Good Candles and Good Neighbors in North Dakota

That's Aaron McWilliams, CEO of Spiral Light Candle. He's also my son-in-law. Conventional wisdom, in some circles, is that doing business with relatives is a bad idea. Sometimes that's true: sometimes not. (September 12, 2011, June 5, 2007) In our case, it's been working out just fine.

'Look Who's in the Paper!'

Friday's Grand Forks Herald ran a longish story of Spiral Light Candle and the man (and woman) behind the candle. I've clipped some excerpts, and will sound off at intervals:

" A new kind of candle goes into production in Hillsboro, N.D."
Grand Forks Herald (June 15, 2012)

"A candle in a wine bottle sparked a business that took one couple from their farmhouse kitchen to a 10,000-square-foot factory here in less than a year.

"Observing the uncontrolled wax flow, Aaron McWilliams, 28, and his wife Sara decided they wanted to create a candle with a new kind of wax flow where the dripping wax can be reused to stretch the burn time.

"When the couple started making the candles in February 2011, they said it took three to four hours to make just one. Today, Spiral Light Candle Corp. churns out 400 candles a day at its new factory, a former potato warehouse the couple purchased in January...."
(Grand Forks Herald)

I walked through that old potato warehouse with Mr. McWilliams during purchasing decision-making: and it didn't look anywhere near as move-in-ready as it did in this photo:


Spiral Light Candle factory, south section: during construction. December 31, 2011.

On the other hand, the bones of the building looked solid: and some fellows who actually know something about construction said that it was in good shape.

By Next Year - - -

"...By next year, the company's seven employees — including the McWilliamses — hope to produce more than 1,200 candles a day, using 7,500 pounds of wax a week. They anticipate hiring 14 or more workers by Christmas and also plan a gift store at the front of the factory....
(Grand Forks Herald)

Spiral Light Candle products are already being sold in quite a few stores. The "Find a Retailer" page on on the company's website shows a fairly heavy concentration in the upper Midwest, but folks elsewhere are finding out about "the candle with a twist," so that's changing.

The company's online store opened yesterday afternoon:

• Spiral Light Candle
  (SpiralLightCandle.com)
  • Find a Retailer
    (SpiralLightCandle.com/find-a-retailer)
  • Spiral Light Candle Store
    (shop.SpiralLightCandle.com)

Running Out of Room

"...After repeated attempts, they [Aaron and Sara McWilliams] developed a process to coat the inside of the candle without using molds. Aaron McWilliams made his own equipment, using parts from home improvement stores, then did some research and contacted a fabricator in Minnesota to help design full-scale models....
(Grand Forks Herald)

That's when it started getting interesting. Making a candle or two in the kitchen every day wouldn't keep up with demand:

"...Once they started selling the candles, they rapidly expanded their kitchen factory into the basement and then the garage with some funding from family...."
(Grand Forks Herald)

Planning: Lots of Planning

Aaron McWilliams and I spent an intense 10 days or so, around the first of December, 2011, 'crunching the numbers.' (December 3, 2011) He has the business experience, and knows the math: I've got technical skills and follow directions fairly well. Like I said, working together - works. For this family.

"...By February of this year, they were out of the garage and working on the new factory, the only space they could find in town...."
(Grand Forks Herald)

Spiral Light Candle factory, south section: production floor and offices. March-April, 2012.

That's what the old potato warehouse looks like, with several feet of insulation added to the walls. The candle-making process requires rather tight temperature control. Happily, what's right for candle-making is also comfortable for people.


Spiral Light Candle factory, south section: part of the HVAC system. May 25, 2012.

Community Support

"...The McWilliamses said the community welcomed their business in a way they didn't expect.

"When they bought the building in January, they signed a purchase agreement right before Christmas but didn't have the funds to pay it back until February. Everyone stepped in to help. Local beet-plant workers locked out by American Crystal Sugar Co. provided labor, and businesses provided everything else on credit. 'By the time we had money in, we had already spent four weeks renovating a building we didn't technically own,' Aaron McWilliams said...."
(Grand Forks Herald)

There's been quite a bit written about "mutual trust and respect." Some of it makes sense. I think trust, respect, altruism, and 'enlightened self-interest' boil down to the old 'love your neighbor' thing. And that's another topic, for another blog.

