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Episode 27 - Gratitude, Appreciation, and the concept of "ENOUGH"
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Are you satisfied with what you have in life? Do you find yourself wishing for MORE?? MORE AND MORE MONEY, a bigger/better place to live, a nicer car or more opulent vacations? "When I have (Insert Answer Here), then I"ll be happier!" . Do you continually strive for more, AND ACHIEVE IT, only to feel somewhat hollow or anticlimactic?
Let's start 2025 together on a POSITIVE OPTIMISTIC note, and tackle the topic of "ENOUGH". Can we realize what is ENOUGH in our lives, and rather than chasing happiness, practice gratitude and appreciation to find the happiness already within. True contentedness comes NOT from getting what you think you want, but rather, learning to APPRECIATE what you already have.
To watch the YOUTUBE VIDEO of this episode and the irreverent & somewhat unpredictable AFTERSHOW, subscribe to our Patreon: http://patreon.com/user?u=91688467
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Transcript
Introduction and New Year Greetings
00:00:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, hello to the new year, 2025, and another episode of your favorite woodworking and also non-woodworking podcast. This is Woodworking is Bullshit. I'm your host, Paul Jasper, scientist by day, woodworker by night, and I'm joined by my two co-hosts, Eric Curtis, fine furniture maker and content creator. And in the third seat tonight, Conrad Sauer,
00:00:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
plane maker extraordinaire and philosopher, complainer, comedian, all wrapped into one.
00:00:53
Konrad Sauer
is
00:00:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Fantastic.
00:00:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We're so excited.
00:00:59
YeetDOLLA
Not technologically advanced human being though, that we've established that.
00:01:02
Konrad Sauer
No, no, no.
00:01:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Conrad, we're so excited to have you in the third chair. Thanks for joining us on today's episode.
00:01:12
Konrad Sauer
Happy to be here. Happy New Year, guys.
00:01:14
YeetDOLLA
Happy New Year.
00:01:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Excellent.
Theme Introduction: Gratitude and 'Enough'
00:01:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So we thought with a new year episode, I don't know if you guys do resolutions. I don't, cause I think it's kind of bullshit, but we do. I do like to consider like a 10,000 foot view of my life in the new year and to just think about things. And we thought we would make an episode that pays homage to that principle. So today's episode is about gratitude appreciation and the concept of quote unquote enough.
Conrad's Personal Story on Business and Satisfaction
00:01:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So one of the biggest points we want to start with is what is enough? How do you define enough? And you're probably thinking enough what?
00:01:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Enough money, enough with your art, enough tools, enough lumber. Well, we, you can never have enough lumber, but, uh, so I, you know, I think, you know, Conrad has, has a story, I think that would start this off beautifully.
00:02:04
Konrad Sauer
No, they yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:02:13
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, i I was talking with my accountant not too long ago, and she was telling me, year over year over year, she said, you know, Your business isn't really growing that much.
00:02:25
Konrad Sauer
It's not really, you know, your profitability doesn't seem to be changing. It's sort of stagnant. Are you okay with like, what's going on? And I said, yeah, I love it that way. That's by design.
00:02:35
YeetDOLLA
Hm.
00:02:35
Konrad Sauer
I am happy right where it is. I have enough. Like I, I, I work enough to make as much money as I need. And what that does is it frees up time because I think for me, enough is what,
00:02:52
Konrad Sauer
We never have enough time.
Importance of Time Over Financial Growth
00:02:53
Konrad Sauer
not ah like nobody is Everybody's always complaining about time. And so the idea of having enough money, you need enough to make ends meet. And then that's it, really. And so the idea of, um yeah, my business is exactly where I want it. i there's no There's no incentive for me to grow it because I ah get time out of it.
00:03:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
did Did your accountant look at you like you had three heads when you said that?
00:03:17
Konrad Sauer
Oh, she thought, ah she thought I was nuts. Like she she could not understand at all why I was content with where it was. And I kind of had to explain it to her and she, I think she started understanding it after a while, but it took a while.
00:03:32
Konrad Sauer
It's not a North American or a Western mentality to say, to say enough, like, you know, it's just to stop, you know, stop growing.
00:03:35
YeetDOLLA
Right, right.
00:03:43
Konrad Sauer
And there's, there's lots of ways to get to enough, like, You know, profitability, if you want to call it that, is um you can become more efficient at it. You can, you know, modify your process um so that you're more efficient. You can use your time better. All of those things will translate into the same amount of money, but what you're getting in return is more time. And for me, that's really, really a valuable thing because it's more time to pursue all sorts of other things that I'm interested in.
Personal Pursuits and Relationships
00:04:14
YeetDOLLA
So that was going to be my question first, like what are those other things that you're pursuing? So like, because you have enough in your business, you're satisfied where that, where that exists. And I agree with you. It's not a Western mentality to not seek growth.
00:04:30
YeetDOLLA
Which I think is troublesome, but in fairness, I also think that's kind of baked in our psychology. Like we, we know the other shoe is going to drop eventually.
00:04:35
Konrad Sauer
Right.
00:04:37
YeetDOLLA
This is their innumerable myths of, of the world ending.
00:04:37
Konrad Sauer
Yep.
00:04:42
YeetDOLLA
And so we have to hoard and make sure that we have enough resources to survive that.
00:04:45
Konrad Sauer
Right.
00:04:46
YeetDOLLA
So I don't think it's just Western culture, but it is very prevalent in Western culture. But what are those things that you. Remove like ah you're saving up time from not spending it on growing your business to do other things.
00:05:01
YeetDOLLA
So what are some of those other things?
00:05:03
Konrad Sauer
Uh, they are road trips.
00:05:05
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:05:05
Konrad Sauer
They are, um, time with friends is a huge one. Like, you know, there's lots of times where I'll, uh, you know, to kind of drop stuff and do, do something with somebody else.
00:05:17
Konrad Sauer
Another project helps somebody else help somebody learn how to do something because I have that time.
00:05:21
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:05:23
Konrad Sauer
I also really enjoy my customers. I genuinely do. And so to be able to get to know them better, um, has been a huge component of what I enjoy out of it.
00:05:35
YeetDOLLA
So none of those are financial pursuits, right? Those are, those are life pursuits and in meaningful relationships.
00:05:39
Konrad Sauer
No. Yup. Yup.
00:05:43
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:05:44
Konrad Sauer
Yeah. And to me that, I mean, what, what the fuck else are we doing? Any of this?
00:05:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I love it.
00:05:49
Konrad Sauer
I mean, really, I really like we, we have, you know, we all have, um,
00:05:50
YeetDOLLA
Well, so, so I.
Eric on Work-Life Balance and Flexibility
00:05:55
Konrad Sauer
You know, we all want to check certain boxes and I absolutely love design. I love making things. I do love all of that, but I do. I also love all of the other stuff, you know, doing more art, art focused work.
00:06:04
YeetDOLLA
Yeah. Hmm.
00:06:08
Konrad Sauer
You know, that's completely unrelated to furniture making or plain making or just for my own enjoyment.
00:06:17
YeetDOLLA
So I'm curious um what your work-life balance looks like from a scheduling perspective. And the reason I ask that is like i I feel very similar. I think it's going to be no so surprise to anybody listening that the three of us are kind of like-minded in this regard of trying to find the proper life balance. um I love what I do. I do it consistently. I do it a lot.
00:06:43
YeetDOLLA
and um I think it's perceived as even more than it is because similar to you, like I'll take a couple hours in the middle of the day and go get coffee with a friend.
00:06:54
YeetDOLLA
I'll go get breakfast with somebody all, you know, I, I fly over to Europe to visit ah the, but my,
00:06:54
Konrad Sauer
Yep, yep.
00:07:01
YeetDOLLA
in fiance now, uh, three, four times a year, you know, like there's, there's all kinds of things that I'm doing outside of work.
00:07:05
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, yeah.
00:07:09
YeetDOLLA
But consequently, what happens is I'm constantly working weird hours and long days to kind of balance those two things out.
00:07:14
Konrad Sauer
Sure.
00:07:17
YeetDOLLA
So people like it's perceived that I'm kind of a workaholic, which I don't think would be entirely unfair, but it like it's balanced out by those other things.
00:07:28
YeetDOLLA
So what does that look like for you?
00:07:29
Konrad Sauer
Yeah similarly like I'm often waking up like in the last several months I've been getting up pretty early in the morning because I can't shut my brain off.
00:07:37
YeetDOLLA
Mmm.
00:07:38
Konrad Sauer
So wake up but it's all it's all stuff that I'm enjoying doing.
00:07:42
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:07:42
Konrad Sauer
It's you know an upcoming traveling, upcoming teaching, um you know some work stuff, some renovation stuff, some road trip stuff, some vacation stuff.
00:07:54
Konrad Sauer
And so it's just all these little, all these elements. And so I just, I can't fall back asleep, just get out of bed.
00:07:58
YeetDOLLA
Mmm.
00:07:59
Konrad Sauer
And I, you guys mentioned actually mentioned that in a previous podcast and I was laughing my butt off because I could totally relate to that. Like just.
00:08:07
YeetDOLLA
it's i was just I was just having this conversation with Sarah the other day because I laid ah New Year's Eve. I decided to lay a new kitchen floor and we were hosting a party like like seven hours later.
00:08:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
What a time... Eric, what a... Oh my god!
00:08:19
Konrad Sauer
but Yeah.
00:08:20
YeetDOLLA
But here's the thing, I got it done. Right? Like it wasn't an issue.
00:08:23
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:08:24
YeetDOLLA
But consequently, because that happened, and I had all this extra flooring immediately, my brain went, Oh, well, now I got to do the flooring in the other room. And the first room I thought of was the guest room or my office where I'm sitting now.
00:08:36
YeetDOLLA
So literally yesterday or or two days ago, she's flying out at like three o'clock in the afternoon. And I'm sitting there sketching up patterns in CAD trying to figure out what like,
00:08:48
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, yeah, totally.
00:08:48
YeetDOLLA
positioning of boards. I like because I can't shut it off.
