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Mark Eastman

What Are the Rules That You Live By?

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They Will Be the Building Blocks in Your Life’s Foundation

 

 

 

We all make choices everyday about how we will live our lives and how we will treat those around us.


Often, we adults make things more complicated than they need to be and it’s really pretty simple. All we really need to know we learned in kindergarten, just ask Robert Fulghum.

 


Here’s a partial list:

  • Share everything.
  • Play fair.
  • Don’t hit people.
  • Put things back where you found them.
  • CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS.
  • Don’t take things that aren’t yours.
  • Say you’re SORRY when you HURT somebody.
  • Wash your hands before you eat.
  • Flush.
  • Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.

 


These are just good common-sense things that will be great foundation blocks for building a better world.

 


We can make a big difference by doing small things, even though at the time it might not seem like it. The story of the young boy and the starfish is a good parable that makes this point.

 


“One day, an old man was walking along a beach that was littered with thousands of starfish that had been washed ashore by the high tide. As he walked, he came upon a young boy who was eagerly throwing the starfish back into the ocean, one by one.
Puzzled, the man looked at the boy and asked what he was doing. Without looking up from his task, the boy simply replied, “I’m saving these starfish, Sir”.
The old man chuckled aloud, “Son, there are thousands of starfish and only one of you. What difference can you make?”
The boy picked up a starfish, gently tossed it into the water and turning to the man, said, “I made a difference to that one!”

 

 

Use good blocks for building your life.

 

I Love the Challenge of a Good Remodeling Project

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If It Was Easy, Anybody Could Do It

 

The challenge of a remodeling project is taking an existing building and turning it into something new while working within the buildings predetermined parameters. Otherwise just tear it down and start over.

 

The remodeling challenge isn’t for everybody.

 

Building new is simpler, it’s a less restrictive clean slate that requires less imagination. Where’s the fun in that?

 

On the other hand, new can be more cost effective than remodeling. This is one of the questions that needs answered early on. If remodeling is the decided-on plan, just be ready for the challenges.

 

The Lavallee remodeling project certainly fits the status of challenging.

 

This project starts with a home that was built in the late 1800s. It has previously gone through numerous remodels and additions. The amount of previous changes makes this project that much more challenging.

 

The project’s goals:

 

  • Increase the size of the master bedroom, add a new master bath and walk in closet.
  • Add a bathroom to the second floor.
  • Widen the narrow stairway to the second floor.
  • Increase headroom at the top of the stairs on the second floor.
  • Open wall between the kitchen and the dining room.
  • Lower the dining room floor height to match the kitchen.
  • Install new windows.
  • Change the exterior of the remodeled part to a low maintenance exterior finished insulation system (EFIS) system.

 

 

The challenges start even before the construction does:

 

  • Is remodeling the best option?
  • What is the project budget?
  • What is the project timeline?
  • Without a blueprint what will the floor plan be?
  • Where do the customer’s plan to live while the work is being done?

 

 

 

As this project gets underway there have been new challenges that have come up. They are hidden inside, behind or under something. Until things are opened up you won’t know what they are. As they do, we address them, find a solution and move forward.

 

A few of the challenges we’re dealt with while digging for the addition foundation:

 

  • Temporarily disconnecting and moving the air conditioning ductwork so the digging could happen.
  • Discovering a buried gas line, determining it was not in use and cutting it out of the way.
  • Finding some unused foundation pilings and determining a plan for dealing with them…final plan yet to be determined.
  • Reconnecting the ductwork so the customer has air conditioning in this upper 90-degree heat.

 

 

I will post more updates to this project as they happen. Check back regularly and watch as this phoenix rises from the ashes.

Whats It Take to Be A Good Samaritan?

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It’s Less Difficult Than You Might Think

 

 

The story of the Good Samaritan is one of the most popular stories in all of literature, most everyone has heard it. What is it that makes this story so popular? It’s because it goes right to the heart of who we are made to be. We’re told to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.” Also, “Love your neighbor as you love yourself.”


This is what a Good Samaritan does.


A Good Samaritan puts others needs above their own. They look for ways to help others. This is true in every area of life: work, family, play, it doesn’t matter.

 

 

We’ve become separated from and distant to others. This is in part to the excess use of social media, electronic communication, etc. It’s much easier to be less civil to someone digitally than in person.


As human beings we were made to be connected, it’s in our DNA.

 


Albert Einstein put it like this, “A human being is a part of the whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”


Helping others is how we free ourselves.


