Overloaded-3000 pounds of potential.

  Hello again folks,

  Well the year is off and running.  I guess a re-cap of last year is in order and as usual an insanely optimistic and completely unrealistic set of goals for the new year. All of which I will fail utterly to achieve, but try again anyhow.

  Last year was actually pretty amazing. Shipped 6400+ items plus some wholesale orders. I kept off forums for the most part, only once making a fool of myself and getting some strangers to vow never to buy from me. Forums are interesting. Some really great people and a couple of folks with an insatiable desire to flame. Not worth getting involved with the latter. Just raises my blood pressure.

   Speaking of which- I am on some new meds for said condition. Which lists these actual side effects:
Constipation; indigestion; dizziness; faintness; dry mouth; cold extremities -hands and feet; confusion; depression; insomnia; nightmares; edema; fatigue; lack of energy; hallucinations; sensation of pins and needles; skin reaction-rash, hives; blurred vision; difficulty speaking and hearing; unsteadiness; wheezing; stomach pain; low fever; dark urine; jaundice; bloody urine; lower back and side pain; swelling of face, fingers or lower legs; vomiting; weight gain; black, tarry stools; bleeding gums; loss of vision; bone and joint pain; disturbed color perception; double vision; feeling that others are watching you or controlling your behavior; feeling that others can hear your thoughts; feeling, seeing, or hearing things that are not there; halos around lights, night blindness.

  So nothing really negative and free nightmares as a bonus.
   Last year I picked up a lot of hardware and got it configured. A new PC with a Quadro graphics card, the EDM rigged and functioning, new controls designed and wired up for the Arburg, a new dust collection system for the ACT machine, actual non-toxic coolant for the Novakon,  and a 3D printer working. I printed out some tooling fixtures to hold and standardize things. So that was some progress.
 
  A couple of general points that may have good or bad implications this year. I am currently working 40+ hours per week in order to get health care and keeping up with orders in my "free" time. So far things are going well. Slow selling items are not being re-made until everything else is caught up. I will make them as time allows. My full time job is looking very promising, as I have a new staff person starting at the end of the month which will grant me the usual 2 day weekends.

  There has been a change in leadership here in America and it might mean a change in the health care law. If this happens I could be back at Proxie working full time a lot sooner than I expected. Not sure if anyone reading this is a small business owner, but trying to pay for mandatory health care is very difficult. Hence the full time gig.

  The only problem that has been really causing trouble is lack of time. Too many things to do and not enough time to do any of them properly. Gaining time through efficiency has helped a lot but things are moving along at about 1% the speed they should be.

  Some more positive developments.  A location to host meet-ups has been spotted. It is not my house, but the gaming area of a local comic book shop. I have to work out the details on times but this is going to happen within weeks, once those elusive weekends make an appearance. I loaned them my 28mm sci-fi scenery. I am selling off a lot of it and pretty much leaving behind this scale for sci-fi and switching to 1/72. So they get some scenery and I can some room to use once in a while.

  I was rejected for insurance again, and this time I was as charming as possible. So a friend offered some very sage counsel. "Don't let idiots in the shop".  A simple yet effective method to ensure there are no injury/lawsuits.  I can use the comic shop to meet and greet and cast a first level "detect idiot" spell over the crowd. Here is an example of what to look for-

   See what I mean? Of course I have to exempt my self from the policy.

 

   The shop is filled with supplies also.

 This is the low tech delivery system used to bring in plastic. This box holds up to 1500 pounds. There are 2 of them unloaded in the shop. One is neutral and can be died in to any color, and the other is black. 3000 pounds can make a lot of bits and it is nice to start the year fully supplied with materials. This is the smallest size box to qualify for free shipping and it just saves so much money to buy in bulk.

  Updates will be posted as things happen. If things go as usual this post will most likely be copied and pasted next year. Or maybe something better will happen. Or it could be another hallucination.

  Have a good day everyone!