After the Belgian waffle party tonight, once the goodbyes had been said and the lights turned off, I set to work on the personal projects that need to be accomplished.  This led to me, in the silence of my living room, remembering something that brought me tremendous joy. When I was 18 years old, my parents got a plane with me, flew out to the East Coast, and we toured the college that I was going to attend.  Though I was already earning money on my own, it would be the first time I was out … [Read more...]

Fiscal 2011 was huge for us.  I feel like it went too quickly because we didn't get everything finished we wanted but in terms of progress toward our ultimate goals, it was very good personally and professionally.  The companies grew, profits were up, the family expanded, there was quite a bit of travel, and this blog, which is an interesting side hobby, actually began to monetize well.   Tuesday night, I talked to some of my family members who own shares of one of our businesses and told … [Read more...]

There has been a lot of progress today but it's been disorganized.  There will likely continue to be because I am in the middle of some projects I haven't discussed on the site and very well might be up until four or five in the morning.   Right now, I'm sprawled out on a blanket in the middle of my living room floor listening to the bonus track Dixie Lady from Elton John's 1974 album Caribou on a pair of Bose headphones super loudly, about to start on another wave and reviewing some of … [Read more...]

If you were born in the 1980's or earlier, you might remember those wonderful brown glazed coffee mugs that made an appearance at everywhere from comfortable hotels to old fashioned diners.   Those brown glazed mugs were forged from the zeitgeist and aesthetic of the time.  Companies like McDonald's were the pride of America; an example of a hamburger stand rolling across the nation, making shareholders, franchisees, and managers who were smart enough to invest in the business rich.  Wall … [Read more...]