Tails

As many of us watch the lead-up to the Olympics and see some unbelievable performances, it makes me think of math, or more specifically, statistics. Be clear here, this about sums my statistical knowledge. It was a struggle to get through the classes I needed to complete for my degree work, but I held on to some of it.

Most of us live in the middle of a bell-shaped curve for much of what we do in a lifetime. We think of words like average, normal, or maybe even mediocre. As I told someone just today, it is very possible to be mediocre and still win. In fact, over the years, some of the best teams I've been associated with have just been average. But, and this is important, in a normal distribution there are the parts of the population on either end of the distribution. They are "out in the tails." This means in the normal distribution, they are either very good at something, or on the other end, really poor at something. With the Olympic trials going on, we have gotten to witness performances which are at the "really good" end of the spectrum. Like so many other times, thinking about this brings other things to mind for me.

We often focus on athletic events and performances when we think of excellence, but I think it is way too narrow a view. I have been fortunate in my lifetime to know people who were "in the tails" in part of their life. This may have bee around intelligence, or the ability to work with metal; this could have been someone who was a tremendous mechanic, or someone who was a great caregiver. There are so many times and ways people show themselves with portions of their lives which are just way above the norm, but we rarely recognize the fact there is excellence going on here. Maybe a couple of examples would help.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity to sponsor a Pro-Am golf event. As part of the event, I spent time with the professionals on the driving range as they loosened up. At one point, one of them was working on doing a particular thing with the ball, a fade or a draw, I don't remember which. I asked how they could accomplish what they were doing with a golf ball. To my amazement, I was told when they watched the club meet the ball, they made sure the club hit in the correct quadrant. They were of course saying this to someone who would be happy just having the club and the ball meet. This was obviously someone not in the center of the normal distribution.

Another example from the same time was a gentleman I knew who was a bulldozer operator. In his life, his wife ran virtually everything, money, planning, almost everything as he just could not. But if you put him in the middle of a blank piece of ground and told him you wanted a certain project accomplished, he could estimate in his head, the number of cubic yards of dirt needing moved, and how long it would take. His degree of accuracy was uncanny. In that part of his life, his ability was way "out in the tail" of the distribution.

You may wonder exactly what I am trying to get at. What I am suggesting is in a time when the world seems to be very angry and aggressive about so many things, maybe it makes sense to recognize, and maybe even call out people who have skills way beyond the normal. Maybe you know someone who makes the best custard pie you have ever tasted (my Grandma Jo, BTW), take time to tell them. Maybe you know someone who can get the seams of a quilt to come together like nobody you have ever seen. Tell them.

We have the ability to recognize people for their accomplishments and almost everyone has something they do better than the norm. We can't all be Olympic stars, or music celebrities, but maybe you know someone who can plan an outing for you and friends like none other. We actually had the opportunity to experience this skill a few weeks ago in Minnesota. We were celebrating my daughter's graduation from law school and had friends that took it upon themselves to help us with the celebration. Without question, the ability they brought to food and drink was nothing short of a five star experience. Even my sister commented on the level of care they had shown. There was no question as to the level of excellence. Thanks to Jim, Jody, and Doug.

Take time to recognize the skill. Watch the Olympic hopefuls and think about family and friends and the skills they have. Tell them you see their abilities and the excellence they show.

I hope you all have a great weekend and I hope you are willing and able to make someone else's weekend better.  Take care of yourself and those around you.

Joy

 On April 9th, Sara and I had to do one of those things familiar to every pet owner. We had to put JC, our spoiled rotten poodle, to sleep. I say spoiled rotten as she was incredibly well taken care of in the ten plus years she lived in our home. She came to live with us after being found in a road side ditch in Clark County, presumably after being discarded by the puppy mill which used her for breeding. This won't sound right, but all I have to say to those who disposed of her in such a manner is, "Thank You."

Thinking about JC causes me to reflect on the small things making up a lifetime which are only recognized when we look back. JC was clearly Sara's dog, but there were things she did and moments  I will always remember. If you have had pets or animals in your life, I am sure you have similar stories. Another thing it made me think of is when I had a horse that really didn't like me. There was just something there which caused us to clash. I think we sometimes forget that although pets try generally to make us happy, they also have a free will. This is sometimes easier to recognize in a 1500 pound horse rather than a nine pound poodle.

If you wonder about this, talk to almost anyone who has had a rescued animal. There are exceptions, but owners of rescued pets I know talk about them as though the animal recognizes that the rescue is the best thing that ever happened to them. With JC, it was as though she knew she was living a second, completely different, part of her life.