In the final two episodes of the “Seinfeld” show the main actors of the show witness an overweight man getting carjacked while they’re waiting on a plane. Instead of helping him, they crack jokes about his size while Kramer films it all on his camcorder, then proceed to walk away. The victim notices this and tells the reporting officer, who arrests them for not helping the man. At their trial the District Attorney’s opening statement is, “the defendants have ignored their Good Samaritan Law and mocked the victim of a mugging.” Comedy tends to follow social reality. Just because comedy does, this doesn’t mean we have to. We can choose our reality.

 


To be a Good Samaritan doesn’t mean that we have to rescue someone from a burning building, save someone who’s drowning, or stop a carjacking, it means we need to show compassion. Being a Good Samaritan can be as simple as opening a door or helping someone who has fallen.


Being a Good Samaritan is simple, it means caring enough to do something to help others.

 

Is Real Customer Service a Thing of the Past?

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It Doesn’t Have to Be

 

Customer service is a term that has been thrown around a lot. It’s often a marketing slogan rather than a core value. In this fast paced, information overloaded time that we’re living in, it’s easier now than ever to become part of the noise and make unrealistic promises.


Customer service is found in the heart, not the head.


When running a business, it’s easy for our focus to be on the bottom line rather than the customer, not that bottom line isn’t important. Bottom line is head thinking. Heart thinking is about serving the customer’s needs. It’s finding out what the customer’s goals are and helping them achieve them.


We all tend to naturally lean in one direction or the other, heart or head. It’s important for us to be clear which we are and adjust accordingly. Once we acknowledge that we can compensate accordingly.

 


If we’re operating our business well, both heart and head will be in sync.

 

 

The problem with heart thinking is that in an effort to help the customer achieve their dream, we over promise. We create unrealistic expectations and then when they aren’t accomplished there is disappointment. We need to be clear with customers and ourselves on what’s realistic and share that with them honestly.


Customer service is not about telling them what they want to hear. It’s about telling them the truth. It is hard to tell someone things that they don’t want to hear, but that’s better than telling them a lie. This kind of honesty is hard for a people pleaser like me. By wanting to help everybody with everything, ultimately, I do the customer and myself both a disservice.


This past week I encountered both sides of the customer service experience.


First – Our air conditioner at home quit one night this past week. The next morning, I made a few calls to HVAC contractors that I use as subs. The only one that answered his phone said that he was busy until later in the day. Then in a few minutes he called back and said that he could be out within the hour. Once there, he diagnosed the problem, it was going to require a new part that he could order and have the next day. Or if I would go to Wichita and get the part he would come back out and put it on. I did and he did, by 1:00 that afternoon the AC was working. Thanks Jim Finney with Finney Heating & Air for great customer service.


Second – I was meeting with a customer about a project that was going to include some painting. I have done a lot of work with this customer over the years and several of them included painting. While talking about the painting the customer told me they didn’t want “that painter” to do the work. When I asked why, they told me about some issues on some separate painting projects they had used him on. These consisted of using lower quality paint than they thought they were getting, scheduling delays, and lying. They had been working with him on a parent’s home painting project that the start date had drug out over two years. They even said they would have been okay with the timetable if the contractor had just been upfront and honest with them.

 

 


We need to start by being honest with ourselves. Figure out who we are and who our customer should be. We can’t’ be everything to everybody and we shouldn’t try.

 

This Is the Best Tired I’ve Ever Been

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Being Exhausted Is Great If You Can See Positive Results

 

Being worn out at the end of a day of hard work is very rewarding. I’ve experienced this feeling after doing construction, working on mission trips, developing business systems, or writing blog posts. We’re made to experience this sense of exhausted exhilaration after an accomplishment.

 

Working through pain and fatigue to accomplish a goal is a superpower.


What we need to remember is where our superpowers come from. Corrie ten Boom uses a story about a woodpecker to make this point. “A woodpecker pecked the trunk of a tree, like they do. At that very moment lightning struck the tree and destroyed it, and the woodpecker flew away saying, ‘I didn’t know that there was so much power in my beak.’ I ask you, do you have the Holy Spirit, or does the Holy Spirit have you?”

 

 

Just like the woodpecker, we can do great things. But when lighting strikes, we need to remember Who split the tree.


Having superpowers doesn’t mean that every great thing we do has to be big. God can take the small things and use them for great. Pastor Lee told a story about a teenage girl who had grown up in a bad situation. After having tried to commit suicide she was meeting with a pastor. While sitting in the pastor’s office she saw the church’s youth pastor and his new wife holding hands and walking to their car. When they got there, he opened the door for her. The teenager said to the pastor, “That’s the kind of family I want.”


