Small business and the entrepreneurial spirit

About 6 months ago, my boy began saying how he'd like to open a lemonade stand. He said he wanted to earn some money. I'm not one to stand in the way of business, but I allowed as how I didn't think he'd make enough money to make it worth his time. I told him to keep coming up with business ideas, and when he came on a good one, we would look closer at it. My lovely bride agreed and supported this plan.

 He had several ideas, some better than others. Selling pancakes in the front yard? Not so much. Going door-to-door offering to plant flowers he was selling? Not bad, but not quite there.

About two weeks ago, he mentioned building birdhouses to my wife. She told him to come talk to me, and we decided that he had a good idea. He wanted to build bird houses, and drag them around the neighborhood in a wagon and sell them. I told him I would invest in his company, and buy him the tools he needed, but he would have to buy all of his materials. He agreed.

I bought him a hammer, and a saw, and gave him one of my clamps. And I let him borrow my hand drill. I told him he can buy his own drill after he sells the first batch.

Took him to Lowe's, and he bought lumber and supplies, totalling about 45 dollars. He has enough lumber to make 9 birdhouses. He promised one as a gift to the neighbor who has been bringing him wood scraps to practice on.

He originally wanted to sell them for 5 dollars each, but I explained to him he would be losing money, not to mention time. I convinced him to try to get $20 for each one.

I don't know how well he will do, but he made 3 today, with little help beyond guidance and holding boards in place from me.

I hope he sells a butt-ton, and it drives him to entrepreneurship.

Retro Rig

A month or so ago, my dad got me a S&W model 36, 3-inch, in trade for some leatherwork I did for him. I've fallen in live with it, and enjoy shooting it. Last week I qualified with it for on-duty carry. Now, when I do field work, and I know I am going to be running the streets, I carry a Glock 19, 2 reloads, secondary weapons, and a shotgun in my cruiser.

But for sitting around the office, doing paperwork, maybe a quick run to the courthouse?

That model 36 has gotten me jonesing for a retro-rig. Something that would have fit in on the scene of a Miami Vice episode. A 1980's leather rig with a hand-rubbed oil finish.

I just finished this one. Now, the holster and belt I already had. The holster I made a few months ago, and the belt was made a few years ago.

But now, I have a simple, understated classic leather rig for my wheel gun.

I'm happy!

Crazy Train

Life has been....busy.... the last 2 weeks. We went to Florida for thanksgiving, and held services for my wife's grandmother. She will be deeply missed.

We got my truck back from the shop. Turned out, not as much was wrong as the shop feared. They fixed it, and their transmission voodoo cost less than $600, which still hurt, but wasn't 2k worth of financial misery.

I took the boy for his first cub scout camp this weekend. Marshmallows, hotdogs, campfires, nature hikes, bike rides... it was a blast. The most telling thing was loading up after the closing campfire last night. We got in the truck, and before I could put it in gear, my son looked at me with a sober expression like only a 7 year old can have. He solemnly looked me in the eye and said quietly "Dad... I had a great weekend. Thanks for taking me camping with the scouts".

It summed up the trip nicely for me.

Now I just unpacked the gear, and hung the Christmas lights, because it's that time of the year.

The rest on the day will be spent relaxing and washing clothes. And that's not a bad way to wrap up a weekend at all.

Make a note:

Sometimes, after 2 glasses of wine, it's important to spend 5 minutes dancing in the kitchen with your wife.

Don't ever let the moment pass, gentlemen. That particular moment will never be here again.

Reach out and grab it.

Pub Glasses

Apparently you can buy cool-ass, heavy duty pub glasses for 59 cents each at goodwill.

I'm digging it.

Half-a-mind

For 2k, I have Half-a-mind to just buy a transmission from J.C. Whitney or Jegs or Auto-Zone for about $1500 bucks. Install that bad boy myself, and save $500. The only problem with that is that I have no idea how to swap a transmission. So the Half-a-mind plan may come out the half-assed plan...

Hazard of buying used

Apparently my truck's Transmission has proverbially crapped the bed. Mechanic says best case, $2k to fix.

Just damn!

Nebo Redline

My gentle readers may remember my buying a Nebo Flashlight about 2 years ago. It was bright, and I liked it's lighting output. I carried it regularly at work for about 4 months, until I finally got issued a streamlight.

This is a follow-up. The Nebo is a piece of garbage. Especially for the 50ish dollar price tag. The light still works, but it is bulky in the pocket. It uses 3 AAA batteries in a circular battery configuration. You could almost get a single C-cell battery in the same diameter. Not great for a light with a pocket clip.

Also, the output switch (10%, 50%, 100%, strobe, and s.o.s.) adds lots of bulk. Also, I have grown accustomed to the "multiple press" system streamlight uses. It's not better or worse, per-se, but I like it better.

The worst thing about this light, though is its shitty tail-cap. It is overly large. And the rubber covering the activation switch is chintzy, and rips. And when you try to fix it, it rips more. And eventually, the magnet breaks, making it un-fucking-useable.

To hell with Nebo. I have used this light a grand total of maybe 6 months over the last two years, and it just doesn't meet expectations. Save 10 more bucks and buy a streamlight.

Leather tooling

So one aspect of leatherwork that I have had no exposure to is tooling, or carving. Sure, I have used some basic stamps, but just for some basic border work.  Today, I tried my hand at some true tooling. These are some very basic floral patterns, basically what everyone starts with. The bottom piece got too busy, I think. I like the way the top one turned out.

I'm digging the tooling. I have a basic stamp set, of like 6 stamps. I think I'm going to keep playing with it. Maybe one day I can do one of those really cool oak-leaf belt-and-holster sets.

Belted

Neighbor Mike asked me the other day to make him a belt.

I like a lot about this belt, but I wish it was lighter. I need to get a medium brown dye. I think the tooling turned out great. And the belt loop has a pocket for a guitar pick built in. Mike is a mandolin player, and is always looking for a pick, so I figured I would make it easy for him to find one. He has a buckle he wants to use, so all that is left is attaching it.