Daily Archive for January 10th, 2009

The End of an Era

Published on January 10, 2009 in Recent Events and Work. 3 Comments

Change is in the air — not only in our government and economy, but in my workplace as well. Late last summer I learned that the company where I work, Vineyard Graphics, was for sale. In late November it was announced to the employees that a buyer had been found, and that Vineyard Graphics would change hands on January 1, 2009.

The news came with a bit of sadness for me. I have put a lot into the Vineyard Graphics brand, since it started on New Year’s day in 2002. The signage that I designed for my boss’s pickup has already been taken off… (sniff, sniff).

There will likely be a yearlong brand transition to the new name and look, so most changes won’t be immediately seen. But sadly, eventually my handwriting is going to have to come off the wall in our front office…

In time we will become Allegra Print and Imaging — part of the Allegra Network, one of world’s largest graphic communications franchises with more than 600 locations in the US, Canada and the UK!

The old boss, Larry, just wanted to do something different. He and his wife, Linda, (our current office manager) will be moving to Colorado, where they are buying some property that borders national forest land – way up in the Rockies. Larry will be hunting and fishing more I expect.

The new boss, Karl, also wants to start something new. He (like Larry) is already a successful businessman, having started and developed several businesses. He has lots of ideas on how to take this operation to the next level. He doesn’t have a printing background (but then neither did Larry) and he has already started his crash course!

At the news of Larry’s decision to sell, I felt deflated. I really didn’t want to go through another owner transition, and I began to wonder If I’ve been there too long? Maybe I should do something different?  After meeting Karl and reading all I could about Allegra,  I am now jazzed and excited about the direction we will be going. Allegra is big on service, quality, new technologies, training, and giving back to the community… Karl even mentioned better benefits for the employees.

I now believe it is going to be a good thing, and I plan to stay on and make a go of it!

Mixed messages?

Published on January 10, 2009 in Thoughts. 1 Comment

Most people, when they put things on their car, are pretty consistent. They either have religious things, or political messages (to the left or the right), and sometimes even offensive words and things. Some folks want nothing at all applied to their vehicle.  You can kind of get a hint about what is important to someone by what they put on their car.

An exception to that is if someone buys a car and leaves on whatever the previous owner had applied, even though it does not represent him or her. We did this when we bought our Jeep. It had a cool “Mountain Home, Idaho” sticker with a little fighter jet that Deanne and I both thought was pretty cool, and a Fox sticker (motorcycle racing apparel?) that also stayed. Weird huh? I can’t explain it!

I pulled in behind this vehicle in the Taco Bell drive-through. It was different and it kinda took me by surprise. The first thing I noticed were the chrome naked ladies by the license plate… then the fish… and then the praying hands. What?

This person either wants it both ways, straddling the fence you might say… or could it possibly be a case of “his and hers”?

It got me thinking deeper about my own life. Am I personally consistent? Am I sending out mixed messages? Are the messages I am sending really mine, or are they somebody elses? Can people tell where my passions are? Am I a “sold-out” friend of Jesus, or am I thinking I’m following Him and at the same time trying to chase after the things of this world?

Something worth considering, for sure.