Making Ripples: post-corporate adventures in Floyd County Virginia

Angels of the Sea

Imagine spending your life on the ocean in a sailing ship interacting with the great whales.

That's what  Trish & Wally Franklin do as founders of the Oceania Project, a non-profit research organization dedicated to the conservation and protection of whales, dolphins and the oceans.

I discovered their oddly captivating YouTube video Angels of the Sea entirely by accident.

This particular YouTube Video is the trailer for "Angels of the Sea", a feature documentary on The Oceania Project, broadcast nationally by The Seven Network Australia.

I think you will enjoy it and the many other videos produced by the Oceania Project. Here is another Angels of the Sea video you might enjoy.

Is it possible to find satisfying work?

This is a topic that has filled many books, so let me give you the short version.

If you are considering changing your occupation, here are some essential factors you might want to consider. If you are an owner or manager, this might help you also.

Starting at the top, here are some fundamental factors affecting the perception of work as pleasure or pain:

Almost any work is satisfying if you can do it at your own pace.

The most interesting work in the world can be made unbearable, if you are forced to do it in a sequence and at a pace that is not of your own choosing.

Job satisfaction is actually more important than the money you take home. That is why acknowledgment from your peers and managers can easily make up for a lower salary.

Any job that requires you to lie for others will eat you out from the inside until you are no longer able to look at yourself in the mirror.

People will work unbelievable hours for little or no pay if they know they are helping to make the world a better place.

People will perform miracles working for a manager they trust.

If you are a manager or owner of a business, you might also want to look at your current work environment and see if you can make some adjustments that will incorporate these factors. It could make a huge difference in the viability of your company.

Wishing you the best...

(An earlier version of this was written in 2005)

Indianapolis bluegrass musicians enjoy Floyd sunshine and hospitality

Mark Conway and Craig Stinson were entertaining us in downtown Floyd, Virginia today because they had read in a book that if you came to Virginia, you had to visit Floyd.

They are just two more of the many musicians that have been drawn to Floyd from all over the world to perform for the receptive audiences that can be found here. The streets of Floyd are definitely not paved with gold, but Floydians have good hearts and they appreciate good music.

Floyd did not disappoint them as they found a ready audience on the newly constructed South Locust sidewalk. Customers of the Floyd Country Store were enjoying their ice cream treats to the toe-tapping bluegrass music when I stopped to interview them.

Popular local musician Bernie Coveney made them feel right at home when he stopped by for a brief discussion of their music and of the musicians they knew.

Conway and Stinson plan on being in town for a few days and hope to join in the Friday Night Jamboree jam sessions at the Floyd Country Store.

These young musicians are personable and I found their  music appealing. I will buy a copy of their CD "Legal Grass" before they move on.

You can learn more about them from their MYSpace page Legal Grass

UPDATE:

On Friday night, Mark and Craig were jamming with local musicians in the alley next to the Floyd Country Store. This was just one of several sessions they joined .

It should be noted that there were many visiting musicians this particular night. I counted at least 40 musicians playing on the sidewalks of Floyd and probably half of them were from out of the county.

Outflow produces inflow again

I've had a few nibbles on my offer of free sign stencils and one solid strike, but no big rush.

It seems that non-profit organizations perk their ears up at the word "Free", but they make decisions more deliberately and I have not had any definite sign requests yet from them.

On the other hand, my ham radio expert neighbor has already put in an order for a call sign sign to be delivered as soon as I can make it. 

There are four more days to get a free custom sign stencil and we will see what happens on that front. So far, the results seem to indicate that this is not  a priority item in this area.

On the other hand, my phone has been ringing with more urgent framing requests than usual and I will have my hands full for the next week or so. This framing activity started this morning after I posted yesterday's article and I firmly believe that the outflow has a definite part in creating the inflow.

For the past twenty years, I have been observing that almost every service-oriented outflow has produced a corresponding inflow of work opportunities or customer orders. Part of it may be that outflowing takes my mind off a demand for inflow and puts it on creating opportunities for others. The absence of any "must have income" attitude seems to open up communication channels and people call out of nowhere to discuss doing business!

