A Twist Of Fate
October, 2011 Entries
"Fiction writing is great, you can make up almost anything." - Anonymous

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(10/30/11 - 4:56 PM)
Spending the morning working on our first pamphlet for a client. Apparently, my writing is great - if it was a book. I'm learning from Wanda very quickly that my writing style does not translate well to pamphlets. At least she's here to help!

I just discovered that she's also happy that she gets to pee when she needs to, rather than when - or if - she can, because she's not at work chained to her desk. Who knew THAT could be so exciting?

All in all, an insane endeavor today, but we're up to the challenge.

...

It is now 3:31, and we've just finished. It took waaaay longer than I would have imagined but, having never done it before, I'd say we came out pretty damn good. Hopefully the customer likes it, and is happy. We worked really hard on the thing.

And now, to order dinner and have a beer. Because my brain is done with smart-making for the day.

(10/29/11 - 4:56 PM)
Work this morning, then home for more work, and then lunch with Wanda. To say it's been a hectic week is an understatement. As time goes on, it becomes harder and harder to craft entries for our Guerrilla Marketing Blog. I knew it wasn't going to get easier, and I'm trying to continue to be original, without re-hashing or doubling up. This, I feel, is where many seem to fail. And if I'm to yield a book from the experience, I had better deliver.

I also got word that I have been invited to do a book signing and meet and greet at The Bookworm Bakery & Café on Black Friday. It's an early, 9-hour stint beginning at 3:00 AM, but given the proximity to shopping, the day, and the sales, I'm optimistic about the endeavor. It will be my first as such and I both loathe and relish the idea of the experience. Time will tell.

(10/28/11 - 11:55 PM)
Spent a fun evening with some friends touring The Coronado Theater in Rockford, IL (photos on my FaceBook page, for all my friends!) The architecture is waaaay more astounding than I ever remember as a kid, and there are levels upon levels within the architectural accoutrements.

Definitely worth the ten bucks.

Then off to our friends, Mitch & Barb's house for pizza and a nightcap. It's been a very long time since Wanda and I have allowed ourselves to hang out with another couple. But, they have adorable dogs, so how can you say no to that? And, they might be nice people too - it's just hard to get past the cute-tractor beam of the dogs.

(10/23/11 - 10:33 AM)
What a phenomenal week. It was rough, but this weekend made it tolerable.

Last night, Wanda and I attended our first Rockford IceHogs hockey game. For those of you who might not know, this team is one tier down from the pros.

Our friend Jim, who is their Media Services Manager, got us some free tickets, and we took a friend of mine from work and his wife who go quite a lot to these games. I figured it would be a good way to connect with them on a non-work level and also that it wouldn't hurt to have a guide to this new experience.

As the players were warming up, Wanda made an offhand comment that she didn't want to be hit by a puck. I sort of though it was a one-in-a-million chance, and shrugged it off. Less than ten minutes later, a high-arcing puck landed DIRECTLY in the crotch of the seat in front of her. Clearly, I was wrong. The upside? Wanda got a souvenier and a good story out of it. She was pretty happy.

It was interesting to see all of the graphic work that Jim does in live action. We'd seen it all on the small screen on Digital Ninjas Media, but it's a whole new experience live.

I also ran into some old friends whom I hadn't seen in ages, which was a nice bonus.

While the home team got creamed, it was a truly fun experience being there. Even I can't believe I'm saying that, because I hate sports. So, a big thanks to Jim for the amazing evening. And to Mitch and Barb for the company. Can't wait to do it again soon.

(10/22/11 - 5:16 PM)
Last night, Wanda and I, and our friend DeeDee who we hadn't seen in forever went to the Tinker Swiss Cottage for an evening lecture by six ghost hunters and, then, a tour of the building and grounds. While a little on the hokey side, it was a nice change nonetheless. Coupled with the fact that I had always wanted to go and see it, but had never made the time, it was another item off the 'to do' checklist.

Met some interesting people, and had an interesting tour of a truly remarkable building. Through the history we were given, it became clear that the place we were withing was yet another casualty of both Rockford's - and the Nation's - poor planning. Gone were the spectacular gardens and splendid grounds, tossed aside like so many other truly wonderful things that used to personify Rockford as an interesting place. Unlike the amazing Time Museum, the Tinker Swiss Cottage has managed to avoid being destroyed by the vacuous city entirely. But for how long, at the rate this city is declining?

At least I got to see it's splendor before that happens. And, for the sake of self and the public at large, I hope that it never does.

(10/21/11 - 7:18 PM)
Sanity... hello?... sanity... are you here? Hello... I can hear someone here... is it sanity... oh... oh, God, no... it's...

Mr. Phillips Screwdriver

Recently, we've made some drastic changes in the layout of our shop to accomodate for some new equipment we really didn't have enough room for, but that we needed, nonetheless. And everyone, to some degree, has had to make some sacrifices. Some more than most.

