#24: September fever
Summer holidays in Greece have started to become a slumber- hibernation time of the year since covid started. All my friends had kids now and have forgotten about our glorious pre Covid adventures. Nek was the last and most unexpected one. Last summer he did not even have a girlfriend, a year after he has a 3 month old daughter and a girlfriend...
I spent most of my summer time with my nephews and finally got some quality time with Nancy in Alonissos chilling in deserted beaches and trekking around the rocky- pine landscape...
Got back to Edinburgh with this crazy itch to start building again.
#24 Is a Furiozza.
#25: Spitting fire
My grandpa was a very simple and joyful lad, kind hearted and sweet, he loved to dance “nissiotika” (tunes from the Greek Islands), to drink, and was carrying cement and building till his 70s. He never kept a penny in his pocket, he gave it all to his children and grandchildren, I was the most privileged one. We call this kind of people “meraklis” in Greek. I wonder how he got married to my grandma… Although I do not want to admit it, I feel I resemble her a lot. Always unsatisfied and stubborn as hell.
Anyway, from the many tales he told me, one that was about a toy stuck to me. During his time in the army he was taking the combs from his mates and was making spitfire airplanes from them, he never made me one but the picture stuck in my mind and decide to give Gazoza that shape. This one is for grandpa.
#26: Loose nuts
The more I solve problems with the pedals the more obsessed I become. Scratches, loose nuts, welding penetration, perfect fittings and so many more..I have not figured out yet how to deal with that, but it gives me some peace when from time to time I take a look at my early builds, it just makes me happy to see the progress I have made. Then, I grab some of my newer builds and start banging them around- I mean physically, with mallets, I drop them, I vibrate them- to see what will happen (spoiler alert: nothing ever happens…they keep working fine...). I try to push these thoughts away, but they keep coming back…Is it me? Obsessed little me that thinks he has created something so significant that anything beyond pure perfection will be disgraceful? Or is it the engineering mindset when R&D takes place? Am I looking for possible issues on purpose?
I hear all the time stories about people who followed their heart and built something of their own, they usually emphasize the satisfaction, the fulfilment, the joys, what about all the other stuff, this…this thickfreakness???
#26 is my second spitfire Gazoza
3rd spitfire Gazoza is quite a looker. From that point on most of my anxiety boxes got ticked, felt more and more confident with my designs, the color combinations, the design got cleaner, and started enjoying the building process even more!
I just want to keep my hands busy, I do not want to spend time making a website, or an Instagram account…That’s why I keep building, that’s why I built this Furiozza, took my time and it paid off. No rush, pure gold.
Since I built the last Furiozza I figured why not one more Skertsoza to complete this trifecta? I was delaying and as a result I started chasing my tail again. Don’t know eventually if this is going to pay off or if it is going to be an endless pursuit of perfection but that’s me! Endless online searching for the optimal thread locking techniques, visiting car workshops and asking around on their go to method, my soul will not rest until I get one more black belt, in thread locking this time (lol)…
