Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Facing Layoffs at 50 -part 2

If you are a hard working and conscientious employee, you are not being laid off because of your performance. Your company has decided to lighten ship and you will be chosen because your manager could not justify keeping you.

You may be able to find another berth in the company if you act fast, but generally all personnel requisitions will have been frozen some time ago.

If you have been networking (hint! hint!) you will probably have some idea what groups in the company are going to be hiring after the layoff is complete and will have a slight chance to interview for the position with the added bonus of being able to come up to speed quickly in the new position.

Planet Floyd article in the Times-Dispatch enlightens and frightens...

Rex Bowman, Richmond Times-Dispatch staff writer wrote a recent article about the Jacksonville Center for the Arts in Floyd, VA  under the title: Planet Floyd's cow barn school of cultural arts.

It is a great article and worth reading. Rex's article gives the outside world an affectionate and reasonably accurate report on the peculiar charms of Floyd even though the use of the term "Planet Floyd" elicits images like this one.

I hope we never see a Planet Floyd restaurant like the Planet Hollywood restaurant pictured here, but anything is possible with uncontrolled development.

After all, Pigeon Forge was once a sleepy mountain town until the Great Smoky National Park opened in 1934 and changed it into a tourist town.

Here you see Floyd through the lens of Fred First.

Here is a street scene from Pigeon Forge. Notice any difference?

Can you see why the idea of "Planet Floyd" might bring a chill to those who live here?

Rex, we admire your writing skill, but be careful with those titles!

Photo credits:
Valparaiso Student Pep band plus more about the Pepband
Fred First
The Great Smoky Mountains Parkway

If you are 50 and are facing layoffs...

If you are an employee in an underperforming company like Sun Microsystems, your manager has been attending meetings to help him deal with the upcoming layoffs. It is the time of year when your company will lay off employees in an attempt to become profitable again.

You are about to begin a very stressful period in your life and I would like to give you some hard-won advice:

Don't panic. You can find another job, even if you are over 50, but you will do it by networking, not through resume sites, answering ads, or head hunters.

You will experience enough rejection from being laid off. Do NOT invite more rejection by blindly sending out your resume and answering ads.

Hard to find but worth the effort - Whitlock's Garage

There is a garage in Floyd, VA that provides far better service for my Dodge B3500 Van than I ever got from the biggest Dodge Dealer in Charlottesville, VA.

Whitlock's garage appears to violate every marketing rule except one, and it has been operating in the same location for 45 years!

That might give you a clue that Mac Whitlock really understands how to provide customer satisfaction. His business model does not depend on signage, architecturally clever building exteriors, or landscaped grounds. His operation is focused on providing a superior customer experience in the form of a correctly repaired vehicle.

You cannot find this place without directions and it is several miles from the nearest main road. The sign is so small, you have to drive up in front of the building to see what it says. The exterior shows signs of extensive patching and the landscaping will never win the fancy garage award. But, when you walk inside, you get competent service using the latest in technology and they can handle vehicles of great size.

Unlike the Charlottesville Dodge dealership I described in Fumble, Stumble, and Fail, Whitlock's personnel are competent! Every single one of them! They could tell me immediately what they could handle and what they couldn't.

When they handled something, it stays handled! For example, they fixed a long-term heavy, clunking noise in the rear end in minutes, which my old Dodge dealer could never seem to find!

My Charlottesville Dodge Dealer with its smartly uniformed staff and a million dollar facility had struggled for 2 and 1/2 years to deal with this problem and had failed to fix it even after I had spent more than $500 on one retrofit after another. They were so inept at preventative maintenance that it cost me a $4000 engine job with several trips back to fix what they broke during the repair.

So what is the difference? Whitlock's garage seems to put attention on fixing vehicles, not on fancy facilities. I was able to ask questions and get clear answers from David Radford and Mac Whitlock. From my old Dodge Dealer, I got a lot of glib assurances and spotty service.

On the other hand, we have a Subaru and we received excellent service in Charlottesville and in Roanoke from Subaru dealers with neatly groomed staff and spotless shops.

If all car dealers in this area operated at that level, Whitlock's business might be confined to farm tractors and large trucks. Fortunately for us, Mac Whitlock  provides good service at a great price and he is only a few miles away...as the crow flies.

