Quick Updates

Monday morning and I feel like being productive and getting things done today.

I looked at the blog this morning and couldn't believe we missed three days in a row. Sorry about that one.

We've been a little lazy this weekend. It's hot. It's humid. And the air conditioners have been turned on a little after noon everyday.

We weren't completely lazy though. Saturday we did run up to a little farmer's market in Mt. Joy and got some local sweet corn and peaches. We've got a great outlet for fresh, local meat. We've got a pretty good connection to Chesapeake Bay seafood. We've just never been able to find a good, local supplier of fresh, local vegetables.

When I lived in downtown York, one block south of the square, I was spoiled by York's Central Market. That was a great place for me to stumble a couple blocks to on a Saturday morning. Not only could I get my week's supply of local meat and veggies, but I could sit down and have breakfast too. I wish there were markets like that all over the place.

Saturday Barb spread more grass seed on our pathetic yard. We just don't understand it. Every summer our yard gets worse and worse. The plantings do OK. The trees are ever dominant and just fine. But we can't keep grass growing.

It's a bit of a mystery to me because our neighbors to the left and right have green grassy backyards, well with quite a bit of broadleaf weeds. But ours is terrible, brown and dying. We're about to give up and just turn the whole backyard into a forest scene.

But Barb's trying to work it. She's dedicated herself to getting out in the yard twice a day and watering down all the brown grass and new seed. We'll see. In the Spring we spread fertilizer and seed and things really seemed to be coming along great. But that ended, and the grass started dying, just like last summer.

Meanwhile we've been trying to work up some clients for Albert Design Studio. We thought we had great interest from a local equipment supplier to do a web site. But we were surprised to find out that although they liked our design better, they went with someone else who promised to handle site hosting for them.

A lot of web designers take advantage of clients' lack of internet knowledge and offer to host their site for $100 a month. The reality is they don't actually host their site. They just sign up for a hosting package over the internet, pay about $10 a month for hosting, and charge the client $100. That's $90 a month then for doing nothing.

I've tried to save my clients that money. I don't feel right taking money for doing nothing. But I have to remember that people are generally lazy. They want service. They don't want to do very much, if anything they don't want to do anything at all. Often a web site is an extra responsibility for someone on top of their daily responsibilities.

So for now on I have to visualize it as not taking someone's money for doing nothing, but offering them services to ease their daily burdens. It still seems ironic to me that my honesty and integrity seem to be a handicap in the business world.

I am expecting some Albert Design work to pop up this week though. A site I had designed a few years ago is due for updates. As soon as my price estimate is approved by the communications department at the Harrisburg Hilton I'll be into the site and working.

Also, a little promotional postcard that we had printed was mailed by the printer on Friday. We received our card on Saturday. So the other 199 people we sent the postcard to should be coming into work to find it this morning. The marketing world says that if you get a three to five-percent reaction to a mailing it is a successful one. So we'll see if we stir up a phone call or two.

I do think my design work is better than ever. I really can't explain why. There just seems to be more thoughtfulness to my approach. I'm not interested in pushing as much work as possible through my desk. I'm interested in doing excellent work for fair prices. And I'm happy to pass on jobs that don't fit the bill.

After five Torisel treatments I feel better than ever, which is quite a blessing. Being on Nexavar for 14-months really ran me into the ground.

It's quite odd living through all the changes to the body these chemicals make. Going through puberty once was enough! My hair is getting thicker and darker. The little, soft, blonde beard I had has now come in dark and course as it was before. I'm gaining weight, reaching a high of 178-pounds. And I have much more energy than I've had in many, many, many months.

Some of the Torisel side-effects are beginning to show themselves. But so far they are tolerable. For some reason my entire head is drying out and flaking. The doctor confirmed that that is par for the course. Also, small, itchy hives have popped up on my forearms, along with a couple small rashes. This too, I've been told, is a normal reaction to chemo dispensed via IV.

No complaints. I can deal with that stuff. And all in all I really felt that everything would continue to get worse, not better. So.....woohoo!

It's off to make some breakfast and get in some good exercise and then get into some work for a productive day.