Travel Personalities (3 of 3)

Beth. My last flight of the day, I sat next to Beth. She was on the heavier side, black hair, and giggly. She admitted to me (in confidence?) that she was drunk and always gravitated to he bars in airports. She was probably in her mid to late thirties, single and doubly employed. Her first job was in HR for a municipality of a suburb of Phoenix. Her second job was with Lowes--which went hand in hand with how she spent all her free time as repairing the townhouse she lives in.

She used to work in database management, but hated it. A friend of hers worked there and used to tell her all about it, so she knew the lingo but didn't have a clue about what was actually going on. When her friend left the company, she recommended Beth, and since she didn't have a job at the time, she took it. The first few years she squeaked by with questions like, "How would you go about doing this?" Making it up day by day and slowly learning what to do.

Eventually she go a job consistent with her degree--HR. Beth loves working in HR, despite the bizarre problems that come up: "You were supposed to be out checking meters, but instead you were at home watching television and screwing your neighbor's wife. Now you're being fired, I can't help you, you brought this on yourself." Makes me glad for my job.

Government work doesn't pay well, but the benefits are good. Her second job is at Lowes, where the work is light and enjoyable. I didn't have he heart to tell her I was a Home Depot fan.

Working on her house takes all her spare time--all her discounted supplies and information come from her work at Lowes. Recently when she pulled up the old carpet (blue-green, her sister is an interior decorator and she learned how to see slight color variation while mixing paints at Lowes), she found a fuzzy cylinder embedded lengthwise in the concrete. She pulled it out and identified it as a construction worker's cigarette butt.

She talked the entire flight sans bathroom breaks, but those are the highlights.

Travel Personalities (2 of 3)

Robert. On my trip back to Cedar Rapids, I met Robert in the boarding line of one of my flights. In his early forties, Robert ran his own successful business (of which he was extremely vague). He seemed like the kind of guy who could find opportunity in anything. When I told him that I might be able to work in India in a software project lead role, he was ecstatic, "Think of the marketability that would give you," he said, "so many companies here in America would like to move software to India, but they don't have the contacts or project oversight to make sure it's getting done on time and that it's right." We spent a couple minutes discussing what that kind of small business would look like as we walked down the jet bridge.

He sat across the isle from me and began a conversation with the woman next to him. Most of the flight, he spent working through a Kaplin University course book, "just to clarify some of the things I already learned in the school of hard knocks."

Jonathan. While Robert studied and chatted with the lady on his right, I introduced myself to Jonathan. He was an older gentleman, not to recently retired from many years as a forklift (and other large equipment) salesman in the midwest. He met his second wife in Las Vegas and moved to Costa Mesa, CA, after he divorced his first wife.

He was on his way to St. Louis to his niece's wedding. He hadn't seen his family in 8 years.

Emily. Throughout the flight (as I talked with Jonathan and Robert), a young blond girl sat by the window next to Jonathan. About every 10 minutes she should reposition for another 10 minutes of restless sleep. As we began our decent, she sat up and joined in the conversation.

Emily was in her early twenties and engaged to be married. She apparently enjoyed trying to sleep the whole flight. Recently she went on a missions trip to India to spend time with college students since most short-term missions are focused on the poor in India. Apparently some time ago missionaries offered money to Indians as incentive to convert to Christianity, and many of the lowest cast took them up on their offer. As a result, Christianity is equated with the lowest cast in the hierarchy. Her mission was to introduce the idea to college students that Christianity was not based on cast--Indians could remain in the Hindu cast while worshiping the one true God. I know so little about Indian culture, so I had little input, just questions.

Travel Personalities (1 of 3)

I went on a business trip to Fullerton, CA last week. I flew into LAX and caught a bus to Santa Barbara to spend some time with my brother and future sister-in-law, then I spent a day with my good friends in Carpineria before taking the train to Fullerton for work on Monday. Whenever I travel, I try to meet new people.

Everyone has their own story, and most will gladly share their story for free. Their stories are more bizarre than most books, and they're non-fiction. All they need is someone to show interest and ask a few kick-start questions.Here are a few:

Dan. I met Dan on the Amtrak trip from Carpinteria to Fullerton. He plopped down next to me as I talked with my wife on the phone. His clothes were scraggly and very worn--like his beard. When I lost the connection through a tunnel I started up conversation with Dan. He travels America for free with his two companions (one he met in Florida, the other in Atlanta). He was on his way to Texas.

Instead of asking about how he financed his free continental travel, I shared with him my own enjoyment of travel--including international. I then came up with a way that he may be able to legally get to travel South East Asia (a bit of work required). He sounded interested but sidestepped the idea of working on a barge to Thailand. When I got reception again, I excused myself to finish my conversation with my wife.

A conductor came by and asked him for his ticket, but he said that the other conductor already got it. She didn't look convinced and called the other conductor over to verify. She tore into Dan for lying to her face and demanded that he show her his ticket. Dan started fumbling in his pockets, trying to hold onto the lie. The conductor got madder by the second and continued to speak harshly with him. (Fun fact: did you know that freeloading on Amtrak is not a misdemeanor but a felony?) Needless to say, Dan was escorted off the train at the next stop, and his travel companions exited the train with the other passengers at said stop.

Collin. After a fun filled first half of the trip with Dan, I decided to get some dinner in the dining car three cars back. It's a good thing I got my food and a seat before arriving at Union Station in Los Angeles because every seat was full by the time we pulled out--including the booth across from me.

