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My first memories in life are of me watching and helping my dad fabricate things.  He built a ski boat from plywood and placed a 1952 Ford flathead engine from a wrecked pickup truck into it.  He followed what was known as the Great Lakes design during the process.  My uncle Frank also built a…

Some years ago, my elderly aunt Melba was in a nursing home in San Jose.  She had Alzheimer’s and needed some extensive dental treatment.  This could only be accomplished by sedating her, so her daughter/my cousin arranged for me to use a local dentist’s office there in San Jose on a Saturday.  The dentist even…

Long before it was politically correct or before warning signs of fees were leveled for littering. Long before road signs were erected for giving credit to organizations for keeping the road-side clean; there were the Boy Scouts out there, cleaning up the side of the road. Our Troop would go out on Saturday mornings to…

My two oldest sons got the Ice hockey bug when they were teenagers, after watching the movie “The Mighty Ducks”.  For over a quarter century they have played in numerous states throughout the US and have even traveled to Europe.  One son teaches Ice hockey and coordinates teams that have won multiple championships. Now in…

Aka. The 72 Toyota Land Cruiser Shortly after WWII my father purchased a surplus Army Jeep.  He then built a plywood box over the passenger and driver section and painted it green. After that, he put silver colored asphalt paint on the top that made it a great launching pad to jump to the ground. …

My grandfather was a carpenter/farmer.  He had run his thumbs through the jointer so many times that his thumbnails were the shape of sharpened pencils. My love for woodworking began early in my life.  Woodshop was a favorite class in junior high and high school, and throughout the years since then, I have made a…

My Grandfather Amasa Oliver Netzley was 68 years old when I was born; some would say this is retirement age.  I was 22 years old when he sold his Almond orchard farm and moved into a house in the city.  He, however, promptly planted a bunch of almond trees in the back yard. He did…

As I transitioned from childhood to adolescence, and throughout my teenage years, my family had very little in the way of extra money.  Fortunately, I never went to bed hungry, but my clothing was well worn out before I received replacements.  All the items of fun were handmade; including toys, go carts, swings, playhouse, tree…

My Mother always tried out new recipes to serve the family.  Swedish pancakes, Ebelskiver, Springerle, Pilaf and countless breads to name just a few things she made.  Why she even pasteurized milk and made butter.  Because of the multicultural environment here in Fresno, Shish Kabob became a favorite family dinner.  She would get the real…