MOTM

Unbelievable!

I've printed this out to stick on the kitchen bulletin board just to remind myself that things aren't so bad.

A Happy and prosperous New Year to you and your family, Paul!

Chub

 I feel ya Paul! I had a very crappy 2011, but 2012 seems like it's off to a good start. Good luck to you sir, and to others out there.

pete

Wow. Lots of excuses. Do Paul and Cynthia share the same ghost writer?

--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...> wrote:
>
> Wife & I wore all black to protest 2011. Only positive thing: grandson Noah who turned 4 months yesterday. Did I mention he is the world's cutest baby?
>
> Yes, 2011 was just miserable on all fronts: personal, family, professional, MOTM, you name it.
>
> Let's talk a bit about MOTM 5U.
>
> The format was always intended to be DIY first. However, I had no idea when I started how popular it would be. This may sound odd but the thing just snowballed on me.
> I decided to get 'outside help' but no one locally was interested in through-hole insertion and my "low volumes". I tried to hire local tech-school graduates but 3 out of the 4
> I hired quit < 10 days after they started (gee, it is sort of boring to count resistors into little plastic bags).
>
> I was lucky to have Paul Haneberg offer vitrually free assistance, which came when I was out of work for 15 months (and non-working wife with 2 kids). But shortly thereafter Paul
> suffered a massive stroke and I had to take it all back on. So in 2006 I decided to stop the full kits and go "MOTM 2.0". I then offered a 'last time buy', thinking *maybe* another 75
> kit or so would be bought. Nope, it was 916. That is over $200,000 in *parts*. Then, 2 unrelated by unforseen things happened back-to-back:
>
> a) my wire provider, who did all the nice colored, tinned wire/coax closed down *without any warning at all* when I had very little left in stock
> b) Vishay decided to move all my pc board pot production to France. This caused me to not receive a single pot shipment for 16 *MONTHS*. Then they raised the price from $1.83 to $7.90 (wtf).
>
> Well, after all this was resolved it was 2009. I still had piles of backlog, and piles of kits to ship. I was able to find a pot replacement vendor while roaming NAMM (BTI). I was able to locate a Taiwan company to make me wire for a $900 "batch fee" (I got a shitload of wire). But here came the "copper shortage" and prices started going up up and up. Tyco started charging $2.83 for a knob that in 1998 was 47 cents. But I stumbled along and got the backlog down somewhat. Then here came the end of 2010/2011.
>
> 1) I was fired from my nice, $130K/yr, work out of my house job because my 33 year old boss "just didn't understand engineers" (direct quote). I was replaced by a 40yr old BSET sales droid making $80K/yr.
>
> 2) I got a decent paying job at RIM designing the audio circuits of the new Blackberries. The job was ~35mi away through heavy traffic. I decided to move closer and the wife wanted a 'nicer house'.
>
> 3) so I packed up and moved to a new house that was only 11mi away. I made exactly *one* house payment. RIM laid off 2,000 people, and I was one of them.
>
> 4) We wait 2 months to see if the "old house" sells (we own it outright, thanks Maxim stock options). Nope, no sale! Wife decides to move BACK to original house.
>
> 5) Then baby Noah is born, daughter & boyfriend break up, daughter + Baby Noah are now moved back.
>
> 6) So, I pack all the stuff up AGAIN and move back. I am about 95% unpacked/located all the stuff.
>
> In the "glory years" of MOTM (1999-2002) I shipped around 900 modules/year. This year I shipped 64. Yep.........64 (cough). I sucked at MOTM in 2011.
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>
> 2012 will be *very different* than the way things have been. I will start 'announcing stuff' after NAMM. Some people will rejoice and others will not be happy campers. But things cannot drag on and on and dribble out like they have been for the last 4 years or so. The death of JH put me into a 3 week funk and I still get depressed some days.
>
> I want to thank everyone who has stuck by me all this time, almost 13 years now. Don't panic: MOTM is not 'going away'. It's just going to be ..........+++CARRIER LOST++++
>

Completely uncalled for.

