Another Project

'We'll provide complete solutions for do-it-yourselfers, wannabes, and do-it-for-me homeowners' -Bob Vila

When we bought our house in October, there weren't major projects or renovations that needed to be done.  If anything, we saw a few small improvement opportunities.  Things like painting were the main thing that we noticed.  Our basement isn't finished, it's main use is for storage.  At one time the laundry was in the basement, but was moved up to the main floor at some point.  The unfortunate fact is that we cannot use the laundry chute that is still in the house.  We know that eventually we will tear up the kitchen, the main bathroom upstairs and the second bathroom/laundry room, but they are all livable.  There is no dire situation right now.  *knocks on wood, throws salt over shoulder, punches a Nazi, or whatever it is that superstitious people do to ward off bad luck*

There is a bank of shelves in the basement and we thought that this one bank along with the one that we bought from IKEA several years ago would have been enough.  Boy were we mistaken.  As it turns out, Rubbermaid totes take up a lot of room.  A LOT of room.  I'm not entirely sure where we put everything when we were living in the townhouse, but they seemed to multiply on our move.  We had everything up on the shelves, but it was just extremely cramped.

We got extremely lucky in that my store was getting rid of a bunch of eight foot tall uprights that are used for shelving in the store.  Instead of just throwing them all away, my boss was nice enough to offer them to me.  The problem is that the rafters in the basement are about six and a half to seven feet tall.  And by problem, I mean a fun problem.  That meant that I was able to play around with power tools.  All that was needed was to cut off two feet from the top and to re-drill a bolt hole in the top of the uprights for the cross support.  The really awesome thing is that the shelves are adjustable so if we need to raise or lower them that is an option.  I can also get an extra shelf or two if need be.  Below are a few photos of the material once it was off loaded from the Jeep, one of the banks of shelves, and then the final setup.  We ended up with two sets of six feet of shelves and one stand along three foot set of shelves.  Along with the IKEA shelf we bought many years ago.  Eighteen feet worth of shelving if you add it all up.  It really cleared up the main room in the basement.  Again, it's an unfinished basement so we aren't going to be down there constantly.  

A post shared by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Feb 9, 2017 at 12:09pm PST

A post shared by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Feb 10, 2017 at 4:20pm PST

A post shared by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Feb 17, 2017 at 5:18pm PST

I think that one thing that these little projects (painting, shelves, etc.) is helping us out with is confidence that we can take on projects in the house.  We know we aren't professionals and we don't have the means to be pros, but it's going to be these small projects that a house feel like a home.  Things you can point to and say 'we did that'.  We're eyeing up the closet in our bedroom for the next project.  The previous owners didn't really utilize the space very well.  Again, it's going to be something small, but manageable. 

Be the Leader

'Leadership is action, not position.' -Donald McGannon

I've worked in retail for ten years.  During that time, I have had many managers.  Everyone has their own style of management, but one thing is for sure, not everyone is a leader.  Oh sure, they're all bosses, but not all of them led by example.  I've had more than my fair share of bosses.  You know the person that will sit in the office and barely make an appearance.  We've all had that kind of boss.  With that said, everyone understands that managers and bosses do have more work to do than what can be seen.  There's paperwork and follow up that takes place in the office versus on the sales floor. 

I have only been in a managerial position for just under a year.  I had a hard time finding the right balance between office time and sales floor time when I started.  All I knew was sales floor work.  The best way to make the day go by quickly is to stay active.  Over the past few months I have been finding the balance in getting the office work done, but it doesn't always fit me.  My job does require more work on the floor than in the office, which is nice.  There is always something to do to improve the store.

If there is one thing that gets on my nerves is those types of managers that would prefer to delegate work out instead of doing it themselves.  We all have to work with the employees and delegate some work, but some have a tendency to take advantage of that.  Yes, delegating the work out gives employees experience and gives them something to do during the day.  It gets them involved and invested.  However, if all you do is delegate work out, it doesn't show your investment in the store or business.  If you think that people don't notice that, you would be sadly mistaken. 

Everyone has their own leadership style.  Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses in leadership.  I have a hard time delegating things out.  I am a very hands on type of leader.  I like to see first hand the progress of things.  I like to make sure everything is done.  Sometimes I might be too controlling, but have been slowly learning to let things go.  To let others take on the workload, follow up, and teach and train on execution is a leadership quality that has the greatest impact I believe. 

Becoming Minnesotan

"L'etoile Du Nord (The Star of the North)" -Minnesota State Motto

My wife and I moved to Minnesota in 2011.  It's only been been five years (six in August) but it feels like it's been longer than that.  Not necessarily in a bad way, it just seems like a lifetime ago we packed up a U-Haul and left Kansas.  Since moving here, we have lived in three different places, each an upgrade from the previous.  From a shitty one bedroom apartment, to a two bedroom townhouse, to the house we bought in October.  All of them have been in different cities, but all within twenty five to thirty minutes from each other.  I don't think living here really felt permanent until we bought our house.  When you're renting, you have the ability to eventually pick up and move when you feel the need.  You just have to deal with a lease and wait for it to run out while renting.  

I made the joke the year I switched over my license plates and driver's license that I was officially a Minnesotan.  It was a good long while before that actually happened because I had to renew my plates the month before we left Kansas so I drove with Kansas plates for about a year.  It would have been a waste of money to change my plates so soon after moving to Minnesota.  The one thing that was truly missing from my Minnesota repertoire was some sort of clothing.  No better way to show where you're from than slapping it on a shirt or a hat, am I right?  So, problem solved...

A photo posted by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Feb 4, 2017 at 11:00am PST

It's just a small thing, but I feel like this makes me a true Minnesotan.  Having an article of clothing makes it so.  You won't see me sporting a Twins jersey or a Vikings hat because they are divisional rivals of the Tigers and Lions respectively.  And you won't see me wear anything with the Timberwolves logo because, well, basketball.  Eventually I might buy something with the Wild logo on it.  They are no longer in the same conference as the Red Wings, let alone a division.  It'd be nice to show support for a professional team here.

Michigan will always be home.  Always be where I'm from if anyone ever asks me.  You cannot deny your home state, even if it embarrasses you from time to time *coughcough2016electioncoughcough*.  If someone asked me where I'm from I'd say I live in Minnesota, but I'm from Michigan.  However, Minnesota has become a bit of an adopted state.  We no longer make casseroles, we make hot dish.  We haven't fully adopted 'uff-da' quite yet, but we fully understand it.  We eat Jucy Lucy burgers, but not brave enough to try lutefisk.  We've driven 'Up North' for a weekend getaway and spent some time in the Twin Cities.  Of course we have been to the Great Minnesota Get Together and ate too much food there.  And if you listen closely, you might be able to hear in the distance the chant 'one of us.  one of us.' coming from the state.  

Annual Wrong Pick

'Baseball is fathers and sons.  Football is brothers beating each other up in the backyard.' -Donald Hall

It's Super Bowl time again.  Now, I think that football is overrated and people get way to invested in it, but I'll still watch it occasionally during the season.  Usually when the Lions are on.  I don't find myself up on a Sunday morning tuning into a Chargers/Raiders game.  But this country is just over the moon about football.  From high school (or younger) through the NFL.  Leading the charge is ESPN with their hundreds of football analysts and televised high school games.  Tomorrow is the Super Bowl.  Then there will be at least a week's worth of coverage about what happened at the game and whether or not Tom Brady is the best quarterback in the history of the NFL.

Because the Lions will never make it to the Super Bowl, I will never have a vested interest in the game.  Sure, it's nice to cheer for a team that has never won or won twenty years ago or something like that.  Or to cheer for a team a relative or a friend cheers for because you like to see them happy.  Those are the teams I have a tendency to root for if they make it to the Super Bowl.  Yes, it would be nice to see Brady win another one because he played at Michigan and that's the big name college team I follow, but Matt Ryan has never won one.  This could be his only chance in his entire career whereas Brady and the Patriots seem to make it once every two or three years.

Based on my rooting for teams that are playing in the Super Bowl for the very first time or for the first time in a long time, I have a tendency to root for the team that loses.  I am very bad at sports sometimes.  I think over the last five or six years, I have wanted the team that ended up losing the game to win at least half of them.  I think if you took a national poll, you would find that most people would like to see the Falcons win.  The Patriots are like the Yankees of football.  They seem to always be winning.  The public doesn't like the manager or most of the players.  That's what happens with success in sports.  If you're successful over a period of time, people start to resent you.  I don't resent them for winning constantly.  It's that I just like to see others win.  Sure, if the Lions were the team that was winning twelve games a year and reaching the Super Bowl half a dozen times in a ten year span, you wouldn't hear any complaints from me.  You wouldn't see me cheering for a team playing the Lions, because that's my team I root for.  When you don't have an allegiance to either team, you want to see the underdog come up and win.  That's what is great about sports.

Above all else, above wanting to see the underdog win, above wanting to see if Brady can win another Super Bowl, I want to see a good game.  I want it to be entertaining.  I don't want a blow out like we saw when Seattle beat Denver several years ago.  Seriously, I watched maybe half a quarter of that game.  We want to see a game that comes down to the last play.  Like when St. Louis beat Tennessee back in the late 90s.  Those are the great games.  With all that said, I want to see Atlanta win the game tomorrow.  The organization has never won a championship.  I'm not talking just the Super Bowl, I'm talking the championship.  Before the Super Bowl, there was just the championship.  Hell, even the Lions won one of those (well, four to be exact).  I hope it's a close game, I hope it's an exciting game.  No one likes to see a 10-7 defensive game.  Those are boring. 

Atlanta-28
New England-17

A Great Movement

'Well behaved women seldom make history.'  -Laurel Thatcher Ulrich

We all know the slogan the president ran his campaign on.  He wants to make America great.  He used this slogan to motivate his supporters and those voters who might have been on the fence on election day.  He rode that slogan all the way to Washington, D.C.  The one thing I don't think he counted on was the populous using their freedom to assemble and showing that this country already is great.  I don't think he realized that those who do not support him can show great movement when motivated to make their voices heard.  

What we have witnessed within the first two weeks of his presidency is what makes America great.  The Women's March throughout the country and the world was a wonderful thing to see.  As a white, straight, man I have it pretty easy.  I don't have much to worry about because it is people that look like me that founded this country and basically run this place into the ground on a day to day basis.  What I was talking to a co-worker about regarding the Women's March is not the fact that these marches were taking place in large cities which is what you would expect, but it was also taking place in small towns.  Not on a large scale, obviously, but it was still happening.  There were a few small towns in Minnesota that had anywhere from fifty to two hundred people march in solidarity.  That is what is great.  From large state and national capitals down to a small research boat in Antarctica we witnessed an organized movement that gave hope to the future.  You saw mothers bringing their sons and daughters out to march.  Grandmothers and granddaughters.  Husbands and fathers marching in solidarity.  These types of actions are important not only for the present, but for the future.  Future generations are witnessing what a motivated people can do.  It can start a conversation in a house that might not always talk about things like this.  It engages the youth and might produce the next generation of politicians or lawyers.  IF this is the case, they'll better than we are.  They will have grown up in an environment that shows empathy as a great tool of being a kind person.    

While the Women's March was inspirational, what I thought was more important were the airport protests over the Muslim travel ban.  It was more inspirational because it was spontaneous.  It was spontaneous and it spread like wildfire.  From what I could tell, it started in New York and slowly spread across the country.  I was going through my twitter feed and I was getting goosebumps watching and reading from people that were there.  People came out in force to protest the president overreaching.  Lawyers were going to airports and working with those detained to try and get many of them through and to reunited them with families.  Many lawyers working pro bono.  After the first night, there were more staged protests at different airports in solidarity.  Slowly, government officials took action.  Calling for a lift of the ban.  Direct action works.  Maybe not instantly, but politicians aren't always fools.  They know how to stay in the good graces of the public.   

The American people are just starting to find their voice.  They are finding that standing up for what they believe to be right and just is empowering.  They are standing in the face of a man acting like a fascist.  Direct action by the people can lead to change.  Besides, if there isn't mass direct action, how are the Nazis that are now in the white house going to recognize that the country is pissed at them?