Personal Homepage of: David Francis

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Great Vacation
Friday, June 18, 2010 12:09 PM

Carrie and I just returned from our annual anniversary celebration on St George Island. It's a wonderful and peaceful place where we rent a house on the beach in the Plantation. We just took it easy and sat on the beach. It was great!!

We did break our "all alone" rule because David and Jesse may not be available for a family vacation in the future due to career plans. We decided to invite the kids for 3 of the 7 nights for a nice family vacation. It was everything we expected and more!

We are happy that we invited all of them!!! It was great!

WOW – What a Week!
Monday, May 17, 2010 12:15 PM

I decided that I had time for a blog post and looked at my last post which was posted a little more than a week ago. WOW – What a Week!

Let’s see..

Friday May 7th : When I last posted I mentioned that we were headed to the recycler with our old grill and to buy a new one.  We took an old lawn tractor, three metal chairs, some metal shelving and a stainless steel grill. I was expecting to get $10 or $15 for the lot; we got $54 instead. WOOT!

We went directly to Lowe’s to purchase our new grill. We had been thinking about this purchase for weeks and decided to spend a little extra and get a good quality grill. We decided on the Char-Broil Commercial Series 4-Burner Quantum LP Grill. It came assembled and ready to go for $500. We purchased a cover and new grill scraper – loaded it on the trailer and headed to the porch.

Char-Broil Commercial Series 4-Burner Quantum LP Grill

This grill uses infrared heat instead of direct flame, so there is a kind of screen between the burners and the grill surface. We intentionally chose stainless steel so we could use a wire brush to clean it and so it would last longer. That didn’t work out so well as I will explain later.

I actually read the owner’s manual prior to hooking up the propane (gasp), and followed the instructions to the letter about seasoning the grill and IR screens. I used expensive peanut oil and covered all surfaces – then I burned it in for 20 minutes and let it cool. I added more peanut oil prior to pre-heating the first time and warmed it up until the smoke stopped. I made Ribeye steaks and Sea Scallops which were wonderful!!!

Note: Cooking methods are similar on the IR grill, but much less heat is needed. Our steaks came out perfectly and I really liked the IR cooking. Carrie fessed up and said she likes her steaks done the old way because she like some burning/charring on the outside. ANYWAY. . .

We used the grill 4 times since we bought it. I took apart the grill and re-seasoned it because it was already getting dirty. Reassembled, we had steaks on Friday night – used the auto clean afterword and went to bed. Saturday morning, the grill had rust on it. GRRR

I mean a good amount of rust that would come off on your hands. It was only on the two burners that I used the night before. I was disappointed to say the least. Carrie and I decided that we were not willing to clean the grill before and after each use to prevent rust on our STAINLESS steel grill. I called Lowe’s and they are willing to take it back. Frustration is not even close to what I feel about this whole thing.

I have selected a new one that has a gas grill as well as a charcoal grill and even has an optional smoker box which I plan to purchase. It also has the surface side burner which we will use for frying since I am sensitive to the smell when done indoors.

Char-Griller Duo Gas and Charcoal Grill
Photo borrowed from The Bbq Brethren Forums – will replace with own soon

I will take the Quantum back today and hopefully pickup the new Duo as well.

Saturday May 8^th brought a great gathering of friends and family! Dave and Jen made some wonderful pork butt and we made artichokes for everyone.

Vicki, Paula, Me, Carrie and Robin - all great friends!!

Monday afternoon my MAC PRO started acting up again; the monitor would not come on when I rebooted. I figured it was the video card I bought a year ago and sure enough it was. I went to “THE PLACE” on the square – our local apple retailer and service center – and Brad Bitterling confirmed my diagnosis. He also informed me that it was still under warrantee and I could receive a replacement. He even gave me a loaner card until the new one came in. I was very grateful and wanted to spend some money there so I ordered 6 Gb of Ram to upgrade my computer. This is a great place for anyone with a MAC or Apple appetite.