The actions of this young couple was a form of superpower and they weren’t aware it was being used, but it was. The small actions that had a big impact. We have the same kind of opportunities to use our superpowers every day, but it does no one any good if we don’t use them.


Actions speak louder than words.


There was a group of college students that grew up…shall we say spoiled. They hadn’t been expected to work any up to this point. While at college they signed to go on a mission trip without really knowing how hard and physical it would be. After returning from the trip while walking across the parking lot to their cars one of them said, “This is the best tired I’ve ever been.”


If you haven’t used your superpowers lately don’t let them go to waste.

 

How to Achieve Your Desired Life Results

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Not to be Confused with Goal Setting

 

 

I think most of the time goal setting is seen the same way as budgeting – restricting, confining, controlling, restraining, and limiting. This is the opposite of how either should be seen.

 


Both should serve as a plan for intentionally building the life of your dreams.


Do you have a plan for what you want your dream life to be? I bet you do, we all do. Sometimes, for whatever reason, we choose to ignore these dreams, to push them down and forget them. Maybe it’s because we’ve had our dreams shattered or after years of waiting, we just gave up. Whatever the reason, you can decide to make that dream a reality or give up on it.

 


I remember years ago, before I knew about Dave Ramsey and Financial Peace University, I didn’t like the idea of budgeting. I thought it would keep me from being free to spend money or have fun. Then after going through the class and beginning to budget, I found it to be the opposite. I then had a plan for spending, it gave me more freedom than I had before. Budgeting actually gave me more control of my money.


Goal setting can give you more control of your life.


Our perception of words is part of the problem. We connect our own experiences with words which creates our own individual perspective. Goals is one of those words. Like budgeting, goals can feel constraining. Like budgeting, the opposite is the case.

 

 


Look at the negative, comedic way New Year’s resolutions are viewed. This is a good example of how the lack of intentionality is misleading. When we get caught up in the rhetoric we will just float through life without a plan. If we don’t bother to dig down and build our lives on a solid foundation, we will be blown in whatever direction the wind blows us.

 


A goal is a desired result. A desired result sounds good.


I don’t know of anyone who doesn’t want to achieve their desired results. If we are to live this life we have been given to the fullest, we need to be intentional to do all that we can to achieve the results God has planned for us.


 

Another problem with goal setting is that it can become overwhelming. Most of us have way more dreams and goals than we can ever get done. We built this mountain of things that we want to do. We’re the ones who let it get this big and we’re the ones who can make it smaller. To keep it from feeling so daunting we need to focus on one shovel full at a time rather than the whole thing.


We can’t blame anyone but ourselves for the size of our mountain.

 

It’s also important to remember that if we always set our goals small, we will never grow. We need to be growing and learning all the time. If your goals are always reached, then they aren’t big enough.

 


God has put a life dream in each of us. If we want to achieve it, we need to plan it. It doesn’t matter what you call it, what matters is that you do it. The mountain can be moved, it isn’t too big.


What matters is to align our plan with God’s and start shoveling.

God Does Not Call the Qualified

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Rather, He Qualifies the Called

 

We have all been put here for a purpose. God has a plan for each of us. It is up to us to decide if we are going to act on that plan.


On our own, we feel unqualified and lacking, unable to do great things. The problem is that our perception of great, is a worldly one. We think is has to be some super big amazing thing. Our great may be opening the door for someone, serving on a committee, weeding a flower bed, running a business, or any other of a thousand things we can do to make others’ lives better.

 


Whatever our purpose, God has given us everything we need to accomplish it. It’s up to us to decide if we’ll use it or not.

 


Albert Einstein’s formula E=MC2 was evident in nuclear energy and we all know how powerful that is. Using this formula, it was determined that 1 gram of matter can produce enough energy to power a 100-watt light bulb for 30,000 years. Based on these calculations a 100-pound person (45359 grams) would be able to generate enough energy to power a 100-watt bulb for 1,360,770,000 years, yes that’s 1.36 billion. I don’t think we’re living up to our potential.

 


We have so much power at our disposal and we neglect to use it. We go through life without focus.

 

Author, philanthropist and life coach, Tony Robbins uses a racing analogy that shows how we go in the direction of our focus. “When your car begins to skid, the natural reflex is look at the wall in an attempt to avoid it. But if you keep focusing on what you fear, that’s exactly where you’ll end up. Professional racers know that we unconsciously steer in the direction of our focus, so with their lives on the line, they turn their focus away from the wall and towards the open track.”


You don’t need to be qualified; you just need to be willing and focus. God will take care of the rest.

A Day by Day Accounting of The Dog Playground Project

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And What a Fun and Challenging Project It Was

 

We all expect things to take less time than they usually do. It’s no different when building an “out of the box” project like a dog playground.


