A New Office

If you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, you know that my company, Augustine Ideas, has been in the process of moving over the last few weeks.  We started out by packing up hundreds of blue tubs at our old office and they magically reappeared at our new office this week.  I was able to go into the new office a few days this week to unpack my office, connect about 20 staff computers and dust (in the move we seemed to have brought a lot of that with us), while of course decorating my office and getting everything ready for work on Monday (we had the week off technically).  After many trips to World Market, Target, Walmart and of course IKEA, my office is decorated.  The centerpiece is a huge picture of London's Piccadilly Circus with not only a few double-decker buses, but GAP in the foreground.

Making a Difference This Holiday Season

What happens when one company and a group of individuals are willing to make a difference? Families are helped. People are served. The hungry are fed. Children smile.

My company, Augustine Ideas, decided to make a difference for our community this year. Instead of sending each of our clients and vendors an expensive holiday gift, we sent them a treasure chest with a simple letter that a child had written to Santa.  Simply put, we gave our clients gifts to children who otherwise wouldn't have been able to experience Christmas. This year we adopted 10 families with nearly 40 children and wrapped hundreds of gifts for all of them.

Putting gifts under the tree is just one way we were able to help.  Augustine Ideas also took an afternoon and evening to cook two meals each for 25 families.  Luckily for us, one of our staff members also runs a catering business, so we were able to make some great, tasty meals (lasagna, caesar salad w/ homemade croutons, rice pilaf, chicken kiev, french bread, rolls and some fabulous looking cookies) for families in need while having a great time with each other.

New Blogging Device

After about six years it was time for a new laptop.  I had quadrupled the amount of RAM and the hard drive, purchased a new power cord and the monitor had issues (as in didn't always want to work), so it was time to go shopping.  First I purchased a laptop from Fry's, but kept it sealed so I could return it.  Next I went to Sam's Club, where for a little bit less, I got a better laptop that includes a blu-ray player, webcam and finger print scanner among many other cool features.

So from here on out (at least for the next few years), this will be the laptop that I use on a near daily basis and of course, blog from.  I took the desktop image last year during a snowshoe hike through Big Trees State Park.