Shriners Children's, Supporting Veterans, and Just Saying I Care | Lee Dorholt, Fluid Interiors #059

Hey everyone, it's Karissa from Shining Light on Minnesota. Super excited. Today we have Lee from Fluid Interiors with us. Welcome, Lee. Hello. Thank you. Yes. So, let's get started. Let's tell everybody a little bit about how you got into Fluid Interiors and what kind of got you there. Wow. It's a it's an incredible journey. I was on electronics and helping support the production mail environment. Um, I did that for a couple of decades. Okay. And it was just a wonderful company to be with. I was helping technicians from coast to coast and around the world just keep production machines going for our customers. Amazing. So moving production centers was part of the second nature that I did. Well, we got acquired by a much larger company and somebody else had my title of Eastern Regional Service Director. Yeah. So at that point in time, I thought, well, let's keep looking because they were putting me into a path that I had already gone past a decade before. Yes. I went to a good friend of mine, Reed Endersby, who was a recruiter, and he was helping me along getting really close to um a third interview with somebody else. He goes, "Take a look at fluid interiors. I don't know if you know anything about office furniture, but it's your relocation skills that they're after. They've got an opportunity." And when um Chad and Shido moved to Texas, that created the opening. Perfect. I was just incredibly blessed and lucky. My first contact was on a Tuesday and by Monday, I had an offer letter in my inmail box. Amazing. Um that's a pretty quick turnaround, too. Yeah. Very quick. Um you know, I talked with HR. I talked with some directors at the service center. Then of course um it was the talk with Burke Claybornne and Anton Newman. Um Burke said, "Lee, I knew five minutes in that you were our guy." Well, they know like it's when it feels right and you know it's right, it just kind of works, right? And it did. And it did. Um I did a little research on Fluid during those opening days and took a look at their core values and I understand how closely they aligned with me personally. Um, one of which is the curiosity, the generosity, the being um, just who you are and being able to help with impact being the one that really set aside. Um, how can you make an impact on a company on a person, right? And the rewards that come back from that. I think one thing that is important that I've had, I mean, we've had people on lately that have been looking for long-term goals and they've been looking for jobs themselves. not just goals, but jobs and long-term um life things. And you've got to not just find the right fit, but you have to find something that works for you, it is a right fit, but you also have to find something when you are looking for a job that you can see that they have long-term employees. You can see it really just is good for the soul. Yes. AB: Absolutely. And there's a lot of people with decades experience. Absolutely. Um, now that I'm in coming up on four years, um, I still feel like the rookie, right? But then the relationships I have, it feels like I've always been there. Tell about some of the services that you provide and some of the furniture and some of the different things that you you do there. Yes. The good stuff. The good stuff. Um, what what fills my day, right? Um, we'll take on a relocation. So, if you're moving out of the IDS over to Capella Towers, um I'll come in and help talk about your furniture that you have successfully taking it apart, moving it, and then resetting it at the new location. Now, that can be from 10,000 square feet all the way up to the point of what we discovered post pandemic, the return to work environment isn't fitting every company, right? and a large corporation in the Egan area said, "We're shutting down a 1.1 million square foot building. Can you help us decommission it?" Right. We thought, "Wow, let's go. Let's go take a look at it." There were national companies in there baiting on the same thing that we were. Yep. Uh we were awarded the project. Amazing. And we had two months to clear out 1.1 million square feet, 7,000 cubicles, workstations, crazy uh 650 private offices. You say yes now and you figure out, okay, how am I going to do this? How are we going to do this? Oh, um our team lead, um Jose, he was the rock star because we could have 10 labor noses on site or 60. and Jose knew where all the teams were and what they were doing. Perfect. So, we were able to be very successful. We partnered with some of our brokerage people that we have. I'll take a thousand of those, right? I'll take 1500 of those. So, that really helped us dial into the sustainability. Perfect. Over 72% of the product that came out, by the way, the weight of the products that came out was 11 Statues of Liberty. That's a little bit of tonnage. Yeah. You think so? And it it's good to equate it to something that you know when someone really thinks about like weight, it's like you've got to see it and feel it and visually know or understand it. Yeah. Yes. So that 72% did not go to a landfill. No. We kept that either in life or recycled responsibil. Amazing. So when someone's looking for office furniture, what options do they have? Well, there is a lot of used furniture that's out there. So us taking it on board and selling used stuff, it's not our forte, right? Um I would need a half a million square foot warehouse and I probably could have filled it a few times all over. Yep. So, I