15 posts from August 2006

So, it's been one of those weeks where being an entrepreneur isn't as much fun as it looks.  And it's been a really expensive week at that.  My annual policy renewal for insurance came in; and product liability coverages have changed, they've lowered income caps that trigger rate hikes, it's nuts.  And I it's not like I can do anything about it, they're the only company in the country that writes policies for small manufacturers that work with chemicals. 

Plus, a wholesale client may have just cost me hundreds of dollars.  A month ago she special ordered a ton of expensive to manufacture soaps, all of which I made.  I sent an invoice, and asked how she wanted them labeled.  Nothing.  I send a couple more emails...nothing. For 3 weeks, all I got was a quick email saying that she'd take care of the invoice.  Today, I get an email that says she's paid the invoice with an echeck that won't clear for 8 business days; but she wants me to ship everything tomorrow morning...*and* she wants it shipped to Canada...which wasn't negotiated in the shipping price.  (And customs...yea gods, I hate dealing with customs paperwork.)

End result; I think I'm going to have to find shelf space for another 120 bars of soap.  Which, granted will all sell...but still, I didn't need to suck up all the inventory space and manufacturing materials to do batches that weren't in the production schedule.  Small enough setback, I suppose, but an annoying and expensive one, none the less. 

What song or lyrics are stuck in your head at the moment?  What album is it from?
Submitted by Lox Ly. 

Pachelbel’s Canon, as played by Funtwo. No album.  Random guitar genius.  I love the internet.

So, my three year old has discovered flight.  Or gravity.  Well, both really.  His new found joy is finding things that make a good launching pad from which to attempt to fly. (His definition of good and my definition of good being radically different definitions.)  Today he's jumped from a couch, a chair, a potty, a bed, a pedal car, a stool,  and god knows what else when I'm not looking.  When I say "You know sweetie, you might not want to jump from there", his response is "No, it's ok, I have titanium alloy wings!" as he holds his arms in a Jesus Christ pose and leaps. 

I blame my husband.  He introduced the Boy to Toy Story.  Now, my son thinks he's Buzz Lightyear.  And bless his heart, he has almost eidetic memory, so all morning...it being a rainy day and too wet for him to jump from the 10 foot tall fort we built just weeks before the "flying" phase...what I've heard is "Buzz Lightyear, to the rescue!" and "To Infinity and Beyond!".  Also, he's decided that I'm Woody, or Slinky Dog...depending on the scenario...and then, if I don't remember the movie lines, he acts as a little prompter:  "No, Mom, I mean Woody, you're supposed to say Reach for the Sky!" 

Right at this moment, apparently the stuffed animals in my office are a menace to the universe, and he's walking around shooting them with his arm "laser", while pressing one nipple and trying to call Star Command for backup. 

On the plus side...at least it wasn't Star Wars. 

;)

Take a photo of something striped.

Photo courtesy of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration public photo library.

What was the last wedding you went to?  Were you in the wedding?

It was my friend Suzi.  Yes, I was a bridesmaid.  I actually haven't seen Suzi too much since the wedding, now that I come to think of it.  I should give her a call. 

I've missed a few weddings that I wanted to attend recently...and that sucks, but by the same token, I really don't need any more gawd-awful prom dresses that should be burned rather than worn, so...it's all good. 

I swear to you, I don't know what possesses women to make their friends wear such horrid, horrid clothes...on purpose...with shoes dyed to match.  When I got married, I grant that I wore a huge, freaking cupcake of a dress.  With seed pearls and watered satin and a train...seriously, the damn dress was so big it had it's own climate.  My limo driver, who had to load the thing from the jet into the car, referred to it as "The Beast", and The Beast it remained. 

But, despite the fact that I was wearing this confectionary monstrosity (because I lurved it so very much...I always wanted one of those dresses),  I didn't tell my maid of honor what to wear.  (The Man and I eloped.  We were going to do the big wedding thing...hence The Beast, but it all got to be too much to deal with, so we grabbed our best friends and ran away to Vegas.)

As it turns out, the maid of honor matched the best man...but it was purely coincidence.  (Or Debbie picked the outfits and didn't tell me...which could be true.)

