Garden

A couple of days ago, I read a really good article called “Gardens, Not Buildings." This started my wheels turning about the Toybox and shops in general and maybe about the way that I manage some of the rest of my life.  You have been with me on the journey that has been creating a shop and will likely remember much of this, but a bit of a recap is in order.  In late 2010 I bought the space for my shop.  It was a blank four wall box with power and water.  I set about building an office in one corner of the space, so that ultimately I could have a place to take a nap and maybe do a little paperwork.  Following that project, I build cabinets and started putting things away in places that I knew were right for them.  At that point, it was purely a building project.

About three or four months ago, after having worked in the space for a time and knowing how I wanted things to proceed, small changes began to occur.  I moved all of the items used with the table saw to a drawer next to the saw.  I designed and built a cabinet for all of the drill press accessories.   Little changes, but changes that made the project more organic, more like a garden.  It became more functional and responsive to the needs of the user.  Then came last weekend.  I had moved some tools around to surface some lumber for a project I was working on for a friend.  The jointer, planer, router table, and dust collector were sitting in a configuration I had never had them in before, and it struck me that it would work so much better that way.  Before the day was over, equipment was moved and I will continue to move most of my work into a part of the shop that I have really not fully used to this point.  With that, the circle will begin again, moving things, developing new storage and point-of-use organizers, and continuing to find better ways to utilize the space.  Much like replanting a garden.

Then the bigger picture struck me.  When I set things up upon first arriving in a place I would live, Most of the places that I have lived, I did so based upon the belief that I KNEW what the best layout for a room was going to be.  I would live there for any number of months, or years, depending on what move it was in my life, and never move anything.  We have been in our current residence for about four years, and the odds are that most of the furniture is sitting in the same divots in the carpet that were created the first day we put things in place.  But, I think I need to treat it more like a garden.  I need to look at how we live in the space today. With fewer kids and less craziness, we should determine if there is a better way to use the space. I know people who do this naturally, turning living rooms on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, such that going to their house was always a new adventure, but that is not the way I've ever operated.

I know that I am all about the status quo.  I will sit in the same place and act in the same manner over and over again if I am allowed to.  But this experience in the shop pointed out to me that there may truly be a better way to look at things and a more effective alignment of the things in my world.  I have started small, but I do not know where it will go.  When Sara comes home tonight, will I be sitting in her chair?  How will she react?  Will I change the arrangement of my office?  It has been the same way for five years and I never really questioned it until today.  Are there items in my office at home that should be eliminated, or relocated?  I am not sure yet, but I am going to think about it.

I once worked for someone that when faced with the need to move something, or someone, his challenge was to think as if you were starting from scratch, with all of your current knowledge and ask what the perfect layout might be.  It is time to remember some of that.

On a completely separate note, I read an article a few months ago listing the top 10 essential DIY skills.  Of these, I could realistically claim that I knew four.  I am about to work on number five on my list - building a computer from scratch.  I have purchased all of the parts and Andrew is coming up in a couple of weeks to help me through the build.  I am very excited, but a little nervous as I've spent hundreds of dollars that I could accidentally blow up.  It should be an interesting journey.  Stay tuned for all of the fun.  Additionally, I think that welding should be on the list (it isn’t), so I am also working toward learning that skill.  I am trading some woodworking for welding lessons and think I might like the “barter” economy.

Have a great week.

Big News

What a week for big news.It is so exciting that I can hardly breathe.  For many of you, the birth of a new Royal is a big deal, but for those of us that love the mechanical part of the world, that birth pales in comparison.  This week the Union Pacific announced it has reached an agreement to purchase retired UP #4014 from the Southern California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society.  Even more important, the Union Pacific has announced they will bring this locomotive back into active service as part of their Heritage Fleet, probably by 2019.  Again, I can hardly breathe.

For those of you who are not up to speed on old steam locomotives, I will include a bit of information.  UP #4014 was a member of the class of locomotives referred to as “Big Boys.”  There were twenty-five of them built between 1941 and 1945 to handle heavy loads over mountain passes, but still be able to maintain reasonable speeds across flat ground.  They weighed in at 1.25 million pounds, standing just over 16 feet tall and 11 feet wide.