Vaguely-related posts:

• "Candles in a Box, and in an Online Video"
  (June 15, 2012)
• "Spiral Light Candle's Online Store - Open"
  (June 15, 2012)
• "Spiral Light Candle Factory Construction: More Photos"
  (January 18, 2012)
• "Factory Construction on Schedule; National Sales Manager Hired"
  (January 4, 2012)
• "Candles: Analysis, News, and Very Odd Questions"
  (December 3, 2011)

First Full-Time Employee, and a Busy Monday

Spiral Light Candle Corporation (spirallightcandle.com), my son-in-law's latest venture, has a full-time employee, as of Friday. Last Friday, that is, not the one coming up.

So why am I spending part of today, getting Spiral Light Candle Corp's Amazon.com account ready? I've got about 20 years' experience in marketing, which makes me a pretty good choice for the task. I'll get back to that in a bit.

Now, some blatant, shameless self-promotion. Almost. Actually, it's part of what I'm preparing for Spiral Light Candle Corp's Amazon account:

About Us

Spiral Light candle all started with a simple question: "Why does a candle only burn straight down?" With this in mind and his interest in motion and video, inventor and entrepreneur Aaron McWilliams had made the world's first spiral burning, self-filling prayer candle.

Following his love of the Catholic faith, Aaron's first venture into the Catholic market came when he opened a Catholic book and gift store in central Louisiana with his late wife Kelly. After she was diagnosed with terminal cancer, Aaron and Kelly decided to document this difficult journey in an effort to share their experience.

Later Aaron and his new wife, Sara, founded Oasis Productions and completed the documentary entitled: "The Art of Serenity, A Journey of Faith."

Today, Spiral Light Candle Corporation is the McWilliam's newest venture as they stay close to their faith, and strove to provide new and compelling product lines for the market they love.

How Does It Work?

Spiral Light self-filling candles are a new twist on an old staple. The self-filling candle is first lit, using the horizontal wick on the upper edge. The candle burns around the hollow center with the wooden wick allowing the wax to drain inward, filling the center.

The horizontal spiraling wick self extinguishes when the inside wax level reaches the top of the spiral, to prevent any spilling. This creates a solid pillar candle.

By writing your prayer intention on the wooden wick before inserting it in the candle's center, you start bringing your prayer and the candle together. As the spiraling wick burns, a pillar candle forms around your written intention: to remind you that God never forgets.

Back to Me

About four years ago, I posted about the 'Chinese business model:' hiring relatives as a way to get motivated, loyal employees. It's the way quite a few folks in the Far East operate. Here in the West, we've had bad experiences with bosses who hired their idiot brother-in-law: so we call it nepotism, and pay more for the skills of occasionally-excellent non-relatives.

I think it's a cultural thing. This family works pretty well together, which isn't the case for everybody.

I've spent part of today working for my brother-in-law - at zero cost to the Spiral Light Candle Corp. - because he's family, I'd probably think the product is a good one, no matter what. Or at least say so. Also because I'm a part-owner of the company. If we succeed, I'll get paid - indirectly.

But so many stores have ordered Spiral Light's candles - and then ordered more - that it's not just my opinion. These things have a wide appeal.

And, no matter what happens, I've gotten a good review in graphic design and marketing.

Now, it's time for a coffee break and my daily exercises.

Related posts:

• "Catholic Bookstores, Choices, and Reasons"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 3, 2011)
  Particularly
  • Why Run a Catholic Bookstore?
  • Evangelizing, Not Annoying
  • Sour-Faced Saints?
    • Not the best role models, I think
• "Trade Show Preparation: Is Work Important?"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 1, 2011)
  • Depends on what you mean by "work"
    • And "important"
• "Families, Vacations, Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Annual Trade Show, Schedules, and a Candle"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (August 1, 2011)
• "I'm Not a Forty-Year-Old Kid Any More: Time, Organization, Energy, and Priorities"
  (July 20, 2008)
• "Hiring Relatives and the Chinese Business Model"
  (June 5, 2007)

Families, Vacations, Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Annual Trade Show, Schedules, and a Candle

We started setting up the Spiral Light Candle Corp/Oasis Productions booth at the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show this evening. More accurately, my son-in-law and #2 daughter started setting it up. I stayed out of the way, for the most part.

Trade Show Children's Area

There's something new this year: a sort of 'kids' area:' a section for children with activities and (don't tell them?) educational things going on.

This makes sense, I think, since some folks plan their family vacations around the show, or at least work it into their vacation plans. With the children's section available, parents have the option of getting a few moments on their own, to check out the booths.

