Remodeling, Reflecting, Avoiding Real Jobs

Avoidence
It's not that I've been avoiding jobs.  There have been two really appropriate project management jobs but of course that involves putting on good clothes and showing up five days per week.  A third position is a CIO job at Gander Mountain.  My friends suggest I'm a perfect fit providing that I show up for the interview in camo.  It's really been a scheduling issue.

Remodeling
The last eight weeks are history, three at my daughter's new house and five at her old house.  It's a long story without explanation.

Reflection
During the remodeling I ceremonially used a tool of my father (circa 1954), my uncle (circa 1965) and my paternal grandfather (circa 1940).  The folding Lufkin wooden rule with brass ends caused me to think of my grandfather who also used to stress keeping your fingers out of the power saw.

A childhood friend from Columbus Avenue posted a recent photo of the flooded street on Facebook. Back in the day that simply meant playing in the water. She also commented about my grandfather 'Pop' Leeper. It was a pleasant memory. He had many stories that he shared with the neighborhood kids. It's probably appropriate to share. Father's day has recently come and gone and he was a special person for many people.

Columbus Avenue in the 1950’s was comprised of working class and retired households. All of the homes were small. No one had air conditioning and having a fan was sort of special. In the evenings people would bring out their lawn chairs and sit outside until the mosquitoes drove them back inside. “Pop” (Addison C. Leeper) and Ollie (Olive Blanche Leeper, Addison’s daughter) would sit outside and neighbors and especially children would stop and chat. Pop always had a story. I’ll do my best to share a Pop story.

"We haven’t had water the street like this since the war years. Do you remember that Ollie? Yes, perhaps I should look for an elephant to see what I could do about this. My family lived in Neenah, Nebraska. I was young and wanted to see what the world was about. Neenah was the winter home of the Archibald Animal Circus. One winter I started to go to their camp ground to talk with some of the men. Well the elephant trainer drank a bit too much and just didn’t take care of the elephants. Their trumpeting woke me up every morning. You can hear an elephant trumpet five miles away. When I heard that I went to the place where the elephants were staked out and started feeding them hay. One day the boss came walking by and told me he’d pay me five cents a day to feed the elephants and clean up after them since the trainer was worthless. I don’t think I would have agreed to that if I’d known how much clean up is needed for a family of elephants.

When you make a commitment it’s important to keep it, to keep your word. None of those elephants were very friendly and I noticed that one of them was limping. Finally I got up the nerve to walk up to the limping one and touch it’s leg. He turned his head around and put that great big trunk right up to my face. He smelled me and then lifted up his leg. Right in the middle of his foot was a big nail...all the way in. My dad had a pliers at home and I knew where he kept it. It’s important to take care of your tools and put them where they belong. I walked home, put the pliers in my pocket walked back and then went right up to the elephant. He lifted up his foot without smelling me. It was hard to get a hold of that rusty nail but I pulled it right out. Doing the right thing sometimes hurts. That elephant knew that. They’re just as smart as people and have great memories.

My grandfather had lived with the Iroquois Indians in New York and they taught him all about plants that you could eat and use to make you feel better. My grandfather passed on what he knew to my father and I learned from him. All of you have something to learn from your fathers and mothers, too. I knew that foot would be sore so I gathered some plants and some special berries and mixed it with some bacon grease from the circus cook. You should really use fat from beaver tails but there weren't any beavers in Nebraska. Every day I rubbed that salve into the elephants foot and in short order the infection was gone. It was pretty good stuff. I called it Pachyderm Salve. Don’t we still have some around here Ollie?

That was in 1912. Shortly after that my father, who worked for the railroad was transferred to Fairmont, MN. That was the end of my circus days. In Fairmont I went to school but got a job at the power plant when I was sixteen. It’s important for all you children to finish school. After we adopted Ollie we moved to Albert Lea. During the war years all the boys were off fighting. Two of my boys were in the Army. The only men around town were too old to work or they were just worthless.

It was June of 1943 and we had water in the street just like this, maybe higher. There were some pretty big fish going up and down the street. Didn’t we go fishing right next to the driveway Ollie? There wasn’t much to do during those years and there were shortages of everything. I called the city and asked if they could come grade the street but the grader was broken and all the replacement parts were going to fix graders in the War. I did know that there was a small circus traveling through town. During the night I heard the circus train pass by the back yard and I knew they had a couple of elephants.