This is not a project for the Toybox. The shop this will go into is the Union Pacific Steam shop in Cheyenne, WY.  It is the home of a couple of active steam locomotives, including the Union Pacific 844 which is the only steam locomotive that has never been retired.  I will get back to that in a moment.  If you are interested in the shop itself, there are several videos (here's one) on the Internet, showing the space and the work they do.  The most amazing thing about watching any of their videos is the same thing I marvel at in any shop, whether wood or auto body, etc.  The people who work in this shop handle the items around them as though it is just no big deal.  They are handling thousands of tons, working with components that have not been apart in decades, and they just get the work done.

You see the same type of behavior if you stop by a local cabinet shop.  The work that the people in there do on a regular basis happens so effortlessly that it seems as normal as breathing.  For those of us who “dabble” in the same areas, the work is much more challenging.  When we reach the point where one of the tasks becomes more natural for us, it is time to celebrate.

Turning to the overall discussion of the Union Pacific and the fact that they have a steam fleet, or a steam locomotive that has never been retired, I think this is a phenomenal feat.  Over all of the years that they could have made the economic decision to retire the fleet and move on, they were steadfast enough to recognize the value and the importance of what they had.  They did not do what could have been the easier thing to do, and because of that, today we have living artifacts of a day gone by.  Kudos to all of the Union Pacific leadership.  I know that I need to be more mindful of tomorrow’s treasures today than I have been and they are a good example.

If that were not enough to have happened this week, I also found out that there is a list of Historical Mechanical Engineering Landmarks.  Who knew?  This really looks like a “bucket list” of places I need to visit.  The first one on the list, the powerhouse for the cable car system in San Francisco is a place I've been, and one of the greatest tours that I have ever been on.  If this is any indication of what the rest of these may be, I will need to figure out how to take more vacations.  There are currently 251 landmarks listed and I am sure that there are more out there vying for placement.  One of the listings is in Iowa, the Hart Parr tractor in Charles City.  Obviously I have more research to do there.

It seems so strange that I would always have been so interested in mechanical items, and out of that environment, I developed an Electrical Engineer in my son.  I think that this means that I need to listen to him and ask questions as there must be some kind of a connection there.  I need to spend time and see if the world of electricity and power interests me as much.  First though, I need to try to understand it.

It looks as if we are going to have a beautiful weekend to get some work done at the Toybox.  This is a really good thing. The project list is starting to overrun my ability to keep up.  Of course, that is not that bad a problem to have.  Have a great week.

Pure Joy

Okay, did you ever have a phone call that just brought you the truest of joy?

I had one yesterday from a lifelong friend that I had not talked to in a while.  Although there were a bunch of great things about the call, two come to mind that are worth mentioning.  First, she had called because she saw me post something on Facebook and figured I wasn't doing anything at that point of the day that couldn't  be interrupted.  She was so right.  Second, toward the end of a couple of really long weeks at work, talking to her was just what the doctor ordered.

The whole experience started my brain rattling.  Today, you get the results of those thoughts.

Many years ago, I had an acquaintance that put several of us in his personal schedule to call periodically.  Because I was working in a pretty tight-knit industry, and we all knew each other very well, it didn't take us long to figure out his schedule and how often he was calling us.  In the arrogance that is youth, we found humor in this, and after several months, even poked at him about it.  At this point, I wish that we wouldn't have done that. Many of you probably would have done the same thing and ask why.  I have come to realize that if someone takes the time to personally call you, it shouldn't be scoffed at, but rather appreciated for exactly what it is.  It is one friend reaching out to another because they really care.  Some of you are saying , “Duh,” right now because this makes sense and only takes a little insight.  When Mark used his calendar all those years ago to schedule personal calls he could have easily ignored the reminder.  But, he didn't.  He went ahead and made the call because we all mattered enough to him that he was willing to invest time into those friendships.

This summer, my daughter has been working as a counselor at a camp in NE Iowa.  She is not allowed to make phone calls unless she is off duty.  Typically, this occurs for a couple of hours one night a week and all day on Saturday. Because of this, we have come to appreciate a call from her more than ever before.  Additionally, a letter is to be truly loved, whichever direction it is going.  It is such a return to earlier times when a letter was looked forward to with great anticipation.

