Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes, J. Buffet

The words above, penned by the great American philosophe Jimmy Buffet, have been stuck in my head for the past several weeks. As I grow older, I have come to view these simple lyrics as one of life’s absolute truths. Nothing in life ever remains the same! Regardless of our attempts to preserve the status quo, change happens. How we handle that change is the true measure of our progress in life. The events of this past semester provide ample proof to support Mr. Buffet’s wisdom.

At the beginning of the Fall semester I worked in a position I absolutely loved. On a daily basis I participated in projects that not only made a difference at the individual and institutional levels, but contributed to the field of faculty development.  As a faculty development specialist, I had the pleasure of working with faculty who are passionate about their teaching and their students’ success. The job allowed me to engage in meaningful and influential work, and it afforded me opportunities for both personal and professional growth. Along the way I formed numerous personal and professional friendships that I hope to maintain for the rest of my life. This type of job is rare in life and I’m sure I will look back on it one day as one of the highlights of my professional journey.

Unfortunately, as Buffet reminds us, nothing remains the same. In early October, we learned that great changes loomed for our center. We lost one staff member and it seemed possible that there might be additional staff reductions and a potential shift in the center’s core mission. My future at Texas Wesleyan was uncertain and a cloud of uncertainty overtook our center. How did I cope during this dark time? I laughed. Of the available choices, laughter is the preferred one. After all, as Mr. Buffet points out, you will go insane if you do not laugh!

Faced with an uncertain future, I decided it was time to make my own change in latitude. I began searching for a new career path, one that would allow for continued personal and professional growth. Fortunately, I found just that opportunity. In January, I will start work as Director of the soon-to-be-created Academy for Teaching and Learning Excellence at Parker University in Dallas. This is an exciting opportunity for me, and I am looking forward to the challenge of creating a new teaching center and directing the institution’s Quality Enhancement Plan.

Of course, it is with great sadness that I leave Texas Wesleyan. Its faculty are unlike any I have worked with before. They are passionate, caring, and thoughtful individuals who truly want to make a difference in their students’ lives. I will miss their kindness and their enthusiasm, and I truly hope the University finds ways to continue supporting its most important asset.

As I pack up my desk and prepare for a new journey, I leave you with a few more bits of wisdom (as well as a video) from Jimmy Buffet…

“Oh, yesterdays over my shoulder
So I can’t look back for too long
There’s just too much to see waiting in front of me
And I know that I just can’t go wrong…”

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Image by Inky Bob (flickr)

For our first attempt we did great. Each night we had the show on, cars stopped by on a regular basis to view our creation. We also won first place in the neighborhood light decorating contest. Of course, this just means that we have to put on a bigger and better show next year! No problem. We now have all the key components in place and we have established a good workflow for getting the display up and creating new animated sequences.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Above is the Light-O-Rama Controller we used for our light display.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

One of Sketchup’s most powerful features is the thousands of free 3d models created by Google and Sketchup users that are available for use in your project. Did I mention that the models are free? Yes, free! Every model I used in my workshop layout I found in Google’s online database. This not only saved me an enormous amount of time, it saved me a lot of money since I didn’t have to buy the models from a third-party vendor.

Below are images of the planned layout. In the design, I’ve arranged the major pieces of equipment in such a way that I can connect them all to the Cyclone Dust Collector using one major trunk line. Also, I’ve arranged the workshop in such a way that I can still have access to one garage bay for the occasional large project or auto/tractor repair if needed. All I need to do is move the wooden workbench and miter saw and I have one bay of the workshop free. I’ve also left room for future growth, especially around the jointer and planer. Don’t tell my wife, but I hope to replace the planer sometime down the road with something a bit more powerful and larger.

Take a look at the layout images below and let me know your thoughts. Feel free to share your ideas and let me know if something could be improved…I rather change it now…it’s much easier on my back when I move the tools in Sketchup!

