Of all the assorted -philes in the world, the one that describes me best is Scandophile, someone who appreciates the nuances of Scandinavian culture. In this post, I list a number of friends of Scandinavian origin, who I met in New Westminster to the end of 1972.
I tell people that i grew up in a Norwegian ghetto in New Westminster, on the banks of the Fraser River. Before the fishing fleet was relocated across the river to Surrey and Delta, many fishermen of Norwegian origins lived in New Westminster. With the fleet relocation, many moved to larger, but less expensive, houses across the river.
One of my strongest childhood memories is lying on a polar bear rug at the home of Brian Ottosen. He moved across the river to Delta, and it was more difficult to keep up contact. With origins in Sunnmøre in the west of Norway, his father ran a salmon cannery.
I have only to touch my forehead to be reminded of another childhood friend, Ralph Sather. His father was a boat builder, not from the Norwegian coast but from Lunner, near Oslo. Many years ago now, I visited Ralph’s aging mother (who came from Halden), shortly before she died, and had a conversation with her in Norwegian. She spoke a very formal language, very distant from what is spoken today.
Perhaps my closest friend of Norwegian origin was Arnold Bårdsen, a salmon fisherman who refused to eat fish. His parents had come from Harstad. In economically good years he would spend lavishly. He drove a Ford Thunderbird, and owned the largest and loudest high fidelity systems I have ever experienced.
During my junior high school years, one of my best friends was of Icelandic origins, Steve Scheving, older brother of Doug Scheving, who was a good friend of my sister. Steve became a city planner for the city of New Westminster. Steve’s major interest was military history, but a form of history that put great emphasis on numerical values. Doug’s major interest was gold. Both Scheving children were born in Manitoba, but only arrived in New Westminster when I started at junior high.
In 1972, I became good friends Clarence (Olaf) Olafsson, who was born in Winnipeg. After serving in the Canadian Army in Europe, at the end of World War 2, he became a language teacher. I met him hosting firesides celebrating the Baha’i Faith, in New Westminster. One project we worked on together was building the Upset, a Sabot dinghy.
I didn’t have any friends of Danish or Finnish origins, but one with Swedish roots, Rick Ericson, whose father owned and operated two laundromats in north Burnaby. I was always surprised how much income these two locations generated. Rick was probably my best friend during my last two years of secondary school. He lived beyond McBride Blvd, first in Sapperton, then in Massey Heights, which was being developed at the time. He studied education at UBC.
I do not expect friends or relatives to (partially) finance my hobbies. The main reason is that I have a good pension, and will be able to afford anything I could possibly need, if not want. Another reason is that I do not want to give up control. If I ask other people to make financial contributions to an activity, then they will want to have a say in those activities.
Not everyone has this attitude. A person, codenamed Q, does not hold this belief. S/he has genealogy as a hobby, and is always wanting to buy assorted certificates (birth, marriage, death). It is probably a great way for provinces, states and countries to make money. If Q wants these certificates that’s fine, but I don’t think it is reasonable for Q to ask me to subsidize her hobby.
Q published a book filled with edited family information, and bound in very nice and expensive hard covers. At $100 a shot, I think this is an excessive amount to pay, especially when Q could reduce production costs to zero by sending it out as a pdf file. That way, I might be able to use copies of the documents and photos directly, without having to scan them. Instead, Q’s pricing policy simply denies me information.
Personally, I am trying to learn from my experience of Q, and make Unit One a free and open space for people to work. There is just one area of difficulty, personal protective equipment (PPE): hearing protection, eye protection, lung protection, helmets, gloves, safety shoes, jackets and trousers.
There will be four sets of most of this protective equipment for guests to use. The difficulty comes with the last three items on the list (safety shoes, jackets and trousers) which have to be a specific size to fit each person. People will be asked to bring with them the protective equipment they have, and will be asked to purchase safety shoes, jackets and trousers if they lack these.
Those people who want to work regularly after their three occasion guest period has expired, will be asked to acquire their own kit.
To help people who cannot afford their own protective clothing, but have a sincere desire to work at Unit One, a Protective Clothing Fund will be established, that will provide financial assistance to those unable to afford to buy their own protective clothing. I will make a financial contribution to this fund, but also allow other regular workshop users to make contributions.
Personally, I don’t want to know who is receiving this form of assistance (and equally, who isn’t), so I want to distance myself from the funding process. My solution is to outsource the evaluation of aid to former colleagues at Furuskogen/ OKINT, the local provider of prison educational services, where I previously worked.
