| Comments:
Anisoptera - 2007-09-03 09:24:45
As we like to work on projects together the garage and basement wood shop are shared space. One needs a room of one's own so we each have a office of our own. My sweetie's office is where he goes to "shoot pixels". And burp and fart. (;
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Jim Karnopp - 2007-09-03 12:15:38
I have been divorced for 10 years now, so my whole house has become a man cave with just Forrest and I as inhabitants, but I do remember having my basement workshop as a peaceful sanctum when I was married. I have always enjoyed working on projects around the house, and when I was married, these projects usually meant a justification for a new tool of some type. I can remember one time telling my wife that I couldn't finish building a pantry that she wanted without an air nailer because there wasn't enough room to swing a hammer.
I bought my house when I was in my early twenties, and I started my mancave with a number of tools that my dad gave me when he replaced them with new ones. My first major tool was a radial arm saw that my dad gave me. It was at least 20 years old when he gave it to me, and I had used when I was growing up. I still have this saw as the centerpiece of my mancave, and now it is probably 40+ years old. I have used it for building a lot of things over the years, but now I have a number of tools that I have purchased, and this saw is pretty much retired. My son is starting to get quite a collection of hand me down tools from me, so he will have a good start when he ventures out on his own and starts to build his own mancave.
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Rob - 2007-09-03 19:03:26
Like Jim, my house was quite the "man cave", at least until about 2 years ago, when my then fiancee, now wife, moved in. Little by little, I've seen my "man stuff" slowly being boxed away and placed in the cellar-- First my baseball things, than my extensive collection of World War I books... I feel like the Wehrmacht in WW II pushed by the Soviets, how long can I hold? We (my male cat and I) have ceded the kitchen, living room, and bathroom to her army of "Fairy" statuary-- Did I mention the bleeding fairies? There's more than 200 of the winged creatures deposited about the home, on shelves or in a curio cabinet-- Now the only "man space" upstairs is the office, yet as I type, I'm under the watchful gaze of the giant fairy thing that has replaced my Napoleon bust... (sigh)
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Rod (rodsmith) - 2007-09-03 21:35:14
Hmmmm I've been asked about this more than once, and I've never bothered with the "mancave" thing.
My dad was never territorial in that manner, neither was my mum for that matter. Everyone used most of the available space at any given time. 9 kids, we had to respect each other's need for space. We had a shed where the tools and 3000 pounds of assorted "useful items" (read: crap) lived.
Don't get me wrong, I have a workshop and a garage which stores the the requisite stuff of household repairs and yard maintenance, and I take over bits of the basement with it in winter when its too damned cold in the workshop, but I don't retreat there at all. If anything, I retreat into my computer, but I can do that with or without company and I don't really need territory in which to do it.
If I have territory, it is the office, but my wife and son both have computers here as well.
I burp and fart where I please, (though I try to be polite for company) and I never had any interest in porn once I got a taste for the real thing.
My wife has a taste for fussy Victorian decor, which fits well in our century old farmhouse... we both enjoy good beer, good food, and good whiskey... I'm not complaining.
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Ypsidixit - 2007-09-03 22:29:16
I feel like the Wehrmacht in WW II pushed by the Soviets, how long can I hold?
Oh, I had to laugh at these wonderful and very funny answers, thank you.
Anisoptera: working on projects together sounds like so much fun. I do wish we had a basement work space, rather than a crawl space, but I've been told that digging out a basement (as our neighbor did, literally bucket by bucket) would destabilize the house. Hmm...mebbe, mebbe not. Sure would be nice.
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Ypsidixit - 2007-09-03 22:32:53
Jim: these projects usually meant a justification for a new tool of some type. Oh, absolutely. Fritz fixed the leaky washing machine hose the other day...but not before going out and purchasing a large enough array of vise grips to fix a leaking Hoover Dam. I had to laugh.
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Ypsidixit - 2007-09-03 22:38:02
Rob: Oh, I had to laugh. Over 200 fairies! Wow! Oh, my.
Like you, I like military history, but I'm interested more in the Civil War. I do collect books on the subject, but so far they add up to only one (heaped) shelf on the bookshelves. It's funny, but it seems you never hear about guys boxing up and exiling, say, my collection of Civil War books, but clearly the reverse does happen. I wonder why?
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Ypsidixit - 2007-09-03 22:42:25
Rodsmith: ...in our century old farmhouse... we both enjoy good beer, good food, and good whiskey... I'm not complaining.
That sounds lovely. A workshop AND a basement. Good beer and good food is good for the soul I think (I'm not a whiskey-drinker, myself).
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Ypsidixit - 2007-09-03 22:47:27
Jim: I bought my house when I was in my early twenties, and I started my mancave with a number of tools that my dad gave me when he replaced them with new ones. My first major tool was a radial arm saw that my dad gave me.
This made me reflect that the first tools I got, when I bought this house in 2000, were a pile of old tools my (printing press mechanic) dad gave me, also including a saw (a table saw in my case). I still have all those tools, and use 'em, and the table saw is now ancient, but still useful, and built to last, all out of metal. I love using tools my dad gave me. I added some over the years, like the ever-useful reciprocating saw, which has sawn everything from pipe lengths for a chain link fence to trees.
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Rod (rodsmith) - 2007-09-03 22:58:20
Ypsidixit is in favor of ManCaves as oases of masculinity in an over-feminized world.
Like my father before me, I never had any problem making a masculine imprint on any space I occupy, or in any endeavor to which I turn my hand. I am a man. I'm not about to apologize for that, and I'd be hard-pressed to deny it.
I am an at-home dad, and I parent as a man. I love to cook, and I cook as a man. I am a consulting Astrologer, and I read charts as a man. I have a deep and abiding interest in metaphysics and I enjoy the company of women.
I am deeply offended by the Mr Mom notion that relegates raising children as the prerogative and role of women. I am equally offended when my other interests are categorized as feminine or effeminate.
If the world is over-feminized, it is because men feel unable or unwilling to claim what is theirs for the taking in a world that is severely over-categorized.
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