Bearer of bad news, the Father of all things Clock related has left this bit of time and is headed for another location where clocks don't matter.
He was my friend and a baker extraordinaire. (sorry if this category is wrong).-- blissmiss, Jun 30 2022 Farmer John https://www.halfbak...com/user/FarmerJohnThe Great Baker of Clocks ... and other stuff [pertinax, Jul 01 2022] Somehow this fits Times_20and_20SeasonsClockwork [RayfordSteele, Jul 02 2022] Very sorry to hear that. Is there going to be any more information?-- xenzag, Jun 30 2022 Wha??? What happened?-- RayfordSteele, Jun 30 2022 halfbakery: remembrance: halfbaker
.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jun 30 2022 He left a letter for us for when he passed. It's on our facebook page. I do not think he wanted it posted here, but I know there are people who remember his so well, I don't think it's fair to not let them know. He didn't say not to, so I'm letting people know. No further details except it was a return of the prior disease he had, but this time he's a decade older.
No one like him.-- blissmiss, Jun 30 2022 .-- Voice, Jun 30 2022 .-- doctorremulac3, Jun 30 2022 .-- whatrock, Jul 01 2022 .-- neutrinos_shadow, Jul 01 2022 He was my favorite. So talented and never a bit of bile in him. I remember the first day he complimented one of my early ideas. You'd have thought Harrison Ford had asked for my autograph the way I felt right then. (Yes, I was much lonlier back then). I was so sad to hear that there was some blowup that had happened to upset folk.-- RayfordSteele, Jul 01 2022 I was outside the loop and just noticed the holes left behind.
I'm pretty sure most of us were. Care to elaborate?-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 01 2022 .-- xaviergisz, Jul 01 2022 The way I remember it, he bumped heads with [jutta] and left. I'm very grateful that he didn't delete his account on the way out. Nothing horrifying happened - just a regrettable clash of personalities. I hope that satisfies your curiosity, [2 fries].-- pertinax, Jul 01 2022 .-- nineteenthly, Jul 01 2022 who are we talking about?!!!!-- pashute, Jul 01 2022 FJ.-- RayfordSteele, Jul 01 2022 "God is a dyslexic man's best friend."
Thank you Farmer John for that and all the others.-- pashute, Jul 01 2022 -- calum, Jul 01 2022 I recall another poster asking me if I was secretly farmer john after I posted an idea, and it was one of the best compliments I ever received here. He was a very creative person, and sadly missed for many years, and now even more sadly no longer with us at all except for his lasting legacy of ideas.-- xenzag, Jul 01 2022 I believe the letter is on his own fb page.-- po, Jul 01 2022 -- xandram, Jul 01 2022 I'm not on fb. Can the letter be placed here using some means? It's obviously not private as everyone on fb can read it.-- xenzag, Jul 01 2022 "Auto Obituary (svenska översättning längre ner)
There always seems to be some uncertainty on Facebook if a person has passed away, or not. Well, yes, I’m really dead. I always thought I would die of Alzheimer’s or heart problems, like close relatives, and therefore, I kept my body and brain well trained. Guess my surprise when cancer got me instead! I’ve never smoked, but lung cancer killed me. Yep, I “bought the farm”; I “croaked”; I’m “pining for the fjords”, have ceased to be, am expired, and I’m a stiff, bereft of life and resting in peace, etc. If you hadn't nailed me the perch, I’d be “pushing up the daisies”! I wish to thank excellent Swedish health care and my family's support for a few extra years of life, but I was just a 76 year old boomer, too old to live. I just hope I’ve left the world a better place than I found it. As I see it, there’s no “meaning of life “. It’s all self importance and evolution. Many think death means that the body decays, while the soul lives on. My thoughts were the opposite! My “soul” never existed (such as before conception), only consciousness, and my body, before cremation, will be donated to Karolinska institute for student training and research. I have been on death’s doorstep before, so I was without sorrow or grief."
GNU farmer John.-- po, Jul 01 2022 If anyone can think of a really good clock/time title I'd really like to change it. We could kinda have a contest, maybe. I think he would smile at that.
pertinax: you are correct with your reasoning but he never told me the specifics. Thank you for attending to the details. I have been limited with time as a close family member passed last week and this was yet another kick in the gut. Yup. I was a mess learning this.
