I was pleased when the Spring arrived and I could resume my gardening activities. It had come to my attention a friend of my Mother's was in need of some help with her garden, so I was glad to step in.
As the cycling season built up, we where once again treated to excellent coverage, which influences one's agenda. Some aspects of the sport concern me, in particular the domination of sprinters teams controlling the race for their man to jump out of his armchair in the final meters and snatch a victory. Doping also casts a dark shadow over this sport. Not sure which is worse, they are both phony props.
As mentioned previously, I have been giving thought to how I could pass on the valuable experience I had accumulated in my snow plowing career, for the benefit of others. There is a lack of basic information for people entering the industry that could perhaps be met.
As I enjoy writing on the computer and still searching for ways to keep busy, it would seem logical to write a manual on the subject
I started working on the snow manual late Summer 2011. Peter built the website for me (snowplowtxxxx .com) Wishing to determine latest developments on equipment I surfed the net.
Tremendous advancements had been made in the five years since I retired from plowing. But by far the most spectacular was a plow with extendable wings that can be angled or withdrawn with a single switch in the cab.
I could see the formidable attributes in this unit, and intending to recommend it in the manual, wrote to the manufacturer for permission to copy the trademark and pictures.
The manufacturer forwarded the e mail on to their Holding Company that also own two other major plow manufacturers.
I received a very nice e mail back from J.K. indicating they where interested in the project and that he was excited about discussing our possible relationship with their Vice President.
I thanked them for their interest and sent a completed proof of the manual for their review. J.K. then requested my phone number as he wanted to have a chat. During this conversation he complimented me on the manual and suggested I start writing a snow blog also, to help promote the manual. He would promote the blog on their face book pages and Twitter. He mentioned he had some ideas that could be mutually beneficial, adding "The Industry does not have a World Guru!!"
The possibility of help with promotion from the three biggest manufactures of snow plows in N.Americas sent my expectations skyward. J.K. edits all their face book and twitter sites. They have 3,500 fans on this one face book site alone, plus twitter and the other two manufactures sites. I am not sure if he edits their European and Chinese sites, but he would no doubt have some influence.
I started writing a blog and purchased a domain (snowplowtxxxxblog.com). I was very comfortable with the material in the manual and in the blog. J.K. continued to encourage me and was most supportive and began to share a link with the blog and post favourable comments.
Then he disappeared off my radar.
I have never been keen on face book or twitter, but some time ago, in case I was missing something I set up a face book page and twitter account. Occasionally if I read a good article or came across a good video I might click the "Like" button to show appreciation. What I did not realize was, that this would come back to my face book page showing Chris likes xxxx. After awhile I have unwittingly developed a gay profile on my face book page.
With the developments occurring with the snow blog promotion I recognized a possible conflict building up. In this day and age Gay is becoming much more acceptable, especially in academics, entertainment, arts, fashion and some sports etc. But there are some macho bastions that still bear antagonism towards gays. Well up that list would be truckers and snow plowers.
Obviously I now need to remove my face book gay profile fast. Still new to computers I had an awful time figuring how to do this. But eventually manage to suspend it, so nobody can access the page. My secret is safe.
I set up a separate face book page through my [email protected] address and a separate twitter account with the mortar board logo.
When I was in Thailand, wanting to check my e mail messages, I used the computer at the hotel reception. I was unfamiliar with their browser, which seemed to feature face book. When I entered my password to access my e mail account I unknowingly reactivated my face book page, (along with the gay profile)
With J.K. now ignoring me, I wonder if this information has come to his attention. I am not suggesting he has any personal bias towards gays, in fact I think the opposite is probably the case. But his responsibilities towards the conglomerate he represents, would have to be his priority. Knowing his customer base as he does, if he where to help build me up as a snow Guru, with their endorsement and then it was revealed the Snow Plow Txxx was a" frigin queer" the public relations fiasco could be embarrassing.
If this is the case, what is he to do? It would be politically incorrect to inform me he is withdrawing support because of my orientation. All he can do is ignore me and wait for me to go away.
After a few months of failing to get any response from J.K. and not now having the enthusiasm to work the social media and snow forums on my own to build up exposure, I decided this was as far as I could take it.
But it seems unfortunate that all the information I have compiled should go to waste. So I e mail J.K. again with a proposal that I could sign over all ownership and copyrights to the manual and the blog, at no cost, if he could do anything with it. If there should be any surplus cash from the project, discretionary donation could be made to a World Food Organization.
Still no answer. But in retrospect, from his point of view the basic fundamental problem remains the same.
I would however have liked to see this major manufacturer of snow equipment seize this opportunity to train their end users to obtain the best performance from their equipment, thereby reducing use of valuable fuel resources. Too bad something could not be worked out.
One last nagging doubt remains. Suppose for some reason he has not received my e mails or he may be out of circulation. So a couple of months later I e mail again, asking if I can purchase a baseball hat with their logo, (which they give out at as small prizes for comments on their face book pages) but withhold any mailing address.
This time he does reply with a short e mail, saying just send your mailing address and wishes me well. But no mention of my previous communications.
So that is fine and I will appreciate the baseball hat to top my collection.