AsktheBuilder.com News - September 11, 2022

Issue #1199 (I think...)

Dear ,

Last week was a very unusual one for me. As you're about to discover, a few events overtook all my thoughts and home improvement was the least important thing on my mind. Stick with me here.

What you're about to read may be life-changing for you.

I'm starting to get my head wrapped around the concept of full retirement. It's been a struggle to avoid feeling guilty about not working.

Isn't that a silly statement?

You see, I've been working in one capacity or another for sixty-two years, so work to me is as natural as breathing.

You may or may not know this, but step one of full retirement happened with little fanfare three months ago. Kathy and I transferred the stewardship of the Stain Solver business to a new owner. If you have questions about Stain Solver, please direct them to the new owners via the website. I'm sure you understand why I have little interest in answering your questions about a product I no longer sell.

I'm still invested in my Ask the Builder business. I do enjoy writing my weekly column and this newsletter. I've also enjoyed making the video series about the new house being built right down the street from me. That said, it's also time to find a new steward for Ask the Builder.

Finding that special company is not going to be easy. I'd hate to see Ask the Builder just vaporize, but it's a real possibility. If you know of a company that appreciates the Ask the Builder brand and wants to share it with generations not yet born, let them know I'd love to talk with them.

Adventures & Advice

I'm in the home stretch of completing Volume 2 of the Adventures & Advice book that my youngest daughter asked me to write about seven years ago. Volume 1 was given to her on her birthday in the early spring of 2020. It's my goal to have Volume 2 in her hands by Thanksgiving.

This hard-bound book is not for sale. It was just given to my children, a few family members, and a few very close friends.

Yes, I designed the front and back cover. Each place, town, route # has a very special meaning in the book series.

There were mission-critical photos that had to be in Volume 2 and luckily Kathy, my lovely wife, found them. Not only did I shoot the old black & white photos, but I also developed the film and made the prints in the darkroom my Uncle Louie was kind enough to build for me. 

As I held the priceless photos in my hands earlier in the week, a tsunami of memories washed over me. The invisible water tumbled and bounced me around my man cave for a few hours.

I couldn't help paraphrasing James Earl Jones in his epic people-will-come speech in Field of Dreams. As I was mesmerized by the photos, I thought, "It's as if I'm being dipped in magic waters.The memories are so thick I have to brush them away from my face."

As time was suspended here in the cave, one thing led to another. Suddenly I realized that I've done many things for the last time and most certainly there are some things I will be doing for the last time very soon.

I'm not trying to frighten you for goodness sake. I'm in great health. 

Here's what I'm trying to verbalize. You may be like me and we often don't realize the most significant moments of our lives as they happen in real time. You realize later something was a big deal, but all too often an opportunity arises and you may pass on it.

Here's but one example of something not happening again. You may be a subscriber that I've had the good fortune to meet in person at one of my meetups in faraway cities.

Bob from Palatine, IL sat next to me at a restaurant/bar in downtown Chicago one balmy day. He was with about four or five Chicagoland followers that attended a meetup. He and I struck up a friendship and he was kind enough to invite my son and I to a delightful WW II re-enactment years ago. 

Greg from DC attended a meetup at a tavern after one of the times I testified in front of Congress. John, his wife Susan, and their daughter Christine were at that same meetup. John and Christine stopped by my house one day a few years back on their way to a Mt. Washington adventure.

Dick and Sue from Santa Fe became close friends after Dick told me what my trip aboard the USS George Washington was going to be like. I was blessed to meet Dick and Sue several times. Dick was a tail hooker flying F-4s off carriers in the Vietnam War.

I did my last meetup perhaps five years ago in Portland, Oregon. I didn't realize at the time it was the last one.

Just like Doc (Archibald Graham) said in his office when talking with Kevin Costner (Ray Kinsella) about that half-inning of baseball Doc had played in 50 years before, "Back then I thought, well, there'll be other days. I didn't realize that that was the only day."

That solitary scene in Field of Dreams, for me, contains one of the most profound life lessons there is. 

Listen CLOSELY to all what Doc says as he sits down behind his desk:

What things do you want to do again and again? Who do you want to walk with down a dreamy tree-lined street on a lazy autumn morning?

What things do you not want to end? Have you talked to an old friend for the last time on the phone not realizing it?

Did you decline an invitation to lunch thinking that you'll just do it a month from now? What happens when that person doesn't invite you out again for whatever reason? 

Just an hour ago I received an email from a high school friend of mine letting me know that one of our classmates is very likely on death's door. I just saw him last October and he looked fantastic. Evidently God needs Tony and his guitar for a gig up in Heaven.

What are you doing to make sure you won't be saying, woulda, coulda, shoulda when it's too late for a redo?

Start coming up with a plan now to make sure your dreams come true. You may only get one more chance and you don't want to waste it thinking there will be another day.

Be proactive, not reactive. STOP making excuses. After all, excuses are nothing more than reasons for failures. Don't hack out excuses like bad hairballs. 

Haven't you noticed that when you get things done or accomplish tasks, you never have to offer up an excuse. Your performance is visible for all to see.

Stop hoping that things change. STOP hoping that things will get better.

You should only hope for things that you have no control over like the weather or the Mega Millions numbers.

I'll be back next Sunday with lots of home improvement tips for you. Today I'd like you to focus on what you're going to do to make sure you don't fritter away a rare opportunity that could be just around the corner.

Don't let your dreams brush past you like a stranger in the crowd.

Go listen to Doc Graham's words of wisdom. Play it TWICE so it sinks in.

Tim Carter

Founder - AsktheBuilder.com

Do It Right, Not Over!