We’d used all our gas ration coupons so I walked down to the train yard. It was not much of a circus. Everything needed paint and the animals were pretty skinny. I don’t think the lions had enough energy to eat me. The elephants were staked out in a field. There were posts driven into the ground with chains on them and then a metal collar around the elephant’s leg. They’d been there a few hours and had eaten everything they could reach. The name of the circus was hard to read on the rail cars since they needed paint. I think it was Clyde’s New Century Circus & Exhibition. As I walked toward the elephants they became all upset, one of them in particular. That elephant looked familiar and as I approached it smelled me and lifted the same foot I’d healed thirty one years earlier. I said they had great memories. All of the elephants had sores on their legs from those steel collars. They just weren’t being treated right. All of you children know it’s important to take care of your dogs and elephants are even smarter. I walked back home and went into the garage. There on the wall was my father’s pliers. Putting it in my pocket I headed back down to the rail yard. I brought some bacon grease and along the Rock Island tracks I picked a few berries and a couple of plants as best as I could remember. When I got to the elephants I told the one that recognized me that he had to be quiet. Just like that he turned to the other elephants, made a few elephant words...I know a few elephant words, and the others all became quiet. One by one I used my father’s pliers to remove the steel collars. My friend the elephant nudged the others into a straight line and there they stood. That Pachyderm Salve was just as good in 1943 as it was in 1912 and the pain from those sores went away just like that.

It was still night so we walked down the Rock Island tracks back toward Columbus. Halfway back the Rock Island Rocket came through and we stood just off the tracks. I always wonder if anyone noticed me and six elephants standing there. We came right up through the back yard between these two houses. The water was even higher in the street. The first thing those elephants did was take a big drink of water. They can drink fifty gallons. That was three hundred gallons gone right there. Then I had the elephants walk up and down the street. I remembered the elephant word for “elephant shuffle” from my days in the circus and I had those pachyderms go up and down the street for an hour and we filled in all the potholes and cleared the debris from the storm sewer grates and even dragged a big tree limb down the road to smooth it out. Before dawn our work was done. The water was gone.

This was my friend and you help friends when they need it. Elephants have a good sense of time. The measure it in days. I told that elephant to walk to the southwest for twenty days, only at night. I had a subscription to the Neenah Gazette and in the fall of 1943 there was a front page article that said the War was going well and everyone had a good time because six elephants showed up in town and everyone got to ride one.

If you kids want to go swimming in the street you should go today because tonight I’m going to look for elephants.”

That was as close to the story Pop told us on one of many hot summer evenings as I can recall, now sixty years later. If I were an elephant I'd probably remember it word for word. This reminds me that I need to tell my children how to make Pachyderm Salve. 

Copyright 2015 John F. Leeper

99 & Counting

Today started early with a few tasks on 'the house project' followed by a 100 mile drive for lunch.  My remaining aunt, Vi, turns 99 tomorrow.  Her father and two of his sisters lived to 100.  As a child I thought everyone lived to 100.  Vi's sisters left at 98, 98 and 93 respectively.  She's still pretty independent and complains that her hearing, sight and teeth are all rotten.

We ate with my cousin and her husband.  I suggested the local Asian buffet.  For years that was "China Wok."  WalMart recently moved and a new buffet came to town, located near the new WalMart and the China Wok became history.  The new buffet, "Wok & Roll" is not as good, the workers are surly and the bathrooms met the minimal mainland China hygiene standard.

The drive was down 35W south from the Twin Cities.   A long time ago I worked for the MN Department of Public Safety which worked hand in hand with the Department of Transportation which worked with the federal people.  It's clear that  more federal money has come down the road that has in a long time.  Certainly it has something to do with a Presidential election in the future.  Republicans and Democrats alike are going to beat the drums of putting people to work, improving roads, etc.

Minnesota consists of two seasons: 1) snow and ice and 2) road construction.  That's in a good year.

This farm belonged to my mother's cousin, Norval Nelsen.  He and his wife, Helen, moved there in the 1930's, first living in the settler's log cabin.  Along with raising two children it was a traditional farm with a few milk cows, hogs, chickens and enough field crops to sell and feed the livestock.  When my mother was small they'd visit be sent out in the fields to flip cow pies which were used for fuel.  Even in the 1980's Norval resisted propane and continued to burn wood.  As a kid I was overwhelmed by the animals, the annoying chickens and the smells but loved playing in the hayloft of the barn.  Now it's like many farms, a house, the barn is gone, the machine shed empty or storing someone else's boat or RV and a few leftover buildings not really re-purposed and surrounded by field corn and soybeans.

This past week I read about the new University of Minnesota Bee Research Lab.  The most eminnent of the people there, Marla Spivak, has done remarkable work in defense of the Varroa mite infestations in bee colonies.  Of particular note is the development of the Minnesota Hygenic Queen which provides a non-drug approach.  We all know that pesticides result in pesticide-resistent insect.