will go to our partners that we have that can help with the used furniture or take a look at the new stuff. Yeah. Um, wouldn't you rather have a 12-year warranty with what you buy? No question. Right. And makes sense. Get you into the height adjustable on the desk. Ergonomical or whatever you need. Yes. Yes. Um, to get the right chair so you can afford to sit there six to eight hours a day and have a good posture. Yes. These chairs are very comfortable. I'm leaning back. I can feel it. But it's comfortable. Yes. Right. Yes. So, what is your why? What's your driving force in your everyday daytoday? Dayto day. Um, finding people with challenges that aren't familiar with the process and give them the peace of mind. We got you covered. Y, we do this all the time and we're going to bring up a lot of points that you're going to go, I didn't think about that, right? But let's talk about your AV. Do you have to remove all your low voltage wire from the building? You know, how do you have to leave the space? Check your lease and we can help you with us managing your product project. Yep. You don't have to worry about us take care of the product that you're in business to do. Makes sense. So, through all of your processes with work and everything else, who have been some of your main mentors from day one, even when you're young, to now to get you for your drive to get you to be where or who you are today? Wow. I wasn't ready for this one. I know. But I have to go back to a manager I had 20ome years ago. Could even be a little more than that. Yeah. Where Craig Friley, he showed me the right way. And he did it just softly and quietly. Um it's you can lead with a stick or you can lead by example. Craig was an example person. Perfect. uh he moved on to other districts and other careers, but I will say a month doesn't go by where we don't text each other or have a call. Perfect. So, he's still in your life, still making the difference, still helping out. Yes, absolutely. When you are out there with work or even without work, how are some ways or what are some ways that are exciting for you or that gets you through your day? Well, I'm a very lucky guy. I have 13 grandkids. There you go. Right. And uh and you can send them home at the end of the day too, right? Absolutely. Or or keep them for a long time. Yeah. Right. Yes. Um so it's family. That really means a lot. Uh I was really busy when I was young, but you're trying to put that high watermark up, right? I might have missed the ball game or two, but now I make an extra special effort not to miss those games. Let's divert a little bit and talk Shriners. I know you are big into the Shriners stuff. Let's let our audience know a little bit about that. Um, the shrine is a fraternity for men who want to make a difference in children's lives. And when we say shrine, we have to think Shriners International. Uh, it started here in North America, but it has quickly spread the world and the Americas, North, Central, and South Americas where we're really seeing a large growth in that. Yeah. Um when Shrinum started, it was a bunch of masons that said, "Okay, we really believe in the the uh basic bricks, the basic foundation of masonry, helping our community, and uh you know, treating everybody on the level. Make sure you give them a square deal." Well, this group of Masons were out to lunch in New York and said, "Let's come up with something fun that we can do." Right? And the shrine started at that point in time. Got it. As they were moving along, they said, "Wait a minute. We need a purpose. Let's create the shrine hospital for children for orthopedic and burn needs." We were able to raise money. Now, this is 125 years ago, right? Quickly to build 26 hospitals. Y uh it was amazing how fast they could come together. And their philosophy was we'll never take patient or family money for the care of that child. Amazing. And the uh the the difference that uh they can make in somebody's life just because that burden that financial burden's off them. Yep. Yes. And that's that's a big difference. I mean whether it's burn, whether it's anything like that, when you are a parent going through something with your child, no matter what age it is, no matter how old that child is, whether they're an adult, whether they're young, having that financial burden is Yeah. nothing you want to deal with. You're already dealing with having to worry about them being sick or having the burn or anything like that. It's It's not fun. No. Um, Harley Forest was a coworker and his grandson was born, Harley of course, and he was born with a club foot. And I said, Harley, god that's terrible. Um, let Shriners help you. Well, the parents, they're already connected with another hospital and they're moving forward. I said, perfect. That's great. Harley came back a year later and said, "My kids had no idea the expenses. Is Shriners still available?" I said, "Absolutely." Sure is. So, we I was able to get the referral in. Now, you don't have to go through a Shriners. You can just reach out and contact and go to the clinic in Woodbury all by yourself. Just go in. Perfect. That's such a great cause. Yes. So, we've talked Shriners. Let's talk a little bit about the fun stuff, the off-roading. Oh, the big stuff, right? Yes. So, u born and raised riding a motorcycle. Y started in the dirt, went to the road. Well, you know, after you get past that 50 number, um that's that's young still. That's just the start, right? Your body changes. Yes. And my knees started getting bothersome. Torn meniscus, but things