What an interesting topic, I too am from the generation of people that would make it work or make do with what they had.

My Dad worked away from home but I had a neighbor that kind of took over or made up for my dad not being around.

This man could do anything and he was not a big guy but that didn’t stop him. At times I was amazed at what he would build. His wife liked the Adirondack chairs so he built three but he added adjusters so they could be in different positions. John could do anything; I helped him build a house when I was 12 or 13 years old. I can remember us putting sheet rock up to the ceiling; it was hard trying to hold the long pieces while nailing them. John said I’m going to do some thinking tonight. By the time I got home from School, John had made a frame to hold the sheet rock. We would raised the frame, and once it was tight to the ceiling we would put dowels in the holes of the vertical 2x 4’s and nail it in place.

I wanted to paint my 55 Chevy. Not using anything other then spray cans I went to the town store that had hardware, auto parts, anything you could think of, and they had paint. I bought the paint and all that was required to do a paint job. Then I asked John if I could borrow his compressor, we got it set up masked off now where do I start.

John did most of the painting I would try and he would say watch this and that but I got my feet wet so in the future I had enough practice that I could do it.

Anytime I have to try to figure out something or fix something that I have never done before, I tell my wife it’s that John, Montgomery ingenuity. I try to show my grandkids how to do what I know but I believe our generation will be the last to make things work or use what we have to get by. It was nice thinking of John, he gone but not for gotten. Thanks for posting this thread.

Richard