Dr. Spivak now is focused on colony collapse.  I've been losing colonies in the summer since 2008 which coincides with the release of neonicotinoid pesticides.  I don't have a PhD but from a practical perspective I know that bee colonies next to corn fields doesn't work any more.  The newspaper article said that the vast majority of Minnesota crops require honeybees for pollination.  Corn and soy beans don't need bees.  The farm that Norval and Helen had needed honeybees.  Minnesota agriculture is really an agri-business monoculture (actually corn, soy beans, potatoes and sugar beets). Honeybees are, of course, not native to the United States, and as such are an invasive species and have in many areas been a player in the depletion of native pollinators of which there are thousands.  Native plants tend to lose out to those which thrive under honeybee pollination.  I'm not sure how to argue this.  Moving forward I'll focus on organizations and information technology.

End of May...Start of June

B.B. King
Far in the past, probably the late 1970's it was my fortune to attend a B. B. King concert at Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.  My favorite music podcast site The Best Radio You Have Never Heard pays due tribute in the June 1st, Volume 259 issue.

The House Project

• My carpet guy has been married twice, the second time happily for twelve years.  He and his brother have been working together for 35 years and they still have their knees.
• The flooring salesman has been our carpet and vinyl guy for over twenty years.  His wife has MS and one of his kids has epilepsy.
• My carpenter has a degree from the Carlson School of Management.  Curt Carlson, the founder of the infamous "Green Stamps" which evolved into the Carlson Companies a broad player in the hospitality market was an unpleasant guy.  My carpenter is great.
• The guy who repairs windows won't call me back.
• The Euro style fridge is lost somewhere because of the west coast longshoreman's strike.
• The stove and microwave were delivered today by a tattoo-ridden guy who was working very hard for a tip.  I never get tips.
• Two people at Menard's commented to me the other day "you've been here a lot.
• My new truck is now as full of tools, samples, leftovers and extra "things" as the old truck (which has not sold).
• The neighbors still have not talked to me even though I no longer have the old appliances sitting outside on the patio.
• About two weeks to "listing time."
• Thirty-six inch cabinets in a 35 13/16" space requires craftsmanship.  Who wants "simple?"
  
  

Outplacement

• The LHH consultant has taken a leave of absence to start his own business.  I had taken a bit of a leave of absence from their services to finish a couple of projects with the intention of using a few components of their online resources in the project management skills area.  I think I'm now in limbo and off their plate.  My former employer paid quite a bit for this service.  It's difficult to put a value on their service, much is valuable.  It does however provide a gentle let down for the employer.  They pay a little bit more in service to their employee.  I guess that makes it all feel better to someone.
• I find myself a bit in the wrong direction:
  

Small Business

One of our vendors founders died.  She was not the typical executive and would never been hired as such or an innovator and incubator of business.  Growing the product from the ground up meant that she knew it all, sourcing raw materials, regulations, H/R, production, marketing, distribution, sales, customer relationships, etc.  Now that she's gone a real "executive" has been hired.  It's like Wall Street.  He's offloading many of the tasks, shutting done production that is not mainstream and changing out people.  Not everyone can grow a business, but even fewer can come in off the street and be an effective Chief Operating Officer.  New executives often want to look only to the future.  Unfortunately they often stumble from  not knowing the past.  We were a major customer under the founder's leadership.  As they narrow their product list we're a smaller customer.  That's unfortunate.  We're part of who they are today but we don't matter now.  It's the same with employees.  "Legacy" is important.

2015 Failure #1

This is a short post in case that is not obvious.  One of my goals was to post to one of my blogs daily.  I failed at that a while ago.  The intent was to create a small revenue stream.  The Amazon Affiliate program provides small commissions for items that readers order through the context-sensitive Amazon Affiliate widgets.  Not focusing on expanding my readership and/or the appeal of what I share in this and other blogs has resulted in Amazon dumping me from their affiliate program.  A few weeks ago they notified me that this would happen if I did not expand the readership (and 'buyership'?) and that has come to pass due to my commitments to other pointless activities.

Hello,
We are writing to notify you that your Associates Program application has been rejected and you will no longer have access to Associates Central.
This action was taken because we have not yet received a referral from your account.  Accounts that have not referred a sale within in 180-days of sign-up are automatically rejected.
You are free to reapply to the Associates Program at any time, but we recommend only doing so if your website receives consistent traffic.  