So, it causes me to circle back around to the "Thank You" part of this story. Speaking completely for myself, and not for anyone else, although I complain about things as much as others, there are probably more times than I want to admit when my response to the situation should be "Thank You." Looking back on many of the things I have gone through, I came out the other end stronger and more confident than I went in. This is not something to complain about, but rather something to celebrate. If I can actually do this more often, it will make me a better person. 

Okay, enough. I miss JC and have every confidence the time will come when we will have another dog in our house. But, along with all this, there are some big things happening. Many in the next month.

First, I get to see Megan graduate from law school. It is almost impossible to think about it, but we have gone through the three years it takes to get through law school. And she has a job! While we are celebrating her, I get to be with my sister, my family, and some very dear friends. What could be better? We are even going bowling together. I'm a terrible bowler, but can hardly wait.

Second, I get to add air conditioning at the Toybox next month. This may sound like a little thing, but it will make it possible for me to get about three more months of work a year out of the space. For me, this is really a big deal.

Third, we have an actual "real" vacation planned for this summer. We are going to San Francisco. I have planned and scheduled this trip for times in the last 31 years and have been forced to cancel it every time. This time is the one. We will get there.

Finally, I have reached the point where we can move forward with the next library project our of the Toybox. We were initially scheduled for some time in January/February, but with everything happening last year, it all slowed down. Fortunately for the project, I got everything produced at the end of last year. I say fortunately because for those of you not affected by the cost of lumber products. Count yourself as fortunate. In this case, I beat the price increase and I get to hold the price for the project.

So, to finish today, I count myself as fortunate in so many ways, but on the things I do not see in the same light, I need to look at them differently. I am here, getting to play this event called life, and I need to see as much of it as possible through the right lens. The lens I need to use is of a twenty year old, nine pound poodle. Although mostly blind, thankful for every day and everything and being as joyous as she could be.

I may have been a little sappy today, but it is what I am thinking about. Have a great weekend!

Getting Stuff

Starting a little over a year ago with something as innocuous as toilet paper, we experienced and continue to experience a real pressure on our infrastructure and the ability to get things made and delivered. 

The picture attached to this blog is the best single example I ran into. The street in front of the building I work in is putting in new sewer pipes. 

A little over a week ago, the people responsible for the project came to talk. There was no question it would disrupt things here for a while. The affected area which has impact on the business I work at is about two blocks. When they came to talk to me, I was told they complete about a block a week, so in my mind, we were looking at two weeks. It is now Thursday and there has been virtually no progress this week. Why? One would think there had been rain or bad weather. Nope, not the case. What stopped this project was running out of pipe. What they are using is not an uncommon product, it would just appear they can't get it at this point.

There is no shortage of examples of this type of situation. A couple come to mind:

* Last week, through a person we know at work we were told one of the car dealers in town has a large number of fully commissioned salespeople, yet has less than one vehicle for each of them to sell, from a purely numbers standpoint. Also, if you have not been by any of the car lots lately, take a moment and swing by. You will find out there is not much there, and I would argue what is left are vehicles with something abut them people just don't like.

* When we decided to get a new dishwasher for the house, we discovered the wait was probably 90-120 days, and it was.

* All of the trucks  I sourced this year, built to our specifications have now moved out at least an additional two months. Generally, this has been around the supply of digital components and around plastics.

* Plastic drums, which we use several of, are in very short supply, 

I could go on, and I am sure every one of you could add additional items to the list, but that is not what I am thinking about. I am clear back to the concept of working smarter, not harder.

It seems like this is the perfect time for companies to think about the breadth and depth of their product offering. Let's take the pipe example out in front of my building. From looking at what they have been using, my belief is it is one of several different SKUs of this pipe. No doubt, it is the best and easiest for the contractor doing the work to use. But if rather than trying to carry ten different types, sizes , and configurations of this pipe the supplier would have carried one big pile of the most generic and the fittings to work with it. Is it possible my street would be open at this point?  Maybe.

Go to the grocery store and stand in the section of picante sauce, or hot sauce. How many items are in the section? I would say at least dozens of different kinds. This happened over time as manufacturers attempted to differentiate themselves from the rest of the items in the category. Multiple items to manage at every level of the supply chain from the retail level all the way back to the manufacturer. When this happens, rather than trying to manage one big item everyone in the supply chain is forced to manage multiple items. This makes it much more complex and it makes it much easier to fail. 

