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2010 Home “Improvements”

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Once in awhile we wish we could go back in time and change a few things. A light switch here. Speaker wiring there. An additional electrical socket, a few more bedrooms, a whole different house. Just sometimes. But the truth is, we’ll be here for awhile (it would e a shame to uproot our kids). So, may as well make the best of it! We’ve done a lot o little makeover projects this year. Forgot about the return on investment- these improvements are just things to make us more comfortable.

Fran enlisted our neighbor, an interior decorator named  Stacy Slaney, to redesign our Master bedroom. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. The redesigned room is warm, comfortable and elegant.

Here are some pictures I borrowed from Stacy’s website. I like them better because they show the before & after. It’s a definite improvement!

Stacy also added  highlight walls in the kid’s rooms (pink in the girl’s, blue in the boys’).  She  also painted a wall downstairs in the kitchen/dining area with a dark sage.  The new colors really add a depth to house. Who knew painting a few walls could feel so good?

And heat tape. We did it for you. Each year water freezes in our gutters and starts to drip onto the entry walkway. This results in a thick patch of ice affectionately dubbed “the porch of death.” We finally did something about it. The heat tape melts the ice on the front portion of our roof and runs all the way through the front gutter system. Fingers crossed. We also had and electrical socket added on the eve so we could plug in Christmas lights. We should have done that when we built the house…

We also fixed our driveway (again). Around here most of the driveways were poured by Hadco. With a few exceptions they are all falling apart. Initially we complained so much that Hadco re-poured our driveway at cost (I think that was supposed to be a secret, but it was still a rip-off  so who cares?). Within a year it was falling apart again (not to mention sinking). So, this time we used a company called RepairCrete to resurface and seal the driveway. Fran had them do the front porch in red with a snazzy texture. It really turned out great. Now we’re anxious to see how this holds up during the winter. Is it too much to ask for a good driveway?

RepairCrete, Roof Heat Tape

Also of absolute riveting fascination:  ceiling fans!  The red one went in the basement (in place of a can light).  The other fan is in the office. It’s always too hot or too cold in there so a fan helps us regulate the temperature.  Man, I love ceiling fans.

In an earlier post I mentioned how my “man room” had become the new laundry room. Well, the laundry room finally became a mud room. Classy Closets came by and whipped us up a set of shelves that would put Ikea to shame (and don’t get me wrong- I love Ikea). It’s really nice to have a place to come in and take off shoes  and jackets. Plus there’s a ton of storage space for tools, cleaning supplies and what not.

And here’s a fun little side project. We redid our floors in granite. Okay, you got me. It was granite laminate. And it was Claire’s dollhouse. Fran disassembled it and moved it into the basement. Before reassembling it she wanted to recover the floor (you can clearly see why!). The project ended up taking three hours and I did my usual grumbling and complaining. This is a big dollhouse. Now we need to paint the  roof red. Or maybe just “lose” the roof.

And that’s about it for 2010 home improvements. In some ways it’s nice to stay in the same house for so long- you get settled in and you can start to make changes you want. And if you’re going to stay for a long time you don’t need to worry about resellability as much. Do things you like becuase you want them.

Posted December 05, 2010

Work: Store Update

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I really wanted to get our store finished before Cyber Monday hit. No such luck. Despite our bet efforts we didn’t quite make it. But I’m really excited about our progress!

We pushed our counters up closer to the door to make a more normal size store. This makes the area feel less intimidating and it keeps customers in the right area (believe me- if you don’t corral them they wander off to restricted areas and grope the products without shame).

We also started building out more shelves. There will  be about five times as much storage space  in the store once we’re done (we basically turned two thirds of it into a “classy” warehouse). Figuring the design took a long time and then building the shelves is taking even longer. I want to give a shout out to everyone at work who helped on this- I couldn’t have done it without you guys!

We’ve made some more progress that I will post in the upcoming days. I’m afraid that actually finishing the store will have to wait until there is a holiday lull. Or, possibly until next year. I hate waiting.

Posted November 29th, 2010

And then Cam was gone (?)

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The first Monday after Thanksgiving has been dubbed “Cyber Monday.” It’s the day that people typically start their online shopping. It’s real people. It’s very real. I just barley survived it. Sadly this marks the potion of the holiday season where the work is endless, the customer are relentless and it’s a mad race against the count down clock of Holiday doom. I love it and I hate it. Overall it was an amazing day for our company in many ways.

In any event, I typically disappear for about a month while we shovel our way through endless holiday orders. Time is sparse (ha, like it wasn’t before) but this year I’m determined to keep my head above the water. So far I haven’t slept at work, I haven’t gotten sick, we have our Christmas lights hung, the tree is up, our shopping is done and I’m cautiously optimistic that we may survive.  Maybe this will be the year that December doesn’t destroy me. Fingers crossed!