00:08:51
Konrad Sauer
Yep, exactly.
00:08:51
YeetDOLLA
And she's she's gracious enough where she was just like, I know you can't shut it off. So like we can just sit here and do this together.
00:08:58
Konrad Sauer
Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very, very similar. Like it's, you know, there've been times where, you know, Jill will find little pieces of paper all over the house where I've done little sketches or doodles, like the facts of bank statements, like you name it, like a cereal, like even a cereal box, because you, you just have to record or I just have to record
00:09:10
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:09:16
Konrad Sauer
either by word or by drawing, whatever the idea was or a list or or anything, just documented somehow. um and And I think that that does that really does free up the time that I want.
Continuous Achievement vs. Fulfillment
00:09:31
Konrad Sauer
It it does make me, ah seen a similarly, I seem like I'm busy all the time, but a lot of it is just really joyful, busy.
00:09:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's Yes, I was gonna as conrad i was going to say that you're you're choosing to do things that fill you up, ah like from an emotional like, yeah, you're not just chasing the dollar.
00:09:41
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, yeah.
00:09:46
Konrad Sauer
ah Yeah, absolutely.
00:09:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And chasing the dollar, you you talked about that, Eric, earlier, I do feel like that's baked in us in a capitalist way from the time we're born ah here. I feel like that's been my whole life experience.
00:10:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And it, ah for me, it was always like, Yeah if you do this you can do that and if you do this you can like if you if you do one high school you go to college you do well in college you'll get in the grad school you did well in grad school you can you know you have this this this degree and if you get a good degree you get a good job and you make all this money you do this and you do and every time i would achieve the next thing. I felt.
00:10:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, I wouldn't say empty, but yeah, kind of empty, like nothing changed. I'm the same person I was yesterday, but apparently now I'm Dr. Jasper instead of Paul, you know? and like But you know like you don't feel different and and all these things, and and you just chase one to the next to the next, achieve, achieve, achieve more, and more, more. And I just noticed I never felt different. And it felt a little hollow in a way. Now,
00:10:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's not to say it didn't set me up for a great life because obviously, you know, the further you specialize, the more money you can make in your specific occupation, which then frees you up to some degree, right? Because like, if you don't have enough money to make ends meet,
00:11:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
this this conversation is a moot point, right?
00:11:12
Konrad Sauer
Sure.
00:11:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You have to you have to like, yeah, I don't mean to make light of money in that, like, you have to have your basis covered, right before you think about, you know, some of these points.
00:11:12
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, absolutely.
00:11:18
Konrad Sauer
Right.
00:11:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But ah it took It took, I think, when turning 40 and my parents dying to realize the whole time piece, Conrad. Like, it just seemed when I was younger, forever, there was always gonna be enough time.
00:11:31
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:11:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like, the party never ends, right?
00:11:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We just like, it but the party did end.
00:11:39
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:11:42
Konrad Sauer
that that clock is That clock is ticking.
00:11:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You know, twice. Yeah. Yeah. And when I was 40, I became ah keenly aware of the clock.
00:11:51
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, yeah.
00:11:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And now I'm 50 and I'm even more aware of the clock.
00:11:57
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:11:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So over the last decade, just like you said, I've made a very, very concentrated effort to get off that sort of treadmill that, you know, ah I guess, capitalist treadmill in in some ways, I'm still like, I'm not completely off it.
00:12:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I mean, I still work in a, you know, a big pharmaceutical sector. And I, you know, yeah I love my job, I do. But I guess I don't chase that, like, I don't hop positions every two years for more and more and more and more.
00:12:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm just like, so happy with the job I have. And I do it well for the hours I do it. And it's just balance is everything to me.
00:12:38
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, and it it affords you then the time to pursue other things that are meaningful for you and accomplish everything else that you needed to accomplish.
Recognizing Financial 'Enough'
00:12:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So how did, like, so becoming comfortable with the idea that I have enough money. I'm good. Like I can afford my bills. I can afford groceries. I can pay, you know, my mortgage or my rent. um And I don't need more money. I need more time. That to me is a very difficult transition for a lot of people.
00:13:06
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:13:06
YeetDOLLA
Well, yeah.
00:13:07
YeetDOLLA
How do you decide that you have enough money? Like this is coming back to the the psychology of the thing, right? First and foremost, like we.
00:13:15
YeetDOLLA
the old hunter-gatherers that are deep in our DNA, like the reason you go hunt big game is because that'll last a couple of days.
00:13:23
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, more bang for your buck.
00:13:24
YeetDOLLA
And that way, yeah, you can you can take tomorrow off, but you know, as soon as you kill that thing, you only have so many hours or meals out of that. So you're already thinking about the next thing.
00:13:34
YeetDOLLA
So that treadmill, and I'm not saying that you're wrong in any way about the the capitalistic treadmill, but I wonder how much of the feeling of the,
00:13:34
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:13:43
YeetDOLLA
the ah Uselessness is not the right word, but but the the troubling nature of that treadmill is that it was forced upon you versus you recognized that you have to do the thing in order to survive tomorrow.
00:13:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Like baked into our DNA through evolution. I mean, I think there's, there's, there's truth to that, Eric.
00:14:00
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:14:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I mean, our, our, our neural, like our, you know, our, our mental state did not ah occur in a vacuum.
00:14:03
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:14:09
YeetDOLLA
rights.
00:14:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right.
00:14:09
YeetDOLLA
Right. And but but so the other side of that is also like that's that's the deep DNA thing.
00:14:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So.
00:14:15
YeetDOLLA
That's that's the what is it nature versus nurture? That's the nature side of it. But the nurture side of it also plays a major role.
00:14:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Correct.
00:14:21
YeetDOLLA
Like if you did not grow up with the resources and you you came up in an unstable situation, you just it, it is
00:14:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm-hmm.
00:14:32
YeetDOLLA
I don't, I don't know the science, but I would imagine that it is exponentially more difficult to get to a place in life where you feel like you have enough because you have the experience of knowing how quickly it can dissipate.
00:14:43
YeetDOLLA
And so your instinct, your learned instinct is to continue to grow so that when the thing happens, you have enough resources available to weather it, but you never feel like you have enough to weather the thing.
00:14:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Right.
00:14:57
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:14:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:14:58
Konrad Sauer
That, that actually, no, that, that reminds me of my, actually my father, my late father-in-law who grew up very, very poor.
00:14:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And it. Good.
00:15:06
Konrad Sauer
He was literally born on the kitchen table. He was, you know, one kid of 10, um, had to quit school when he was in grade 10 because his dad had a farming accident and he had to manage the farm.
00:15:18
Konrad Sauer
And he became really successful in business and he grew a really large business. And the next step for him was global.
00:15:26
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:15:28
Konrad Sauer
And he didn't do it. He had, he, and I remember at the time I didn't quite understand what he was demonstrating, but it was the idea of when is enough enough or what is enough.
00:15:30
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:15:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And what, Conrad, what did he do at that point?
00:15:40
Konrad Sauer
And he, well, he, I mean, i I remember him saying like he, I don't know how many employees he had, but he had the number of employees he had was not so big that he, he took every employee out for, out for lunch every year.
00:15:57
Konrad Sauer
Got to know them a little bit, knew them all by name. And that that's what he how he wanted to operate. And he knew that the next step would kill all of that. And for him, it was enough.
00:16:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:16:08
Konrad Sauer
He said, to what end? Like, what? I have more than enough money. i do i did I did better than I ever thought I would have. And all that's going to happen if I grow is I'm just assuming more risk.
00:16:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:16:21
Konrad Sauer
And i lose I lose that connection with my employees.
00:16:21
YeetDOLLA
yeah
00:16:24
Konrad Sauer
And he really, really valued that. and so he he sold it and at the time I didn't really I didn't really get how profound that was but in hindsight now I really I wish I would have had a chance or taken the time to talk with him more about what what informed that for him but I suspect he grew up partly because he grew up poor and he you know they probably did find some moments of comfort when they didn't have much but they were content they were fed
00:16:29
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:16:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Wow.
00:16:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So Eric, I know you know through our friendship that you didn't grow up in the lap of luxury or so a silver spoon in your mouth.
00:17:03
YeetDOLLA
Sure.
00:17:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So you know I guess can you explain how that background plays into your taking time off every year.
00:17:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I noticed like you always take these extended trips off and I'm so jealous. Like i you like card trip it and you tend and this is the most beautiful road trip and you're like, fuck it, I'm not working.
Value of Extended Breaks and Work-Life Balance
00:17:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I know I could make more money.
00:17:30
YeetDOLLA
Well...
00:17:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I know I could work these weeks, but see ya, bye everyone. So how does that, how how did you manage your upbringing with with your your ability to to balance?
00:17:33
YeetDOLLA
It's.
00:17:40
YeetDOLLA
Well, that that specific extended break really came out of teaching. like That was having those summers off and recognizing the value of extended time off.
00:17:47
Konrad Sauer
Hmm.
00:17:51
YeetDOLLA
um That's where I learned that. So that was not a thing that I decided to do. It was a thing that I had the the luxury, for lack of a better word, to experience. And I went, holy shit is this valuable because I'm so much better on the other side of it.
00:18:05
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:18:05
YeetDOLLA
And also over the years, like learning the value of silence and and the space for reflection helps to direct the next moves because so much of my life from the time I was 14 to, you know, the time I was in my early thirties, it was, it was pure survival instinct. And it was you, you take the next step that's in front of you and then you juke left and you go down that road for a little while and you keep your head on a swivel and you fucking figure out how to survive. And, um,
00:18:36
YeetDOLLA
the The teaching job was really the first stable like adult job that I got at 29.
00:18:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm.
00:18:45
YeetDOLLA
All of the other ones, they were they were all building toward being a furniture maker, but I don't know how it was going to ah um culminate in that. So I think for the first time in my adult life having ah stable, predictable income and having the time off from extended breaks and summer breaks to also continue to build my word woodworking portfolio and build that path.
00:19:13
YeetDOLLA
uh enabled me to take time off and now it gets to a point where I realized that for um well before I met Sarah for 11 months a year I was hustling and grinding and doing the things I needed to do because that instinct is still very much in me um and then recognizing that I need the time to balance that out.
