A few months Several months ago my friend Angela published and gave me her book called Backyard Farming on An Acre (More or Less). For a suburban-raised guy like me who’s now living in the country, it’s become my go to book on how we can lead a more sustainable, eco-friendly, healthier lifestyle.

How You Can Get Started

First, buy the book. It’s a quick but detailed read and helps you understand the basics of growing your own food regardless of the size of your property. With a quick trip to the home improvement store I was off an running with a bunch of 2×4, my circular saw, a cordless drill and some screws. For every three pieces of wood, we were able to cut one in half and make a nice raised bed for our 20′ x 20′ garden.

Once you get the hang of it you can literally have a raised bed put together within minutes. I saw kits recently at Home Depot for making raised beds, but it’s cheaper to buy the wood yourself and do it yourself. Plus, it’s not exactly an intimidating project as you’re not building a house or solid structure – you’re just screwing 4 pieces of wood together in a rectangular shape. Simple, right?

My wife and I then plotted out our garden based on the flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables we wanted to grow. A quick drop off of soil from the local nursery and we’re off and running. We’re even giving some vertical gardening a try with a trellis that we picked up for a few bucks from the garden center. It’s also crucial that you pick up heirloom seeds so that you’re getting non-GMO products. Unless, of course, you like those bland, apple-like tomatos.

They say the biggest barrier to getting started is just your will to do it. Hopefully this post shows you it’s a lot easier to get started than you think. And, in a short while, you’ll be able to reap the rewards of a weekend’s worth of work.

Food You Can Trust

As my pal Vincenzo says, if he can’t make it he typically won’t buy it. Growing our own food is just one way we’re teaching our kids about taking responsibility for their actions and specifically the food that they eat. It’s also going to be a treat when they go out back to the berry patch or tomato plans and snag a few out of the garden.

You can DO IT!

Will you give Backyard Farming a shot? If you are and are blogging/tweeting about it, please drop a link in the comments to share your progress!

This blog post is the consumer in me complaining about what has been horrific service by Kenmore and it’s at-home repair arm, Sears Home Services.  It’s been so unsatisfying and uncomfortable, I will never buy another Kenmore branded appliance again. And that’s not an idle threat.

Just to first establish: I have been a loyal Kenmore customer – 2 washers, 2 dryers, a refrigerator, a toaster, etc. Throughout my adult life I’ve invested in the brand and had a pretty good run. The appliances have been reliable and, when needed, the service fine. My brand loyalty was washed away in just a few weeks time thanks to shoddy service, rude technicians and a brand that’s inconsistently responsive.

Long story short: our 2 year-old washer started leaking. As soon as my wife noticed this, she called to have someone come out and look at it. As a family with five growing children at home, we rely on our washer and dryer quite a bit. We maintain it according to the manufacturers standards and had never had any problem with it before.

Once arriving, the tech diagnosed it as a hose leak and replaced the hose. The entire service call was just over $150 dollars and we moved on.

Just a few days after the leak was allegedly repaired, my wife – in the middle of her laundry routine, noticed the washer was leaking in the same exact spot it was before.  It was inconvenient but these things happen sometimes.

My wife, once again called Sears Home Services to let them know the repair did not work and that the original diagnosis was incorrect. We expected they would send out a tech post-haste to fix a problem we had already paid them to fix once with out any success. We were told at that time we had to “get in the back of the line” and wait 10 days for their first available appointment for it to be fixed. Clearly the man on the phone didn’t have five kids or know what it takes to keep their clothes clean

When I started to lose my patience, I asked him if they held back appointments for situations like this. There has to be times when the original diagnosis is wrong and they just have to come out again and make it right. He answered no and that anytime it happened your only recourse was to get the first available appointment.

I even vented in social media and was responded two once asking if my problem had been resolved. I answered no and never heard from them again there or on Facebook. That’s not surprising as their social properties are littered with negatives with no or little response.

Ugh.

So let me get this straight: a brand like Sears and Kenmore do not leave for the possibility that the job isn’t done right the first time. And, if after having an appliance down for sometime, and having paid hard-earned money to repair it, and said device is still malfunctioning, their answer is simple: sorry, go to the end of the line and wait your turn.