I’m so excited that Mia is curious about how things work or how to make things, and I’m more than happy to feed her curiosity. So, I promised her that after we returned home to Texas we would learn to make balloon animals. After we got home, we did some research online and we found a great series of videos on YouTube that explain how to make a variety of balloon animals. Next, I ordered some balloons and a balloon pump from Amazon.

The balloons and pump arrived today. Mia and Nichole get home from work and school before I do, so Mia had already opened the package before I got home. In fact, she barely even noticed me when I walked in the door as she experimented with the balloons. I spent a few minutes with her trying to make something with the balloons, but I had to give up and start dinner. Just as Nichole and I were getting ready to serve dinner, Mia said “look what I made!” With no instruction or help, she had made a balloon dog. I was blown away. Through trial and error, she had figured out how to make a balloon dog based on the one she had seen made in Florida. She is definitely my daughter. No questions about it. So many times over the years Nichole has asked me how I learned to do something like fix a toilet or build a fence. My response? “I’ve seen it done.” Perhaps my natural curiosity to learn how things work and my persistent (borderline stubborn) desire to do it myself is taking root in Mia…god help us!

Mia's Balloon Dog

After dinner, Nichole, Mia, and I spent about an hour learning to make a variety of balloon animals. It was so much fun, and we’re looking forward to creating more later this week. Check out our handy work below.

Photo by Flickr user Fran 53

So I have been having very unnatural desires recently. At least they are unnatural for someone like me… I have been thinking about buying a pair of cowboy boots. I’m not sure if Texas is finally rubbing off on me, or if this is just the result of my father passing, but I have this very strong desire to wear cowboy boots. So strong, in fact, that I added it to my bucket list (I’ll share more with you about my bucket list in the future). I realize some people respond to a life changing event by purchasing a car, having an affair, or taking a trip, but for some odd reason I am craving cowboy boots. Go figure.

I know nothing about cowboy boots, so feel free to share your tips and suggestions with me. Not sure if I will actually go through with buying a pair, but I am definitely going to try some on soon.

A little over a week ago, we took a small family vacation to Lake Ray Roberts and did some camping. While this was not a full-blown vacation, it did help bring a bit of sanity back to my life. It also afforded me an opportunity to reflect on my dad’s passing. While camping, we decided to take Mia fishing. Mia has been fishing before, but  she was just a little over 2-years-old at the time and she was more fascinated by the worms than the prospect of actually casting her line and catching a fish. This was her first fishing trip where she was actually interesting in catching a fish. Fortunately, Lake Ray Roberts, like many state parks in Texas, has a Kids’ Fishing Pond that is stocked with eager and hungry fish just waiting for an opportunity to bite a hook.

Armed with our fishing poles and a can of worms, we headed out to the old fishing hole (cue the theme song from the Andy Griffith Show). I set up Mia’s pole and gave her the option of putting the worm on the hook herself. She passed on the offer and decided to let me do this part for her (as a side note: this is the same child who no more than 3 years ago loved digging for worms in our backyard in Pilot Point and occasionally snacking on them when Mommy was not looking).  After a few worms, Mia landed her first fish and reeled it in all by herself. As you can tell from the picture she was very proud and excited. In a little under 2 hours, Mia managed to catch 3 catfish and 2 bluegills. It was a good day.

Later that night before falling asleep in the tent, I thought about Mia’s first fish and it got me to thinking about all the times my dad and I had gone fishing. When I was a kid, we would go fishing all the time and it is something I loved doing with my dad. Legend tells it that after I caught my first fish I refused to part with it for several days and I even kept it under my pillow at night.  We often fished for catfish and my dad taught me all the ins-and-outs of fishing for the whiskered beasts. Sometimes we would get to the lake or pond before sunrise and stay until after dark. I remember catching over a 100lbs of catfish on one trip. On another occasion, we visited a fishing hole in Georgia and we cleaned the fish  in our hotel room’s bathroom. Now that’s dedication (or lunacy?). Those were great times and I’m glad my trip with Mia helped me remember those special fishing trips with my dad. My father and I had a rocky relationship at times over the years,  but fishing was something we enjoyed doing together and I’m glad that I am getting to share those positive experiences and memories of my dad with Mia.

