At first glance this looked like four small trees randomly growing out of the sand, but on closer examination I observed that this was one tree that had been blown over, likely in a windstorm, or was pushed over by high water flows during a heavy rain. It struck me how closely Mother Nature and human nature are guided by the same choices when facing adversity. This tree could have just "cashed in its (wood) chips", and died, but by the survival instinct found both in humanity and in nature, instead it reached for the sun from its new-found horizontal position, and is surviving quite well here in the desert.
Probably what got me thinking about this was the challenge we are facing with the launching of our newly designed website. Right after the launch it appeared that we suffered no adverse affects regarding a loss of our traffic and our position in the SERPS (search engine results pages), but within a couple of days we noticed a substantial drop. After some agonizing days of tweaking the SEO aspects of the site, adding some new content and video, and working on analytics, we are clawing our way back to the position that we have been fortunate to occupy for the last several years. Like the tree, our new website affords us the opportunity to branch out and continue to develop the website bigger, better, and stronger than it was before.
With 2010 coming to a close, I got thinking about a blog entry I made in October of 2008, right when the economy was down, and about to fall even further. At that time I was looking at the markets and comparing numbers so I thought it would be interesting to look back to see where we were then, and where we are now, 2 years later. Also like the tree, we have made some huge strides toward recovery. Sure things could be better. The jobless rate and the housing market being two of the major stumbling blocks of the recovery, especially in the U.S.A., but let's look at what has happened since October, 2008. Being a Canadian (eh), I had used the TSX (Toronto Stock Exchange) as my rough indicator of the economy. Back in the spring of 2008 the markets had begun their decline, and the TSX started to fall from a high of nearly 16,000 points. When I wrote that post, the TSX closed around 9600 that day, and the worst was yet to come, falling to below 8000 in the first quarter of 2009. Today, December 17, 2010, that same TSX index closed at 13,200. That's up 37.5% since that post from October 17, 2008. The other markets have followed a similar pattern. Consumer spending is also up this Christmas season, and other areas of the economy are showing optimistic sentiment as well.
So as we move towards the festive season, and the new year of 2011, I hope I've given you something to think about, and like the tree, I hope you didn't just lie down in the sand and dry up, but that you have looked at being pushed over as a new challenge, and with challenge is opportunity, to reach back up and branch out, bigger and stronger than ever!
We are adding content and videos to the website on a regular basis now, so please check the site often to see what's new. www.electrical-online.com
My son Lyle is coming down for a visit and to spend Christmas with us starting tomorrow so we're looking forward to that. Lyle has partnered up with Sandy to start his own website about his passion, the world of horses, in particular show jumping, so check out his site at www.equestrianplanet.com.
Should I not get a chance to post another blog before the end of the year, have a very Merry Christmas (or Happy Holidays), and a Happy New Year!
We then returned to our home in Arizona where we had more friends and family come to visit. Then we packed up and left Arizona, bound for Victoria, British Columbia in late April, stayed on Vancouver Island for May and June, took another week long charter sailing vacation around the coastal islands and the Sunshine coast off the mainland north of Vancouver. 
Then we travelled back to our summer home in Alberta in late June, flew back to Las Vegas for a week long website SEO and marketing seminar, finished up with a few days at our home in Arizona, then returned to Alberta in early July, where we settled down for the rest of the summer until we migrated back to our Arizona home in Early October. Whew! Looking back, I guess we've been fairly busy!
After a few calls to several local electrical contractors, and leaving messages for them to call you back, it’s off to the computer room to check online for some answers. You find a great website for electrical help, and learn that as long as you have a reasonable skill level, a healthy respect for electricity, and that your local building authority will issue a Homeowners’ Electrical Permit, there’s no reason that you can’t tackle this project yourself.
We met with a landscaping contractor in early December to open discussion on some changes we would like to see in our back yard. Nothing major, but the discussion was around designing a more tropical theme, and getting rid of some real grass to reduce ongoing maintenance requirements. 
The second day of work included installation of the re bar cage for the spa and preparation for the plumbing. The next day saw the completion of the plumbing including connection of the spa jet pump, the pool heater, and a pressure test to check the new plumbing for leaks.
My point is that the project moved forward incredibly fast, and considering that Christmas and New Years Holidays were in this time period as well, the entire project was done and complete and we were swimming in the pool and enjoying the new-look back yard by January 15, 2010.
My hat is off to Chris, Kevin, and the entire crew of sub-contractors for a job well done. Not only did I discover a great resource for any landscaping or pool maintenance / installation needs, I also gained some new good friends! I would, will, and have recommended these guys to anybody in need some work of this type done for them in the Valley area! Feel free to e-mail my if you would like more details or contact information for these guys.