"Giving my love to you is like giving my love to a chainsaw. You keep cutting me open wide, is that the only thing that you're good for?"
Well, thankfully in my case...I'm glad that's what the chainsaw is good for, because that's just what I intend to do with it!
I spent a few weeks trying to find a good Chainsaw dealer in town. The instructor of this course recommends a Stihl MS260, which is a great saw...but of course the most expensive. Stihls are damn good saws, but I knew there were alternatives. I really wanted to find a Husqvarna...or at least a DEALER where I could order one. i went to the Husq website, and it gave me a list of places....one of which doesn't carry them, the other of which is out of business...and then big box stores which I will NOT buy a chainsaw from.
I watched a lot of videos online and read a lot of comments from people...and a name kept coming up I'd never heard of before. Dolmar. I decided to look it up. It was the LEAST expensive of the group of three I'd been looking at (including itself) and had a pretty darn good track record. There was a dealer in town, to boot! After giving up on the search for a Husqvarna and not being as interested in paying a huge premium for the Stihl...I decided to check out the Dolmar.
I drove up to the dealer (10 minutes away at most) and walked in to find a very clean well kept showroom floor (albeit a bit small, but who cares). Hanging there far on the wall were at least 10 Dolmars of all different models....including both the 510 and the 5105. The 5105 is the "factory hot rod" version of the 510. it is lighter weight, with more horsepower and 1000 more rpms. It's a DAMN nice saw, and for less than any of the others I'd looked at.
This dealer is very knowledgeable, very helpful good bunch of guys and the place has been in business for 73 years...so they're not going anywhere. They can do orders for all parts, as well as warranty service.
I ordered it yesterday...should be here Monday or Tuesday. CAN'T WAIT!
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
How Does it Feel?
How does it feel to be following one of my biggest dreams ever? It feels ferociously amazing.
Almost 4 years ago now I moved to Topeka to get away from the same daily drag of life. Living with my parents and mooching off of them and my friends... I just wasn't going anywhere with my life and decided that I needed to get away.
You see, I met a girl on MySpace and she was kinda cute, so we spent hours chatting and hours on the phone and after she came to visit me I decided she was the ticket. Not only was I getting the hell out of there, but there was a cute girl that wanted to date me in Topeka. So I sold off possessions, packed up my Corvair and moved to Topeka.
I only moved here with a few of my things and under 1000 dollars to live on. I had been hired for a job at a Jiffy Lube in Topeka... After my first day, I quit. The manager prided himself on what a "prick" he was (his words, not mine.) and after a hot hot 107 degree day (which is like being in hell for a Northern Minnesotan boy) I knew I couldn't hack it.
A few months later, I still had no job...and I was running out of money. I was eating crackers with jelly and peanut butter as MEALS. But I started reading. About Log building. I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon it as a possible career choice. I was going to the library a lot to use the computers and I must have been looking cabin building up because I missed my home... Minnesota..
I started to get deep. I was reading THICK books about how to do it. I went online and found the "Great Lakes School of Log Building" and I was into it. That is, until I found out it was going to cost me nearly three thousand dollars (it has more impact written out like that, doesn't it?)
So eventually I forgot about it and got a job at Wal-Mart. I still looked at my floor plan drawings from time to time...but essentially I had given up.
a Couple of years went by, and I had all but moved on with my life. I decided I should try to make cars, my hobby, a legitimate career. So I enrolled in school at Washburn Institute of Technology and went through the Collision repair program... iCar certifications, thousands of dollars in Snap-On tools...
But when I graduated (just last month) I just... didn't feel like going into shops. kissing ass to people I don't know to try and get a job I'm really not that crazy about. I just couldn't do it.
I started thinking about my life and had a complete mental breakdown. Complete with utterly stupefied bawling my eyes out like an idiot and everything. I had to think about what I wanted to do with my life yet again...and log building came back into my head. I pulled out my graph paper and looked at my old drawings...then looked up the school again.
I'm buying my chainsaw next week...I should have all the tools and the tuition by the end of summer, and this fall, I will be attending.
Sometimes you just have to follow your dreams no matter how strange they may sound to you or anyone else. Building log homes is HARD WORK. It's a lot of heavy lifting and a lot of intricate techniques that require precise measuring and cutting. You might not think it sounds like a dream job, and for many people it isn't...but I feel strangely drawn to it. It brings me closer to nature and closer to the survivalist human I know I can be. Creation by my hands...not button pushing for the money for some Chinese guy to put some cheap shit together that I don't need anyway and won't help the american people anyway...
So how does it feel? It feels damn good. I feel like just saving money is making progress. I can't wait to meet the other people attending the course. I can't wait to make it a reality. Draw-knifing that first log, Cutting the edge on that first notch...the smell of nature (and bar oil!)
-LP
Almost 4 years ago now I moved to Topeka to get away from the same daily drag of life. Living with my parents and mooching off of them and my friends... I just wasn't going anywhere with my life and decided that I needed to get away.
