A new business is born

Our new consulting company is getting off the ground.  A logo has been designed, business cards are built, my principal client is in place.

We have left the company name vague so that as time passes the consulting that is done may actually change from ruminant nutrition, feed sales marketing, and training, to other areas of interest.

Today I actually did my first “consultation” for an outside client.  A goat producer from Indiana got my number from somewhere and wanted me to give him some advice about his feeding program.  I sent the results out tonight, hopefully he is my first happy customer.

The Threefold part is something that has been part of our family for as long as J and I have been a couple.  Ecclesiastes 4:12 was our wedding text: And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him. A threefold cord is not quickly broken. (RSV). For many years we lived on Threefold Farm and our livestock was registered under the Threefold prefix.

It’s our quiet way of telling the world that it’s not just the two of us here, there is Someone else who is wrapped into our lives and makes us strong.

A Wedding is Coming

We are down to less than 2 weeks to the wedding.  Today I started working on the traditional slide show for the event.  For nearly 30 years I have been building slide shows for important family events like weddings and anniversaries.  We used to use a Kodak slide projector and I would rummage through the old photographs, taking pictures of them to shine on the wall.  Today,  its computers, scanners and power point programs which allow for much more creativity than I had in the past.

So, we got the old albums out.  M’s mother went above and beyond and sent 180 pictures of him, at least five times more than I can use.  I hope to end up with about 60 pictures, mostly focused on life before high school, old enough to be fun and yet far enough in the past to not be too embarrassing to the happy couple.

Going through the pictures, I am always reminded about how time has passed.  My little girl, my youngest daughter no less, is getting married.

A Bit Melancholy

Today was my last day as a business manager and the first, I guess, as a ruminant consultant.  I will continue working full time in that role till June 1.  Most of the month of June will be holidays except for a bit of essential nutrition work.  After that I will start working through my new consulting company, Threefold Consulting.

This last day was a bit of a sad one, a realization that things are going to be different.  This morning I was the supervisor for 10 ruminant specialists across the province.  Last week these guys had no idea that their boss was leading a double life as both their manager and a seminarian.  Today they have a new leader, they are concerned about their future, they are trying to figure out what happened.

My boss said lots of nice things about my past contributions and about his hopes for my continued involvement with the company in the future, but, at the end of the day, I left the meeting alone and left a big chunk of what was my identity behind.  There is lots to do, in fact there is too much for the amount of time that I will have once classes start again, but the thing that I have done for the past five and one half years is over.  For now I am done leading a team of people.

I’m not sure yet what I will do on Monday.

Announcement Plus 5

It’s been 5 days since I sat with my bosses and told them that our paths were going to diverge.  For the next 6 weeks I need to continue on with my job…full time.  By the end of this week a new structure will be announced and my responsibilities will change.  They will look similar to the contract/consulting role I will have later this summer, and that’s fine.  This will give me a good opportunity to ease into this new reality, to see how the new skin fits.

Last Friday, I broke the news to the folks who report to me.  Today I took care of some of my closest dealers and some other employees that I have worked with for a long time.  Everyone seems happy for me and somewhat jealous that they are not going off on their own adventure.  It is causing worry among those who report to me as they try to anticipate life with a new boss.  Some of these guys have worked for me for over 5 years.  Change could be hard for them.

I spent the weekend exhausted.  It was almost as if I had been carrying around this big weight and as long as I had to do it, I could, and it was just part of who I was, but, as soon as I could see the end and I knew that I wouldn’t need to carry it much longer, I realized how tired I really was. (we did manage a shopping trip combined with a visit to the passport office, I built an 8X16 foot stage for the wedding, and we put in a 30km bike ride,  so I was not in bed the whole weekend)

The decision is still the right one. There is lots of support coming from all over, congratulations even.  As I shrug off more and more responsibilities I will be more and more able to explore the possibilities that will be put in front off me and work to align them into that elusive thing…calling.

Hang on for the ride!

Change is in the Wind

Today,  I let my bosses know, in a nice way, that I was quitting.

This meeting happened about a month before I had meant it to, because, there was going to be a structural change announced that would change my role in a big way.  I felt that  letting upper management spend a lot of time moving people around, only to mess the whole thing up in a month was unfair, so I dropped the bomb today.  It also allowed me to move with the company flow and run it a bit in my direction.

I will continue to work full-time till the first of June, which was my original intention.  They really don’t want me to leave.  After that I will take the five weeks of holidays owed to me and terminate my full-time employment.  I will start a new consulting business doing the things I do best, training, teaching, speaking, trouble shooting, nutrition and marketing for my current employer on my terms,  with my schedule.   This will allow me to increase my course load in the fall and do a bunch of things that I want to do.

