My Latest Pet Project

I’ve written here before about my friend Edmund and his incredible product, the All-Weather Firestarter. Now, I’m happy to share with you, my readers, an opportunity to not only own one of these fantastic tools but to also help a great guy take his business to the next level.

Edmund has started a campaign on Indiegogo, a crowdfunding site, and he his hoping to be able to raise the funds to buy the necessary machinery to increase his manufacturing capabilities tenfold. With internet sales booming, production needs to be able to keep up with the demand.

Please check out his campaign by clicking here and be as generous as you can. In my opinion the All-Weather Firestarter is absolutely the best one on the market, so you owe it to yourself to check it out. Everyone who participates in outdoor activities (hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, etc) needs one of these. BUT, so does anyone who uses a gas or charcoal grill, firepit, fireplace, or burn barrell. AND, it’s a necessity for survivalists and preppers. They also make great gifts for the man who has everything.

If you’re still not convinced, watch the video below, then click here to go to the Indiegogo campaign.

I Hate Needles!

The picture on the left is the IV that was put in my arm yesterday afternoon. Since then, I’ve been poked so many times I’m starting to feel like a pin cushion.

On my way to work yesterday afternoon, I had what I’m calling an “episode”. I started having chest pains, my heart felt like it was racing, and I had a wave of nausea and haziness sweep over me. Somehow, I managed to get to work, and as I sat in my car, I started feeling some better. I went on in, clocked in, and started working. I soon realized that I wasn’t able to keep working. My heart started racing again, and I felt the nausea and haziness coming back. I was able to sit for a while and rest and sip some water, and an EMS crew came to check me out. Although my symptoms had subsided by the time they got there, they said it would probably be a good idea for me to let them take me to the ER to get checked out more thoroughly.

Once I got to the ER, there were lots of tests done, and the doctor decided I needed to be observed overnight and have a stress test this morning. I just now got back the last of the results, and everything came back normal. That’s a relief, although it means I still don’t know what caused me to have that episode. I’ll get to go home sometime today, after the doctor makes a final visit to give me the official results and further instructions. They have mentioned sending me for a sleep study, so I’m sure that will be one of the topics the doctor will talk about, especially since everything else has come back normal.

To the right is my obligatory hospital selfie. Looking pretty rough, but beyond ready to go home.

Third Time

So, what’s that they say when something happens three times? “Third time’s a charm” or “Three strikes, and you’re out”? In this latest incident in the Mulkey household, I believe the latter adage may be the more appropriate one. Sam had a wreck last night. Yes, that makes THREE totaled cars in less than eleven months.

As I was not with him, I don’t know the exact details. I know that he had picked up a friend who needed a ride. They were turning left off the Volunteer Parkway onto Windsor Avenue when Sam hit an oncoming vehicle. Both Sam and his passenger thought he had a turn arrow, which would mean the other driver ran a red light. Of course, the other driver told the police that he had a green light, which meant that Sam made an improper left turn. Sam was given a citation. He is going to fight it, though, so we will see what happens when he goes to court next month.

Unlike his previous two wrecks, this time, Sam went to the ER to get checked out. They did a CT scan of his spine and chest X-rays. The test results came back normal, praise God, but he is still in great pain. He has visible bruises on his chest and neck from the seat belt and air bag. I’m just glad he was wearing his seat belt. He told the nurse practitioner that the seat belt likely saved his life.

Sam’s passenger was a girl about his age who happens to be pregnant. The ultrasound indicated that the baby was fine. The girl is bruised and has a black eye from the air bag. She was kept in the hospital overnight for monitoring, just as a precaution. None of her family stayed with her overnight, and Sam felt so bad about the wreck that he ended up staying with her and sleeping on the couch in her room. I’m sure he wouldn’t have been in as much pain this morning if he had slept at home in his own bed, but it wouldn’t be like Sam to let a friend suffer alone. I’m proud of him for being the loyal friend that he is.

So, we are once again down to just one vehicle, and Sam just can’t understand why I won’t let him drive my car. Kids! In the photo in the upper left corner, you can see the damage done to Sam’s car.