If you need vehicle service in the Floyd area, get somebody to tell you how to get to either end of Huckleberry Ridge Road. Drive until you see the building in the photo and tell them I sent you.

The address is 1075 Huckleberry Ridge Road NE in Floyd, VA and the phone number is 540-745-3585. They are good people.

Warning - Royal Camera has reinvented itself

Now that Royal Camera of 342 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11223 is getting pounded for their bait and switch tactics and grey market cameras, they have reinvented themselves!

They now run ads as CCI Camera City of 342 Kings Highway, Brooklyn, NY 11223. Click on the image below and read the sign in the window!

Consumers have already caught on to the new name and you will find the same dreary scams listed for CCI Camera and CCI Camera City as you will for Royal Camera.

They run ads for cameras at unbelievable prices. After they have charged your credit card, someone will call and try to sell you batteries and lenses for your camera. They will even try to sell you accessories that come standard with the camera! These accessories have extremely high price tags and the final price will be higher than in your local camera store.

Before you order from them, Google "CCI Camera scams", "Royal Camera scams". You will see hundreds of complaints if you look long enough.

You might want to read my earlier posts on this company:

Royal Camera - a study in deceptive practices
Is there a meltdown in store for Royal Camera?
Google + blogs = influence

There are plenty of good camera companies out there. Just make sure you Google their name in conjunction with words like problem, scam, and rip-off.

UPDATE: If you Google "Best Price Camera scam" you will find information on another Brooklyn camera shop much like Royal Camera.

Tag: scam, Royal Camera, CCI Camera

Ron Rash creates an impact in Floyd

Author Ron Rash was introduced as one of the important new voices of the South and after listening to him, I believe that might be true.

His complex tales and poems tell of loss and redemption, of real people with complex motives, and they leave you with a sense that you have discovered a side of Appalachia that you will not soon forget.

In his soft-spoken way he voiced his concern about the environment, about the importance of family, and explained his abiding interest in the heritage of the Appalachian region.

Ron was there to promote his recent novel, The World Made Straight, which deals with the modern day legacy of a Civil War massacre which still divides an Appalachian community. He is a powerful writer and his work creates an emotional impact.

He is currently the Parris Distinguished Professor of Appalachian Studies at Western Carolina University and his contract provides him the time to write and do book tours as well as teach.

His poetry and fiction have been published in more than 80 journals and magazines, and he is author of two collections of short stories and three collections of poetry. His first novel was “One Foot in Eden” and his second novel was “Saints at the River.”

His appearance in Floyd was arranged by Floyd's friends of the Library. Once again, they have done this community a great favor.

Watching a celebrated writer give a book reading gives you an inside view of how the story was developed and what the author was trying to accomplish. It is a treat for the reader and is an education for the would-be writer.

Here are some links you may wish to explore:

An Interview with Ron Rash by Pam Kingsbury, an article by Iris books, and another article by Story South .

Having trouble at work and need a quick answer?

Go to Questions about your career and get immediate advice.

You can be as anonymous as you want. Click on New Topic and enter your question.

You don't have to wonder how bad your situation is. You will get understandable answers, which will probably confirm what you already suspect.

UPDATE: Comments are closed on this post. If you have questions or comments, go to the Danger Quicksand Career Forum and post there.

We are stronger together than apart

Gretchen and I drove 1000 miles to attend a wedding of our dear friends, Dickie and Scott, and we traveled less than most of the other attendees.

In an increasingly turbulent and unstable world, it seems like a good thing to encourage those who are binding their lives together and forging a future path that benefits all of their family members and friends.

And so, we came from all over the country to celebrate the marriage of our talented and graceful woman friend to a handsome and gifted man from the other end of the United States.

She is a high tech marketing manager and quilter and he is a lawyer who writes and publishes poetry. They are both as natural as rain and made everyone feel at home.

The wedding was elegantly informal and the reception was even more so. The wedding party quickly shed their shoes and partied until the sun went down. Here you see the bride, groom, and the minister after the ceremony. There were more bare feet in the garden. And did I mention the food...?