I was a closet Anglophile. I keep my passions secret. Perhaps this is understandable. My adoptive maternal grandparents had emigrated to Canada in 1910/11 from Gateshead, in County Durham. Yet, my grandmother did not reminisce. The tenements of Newcastle and Gateshead were home to tuberculosis, a deadly disease that had already taken the life of one of my aunts in childhood. She had no desire to return to England.
This is the area of Gateshead, across the Tyne River from Newcastle, where my maternal grandparents lived before immigrating to Canada in 1910-11. (photo: A Gibson, 1900)
It was the English children’s author Arthur Ransome, from Leeds, who presented me with a more positive picture of England with his Swallows and Amazons adventures mainly set in the Lake District and the Norfolk Broads. My favourite location was in neither of these places, but Hamford Water, Essex, as depicted in Secret Water. My womanly ideal, at least before Emma Peel, was Susan Walker, first mate of the Swallow, or was it Nancy Blackett, captain of the Amazon?
The Scottish children’s author James Lennox Kerr, writing as Peter Dawlish, introduced me to Cornwall, in a series of adventure books about an abandoned French crabber, Dauntless, and her crew of English boys. Here, there were real dangers to be faced, both natural and human.
At school, British authors dominated the curriculum. Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treaure Island will always be remembered, as will Walter Scott’s The Lady of the Lake, where there are references to St. Fillan’s Spring. St. Fillan is where McLellan takes its name. Those unfamiliar with the work are encouraged to read it in its Classics Illustrated (comic book) version, #75.
While I have read, and enjoyed the works of many other British writers. I will only mention one more, Robert Gibbings. I was particularly fond of his book on the River Wye, Coming Down the Wye (1942), as well as his first river book, Sweet Thames Run Softly (1940). Both of these books are in our personal library. More than the writing, I found Gibbings’ wood engravings especially attractive. At some point after I have finished my apprenticeship as a furniture maker, I will be undertaking a new apprenticeship as a wood engraver. Bibliographical information about Gibbings can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Gibbings
Enterprise
Throughout the 1950s, my parents would spend a week of their holiday living in fairly primitive conditions in a rented cabin at a fishing camp. They loved it. Most frequently, this was at Dee Lake, not far from Winfield, in the Okanogan. This pattern changed about 1960, when we shared a summer house with the Coombe family for a week, at Blind Bay on Shuswap Lake.
The most important asset of the summer house was its boat, Blitz, an agonizingly slow wooden boat, powered by a 5 hp outboard motor. We would use it to visit Copper Island, in the center of the lake. In addition, I would use it to visit the boat builders, who lived on the other side of Blind Bay. They built Enterprise dinghies from kits, and allowed me to borrow one from time to time.
Tim Sadler and Richard Sault sailing a modern fibreglass E
The first time I sailed was with Robert De Roos and his father on a 12 foot (360 cm) dinghy imported from the Netherlands. This was on Okanogan Lake. At the time they had two sailboats. The other was a Pirat, which was less than 240 cm long. This one event encouraged me to build my own sailing dinghy, a Sabot, that I had made when I was thirteen and fourteen.
The Hillman Minx and other fine cars
I have always liked small, cheap, reliable cars. Even today. Even if cheap and reliable is a contradiction in terms. If I had known just how unreliable the Mazda 5 was going to be, I would have followed my heart and bought a Fiat Panda or a Fiat 500L or a Peugeot 1008 or, most likely, a Citroen Berlingo. Today, I find that an attractive vehicle is one that is practical, but not necessarily the reverse.
One of the first practical vehicles that I appreciated, was a Hillman Husky. A neighbour, Alf Fenton, at 310 Ash Street, New Westminster, owned one and kept it for many years. I cannot recall him owning any other car. My first car, was a Hillman Minx convertible. In contrast to my current opinions, it was definitely not practical. I remember that the canvas roof was not waterproof, and the engine would stop if driven through puddles. One learns from experience.
Hillman Husky, one of the first practical vehicles I admired. (photo: redsimon)
While I liked the Hillman, In the 1960s I preferred its more up-market sister brand, Sunbeam. My school mate, Harry Wilson, owned a Rapier coupe (it was also available as a convertible). These cars were part of the Audax range of cars, designed by Raymond Loewy (1893-1986). Loewy also designed some of the most influential Studebaker models, such as the Avanti, and the Greyhouse Scenicruiser bus. I also found the Morris Minor extremely attractive, particularly its Traveller station wagon. My friend, Terry Godfrey, owned one of these.