happen. So, I thought my road bike days were going to dwindle. I thought I'd get a convertible. Yep. Well, living in a house in St. Louis Park, you don't have the luxury for three cars, right? So, I thought, well, I'll trade off my Cherokee and let's get a Ford Bronco. Yep. And it's a convertible, too, right? It's all in one. It's all in one. So, it's the best of both worlds. We can take the top off and enjoy a wonderful drive in the country. Yep. Or we can go up into northern Minnesota and find that uh off-road off-road path to take, right? And I'm just amazed of how well it drives and the camera system on it. Before you used to have have a spotter come out and tell you what you're driving over. Now the camera just adjusts down and does it for you which is amazing. It's technology in itself is is crazy where it's going with vehicles with everything. Right. Yes. And um coming back from a project down in Owatana. Uh it was the winter on 35W and the back end started getting a little squirly. Yep. So I just rolled rolled the dial to slippery. Yep. And the truck just straightened right out and drove me home safely without the white knuckles, right? Because we've done that going north to south before. Yep. I mean, from having that to having now like the blue cruise, you have the Teslas that are driving themselves. It's It's amazing, right? It is. Yes. It'll be interesting to see. I mean, how far and how long it is before obviously cars can completely drive themselves without even having us in the front. I mean, they have the the taxis and everything else that already do that, but we'll see. Mhm. So, what are some of your main focusing driving points? Like, what are some of your your goals that you have? Um, well, obviously to leave this world a better place and came into it. It was a vision that our parents had and always try to make things easier for us, right? Well, we can continue this on. Um, but let's talk about responsibly. you know, let's take care of yourself so then you can take care of others. Um, it's that personal integrity that we need to have instead of just running around and asking for this and asking for that and this wasn't my fault, but can you help me on that? Yeah. Um, let's let's help people think about how they can make an impact on somebody's life, you know, once they find out that, wow, this world's pretty good. It's a good blessing. It it can be a good place when you want it to be. Yes. Absolutely. Have you done any traveling lately? Uh lately, I have to say no. My passport was a little bare, but uh the the funnest one we did was a Mediterranean. Um well, not it was in the Mediterranean, but it was the um French and Italian Riviera. Nice. Uh we're on a small yacht, 175 passengers. Perfect. And we hit six cities. And when we got to the the town closest to Peas, I didn't want to go see a leaning tower. No, you can see that on the internet. I want to travel to the places and see the things I'm not going to normally see. I'm going to go off the beaten path and go. Yes. So, we wound up at an estate and we went truffle hunting behind a dog. Perfect. Um, and after we harvested a giant handful of truffles. Oh, nice. Well, of course, the owner of the estate also had a vineyard. Oh, yeah. had a nice bottle of wine, shaved the truffles on top of the pasta, and um I would have never thought to put truffles on um an overe egg. Oh, delicious. It's like, okay, now I'm now you're going to go and be like, "Okay, I want this." Everybody from America's going to be like, "Wait, what?" Yes. Yes. So, that was just one of the many stops that we did. Uh the last day of the cruise, we stopped in Monaco. Okay. and were able to watch the Grand Prix from Grace Kelly's Dance Academy. Wow. Amazing. We had three stories for viewing. We're right on turn three, so just before the tunnel. Um, not many people can say they've done that either. Yeah. No. Um, lots of people want to say F1 Monaco, they want to do it. Yes. We're just lucky that the opportunity just lined up, right? Right. And we said, of course. Yes. Um, where are some bucket bucket list places that you want to go to? M well Aruba is always fun. I'd go back there in a minute. It's one happy island. Y um we spent two weeks in Ireland touring all the way around the perimeter. Did a little interior stuff. We quickly discovered we needed to be there three weeks, maybe a month. Northern, southern. Uh we started in the south and we went the Wild Atlantic way all the way up around through Belfast, back down to Dublin. Y we missed the southeast corner. Okay. Okay. So, I have to go back so I can go to Waterford. Yep. 100%. No question. Yep. Ireland is it's its own amazing place. Like that's always got a special place in my heart. There's no there's no place like that. The Wild Atlantic way, you get to like Valley Cotton, you get to all those places. It's amazing. Yes, it is. It is. And the uh the Sufi the seafood in Gway was just so delicious. You get to like the Ring of Kerry. I mean, all those places, the people just Yeah. I mean, the weather too. People don't think they think it's always going to be pouring rain. It's not. We had one day where it rained. Yeah, we expected it. We wanted it. We went down there to play golf and we're like, "Okay, we're going to expect the pouring rain." We had one day of it. It's like It was 65 and sunny the whole time. We were basically there and it's there's no bugs. I mean, there's no mosquitoes. It's Yeah, it was absolutely beautiful. Yes. Yes. Um I want to go back to Greece. Yes. Tell me about Greece. We launched on a ship