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!

Norm!

Many of us can remember this being yelled at the entrance to a beloved character on the old “Cheers” sitcom.  It reminds me that we really do like it when we are recognized and appreciated for just being somewhere, even if just as a customer.

A story from my past:  When we lived in Lees Summit, Mo, a new coffee shop opened in a direct line between where I lived and where I worked.  This was simply more than one could expect out of life.  The name of the shop was JP Coffee, and as I looked for them on the Internet, it looks as though they have closed.  That truly saddens me.  But, anyway, the story is great.  I started stopping for coffee and after several months passed, the person who had been taking my orders cautiously asked if there was any chance that I would ever order anything different.  I answered that I would always order the same thing.  From that point forward, no matter how full the place was, my coffee would always be sitting and waiting for me.  Over time, I found that the person who served me my coffee in those early days was Linda, the owner.  And, also over time, every so often, Linda would just tell me that I had paid for enough cups of coffee for the week and that the one in front of me was “on the house.”  What a great way to interact with a vendor.

In my life, and probably even more so as I begin to age, I have gravitated to this type of a business relationship.   This is not only with the people that provide goods and services to my family, but actually to those that I buy from at work.  Whether it is a family doctor, the person who works on my car, or the person I buy coffee from, I seek this type of relationship.  I know there are times I could probably save some money by shopping around and comparing prices, I find comfort in the familiarity of people I know. I believe that if something goes wrong, they will take care of me.  In the business world, this has worked out for me on several occasions as I have been able to explain to a vendor that I really need help on an order.  In the past, I even had one vendor who gave me the spreadsheet he used to calculate his cost, and told me what his target margin was.  That way, if I needed to price something, I had everything that I needed in front of me.

This all seems to come down to trust in the business relationships we are involved in every day.  When I take my vehicle to Jack at Freedom Tire, I know that the work he suggests will be the right thing to do, and not just a bunch of extras to drive the fees up.  I also know that he will tell me what I need to do to make sure our vehicles are safe, because the last thing Jack would ever want to have happen is for someone to be hurt because of work they did or didn't do.

So, how does this happen?  How do we replicate this in the rest of our business lives or if we are trying to launch a new idea or business?  I think that it happens with repetition and time, but, if JP Coffee is really gone, there is something else.  I think that it is really about the “folks,” but honestly, that is kind of the place I always go first.  When I look back at my experience at JP Coffee, after the place started getting busier, I was always taken care of, but when it was no longer Linda at the counter, the experience was different.

Does this mean that we can’t grow business to be big?  I remember the owner of a BBQ joint in Kansas City (Hayward’s) telling me that when he had attempted to run multiple locations all that happened was that the food was not as good, and neither was the profitability.  On the other hand, my friend Jim Bradrick has developed this type of a relationship with a monster, Starbucks.  He has their app on his phone, and only pays there by reloading the app.  He walks into any Starbucks in the UNIVERSE with utter confidence, knowing exactly what he is going to experience.  Sometimes, when we're together, I expect him to address the person at the counter by their first name, even though he has never been in that location before.  Simply amazing.

There will always be a place for the giants in the economic landscape, but I also think that there also will always be a place for the little shops.  We need both.  We need to be able to go to a place that has the buying power of hundreds, or thousands, of locations to hold our costs down.  But, we also need a place to go where they know our name, and who we are, and will take care of us as individuals.  And although we may pay a little more there - we will probably feel better about it.

Mis-Placements

Have you ever stopped to think about the things we inadvertently leave behind?

Last year when we took an old washer and dryer set out, I found a needle nose pair of vice grips behind them.  Well, this was a coup for me since I didn't have a pair of those, so of course that's where my mind went first, but after that, I began thinking about things that just get lost along the way.  If you watch any of the shows about antiques/old stuff today: “American Pickers,” “Pawn Stars,” “American Restoration.” etc., you can't help but be blown away by the prices some of these older items fetch.  I remember someone talking about taking something worthless and burying it in the desert for 10,000 years. At that point it would be priceless.

But all of that is just stuff.  And those of you who know me understand that I believe while stuff makes our lives comfortable, it really is unimportant in the overall scheme of life.  I had the good fortune in the middle of my life to have many of my “worldly” possessions taken from me. It was at that point, I truly discovered that the important things are people who around us, and the activities we share together.