At times I liked some larger English vehicles, in particular a Landrover 88, a Rover 2000 and a Triumph TR4A. When I look at these cars today, they hold little appeal. A Subaru Forester holds much more appeal than a Landrover. The Rover P5 is much more attractive than a Rover 2000. My preferred British sports car is no longer a Triumph, but a softer lined Sunbeam Alpine, once again designed by Raymond Loewy. I am content not to own any of these vehicles. Any future vehicle will be electric.
Television
Perhaps my favourite television series of alltime is The Avengers. While I have all of the available episodes, I still have not found time to watch them in any quantity. The reason of course, is that television programs that provided entertainment in the 1960s, do not offer the same value in 2017.
How real is the England that I purport to love? Probably as fake as The Avengers. If one examines the episodes carefully, the show is extremely racist. Not a single, non caucasian character appears in any episode. A crime of omission. Yet, in many ways, The Avengers is more Canadian, than English. Sydney Newman (1917-1997), who created both The Avengers and Doctor Who, was born and died in Toronto.Even my womanly ideals have changed. Of the four intelligent, stylish, assertive “Stead” women, Cathy Gale (Honor Blackman), Emma Peel (Diana Rigg), Tara King (Linda Thorson), Purdey (Joanna Lumley), I now prefer King-Thorson, born in Toronto, Canada.
My understanding of David Pye (1914-1993) and his attitude to work and design, is that a project isn’t worth doing if there isn’t risk. Design can only result in failure. Even a “good” design will only make us less unhappy. David was not an optimist.
So it is with the Unit One workshop. The building may have been designed as a garage, but for more than twenty years it (garden shed excepted) was used for dead storage. A great deal of effort was put in to transform this storeroom into a functioning workshop. There is more window space, bringing in more light. The walls are insulated, allowing it to be warmer. The walls and ceiling are covered in OSB, keeping the building cleaner. The walls are painted white, brightening the space. Yet, it remains an imperfect structure. Walls are only about two meters high, not even the standard 2.4 meters, or a preferred 3 meters. There are issues with the floor that need to be addressed. Yes, there are lots of other issues. Despite these failures, I am less unhappy with the workshop than I have ever been before with any working space.
There are still a few things that need to be completed before the workshop will be ready for use. Building out dust extraction; supplying compressed air; implementing a command and control system, and a system for health, environment and safety. Yet, the defining moment that will transform a garage storeroom into a workshop is when that space provides a functioning workbench. Functionality is added when it is equipped with at least one vice physically capable of holding a workpiece. When that first piece is attached, the workshop as a system of systems becomes operationalized.
I have been avoiding acquiring a workbench too early, so that other systems could be in place first. As soon as the workbench is in place, the workshop will no longer be in a construction phase, it will be in an operational phase. Construction activities will then no longer be related to building a workshop, but to improving it.
With my background in computer science and operations management, I am more interested in making the workshop, than I am in having the workshop make anything. That is one reason why I don’t mind other people working in the workshop, and would encourage it.
Example: Dust Extraction vs Air Quality Control
One of the upcoming challenges is air quality control. Almost anyone can take a shop vacuum and attach its hose to a planer. That is dust extraction. An air quality control system functions at a completely different level. First, dust extraction has to be provided to every machine. Since the vacuum unit will not have enough power to provide a vacuum simultaneously to all of the machines, there has to be a system to select the one (and it probably will be just one) to be used at any given moment. In practice, this means that there will be a vast network of piping (arcs) that end up at attachment points with blast gates (nodes). These blast gates allow/ prevent that particular node/attachment point to suck up dust. At Unit One, the blast gates will be controlled by micro-processors communicating through a dedicated workshop WIFI network.
Even with a large network of nodes, this will not be enough to ensure a clean working environment. There has to be a workshop air filtration system that circulates the air through filters, removing any remaining dust particles.
At some point chemicals may be used that result in unhealthy organic and non-organic substances entering the workshop. There may be methods to extract these from the air using more filters, but in an imperfect world it may be necessary for workers (and everyone else in the workshop)to use masks with filters to achieve desired results.
Unit One as Micro-factory
The Unit One workshop is designed as a factory prototype, or a micro-factory. Why? Because I want people to achieve a balance between “making” and “thinking about making”. The time a person spends making, limits her from thinking about making, and improving not only the product, but also production process. At some point, it would probably be better for people to devote most of their energies to thinking about making, and let someone like Sawyer do the making.
