Monday, February 02, 2009

Updates both good and bad

So, here I am sitting at home surfing the interwebs. Why not spend a bit of my time updating you on what has been going on in my life? First, the company that I work for, Ashworth, has been sold. Yup. Who would have thought that during a time of economic upheaval, the affluent people of our nation would stop spending their hardly earned money on expensive golf apparel. Sure, it's high quality. Number one brand in golf apparel for a decade or so. Can't argue with that. But, the stuff is not cheap. So, the end result is we are purchased by a larger company: TaylorMade. They in turn are owned by Adidas. Yeah, the soccer company. It's big. Really big. HUGE, I say! Fantastic, you comment! Not so much, I reply. Why, you ask?...seriously, this was how the conversation between you and I went... Well, I had thought that TaylorMade was buying the Ashworth company when in turn it really was buying the label. They decided that it has it's own way of doing things and that it would not be moving forward with my beloved iSeries (AS/400, eServer series i, or whatever IBM is butchering it's name to be nowadays). I understand that. I am, of course, really bummed out by that. But, I understand that. The last thing that they need is yet another computer system. So, I've been given notice. I have been retained for some time to aid in the transition between systems. Such is life. We roll with the punches.

This kind of bad news may keep a lesser man down. Place him in the doldrums. Not me. I would not let this kind of thing steer me off of my path. I had a plan, ladies and gentlemen. I had spent several months working on this plan. Secrecy and subterfuge were key to this plan. And on January 22nd of this year, the plan *SPRUNG* into action. I asked Barbara for her hand in marriage. To nobody's surprise, she said yes. Why do I say it like that? Because she's been introducing me to people saying things such as "I'd like you to meet Kevin. He's the man I'm going to marry". I still wanted her to be surprised when the question was brought up. The 22nd was her birthday and I've been telling her that there was no way in hell I would ask her on that day. Well, I did. I love her dearly and she will be mine. Oh yes! She will be mine. So, mark the day on your calender boys and girls. That date would be; sometime in the fall of 2011.

I know what you're thinking. 2011? Isn't that a bit far out there? Why, yes, it is. How very astute of you to notice that. You see, Barb and I have already planned what we would want to do for our honeymoon. It really isn't going to be cheap. So, I need time to save up for it. What was that? You want to know what the plan is? Okie dokie, here is the basics of the plan: First we fly to Cairo, Egypt. We take some time to see the sites of ancient Egypt and experience not so ancient Egypt. From there we fly ourselves to Istanbul (not Constantinople), Turkey. We may make a stop off in Nepal for me. Not sure if that will come to pass, however. From there we head on over to Beijing, China for the Great Wall, Forbidden City, etc. We'll take a small detour to Xian to see the Terracotta Army. Maybe a stop off in Hong Kong. I've had several people say that if you're flying through the area, it would be a shame to miss out on this city. Then back home. Yup, two airline tickets. Round-trip? Nope! No need. We'll be going Round-The-World, baby! So, yeah, gonna need a bit of time to save up for the trip.

There you go. A couple of updates. One good, one bad. However, with the bad always comes the good. I try to see bad situations as opportunities in disguise. Even when they take my fancy coffee machine away from me...the bastages!