WOW! Has it really been TWO YEARS?

What can I say, December 1st 2007 - a day in which my life changed forever and for the far better! It was two years ago today that I "officially" joined the ranks of the Synchro32 team and opened up the North American office. It's been a wild ride the last two years. The first year was heavily spent in training and learning the Synchro32 "way" and getting the North American office up and running.

Just a quick history lesson on how this came to be - either through Divine Intervention, the Alingment of the Moon, Sun, and Stars, or just extraordinary good timing and a measure of luck. Of course, a good friend of mine says that it happened "because good things happen to good people" and because of my nature and personality, no stone goes unturned. It all happened when I was reading a Modern Casting magazine and saw an advertisement for Synchro32. I had been unemployed for nine months from Texas Foundries of Lufkin Texas due to the demise of the auto industry and had been reemployed at a local university as an Assistant HUB - Historically Underutilized Business coordinator for just a few months. At the time, I didn't realize it, but it was "good" that I had been downsized from Texas Foundries as the facility no longer exisits. I got out while the getting was good and came away with a generous severance package.

Anyway, I saw the Synchro32 Modern Casting advertisement and sent them an email congratulating them for offering competition in the North American market. I had never seen or heard of Synchro32, but being the capitolist that I am, I think competition is good and the more competition is even better. The furthest thing from my mind was obtaining employment with Synchro32 as they are based in the UK and even though my dad grew up and fought the great WWII in England, I had no desire to relocate there. Bitterly cold and wet winters, hight cost of livings, etc. Burr. I wanted to stay in Texas close to my family and friends. That is why I rode out nine months of unemployment.

Continuing on, I got an email back from Chris thanking me for the email and asking if I was interested in employment opportunities. Funny thing was, I got the email back almost instantly from him and it was the weekend - a testiment as to how good the Synchro32 support is! Heck yes I was interested, as long as it was not in the UK. Having been at Texas Foundries for just a week shy of tweleve years and intimately familiar with ERP/MRP computer systems, the foundry process esepcially in costing/estimating and production, I desperately wanted to get back into the metalcasting business. I had given up hope of ever smelling burned sand, walking through grit, and seeing "liquid metal" again. I sent Chris a resume and we chatted on the phone one day. I had a really really difficult time understanding Chris and his Welsh accent. At the time, I had no vacation time available to have an on-site interview in the UK, but Chris and Barbara were in no rush and we scheduled a visit for October 2007. Synchro32 wanted to establish a North American presence. All of this took place in either June or July of 2007.

Well, I arrived in the UK in October 2007 and were met by Barbara and Chris at the airport and we hit it off immediately. Chris and I have a lot in common. I met Simon and Lee for a company meeting. Lee was gracious enough, to let me stay at his house for several days and ferried me around while he taught me the ropes of Synchro32 support and sales.

The rest shall we say is history? Of course, history is still being written. "Tomorrow is promised to no one" - can you name that movie? My dad's favorite quote is:

"Yesterday is History, Tomorrow a Mystery, Today is a Gift, That's why it's called the Present"

See you on down the road....