Tuesday, August 31, 2010

What's New?

Thought I might post a note on the latest and greatest around LUSB. We are currently in the process of weeding out inventories that are aging in the pet department and some discontinued styles in the craft world. All of this is in preparation for an upcoming move - we may have found our location for the future in Vancouver of all places. Stay tuned on that one as it is developing fast.

Our vacuum forming operation will be moving to our location in Stevenson, WA soon. This will add much needed capacity for our growth and alleviate some of the bottle neck we experience in our plastics department. I look for this to be ready come November 1.

We will be exhibiting at the International Quilt Market Show in November, as well as attending the Industrial Fabrics Assoc. trade show in October - where great ideas and new technologies are showcased for us to review! In addition, SHOT show is approaching fast - set your dates for January!

I also want to take a moment here to thank our wonderful employees, who through thick and thin, continue to push the envelope and build great solutions for our clients! Thanks, peeps - you mean the world to us!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Sea Change

The US military has finally relented and moved off of the digital universal pattern that was so heavily invested in, and moved onto Multi-Cam (Crye) for future soldiers. It was announced widely this week that plants are maxing their capacities to produce the new FR pattern, and if you truly want to see a stimulus in industry here it is. The amount of production required by this move will be in itself a micro economy, although few ever realize it if you are not entrenched.

What does this mean?

The textile mills in the US will be mass-producing for the next 3-4 years to maintain the demand, and the fabricators and manufacturers of gear, uniforms, equipment, hardware, etc. will all be swept up into mix. Most of us in the gear manufacturing process have already integrated the new patterns into our production, and we foresee the next few years to be that of transition - similar to the transition to UCP in the early 00's. A small boon to the textile industry especially...

Look for Multi-Cam on a soldier near you, and thank him/her for their service.

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Time to Relax

Summer flies by some years, this one included. Last year I was dreading major surgery in August, making each day seeming more precious as the event approached, allowing me to savor each moment prior to having my head cut open. I awoke today thinking about how I cherished my days last summer and realized that this summer, I have hardly stopped to blink, traveling from one show to the next and making tracks that zig-zag across the map. In this last bit of summer I will do my best to relax a bit, and enjoy what's left before fall drops by for the annual visit.

On another note, about 20 years ago I worked at KFOG radio in San Francisco as an intern. There were some cool perks to the job, like meeting musicians, working at concerts and events, and getting free promo CD's - yes, CD's - they're round, plastic things if you don't know! One of the remarkable talents I met was Chris Isaak, who I can tell you is as humble and kind a guy as you can meet. As I spend the next few weeks falling into a more relaxing mode, I'll be spinning Mr. Lucky for the soundtrack...

Monday, August 9, 2010

Reno Warrior Conference

In Reno this week for the Warrior Conference to display some ideas and new thoughts...
http://www.warrior-conference.com/

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Charburger Blues

Took the boys camping this weekend with my brother-in-law, niece and nephew. Awesome overnighter in the Mt. Hood National Forest - Fishing, smores, dirt, etc. On the way home today, we decided to try the famed Charburger in Hood River. After entering and being blasted with heat from the kitchen, we stood in line to order the simplest of meals - a few cheeseburgers, some chicken strips, root beers and fries. We sat and waited. And waited. Then we waited some more. All in all, 37 minutes 'til I couldn't take it anymore. I had to ask where order 61 was. As I approached the counter I overheard a waitress arguing with the cook about another order in peril, to which he responded 'I don't care, give them their money back.' She rolled her eyes and set a course to let the unfortunate folks complaining know they were set free of their prison sentence and good to go. This didn't bode well for me, either. I was told however, that our order was up and on it's way. Relief.

Order arrived, 3 baskets first, 3 to come, with one missing fries. The waitress left to get the truant deep fried taters, and shortly returned with the same basket, without fries. Seems from our table to the kitchen, all of 20 feet, something got in the way of her best intentions. The other three baskets were delivered, with a disclaimer on the chicken strips that 'one was missing, and the cook couldn't find it.' Really? How do you lose the strip? Did it run away from the bad service? Maybe it was embarrassed to be part of such a fiasco? I guess where I come from I wouldn't have explained that in a 10x10 kitchen someone lost a chicken strip (just put another in the oil pit of death OK?), but please stay tuned as we have an APB out on it now -Somewhere in Hood River our strip was on the loose!

The food was mediocre, at least what did arrive. Even the tardy fowl meat arrived, although we're not sure where he vanished to, and was watched closely by more than one of us at the table. Can't trust 'em I tell you.

We left a memento on the table - A plate with ketchup spelling out 'This Place Is Lame' - I know, I know, childish at best, but afterwards we laughed like mad at the whole event and left with a memory we won't soon forget...




Thursday, August 5, 2010

Design Resource

OK, for those of you crafty types, if you don't already subscribe to Communication Arts you may wish to consider it. A standard among designers and creative agencies alike, this publication has provided many hours of enjoyable review over the last 10 years or so. An excellent resource for inspiration!
http://www.commarts.com

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

PNNL

I saw an amazing presentation today by Dr. Bill Pike of the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Dr. Pike launched into how the future of emergency response might look and operate, with a video presentation showing some remarkable concepts in technology assisted operability and interaction within the geospatial realm. I'll post the video as soon as I can find it!

The buffet was good, too.

Monday, August 2, 2010

Almost Primary Time!

Oh drat! I have to read my voter's pamphlet for the seemingly worthless candidate's statements and discover who wants to be a superior court judge (like I was following them?) While I cherish our right to vote, hold free elections, etc., this particular part of the process seems far too shallow for a true understanding of what will happen when these folks take office. However, there is one bright spot in all of Washington's elections - Goodspaceguy...

Yea, I said it, Goodspaceguy is a real dude. Known as a 10-time candidate supporting intergalactic travel and orbital living, this comic book character threw down the $1800 filing fee once again and got on the Washington state ballot. While his platform (levitating, no doubt) is 'out of this world,' I have to admire his tenacity and persistence in attempting to become elected - and of course for offering some levity to the mundane claims of 'I will fight for the public and say no to special interests' that we are more likely to nod our heads in agreement with. After all, this is what our country is all about, right?

Unfortunately, Goodspaceguy, I cannot with any clear resemblance of logic vote for you. Living on Mars may sound nice, but Earth seems crazy enough at times...

Sunday, August 1, 2010

Many Thanks!

Many thanks to all of you for signing into Today's Creative Blog for the tote giveaway! We are excited to make this happen and look forward to many more offers like this in the future!

In other news, I thought this was an interesting tidbit today - seems luxury sales are forecast to take off according to an article in Yahoo! News today. The link was broken so please excuse me for not posting here. However, it stated a larger than forecast demand from Asia and Europe for luxury goods/brands, with an emphasis on craft brands. This could boast well for the US, however, based on the decline in consumer confidence reported this week perhaps we have multiple personalities among us... Oh well, we can keep ourselves company I guess.

Off to ride bikes and fly fish with the kids. Perfect weather today in the northwest. Love it here...