and uh left um Athens and from there we went up to Istanbul. We hit a few cities in Turkey. Then we started hitting the Greek isles and you know to land in roads to see the Grandmaster's castle. You know, I'm trying to find all the Masonic connections to that because we use that title for the head guy in Minnesota. He's our grandmaster. And it was just fun to see and feel the history. And once again, we broke away from the old ruin sites and were immersing ourselves in the local culture. For sure. Um went to an olive farm. Yeah. And once again, you just learn about that. Yeah. I know. I went on a cruise to the Bahamas and I'm like, "Okay, I'm going to go on my own little tour. We rented like a taxi and they took us to castles. Who knew there were castles in the Bahamas?" I'm like, "That's what I want to do." Like, I want to like see the stuff you don't see. I don't want to just go sit on the beach. I want to get into the culture and get into the land and see people and see the land and see how it really is, right? We were on a cruise. It was just a really short cruise that um my wife had won at work. Yeah. We came into Nassau Bahamas. I'm like, I've seen I've been it. I've done it. I'm good. Same old stuff. So, we stayed on the ship and just played games on the upper deck and all a sudden I looked across and there was the Masonic symbol on a building. I said, "I'm going." Yep. Got to get off the ship. See you later. Where are some other places that you've traveled? Are you do a lot of cruises? We've done quite about quite a bit on cruises. Have you gone to Alaska on or done any of the Alaskan cruises? We did. Um when you go back to Alaska, make sure that when you launch out of Anchorage, you're there five days early so you can do the tours into Denali. Got it. We missed the Denali part, but we hopped on the ship and we took it all the way down to Vancouver. And make sure you're on a small ship so you can get into the inner passages and really get up close to it. Um, we saw three or four different types of whales. Saw a beluga whale. Very cool. Where on the way to the ship, the bus driver pulled over. He goes, "I've lived here my whole life. I've only seen them twice." Wow. Yeah. Yes. It's just one of those things. You happen to be in the right spa space or right time, right time in right place. Sorry. Yes. What about in the United States? Where are some of your favorite places around here that you've gone or been? Well, um going at the end of October to the Canadian Rockies. Very cool. Uh flying into Calgary, going up to Edmonton, then we're doing BAM and Jasper. Um I did a Iron Butt run on the motorcycle. Yep. Where I launched out of Fargo, went all the way to Spokane, Washington. Y and then I went up into Glacier and went across the bottom part of that. Yep. Um, met a man who grew up in East Berlin and was there when the wall came down. Y and he and I wrote together for two days. Very cool. And just talked about how capitalism going into that city really changed it for sure. They weren't ready for it. No, not at all. No. What are some of the life lessons that you've learned with traveling? [Music] Doesn't matter how broke you are, but you can always pay attention, right? And uh by just looking as you're going, you can absorb those little gems that a lot of people are just walking by. Uh plan, do your research. I will say that the YouTubes will really take other people's experience and show you different slices. Yep. And just don't stop at one, you know, watch a dozen of them and suddenly you're like, "Hey, wait a minute. I didn't hear about that." Yep. Um, when we were in Ireland, we went to Lraange, which is the a burial site 5,000 years old. Yep. Um, but nobody told us you have to make a reservation before you go. Got it. Yes. So, we missed that. When we went, we had um a nice cab taxi service that we're supposed to be taking to the golf course. She's like, "Would you mind if we took the back roads and I'll show you some of the things that we like to do?" I'm like, "Please do." So, every single time we went somewhere, we had them take us and then they took us on their own little tours and showed us personal churches and all the all the extra stuff. And that's what you've got to do. It's like, we're not here to just go to and from a place and be done. Like, show us show us things. Show us the culture. Show us where we want to go. She's like, I'll just sit here. You guys go on your own little walking tour, but make sure you stop here at this place and stop at that place. And I mean, that's what you want. That's what you're there for. Yeah. Yes. What with your family? You have all the grandchildren. Are they close? They are um they all live in Minnesota now. Nice. Amazing. Yes. And the oldest will be 11 in January. So when you start thinking there's 13, we have three sets of them that are only six months apart from each other. Oh, that's close. Nice. Um having sleepovers at our house and getting the cousins to come is the most rewarding thing you can think about because a lot of times when kids grow up and they're cousins, they aren't very close or they started off being close when they're really young and then that and that changes. Yeah. Yep. AB: Absolutely. I mean, some of the best times I remember were when I was younger with all the cousins, the big family, like the the 10 of my dad's brothers and sisters and all of the kids getting together for all of their things, and that just doesn't really happen much anymore with anybody. But yeah. Yes. Uh we're lucky our two oldest daughters both