Hello all,

It was snowing when I left my house this morning…and I think those few flakes already surpass last year’s total in the Champlain Valley. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, it is going to be cold and snowy here this year. We’ll have to wait and see! I find it a bit disconcerting to think about having children who grow up barely remembering snow, but I certainly did not mind not shoveling a single scoop of snow last year.

Also on the wait-and-see list is the iPad mini. It will be the battle to see whether the nifty form factor and lower price outweigh the lack of Retina display and that seemingly every person in the known universe seems to own an iPad already.

In other news, we are seeing the effects of last week’s storm in the form of delayed parts deliveries. Most of our parts come from Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and after getting almost nothing all week, we received about fifty parts in two days from alternate locations around the country. When they speak of losses due to the storm, things like this certainly are included.

I can’t imagine the human hours and added expense just to make adjustments for this one small slice of the economy, much less any industry directly affected in the storm’s damage area. I am off to pitch in and start bailing — not water, but parts our customers have been waiting for.

Liam
liam@smalldog.com