Wow.

I am just floored. When I put up my first post about my upcoming thousandth post, I had no idea about just how generous the woodworking community was going to be.

Yes, we have a new friend who has come on board to add to the cornucopia of gifts for the thousandth post entry. It’s a good thing we are at post #984 today… only 16 to go!

Legendary hand tool builder Scott Meek is offering up one of his hand-crafted plane adjustment mallets together with a $50 gift card for use on his site.

If you haven’t stopped by his site, you owe it to yourself to check out his work. I mean, wow, his wooden hand planes are pieces of art, and would be at home in any shop (yes, even someone who primarily uses power tools!).

If there’s one thing I am known for, it’s my inability to sing well. I mean, I couldn’t carry a tune if you put it in a bucket for me. Not sure why I sing at karaoke events, though…

The other thing I am known for is my consistent posting schedule. So, what gives?  No Sunday post?  A Monday post that is coming out in the afternoon? And, with a bunch of anxious folks looking to get to the thousandth post entry?

Well, this past week has been exceptionally interesting. You see, I was invited up to the National Emergency Management Institute in Emmitsburg, Maryland to instruct a Master Public Information Officer class. This was the pilot class, the first time it was ever taught, and it was a real honor to be selected as one of five instructors from around the country.

But, first, after I landed and got my rental car, I had to swing by and pay a visit to the Udvar-Hazy center of the National Air and Space museum. That’s where the Space Shuttle Discovery is now being exhibited, and wow, is that ever impressive. The craft is much larger than I expected it to be, and the sight just about moved me to tears. It is something I strongly recommend you see.

From there, it was off to the campus. The facility is a former Catholic college situated in the rolling hills of western Maryland, and the terrain is just gorgeous. It’s a far cry from the sandy, flat terrain we are used to here in Florida. In fact, the view from the front of my dorm room took in some exceptionally impressive views of a massive hill right nearby.

The campus is dedicated to both Emergency Management and Fire Safety, and there are a number of monuments around the campus that reflect this. The most striking sits in roughly the middle of campus, and is dedicated to the firefighters who lost their lives on September 11, 2001. A moment of quiet reflection under this monument can help put things into perspective…

The class itself was a real challenge. We five instructors were joined by 21 students who had a wealth of experience to bring to the table. People who had faced down tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and many other disasters were there, and our job was to help develop advocates for public information. Hopefully, during the class, each of the students was able to take home enough inspiration to take their programs to the next level.

Since the campus is also about ten miles south of Gettysburg, no trip to the Emergency Management Institute is complete without a tour of the battlefield. My dad and stepmom met me while I was up there, and we saw the battlefield in a unique way – on Segway personal transports. These two-wheeled devices sure made navigating the hilly ground easier. The tour even stopped to catch a picture of me standing in front of the State of Florida’s memorial along the Confederate battle line.

The most moving part of the battlefield is known as the high water mark of the Confederacy or as the Angle. It was at this point in the line that General Pickett’s ill-fated charge actually reached the Union lines and nearly broke through, severing the Army of the Potomac and carrying the battle. Only a fierce counter-attack conducted by some Pennsylvania regiments pushed the Confederate onslaught back, saving the day for the men in blue. Just standing at the site is a moving experience… something I recommend highly.

Right now, you might be wondering why I am sharing all of my trip pictures with you, and wondering what this has to do with woodworking. Well, there was another event that took place on Thursday night. Kari Hultman of the Village Carpenter’s website lives just up the street from Emmitsburg, and had asked if there was any chance we could get a group of area woodworkers together for some food, fun and tall tales. Our site of choice – the Appalachian Brewing Company restaurant in Gettysburg.  The food was great (If you get a chance, e-mail Kari about her salad…) but the conversation was even better. It’s always great to put names with faces, and I really would like to thank everyone who came out that night. Betsy Pearce Hochstein, Scott Hayes, Mark Hochstein, Adam Weigand, Daniel Bodan, Nancy Sheets, Alan Garner, Tom Iovino, Neal Becker, Andrew Vincent Cortese and Daria Cortése. Oh, and I should throw another thanks in there for Kari and – if you squint – you can see that Iggy got into his private jet and paid us a visit!  Good monkey…

Now, I’m back at the house. Refreshed. I have to knock out some grouting and other work on the shower project, but it will be back to the shop shortly!