Phone: (270) 796-1977
Address: 431 Park Row, on Fountain Square Park, in downtown Bowling Green, KY 42101

From their website: http://theplace.ky.net/

"The Place is your number one Bowling Green Apple Store to suit all of your needs. We are the only Authorized Apple Specialist within the area extending all the way out to Nashville, TN. We carry every Apple product you could imagine from Final Cut Studio all the way to a 17" Macbook Pro."

Wednesday we were going to just chill on the porch when Dave calls and says, “can we come hang with you guys?” We got so excited that we took some seafood and chicken out and decided to test our new “Batter Bowl.”

Cajun Injector Batter Bowl

From their website: "Batter Pro makes breading or battering any food easy. Just add breadcrumbs, batter or spices, shake and flip. In seconds, Batter Pro coats food evenly and perfectly. No more messy bags, no more waste, no need to touch raw food! Its revolutionary new design evenly breads food on top of the tray while extra crumbs drain to the bottom." http://www.cajuninjector.com/cajun-injector-batter-bowl.html

We tried three different kinds of premixed batter on Shrimp, Scallops, Fish and Chicken as a kind of side by side comparison. I was also practicing my frying skills on the new grill as well as how to keep the oil temperature at 350 consistently. It all worked great!

Out of them all, it seems that most liked the Panko the best, though I liked the beer batter more. The beer batter was a little too greasy, but it was fluffier I think. We are going to try some different ones and I am going to try a couple from scratch.

What worked best – at least this time – was dipping the meat in seasoned flower, then egg, then the batter in the batter bowl. Well, except for the beer batter; this was a liquid batter so we followed the instructions and just dipped the meat into the batter.

We had a great time! Way too much food, but a great night.

Thursday night was Hot Rods night. We went with my massage therapist and her husband. The game was lots of fun! It went to 13 innings so we listened to the last two on the radio. LOL We lost, but it was still fun. We didn’t make any more games this week.

Saturday morning; other than getting frustrated about the rust on the grill, I decided to finally fix the drainage in the front yard. I used the pressure washer to break up the rock and dirt which worked wonderfully. We found a low spot where the water main comes through the yard and sure enough, there was a mini sink hole. It took some effort but we filled that with some soil and built up the drain pipe and even put a piece of plastic under it so it won’t drain there anymore. Now that the tube is higher in that spot, water won't settle in that part of the tube and try to drain into the foundation. Carrie and I were covered in mud from head to toe thanks to the pressure washer… I should have taken a picture. LOL

Saturday night was lots of fun!!! Our Fugal Wine Snob had a graduation celebration at his house. I think this is his fourth nursing degree and he vows that it is his last. We had a wonderful time, great food and corn hole!!! We always enjoy going to Bill and Misha’s!!!

Sunday was a lazy rainy day. The baseball game was even rained out. We didn’t do much of anything. I did however, make a big purchase on Amazon.com! I bought some accessories for my Cannon Rebel XSi!! I may not be a professional photographer, but I’ll look like one now. LOL

Anyway, there you go. I am really enjoying going back through my week and remembering all of the things I would have already started to forget. It offers me some time to reflect and appreciate. Although this is mostly useless ramblings of an old guy, it is what it is and I like it. Thanks for reading.

What's up?
Friday, May 07, 2010 8:03 AM

We had a great time at the ball game last night! The Hot Rods pulled it off and won all three of their games this week!! Today? Headed to the recycler with an old lawn tractor, three old metal chairs and our trusty rusty grill. Then to Lowes to get a fancy new grill for the porch. Yes! Then a massage and to top it off, ribeyes and sea scallops on the new barby! Might rain but don't care.

