Todd Sattersten :: Astronaut Projects

The State of Things

The frequency of posting here is way down.

Part of it is time. We were gone for two weeks on vacation. You know what that can do to things.

I have been putting most of my extra time into getting More Space done. We have been in kind of a quiet period. We are putting the final touches on the essays and the layout. We are pushing to get it to the printer and I promise more news on the project soon. We are going to need your help to make it successful.

I have said this before, but with all the blogging I do for 800-CEO-READ, I am low on energy and material by the time I get here. That may actually get worse.

I have accepted a full-time position with 800-CEO-READ. I have been working with Jack as a consultant for the last 14 months. We have been talking for some time about me spending more time with them. I have been really happy with the things we have accomplished and I see all sorts of potential for the future. I think it is going to be a great place to hang my hat.

I think with a place to focus my energy I don't have spare brain cells to spend thinking and commenting about the general affairs of the business day.

What does that mean? It means you are going to hear from me less here. I want to lower your expectations a little. If you like my angle on things, check out the 800-CEO-READ blog because you will continue to see alot of me there.

I know I still need this outlet, so don't worry about me disappearing completely.

More soon...

Home At Last

Yesterday, I was flying back from a couple of weeks in Virginia. Weather on East Coast was screwing up flights and causing all sorts of delays.

Just as I sit down in the terminal, the grumbling starts. "There's no way we are going to get out of here on time." "Oh look, the plane is finally here." "Like I am going to have any chance of making my connection."

We were on the plane for about an hour before they backed us away from the gate. Anyone you could look out the window could see the rain pouring down. Everyone else could hear the thunder and see the lightning flashes.

Grumbling rises to complaining. People are on their cellphones saying the plane is late and they don't know anything else. The steward gets rung and asked a million times. "How much longer?" "Will I make my connection?"

I will grant you the information is controlled pretty tightly in the airline industry. They could use a little more transparency. What I will not grant you is the license to gripe about your predicament. People think it is a great way to strike up conversation and make funny jokes about how terrible the airline industry is.

If you find me sitting along you, keep your jokes to yourself. I think most of the folks there are doing the best job they can.

Ray Allen is a Class Act

I was pretty disappointed when the Bucks traded Ray Allen to the SuperSonics for a partial season of Gary Payton. Herb Kohl was turning the Bucks into a very sellable asset by getting rid of all the expensive players.

Allen is now negotiating his contract with Seattle. Check this out:

Though the average yearly salary of the contract is $16 million, the starting salary for Allen has not yet been worked out. Allen’s side has given the Sonics the freedom to structure the deal however they choose in order to allow the team to surround Allen with talent, possibly by re-signing some of their own free agents or entering the free-agent market and signing top quality players.

Ray understands what the game is about - winning.

[via kottke and True Hoop]

BBC blogging London Bombings

Check out the BBC's blog style reporting to this morning's London bombings. You get a real on the street feel to what is going on.

We are vacationing in DC this week and are heading down to the Capitol Mall this morning. It will be interesting to see how much the security has been heightened.

Update (5:30pm): Just returned and we didn't see much increased security activity in the Metro stations. We did notice a lot of security around the White House, including sharpshooters on the roof. That could be normal, though.

Just a link to save...

This was brilliant while it was running. It was hard to tell if it was a fan or a marketer....

http://darthside.blogspot.com

Look for the Growth

I enjoy the Catalog Critic each Friday in the Wall Street Journal. This week they looked at [sub. needed] a particular type of knife known as the santoku. The business side of story was equally interesting:

[Santoku] knives have been available in the U.S. for more than a decade, but only recently have they really started to take off. Knifemakers give some credit to chef Rachel Ray, who praised the knives' handling and sharpness on the Food Network two years ago. Knifemaker Wusthof's santoku sales have increased tenfold from three years earlier, replacing the chef's knife as its best-seller and now make up 10% of the company's total revenue. While houseware sales nationwide are flat, cutlery sales rose 5% last year from the year before thanks in part to a four-fold increase in the number of santokus sold, according to the marketing-information company NPD Group.