Tonight was my first public appearance post-op in a professional capacity. Now, I have been out in public since a few days after surgery. I mean appearance in that I was working and "performing" in front of a small crowd. This was a small private group of mixed professionals and hobbyists who are artistically inclined. I did a two hour presentation on the wood lathe for them, making a piece that was requested by one of the group's members.

These demonstrations are a combination of instruction and entertainment. And I've got to be pretty much 100% spot on the whole time. Mistakes are remembered and recounted for years. So it was something of a NSV for me. First, I worked in front of a crowd for two solid hours on my feet, talking, working, answering questions, and trading barbs with a number of colleagues. Second, I did not have any major screw ups. That is always a good thing, and especially so my first time out of the gate from surgery and significant weight loss.

Third was the weight loss itself. I've been in the crowd a couple of times, and wearing loose clothing. Tonight was jeans and a T shirt. There is no room for loose clothes around a lathe. And when you are on display for two hours, people have time to study you and take notice of things. Part of my notoriety is for my humor in these events, but part of it has been my size, which I joked about as well. You might say it has been a combination of mirth and girth.

But anyway, I received a number of comments along the lines of, "Wow, you've really lost some weight, haven't you? No, not just a few pounds. You've lost a lot of pounds!"

My stock answer was, "It's all from clean livin'." People seemed to accept that, although I got a few sidelong glances. In any case, it could not have been a better night. Okay, they could have paid me. That would have been nice, but this group doesn't pay anyone. It is for the exchange of ideas among peers, so I wasn't really expecting that.

Now I am home. It is very late, and I am full of adrenaline. Or, it might be that they gave me caffeine coffee at the drive through by mistake. In any case, I am wide awake. But I am snuggled down in a warm bed, listening to the rain on the metal roof outside my window, and the soft sounds of the freight train, as it makes its way across the countryside about six miles from here, sounding his horn in the night at dozens of country crossings. At least that stupid owl isn't out tonight. He hoots it up on a regular basis and keeps me from my beauty sleep.

Edited January 11, 20179 yr by LittleBill

Awesome Mr. LittleBill, glad you're doing well!

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Excellent! Well told. How far our from surgery are you?

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NSV at its best!

I can't wait until my next lecture. The problem is, the crowd is always new, so nobody will notice anything, but I will know.

Nilla

Awesome! [emoji4][emoji1303]

Excellent! Well told. How far our from surgery are you?

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Today makes three months since my surgery On Oct 11. Thank you!

NSV at its best!

I can't wait until my next lecture. The problem is, the crowd is always new, so nobody will notice anything, but I will know.

Nilla

When I am fairly local, it is almost always a crowd of the usual suspects, with a few people who have never heard of me before thrown in for good measure. The further out I go, the fewer people know me, although there is always someone. And some clubs keep inflicting me on themselves, sort of like codependents.

Well done good sir. It's a nice feeling. People say it's the easy way out but we know different

I teach 4 nights a week and only missed 2 weeks when I had the op. I had mine 3 days after you.

I am on my feet for 3 to 4 hours at a time and lose clothing is the norm. It was only when I had to buy new clothes, the old ones were threatening to cause embarrassment by falling off me lol, that it was noticed and commented on.

People have now got used to the fact that I'm getting smaller and no one comments any more which is fine by me as I don't have to keep repeating the "It's a work in progress" mantra. None of my students are aware I have had the op.

@@sk101 Wow, that's a pretty busy schedule! My teaching is sporadic. I do demos like this when called upon, and have students in my shop on a regular, if not frequent basis. I used to travel, but I got tired of that, and we no longer really needed it to make ends meet. Now I confine my demos to less than a day of travel, and teaching is for those who still want to come to me.