You see, I met a girl on MySpace and she was kinda cute, so we spent hours chatting and hours on the phone and after she came to visit me I decided she was the ticket. Not only was I getting the hell out of there, but there was a cute girl that wanted to date me in Topeka. So I sold off possessions, packed up my Corvair and moved to Topeka.
I only moved here with a few of my things and under 1000 dollars to live on. I had been hired for a job at a Jiffy Lube in Topeka... After my first day, I quit. The manager prided himself on what a "prick" he was (his words, not mine.) and after a hot hot 107 degree day (which is like being in hell for a Northern Minnesotan boy) I knew I couldn't hack it.
A few months later, I still had no job...and I was running out of money. I was eating crackers with jelly and peanut butter as MEALS. But I started reading. About Log building. I'm not even sure how I stumbled upon it as a possible career choice. I was going to the library a lot to use the computers and I must have been looking cabin building up because I missed my home... Minnesota..
I started to get deep. I was reading THICK books about how to do it. I went online and found the "Great Lakes School of Log Building" and I was into it. That is, until I found out it was going to cost me nearly three thousand dollars (it has more impact written out like that, doesn't it?)
So eventually I forgot about it and got a job at Wal-Mart. I still looked at my floor plan drawings from time to time...but essentially I had given up.
a Couple of years went by, and I had all but moved on with my life. I decided I should try to make cars, my hobby, a legitimate career. So I enrolled in school at Washburn Institute of Technology and went through the Collision repair program... iCar certifications, thousands of dollars in Snap-On tools...
But when I graduated (just last month) I just... didn't feel like going into shops. kissing ass to people I don't know to try and get a job I'm really not that crazy about. I just couldn't do it.
I started thinking about my life and had a complete mental breakdown. Complete with utterly stupefied bawling my eyes out like an idiot and everything. I had to think about what I wanted to do with my life yet again...and log building came back into my head. I pulled out my graph paper and looked at my old drawings...then looked up the school again.
I'm buying my chainsaw next week...I should have all the tools and the tuition by the end of summer, and this fall, I will be attending.
Sometimes you just have to follow your dreams no matter how strange they may sound to you or anyone else. Building log homes is HARD WORK. It's a lot of heavy lifting and a lot of intricate techniques that require precise measuring and cutting. You might not think it sounds like a dream job, and for many people it isn't...but I feel strangely drawn to it. It brings me closer to nature and closer to the survivalist human I know I can be. Creation by my hands...not button pushing for the money for some Chinese guy to put some cheap shit together that I don't need anyway and won't help the american people anyway...
So how does it feel? It feels damn good. I feel like just saving money is making progress. I can't wait to meet the other people attending the course. I can't wait to make it a reality. Draw-knifing that first log, Cutting the edge on that first notch...the smell of nature (and bar oil!)
-LP
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Attending?
I've decided to try my damnedest to get the tools and money to go the Great lakes School of Log Building this year. Pretty awesome place that will help me accomplish my goal of not only wanting to build one for myself, but possibly do it for a living.
I've got a decent amount of money to raise. The largest portions being for the tools, and then the lump of cash for the "tuition" (I put it in parentheses because it also includes a nice cabin to live in during the time you're at the course.) tools should end up at just over 1000 dollars. 500 or so for a new chainsaw and then a hundred here and there for some important tools like scribers, axe, chisels, etc...and a lot of small assorted items.
I'm trying to sell my 65 Corvair right now so I can get a van or Jeep or something that is a little more practical for hauling tools and people. my Corvair is fun but I've sort of run my course with working on a 44 year old car every other week and I just want something normal for a while. Don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested. I've got this great little 92 Pontiac Sunbird I just did a bunch of major engine work to, and now it's got a wiring issue of sort that won't allow the car to run right unless you jiggle it...then it just ends up going back to weirdness again anyway.
Everyone thinks you know, I'm a car guy so I should just fix it and blah blah...but that's just the thing, I'm freaking sick and tired of working on cars right now. sometimes I just wanna be like 80 percent of the people on the road that never do ANYTHING mechanical to their cars.
Anyway, I really hope to get to this school!
-LP
I've got a decent amount of money to raise. The largest portions being for the tools, and then the lump of cash for the "tuition" (I put it in parentheses because it also includes a nice cabin to live in during the time you're at the course.) tools should end up at just over 1000 dollars. 500 or so for a new chainsaw and then a hundred here and there for some important tools like scribers, axe, chisels, etc...and a lot of small assorted items.
I'm trying to sell my 65 Corvair right now so I can get a van or Jeep or something that is a little more practical for hauling tools and people. my Corvair is fun but I've sort of run my course with working on a 44 year old car every other week and I just want something normal for a while. Don't hesitate to contact me if you are interested. I've got this great little 92 Pontiac Sunbird I just did a bunch of major engine work to, and now it's got a wiring issue of sort that won't allow the car to run right unless you jiggle it...then it just ends up going back to weirdness again anyway.
Everyone thinks you know, I'm a car guy so I should just fix it and blah blah...but that's just the thing, I'm freaking sick and tired of working on cars right now. sometimes I just wanna be like 80 percent of the people on the road that never do ANYTHING mechanical to their cars.
Anyway, I really hope to get to this school!
-LP
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