Friends,
I have had yet another of ‘those weeks.’ Still, I managed to make some progress, even if you can’t see it all. Come on and I’ll fill you in on all the details.
MY WEEK IN REVIEW
OK, first, you need to understand that, if it doesn’t get done by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, then new products simply cannot be released on Friday. This is the nature of the way things work here. Well… We had a sod delivery scheduled for Tuesday, and help was lined up to get it handled in the afternoon — but they didn’t deliver. They didn’t deliver until Wednesday afternoon, when I no longer had help. So, BB and I had to lay 10 pallets of sod by ourselves with a little help from my 77 y/o father. We finished the sod Thursday in time for lunch but, when we came back from lunch, we discovered the heat had caused an algae bloom in our pond, which killed off everything in it. So, I spent yesterday afternoon and evening pulling some 100+ dead catfish out of the water. I have another 75 to go this evening. They average 3 lb, so, given an already aching back from the sod, the 95+ ‘F heat and my bad attitude, this hasn’t been a great week.
Now, let me tell you about TMD.
SHIPPING DELAYS
Shipping is still very slow — even inside the U.S.. I have no control over this. I try to make sure all of you get an email from Stamps.com with shipping confirmation and tracking information. Please look for those emails. Check your SPAM filter and change your settings if necessary. It doesn’t do any good to keep asking me where your order is because I can’t tell you any more than that tracking number can, and it is starting to REALLY slow things down having to keep telling people this. I know it’s rude of me to say it this way, but this is the world in which we now live. My advice to all of you is to get used to slow mail. The way things were before COVID-19 is a thing of the past. I do not expect them to come back. In fact, I expect things to get worse. Let’s just hope I’m wrong. Until then, just plan for slow shipping, and realize it is not Joe causing the delay.
OUTSTANDING ORDERS
I got all of my orders save two shipped this week. These two orders came in late, but I still got them poured. I just don’t know if the molds are that good, so I held them until I can pull and inspect the parts. This way, if I have to, I can make new molds over the weekend and ship on Monday.
NEW RELEASES
I am going to make a special release of Karl’s new M10/Achilles driver’s compartment. Watch for it and be sure you read the details before you place your order — please!
ON THE BENCH
I am still going to stay on the German armored cars, but I am going to take a break from them for a couple weeks. I promised Karl I would do the fighting compartment and turrets for the M10/Achilles after he finished the driver’s compartment, so it is time for me to get on those. I have a lot of it already started. If I can just catch a small break, we should wrap the M1 family by the end of July.
KARL VAN SWEDEN
I have not spoken to Karl today. I’ve tried, as I need his help with the additional parts I need to add to the M10 driver’s compartment. As soon as I reach him, I’ll update you.
THE SHOP
The shop is a wreck again, so don’t ask.
THE OFFICE
Office? What’s an office?
THAT IS ALL
OK, that’s all I have for now. So, until next time, please stay safe and take care of your loved ones. If you can, try to build something (preferably something using TMD resin).
Joe