MacGyver is alive and well!

The time has come to write about my husband, Ben. We lovingly call him MacGyver.

Hopefully, you remember the TV show,  MacGyver, (1985-92)

 Wikipedia says that...........

"MacGyver is a resourceful agent with an encyclopedic knowledge of science, able to solve complex problems with everyday materials he finds at hand, along with his ever-present duct tape and his Swiss Army Knife."

We are in the process of completing the basement of our condo. We needed to buy a shower stall. I found one on Craig's List. The guy we bought it from could not get the unit into his basement.

 (That should have been our first clue.)

I never worry about the details, I am married to "MacGyver"and no challenge is too big for him!

We drove about 1 hour north with my husband's Chevy S10 pick-up. The shower stall would not fit IN the truck, but after thinking and measuring, Ben came up with a solution.

(I did bring a book to read, sometimes my MacGyver takes longer then the real MacGyver to come up with a solution.)

It took us 2 1/2 hours to make it home in the dark.  (Thank goodness!! we arrived under the cover of darkness.)

A few weeks ago, MacGyver, was watching our granddaughter, Sloan. Grandpa wanted to get some work done in the garage and Sloan loves being outside.

Grandpa needed to come up with a solution.  First he took careful measurement of the distant to the road.  He placed the trash can and walker at just the right angle.  He tied a long rope from the trash can to Sloan's walker.

She had the run of the driveway and sidewalk and  was never in danger of road traffic. 

When I came home she was happy as can be!
 
His most famous accomplishment is the time Ben's semi-truck broke down in Lancaster PA.  He used his limited but creative mechanical skills to get his truck running again.

He first determined an airline hose had broken.  It was the middle of the night which means a service call would be expensive and a very long wait.

A state trouper stop to see if Ben needed any help. Ben told him he needed a small hose for his truck. The only store open was the local Walmart.  The state trouper took Ben to Walmart. He told Ben he wanted to see what "MacGyver" was going to do.  Ben walked around the store looking for the perfect solution.  He bought a lamp repair kit and two hose clamps.

 Ben used the threaded rod and the two hose clamps to fix the airline hose.  This $10.00 fix got him all the way back to Michigan.  (I think his company returned the lamp kit and got their money back:)

I am sure that police man is still talking about the resourceful MacGyver driver!

Love that guy!

Have you been to the phone store lately?

I stopped at the local mobile phone store tonight and bought a new phone. I should clarify it is a new phone but not one of the greatest and latest (4G) phone.

I have a really cheap rate plan and cannot go to the newest & coolest with shelling out a lot more money each month.  Probably some day I will but not until I have no other option.


I need to give you a bit of history.  I worked in the mobile phone industry from 1995-2000. It was a crazy job. Being in the middle of the growth of a new industry was really exciting.

The phone service (coverage) was terrible and they where EXPENSIVE to buy and use.(No free  phones back then) Most families only had one phone to share. Then we added one for mother, then one for the kids who left for college....now little kids have them.
 I bought a "real" phone for my  granddaughter's 4th birthday a few years ago-it was she asked Grandma for:) When I asked her why she wanted a phone, she said to call her "friends". I had a lot of fun calling her on her own cell phone.

In 1995 most people bought a "bag phone". It was a  phone in a bag, it plugged into your cigarette lighter.  Hard to believe people where excited about getting a phone like that:)

Or a "brick phone"  below. This is the first "handheld" phone. Brick describes it perfectly!

Then they came out with the "flip phone" (The black thing beside it, is the charger.). We could not keep them in stock--  light grey, dark grey or black where the color options back then!

 My daughter's claim to fame is they where one of the first "people" to have cell phones in their high school. The teachers did not even have phones. My girls did since I worked at the local phone store.

The rate plan they had cost $24.95 per month.
 It included 20 day time minutes, 20 night time minutes...and $1.00 a minute if they went over the 40 minutes per month. 
(If you take the 40 minutes and divide by 30 days = 1.3 minutes of talk time per day)

No text messaging- (not even heard of yet)
No free nights
No free weekend
No free long distance
No free mobile to mobile

(Take a look at your teenager's bill- how many text messages per day are they doing? How many minutes are they using per month?)

It is a amazing how far the technology has come & how much we depend on our "mobile" phones.

I just had to write about it! ~~~Amazing trip to the phone store, I see the new technology, it is crazy what is available.

Do you remember getting your first mobile phone?

How Many Sewing Machines Do You Own?

When I was a little girl, maybe 6 or 7 years old, I was at an auction with my mother 

where she bought a little black and gold sewing machine. 

It was a Singer 221 Featherweight machine. That was the vintage machine I learn to sew on. 

I have wonderful memories of sewing with my mom and using that machine.

About 25 years ago I walked into an estate sale. Back in the corner was a little black case.

 I knew immediately it was a Singer Featherweight machine like my mom had bought when I was a little girl.

I also, knew I was NOT leaving without that machine. 

Note: I have a certificate from Singer that dates my machine. It was issued in 1953, that makes it a few years older then me:)

I bought it for $70.00, which was a steal. I was so excited, I don't think anyone understood how much that meant to me to have my own Singer Featherweight just like my mom's.

 I had 3 little girls back then, so I was so excited to be able to use that machine with my girls just  like I did with my mom. 

 My daughter's & now my granddaughter's have all sewn on my little machine. 

It runs slow and steady which makes it a great machines to learn on.

The other day, I was in Family Sewing in Grandville MI taking a serger class. (They do a great job at classes)

 I saw the  Singer 160 Year Anniversary Machine.

How fun, it looks so much like my 1953 Singer Featherweight. SO COOL! I had to stop and take a good look at it. What a great idea Singer had to make it look so vintage! I am sure there are many warm memories this vintage looking machine brings to people. The vintage look is so touching! 

 Singer had a contest last year for this very machine. I told my story and read many wonderful accounts of people and their experiences with Singer machine's.

This is my current  sewing machine........a state of the art back in 1988 when I bought my Viking Machine. 

(Almost as vintage as my little 1950's black Singer:)

It still works very well but I hope to update it soon.

Don't feel too bad for me & my vintage sewing machines....since I just bought a wonderful Serger! 

(In-fact, my mom last December was laughing at me that I was still just using a sewing machine and had not bought a Serger) 

So....I bought a Baby Lock Evolution. Incredible! Awesome! 

Why did I wait so long!~~ you get the idea!

What an interesting adventure this new machine has been. The challenge of knowing when and how to use a Serger vs a regular sewing machine.--But that's another blog:)

 There is so much truth in the saying of  how difficult it is to teaching an old dog new tricks, 

especially when the old dog is me teaching me!!!!

I love doing the rolled hem and the cover stitch!

 I LOVE my new Serger!

I am sure one day my lovely new Baby Lock Serger will be added to the list of my favorite vintage machines:)

Sew Much Fun!