: I made a laminated cutting board of ash and walnut that I still use on
: occasion today.
: As I recall I had trouble finishing it by the end of the school year, all
: because our shop teacher had a different sense of humor that I did... I
: picked up the chuck-key from the drill in a pair of pliers and tried to
: hand it to some of my classmates, they scrambled to get out of the way
: because being the goof that I was in those days they were sure I had
: heated it up before grabbing it with the pliers. It wasn't hot but it
: caused quite a ruckus, our teacher said somebody could have been injured
: trying to get out of the way and gave me a few weeks off class. Funny
: though it still brings a silly grin to my face when I think of it, maybe I
: still have some growing up to do!

: Ken

Ken, you made me think back to my shop days in high school. An ornery friend of mine and leader of our pack, Larry, convinced the shop teacher to let him study electricity on his own in class because he was going to become an electrical engineer. (He did become one). But he did things like unhook a wire in a drill press. The shop teacher found the drill press not working and sent Larry to fix it since he was studying electricity. Larry put the wire back and the teacher was really impressed. Larry pulled these stunts the whole senior year and got straight A’s. The teacher never caught on.

John