00:19:33
YeetDOLLA
um so So forcing myself to take an extended break and giving myself the the space and the grace to um think about what I want my future to be so that I can direct it intentionally toward that goal.
00:19:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
How's your balance right now?
00:19:50
Konrad Sauer
ah That's fantastic.
00:19:51
YeetDOLLA
How's
Impact of Relationships on Balance
00:19:52
YeetDOLLA
my balance right now?
00:19:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
How's your balance right now? Is it the best of your life or is it backslid as you've gotten more traction in some of your endeavors? Where where are you now?
00:20:00
YeetDOLLA
It's it's it's my life is busy for sure. um But I think it feels bad. I recognize now that there are moments where like, I just don't have it.
00:20:13
YeetDOLLA
And it's okay to take a minute. You know, like there are times where I'm just like, I don't know what the fuck I'm about to do.
00:20:15
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:20:19
YeetDOLLA
I don't know how to approach it. I don't I don't feel um enthralled by the design. And so maybe I take a week or two and I make something else and I just play around and I kind of slow down for a second, take a deep breath, and then I can get into the bigger things and ah push forward and hopefully find a direction. So I think the balance is pretty good. um But it's also been interesting.
00:20:45
YeetDOLLA
noticing how my balance has shifted being in a serious relationship for the last almost three years now. Because that adds another component of it, right?
00:20:55
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:20:55
YeetDOLLA
When you're just, when you're flying solo, like your balance is whatever the fuck you want it to be, dog. You know, you're like, it's 1am and I want to drink whiskey and do woodworking? Bet, let's go.
00:21:05
Konrad Sauer
Yeah. yeah do you Do you find that um when you return from those breaks, even if it's a short break, but that the um the work that you do
00:21:05
YeetDOLLA
ah but But life changes and shifts, man.
00:21:20
Konrad Sauer
comes quicker, it's clear it's clearer, it's of a better quality, because my suspicion is that that but seems to be the pattern that often happens, is that you're taking time off, which is like, that freaks everybody out, because it's like, I'm away from work, I'm away from work.
00:21:33
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:21:39
Konrad Sauer
But then when you return to work, because you've been rejuvenated, it's you hit the ground running, and your brain, your mind is clear, the quality of the work is better.
00:21:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm. Hmm.
00:21:50
Konrad Sauer
and
00:21:50
YeetDOLLA
i I think that's a thing to note, like that's an important um almost reversal of the mindset of of people who go on vacation, right? So often people are so sad to leave vacation.
00:22:02
YeetDOLLA
But if you stayed on vacation for the rest of your life, you'd be fucking bored, man.
00:22:06
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, you totally.
00:22:06
YeetDOLLA
Like that the reason to take time off is so that when you return and get back to the work that you actually do that you care about, whether it's your profession or or raising kids or whatever the fuck it is, the reason to take time off is the clarity of mind when you return.
00:22:23
YeetDOLLA
And so I don't know, I don't know that the quality of work, or at least I hope that the quality of work stays, you know, reasonably um consistent.
00:22:23
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:22:32
Konrad Sauer
No, but it probably it probably comes quicker, though. like That's my guess.
00:22:35
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, i I think that the the clarity of why I do what I do and why I care about it and why it's meaningful to me at least, that is rejuvenated by the time away.
00:22:36
Konrad Sauer
and
00:22:47
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:22:47
YeetDOLLA
Like every time I take time away, I'm reminded how much I still fucking love making things out of wood, like in ah an irrational amount.
00:22:52
Konrad Sauer
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
00:22:55
YeetDOLLA
And so have, you know, it's like, it's absence makes the heart grow fonder. And, and coming back to it, then you have that rejuvenation of like, I'm back and maybe I've had time away to separate from the thing and now I can see it for what it is rather than what I was wanting it to be, et cetera, et cetera.
00:22:59
Konrad Sauer
yeah
00:23:14
Konrad Sauer
Yeah,
00:23:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i Go ahead,
Creative Breakthroughs and Problem-Solving
00:23:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Conrad. Do you have another question?
00:23:17
Konrad Sauer
yeah no, I found that I think the other component that is probably at play is um we're all involved in a creative, a creative endeavor. And I think that that mental shift, I think the creative wheels are always turning, but being away from the thing that is occupying our time when we're in the shop,
00:23:37
Konrad Sauer
different parts of your brain or at least my brain start activating and you're kind of problem solving, but it's not in the foreground anymore. It's kind of in the background, but it's still working.
00:23:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:23:47
Konrad Sauer
And with those other things that are other interests that you're actively involved in, I think there's a really positive benefit to that whole creative approach and that whole method of
00:23:58
YeetDOLLA
100%. There was I can't remember who it was. um But I was reading an article on one of like the the ad guys in the 60s. I do know it was the guy who invented the like the famous VW beetle slogan of like think small.
00:24:14
YeetDOLLA
And that was a super famous ad. um But his whole approach was, I have to learn the thing inside and out. I have to know everything about what I have to accomplish with this thing. And when I can't get there, I just walk away from it.
00:24:27
YeetDOLLA
And I go pour myself a glass of wine and I don't think about it. And it is that that background processing action.
00:24:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:24:31
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:24:32
YeetDOLLA
And he was like, invariably, that's when the best ideas come.
00:24:35
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:24:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You know, it's, it's, it's remarkable. I get a fatigued over like design eventually. Like let's say you're in the shop, you're working on something, you're banging your head again. it You just can't quite figure it out. You can't come up with a good solution. You hate everything.
00:24:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
and you're so frustrated, right? And you just walk away from it for a day and you come back and the idea just flows out of you effortlessly the next day. And you're like, why was I so fucking dumb the day before?
00:25:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
what Why was this so difficult?
00:25:02
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:25:02
YeetDOLLA
Well, but this this phenomenon and this has nothing to do with what is enough or not. But but we can get back to that. But this phenomenon is why I work the way I work, which is I have a skeleton and then I'll figure it out as I go. Like I was trying to figure out I want to do some kind of inlay on the floor in here just to play with it because I've never done that. And I was like, I thought of a dozen, two dozen different ideas. And I was like, none of this fucking works.
00:25:28
YeetDOLLA
And then you know what I decided to do start painting the wall, start tearing up the carpet and I'll start laying floor. And then that is kind of when I put that thought in the background.
00:25:35
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:25:37
YeetDOLLA
So the doing of the thing allows the time for the background processing.
00:25:39
Konrad Sauer
Right. Right. Right. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.
00:25:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, we may not be talking about enough, Eric. I mean, and that's that's cool that that worked out that way. We're not talking about enough, but we are talking about balance. And the the balance conversation came out of not chasing the dollar exclusively, leaving time for yourself, leaving time to percolate, leaving time for creativity.
00:25:52
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:25:54
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:25:57
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, yeah.
00:26:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So, I mean, it's intimately related. And I guess maybe a listener might think, I don't know, listeners, are you thinking this? Why don't you tell me? ah um How do I know what's enough?
00:26:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Because I've seen so many people not ever find that point. They lived their whole life a gathering resource to the exclusion of fun, time with friends, family, gather, gather, gather, and they die with this huge lump of money in the bank because
00:26:20
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:26:26
YeetDOLLA
yeah
00:26:32
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Death comes sooner than they expect. They think, oh, I'm going to live to 100. It's going to be wonderful. I'm going to start spending my money. But after 70 years of saving your money, news flash, you're not going to have a mental shift where suddenly you want to spend money or not much.
00:26:41
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:26:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You might have a 10% shift, but you're not going to go from a saver to a big time spender.
00:26:47
Konrad Sauer
Right, right.
00:26:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
People don't change that drastically, typically. Okay, typically, maybe some of you out there do, but
Mindset: Abundance vs. Scarcity
00:27:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah you know, and so, so I've seen this time and time again, and this bears on the number two most common regret of dying people, which is I wish I hadn't worked so hard.
00:27:00
YeetDOLLA
so
00:27:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And that's the number four regret. I wish I had spent more time with my friends and family. So all of this together makes perfect sense to me that you have to identify cut, draw a rectangle around enough.
00:27:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like, like Conrad said, like I make enough money year over year, and I'm happy with that. What I want is more time with my friends. more time with my family, more time with myself to to pursue creative endeavors.
00:27:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so now the question becomes, how does one identify what is enough?
00:27:37
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:27:37
YeetDOLLA
So that that was going to be my question. How do you, I'm asking both of you in real terms, in numbers, how do you define what is enough?
00:27:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
00:27:48
YeetDOLLA
Cause I had very specific parameters when I started my career.
00:27:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, you start, go go for it.
00:27:53
YeetDOLLA
Like I knew what I, well, what i what I wanted to do was to be able to pay my bills for six months in case something happened. That was it.
00:28:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I like that.
00:28:01
YeetDOLLA
That was all I had. And then as time goes by and like career progresses and and now I'm at a point where I'm almost at a year's salary in the bank. And that is the thing where I'm like, after that, I don't give a fuck anymore.
00:28:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Great.
00:28:15
YeetDOLLA
Like I have enough.
00:28:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:28:17
YeetDOLLA
Right? So it's a very simple parameter of like, Hey, if some shit happens, whatever the thing is, I'd fucking cut my hand off and I have to do PT and I can't make YouTube videos or objects for for six months.
00:28:19
Konrad Sauer
Right,
00:28:30
YeetDOLLA
I can survive. That's enough for me because I know that I can on the, on the other side.
00:28:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's a new YouTube for you, Eric.
00:28:35
YeetDOLLA
Yeah. that Well, that's the one armed man, baby.
00:28:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
The one-handed woodworker! The one-armed bandit!
00:28:42
YeetDOLLA
okay
00:28:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sorry, it was such a...
00:28:45
YeetDOLLA
but that
00:28:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It was such a nice point you were making, and I completely fucking ruined it.
00:28:52
YeetDOLLA
No, it's fine, dick. It's cool.
