Author: Brandon

August 24, 2020 – Finally installed the dipole antenna

August 24, 2020 /

After the months of slogging through my remodeling project, I finally freed up enough time to finish this project and get it installed. The antenna has been built since May, but there was always too much to do to get it installed.

Some of my excuses were that I was too busy (which was true). I didn’t want to get on the roof when it was too hot, it seems like this summer has been warm late into the evening. The roof is very steep, so I needed to install roof jacks in order to safely get up to the top. In short, a five minute job took a couple hours to do safely and properly.

I can’t really say how well it works. There is quite a bit better reception just plugging the cable into the receiver. It is my perception that adding the antenna made the reception stronger, of the existing stations I got before the antenna. It seems to mitigate the night/day difference in reception (better at night than during the day).

Given how steep the roof is and that I already removed all of the safety staging, I am going to leave things as is without moving the antenna directionally to test reception. I know that this is kind of a ‘meh’ ending, but I really do think that this made a difference for me because the stations that I like seem to be stable. I guess we will see if seasonal differences mitigated as well.

I thought that I kept all of the receipts, but it seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle. I can give a rough breakdown or guess

  1. 1/2″ copper pipe, approximately 5′ – already had
  2. 2, 1/2″ pipe caps – $1 ea
  3. 1/2″ tee junction box – $3
  4. 1/2″ conduit – $4
  5. Antenna adapter -$5
  6. Simpson 90 – $6
  7. 2, 1/2″ conduit clamps – $2
  8. 2, 1″ conduit clamps, $2 ea
  9. PVC conduit glue – $5
  10. terminals, screws, clamps, cable, unions – already had

So, I have about $30 into the whole thing. Looking online, the cheapest antenna mounts I could find were $50. That didn’t include the antenna either.

I am interested in building an AM antenna in the future. In this case, I do have specific stations that I want to pick up. But, now that our local football season has been postponed, it is something I will do later as the urgency seems lessoned. I hope that you enjoyed this foray into the science and the mechanics of antennas as much as I did.

August 21, 2020 – A True Education in Entrepreneurship

August 21, 2020 /

After spending spring and summer remodeling, stuff starts to pile up. With the Covid restrictions in place, places such as Habitat for Humanity and Goodwill were not accepting donations for months. Even the dump was restricted to two days a week.

I made a deal with my kids, if they did the work then they could have the profits of a garage sale. The way we structured things, items that were their’s they kept the whole profit. Items that were mine (or mom’s or household) were split evenly between them.

The part that I like the best is after the sale is over, everything that remains is getting packed up and will be donated or disposed of. But even more than that, my boys are learning some real lessons in business. For instance

  • Marketing – They made and hung the signs that were distributed throughout the town. They also leveraged social media to advertise the event.
  • Sales – Engaged customers, answered questions about items, made suggestions for alternatives, negotiated prices with customers
  • Inventory – Items were cleaned, organized in logical categories, evaluated and priced accordingly. Some things were deemed free and others unfortunately were worn out and didn’t make the garage sale cut.
  • Accounting – Sales were categorized and documented to make sure the profits went into the right categories and to the right person.

School will be starting in a little over two weeks. There has been quite a bit of side talk about the quality of education with our district opting to go online. Some parents are sending their kids to private school, others have withdrawn to do homeschooling. I myself think that opportunities like this garage sale is chance to learn about the hustle of entrepreneurship and have a real world experience while making some nice pocket change.

August 19, 2020 – The final accounting

August 19, 2020 /

First off, I had a great retreat with my wife. We don’t get a lot of quality alone time these days. And it was nice to spend quiet time, just us. It has been a long haul through this project. When I present my final numbers, I think that you will see why.

Since I didn’t keep an exact time sheet, my time contribution is an estimate. What I do know are the days that I did not work at all. Off the top of my head they were Memorial Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Fourth of July and a couple days of camping in July and August. I also didn’t work a lot of extra hours or weekends in April. The switch turned on in May.

March16
April172
May260
June310
July240
August100
Total Hours est.1098

I gave my labor rate at $25/hour so I would say that was worth $27,450. The hours estimate does not include any help that I got. From April to June, my nephew periodically helped with demo and paint for 2-4 hours at a time up to three times a week. My kids did some painting in July and helped on the roof as well. At the very end in August, my wife helped with cleanup, trim paint, and fixture hanging.

There was some rework here and there but overall, very little. The bedroom doors were replaced after completion. I had to work on the pantry door twice, once to straighten it and once for the new floors. The living room trim was completed and then replaced. There was some re-roofing to accommodate for the new skylight in the bathroom. Those were very small in comparison to the overall project.