The ceremony and reception were held at their home and was attended by relatives, neighbors, and many friends. As is the case with many contemporary marriages, the festivities were enlivened with the presence of children by other marriages, relatives of ex-spouses, and neighbors from the distant past.

We were pleased to a part of this affirmation of purpose. It will be long remembered by all who attended. We wish the newly married couple all the best.

Their cake was even better than it looks! Just like the bride and groom.

Martha Stewart would have approved...

When you are invited to a barbecue in Northern Virginia, the hospitality can be quite frankly overwhelming.

We went up North to attend a friend's wedding and were invited to a barbecue put on by her next-door neighbors, Jack and Joanne.

About 40 of us trooped into Jack and Joanne's house cheerfully expecting fried chicken and fixin's and were greeted by a "barbecue" to end all barbecues.

First came the baked brie with a glaze of nuts and sugar in a phyllo crust. Then came the hot spinach Parmesan dip and homemade bruschetta. I almost foundered at this point due to overindulgence, but I determinedly stayed on my feet and wended my way into the dining room where a long table was spread with everything from moussaka, to chicken, to baked ham.

I cautioned myself, "Take a little bit of everything" and steadied myself for a cruise around the table. The food was amazing, but I was strong and was able to restrain myself to only two helpings.

I watched with admiration as Joanne continued to pull food out of the ovens as her guests swirled around her and her husband Jack entertained this vast crowd of strangers as though we had all been friends for years. And so it was, because these wonderful people became our friends and will occupy a special place in our hearts for years to come because of their generosity and gracious welcome.

I was so taken with the ease with which they took us in and made us feel welcome that I almost overlooked the dessert room. Several fruit cobblers, an ice cream cake, and slow-cranked ice cream awaited us in a glass-walled breakfast room off the kitchen.

Jack and Joanne made this wedding rehearsal night even more of a special occasion.

Oh, that milking machine photo at the top? That stood in the corner of their living room. Joanne put it there to remind her of her early life on a farm.

Art is accessible in Floyd

[All images show Ellen Shankin's work. Click on this one to see her website.]

Floyd is unlike many of the "art colonies" I have known which had galleries galore, but not many working artists and craftspeople in public view.

Floyd is a farming community blessed with an abundance of artists. It still has its roots firmly set into the soil, but the future growth of the community may well be determined by how well the artisans of Floyd County can integrate their efforts into the overall economy.

The creative level of an area has a great deal to do with its attractiveness to new settlers and new businesses. Floyd has an abundance of talent and it is readily accessible to visitors.

Places like Pacific Grove, Santa Barbara, Provincetown, Santa Fe, Coconut Grove, etc., are favorite tourist destinations because of their natural beauty and the concentration of all forms of art, whether painting, drawing, clay, sculpture, or jewelry.

Floyd has a few galleries which display the works of local artists and artisans, but the distinguishing feature of this isolated and beautiful county is the wealth of artists and craftspeople on almost every back road.

I live in the northeast corner of Floyd County, nine miles from the only stoplight and there are well-known artists scattered all around the immediate area. You cannot drive down a nearby dirt road without encountering a sign for some studio.

These artists have a wide range of backgrounds from self-taught to MFAs from prestigious schools. Their reputations are often international and they may exhibit all over the world.

The common denominator that I see as a newcomer is that the artists I have met have talent and aren't afraid of sharing it. Some artists have apprenticeships, some teach at the Jacksonville Center for the Arts, others put on workshops.

If you visit Floyd and stay any length of time, you can't help but get caught up in the creative flow. It is probably one of the strongest forces driving people to move to Floyd instead of attractive places offering more choices of professional employment.

Gretchen and I went on the deservedly famous 16 Hands Studio Tour this last weekend and had time to visit two of the studios. On the way to these studios, we passed several other excellent studios which weren't on the tour.  

The net result of this abundance of artists is that you can find art at every price level in Floyd. It is never easy to make a living through art, but there is a community of people here in Floyd who are certainly doing a reasonably good job of it.

There also seems to be an awareness in the community at large that art is an important part of what Floyd has to offer and there are various efforts underway to teach artists how to become more viable.

I hope these efforts bear fruit. I feel that art is the key to Floyd's future.

Tags: Ellen Shankin, Floyd, VA