 people like this
@vandana7 (100297)
• India
1 May 16
@TheHorse ...The younger one is two the boy 4..they will get busy with school...I will have to find new targets for my affections. :)
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
What happens in three years? How old are the kids?
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
@vandana7 The little ones are a delight because they're curious and affectionate and not yet rebellious. I love when I'm called in to sub at my friend's preschool.
1 person likes this
@just4him (317089)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
1 May 16
Just like your woodworking is your meditation and joy, writing is mine.
2 people like this
@vandana7 (100297)
• India
1 May 16
Yeah..he has a nice way to call it meditation. :)
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
I enjoy writing as well. But I haven't been doing much creative writing lately, beyond MyLot, that is.
2 people like this
@just4him (317089)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
1 May 16
@vandana7 You have a new username too? I feel like I've missed the e-mail. I agree. When the work we're doing is something we enjoy, it's not work but meditation.
1 person likes this
@cindiowens (5120)
• North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
1 May 16
And it isn't even work if you enjoy it.
2 people like this
@vandana7 (100297)
• India
1 May 16
Exactly..it is not work unless we don't enjoy it..lol
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
Precisely!
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
1 May 16
Sounds like you are going to be busy for a while.
1 person likes this
@Marcyaz (35316)
• United States
1 May 16
Hey that would be great for you to be able to finish it in about a week.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
@Marcyaz I think one corner needs a bit of veneer replaced. But other than that, it's mostly sanding, hot water treatments, and eventually oil.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
Heh heh. This is a single speaker, and it looks like not too much wood needs to be replaced, so I could be done with it in a week or so.
2 people like this
@BelleStarr (61102)
• United States
1 May 16
I do enjoy woking on my genealogy but I take breaks from it when I get brickwalled!! lol
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 May 16
I do my woodworking a little bit at a time.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137259)
• United States
6 Jun 16
Yes, pony, I always look forward to talking with my friends on myLot... I never worry about the subject matter... I just like to see how they are doing. For several years I looked forward to talking with my friends on WebAnswers, answering their questions and checking how their day(s) had been going. Then that site closed down...
@Jessicalynnt (50523)
• Centralia, Missouri
1 May 16
if only ppl gave your their old ones so you could make some scratch too
1 person likes this
• Centralia, Missouri
1 May 16
@TheHorse you do seem to have fun doing that work
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
@Jessicalynnt I do enjoy it. But the honest truth is that I'd get lonely doing it all the time. Teaching and working with kids keeps me in the community, and I like that.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
I think it I really tried, I could have (close to) a full-time business refinishing old speakers, replacing broken drivers with working ones, replacing capacitors, etc.
1 person likes this
• Eugene, Oregon
1 May 16
Yoga and writing are the things that come closest for me.
2 people like this
@vandana7 (100297)
• India
1 May 16
Writing is something we all do..lol
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
Yoga sounds like a good thing. I do a few "positions" for my lower back pain, but I don't do yoga systematically.
1 person likes this
• United States
1 May 16
I read. I have a list of about thirty authors I enjoy. They mostly write cop, law, mystery or spy type novels. I am at my library for my writer's group meetings twice a month, and I pick up three books each time I go. You do wear a dust mask when you are sanding the wood, right? I tried some woodworking, but even with the mask, my doctor suggested I stop. Asthma sucks.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
I like to read too. But I don't read as much as a I should. I dive into whatever novel I'm reading right before bed, which usually means only a few pages get read each night. No, I don't wear a mask, but I do as much sanding outside on my balcony as I can. And I only do a little bit at a time. Here's the same speaker surface after sanding and a "hot water treatment"
1 person likes this
• United States
1 May 16
@TheHorse Fine particles can lodge deep in your lungs without you noticing, until there are so many you start having trouble breathing. Be careful, even on a balcony with wind, you are risking your future without protection.
@Lucky15 (37374)
• Philippines
1 May 16
After the election, am looking forward for an adventure with my nieces. I think i badly need one, get in touch with nature again
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
What kinds of adventures will you go on?
1 person likes this
@Lucky15 (37374)
• Philippines
1 May 16
@TheHorse island hopping. A place that inlearned that we have to take hours of travel by a boat.
@roxvaz (65)
1 May 16
You are passionate about your work... keep it up :)
2 people like this
@vandana7 (100297)
• India
1 May 16
Yeah...and he makes them really beautiful. :)
2 people like this
@TheHorse (218921)
• Walnut Creek, California
1 May 16
Thanks! As long as there's wood to be refinished, I'll be busy.
2 people like this
@Hatley (163776)
• Garden Grove, California
28 May 16
Hi just mylot but it sure does help me a lot too