Well.... Where to begin.
First, I'll get to the E-mail issue right away. I can't deal with E-mail anymore. It's simply too time consuming. I type with two fingers, I'm a one-man show and nobody else can answer the questions I get, so I the only that can do it. Some of you folks are real disciplined with your E-mail usage but the ones who aren't have made it real hard for mel.... simple as that. Just because you HAVE this computer gadget does not mean it's a good way to communicate information... particularly when the questions tend to be esoteric or subjective. PLEASE.... just call me up and let's discuss it. Phone service is dirt cheap these days. I realize this creates a hardship for international customers to some degree, but since seemingly the whole world is angry at us anyway (maybe rightly so... I haven't decided... and I'm quite well informed) then I figure those who really want one of these kits will do what it takes... which is a lot less than it would seem. Don't worry about your English skills too much... we can understand you in almost all cases. The instructions will be in English, so you'll have to at least know someone to read them... if that's the case, just put your english speaking friend on the phone and we can do the order with them - no problem.
International shipping: I'm going to work out a table for this to cover all of the kits. It'll take me some time to accomplish. In the mean time, we'll give you a quote over the phone or by return mail. We ship all international orders by US Postal Service Global Express Mail which is significantly cheaper than FedEx or UPS. We always charge the exact amount for the destination in question. You may have to pay duties or import tariffs at your end, and we won't know if that's the case or what they'll be. If you're concerned, contact your local postmaster first.
So there's the biggest change... I've spoken to some of you on these topics already. some of you hate it, some of you totaly understand my perspective on it. No matter where you fall on this issue, that's the way it's going to be, at least for now. The vast majority of you guys and gals are really good folks, many are good friends and you've been really supportive of this enterprise - we really want to continue to serve you all... please, just indulge me this one minor quirk.
Next issue... Speed of service. For years, I did this business full-time. I'm in a situation now where it simply is not profitable enough. I'd like to continue making DAW kits, as it does bring a lot of joy to a lot of folks; which is pretty satisfying. Currently, I'm working three 'careers'; DAW is one of them. The second is computer modeling for Architects and Engineers. Some of you know I'm fluent in AutoCAD and ArchiCAD (high end CAD software pacakages). I do this work for a very exclusive clientel who demand only THE BEST virtual building modeling.. and I'm very good at it. This business is extremely lucrative and a good deal of fun as well. The deadlines are killer, though... The owners of the buildings are unimaginably wealthy and very capricious in most cases, which means changes are frequent and without warning (I hope to be as unimaginably wealthy and capricious as they are some day, so I don't grudge them this behavior). That means I've got to put that work ahead of other stuff most of the time. In a nutshell, I may take longer to get kits out than I used to. My wife Shelby or myself will give you an estimated shipping time on your order when you call it in - it'll most often be less than a week. The third career is playing bass guitar in my sons' band. I've been their bassist for two years as they've climbed the ladder in the local entertainment industry. They've worked hard and elevated their status to a respectable level... Ian and Trevor (my sons) are by far my most important customers. We practice almost daily and play shows frequently - particularly in the summer time. This also takes me away from the shop on occaission. Music is their business, and they make very good money at - especialy for teenagers. My wife and I have every intention of helping them make their careers happen they way they want. You only get one chance to be a pro musician, and they're taking theirs - I passed mine up as a young man and always regreted it... they've given me a second chance to have the fun of performing on stage for now (I'll probably be replaced on stage at some point) and I'll always be backstage as sound tech and guitar maintenance guy (I build all of our guitars from scratch, as well as a lot of our effects pedals). We may be on tour for some of the weeks of summer 2003, so if you get sporadic contact during that time, that's probably why. Shelby manages our business affairs, so she's always along with us at shows.
Domestic shipping prices have increased. There's actualy a crazy-quilt of new rates depending on where you live, so we've just flat-rated everything to hit an average. That's good for some of you, not so good for others. The fact of the matter is that I can't stop every hour to read this huge table and do math equations while I'm trying to take an order, cut wings and box stuff up all at the same time.
I gotta' say folks... It's getting tough to be an individualist and small business owner in this country; and in particular California. I've got a bunch of dried up flower children in the state assembly trying to triple charge me for my car registration and a federal government taking 40% of my gross earnings. I can't do anything about those things even if I vote... and I do. There's simply more of them than there are of me. 15% of my federal taxes are money going straight down the toilet... I'm NEVER going to collect social security... you can bet on that. The crux of the matter is that I need to earn A LOT more money, and switching back to something similar to my old career (Architecture) and doing perfect work for outrageous fees is a way for me to improve my lifestyle and stay sane. as of 2003, I'm 35 years old, have a great marriage and two wise, talented sons who love me... I'm just tired of living barely above poverty level. I'm going to fix that.
Talk with ya'll soon... Thanks for taking the time to read this message. Let's see if we can go fly some model airplanes before they get banned. <g>
Dave Sanders
Owner, CEO, Production manager, manual laborer and janitor,
Dave's Aircraft Works