Yipee?

I subscribe to an e-newsletter from Woodworking for Women, and this week's issue gave me pause. The editor had used the letters that form the word, "JOY," to spell out her suggested resolutions for woodworking women in 2006. (I think she went a bit overboard, listing about a million things for each letter, but that's neither here nor there.)

Here's the comment that made me think:

Yippee! should be your response when you make a mistake. You'll learn something new every time that happens. Not that you should try to make mistakes.

Now, I wouldn't never looked at a mistake that way. But, as my blog subtitle says, I'm learning this craft one mistake at a time. And I really do try to learn from my mistakes. Here are some things I finally learned to do right, after doing them wrong too many times:

• I measure a million times before cutting.
• I check to be sure which side of the wood is the "good" side before cutting.
• I triple-check the straightness of the table saw fence.
• I cut more than one pass to make a large groove with the router rather than a single pass.
• I sand and sand and sand again to get a smooth finish.
• I use a dust mask.
• I clean up my mess as I go along.
• I keep my drill battery charged.
• I slowly lower the miter saw, then turn it off before raising the blade.
• I level and level and level again, frontways, backways, and upside down!
• I keep my scraps of wood--you never know when you'll need one.
• I drill a pilot hole for screws.
• I realize I'll never get everything I need in one trip to Home Depot, no matter how hard I try.

Good lessons from 2005. I'm sure they'll be plenty more mistakes in 2006 from which I can learn.