The public part of the trade show starts Wednesday, and goes through Friday, I'm told.

Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show Floor Schedule

Here's what I found on the trade show's website-

Trade Show Floor Open:

• Wednesday, August 3
  • 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
• Thursday, August 4
  • 9:00 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.
• Friday, August 5
  • 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

The trade show's website has a more detailed schedule.

Who's at the CMN trade show:

• "Attendees"
  15th Annual Catholic Marketing Network Trade Show (via www.cvent.com)

Just a few from the list of attendees:

• America Digital Accessories Corp
• Bless Our Faith Gifts, Inc.
• CCC of America, Inc.
• The Donut Man
• Liguori Press/Publications
• Mr. Jon's Gift Shop
• Wee Believers

Spiral Light Corporation's Self-Filling Candle

I'm particularly interested in the Spiral Light Candle Corp./Oasis Productions booth. Naturally, since I'm a part-owner of the Spiral Light Candle Corp. - and working there as the gopher,

Here's a time lapse (and half-size) video of one of our self-filling candles. The full-size video is on YouTube.

"Spiral Light's Spiral Burning Self Filling Candle"

(shown half-size: full version at YouTube)
anoasisproduction, YouTube (July 28, 2011)
video, 1:31

More about the Catholic Marketing Network's trade show and me:

• "Catholic Marketing Network's 15th Annual Trade Show"

That's My Son-In-Law Who's Doing That!

Three years ago this June, I posted "Hiring Relatives and the Chinese Business Model." It was a sort of good news/bad news look at the potentials and perils of working with relatives.

In America, nepotism has a bad reputation - it's something that many companies specifically forbid. For good reason, I think: too many nitwit brothers-in-law and incompetent cousins can ruin morale and wreck a company.

On the other hand, having relatives work in the family business works pretty well among people with a Chinese cultural background - and in my family.

My oldest daughter and I have cooperated on a few projects - successfully, I think - and now I'm doing a little work for my son-in-law. He's the Executive Producer of Oasis Productions: and is managing production of "Art of Serenity: A Journey of Faith." (anoasisproduction, YouTube (February 23, 2010), video 4:13.)

We touched base earlier today: work on the documentary is on schedule. It's coming out by the end of August, 2010. Barring something like a Haiti-level disaster here in central North America.

He also set me up with an email service that'll allow us to exchange decent-size files. As a sort of test of the system, he sent me photos of the new office and workroom of Oasis Productions. These are scaled-down copies:


Video editing - the computer's doing the work at this point. April, 2010.

I'll want to ask - but I suspect the lighting is a little contrived in this photo. The lighting isn't quite that dramatic.


Production / editing area, Oasis Productions. April, 2010.

That's my daughter, at the editing station. There'd been discussion of my doing at least some of that work: but she's got transferable skills - and she's on-site, so it's her job now.

Like I said, family businesses can work well or fail spectacularly. It depends on the family. I think we'll do okay.

I'm Not a Forty-Year-Old Kid Any More: Time, Organization, Energy, and Priorities

My wife told me that she'd like to see more of me. Apart from giving me reason to question her aesthetic sensibilities, it brought me back to an issue that I'd noticed.

Properly Prioritizing Projects

Several promising projects have slid off the back burner, and are somewhere behind the stove now. These include:

• Artwork for an existing website
• A new website's
  • Graphic Design
  • Site architecture
    (fancy talk for organization and navigation)
  • Copy
  • Artwork
• Content for a somewhat-lapsed blog

I'd known that I'd been letting a bit of the non-urgent slip by, but hadn't realized how big that pile behind the stove was.

Worse, I realized that I hadn't been spending as much time with my wife and kids as I could - and probably should - have.

Sound familiar? Nothing new here.

This week I took a deep breath, and about a half hour, to think about where my time and energy was going.

I'm Not a Forty-Year-Old Kid Any More

The first thing I decided was that it was time to admit my limitations.

• I need sleep
  • At regular intervals
  • Around 8 hours a day
• When I don't sleep I get tired
  • When I get tired I get stupid
  • When I get stupid my productivity goes down
• I need exercise
  • There's a cartoon, doctor saying to patient, "What will fit better into your daily schedule: exercising for one hour, or being dead for 24?"

Family is Important

Sure, an exciting, rewarding career and a thriving business is fine (I'll let you know when I've got both!), but there's not much point to either if you don't have, and keep up with, your family. At least, that's the way I see it.

