Hello,
We started out having a great week, and were making great progress on preparing to execute our new offensive when we were suddenly and unexpectedly attacked by the enemy! Our brave troops are managing to hold their own, but the issue is still in some doubt. Hit the ‘read more’ button and I’ll give you the details.
OPEN ORDERS
First, as of the time I write this, I have 1 open order, and that one is my fault. It should have shipped, but I failed to realize I needed to replace a mold until it was too late. The customer has been contacted and I have apologized and explained the details and how/when I intend to resolve this hold-up
CUSTOMER CARE ISSUES
I have a few of these left to handle. The enemy sneak attack forced me to set them aside. I’ll get to them as soon as I can stabalize the front.
ENEMY SNEAK ATTACK
So, there we were: it was Wednesday, we had shipped all the orders from last weekend, and had just finished the taxes and were getting ready to take them to the accountant so we could start mobilizing for our next offensive. That’s when it happened. The enemy launched a surprise attack. It started when my chronic bronchitis flared up and I had to call BB to come home from work and take me to the doctor. Then, on our way back from the doctor, BB called our youngest who is living with his father in Jacksonville while he goes to college (our youngest is BB’s son from before she and I got together). He had texted and asked her to call. As it turns out, he was heading home from work to pack. Apparently, he and his father were planning to go to Disney on Thursday. However, when he got home, he found his father on the floor of the kitchen in the apartment they share. He was non-responsive. Our some called 911 and started CPR until the paramedics arrived, but it was too late: his father was already dead when he got home. Needless to say, this sneak attack stopped everything that was happening at TMD, and, though I am managing to attend to the most pressing needs, we will not have the lines stable again until after we return from the funeral services sometime next week.
[On a personal note: I was very proud of our youngest son. He handled a very lousy situation like a real man. Honestly, I’m not so sure I would have done nearly as well at his age.]
NEW PRODUCTS
If we can get the front settled down in time, I will post the few new and the many re-releases a week from today, Friday, Feb 26.
KARL VAN SWEDEN
I’m sorry, I don’t know how Karl is doing. I did not call him this week. However, he didn’t email me, either and — with Karl — no news is usually good news.
THE SHOP
The shop is nearing the end of a major re-working. I still have some work to do. I need to make mold boxes to store a lot of the newer items, as well as their sub-masters for making new molds. I also need to set up my files so I can start including more printed instruction sheets in my product line. But the biggest thing I have to do in the shop right now is to store or toss out a lot of stuff I’ve collected over the years. This includes some 700 aviation books and a small lot of 1/48 aircraft related plastic/detail sets. Since I am no longer selling on EBay, I will have to use the DG’s, FB and this blog page to sell this off, but I will start with that today. This stuff MUST GO!
I posted a link to the first batch of book sales. You can find it here. Think of these book sales as a TMD yard sale. Proceeds will be used to finish refitting the shop and to fund the re-working of the product line. Since we are going to be replacing nearly every mold this year, we will need a lot of rubber. So, if you need wingy-thingy books, I have some cool items at decent prices. The bonus is, anything you buy will help un-stick the stalemate on the TMD master front. So, buy as many books as your mailman/woman can carry.
I also posted pictures of the front end (i.e. business end) of the shop on our Facebook page. You can find them here.
THE OFFICE
The office is in great physical shape. Now, the primary obstacle on my list are the taxes — which must be finished by this time next week — if not sooner. Also, I need to get back to work on the web store.
THAT IS ALL
Well, that’s all I have for you this week. So, until next time, please stay safe and try to build something (preferably something using TMD resin).
Joe