He took the drawings he had claim on, and wanted to keep. Some of them are off a link of Bristols.-- blissmiss, Jul 01 2022 // a really good clock/time title //
No, only clockbait.-- pertinax, Jul 01 2022 Clock-a-doodle-done-- xenzag, Jul 02 2022 My grandfather's clock was too large for the shelf So it stood ninety years on the floor It was taller by half than the old man himself Though it weighed not a pennyweight more It was bought on the morn of the day that he was born And was always his treasure and pride But it stopped, short never to go again When the old man died Ninety years without slumbering His life seconds numbering It stopped, short never to go again When the old man died My grandfather said that of those he could hire Not a servant so faithful he found For it wasted no time and had but one desire At the close of each week to be wound And it kept in its place, not a frown upon its face And its hands never hung by its side But it stopped short, never to go again When the old man died It rang and alarmed in the dead of the night An alarm that for years had been dumb And we knew that his spirit was pluming for flight That his hour for departure had come Still the clock kept the time with a soft and muffled chime As we silently stood by his side But it stopped short, never to go again When the old man died Ninety years without slumbering His life seconds numbering It stopped short, never to go again When the old man died-- RayfordSteele, Jul 02 2022 Thank you.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 02 2022 .-- Klaatu, Jul 03 2022 Rayford??? You? Made me cry.-- blissmiss, Jul 03 2022 ^^ ditto.
[Rayford], you rock. Thank you.
And thank you [blissy] for this post. I wish I knew the man like the rest of yous.-- whatrock, Jul 03 2022 .-- DrBob, Jul 03 2022 .-- Sgt Teacup, Jul 04 2022 whatrock, there are legends, and then there are super legends. You would have had fun with him.-- blissmiss, Jul 04 2022 I sometimes wistfully wish I was in on the real-world social group many other half-bakers seem to enjoy.-- Voice, Jul 04 2022 You are, you just didn't agree to it.-- blissmiss, Jul 05 2022 My condolences to those who've lost a good friend and a much-admired writer.
For the record, the "clash of personalities" that resulted in FarmerJohn leaving the halfbakery was pretty sudden, one-sided, and unintentional on my part. I'm sorry we never had the chance to reconcile.
Blissmiss, thanks for passing on the notice.-- jutta, Jul 06 2022 I never got to know him. I was intimidated by the shear magnitude of his creativity and just kept my distance.
It is like that with many of you.
I got to read a majority of his postings and annos as he posted them, (no easy task, what a prolific art filled mind) and built a simulation of him in my own mind which... helps me when I build things in my head.
I've done that with as many of you as I could contain.I hope that's okay...
We all might not all talk a lot in meat space, but we talk an awful lot in my head.
...
Nobody is gone as long as they're remembered.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 06 2022 A minor point, mightn't the "j" in the title word be raised in stature to a full "J" ?
I have a spare one here if you like: J-- whatrock, Jul 06 2022 //I've done that with as many of you as I could contain.// My simulacrum wants a big, juicy burger every day and a big window when it rains, please.-- Voice, Jul 06 2022 hmmm, you'll get tired of the same burger soon. Let my wife and I change it up once in a while and the burger will be waiting if you prefer.There's an open air gazebo with a central hearth for when it rains and you can add windows with just a thought.
The thought-cabin for [blissmiss] is coming along nicely.A treetop affair and has a water counter-weight elevator.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 06 2022 I presume mine is dutifully equipped with an iron maiden, some hot coals, and a bed of nails to sleep on?-- RayfordSteele, Jul 07 2022 Naw dude. You and I hike and camp and talk.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 07 2022 [jutta] I remember it well and I'm sad to say his reaction was unexplained and out of character.-- po, Jul 07 2022 2 fries, I forgot, remind me, my new home is in Canada, right. GET ME THE HELL OUT OF THIS COUNTRY PLEASE. I would look good in muck-lucks. Can't wait to see the new homestead. I forgot, I was supposed to help with the renovations, wasn't I?
Jutta, he never spoke about it afterwards. Maybe there was something that was bothering him that we weren't privy to. Not aligned with his day-to-day character. Let that memory rest in peace as well.
"A minor point, mightn't the "j" in the title word be raised in stature to a full "J" ?"
Done. An oversight since I was probably still crying whenever I thought that such a prolific and sensitive writer could ever be gone for good.-- blissmiss, Jul 08 2022 //GET ME THE HELL OUT OF THIS COUNTRY PLEASE.//
We shall outfit the dogsled straight away m'lady. P.S. we're like six minutes from the Spokane Washington border. You can just walk across if you take the trails.-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Jul 09 2022 .-- Amos Kito, Jul 12 2022 I will miss him.-- sartep, Jul 18 2022 His time had come.
I have been in touch with his wife. She said she remembered how much fun the HB had brought to their lives.-- UnaBubba, Aug 17 2022 random, halfbakery