Month: April 2009

ElectroNerdz is having a small gathering tomorrow (and by small, it may be almost no one as the date was soo last minute). We plan on shooting on some private property where you have a little more freedom (like rapid fire). The owner has setup an area where he has a couple of old cars, and a very large berm behind all this. There is unfortunately no actually target stand. So $40 later, I have built a target stand (complete with replaceable backing), a table on which to set the guns, a chair on which to sit at the table, and another stand with a couple of nails sticking up to shoot some watermelon with. I don’t think we’ll get watermelon in time, but I do have some old Pepsi cans that haven’t been opened yet that could be used as targets.

Last night was a big deal. My business partner Bobby was very involved in ITV back in high school, and still keeps up with most of the people from that program. Every year ITV of the Polk County School Board has a “Video Awards” to honor students who create and star in the short films they create. There were over 90 schools that participated in the awards this year, with 3,000 students present, plus a lot of parents. Me, Danielle, Bobby, and his wife Brittani were invited this year to the awards ceremony. But not because of Bobby’s contacts in ITV. David Yates, the presenter made a special announcement about how both Bobby personally, and his company, ElectroNerdz, donated over $8,000 to the Video Awards that year. Bobby even got up and made a short speech about how he believes that this program prepares students for a world that revolves around information.

Bobby asked if ElectroNerdz would sponsor the events this year. ElectroNerdz paid for the actual awards as there was no money in the Polk County School Board budget for them, and were have been foregone. This was a huge announcement for ElectroNerdz. In addition to the personal greeting mentioning ElectroNerdz, ElectroNerdz was mentioned on the front cover of the programs that were handed out at the end of the ceremony.

This is big. I’m still freaking out about it a little bit. We expect a lot of calls coming up in the near future relating to people whom were at the ceremony.

After the ceremony, we four went to Outback Steakhouse and dragged the entire ITV class at George Jenkins High School with us (about 26+ people)… 15 minutes before they closed. I’m not so sure they were happy about that. ElectroNerdz paid for all of the appetizers. Me and Danielle were the last customers to leave the restaurant. It was a long night.

In addition to this huge opportunity, ElectroNerdz will also be acquiring a new office in May, with the official start date set to June 1st. We’ve outgrown our current 200 square foot office, and will be moving into a 1400 square foot office. And we’ll be proud to have customers come to our office. In addition to Danielle, we now have our first phone technician who will handle remote support for our effortlessIT customers (as he lives in north Florida). Over this summer, we’ll be hiring at least one on-site tech to work in the new office.

So me and Danielle are getting more serious. She currently drives a 1998 Kia Sephia that she only feels so so about. For the longest time, it had no radio, and the A/C was subpar. I wanted to get a newer car, and she was willing to make the payments. So we set out to two different used car salesman, both named Joe. Joe #1 is Danielle’s ex-uncle. He manages a lot in Mt Dora. We’ve been watching his stock, but some of the cars just don’t suit our needs. So we tried Joe #2, whom I bought my truck off almost 3 years ago. When I bought my truck back then, my credit was excellent, and they went by my word and gave me a $23,000 truck. Well, I assumed I’d have no problem getting another vehicle with my excellent credit, so we perused the Winter Haven Chevrolet lot. We found a great car with all the extra’s. It was $12,000. We sat down with Joe and filled out the preliminary paper-work. He handed it off to the finance guy, but you could tell that something wasn’t right. He didn’t feel good about it. He told us about how without putting money down, and not trading in might hurt us. Well, it did. Not only was I turned down by GMAC who currently holds my truck loan, I was also turned down by MidFlorida. Three years ago, they’d have been handing me the keys no questions asked. Now, I need paperwork, $5,000 and a vehicle to trade in since they did not understand why I needed a second vehicle. Danielle was devastated, and I was disappointed that my excellent credit means nothing these days. I was even talking to my accountant about it the other day. She needed a new car several months ago, and said it was the first time in 30 years that she had to provide “tax returns” to prove her income.

So back to the Kia. I like the Kia. I know it has it’s downsides. So I decided to fix them. This last weekend, I fixed the A/C. It was quite simple actually. The cable that opens the blower was loose. I put it in it’s place, and now the A/C blows like it should, air that is. It was always cold, just no air came out of the vents. The next, and more complicated, was the radio. I had a radio for the car, but no speakers. So off to two different WalMarts and I have speakers. I install them after quite a bit of MacGyvering, and even put in a cable for Danielle’s iPod, which she just loves. I also had enough time to install a spare tire cover in the truck, so that the groceries don’t lay on the tire. Oh, and I fixed the windshield washer. It had green gunk stuck in the left sprayer. Last, but not least, I gave it a good washing. Now, it’s practically like brand new, and Danielle actually enjoys driving it now.

I’ve noticed a lot of people lately sticking to their old cars and making them last longer. I’d have to say this is the first time the “ecomony” has affected me. Hopefully, things will get better. That Obama, he’s gonna fix it all!