Has anyone else noticed this phenomena?

I am test marketing a new product by giving it away

Free product, no strings attached, one week only

I will be giving away free custom sign stencils this week because I recently discovered that I can generate huge stencils with letter sizes from 3 inches to 24 inches high using the CMC equipment I use to cut mats for pictures. I made up some 24" by 36" sign stencils and they are easily read from 250 feet away.

I can make these stencils up overnight or while someone waits if they want to drive out to my workshop. Otherwise, I will deliver to downtown Floyd when I pick up and deliver custom framing orders.

I think these are a potential boon to anyone who is running a yard sale, a high school car wash, an open house, anything where sign visibility is important. These stencils are durable and reusable and should make many stenciled signs using spray paints or paint rollers. I want to find how much need there is for this product in this area.

Here is my offer - Pass it on to your friends in this area.

I will make a free custom sign stencil for anyone who wants one for the rest of this week.

Maximum stencil size is 32 inches by 40 inches. One free stencil to a family or company. Choice of a dozen fonts. For more information, call 540-745-6230

This offer ends on May 31,2008 or until I have made 25 free sign stencils, whatever comes first.

Stencils can be picked up at Floyd Custom Framing or may be picked up in downtown Floyd by prior arrangement.

How large are these stencils?

See for yourself. What could you do with stencils like these?

30 seconds to find out what's wrong with you

I was feeling becalmed between the rush of early Spring and the doldrums of Summer and I remembered this uncannily accurate, online, self-diagnosis system.

It was just as I feared. I need to change my ways.

Doctor Unheimlich has diagnosed me with StLawrenceosis
Cause:	old library books
Symptoms:	vague second-degree burns, slightly pointy ears, slightly bendy arms
Cure:	expensive biofeedback devices
Enter your name, for your own diagnosis:

Now that my illness is named, there is nothing else I can complain about.

DISCLAIMER: Results may vary.

Talk to your Mother if unsatisfied with your diagnosis, or change your name.

Important Note: Using your full name will expose an entirely different aspect of your current condition.

A moment of reflection

We live in troubled times and try to find our way amidst a sea of mixed messages.

We move inexorably toward a major decision point, the 2008 Presidential Election,  and the results of this election will have profound effects upon our lives and on our children's lives.

To move safely and confidently through the troubling months and years ahead, we might profitably consider the 24 word code of ethics developed by Herbert J. Taylor in 1932 which he called the Four Way Test.

1. Is it the Truth?
2. Is it Fair to all concerned?
3. Will it build goodwill and better friendships?
4. Will it be beneficial to all concerned?

This code of ethics saved a company and has saved countless lives and careers. Years later it was adopted by Rotary International and has been translated into more than a hundred languages.

The next time you find yourself wondering if you are following the right course of action, try answering these questions. You may find that it simplifies things to an enormous extent.

It applies to all areas of interest, especially politics.

On this day we should also pause to give thanks for those who fought and died to keep this country free. Our freedoms were not given to us by anyone, they were earned by the efforts of those who cared enough to make sure that all men and women of good will could share in the bounty of this country. There is still more to be done.

JC Thompson plowing with his horse Sandy

This is not a sight you see every day, but here in Floyd County, Virginia, if your timing is right, you can watch JC Thompson and his horse Sandy plow his garden plot.

It is is one of the most satisfying sights you can imagine. I have waited for almost a year to capture these photos.

Sandy pulls the single bladed plow through the somewhat rocky soil under JC's direction and the furrows line up as pretty as you please.

Occasionally she stops to check something out, but JC coaxes her into action with a skill honed by years of experience and the work goes on.

Managing a horse drawn plow takes strength and good control of the horse. JC works with the reins tied around his waist so that he has both hands free to guide the plow.

At the end of row he makes the horse turn in place and is able to back the horse up so that the plow starts each furrow exactly where he wants it to.

