Nearly 3 years ago, this was one of this blog’s first posts. In the spirit of the renewed New Year (and to get myself blogging again) I’m reposting it, because it still rings true.

Why it’s STILL cool to fix things:
1. We live in a throw-away society, particularly here in the U.S. Repairing the old whatsit, so you don’t have to go buy a new whatsit, may seem like placing one small twig to hold back the flood of consumerism, but if everybody started doing it, we’d eventually have built a big ol’ dam, and become a more self-reliant people in the process.

2. There is beauty in function, and satisfaction in restoring it. This is true whether you’re finally hearing an engine roar to life when you turn the key, or watching a webpage load flawlessly after you’ve debugged the code, or fastening the new button you sewed on your old shirt. Fixing something feels good.

Read on…

Well, the shop’s been without a sign for well over a month. The old one was looking really faded, and a failed touch-up and stencil attempt by one-who-will-remain-nameless had left us with just the word JOHN’s — with a backward-facing N! — on one side.

Overheard a neighborhood couple walking by one evening. The guy said, “Hey, their N is backwards,” and his wife replied, “Oh, that’s been that way for years.”

Ouch.

Peter and Will with the new sign

But — drumroll, please — John’s now has a brand-new sign, courtesy of famed Santa Cruz artist and muralist Peter Bartczak of Clownbank Studio. We built Peter a compressor, and he painted us an awesome new sign.

And — longer drumroll — we’re talking plans to put an actual mural on the big blank wall along the side of the shop. Peter’s designing a homage to Nikola Tesla—inventor of the AC induction motor, among many other visionary things. A fitting artwork for an electric motor repair shop for sure. More details coming soon.

Signing off for now…

Nameless no more!

Why it’s cool to fix things:
1. Let’s start with one of the most obvious. We live in a throw-away society, particularly here in the U.S. Repairing the old whatsit, so you don’t have to go buy a new whatsit, may seem like placing one small twig to hold back the flood of consumerism, but if everybody started doing it, we’d eventually have built a big ol’ dam, and become a more self-reliant people in the process.

2. There is beauty in function, and satisfaction in restoring it. This is true whether you’re finally hearing an engine roar to life when you turn the key, or watching a webpage load flawlessly after you’ve debugged the code, or fastening the new button you sewed on your old shirt. Fixing something feels good.

Read on…