live in Waconia. Oh, nice. Um one of them has four and the other one has two. And suddenly we'll see on social media that they're all together. We're like, "Did you know happened?" "No, I didn't know that was happening." Why are we not there? Right. Yes. So, you've got a lot going on with work. You guys do some fun things with associations. What are some good events that you guys have are going to be doing coming up? Oh, um I'm looking forward to the Bulma events. Uh there's a joint meeting that's coming up that's just talking about the trends of the Twin Cities. Those ones are always good. Those those summits, the economic summits and different things that are coming and going. Yes. Yes. And I'm really happy that the Minneapolis St. Paul are coming together to work together. Yes. Um Minneapolis is probably three times the size of the St. Paul event. And both of them have their special things that they can help you with, right? I think it's important when a lot of the associations start doing that. You get like the subcontractors and the contractor ones and then you get the association of women contractors and they all come together to do one big event. Yes. Or you like you're saying the the [ __ ] Minneapolis and St. Paul, they come together to do one or you get all the different associations instead of trying to have them fight over certain days, specific days, they can have their events all on and do them, just all go together and do it as one. Yeah, absolutely. Um watching the uh emerging leaders last year at the Minneapolis Bulma, that was really fun. Yeah. Um really lucky our studio downtown is in Butler Square. Nice. And um our chief engineer won engineer of the year. Mhm. We're like, "Oh my gosh, you won't be able to put a hat on." But um this young man was there with his family. Um well, his wife, right? And it was just so it my view I was watching him as he got announced and he had the look of disbelief but the joy on his lady's face. Yes. Yes. How important is it for like family culture? I mean that's changed a lot since obviously when you were young and I was young. I mean, we worked and worked and worked and there I mean, we still do. That's our driving force. But now, I feel like with the younger generation, with the family culture, they're given a lot more leniency and it's it's better. I mean, they're giving a lot more time to do the family things and do the things which are important and you have the mental health and you have all the other things. It's great to see that kind of coming back into play, especially when they're being brought back into work. Yes. And um you know, it's just uh letting parents be parents. Uh the thing that I'm noticing is our children that are becoming more spiritual. Um and if they're Christian or Jewish, it really is okay either path. Belief in a higher power to call on for wisdom and strength is what it's really all about. You know, is believing that yourself isn't the biggest thing in the world, right? And just being able to talk to the grandkids about that is long as you believe in something or get out and do something, then do it. Don't just sit at home and do nothing. Like I want to see you do something. Yep. Have have something to leave and have something to do. Right. And the lessons and the values that are taught, you know, to treat everybody as your neighbor, as yourself, is it's good to watch them see it from something that was written thousands of years ago. Yeah. A long time ago and carry it forward, right? You know, it's it's not always me just saying, "Hey, here's a golden rule from way back way back when and you've got to just do it cuz I said so." Right? you know, yes, mom's not always just the one saying it. There's there's other people that are trying to say it. No, it's, hey, I want to get a Bible. All right, let's read the Bible. You know, very cool. Like, or I'm going to go to church study or Bible study or whatever else it may be. And it's it's it's a full cycle shift that's coming on, which is amazing. Yes. Young and old. And we're seeing it in younger men, uh, the late 20s to the middle 30s. They want to have a cause and a purpose to re-engage in the community. Um, at my Masonic Lodge in South Minneapolis, uh, Lake Harriet, we're lucky we have six men that came knocking on our door that said, "You make a difference. I want to find out more about that." Amazing. So, on Monday, they're starting their Masonic journey. Very cool. And, um, I'm going to make sure I'm going to be there right alongside them. And I remember back 36 37 years ago, there was somebody that was my age that did that for me. And it's just uh it's a lifelong learning. Yeah. And sometimes when those people are there and they just show up and they stay with you and they guide you in any certain way, no matter what it is, they they're they need somebody guidance. Yeah. And that made me uh think back about Dale Cybert. Okay. Um he is a longtime Mason. um Scottish right with honors 33rd degree and Dale was the secretary for a number of years and every year when he'd send out the deuce card notice he put a personal note in there Lee how are you doing how's the family I want to know and called him up by name and I just thought that was so amazing the way Dale led by example well Dale said he was leading with his heart yep he genuinely cared yes it's not just a quick How are you? It's it's a Lee, how are you? Like I genuinely care. I want to know how your day is. Yes. So Dale's in his late 90s. And um memory was slipping. Dale recognized that a few years back. Well, we