My bosses weren't so taken by my new-found interest and they fired me before the lunch whistle blew.
I have just retired from Brown-Forman Distilleries Worldwide at our Bluegrass Cooperage plant in Louisville, Ky. That's where we make about a half million new, charred, white oak barrels each year for our Jack Daniel's Old No. 7 brand. We have also made barrels for Maker’s Mark, Jim Beam, and Woodford Reserve, all fine Kentucky bourbons.
Now I'm going to try to enjoy retirement. Hopefully I can use eBay to pay for my new hobby of hand turning pens of exotic woods. I try to select the most beautiful and striking woods I can find. I look for natural treasures in the wood, sometimes only getting one pen from a large block of wood. Often, I spend too much time creating these pens but isn't that what a hobby is all about? The brilliance of woods like amboyna burl as it polishes down, the gentle aroma of the Holy Land olive wood being turned on my lathe, the careful, time-consuming inlay of turquoise, etc., all tend to offer a peace of mind that I could never find before retirement.
I hope you enjoy your pens as much as I have enjoyed making them. Let me know if you would like a pen at: blackjackcooper@yahoo.com. I will send photos of what I have available on ebay. I usually start them out on ebay for $9.95 a pen, plus $4.95 shipping by Priority Mail. Each pen is shipped in a clear plastic display tube.