New Patio and all the Usual Happenings...

First, sorry for not writing sooner. We have been very busy with all sorts of stuff. The first big and new thing is our new Patio. A few weeks ago, we went to the Twin Falls County Fair and ran across these folks selling Patio Covers and all sorts of other stuff. I am not usually one to get 'involved' in such sales 'opportunities' but we had been thinking about making the outside patio area a usable space for some time now. We had a local guy give us a bid to do it in wood, but with all the increases in the price of wood and the gas to transport it, the price was just too high and we didn't do it. Plus, we have both had way too much wood to take care of in previous places and are trying to have fewer things that require maintenance in our lives.

Anyway, we got a great deal on this new patio cover. Its made out of steel and aluminum, is guaranteed for life and winds up to 120mph - which is good enough for here. There is also going to be a 'privacy wall' on the far side in the pictures below, that has yet to be put up. We are trying to decide how high to make it so it will control some of the 'usual' wind without being completely blocking the whole side. Below is the first picture that was taken THE day it was installed. The reason that THE is all caps is to point out that it was all installed in one day. Two workers came about 9:30am and were done by 3:00pm. And, they did a great job. Its got a full roof with 6 skylights, a drainage system and will have electrical wiring for two ceiling fans. It looks like it was part of the house and we just love it.

Then, after it was installed, we got to thinking that we would wait to get furniture and stuff for it until next year, but got to thinking that right now was a great time to buy such things as most stores were clearing out all the outdoor stuff for snow blowers and other winter things. So, we checked out a few stores and ended up getting a great outdoor table set with 6 chairs and a very nice self contained outdoor gas fireplace. It really puts out a lot of heat and will make the whole outdoor area usable for a longer period of time. We were able to get over 1/2 off on the furniture and fireplace. There is a night picture of the patio, with the additions below...

Besides all the time spent dealing with the patio, the business continues to go crazy. We are picking up more and more dealers and business partners. We have also included three new products. A new threading needle for smaller 50# lines and two Reverse Latch Needles, that are a combination of one of our threading needles and a latch mechanism build for knitting machines. Latch needles have been used to work with lines for some time, but to incorporate our needle and the latch mechanism into one tool is unique and should go over very well in the marketplace. It was actually a design given to us by Jerry Brown, a manufacturer of the hollow spectra lines that all our tools work with. He has been wanting someone to build it for some time so his customers would have better tools to use with his line. So, thanks to Jerry for that gift - its a true win-win type of situation.

I started playing in a new pool league. My friend Storm is on my team again. Its an 8-ball league and lasts throughout the winter. Our first match was last Thursday. You can get a top score of 40 points if you win all 4 games. I lost the first game and ended up with only 35 points. Storm got 37 points, because he lost one also but put all 7 of his balls in to my 5 balls. But, the really good news was that out of my four games, I had two table runs - where I ran all my balls, and the 8 ball, to win the game in one inning. I think I only had 10 table runs all last year, which was one of the highest in the league. We shall have to see how it goes as time goes on.

My oldest son, Aaron's birthday is today. He is now 41 years old. They are expecting their second little girl in a month or so. Boy, he is really old. Happy Birthday Aaron and have many more...

Well, I have lots to do and little time to do it all in lately, so I will quit for now. It's a real hectic time lately here in DaHo...

Business and more Business...

We had a major hollow spectra line manufacturer want us to handle all their needle business for them. If that does come together, that will be a very large deal. And, there are a lot more opportunities out there. So, I have been tracking down and working with some manufacturers that make mostly medical parts to start making our needles in mass. We will probably be buying 500 or 1,000 of each needle in the initial order.

That way, if I just happened to get ran over by a big Sturgeon, Pam will be able to deal with the business. It would be a standard distribution business at that point that anybody, with basic training could do. Any locals could be trained to do most of the work.

Also, I didn't know that our 'special hand-made needles' could be made by a machine. I was actually searching for another vendor for our needle parts and just sort of ran into what they could do.

Our current supplier for the hypodermic tubing we use for the needles, was bought by Amazon and they are converting over their website and computer systems and they cannot get anything out until its all done. They do a lot of make to order parts and the Amazon system can only deal with ready to ship items. Anyway, its a big mess and I really need those parts when I need them.

I got some new tools that really help making the current hand-make needles much easier. So, we will just have to see how this whole machine made stuff works out. The main issue is the costs at this point.

I did go play pool on Wednesday at the weekly 8-ball handicap tournament. I didn't play well and got beat early, so I was back home early. This really good new player, Ben, in town was showing me some stuff before it started and I couldn't get it all working right during the tournament at all. But, the really good news is that my back is doing very good. I haven't had any issue with it hurting while playing pool at all.

Ben is leaving for Florida this week. He says that there just isn't enough large pool halls for him to keep 'busy'. When I first met him, I asked him what he did and he said that all he did was play pool... He is real good, but I hate to see him go as you only learn from those better than you are, usually.

Last night we went to a going away party at the pool hall. One of the waitresses there, Sherry, is leaving for Wyoming. She was the first person I met in Idaho - after Pam's mom. We tracked down the local pool hall out of the phonebook and stopped by for lunch and started talking to her. She has always been a great person and she will be missed by all around here.

Pam and I went to see Tropic Thunder at the movies. That is really a great film. We would highly recommend it. Then, Pam went to see Mama Mia. I wouldn't go with her, so she took Roman, our 7 yr old nephew.

We went to the big county fair last week. It was just as good/bad as last year, depending on what you thought of it then. We really didn't do much but have some of the fair food delicacies and checked out the RVs and trailers, and cruse through the vendor booths. We did check out the booth that was selling these really nice aluminum patio covers. We had them come out to measure it all and show us all the options. So, we ended up getting one. We have been pondering on getting one for a few months. We had one of our local neighbors, who does such things, give up a quote on building one out of wood, but with the price of wood these days, it was just too expensive and I have had a lot of wood in my day and its always in need of something or it will get cracked and old. These metal units are guaranteed for life and will withstand 120mph winds, so that should be good for here. They are coming in a week or so to install it. I understand it will only take them a day to put it up, as they are mostly made off site and modularly put up. We are going to put up a 'privacy' wall, here we call it a 'wind' wall, that will hopefully block some of the wind and will allow us to have some nice outdoor furniture so we can really use that area for once.

Well, that is about all that is going on here in DaHo for now...