Last week I wrote about the expansion and updating of Prairie Paws Lodging’s facility and what the project consisted of. This week we will review the daily accomplishments and struggles.

 


Preconstruction activities – Before onsite work could go too far, we needed to finalize what materials/processes would be used for the out of the ordinary construction. Some of this was addressed in last week’s solution. 


One challenge that we didn’t talk about was the need for 50-60 railroad ties. Our supplier wasn’t sure he had that many and couldn’t get more for a couple of weeks. I made a couple of calls and found more if we needed them.


With all the wet weather we’ve had, my go to trucking companies were behind schedule. This presented another major challenge, if we couldn’t get the sand and gravel we needed we weren’t going to accomplish much. Once again having the right connections we were put in contact with Dave Williams of D&Ts Hauling & Excavating, Dave came to the rescue and got us what we needed before we needed it.


Day 1 Monday – We began the day by gathering the first load of railroad ties and skid loader and got them to the job site. We disconnected and removed the portions of the existing fencing that would be relocated. Next we moved the existing pipe framed structure that served as a covered area for the existing run, this was also going to be reused.


The layout of the railroad ties was measured and marked. We placed the first few ties and filled between them with 4”-5” of fill sand and then 2”-3” of ¾” gravel flush with the top of the ties. This brought us out 8’-10’ along the 48’ long east side of the run.

 


Day 2 Tuesday – We started by picking up the concrete culvert and delivering it to the site. Then we picked up where we left off and laid a couple rows of ties west to approximately where they were going to stop. We filled between them with the sand and gravel as before. Then we moved a roll of artificial turf to the raised pad where the building was going to sit and rolled it out.


Day 3 Wednesday – It rained overnight and made things too muddy for onsite work so, I took used the time for organizing and planning.


Day 4 Thursday – We laid rest of the east-west rows of ties, spread more fill and moved the remaining rolls of turf to the areas where the pad was prepped. I began digging the hole in the sand and gravel for the paw shaped pool to set in. To minimize future settling and give us the best base we began compacting with a vibrating compactor. This meant we needed to temporarily roll the first turf back out of the way of the compactor. It wasn’t fastened yet, so this wasn’t much of an issue.

 


Day 5 Friday – We picked up another load of ties first thing today. Then it was more ties, more sand, more gravel, more compacting, and more turf. We cut the ends of the concrete culvert smooth and set it in place. Today we got the first roll of turf lined up, squared up and stapled in place. We knew we were going to be short of sand. I called Dave and he wasn’t going to be able to get any today.


Day 6 Saturday – Dave called me and said he could get me the sand I needed. Thanks again Dave. We began by picking up 35 bags of Quikrete to use for building and shaping the hill. The first thing we did on site was move the building back into place. This was done by temporarily fastening some 2x6s to the ties over the turf to serve as skids, this went well. After it was in place, we pulled the temporary skids and bolted it down to the ties. We spent a big portion of the day designing and building ends for the tunnel/hill out of treated 2×6 tongue and groove. After they were built, we began stacking Quikcrete bags and filling around them with sand and gravel. We ran a few bags short of being able to finish the hill.

 


Day 7 Sunday – No work today, it’s the Lord’s.


Day 8 Monday – It’s getting closer, but still much to do. More ties, more sand, more gravel, more compacting. We finished the hill with the extra bags of Quikrete, sand and gravel. The west side got an additional row of cross ties for future pens to sit on. We rolled out the turf to go over the hill and cut it as needed. Then we rolled out the last roll of turf and cut it around the building offset, remaining gate post and pool. All the turf seams were taped, and the perimeters were stapled down with a few exceptions in areas that needed some special attention.


Day 9 Tuesday – Things are coming together. We reset the chain link fence in the new location, reattached the remaining fence to the building, hung the panels back in the end of the building. Using up the last of the ties, most of the sand, last of the gravel, and we built a raised pad for the new private cottage to sit on. Due to the elevation around the cottage pad we installed some drain tile to one of the downspouts on the original building and buried it in gravel to prevent water from becoming a pond. Next we moved the cottage onto the new pad.


Before we left Ann had dogs out playing in the new yard.

 

Day 10 Wednesday – We did some backfilling around the outside of the ties with the left-over sand and dirt. Loaded up and moved onto the next project.


There are still a few things to finalize. The fire hydrant fountain still needs to be plumbed, but we haven’t got the hydrant yet. I need to install a window AC unit in the new cottage. As is usually the case there will probably be a few more things that might come up.

 

 

I hope this challenging project will give Ann many years of service and her boarders many years of fun and exercise.

