Keep Fingers Crossed

[CaptainTux]

I am having a conference call this afternoon that could grant my small business national exposure. At this time I cannot say more, but I have been massaging some big dogs into listening to me closely and I may be building a great bridge here. If this works, the entire complexion of my business and my life could change. If it does not, I am no worse off than when I started, but my foot is wedged in a pretty big door right now. Keep fingers crossed guys! More to come!

[KamikazeAthena]

Fingers are crossed for you and good wishes for the best is coming your way! Just remember that the fact that you have dared to try has put you far above the majority of people who go through life striving for nothing.

Dy

[Breea]

Tux,

I'll keep everything crossed i can possibly cross and maybe even a few things i shouldn't...LOL

good luck dear friend..my prayers and best wishes go with you.

Breea

[CaptainTux]

Breea!!! :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: ;)

Thanks everyone...keep em crossed a little longer, but this is what I posted in the CA..

YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I still am not at liberty to say what the deal is just yet, but the talk went very well. It was one of those conference call deals where is was supposed to be just me and the other person, but I knew he had me on a conference speaker phone and I could hear occasional buzz in the background. They want a proposal on their desks with a number by Monday morning and then we will have a follow up call on Monday afternoon to negotiate price and get a contract in order. I have been on this planet long enough to know that I have the deal, all we have to do is work out i dotting and t crossing before we sign our names.


I am about to have some great nationwide press!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WHHHAAAAAAAHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[julix]

good luck!!!!!!!!!

[CaptainTux]

Whhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[jewels]

I'm so happy this step has gone so well for you. Excellent. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

[CaptainTux]

Thanks, Jewels. That means a lot to me from you. It has been tough. With the biz I have essentially hit rock bottom with everything else going on in my life and the only thing keeping me from getting one of those regular jobs is
a. I do not like the idea of a day care picking my daughter up from school...that is my job.
b. I have been building momentum and contacts and I knew I was close to this. I knew I was on the right track...good contacts and bridge building were just not putting food on the table.

Once this is said and done, I will be no millionaire. But I will have not only a feasible operation, but the springboard that few small businesses get to grow rapidly while running in the black and allowing me to afford my daughter a good school and get me a car built in this decade. Now comes the part where I have to avoid hypocrisy. I always criticize companies that fail because they grow too fast and do not contain it and control it.

If I make that mistake...I cannot scoff every time I read Inc Magazine or Craine's. :salute: ;)

[CaptainTux]

BTW, KamikazeAthena...you have a very cool avatar. Is that you? Where did you score the props?

[KamikazeAthena]

Yay Tux! I am glad to hear that things are going well for you. Fingers will stay crossed!

Yep! It is me. I got the blaster on ebay. It was a very bad copy of an "original" model and I spent hours cleaning the resin. Overall it is pretty nice now. I made the jacket myself. The patches and pips are from ebay.

[CaptainTux]

You did a heck of a job. Both the gun and the jacket look very nice. I had one of those cheap jackets that came from the back of Starlog Magazine when I was a kid. Should have figured on me being an adult large someday and gotten two. sigh.......

[KamikazeAthena]

Thanks! I really apprciate that! They were fun to complete but a pain to make. There was a lot of measuring, cursing, remeasusing, and general head smacking. I did manage to do a whole costume plus cape. It was an act of love and insanity!

For my bachelortte party I (very uncharacteristically) dressed in white and decided I needed the white BSG jacket. That was lot more cursing. Don't prick yourself when you are working with white!

So the point is that hard work does not go unrewarded, which is why I know your business will be a success! Can't wait to hear how it works out!

[CaptainTux]

An update to follow on Monday or Tuesday after a price and terms are agreed to. Frankly, I think I knew I was either on the road to success or failure. I've kind of hit the edge of my rope here and was really considering one of those job thingys. It's funny, my family still thinks I have a few screws loose, but every time I get a little exposure in the paper, they are all over the news clippings and scrap books. Sigh.......

[KamikazeAthena]

I can't wait to hear more next week. We are all really pulling for you. If good vibes count for anything, and I think they do, all will be great!

[CaptainTux]

You do realize you cannot tell me you have a white jacket and NOT show pics of it!

[CaptainTux]

Update! I was up all night tweaking the proposal and this is the response I just got.

Hi Pat -

Got the proposal and have given it a first read. Looks good. I'll give you a ring shortly (have to jump out for lunch meeting with the VP of Sales).

Cheers,
KLR

:D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D :D

[Breea]

Way to go hun....sounds like you're going to be rocking before to long..

[CaptainTux]

As the day progresses here I am thinking the close may not happen till Wednesday at the latest....I hate playing it cool and being patient. Not one of my strong suits.

