RestorationThe Mustang That Arrived in Pieces
A rusty 1966 Mustang convertible arrived as a trailer full of parts. Two years later it left as a finished car—and a lesson in the difference between restoring something and wanting to keep it.
A life in motion
Going places.
Making things.
Understanding both.
Machines and ideas. Shops, tools, vehicles, distant places, collections, and the practical lessons collected across a lifetime of figuring things out.
New story · Homes & Places
Our vacation paradise.
Twice.
Fifteen years of family summers at Harbour Pointe—and the unexpected return to Lake Monroe as retirement approached.
Read Condos at the Pointe
New essay · Mental health
The water you’re in.
How you carry yourself through it.
Eight practical rules I’ve used to keep an even keel through good stretches, hard ones, and everything in between.
Read Maintaining Your Mental HealthNew essay · Homes & Places
Built as plumbing.
Became home.
The history of Geist Reservoir, the town beneath it, the famous and infamous people around it, and the lake our family has called home since 2003.
Read Geist Lake
New essay · Artificial intelligence
The last revolution didn’t end work.
Neither will this one.
What America’s shift from farms to industry can teach us about AI, agentic work, and the people who will make the transition successfully.
Read The AI Job RevolutionNew story · Small engines
A $100 pile of dead equipment.
A dozen running saws.
What fuel lines, carburetors, auction returns, and one stubborn Stihl taught me about fixing two-stroke engines.
Read the chainsaw story
New story · Golf carts
Three “dead” carts.
Three simple problems.
Two flips, one keeper, a broken spring, a broken wire, dry batteries—and one minister who counted on me not counting the money.
Read the golf cart story
New story · Boats
A fence. A bad tooth.
And a boat I didn’t need.
How a $3,400 center console, a supposedly dead Honda 130, and a 1,100-mile tow became another successful fix.
Read the SeaSwirl storyNew story · Trucks
325,000 miles.
Still earning its keep.
How a rusty $1,750 ex-U-Haul became the workhorse behind a condo’s worth of used furniture—and paid for itself several times over.
Read the U-Haul story
From the archive · Old iron
It arrived in pieces.
Many pieces.
How an offhand Craigslist question led to a rusty 1966 Mustang convertible, two years of welding and assembly—and a car I was ready to sell almost as soon as I finished it.
Read the Mustang storyRooms in the archive
More than one kind of life.
Fixing my vehicles
Wheels, Wings & Water
Cars, motorcycles, airplanes, boats, side-by-sides, tractors—and the complete succession of vehicles I’ve owned.
Fixing my body
Health
Health, maintenance, adaptation, and lessons from the rough stretches and unexpected bends.
How to fix things
Shop & tools
Machine tools, repairs, fabrication, restoration, and making the part that does not exist.
Fixing my abode
Homes & places
Geist, Lake Monroe, Florida, travel homes, family homesteads, and what makes a place feel like home.
Worth preserving
Collections & hobbies
Art, trains, sewing, off-roading, books, fabrication, 3D printing, computers, and AI.
Farther afield
Travel
Journeys, photographs, mishaps, aircraft, roads, and places worth remembering.
Fixing my mind
Learning and Ideas
Books, technology, judgment, problem solving, systems, and ideas worth testing.
Lessons from the work
Work Stories
From General Motors to Amazon, with a few more companies and adventures in between.
Work in motion
Projects
Vehicles, boats, equipment, buildings, and whatever else has been declared finished too soon.
Watch it happen
Videos
The Fixing My World workshop in motion.
Farther afield
Travel with a story attached.
Rwanda and Tanzania. Yellowstone by road and by Cessna. Moab, Chicago, Washington, New York, and the roads between them.
Explore the journeysThings worth saving
Projects with a pulse
RestorationRepairA Fixer's Guide to Chainsaws and Lawn Equipment
How a $100 pile of dead lawn equipment turned into a dozen running chainsaws, what I learned about fixing two-stroke engines, and which brands I’d actually buy.
RepairThree Golf Carts: Two Flips and a Keeper
Two dead golf carts, one flipped for a profit and one sold to a hard-bargaining minister, and an auction Club Car that’s been hauling trash at the lake all summer.
Latest articles
New from the archive
The Mustang That Arrived in Pieces
How a casual Craigslist question led to a rusty 1966 Mustang convertible, two years of welding and assembly, and a restoration I was ready to sell almost as soon as I finished it.
Read the full story →Condos at the Pointe
Two chapters at Harbour Pointe on Lake Monroe—from fifteen years of family summers in Harbour Pointe
Read the full story →A Fixer's Guide to Chainsaws and Lawn Equipment
How a $100 pile of dead lawn equipment turned into a dozen running chainsaws, what I learned about fixing two-stroke engines, and which brands I'd actually buy.
Read the full story →The active workshop
Fixing My World
The YouTube channel is the newest branch of the archive: tools in use, assumptions tested, and broken things given another chance.
Watch the latest videosChoosing your first chainsaw