How to make a garden

Making a garden is fairly simple and immensely rewarding.

First come up with a plan:

It's ok if the plan changes, but make it specific enough to come up with a bill of materials (sku numbers are Home Depot numbers if you want to look them up online):

Materials
HD cheap chicken fence ($24 for 3’x50’) steel   $24.00   sku274666
Post lumber   $42.00  sku257974
Box lumber   $24.00 sku167929
Quick drying concrete   $15.00 sku169765
Staples   $2.00
Gate pieces (hinges and latch)   $15.00 sku863475
Tools
Fence post hole digger   $0(borrow)
Staple gun   $20
level    $5.00


Make sure to have the Home Depot guys do all the wood cutting for you. Measure, then measure, then dig the holes (2 ft deep for mine), then measure, then cement the posts in. Notice the measuring. If you don't take this advice, your fence will forever be a foot off (hypothetically speaking of course). Staple the chicken wire to the fence (doing this in the cold without a staple gun is a miserable experience you don't want).

Measure. If you mess up the gate, you will remember it every time you enter the garden. Measuring is important. Drill and screw the gate frame together, and attach it to the posts.

Next make the framing for the garden sections. I did 4 boxes measuring 4 feet square. Screw them together, and for now, pin them in place with stakes. Renting the rototiller did not go well for me, so either use the tool right, or skip that step, we'll bypass it in a minute anyway.

Here's the part where you can cheat. In the back you can see the stuff I'm growing inside (short little things, sadly, most probably won't make it out of the ground). All the stuff in the front, I bought as you see it on the table.

Next, prepare the ground. Since I failed with the tiller, I bought some top soil (literally dirt cheap, unlike potting soil). Put down newspaper to block weeds and grass from coming up, then cover that with 4+ inches of top soil. Water it. I have yet to see if this will really work, come summer, I'll let you know. Benjamin Franklin said it was a good idea.

Here's the only picture of me actually working on the garden. My top soil was a little clay-like, so I spent a few hours breaking it up by hand.

Next, plant the plants and water them. On the right, potatoes. On the left, mini narcissus (daffodil) , kees nelis (tulip), kikowachi (tulip), lucky strike (tulip), and grape hyacinth (cool looking something-or-other).

Here I have (listed near to far) onion, garlic, broccoli, carrots, spinach, lettuce, and strawberries. I have yet to plant the warmer weather plants: zucchini, butternut  squash, yellow squash, cucumber, bell pepper, and tomatoes.

Enjoy the garden. I go sit in the swing and listen to the birds when I need some peace and quiet (provided the neighbor dogs aren't out). I'm seeing growth already, and I'm only a week or two in. In a few months I should be able to start harvesting the early fruits.

Contemplations of Food Poisoning

My wife was out of town, and I usually ate dinner after an hour and a half of Aikido practice. On my way home I bought some spices, nuts, strawberries, yogurt, and milk. I spent a good bit of time in the kitchen making a mix for a test coffee to try in the morning when I realized it was well past dinner time. I planted a few of the strawberry seeds and sliced up the rest on top of yogurt: quick dinner.

I woke up just before midnight and barely made it to the toilet in time to empty my stomach. Confused and a little dazed, I cleaned up and went back to bed--only to return in a few minutes. I called my wife, and after hearing me dry heave a few times she called a friend of ours to be there (and take me to the hospital if the situation didn't improve).

Mike arrived in time for another hour and a half of puke (water and any remaining bile) and diarrhea. He encouraged me to keep drinking water, and eventually the dry heaves were more than 15 minutes apart--I was so exhausted that I slept on the bathroom floor between vomits.

I switched to Gatorade when I knew some of it would be ingested, and around 2:30, I went to sleep for the remainder of the night.

I called in sick Wednesday. The day was filled with sleeping, watching environmentalist documentaries, and trying to get food and liquid to stay down. Fortunately, I only lost my lunch once. I had a few mostly lucid thoughts throughout the whole ordeal.

Strawberries. My first thought is that strawberries shouldn't cause such long lasting pain and suffering. They're a very tasty treat that I purchase rarely due to price and availability.

Breathing. It's amazing how little control you have over anything when you're dry heaving into a toilet bowl. First I tried to stop the heaving--no luck. Second, I tried controlling my breathing (ie. actually taking breaths) with only a little success. Helplessness is a harsh teacher.

The ER. We decided that it'd be ok to go to urgent care, but they close at midnight. We decided to wait and see if I came near death before going to the ER (I was anyway). I went there last summer from a major concussion and received very sluggish and unhelpful care. I suppose their definition of emergency is a bit different than mine.

