A Day Off

I took today off. Let's call it an experiment, and if it works, I'll plan more of them. Why not, right now I get an extra week of vacation compared to my wife.

It was a planned thing, got permission and all. I've been reading The Way We're Working Isn't Working by Tony Schwartz and it reinforces healthy practices we all know, but many of us choose to ignore. For instance, machines depreciate in value the minute you purchase them. So we want to get the maximum production from them and keep them producing as much as possible until they are expended. People, on the other hand, increase in the value they contribute, yet many subtle practices, priorities, and expectations manage them more like machines than something that can grow. There is also a pattern in growth, there are periods of intense expulsion of energy and periods of rest where it looks like nothing is going on. The author is all about maximizing these periods and I'm currently reading on the benefits of short breaks, sleeping patterns, and days off.

Setting this day off was incredibly difficult for me. Over the last few weeks I've leveraged the open doors that have been presented and have initiated a good number of potentially beneficial projects. The last week and a half has been dominated by emails and phone calls as things start moving and contacting people to keep things moving. It just really wasn't a good time for a day off. But, I think that's the point. Ironically, the section in the book talked about a study with consultants to determine the benefit of them taking time off. Most of them resisted (can't imagine why), but the study showed that after a period of time where a regular day off was inserted and used (no emails, no phone calls; i.e., no work!) their productivity showed a remarkable increase.

I'm really not surprised by this, nor did I need this book to tell me how healthy time off is mentally and physically. The biggest challenge (and I see this almost everywhere) is to make your goal a priority in your daily decision making. I've seen many goals never become reality because when it comes to our daily decision making, the goals don't get the strongest vote. Well, not today.

How did I spend my day off? It first began with some rules:

1. No TV. Hours can go by and you rarely get anything out of it. It just puts life on pause. Don't get me wrong, it's a good break and there is some really good stuff out there, but today's goal wasn't to hit pause for 8 hours.
2. No work. I was very tempted to sneak back in and work quietly. "No! Bad!"
3. No work around the house. That's substitution. Did that once before for several months, burned out, badly (another story). 
4. Early retirement: How would I spend the day if I was retired? A man I respect retired recently, and a colleague ran into him a few days ago. The man said retirement was fine. He was still finding his rhythm. The hardest thing for him was on Sunday nights, he'd still begin to plan what he had to do at work on Monday and then would remember he wasn't going to work. Imagine that, 40 some years at a job and you are left with those kinds of habits when you retire. I saw myself in that comment, and it seemed sad.

So, I made some plans, actually it was more of a list of ideas. Most of which got shot down when it snowed 2 inches and then rained all day. Instead, I had breakfast, shoveled snow, played a new video game until the library opened, and then headed out to the library and grabbed a sandwich at Carlo and Son's. Then stopped by Verizon (been thinking about upgrading from my Droid 1) and off to the gym. 

All week I've been very overwhelmed, and although there will still be work on Monday at work, I'm finding it easier to relax and un-clutch that muscle. And this is definitely the time of year to do it. The culture at my company really ramps up work this time of year and there isn't a holiday from New Year's to Good Friday to create a 3 day weekend. Well, the day isn't done yet. And the full benefit probably won't be felt till after the weekend or until Monday or Tuesday (or beyond). But, it feels beneficial and I know it was the right time and the right thing to do.

Outdoors: Fire

Quick post: Ever since I was in Scouts, I have loved the outdoors. And I was part of a well lead troop (the other boys were rough but the leaders were phenomenal). We were outdoors one weekend a month, every month except for maybe December and January. December was deer hunting season and it was best to just stay out of the way of flying lead, and January we were prepping for the February Klondike.

One of the things I learned from all those trips, and in every kind of weather was how to build a fire irregardless of what the weather was doing. Dry wood is not hard to find, some tips:

• The branches laying flat on the wet ground is probably wet. Move on. 
• The branches not actually touching the ground are dry; drier.
• (Now most purists won't like this, but if you do it right it can be a win-win for you and the tree) Dead branches on a tree tend to stay dry. Don't take live branches; it hurts the tree and it won't burn well. But many trees have dead branches and limbs that if you remove them cleanly, like a gardener or landscaper would, you are helping the tree and in return getting dry wood.
• Don't burn leaves. It's like burning a cigarette, you just get smoke. Leaves aren't nature's paper. 
• Dry pine needles are the best. If it's been raining you can usually find some at the base of a pine tree. Pine is an awesome wood. It puts off a lot of light and burns easily. Creates smoke, but there is no such thing as a free lunch.
• Most fire pits have charred logs and hearty coals that still have some life in them. At a public camp ground I can often easily find cut logs ready for me.