00:28:56
YeetDOLLA
No, but that is that is I think that gave me a ah hard goal that I could aim toward. And then even and like not even having gotten there yet nearing that goal, I already feel like, oh, OK, like I have enough.
00:29:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:29:11
YeetDOLLA
And and I know like I have a number of friends who um have YouTube channels that are much, much larger than mine. And I think I can intuit pretty easily that they make much, much more money than I do.
00:29:25
YeetDOLLA
And they're constantly stressed out about how did the last video do? How did like what's going to happen next? Because the thought is the second it ebbs, it's over rather than the normal cycle of just things ebb and flow.
00:29:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay, Eric.
00:29:37
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. So that, yeah, no, I was going to say like, you know, I'm, I'm able to recognize enough having made claims for now 25 years and four days as a professional livelihood.
00:29:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
That's a scarcity mindset versus an abundance mindset.
00:29:41
YeetDOLLA
100 100%
00:29:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Go ahead, Conrad. Go ahead.
00:29:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Conrad, that's kind of weird.
00:29:56
YeetDOLLA
Mazel tov, my man.
00:29:58
Konrad Sauer
So, but but it took a, it took a long time to get comfortable with, with that, you know, not being freaked out about so It slows down a little bit thinking, oh my God, is this the beginning of the end?
00:30:08
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:30:10
Konrad Sauer
I mean, you know, being a furniture maker is a tough gig.
00:30:10
YeetDOLLA
Yep.
00:30:13
Konrad Sauer
Being a plane maker is really, that's obscure.
00:30:15
YeetDOLLA
Sure. Sure.
00:30:17
Konrad Sauer
And it's kind of bananas when I think back to it. So it took a long time to get over that fear.
00:30:23
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:30:24
Konrad Sauer
And then it was, now it's turned into, okay, you know, it slowed down a little bit. but Great. I'm going to take that. That's going to afford me some more time.
00:30:31
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:30:31
Konrad Sauer
So it's I think it's just the year after year after year after year of knowing that there are cycles to things, there's ebbs and flows to things, but on whole, its it has always worked out.
00:30:44
YeetDOLLA
So is it this is where I think perhaps the Western capitalistic mindset of growth quarter over quarter becomes um very, very toxic.
00:30:55
Konrad Sauer
Hmm.
00:30:56
YeetDOLLA
And that I do think is is more of a Western thing.
00:30:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm.
00:30:59
YeetDOLLA
um I have said many a time that I find it very humorous that we constantly harp on like it has to grow, it has to get bigger in any retraction in the scale of the thing is a sign of doom.
00:31:16
YeetDOLLA
When we also recognize in the same hand, maybe our biggest fear as an American society is getting cancer. And that's literally the definition of cancer is an unchecked growth, right?
00:31:23
Konrad Sauer
Right. Right. Right.
00:31:27
YeetDOLLA
But we don't we don't see it the same for some reason.
00:31:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, Eric.
00:31:28
Konrad Sauer
Wow. Wow.
00:31:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, Eric.
00:31:30
YeetDOLLA
You're welcome, gentlemen. That's my one good one for the night.
00:31:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
The stinger.
00:31:33
Konrad Sauer
Cheers.
00:31:35
YeetDOLLA
But I do. I think it's odd that we don't recognize the ebbs and flows of just kind of the life cycle, right? Like you this this could be the best year you've had.
00:31:43
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, sure.
00:31:46
YeetDOLLA
And then next year retracts by 10%. That doesn't mean that you're now a popper.
00:31:49
Konrad Sauer
Right.
00:31:51
YeetDOLLA
That just means that like, who there's any number of reasons that could have happened.
00:31:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No.
00:31:55
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:31:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's all based on your mentality. It's like, ah do you have a scarcity mentality or an abundance mentality?
00:31:57
YeetDOLLA
Right.
00:32:01
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Those are the two extremes. And then there's, all of course, everything in between. The scarcity mentality says, I'm never gonna have enough. What if this dries out? What if the customers are gone?
00:32:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
What if I run out of money?
00:32:12
YeetDOLLA
Mmhmm.
00:32:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
What if I get cancer? What if I can't get the treatment? What if, what if, what if? And it's like fear and anxiety. And I understand, I'm not judging. I understand, because all of us experience those.
00:32:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Of course. And then there's the abundance mentality, Eric, which you kind of talked about, which is like, I'm good. I have enough. I can pay my bills. I'm still able bodied. And, you know, even if something even if I become one arm Jack and and and Conrad and Conrad fashions me a hook next time he pours.
00:32:44
YeetDOLLA
That would be the sexiest fucking hook.
00:32:45
Konrad Sauer
I will i get a i'll make you a rosewood hook, baby.
00:32:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Next time he pours, uh, you know, uh, brass or or whatever to make your belt buckles, Conrad, you gotta make Eric a fucking hook, right?
00:32:57
Konrad Sauer
ah
00:32:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Um, yeah you know, even if that happens, like I'll figure it out, it's going to be okay.
00:33:05
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:33:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I have a year in front of me. i have i'm I'm just happy to be healthy, alive and have a year of comfort ahead of me. That's the abundance mentality and I have appreciation and gratitude for that.
00:33:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So where on that spectrum are you? And I have friends all distributed all over that spectrum. I have friends who will never have enough and they work like dogs and they suffer.
00:33:27
YeetDOLLA
Sure.
00:33:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And they think the suffering is admirable. Or that that's a great idea. And like, what, what, what if, what if they and they say, Paul, what if this? And I'm like, yeah, what if, I don't know. What if, what if you died tomorrow?
00:33:40
Konrad Sauer
like Right, right.
00:33:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like, what if, I don't know. All I know is that for me, Eric, I'm kind of similar to you is like, when I had, like I was a good, in in a good place with my house.
Defining Financial 'Enough' and Life's Uncertainties
00:33:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And like, because shelter's important. So you have to know, like, you're in a comfortable position with your housing, right? To me, that's important, at least for me. And like, sure, you can pay your yourros at least you can pay your bills for at least a year, let's say. And, you know, plus I have my wife, you know, having two people is awesome because it gives you a little bit of a buffer should the shit hit the fan ah for either of you. And, uh, I don't know.
00:34:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
we You know, you could take a vacation or two a year, you can buy the food you need or the food you want. To me, that's all I really care about. Like time with friends, family's comfortable, you're not going to get thrown out on the street and you have food to eat. To me, like that, in a rough sense, defines enough.
00:34:39
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:34:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah is Is it great to have a little buffer outside that? Sure, no problem. But am I willing to give up so much of the other things I love, like working in time with friends to get more of a buffer? I don't think I am.
00:34:52
YeetDOLLA
So the abundance mindset, ironically enough. requires like the, the understanding that things ebb and flow and that some years will be a little lesser than, but it'll bounce back necessitates that you have some savings, some something, some abundance from which to draw in the slower times.
00:35:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sure.
00:35:15
YeetDOLLA
Right.
00:35:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Sure.
00:35:16
YeetDOLLA
So then the question is how much is enough to weather those things?
00:35:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yep.
00:35:20
YeetDOLLA
And is the, like, I, I think my generation, the current. sociopolitical state of America, the current economic state of America, this is the first time we've really experienced this type of um unsettling, this type of things, it just feels in our gut, like things aren't quite right.
00:35:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:35:43
YeetDOLLA
And and that's inevitable, right? Like societies have been flow societies have those same kind of life cycles as everything else. Um, so the, the, I guess, I guess I want to have some sympathy for the people who have that mindset of more and more and more collect, collect, collect, because when the shit does inevitably hit the fan, what happens is they go, see, I was right.
00:36:07
YeetDOLLA
Like it is all going to fall apart and now I'm justified in my hoarding. So how do we.
00:36:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
has Has that happened?
00:36:14
YeetDOLLA
Well, not yet, because we have. And I'm not saying i'm not that wasn't like a that sounded more ominous than I meant it to be.
00:36:18
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I mean the last time that happened was the... yeah I mean the last time that happened was the Great Depression. I don't know, it's been a while.
00:36:24
YeetDOLLA
Sure. but what with that But that's what I'm saying.
00:36:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah ah
00:36:26
YeetDOLLA
like i these like Everything ebbs and flows on a bigger scale, on a smaller scale.
00:36:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
00:36:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:36:32
YeetDOLLA
And like the the person who um enjoys the suffering of the collection, like that is not a new thing. the Were they the ascetics, ah like the old religious sects that would punish themselves because they thought like the punishment is what led to salvation.
00:36:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:36:52
YeetDOLLA
Like these are all kind of baked in psychology. So how we navigate all of these things for us in a healthy balance might not be chemically possible for another person, I suppose is what I'm saying.
00:36:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:37:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Fair, yeah, I take that.
When is Art and Craft 'Enough'?
00:37:04
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So let me switch gears a little bit. We've been talking about enough in terms of money and for us and like, how do you define enough? And Conrad and Eric, your answers, like, were super interesting about what, you know, how do you draw a box around enough and and what are you willing to give it out of your life and what are you what do you save for for for the rest of you and your friends is great, really interesting. Taking ah the concept of enough into craft or art, I think was an interesting spin, we talked about it.
00:37:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
a little bit, um, the concept of enough in your work, ah you know, it's kind of, a um, I don't know.
00:37:36
YeetDOLLA
Mmm.
00:37:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like I was thinking when you're making something, how do you know if it's good enough? How do you know if you added enough shit or enough decoration?
00:37:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Like, like, is it, is it fancy enough? Like, is it good enough? Is it enough?
00:37:55
YeetDOLLA
here's it here's Here's the short answer.
00:37:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
How, how about that?
00:37:57
YeetDOLLA
You you don't know. like You just don't, especially at first. right the The hardest thing to learn in the beginning is if a thing is good.
00:38:08
YeetDOLLA
And like there's no way around that. like You're just going to make a lot of bad shit. And then sometimes you're going to accidentally make a good thing, and people are going to give you praise. And then the next thing you make is going to be shit again, and you're going to be really frustrated at the fact that you don't know how the fuck you did it the first time.
