Fast, Cheap, or Quality ... Pick Two!

"Quality means doing it right when no one is looking."

- Henry Ford

 

 "Quality is never an accident. It is always the result of intelligent effort."

- John Ruskin

 

I have spent the last couple of months utilizing one week’s worth of vacation and an abundant amount of my after work hours and weekend time building a deck at our house. For a number of reasons it has taken me a lot longer than I originally anticipated.   A.   LOT.   LONGER.

There is an old adage in the design and construction industry stating one can have a project done “Fast, Cheap, or Quality…. Pick Two!” Whether you are web designer, contractor, architectural designer, or a husband, in order to build something one really must know which two of these are the most important parameters. Or in other words, which one are you willing to give up?

Quality + Fast = Expensive
This option means the hired contractor will postpone everything, cancel all other appointments, work 24/7 to get the job done. Quality is still paramount and if something goes amiss then a professional fixes it and makes it right. However, the deadline is critical to this scenario, too, and it comes with a cost. The higher price trumps everything else. That is why it is expensive. In the case of our deck, this would have been a professional deck builder or contractor, not me. We could have paid for a contractor and a crew to build it in a week, easy. But labor is not cheap and the contractor mark up on materials isn’t either. Quality + Fast = Expensive

Quality + Cheap = Slow

This option assures quality is not compromised, either. And since quality is paramount one can’t just go cheap on materials. So, in order for it to be cheap one must have cheap labor or no pressing deadline! One works on it when there is spare time. Paying attention to details is important and that can’t be rushed. In the case of our deck, it is just me and my wife. We are free. My vacation time was paid for and I could give the deck project the attention it deserved for a week. But, I’m not a professional. I’m not practiced in the art of speed. I measure twice, sometimes thrice, cut once. Quality + Cheap = Slow

Fast + Cheap = Inferior

This option means one really doesn’t care about the quality. The priorities are to just get it done so that it doesn’t cost a lot of labor and time. Cutting corners is acceptable. Quality is not important. In the case of our deck, this was not an option. Not at my house! Fast + Cheap = Inferior

As of this post, the project is nearing a 90% completion. The deck boards are all in. We can walk on it. The railing and trellis parts have yet to be finished. Plus, we need to put the second coat of stain on it again. But, it feels almost complete. We should have most of the remaining 10% done in the next few weekends, depending on our schedules, of course. The only thing I’m in a hurry for is that sense of accomplishment. I’m not there yet.

A side note:  With all the hours working on the project, I spent some quality time within my own head. I came to the conclusion that there IS indeed a way one can get all three… Fast, Cheap, AND Quality! One needs to be Amish.

Amish Quality = Experienced craftsmen

Amish Cheap = Tons of free, quality labor
Amish Fast = They can build a barn in a weekend

 

 

Remains of a Man's Day

That haunting movie was on again the other day and, after hours on the road within the last few weeks, it hasn't quite left the brain. The other day the t.v. remote found the instinctive impulse to stop and take another peak, if only to remind oneself of the soft underbelly of a respectful, middle-aged man. It isn't quite the Halloween scare you'd think, but rather a mental numbness of another sort.

It has been over 20 years since I was dragged kicking and screaming to see the movie The Remains of the Day. Yet the image of Anthony Hopkins, Mr. Stevens the Butler, sticks in one’s mind. Although the character is a man of honor and dignity, he is, for the most part, alone and unfulfilled. Empty. It is a fairly dark image of a man countered by a hefty respect for long hours, hard work, and putting the needs of others first.

It isn't currently important, really, just timely. When the movie was released in the early late 80s I saw it and I understood it, but did not truly get it. Fresh out of college, not yet married, and just starting a professional life of work, I was still in the making. The movie should have been forgettable and unremarkable to the college self save for the fact I knew men like Mr. Stevens. I worked with them. They were former professors. They were the middle class dads of friends and collegues who grew out of the depression era influenced generation ahead of me. It is a bit of my own father, who devoted his artistic soul to a vibrant career in music to struggle with early retirement and only a handful of gigs to satisfy his soul. And it is now me, twenty years into a career of giving my talents and dedication to one work project after another and coming home to happily cook, chauffer the kids, and attend to all the elements divorced/re-married dads do.

The Mr. Stevens character tapped into the silence and the unspoken hush of most dignified men. His self reflection is not lost on me. It is the dark, tacit part of us men not often shared. Though it could be Halloween-esque, it isn’t really a scary depressing place at all. It resembles center stage of an empty theater with a single, glowing bulb. It is a cigar, a glass of scotch, and an hour by oneself on the back patio. It is fishing or driving in silence. It is being. Respectful. Contemplative. Alone.

Men don’t share it because the answer is almost too simple. Get into the game. Stay in the light. Just leave the darkened mind-set and let that Emma Thompson character know of your true feelings and life can be complete. Yes, it can. I have. And, I am immensely happier for making the leap and trusting again. I didn't follow the script. But...

Apologies if you have read to this end with no real conclusion to offer up. All this rambling makes for incredibly boring reading, I'm sure. Most blogs of note get much further in today’s on-line culture by loudly bitching about something. But, to mer there is a sense of celebration in the balance between a man’s light and dark. One thrives in this balance. And that is ok.

Although he wasn't a role model, per se, Mr. Stevens taught me something once. And it has become clearer at the end of this day.

Make!

The pseudo, New Year’s resolution was to (re) Make. To Make!

Making is what artists and craftspeople and musicians and chefs and winemakers do. They Make!

It is not the canvas or the instrument or baton or cut of meat or varietal of grapes. It is not whether it hangs on a wall or you consume it. No. Art is not those things.

What matters most is the artistic process. It is the act of making, overcoming inner doubt or an unusual harvest. It is cooking with limited spices, yet creating immense flavor. It is music created by scientists and lead by an artist who knows how to make the most out of what they offer. It is painting from the heart to purge out an image ingrained in the brain. It is the blend, the touch, the subtlety.

Art appreciation is undoubtedly an important end product. Acceptance, kudos, and applause is always the sugar on top. But artistic creation, overcoming risk, and making something happen is in the soul of the artist.

Make!