Happy New Millennium (or last year of the old millennium) depending on your point of view. Being an engineer, I like things to start with the number zero so I'm all for resetting the timeline so that 2000 is a start not an end.

Anyway, I'm glad the Y2K crap is over. What a scam! While there were legitimate problems in many industries, the gloom and doom predictions foisted on the general public was disgraceful. I didn't fill my bathtub with water, load my rifles or buy any extra provisions. I hope you didn't either. If you did, donate them to your local food bank. Lots of hungry people out there.

Here is an update on things I've told you about: The web site generated enough sales to pay for itself. I've found it is more useful as a catalog for people who call requesting info on our product line. It seems most people we ask have Internet access and can view the products on line, saving time, envelopes, stamps and color brochures. We need to update it soon.

Our new product is an interesting new challenge for our company. We have not been trying to sell it except on the web site (it needs a tweak here and there) and many people like it. However, a number of people send it back saying it's not what they expected. The challenge is to market it correctly so that only the people who will like it will order it. It seems to be a matter of choosing the right words to describe it as well as identifying the characteristics of buyers who like it. Any suggestions?

We are making incremental improvements in our manufacturing processes. I was forced to do much of the assembly myself this past fall due to lack of help. I'm glad I did because I was able to identify more efficient ways of doing certain tasks. Nothing beats doing it yourself to identify ways to do it better.

The business plan update was partially completed, then put on hold for our busy season. We did have a long-time customer fly out from Boston (on their dime) to visit us and discuss investment opportunities. It was our first experience with such a thing and was exciting and a little frightening. Things went well and discussions continue. We have another serious visitation pending. I think we have succeeded in building something of enough value to interest some folks.

We invested a few dollars in repainting and recarpeting our office area. It's easier to spend the required hours if the environment is nicer. Small things can make a big difference in efficiency.