Picture it: Sicily, 1938
Oops wrong show!
It started as all big ideas do: late at night.
A warm September evening in Texas late into the dog days of Summer. A cool glass of water alongside. I had just mowed the yard with the riding mower/lawn tractor I had spent years putting off purchasing due to what I felt was too high of a cost. A kind widow on craigslist was listing a 15 horsepower Craftsman for $150, and I couldn't resist.
I spent the rest of that night watching videos on Youtube about all the crazy DIY modifications people had made to their mowers: front loader buckets, fully enclosed cabs with air conditioning and heating, and my personal favorite, tow-behind leaf vacuum trailers. I watched so many videos my eyes hurt the next morning. Yet only one video stuck in my mind:
Oops wrong show!
It started as all big ideas do: late at night.
A warm September evening in Texas late into the dog days of Summer. A cool glass of water alongside. I had just mowed the yard with the riding mower/lawn tractor I had spent years putting off purchasing due to what I felt was too high of a cost. A kind widow on craigslist was listing a 15 horsepower Craftsman for $150, and I couldn't resist.
I spent the rest of that night watching videos on Youtube about all the crazy DIY modifications people had made to their mowers: front loader buckets, fully enclosed cabs with air conditioning and heating, and my personal favorite, tow-behind leaf vacuum trailers. I watched so many videos my eyes hurt the next morning. Yet only one video stuck in my mind:
Everyone on youtube is an expert! This video where a normal guy films another normal guy who took the initiative to construct this contraption instead of raking the leaves. Pure genius. But the know-how required!
And then I "had a thought." This is an insane idea when you really think about it, an invention made of his particular circumstance and of opportunistic resources. This man happened to own a CNC mill capable of machining the integral part that makes the whole thing worth building over spending thousands of dollars on one at the store.
So I decided to construct my interpretation of the trailer in the video. I used big pneumatic casters instead of trailer tires. I used drain hose instead of proper dust collection tubing. Nylon cutting boards and an old table saw blade for the impeller. I used a shopping cart instead of a custom crafted hopper. And it worked like a dream! I should have filmed this and put it on YouTube because I'm a GENIUS. So I used the vacuum for the season and put a tarp over it until next fall.
When I pulled the tarp off, it was a mess. Rotten, swollen plywood. Rodents had been living inside the impeller housing. But it had worked so well! I had to remake it. But dare I take the leap and film it? I dared, and I filmed this:
And then I "had a thought." This is an insane idea when you really think about it, an invention made of his particular circumstance and of opportunistic resources. This man happened to own a CNC mill capable of machining the integral part that makes the whole thing worth building over spending thousands of dollars on one at the store.
So I decided to construct my interpretation of the trailer in the video. I used big pneumatic casters instead of trailer tires. I used drain hose instead of proper dust collection tubing. Nylon cutting boards and an old table saw blade for the impeller. I used a shopping cart instead of a custom crafted hopper. And it worked like a dream! I should have filmed this and put it on YouTube because I'm a GENIUS. So I used the vacuum for the season and put a tarp over it until next fall.
When I pulled the tarp off, it was a mess. Rotten, swollen plywood. Rodents had been living inside the impeller housing. But it had worked so well! I had to remake it. But dare I take the leap and film it? I dared, and I filmed this:
Holding my phone in my hand, using the front camera, editing the video on the YouTube site, just like a real amateur YouTuber!
As I was filming, I thought how was this going to get noticed? Why would anyone watch this over anything else on the internet? And then it clicked in my head. The average YouTube viewer didn't have access to any specialty tools. What if you were wayyy more of an idiot than these men (like I am)? And what if you're still so self-important you thought you should have your OWN YouTube show even though you don't have the slightest idea what you're doing? Then I wrote that note to myself at the top of the page.
And Chance Thoughtman™ was born.
A YouTube personality, a self-proclaimed DIY expert, who is just the average dude in the backyard messing around. He would worry more about the end product than how it looks. He'd take pride in using garbage to make projects over the functionality of the end product. A man who saw himself as the next big thing, when in reality just looking like an idoit. A man creating completely impractical projects that no one would consider trying themselves.
The perfect parody of the YouTube "how-to" video.
So after thinking up 5 more crazy ideas, learning how to use Adobe Premier, inventing a cheesy catchphrase or two, and finding the perfect theme song, "I Just Had a Thought™" came to be the powerhouse it is today.
As I was filming, I thought how was this going to get noticed? Why would anyone watch this over anything else on the internet? And then it clicked in my head. The average YouTube viewer didn't have access to any specialty tools. What if you were wayyy more of an idiot than these men (like I am)? And what if you're still so self-important you thought you should have your OWN YouTube show even though you don't have the slightest idea what you're doing? Then I wrote that note to myself at the top of the page.
And Chance Thoughtman™ was born.
A YouTube personality, a self-proclaimed DIY expert, who is just the average dude in the backyard messing around. He would worry more about the end product than how it looks. He'd take pride in using garbage to make projects over the functionality of the end product. A man who saw himself as the next big thing, when in reality just looking like an idoit. A man creating completely impractical projects that no one would consider trying themselves.
The perfect parody of the YouTube "how-to" video.
So after thinking up 5 more crazy ideas, learning how to use Adobe Premier, inventing a cheesy catchphrase or two, and finding the perfect theme song, "I Just Had a Thought™" came to be the powerhouse it is today.