I took one shop class in my life.  I wish I had obtained greater exposure to woodworking in my youth.  It surely would have produced better pinewood derby cars, and likely would have prevented me from looking like such a stooge any time I attempt to help out my father-in-law with a project here in adulthood.

But in my one go ‘round, I did receive an A on the report card and I have to say, the stuff I turned out did not suck.  There was a giant clothes pin made of oak, a xylophone made of oak, a box hockey set made of oak, and a lamp…yep, you guessed it…made of oak.  What was it about oak in 1992 that it was so readily available to us?

Unfortunately, the entire lot has gone missing, save the lamp, but here she is…the only surviving proof of my carpentry skills.  Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the trough lamp:

And, unlike Brian Johnson’s lamp, when you pump the handle, it actually works: