Quite The Post

'Nothing echoes like an empty mailbox.' -Charles Schultz

When we bought our house, after the excitement of being a homeowner wore off, we started looking around at small things that we wanted to change.  We've painted a few of the rooms, found colors for others, and made some slight adjustments.  Nothing major yet, but we have plans.  One thing that we wanted to change was the mailbox.  The one that the previous owners had was on a post to the side of the front porch.  It was white and started to rust a little on the bottom.  It just didn't look right.  To make matters a little worse, moisture was getting into it.  Nothing crazy, but the mail every time it rained or snows was a little damp. 

For whatever reason, some years ago, some idiot sealed up the mail slot that was built into the house.  It's a cute little feature, but it's covered up now and that sucks.  You can see the door from the inside of the house, but it has been sealed and it's covered up from the outside.  I'd love to have that as the mailbox again.  It's a cool feature that was pretty standard from the time our house was originally constructed. 

We went out to a home improvement store to find a new one.  We went with one to mount on the exterior of the house.  Something simple and classic looking.  When my parents were out here a few weeks ago, they put it up one day while we were at work.  How nice of them!  After I took the old mailbox off the post, the next step (naturally) would be to remove the post.  It was a simple metal post and I thought it was something that was just a few feet in the ground.  As it turns out, nope.  Not the case.  I had to take a shovel to it to dig it up. 

Below is the post in our garage.  The damn thing is about seven feet long.  SEVEN FEET!  What the hell were they worried about?  Did they think a strong wind was going to pick up a measly little five foot post and send their mail flying about?  Were they worried some mischievous pranksters were going to try and take it?  Who knows.  Anyone need a seven foot metal post?  

A post shared by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Apr 21, 2017 at 1:47pm PDT

Lawn Care

 'A lawn is nature under totalitarian rule.'  -Michael Pollan

We have entered a new stage in our home ownership.  The spring.  Buying our house in the fall we didn't have to worry about much lawn care.  The only thing we had to deal with was raking leaves.  While it is time consuming to do so, raking leaves does not require a lot of effort or equipment.  A rake, some bags, and that's about it.  After all the snow melted away from the winter, and the occasional snow storm, we started thinking about a lawn mower.  We don't have a large lawn, so a push mower is in our future.  There are just so many options.  At least more than I had originally thought about.  From mulching to bagged, gas to electric (corded or cordless), just many more than I thought.   

We (mostly I) thought about battery operated push lawn mowers.  I don't know if it's because it's newer technology that hasn't been improved, but I was disappointed in the reviews when it came to battery life.  The 'best' reviewed mower I could find was, first off, about five hundred dollars.  It also had a running life of about forty five minutes.  If I'm going to invest that kind of money into a mower, I better be able to cut the lawn without having to take a thirty minute break while the battery recharges.  To be fair, they are not all that expensive and most are priced about the same as some of the gas powered mowers we have looked at.  Yes, it would be nice to get away from gas powered mower.  It would be more cost efficient in the long run, but what kind of time frame would you be looking at for it to basically be paying for itself.  Take into account cost of gas/oil and cost to recharge the battery.  This might be a viable option eventually or if we really dove into researching the right mower we might be able to come up with one right away.  

No matter what we end up going with, this is just another exciting facet of owning a house.  Sure, by the time the end of August rolls around I'm sure I'll be excited to no longer be cutting the grass, but for the foreseeable future, I'm looking forward to it.  Just like with shoveling snow or raking leaves, it comes with the territory.  It shows you care for your house and property.  It might be just another job to some, but to me it shows investment in your home.  You don't want to be the house on the block that has an unkempt lawn.  It just looks trashy.  Let your neighbors be the trashy people.  

Early Riser

'Sleep is the best meditation.' -The Dalai Lama

I find myself up early in the morning quite often because of my job.  There are times when I go into work at 2:00 in the morning.  Other times are more manageable such as 5:00 or 6:00.  It is funny to think about because as a child and teenager, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I would find a career that would have me work so early.  But then again, does any young person think the world starts before eight o'clock in the morning? 

When I was in high school, I had a job as a lifeguard.  Our pool had an early morning swim time that started at 5:00.  That was super early in my mind, because it was 5:00.  I only worked one or two days a week.  I had the toughest time getting up for it.  Mainly because I would stay up late doing things like reading or homework.  The alarm would go off and I would struggle to get up. 

In college, the best advice that I got was have classes that were at least an hour apart, no more than fifteen credits per semester, and no class before 8:00 AM.  Solid advice that I didn't fully understand until I had to book it across campus a few times because I didn't listen and had classes in different buildings thirty minutes apart.  The 8:00 rule was a no brainer.  Who wants to get up that early and learn stuff?  Nerds.  That's who.  The first semester of my freshman year, I had a couple of 8:00 classes because you didn't get to choose your class schedule.  After that, I didn't have one single class that started before 9:00 or somewhere in that ballpark. 

After I graduated college and made my way into a professional career, I found myself gravitating to early morning work.  My job started at 7:00 in the morning.  I was done by 3:00.  After a month of this, I came to the realization that early morning work was great.  You could get a lot done before having to interact with people.  Not that people are terrible (sometimes they are), they are more of a hindrance when you are working on a big project.  Now I work even earlier than that from time to time.  Plenty of 5:00 o'clock shifts make up my work week and month.  Even earlier shifts are sprinkled in there. 