(Status update facebook style)

Cinco de Mayo 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010 8:42 AM

May 5^th 2010 was a strange day with lots of work to do on website backups, updating sponsor ads online and even getting out and going on a sales call. I didn’t get everything done, but the sales call was successful! (grin)

I had to bow out of Kung Fu due to the urgency of the website backups. I explained my predicament to Sifu Sam and received an interesting reply indicating that sessions are on hold and may resume. Not sure what that means, I will wait to find out. (More on Kung Fu in another post.)

Carrie finished the invoices in the morning and spent the afternoon restocking magazine racks. In less than a week they all needed restocked and many were empty. (proud)

I called Carrie on the way home and said lets rendezvous on the porch! She agreed asking me to give her an hour. Then she called me and said, “I have a surprise for you.” Of course, I said what is it? She said, “a surprise.” LOL

The Big Surprise!
Carrie had stopped at our favorite Mexican restaurant in town; Riviera Maya Bar and Grill. She got our favorite pork dish; Burrito Mexicano with the cold stuff on the side, chips and salsa. She also stopped and got the ingredients for our favorite margarita recipe. I was excited! She came in, cleaned the kitchen, made the margaritas and situated me on the porch and said, “I’ll be back in a second.” She returned wearing a pretty Mexican fiesta dress. I put Salsa music on the Directv and home theater speakers (loud). We toasted Cinco de Mayo and enjoyed our evening. It was nice. With the music and the drinks, we could close our eyes and imagined being in Mexico. We even made tentative plans to return there in December.

We had the warmed chips on the porch and then retreated to the living room to watch Frieda.  It is a biography of artist Frida Kahlo, who channeled the pain of a crippling injury and her tempestuous marriage into her work. (imdb.com ) We have seen it before and enjoy that movie. Carrie is a big fan of Frieda and has a lot of her stuff in her bedroom.

A weird day – a wonderful night – I am happy!

Now that’s a lot of rain!
Thursday, May 06, 2010 7:31 AM

I chuckled a little when I read the opening of my last blog. It was a very peaceful morning and the thunderstorms in the distance were nice to listen to. But what was to come was nothing less than historic! The rains came and kept coming for two days straight!

May 1^st was Kentucky Derby day, and as my blog suggested, I was in a nice peaceful mood looking forward to watching the derby here at home with Carrie. I was working in the basement when the rain started and at about noon Carrie came down to visit. She felt the carpet near the wall in my office and said we had some seepage. We got the fan out and dabbed it with towels, but that wasn’t going to cut it. It got wetter and wetter until I got our little shop-vac out and tried to stem the tide with it. It wasn’t keeping up.

This was not as frantic as when I lit our forest floor on fire a few months ago, but I was concerned as the moisture in the carpet was spreading and headed straight for the two computers under my desk. As I sat there with the ½ inch hose of the shop-vac sucking up what little water I could, I beckoned to Carrie and instructed her to go to Lowes and, “buy the most expensive shop-vac they have.” Carrie returned without a shop-vac, but with a huge Bissell carpet cleaner ($300). I was impressed; this would do the trick for sure! I put it together, plugged it in, turned it on and the machine filled its catch container in less than 2 minutes. I emptied and repeated… for the next 36 hours.

After we got the accumulated water up, we just had to keep up with the slow flow. We took a break to watch the Derby (my horse won!) and resumed our task. Carrie got tired at about 10PM and I kept working until 1AM. Carrie got up at about 1:30AM and resumed until I got up at 4am and took over. She went to sleep and I continued non-stop until about 6AM on Sunday. By this time, the rain was starting to slow and I was able to take a 1 hour break between vacuums. We continued all day and by the time we went to bed the flow had stopped, at least enough to get some rest. Monday morning, very little water was coming out of the carpet so we turned on the fans and the dehumidifier and by Wednesday, the carpet was dry. WHEW!

Sounds like a disaster but it was a little more than an inconvenience compared with what other people in our community were going through. The rains over those two days poured more that 10 inches of rain on south central Kentucky! Almost 15 inches in Nashville as well. Many homes and businesses were (are) under water and many people lost everything. I had to vacuum a 4 foot swath of carpet for a few days, these people will spend months getting their lives in order. My heart aches for them, as I count my blessings.