Sawyer is another cobot that costs USD 25 000 (photo: Retink Robotics)osts USD
Sawyer, and many of his friends, have attitudes that complement those of living people. Sawyer doesn’t mind working 160 hours a week. He is content with 8 hours off, for maintenance. That means he can work 8000 hours a year. Sawyer can do the most boring and repetitive jobs, and he does them without complaint. Of course, It costs money to have Sawyer work. At a price of USD 25 000 (NOK 200 000) (for the base model) he is going to cost NOK 5 an hour, for each of the 40 000 hours he will be able to work in his lifetime. After five years, he is going to end up on the scrapheap – or in the Unit One museum.
If one can’t afford Sawyer, then Eva may be just the assistant one needs. She costs USD 3 000 (NOK 24 000) and will be able to work for less than NOK 1 an hour. Eva’s work capabilities are considerably less than Sawyer’s, which explains the price difference.
Eva, a cooperative robot costing USD 3 000 (photo: Automata)
In short, the workshop is a space for prototype and process development. Afterwards, as risk is eliminated, work is left more and more to Sawyer and friends.
News Flash! CFO (Chief Financial Officer) Precious Dollar has just informed me that I have no budget to hire Sawyer. In fact, there may be no budget to pay Billi or anybody else. I may be working alone, and not getting paid.
Motto & Mission Statements
Motto: Do it Ourselves.
Mission Statement (Articulate, measured version): Providing space, tools and machines to transform individual and collective visions into practical products that make the world a better place.
Mission Statement (Mash up vision): Mashing dreams, ideas, designs (half baked or even burnt from excessive cooking), large quantities of skills at different levels of mastery, and even a little brute strength, with a bunch of raw materials of different qualities and quantities, machines and other tools, resulting in products that slowly, even begrudgingly, emerge for the benefit of individuals and the community.
Taking Machine Alley as an example, how does Unit One go from idea (some would say dream, or even illusion) to physical reality, in its selection of machines? The mission statement provokes more questions than it answers. Which machines and tools are going to be used? Which materials? Which processes?
Research: To begin with, we had some informal ideas of what was needed. We knew that some people of the community were wanting to work with traditional products, and decided that wood would be a good place to start. So we read up on the tools that a woodworking shop needed. We came up with a list that included a lot of hand tools, some hand electric tools, and some stationary machines.
Analyse: Once the list of stationary machines was complete, they were analysed. Would they physically fit into the area available? Were they durable? Were they suitable for amateurs to use?
Decide: At this stage, a short list emerges of the most appropriate products. These are then ranked according to perceived suitability.
Source: Once the product has been decided upon, it is necessary to find a suitable vendor. Here one wants to check the reliability of the company, and its ability to handle deviant situations, such as parcels going astray. (Deviant, here, is used as a strictly professional, mathematical concept.)
Order: At this stage a product, a price, a vendor, and a shipping method are selected, and an agreement is made to acquire a specific product.
Purchase: This involves the agreement to transfer of funds to the vendor, including the conditions that have to be met before payment is made.
Receive: This involves the arrival of the product at Unit One.
Pay: For some, this is the hardest part of the whole process, and represents the time when money is removed from one’s own bank account and transferred to someone else’s.
Install: Prepare a machine so that it can be used for production processes.
Test: Investigate performance parameters of a machine, and measure how close these come to achieving these goals. If necessary, measures may have to be put in place to compensate for any deviation from expected results.
Commission: Once the testing phase is complete, a machine is commissioned. Its operational status becomes “active”, which involves two operational situations. It is either “on duty”, allowing it to be operated, or it is “off duty” allowing it to be maintained or repaired.
Maintain: This involves periodic, preventative care for a machine; a “wellness” program for the mechanical components of a workshop.
Repair: This is an unplanned situation, where a machine is unable to operate, and has to have parts and/or labour applied so that it will be able to operate again.
Operate: The day by day running of a machine.
At some point, new technological developments or, more likely, the inability to source spares, will make further use of a machine untenable. The machine will then have reached its end of life.
Decommission: A formal decision to remove a machine from active duty. In some cases a machine may be sold, or given an alternative use. In other cases, it will be dismantled
Dismantle: Separating a machine into components, some of which may be recycled.
Dispose: The physical removal of a machine from the workshop.
Note: This post is a work in progress. It will be periodically revised and given a new version number.
Some days I am overwhelmed by the response to this blog. So many questions! One of the more frequently asked questions is, “Where is Cliff Cottage?”