With all of the early morning work, early bedtimes are included in that.  This is the one downside.  As we roll into summer, I will go to bed sometimes while it is still light out.  It isn't too tough to fall asleep because I've gotten into the pattern of going to be early and getting up early.  Sure there are days when sleep is elusive, but they are few and far between.  I would say two or three times a month I have trouble sleeping and only get a few hours.  Other than that, getting six or seven hours of sleep are normal and it has come to the point where eight hours of sleep seems luxurious.   

Looking at it all, I think that the earlier you get up and work the better.  You finish with your day in the early afternoon and have the half the day to get stuff done around the house.  Or to watch baseball.  Or to nap.  Guys, naps are the best.  I never anticipated being someone who worked super early in the morning because I loved sleep so much, and I still do now.  Getting a great night's sleep makes you feel like a new person.  It is fun, though, to drive to work before the city gets up and moving.  To see empty parking lots and silhouettes of buildings before the day begins is kinda cool.   

Exciting Plays

My wife commented a while back that I tend to write a lot about sports.  Baseball in particular.  She was also nice enough to point out that maybe not everyone wants to read about sports every single post I write.  Because I'm a stubborn and petty person, I present to you a post about some baseball plays.

It is true that baseball isn't the most exciting sport out there.  While the game is constantly moving, there are plenty of lulls in the action.  When something does happen, the entire ballpark erupts.  Unless it is the opposing team that has the exciting play.  No matter if it is the team I am cheering for or their opponents, if a few certain plays occur during a game I find them exciting and entertaining. 

The stolen base.  While stolen bases are fairly common, it is still exciting and energizing to watch.  The most exciting part of the play is the throw from the catcher to the base.  Anything can happen once it leaves the throwing arm.  Yes, more often than not the fielder catches it, but if it's a bad throw it's that much more entertaining.  And shall we talk about a straight steal of home?  Does it even happen anymore?  That can bring everyone to their feet.  

The double play.  The double play is poetry in motion.  Especially the 4-6-3 (second base-shortstop-first base) double play.  The shortstop coming to the bag and continuing his motion and then with the throw to first.  It can all be so fluid.  And while the 6-4-3 double play is just as wonderful, it is just a little more choppy because the second baseman has to turn and throw and interrupts the fluidity of the play.  It's still sexy though. 

A triple.  The triple to me is the most exciting play in all of baseball.  More exciting than a home run.  More exciting than a walk off hit.  It is the most exciting because several things have to fall into place for it to happen.  You need a batter with speed, so that is exciting to watch because he is going to be flying around the bases.  You need a well struck ball to the outfield and the ball needs to find a gap.  Or the outfielder needs to make a bad play on the ball.  The ball has to be thrown back into play and more often than not, there is a close play at third base.  The batter will be sliding into the base and a tag will be applied.  The play can go either way.  

Honorable mention:  the home run.  The ball gets hit hard and far.  And it travels very fast off the bat to the bleachers.  It gets the team and fans pumped up.  The only downside is that it ends about as quickly as it begins.  Many batters trot around the bases and that can take away from the moment. 

My Own Holiday

Everyone has their favorite things.  Whether it is food or movies or sports.  For me it is baseball.  As I've gotten older, my love for it has just grown.  It sure has been nice the past decade being a Tigers fan.  It hasn't always been that way.  We all remember how bad they were in the late 90s and early 2000s.  We all don't want to remember it, but we do.  They are transitioning to a younger team and in the process of rebuilding/retooling.  They are outside shots at getting into the playoffs let alone the World Series.  That is okay though. 


The past few years, I have taken Opening Day off of work to watch baseball.  Living in Minnesota, I don't always get to see the Tigers, but I do have the MLB Network and they do live look ins throughout the day.  The Twins play later in the day today and I'll watch them take on the Royals.  While I'm not a full on supporter of the Twins, I have been following them as long as we have lived in this state.  Plus, if they can beat the Royals that is for the best.  I take the day off because I look at it as a bit of a holiday.  Every year there are tons of people that clamor for the day after the super bowl to be some sort of holiday so they don't have to go to work.  I don't care that much for football, so I have never been one of those people.  I am, however, one of those people when it comes to baseball.  This is the national past time.  This is a day of wonder, joy, and excitement.  

I have yet to make it to an Opening Day at the ballpark.  I have been to opening weekend a few years ago when the Tigers were here in Minnesota.  It was game two of the season.  That is as close as I have come.  True, it would be best to get to Detroit for Opening Day, but that has not come to pass.  I would take what I could get though.  If someone handed me a ticket to the Twins/Royals game today, I would take it.  IT'S OPENING DAY! 

I threw on my Alan Trammell jersey, my Tigers hat, and planted myself on the couch.  Nerdy?  Yes.  Does it make me smile?  Absolutely. 

A post shared by Michael Litzner (@melitzner) on Apr 3, 2017 at 9:24am PDT

I grew up watching baseball.  I remember skipping college classes on Opening Day to watch the terrible Tigers of 2001-2004.  I have taken the day off of work the past few years, and I will continue to do so as long as I can.  If you have a love of a sport why wouldn't you want to, in some way shape or form, partake in it's Opening Day?