Richard Brewster
http://pugix.com

On 1/5/12 11:56 AM, martyschnooker wrote:
> Wow. Lots of excuses. Do Paul and Cynthia share the same ghost writer?
>
>

a) if you're going to be snarkey, please use your real name. Handles are
so.....1997 GeoCities.
b) anytime you want to 'chime in' with more worderful and thought-provoking
insights, please go elsewhere.


Paul S.

----- Original Message -----
From: "martyschnooker" <martyschnooker@...>
To: <motm@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Thursday, January 05, 2012 10:56 AM
Subject: [motm] Re: Update: 2011 sucked!


> Wow. Lots of excuses. Do Paul and Cynthia share the same ghost writer?
>
> --- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...> wrote:
>>
>> Wife & I wore all black to protest 2011. Only positive thing: grandson
>> Noah who turned 4 months yesterday. Did I mention he is the world's
>> cutest baby?
>>
>> Yes, 2011 was just miserable on all fronts: personal, family,
>> professional, MOTM, you name it.
>>
>> Let's talk a bit about MOTM 5U.
>>
>> The format was always intended to be DIY first. However, I had no idea
>> when I started how popular it would be. This may sound odd but the thing
>> just snowballed on me.
>> I decided to get 'outside help' but no one locally was interested in
>> through-hole insertion and my "low volumes". I tried to hire local
>> tech-school graduates but 3 out of the 4
>> I hired quit < 10 days after they started (gee, it is sort of boring to
>> count resistors into little plastic bags).
>>
>> I was lucky to have Paul Haneberg offer vitrually free assistance, which
>> came when I was out of work for 15 months (and non-working wife with 2
>> kids). But shortly thereafter Paul
>> suffered a massive stroke and I had to take it all back on. So in 2006 I
>> decided to stop the full kits and go "MOTM 2.0". I then offered a 'last
>> time buy', thinking *maybe* another 75
>> kit or so would be bought. Nope, it was 916. That is over $200,000 in
>> *parts*. Then, 2 unrelated by unforseen things happened back-to-back:
>>
>> a) my wire provider, who did all the nice colored, tinned wire/coax
>> closed down *without any warning at all* when I had very little left in
>> stock
>> b) Vishay decided to move all my pc board pot production to France. This
>> caused me to not receive a single pot shipment for 16 *MONTHS*. Then they
>> raised the price from $1.83 to $7.90 (wtf).
>>
>> Well, after all this was resolved it was 2009. I still had piles of
>> backlog, and piles of kits to ship. I was able to find a pot replacement
>> vendor while roaming NAMM (BTI). I was able to locate a Taiwan company to
>> make me wire for a $900 "batch fee" (I got a shitload of wire). But here
>> came the "copper shortage" and prices started going up up and up. Tyco
>> started charging $2.83 for a knob that in 1998 was 47 cents. But I
>> stumbled along and got the backlog down somewhat. Then here came the end
>> of 2010/2011.
>>
>> 1) I was fired from my nice, $130K/yr, work out of my house job because
>> my 33 year old boss "just didn't understand engineers" (direct quote). I
>> was replaced by a 40yr old BSET sales droid making $80K/yr.
>>
>> 2) I got a decent paying job at RIM designing the audio circuits of the
>> new Blackberries. The job was ~35mi away through heavy traffic. I decided
>> to move closer and the wife wanted a 'nicer house'.
>>
>> 3) so I packed up and moved to a new house that was only 11mi away. I
>> made exactly *one* house payment. RIM laid off 2,000 people, and I was
>> one of them.
>>
>> 4) We wait 2 months to see if the "old house" sells (we own it outright,
>> thanks Maxim stock options). Nope, no sale! Wife decides to move BACK to
>> original house.
>>
>> 5) Then baby Noah is born, daughter & boyfriend break up, daughter + Baby
>> Noah are now moved back.
>>
>> 6) So, I pack all the stuff up AGAIN and move back. I am about 95%
>> unpacked/located all the stuff.
>>
>> In the "glory years" of MOTM (1999-2002) I shipped around 900
>> modules/year. This year I shipped 64. Yep.........64 (cough). I sucked at
>> MOTM in 2011.
>>
>> ++++++++++++++++++++++++
>>
>> 2012 will be *very different* than the way things have been. I will start
>> 'announcing stuff' after NAMM. Some people will rejoice and others will
>> not be happy campers. But things cannot drag on and on and dribble out
>> like they have been for the last 4 years or so. The death of JH put me
>> into a 3 week funk and I still get depressed some days.
>>
>> I want to thank everyone who has stuck by me all this time, almost 13
>> years now. Don't panic: MOTM is not 'going away'. It's just going to be
>> ..........+++CARRIER LOST++++
>>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>