Back to my problem!
The water came in from the wall that is on the high side of the hill where our house is situated. When we first bought the house, there was very little drainage in the yard to divert water flowing from the top of the lot to the pasture, so we have had to deal with this in the past. We fixed the driveway to catch much of the water, put a drainage system in the front yard near the sidewalk and even fixed the gutter downspout to drain into a pipe. That was 15 years ago and time and neglect has caused our drainage system to clog with dirt and roots. I tested the pipes this spring, and everything flowed, but with the holes and rocks clogged up, the water couldn’t get into the pipes.

So now we know where the water is coming from, and we have a plan of attack. The next couple of weeks will be spent digging out the corrugated pipe and putting in new stone as well as putting a more permanent solution in for the gutter downspout.

On the bright side, we now own our own “Bissell Pro Heat 2X Healthy Home Deep Carpet Cleaner!” We won’t have to rent the machines from Wal-Mart anymore! This is one amazing machine!!!

A Good Morning
Saturday, May 01, 2010 7:00 AM

I’m sitting in my new office this morning with the door wide open, listening to the birds wake up, the rain falling, and the faint booms of thunder in the distance. It’s a peaceful morning and I find myself pondering a busy week, some great times, where I am in my life and where I’m headed.

As I’ve posted, this was a busy week for the magazine! We went to press on Monday, I had some technical (web) issues to attend to, and we received and delivered the magazines. But it was also a fun week in that we spent some time with good friends and family; attended a baseball game and had people over last night on the porch. The weather was perfect, the food was outstanding and the company unsurpassed! We had a nice week.

This morning I find myself at peace. The sound of the rain and the birds simply softens the heart and makes me realize just how fortunate and happy I am. It’s a good feeling and I wish I would just take time to contemplate my blessings more often. Sure, I’m sitting at my computer typing this out, but it’s part of the process for me; to put my thoughts and feelings into words actually helps. Fact is, I do this a lot but don’t always post it online.

Funny thought of the week!
I actually considered looking for a job this week. Yeah, weird but the thought did come to mind. I find myself getting restless and wanting another challenge. But the thought of clocking in and out quickly dispersed those thoughts. The freedom I enjoy is precious to me and working for someone else would definitely intrude on that freedom. Perhaps by “coincidence,” another option presented itself last night on the porch. A friend of mine had some really good ideas and I find myself contemplating the ideas seriously. It would mean a lot of work and some risk, but it just might be what my heart is aching for. I know this all sounds cryptic and unspecific, but I’ve learned to keep my ideas to myself until they become reality lest they be “borrowed” by someone else. (grin)

So with that I’ll end this peaceful morning blog post and wish you all well. It’s going to be a rainy Derby weekend here in the Bluegrass state. I will use the time to read, enjoy and contemplate my next pointless blog.

Thanks for reading.

Press day number Thirty Six
Wednesday, April 28, 2010 8:47 AM

Oh how time flies! I finished the 36^th issue of SOKY Happenings on Monday – that’s three whole years of the magazine and it feels good. We started 3 years ago with 36 pages, 20 sponsors and a huge knot of worry and dread. This issue has 92 pages, more than 90 sponsors, more than 40 writers and the future feels great. We are already planning to go up to 100 pages in our anniversary issue next month. WOOHOO!

Putting together the May issue was complicated by a number of things. It seems the change in work environment complicated the process because this is the first issue since we moved our offices home. Carrie is upstairs and communication was an issue. (Which will be resolved with a wireless intercom.) Another key factor was our organization. Normally, we have two grease boards filled with notes, reminders and new sponsors with their status – we did not get those boards on the wall until last week so we were less organized than usual. It’s fixed now, but it did cause a huge problem when there were 14 ads that needed to be approved on Monday morning when I’ve normally had that done by Friday. Then there’s the internet.

