Buckeye Mike

When Tiffany and I first started dating, I was assigned to run a project in Charleston, West Virginia. I was still working for Belfor at the time, and had to run down for a couple days to meet an adjuster and agree upon a scope of work. I asked her if she wanted to accompany me, and she cheerfully agreed. It was the first day trip we had ever taken together, and we were both excited to get away. As we drove down route 33 headed towards Athens, she asked if we would be passing through Point Pleasant, West Virginia along the way. I told her we wouldn't, because that small city was southeast of the route I needed to take. She seemed disappointed, and I asked why. She explained that she had always wanted to go there because of the Mothman Legend. I had no idea what she was speaking of, so she explained. The Mothman is a creature who haunts the Point Pleasant Area. He was first seen in 1966 by a crew of men digging a grave, and was spotted several more times around the TNT plant, wh...

Several years ago I took a liking to a PBS show called the Red Green show. On the advice of a friend, I sat down and watched as Red used a wooden door, restaurant salt shakers, and a ton of duct tape to turn his 70's Dodge Cargo Van into a snow plow. I was hooked. I tuned in regularly to see what he would do next, and he never disappointed. From turning a Greyhound Bus into a convertible with a steering column that reached the back seat to sawing the top off his car, welding gutters to the sides, and having a garbage truck pick it up to clean the car out, he was full of off the wall yet brilliant ideas. And at the end of each show, he would look into the camera and tell his audience that "if the women can't find you handsome, they sure better find you handy!" I have never been accused of being handy. Don't get me wrong, I know enough about construction to write a good scope of work, and did pass my estimating course with a 98%. But when it comes to throwing the ...