Cliff Cottage, along with Unit One, is physically located in uptown Ginnunga Gap. The uptown is situated about 300 meters away from downtown Ginnunga Gap, which is the location of a former ferry quay, as shown in the photo below.
Downtown Ginnunga Gap (photo: Alasdair McLellan)
Some people have difficulties with directions. One person lacks a functional understanding of left and right. Another has an inability to orientate himself in a grid using north, east, south and west. Because the buildings are not oriented along a conventional grid framework, the walls of the house and workshop have become proxies for conventional directions, and will soon have “street signs” posted, so everyone can check. Here are the proxy directions: Nifl (which points to the land of ice) where the workshop doors are placed; Carmel (which points to a beloved mountain in Israel) which hosts Machine Alley; Muspel (which points to the land of fire) is the wall adjoining the Annex; and Atlantis, which has a (highly theoretical) view over the Atlantic ocean, but overlooks the main workbench.
In much the same way that some British firms hold royal warrants allowing them to print on their offices, factories and even product packages something like, “By Appointment to Her Wellness …., suppliers of toilet paper and other fine sanitary products,” Unit One humbly writes, “By Appointment to the Citizens of Ginnunga Gap, Unit One suppliers of space, tools and machines to transform individual and collective visions into practical products that make the world a better place.”
Visiting British, Norwegian or other royalty will be treated with the same respect that we treat all members of the Greater Ginnunga Gap community.
(Just like Cliff Cottage, this blog has its storage problems. Posts get written, then get stored, never to be published. Yet sometimes small miracles happen. This post that has been in storage since June 2017 is now being published in October 2017.)
The image below is from the United Kingdom election in June 2017. American pussy hats have been replaced by British fox hats (to protest May’s support of fox hunting). “Rosie the Riveter” has been given tattoos. While I am not personally keen on camouflage jackets, I do like the red trousers. In fact, I have two pairs myself which I wear while working!
AFP 2017-06-08 UK election “Revenge of the young”
J. Howard Miller’s original poster is actually titled We Can Do It. It portrays Naomi Parker (later Fraley), working at the Alameda Naval Air Station, in California. It shows how production workers actually dressed. Created in 1942, displayed for two weeks in 1943, rediscovered in the 1980s.
J. Howard Miller 1942 We Can Do It
With the war over, more elegant attire could be worn, as shown in this 50 year old photograph of Diana Rigg 1938- (Emma Peel) and Patrick Macnee 1922-2015 (John Steed). They both belong to the inter-war generation.
PA 1965 Diana Rigg as Emma Peel & Patrick Macnee as John Steed in the Avengers.
I thought of ending this by showing a photo of some boomer hippies in the late 1960s. After having viewed countless images, I am forced to conclude that the world is better off not having to look at them again.
The Unit One Workshop is scheduled to start operation on Monday, 01 January 2018 at 12 noon. If you would like to be included in the official opening celebration all you have to do is contact the operations manager: brock@mclellan.no and have your name added to the list of invited guests.
At the moment a number of speakers have been invited to entertain guests. Not all of these have accepted, yet – so there could be some changes.
Proton Bletchley: Unit One – A Community Workshop (15 minutes)
Precious Dollar: What it costs to construct a workshop (10 minutes)
Billi Sodd: Prison workshops (This is dependent on Billi being able to obtain day release from Verdal Prison) (unknown duration)
Refreshments served
Jade Marmot: The fun of DIY videos (30 minutes)
Brock McLellan: Closing remarks (10 minutes)
During that first day, at 14:00, a Health, Environment and Safety course will be conducted, so that people wanting to use the workshop will know how to protect themselves and the environment.
To begin with, equipment at the workshop will focus on woodworking. A number of stationary machines will be available, if not on opening day, then soon thereafter, including: table saw, band saw, mitre saw, router, planer, jointer and drill stand.
About once a month there will be a “fredag fika” in the workshop. The first of these is planned for Friday, 5 January 2018 at 12:00. However, if people would rather have this on a different day, or time, these wishes can be accommodated. This meeting will give people several days to reflect on how they want to use the workshop, and the rules that are needed to govern its use.
Enhet En Verksted
Verkstedet til Unit One/ Enhet En er planlagt å starte drift mandag 01 januar 2018 kl 12.00. Hvis du vil bli med på den offisielle åpningsfestet, må du bare kontakte operasjonssjefen: brock@mclellan.no og få navnet ditt lagt til listen over inviterte gjester.
I øyeblikket har en rekke talere blitt invitert til å underholde gjester. Ikke alle disse har akseptert, ennå – så det kan være noen endringer.