Loneliness. Human interaction is vital to recovery. Talking to Becca on the phone was helpful--I didn't feel like a sickly man dying alone in a house. I had more hope when Mike arrived. We didn't talk much, but just knowing that if I went unconscious--he would do something--was reassuring.

How to make a bed frame

1. Make a list of supplies

Slats (full size 54"): 50" x 10, 1x3s

Width bar: 42" x 2, 2x6s

Length bar (full size 75"): 70" x 2, 2x6s

Legs: 24" x 4, 4x4s

Screws: 3" #10  x 8 and 2" #10  x A_lot

2. Get the supplies from Home Depot

Make sure to have the guys at Home Depot do all the cutting and measuring, it makes everything else easier. Explain what you're trying to do and ask for suggestions on improvements while keeping the cost low. Remember, you can do it, they can help--thanks John.

3. Put the pieces on the floor

4. Put together the frame

5. Measure to make sure it's square

6. Screw on the slats

7. Flip it and add legs

8. Admire your handiwork

9. Sweep, put away tools, and put the bed on the frame

10. Sleep.

Enjoy your new bed frame.

When Helping Hurts (Review)

I stayed up late last night finishing up a book called When Helping Hurts by Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert. I surprised myself staying up reading it because the first third of the book much like a long drawn out painful memory.

The first third defines poverty--not only material/financial poverty but poverty of the soul. Growing up in Indonesia, I saw first hand what poverty looks like. I talked with people who had a complete lack of hope. I played with their children as peers. The description of poverty in this book is good, but no description can compare with seeing it--and no amount of seeing can compare with experiencing it (which I have not).

The middle third of the book deals with general guidelines on how to help the materially impoverished without doing more harm than good. One of the main concepts that I gathered from this section was the difference between relief, rehabilitation, and development. If you provide one of those three at an inappropriate time or quantity, further damage can be done. It's also very important to empower the materially poor to organize and implement their own way out--which helps to rehabilitate their emotional poverty. There's quite a bit of discussion on that point (and the others I've mentioned), but this is meant to be a short review.

Practical actions fall into the final third. Short term missions take up a chapter, but the authors take the view that short term missions more often do more harm than good--based on the principles and nature of poverty outlined in the first 2/3 of the book. "For the first time in US history, more poor people live in suburbs than in cities." Building relationships, teaching finance, and enabling people to have the self-confidence to move forward are key in alleviating poverty in our own back yard. The authors spend a bit of time covering the various micro-loan or small-business seed loaning that now takes place around the world--enabling the materially poor to start their own businesses out from under the thumb of malicious loan sharks.

Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert did a great job explaining what poverty looks like, where it comes from, and how it can be helped. They also did a great job outlining the dangers of certain types of relief currently in use and the long term negative impact they have on society. This book is definitely on my must read list.whenhelpinghurts.org

The Millionaire Next Door (Review)

I did a good bit of reading over the Christmas break, and my younger brother bought me The Millionaire Next Door, by Thomas Stanley and William Danko. I was surprised that it only took a week to read 245 pages. The book did a great job painting a picture of what the average millionaire looks like--nothing at all like the picture Hollywood paints. Here are a few quotes that I have highlighted:

"Wealth is more often the result of a lifestyle of hard work, perseverance, planning, and most of all, self-discipline."

"Multiply your age times your realized pretax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by ten. This, less any inherited wealth, is what your net worth should be."

"It's easy for Dr. South to say he wants to accumulate wealth, but his actions speak much louder than his words."

"What types of motor vehicles do millionaires drive?... 1. Ford. The most popular models include the F-150 pickup and the Explorer sports utility vehicle."

"Whatever your income, always live below your means."

"Yet many parents still think that their wealth can automatically transform their children into economically productive adults. They are wrong. Discipline and initiative can't be purchased like automobiles or clothing off a rack."

"Courage can be developed. But it cannot be nurtured in an environment that eliminates all risks, all difficulty, all dangers."

"Those who attempt to shelter their children from every conceivable germ in our society... never really inoculated them from fear, worry, and the feeling of dependency. Not at all."

"I am in control of my own destiny.

Risk is working for a ruthless employer.

I can solve any problem.

The only way to become a CEO is to own the company.

There are no limits on the amount of income I can make.

I get stronger and wiser every day by facing risk and adversity."

