The first visit with Greg, at his place some years ago, was a detour from the route to Tucson. He waved me in the gate, asked if experienced any trouble with the directions and then showed me around his interesting place. Within less than ten minutes we were under the shade roof between his two storage sheds working out how to fit a replacement carburetor on an old machine - I think it may have been a tiller.
We discussed and fussed a bit about optimum cfm for that small engine and finally decided on which carb and how to modify the mounting setup. This was fun, and the machine was humming about an hour later. The mounting bolts had been too long for the cause and I started looking for a hacksaw. Greg told me to hold up, took us into the very crowded but neatly arranged machine space, chucked one of those bolts up on a lathe, and proceeded to trim it to proper length with a fine tool. No clumsy vise and hacksaw stuff for his little tiller.
We worked on about three such projects that day - all enjoyable and with good results - and poured the footer for a good relationship. I talked him into having dinner in Sierra Vista before going on my way, and we had a good time exchanging histories and perceptions. Our deal was not always smooth and easy, but respectful and most worthwhile.
I will miss Greg. RIP Cross.
