Hot Shots....

So, got here to Ashland last night to some pretty epic fireworks....almost like some sort of OMEN of the hot exploding metal to come. As I was crossing the Rogue River the sky turned an amazingly dark color of purple and brown right over my car and the surrounding hills, complete with the first dark rainbow I have ever seen....Helped that I was listening to some Dio while this was going on, so I may have been hallucinating. Anyway, huge lightning and flash flooding happened for the next 20 miles or so. Completely awesome.

Anyway, made it to Calle's little studio apartment she has been nice enough to let me crash in. Got up and rode to the school this morning. 7 of us in the class being taught by Jim Kish, who custom builds Ti frames in San Luis Obispo, Ca. Super cool guy, sharing all he knows so far. The morning has been a blur. Lot of setup talk and general questions then right before lunch he cut us each loose on some practice Ti with our welders at our benches....kind of like "Ok, 15 minutes for lunch, give it a go!".

BRRRZZZ ssssnnAP! Burning metal. Blown weld puddles. Total confusion. Shaking hands. But the virgin moment is over. We move on after lunch to weld up some practice triangles (supposedly.... ;). I'm calming my nerves in a hippy coffe joint and gearing up for what's next.

I have to be honest when I say that this is quite possibly the most incredibly cool thing that I have ever done. THANK YOU LORI!!!!!

I have some camera trouble that I am going to work through and start documenting my work progress in the shop for those who actually find weld lines interesting.....you know who you are....

stay tuned, and enjoy the office y'all!