00:38:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Conrad, how do you know your planes are good enough, bitch?
00:38:27
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:38:33
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, its that's it. It's a tricky one. I mean, all all joking aside, like, it took it took a number of years of like, you don't know what you don't know. Right.
00:38:43
Konrad Sauer
And I kind of learned how to do it in a bit of a vacuum with, you know, my old friend, my joke friend, Joe Steiner. And we just kind of figured it out. But for a long time, Like I was, I kept waiting for somebody to come along and point something out that I didn't know or that I completely bypass because I just, I just didn't know it.
00:38:43
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:39:06
Konrad Sauer
And it it takes a long time or it took a long time to kind of get over that like years to kind of get over that fear. But you can also learn. I think there are processes that you can go through to learn how to evaluate your own work.
00:39:20
Konrad Sauer
I mean, obvious ones like just looking at what your peers are doing.
00:39:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:39:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:39:24
Konrad Sauer
you know having a group of friends or or colleagues or people that that know you well enough to know your work, why you're doing what you're doing, why you do it the way you do it, that are but won't be afraid to tell you, um I think you're capable of better than that, or have you tried this, or or what it it is.
00:39:42
YeetDOLLA
That's so invaluable.
00:39:45
Konrad Sauer
it It's massive. And so it doesn't need to be a lot of people, but a handful of people that you can rely on for that is
00:39:52
YeetDOLLA
of and And the thing is, is when those people give you positive feedback and tell you that it's good, you then trust and believe them that it is good because they're not going to fucking sugar coat everything.
00:39:52
Konrad Sauer
Really, really helpful.
00:40:01
Konrad Sauer
Absolutely.
00:40:05
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, when when i was in when I was in school, every Friday, we all we had a giant cork board in the studio and it was 30 feet wide and 10 feet high floor to ceiling.
00:40:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:40:15
Konrad Sauer
And every student, we all had to put our work up on this board. And we went through, everybody talked about what why they did what they did. We all had the exact same assignments, and everybody interpreted it differently, and so we had to explain why we did what we did.
00:40:31
Konrad Sauer
And everybody had a chance to critique it. And sometimes, you know in the beginning, everybody would be catty and it'd be stupid, but after a while, you realize, no, i might you know everybody's gonna critique my own work, so I'm not gonna be a jackass, just for the sake of being a jackass.
00:40:46
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:40:47
Konrad Sauer
And every once in a while, somebody would put something up that was really, really good. And everybody just said, that's awesome. And that's it.
00:40:54
YeetDOLLA
yeah
00:40:54
Konrad Sauer
it So you then you knew that exactly what you said, that you really understood that, yeah, OK, that was good work.
00:41:03
YeetDOLLA
Those.
00:41:03
Konrad Sauer
but But going through that process of critiquing effectively, like learning the language of how to speak about another person's work or even your own work, that can be taught.
00:41:03
YeetDOLLA
those
00:41:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:41:14
Konrad Sauer
But it it takes time.
00:41:15
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:41:16
Konrad Sauer
But I would encourage anybody I don't even know what the mechanism is anymore, how how that's being taught or where it's being taught, but it was an invaluable part of um school for me.
Qualifications to Teach or Sell Work
00:41:27
YeetDOLLA
I, I same, I, this is why I had crits when I was teaching. This is why I still have crits at the end of every class I teach, even one week, two week, three day class doesn't matter. We're doing a little crit.
00:41:38
YeetDOLLA
So you can take a look at everybody else's work and understand kind of what people generally think is working and what generally people don't think is.
00:41:40
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:41:47
YeetDOLLA
So you, you at least have that information. You can trust that we're going to give you honest feedback.
00:41:52
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:41:53
YeetDOLLA
Um. For me, it was a very specific moment where um I realized that I was good at what I do. And it was similarly, Yuri, I've i mentioned Yuri Kobayashi a million times on this podcast and on my ah YouTube channel. She has been there since the very beginning of my career. She was one of the earliest teachers when I was at the nine month at CFC. and She's just a bad bitch. And like she will not give you dishonest praise.
00:42:24
Konrad Sauer
Oh, that's perfect.
00:42:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:42:25
YeetDOLLA
And that's why I trust and love Yuri so much.
00:42:27
YeetDOLLA
It's so, so valuable. And so it was this this was last year.
00:42:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:42:32
YeetDOLLA
I was up at CFC, and we were putting pieces in to a show. And she had this this big, beautiful piece that I'd been up there several times over the prior year that I'd seen her kind of working on, stressing about, figuring out how it was going to work.
00:42:48
YeetDOLLA
And she got it done, and we installed it. And um everybody had kind of left and I was just sitting there kind of looking at it and she came in to change something else. And yeah Yuri knows that she's she's one of my mentors, right? And she's she's one of the people I admire the most. And I just kind of like jokingly, casually, I was like, you know, Yuri, I hope one day, one day I'll be as good as you are. And she just very nonchalantly was like, what the fuck are you talking about? You already are.
00:43:18
YeetDOLLA
And it was because Yuri doesn't bullshit, like i still I think about that moment not irregularly, because it it was a really powerful thing of like she's she's not gonna sugarcoat it, she's not gonna lie to me and just like boost my ego.
00:43:19
Konrad Sauer
Wow.
00:43:25
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:43:33
YeetDOLLA
And ah like I've known Yuri for 12, 13, 14 years at this point, and she was like, no, we're equals now. like you're not a student This is not a student-pupil relationship anymore.
00:43:45
YeetDOLLA
That was a really profound moment.
00:43:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, I thought that was gonna go... Eric, I thought that was gonna go another way where she's like, you'll yeah you'll never be as good as me.
00:43:48
YeetDOLLA
The other way, she was like, ah, you'll never get there.
00:43:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Stop dreaming, playboy.
00:43:54
YeetDOLLA
that would have been That would have been so much better a story, though.
00:43:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Stop dreaming, playboy. You'll never be as good as me. So, you know, ah that's good advice for what is enough about your piece, you know, the critique and asking others and comparing, like the last piece um is like, how, how do you know you're good enough to like teach or to sell your shit? I think that's how I get asked that a lot. How do I know if I'm good enough to sell my stuff? Everyone's like.
00:44:23
YeetDOLLA
Does somebody wanna buy it? Then you're good enough to sell it. Like that's, it's a low bar.
00:44:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:44:29
YeetDOLLA
If somebody will give you money for it, then you're good enough to sell the thing. We don't have to, like we we can get so gate keeping about like who's allowed to teach, who's allowed to sell all of these things.
00:44:44
YeetDOLLA
Here's the thing. If you've made a handful of things, you know more than somebody who's never made anything. So you can teach that person a couple of the things you know.
00:44:55
YeetDOLLA
And then some at some point, they're going to be down the road and they'll go, oh, that guy didn't know what the fuck he was talking about. Of course you don't know what the fuck you're talking about. You've made five things. But you know more than that person does at this moment. So that's a valuable conversation to have.
00:45:05
Konrad Sauer
Right, right.
00:45:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:45:07
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm.
00:45:07
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, yeah.
00:45:08
Konrad Sauer
Oh, that's very true.
00:45:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. So don't overcomplicate it. If someone's willing to buy it or if you have something to teach, you don't have to be a 60 year master to teach you are enough. Like after 10 years, let's say you you've made something repeatedly for 10 years.
00:45:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Maybe that's enough. Stop gatekeeping. Stop making the bar unreasonably high to what a teacher can be. I totally agree with those views if you couldn't tell.
00:45:31
Konrad Sauer
yeah yeah yeah
00:45:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Because look, if we hold that bar of like a 60 year professional is the only teacher, someone who's made thousands of pieces, we're not going to have enough teachers to keep this craft alive. Period.
00:45:43
YeetDOLLA
Also, somebody who's been making something for 60 years and has made a career out of that is probably successful enough where they don't have to teach for the money. So the only person that's going to be teaching in that position is somebody who's like retired and just enjoys it.
00:45:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Correct.
00:45:57
YeetDOLLA
So you're going to have two woodworking teachers in the US, like what are we doing?
00:45:58
Konrad Sauer
yeah, yeah
00:46:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right, so before we pivot to our next segment I do want to end up on this idea of appreciation and gratitude because it goes hand in hand with our discussion of the enough so often it you know that Defining enough and not feeling that pull Chasing the belief that I'll be happy when like how many times have you heard
Hedonic Adaptation and Lasting Contentment
00:46:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
that?
00:46:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'll be happy when and when I make more money. I'll be happy when I get my degree. I'll be happy when I'm in this relationship. For some reason, it never brings the expected levels of feel good that you think.
00:46:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And that's because of a hedonic adaptation. Google that term.
00:46:43
YeetDOLLA
Oh, motherfucker, that's a whoo.
00:46:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We didn't have time to get into it today.
00:46:45
Konrad Sauer
Wow.
00:46:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
but But more or less, you know it's the concept that we all have a thermostat in us, a happiness thermostat or a set point. And sure, things will move the needle temporarily. You'll you'll achieve that thing. You'll get that relationship. You'll make that money. And sure, the needle will flex up for a time. And then um you know a week later, a month later, you return back to baseline. And the same is true with bad things. You'll flex down for a while.
00:47:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
when something awful happens but you'll eventually find a way to get back to your set point so that's called hedonic adaptation or the hedonic treadmill and i think that's what prevents us you know that's really what prevents this idea of chasing more more more bringing with it more and more and more happiness. It doesn't work like that. Your brain does not work like that. Feel free to Google that term. There's tons of information about you know how our brain works with with ah reinforcement and motivation. But the point I want to get to is what does bring with it a sense of
00:47:49
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
more permanent, you know, contentedness. I don't want to call, I don't want to say like happiness. Happiness is a tough term.
00:47:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's so vague and it's so individual.
00:47:57
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:47:57
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, i don't I don't like happiness actually.
00:47:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. But let's, let's let's say contentedness. Maybe what brings with it contentedness is the practice. And I call it a practice of appreciation and gratitude.
00:48:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Both of you. Why did I call it a practice?
00:48:13
YeetDOLLA
because Because it takes practice.
00:48:15
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, you it feels weird at first, like it to to to be deliberate about, you know,
00:48:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes, that's it.
00:48:16
YeetDOLLA
It's a consistent thing.
00:48:20
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:48:23
Konrad Sauer
recognizing something you know every day, recognizing something you're grateful for. It feels weird to remind yourself to do that, but it doesn't take long that you start doing it habitually. And what what I found ends up happening is as you recognize all the things that you're grateful for, when I recognize all the things that I'm grateful for, the the achieve, achieve more, more, and more bar actually drops.
00:48:50
YeetDOLLA
Hmm.
00:48:51
Konrad Sauer
because I just don't need it. Like, I'm just realizing, you know what? I actually, I need less than I thought I did. and In some areas, I'm not talking financially, but in all sorts of other areas, like this, some of the shit I used to worry about or obsess about, I mean, I'm in the fuck at fifties.
00:48:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:48:58
YeetDOLLA
Yeah.
00:49:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah.
00:49:08
Konrad Sauer
Like, you know, there's lots of stuff that I just, I can let go.
00:49:10
YeetDOLLA
Same, bro.
00:49:11
Konrad Sauer
I don't need i don't need to, I don't need to worry about it anymore.
00:49:12
YeetDOLLA
Totes.
00:49:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, he's back.
00:49:14
YeetDOLLA
Oh, did we just Oh, okay, he's back.
00:49:17
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Go ahead.
00:49:18
Konrad Sauer
Oh, did I glitch out?
00:49:19
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, you glitched.
00:49:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Well, you went, you went to the fucking fifties and then your computer dropped.
00:49:20
Konrad Sauer
da
00:49:22
YeetDOLLA
You hit 50s.
00:49:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh no.
00:49:26
YeetDOLLA
ah but Oh, there he is.
00:49:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Anyway, at any rate, at any rate, ah Eric, ah what's your gratitude and appreciation approach?
00:49:28
YeetDOLLA
All right, he's back.
00:49:28
Konrad Sauer
Argh!
Practices of Gratitude and Appreciation
00:49:35
YeetDOLLA
Um, I, I, we touched on it earlier of like taking time away so that when I come back, there is the, the recognition, um, of, of how much I love making things because I do, I love.
00:49:50
YeetDOLLA
I love having an idea and trying to express something that um I can't express in words, right?
00:50:00
Konrad Sauer
Mm.
00:50:00
YeetDOLLA
And visuals, objects, these give me an expressive um I don't know, an entity. This it gives me a path to express these things. So I'm the the thing that drives me to keep doing the thing is the thing itself. And I think like to your point about um Paul, sorry, I'm quasi losing my train of thought here. ah To your point about like the hitting the goal is not
00:50:34
YeetDOLLA
as satisfying as we think it should be.
00:50:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mm hmm.
00:50:37
YeetDOLLA
um I constantly set goals for myself because I just enjoy the chasing of the goal. It's like climbing a mountain.
00:50:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
The journey, it's the journey of the goal versus the destination.
00:50:46
YeetDOLLA
Right. Right. So, so for example, at the beginning of this year, I set the goal of hitting a hundred thousand subs and on, on YouTube.
00:50:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yeah.
00:50:55
YeetDOLLA
And, uh, I wasn't sure if I was going to get there and like, I was, I was really, I was thinking about it a lot, maybe the first half of the year. And then I thought I wasn't going to get there.
00:51:05
YeetDOLLA
So the second half of the year, I was just kind of like, whatever. And then I got there, I think on the 30th. So like, you know, by the skin of my teeth. And immediately, like my first thought was, all right, so like, what's the next thing?
00:51:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, that.
00:51:20
YeetDOLLA
Because I didn't I didn't I didn't actually give a shit about hitting 100,000. what I cared about was like it was a thing that I could set like just beyond the horizon to go see what's there.
00:51:32
YeetDOLLA
It's the curiosity of like, can I do it? I don't know. But I wasn't judging my value as a woodworker as a content creator on hitting 100,000.
00:51:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
sure
00:51:41
YeetDOLLA
So so giving myself that thing to aim towards And also knowing ahead of time that the accomplishment is not going to be as satisfying as I once hoped it would be.
00:51:54
YeetDOLLA
Like that allows me to appreciate the the journey of, of, Hey, how do we get there?
00:51:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah I see.
00:51:59
YeetDOLLA
Like what's going to work? What's not, you know?
00:52:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I see. I see. So no, I totally see that. So for me, gratitude and appreciation is a skill. It's a practice and I have to do it every day. I don't always wake up feeling it. In fact, many mornings I don't feel it.
00:52:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You know, you just don't, you're not feeling it. Uh, but then you make that morning coffee and if you train yourself to be like, Wow, that smells amazing.
00:52:20
YeetDOLLA
Hmm It's one of the best fucking smells I don't know why that is Yeah
00:52:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
like You grind that coffee and you're like, holy shit. like that's a like i should yeah i No, I'm just sorry.
00:52:27
Konrad Sauer
It is
00:52:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
like I think it's important you take a moment instead of just blasting through it or to drink it, like just take a few seconds to just be like, I get to stand here and smell these wonderful smells, which is not always the case.
00:52:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
and ah you know like this is a great like This is a great start to a morning. And the more you practice gratitude about these little things in your life, the more it opens your mind to the whole concept of of gratitude and appreciation.
00:53:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I make the coffee, I smell the smells, I get a mug made by one of my good friends, made it with their own hands. And I think about that friend and she, she, um this is a Charelle mud and yarn.
00:53:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
She imprinted leaves on it and I broke the mug and she made me another one.
00:53:15
YeetDOLLA
You son of a bitch.
00:53:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Just like it because I broke it.
00:53:17
YeetDOLLA
Ungrateful bastard.
00:53:19
Konrad Sauer
Wow.
00:53:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And she made me another one. And she imprinted like leaves on it from maple trees and birch trees and oak trees. And I look at the leaves and I think, God damn, I fucking love wood. I love these trees. I love wood. And then I drink that coffee and you just take a moment. And it's just like all day I try to schedule in these moments, if if I'm doing something tedious in the shop.
00:53:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't like, oh, let's blast through this. I just hate this. I take a moment and I'm like, you know what? It's amazing that I get to do this. I don't have any aches or pains in my body. I have a wood shop. This is amazing. And I'm making this for myself. i'm like I'm putting beadboard in my dining room so that when I sit in that dining room and I look around me at a table full of food and friends and family,
00:54:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
we get to do it in an even cooler environment. like like this This room's already pretty good, but like it's even more beautiful, and I'm making that sacrifice right now. Talk about appreciation and gratitude.
00:54:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's like it's like all around, and I feel like you have to practice this throughout the day, and sometimes I'll hit Conrad up for a conversation on this.
00:54:17
YeetDOLLA
this
00:54:23
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
like If I'm not feeling it, sometimes I just text Conrad about shit, and next thing you know, we're in like ah we're like gratitude buddies, and we're having a conversation about it. so like I do think reaching out to friends is huge, right?
00:54:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, you and I wax poetic over whiskey, Conrad.
00:54:36
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:54:37
YeetDOLLA
Yeah? Yeah?
00:54:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
you know So you know you don't have to do it alone. Your friends are great. But if you can practice gratitude and appreciation, I think it'll help you make your decisions about enough.
00:54:49
YeetDOLLA
Well, Ken, I agree with everything you just said. um But can I just, for for anybody listening who might think that practicing gratitude, quote unquote, is corny and like, you know, yada, yada, yada.
Genuine Gratitude Practices
00:55:03
YeetDOLLA
um Anything that you do repetitively will, even if you start doing it ironically, will become habitual eventually, right? Like there's, I,
00:55:13
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:55:15
YeetDOLLA
Sarah makes fun of me now because ah I will start it off by playing this character of like when we're driving around and be like, Oh, this fucking asshole cut me off out is fucking I'm trying to drive you motherfucker.
00:55:25
Konrad Sauer
system
00:55:28
YeetDOLLA
And then all of a sudden I realized I'm just being an asshole on the road at some point without her even in the car. So like it happens the other way around to like if you do the thing, it becomes habitual and then that that infiltrates your mindset.
00:55:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Awesome. awesome
00:55:43
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, yeah, for sure.
00:55:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Great way to sum that up. All right. So we've talked about enough gratitude, appreciation. I think we can stick a pin in that.
Overhand and Machine Tools Debate
00:55:53
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, are we doing second seg or WTB next?
00:55:56
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, let's let's ah jump into the second set real quick. Let's talk about what's the name of it again.
00:55:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. Needless useless tools.
00:56:03
YeetDOLLA
Needless, useless tool.
00:56:05
Konrad Sauer
Ooh.
00:56:06
YeetDOLLA
So let's go from gratitude and feel good to bitching about dumb shit that people have made over the centuries.
00:56:08
Konrad Sauer
Oh.
00:56:13
Konrad Sauer
oh
00:56:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Let's do this.
00:56:14
Konrad Sauer
Oh man.
00:56:16
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Who wants to go first?
00:56:16
YeetDOLLA
All right.
00:56:18
Konrad Sauer
Oh.
00:56:19
YeetDOLLA
K-pop.
00:56:20
Konrad Sauer
Uh, Stanley 112 scraping plane. Oh my God.
00:56:27
YeetDOLLA
That's so niche right off the bat.
00:56:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
kit kind Conrad, can you describe that to our listeners?
00:56:31
Konrad Sauer
Uh, it's, it's.
00:56:36
YeetDOLLA
can we can we Can we get that as a sound drop?
00:56:38
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
00:56:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yes!
00:56:39
Konrad Sauer
Uh,
00:56:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
We're going to open every show, Eric, with Conrad groaning.
00:56:44
YeetDOLLA
ah just oh
00:56:47
Konrad Sauer
ah
00:56:50
Konrad Sauer
Picture a hand plane that is way too wide to be practical and then put a scraping blade into it that you can adjust the angle for.
00:56:57
YeetDOLLA
ah
00:57:00
Konrad Sauer
and I don't know what the blade is, like two and a half inches wide. It is it is it is terrible.