How ridiculous is that?

But what else could we do? We took the first available appointment, which was a week later. That’s right: seven MORE days without the use of our washer. Imagine how my kids would smell if we didn’t have the means to wash the clothes elsewhere.

So we now had waited in line twice. We were also told that when the technician came out, if a new problem wasn’t discovered we might have to pay for the service call again. You heard me right: Sears Home Services and Kenmore wanted me to pay AGAIN for them NOT fixing my washer the first time.

This is where my wife put it to them and refused to pay anything until the original problem was fixed. So the numskulls at Sears at Home relented and scheduled for the repair guy to come out again. And we waited.

The day finally arrived and the service technician came to fix the washer. Upon arriving he asked my wife – again – what the problem was. My wife told him and despite her insistence, and the fact he had said before he diagnosed it as a hose leak and fixed it wrong, that he could see no evidence of the leak. My wife lifted up the wet towel after she had run the machine the night before to which he gave her a blank stare.

He than to basically tell my wife there was nothing wrong with the washer. My wife insisted he try and diagnose the issue but he could not replicate while he was there. So he left without doing anything but pissing my wife off for basically telling he she as imagining the leak.

Three hours later, guess what happened? The washer started leaking.

So now we find ourselves at the “back of the line” for a third time with no remedy in sight. We spent significant money on our washer and dryer and now have waited weeks for a problem to be fixed and it’s no closer to being fixed than the first time. We’re out $150 and all we’ve received is bad service.

In a world where consumers are more connected than ever before, the world needs to know how poorly this brand treats its paying customers. They can’t be bothered with “getting it right.” Instead, they put you through a repeatable cycle of inept customer service reps and unprepared repair technicians.  That’s as broken as the washing machine I paid them for.

At the end of the day there is little they can do to win me back as a customer. Having children ages 15 to 1 year old, I’ll be at this appliance thing for a long time. I’ll buy more washer, dryers, toasters, refrigerators, vacuums, etc. What I will never do again is buy Kenmore or Sears. It’s no wonder Sears is a shell of its former self. When you treat your paying customers like nuisances, they tend not to buy things from you.

Goodbye Kenmore and Sears. May your demise be quick and may other customers pay heed to my tale of caution.

Now THAT's a sanctuary

As a young man I always found my father’s work bench to be fascinating. A collection of misfit tools, handed down from generation to generation, it provided us with everything we needed to get the job done. Bike repair? Grab a wrench. Changing oil? Pull out the oil pan and funnel. Recklessly hammering nails to wood? Well, that one was an unauthorized use of tools behind Dad’s back, but you get the gist.

There wasn’t a job that needed to be done that we didn’t have a tool for.

Flash forward twenty something years and I’m building up my own impressive collection of tools; Some purchased, some gifted, some powered, some old school, some handed down, some cordless and others acquired. Sure, I’ve had to rent a few here and there for bigger jobs, but for the most part I’ve been able to tackle most home improvement projects with what I have. Sure, there may be a stripped screw head or other collateral damage along the way, but I’ve gotten by.

There are a few, however, that as a Dad you didn’t know you needed — until now. Here are the EOT “5 Tools You Didn’t Know You Needed” List:

1. Sawzall

Better known as a reciprocating saw, the sawzall is like having a portable saw anywhere you need it. Branches, nails, studs, copper, metal — you name it — this saw can cut just about anything you throw at it. And, it is also “found in surgery and dental surgery, where they are used in operations that require cutting or grinding of bone“, according to Wikipedia.

2. PB Blaster 

WD-40′s white nemesis, PB Blaster is a deep penetrating lubricant that is really a low viscosity oil. What makes it so great? This stuff can be used as a lubricant, cleaner and corrosion stopper. It can also be used to remove chewing gum and adhesive stickers, lessen friction on metal-stringed musical instruments, displace moisture on and within electrical ignition systems, various gardening purposes and household repair tasks.

