The newsonomics of Amazon’s Prime moves
Ken Doctor, niemanlab.org

Mem­ber­ship ain’t what it used to be.

Two years ago, I signed up for Ama­zon’s Prime pro­gram. $79 a year for unlim­it­ed two-day shop­ping. It was a tailor-made pro­gram for some­one like me who bought every­thing from print­er paper to…

“Bezos took a retail business without much loyalty and is turning it into a loyalty business.” So true. Living a solid 45min from standard city shopping options, it’s so much easier just to order off amazon. It is reminiscent of the Sears “lifetime customer.”

So, I needed a quick dresser that would also help organize the clothes in our house. My wife showed me this idea for a laundry basket dresser/organizer. I decided to make two matching “dressers” that held two baskets and one small trey on the bottom. They work great and are cheap to build. I have about 50 bucks in boards and baskets. I used 1x8x8 pine boards (which I joined together using pocket hole joinery exclusively) and some 2x2s all purchased at my local home depot. After sanding everything (the 2x2s were particularly rough) I thought the pine was lovely so I just slapped a couple coats of poly on it (with a 000 steel wool rub down between each) and they turned out lovely. I put a little chamfer on the edge with my sander (effective on pine) and trimmed the edges of the 2x2s to a 30 degree angle just for looks mostly. These dressers are 36” tall and I measured off the baskets I got at Walmart. Too easy - I was able to build them in about 3 hours on a Sunday afternoon. I think in the future, I’ll add some shelves up the top and they will work great in the laundry room for storage and organization. And the rustic pine is lovely. 

Final Pictures from Bean Lake, MO. Flood Damage. The most remarkable sight besides the inflatable aligator stuck to the side of a tree was the random toilet intact sitting on the edge of the lake. Clearly it was not meant to be there but, then, somehow it did. 

More from Bean Lake, MO 

Again, flood damage. Water looked to be eight feet high in some places. All the docks were washed out. On one house the boat crushed the back porch and settled on the side of the house. 

I finally got on the water. I’ve been here since July and had yet to get out on the water. 

I went out to Bean Lake, MO. It happens to be right in the middle of the flood plain. The houses here were under water during the flood this spring and summer for almost four months. It was erie there. Empty. No life save the huge frogs on shore and the occasional fish jumping. It hasn’t rained recently so it was incredibly dusty. Some of these pictures are filtered and some are not. Enjoy.  

Bean Lake, MO

I thought this article enlightening. 

Why do we always shoot for the easy goal? 

Do yourself a favor and read this article about tar sand oil. I particularly liked these lines: 

“Here’s a better idea. Let’s build the next generation of energy efficient cars, homes and workplaces. Let’s develop wind, solar and other cleaner, safer, more sustainable sources of power and fuel. Let’s invest in high-speed rail and smart communities that give us better transportation options.

Let’s do these things so we won’t need to keep going to the ends of the Earth, ravaging our forests, putting our oceans and workers at risk and creating havoc worldwide to sustain an oil addiction that is sapping our economy and bleeding us dry.”

Here, here. 

I promised (in the last post) that I would post the bed where this came from. I built this well over a year ago for a queen mattress we had at Ft. Lewis. It was a good skill builder project. I was inspired by this instructable for a bed that takes apart with no bolts or screws. I chose to use natural cedar decking for it because I’m a huge fan of that particular wood. I love the look and (of course) the smell. I’ve learned alot since then and if I were to do it again (and I might, it was a great project) I would not use green cedar lumber. It became a bit of a problem as it dried. I would also have taken better care during the cross cut stage in order to get it right. Finally, a warning, making this bed opens you up to a terrible shin issue when you get up in the middle of the night a little foggy - that blasted edge that sticks out will really ruin your night. After a couple cuss-filled moments, you kind of get used to the fact that it’s there and can avoid it. 

We moved up to a king-sized mattress so we didn’t need this frame any longer. I ended up re-purposing the wood for other projects including the king platform bed and sand/water table. I love re-using/purposing wood. 

One Hour Water/Sand Play Table!!! 

So, this is a project that I’ve wanted to do for several years and kept putting it on the back burner. When I finally got around to doing it, it took about an hour. Thats it, just an hour. I used some cedar decking that I had left over after taking apart a bed I had built at another duty station (I’ll post pictures sometime). The frame is cedar decking cut down to fit a 2x4’ piece of plywood that I got pre-cut from Home Depot. I filled it with 1 bag of sand on one side and put water in the tub on the other side. My kids are in sand heaven! 

If you are interested: the legs are 20” and the frame measures 2x4” on the inside. As you can see, my small kids can reach with comfort. 

So, we have these matching Ikea couches. We like them particularly since they are a little shorter than a standard couch and thus fit nicely together in the various houses we’ve used them in. The look is us, the fabric is durable, and they are quite comfortable (after we broke them in). 

Of course, the problem with Ikea couches is that they are Ikea couches. Under the faux leather is the standard Ikea pressed lumber. The legs that came with the couches ripped out after their third move. As is the case often with these types of things, when one tears out, there is no repairing it. 

So, here is my solution. A 2x6 cut into 2 33” lengths and three 4” lengths sandwiched between them pallet style. I used 3” corse thread drywall screws to connect them which made for a solid pallet to set the couches on. I chamfered the edges with a sander which improved the look (at least to me) at the end of the day, they are clearly 2x6s. 

I used a primer and a black satin paint finish so that they would be as unnoticeable as possible. All in all, they turned out well and accomplish the purpose intended. 

You know what gets to me about moving? All those tiny annoyances that frustrate and bother me. It’s not like they are a big deal, but you don’t think about it until you are thinking about it. Like, finding a new barber. Really. It shouldn’t be this difficult! 

Yesterday, I had some time between classes (I’m currently doing some classwork necessary before I start work) and went downtown to check out a local bookstore. As it turned out, it was closed (did I mention that it was in the middle of a torrential downpour?) so I walked next door to the military surplus/antique/collectable/junk store next door. It actually was my kind of place. I have a soft spot in my heart for flea markets, garage sales, antique stores, and junk shops. It’s a bit schizophrenic since I’m not at all fond of digging through clothes when they are new, even for a good deal - however, if it’s a bin full of rusty old hand tools, I’m game. 

Sooo, there I was, digging through bins of $1 screwdrivers and I hear from behind me, “Third ID huh?” I turned around and saw a man, not much older than me, looking through me to the shelf beyond. 

I tentatively responded, “sure - you?” 

“Yeah, I spent some years there back at the beginning of the war.” 

“Cool. Rock of the Marne.” 

He chuckled. “Man, I still think that revile should end with the Dog Faced Soldier.” I responded in kind. He started to talk about how he had been out of the service for a “little while” and missed it. He was in the Patriot Guard, which started out here in Kansas in response to that aberration of religion, hate church; and being in the Guard brought some camaraderie back into his life. It’s always a bit amazing how quickly someone identifying you as a chaplain seems to open them up. I asked, “what has it been like for you since you got out” and the floodgates opened. He was out of a job, medically retired, had a rough time keeping work and the only job that he was comfortable doing was pipefitting for the union because it was deep in the earth with only one or two other guys. It was work with his hands. And no one cared if he was a little rough around the edges. 

“What can I do? I only know the Army. I only know shoot, move, and communicate. I don’t have that any more. I don’t have anything really. I came back from the war [2003 invasion of Iraq]and was broke. My buddy and I are the same. 36 and what do we have to look forward too?” 

We talked about it. I listened. He told me about riding in the motorcade for the local Soldiers who went down in the recent helicopter crash in the ‘Stan. His emotions boiled over as he talked about being with the family and watching the Soldier being escorted off the plane and into the hearse. As stories go, this one morphed into another story about a young Soldier that just came home who he is reaching out to. Said it seems hard for that guy to trust him, how the young Vet drinks alot and he worries about that. I asked if he is keeping tabs on him and he said that he was - didn’t want him to fall through the cracks like he did. 

“What does that mean?” I ask. 

“Well, you know…” 

“Well, stay with him man, too many of us are killing themselves.” 

That was it. The tender nerve. The story came fast and furious after that. Pent up frustration and grief shrouded in the anger and shame. The brand new truck, with the lift kit, custom paint job, and the straight pipes. The lake on the weekend. The self-medication. The moment where no one was there, no one understood, no one listened and he saw the cliff. He gunned it. All the way to the floor till  he launched off the cliff. He woke up alive and cursed. Fail. Always a fail. He saw his friends, long passed, and they called to him. He crawled out of the passenger side with all his ribs broken. When he was finally found and medics arrived he was reaching final blackout. They had to shock him to keep him alive. 

Silence. 

“What does it mean to you?” I ask. He looks confused. “What does it mean that you are here, telling me this amazing story…. in this junk shop?” 

“I guess its just that we’re here. We’re all still here and don’t know what to do. I wish I could join again. I wish I could do something. I wish I could get together with some other vets, put on my uniform with my rank and all and shoot some SAWs and AKs at the range or something.” 