00:57:04
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, that's a fat boy.
00:57:06
Konrad Sauer
It is a non-functional tool, really. like i
00:57:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah ah
00:57:11
Konrad Sauer
I wanted one for years and years and years when I didn't know any better. Finally found it. I was, that was a serious lunchbox letdown, that one. It was, yeah, it was awful.
00:57:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Do all three have a so and one? I do.
00:57:24
YeetDOLLA
No, I don't know one. I own a ah cabinet scraper in number 80, but not the 112.
00:57:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. Well, I always...
00:57:28
Konrad Sauer
Oh, that, yeah, the 112, the 80 actually is, the 80 is actually useful.
00:57:31
YeetDOLLA
Useless. The 80, yeah, 100%.
00:57:35
Konrad Sauer
The, the 112 blows goats.
00:57:35
YeetDOLLA
The 112, honest to Christ, i so I used to work for Lee Nielsen and do the hand tool events.
00:57:37
Konrad Sauer
It's brutal.
00:57:42
YeetDOLLA
And maybe every two, three shows, somebody would come in and ask me to set that up for them. And I would just be like, I don't fucking know how. This tool is useless.
00:57:51
Konrad Sauer
ah Yeah, it's terrible Yeah, no, it's it's yeah it oh Sure, oh yeah Yeah That's true
00:57:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, that's the thing. I always assumed i it didn't perform well because I didn't know how to set it up, right?
00:57:57
YeetDOLLA
No, no, it's just a bad tool.
00:57:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't know. I think we're going to hear from some listeners who will be like, oh, that's the greatest tool ever.
00:58:02
YeetDOLLA
Oh, somebody will say, yeah, I used it under this one specific circumstance, and it was very helpful. But then, hey, Lee Valley came out with a variation where you can tilt the handle. So all is well that ends well, right?
00:58:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. Next up, are we doing hand tools first? Eric, you're up.
00:58:17
YeetDOLLA
Let's say, we'll we'll go hand tools first. um This might be controversial.
00:58:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
00:58:21
YeetDOLLA
ah Dumb useless tools, ah the marking knife. Absolutely fucking useless.
00:58:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
What?
00:58:28
YeetDOLLA
You don't need to buy a flat back marking knife.
00:58:31
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, okay.
00:58:31
YeetDOLLA
You can just use any fucking sharp piece of steel you have in the shop. Stop spending $140 on a fucking Damascus feathered double bevel diamond tip piece of bullshit.
00:58:38
Konrad Sauer
but
00:58:44
YeetDOLLA
just Pick up a fucking box knife or pick up a goddamn plane blade.
00:58:46
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, one of my friends made me a Damascus fucking double. I'm not kidding. I'm not joking. I own one.
00:58:55
YeetDOLLA
I believe you.
00:58:55
Konrad Sauer
feel
00:58:56
YeetDOLLA
Hey, they're pretty. I like them. I like to look at them. But stop spending that much money on a knife and then being like, well, I don't have money for lumber.
00:59:00
Konrad Sauer
Hahahahaha!
00:59:04
YeetDOLLA
Hey, dog, you just.
00:59:05
Konrad Sauer
Hahahahaha!
00:59:05
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, that was 50 fucking board feet of white oak right there.
00:59:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
thank
00:59:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
00:59:11
Konrad Sauer
ah
00:59:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right, well, funny enough, Eric, your answer bears on mine, because I hate the traditional veneer saw.
00:59:13
YeetDOLLA
OK. and okay
00:59:19
YeetDOLLA
Ah.
00:59:19
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
The one with the teeth, you know, and you got to go back and forth a fucking million times to get it to cut, and it never cuts, and it just tears the fucking veneer to shreds.
00:59:22
YeetDOLLA
and
00:59:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You know what I use? A Damascus marking knife, bitch.
00:59:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
00:59:34
Konrad Sauer
I love it.
00:59:34
YeetDOLLA
so So Paul, I want to hear your your ideas on the English style veneersal versus the French style.
00:59:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't know what you're talking about.
00:59:43
YeetDOLLA
Exactly.
00:59:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Because I use a goddamn exacto knife to cut all my veneer and it works amazingly well. So all these fucking veneers, oh yeah, you gotta you gotta get in that man. Fucking 50 passes to get a nice clean edge.
00:59:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm like, wow, you motherfuckers are wasting your time.
01:00:02
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, exacto knife all the way.
01:00:03
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right.
01:00:04
YeetDOLLA
Exacto knife for the win.
01:00:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay. ah Machine edition. Conrad.
01:00:10
Konrad Sauer
Ooh.
01:00:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Or like, no, no, no, keep going, keep going.
01:00:13
Konrad Sauer
No, it's not ah it's not a, machine it's not a machine.
01:00:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
No, no, no. Okay, go ahead, go ahead.
01:00:16
Konrad Sauer
I recently acquired a emar ah very, very rare emerit pattern maker's vice that is that has three jaws to it.
01:00:26
Konrad Sauer
It rotates 360 degrees. It tilts. it's It is the equivalent of the electro cardio flux from the, how the Grinch stole Christmas, that thing that is driving around in the kit and that it is supposed to do everything and it does nothing.
01:00:45
Konrad Sauer
It is, I was so excited about it and I got it. I cleaned it, took it apart, put it back together again. It is too damn heavy to even lift it to use in any practical application.
01:00:55
YeetDOLLA
Oh, Jesus.
01:00:56
Konrad Sauer
The jaws aren't parallel to each other. And because it's round, You can't correct anything. Like, you can't shim it, you can't... Anyway, I... i Yeah, it is an emirate.
01:01:07
YeetDOLLA
It's round? I'm thinking of something entirely different. What's the name of this? Now I got to Google it.
01:01:13
Konrad Sauer
I believe it's a 9A vice. It's ridiculously rare, and the reason it's rare is because nobody bought the damn thing, because it's useless.
01:01:24
Konrad Sauer
It it answered it it looks it looks wicked.
01:01:25
YeetDOLLA
Oh, shit. Okay.
01:01:27
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
It's a pattern maker's vice, yeah.
01:01:28
YeetDOLLA
yeah
01:01:29
Konrad Sauer
The emirate pattern makers vices, the woodworking ones are fantastic.
01:01:34
YeetDOLLA
Interesting.
01:01:34
Konrad Sauer
This thing is a train wreck.
01:01:37
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Wow.
01:01:37
YeetDOLLA
Okay.
01:01:38
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
01:01:38
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
i Conrad, I remember when you told me you got it, and I remember you had wood over that thing, and when it didn't work out, I couldn't believe it.
01:01:38
Konrad Sauer
it It's so, it is so awful.
01:01:44
Konrad Sauer
Oh, major.
01:01:48
Konrad Sauer
I was so pissed off. I was, I was almost offended really at how terrible it was to use. Yeah.
01:01:56
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
all right
01:01:56
YeetDOLLA
That's a bummer, man.
01:01:57
Konrad Sauer
Oh yeah. It was anybody want to buy an emirate?
01:01:59
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
right
01:02:01
YeetDOLLA
Nah, I'm good, man.
01:02:03
Konrad Sauer
Oh, geez.
01:02:04
YeetDOLLA
I'm all set, thanks, champ.
01:02:06
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
um Okay, so I'll go next because I'm pissed off now.
01:02:09
YeetDOLLA
Okay.
01:02:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
01:02:14
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
um My buddy Freddie Roman, who you think your friends are going to protect you from making bad decisions. He's like, yeah, I got this beautiful powermatic scroll saw. And I was like, oh, powermatic, it's got to be good.
01:02:29
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so I bought this piece of shit. And it's like, it's like, you know, it's old. It's it's an old one. And everyone's gonna be I for all you listeners who like Oh, I love my poor medic school so good for you because you got one that's like fully functional.
01:02:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Mine like leaked oil, the foot the foot like what?
01:02:46
Konrad Sauer
Hahaha!
01:02:47
YeetDOLLA
Leaked oil?
01:02:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, like, yeah.
01:02:48
YeetDOLLA
What is this, a fucking piston drive?
01:02:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, it was. Yeah.
01:02:52
YeetDOLLA
Internal combustion router?
01:02:52
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah. Yeah, the whole, the whole bottom of it was an oil chamber and you'd have to fill it with fucking oil and like close it as best you can and it's like leaking oil out the bottom.
01:02:53
YeetDOLLA
What are we doing?
01:03:02
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And you're like, oh, that's quality. And then like your scroll song, right? Like, and like the foot's like all busted up. And you can't get replacement early, I couldn't find it.
01:03:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And so you like make one out of a washer and you fucking file it and like kind of rebuild the foot as best you can. And you're like, oh, it's fine. It just needs a new blade. And ah like I put up with this piece of fucking shit for like three, four years.
01:03:26
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And sure, I got it working. Sure, whatever.
01:03:28
Konrad Sauer
Wow.
01:03:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
But man. selling that thing was like removing an albatross from around my neck and throwing it out to sea. I was so happy to be rid of that fucking scroll saw.
01:03:41
YeetDOLLA
who What poor bastard did you sell that thing to, though?
01:03:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I can't even tell you.
01:03:44
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I don't even know Eric.
01:03:46
Konrad Sauer
Please, please.
01:03:47
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I think I gave it away.
01:03:48
Konrad Sauer
oh
01:03:51
YeetDOLLA
Oh, Christ. All right. um So for the for the last one, should I go old tool that had its use that is now useless and I can't stand when people try to pretend it's useful or a thing that I think is genuinely and deeply useless at its core?
01:04:08
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah Can you do both?
01:04:09
Konrad Sauer
Oh, yeah, do both.
01:04:11
YeetDOLLA
Okay, all right.
01:04:11
Konrad Sauer
like i don't I don't want to decide.
01:04:11
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah
01:04:13
YeetDOLLA
All right.
01:04:13
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm like li um'm licking my chops.
01:04:14
YeetDOLLA
oh I'll give i'll give the the old one first because it's a short one. um The scrub plane. It's fucking useless in the modern workshop. And the only people who haven't used them regularly are douchebags who are gonna tell you you're woodworking wrong.