"Who has less fear and worry? ...Typically, it's the entrepreneur, the person who deals with risk every day, who tests his or her courage every day. In this way he learns to conquer fear."

2011 Plan

23 years have passed me by, and I only ever had a vague plan for what I would do in those years. This year, I decided to set some solid goals for myself. I don't want to be the same person next year that I am right now, so here are the general categories of my goals for 2011 (I'll spare you the detailed goals and how I'm checking myself):

Reading: I heard that the average millionaire reads a book per month. It seems like a good idea, and I like reading anyway. My goal is to read 12 books from a variety of categories over th next 12 months.

Gardening: Now that I have a back yard, I have the potential to eat food that I have grown myself. In order to make that a reality, I need to plan a garden, build it, plant it, cultivate it, and harvest the fruits.

Physical: I consider myself to be in decent shape, but in order to keep it that way, I need to develop good healthy habits. I need to exercise at three times a week, stretch, and eat healthy foods.

Innovation: Crazy inventive thoughts breed more crazy inventive thoughts. In an attempt not to lose that creativeness, I plan on putting at least one crazy idea into action--building a laser, solar heater, or water engine would do the trick.

Spiritual: Relationships need to be intentional, and I need to be more intentional about my relationship with Jesus. Time is precious, but in the middle of my crazy schedules, Jesus is the only relationship I cannot lose.

Marriage: I married a wonderful woman. Unfortunately we're both human, and I need to put forth effort to build up our relationship--this takes many forms.

Finance: At the moment, I'm not a free man financially. I owe a great deal to a number of organizations who loaned me money to go to school. I need to be responsible with the money I have to provide for my wife and buy my freedom back from these organizations.

Personal growth does not happen by accident--neither does maturity. Sometimes we luck out and grow because of someone else's choices or the circumstances that we somehow find ourselves in. For me, I'll plan on growing and execute the plan too.

The Adventure

So glad you stayed tuned (or for tuning back in) for the rest of the story.

My wife and I got up at 6:30 on Saturday, Dec 18 and left the house an hour later. The car was packed to the brim with a dog kennel, suitcase, bags, Christmas presents, skis, shoes, snacks, a couple dogs, and a married couple (that'd be my wife and I). We drove South to Iowa City, and then due West along I-80 stopping for bathroom breaks, gas, and snacks along the way.

The first leg of our journey was to be 1507 miles and (according to the all knowing maps) should have taken 23 hours 31 minutes. Unfortunately, we had to stop for the reasons mentioned previously and the blizzard blowing across Wyoming introduced me to one of the most terrifying few seconds of my driving life.

We passed the time by talking, listening to podcasts (Dave Ramsey, Ravi Zacharias, Dan Miller, Car Talk, Matt Chandler), and audio books (Lone Star Planet, War of the Worlds). It only took us 32 hours to get to Nampa, Idaho, where my parents live, and we were a lot more exhausted than we had planned to be. If you're the learning type, learn this: for a 23 and 31 minute drive, plan to stop in a hotel--especially when blizzards are afoot.

There's no time for tiredness at my family's house, so we got right to the business of having fun: hot springs swimming, snow angel (in swim trunks) making, mountain cabin renting, snow shoeing, skiing, snow sculpting, caroling, partying, downhill sledding, baking, board gaming, snowball fighting, coffee drinking, puzzle assembling, sister's knee surgery-ing... those 6 days were packed with years worth of memories.

Leg 2 of the adventure began, and we piled the cargo, dogs, and snacks back in the car for an estimated 1608 miles in 26 hours. We had the presence of mind at that point to get a hotel in Denver, Colorado. A few car wrecks in Utah reminded us to drive carefully, but after Wyoming, it was smooth sailing. We listened to more podcasts and audiobooks (The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin and Henry Ford's Own Story), and soon we arrived in Watauga, Texas--home of my in-laws.

Becca has two sisters, each sister is married and between the two of them 5 children between the ages of 0 and 8 consumed the energy of all the adults in the household. We cooked food, watched How to Train Your Dragon, played Balderdash, told jokes, read books (The Millionaire Next Door), watched Despicable Me, took family photos, opened presents, and went on a triple date to see Tron Legacy. I'm just glad my in-laws and I get along so well, and a week with them was far too short.

The journey must go on though, so we packed up the car and drove 870 miles North-East (14 hours and 17 minutes) and arrived at our clean house late in the evening on the 3rd of January. We arrived just in time for me to get a rather nasty stomach bug (still not quite done with it). It was a wonderful Christmas, but I think I'm ready for a regular schedule again.