I have finally crossed the threshold into manhood. It wasn't owning a former undercover police car that did it, as many may think. As of Sunday afternoon I am the proud owner of a Lincoln Weld-Pak 100 welder- like the kind of tool that you have to wear big leather gloves and those cool welding helmets with (never end a sentence with a preposition).

"Manliness"

 I saw the listing on Craigslist for sale or trade- the trade part just happening to be for a Mac tower, something I just happened to have an extrie of (I was using the tremendous fan noise from my Dual-800 G4 as a Sleep Machine). The deal went down in the back of the P.F. Chang's parking lot and went very smoothly. We exchanged pleasantries and some idle chit-chat until the trunks were opened and gear was inspected.

On the ride home, I thought of all the cool things I could weld together. My toaster to something, or my golf club to something, or possibly my golf club to my toaster. I don't really have a lot to weld yet, but as my earth son and I are soon to be joining the WKA (World Karting Association), we will have plenty of opportunity to do some welding. The manual had a lot of warnings and scary pictures of death and injury but I'm sure I can get over that hump once I find some metal around the house.