As to the material costs, I have receipts for $7030. I suspect that I am missing a few because I was keeping an eye out for some particular purchases that I did not see. Maybe I just missed it in haste to total the receipts, but I don’t think so since I summarized each purchase as well.

I want to be up front here as well. I don’t have the final bill for the bathroom. The original quote was $7000 for the total bathroom and flooring. Since I did the roof, siding and bought most of the fixtures, I hope that we are still in that ballpark because it certainly took more than the two week estimate.

Finally, I didn’t get the ‘complete’ photos, because the tenants were very anxious to move in being that the project was seven weeks late. However, I got enough to show the comparison. Move the slider to see either picture better.

There you have it, at least $40,000 complete remodel of the apartment. What happened to the slumlord?

August 14, 2020 – A day of celebration

August 14, 2020 /

My mood has been high this week. This is the end my friends, all I have left to do is hang the gutters today. I will make one final tour post and maybe include beginning and end photos. I also plan on totaling the cost to see where things are landed.

It has been a long time since I wrote about food. Maybe Mother’s Day? One thing to know about me is that I don’t like things to go to waste. I enjoy the creative challenge of working and repurposing leftovers into something better than the original. This morning I made salmon omelets with chimichurri on top.

First, the chimichurri. Everything is approximation measurements since I really didn’t measure anything.

  • Italian Parsley – 1 cup
  • Oregano (dried because I don’t have any growing and I couldn’t find it fresh) – 2 tablespoons
  • garlic – 3 cloves
  • red wind vinegar – 2 tablespoons
  • olive oil – 1/4 cup
  • red pepper flakes – dash
  • salt/pepper – dash

Pulse it gently in a food processor, it is not supposed to be puree, but a coarse chop. By the way, this probably would have been much better if I had done it last night versus right before I was going to use it.

The salmon was two two sources. One was some smoked salmon from last week’s beach trip and the other was leftover grilled salmon I made a while ago. I mixed it with about two tablespoons of sour cream. Three eggs (because that is what works best in my skillet) are mixed with a dash of salt and pepper.

And here is the final product.

One of the the things that I find with leftover seafood is that the work well in omelets. It mixes well with sour cream ore cream cheese as a filling. You can then jazz it up a bit with a more bright or acidic sauce on the top so you don’t overpower the more delicate flavor.

Last weekend I made a tomato compote that included allspice and thyme and cayenne over an an omelet with crab, shrimp and cream cheese filling. That was equally delicious.

So, with that I am going to finish my project and celebrate this weekend. My wife and I are taking a retreat Sunday through Tuesday which means that I will be back on Wednesday. Have a great weekend.

August 13, 2020 – ‘Tacticool’ Thursday

August 13, 2020 /

Late summer (around here) starts to turn my thoughts toward hunting season. If you have ever gone to the rifle range between now and mid-October, it is a mad house of people checking their rifles and getting ready for the shortly upcoming season. Fall bear season is already open, archery deer season as well as doves start in two weeks.

My range as well as many around the country offer a sight in service, as a fundraiser. This is where the general public can come to the range and pay $5-10 and get help sighting in their rifles. Today I am going to offer some insight to the vocabulary and service.

It all starts with a few basic terms, the first is the bullet. The bullet is the projectile that leaves the firearm with the intent to hit the target. Ideally, it would hit in the same place consistently. Bullets have a whole set of terms that go along with them but let us talk about two in particular.

  • Caliber – the diameter of the bullet, typically measured in inches or mm
  • Weight – the mass of the bullet. Mass is measured in a unit called grains. It takes 7000 grains to equal 1 pound.

For caliber, the heavier the bullet the longer it is. It is the only way to get the same diameter of projectile with more mass.

Barrels on rifles have a series of lands and grooves inside. The lands are the bearing surface of the barrel touching the bullet as it travels to exit. The pattern is spiral inside the barrel to cause the bullet to rotate and therefore stabilize the projectile.

The number of twists in a the rifling impacts the stability of different weight bullets. So each firearm has some optimum bullet weight for the best potential accuracy because the number of twists do not change.

  • Rate of Twist – The number of inches it takes to make one full revolution in a barrel and expressed in a proportion.

For an AR type rifle a 1:7 to a hunting style rifle 1:16. Let us decode a little bit further. 1:7 means one full revolution in seven inches. The faster the twist rate, the better heavier bullets will stabilize, but not necessarily the light ones. Hence, the rifle is optimize to shoot a close range bullet weights based on the twist rate.