Posted November 29th, 2010

Other Fun Stuff…

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While I was in Disney Land I found this sweet  picture of Donald Duck as Boba Fett. Some things are just made to go together. Chocolate and peanut butter, milk and cookies and Star Wars and Disney. Anyone familiar with my hobbies will know that I collect “art” (for lack of a better word). The store at Disney Land wanted too much for the print so I got it on eBay and then had it re-framed. I have nowhere to put it, but I thought I should share the awesomeness.

A couple of months ago  I decided I should start reading again. It had been nearly a year since I polished off any books (the Twilight series was the last thing I read).  I decided to to start with  William Goldman’s “The Princess Bride.” I enjoyed the book. It fleshed out a lot of areas I felt the movie skimped on. Goldman’s humor is hit and miss, but works for the most part. The story is not quite the fairy tale the movie makes it out to be. Worth a read for sure.

The second book I read was Orson Scott Card’s “Pastwatch.” I’d had my eye on this book for a couple of years, but had never made the time. It’s a very well written account of what is essentially an alternate history. Some parts of the book are very intellectually disturbing and I enjoyed the way Card challenges our current complacency with acts of horror buried in the past. Another book I’d recommend (I generally enjoy Card’s work).

I’m current reading Tony Hsieh’s book “Delivery Happiness.” It’s an entertaining a history of his involvement with Zappos and the the creation of their well regarded business culture. So far so good.

I’ve also got my eye on a couple more business books but with the holidays coming up I’m afraid my reading time will be pretty limited. Still, I’m going to try to find time to squeeze in something. I had forgotten how much fun reading can be.

Posted November 20th, 2010

Physical Store Required

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The year was 2003. We had been running BladePlay for a few months and we wanted to get into some higher end cutlery. Our first two picks were Benchmade and Kershaw. We called them both and one of their first questions was, “Do you have a physical store?” We didn’t, and so our efforts were temporarily stonewalled. Later that year we moved from my home into our first warehouse in Orem, UT.

One of the first phone calls from the warehouse was to Benchmade. “Yes, we have a store.” The warehouse was 900 square feet, about 100 of which was a small front office. That office was “the store.”  Benchmade sales were brisk and things were going well.  And then one day our Benchmade rep, Campbell, called us. “Hey! I’m about fifteen minutes from your store.”

Fate was on our side that day. We had a customer in the warehouse at that very moment (Vaughn). With his help we literally carried the warehouse shelving into the front office and set up a “store.” We threw a desk in the corner and Jim manned the phone. “Browse!” I commanded Vaughn as Campbell pulled up.  As I opened the door to welcome Campbell the phone rang and Jim took the call. Campbell eyed our setup with warranted suspicion. There was a tense moment and then he finally shrugged. The store was good enough.

So why a store? Lost of brand name companies require that you have a physical (brick and mortar) store in order to carry their product line. Campbell explained that, in Benchmade’s case, it was a mechanism to ensure brand integrity. Benchmade doesn’t want people selling their knives out of a garage. Additionally, if you have a store it gives you a certain credibility. I can certainly see that angle. As an established knife retailer I’ve actually come to appreciate this requirement. It’s a barrier to entry. One layer of protection for those of us in the business already. But the walls are coming down.

Not all brands care if you have  a store. Many are readily available through distribution networks or from the manufacturer directly. And with Internet shopping become such  a dominant force many companies that “require” a storefront don’t really check anymore. Part of me wishes they would. I enjoy an equal playing field. A guy selling out of this garage doesn’t have the overhead of a guy who runs a full on store (my overhead is nearly $4000 a day). Still, despite the drawbacks of a store, they are really cool. Which brings me to our new store.

 We moved to our current location last July (2009- you can see the store we threw together here if you’d like). It wasn’t until this past week week (November 2010) that we decided to finally get things finished up. A store gives you power. It gives you legitimacy. It gives you bragging rights. It’s a lot of work, but I really think when we’re finished it’s going to be beautiful. The design came together pretty well. Once it’s finished I’ll be sure to post more pictures (some before and after).

I was reading “Delivering Happiness” the other day. I smiled when Tony was explaining how shoe manufactures required companies to have a physical store. Zappos ended up buying a local shoe business so they could carry the brands they needed. Our store has been a great tool. But when we allowed it to fall into disrepair it didn’t seem to matter (except to our egos). Maybe we’ve outgrown the need for a store (our brand has become reasonably well respected), but we’re going to have one! Stay tuned.

Box Cars & Drive in Movies

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You can read more about the kid’s Box Car Drive in adventure on Fran’s Blog (and see more pictures too).  Fran did a great job on these little cars. I hope one day our kids realize how lucky they were/are to have their mom. I did help paint the cars after the kids went to bed. The kids are kind of lucky to have me too.