Urgent and Important Aren't the Same Thing

I've been paying attention lately to blog posts and website issues that needed to be dealt with now, or sooner. That sort of thing can be distracting.

Details are Important - So is the Big Picture

I've let two things happen: Concentrated on the details of keeping an ambitious set of blogs and websites fairly up to date; added little tasks one at a time, until the principle of the camel's back applies. Since I'm the entire staff, as well as the manager and head of the company, I can't let the detail work become overwhelming.

Or, rather, I shouldn't have.

Reality Check and the Next Step

I don't do my best work after about 10 or 11 at night. What made me aware of that was a late-nighter I did recently, when I couldn't think of the word "pretentious." For me, that was spooky: like a driver not being able to remember where the switch for the headlights is.

So, I'm cutting back my workload: to get better work out of me; make more time for my wife and family; and have the brains, energy, and creativity I'll need to spark up "Easy Griller" and "Minnesota for Web-Wise Travelers," and create "Loonfoot Falls," the website.

It's probably going to mean lower traffic in the short run, since the biggest time-eater right now is "Apathetic Lemming of the North." I've been doing six posts a day - mostly what I call 'micro-reviews.' It's fun to do, people like to visit, but I think I need to grow other places online.

We'll see how this works.

Working From Home: Kids and Computers, Utopia and Reality

My 12-year-old son talked me into letting him download a Disney online game.

• On the 'main' computer
• The one I use to create graphics, manage websites, and keep records

He's quite persuasive. And, he did try to install the software on his laptop first. Besides, it's quite a cool game: "Pirates of the Caribbean."

This is not what any sensible consultant would advise a small business owner to do. There should be things that are strictly and exclusively for business use:

• Equipment
• An area of the house
• At least one telephone line
• Blocks of time

I'd like to have one of those home offices that we see on television ads. You know what I mean: a room that boasts

• Upwards of 200 square feet
• Glass-paneled, curtained double doors
• A desk that's bigger than some of the beds in my house
• Wood paneling, probably oak

I know that it's possible to dedicate space, equipment, and time to a home business. I also know that this household doesn't work that way. We've got a long-standing policy of having multi-purposes areas, sharing equipment, and having schedules that are more flexible than Gumby.

If there's a lesson to be learned here, it's that ideal outcomes aren't always practical - or the best use of resources. If that sounds familiar, you've probably read "The Principle of the Speckled Ax."

Working From Home: Short Commute, Low Overhead, and Office Sharing

My second-oldest daughter just now told me that I can use the computer. That's the family's term for the main computer, in my office.

"My office" is a desk and several square yards of what we call the "north room." It's also the room where music gets practiced and made, and has other uses.

This morning, it was used as a sort of impromptu conference room for my wife and our second-oldest daughter. I walked in on a very serious discussion they were having.

Thankfully, I had the sense to ask if I'd be interrupting anything. I'm pretty sure that they were having a mother-daughter talk about a transition this family is going through. There's a little more about that, over at another blog, "Through One Dad's Eye."

Working from home is fine, but sometimes the "office" can't be used exclusively for business. And, that's inconvenient.

Relatively Unimportant, but Urgent

I spent about half the day, getting a Knights of Columbus bulletin ready for mailing. Well, maybe not half the day: but counting those bulletins, filling out the postal forms, and getting the carefully-sorted mess to the Post Office took time. So did waiting while the new fellow behind the counter worked his way through a relatively complicated and unfamiliar procedure.

Then, I had errands to run for the family.

This evening, I'm trying to catch up on what my business requires: which is creative work today. I'm not going to get as far along as I wanted to.

Next, I work on the family's Christmas letter.

Without a family, and a few community responsibilities, I could concentrate on business. But without the family - and, I suppose, the community - what would be the point of a business, or much of anything else?

Family, Business, and Focus

I've been distracted lately. Distractible would be a better way to put it.

My father is almost exactly thirty years older than I am. That puts him in his mid-eighties. He's taken good care of himself, but a decade or so of smoking (he quit after health problems with tobacco became known in the late fifties), a childhood lung ailment, and a much more recent infection finally caught up with him.

With the exception of some trouble with short-term memory, his brain's working as well as ever. But, he's having the dickens of a time getting oxygen in, past a damaged set of lungs.