But even if I had gone through with the huge wedding, I still wouldn't have made the wedding party wear horrid sateen prom dresses from the 70's.  *shudder*  I still have a chartruese dog of a dress that cost more than my first car.   Also in the "Why would you do this to your friends?" category;  A hot pink sateen number with a bow wider than my back,  a dusty rose tea length dress, with mutton chop sleeves and crinolines.  (Yes, I did indeed look like I'd been inflated and was prepared for the Thanksgiving Parade). A lime green jersey knit tank dress that would have made Kate Moss look fat,  a tangerine suit, a lemon chiffanade of translucent layers, a purple thing of exquite handmade horror, and I'm not sure, but it's quite possible that way there in the back, may exist the worst dress ever forced up on a friend.  It's a dark green lamé, off the shoulder, tied at the hips, asemetryical hem, poofball of a dress, with a vast amount of netting to keep it poofy, accentuated with a bow so big it can be seen from space...right over my butt. 

Girls are mean.  :)

From a discussion board thread about teas, these two retailers came highly recommended.

http://www.uptontea.com

http://www.specialteas.com/

How well do you know your next-door neighbors?

Incredibly well.  Love them.  Unfortunately, they're both moving.  One is finishing packing right this moment to leave for Fargo, ND.  (I know, I know...why would anyone go to Fargo on purpose?)  The other will be finished moving out at the end of the month.  They're losing their house.  Adjustable rate mortgages have killed this neighborhood.  One out of every eight or nine houses is on the market right now in our neighborhood. 

The other neighbors are all pretty cool, we all know each other's names, and wave and whatnot when we see each other...but I'm gonna miss Deb and Carla something fierce.  We've been shopping buddies and spa buddies, and our kids have grown up together, and frankly, they were the only other weird people on the block.  The rest, bless their little Republican hearts, are trophy wives or elementary school teachers.  Not really hip on the avant garde thing, those folks. 

Sigh.  I miss Austin.  Vancouver is looking good too.  Just anywhere where artists congregate, music is plentiful, museums and gallerys abound, and the whole black wearing, liberal, old-hippie thing doesn't make me so radically different than everyone else. 

What's your morning beverage of choice?  Coffee, tea, juice?  Homemade or store-bought?

Coffee.  Lots of coffee.  Fresh ground, organic, fair trade, light or medium roast coffee.  Mmmm....I want coffe just thinking about it. 

I really want a vacuum coffee maker, like one of these, but it seems a foolish thing to have in the house with a curious preschooler.  So, french press and drip makers it is. 

What magazines do you subscribe to, and why?

Utne Reader, (although it may have lapsed), because it's such a groovy compilation of all the other "alternative" media.  I've had a subscription, off and on, probably for 20 years...or however long they've been publishing. 

Funny Times: Because, if you can't laugh at the disaster that is our current political climate, you have to cry.

The Wilson Quarterly:  Journal published by the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.

Mother Jones:  Because I'm pretty sure it's the law, if you're a liberal. ;)

Jane's:  the ultimate source for information in the world on the subjects of defence, geopolitics, transport and police.

Pink:  Although I have no idea how I ended up on their mailing list.

Happi:  Industry trade journal for my soap company.

And a whole host of computer magazines, AI magazines, EE magazines, and every publication that has ever published anything I wrote, and is still printing dead tree books.  Oh, and the Dallas daily paper, just so I know what the right wing's talking points are, day by day. 

I have been devastated, enlightened, and emotionally wrung out by the words written by an autistic young woman at Getting The Truth Out. org.

It's a long site, that involves much clicking, and the switch from paternalistic narrator to self described storytelling happens about here.  But I really recommend reading the pages that lead up to it.  It's a story of how the Autism Society of America does nothing to help autistic people, but instead raises money using photos without permission, subbing stock photos, and promoting genetic research to eliminate autistics...but no money to help them.  It's a cry for help from hundreds of abused children...children abused at the hands of the system, with tacit approval of every adult connected to the autistic child.

Whether you have experienced autism in your reality or not, this woman's story deserves to be heard.