Tascione

Paul and David, be nice....how is someone supposed to remember something 100years ago? by the way Bob isnt it your birthday soon?

Thanks for taking the time Bob, no chance of falling asleep, I am hooked already and cant wait for the next installment

Hey Bob, funny how the journey of life goes, look at what that young boy staring thru the window has accomplished back then could you have even dreamed of it? Well written, I could picture it all. Thank you, William

Very nice story Bob. I see we are almost the same age, a big difference is that I only took interest in watches and clocks a few years ago. I will probably never catch up with you on this, but I will have an interesting time while trying . Looking forward to the rest of the story....

Jan

Great story Bob. It turns out that you and I have more in common than the gray hair and beard. I to was a mail carrier for several years. I ran a 87 mile rural route. Oh yah, I also have a closet Mahlon

Bob:

That's a facinating history indeed and explains why you know so much!

Thanks!!!
Tom

The only thing we are missing here are a few beers and a BBQ, I think we should invite ourselves over to Bob's place and continue this in person


Chris

That is a great story Bob. I was actually hoping to read more when I got to the end. I wish I would have started earlier but then again I don't think I would have had the patience. I'm only 35 but I think we all wish we had a start like that. Thanks for the story. Chris, I definitely think we should all get together and just show up at Bobs house with beer and bbq.

All:

If we are going to show up at Bob's unannounced we had better bring something stronger than beer. Not for Bob, but for his wife.

Tom

Good one Tom!
Hey you guys are welcome anytime. Got a spare quest room.
Glad you liked the story! Surprised but glad.
I was pretty lucky to have that opportunity but I think we all have something far better than that now. The Internet! Youtube, forums etc. We used to have to wait to go to chapter meetings to converse with others about horology but now we have instant access to forums where we can pick each others brains. That's really powerful stuff. An example would be Williams current Hershede restoration project . We're all able to learn almost real time and ask questions as he posts pics and explains how he goes about doing different things. We never had anything like that. Many other examples like Chris Mabbotts excellent demos etc. Or being able to ask David about tooling or machine problems, receiving detailed answers within hours or sometimes minutes! The coolest thing for me though is we now have the opportunity to problem solve together as a group. Ton's of creativity flows out of group participation. I guess what I'm saying is what used to take many years to learn can now be done in a fraction of the time. I really believe that many up here (not referring to the forum but online exposure) learn more in a year than what used to take many years pre-internet. Then there's the encouragement thing! Whole 'nuther subject.

Thanks for the nice comments guys!
Shrimps on the barbie!
Bob

Hi Bob,
I think when we see your videos and watch people like Steffen Pahlow us mere mortals wonder how you ever got so good at what you do. The great thing about your story is it shows us you are a human being and have a story to tell about the journey taken to get to where you are, it also helps that you are a good story teller. When we start out, unless we have had some form of engineering or mechanical work, every single skill has to be learnt on top of what tools you need for what operations. How many times have any of us watched a video and thought mmm... that looks easy enough only to find when we try it for ourselves we can see almost immediately that it is going to take some practice. I think some people just have more of an aptitude for certain things and thats why some people move on at a faster pace than others.
You are quite right about the web being an amazing reference tool, the only limit to how fast you want to learn now is how fast you can learn. You can find info on just about anything. The forum is becoming better all the time too, I have seen a few people come and go but just recently more are sticking it out and that is great, not to mention some of the fantastic posts popping up on a regular basis. Everyone gets along and that alone makes it stand out from any other horology forum.

So Bob, you got as far as the 70's working for an antiques store what then?

I grew up in the San Fernando Valley in a section called Northridge. I went to elementary, jr high, high school and college in the Valley. I started out as an art major and switched over to engineering because I really sucked at art. I remember sitting in a drawing class and the guy in the chair next to me was a professional staff artist for Hana-Barbera. I think everyone else in the art classes was on a professional or semiprofessional level except me.
I was fascinated with machines for as long as I can remember. I remember seeing a watchmaker lathe in a pawn shop when I was a kid and thought that it was one of the coolist things I ever saw. I watched people work on watches in pawn and jewelry stores but never thought about doing it myself until a few yerar ago. I'm glad I did because now I have two things I really suck at; watchmaking and art!
david

Funny story David, as it mirrors, yet is opposite to mine. I was "persuaded" by my father to pursue his field, engineering, which I liked, in the aesthetic sense, but I also equally sucked at academically I was more the visual artsy one, but I just got stuck in the former.
I also used to admire those people who could create and invent, seemingly out of thin air, the most incredible, functional, items. I could visualize something, but not actually make it, pissed me off but to each his own.

Going back to the 70's in the mining industry, we had four "old timer" machinists, it sounds like the start of a joke but they were an Englishman (limey) an Irishman (paddy) and two Germans (Fritzes), these guys produced an amazing amount of complicated items, detented parts for hydraulic valve banks, motor parts, tools, everything, I was in awe of them. I wish now that I had learned more, but...

I think the thing I've found over the years is that we, us here on the forum, and others who collect, delve, repair, those that have interests, well, we are the lucky ones. I've come across a large percentage of individuals who have no interests, which I think is kinda sad, not to mention...boring, although when I begin talking watches to the uninitiated, I suppose they think that I am too LOL
So the real skill, or gift, is not necessarily being fantastic at something, 50% of the battle is having an interest in the first place.

Chris

Chris:

Amen my friend... Amen.

Tom

Since joining the course yesterday I have been glued to the forum reading posts from years back and came across this topic.
Bob your introduction into watches and clocks is truly inspiring to say the least!
Although this topic is from 2014 I want to thank you and members David Pierce and Arutha very much for starting the topic.
It is Excellent!

George Howard

Hey George this brings back quite a few memories! I forgot about this thread. I was 61 years old back then. Man, that time flew by!
I'm 67 now this month. In fact we launched this Forum on April 30th. (my birthday) 10 years ago! Wow.
Well as Bob Hope always said or sang, "Thanks for the Memories".
Much appreciated.
Have fun with the pasts posts. There are quite a few interesting and helpful past discussions up here.
Take care George,
Bob

I have spent many a long night reading past discussions on the forum and have learned a Iot from just about every topic. I joined one year after this discussion was started but never saw it. A much need lift for me at this time.
Thanks, Phil