I hear ya.  We had record snow, record rain, an ice storm (no power for 3 days), a tornado (no power for 3 days), a hurricane (major flooding), a 10" rainstorm (major flooding), an earthquake, and a record 15" snowstorm after halloween (no power for a week).  Holy crap!  But I was luckier than you in that I survived through two layoffs (but more to come).  And worst of all I didn't spend any time on my synth (missing the glory years).  2012 can _only_ get better!

> > Wow. Lots of excuses. Do Paul and Cynthia share the same ghost writer?

While my first reaction was incredulity at the outrageous lack of tact
and compassion from mister schnooker, I realized that I must have the
same ghost writer myself. 2011 was probably the worst year of my life,
except for maybe 2010.

It feels like I spent half my time in the last two years on business
trips, away from my family, and away from my side
business/hobby/obsession. Those of you who know me are no doubt aware
that I have a daughter, a daughter who has been the most difficult,
brainless, careless, selfish, idiotic creature a father could ever fear
to spawn, so I have to admit, "you're going on TDY in two days" is a not
bad thing to hear! Now I'm not a religious man, but I believe God took
pity on me and did not add a grandchild to my burdens these last years,
not that my daughter didn't try, mind you.

Business-wise, I too had supplier problems with horrible lead times that
were extended several times. I had preorders go bad, where I had
commitments to buy, so I purchased materials, only to have customers
withdraw their orders, leaving me with product on the shelf and no cash
to buy the materials for the next project. I tried taking deposits to
solidify orders (funny how only a quarter of the people on a waiting
list actually order) but that turned bad when things took longer than
anticipated. At one point, I was set up to buy a couple big pieces of
machinery, and even tried to place one of the orders only to be told
that the transaction was denied. Turns out that Chase Bank, in their
infinite wisdom, decided that I had purchased too many things, so they
reduced my business credit line from $10,000 to $600. Yes, that's ten
thousand down to six hundred. How do you convince a bank like Chase
that the $35,000 you just put on your other charge cards will come back
soon if you can just buy the machinery to build things??? In the end, I
sub-contracted things out in small batches, but it cost me almost three
times as much...

I too moved into a new house some time ago, but in my case we kept the
first house as a rental. Well, we had a water leak, a replumb, a gas
leak, and then an AC failure. I haven't been able to afford $8,000 for
a new unit just yet, so that house lies vacant. (Rent a house in Tucson
without AC? Good luck!) Fortunately, I am able to pay the mortgage, so
I'm not in danger of foreclosure or bankruptcy, but I'm sure not
climbing out of the muck very quickly. Oh, by the way, *NEVER* hire an
out of work construction guy who is the son of one of your co-workers!
Trust me on this. (Hey boss, there's some bad mojo here at the office,
can I go TDY again?)

Did I mention that the daughter went off to college, failed out the
first semester and then didn't think about the fact that she was
supposed to be paying her fees on time? At NAU, after you owe a
thousand bucks, they start dinging you $50/month late fee. Seven months
later I found out about it when they told her she couldn't register for
classes next year. Guess who got to fix that problem? (Tricky thing
being married to a woman who refuses to let a kid learn a lesson if it
means they won't be able to attend college...)

On top of all the day to day trauma, about a year ago, I lost my
father-in-law to pancreatic cancer, which was a topper to a previous bad
year. And did I mention that my favorite dog Maggie, a 17 year old
Husky, died on tax day last year? Sigh...

