_Dear Friends,_
We have reached full peak foliage season here in Vermont with an amazing display of colors and just a hint of snowflakes on the mountain tops last night (Kerry pointed out that makes for snow on June 1st and October 1st this year) . It is the time of year to take the back roads and go slowly to enjoy the change of the seasons.
Way back in the old days when I would cut my own firewood, I would complain about the poplar (cottonwood) trees as they are not quite hardwood for heat but not softwood either. A friend reminded me that the poplar is the first tree with green leaves in the spring and the last with green leaves in the fall. The poplars are a beautiful contrast to the reds, yellows and multiple shades of brown that mark the hills now.
We closed our retails stores on Wednesday and part of Thursday this week as we transition the company to a fiscal year that ends September 30th each year. This allows us to get more and less expensive attention from our accountants and it makes a world of sense given the importance of the October to December quarter (now our first quarter) to retail sales. Hapy, Lucie, Art, Katie, Tim, Jaime and Cindy are all working hard to count the inventory, make adjustments and close out our short year.
A couple of customers scolded me for being so harsh on Mark last week. It was all in good humor–you see, Mark is a friend first and employee second; it is my duty as a friend to bust his chops from time to time. I have known Mark for over 20 years and he has worked with Small Dog Electronics for nearly its entire existence. I worked with Mark before that, too, as he sold me CDs when they were the new way to distribute databases and applications. Mark is one of the members of Small Dog’s senior management team and his messy desk is legendary here at Small Dog Electronics.
We were able to pick up a few of the recently discontinued 15-inch MacBook Pro 2.66GHz with the larger ExpressCard slot. “These are a great buy while supplies last at $1899.99”:http://www.smalldog.com/product/73305 and if you buy AppleCare with the MacBook Pro you can save an additional $10, too.
I downloaded some new apps for my iPhone in anticipation of my trip to Asia. I grabbed Skype so I can call home when I have a Wi-Fi connection and also some localized utilities like a hot spot finder for Hong Kong and a translator program. I also downloaded a couple of books to my Kindle account so I have them on my iPhone for the long trip.
This will be my last intro to Kibbles for a few weeks as I travel first to Taiwan and then to China and finally, to Las Vegas for the Apple Specialist Owner’s Retreat on the way back. Kali and Ed will keep you informed and entertained while I am away and I’ll try to get them some reports along the way.
