uh oh

I have just been informed that Jeanna and Alison were googling "how to make mustard gas" out of curiosity.  Obama, it wasn't me.  It was them.  Feel free to come haul them away.  they are a threat.

Jeanna's shoes that she wore to work.
I'm pretty sure they are grounds for termination.

go-cart

Jeanna's new rental car. BWAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!!

boat

I've talked about my boat a few times in the Pub letter, but I thought I'd add a few updates here.

So, the spark plugs were bad on my maiden voyage, so we got that all fixed up.  On a follow up trip, my dad and I went fishing and the boat ran perfect.  We returned to the dock and shut it off.  Had some lunch.  My wife requested a quick boat ride, so we loaded in, turned the ignition, and..............nada.  Frustrated, not wanting to begin a cursing fit, I just gave up. 

Took the boat to a shop in Marble Falls that was run by seven trained monkeys.  Woke up the next morning and wasn't confident they could fix the boat, I went to the shop at 9am (when they open).  The whole place was dark.  Two other people were milling around wondering why nobody was there.  Impatient, I hooked to the boat and split.  THey have NEVER called me to alert me to the fact that for all they know the boat was stolen.

Took the boat to the very expensive but good boat shop, Bay Marine.  Dropped it off, and was told it would take two weeks, but they thought they could probably do it quicker.  One week in I called and was told I was number 20 in line.  The next day I was number 20 in line.  The next day I was scolded for calling again and was told I was number 20 in line.  I asked for the service manager to call me back, and he didn't.  the next day, the boat was surprisingly done.  No mention of the fact that apparently they had worked on ZERO boats for three days.

went back to the lake to pick up the boat. I called them on the way and requested that they drop the boat in the water so that I could drive it back to the lakehouse.  Showed up, and it was sitting in the parking lot.  Pissed off at this point, I decided to just trailer it back home.  Some guy pulls up on a tractor to put it in the water (over an hour since my call).  I tell him that this was already supposed to be done, he barks "Hey!! It's been busy!!"  After a short stare-down, I grab my boat and leave.

I did not pay.  They have not called yet.  I plan on telling them that I have a lot of bills in front of me and that it will probably take two weeks but that I might get to it quicker.  However, they are #20 in line, and they may stay there for some time.

I'll keep you updated...

HAHAHAHAH

too funny - received a request for ad placement.  Good news?  Nope.

this is the company: http://www.tulenex.com/

Their company slogan is "Build it THICK and WIDE".

wow.

seriously?

a recent article from the BS (Boerne Star) contained this jewel:

a .5 reduction in home values means that the city will have to dip into 22% of its fiscal reserves.

Oh, and I just read that the City bought the old Dollar General store by the old high school.  For $700k.  And now they need to spend $300k+ to turn it into offices.  Never mind that they could buy a lot for $200k and then build a $150k building that would more than suffice.  Never mind that the high school is cutting jobs, and that the city is dipping 22% into its reserves.  Let's just keep spending money we don't have to provide facilities for employees we don't have nor can afford. 

on another note, my boat performed flawlessly this weekend, so there's that I guess.

Even at the local level - government is broken and not worthy of trust.

Oh yeah - AND my local postman forgot to deliver the mail on Friday. 

k - i'm done rambling.  All this stupid gubment-speak got me all confused this morning.

math

too funny to not share:
a client is splitting ad with another client.  It began at a 50/50 cost split.
then it was 2/3 and 1/3.
then today she said "I think it's 2/3 and 1/4."

I'll let you think about that for a moment.

yo

was going through the Chamber of Commerce membership book the other day and was struck by something - a LOT of places have gone out of business this past year.  We all know that 2008 and 2009 were rough ones, and we lost o lot of fellow business owners during that time.  Lots of them couldn't handle even the smallest dip in business, and it took them out when it happened.

additionally, there has been very little NEW business in town lately.  there was a time that I could ink out a living just off of the new businesses that were opening, but there have been scant few new guys on the scene.  I think we have hit our bottom.  I HOPE.  I think that we lost those that couldn't hack it, those that could have survived and have made changes to their business in order to make it, and we're all gonna dig out. 

it wasn't a fun ride, and while we still have a ways to go, I think the light is finally at the end of the tunnel.

thanks

promise me business.
allow me to spend a lot of money as I tried to earn your business.
then ignore my calls for two months.
pop up and schedule a meeting w/ me.
re-schedule that appt 15 mins before.
then simply skip the appt with no phone call.

thanks man.  I really appreciate it.