This guy was sharp. He wore black slacks and shoes and a striped blue and white button down shirt. He looked ready to walk into an executive office and give his report. When I asked him what he did, I was surprised me with junior high soccer coach. He makes a decent living in the North East doing individual and team coaching pretty much part time. He was on his way back from a bachelor party in Las Vegas.

He came from a lineage of lawyers (not courtroom, business law), and after several years doing part time soccer coaching (avoiding the family expectation). He's come to the conclusion that he wants to practice law on his own accord. We talked at length about the importance of doing good work--work that first provides for your family and secondly that has a greater impact on the world.

I wish that I gave him my contact information. He'll be a great lawyer one day.

DIY Garden Fence

The chicken wire fence was nice while it lasted, but my dogs ran into it on occasion and so did I. It needed to come down. Time to build a fence (for the first time). It was easier than I thought.

Home Depot trip:

8x 2x4x10 lumber

96x 1x1x3 lumber

1 box of 4" screws

1 box of 3" screws

1 measuring tape (my old was needs some help)

Hardest part of the project (but definitely not the longest) was to get all the wood in my little car.

 I made one section at a time by cutting the 10 footers to length and putting on the rungs every 5.5 inches apart. The top lines up with the top of the 10' piece and the bottom 10' piece is at the 2' mark. Use the 3" screws. Next time, I want some knee pads and better music because this putting on rungs an measuring it out was really time consuming.

Then I ripped out the staples and chicken wire an attached the fence with a bunch of 4" screws. I did one section at a time to make sure the dogs stayed out of my garden.

Several hours later I had them all in, so I did the gate too.

Viva la... garden fence.

Lessons learned:

Hand saws are my enemy, borrow something more electric.

Count better next time, I have 14ish extra rungs.

Use bug spray when working at night.

(Here's how I did the lattice and garden)

DIY Garden (take 2)

I leaned some things from last year's garden: weeks can climb 2 inches into a garden, summer is hot and can kill tomatoes, soil dries quickly when exposed to the sun. This year I attempted to remedy some of those problems.

Home Depot trip:

1 roll garden/week cloth

2 baggies of big staple things

3 bags of wood mulch

2 bottles of total kill

4 tomato plants

6 lettuce plants

Too many kale plants

1 bag of onion bulbs

5 onion bulbs

First, I sprayed total kill around the perimeter of my garden and all over the garden area to kill off any new growth and stop weeds/grass from congregating on my garden. Note: this total kill stuff says that you can plant a day later, I waited a week just in case.

Next, I put down the garden cloth, cut holes, planted plants, and spread mulch.

On the bigger section, I dug a trench on each side. One trench for onion bulbs, and the other for garlic cloves (break them up and spread them out).

In a month or so, I added other plants (herbs, flowers, peppers, squash, zucchini, etc).

This is a vast improvement from my last garden, especially with the lattice.

DIY Garden Lattice

This year, I wanted my plants to climb something more stable and good looking than bamboo with twine tied to it. My solution? PVC and plastic fencing.

Home depot trip:

6x 2' rebar stakes

5x 10' 3/4" white PVC pipe

6x  3/4" white PVC elbow joint

25'x3' green plastic fencing

1 bunch of black zip-ties

First cut the PVC into three 5' sections and six 4' sections. Use the elbow joints to put one 4' section on each end of the 5' sections.

Zip tie the fencing to the PVC frame.

Pound the 2' rebar 1' into the ground where you want the lattice to go. 
Put the lattice on the rebar stakes.

These are easily replaceable, repairable, and they look great.

Books of 2011

In 2011, I set out to read one book per month, and from that small goal I launched into an average of 4 books per month completing 48 books in the year 2011. Some were great, some were mediocre, and some I wouldn't recommend, but I learned from each of them. Here is my list of books:


The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko
War of the Worlds, H.G. Wells
Henry Ford's Own Story, Rose Wilder Lane
How to Write Science Fiction & Fantasy, Orson Scott Card
The Aspen Experiments, Corrie Garrett
Who Moved My Cheese? Spencer Johnson
The Art of War, Sun Tzu
The Twelfth Imam, Joel Rosenberg
When Helping Hurts, Corvett & Fikkert
Why E=MC^2, Brian Cox and Jeff Forshaw
Old Man's War, John Scalzi
The Dip, Seth Godin
4 Hour Work Week, Tim Ferriss
4 Hour Body, Tim Ferriss
Flatland, Edwin Abbott Abbott
Coffee: A guide to buying, brewing, and enjoying, Kenneth Davids
Simple Church, Sam Rainer, Eric Geiger and Grover Gardner
Agent to the Stars, John Scalzi
QBQ! John MIller
The Time Machine, H G Wells
The Gerson Therapy, Charlotte Gerson and Beata Bishop
Seventh Son, Orson Scott Card
Red Prophet, Orson Scott Card
Prentice Alvin, Orson Scott Card
Alvin Journeyman, Orson Scott Card
Heartfire, Orson Scott Card
The Crystal City, Orson Scott Card
Sacred Marriage, Gary Thomas
A Celebration of Sex, Douglas Rosenau
Eternity in Their Hearts, Don Richardson
Secrets of the Koran, Don Richardson
Competent to Counsel, Jay Edward Adams
What Kids Need Most in a Dad, Tim Hansel
Tipping Point, Malcolm Gladwell
The Magician's Nephew, CS Lewis
The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, CS Lewis
The Horse's Boy, CS Lewis
Prince Caspian, CS Lewis
How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie
Water, Pure and Simple, Paolo Consigli
Wild at Heart, John Eldredge
Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Carnegie
21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, John Maxwell
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins
EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins
Game of Thrones, George Martin
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins