Update & Snake Farm

Just an update here.

We’ll get to the Snake Farm business in just a little bit.

OK, I’m getting closer to getting back on my blogging schedule.  The last three weeks have been hectic with trips to Galveston, Katy,

Austin, Lockhart, San Antonio, Dallas, and points in between.  We’ve been gathering up equipment for a fence staining business to be run by #1 Son Joe David Werst.  It’s a family business with Joe David in charge.  We’ll let him pick his title….maybe he wants to be Supreme Commander of Austin wood fence staining.

We will go live with the website in a week or so as we get closer to launching the business.  It will be called AllTex Fence Staining and will be located in the Austin/San Antonio area.  However, I bet he would come stain your wood fence and make it look like new almost anywhere.

Right now I have the equipment and we are designing signs to put on the side of the 16′ trailer that carries the specialized equipment.  When he drives into a neighborhood in Austin/San Antonio, they will know for sure that he is there to stain someone’s fence and make it look good.  I’m going to give the equipment a test drive on my house which is a cabin style with an exterior of knotty pine.  There is a picture of the house up above.  I’ll use the cleaning solution and sprayer which applies that solution and then come back with a semi-transparent stain which will let the knotty pine show through.  It’s kinda like getting a new hairdo….

If you want your fence stained out here in Real Texas, we can do that before going to the Austin/San Antonio Area.  We’re using the latest in technology and social media to market AllTex Fence Staining including Google Voice, a whiz bang super optimized website, fan pages, twitter marketing and more.  The phone number is an Austin number 512-814-5598, but using Google Voice, it will ring at our house and we will be the answering service and dispatch jobs from here leaving Joe David free to stain fences, meet with customers, manage the business, and mainly do most of the work.  We’ll also be using the low tech but always effective knocking on doors in the neighborhood that we are currently doing a job and leaving door hangars and literature.

Ramona is busy setting up the latest version of Quickbooks 2010 complete with inventory control and a payroll module.  The graphics folks we have developed over the last couple of years are almost done with the graphics for the sign and website and all that part is looking good.  We’ve redesigned invoices, added logos, and are having them printed.  We haven’t had to operate as a bona-fide business in several years now since selling our newspapers, but it will all be worth it by this time next year.

If the recession doesn’t get us…..

If the business climate doesn’t turn sour….

If people don’t run out of money……

If the democrats don’t keep control…..

If the republicans don’t screw things up again……

If we don’ t get taxed to death as it is looking like…..

There are a millions reasons to not do a start-up right now, but I generally ignore all the Chicken Little stuff and just get busy.  In my life I’ve seen too many really dumb people go out and be very successful just because they didn’t know any better.  They didn’t know they might fail…it never occurred to them.  They just went out and became successful anyway.

Since Joe David isn’t dumb and is ready to get busy, We just know this little family business will be a success.  Anyway!

I’m David out in Real Texas

Almost ready for the phone to ring….

Now about that Snake Farm stuff…..

Here’s a music video that just didn’t seem to fit anywhere else.

My Ramona would not go inside a snake farm if her life depended on it.  She’s deathly afraid of snakes and we’ve killed our share of them out here in Real Texas.

I believe there used to be a Snake Farm located between Austin and San Marcos on I-35.  Anybody remember it there?

Well a woman I love is named Ramona
She kinda looks like Tempest Storm
And she can dance like little Egypt
She works down at the snake farm

Chorus:

Snake Farm – it just sounds nasty
Snake Farm – well it pretty much is
Snake Farm – it’s a reptile house
Snake Farm – Uuuggghhhhh……

Well Ramona’s got a keen sense of humor
She got a tattoo down her arm
It’s of a python eatin’ a little mouse
Wearin’ a sailor hat that says snake farm

Chorus

I asked Ramona how come she works there
She says it’s got it’s charms
Nothing to do in the winter
Now and then some kid gets bit at the snake farm

Chorus

Well Ramona likes her malt liquor
And a band from Wales thats called The Alarm
She said she cried when they broke up
She still plays their records at the snake farm

Chorus

Sometimes Ramona calls me up
And says come on down here, it’s getting warm
She runs everybody off
And we…you know…it’s a snake farm