Washroad

Several years ago I developed a sleep disorder. Too many years behind the wheel of a truck causes it. Anyway, I have a funny pattern. I'm awake all day, sometimes 4:30am, next day, 6:30am. I have a lot going on at my house (constant state of remodel, which is what I get for buying a "fixer-upper"). So, on the weekends, if up early, I get coffee :coffee: :coffee: :coffee: , feed the dogs and at least look at the stuff I'm doing/supposed to be doing. I'll stay out there until my wife wakes up, sometimes 3 hours. I get home from work before my wife usually, gives me an hour or so. She likes to go to bed usually 9:30pm, I'm not able to sleep yet, so I get another hour or so before I can finally fall asleep. (Been to the clinic, had the sleep test done, can't deal with the machine, lost 60 lbs and I'm better, lose some more I'll get more better. ) I'm posting from work right now. Sometimes when I have lacing to do I'll bring it to work and instead of going out for a smoke I will lace. The thing I need to learn NOT to do: when I come home and feel like doing something with leather, it is best not to pour 3 ounces of Jack Daniels into a glass before starting.

leatheroo, Australia has a history of guns, most certainly! It was only in the recent past that they were banned there. Almost all nations on this planet have a history of guns/war. The history of the world is war. There are many opinions about the 2nd Amendment. Personally, I believe I do have the "right" (in this context, a "right" is a guarantee of the government) to own/carry/use firearms. My thinking on the reason for the 2nd Amendment in the first place: The United States has just won their independence from a government that was heavy-handed and they could add to/take away rights on a whim. The Founding Fathers wanted this country to be free as possible. The "militia" clause of this amendment means that we can take up arms against our own government when it gets out of control (it's getting there, but I'm hoping I never have to take up arms against my own government). Therefore, our own government should know that the people are in control, won't allow the taking of our rights without a fight. (That is why I don't understand people voting for the likes of Pelosi, Boxer, Feintein, et. al.) Hunting?? As Mr. Phelps mentioned below, when you head into the wilderness (as they did in your country), you need to find food. There is a need for hunting. My father, growing up during the great depression here, hunted for dinner many times. My father-in-law grew up poor on a farm in Canada (they also have a history of guns there) and hunting provided a lot of food for them as a necessity. As far as getting "heated" about this subject, hey! It's the internet!!

I am a legal gun owner. I had to jump through several state and federal hoops to purchase them, including passing some safety tests, law knowledge, etc. In the U.S., every state has different gun laws. Nevada and Arizona are both "open carry" states, meaning, as long as it's visible you can carry a loaded gun in public. I don't see too many people doing it, but it has never bothered me. I live in California. Our laws are much more restrictive. I do a lot of camping in the desert near the Mexico border. There is a criminal element there and not a lot of leos (law enforcement officers). I applied for a "concealed carry" permit and was turned down. I have decided to ignore the law, I carry a gun(s) in my motorhome when traveling. (When parked and the keys removed from the ignition, my motorhome becomes my residence and I am legally allowed to have a loaded gun in it.) There have been shootings out there, Border Patrol chasing coyotes (human taffickers), drug smugglers. I'm much more comfortable knowing I can defend myself (plus, I camp with several other people that are armed including combat veteran Marines). It just makes much more sense to be armed than not. It's part of American culture, and, in the past, part of Australian culture as well. Being a 5th generation "westerner" I have an inhiert dislike of govmint. I have read that statistically, crime has increased in Australia because the public can't defend itself, and criminals know this, but hey, statistics only prove themselves. Criminals never care about laws, ethics, morals. If you don't like guns, that's quite alright with me. I don't like asparagus and refuse to eat it. In the meantime, did you see that absolutely beautiful holster set "lasso" made???? And he sent it to England!?

Even though my home is in no way threatened (for now), the smoke and ash from the fires is all over the place. For a couple of days, it was almost "fog-like" and when the sun came up it was red. Really scary. My brother/sister-in-law live in Poway, they had to evacuate for one night (Rancho Bernardo fire is close to them). They got back home, turned power/gas back on. Called me, I almost didn't recognize his voice, so much stuff in the air. His house was fine but absolutely filthy. Better dirty than gone, ya know? I have a friend in Fallbrook, been out of his house since Tuesday. Still not back in and he doesn't know what he'll find. Friend in Ramona was out for 2 days, his is OK. This is really tragic. Over 500,000 people displaced, over 1,000 houses burned. Some of this was arson. What in the hell would make someone set a fire like that? Well, today was cooler, no more wind (we had about 3 days of winds 35mph). Winds are supposed to come back but go in another direction. That would blow the Santiago fire towards me. So far, only about 7 deaths, which, while sad that people died, not that many have considering.

