We’re On Fire!
It’s midsummer. It’s hot - hot for here in Montana at least. And - we’re on fire! Not the bad kind of fire, but the kind that fuels you from inside - that motivates you to get up every morning, grab a cup of coffee (or in my case, chai latte), do a little victory dance, and get on with a day that is sure to be meaningful.
What makes us so mirthful this month? First - we finally received word that our patent status has changed from “patent pending” to “approved.” Sounds like a simple thing, right? Nope. It’s long. It’s tedious, it’s a “do we really want to do this"?” kind of stressful, drawn out, labored process. If you forget to dot your i’s with little sunflowers, it will be thrown back at you. But we persisted, persevered, and after 2 years, it finally paid off. Waiting for the official certificate in the mail, but it’s done, and our shoulders can go back down from just under our ears to their normal resting positions.
Second, the Chimney Snake systems, in all their glory, is completed. Installed in local homes, living happy lives sweeping all those woodstove chimneys clean for winter, with the click of a drill. Just waiting for the inventory to climb to the appropriate levels to satisfy orders, and we’ll be releasing for sale to the general public sometime around July 25.
James, our Director of Sales and Business Development, has taken the 17 hour drive from his home in SoCal, to the mountains of Montana, and is spending a week with us to help with fabrication and photography, as well as giving us some comic relief and reminding us that laughter is sometimes not the best medicine, but the only medicine you need when things occasionally go askew.
Outside in the shop, drills are cutting, gears are spinning (my technical terms), while inside I’m battling the Amazon beast. For two weeks. I get five steps ahead and fall back 6. It’s close, but no cigar - yet. Too many drop down menus, too many categories that don’t fit, too many unanswered questions, too many AI conversations, not enough massages in the world to make it better.
So I sit, deer in the headlights, hoping it all falls into place in time, hoping that I don’t get fired. Luckily I have an edge. I sleep with the boss. For 39 years. That really should count for something, shouldn’t it?