The DSL isn’t going to cut it!
 While AT&T suggests that we would have enough bandwidth to accommodate our needs, it just isn’t so. It took well over 2 hours to upload 258 Mb. I don’t know if they throttle FTP down on purpose or it’s just our speed, but it seemed maxed out at 26 Kps the whole time. Downloads are also slower, but day to day browsing didn’t seem affected.

SOLUTION!
Our salesperson Cynthia brought over this new fangled gadget she got from Bluegrass Cellular. It is a modem/router that connects to the internet via the cell tower and 3G network. I had a chance to try it out last night and the speed was awesome. I even tried uploading to the printer server and it went up at 85kps and was rising when I interrupted it. It seems plenty fast enough and even got a signal in my basement. I will be getting one of those for sure and the $60 per month for unlimited usage seems affordable enough.

I’ll write further about the changes because now I face another decision as to whether I need DSL and telephone service or not. I have some testing to do with not only the Vonage phone system, but also the new alarm system.

Speaking of Home Security…
I asked a local security company to come give me a quote. I received a flyer in my newspaper box that stated I could have a security system installed for under $70 so I gave them a call. Even without door sensors, and no fire monitoring, the installation/equipment came out to $626. WHAT? Yeah. AND, the monthly monitoring was to be $25 per month. So I did a little research and found that I can get a complete wireless system for under $200, install it myself and have it monitored for $9 per month. No, I won’t mention the local company because I like them and I don’t normally bash local businesses on my blog. I will however post my sources for the system once I am satisfied that it works.

Bonus! IF, and that’s a big if, I can use the Bluegrass Cellular internet to be my link to the monitoring company, there will be no outside wires that can be cut! The system has battery backup, and the modem has an 8 hour battery as well – so even if the would be burglar cuts my phone, and power lines, the wireless system will still be able to communicate. I like that!

But first – I have an urgent technology issue that I must resolve today. It involves all of my websites and databases. I’ll write more on that when I’m done. BUT, if this site goes down for a day or two, now you know why. Well almost.

Other than that – things are great! We are really enjoying this new office situation!! There is more peace and fewer complications. My efforts to “simplify” and un-clutter my life continues! Carrie was surprised how much “stuff” I threw in the garbage as we moved the office. I tossed things that I’ve been holding onto for years. It felt great. Currently, my office is a huge mess because I had to interrupt the organization to publish a magazine. It resumes today and will continue until it’s done.

That’s all for now – Thanks for reading.

AT&T DSL, 2Wire modem/router, MS Small Business Server; cannot connect to the internet!
Thursday, April 08, 2010 12:19 PM

Okay, I’m going to post this so any unfortunate soul who signs up for AT&T DSL (w/PPPoE connection) can read how I solved my issue. I was going to post a long description but if you’re like me, you just want an answer!

Symptom: Can reach internet from server computer but not the client workstations on the network.

Solution: Add the router IP address to the DNS forwarding tab. On the server, access the DNS manager, at the root, right click and select properties, select the “forwarders” tab and add the router IP then move it to the top. Save and your workstations will see the internet.

How I found the answer. It was NOT by calling AT&T support, it was NOT Googling the symptoms, it was NOT 2Wire support; no it was a simple call to a local tech service company called PC Guru’s. It was one of the owners (and writer for the magazine), Jason Cook who suggested I try to ping a website from a workstation using the IP address. When I was able to reach Yahoo! by IP address, the answer was clear.

I tried everything from bridging directly to the server, bridging through a Linksys router to purchasing a new DSL modem and installing it directly to the server. Same thing, internet on the server but not the workstations.

What made everything more frustrating was that AT&T would not allow me to use the Linksys router or a network connection to login to the DSL. I even tried a PPPoE connection through a Mac Pro. Not sure why, don’t really care now, but that was frustrating.

