Tennesseans, especially those prone to woodworking, are fortunate to live in a state with well-drawn boundaries. Here in the Volunteer State, we live inside a convenient parallelogram with two almost perfectly straight edges, connected by two shorter and cheerfully imprecise squiggles. If you are a Tennessee woodworker endeavoring to craft something in the shape of your … Continue reading Tennessee: The Shape of State Pride
Middle Tennessee grows a Christmas tree like no other geography or microclimate. Maybe it's the cocktail of pollen-bowl allergens and fossil-rich limestone, but whatever it is, it breeds a cedar tree with a scraggly face that only a mother could love. I love a cedar tree. From as early in childhood as I can remember, … Continue reading Holiday Memories in the Making
The guys in construction class make fun of me for asking so many questions. I can't even raise my hand all the way before someone says, "What a surprise...Fox has another question." They're trying to get me to shut up; meanwhile, I'm trying to get them to ask more questions. My friend Getahn Ward, the … Continue reading Remembering Journalist Getahn Ward
Let me tell you about my new bottle opener. It's made with the same technology found in much contemporary plumbing—namely PEX tubing. Short for Cross-Link Polyethylene, PEX tubing is increasingly used in place of copper and other metal piping, because the plastic material is easier and more flexible to install. Rather than soldering or threading … Continue reading Cheers to Plumbing with PEX
A few months ago, my talented cabinetmaker classmate left the Building Construction Technology classroom at Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville for a work-study program at 1220 Exhibits. Now, instead of coming to class, he gets school credit while getting paid to learn on the job. I recently visited my classmate at work in the … Continue reading Skills On Display: A Visit to 1220 Exhibits
Today, the main office at Tennessee College of Applied Technology Nashville requested that each class provide three ornaments to adorn a school tree. Our class brainstormed for about 75 seconds about what might capture the spirit of Building Construction Technology. There was a suggestion that we simply attach wire ornament hangers to some junk from … Continue reading It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…
We recently got some new (old) equipment in the Building Construction Technology workshop at Tennessee College of Applied Technology, and suddenly I am reminded of the children's book If You Give a Mouse Cookie. If you give a mouse a cookie, he's going to ask you for a glass of milk. Today, someone showed me … Continue reading If You Give a Fox a Sander
My favorite days of construction school are when we take on real-world projects, such as this week's outings to install front doors at two residential construction sites. I admit, I assumed it would be simple to remove an old front door and replace it with a more contemporary style. But after seven hours of heavy … Continue reading New Front Door: Not an Entry-Level Job
In the weeks leading up to graduation, our building construction technology class is burrowing into the Estimating textbook. That is to say, now that we've learned how to fix and build things, we're learning how to get paid for it. Short of standing on a ladder to trim rafter tails with a circular saw, this … Continue reading Estimating 101: What Are You Worth?
Being twice as old as as some of my construction school classmates, I miss a lot of their cultural references. Anything short of fluency in the complete Will Ferrell filmography is a great handicap when dealing with young men, I have discovered. Likewise, a lot of what I say to "the kids" slips through the … Continue reading Men, Women & The Karate Kid
Building Up Buttercup 