Proton Bletchley: Enhet 1 – Et versted for fellesskapet (15 minutter)
Precious Dollar: Hva koster det å bygge et verksted (10 minutter)
Billi Sodd: Verksteder på fengsel (Dette er avhengig av at Billi for frigang fra Verdal fengsel) (ukjent varighet)
Servering av forfriskninger
Jade Marmot: Den morsomme med DIY videoer (30 minutter)
I løpet av den første dagen, klokken 14.00, vil det gjennomføres et helse-, miljø- og sikkerhetskurs, slik at folk som ønsker å bruke verkstedet, vil få opplæring om hvordan de skal beskytte seg selv og miljøet.
Til å begynne med vil utstyret på verkstedet fokusere på trebearbeiding. En rekke stasjonære maskiner vil være tilgjengelige, om ikke på åpningsdagen, så snart deretter: bordsag, båndsag, gjæresag, fres, tykkelseshøvel, jointer og borestativ.
Omtrent en gang i måneden vil det være en “fredag fika” i verkstedet. Den første av disse er planlagt fredag 5. januar 2018 klokken 12.00. Men hvis folk heller vil ha dette på en annen dag eller tid, kan dato og/eller klokkeslett endres. Dette møtet vil gi folk flere dager til å reflektere over hvordan de vil bruke verkstedet, og de reglene som trengs for å styre bruken av det.
NB: Much of this post was actually written in 2016, but has been updated and posted in October 2017.
A year ago, a politician in one of the world’s largest countries came up with a campaign slogan, “Make [name of country] great, again.”
“Wow,” I thought, “that is such a fantastic idea.” I slept well, reflecting on that smart slogan until, in some sort of dream phase in the middle of the night, I realized that the message had to be tweaked.
Why should it be just one country? So, I replaced [name of country] with the world, as in: “Make the world great, again.”
I began to slept even better the next night, knowing that the entire world would be great, again – not just one or ten countries, but all 195! http://www.worldometers.info/geography/how-many-countries-are-there-in-the-world/
Then, during this intense dream phase, I realized that the message had to be tweaked even more. Unfortunately, the entire world has never been that great for everyone. Many people live in oppression. Many more people in the past also lived oppressed, impoverished lives. So, we have no right to add “again” to the phrase.
“Make the world great.”
The slogan was now so fantastic I imagined that it couldn’t be improved, ever. So, I spent the next day painting a banner. It was a banner that could be hung from my sundeck that all the world could see, at least that portion of the world that lives in Vangshylla, and can see the sundeck. Unfortunately, that day it didn’t just rain, it poured. Not a single soul could be bothered to look upwards into the sky to read the banner.
That evening, I was sure I would sleep through the entire night, without interuptions. Not even the honking of the geese overhead, flying south, would disrupt my slumber. It was true, the honking geese did not disturb my sleep. It was the banner, or more correctly, the slogan on the banner, that did.
The problem this time was not with the slogan. Rather, it was what was missing from the slogan. It didn’t seem fair that an Obama, or a Hilary or a Donald or even a Bernie should be stuck with the job of making the world great. If the world was to become great, then everyone had to contribute.
The next day I found more material so that I could add a second story to the original banner. It now read, “Working to Make the World Great!”
By now I had grown to expect waking in the middle of the night. Thus, it came as no surprise at all, when I woke up realizing that there were still challenges with the slogan. Yes, we can all work to make the world great, but I’d actually prefer you to do it my way, rather than your way. It took only a few minutes to come to the realization that “My Way or the Highway” is not a particularly mature approach to making the world great. Then, something unusual happened. I fell asleep.
Sometimes, allowing one’s subconscious to work on a problem is much better than any other approach. When I awoke in the morning, I felt refreshed. After breakfast, I looked at the banner and knew precisely what needed to be added. Within an hour the banner was finished. It was a sunny day, so people could look up and read,
“Working Together to Make the World Great!”
Postscript: There aren’t many people who live in Vangshylla, and even fewer who can look up and see the banner. That isn’t important. That slogan is actually addressed to just one person, myself, and changing my attitude to each and every person I meet.
The 1950s and the 1960s were a privileged time. Yet, there are only some aspects of it that I would want to return to. It was exceedingly sexist. Men worked outside the house, while women were confined inside suburban houses. At school, girls were required to study home economics which was in general divided into two sections, textiles (with an emphasis on sewing) and cooking (and nutrition). Boys were required to study industrial arts.
