February 8, 2019


Trying To Stay On
A Critical Path

(click photo for an enlarged view)

I had lunch yesterday with my old business partner. Steve and I worked for the same contractor for nearly four years before starting our own home remodeling business. We called it Bestbuilt Construction. It lasted for several very good years before we parted ways.

That parting was nearly 25 years ago, and yesterday's lunch date was our first one-on-one conversation of any length since then. 

We sat in the restaurant and talked for just about five hours. Which reminded me that we never did lack for things to talk about.

There is no other man I know of that I could have such a lengthy conversation with. But there is no other man who I've ever worked so closely with. It was nearly every day for a decade. We shared common goals and hopes, along with common challenges, and the success and disappointments that came with those challenges. We were the best of friends.

In retrospect, we were a remarkable working duo. Like I told Steve yesterday, one plus one added up to a lot more than two when we worked together. More than just teamwork happened. There was a rare synergy. It was something special. It is something that I've missed, and will probably never experience again in my lifetime.


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Steve now operates his own business as a home inspector. If you ever consider buying a home in Central New York State, contact Steve. He's a true professional. Click Here For Details.

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One of the "secrets" to having a successful remodeling business (which Bestbuilt Construction was) is to have a "critical path" mindset when taking on any remodeling project. The critical path is the most direct route to getting the job finished. 

When, for example, we were remodeling a kitchen or bathroom (which we did a lot of) we focused on a logical sequence of tasks, and pursued that sequence. I can remember saying out loud, as a certain task was accomplished, "What's our critical path now?"

It sounds simple, but a lot of people get side tracked on out-of-sequence rabbit trail tasks that don't keep the project moving forward. It's easy to get off the critical path if you don't consciously and deliberately stay focused on it.


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One of the most obvious time-wasting rabbit trail tasks that keeps a remodeling project from efficiently moving forward is finding out that some needed material is not on hand and an unplanned trip must be made to the lumber yard or hardware store. But Steve and I almost never left a job site to get materials during the work day.

That's because we had laminated checklists for tools and materials. We loaded our trucks at the start of every job using the checklists. And also we had inventory lists for totes packed with a full selection of plumbing and electrical components. Then, as we worked through the day, and thought of materials we were going to need, we picked them up at the store after work. The next morning we were back on the job early and followed the critical path.


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This winter I have had trouble keeping on a critical path with new projects for my mail order business. My problem is that I have too many ideas that I want to pursue and get done. I've started several things but not finished any of them. I can't seem to focus. It may be age related (I turned 61 last month). Whatever it is, it's a source of concern. And it explains why I haven't been blogging much here lately.


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One of the things I want to get done before spring gets here is a new Planet Whizbang web site. I've made do with blogs as web sites for many years, but it's high time I had a real Planet Whizbang web site. It might actually help me make more sales, which would be a good thing.

But the task is so daunting. I have 10 different blog web sites, each with several pages,  selling so many different products. 

Nevertheless, today, with three other critical path projects partially done, I started making the new web site at WIX. 

They have templates to start with and modify. I picked a template for a web site that sells scarfs. The screen shot at the top of this blog post shows my logo and name at the top (the header) of the new web site in progress. 

That's it. That's as far as I've gotten. I keep reminding myself... "one step at a time."


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So, I asked my wife, Marlene, to look at the header design. I explained that I was starting with a WIX template and would be changing all of that scarf stuff under the header. I wanted her to say it looks good enough. I wanted a little positive reinforcement.

Marlene looked at it for a moment and said, "You're selling scarfs now? Who's that woman?"

I know my wife well enough to know when she's joking with me. Or, more specifically, trying to annoy me. Or, even more specifically, doing to me what I sometimes do to her.


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Well, that's a bit of an update from my world. I plan to blog here more often in the days ahead, but I'll wait until I have something better to write about.

Here's hoping you are finding critical paths of your own and sticking with them better than I am.



13 comments:

  1. P.W. new branding tag line - "Planet Whizbang - Down-to-Earth Books, Tools, & Inspiration. Oh, and scarves. We've got scarves." ;-)

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    Replies
    1. Hmmm...
      Maybe I should consider that...
      Whizbang scarves...
      Conspicuous for speed, excellence, or startling effect.

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  2. Herrick - HaHa, my thoughts were the same as Marlene's when seeing that picture!

    I started my onion seeds today. Two 72 cell trays - one of Cortland variety and the other of Cabernet. The Cortland's are an offshoot from Copra - which I know you like so well. Valentine's Day is when I usually start my onions and that day seems to work well with my eastern LI growing schedule.

    Glad to see you back.

    John L.

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    Replies
    1. Hi John,
      I think I grew the Cortland onions last year. They did well for me. Good storage onions, for sure. One of my critical paths is my Minibed Gardening 2019 Report, in which I discuss things like that. The onions I started from seed last year did okay, but not great. Forget the name right now.

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  3. Elizabeth L. Johnson said, Whatever idea you put into action I like. Find that critical path to just one action, and finish it before starting another. Sometimes multi-tasking is too scattering to make any sense of things. So glad for your good time with friend Steve. Is he near by for regular visits? I used your wonderful garden tool to sow tiny seeds (these were cilantro and chives) this morning; you know, the one with the little screwdriver. I have a nay-sayer in the family in reference to my email to you about getting black plastic for my own mini-beds-on-plastic garden. But never mind, I'm going to stay excited despite. After all, I am the only one with time to grow a vegetable garden--such a benefit while on the ketogenic diet-lifestyle. Thanks for the great post. Signing off from great northern California (aside from the awful liberal government down in the city)!!!!

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  4. In addition to the critical path I usually have my work broken down into Indoor tasks and Outdoor tasks. Weather permitting, the outdoor stuff gets priority, but when it is raining, or bitter cold like lately, I choose the indoor tasks so I can keep moving forward.

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    1. Ronald,
      I admire your organization! Forward movement is so important.

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  5. critical path? What's next variance analysis and corrective action planning? Be careful, it's a slippery slope. :)

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    1. LOL. Just the term, "critical path," and what I imagined it meant (when I read it years ago), was enough to make a difference for me. I'm sure I don't want to go on that slippery slope.

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  6. Elizabeth L. Johnson said, After re-reading: you're the very imaginative, creative type. So's my husband and one of our daughters. All have overwhelming responsibilities, plus many projects that their creativity has dreamed up. Fantastic ideas, amazing projects. So much so, that they get stumped which to follow; so they do nothing, because of being overwhelmed. Stagnation turns into depression. I'll be praying for you. I already have to pray for our daughter and her dad a lot because of the same condition. The Lord will restore your comfort, Isaiah 57:18.

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    1. Thank you, Elizabeth. You have some good insight there!

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  7. I can completely relate... too many projects + too little time = overwhelmed. I have often joked, "earning a living is highly overrated". Too bad I enjoy feeding my family and paying the bills. The good news is that all these projects make good fodder for blog posts. And speaking of platforms, rather than Blogger, I went with WordPress. You might give that some consideration. And another good resource is Lynda.com to watch videos on how to use Wordpress among hundreds of other professional tech how to videos.

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    1. I have a Wordpress blog page from several years back. But didn't get far with it. I've gotten so used to Blogger. Blogger is so easy. But Blogger has a lot of limitations. And lately it has been sending out e-mails with blog posts I wrote years ago at "The Deliberate Agrarian." Very odd. Lynda.com is new to me. Thanks for the link. Decisions, decisions. :-(

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