The Handyman’s Secret Weapon

“Spare the Duct Tape, Spoil the Job” – Red Green As a teacher, I do a great variety of tasks every day and every year. Planning events, maintaining communication with vested parties, teaching, grading, and supervising. Occasionally, I get to participate in school events that are designed for the enjoyment of all. Recently, we celebrated […]
Where am I? How did I get here?

“All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination.” –– Earl Nightingale My students ask me questions all of the time. Some of them are educationally related and some are completely random (i.e. “What is the biggest tomato ever grown?”). Recently, I had a student ask me where […]
Overland Trailer film featured at WWU

This past summer, I traveled the US in search of the story of teardrop trailers. The goal: make a documentary film about teardrop trailers that can be used in high school classrooms & viewed by enthusiasts (support and read more about the film here). As part of this project, I asked a student at WWU, […]
10% funded & music to my ears!

I pulled the jPod out of the garage for the first time this year. I wish it was to go camping. With single diget temperatures promised by the weather people, I am not going to see camping very soon. However, it was nice to pull it out and look at it outside. I did some […]
Kickstart this new film… Be a hero!

With the help of Larry Shank, I have started a new short film project that is about hist family’s adventures with teardrop camping right after WWII. This project grew out of the Overland Film project that is currently in post production (update on this project at the end of this post). As I was working […]
I’ll have a Green Christmas

“Christmas … is not an eternal event at all, but a piece of one’s home that one carries in one’s heart.” –Freya Stark Christmas for a teacher, such as myself, is an event that I look forward to as much as my students. It gives time for me to take a break from 12hr+ […]
Thanks camping gods!

As snow falls outside my window and the temperature drops into the single digets, I realize that the camping season for the jPod has come to a close until spring. It was a great season of camping. The jPod put on over 4,000 miles & camped in over 12 states in the US. Senior Management […]
Baby’s First Camp

Mom and Dad do know how to throw a birthday party. The little Assistant to the Senior Manager celebrated her 1 month old birthday on a camping trip in the jPod. Since this family arrangement is new to us, Senior Management and I thought it would be wise to camp someplace near our home-base and […]
Dutch Oven Deep Dish Pizza

When Dean Martin sang “When the moon hits you eye like a big pizza pie…That’s amore” in 1953, he was singing about this pizza. Recently, I have cut back on the amount of dutch oven cooking. My motives have nothing to do with the quality of cast iron food -it is the best food on […]
A Vintage Camping Station Wagon

I always enjoy a good vintage camping film. This is a rare one: A vintage 1958 film of a custom Station Wagon. This station wagon has similar designs to a teardrop with a rear galley. However, it is much more automated & prehaps not quite as convenient. Yet, a great Michigan state prototype.