wanted to show Dale how much we love him and how much we care. So we gave him a lifetime achievement award. We had over a hundred people come to a banquet and just talk about Yeah, that's very cool. Um well, one of our members said, "Let's put together a jar and everybody write your favorite thought or saying and um relationship with Dale and put it in that jar." So, we gave Dale this giant jar he can pull one out at any time at any day. Amazing. And sit back. And sometimes it's important. People need that. It's not always It's not always the negative or just hounding on people or what you can change or what you can do. Sometimes it's just a hand on your shoulder like I'm here. Just a how are you? Or how's your day or I'm just here, you know? It's letting people know that. Yes. And I know with the older generation to the younger generation, obviously it's it's there's a shift. I mean, writing things and texting, but just still letting people know whether you're having a good day or bad day, you still want to know and you still care. Yes. Yep. And um you know, as the years click by and we go and say goodbye to friends that have just gone before us, it makes you recall of all those other friends and connections that you've had. And you know, I challenge everybody, go into your phone book and call somebody that you haven't talked to. Yep. And you'd be surprised how you can make an impact on their day, right? Or just let them know that, hey, I'm still here. Like I still care. Yes. Yes. Life is short. You I mean, everybody always say you only live once and I still drive by the thing. You live every day. Yes. You only die once. So, make it known. Let people know you are here. Even if it's been a long time, reach out to people. So, you've had some people, especially lately, that have passed on and you really start to know how short life is. And I know we've had the conversation about being more intentional, especially lately. And that's one of the reasons why I do the podcast, but what are some ways that you've been more intentional lately? Obviously, you've called people and, you know, had gotten those conversations back and just reached out to people. What are other ways that you've been more intentional? Um, a family, uh, they lost mom. Mom and dad truly did everything and made sure that their son with Parkinson's, you know, was still living. Mark turned 60 yesterday. Amazing. Um, well, when we lost mom, Karen, uh, the oldest son said, "Okay, dad, we've got to get you out of the house. Mark, you can't, you know, really do this to um take care of yourself. At that point in time, I stepped in and said, "What can I do to help?" And I just helped Mark and my get their stuff out of their home into their apartment. I didn't call it a care facility. I called it the apartment because that's where they were still living. Yes. Right. Yes. It's wording sometimes or it's just let me help. You know, you see someone struggling, you see something, it's different ways or different things that you can do. even if it's not monetary, even if it's just a simple let me help you carry groceries in or let me just do the little things because the little things sometimes mean the world to somebody. It sure does. It sure does. And uh when their son uh the oldest brother was back for the 60th birthday, um Jeff just said, uh I just can't believe all that you've done to help our family. And to you it doesn't seem like a lot, but to them it's it's the world, right? Absolutely. And it was just, you know, couple hours here, a couple hours there. Yeah. Because there are a lot of people in the world that don't have anybody or don't have a lot of people and they don't know how to ask for help, right? Or they don't want to ask for help, right? Absolutely. We know the stubbornness just doesn't doesn't allow them to, right? We we we know a few of our friends and family like that's like that that just well I can do this myself. Yeah. And you know, very independent and just get in the cycle and they just don't know the difference. Yeah. Yes. What's next for you? What's next? Um, I'll wake up tomorrow. Yeah, good. That That's a good start. What about favorite food? Oh, favorite food. Uh, well, during the pandemic, I turned to barbecue and smoking. Okay. I always had the flavor and I wanted to figure out how I can do this. Uh, put me into a kitchen, open up the refrigerator. I can put together a meal in five minutes with whatever is in there. Just make it happen. Yes. But when people ask you to do the same thing twice, it's like, nope. I'm going to do what's here, not with what I had yesterday. I'm I'm cooking. I'm not baking. Right. Yep. So, during that time, um I picked up a pellet grill. Um The Crave was happening and it was there. A good friend of mine, Mitch, he brought me to his house and said, "Hey, I'm smoking pork butts today. Come on over. I want you to see how easy it is and how delicious it is. I want to learn." Yes. And that's how it all began. So, we we bought it and put it all together. We had to burn it in, get all the oils off, dry rubs, get all the good stuff. Yeah. And then the seasoning and of course after you season it with a couple pounds of bacon because you got to get that good spatter happening. Absolutely. We thought, well, it's at 500°. Let's cook a pizza. Yep. With fire then, too. Yes. So, it tasted delicious. Perfect. And then I threw on a couple pork butts. Yep. You got to just try everything and just see how it goes. And Yes. Sky's the limit then, right? Yes. So, that first weekend, um, it was a lot of