They were a little shocked and actually seemed to fall all over themselves to make this contract concept work.  We will see how well it goes.  There is lots to do, I could likely make a full-time job out of it if I wanted.  I think there are a number of people who will make sure that does not happen.

It seemed too easy….as if  ”someone” was at the controls.

Figuring out about Calling

Discerning a “calling” is not an easy task.  A number of years ago I prepared and delivered a message to our annual youth service on the topic of discovering what God’s direction for your life was.  It’s easy to talk about examining yourself, listing your gifts,  listening to those around you,  talking with trusted Godly advisors, and all the other tools that are available to you…it’s more difficult to put those things into action and move out of what you know and find comfortable to a new unknown.

The whole calling thing has left me with more questions than answers.  Is it possible to be called to something that you don’t now recognize.? Lots of folks seem to think that I should head down the road of parish ministry.  I do have gifts in that area, but, is that the direction that I am pointed because folks know and recognize that role or because that is really the way that I am meant to travel.  Are the gifts that I have really meant for another role that I and those around me are not now familiar with?

Depending how things go at head office tomorrow, I may have a clearer picture of the future anyway.  More on that later.

Bike Excitement

So…yesterday we picked up our new bikes.

It was exciting.  They are beautiful bikes.  It seems a little sentimental, but, we got a matched set,  small for J and bigger one for me.  I cut out of work a little early to get the bikes and we ended up with enough time to run them about a kilometer up the road and back before we had to rush through supper so that I could get to a youth event.

When I arrived home tonight, J’s bike was not in the shed.  It was gone.  There were no obvious tracks and she had been home for a good part of the day and had not seen anyone come into the drive way.  It was a sickening feeling to know that something so new was gone.  It was odd that nothing else had been taken.  There were three other bikes there as well and while this one was new, it was not the most expensive.

Our place is quite isolated and only one neighbour can actually see our house.  We called them to find out if they had seen anything.  They hadn’t.  We called the next nearest neighbour with the same question and got the same answer.  We then called the police.  They took the usual information and said that a car would be dispatched.

So we waited.  Supper did not seem too appealing.  It was really kind of depressing.

A black vehicle came up the driveway.  We thought it was the police but it turned out to be the neighbour from further up the road (I had called them) and her special needs son.  He is likely about 25 years old and had gone for a walk on his own today.  That walk had brought him to our shed where (“I did wrong”   ) he decided that riding would be better than walking.  He got partway back, changed his mind and left the bike in the ditch.  She was mortified, we were understanding and very happy to see the bike back, a little muddy but undamaged.

We cancelled the police and were able to enjoy supper.

The Bike is Sold!!!

Those of you who follow this blog know that I had a bike for sale that attracted the attention of a scammer.  Yesterday I sold that bike thanks to Kijiji.

This was my first road bike.  I bought it on Kijiji in 2008 from a fellow who had purchased it new in late 2007, ridden it a few times and decided to leave it behind when he moved to Brazil.  Since he was giving up biking or wanted to travel light, he threw in the helmet and gloves.   It served me well as an intro bike.

That same year we bought J a road bike as well.  Her’s was new and after a couple of test rides at the bike shop she settled on a Trek 2.1 which had considerably better components than the Fuji  Newest 3.0 that I was riding.  It just wasn’t right, so… in 2009 I found a Cannondale R6 again on Kijiji which had been lightly used and priced right.  This bike has better components than the 2.1 and was about 3 lbs lighter than the Fuji.  I was able to swap the seat from the Fuji to make the ride a little more comfortable.

After being advertised for about three weeks a gentleman drove from Cambridge with his wife, daughter and mother-in-law to see the bike.  He was buying his first modern road bike and had done enough research to know that this bike was a good deal compared to buying a new bike.  In the end he took it, paid me $50 more than I gave for the package originally and left with a smile on his face.

I get a little buzz from deals like this.  I need to find something else to sell.

Longer Windy Ride

We went riding today after church.  The early season and the warm weather (25 degrees C) are really moving the season forward.  We went nearly 50 km with an average speed of 20.1 km/hr, but it seemed like 3 sides of our trip was against the wind.

The wind can slow down any time.  We went out Wednesday night against a bigger wind.  We had to turn around and come home because I just pushed against it too hard and couldn’t get my breath back.

Feels like before we tackle Lake Ontario, we are going to have to get into better shape.