Kaizen (改善): David Beroff's Journey

6:23pm: He keeps going, and going, and going...
New Billy Mays ad to be released posthumously

9:30am: Color matching
Online color matching is a royal pain, especially when you consider that some retailers just throw some color swatch up to their site that may have very little to do with the actual material color. :-( I was originally hoping to work with a single vendor, so that they could physically look at the raw materials in the shop before committing them to print. It turns out that it's pretty tough to find the right people that have colors other than white, black, etc.

Here's the actual effect that I am hoping for, based on some earlier samples; they're not an absolute exact match, but they're reasonably close, and I'm guessing few people would notice the slight difference in shades:



Here's the swatch from an online blank T-shirt place, ShirtChamp:





This is the color of some coroplast substrate from SuperSigns:



Now that I'm looking at this, the two swatches seem to differ by just about the same amount as the actual samples I have pictured above. i.e., Close enough if they're both factual.

8:26pm: Oscar Mayer died

8:23pm: Hot Dog Saga Continues
http://blogs.mcall.com/bethlehem/2009/07/hot-dog-with-the-works.html

11:29pm:

11:21pm:

7:52pm: I'm toll free!
Taking baby steps to get back into business.... Someone give my brand new toll-free number a call to make sure it works: (888) GLIDE-69

12:30pm: Bob (finally!) agreed to work with me!

12:49am: I couldn't resist posting this URL, which actually shows up rather well in a Google search:

http://www.politicalsignexpress.com/Old Files (to be deleted later)/corrugated-plastic-yard-sign.html

12:15am: Feast or Famine
The two main issues I encountered today: Not all teams were on exactly the same page with respect to required credentials for handicapped parking, causing tons of stress all over the place. And despite many potential avenues, there was no way to communicate the actual need for the use of the handicapped shuttle service which had already been arranged. After many hours, the appropriate director, (who happened to have lost a leg in the military), appeared on the scene to personally punch through both problems with good solutions, but it was unfortunate that it had taken so long to get to that point.

I got a bit of color, but I think I managed to avoid burning.

I'd already mentioned that the US Women's Open gig hadda cut back hours. The factory gig was going well, but they wanted to stop me before I hit the $600 limit for 1099's, so no third-shift work tonight. :-( They do want to put me on the payroll, but don't seem to be in a hurry to do so. Thus, I've gone from this week potentially being one including some double-shifts to one with almost zero work. {Sigh.}

I saw the movie Contact. I loved the book a few years ago. Obviously they had to cut down the story for the film version, but still a good job.

Anyone here experienced with printing custom T-shirts and/or lawn signs? I'm doing some preliminary research for the Segway gig, and keep hitting roadblocks for seemingly trivial things.

10:48am: Posted using TxtLJ
ongoing drama due 2 conflicting instructions wrt handicap parking credentials

7:42am: Posted using TxtLJ
made it by 6. thought i'd b in a corn field a mile away. instead, i'm right on the main green. wish i actually knew what was going on. tons of bug bites.

5:05am: Not awake enough yet to think of a cute headline
Zoo evacuated after chimps escape

10:59pm: I took my landlady to church, after she's been away for about two months. She missed everyone, especially the three year olds that she usually teaches. She brought them Cheez-its. :-)

Tomorrow's my first day with the US Women's Open gig. Gotta wake up at 4:30. :-(

7:40pm: Google's failing me now :-( in finding my daughter's quest (at a much earlier age) as to Why Sheep Don't Shrink in the Rain, but sheep do shrink with global warming.

9:57pm: It's pretty trivial to watch the fireworks here; just step outside. In addition to Bethlehem's display, we could see at least five other professional shows simultaneously in the distance, plus too many kids setting off their own illegal fireworks all over the place. Statistically, at least one local explosion must've been ugly.

Speaking of stats, the courier firm said it's pretty likely they'll have me drive down to Philly tonight, as I'm apparently the only one available to work.

7:15am: Whew! Slept a full 12 hours all the way through the night, plus a two-hour nap that I took in the factory parking lot right after my third fourth consecutive third-shift stint. Man, I knew I was sleep-deprived, but I didn't realize just how much.

Went to the Saucon Valley Country Club briefly to get a few things for the US Women's Open gig next week. Very good conversation with Tom. I wore my "uniform" to see him, and, sure enough, fit right in with everyone else who was working on the setup preliminaries.

There were two key players who can't/didn't make it to the playoff (?), plus the banks which had taken stimulus money had to pull their sponsorships because they aren't allowed to market here now, (stupid), so attendance is apparently way down, as is cash. Thus, the gig I'm with had to backpeddle, and is cutting everyone's hours. This actually works for me, since I'm trying to dovetail the gig with the factory gig/job. Tom was able to cut the exact hours that I needed cut.

Speaking of which, I've now been accepted for both the Muscular Dystrophy job and the sales "job" that I recently interviewed for, but I'm declining those in favor of the factory, because, frankly, for the exact same money, (or possibly a bit more), I might as well have a bit more movement and variety in my day. (I've noticed my weight does better when I'm moving more, even a little bit, and have far less time for boredom-eating.) The factory management does try to mix up people's tasks through the day to keep everyone sharp, plus there's natural temporary self-reassignment if one person starts to get backed up.

Oh, and the Segway gig is on temporary hold thanks to two insurance issues. I think we'll get through them, though, I hope!

Taking my landlady to a family wedding today, and the courier people might need me after that.

9:54pm: I didn't start out to buy clothes today; heck, I didn't even start out to go out at all. :-) You know how those days go. :-)

Anyway, I needed to get my "uniform" for the US Women's Open; luckily, the requirements are very cheap, and generic enough for general use later on. I ended up also getting shoes and sneakers. Apparently, after 30 years or so, I've grown from a size 12 to a size 13 shoe. Hrm. Maybe that's why my feet have been hurting so much lately.

8:27am: It's July already? Man, my sense of time is whacked. Just came back from Day Five (?) of the two-day gig. Last three days have been third shift, midnight until as long as I can keep my eyes open. I think I'm the only guy who's still there from the original Saturday start; everyone else has either quit or been fired. They've been training me on some of the equipment. They'd like me to stay on as a full-time employee.

The interview with the Muscular Dystrophy Association went well, despite having had no sleep for about a day, and only a few hours prior to that. You know the expression, "I can do it so well I can do it in my sleep"? Well, I was sure lucky that the evaluation component of the interview was to write and then perform a telephone solicitation script for the MDA's current "lock-up" campaign. I did very well, if I may say so, despite sleep deprivation. In any case, they're not paying enough, especially compared to the factory job.

8:32pm: Web Site Story
This is pretty cute. I only wish I had the lyrics.

1:23pm: Real quick: Day Three (of two) went from midnight to 11am. They'd like to hire me for second shift manufacturing. I have an interview tomorrow with another, unrelated firm. I met with Segway Bob yet again, and he finally agreed to some things, in principal.

4:17pm: Went to the interview. They were nice enough, low pressure, but it's more a business thing than a job per se. Obviously, I'm not against having my own business again, but if I'm going to do everything myself, I might as well do it all for me, and not spend all this time and money marketing someone else's business. Still, I'll at least give it a fair shake of due diligence.

Speaking of which, I swung by Segway Bob's today, but he wasn't in. I'd offered before to pay for some/all marketing costs for a limited campaign, but he's not keen on that. I can totally understand his reluctance, since there might be some expectation for a tiny share of ownership in his business; I've had the same shoes on my feet in the past. So I've been trying to think of how to do this so that my investment stays with my business, and I'd subcontract the actual Segway stuff to him. That might work.

I've started picking up some rheumatoid arthritis over the last month or two. Some pain in the morning in corresponding left/right finger joints, but I've been able to get past that without much further effect the rest of the day. This morning was pretty scary, though: my left middle finger was curled when I woke up, and I wasn't able to extend it. Finally I just manually pulled it straight, very slowly, with my other hand. That hurt a lot, but if my fingers are going to freeze up, I'd much rather them be straight.

2:03am: Just got in from day two of the two-day gig; worked 16.5h minus two half-hour meal breaks. They want me back at midnight for day three. :-) I'm starting to get a better scope of the screw-up: about 100 palettes with six rows of 6 x 5 cartons, each with two six-packs, or about 200k units total. I haven't looked up the retail price yet, but I'm guessing it's in the neighborhood of $5, for a million dollars' worth of affected product.

So first shift was this mop-up, and then for second shift, everyone reconfigured the plant floor to a manufacturing setup. Too wiped to write about that now, but hopefully soon.

7:07am: You can click here.

6:45am: "Maybe we should file this under 'M'?"
HD tapes of Apollo 11 landing finally found after being lost for 40 years