Mr. Phillips Screwdriver's area is perpendicular to another operator's. The operator has less than 24 inches of space between he and his machine to work in. As a compromise, my Boss built him a sizeable workbench which is on casters, and has more vertical and horizontal space than others, to maximixe efficiency in a small space.

This did not sit well with Mr. P.S. Oh, it's not that the bench is bigger than his. And he's not jealous of the fact that while he has enough room in front of his machine to do the entire Nutcracker Ballet, the other operator is lucky if he can bend over. Nope he's mad because if - IF - he gets a really long part to work on and, IF, he needs to use the very limits of his machine's travel, he might hit the upright of the bench.

Notice that I said, 'IF'? There's a reason for that. Our Expediter, Jim, is well aware of the space constraints. In fact, when this all happened, we discussed making certain that long parts were run on other machines, just to avoid this sort of thing. And we not only mentioned it to Mr. P.S. then, we've continued to do so as his daily tirades have continued, unabated, as though they are the first time all over again - EACH AND EVERY TIME.

Apparently, we don't know what we're doing. Because here's what's been happening for three weeks now:

Mr. Phillips Screwdriver comes in. The FIRST thing he does, is shoves the workbench to a point where he COULD run ANY part. Even though it's been set up to avoid just this situation. And even though he's been told not to. And even though he has a small part IN THE MACHINE. And even though the other operator is STILL TRYING TO WORK IN HIS 23" space. Even with all of this in play, this still happens.

So, we've begged, plead, reasoned, threatened, and questioned. And to no avail. He still makes this move first thing. Needless to say, this has been an escalating issue over the past few weeks and, at it's height, he denied ever having done anything we were discussing.

Wait, WHAT?!?

Yep. Right to the owner's face. He doesn't know what we're talking about. He is, in fact, upset that the OTHER operator is pushing the thing into his machine.

So, since logic and reason are now dead and buried, I and the Owner devise a new tactic: The bench will be made immobile by means of a bracket. A custom made jobbie with concrete anchors and padlocks. All so a more than grown man will stop with this nonsense.

So, tomorrow morning, I had to have a guy come in - on overtime - to put these brackets in place. Not to mention the time and money spend in manufacture, nor the time wasted dealing with the issue, only to be told he didn't know what we were talking about.

It is never a dull moment with this guy around.

(10/19/11 - 7:11 PM)
Halloween Fun!

Come At Me, Bro!
Death Star Pumpkin
Barfing Pumpkin

(10/18/11 - 8:06 PM)
Best Abraham Lincoln Quote That Never Was... Ever

(10/17/11 - 9:13 PM)

"Wishes are just inaction in progress." - Me

(10/16/11 - 8:46 AM)
I stumbled across an article this morning that knocked my socks off. It said that a Cold Fusion Test was a success. WHAT?!?!

If proven correct, this will revolutionize how we power, well, everything. Imagine the repercussions of a clean fuel that produces more energy than it requires to jump-start it?

Let's hope it really works. Because humanity is in desperate need of something like this. It would change, fundamentally and extraneously, the way we live our day to day lives.

On today's menu (aside from being awestruck by the above): writing more Guerrilla Marketing entries and, hopefully, a little reading and a nap.

(10/15/11 - 8:26 PM)
What a whirlwind day. Woke up, worked on some Digital Ninjas Media stuff, and then off to work until 11:30 when I had to leave to go to my Dad's to do the annual cleaning and innoculation on his PC. We also go to his friend Cecil's home to do likewise. Usually Cecil's PC proves to take far longer than Dad's, but I got lucky this year. He had just purchased a new Windows 7 machine, and the install and cleaning took nearly no time at all.

Dad's took... a little longer. But we sat and talked, and inadvertantly learned about the hottest peppers in the world (it's been a battle this year.)

Then back to work to work on the PC on one of our turning centers, as well as wrap up my normal tasks. I didn't get home until after four, whereupon I once more took up research for the business. At least >THAT< was fun.

Still, it's nice to keep in touch with my Dad and Step-Mother.

(10/14/11 - 6:56 PM)
I have now openly decided to write an interim book. I've been toying with the idea, and now that my research is proving fruitful, it seems like a no-brainer.

For the past few months, I've been nurturing a page on FaceBook called Digital Ninjas Media: Guerrilla Marketing. It was, originally, intended to generate interest and business, and then slowly burn out. What I'm finding is happening, instead, is that the more I come up with unique ideas of my own, and research for others, the more I realize that what I'm developing is unique in its own right. And that is really exciting.