I am not going to mention more about home economics in this post, except to say that I probably would have benefited from learning more about cooking. Similarly, many girls would have benefited, if they had been allowed to study industrial arts.
Industrial arts was obligatory for four (later three) years. One period a week was devoted to draughting, and the construction of technical drawings. The other days were spent working in one of three subject areas, each for a third of the school year, in rotation. The subject areas were woodworking, metalworking and electricity and electronics. For my last two years of secondary school, I took a two year specialization in electricity and electronics. Others were able to specialize in other areas, such as house construction or automotive mechanics. Some people didn’t take any practical subjects at all, after the obligatory years.
There is a Norwegian term, sløyd, that roughly translates as woodwork. Here children use obsolete hand tools to make objects that are either obsolete themselves, or are made in a fraction of the time by industrial machines. I am not sure why sløyd is taught. It shows a great deal of disrespect to children, and the value of their time.
In industrial arts, we learned how to use hand tools, but we also progressed rapidly to machine tools. One does not waste time using a hand saw if a compound mitre saw is more appropriate. This does not mean that the Canadian industrial arts program was perfect. In metalwork, I learned to work with sheet metal, blacksmithing and machining. However, I was never exposed to welding.
Fast forward fifty years …
I am tired of sitting around cafes, gossiping while consuming sugar rich drinks and cakes. Something similar can be said of gyms with their sweat enhanced fragrances. I want to invite people to use their time more constructively, by using the workshop at Unit One. Yes, there will be a “fredag fika” a Swedish term for a sociable coffee break often held on Fridays. It is designed to help bond and consolidate a group of workers. At Unit One it should allow people to discuss projects: present, future and (if necessary) past.
Before people will be allowed to use equipment on their own, they will have to be certified. The first will have to be for general health and safety. When a person enters Unit One, they have to know where their own personal protective equipment is located. Similarly, they will have to know what they are expected to do, during different types of emergencies, including fire and assorted forms of personal injury.
When it comes to certification to use the various tools, one approach is to test out a person using the specific machine. A better approach is to have the aspirant design and make a product that requires a number of different operations on a variety of machines.
Certification misses one vital element – the motivation to work.
Perhaps one should begin with the Arts and Crafts movement, and acknowledge the contributions of William Morris, and several others. That is not going to happen. The two contemporary (?) works that are most inspiring are both written by David William Pye (1914-1993): The Nature of Design (later The Nature & Aesthetics of Design), 1964 and The Nature and Art of Workmanship, 1968.
The workmanship of risk is one of Pye’s most important concepts. It is “workmanship using any kind of technique or apparatus, in which the quality of the result is not predetermined, but depends on the judgment, dexterity and care which the maker exercises as he works (The Nature and Art of Workmanship, p. 20).
He also wrote that people make things to effect change. However, most designed objects are palliative. They do not enable new behaviours. He uses a transport example to illustrate this. One can walk instead of using a car, but one cannot fly instead of using a plane. He also notes that design is limited by economy rather than technique. Since all design is an economic trade off, it is always a failure.
Pye also regards design as arbitrary. Products are developed under the assumption that tools can bring people happiness. His view is that tools can, at best, only help people avoid unhappiness.
David Pye (1914-1993)
There are two other writers that one may also want to read on the philosophy of work, Richard Sennett and Matthew B. Crawford.
Richard Sennett has written extensively about work. The Hidden Injuries of Class (1972) written with Johnathan Cobb is a study of class consciousness among working-class families in Boston. The Corrosion of Character (1998) explores how new forms of work are changing our communal and personal experience. Respect in a world of inequality (2003) examines the relation of work and welfare system reforms. The Culture of the New Capitalism (2006), much like the earlier Authority (1980) address similar issues.
Richard Sennett (photo: Ars Electronica, 2010)
Yet, it is the newer Homo Faber project that examines work in a 21st century context, an exploration of material ways of making culture. The Craftsman (2008), Together: The Rituals, Pleasures, and Politics of Cooperation (2012) and Building and Dwelling: Ethics for the City (to be published in 2018) on the making of the urban environment.
Lewis Hyde states that Richard Sennett’s “guiding intuition” in The Craftsman is that “making is thinking.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/books/review/Hyde-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bua2&oref=slogin
What I found particularly interesting about The Craftsman, was Sennett’s use of computer programmers as an example.
I will now elegantly hop over Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974) to focus on a 21st century replacement, Matthew B. Crawford’s Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry into the Value of Work (2009). In addition to obtaining a Ph. D. in political philosophy, Crawford has also worked as an electrician and mechanic, and owns and operates Shockoe Moto, an independent motorcycle repair shop.
