Having the skills, and having the time to do this level of work don't always match up. By that I mean that in order for Mark to do this level of craftsmanship he has to sacrifice the time doing other things in order to stay on ONE job like this to achieve this kind of end results...and I don't know of anyone in this industry today that is willing to do that, I'm not saying that someone couldn't do this level of work, I'm just saying I don't know who that someone might be.
You don't get rich doing this level of work, it's more passion than anything else, the money never equals the amount of effort, time, or patience invested....while still trying to make a living....EVER!
You go into this work blind, because you don't really see what's coming your way with each project, and you don't get your vision back until after you've already jumped off the diving board and then realize...the edge of the pool is sooooo faaaar away, and start thinking to yourself..."why in the hell am I doing this"...and "I should have never agreed to fixing up this piece of shit"...along with a lot more choice words only meant for you to hear, but....you don't give up, you don't back away, you MAY take longer that what it really would have taken....if you had the RIGHT shop with ROOM to work, and MORE tools that would make the job easier....BUT...that don't exist at the time....so, head down, horns upward...charge forward, because you keep telling yourself...I CAN DO THIS, AND I HAVE NEVER LOST TO A POOL TABLE YET, AND I'M NOT STARTING NOW!!!
Then, as your project nears it's finish line....you run into your own worst enemy, that critic from hell....YOURSELF!!! And you start telling yourself....I don't like the way that finish looks on the rails...NO ONE ON EARTH WOULD HAVE SEEN OR SAID THE SAME....but you see it, and you think once, then look again...think again....THEN HOLLY SHIT, YOU START TAKING THE FINISH OFF THEM BEAUTIFUL RAILS....only to do them all over again...and again...and again....until one time when you're done....you look back at your end results and stare in wonder....DAMN THAT LOOKS BEAUTIFUL....DID I DO THAT...LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE ELSE DID THAT....NO, I SEE IT...I KNOW I DID THAT....I JUST CAN'T BELIEVE I COULD MAKE A SET OF RAILS THAT LOOK LIKE THAT....and you could stand there and admire the out come for the rest of the day...but, now comes the HARD part of the job....letting go, because now you have to deliver that beautiful work of YOUR art to someone that MIGHT not see it as YOU do, but you're done and it's time to go.
So now you have to come up with the money to deliver and set up that beauty, so now you have to go out and rob Peter to pay Paul....meaning you have to go do some side work to come up with the money to finish delivering that beauty....because you already blew though that months ago trying to keep your head above water while you were working on that beauty...or you'd never have had the time to work on it...if you took on them side jobs while trying to work on that BEAUTY!
It's called SACRIFICE, that's what it takes to do the level of work that MARK GREGORY does, because everything in life has a price, even the air you breath, you may not see the price up front...but you'll see it sooner or later, because it's NOT going to go away.
NO ONE can do this level of work with out being willing to SACRIFICE what ever it takes to get this kind of a job done, and I just don't know anyone willing to sacrifice that much...to play at this level.
So, when some of you out there want to compare Mark and myself against each other as master table mechanic's....or as I prefer Billiard Technician's....you'd have to find a level playing ground to have us compete, and I for one don't have the time, space, or will to sacrifice that much of my life to compete on this level, but please do keep in mind there's multi levels to this line of business, a whole lot of levels, but only a few needles in the haystack....and trust me when I tell you this...MARK has found his needle in the haystack, and he should and will...stick to what he does BEST!!
I for one, am not interested in entertaining the peanut gallery. Mark is on a different level to me, and I'm for sure on a different level to Mark....but we BOTH make things happen in this industry!
GREAT JOB MARK, YOU'RE THE BEST
Glen, the "Realkingcobra"
