A Delicious Irony?

Has anyone ever heard of a long-distance, East-West Relationship that succeeded?

Now they say that absence makes the heart grow fonder
And that tears are only rain to make love grow
Well my love for you could never grow no stronger
If I lived to be a hundred years old

Words never rang so true as when the late, great Roy Orbison crooned those heart-rending lines to all of us, lo these many years ago. Little did I know then, that one day I might live those words that once seemed just so much philosophy and wisdom, but now seem to be life itself.
I'm sure that you, my regular readers, clients, and friends, will be a tad surprised to find out that Pat has contacted me once again. Shocked is more descriptive of my initial reaction, you may be assured - shocked indeed.

Yes, absence does seem to make the heart grow fonder, or so I'm coming to believe, albeit somewhat reluctantly. What with my frequent trips across the country to participate in bi-athlons, pent-athlons, and extreme rock crawling, I've found that the offices here at Jay Standish, Inc. LLC, humble though they be, are a welcome haven when at last I return home.
Somewhat similar feelings seem to be starting around other areas, and regarding other people as well. I can but imagine your surprise as you read the words I am about to type, but imagine (if you can!) my own surprise at being able to type them: Pat may be back in my life.

I'm not quite sure how I feel about this yet, but we here at Jay Standish, Inc. LLC do nothing if not drop grudges as events make evident that they ought to be dropped - and events seem to be conspiring to indicate just that.
No, Pat's not been re-hired, not by a long-shot! In fact, Pat's relocated to the West Coast, pursuing a life-long dream to get into screen-writing and other creative endeavors. Rather than allowing our former relationship to recede along the banks of Lethe, the added distance seems to have, as the song-writer would have it, made the heart grow fonder. Whether anything will come of this, only time will tell, of course. Still, I'm hoping for some "pointers" or "guidelines" or other "advice" from my friends and readers. Can these long-distance relationships - crossing time zones! - ever really work?

As we head into the "holiday season" - with Thanksgiving hard upon us! - I'm sure many of our thoughts are turning to turkey (or tofurkey if one is so inclined), pumpkin pie, and football. Well, my thoughts are more likely to be turning back - recalling days reclining in front of the fire on a bearskin rug with a loved one. Perhaps my thoughts are turning to mush, but perhaps that's where they really have always belonged!?

At any rate, more marketing musings coming soon, and thanks for being there for me.

Last time, Jay wrote about returning home from China and granting a paladin's wish:
Holger Dansk responded:
"Allowing a commie un-civil servant to take your sword away makes me wonder how much you really know about paladins and such, Jay. I know I would never have suffered such indignity without at least threatening mayhem or worse..."


Ah, Holger, my friend, if only it were so simple. I fear that a rapier is no shield against the machine guns the airport guards began wielding for the Olympic period. Still, I admire your spirit, and match it fully with my own - Excelsior!

-- Jay

We're Thankful for You!

Our Faithful Readers, Clients, and Friends

Make All of This Worth-While!

Well, the week is winding down toward its wonted end of Thursday, followed by "black" Friday, and it's time for those of us here at Jay Standish, Inc. LLC to reflect on what it is that makes us thankful (and to whom - and to whom!).

It's all of you, our faithful readers, clients, and friends who swell our hearts (and souls!) with the true spirit of the holiday (viz. Thanksgiving). Not only am I personally thankful that I am still able to write these weekly (or so) missives, but I am thankful for all of my associates and partners here at Jay Standish, Inc. LLC (former partners excepted, of course!). We have been very fortunate this year, both personally and financially, and in the topsie-turvie world of the current financial situation of many companies - large and small! - we can but say our thanks to each and every one of you.

What with the news of all the major financial institutions having to write off or write down vast amounts of bad or un-collectible loans, it seems a bit petty for an organization which has been as blessed as we have been these past several years to hang on to our own "bad" debts. This is, many of you probably realize, easier than it would have been a few short months ago, "thanks" to my former partner, Pat, and his scheme for business enhancement. But I digress. We here at Jay Standish, Inc. LLC have decided that every one of our outstanding invoices will be written "off" as a bad debt. This, as I said, is easier than it would have been, as there is only one such invoice at this point - an old invoice for some market research on an early iteration of our full-motion-capable beverage vending machines (this pre-dates WiFi by many months, if our time-line is correct). Accordingly - no names here, but you know who you are - said invoice is hereby canceled, and accounted as null, void, and ex officio. Frankly, it's a load off my mind anyway - we probably should have done this a long time ago, as it became obvious that he wasn't going to pay. But I digress again.

"But, Jay," I hear you wonder, "isn't there any marketing information this week?" Ah, dear friends, you've just seen as slick a marketing scheme in operation as you'd ever want to. While we are truly clearing that debt from our books, and while we still remain open to doing business in the future with the "stiff" (that's the technical term my bookkeeper uses), a large part of the reason for the "gesture" is to elicit good-will from the rest of our clients. By seeing that we do business in a friendly and gracious manner, our clients are encouraged to count on us to be equally gracious with them (and we will be - fear not!). Yes, we will try to extend similar "gestures" to other clients as the situations present themselves, but that doesn't mean we're not counting on doing business in an ethical, friendly manner to really boost the bottom line: we are, and you can too.

Not only does being nice boost the bottom line, it makes me feel good at the same time. I'm going to head out to the gym for a little extra fencing practice now, but please, visit the "blog" on the internet and let us know what you think, and for what you are thankful.


Excelsior!
Jay

Last week, Jay wrote about Gas Station Television:
Thom Dranking responded:
"Jay, first off, I'd like to meet your sister - any bird who likes the scent of petrol is brilliant in my book! Next, though, I think you're being a bit too harsh in your criticism of this concept. I think you might find that "gear-heads" as you call them are strong consumers of many products, including news and information..."

Nice try, mate, but I still can't imagine being sold the idea of a tasty sub, a Quizno® perhaps, while choking on the fumes from the diesel at the next pump, let alone the "petrol" (ha! that's how I knew you were a "limey") odour from the pump at my own car.

-- Jay