3. Offset Screwdriver

This was one of those tools I didn’t know I needed until I went to fix a pedestal sink. The space between the wall and sink was so tight that I nearly gave up before a neighbor that does contractor work loaned me his. What a life saver! Since then I’ve purchased my own and have used it several times since on other projects too. The best part? It’s under $10!

4. Adjustable Ratchet Wrench

If you’re like me you’ve had to fix bikes, put together play structures and do an assortment of odd jobs that require taking your socket wrench outdoors. And as a result, you probably have 400 sockets lying around the yard, in the trash, around the basement and in the garage. The adjustable ratchet wrench is a life saver when it comes to this problem. With the flick or your finger you’re spinning from 1/4″ to 3/8″ and not having to fumble around with loose sockets.

Before I get to the last one, I need to preface this by saying that I’ve purchased a few houses in my lifetime. Just about each one has come with this item, so I’ve never had to buy one, but stay with me — they come in handy.

5. Post Hole Digger

Yes, a manual post hole digger is one of the most useful tools I’ve owned. Unlike their powered brother, the auger, a post hole digger can make holes at varying widths without having to change bits. And, these things are nearly indestructible. Also, they come in really handy if you have to fish a dead, frozen cat out of your lake.

Yes, you read that right: My kids were checking out the lake freezing over this past week when the conversation went something like this:

“Dad! We found a fox frozen in the lake!”, they yelled up the hill to me.

“What?” I said, pausing while raking leaves.

“It’s a fox! Come see!”

So I did, and sent them away. Someone’s poor kitty saw some minnows through the thin ice, went after them and, as you can see below, ended up sleeping with the fishes. The cat was submerged, sans a little of the fur on its back, into the ice and was stuck.

This left me with two choices: Leave it, and possibly run into a decomposing cat in the lake this Summer while swimming, or fish it out now. The problem is, this kitty was full of water and about 25 pounds of dead, frozen weight. And, the cat was about 10 feet away from shore.

I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that we own our house. When we lived in a condo, we certainly didn’t watch it that much. But as soon as we moved into a bigger place with a yard, large interior space to work with, and the occasional needed maintenance, HGTV became a staple. There, I’ve said it. I feel better now.

I am fortunate to work for a great company who has made it amazingly easy to adjust and set us up to find our new home. Right from the get-go, my wife and I have been able to make a separate trip to look for a house, and have been looking since we arrived a few weeks ago.

Armed with news that housing continues to slump throughout the country, we thought heck, it’s a buyers market so we’re going to find a house very quick.

Not so fast.

As the father of four, and a husband, finding a home has been an all consuming activity. Each free day, we’re touring homes and lugging the kids along since we’re new to town and have no one who can babysit. That’s been a challenge but not as big as actually finding a home in the price range we’ve given ourselves.

We have found, what we believe, to be the “perfect” home for our family. The only problem is we’ve been outbid twice. That’s right, outbid.

I guess in some ways it underscores we have good taste because with the inventory that is on the market, the only two houses we’ve been serious about have lots of interest. As much as a house becomes a home, a real estate transaction is a business transaction. You have to do your best to keep emotion out of it. It’s a transaction, or so we tell ourselves.

Just yesterday, we lost out on a house my wife really, really wanted. The kids wanted it. I wanted it. We simply came up short.

After about an hour of negative thinking, I snapped out of it and realized everything happens for a reason. It’s hard but we’re getting through.

Moving is difficult enough. When you lose out on a house, it has a way of deflating the whole family. You just have to trust that things will work out.

With our corporate housing only going 60 days, we sort of have a deadline but don’t want to be forced into buying a home we don’t want. No one wants to “settle” for something with such a big investment.

I don’t know why the Kansas City market is picking up. I don’t see that happening anywhere else, which makes you ask yourself: “what did we do to deserve this?”

Anyway, the family continues to settle in. I don’t like shopping for homes and it’s certainly not our favorite part of our new digs.

As my last post here on the EOT blog stated, moving continues to draw our family closer. The bonds are stronger but the stress level has increased. I assume that’s natural but we’re looking for that break in the clouds.

Especially if it has four bedrooms and a finished basement.