I have a short video of them plowing which I will post in the next few days. JC has been plowing this way for many years and has been using Sandy for the last three years. From the way they work together, I'd say she has got the hang of it.

The plight of your local telephone company

Personal communications have shifted to VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) and to cell phones from the plain old telephone service. This is not a temporary change, it is a permanent shift in buying patterns and it is spreading rapidly.

A telephone company has to make the difficult choice of whether they are willing to cannibalize their land line customer base or lose it to some other company. There is no other choice at this point.

This quote from a local telephone company executive tells it all:

Long distance revenue peaked in 2001, dial up revenue peaked in 2002, and basic telephone service revenue peaked in 2003.

The difference between where we were then and now is a difference of $1.6 million dollars.

Unfortunately, the situation will steadily worsen for them unless they can develop revenue from alternate sources.

In 2003, we lived in Lake Monticello, VA, and we were introduced to the Vonage VOIP service by a local handyman. He was not computer literate, but he knew that he could afford unlimited long distance and local calls for $24.95 a month.

We thought that was a financial lifesaver and did the same. We dropped our telephone bill by more then $150 by making a shift to Vonage. We kept our local land line as a backup in case of emergencies.

When we moved to Floyd, we continued the Vonage service and kept a land line out of loyalty to the local phone company, since we were dependent on their DSL service.

We use VOIP for personal and business communications and we use cell phones for backup. We require DSL, but the plain old telephone land line is an expensive luxury. The primary value of a telephone land line is to give you a listing in the phone book and not everyone wants to be listed.

If you were unsure of what a paradigm shift is, take a good look. You are in the midst of one that will have profound effects on a lot of jobs.

Like outsourcing, this is almost impossible to resist. When comparable services are available at much lower cost elsewhere, loyalty to local providers is put to the test.

You achieve your goals - then what?

I revisit this theme occasionally, because it is a recurring problem for many of us. I wrote about this last in 2006.

Almost every one of us has a set of goals we are working toward. The more carefully the goals are defined, the more likelihood we will achieve the goals. When they are achieved, then it's time to move on and reinvent ourselves.

The big problem with goals or business plans, is that they may be based on a short-term horizon, like a couple of years. Those few years can fly by and your life or your business begins to flounder and you don't know why. It may be because you have overrun your goals. All of your plans were directed to getting to a certain point with no thought as to what would happen afterwards.

For example, the girl who plans to "get married" has to reinvent herself as a wife once the ceremony is over. The student who is dead set on graduating at all costs has to reinvent himself as an employed person once graduation is over. If they don't do this they are in for trouble.

You only get what you intend and most of us shy away from plans that extend too far into the future. As a result, we make plans for the next two or three years and concentrate on getting through life without too much collateral damage. When our goals are achieved, we can find it very difficult to refocus our efforts on a more distant set of goals. It generally requires us to reinvent ourselves.

Is that something you are prepared to do?

I revisit this theme occasionally, because it is a recurring problem for many of us. I wrote about this last in 2006.

Almost every one of us has a set of goals we are working toward. The more carefully the goals are defined, the more likelihood we will achieve the goals. When they are achieved, then it's time to move on and reinvent ourselves.

The big problem with goals or business plans, is that they may be based on a short-term horizon, like a couple of years. Those few years can fly by and your life or your business begins to flounder and you don't know why. It may be because you have overrun your goals. All of your plans were directed to getting to a certain point with no thought as to what would happen afterwards.

For example, the girl who plans to "get married" has to reinvent herself as a wife once the ceremony is over. The student who is dead set on graduating at all costs has to reinvent himself as an employed person once graduation is over. If they don't do this they are in for trouble.

You only get what you intend and most of us shy away from plans that extend too far into the future. As a result, we make plans for the next two or three years and concentrate on getting through life without too much collateral damage. When our goals are achieved, we can find it very difficult to refocus our efforts on a more distant set of goals. It generally requires us to reinvent ourselves.

Is that something you are prepared to do?