Many years ago, when I was just a newbie with Payless Cashways, I was sent to South St Paul for a week. The reason was not a good one. The decision had been made to close the store and I was one of the people sent to help with the process. When the team I was with got there, the store had already done a couple of big promotions, 25% off everything, 50% off everything. The store was picked over. But I remember the thing most amazing to me was there were parts of the store which looked the same as when the store had been open and functioning in an ongoing way. These sections had not been touched, even when the offer had been 50% off. I remember thinking every one of the company's merchants should be in there, walking around, seeing the things it might not be important to have in a store on a regular basis. I wonder how this logic applies to the hot sauce aisle? If a merchant somewhere just stopped buying anything that went in to the hot sauce aisle, what would it look like in a year? Would it be completely empty as customers had seen the products as interchangeable and had just bought whatever was in stock? What would be the first item to run out?

I guess what I am advocating today, or maybe ranting about a little is it may be time to look at things and rationalize assortments. We all know how the 80-20 rule works; 80% of volume comes from 20% of an assortment, but maybe for a while, it is time to stop chasing the other 20% quite so hard. Let's focus our time and energy on the items that are the most important to our businesses and our lives, and quit chasing the rest. I remember Wayne Reimer telling us the best way to manage inventory was to figure out the slow moving items and order the minimum quantity of each when you ran out. I thought at the time he was crazy as it would make a store look horrible, but I am completely with him now. If I can get 80% of the items I need or want and I can get something to cover the other 20% even if it is not my ideal choice, I personally would be fine, in the short time for sure and probably even longer.

So, long an short of all of this, let's stay focused on the really important things and for a while, if we don't have all of the really specific extras, let's just decide to be fine with the situation.

Perspective

As we all have a greater opportunity to look back and think about the experiences we had and the way they have changed us, this spring is speaking to me very powerfully.  Although overall, Iowa did not have a bad winter, there were a few absolutely brutal weeks. The picture I included was one of those days. This is a picture of one of the streets on the way to my shop on a Saturday morning. Yes, in fact the day was as grey as shown, and yes, I was one of the first people on the street.

The interesting thing for me was where the experience took me. As I sat at the top of the hill, I went back to a time I sat in the snowplow with my grandfather, looking at a mile of country rock road, the only visible sign of where the road was being the fence posts on either side. I remember clutching the handle of the door, wondering if we were going to drive off into a ditch, or hit something unseen on the way to the other end. My grandpa, on the other hand, based on his age, time, and perspective, knew exactly what we were doing and what the outcome would be. He had done this dozens of times in his life. His perspective brought him comfort and confidence in a situation he had experienced before.

I don't know about you, but I find I am this way. With more time around a topic, I come to a better level of understanding and knowledge. The last year has been an exercise in this exact thing. As the pandemic descended on us, I found myself in a complete state of panic. Well, maybe panic is too big a word, but let's leave it there. As time has passed and i have more perspective on the situation we have found ourselves in, I am much better with it. I have come to understand the importance of wearing masks, social distancing, and other safeguards I take to help keep my family and friends safe. Yes, I miss going out to dinner and gathering with family/friends, but I have the ability to view these things through the lens regarding the future. I feel as though I have seen improvement in the overall situation, and I have faith I will see more.  This is a much healthier place for me to be.

The other thing I have realized is how often I touched my face.  Who knew?

I hope you are experiencing some of the same things. There is nothing about change that comes without discomfort. I think we have come through the largest part of the change around the world we live in. We have faced a worldwide pandemic and the results have been horrific. At this point we all probably know people the disease has had terrible effects on, or we have lost. But, we are still standing today and for me, I am more confident about the future of the country than I have been in a while.  Heck, I must be. We just finished putting a new roof on the house. This behavior is looking forward without question.

Things at the Toybox continue to move along briskly.  My daughter is keeping a couple of items on my list of projects to complete, and a few weeks ago we had a first at the Toybox. Andrew and Brian, a friend of Andrew's and now a member of my extended family, came to town to work on a project. Over one busy weekend, we completed a maple bedstead for Brian. Plus, we had a GREAT time in the shop and at home. Good food and camaraderie were watchwords for the weekend. I hope we will do it again sometime.