Birthday Report

I’m back home from my birthday road trip, tired but happy. This was the best birthday I’ve had in years, because of the good friends I got to spend time with. I’ve already talked about my actual birthday, so this post is about the rest of my trip.

The next day, I drove from Atlanta to Raleigh, NC, to meet up with my long-time friend Edmund and his business partner Dan. They put me to work!! I did a little grunt work and got to participate in a couple brainstorming sessions. I’m as excited as they are about the future of All-Weather Firestarters, and I can NOT wait to move to Raleigh and be involved on a day-to-day basis.

As I was getting into Raleigh, my guardian angel went above and beyond the call of duty to keep me from being involved in an accident. Here’s what happened:  As I was merging from one highway onto another, two cars behind me collided. One was to the left behind me, and the other was to the right. They both tried to move into my lane at the same time. One of the cars went spinning out of control and missed my rear bumper by mere inches. What made the whole incident super-scary was that traffic had come to a sudden stop because of a traffic jam up ahead, and I couldn’t move forward to put more distance between me and the wreck happening in my rearview mirror. I cringed as I saw the one car come perilously close and pieces of bumpers flying through the air. When it was over and the dust had settled, my first thought was, “Thank you, God, for keeping me safe!” I know it was all because of His protection that I managed to not be hit by anything.

Now, I have less than an hour to get ready to leave for work. It’s hard going back to work after such an amazing vacation, but I’m thankful I have a job to go to. Have a great evening, everyone!!

What I’ve Been Up To Lately

It’s been a long while since I’ve posted here, and my nearly-daily posts last month make it seem even longer. Well, I’ve been BUSY. Yes, that’s “BUSY” in all caps. My online bake shop, Sweet Suzanne Sweets, received more Christmas orders than I could realistically handle. I was praying for great success this holiday season, and God went above and beyond in answering that prayer. In the last month, I’ve had 50% more orders than I did for all of 2014, over 60 dozen cookies in all, which had to be baked, decorated, packaged, and shipped in about a week.

Let me tell you, there are not enough hours in the day to get that much work done! So, I didn’t sleep. Sunday (Dec 13) night I slept a few hours before getting up early Monday morning to get started on my baking, and I didn’t go back to bed until Saturday after I had dropped off several orders at the post office before they closed at noon. I took a couple 30-minute to one-hour naps each day, but I was severely sleep deprived by Saturday afternoon. I ended up sleeping 13 hours that afternoon and night. Then, I had another sleepless night Sunday (Dec 20), as I finished up all the Christmas orders so I could drop them off at the post office on my way to work yesterday afternoon. I’m not sure how I made it through 10 hours of work last night, and I was struggling to not fall asleep on my way home. I made it home about 2:45am, and I was asleep by 3:00. I was able to sleep about 10 hours, and now I’m getting ready to head back to another “exciting” night at work. Thankfully, I’m off work the next two days, and I’m going to use them to catch up on sleep.

The struggles of the past eight days have taught me much about how to do things differently next year. I would love to see my business continue to grow, but not at the expense of my health and sanity. So, in the next few months, I’m going to be experimenting with some ideas I have that will hopefully make it easier for me to fulfill a large number of orders again next year.

I’m going to take some time off to celebrate Christmas, New Year’s, and my birthday; and I will probably not write another post until after that. My hope and prayer is that each of you have had a successful year and that you will have a blessed and memorable Christmas and New Year’s.

Not Around Here Much These Days

You may have noticed that I haven’t been posting here as much lately as I had been. That’s because I am writing a book, and my creative juices can only flow in one direction at a time. I’m hoping the book will be completed before the end of May. When it is, you, my readers, will be the first to know. Much of the book is taken from posts right here in this blog, but there is also quite a lot of new content as well. I can say with certainty that some parts of it will be surprising, if not shocking, to almost everyone who knows me. So, stay tuned!

In the meantime, here’s some music to entertain you:

Was that a gunshot?

