Tuesday, February 07, 2012

Auspicious Announcements - and Upcoming Changes

First off, if you're not on the waitlist or contemplating getting on, this isn't super relevant, and it's not going to be super entertaining, so click back over to Bikesnob now...

Ok.

Item 1: Sarah and I are expecting a baby boy (our first child; code name "The Bean") in mid-April. We will probably be pretty incompetent and sleep deprived for a while.

Item 2
: Sarah has completed her biochemistry PhD and is applying for postdoctoral positions at several universities in the mountain west kinda area, but none in Boulder. If she's hired for one of them, which is likely, she'd start in Fall 2012 or thereabouts.

What does this mean? It means a couple of things. I expect to complete the next 8 or 9 frames on the waitlist with no trouble (barring an unexpected early appearance.) After that point, all bets are off for a while. I will certainly attempt to get some work done when we bring The Bean home and start learning how to take care of him, but I am not going to make any hard guarantees.

As of June, things should be back to normal, but by that point, we may also be in the midst of preparing to move to another state for Sarah's postdoc. That will mean *more* potential delays, of course, because I'll be working to build bikes and also preparing to try to get several thousand pounds of tools and parts, along with all our other possessions, moved to our new location (for those who are curious, it will most likely be Salt Lake City, but possibly Fort Collins - or, you never know, we might stay in Boulder).

The bottom line is this: I am not guaranteeing delivery times for new orders right now. My family is very important to me and if you're in a big rush to get a bike or need your frame by a specific date in 2012, you may want to look elsewhere. I may be able to stay on my 1 frame/week schedule, and I will certainly try, but if Sarah and The Bean need my full attention, they will get it and bike work will wait. I will, of course, keep everyone updated on my progress via the waitlist and the blog if for some reason I'm not able to work for any significant period of time.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Congrats!!!

Anonymous said...

Cheers on having your priorities in the appropriate order (as usual).

Mister Mr. said...

So - what you're sayin' is you're gonna be making kiddie trikes in the not-so-near future?

word verification: clogeore

artnshel said...

Big Congrats!!!
I'll be bummed to lose a valued local frame builder if you move even though I haven't been a customer, yet.

steve garro said...

keep the rubber side down & hold your line & it will all pan out. SLC needs a framebuilder!

ctboom said...

Gotta be one of the best perks of being your own boss. Congrats.

T-roy said...

Congrats on both adventures! Maybe a WW onesie should be made. I know I'd buy 2 or 3. My lil' man cannot stop smiling, laughing, and staring at the smiley with the tooth knocked out on my WW t-shirt. Cheers!

Unknown said...

Boulder will miss you Walt, if you leave, but excellent job putting family before work, even when work is super cool. You and Sarah are in for a hell of an adventure!

MDEnvEngr said...

This is not meant to discourage in any way, but give up the thought that things will ever return to what you think is "normal" now. You will look back with wonder at the amount of spare time you used to have. On the plus side, perhaps you'll be able to have a heated workspace. Get good lighting, as you'll be working after bedtime a lot! Nothing better than hanging out in a warm shop with the beans "helping".

Osman said...

Congrats! +1 on the heated workspace. I was just dreaming about that last night.