In the middle of everything I have just talked about, I realize how much I need to do a better job of reaching out to people.  I need to make sure that I talk to family and friends regularly, whether the media is a letter or a phone call.  I also need to remember that the letter lasts a long time whereas the phone call does not.  If any of you are like me, you probably have a drawer full of old cards and/or letters from earlier times that you periodically look through to be reminded of old friends and acquaintances.  It brings back a flood of nostalgia and usually causes me to reach out to one of these people.  Rarely am I disappointed at the results as I catch up on things that have been going on with those whom have been important in my life.

I also now know that I need to get much busier writing letters, particularly to my children, so that they have some of these types of memories going forward.  One important note here is that I remember my mother begging me to send her a letter or two, once in a while…..I never got that done.  Hum, okay, that was a miss.  I don’t think I am ready to schedule personal communication in Outlook, but I will be working to be more connected with those from my life, not just today’s part, but all of it.

Just one other thought today.  I had lunch today with a true lifelong friend.  You know the kind.  This is the type of person that you pray will never tell all of the things that they know about you.  Anyway, isn't it wonderful to you have someone that even with time and distance, you can pick up the friendship and be back to “normal” in about five minutes.  This is one of the things that I am really thankful for.

Have a great weekend.

Flashback

Ok, first and very important, my router table is done. This project brought things together from several different sources and  ended up as a project/tool I believe will be helpful far into the future. Heck, who knows, it could even end up being used by one of the kids or a grandchild somewhere along the line ... or it could just be sold on Craigslist. Anyway, with a switch from Kreg Tools, a top from Rockler Tools, and a plate from Benchdog, the router table pulls together many things in a way I think will work for me in my shop.

So, along with finishing this project, Sara adding a couple more to the list, we also had a holiday, the 4th of July. For whatever reason, it caused me to be melancholy this year, thinking back over the years and all the special times and special people in my life. As I am sure would be the case with many of us, this really came down to thinking mostly about one place. For me, this place was my grandparent's home. Grandma and Grandpa lived out on the hill on the east side of Sigourney, Iowa. Growing up, my sister Jaye and I spent countless hours there, learning what being family meant, and honestly, finding out what working meant, as there was always something that needed to be done. Whether it was putting up hay, cleaning out stalls, or cracking walnuts on the anvil in the winter, there was always a project.

Even with plenty of work to do, the 4th of July was a time for family to gather. Nothing ever had to be said, we all just knew that on the evening of the 4th, we would gather on the hill and watch fireworks. My grandmother LOVED fireworks. In the early years the fireworks would be shot off at the old high school field (Schaefer field I believe) so we pointed our chairs to the south and west to watch them over the neighbor's barn. Later, after the Keokuk County Expo started, they were just down the hill to the east and the viewing was perfect.

As I said earlier, Grandma loved fireworks, so it always became an event, sometimes by design and sometimes not. One of my fondest memories was that on this special evening, Grandma would make fresh lemonade and serve it out of the old zinc pitcher that I remember being ice cold to the touch. Okay, to be fair, when I say real, what I mean is not Kool-Aid or any of the mixes, but real lemon juice (out of the bottle), sugar and water. What a treat it was. Sometimes we would have homemade ice cream or maybe something baked, but there was always lemonade.

This year, when Sara and I went out wandering with her mom, looking for a place where we could watch fireworks from the van, I remembered the days out on the hill and all that it meant to me. Since my children are no longer children and as I look back at all the special things we tried to do for them, it strikes me that what will probably mean the most to them is something very simple that happened without any planning at all. That is what it was in my family, just fireworks out on the hill.

So, as I think about the holiday and all that it means to myself, my family, and really my nation, it all comes down again to sharing time and memories with each other. The memory this year will be of Sara and her mom watching fireworks and talking with each other about all they did in years past. I know that I do not remember some things and some times, but I need to remember how important the little moments and the normal things we do can be. I need to keep living every minute to the fullest.

On another fun note, my daughter is spending her summer as a camp counselor, working with kids at a camp up in northwest Iowa. When I think about memories being built and experiences encountered, I think about all of the things she is doing and all of the ways she is growing. I could best sum this up so far by telling you about the time that she told me she had been teaching kids to sail. When I asked when she had learned, she told me in a very matter of fact manner, "Oh, about 15 minutes before." Let's all keep grabbing life by the horns and keep enjoying every moment.

As they would tell you in Hawaii ... Hang Loose!