Well, like I said quick post. Gotta run.

Tardis Tissue Box

Search for "Tardis Tissue Box" and my page comes up as one of the top hits.

Here's the back story: I have always been the kind of person that if something didn't exist I would take it upon myself to figure out how to create it. That's lead to some interesting adventures over the past years including desires to learn about computers, electronics, crocheting, and herbology. So I'm in college, living on my own, and am standing in the grocery store looking at tissue boxes. For years Kleenex made a tissue box with a nautical print on it, but it was gone. There was also one with astrology symbols, but it was gone too. Only thing there was boxes with flowers and ducks. When I got home I called Kleenex and they told me that they discontinued those lines. I told them that I didn't find flowers and ducks very interesting and they told me that they weren't marketing to men. Hm. 3 billion men in the world and no interest to market to us. So, being the kind of person to just work around problems, I decided at some point to make a tissue box cover that said something about me and my interests, so guests wouldn't think I was the kind of guy that liked flowers or ducks. If you are going to own something, make it say something about who you are.

So I chewed on this problem in the back of my mind for a few years and eventually decided that I would make a tissue box cover that looked like Doctor Who's Tardis. The idea was masculine, an off reference at the time (Doctor Who was off the air for several years), and something from my childhood that I really enjoyed.

In 2007, one event lead to the two critical things needed. The event: Leah got a job at Michael's Arts & Crafts allowing me both the time and discounted materials to attempt this. I studied photos, created detailed exterior drawings, and come up with a plan to build this thing. I bought several small boxes to experiment with paint colors and techniques and spent many a creative evening in the shop listening to music and working.

The end result is here. In 2008, I put the project on the web and wrote to a Doctor Who Podcast that I put the idea online. The response from the hosts of the podcast was awesome. They read my letter and got all geeked out over the tissue box. My webpage got a ton of traffic from all over the world and it came up as one of the top results on Goggle when you searched for "Tardis Tissue Box."

Since then, at least 3 people have emailed me asking for directions on how they can build their own. I never made any official "plans" but I send them the reference drawings and what I did to get there. Writing that email the first time was incredibly difficult, primarily because I had to relive all the work and thought process that went into this. People suggested I build more, but it is one of those labors of love that I only want to do once. Even though it was hard work, that I likely won't do again, I am very proud of my box. It is unique and it represents me. If you are going to invest in something, make sure it says something unique about you.

UPDATE:

• http://home.metrocast.net/~nai102/ (this is my original page showing photos)
• https://sites.google.com/site/tardistissueboxproject/ this is my new page documenting me making my Mark II version for a friend. 

My Charter

Five centuries ago, improvements in travel and communication generated a fresh wave of creativity where new concepts and ideas coexisted with the traditional and romantic. Art and science were indistinguishable and they were being explored by the same people simultaneously. Stories, religions, and beliefs from ancient and more recent cultures served as sources of inspiration. And collaborative sharing could take place with others who lived far away.

In our generation, we've seen technology wipe out the limitations distance created. People can collaborate live from any corner from the globe, and more importantly, through the internet, there is a universal library unlike any that has ever existed. This library contains books, videos, ideas formally published and ideas collaboratively assembled. You can learn about any topic and contribute your knowledge. It can be a new, redefining, Renaissance.

So here I am. I am creating this blog for several reason:

1. To encourage you and myself to be creative, develop passions, and to be as diverse and wonderful as we were created to be.
2. An experiment: To contribute myself to the universal library. Facebook has been wonderful for networking with family and friends, but what I am passionate to share a) doesn't belong there and b) would be too long for a typical post and would likely be passed over. Here, on a web log, rants are expected. I don't plan to rant, rather I'm planning on sharing the various things I'm interested in and curious about and I hope it inspires you to do the same.

So let the experiment begin.