Sticking with one caliber, 0.22in nominally AR type rifles typically have a 1:7, 1:8 or 1:9 twist rate. This is going to shoot a 55-65 grain bullet accurately. Using the 22LR, another 0.22in bullet, the twist rate is 1:16 for a Ruger 10-22. Those bullets are ranging from 30-40 grains typically.

We have already gone deep for the uninitiated and we have just touched the surface. What I am trying to get across is that once your rifle is setup and sighted in for a particular load, it is best to use that load for the season. People really in the weeds with ballistics would recommend sticking with the same manufacturing lot because you are likely going to have consistency of the components leading to the most accuracy.

I don’t worry so much about keeping the same lot, but I do understand the principles. Knowing your skillset, how your equipment performs and the territory that you plan on hunting should give you the controllable variables of the hunt. The rest is up to you.

August 12, 2020 – Empathy, still working on that one

August 12, 2020 /

It is interesting that my wife and I are on two different sides of this spectrum. You might say that she is so empathetic, it hurts and I am so non-empathetic, it hurts. Yesterday, we were leaving a burial of a family friend and we were talking about emotions. She was aching for the families’ pain and I don’t really know how to express it.

It was a Catholic service and in there tradition, a meal following the service almost always follows. We talked about our preference to work in the kitchen and serve rather than intermingle and socialize. Because both of our emotions are a bit paralytic in those circumstances on completely opposite sides of the spectrum.

There may be a principal at work here. If you start paying attention, then you start hearing things as they apply to you. It sure seems like these series of sermons are coming right at me. They are right to the weak parts of my being. I drew out the points in the sermon for quick reference below.

  • What do we do with other peoples pain
  • Don’t race past God’s pace
  • Driven in the vision

Certainly one and two speak directly to me and my circumstances. Maybe I am doing an OK job with number three. It seems like my writing might be part of my being sent (even if no one is reading 🙂 ). I suppose one of the solutions to building better empathy is more frequent and intense prayer; also not something I have been diligent about.

Having conversations with Ben, another part of being sent is hosting a small group. This experience has been way more therapeutic than I ever imagined. I guess that it just goes to show that a leap of faith and stretching your comfort zone can pay dividends. It has definitely made me dwell much more frequently on the word and looking at my actions through a different light, hopefully better. This has definitely been a year of new experiences in life. So, here are this week’s questions.

  • How do you grieve with those who grieve? Who is in your heart?
  • What might be holding you back from being sent by Jesus into the community?

August 11, 2020 – Free Installation… Today’s Customer Service?

August 11, 2020 /

I debated on whether to write about this or not, because it is not really what I am about. This forum is not about complaining or blasting. For that reason, I will not reveal the vendor, I am simply looking to inspire you the reader to take pride in ownership of what you do.

Yesterday, I was installing bathroom hardware and finishing the inside of the apartment. A vendor arrived to do installation, so I was working around him as to stay out of the way. I answered a few basic questions so that he could mount his hardware properly and safely. In about an hour, he was done. The last statement (to the tenant) was, ‘you need to notify the homeowner that the wire I installed is against a tree branch and that will eventually pull down the wire if the branch is not removed’.

Now, one would think that it is in the best interest of the installer and the vendor to cut the branch while you were up there installing the wire if there was a significant risk of damage. I suppose that I can see both sides of the argument, maybe this tree was a prize specimen and cutting it improperly would damage it irreparably. It is probably policy not to do such things. However, I was right there, we talked; we could have worked together if it was a problem.

But even more so in the face of decency was the mess that was left. A haphazard hole that was drilled through the wall and all the mess that went with it.

When I think of customer service, I think of proactively anticipating the wants and needs of the customer. I guess that I don’t believe anyone wants to immediately clean up after someone leaves the job site. The tree I can see as a potential gray area, but not the mess.

The problem is customer service is often the spear tip of every business transaction and interaction. Because they are typically entry level or low paying jobs, occupants are often not experienced or qualified to anticipate the needs, think food service. Additionally as sad, managers are usually equally not capable of training, observing and correcting behavior.

In my former line of work, a reasonable customer complaint would drive an assessment of policy and procedure to take corrective action. That might result in change of process or retraining. Typically, that would occur with the employee in private and re-enforced with the group in a general scenario. Too many of those type of re-occurring events attributed to a single individual might eventually lead to termination of employment.

It is unfortunate that this is the kind of result I expect with free installation. I remember one free car stereo installation that shorted out wiring in the dash and eventually led to the car burning down. Another free car stereo installation, I lost my lights for the heating system and broke my cup holder. Maybe a better way would be to pay a $10 retainer that goes to the installer once the job is completed satisfactorily rather than free?