fun. Yeah. And then the next weekend I thought, well, I want to do cheeses. Boy, I almost had a 75 pound or $75 threeb ball of cheese on the bottom because I was going way too hot. Yeah. But it was a good learning experience. Absolutely. You got to then you learn the right temperatures and the right Well, every cheese is different to how it cooks and how it dries and how it goes too. Yes. And how it's aged. And a nice smoked aged parmesan grated over spaghetti squash. Yep. Oh yes. There you go. That works well. Um, ribs and pork loins are the my easy button. Yep. Uh, if you want ribs, I need an eight hour heads up because it takes that long to make it right. And the burnt ends and all that good stuff, too. Yep. Yep. I know. I think last time I mean, it's funny because people always talk about barbecue and I'm like, well, it's it's good, but you if you want to go somewhere, you go to like St. Louis, you go to Kansas City, hit the Arthur Bryant, you hit the places that are always the hole in the walls. Just like when you travel somewhere, you've got to hit the back end the back alleys. You've got to go to those special special places, right? Absolutely. Um we've got a nice gem just west of the Twin Cities and St. Bonnie. Um Buddy Boys. Uh have to try it. They're definitely a really good burnt ends. Nice. And they have a sampler platter. And they say it serves four, bring six. Okay. Because it's a lot of food. Yes. Yes. What is your favorite quote or do you have a favorite quote that you live by? See you soon. Right. And I'm waking up tomorrow. Right. When you were younger, did you have a favorite book or do you have any books that you've read lately that have been good? Well, being the electronics technical guy, uh, a lot of the um, uh, oh my gosh, his uh, name just escaped me. Uh, Hunt for Red October. Yes. Uh, Tom Clansancy. Tom Clansancy. Yes. Yep. I know. I've read that book at least three, four times. All of those books. Yes. All of those books. Yep. Um, so I always love the adventure and the uh the service side of it. Um, my dad was World War II and he didn't talk about it. No. Because the veterans they they can't and they didn't want to and they didn't want to. Right. Right. Um, so to hear about just all of the military things that were happening always intrigued me. Yes. And it's always seems like it's almost just a little too late before the stories start coming out. And it's like you can never quite get enough of them. And those are the most intriguing to me. Like you want you want to hear those stories. Anytime you see a veteran, I'm like I just want to sit down and let you talk and let you and hear the stories. Or first responders, the same goes. Anyway, you can always help give back to them or let them hear the hear their stories or just help out and give back, right? Yes. Absolutely. the stress and the trials and tribulations that any of those fine men and women or have or the ones that have even paid the ultimate sacrifice, you know, it's it's got a place near and dear to my heart. I know for sure. Yes, absolutely. Um close friend of mine um is the director of the 911 center and that transition happened when all of the unrest was happening in Minneapolis and u I was very afraid for her. I said, "If you need somebody to come pick you up, Yes. we'll do it. I'm here. We're we're there. We'll do that." Yep. Y and uh she said, "No, I'm I'm okay." Yes. Yep. And uh Yes. Just with the the trials that she went through, you know, starting off being an operator, a dispatcher, and you know, just growing up through the 911 family and her dad was an officer um out west in California. So, it was near and dear to her heart as well. Right. Sometimes you're just grown up with it and that's what you know, and that's all you know, right? Yes. And when people take a step away from that or you start to life gets you hard and you don't know how to kind of step away from that and just kind of reset. I mean obviously now times are changing and they're starting to give people more outs or more more places to heal or here's mental health help or let's you know go to the gym or try different things that will be good for you. Right. Yeah. Absolutely. Which is great. Yes. It's coming kind of full full headon. They're giving you more options to to reset and refocus. Yes. And that's why I was happy when the first responder plates came out, the 100 club. Um, you know, there's a minimum annual donation, but you can give as freely as you can. Yes. To help them. Yep. I think that if people are out there, I think in any of those roles, people want to help. They just don't always know how. Exactly. Or they just want to they want to give back. They just they don't know how or where or what can be accepted to. So, yes. What's coming up this week for you? Anything good? Oh, um just a little relaxing. Uh, uh, granddaughter that turned eight. We stop giving them presents. Yeah. Yep. We take them for the day, experiences, or do things with them. Yeah. Yes. So, we go shopping and where do you want to go? Can we go to Target? Yeah, sure. Of course, we can. Absolutely. Yes. I know that was one of the things with my kids when they were young is let's go on a mom date. Let's just What do you want to do? or you're picking dinner tonight. What do you want? I don't care if it's ice cream, whatever it is. Let's figure it out. Yep. Yes. Yes. Those are always fun. What have been some of the fun experiences that the grandkids have had you guys do or some of the fun things that they've had done for their birthdays? Um or the random ones? Uh