Last one to leave…

Blogging is so much more difficult than micro blogging.

One of the most common questions I get is “How’s business?” I bet I get it 5 times a week. I’m usually very honest with people, primarily because I know they are asking because they care about me, and also because they are scared and would like to hear some good news. My common response is “Up and Down…”

Lame response, I know. But its true. We have been working, things are happening out there. Were not getting rich, but were staying busy. Collecting money from the people who employ us seems to be the hardest thing to do!

Doing business in Michigan, during what many refer to a national depression is very interesting. Michigan has been in a one state depression since 2001. All of this doom and gloom is old news to us! We are a hardy bunch up here. Everyone in Michigan is a hard worker. You cant live in a place where 200 inches of snow falls, there is 7-8 months of cloud cover and cold, where the nearest large city is 3 hours away (6 to Chicago, I dont count Detroit, and well honestly Grand Rapids isn’t much of a ‘large city’), the streets are 3rd world poor, and your car rusts out from under you, and not be a rugged dude.

What the future holds for Michigan, I dont know. I do know that the darwin affect of this current economic environment means that whoever is left, is going to be the most hard working, clever, industrious, bunch of people in the world. We only need a state government to set us free!

I let this blog lag after leaving the keys. I think this blog still deserves to live so I’ll keep on plugging.

Finally was able to take a day off. We started the day with no idea of what we wanted to do. So we went for a drive. We ended up in key west. Here’s a picture. It wasn’t very nice out but it still was a nice trip.

Met with the sales rep I alluded to earlier, today.  He is more than perfect.  Like what often happens when you deal with qualified sales people, it becomes your interview.  These people know they can do the job, they just want to make sure you can keep up your end of the bargain.  He asked some very good questions, made some very good points, and left saying he is interested.

This excites me.

Well my train of thought was interrupted!  Anyway, you get the gist.

Its not that I want to sell my nearly new, custom built, beautiful house.  Its that having my most expensive asset, 2000 miles away, sitting unlived for months at a time seems, silly.

The house is in the middle of a beautiful, tree lined neighborhood.  With young kids playing in the street.  A short walk from schools, play grounds, and Hockey.  We had it customized with a large garden tub, speaker system, and lots and lots of ethernet cables.  Its our perfect home.

However despite all that, a house is a house.  We will build another one.  In the mean time we rent.  We will rent up north during the summer months, I think.

So if anyone wants to buy my dream house, let me know.  I’ll be happy to point you to our real estate agent.

I’ve been trying to find a good salesman for quite some time. They are truly gems that are hard to find. I’ve tried emailing every single contact that I have up north, telling them that we are looking for a salesman. No luck. I’ve put ads in papers, and on the internet, no luck.

I’m beginning to think that these people hide in some dark place, avoiding the light of day, only coming out to sell to me when I’m at my weakest, and cant say ‘no thank you.’

Anyway I’ve got a lead on a highly qualified salesman down here in the Keys. I like the guy already, for two reasons. First, he comes highly recommended, second, his name makes him sound like he’s a pirate.

Two phrases or thoughts about business.

Entrepreneurs make something from nothing.

Entrepreneurs work for opportunities. Employees work for money.

These probably aren’t original but they both came to me while I was pondering our trip south.

I learned this term the other day at the local Catholic church’s mens club. One of the gentlemen was describing how he wanted the first ever mens club pancake breakfast to be. He used terms like, “elegant” and, “nice.”

I’m sitting here wondering how on Gods beautiful planet a pancake breakfast could ever be nice, or elegant. I mean, its a church pancake breakfast! Then he said the one thing that summed up what he was driving at.

“I dont want this thing to be ‘Keesey.’

Aaaah, there it was. The heart of the point. Taking the two words, ‘cheesy’ and ‘keys’, putting them together, and using them to describe something down here is perfect. He didn’t want either nice, or elegant, he just didn’t want this thing to be like everything else down here, ‘keesey.’

We attended the churches celebration of the birthdate of its namesakes, St. Paul, today. It was Keesey, and it was wonderful. Grilled hotdogs, hamburgers, beer, and a steel drum band. I was so happy, at one point I exclaimed to my wife, “I’m so happy, this is awesome!” Wandering around the prayer garden, with a beer in one hand, steel drum music in the background, the sun on my shoulder, it was fantastic.

So the pancake breakfast wont be keesey. I guess thats okay. But truly, the keys flavor does have its benefits.

Jen and I are so excited, were making plans for our first visitors!  Our good friends Brian and Johnna are arriving February 8th, and are staying the most part of a week.

The keys offer some pretty spectacular things to see and do.  The highlight is going to be the fishing.  Brian loves to fish, and I love to boat!  So we both get our fill of entertainment.  I think we’ll also walk the old 7 mile bridge.  Me and Jen have been waiting for warmer weather before we hit that up.  Maybe we’ll wait till our friends arrive!