It appears that the ads might still appear.  I simply will not be rolling in the dough from purchases.  It's also possible that this notice was for one of the other blogs which is all about food and dining out in the Twin Cities.  Admittedly few read that.

It's all a journey.

Outhouse / Inhouse Craftsmanship

My good friend, Edd, commented during college a few decades ago that "it's not what you know, but knowing where to look it up."  He purchased a four drawer file cabinet which became his personal repository for information and delighted in explaining his filing and cross-referencing system.  

 Stewart Brand's "Whole Earth Catalog" brought this notion of tools and resources for new living together.  As a child I'd read the Sear Catalog and think about what I might do with all the things that we could not afford.  In that 1970 sort of time frame the Whole Earth Catalog took that to a new dimension, adding not only things but spiritually and meaning to the options.  It became a road map.  In a recent Facebook post including this same image I commented that I've forgotten many, many revolutionary resources and platforms on the internet, but I'll always remember and keep this book.  

For those of us who are information junkies the past 15 years have been interesting as the internet developed.  We all stare at our phones, all the time, 'swiping' away.  That's why I retain a real keyboard for real thoughts and real books for more tangible learning experiences.

The 'house' project has been challenging, a learning experience, and had I more time I'd have shared more 'in progress' photos, and perhaps some of the personality engagements with various staff people at Menard's.  Two days ago I had a great conversation with a young woman which I started with "how deep is your knowledge of plywood?"  She was pretty deep.  Together we worked through a problem, finding 5/16" sanded sheets mis-placed with the 1/4" sanded sheets, etc.



Art is where we find it, or in this case as we make it.

At the moment I'm sitting here LOL since I forgot the purpose of this post.  My daughter's ex-house has a finished expansion space on the second floor which was divided into two rooms.  The upgrades has included a built-in bookcase, new floor and window trim and a closet.  My daughter commented "how do you know how to do this kind of stuff?  Did you look it up on www.youtube.com or something?"  My immediate response was that my father died when I was very young and that I just had to figure things out.  Of course the Sears catalog and the Whole Earth Catalog and many issues of Family Home Handyman ran through my head.  The 'father' reference was a bit snarky so I backed off and commented that the only other thing I'd really built was a outhouse for our cabin back around 1990 or so (digging the hole was another story).  Her quick response was that the closet did look a bit like an outhouse, and so it does.

Everything starts with a good foundation, without faults.  Good companies know this.  Solid ideas, honesty, fairness, quality and innovative improvement of products and people.  We see this in the end products.  The new floor involved removing two or three layers of previous vinyl and a 7/16" subfloor.  The new subfloor is held in place with about 3000 staples (7/8" narrow crown for those who care) and I tired greatly of listening to the compressor.  During the 27-year gig I spent company money like it was my own and expected of my employees what I expected of myself.  My daughter won't own this floor (and house) for more than another month or two.  On the bottom of 4x8' subfloor sheet #3 I left a few comments about quality, the project at hand, a couple of philosophical topics, my name and date and a $1 bill.  Twenty or thirty years from now  it will be time to rebuilt, re-structure and re-think.  Business, tools and our own skills need updating.

As a total aside I did need to work through a trim issue mid-project and pulled a 3/4" chisel out of the toolbox.  It was my father's so it was no newer than 1954.  My uncle's Don's level was used extensively (I skipped the laser level) so that was a 1989 inheritance.  My oldest tool was my 1978 Sears sabre saw which was a really well made, lasting project.

Still laughing over "it looks like an outhouse."

P.S.  Test the electrical wires.  The wall switch may not shut off both 'hot' wires in a ceiling fixture.  Shutting off all power is better than finding a second 'hot' while on the ladder.

Periscope & Copyright Infringement

Earlier today I stopped on the way to the 'house project.'  Turning on my iPhone 'hotspot', listening to The Current and finishing a lukewarm Mountain Dew I began this post with some thoughts about this new digital age, artistic work and copyright protection.  Unfortunately all those thoughts were lost.

This past weekend there was a big fight, apparently.  The cost to watch was high.  Apparently the fight was re-broadcast by many people using the Periscope application (Periscope was brought to my attention by my daughter who is attuned to these emerging trends).  Twitter purchased Periscope earlier this year for $100 million.  Periscope competes with Meerkat.  After hearing about HBO being all upset with those who set there iPhones in front of the TV and re-broadcast I immediately downloaded the application.  I watched a couple of live feeds.  One was a bored guy just talking and there were a couple of people eating at a restaurant.

