Posts from — December 2008

Each season brings strength to the next…truly a circle…a line without end.  As the December Solstice arrived Monday I celebrated with a walk in the incredible silence outdoors thinking about the circle and the connected world. The barren yet snow covered tree branches provided a glimpse into a special winter world gifted to us only in the winter months providing opportunities for new perspectives.
Many of us have been guided by calendars of quarterly reports at the end of each 3 month period. We often look to the approaching day with dread, or minimally some sense of anxiety.  In direct contrast the quarterly celestial events of the solstices and equinoxes provide us by their very nature a sense of renewal and time of reflection in a more positive light.
As the cold winter days lie ahead, I know one day soon the crocus will surprise  as they poke their magnificent blooms above the snow drifts.  The glittering snowflakes will turn to rain and bring a new spring.
But for now, it is the season of giving. A season marked by opportunities to reunite with friends , family and even yourself. And this year in particular a season to note what really is important. (Start your new years list early at www.blist.com) Some other seasonal ideas….

• Simmer some cider and spice
• Curl up and read a good book
• Write an old fashioned note to a friend and mail it by the USPS
• Cut snowflakes out of the scrap paper you have lying around (use as gift tags or hang in your window.)
• Grab your galoshes and head outside to look through the wonderful window of winter

“Snowflakes are one of nature’s most fragile things, but just look at what they can do when they stick together.”

(attributed to Vesta M. Kelly)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

The weekend’s weather made me think about happenings in a matter of degrees. For example we went from cold, driving snow, snarling traffic and continued walk shoveling on Friday and Saturday; to a cold wet rain melting snowmen and erasing much of the effects of our first snow of the season. This morning I walked out of the house to a bone chilling 14 degrees and saw the weather tomorrow will bounce back up to the 40’s.

Am I a weather person? NO
Is this post really about the weather? NO
So what degrees am I really posting about? Degrees of past and present

While my life may not be 180 degrees from where it was, the events of this weekend highlighted just how many degrees its changed.

So here it goes….
Friday my mother in-law was helping out, watching my son Jake. She became snow bound with us, making her way home yesterday after the weather warmed.

I felt like I was watching Norman Rockwell scenes throughout the weekend…

Friday – My wife, Adele, and I returned home happy to see my Mother In-Law had been out playing with my son Jake in the snow. She had even managed to make a snow man, a feat for someone with a 2 year old that is usually intent on knocking things down as soon as they’re up. That night my daughter, Candice, joined us and they all began to make holiday cookies. Jake looked very cute in his Home Depot apron, standing on a chair to help mom mix the dough. Too many cooks in the kitchen aren’t good so I became the official sampler as opposed to a cook.

Saturday – I spent much of the day keeping up with the snow and getting the driveway cleaned out, while Adele, Jake and Candice finished getting the tree decorated. Upon Candice’s return from work efforts began to create a Pellicane gingerbread house. Again no small feat with a 2 year old. From the dining room I kept hearing…Stop Jake….are you kidding. Eventually Jake made his way to me with icing on his nose, cheeks, shirt – you get the picture.

Sunday – The weather broke and after breakfast my Mother-Law braved her way home. We continued on with the day, me waiting in anticipation of the Giants game – yea Giants, the others working to finish the gingerbread house and final decorations on the holiday cookies. Last night As Jake, headed off to bed with his mom’s help and Candice headed out for the night, I spoke with my brother Tony who lives in San Francisco. We talked about a few things, one being the church we each attend. Our call was interrupted by Jake’s I don’t want to go to bed routine, so I quickly ended the call going off to help Adele. The weekend closed with an unbelievable Giants win… did I say Yea Giants!

While I know I have had many memorable holiday moments. These three days had me thinking how many degrees I am, from where I was a few years ago. Not at the core, I’m still the same person but I could clearly see where I’ve gotten to in my life.

To use the words, snowman, cookies, gingerbread house and church all in the same description of my weekend is not something I could have foresaw a few years back. My brother and I chuckled as we talked about finding our paths to spirituality since our form experience with religion ended some 30+ years ago when we were kids. But here’s where I am and I’m very happy to be here.

Whew what a weekend…
Tom Pellicane – Publisher

Yea its snowing outside!

As the Holidays approach we, like many, are faced with changes in the lives. As small business owners we have faced the challenges like any business owner. Beyond that we have experienced a large change in our work life, as well as, rituals in our family. We’ll be thinking of those are will not be part of the Holiday ritual this year and wish them the happiest holiday.

I look forward to having some down time with my family and hope the snow will be here through next week. Maybe we’ll get to see my son, Jake’s, first sleigh ride. Or maybe we’ll better able to convince my daughter, Candice, to join us for ice skating. It would be great to enjoy some winter activities around this holiday.

In the spirit of the Holiday I’m going to end my post here and leave out a pent up rant about bailouts, main street, con games and political circle jerks. For now I’m just going to enjoy the snow coming down, get more work done and think about the fun we can have if it sticks.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher

….the wind is really blowing and it looks brutally cold outside so I decided to indulge myself indoors today….hot chocolate, a blazing fire and one of those “old fashioned” cd players.

All settled in reaching for the Sunday paper I realized apparently no one wanted to venture out of my house today. Being the tech junkie that I am I positioned my laptop and keyed in to read the paper ‘online’. Not even remotely similar to spreading the multitude of sections out, flipping pages, blackened finger tips…..the experience of relaxing and reading the paper may not be for  digital natives (Mark Prensky)  but I am surely missing it! Reading hard copy without all the hyperlinks takes me back a bit to a slower pace and a connection with the printed word and enjoying the textures of paper. It keeps me from hopping around from one subject to the next as I treat my senses to the aroma of burning logs while I sip hot chocolate.

Peripherally last night I caught some sparkles outside my window…and when I turned fully …it was so enchanting. The dark night sky served up a perfect backdrop for our official first snowfall. The flakes sparkled in the darkness as they slowly made there way down from the sky. In total contrast to today, I hurried to get outside and listen to the unique quiet only a snowfall can bring.

“Look deep into nature, and then you will understand everything better” – Albert Einstein

• Is a Kindle on your wish list this holiday season?
• Checkout goodreads.com …seems like books are here to stay!
• Make some cut out snowflakes today….and if you dare…bundle up and make a snowman…even if the kids are all grown!

By now we are all familiar with the Bailouts, Rescue Plans and other programs that are designed to help us through this time of economic challenge. We’ve also heard about the need to focus on Main St. not Wall St., to help homeowners who are struggling to pay their mortgages and not end up in foreclosure. I have mixed feelings about all of this and have wrestled with the concepts, plans and realities of the crunch.

The Banking and Housing fiasco I believe, as many do, could have been avoided. When we were looking at purchasing a home a few years back, the suggested price points to me and m wife were about double what we spent. My mortgage banker was a friend and I said him “I know what we make and I’m not going to buy a $1 Million home just for the sake of buying one.” He said that was smart and we should buy what we felt comfortable doing regardless of our income. I then asked him, “Knowing the income levels on Long Island, how can all these people be affording these houses?” (I knew this through my job and use of demography for sales). He said, “They can’t!” He added, “I have people coming in trying to get 2nd and 3rd mortgages, who are making their ‘Benz payment with a credit card.” Fast forward…here we are today, that conversation took place around 2003-2004.

So now it’s the car makers turn. Who are we kidding? I worked with car dealers for almost 20 years and I learned a lot from them. Guess what? The same way people couldn’t afford the house, they can’t afford the prices of cars. Forget energy costs for a moment do some simple math. In 2007 the median U.S. Household Income was around $50,000. If that’s the case how can someone afford a car that costs $25,000-$35,000 or even more? Guess what the general population can’t ! But that’s what cars cost so we have the same issue as housing a different way. Instead of monkeying with mortgages, car makers and banks monkeyed with lease prices, rebates and other gimmicks in order to keep the production lines moving and sales growing.

So where am I going with this…

To me there’s a bigger issue lurking on the horizon and that’s literally Main St.
Where’s the rescue plan for Main St. which is generally comprised of small businesses?
On Long Island, if my memory serves me correctly, 90% of the business are small businesses with less than 100 employees, an even higher percentage are companies like ours with less than 50 employees.

Main St is feeling the effects of this crisis and no one’s talking about what will happen if Main St. closes. The effects of this would make the auto industry crisis look like a pimple.

Recent experiences tell me this bubble is about to pop. Here’s what small business owners like us are experiencing:

Email from me to a client: How’s the holiday season shaping up?
Response Back- one word: Terrible

This is a conversation I had earlier this week with the owner of another small publication:
I asked: “How’s business”
His response back: grumble, grumble “You know… how’s business with you?”
My Response: “We’re feeling it, I emailed someone about stopping by to get a check they emailed one word back – NO.”
His response; “I had someone say, are you kidding (when asked about advertising)? I haven’t paid my November rent yet.”

With the holiday season upon us and the dark of January lurking where’s the conversation about a rescue for Main St? A conversation to make sure stores aren’t shuttered and blight moves in where prosperity used to be. To me this is a questions our leaders need to move up the priority list since without Main St. we won’t need cars or houses.

Tom Pellicane – Publisher, canvas Magazine