Follow Scott on Twitter @sdgully or email him at sgulbransen@gmail.com. His personal blog, where he writes about leadership and social media, is www.scottgulbransen.com. Scott also a contributor on Technorati,  to the Shamable Blog, and is the Director of Social Media & Digital Content for Applebee’s at their corporate office in Lenexa, Ks.

It's tough to get through a gate with a broken hinge.

Pitches and catchers report.

The spring game for your favorite college football team.

The white of winter giving way to rain and warming temperatures as nature begins to awaken from her slumber.

And, of course, there is the annual list of chores and tasks that mankind must conquer. Jobs and to-dos left over from the fall, that cropped up during the winter — and it was just too damn cold to do anything about — and those that sprout every spring, no. matter. what.As we move from spring into summer, how’s your list coming along?

1. Cleaned up the dog poop before that first mowing session?
2. Garage cleaned out (including those fall leaves that snuck in)?
3. Flower and garden beds raked out and cleaned up?
4. Finish raking up and burning / hauling away those dang leaves that fell after your final fall yard clean up?
5. New flowers and/or garden planted?
6. Fresh coat of paint on the shed, barn or even house?
7. Grill cleaned up and good to go? Or, did you have to buy a new one?
8. Minor repairs and other fix-it jobs done?
9. How’s the car / van / truck doing? Is it ready for the summer road trip?
10. Is that Father’s Day list ready?

I figure it was about 20lbs of dog crap. It was a long winter.

Hey, after all that hard work you put in this spring, making a well-deserved wish list for Father’s Day had better be on YOUR to-do list.

What did I forget or miss? What else have you crossed off on your list?

-Mike

When Mike is not being an EOT Dad or finishing off his honey-do list, he’s blogging at MikesPoints.com. If you want to see what he’s up to now, click on @MikeDriehorst.

Being that I’m a part-time photographer and pretty handy with a video camera, these mundane yard-work chores can turn into very creative segments for your family memory bank. Here’s my most recent:

Camera toting Dads out there…I know you have some footage or pics to share. Let’s see them. Cough ‘em up.

If it wasn’t for having to dig out bushes, install sinks and fans, change light fixtures, fix the toilet, paint each room in the house (all at least once), hook up the waterline in the refrigerator….well, you get the idea….I’d have no tools at all.

Of course, often I need a bit of help in my home improvement projects. Here, Daughter L helps me paint the dining room.

You see, for the most part, I’ve bought my manly collection of hardware for the on-going home improvement projects I’ve tackled the past dozen or so years on an as-needed basis.

And, as is typical, I often make two, three and even four trips to the hardware store to get supplies and a tool or two that I didn’t think (or know) I’d need during any of the previous trips.

But these projects do provide good husband-wife…um, discussion.

One project that has become immortalized occurred when our oldest son (now 11) was 3 or 4 years old. I had to  install a water line for a new fridge. In running the line from the fridge down to the water pipes in the basement, I thought I had turned off the water between the hole I had to drill in the pipes and the main line coming into the house.

No, I was wrong. Instead, I turned off the water past that point.So, I drill the hole and water is spewing out and all over our basement. While I’m doing my best impersonation of a little Dutch boy and calling for Amy to turn off the water at the main, our son yells from the top of the stairs, “Get a wrench, dad. Get a wrench.”

To this day, that story makes us laugh, and my periodic home improvement ineptitude is worth it.

While I enjoy and do get a bit buzzed browsing the local hardware store just as much as any guy, I’ve never gone on a shopping spree to Do it Best (the local hardware store), Lowe’s, Home Depot or any of them.

I don’t need to because there’s been a regular parade of projects.

Like the current one. If you haven’t heard, Amy (and I) won a $30,000 kitchen make over from Merillat. Well, we can’t just get a new kitchen. We have to make that new “look” flow into adjoining rooms. So, since we were fortunate to squeeze in enough new kitchen flooring to take care of the dining room, I’ve had a paint project going on there the past few weeks.

And, in the entryway that leads into the kitchen (and to the steps that lead to our basement).

So, here’s to home improvement projects — may you never end so I keep having a legit reason to build my tool collection.