Kids don't call each other much.  They text and use Instagram.  Photographers used to keep the negatives of images they created.  Prints were marked with copyright notices.  I'm not a copyright expert but I have appreciation of intellectual property and artistic work.  During my 27-year gig my intent was always to be in compliance on intellectual property (e.g. software licensing) but that was also wrapped up tightly in contractual language.  Many companies and individuals seem to enjoy beating those contracts, bootlegging whatever they can.

When I started using Instagram I did give a bit of thought to the issue that I was coughing up some good images.  I'd have to go back and read the EULA (end user license agreement) for Instagram (and Twitter and Facebook) but I believe you give up your rights when you upload to those services.  Some people seem to think Facebook is something like Al Gore's vision of the internet or www.craigslist.com.  It's a money making program.  One of the people I follow is a writer who published in several magazines.  When he posts to Facebook he always adds a copyright notice at the end of his post.

What you post on Facebook as public content is fare game for anyone to use.  There is a bit more potential protection on photos and images but at a practical level you've given Facebook carte blanche to do what they wish.  I don't think the writer who adds the copyright notice understands this.

The copyright hitch with Periscope is that Twitter retains the feeds for some period of time.  I suspect that they will cave under protest and Periscope will be live only.  I'll have to watch some more live feeds there and on Meerkat.  Certainly all the pay per view agreements will now have even more clear language and threats as is relates to rebroadcasting.  In the old days we'd go downtown on Friday nights and watch TV on the sets in the Sears windows and before color TV was common we'd look in the neighbor's windows to watch.  We probably should not re-broadcast protected content any more than photocopy (excessively) books and magazines, take screenshots of copyrighted web pages, selfies of classic art, etc.  Periscope is not a deluxe experience.  I'm not sure I can keep up with email, Twitter, texts, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Periscope demands on my time. 

Copyright 2015 John F. Leeper

More Re-Work...

During the 27-year gig I was responsible for IT and for about three years I created and directed our 'process improvement' program which was focused at looking at standard processes, analyzing the workflow and eliminating 'waste.'  Generally we did not go out into the field.  Most of the processes were internal involving the processing of information and paper/electronic documents.

This past week I've been working on my daughter's house, the one she moved out of, doing a number of maintenance and improvement tasks before putting it on the market.  She purchased at the height of the market.  Once you start working on someone else's work you start to think about the right and wrong ways that remodeling can be done.  This is the upstairs which apparently has gone through a couple of updates. 
  

The wall around the stairwell had a bit of movement.  I felt like a surgeon.  Had one of those cool fibre optic inspection tools like the Dewalt be available I could have determined without demo how the wall was braced.  Given the lack of that tool I jumped right in with my Dewalt sawzall which is typically better at de-construction than construction.  The wall had a layer of paneling over sheetrock so taking out the sheetrock in a somewhat abusive manner was fine.

In the process improvement world this is about getting at core issues and processes.  You look for the root cause.  With the wall removed it was apparent that the original installation was marginal, the subsequent remodel not dealing with the initial poor foundation and now it was my challenge.

The wall is now re-built and stabilized.  In the process improvement (lean) world one premise is that each time you look at a process you can remove half of the existing waste.  This is how you justify re-visiting the same process repeatedly.  The wall still has a bit of movement but it's now safe.  The next person can look at my work and ponder it and improve.  I'm glad to have not done it perfectly.

Each side of the second floor has a knee wall with the opportunity for storage.  On one side I eliminated the door to the knee wall and replaced it with cubicle storage.  It's trimmed out but can easily be slid forward and out to provide access behind the wall.


On the opposing side I replaced the door with a somewhat smaller one, also trimmed out that is held in place by magnet latches.  We're putting in new carpet and now the doors are about six inches above the floor and the wall below will have a nice baseboard.  Looks are important.  Often we're inclined to say 'this is good enough' but all of our work in life should add value or esthetic improvement.

The question is "will the air conditioner (that is in the storage area) fit through the new smaller door opening?"

Doing all this remodeling which essentially involves prying, screwing pounding, cutting, lifting and grunting makes me feel like a chimpanzee who often exhibit frustration, use even more primitive vocalizations of the same 'special words' I use, have the same opposed thumb and can use tools. Perhaps one point of differentiation with chimpanzees is that I always ask myself 'where is your left hand' when using the mitre saw.

These are decent improvements and improve the usefulness of the space.  Unfortunately this is about not having a job.  My own efficiency in doing the work can be addressed simply by looking at my wallet which is buldging with Mernard's receipts showing far too many trips as a result of less than optimal conceptualization and measurements.  We I lean process improvement purist I'd now add myself as one of the core (problem) causes in this process.  As an executive I'm far better hiring and guiding people than I am as a tradesman actually doing work.