Friday, June 8, 2007

All hands on deck!

Home projects. Two weeks ago my wife and I decided to go ahead with the planned addition of a raised deck on our house. We have been without a deck since 2004 when we tore down the old one to make room for the sunroom we built. As an interim I put a few pavers down so the grill wouldn't sink into the mud during the rains. Now, we are back at building.

I want to make it clear when I say "we are building" I really mean that. We didn't hire anyone to put the four-season sunroom on and we aren't hiring out the addition of the deck work either. All this means a lot of back-breaking work. From digging the five-foot deep post holes for the concrete pillars, mixing and pouring the concrete, to lugging the twelve-foot long 2 by 10 treated beams. Along with all this work comes the various scapes and bruises common to such labor.

So this deck is nearly complete. I can now walk on about 1/3 of it. Today I will continue the tedious process of laying the floor boards across the joists. We decided to use a hardwood called Ipe (pronounced "ee-pay") with hiddent screws. Ipe has a hardness rating of 3,600 lbs compared to treated lumber's 690 lbs. What this translates to for me is that everything is harder to do. Cutting takes longer, drilling takes longer (and wears out the blades and bits faster too). The hidden fasteners (Ipeclip) work well but using them means preparing the board with a bisquit cutter before laying the board down. In other words, it will look great but it takes a long time to get there!

Someone asked me why we don't pay someone to do this. My first response is "because we have three kids in college!" But in reality part of it is the satifaction of doing it ourselves. Yes, I ache from the work (but I am also losing a little weight and toning up). Yes, it takes longer to get it done (but I am my own boss and can make adjustments to the process as we go, like where I have to put the downspouts from the roof). I guess the real answer is that when it is done, we will have done it ourselves (or in the case of the deck, I will have done it since I worked on this one alone).

Friday, June 1, 2007

"When God closes one door, She often opens a window."

There's a lot to be said for changes. Changes force us to reevaluate the choices we have made. They cause fear, uncertainty and doubt about ourselves. They add stress to seemingly simple choices. Such was the case towards the end of April when my employer and I had a disagreement about what my role was and would be in the future resulting in my unplanned departure from their employment.

And so began my search for a new place to work. Working with my wife (and life partner) I began the process of searching for a new job. We had both agreed that it was time in my life to focus on what I wanted to do with the remaining work years. We also have three kids in college next year so the dire finances also provided framing for my efforts.

It took me one day short of one month to get an offer from a company that I believe will provide me with both requirements, doing what I want to do and a good enough pay to cover the costs. I wont be making a fortune but then I am not that interested in having a lot of money. I am interested in doing well and working well. My new job is with a manufacturing company that has been around for almost four-hundred years. I'll be leading a data warehouse effort. It means I'll be working closer to the technology than I have been in my recent jobs but that is something I wanted to do. The reflection process pointed that out to me.

I should start there any day (they have to run a drug screen and a criminal background check). Until that time I am catching up on the various projects around the house and studying for the new job.

The author

The author
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Belchertown, Massachusetts, United States
Experiences in life: marriage, kids, computers, flying, remodeling, learning