Matthew B. Crawford (photo: Adam Ewing)
Crawford writes about work that requires mastery of real things. This work can be more intellectually demanding that more abstract varieties. He feels that maintenance and repair work cultivate ethical virtues, and foster habits of individual responsibility. Crawford wants people to replace passivity and consumerism with self-reliance.
Tools are not the most important elements in a workshop. It is the values that are promoted therein.
“It is permissible to study sciences and arts, but such sciences as are useful and would redound to the progress and advancement of the people. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Ordainer, the All-Wise.”
Ye have been enjoined to renew the furnishings of your homes after the passing of each nineteen years; thus hath it been ordained by One Who is Omniscient and All-Perceiving. He, verily, is desirous of refinement, both for you yourselves and for all that ye possess; lay not aside the fear of God and be not of the negligent. Whoso findeth that his means are insufficient to this purpose hath been excused by God, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bounteous.
Kitab-i-Aqdas
Since I retired, Alasdair and I have made a few simple modifications to that building formerly known as the garage (with attached shed), but now referred to as the workshop (with attached annex). My hope is that this building will result in something more than just more conspicuous consumption, but will be a small center for practical social change.
In the Baha’i Faith, there is a requirement to refurbish, as shown in the above text. This text generates discussion, not only in terms of what should be included (cars?) but also the handling of antiques and rare possessions. Some days, I read the text as an admonition to keep possessions longer than is common today. The Tripp-Trapp chairs in the house are about 34 years and 28 years old, respectively. They are still used daily. None of our cars have lasted 19 years, yet. However, I will be very disappointed if my 2023 VW Buzz doesn’t last at least 19 years. In fact, I have every intention of keeping it until my 100th birthday in 2048, when it will be 25 years old.
A VW I.D. Buzz prototype from 2017. It is expected to enter production in 2023. I am not sure how often I will be carrying surf boards on the roof, as I expect to end my active surfing career in 2018, at the age of 70. The Buzz may be in some way described as environmentally friendly, but it does consume large quantities of materials. It could become a symbol of conspicuous consumption in the future. (Photo: VW)
The workshop is designed to aid refurbishment, not just selfishly – but also in terms of community. It is a place where products are to be designed, and prototypes made. If the prototypes are successful, then further copies may be made. This may even involve batch production.
An equally important act is the publication of product information. The workshop is, naturally, an open source environment. Products designs developed there are to be made freely available to others. This blog will be an important element in distributing information. However, there are other things that need to be done. One of the challenges of the open-source movement is quality control. Products need to be tested, and the results of those tests have to enter a feedback loop, so that designs can be improved.
Woodworking is the initial focus of the workshop. Shop cabinets and French cleat storage units will be some of the first products to be made. The goal is to have the workshop in working order by 2018.01.01. “Machine Alley”, a 6-meter (20 feet) long section of the workshop will consist of eight 600 mm (24 inches) long units, with a uniform height. Machines will have their own particular unit assigned to them. However, it should be a relatively easy task (less than one hour of work) to move a machine to a different location.
The first production machine purchased for the workshop, a planer. This length of wall is to be known as “Machine Alley”, and will be the location where stationary machines will be kept. Photo: Brock McLellan
A large number of wooden products are being considered for the workshop including: a replacement garden shed, a winter garden, kitchen cabinets, a replacement dining table and chairs. At the community level there may be a need for geodesic dome greenhouses that could be produced at this, or another workshop, in the Vangshylla community.
As our own personal refurbishment becomes more complete, I see a gradual transition to other materials than wood. A solar water heater is one example of a product that uses very little wood, more plastic and a lot of metal. With the use of active systems, it is here that we are entering the world of mechatronics (mechanics + electronics + a lot more).
Aerial Euler diagram showing the sub-fields of Mechatronics (Photo: Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 2012).
Personally, I would also like to learn other construction skills. I have made a decision that using a gym or studio to exercise is a waste of time and money. Lifting a few tons of wood or steel is as good exercise as lifting weights. I won’t even mention the word, spinning. In the Unit One blog, there has been some discussion about making paving stones, and using stucco (rendering) on walls. These activities will keep anyone in shape.
While I would like to work with heavy materials for as long as possible, aging is an ongoing process. At some point a refocusing on robotics may be natural. Regardless, a key element is a focus on community – and the needs of others. I am looking forward to using the workshop over the next 19 years. By then, at the age of 88, there could be yet another refurbishment, with new horizons opening for me to explore.