Here we are at post 972 – only 28 to go – and it’s starting to feel like a ride down Interstate 95 and seeing all of those South of the Border signs. You know the annoying, kitschy signs that start something like 200 miles from the place, hyping the kids into a frenzy by the time they get to the nasty tourist trap.

I have to first give a nod to my friend Chris Wong over at Time Warp Tools. I kinda shoehorned him into a thank you post after the fact, and I think most of you might have missed it. So, here we go…

Time Warp Tools is throwing in a set of his bench dogs as another prize. The winner gets their choice of a four pack of either three or five inch long dogs. Thanks, man!

And, I got word from the folks over at Funktionhouse Urban Lumber and Furnishings that they are going to throw in a large flat rate shipping box of blue mahoe. Just what is blue mahoe? Well, it’s pretty darned impressive looking wood from the Caribbean with a very striking color.

The outpouring of support has been nothing but awesome, and I want to thank everyone who has stepped to the plate to make this happen!

With the big thousand post milestone looming, I have been thinking about what I do here at my blog, and the number one question I am asked:

Tom, just how the heck do you write all of these posts?

Hey, I’m just as confused as you!  I had no idea five years ago when I started that this thing was going to take off.

I think it was about six months into my blog that I set my self-imposed publishing schedule. A quick poll every Sunday, two articles on Monday and Wednesday and a link of the week on Friday.  Yes, there are weeks where I sit at my computer and wonder just what the heck I am going to write about, but fortunately, that hasn’t been an issue too often.

So, to give you an idea of what a week is like for me, here’s the schedule:

Sunday:  I wake up and post the Quick Poll I had written 0n Saturday. Have to post that baby on Twitter, Facebook and Google+ – oh, and I have to vote as well. Just to make sure everything works. From there, it’s off to church, the eat some breakfast. After that, I try to get some time in the shop. While there, I ask, “What the heck can I write about tomorrow?” and try to think of a tool, technique, observation or the like to draft a quick 500 words on.   After dinner, sit down at the computer and bang out Monday’s article.

Monday: Wake up, drink a cuppa Joe, post the new article and mention it on the social networks. If I’m doing an article for an advertiser, I make sure to send the draft over for review. Go to work and daydream about woodworking.   Work out, eat dinner, mess around in the shop before turning in for the night, relieved that I don’t have to draft anything for the next morning.

Tuesday: Wake up, down more coffee. Check e-mail and the social networks. Check my readership numbers. Wonder if I have to do a strange woodworking stunt to get more readers. Ponder the thought of jumping the Snake River Canyon on a giant belt sander… Go to work, daydream about woodworking. Come home, eat dinner, suffer small panic attack when I think I have nothing for tomorrow’s post, then realize that – DUH – I already have one. Turn in for the night.

Wednesday: Wake up, attempt to mainline coffee to get the morning jolt. Post the new article and let everyone know what’s going on by pushing it out on the social media outlets. Head off to work, where I will daydream about the stand alone shop I’ll build when I retire.  Come home, eat dinner, futilely  try to disconnect from the online world, but realize that the Modern Woodworkers Association podcast starts taping at 9 p.m.  Bring computer, frosty beverage and Iggy into the shop to record the podcast. Iggy messes with connections, making me sound like a cyborg during the taping. Retire late into the evening.

Thursday: Wake up. Stick tongue directly into outlet to get morning jolt. Check email and social networks. Clean up the mess Iggy left behind after his all-night banana daiquiri bender. Go to work, explore the options for early retirement to begin woodworking full time. Come home, eat dinner, say ‘hey’ to my wife who is now beginning to wonder what I look like in person. Search the web for a new Link of the Week to write about. Discover that half of all woodworking sites are fronts for Ted’s 16 bazillion pirated woodworking plans.  Find obscure woodworking link to a site that might interest folks and bang out the article. Try to retire early after wild Wednesday night.

Friday: Wake up.  Wash up in a basin full of energy shots and Red Bull. Post Link of the Week on the site, and trumpet mightily about it on the social networks. Realize it’s Friday, so I can sleep in a little the next day. Head off to work. Draft resignation letter where I announce I am going to open a woodworking shop and starve for my craft. Tear up draft and get on with the day’s business. Get home. Eat. Attempt date night with my wife, but we usually collapse on the couch with a good movie and fall asleep.