Using the scenario to inspire people to be better, even without a complaint, take a critical look at what you routinely do assess whether it can be done better, faster or cleaner. Use empathy and put yourself in the other person’s shoes. If you don’t want to clean up the mess, do you think that they do?

In my experience, there are very few un-avoidable customer service mishaps. I am certainly not perfect, but I have no sympathy or time for excuses or stonewalling. Even the most difficult customers (and wrong) can bring some value to the process and make you better. So the best we can do is continuously self assess and take feedback and correct the service problems.

August 10, 2020 – Back again

August 10, 2020 /

It won’t be long now and I will be done with my remodeling project. I am hoping to have the construction work done this week. My punchlist is only outside now, I have 10 courses of siding, final caulk and touch up paint on the body, gutters and facia board to paint. The last major item that I probably wont get to this week is landscape grading (I need a place to move the dirt).

The camping trip is in the books and the tenants have moved in. I will have final pictures in one wrap up post maybe this week or maybe early next week. Camping got me some new content ideas and vigor to go along with it. That being said, as this project wraps up, summer will be sunsetting at the same time. It will be time for harvest and preparing for a new season.

In the heritage of our country and cultural history, moving beyond the harvest is traditionally a leaner and slower time where all the work of the growing season is behind us. We would live off of our stores, rest and prepare for doing it all over again next year. It is kind of how I am feeling about myself as well.

I had visions of filming ‘how-to’ tidbits daily and posting them on my remodeling project, but I got caught up in the daily volume of work that needed to be done along with the dragging deadlines. Hopefully, that will all change and I can get this going in a new and better direction. I am saying this to get past my toolbox fallacy.

So, I leave you with a view

August 4, 2020 – Progress Report

August 4, 2020 /

I will be signing off for another round of family time. I think that I will be back Friday, I would guess early afternoon. But with all of the stuff that will need to be done I suspect this is the last post of the week.

It pains me to put this aside when progress is rapidly happening. In addition, there is still a lot of punchlist items to do. There is nothing I can really do about it but be in the moment.

To summarize this weeks progress, floors are going in, the shower enclosure is up, the bathroom door is installed, new counter tops with a refurbished sink, all electrical is done, rough in plumbing is complete and waiting for fixtures and half of the remaining siding is up.

So what is left? Paint and install remaining siding, final exterior touch up, hang gutters, landscape grading, data wiring, finish the floors, paint and install all trim, install cabinets and fixtures in the bathroom and kitchen, add hot water heater, back splash in bathroom and kitchen. That is it you say? I know that it might seem like a daunting list, but each one of them is closing a phase with visible progress.

As much as I have enjoyed the process and the time, I am ready for completion. I have felt the pressure to finish since I started and now that we are six weeks past the planned finish date, this is the largest stressor for leaving for another three days. For the most part, my scope of work is complete – that is the exterior work. None of that prevents move in. But, I have taken up the torch to help wherever I can on the inside, because that will ultimately save money and time in the end.

August 3, 2020 – And now, the opposite opinion from Friday

August 3, 2020 /

If you have been watching the online church services I have been posting in recent weeks, then you will know that the last several have been following the story of the biblical character Ezra. I will let you do your own watching and reading if you chose, but to summarize quickly for the point.

Ezra was a leader of the Jewish people migrating from Babylon to Jerusalem. The book of the bible describes some of the trials and tribulations of the journey. My church organization is using this story as a building block to discuss the fundamentals of how churches are built.

So, you remember last week where I said that you have got to do something, even if it was wrong? Well if you watch this, then you will get some conflicting advice. Now, I did actually write what I meant which is that is only do something for unimportant decisions. And that is truly not in conflict with the message.

As I think about the ideas of submission and compromise, I believe that the objective to waiting for an answer is actually the act communicating in prayer. I have heard it said by people that are more diligent about faith that the more you take the time, the more it seems quicker and more frequent.

I think that we have all had the moments where we realize we are in a sticky situation and we promise to change to get out of the problem. A small number of people probably do, I suspect the vast number of people are reaching for hope at the moment and when that situation changes people go back to what they were doing.

This week’s questions and discussion are

  • How to you express confession to God?
  • What are you waiting for right now?

I find it extremely prophetic that what I wrote about on Friday comes back around to smack me in the face on Sunday. It seems pretty clear to me that I need to continue to wait and have faith that my situation will change into what it is supposed to be.

It is very difficult to contextualize the events of today when you are in the middle of it. Once the true picture is revealed, you are able to see what decisions are made and grow from the experiences. I suppose it is very much like science. Conclusions are only made after the data is gathered, analyzed and tested against the hypothesis. So when we are in the middle of a situation, we are only gathering the data.