"Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true." - Alfred Lord Tennyson

Now hear this! We made it to the first Friday in the brand new year of 2013, and here we are, it's January 4th. I am thankful to report that our business here is really getting off to a great start with a number of priority projects on tap. With the economy skating on thin ice you just never know how things will go. Project oriented manufacturing is always somewhat iffy in terms of predictability and it is especially so during times when every company is trying to make sense out of the regulatory and taxation environment they will be facing this year. I know from my fifty plus years of working that uncertainty, in and of itself, is one of, if not the most, debilitating as it applies to business planning. This sensed lack of clarity causes companies to hold back as long as they can and this has a cascading negative influence on the economy. The folks who occupy the Executive Branch in Washington tend to scoff at any reluctance on the part of businesses to just jump in. My way of looking at it says they need to be out where the rubber meets the road for a long enough spell so they can gain a clear view of just how it all works. Think tanks, studies, and white papers may all serve a purpose but running a business happens in real time, you know, in the here and now.

Okay. I hate to say it, but it's true. Those eleven days that I was off, which I am so thankful for, well, they came and went and I'm still wondering exactly how they got away from me so quickly. We did spend three of them on a wonderful short get away trip. We had at least four days of heads down pedal to the metal preparations for our family Christmas gathering. The rest of them, well, they must have evaporated or something. We ran into some dear friends we've known for at least thirty years when we were walking the mall. Oh yeah. We did walk the mall one morning. They were telling us how they had decided to forgo Christmas altogether beginning next year because of how hard it is to get their family together. Instead, they plan on figuring out a most convenient scheduled time to hold a reunion each year. I do know some of their kids live quite a far distance and there were snow complications and job conflicts this year. It reminded me once again of how blessed we were to have our gang together, at least, one more time. Thank you Lord.

As you can tell I'm both waking up and warming up as I see that word creep is already back at work. I tried to be brief during the holidays but the word count seems to be gaining each day. I would apologize but that has not seemed to slow anything down in the past. I can't blame my grandfather for this one. He was a man of few words. He did recognize an absence of this trait in me and he did comment on it from time to time. I have always tried to live up to many of his examples and expectations but being a person of few words is an area where I pretty much just opted out. But, as my mom would say when she says she is quoting me, "It is what it is!" And, maybe that's it. I give out a lot of material so folks can have something to talk about. Or maybe not. It's my prayer that you will have wonderful Saturday and Lord's Day Sunday. Amen. See you next time, Lord willing.    ....More later.