Who Are You at War With?

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It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way

 

A very successful businessman had succeeded at achieving most of his goals both business and personal. Yet, he still struggled with feelings of depression and anxiety. While in a hotel room on a business trip he became so depressed that he considered taking his life. As he sat there struggling with why he felt the way he did after all his success, he asked God, “Is this a joke?” Then he heard a voice say, “It doesn’t have to be that way.”

 

We can find ourselves fighting internal battles trying to figure out why things aren’t the way we thought they would be. We all have our own demons causing trouble. Like the man in Luke 8:26-37, there is help in fighting these battles, but it’s up to us to acknowledge it. Jesus asked the demon for his name and they answered Legion, because there were many.

 


Knowledge is power and power is in the naming of something.

 


When we are clear about problems and name them, it’s less threatening when we know what it is. We want to blame somebody for our problems, but we need to be careful about this. There are three fights regularly picked that are unproductive. Don’t be at war with the wrong enemy.

 


1st – Don’t be at war with yourself. Many of us are harder on ourselves than anyone else. We blame ourselves for everything that is wrong in our life. We are extremely critical of not having accomplished all that we think we should.


2nd – Don’t be at war with other people. Maybe we are looking for somewhere else to lay the blame, so we point the finger at others. It’s not my fault so it has to be somebody else’s. We don’t want to take responsibility.


3rd – Don’t be at war with God. Life is full of difficulties and hardships. It’s not fair that this happened to me or that I was born this way. Whose fault is it? It must be God’s fault. We forget that we live in a fallen world full of battles.

 


Satan wants us to be at war with ourselves, our neighbors and God. This is what he does. We need to be clear on who the war is with.


Remember that you have the power to choose who you are going to be at war with. No matter what’s going on in your life, IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY.

I Love A Good Challenge

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And Building A Dog Playground Sure Is That

 

Challenging and abnormal projects must run in my family. I’ve written about the grain bin house we plan to build for my niece Hannah.

Avoid Feeling Like a Sardine in a Tiny House

How to Determine If Someone’s Trash Can Be Your Treasure

How to Dream Big in A Small Space

How Do You Make Your Dream Become A Reality?

The Next Chapter in “The Saga of the Grain-Bin Home”

 

Now her Mom, my sister Ann, has once again joined the out of the box project roster.


Ann owns and operates Prairie Paws Lodging, a pet boarding facility. When we built her building originally in 2016, we took into consideration future expansion. We currently are working on the first phase of this expansion. As per an earlier post the original ideas have changed. Rather than adding on to the existing building we are going to set individual private cottages made by Pinecraft. 


Part of this expansion project includes doubling the size of the existing dog run. This involves landscaping it with artificial turf and installing dog amenities…I’m talking fun stuff like a pool with a fountain, a tunnel, a hill and a rope attached to a flexible pole.


When we built the original facility, we looked for a way to make cleaning up after dogs easy while maintaining a natural look and feel. We accomplished this by installing artificial turf over an elevated bed of gravel bordered by used railroad ties. This allows for liquid to run through and solids to be cleaned up.


 

Due to the existing run being natural grass and in a naturally low area, it would get muddy in rainy spells. So, when considering the design for the expanded run, it was decided that we would give it the same artificial grass treatment as well as some new fun things for exercising and entertaining dogs.


The project consists of building a 2100 square foot raised pad. The construction consists of railroad ties around the perimeter in rows spaced 12’ apart. In between the ties will be a 4” thick layer of fill sand covered with a 3” layer of ¾” gravel. The gravel and sand will be compacted with a vibrating packer to minimize future settling of the sand/gravel fill. Artificial turf will be spread over the gravel and attached to the ties. The existing fence will need to be removed and reinstalled along with some additional fence. The existing steel pipe framed cover will need to be moved for the building of the raised pad and then moved back to its original location.


In one corner of the run there will be a small paw shaped pool with a fountain. This will require figuring out the best way to get the water from the pool to the pump and to the fountain. In the future there will be an old fire hydrant serving as the fountain, so this needs to be allowed for now.

 


The most challenging part is building the tunnel/hill. We needed to determine what we were going to use for this. We considered pipes, barrels, tanks with the ends cut out and a few other things. Then we found some concrete culverts and the price was right, so this is what we decided on.

 


With Ann having a commitment for the week of June 17th she had no dogs scheduled to be boarded. This provides a good opportunity to work on the project with minimal disruption to the normal boarding routine. With the challenges of this project it may take longer than a week, check back next week to see.


Check back next week to see a day by day progress of the project, the challenges faced and see how the finished project turns out.