Jack, thanks for the kind words! Yes, I do help out the people who live around us when I can (and as you say are worth the effort).
For instance, this past summer there was a mother pushing a stroller up the street with a tiny little one inside, and she had two kids on bikes with training wheels. It had to be every bit of 100 degrees and it was mid afternoon with no breeze. One of the bikes had an extremely low tire, and a flat tire. The little boy pushing it couldn't have been older than four. Bless his little heart, he was out of breath, sweating profusely trying to keep up with his bike, while the mother was frantically trying to keep up with the other kid on the bike who seemed to keep just far enough away for comfort. The little boy asked the mother how far they had until they were home and she said it was only about a mile.
I ran out and caught the little Houdini child, and had the mother and other little boy come and sit in our yard for a few minutes to cool off. All of them were parched, so I gave them bottled water and while they cooled down I put some air in the boy's bicycle tires. The lady was literally in tears with the little I did for them. I told her of my son, and said that I did nothing for her other than to help them make safe passage to their house. "If my wife was in the same situation, surely someone would come to her aid". I offered them a ride, and she politely refused (don't blame her!). I packed up another bottle of water for each of them and gave them the travellers as they left. I also kept an eye on them until they got out of sight, and they were managing much better.
We had a garage sale this past spring and the lady and her husband stopped by. She told my wife the tale of me helping them out and that she couldn't begin to thank us enough for the aid that day. Her husband said she was on the brink of collapsing when I helped them out. I told her that them getting home without heat stroke was payment enough for me, and my wife said, "Oh, he'll bring you a drink, but he won't for me?"
Just kidding, that's not what she said! 
She really said that she was not at all surprised by my reaction, and that she has seen me watch over others as they were my own family ever since she has known me.
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So what comes around goes around! My wife had started a new med a couple of months back, and didn't realize that it would affect her in the heat. She took my son to our local theme park to ride the coasters, and during the course of the morning she passed out. My 4 year old son was suddenly with mommy who just all of a sudden started taking a nap and he was confused. He was a big boy and stayed with her as the park's medics wheeled her to the first aid station, and then when they asked him where his daddy was, he said, "I don't know, I think he's at work. I'll call him now." He grabbed he cell phone and dialed my number. When I answered, he said, "Daddy, mommy is in the hospital. Bye."
It took them a minute to get the phone from him so they could give me the skinny.
When all of this transpired, a lady that was there apparently grabbed my son who was running off away from mommy when she collapsed. Without her involvement, I am sure that my son would have had a terrifying experience for a while! Don't know who she was, but I really would like to thank her for helping my family at the time of need! The only way I can is by continuing to watch over others as I always have done.
Now that this thread has taken the left turn down the dirt road, I get back to the topic. My neighbor said that he thinks it is the Presidential candidates trying to buy my vote. :big: Still have not a clue.
Madkad asked if I could be seen in the shop, and the answer to that is "no". The only way I can be seen in my shop is to be out there with me unless the door is up, which is very rare. And certainly not when I am machining. My shop is climate controlled, and I have three windows looking into the back yard. These have blinds which I keep pulled down and closed. No view form the street or neighbors through them, anyway. On the front, there isn't any windows, and the man door is on the side and is only visible from the house.
I thought of my neighbor who is the crusty old retired machinist, but I discount him buying a new one as he has a couple in his chest. I had the honor of seeing his tools once, and he must have one of every measurement tool known to mankind! Among everything he has a pair of Blake Coax Indicators, and another tool that looked similar, but was about three times the size. He had stuff in there I have never even seen before, and it was all in very well cared for condition. (I think he's giving it all to his great grand baby). I figured if he was going to to something of that nature, he'd pull from one of his boxes.
I offered for him to come and play on my machines anytime he'd like, and his typical crabby response was, "If I never saw another lathe or mill, it would be three months too soon. I have spent fifty years of my life sweating over those @!%$^@ $&*#!%@$ greasy old noisy machines, and I'd never dream to want to touch one of those $#@%&! machines ever again." Point taken.
So, as bad as I want to know, I guess I am going to have to choke on it and accept it for what it is and move on with life. I'll certainly get some use out of it! And as long as I don't know the person who gave it to me, it will hold that mystique for the rest of my days. Maybe it's better that way!
Thanks to all!