Posted November 14, 2010

The Cornbelly Stalker

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Right before Disney Land we participated in our annual tradition of going to ConrBelly’s . We hit up this Thanksgiving Point attraction every October with a group of our friends.

Our agenda is eerily similar each year. Run around  for a bit, go through the “no left turn” mazes, pretend we’re going to play dodge ball, go through the corn maze, start throwing corn at each other, make bad corn jokes/puns (it’s a salt and buttery on the ears), give up and cheat our way out of the maze, go on a hay ride, play on the slides, and then curl up in the fetal position.

I confess that sometimes it seems like going will get old, but once I get there I have a great time. Sure, there’s some stalking and the conversation gets a bit corny. And someone always tries to cob a feel in the maize, but the corn jokes get butter and butter each ear. Good friends and corn… that’s all a man really needs to be happy. Shucks.

Posted November 09, 2010

Disney Land, our First Vacation in Six Years.

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I swore I wouldn’t do it. But I did. I went on a vacation. As Fran likes to point out, it’s our first “real” vacation in over six years (a “real” vacation is a trip where we’re gone longer than overnight- seems fair). The destination? Disney Land. We felt like the kids were all finally big enough to enjoy it. We went six years ago with my parents. This time my Dad decided to come with us which worked out really well; three kids and three adults.

We decided to drive there this time around (my Dad drove separate do do some sight seeing). We broke the drive up over two days each way. On the first night we swung through  Las Vegas and ate at the Rainforest cafe at the MGM Grand Casino. The food was okay and the atmosphere was exceptional. I have to confess that it was a little weird walking though the casino with our kids. Despite their protests I didn’t let them gamble.

The drive went really well and our kids were great (my mom had prepared little game bags which really helped). We rolled into Disney Land Tuesday evening. We had reservations at Disney’s Paradise Pier. We’ve stayed previously at the Grand Californian hotel. Paradise Pier isn’t as luxurious, but it’s definitely more kid friendly and still very nice. The next morning we were off for days of fun and adventure in Disney Land and California Adventure Land.

My Dad has his birthday while were at Disney Land. He wore his “It’s my Birthday” pin most of the time and used his clout to score several pictures with celebrity ducks.

I think it’s fair to say that the six of us had a great time. It was a little harder than I expected with three kids. I was very grateful that my dad had come with us. The kids constantly wanted to be carried, couldn’t agree on rides, argued about who would sit with who on the rides, obsessed over churros and relentlessly overpriced imports but it couldn’t overshadow the magic of the Disney Land park.

We ate in the park. This is astronomically expensive, but if you let cognitive dissonance do it’s job you can escape with the illusion that somehow it was better and/or worth it. Red’s Rocket Port has some great salad and pasta. It was as good as I had remembered.

Old favorites like Space Mountain, Splash Mountainm, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad and Indiana Jones still delivered all the thrills I remembered from six years ago (our last visit). Since we opted to go during school, the crowds were nearly non-existent. Most of the rides we walked right onto and worst case we waited about 15-20 mins. There were several new attractions, but nothing really stuck out over the classics.

We also ate the the French Market (and here’s a photo of all of us). Fran was disappointed and I’m pretty sure I got food poisoning there (chills, headache and vomiting ensued). Being sick put a damper on the trip, but I recovered quickly enough .

After spending a day in Disney Land we headed over to California Adventure Land. They had pulled out a couple of rides to make room for a new attraction based on Cars (they’re basically building out a Radiator Springs). California Adventure isn’t quite as magical as Disney but it’s still got some fun rides like Screaming, Soaring over California, Tower of Terror and the 3D shows.

There’s my dad with the Ferris Wheel of death behind him. Some of the cars on the Ferris wheel slide along rails. It made my Dad and me really sick. As I get older motion sickness isn’t fun like it used to be. California Adventure is a blast, but with thin crowds  there’s not quite a day’s worth of stuff to do and so we headed back to Disney Land. Just to prove how tough we were my Dad and I rode the teacups.

One of the trip highlights was the Wold of Color, in California Adventure. We went to the show on Friday night (and by Friday the crowds had increased exponentially). The show consists of water, lights, projected images, lasers and music. My picture doesn’t do it any kind of justice (you can find the show on You Tube).

And then it was time to head home. We briefly considered hitting Lego Land or the San Diego Zoo, but we were pretty exhausted (I would say the recovery time for me personally, once we got home, was about a week). The only real casualty of our trip was the mini-van. Our kids have a gift for making messes. Here’s the back of the car by the time we got home.

Overall a great trip. Looking back we might have waited one more year to go, and we may have flown. But hopefully we built some good memories and the kids will look back with fondness on our trip. I’ll be ready to go on another vacation in about six years.

Posted November 7th, 2010