He, me, my wife, and our kids, are dealing with a set of transitions now. We're helping him move out of the house he's been in for some time. Our second-oldest daughter is taking care of much of that, since she currently lives only an hour away from him.

He's as logical and practical as ever, and realizes that he's going to have to move into town, into an assisted living facility: but that doesn't mean that he likes it. He also recognizes, as I do, that his life expectancy is now much less than what it was before the most recent infection.

On the other hand, a few years ago he told me that he'd been to one of those websites that calculate life expectancy (I assume, from the questions asked, that they use data from actuarial tables). He keyed in the data, and, if my memory serves, found out that he'd died about ten years previously. Or, rather, that he should have.

I've got a good, close, relationship with my father, thank God. I know that people have a limited time to live, and that death is one of the few things we can count on happening to us.

Just the same, the prospect of not having my father's experience and wisdom to fall back on is disturbing.

And, it's playing hob with my ability to focus on what needs to get done. Not that my focusability factor was ever very high.

What's the point of all this, as far as a small business is concerned?

This is obvious, but I'll say it anyway: having a family, in fact any human connection, is going to interfere with doing business.

The trick is to achieve a working balance. And, in my opinion, keep in mind the observation that nobody, facing death, ever said "I wish I'd spent more time at the office." That's not just my opinion, I see. The advice to "get a life" is in a "Forbes article: so it should make business sense.

After all, one of the reasons I'm trying to set up a sort of online publishing business is that I want to be around my family.

Granted, another reason is that I got laid off in my mid-fifties, have discovered that I can't do the lift-and-carry jobs that I could manage a quarter century ago, and that central Minnesota, delightful as it is, doesn't have much demand for someone with my qualifications.

Oh, well: this is a great opportunity for me to get creative in a new, and largely untested, kind of business.

Monday Broke Out With Unusual Severity

Of all the tasks on my to-do list today, the only item done was my blogging.

Which is business-related. Eventually, when traffic builds up, I expect more revenue from those ads in the column to your right: and the ones between news items at the bottom.

Family matters got in the way. My wife and one of the kids were out of town for most of the day, partly to pick up my oldest daughter's laptop. That left me with an 11-year-old itching to get a laptop that's become too buggy for my oldest to use, my oldest who is tense because she hasn't been able to work on her projects while her laptop was in the shop, and another daughter who's getting over a non-serious but very irksome super-cold.

Oh, well: I got a chance to reflect. I don't what the latest thing in psychological theory is, but my experience has been that my brain acts as if there's automatic machinery, or perhaps subroutines would be a better term, that keep running when I'm not using the circuits for something else.

Whether or not that's a valid model for how the mind and brain works, keeping most of my head in idle for the day may have something to do with the mental images of banners, and a few other graphics that dropped onto the front desk this evening.

They might even be worth something.

Legal Jihad and the Pants-Stealing Koreans

To be fair, Judge Roy Pearson had the good sense to drag the Chungs back into court over the Independence Day holiday. I'm a bit of a news nut, and this one would have slipped by me if an online friend hadn't brought Judge Pearson's 'jihad' to my attention.

I don't feel so bad, though, seeing that The $54 Million Pants Suit That Wouldn't Die is an item on the Washington Post's Metro section.

One aspect of the case that has been given, at best, scant attention is the issue of diversity. The Chung family, recent immigrants from Korea, are not only foreigners, but cannot blend into Washington D. C.'s ethnic majority (which made up 60% of the city's population in the 2000 census).

For anyone in business, especially those who aren't corporate giants, this is really bad news. The Chung family didn't have the sort of money it took to finance the first two-year court battle, let alone a second one. I understand that hundreds of Washington Post readers have contributed to a legal defense fund for the Chungs, but the besieged family is going to need more than that.

Much as I respect our legal system, I'm disturbed that an obviously deranged lawsuit like this can't be given a decent burial.

I've heard arguments, usually waving the Dred Scott v. Sanford flag, that courts must hear all cases, no matter how bizarre. The idea seems to be that contemporary mores may need to be changed, and that this change can only come through the courts making fools of themselves.

There's gotta be a better way, though.

And, somehow I doubt that "the best interests of all Washington residents" are being served by protecting them from what Pearson seems to regard as evil, pants-stealing Koreans.

(Lunatic lawsuits seem to be a recurring theme in this blog, so I'm starting a list of related posts.)