[Lara]

As the day progresses here I am thinking the close may not happen till Wednesday at the latest....I hate playing it cool and being patient. Not one of my strong suits.

Steady, steady...deep breaths... all good practice..you just need to channel your inner chilled dude..

No second guessing or talking the moment down!!

Cheers,
Lara

[Breea]

Tux,

You've made it this far..Just hang in there and things will go great.

[CaptainTux]

I did not say I was losing hope. This is still int he bag. I will be patient and I will play it cool...I just don't wanna. ;)

[KamikazeAthena]

It is exciting to hear how things are progressing for you! I can't wait for the final good word!

So just for you Tux, I finally found a pic. Not great but it works. I had a hard time uploading so I just changed my avatar for now.

[CaptainTux]

That is awesome! It is also alluring....forgive me. Is Mr Athena a BSG fan too? (note smooth transition from saying...the pic is hot to how is the hubby? this is why I close deals...or screw em up....hmmmm.......)

I got this last night.....

"Sorry Pat - it's 6:30pm on this coast and I literally just got out of a series of meetings and "caucuses!" I'll give you a ring as soon as I can in the morning.

In general, I have the following comments:

* Do you have a sample of trainings or demonstrations that you've done in the past?
* Outline:
o Seems like Hour 1 gets off a little too slow; I recommend moving module V and VI into hour 1; hour 2 maybe can be beefed up with demos of major apps in ***?
o Hour 3 looks good - I would also include a "where to go for more info" wrap-up
o We'll want to be sure that the topics/agenda that come out of the State of ***** requirements are incorporated into this - I've got you into the ********* Conference next week in ******* for free; trust it won't be a problem for you to attend?
* Will the content be easily updated? How transferable will it be to web delivery? Do you foresee any kind of a quiz? (maybe we save that for the additional Consultants package/program you recommended
* 15 business days sounds like a great schedule
* The additional offering of a live demonstration sounds good; we are currently getting our CEO's demonstration and are going to analyze that for best practices - he's done hundreds of them.

I'm excited about this project, and additional projects like additional IT admin training, development of the hands-on coursework for the State of ****, maybe Webinars, etc.

Talk to you tomorrow.

Best, "


I put *** over stuff I am not comfortable revealing yet. This thing is still moving forward. I m hearing a lot of we and us.

[CaptainTux]

Negotiation phase has begun. However, we have already started talking about other projects that can spring from this one. They are not saying if...they are saying when. Now all we gotta do is agree to a price and terms. This is on. More to come!

[KamikazeAthena]

This is all great news! I am really happy for you. Let me know when I can drink that toast!

Thanks for the compliments! I am flattered! :blush:

Mr Athena HATES BSG! He won't even watch 5 minutes with me. He is one of "those" types who will just tell you how much better Star Wars is. He will even tell you that the effects in Star Wars were better even though we all know the truth about how all those were done. Now that he is starting to see how many die hards are out there, he does not think that I am out of my tree so much! He is pretty supportive of my costume making, etc. Although he is less than thrilled that I am thinking of making a daggit. ;)

[Lara]

Now that he is starting to see how many die hards are out there, he does not think that I am out of my tree so much! He is pretty supportive of my costume making, etc. Although he is less than thrilled that I am thinking of making a daggit. ;)

The jacket looks really neat!! Drafting patterns from scratch is a bitch and a talent I haven't ever mastered, so double cool!!

And as for making a daggit...I think that is a brilliant idea (and you can quote me to your hubby on that) and if you do it I would love to see pics.
The small one I made many yahrens ago got lost in one of our moves (along with a lot of my toy making stuff)
btw, my hubby has me limited to only two stuffed toys per room as a sort of truce. If I break it he starts leaving his woodwork equipment inside, and it sucks when you can't see the TV for the Triton workbench with the two bears on it!!

Cheers,
Lara

[CaptainTux]

Will the daggit be robotic????? There are great kits you can buy...for a fee.

Well, THE DEAL IS ON!!!!!! I am going to a convention next week and signing contracts and NDA's to start the job! Because I do not know yet how we are going to disclose the relationship and whatnot, I will not be able to get into specifics until after the convention, so look for a post here sometime around Saturday after next for the curious and those rooting me on with some moral support. I got my break! WHEEEE!!!!

Looks like I am gonna have to hire a personal assistant soon!

[Breea]

I am so proud of you..you never gsave up which just proves that you've got what it takes..

Can't wait for all the specs.

[KamikazeAthena]

This is great, great news! Congrats Capt.! I am so glad that all of your hard work paid off! I look forward to hearing the details! :salute:



Well Lara, lets just say I have no intention of ever trying to make another jacket! That was a royal pain in the :eek: !!!