01:04:30
YeetDOLLA
So that's fine. In the contemporary workshop, the scrub plane has no place. Paul, you look constipated. Are you all right, buddy?
01:04:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Someone, someone gave me a scrub plane not that long ago.
01:04:39
YeetDOLLA
No, no, don't get me wrong. I have a scrub plane. And like for the rare texturing moment, they're fun.
01:04:42
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I do. ah Yeah, mine
01:04:45
YeetDOLLA
But the person who like everybody scrub plane is covered in dust. And the only person who likes to tell people that they use a scrub plane to somebody I don't want to have a conversation about what working with.
01:04:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
is.
01:04:54
Konrad Sauer
Oh, yeah.
01:04:55
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right, Eric, the only time I used a scrub plane was when my drawer bottoms were so big, I couldn't fit them through my planer. And so I had to thickness them down, but I used it once in my life.
01:05:02
YeetDOLLA
Okay.
01:05:05
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, because it's fucking useless. That's that's one.
01:05:09
Konrad Sauer
Plane maker confession time.
01:05:09
YeetDOLLA
The second one.
01:05:11
Konrad Sauer
I have never i have never used a scrub plane because i I understand it theoretically, but I just took a number five.
01:05:12
YeetDOLLA
Oh, yes.
01:05:20
Konrad Sauer
I didn't even radius the blade.
01:05:21
YeetDOLLA
yeah ye Yep.
01:05:21
Konrad Sauer
Just stick the blade out, hog it off that way and clean it up later.
01:05:25
YeetDOLLA
Yep.
01:05:25
Konrad Sauer
A dedicated plane for that made no sense to me.
01:05:28
YeetDOLLA
Yeah, it made it made sense 200 years ago when you had a 14 year old boy fucking flattening one board for eight hours.
01:05:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Now, Eric, Eric.
01:05:31
Konrad Sauer
Yeah.
01:05:36
Konrad Sauer
Right.
01:05:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Eric, you got the buy-in of a preeminent playmaker in the world.
01:05:39
YeetDOLLA
of a
01:05:40
Konrad Sauer
situation Wow.
01:05:40
YeetDOLLA
That's it, man.
01:05:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
So I think you're right.
01:05:42
YeetDOLLA
That's how you know I'm right.
01:05:43
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Yeah, you're right.
01:05:46
YeetDOLLA
All right. The second one, ah the Festool trim router is absolute fucking trash. And here's why. I love a trim router. It is my favorite router. I use it for 90% of the joiner applications that I use a router for. The Festool trim router has a depth travel of maybe two to three mil.
01:06:06
YeetDOLLA
And you cannot make any further adjustments than that. What it's specifically for is trimming ah edge banding off of a plywood top or a melamine top.
01:06:14
Konrad Sauer
Oh.
01:06:16
YeetDOLLA
For that, great. Love it. It's fantastic. If I can't travel a bit, and also like the bit that you have to have has to be less than 5 mil in length, because otherwise it'll just completely bottom out every time.
01:06:24
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Hmm. Hmm.
01:06:29
YeetDOLLA
So you made an entire machine for this one specific application that you can do with 72 other fucking machines. It's absolutely useless.
01:06:40
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Well, there goes Eric's endorsement deal.
01:06:41
Konrad Sauer
Wow, and goes there goes the sponsorship.
01:06:45
YeetDOLLA
Nope, they still love it. It's great. I just hate that machine.
01:06:50
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Speaking of endorsement deals, Eric, I think we should change change topics now.
01:06:52
YeetDOLLA
ah
01:06:55
YeetDOLLA
Okay. All
Discussion on WTB and WCB Woodworking
01:06:56
YeetDOLLA
right. So here in our, in our pre-call about this episode, we were talking about how we were going to approach our ad read for our good buddy, Bill Burkle over at WTB woodworking this week.
01:07:08
YeetDOLLA
And Paul said, Hey, um, I don't know what WTB woodworking still does. And we've done two ad reads for them.
01:07:15
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right, look, look, the dude is like trusting us, right? He's like, yeah, just read my, you know, he's trusting us. And every week we do fuck all about WTB Woodworking.
01:07:25
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
The first the first week it was a Hallmark movie. How do we write?
01:07:31
YeetDOLLA
Still the greatest thing I've ever put on the internet.
01:07:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And Chad and Will wind up together and Marie is home alone. Plot twist, amazing.
01:07:39
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
The second week, the two ladies read it like they were only fans Vixens. And they were asked, we asked them, what is a lamello? And your girl's like Eric, she's like, that sounds like a type of lip balm.
01:07:39
YeetDOLLA
I regret nothing.
01:07:54
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
And my girl thought of,
01:07:55
YeetDOLLA
Vicki said Titebond was the reason that you married her, so.
01:07:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
This is fine. This is true. No, it's not true. um But I just like, I just started wondering like, okay, I know nothing about Bill's business and I'm like being, I'm a total dickhead for not knowing.
01:08:12
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I'm serious. So like, just give me like some serious, I just feel like shit for always like doing these comedy sketches over it.
01:08:21
YeetDOLLA
That is, that's the difference between you and me.
01:08:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Just tell me, just tell me the deal. Tell me the deal.
01:08:24
YeetDOLLA
I regret nothing. ah WCB woodworking is in Pennsylvania. Hold please. ah Huntington Valley, Pennsylvania. So maybe 20 to 30 minutes outside of Philly.
01:08:33
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Correct.
01:08:37
YeetDOLLA
um And it's run by my boy, Bill Burkle. And they have, they're basically I, Bill, I genuinely hope that this isn't an offensive way to describe it. But like, i I feel like it's fair, like if you were to take the benefits of a rockler or a woodcraft, but make it a um ah small business, which is worth supporting, and also the added benefits of services on hand.
01:09:03
YeetDOLLA
So not just retailing tools, but also Bill is taking um local materials and kiln drying them.
01:09:05
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Okay.
01:09:11
YeetDOLLA
He offers slab drying surfaces or slab drying services. So if you have a tree that gets slabbed up, you can call him up and he can kill and dry it for you. ah He's also running milling operations.
01:09:22
YeetDOLLA
So if you have, you know, a bunch of boards that need to be, or an old slab that needs to be flattened, he can flatten it for you.
01:09:28
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Now, Eric, why was it so difficult to get you to fucking say this straight?
01:09:29
YeetDOLLA
um
01:09:31
YeetDOLLA
It wasn't, but it's not fucking funny, Paul. That's why. You know, it's not memorable. You know what is memorable? Fucking William and Chad making out at the end of the movie, okay? So that's, and then he also has a Fez Tool, SawStop, Rubio, Shaper, et cetera, et cetera. And for the inquiring minds, they are doing a giveaway right now. The Fuji spray giveaway is going until February 21st. So,
01:10:01
YeetDOLLA
ah You can enter that by going to www.wtbwoodworking dot.com slash giveaway.
01:10:09
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right. There we go. Thank you for actually letting me know what the fuck we're talking about.
01:10:13
YeetDOLLA
That's all you need to know. What I just, I want the people to know that what I wanted to do for this ad read was there's also on January 30th at 9 a.m. Dan Dempsey is going to be there giving a training in demos about Lamello.
01:10:29
YeetDOLLA
And I wanted to do an ad read where we basically pretended to be KJ sawdust giving the... ah the the the demo about Lamello, so sorry internet that Paul robbed you of that fucking joy, and you just got this boring-ass ad read.
01:10:45
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You're welcome. You're welcome, Keith. And you're welcome, Bill. That Eric actually said something you useful for once. Bitch. All right.
01:10:57
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
With that, we're at an hour 10.
Patron Appreciation and Episode Reflection
01:11:00
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I think it's time we wrap up and move to the after show. But before we do, I want to thank our patrons for, uh, we've had quite a few over the the last few weeks.
01:11:10
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Uh, thank you so much for supporting us. We'll, we'll start with Matt Lewis, Marius Thorensen, Mike Weber, Evan Cowden, uh, Michael Zellnam D.
01:11:12
Konrad Sauer
Mmm. Mmm.
01:11:22
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Stephanie Robbins, John Sheehan and Ian Thompson. Thank all of you for supporting us.
01:11:27
YeetDOLLA
You guys are fucking heroes, thank you.
01:11:30
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
You know, it it does offset our hosting costs and our obviously our equipment costs that we paid up front for this. And it just keeps us good.
01:11:37
YeetDOLLA
And the, the, the appearance fees for people like Conrad too.
01:11:41
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Oh, yeah, because we paid him oh so much to be on today's episode.
01:11:42
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, fat stacks, fat stacks.
01:11:48
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
ah ah Conrad, I think you have enough.
01:11:50
YeetDOLLA
So they call him fat stack sour, man.
01:11:51
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
yeah you I think you have enough.
01:11:51
Konrad Sauer
yeah Hey man, I got enough, I got enough, I got enough.
01:11:58
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
All right, well, everyone, we hope you enjoyed this. you know This was a particular topic we took on because of the new year to help prioritize balance and gratitude and appreciation and figuring out you know how much is enough and how to add more joy and appreciation to your life without chasing more, more, more on that hedonic unrewarding treadmill.
01:12:21
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I hope you enjoyed today's episode. And again, Conrad, thanks thanks so much for adding to today's discussion and we'll see you in we'll see you in the after show.
01:12:26
Konrad Sauer
Yeah, thanks.
01:12:28
YeetDOLLA
Thanks for being here, buddy.
01:12:28
Konrad Sauer
Yep.
01:12:32
Konrad Sauer
Awesome.
01:12:32
YeetDOLLA
Woo woo!
01:12:32
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
I have no idea, I don't know what we're gonna talk about, but we'll figure it out soon.
01:12:35
YeetDOLLA
We're gonna talk about Bell Burkel.
01:12:36
Woodworking is Bullsh*t
Bye.
01:12:36
Konrad Sauer
We'll figure it out now.
01:12:37
YeetDOLLA
Okay, bye!