the random ones. Uh my daughter called with an SOS. Uh her husband was had an event planned and suddenly all three of the kids had to go three different directions. So we divided and conquered and we did flag football in the morning and we did softball in the afternoon. Well, we had a large gap that was in between. Well, I thought, well, dropping in Waconia, Nickel Dickle days was happening. Fun. Way too many people. The crowd wasn't right. And I turned to him. I said, I promised you something amazing. This is boring. This is boring for you. You know, let's pick up and go. But do you want cheese curds before we go? Well, of course, they had to get some cheese curds. Absolutely right. Who does not want cheese curds? Yeah. So then we picked up more food. We went to Flying Cloud and we sat at the observation area over there by Grace Church and we watched light airplanes take off and land for 20 minutes. That's the most intriguing. They like they like the little things like that. Or or hey, let's go, you know, there's let's go to the train station. Let's just do the little things that you can do. Yep. And those are the memories that people want to keep. They remember that. Hey, remember the one time we went to the the air show or we went and saw the trains come in or it's not do I remember the one present I got or do you remember the little things that you bought me that one time? No, it's not that. It's the memories that you make. And um the the birthday girl that we're picking up on Saturday, uh she was able to go flying with my father-in-law, recreational pilot, um hopped in the Cessna 172 on floats. And are you nervous? No. Let's do this. Let's go. Yep. Um, so her and her dad went with my father-in-law and they went on about a 40minute flight around Max area and came down and boy flying has changed. The autopilot on the flying has changed for sure. Yes, it has. Um, Mike doesn't have that. No. Yeah, he's he still likes dialing everything in. Well, I mean that's easier to learn. I mean, oh, uh, Mark, one of our our COO here, he's kind of, well, he used to fly and now obviously his eyes have changed a little bit and the regulations have changed, but with the autopilot, it's a little bit easier. Yeah. But it's Yeah, it's fun though. It's It's one of those things. I mean, my son for his graduation present, he wanted to go skydiving. I'm like, "Let's do it. That's That's what you want to do? Let's do it." Yeah. I'm all for it. So, you also jumped out of a perfectly good plane? Oh, absolutely. No question. I love that kind of stuff. Yeah. Let's go scuba diving. Let's go skydiving. Let's do it all. Yes. Yes. I did that four times. Yep. I want to do it I want to do it tandem though. We had We did it um Yeah. with somebody else. I'm like, "Nope, I want to do it by myself." Like it's a lot easier. It's a lot more fun. Yes. Yes. It is definitely um the static line over the tandem. Yeah. Uh you're not as high, right? But trust me, the view is just as good. 100%. Yeah. Yep. I want to go scuba scuba diving next. So, that's my next Yes. Okay. Um, I've done a lot of snorkeling and when we're down in Costa Rica, uh, another beautiful part of the world, we wanted to go snuba. Yep. It's a blend between snorkeling and scuba where you wear a helmet. Well, we were there in the offse and everybody was on holiday on vacation. So, we missed that. U, but we did go out to a shipwreck and it was fun. We hopped on one of those party boats and they were pouring rum down all of the young kids. Of course. Right. I just sat back. I'm like, I'm just going to watch this unfold. Yep. This This is not going to be fun for them, right? No. Like Nova Scotia would be fun, too. That's another place I want to go, too. That's Yep. Mhm. Yep. Just go explore and see what we find and Yes. Yep. Yes. I'm a big kind of gold rush type person watching and all that stuff, too. So, that would be fun just to explore and see what's out there. Yes. Yes. Yes. Well, it was great having you on today. We appreciate having you here. What's some wisdom for the people watching? What do you think you can share with them that they might not know? Well, as I think about Spotlight on Minnesota, we're very lucky to live where we are with a variety of the seasons and each season will display to the discerning eye. Yeah. Open your eyes and see what's going on around you and who's standing next to you. Um, you'd just be surprised if you just stop and say, "Hey, have a good day." Absolutely. How you can change somebody's life. For sure. Well, thank you so much for being on today. Well, thank you. Thank you. I appreciate you. It's a lot of fun coming here. And how can people get a hold of you? I forgot that part. Oh, yes. The important part. The important part. Well, uh, for work, Fluid Interiors, um, you can find us on the web, Lee Dorholt. I'm on LinkedIn. I'm on other social medias, but, uh, you know, Take a look at a parade. If you see the Legion Patrol coming by in the Jeeps or you see this little blue fiberglass boat, the Mariners go whipping by. Um, we're out there making a difference. Or if you see a blue Jeep or the blue Bronco out there, sorry, has not the blue Jeep, the blue Bronco. That's Lee. Absolutely. And, uh, it's it has the first responder plate and it's got a message on it. Map us. There you go. Where's Where's Lee? I don't know. You better map us, right? It's kind of like the the where's Waldo or where in the world is Lee today. Well, you can get a hold of me also and I'll put you in touch with Lee. See you guys later. Have a great day. [Music]