Finally, Sara and Megan did something cool this week. They put their first quilt out on Etsy. I am incredibly prejudiced, but I will put their work up against most others. Their attention to detail is quite good and they both have an eye for color and overall look.  I am including a link to the quilt on Etsy.  I hope you all like it.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/978378910/quilt-for-sale-55-34x-67-handmade

Finally

Good things come to those willing to wait, right? If the last year has emphasized nothing else, this HAS to be part of the message the world is sending us. In the last few months I have closed the chapter on a couple of things I had been working on for a great deal of time. The first was completion and delivery of the Teardrop trailer. I went back through old notes and the first thing I had regarding this project was in January of 2014. I must have just been in the "thinking" process in 2014, but in September of 2016 I bought the plan which was the basis for this project. I also  purchased the trailer kit in the same month, which was step one. So I worked on this for a total of four years. Of course, this was  not continual work. I would work for a while, get to a place where I either did not know how to do something, or I could see it was going to be a pain, and move to something else for a while.

The plan had always been upon completion of the trailer my sister would drive to Iowa and pick it up. As part of the overall process, she even bought a new vehicle more prepared to pull a trailer. The alternate plan was pulling it out there for her behind the pickup. Then came COVID. The two of us talked again and again about who could drive safely, what states had restrictions to entry, and even whether there was a way to meet in the middle and do a hand-off. In August of last year, I decided there must be a different/better way to get this done. To some degree, I think the pandemic made us all more ingenious. I found a company who puts people needing things moved with those willing to do the work. Through this company, Uship, I met Derreck. Initially, all conversation and planning was digital. The date was Sept 14, and the trailer was to be delivered within a couple of weeks. While waiting to get this process started, Derreck had COVID come to his home and he was quarantined for fourteen days. Finally, on November 7th he and his daughter  picked up the trailer. Both were very nice people. The thought that day was to deliver in a few days. Oh, the best laid plans. Somewhere in New York state, Derreck's truck decided to lose it's mind (computer) and they got laid up in a service center for several days. But finally, the trailer was delivered on November 22. It was in perfect shape and Derreck had done great work. Also, my sister was ecstatic to finally have it in her home.

Within a few weeks, the other project came together. When we had been in Kearney, MO, we had purchased a piano for the kids to learn to play. Both learned, just like I did when I was young, and just like me, as they grew older they lost interest in playing. So, the piano moved with us several times, often not being played one time between moves. We had tried over the last three years or so to either sell the piano, or give it away. Neither had worked. If any of you are looking for a new home for an old piano, good luck.

The manner we used to find the piano a good home was really happenstance and listening to conversations. Last year, I installed a set of bookshelves in an adult recovery unit. The manager working told me his training was in music and he hoped at some point to do some type of music therapy. After checking with anyone in my family who might want a piano, I called him back and offered it . They were very excited to get it and on a Saturday in December, brought several guys and we loaded it up. Later in the day I got pictures of people sitting around the piano, obviously singing. It was one of those times you just have to smile.

As I come to the completion of this blog post, it strikes me how often in my life I have taken great periods of time to complete things. The last one I think of is an oak secretary I disassembled when I was still in high school to refinish. Mom had wanted it refinished. I didn't finish it for her. I finally completed it in 2001 and it is in use in my home. Wow, the secretary may be the record, depending on how long it takes me to get Sara's kitchen remodel done. Keep your fingers crossed on this project. 

Have a great weekend. If all goes well, I will have received my first COVID shot by the end of the day Saturday. Take car and be careful.

Close Call

Well, I hadn't really told any of you about this. As a woodworker, I'm a little embarrassed. Back on May 10, I had a close call in the shop. It resulted in nine stitches in a finger, but it could have been a lot worse. Which is why I am calling it a "close call." I do have a finger that looks slightly different than it did before anything happened, but it is still in place and it still functions the way it is suppose to. With a nod to my Industrial Arts teachers, Russ and Bill, I will also tell you I wasn't doing anything identifiable as "WRONG." it was just one of those weird things that happens.

The idea of a "close call" seems to have a really different meaning at the moment, one we have all gotten somewhat used to and one I believe we will get more used to. I'm talking about those who are all around this disease we are all contending with. I've had about three of these so far. This is when someone you know and have been around either comes down with the disease, or is close enough to someone else that they need to be tested. With the move from summer to winter months, I fear these encounters won't decrease in number.

So, what do we do about this? I'll tell you what my behavior is going to be. In the time I have been in distribution/logistics, each time we had a close call, we took the time to look at the situation and decide what could have been done differently. Trust me, I've certainly done that with the situation in my shop. I stopped, and thought about what I could have done differently and what I can do going forward to make sure it doesn't happen again. I just don't like the pain and recovery period associated with any type of injury.