Not only can't we get the dyes, we can't get things like snakeskin here! Jeez, I had high hopes for the governator. What a major let-down he's turned out to be.

Absolutely beautiful! Incredible craftsmanship!

I was looking through a back issue of American Cowboy magazine and saw some belts for sale. OK, they were "name" brands. The one and only belt there that was advertised as "hand made" was very nice and the selling price was $365.00! :wtf: The belt you made is actually (imo) MUCH nicer!!!

Johanna, Thanks for posting all those absolutely wonderful pictures! I'm in awe! Just amazed! It took about 3 cups of coffee and 2 smoke breaks to view all that. Very inspiring! Congrats to the winners! What wonderful work you have done.

So, I'm looking at the map and the pics on the sidebar, hmmmm, I don't see me so I click to do it again and before I know what is happening I uploaded a pic of my wife with our dogs!!!! It's much easier to look at my wife than me! Someone should keep me away from keyboards.

It worked for me....well, at least on this old machine at work... Still, I'm such a computerdoofus I have no pic to load .... or else I can't find an unbroken camera with mine in it!

I'd laugh harder but the aluminum wrapped armadillo shell keeps slipping down!!!

I'd love to go see them! I'd wear my "Cheap " :biggrin: Did you know that Billy Gibbons was Jimi Hendrix's favorite guitar player??

Tandy advertises that their belt blanks are 1/16" under. I've found that true on some that I wish weren't (like the one I'm doing now, it's supposed to be 1 3/4" but measured 1 11/16"). Hmmmmm.

I do like the way women dress for heat! :dribble: :dribble: I'll never be too old to look!

wolvenstein, I don't get to smoke in the house either....or "her" car, or "our" motorhome......the garage is mine! I checked the temp out there Sunday night at 8pm......113! Inside my house it was 92! I wish I had a basement, but hey, this is a 46 year-old tract house, meaning, slab floors. Hmmmmm. Wonder if I can dig under it! Tuesday the heat wave broke!!!! At 8pm in my garage it was only 82! My house was 76! Rain, what a lot of people don't understand is that souther California is a desert with irrigation. We usually get some in February, March and that's it. And here in Orange County, there aren't any more orange groves, it's all houses and business centers.

That's very funny!

I don't know about any of you (I'm sure many of you are suffering the same) but it's too freakin' hot here. I was doing an addition to our backyard patio laying paver stones and got heat fatigue twice. We're not used to lots of humidity here and it was in the low 90s with 40% humidity. Really bad.... Until a little over a week ago, the heat wave came.....yesterday, it was 106 here and humidity close to 40%! and I don't have A/C!!! : : So, my "shop" in the garage, well, that just gets ignored....I went out last night at 6pm, it was 113 in there! I went back to the backyard, turned on the sprinklers, sat in the shade, lit up a Marlboro and started sipping some Jack. Ya know, after a while, I just didn't care how hot was!!!

I was trying to upload a picture. Didn't see a way to delete the post. I'll get it figured out. I am a computer doofus. :w00t: Yes, this site is fabulous!! I just keep reading, looking at things, lots of catching up to do.

Testing.

You cannot possibly be more cranky than I am!!! Just can't!!! Shoot! I don't even like myself for the first 1/2 hour everyday until I've had my 3rd cup of coffee! Now, if ClayB lets his dog lick the doughnuts, if no one is watching the dog, would we know???? I'm trying to figure out the picture thingy. When I do, I will certainly post some! :biggrin: And thanks for the nice "welcomes!"

To find this fantastic bunch of forums!!!!! My name is Brian, I'm an old guy from Orange (5 miles from Disneyland), CA. My screen name refers to a road my wife and I travel a lot when we go sand duning at Glamis (check out www.americansandassociation.org to see more of that). I started leather crafting almost 40 years ago....I made watch bands and belts and it helped to finance me getting through a few years of college before I found out that I really wanted to chase women and drag race more than study. OK, OK, I was a dumbass but I was only 18! I kept my stuff stashed away for many years, using it/making things only occasionally until about 12 years ago I really started getting into it again. So, I'm here, I read a lot, I just marvel at the work I see pictures of here and I won't post any of mine until it gets much better. I tend to do work that is neo-retro (what I call it), sorta retro style with a few different colors of dyes and sometimes a bit of whimsy! I gotta say, wow! when I look at stuff here!