Checking In

Sitting in a Starbucks.  6 months ago I didn't drink coffee.  Hadn't had a full cup in 36 years on this Earth.  now I tolerate 5 glasses a week (I used to gag at the smell).  All in the name of enjoying coffee at a cafe with my wife.  Married life has forced me to learn to "like" three C's:  Coffee, Country music, and Cuddling.  

The things we do for love.

My father-in-law spends all his time either at work or finishing the house he just bought.  This means our house, the one in which he sleeps, has the bare bones amenities.  No cable, no internet.  Hence, the posting paucity....and my presence at Starbucks.

A few key items to check in with:

1)  I mentioned in my last blog we're in Arizona for a family emergency.  We recently learned that our 5 year old niece has two holes in her heart requiring open heart surgery.  Damage to lungs that have worked too hard for the last 5 years is complicating the situation.  Out of respect for the private nature of their parents, that is as far as I'll delve into the topic.  Tough little girl going through some tough times.  Hope our presence can provide some peace of mind.

2)  The grand opening of our Kid to Kid store was on Thursday, 4 August!  Finally, my business ownership dreams have come to fruition.  I have no intentions of quitting my job.  It would just interfere with the awesome job my sister is doing running this little enterprise of ours.  I will "manage" this team just like I manage my current team:  put the right people in the right role and then get out of their way.  So, I'm staying out of my sister's way.  Feel free to friend us on Facebook.

3)  I have a new game launching soon for the iPad.  My iPod game (Wurfeltod) is averaging 3 sales per day.  We need 100x that to consider it a success.  For my new game, I've partnered with a group in Shanghai.  The owner of the company is a friend of my friend who got married in Shanghai in May.  We met at the wedding and started talking games.  The new game is called "Candy Counter - Learn Colors and Numbers".  Those who were around when my daughter was two will know this as the "Dessert Game".  I played it with my daughter every night after dinner to teach her colors and how to count to ten.  We used a Fun Pack size of M&M's candy.  I would empty the pack on the table and ask her to separate it into the various colors, then name the colors.  If she was able to name the color, it remained on the table.  If she couldn't name it, I ate them.  Then she had to count each candy in each color.  She ate any number she knew; I ate the numbers she didn't.  She learned very quickly how to prevent daddy from eating her candy.  Now it's a game for the iPad with a tentative release date of 19 August.

I'm working out of the Phoenix office while we're here.  I'm busier here than I am in Jakarta....crazy!  Lots of meetings, but I have a lot accomplished and have some new initiatives to bring back to my team I'm excited about. 

We return to Jakarta next Thursday.  Short but important visit.

Back to regular blogging when I get to Jakarta.