• Justice Goes Back on the Grill: $54 Million Pants Back in Play July 11, 2007
• Judge Roy Pearson's Pants-Stealing Koreans July 7, 2007
• Legal Jihad and the Pants-Stealing Koreans July 6, 2007
• Another Screwball Lawsuit? June 27, 2007
• Justice is Served (Medium-Well) June 25, 2007

Computers and Kids: Son of Return of the Sequel

It's almost a week since my kids and I discussed a new way for me to ensure that my software is left alone when I leave it alone.

Bringing the mini-saga up to date, the new process seems to be working. The kids have been paying attention to the okay-to-visit list. Just as good, my son talked to me about another site that was overlooked when we discussed the white list. He has my oral assurance that the site is okay to visit, and play games on: and I'll be updating the printed and posted list shortly.

I suppose that they could be sneaking visits behind my back, but between browser logs and the fact that my kids know that I know about such things, I think they're toeing the line.

Previous posts in this mini-saga:

• Computers and Kids: Return of the Sequel (June 27)


• Computers and Kids: the Sequel (June 26)


• Computers and Kids: Home-Based Business vs Bionicles (June 25)

Computers and Kids: Return of the Sequel

This continues the micro-saga of how my 11-year-old son's effect on a 3d render last Monday has helped me learn a few things about how to managing business and family under one roof.

The story to date is in Computers and Kids: the Sequel (June 26) and Computers and Kids: Home-Based Business vs Bionicles (June 25).

There were one or two moments earlier this week when I felt like restricting all access to the 'work' computer, except for vital, by-appointment-only tasks. That wouldn't have been reasonable, though, and would have violated my policy of letting the kids learn by doing. Hair-raising though that may be.

So, I sat down and thought of what was actually needed to maintain a safe working environment for me and the software. I came up with a five-point list, the third point of which was my responsibility to put a prominent written notice up whenever a critical software operation was running without supervision.

Having keyed my five points into a text file, I gathered the kids around the 'work' computer and discussed them. I learned about three sites for the 'white list' of acceptable game and/or video downloads. Looking up ownership of the sites, I decided they were okay, and added them.

The five-point reminder sheet is posted by the computer now, and I'm fairly confident that we've got something better than a temporary solution.

Computers and Kids: the Sequel

"What we've got here is failure to communicate," that sixties catchphrase from Cool Hand Luke (1967), seems to be at the root of yesterday's intersection of my kids and my work.

Tomorrow, I plan to have a short list of reminders posted (hardcopy) near the computer. we've got rules for its use, but it looks like it's easy to forget some of them.

One of the reminders is for me. Part of my responsibilities will be to put a note on or very near the computer when there's something running on it that mustn't be disturbed, and I'm away from the thing.

We'll see how well this works.

Computers and Kids: Home-Based Business vs Bionicles

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

I was waiting for a long render to end. A 3d landscape was giving me some trouble, and I wanted a closer look at what was happening. A cup of coffee wouldn't be enough this time. I needed to find something to do with the next hour or so, while the software did its work.

That's about as long as I usually spend at an exercise place in town, so I left instructions to leave the computer with one of the kids and left. (Clarification: I don't exercise for an hour. That's how long it takes me to drive there, change, exercise, shower, and return. Not bad, for a guy like me.)

When I got back, the computer was being re-booted.

My son had decided that his program wouldn't cause any problems. I suspect that it was one of those online Bionicle games, but I haven't confirmed that.

He's sharp, and computer-savvy. He's also eleven years old, which leaves him with something less than a mature storehouse of wisdom.

The software I was using seemed to have saved my landscape, which wasn't the option I'd have chosen. In addition to the original problem, it was now decidedly terraced.

I've dealt with the new and degraded landscape. At one point, I noticed that my method of smoothing out the terraces was making the landscape swallow some buildings.

On a positive note, I got a great deal of experience, using features of the 3d modeling software and another graphics program that I hadn't learned about before. At this point, about midnight, I'm waiting for the end of a rendering which will reveal how well my most recent efforts were at salvaging my project.

On the down side, I've got to decide what to do about what the kids can, and can't, do with the computer.

It isn't as easy as forbidding them from using the thing: tempting as that option is. I work at home, and don't have the budget to maintain two sets of hardware. One of the kids relies on word processing software for her writing, and even the mail service we use doesn't seem to work well on the older computer.

I'd like to have a neat solution ready to present at this point, perfectly balancing the needs of my evolving business with my responsibility to prepare our kids for life in the Information Age.