Saturday: Wake up much later than expected. Eat leisurely breakfast than tend to the dreaded “Honey Do” list… After sweating profusely in the yard, attempt some shop time.  Halfway through the shop session, realize, “Oh, crap, I have to come up with a quick poll.” Draft something inane, share link with Marc Spagnuolo and attempt to write something coherent. Attempt some type of social activity… sometimes, we succeed. Get back home, settle in to bed and realize just how lucky I am to be married to an understanding wife, have two great kids and that I sill enjoy woodworking blogging.

Once you add in other things, such as practices for the kids sports activities, helping with homework, cooking and laundry, well, it sure does add up to some exciting times at the Iovino house.

There have been a bunch of folks who have had a major influence on Tom’s Workbench over the past five years. I wanted to take the time to recognize a few of the folks with which the blog would have never happened.

Today, I send a shout-out to Dave Campbell at Wood Magazine.

So, there I was at this rainy work day when I got a strange email on my smartphone. It was a guy named Dave who needed to talk to me. I didn’t recognize the area code, so I had to check it out online… Iowa? What would someone want with me from Iowa?

Turns out it was Dave, and he had an interesting offer for me – Wood was looking to include some additional ‘outside’ perspective to include in the magazine, and he and other members of the editorial staff were charged with identifying, tracking and evaluating a number of blogs.

Dave was calling because he thought I had a good writing style, was consistent with my posts and seemed to relate well with each of my readers. He also dug Iggy, the trained shop monkey.  “Would you like to write a few columns for us?”  Gosh, who could say no to an offer like that?

Since then, Dave has been my primary contact up at Wood magazine. He’s an excellent editor with an eye for how to improve my writing. We will also bounce ideas off each other to make sure that we are tackling topics that appeal to the magazine’s readers.

So far, so good. And, from what I understand, Dave wants Iggy to hang around a little while longer.  Not bad for a wacky monkey.

There have been a bunch of folks who have had a major influence on Tom’s Workbench over the past five years. I wanted to take the time to recognize a few of the folks with which the blog would have never happened.

Today, I send a shout-out to Matt Vanderlist.

Shortly after getting involved with Marc, he strongly recommended that I check out Matt’s site. These two guys were just about to launch a new venture – Wood Talk Online – and he wanted me to be up to date on what Matt was doing.

I was amazed to see just how much of a pioneer that Matt was.  With his own motivation, he was the first woodworker to put up a woodworking podcast.  It wasn’t an easy process – critics told hi m that the idea would never work, and he wavered for about six months before that fateful day in January of 2006, when episode one made its debut.

Matt has always been an encouraging voice in my development as a blogger. He’s the kind of guy you can shoot an idea past, and he can offer some sound advice. With his loyal and devoted audience and years of expertise, he has been able to suggest things  help my site flourish.

When Matt launched The Spoken Wood Podcast – seeking audio readings from other names in the woodworking community – I was honored that he selected me to be one of his first authors.  Today, I am proud to have been a part of this initiative that has opened the doors to an incredible amount of portable woodworking content, and exposed my blog to new audiences I would have never been able to reach.

There have been a bunch of folks who have had a major influence on Tom’s Workbench over the past five years. I wanted to take the time to recognize a few of the folks with which the blog would have never happened. Today, I send a shout-out to Marc Spagnuolo. This one should probably be a no-brainer, because he’s the guy who got me into this fine mess in the first place.

What is there to say?  If you want someone to blame for Tom’s Workbench, visit the Wood Whisperer’s site.

Marc was just a wee lad back in the day when we first met… online at the Woodworkers Website Association. Although you wouldn’t have ‘ recognized him.  At the time, he was writing his entries under the name MarcSpag, and he was pimping his website Marc’s Wood Creations. I think he got better at naming his website!

When we first met in person up at a woodworking school in Indiana, Marc already had the cool, collected delivery of an experienced instructor. He was funny, easy to approach and knew more about woodworking that I could have ever figured out. It wasn’t until I later discovered that he had studied with David Marks – and that influence showed.

From there, everything with Marc was incremental. “Hey, Tom, could you write a few posts for me?” became “Hey, Tom, can you write a regular post for a site I’m creating called Wood Talk Online?” which became “Hey, Tom, how about your own blog?” which became “Hey, Tom, how about doing a recorded audio tip for my webcast?”

My guess is that when Marc opens the Wood Whisperer franchise on Mars, I might be one of the few folks in line to run it.

But, hey, that’s what a couple of Italian boys from Jersey will do for each other!