, but we certainly could have made a movie out of Ryan E. Houston and Charlie Wiegert's trip to Iola, Wisconsin yesterday. Actually, it was closer to "Trains, Planes and Automobiles" than "Debbie Does Dallas" but only because we were smart and didn't go to the Landing Strip strip joint nearby!! Yes, my fearless bosses made the trek from St. Louis to Iola yesterday to get us set up in our new offices and our new career with Fanball. Ryan doesn't like small planes, but there's no other way to get to the Great Northwest, so he wasn't looking forward to this trip. But I assured him all would be fine and it was important for him to see where Tom and I would be working our 50-70 hours per week for him.
Flight times were perfect to have the guys leave St. Louis early yesterday morning and get here by noon. But of course, a flight delay in Milwaukee pissed them off a bit and got them up here 45 minutes late. No worries. The sun was shining. The mercury was reaching 39-40 and the leaves were shining brightly.
A lunch meeting with a fellow industry friend went well and a 45-minute ride to Iola was next. Ryan had an important conference call at 2:00 and of course in the back woods his cell phone reception was bad to terrible (more towards the terrible). He really started to hate the backwoods.
But we got to Iola without hitting a deer, raccoon, possum, squirrel or skunk, which was a good ride.
A quick tour of the Krause Publications campus and our isolated office was next, and then we headed to two possible office locations. At the first one, the lawyer who is going to rent us the space was a Shriner and of course Charlie noticed that right away. The two of them talked for 10-15 minutes of stuff the rest of us had no idea what they were saying. It was like a freakin' different language with Charlie smiling the whole time. Same with our new landlord!!Ryan got an important call from St. Louis during this time and happily took it to get away from the Massonic temple talk. We then went up to see Option 1 and it was doable, with offices for both of us. Price was right. Then we checked out a lower office that is being vacated Jan. 1st that has a front entry adjacent to the law office, big office and plenty of space for an open second office, private bathroom and space for at least one more employee. Ryan gave this the big thumbs up and liked the idea we could have Fanball on the sign out front and on the door. I loved it too.
We gave a quick glance at one more option in downtown Iola (8 total buildings in all) and then it was off to Staples. We again avoided all of the animals and 25 minutes later Ryan was picking out desks, printers, chairs (thank you Charlie for picking out the two very best!! 8 cents a day if we work 10 years was the ticket to sell this for us!!). Four guys picking out office supplies at Staples was a hoot, but we got the job done.
Then it was off to Best Buy to get us a big-screen plasma TV so that we can stay up on the news and games while we're working. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!! MLB Extra Innings will come with it from our parent company of DirecTV, too. SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!! Tom and Greg were set and VERY APPRECIATIVE of Ryan E. Houston and Charlie T.G. (The Godfather) Wiegert.
We then headed to the bar for celebratory Corona's, which tasted as good as I can ever remember. The special of the day at the restaurant was 1-pound tacos. I kid you not. All four of us took them and regretted it quickly after. Yikes. But it was good fun, good comraderie and a few more good Corona's.
Next to this golf course was a brand new Comfort Suites, so all was good there. After a good night's sleep for our heroes, I picked up the boys this morning and had them on an airplane and out of Wisconsin, ending a very productive 21-hour venture here.
I've spent the last 20 years, 5 months at one office building, most times coming into work 6 or 7 days a week. I knew this transition would be tougher for me than Tom, who has been here 10+ years. But yesterday made the sale complete in my mind and really made it all perfect going forward. It's like finally getting married to the right woman and having all of those memories of that first girlfriend who dumped you erased forever. It's time to move on and the relocation to our new office will cleanse the souls.
Thanks Ryan and Charlie for making the trek here. That meant a lot. Even more, it showed what a team we already are and what the future is going to hold together. We're all set here, folks. Tom and I are here for the next 10+ years because we have to be here to justify the price of those comfy chairs!!!
The NFBC with Fanball and their two newest employees is set and ready to continue our excellence. We have an office to prove it and it says so on the front door.Ryan & Charlie Do Iola. The title fits the adventure.
