Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM

As I type this (10PM Texas Time), the outlook for mail going out of my area
has not improved. All US and Fed-Ex
shipments are by truck. I don't expect this to change for some time. If the
US 'goes to war' or even lobs
Tomahawks at some dirt, things will get worse, not better. It would not
surprise be at all if the internal USPS
'Priority Mail' becomes a thing of the past. It would not surprise me if Air
Mail to Europe TRIPLES in price.

It is hard for me to do much work. Many MOTM users are in that area. I do
not think any have been injured. But,
it is most likely those people have lost someone.

It doesn't help that I am a news junkie, either :) I hardly EVER watch
'network TV' (I can't even tell you the last
time I sat through a TV show. It was probably 8 years ago). I can't seem
∗not∗ to watch it (although the 'reruns' are
getting tiresome, and there is not much to tell on a continuous basis). I
saw the 2nd plane 'live' hit the tower. I
have gotten 6 hours of sleep since.

I am worried about a possible 'downward spiral' (to quote NIN) in the stock
market beginning Monday, and how it
will effect (affect?) semiconductor stocks, already battered. I am 'lucky'
that my holdings "are only half" of last
year's levels. A former company I worked for has seen their stock drop
(since last March) from $68 to 12 CENTS
and will be delisted. This is important, because compensation in the US
semiconductor companies (which, if you didn't
know, I work for one in my 'real job') is almost ENTIRELY based on stock.
Profit from MOTM sales is only 20%
of my income. And. of course, I have increased inventory for these 80
modules and subsequent designs. There is
probably $35,000 worth of parts in my inventory.

I continue to work on the 80 assembled modules on order. I will finish the
MOTM-850 Pedal Interface pcb and
sheet metal early next week. On Sunday, you can place orders for it.

I will start shipping again next Friday the 21st. I will only ship 1 package
a day, to see how long they take to arrive.
I seee no point it having your long-anticipated modules rotting in a D/FW
airport terminal for weeks on end. Each
package will be chared an additional $1.50 for a tracking number, so I can
see the "progress" (cough cough).

If USPS shows to be unreliable, I will use Fed-Ex 'ground service' which is
like 3-4days inside the US. I will charge
accordingly.

I hope whatever action the military takes (and you can bet 100% there will
be one) will be short, non-disruptive.
Although the ∗rumor∗ now is that China will announce that it will allie with
Afghanistan. Great, WW3 :(

I am praying contantly all day, every day. I do NOT like the sounds of
fully-armed F16s flying over (3 times today).
I am used to them having training flights, but looking at 8 missles under
the wings is chilling. IF you didn't know, I
live exactly in between the D/FW airport (home of American Airlines, the
area's largest employer) and the former
General Dynamics F-16 factory (in Ft Worth, it's always called GD).

Please bear with me as I struggle and cope mentally and physically with the
sorrow and worry for my family and my
country.

Paul S.