When we think about the corona virus, we have to take it very seriously. Not only is it taking lives, but in talking to friends, family, and co-workers who dealt with the disease personally, there seems to be the possibilities of true lasting consequences. This is really something to be avoided, so take the precautions you see necessary and I would encourage you to analyze any close calls you have, to make sure you can avoid the situation the next time. Hurt fingers heal and get better over time; sometimes lung function does not.

Enough of that. One other thing I wanted to talk about today is logistics around the holidays. I am sure most of you have seen this, but the major freight carriers are predicting an inability to stay caught up with packages over the next two months. The suggestion... ship early! This is one of those things I say to you today, but I'm really saying it out loud so I remind myself. Many of you know, particularly if you are family or a friend, I am horrible at planning ahead. Many times I have finished Christmas shopping on the 23rd or 24th of December. That looks like a bad plan this year, so I will need to plan differently.

I think I had let you know I found someone to take my sister's teardrop trailer to her. While this is true, we are struggling a little bit to get it done. Derek, who agreed to do the hauling, was first hit with a truck going down, then he was hit with COVID in his warehouse and had to shut down for a time. I hope we will see forward movement soon as I would like to get the trailer to my sister. I also have a couple of projects I've committed to this winter and need the space. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

Finally, I would like to say think you to those who have found my Etsy store and placed orders. It is nice to know some of the things I make will be in your lives. If there is something you need and you believe it is in my skill set, do not hesitate to reach out. There may well be a possibility there.

Please continue to be careful and safe. I want everyone to be okay when we finally round the corner and find a way to deal with this terrible disease.

Resilience

A few weeks ago, I wrote about how brittle people are right now. I still believe this, but I also think it is important to talk about the flip side as often as we can. To me, the reverse of brittle is resilience. And resilience is what we need in the toughest of times. I may have told the story before, but it bears repeating. 

In the last days at Payless Cashways, we had a tendency to close ranks and work to take care of each other. We knew where we were going, we just didn't know how we were going to get there. In that environment, we were all pretty open about feelings and personal history. One friend talked about a period in his life when he and his family had to live in the haymow on a family farm. It would be very easy to think about how horrible living in a hay mow for any period of time could be. On the contrary, my friend told me how great the experience was. The family had each other, had a place to live and a whole big farm to play on. Sometimes it is just about looking at things the right way.

When I was working to finish college, one summer I had nothing, including a place to live. I ended up living in what would now be called a walk-in closet. There was enough room for a mattress and some space for personal items on the floor. Of course, there was plenty of room to hang things :). I went into the summer thinking I could survive anything, and this was just the next step in the journey. I came out of the summer having had the best time ever. The rest of the people living in the house weren't really people I knew well in the beginning, but we grew to know and appreciate each other. When I moved back to a more traditional living environment, I missed the craziness we had all enjoyed during the summer.

I know I repeat myself, but much of what we are going through right now is best handled with a good positive attitude. If you think about dealing with 2020 and all it has brought, those handling it the best know it will be a good story in a decade or so. Think about the number of stories that will begin with, Remember 2020? This will be our equivalent of those stories we heard when we were kids. You know the ones. About how our grandparents walking four miles to school, through deep snow, uphill both ways. Stories get bigger over time, and although it is hard to imagine, the stories about this year will get bigger as well. Okay, that is all I have to say about 2020 right now.

And now we wait. The teardrop trailer is complete, the transporter has been contacted and accepted the contract to haul it. The little final things are finished, and now we wait. 

I find the experience of completing a large, long-term project to be an interesting one. One I haven't necessarily experienced too often. The feeling that occurs when you are done with something which has taken time and work to complete. As I sit and think about it, it seems a little like finishing a college degree. There is the huge relief of a thing done, and hopefully done well, and at the same time you wonder what will change and how things will be different. Having this project going on in the shop over the last four years has always given me something to think about and something to talk to others about. I actually bought the trailer kit at the beginning of September 2016. This has actually been the length of an average undergraduate degree.

Where to next? When I started on the trailer I actually thought the next thing I would do in the Toybox was to rebuild a small tractor. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I  lost the desire to do mechanical work. I missed the window to learn it from someone I grew up around. I can watch enough on YouTube.

It has been interesting how the world has continued to fill up with woodworking projects for me to complete. There have been several library projects at this point, as well as work for people I know in the community. I have a project scheduled for this winter that will keep me busy for a while, and although I have joked about it, the time has come to get serious about finishing the kitchen cabinets for the house. That project has been on the back burner long enough. Time to get busy on it.

If you have any needs the Toybox might be able to help with, reach out and let me know. Have a great weekend.