When we were on vacation, we had the opportunity to celebrate three different times with my sister, in groups of ever increasing size, leading up to the last celebration with fifty-seven people.  These people from all walks of life have one thing in common - my sister.  It was a joy to watch.  It was amazing how many times that evening I heard people tell me they looked forward to meeting me since they had only known me through my sister’s stories.  That really made me smile.

The other day, I also ran across a quote of my sister’s from her senior year. It resonated with me as I was thinking about all of this.  She said, “You have to be ready at a moment’s notice, to abandon everything you are and everything you have in order to become what you truly can be.”  These probably aren't her exact words, but I bet you all get the idea.  All of this came together for me and made me think about what I have done to bring me to this point in my life. Once again it challenged me as I wondered if I am in the right place.  That is something that I will keep working on.

So, I find myself asking what it is I will leave behind in people's memories.  First of all, I have two great kids who are beginning to build wonderful lives for themselves.  This is without a doubt my biggest legacy.  And then, of course, I will leave a ‘bitchin’ shop. But that is something that will probably get slowly taken apart as friends and family need items or there is a sale.  Mostly though, I expect it will be the same thing we all have from those who went before us.  There will be a certain amount of things which will survive for some time.  I still have a very nice set of screwdrivers that were my father’s, but those things get used up or lost with time.  The things that you never forget are the memories - the moments that were just right. There was a day with my son that we didn't really have anything special to do, but we were together all day long and we both still remember the day with fondness.

Even though my tendency is to want to get home at the end of the day and then stay there, I will continue to push myself to be around people, to have fun and make memories.  And even more specifically, I will continue to do this with my family, especially as it continues to grow.  We will laugh, have fun, and make memories.  That way, all of the things left behind will be fond memories and thoughts, and not just an old pair of needle nose pliers behind the washer and dryer.

Back in the Saddle

Finally! It feels as though I am finally back to normal and have fully returned from vacation.  There were many things which helped me get to this point: being back at work, back in Johnston, back with friends, back on a normal schedule.  But one of the big ones was finding my way back to the Toybox ... to my shop.  I had missed being where I could actually build something.  The first opportunity I got out there, I spent most of the time just sitting - no music, no tools, just quiet. I have never been into meditation or anything like that, but I have to think that what I felt was similar to that type of experience.

This has always been my pattern.  My mom knew that when I had been through enough, whatever it was, she would find me in the shop at home doing something, even if it was only cleaning.  I am not the first generation that behaved this way. When I was very little, the shop was where dad and all of his friends would gather at the end of a day, or on a weekend to get what had happened during the week out of their minds.  They spoke about woodworking or gun-smithing and there was always a good deal of humor and picking at each other. This was a group not above the occasional practical joke.  So that was the first group of men I found myself belonging to.

When I worked for Payless Cashways and was assigned to the store in Ft Dodge, we found a shop that helped all of us to find our center.  The Midwest Top Shop was a countertop provider for us during the day, and at the end of the day, it became a place to go and sit and have a beer.  Matt, the owner, was never foolish enough to let any of us have a key to the place, but it was always open to us regardless of the day or the hour.  If our families were unable to find us, they called the Top Shop and inevitably found us there.  That was a good time.

While there, I had the second nicest shop I ever owned.  It was a 24 x 24 double garage, heated and insulated, and where Andrew and I spent a great deal of time. He began to have an appreciation of the skills needed to put things together and think things through.  He was also spending time in his grandfather’s shop, typically pounding nails or using the scroll saw.  I remember the night he had come to the Top Shop with me and was working at a bench.  The rest of the guys that were there were amazed by the fact that at the age of five he could accurately make all the sounds for the equipment he was used to being around.

Fast forward to today. Andrew has spent a couple of weekends at home since he graduated.  While this is truly at a time when he is facing big changes, the fun thing is that during these visits, he's gone to the Toybox with me not just because I asked, but because he wanted to.  He's been a big help on some of the projects that I have going on out there.  Maybe I've extended the desire for a shop in the next generation.  His may look completely different than mine - it may well be electronics and computers, but he will have some kind of space where he can process his day and work on his passions.  So Lyndsey, I will just apologize now, because the acorn really doesn't fall far from the tree.

Anyway, I am back, re-engaged, and looking forward to getting projects completed and other projects started.  I also have most of the parts bought for a computer that I am going to build.  A friend sent me a list of the Top 10 DIY 'must-dos' a while back and building a computer was on that list.  That will be something to look forward to in the next few months.

As always, thanks for reading and have a GREAT week.