Ive been helping my friend Ben Wood out at his shop on skyline that past week.  He is a furniture/cabinet maker turned general contractor in the Portland area.  Hes been staying busy during the economic downturn.  We must be onto something!  We are building some cabinets for a basement addition he is doing.

The shop is waaay out in the country surrounded by pastures with horses and cows.  It sure is beautiful out here.  Its nice to get out of the city for a couple days.  The sunsets arent too shabby either.

Ben was formally trained in furniture back in the day and he showed me some hand planes that he made.  There are some that are custom designs with really slight radiuses.  Pretty cool!

I hired my friend Jeff Charleston about a month ago to help me with some labor around the shop.  He helped me sand some Chaboos that I was building and also helped with finishing.  I knew he played for the Colts last year and was trying out with some teams.  He wanted to work for me and it definitely wasnt about the money.  I really admired his work ethic- growing up on a farm in Oregon, hes worked hard his whole life and refuses to stay idle even if it means working for relative pennies.

So while he was working for me he got signed by the New Orleans Saints!  After a few weeks he became a starter at defensive end and has played outstanding football the last few weeks recording two sacks at Kansas City and recording 5 tackles against Green Bay!

After coming out of nowhere to be the hero Jeff was bombarded by the media and has been the subject of a few good articles on his heroic story.  He mentioned his work experience at Tomita Designs in a few interviews.

Maybe professional football was no longer in his future, thought Charleston, 25, who busied himself for the first five weeks of the season by helping out at a friend’s custom furniture store in Portland, Ore.

Another article here.

Defensive end Jeff Charleston, who was working at a woodshop in Portland, Ore., when the Saints offered him a job in mid-October, had two sacks and two quarterback hurries to lead a spirited effort by the Saints’ defense.

Much props to Jeff for never giving up and pursuing his dream.  Once again, I really admire the fact that he has such a strong will to work hard all the time, no matter the circumstance or pay.  There is a lot to learn from that for sure.

Way to go Jeff!  Im rooting for you man and save up for that flat black Toyota Van.  Well deck out the interior with some nice custom stuff!  Total sleeper….