Anyway- it’s all working now! I retired my Linksys router because the new 2Wire has a modem, router, firewall and even wireless (which I turned off for now).

On the bright side, the new phone service through Vonage worked flawlessly! I just plugged it into the 2Wire router and it did all the rest. Good job Vonage!

A Fresh Start
Friday, April 02, 2010 Noon

I am very excited about moving my office back to my house! The only reason that I’ve kept an office in town was for broadband. Well, not the only reason, at first it was also for “work-life balance.” I had my office at home for 7 years while working as a web developer. I was choking on dial up but it did make for some really fast loading websites. (grin) The problem was that I worked all of the time. I mean if I was awake, I was working. That’s not so good. Sure, I was flying missions in the Air Force which got me out some, but when at home, I worked.

This time it’s going to be different!
I am setting up my office in a large room in the basement, formerly the family room, and I will keep “normal business hours.” Well, I suppose normal is relative but basically it will be the same as it is now without having to drive 5 miles into town. When I’m done for the day I’m going to turn out the lights, turn off the computer and head upstairs. Work-life balance!

I’m also planning on doing more work around the house! I have a couple of projects I’d like to work on including some gardening and fixing the lawn. I am going to get some furniture for the downstairs porch and have a nice sitting area for breaks. I may even build a tool shed for our tractor and yard tools. I want to fix the railing on our deck and put some mood lighting and maybe wire it for music. I have a slight urge to get a hot tub and build a small deck downstairs too. Oh, it’s going to be nice I think.

This whole move is kind of like a fresh start. Carrie and I have been talking about eating better, exercising more, going out more often and spending more time with friends. The move is kind of like a starting point from which we are planning to establish new and better habits; even how we conduct business and build the magazine each month will be different.

I’ve been reading a website lately about simplifying life and though I am far from a minimalist, I like the ideas expressed there a lot. It’s called “Zen Habits – Simple Productivity” www.zenhabits.net. I really like the encouragement to meditate or take time to just think, rest and appreciate the little things in life. I am using this move to implement new ideas to simplify my daily life as well as make time for reflecting and meditating. That said, I am going to have to practice the meditating thing because I’ve never boon good at sitting still. (HA!)

What I would really like to do is learn Tai Chi and get in the habit of doing the forms while clearing my mind. To concentrate on breathing and the motion instead of current events, gossip, drama, work and so forth. I think it would be a good way to occupy my brain and provide an activity instead of sitting in one spot and try not to think of anything. My kung fu instructor sent me some links to videos and I’ll use those to learn the forms, and then have him correct my mistakes. It’s a good plan I think.

What’s been going on otherwise?
It was a great week! We went to press on Monday and the magazines arrived yesterday. I hired a couple people to help deliver and we were done by 2:00 pm. I think it’s the first time we’ve had all of the magazines delivered on the first; mostly because Carrie’s list took 2 days all by herself. The new lady did a wonderful job and even asked for more so Carrie will have to do much less delivering next month. YEA!

We got a housekeeper! Yep, we hired someone to come in once a week to do the stuff Carrie doesn’t like doing like sweeping, mopping and dusting. We don’t have a big house, but there are some things that are better left for those more qualified and willing. She (the new housekeeper) is much cheaper than I expected though we paid her more than she asked. We have decided to put her on a schedule and come once a week on a particular day.

We had sushi twice this week!!! We tried Samurai Hibachi Grill & Sushi Bar with our friend Robin because they are a new sponsor and we have never tried it. It was great! On Tuesday’s you get a small bottle of sake for a penny, we shared two bottles. (grin) Then we headed to Smokey Bones to meet more friends (Vicki and Paula), It was nice. On Wednesday we tried Haru Sushi (which hides behind Rafferty's ) and it was also great! We went with Dave and Jen (son & wife) and had a wonderful time. I wanted to meet the owner because they too are a new sponsor. Then last night Dave and Jen came to the porch and cooked us some amazing “southwestern spring rolls.” They were incredible! They made some with tortilla’s (instead of wonton wraps) which I think tasted better. They also made a similar tasting salad that was wonderful. We had a big time! And even played “Catch Phrase” on the porch until 10PM; rather loudly I might ad. LOL