[Lara]

Well, THE DEAL IS ON!!!!!!

Yayyyyyy!!!!

Congrats. Go get 'em!!! :D :D

Cheers,
Lara

[Lara]

Well Lara, lets just say I have no intention of ever trying to make another jacket! That was a royal pain in the :eek: !!!

:D :D :D :D

Cheers,
Lara

[KamikazeAthena]

Well Capt. What is the latest? All set in stone yet? We are pulling for you!

[CaptainTux]

My apologies. I have been quite busy setting everything up and locking everything down and waiting for the ink to dry. The essence is this. I will be working as an independent consultant with the staff of Linspire in improving and developing their retail exposure. You can already buy pre installed computers running Linspire at Microcenter, Tiger Direct, WalMart , Fry's and many other places. You can even get the boxed editions at Best Buy. The intention is to take it to the next level and that is where I come in. I shared my vision and they like it. I also spent this last week with them at a education and technology expo in Indianapolis Indiana. They are part of Indiana's mission to get a one for one ratio of computers per student in the classroom. I was there in the Linspire booth to announce my services as an authorized Linspire consultant to aid the schools in the learning curve as they migrate. It was exciting to be a part of this and I genuinely feel welcomed as one of them. This is going to be a joint project and one that will be successful. There is discussion of future projects in this partnership. As exciting as they are, I have to deliver on this one with excellence. Can do. Will do.

I will be posting back in the main centers of fandom soon, but I have my hands full in getting this bad boy in the right direction.

[CaptainTux]

Okay, the first project is finally done. They LOVED IT!!!!! The project was what I thought it would be, a test to see if they would trust me on the next project. They needed to see if I could deliver.

I have been given the green light on the second project. THIS is the big one.

Linux distribution maker Linspire has been making headway in working with the Indiana State Board of Education.

Indiana has a new program called the one for one program. One computer for every student in school. Using Linux with Wintergreen computers (a manufacturer based in Elkhart Indiana), they are able to achieve this aggressive mission for less than half what it would cost to use MS or Apple.

Indiana has been looking at Linspire and Novelle's SUSE Linux. They like Linpsire..according to press reports I have read, it is about a 90% in favor of Linspire over SUSE.

Though I am not the only certified Linspire consultant, reseller, builder in the Illinois, Indiana, Wisconsin tri state area, I am the most organized and I speak about Linux at computer clubs, colleges, etc. Doing this retail channel training project I just did for them was the proof they needed that I could assist with their next project.

The project? Developing a comprehensive day long training seminar for the IT staff of the state of Indiana to be delivered at strategic locations throughout the state. I will be working with staff of Linspire to develop this program and administer it. Along the way, my company is being positioned as the officially recommended consulting and troubleshooting group to handle off of Indiana's needs regarding the Linux migration.

I will also be one of the speakers at the Desktop Linux Summit in San Diego in April of 2006. I will be speaking about Linux migration and the needs of the SOHO user.

There are some other speaking engagements and writing engagements in the works as well.

My company seems to be going in a direction where selling PC's and Servers is no longer my core competancy so I am working with another builder on a merger possibility on the hardware end. We will be rolling it out in April as our own brand. It will be a niche market. High end, high quality Linspire PC's, but as we work our our development arc, we believe we can move more units than anyone else who has attempted similar enterprises can move.

Thank you all for the support and I will keep you appraised of any other updates to read what I write or see a speaking engagement and heckle me. ;-)

[julix]

Conrats captain! :) :salute: I think it sounds wonderful!

[CaptainTux]

Thx Julix. This is my attempt to make a mark on this world. I will never write a great american novel, I will never compose a hit song, but I can find ways for small businesses and schools and charities to save a few thousand bucks in their IT expenditures and get to write a few columns. Oh yeah, I get to support my daughter in the process. This one income deal is a rush...still getting used to it. :salute:

[julix]

Thx Julix. This is my attempt to make a mark on this world. I will never write a great american novel, I will never compose a hit song, but I can find ways for small businesses and schools and charities to save a few thousand bucks in their IT expenditures and get to write a few columns. Oh yeah, I get to support my daughter in the process. This one income deal is a rush...still getting used to it. :salute:


some people get to make their mark in all kinds of different ways.............but the impact we have on our immediate family, I feel, is the most important and meaningful.

[CaptainTux]

Yeah. I can agree with that. I got a little blond here who thinks I walk on water. The perks of being called daddy rock over anything else in my life. However, if I can have those perks and pay her way into Yale or Juilliard...well, that'll be okay. ;-)