It’s done. The Garage, now referred to as the “Deere House” is done. It’s been a long journey, but we finally finished the garage. Cue applause and confetti.

About four weeks ago we finished construction on the new garage. We called out the building inspector and he signed off on the final inspection. With construction done, we spent a weekend landscaping around the garage and another weekend moving everything from the three-car garage into the new garage, which we now call the “Deere House.” Landscaping was fun and it gave us a chance to use some items, like the welded horseshoe flowers, that I had built at the Pilot Point house.

We decided to call it the Deere House because that is where the tractor lives. Also, it helps minimize confusion around the house since we now have an abundance of garages.  As we moved things from the garage to the Deere House, we took our time and went through everything and set aside items we no longer wanted or needed for the big neighborhood garage that takes place each April. It is always very liberating to clear out clutter and get rid of stuff that serves no purpose. More importantly, this process frees up room for new stuff!

Below are some images of the Deere House and the shelving we built for the interior. As you can see, we have plenty of storage space and the tractor fits nicely. Also, as a surprise for Mia and Nichole, I built two simple gardening benches in the Deere House. When we first started building the garage, Mia grabbed a scrap of 2×4 and drew designs all over it and wrote her name on it. Instead of trashing it, I held onto that piece of wood and placed it in a safe place. While building the garden benches I decided to incorporate it into the design and used it for Mia’s workbench. It’s very cute and it gives me a smile each time I see it in the Deere House.

The end of construction on the Deere House (and the subsequent garage sale we had this past weekend) marks a new beginning. Now the fun work begins as I work on layout and design for the new workshop. There is still a lot of work to be done (electrical, lighting, paint, cabinets, etc…), but I do believe I occasionally see a sliver of light  in the tunnel. Could it be that the end is in sight? Stay tuned for updates on Project Workshop: The Quest for Bill’s Sanity!

Almost done...

Though it has been quite some time since I posted an update on the Garage Project, we have continued to make progress on the garage despite the horrible weather and sick family members (Mia had the flu and I battled a severe sinus infection). Below is a list of things we completed since the last garage update:

Shingles – Thanks to the roofing nailer, installation of the shingles was fast. Though I’ve used nail guns a thousand times, I’m still amazed at how much time these tools save me! The most difficult aspect of installing the shingles was getting the bundles (16 total) onto the roof. (Shingles are sold by the bundle and a bundle of shingles weighs 70 lbs!) Being a barbarian and wanting to get the shingles up on the roof as fast as possible, my approach was to use the tractor’s loader to lift the shingles up to the roof’s eave (as high as the loader can reach) and then manhandle them out of the loader and onto the roof while standing on a ladder. Not only was this process difficult, it was stupid and dangerous – I almost broke my arm when I lost control of a bundle while trying to lift it up onto the roof. Thank goodness for my amazing wife! She offered to help and I stood by and watched in amazement as she solved the problem by opening the bundles and carrying a few shingles up onto the roof at a time. Though her way took longer, it was safer and it got the job done!

Windows and Door – Once the roof was shingled and I was confident that the inside of the garage was weatherproof, I installed the entry door and windows.

Trim – We installed 90% of the trim and have just a few more pieces to install. Again, air tools to the rescue. My 16-gauge finish nailer made fast work of the trim. Before installing the trim, we primed and painted each piece. Even though the trim will require touch-up after it is installed, it is faster and easier to prime and paint trim before you install it (this avoids multiple trips up and down the ladder).

Garage Door – Having installed two garage doors on the workshop in Pilot Point, installation of the garage door was fast and easy and only required about a half-day to complete.

Before heading off to a conference this past weekend, I began caulking the exterior and I hope to finish the trim this weekend.

Our goal is to have the new garage inspected for the last time in early March and to begin landscaping and moving items out of the existing garage (the future workshop) and into the new space sometime during Spring Break. Wish us luck!