I’m half way through the
weekend and still have ZERO cookie orders. This would probably discourage most
people, but not me, the eternal optimist.
My ad plan for this
weekend’s cookie sales really backfired on me. I replaced my gourmet cookie ad
in the Nextdoor site on Tuesday, announcing that I had increased my range to
include Sunrise Ridge and Fieldstone. Then on Friday morning I asked a neighbor
friend to reply to this posting so that all the Nextdoor neighbors would see it
on Friday afternoon, just in time for the weekend. She happily agreed, but even
with a reminder later in the afternoon, she forgot.
Needless to say, I’m
relying too much on my neighbors, and the Nextdoor site for promoting my new
business. Luckily my investment in this venture was minimal, mostly my time, and
I’m really in no hurry.
…..
I recently heard someone
say that in the future you will have a “smart toilet” that analyzes your urine
and will tell you if you are developing health issues. Do we really need that
much feedback? Do we really want to live life constantly monitoring our
inevitable demise? Personally I would rather live 75 Keith Richard years then
95 healthy years of continuous self-examination. But that’s just me.
…..
I was just listening to a
“Stuff You Should Know” podcast about Rodney Dangerfield, and it reminded me of
my “Cardboard Rodney”.
For those of you who don’t
remember Cardboard Rodney, here’s the story:
I was driving one afternoon on I-70 and a car passed me
on my side. As it did I glanced over as saw a life size photo of Rodney
Dangerfield’s face pasted to the passenger window of the car.
I cracked up! He is a funny and funny-looking guy.
Sometime later I was listening to a report on the car
radio. It was about Ellen DeGeneres hurting herself and not being able to
finish her tour. But they said the tour would continue and she
was creating a “Cardboard Ellen” to replace her.
That’s when the idea of Cardboard Rodney was born. It was
a very silly idea, but I got such a kick out it.
At the time I was running a web site called “14erWorld”,
whose approximately 1,000 members were Colorado mountain climbers.
I wondered: Can mountaineers have a sense of humor too?
Now my members either loved the idea, or hated it. There
was no middle ground. The serious hikers though it was stupid and wanted no
association with this gumby activity. But the not-so-serious members “got it”
and enjoyed the fun.
I created Cardboard Rodney by taking a self-portrait
dressed in my hiking outfit, enlarged to life-size. Then I overlaid my face
with the head-shot that the real Rodney Dangerfield actually sent me. I had the
whole image mounted on ½ inch foam board, then cut and hinged the foam board so
that it folded up to approximately 24” x 10” x 4” and fit tightly into a
shoulder sack.
My plan was to mail Cardboard Rodney from person to
person if they were willing to take him up a fourteener (one of the fifty-eight
14,000’ highest mountains in Colorado), and on Cardboard Rodney’s last 14er
(Pikes Peak) we would have a big celebration.
I had contacted Rodney Dangerfield through his web site and
he sent me the head-shot to use, along with permission to use his image for my
promotion. He got a kick out of the idea. I invited him to come to the finale,
but declined. His health was failing.
In total Cardboard Rodney got up over 25 14ers that
summer.
Unfortunately Rodney Dangerfield passed away that fall at
the age of 82. All enthusiasm to continue the Cardboard Rodney project died
with him. RIP Rodney!
Later,
Steve
Steve
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