So, I plan to craft those messages into a small, affordable, book of Guerrilla Marketing tips. Mostly because it's a unique and visionary combination of the hodge-podge that has come before it. Don't get me wrong: there are a lot of books out there on the subject. And I own most of them. What they lack are the 'all-star' combination of ideas.

In an effort to avoid any encounter with plagarism, I completely write the entry from scratch, with the idea at its core. I also attempt to take the kernel idea and make it more than it was when I found it. And I've been stunningly successful.

The book will be small, concise, and inexpensive. There's too much 'fluff' in too many of the books out there, as well as what I feel are 'repetitious' ideas, or variants. I'm eliminating this, and finding only unique ways to encapsulate an idea for each pointer. This way, it's all meat and no bun. It's what I would want to have bought, were it available.

So now I've got myself all excited about the prospect of being not only a contributor to the cause, but becoming a LEADING VOICE in the field. And I intend to do all that I may to make that happen.

Truly, truly, exciting!

(10/13/11 - 7:18 PM)
Received our first real line on a customer from the Digital Ninjas Media: Guerrilla Marketing page today. That was pretty exciting. I have a meeting scheduled with Jim on Monday afternoon, so we'll see what we see. Hopefully, we can land the contract, and put another proverbial notch in our business.

(10/09/11 - 8:44 AM)
This week has been a strange one at best. Initially, Wanda and I had scheduled it as vacation some time ago to coincide with my birthday, our anniversary, and the opening of our business. Instead, Wanda ended up working Tuesday and Wednesday, and I ended up working Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night, Friday, and Saturday morning.

In between all of this, Wanda has been ill, and we've both been crazy busy with the business. We had a client meeting, worked on the web site, the corporate blog, a new logo design, and all the stuff around the house that also needed doing.

So, it's been more on the stressful side of things, and less on the relaxing side. And it was kind of a bummer. I mean - it's nice to be needed at work. It pays the bills. But sometimes, you have to be able to walk away. And knowing that we didn't have that option at the eleventh hour is a bit frustrating, even for me.

The upside is that I now have more vacation than I thought I did. The downside is that I have no clue when I'll be able to successfully use it.

(10/08/11 - 7:31 PM)
My cute-dorable second cousins were featured in the local paper this week. Now the whole world is aware of their adorable-ness!

(10/07/11 - 6:45 PM)
Had a client meeting in Sycamore yesterday for Digital Ninjas Media. They're eager to get a new logo designed, and it's our first such challenge. I'm just hoping we not only meet - but exceed - their wishes. All in all, we're pretty excited about the whole thing.

(10/06/11 - 9:53 PM)
Today, a great man left this Earth. A visionary man, who was always brilliant, and just as often irritating and confrontational is gone. Steve Jobs has passed away. The agressor to Wozniak's tender and kind brilliance, who once was turned loose from the company he founded and built - only to be brought back later when the error of ways was realized. The man responsible for a goodly amount of the technology we use in our daily lives, and an inductry pioneer who grasped the next big thing long before most knew what it would even be.

For all of his faults, you can't deny his results. He drove individuals to be the best they could, and then go a little further. Some couldn't handle it, but those who toughed it out had a hand in turning out some of the most brilliant and life-changing technology to ever take the planet by storm.

I, personally, wonder what will be missed, now that the visionary who showed us the way on many fronts will no longer be there to guide us. And that seems a great shame.

So long, you Insanely Great man. You will be missed.

(10/04/11 - 7:45 PM)
Today was my 37th birthday. My wife made me Lasagna, and bought me a pocket watch and scotch glass, because she's keen like that.

(10/03/11 - 6:06 PM)
Happy thirteenth anniversary to the most amazing woman I've ever met. I love you more every day, and can't imagine a minute without you.

Now, onto other things:

Recently, Wanda brought home two new Ghost Shrimp for her fishtank menagerie. One was far smaller than the other, but other than that nothing out of the ordinary. Imagine our surprise to find out today that the little guy is - in fact - a guy. How do we know? Well, the fertilized eggs the larger one is carrying (read: the girl) is a pretty good give away.

Way to go, little guy! Here's to hoping you don't eat all of your kids before they're big enough to see.

(10/02/11 - 8:43 AM)
My new favorite commercial:

(10/01/11 - 5:55 PM)
Just woke up from a power nap. I've still been feeling under the weather, but Wanda is faaar worse off than I.

Today is the first 'official' day of business for Digital Ninjas Media, Inc., our new business endeavor. Exciting, but about the only bright spot in the day.

Went to work this morning, and on my way home stopped to buy Wanda an Anniversary present. While there, she called and said she was going to the ER - again. I told her to sit tight, and I would take her.

After an hour, and some x-rays, she was sent home to recuperate. Fortunately, we napped together, so I know she got some rest.

I'll be much happier when she's feeling better and I don't need to worry so much. I'm just glad it isn't pneumonia like we thought it might be.


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