Today I’m getting some web work done, writing this blog and waiting for my Friday afternoon massage by Melissa Strautman. She is really quite good and I love those 70 minutes of bliss on Friday’s. (My indulgence.) Jesse and Hillary (son and girlfriend) are coming to spend the night so they can pack and move their stuff from our basement to a storage room. Then David, Jesse, Jordan and I are going to move all the office furniture to the house! Sunday will be spent moving the small stuff and getting the office up and running with phones and networks.

So there you have blog number two of 2010! I am doing this mostly for myself, but if you enjoyed it in some small way, then good! I hope everyone has an especially blessed Easter!

Blog 2010
March 31, 2010

Whew, where does the time go? I have been spending most of my "blogging time" doing other things, enjoying life, updating Facebook and taking it easy. Things are going great with the magazine! April will enjoy more than 1,000 events, more than 80 sponsors, more than 44 writers and one great community that enjoys and appreciates our efforts. I am truly grateful for all that has been accomplished.

I've also spent more time reading this year. A LOT MORE! I'm on my 6th novel of 2010. I am really enjoying historical fiction and though I'm on my 6th, there are four more sitting on the table to read. Frankly, this is more reading than I've ever done and I really like it. Who would think that I would even want to read? I mean I do read all of the articles for the magazine, including those that are not published each month. Then I read them again during proof. Then, when I have time off, I read some more. Weird, but much more relaxing and enjoyable than typing out senseless blogs about not much of anything I think.

Things are changing again. A good change, even if temporary. We finally got DSL out in the country where we live and even though It's not as fast as the 10mb we currently enjoy with cable, I've tested it and I think it will be fast enough for our needs. So the BIG change is I'm closing my office in town and moving it to the house. With the kids all gone, I can use the family room in the basement as my office and Carrie can convert the third bedroom to her office. I may write more about the move and how I overcame some of the obstacles.

We had DirecTV installed in three rooms so I can won't miss my news which I have become obsessive about, but also so Carrie and I can have more variety at home. She has one in her room too since she still wakes up some nights. I had a landline installed (gasp), mostly for the security system but also because it was cheaper to buy phone service with DSL than to get DSL alone. (Weird but true.) I changed my business phones to Vonage resulting in a savings of over $60 a month and it has some really cool features. After turning off the cable, phone service, electric, gas, water and not having to pay rent anymore, we will save nearly $1,000 per month along with having the convenience of working from home.

Temporary? Well sort of. We are on the lookout for that "perfect" location for the business. I would like a nice place on the square or a historical building. I plan to wait until next summer or maybe even the summer after that. I have found that we really don't need an office just yet since all of our employees are freelance/contractors anyway. The planned office would be used for general reception as well as a meeting place. Since I wanted the ability to work from home even if we had a cool office, I figured this is the time to bring my office home and plan for a future office while I save money for the fixtures, equipment and doodads.

Another big change relates to my websites. Actually, as it pertains to how my sites are made available. I'll write more on that after the change which is likely to take the next 2 months.

So there you have it, my first real blog of 2010. I know, still as boring than ever but it is what it is. I do appreciate hearing from my friends in town who ask, "Why don't you blog anymore?" It makes me feel good that people actually read my ramblings. Now that the office is at home, perhaps I'll be inspired more often. Who knows? but I'm sticking to my rules and keeping it from becoming another old man's place to bitch and moan about stupid stuff. That would be easy! Maybe that inspires a new blog in and of itself.

That's all for now! The magazines come in the morning and then we move the office this weekend. It's going to be a busy week because I want to be ready to start working on the May issue before next weekend. HERE GOES!

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Older posts removed from server Friday, June 18, 2010

 

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