2012 is already better.

Regards,
Doug

You think you people had it bad in 2011? I used to be forced to get up in the morning before I went to bed, clean the lake, lick the road clean with my tongue, and then my father would shoot me and dance on my grave... Or however that Monty Python sketch goes.

-Elhardt

a) TDY = ???

b) I started the 'MOTM 3.0' wheels in motion today. Let's see how things pan
out in the months ahead :)

c) My daughter signed a $9,000 student loan at the local 'trade school' to
be a medical office assistant (whatever that means). She lasted exacly 45min
on Day 1 and came home in a fit because 'the teacher is too hard'.
Thankfully they let her back for the next session which is ongoing for a
whole 2 weeks now without another meltdown.

d) meanwhile: grass is green, water is wet, etc.

Paul S.

Hiya Paul,

> a) TDY = ???

Sorry, I work for a defense contractor. TDY = temporary duty. PCS =
permanent change of station.

> b) I started the 'MOTM 3.0' wheels in motion today. Let's see how things pan
> out in the months ahead :)

Good luck, sir!

> c) My daughter signed a $9,000 student loan at the local 'trade school' to
> be a medical office assistant (whatever that means). She lasted exacly 45min
> on Day 1 and came home in a fit because 'the teacher is too hard'.
> Thankfully they let her back for the next session which is ongoing for a
> whole 2 weeks now without another meltdown.

Heehee, did I mention that about a year and a half ago, I tried to teach
my daughter how to ride my son's motocross bike? Well, she crashed,
running into a tree and breaking the clutch lever. We had a second bike
with us, so I tried to teach her with that, but she decided she wasn't
even going to try. She really seemed to hate the idea that it didn't
start on it's own and she had to kick it, etc. And besides, at that
point, she loathed any family-related activities. Well, then she goes
off to university and gets a big student loan. Instead of paying fees
with the loan, what does she do? She buys a motocross bike. Oy vey.
LOL!

> d) meanwhile: grass is green, water is wet, etc.

Indeed. What's that old Bombeck thing? The grass is always greener
over the septic tank!

BTW, I should have sprinkled lots of "LOL" and "ROFL" tags in the
previous message. I believe the aliens will return my daughter's brain
in (hopefully!) another year or two. In the meantime, now that my
daughter has moved to a different city, I have my original wife back!

Regards,
Doug

> b) I started the 'MOTM 3.0' wheels in motion today. Let's see how things pan
> out in the months ahead :)

Such-A-Tease! ;-)

>> b) I started the 'MOTM 3.0' wheels in motion today. Let's see how things
>> pan
>> out in the months ahead :)
>
> Such-A-Tease! ;-)
>

Just seeing if anyone is paying attention.

It's a big undertaking for not just me. But in the end I think it will be a
positive thing. More details after NAMM.

Paul S.

Just make sure it is an equal power pan. :-)

John Loffink

On 1/6/2012 10:48 AM, Paul Schreiber wrote:
>>> b) I started the 'MOTM 3.0' wheels in motion today. Let's see how things
>>> pan
>>> out in the months ahead :)
>> Such-A-Tease! ;-)
>>
> Just seeing if anyone is paying attention.
>
> It's a big undertaking for not just me. But in the end I think it will be a
> positive thing. More details after NAMM.
>
> Paul S.
>
>
>

MOTM 3.0? What might that be??

On Jan 6, 2012, at 1:54 AM, Paul Schreiber wrote:

> a) TDY = ???
>
> b) I started the 'MOTM 3.0' wheels in motion today. Let's see how things pan
> out in the months ahead :)
>
> c) My daughter signed a $9,000 student loan at the local 'trade school' to
> be a medical office assistant (whatever that means). She lasted exacly 45min
> on Day 1 and came home in a fit because 'the teacher is too hard'.
> Thankfully they let her back for the next session which is ongoing for a
> whole 2 weeks now without another meltdown.
>
> d) meanwhile: grass is green, water is wet, etc.
>
> Paul S.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>