I never knew either of my grandfathers. My dad’s father died when Dad was only 3 months old, and my mom’s father died when I was 10 months old. The closest thing I ever had to a grandfather was my dad’s step-father, Tollie Grant. He was killed when some drunks across the street were playing around with a gun, and a stray bullet went through the wall and lodged in his head while he was sleeping. I was only 9 years old, but I still vividly remember the shock of that incident. It has left me with an intense fear of thin walls and guns in the hands of a drunk.

That brings me to tonight. I’ve written here several times about my crazy, old neighbor, Walt. I’m not sure if I’ve ever mentioned that he’s a drunk, or that he owns a few guns, or how thin the walls are in these apartments.

Tonight, I heard a loud noise next door, and I sensed that it was something bad, even though I didn’t recognize it as a gunshot. A few minutes later, Walt came over and told me he did something stupid, that he had shot his gun in his apartment. He said the cops were coming and not to worry.

He came over again after a few minutes and said for me to hide in the back of my apartment because when the cops got here there could be more gunfire, and he didn’t want me to get hurt. A few minutes after that, I heard another gunshot next door. At that point, I was shaking from fear and cowering in the back of my apartment.

Very soon after the second gunshot, I heard the cops arrive and take Walt into custody without a struggle. I heard them ask the neighbor on the other end what he heard, and they eventually knocked on my door to ask me what I heard. I told them of the two gunshots and what Walt said to me when he came over here. Then, they took him away.

I have no idea what it was all about or who called the police. Walt said he shot into the floor of his apartment, but from what I could hear, the cops couldn’t find any bullet holes. I think they were afraid he was shooting randomly outside, but I know I heard the shots come from his apartment. I don’t know if I’ll ever know what was going on to make him shoot his gun, but I know he had been drinking. Maybe it will be in the news tomorrow.

Sam’s First Car

One of the greatest highlights of a young man’s life is getting his first car. Yesterday, Sam got his. It’s not a new car; in fact, it’s a year older than Sam. However, it is a great first car, and Sam loves it. It is a 1994 Pontiac Grand Prix. For its age, it’s in good shape; and it drives nice and smooth. Sam has plans to spruce it up some. I hope it lasts a few more years so he can get lots of use out of it.

Excited About Cookies

Gluten-Free Christmas
Cut-Out Cookies
$16.99/doz

You would think I would be sick of cookies by now, considering the dozens and dozens of cookies I have baked, decorated, packaged and shipped for my little shop this month. Instead, I am excited about cookies! The orders keep pouring in (in fact, I got three more last night!), and just a few minutes ago, my shop received its first review. I was afraid to read it because I know how picky, petty, and even mean internet shoppers can sometimes be. What a relief when I read the glowing words my customer wrote! (Click here to read them yourself.)

Since gluten-free products are all the rage these days, I’ve developed several gluten-free recipes to meet that demand. According to my customer, my gluten-free cookies (the ones in the picture in the upper right corner) are awesome and the best. I still offer the original version for those who don’t need or want gluten-free, and I am continuously converting more recipes to gluten-free.

If you’ve been considering ordering something from my shop this holiday season, don’t delay. I won’t be taking any more Christmas orders after next Friday (Dec 19). You can reach my shop by clicking on the long “Etsy” banner on the right. And, don’t forget to use the coupon code BLOG20 to receive 20% off your order as my thanks for reading my blog.

Allweather Firestarters

I have a friend named Edmund who is an amazing inventor. Whenever I talk to him, I get excited about all the wonderful ideas he has for both new inventions and improvements on existing products.

At the end of this post is a video of Edmund demonstrating his firestarters, which he makes and sells at gun shows and other such venues. While the firestarter is not his original invention, he has some incredible ideas for improvement. Now, he is looking for investors so that he can bring his ideas to fruition.

I’m trying to help him make this video go viral so he can get the attention he needs and deserves. If you would like to help also (and, I expect that my readers will want to help!), please click here to go directly to Edmund’s video on YouTube where your views will count.