But this blog is a record of how my business develops: and at this point, I don't have the solution. Maybe tomorrow.

The rendering I was waiting for should be ready soon. I'd better see how it looks.

North Light In My Eyes

Painters and other creative types are supposed to prefer working in studios with a north light. It makes sense: in the northern hemisphere, a window facing north gives the most consistent illumination.

My wife's north room project took my desk and moved it, computer and all, about two yards east. I now have a very nice view across the street.

I also have the main light source for this room shining straight into my eyes.

It's a great incentive for me to keep my trifocals streak-free.

Working at Home: The Information Age meets home renovation and the dust of decades

Working at home has obvious benefits: a commute measured in yards rather than miles, relaxed dress code, and flexible hours.

On the other hand, things happen at home that don't, generally, in a conventional office or plant.

At a "normal" workplace:

* Your kids won't come up to you with statements or questions about Bionicles, bicycles, and the nature of reality
* You won't have to fight the urge to take a break "for just a couple minutes" and watch TV
* The environment already looks like a business, so you don't have to either make part of the house a production-boosting environment, or develop the sort of self-control it takes to stay on-task in a residential setting

I could go on, but there have bushels of books written on the subject. Why duplicate the effort?

Then there are the sort of distractions that can happen in either.

Yesterday, my wife's north-room renovation project reached my desk. I held my position as she cut around the desk, and me. In her wake came my young son, pulling up the carpeting, the underlayment, and what seemed like several pints of dust.

I don't know what had accumulated down there over the last several decades, but it gave me the first headache I've had in a long while.

I quit early. Of course, that means that the boss (me) will insist on my getting back on task over the weekend. So, back to work.

Hiring Relatives and the Chinese Business Model

Even though I'm a Norwegian-Irish American, there isn't much about ethnicity in this post. There is, however, a bit about the up- and down-sides of working with close kin.

Westerners think of nepotism as a vice, east Asians purportedly regard hiring relatives as a virtue. There's this academic look at the topic, and many more, online: I've no idea how valid any of them are.

Living on the edge of "Chinatown" in San Francisco, and working in an ESL program, gave me an outsider's look at how folks in that part of the city ran their businesses. I was impressed at how efficiently and effectively my neighbors kept expenses down and productivity up by keeping jobs in the family.

Of course, that sort of system requires kids who give a rip about their parents, parents who are willing to sacrifice their own immediate impulses to what's good for the next generation, and a work ethic that hasn't been stylish in the more refined and cultured circles in the USA for decades. That last point might be changing.

My own enterprise has relied a great deal on the expertise in CSS that my oldest daughter developed, together with her artistic abilities. She and I have very similar personalities: neither one of which are particularly notable for diplomacy. That makes our cooperative venture exciting, as well as productive.

We make it work, thanks in large part to this family's tight bonds and our mutual willingness to to trade labor for benefits like reciprocal links and room and board.

The working relationship my oldest daughter and I have illustrates the advantages and one of the problems of working with family.

The advantages:

* Dealing with people you know: Communication is easier, and you have a clear idea of your colleague's skills and training

* Low- or no-cost labor: Many families can trade labor for food and housing, and the prospect of advancement in the enterprise

* High productivity and loyalty: Members of a close-knit family are highly motivated to make their business successful, for their own profit and the good of the family

The disadvantages:

* Dealing with people you know: Communication is complicated by years of close association, during which time both parties have had ample time to acquire peeves and grudges and mutually irritating habits

* Unsatisfactory compensation: Relatives may expect more money than you can offer, and take offense when you don't live up to their expectations

* Low productivity and loyalty: Family members don't necessarily have the best interests of your enterprise in mind, and may believe that they can loaf because you'd never fire a relative

Most how-to-run-your-business books say that hiring relatives is risky at best, and I'd say they're right. It's working in my case: but this is an unusual family.

Sunday Afternoon

Whenever possible, I take Sunday off. Church, family, and grilling burgers are more as important as getting most business-related tasks done. "Nobody, on their deathbed, ever said, 'I wish I'd spent more time at the office.'" (Attributed to Senator Paul Tsongas, and, more plausibly, to Author Stephen Covey.)

But, Sunday is coming to an end. I've got an email to send, a little organization to do, and some writing and digital photo touch-up to get done before Monday morning: enough to guarantee that I won't be bored as the sun goes down.