Gov Bob McDonnell is Roscoe P Coltrane

I'm not trying to start anything, I'm just saying.

Howe & Howe Tech

I watched "Howe and Howe Tech" on the Discovery Channel last night and thorougly enjoyed watching the guys banging together their latest prototype- the badger with limited resources, and a tight budget. I guess I was mostly encouraged by the fact that apparently, there are Americans out there still bootstrapping great builds.
I know- ANOTHER "fabber" show? Not to take anything away from Orange County Choppers, but they've reached some level of success, Paulie Jr is looking into branching out on his own- getting into art or whatever... lately it sort of lost the excitement of THE BUILD guys laying on the floor, welding crap, swilling coffee, bleary-eyed and overworked...
I've seen the previews of How and Howe for a few weeks (shocker- I watch Discovery Channel regularly) and I got the impression that I was going to like the show. It also turns out that I saw one of their machines at the Auto Show in DC back in 2001, and I've got a copy of Popular Mechanics with one of their rovers on the cover.
I guess the thing I like about these shows the most is that these are American boys actually doing some hard work, and actually producing something. Our country's attempted transition away from manufacturing into Toeffler's third wave or information society left us all feeling a little empty inside.
Maybe there's a reminder and a warning in here somewhere that even though we might be headed toward economic recovery, there's no need to simply just go back to status quo. Somewhere, somehow we've got to build some things into our economy that generate revenue inch-by-inch, slow and steady growth built on solid products, skills, and services- and maybe a little less on hype and "virtual" products.
Don't get me wrong- I love tech, the internets, gadgets and being connected as much as the next guy or gal, I just don't like the idea of being another cog in the machine. I can't sit back and buy into the idea that all our country needs is to free up capital so that we can get back to consumerism, consumption and shuffling data.
I want to build and design the machines of the future. I want to have my hands in something real and substantial- at the end of the day- data modelling, and 3D graphics no matter how accurate or realistic just doesn't cut it for me- I want to actually knock real stuff together and have it do real stuff and I'm definitely not ready to give up my oxy-acetylene rig.

5 years of blogging, the 10 years behind, and the 10 years ahead

I really don't want to do a complete retrospective of the last 10 years of my life- but its a little interesting to note that my first blog post was on January 1, 2005- and it's kinda funny to look back and see what I was ranting & raving about in previous years, how my life has changed, and the direction I have taken.

In 2005, We said goodbye to WHFS, the local "alternative" radio station in the DC area, We discovered who Deep throat was, I had a couple revelations about what it means to be "just johntindale" and I might have made a bigger deal about Howard Stern than I really needed to.

In 2006, I blogged about getting my Maryland master HVAC license, http://johntindale.blogspot.com/2006/07/new-job-and-master-license.html and I tried to define my faith and religious stance as a post-modern, post congregationalist. I think I'm probably more of a congregationalist at this point, but I'm still very post-modern.

My most popular blog came in 2007, and it was the one that got the most hits on Google was about Rhianna, http://johntindale.blogspot.com/2007/07/under-my-umbah-rella-ella-ella-eh-eh-oh.html and how I couldn't stand the umbuh- rella pronunciation. That same year, 2007- I only managed 10 posts. (Less than one a month.) I made some New Year's Declarations that year, I think I did ok with them. I did a little blacksmithing with my dad, and I'd like to do more of it in the years to come

In 2008, I discovered Ubuntu Linux. It's interesting to note that I dual boot Ubuntu Linux and Vista Pro on my Inspiron 1525 and I've been spending more time in Vista lately- Mostly because of our acceptance in BizSpark. Overall, 2008 was a good year, I'm still GTD'ing, I still use my Moleskine (every day) I've cooled off a bit from the whole 4HWW- mostly because I like to work. Finally, in 2008- "the biggie" we founded enercient as a controls/HVAC/ wireless integration company. http://johntindale.blogspot.com/2008/12/enercient-rollout.html

2009 was a tough year. We did a little traveling attending the AHR Expo in Chicago in January (brrr-cold!) and we managed a vacation (probably our last one for a while) to England, Northumbria, and the land of my Tindale ancestors . I definitely want to spend more time there, maybe own a summer home there at some point?

I whined a little bit http://johntindale.blogspot.com/2009/09/i-guess-it-gets-harder-closer-you-get.html and we completed the first phase of production on our prototype. Overall the year wasn't easy. Mel & I burned through most of our savings & cash reserves, and at times we wondered if we were gonna make it.

So, needless to say I'm looking forward to 2010. (A space odyssey?)

I'm not in the habit of making new year's resolutions- but I'm going to make a few more declarations for the coming year-nay even the coming decade.

1. I'm going to make money this year. We've spent the last two years doing some very important things laying some solid groundwork and foundation for Enercient- and this year I'm ready to focus on getting work and getting paid. We've built the right relationships, we have some really exciting products, and we have something that I've come to be very proud of- but this year, 2010 I'm going to get paid. No more looking for investors- we'll be beating them off with a stick by the end of the year.

2. Enercient will grow. I'm done with writing concepts, figuring out our market, and with trying to convince the wrong group into being our customer. I think I was mistaken thinking that my friends in the HVAC business would be able to move our product. We have come to discover that our customer is the end user. I'm no longer concerned with trying to convince other HVAC companies to follow us- we're just going to go for it and if they want to follow later, we'll make a place for them. I'm going after homeowners, property managers, and business owners. We have a great line of products, and I want to see them in place. I want to have 3-4 mechanics working for me by the end of the year, and I want to get to 500K in annual revenue for the company.

3. I'll be 39 this year, and I'm not going to fight it. I feel like I've allowed the last two years to be my "mid-life re-evaluation" I'm not calling it a crisis, because I believe that a man doesn't have to have a crisis if he feels that he is successful in his life. I'm just making a few mid-stream corrections. I'm not a "young man" any more, and I'm not ashamed to say it. When I was 23 years old, I looked at guys in their late 30's and thought they were old. I don't want 40 to be the new 30, When I hit 40, I want to be confident, experienced, and have a group of young guys coming up behind me to build the infrastructure of Enercient, and I want to be "the old man" by the time I'm 50.

To wrap it up, the last decade has been a serious time of rebuilding for me. I met and married my wife Melanie, http://momsmems.blogspot.com/ and started a new family with Jillian (she'll be 2 in a couple weeks) I've come into my own in my trade and in my industry, and I have come to terms with my faith and my life.

2010 will be a good year, and the next 10 years for me will be about building- Building a business, building a home & family, and building up the next generation coming up behind me in faith, in the trade,and in life in general. I guess that's my 2020 vision. I will measure my successes in the growth of our business, in the strength of our family, and our ability to give back to our community through our church and through other philanthropic efforts.