“What is your identity these days?” 

“The Patriot Guard helps. But it’s only for the moment and then it’s gone. We show up, we ride for honor, then it’s over and we go home and I still don’t have a job.” We spoke after that, pastoral care in the center aisle of the junk shop. It was hard to separate but we both needed to move on. 

People ask me what it’s like, being a chaplain. It’s like that. Hearing stories. Walking along in a journey. Sharing life. It’s a spiritual thing. Some days I talk about God alot. Sometimes, God is everywhere and not necessarily in the words spoken. This man’s identity and spiritual center had been there, as an NCO in the 3d Infantry Division. Seeing my combat patch opened that moment back up for him. My questions opened up his internal turmoil. I struggle to be present. I had to focus to not look at my watch while he talked. I had “important Army business” to get back to but in that moment, he needed to unburden his mind. 

“Bear one another’s burden.” Christ in the junk shop. 

Back in the saddle! 

My new ride - a 2009 Kawasaki KLR 650. It has been almost 4 years since I have been on the back of a motorcycle. I sold my last bike, a Suzuki VStrom 1000 at the tail end of 2007 just before my second deployment. I loved that bike. It ate up the road. It was comfortable on dirt, rode straight up, and sipped gas. Back then, we were in debt up to our ears and it had to go. I remember that day well. I rode it from Hinesville to the cell phone lot of Hartsfield-Jackson on a rainy cold day and sold it to a guy planning a cross country bike trip. Broke my heart to see it go. 

But we were on a path to get out of debt and believe me - when that bike left me standing in the cold with a gangster wad of twenties in my hand, we were committed. Rice and beans - as the saying goes. 

Fast forward to last Thursday - I finally took possession of a bike to commute back and forth to work on with the occasional sunday night jaunt through the Kansas countryside. Tonight was beautiful! Outside of Leavenworth the farms just roll on and on, the corn, soybeans and wheat growing like mad in the fields. Simply perfect. 

I’ve owned three other bikes, all Suzukis (SV650, SV100S, and the Vstrom) so this was my first experience with something else. I love it. Gets 60 MPG and is just as comfortable on dirt (which there is alot of here in KS) as on the highway.  It’s a stripped down, economical ride that I put mile 3000 on just tonight. 

Good to be back…

We move. Alot. Its gets old. Even though we do Dity (I guess the Army calls them PMMs now) and make money off our moves - they are still… just… ugh. I don’t look forward to them. 

That said, I am slowly  but surely replacing all the furniture in our house with what is called “Nomad Furniture” on sites like instructables.com. I love that site. Basically, the idea behind nomad furniture is that it is easy to take apart, it is sturdy, and will fit just about anywhere. A few years ago, with the help of Fr. Ray (Kopec), I took up woodworking. The point of doing this was (back then) getting to a point where I could confidently build a boat. As yet, there is no boat - what exists however, is more and more furniture. I’ve built a few things with and without help for our house. Most of it I can be proud of and is in use. Most of it. Somewhere in my stacks of scraps are the shards of projects that trigger my ugly-tear-it-apart-start-over-or-abandon-completely side. This bid was inspired by a storage bed I saw on Anna White’s DIY site. If you are looking for free, easy furniture plans - look there! 

This bed was something I’ve been thinking about for some time. A bed that gets the mattress off the floor (we use an open-celled mattress we got off an Ebay store - very comfortable) and would have storage underneath. We looked for some proper plastic tubs (I would build drawers but again, the point here is practical above all) and build around them. I built a bed that will hold six 29 quart tubs on a side and 5 (that’s right - 5) 66 quart storage containers. Thats alot of storage! 

Basically, the bed is composed of four boxes build study with 1x8 sides connected to 3/4 ply using my favorite joint - pocket holes. (I use the Kreg Jig, which, makes flawless joints every time. When they don’t work, it’s usually headspace and timing…) I capped the ply for a nice edge and re-used some ceder from a bed I made last year for our queen sized mattress. (We’ve since moved up to king - its awe-some - read that in a sing-song voice) The bed is solid and when we move, it’ll take down and move out - without having to repack clothing! 

Eventually, after the baby is born (any day now), Sara will pick out some curtains and I’ll hang them inside the boxes and cover the plastic storage tubs. 

…so, not the prettiest arts and craft-mission style bed, but I’m pleased with how it turned out. 

Fair day at Leavenworth. This post has - by far - the biggest fair day of any post I’ve served at. I think the entire town came out. Leavenworth is a federal town like none else! Uncle Sam has been good to his place. Makes sense that they would come out to say thanks!