JP NOTE: I have been traveling the last couple of weeks in Asia. Blogger knows I am in Asia and puts all the links in chinese characters and has a different lay out. Sorry for the lack of updates. Here are some notes I made during my trip.



Wednesday July 15, 2009 - PM
After a couple of long days in HK I had a chance to get back to my hotel before the pool closed. I brought a swimsuit and decided to jump in the hot tub for a few minutes. The pool is outside and the hot tub is at the head of the pool, slightly raised. It looks very inviting. The jets were working and I jumped in. Then jumped out. The water was ice cold. What a let down. Lets hope that is the last unexpected thing that happens. And they fix the heater quickly!


Friday July 17, 2009
More unexpected…
Typhoon heading this way. Category 3 for now, but could reach level 8 overnight. My first Typhoon. Should be here by 5pm on Saturday.


Saturday July 18 / Sunday July 19
2:30pm Saturday – I was sitting my the pool eating a light lunch (no hot tub today. Heater still not fixed). It’s a little windy. The pool attendant just shut the pool due to the impeding storm.

5pm Saturday – nothing. Light rain.

7pm Saturday – went to the mall for dinner and watched a gymnastics exhibition. I think one of the gymnasts was on the Olympic team last August.

10pm Saturday – No rain. No typhoon. Lady in the lobby said it is suppose to hit by midnight. Tired. Do not want to go to sleep and miss the storm.

11pm Saturday – Rain against the hotel window. I think this is it. No weather channel in HK. Dearly miss Jim Cantore.

1am Sunday – Going to bed. Moderate rain and wind at this point. Still cars on the street.

3am Sunday – Beating rain on the window wakes me up. Wow, it is raining hard. Very windy. No one on the street. (update: Apparently the number 9 Flag was hoisted around this time. Only one away from 10!)

8am Sunday – No rain. The whole things seems over. Or maybe this is the eye? Cantore, where are you?

10:00am Sunday – Passing showers, light rain. Typhoon has moved inland. Here is how another westerner spent the storm.







Monday July 20.
The earth gods are in full swing here in Hong Kong – Eclipse.
Eclipse in HK this morning. About ¾ of the sun was covered. I missed it. Somehow I forgot I was in Asia and might be able to view the eclipse. Looked out the window and wondered why it was getting dark. Thought maybe it was going to rain. Feel really dumb. Too much product development. Hope that making final decisions on images during an eclipse is good luck.

I set up a Twitter account today. Not sure what I am going to do with it. Maybe nothing, but if you want to follow its www.twitter.com/LafayetteJP.



My kids are completely comfortable with all the different social networking sites out there. There are on MySpace, Facebook, Twitter and others. As parents we know their passwords and do what we can to monitor their usage. But it is hard to be watching all the time.



Last fall, I started using a service call YouDiligence.com. For a monthly fee, they will monitor you childrens MySpace and Facebook accounts. Basically, they are monitoring the kids sites for the use of certain words and phrases. If the word appears on their profile, an e-mail is sent to me to review. So far, the word party seems to come up the most, but each time in an innocent context (ice cream party, birthday party, etc.). You can also customize the word search with your own words. I have not done this personally, but suppose that one could add names or nicknames and know who they are posting with back and forth.



I liked the service so much I wanted to find a way to tell more people about it. I had numerous discussions with one of the founders on how to best promote their service. We finally decided to set up a special web page. You can either type into your browser, www.youdiligence.com/puzzle or go to our homepage (http://www.lpfpuzzle.com/) and click on the link to Youdiligence. We are also promoting the service and websites on our packaging as a service to parents. The company would offer our customers their first month free and then a discounted monthly rate going forward.



I see this service as a tool for parents to help teach their kids how to be responsible on-line. The kids should know that the parents are subscribing to the service (you need your kids password to make this work). If there are inappropriate things going on with their accounts, this service gives you the notification you need and the opportunity to then discuss with your kids the right was to present oneself on-line.



If you have any questions, drop me a line. Otherwise, try the first month for free and see how you like it. I think you will be like me and keep your subscription going. And want to tell you friends about the service.



JP

June 2009 Playthings article about puzzles

http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6662944.html

http://www.playthings.com/article/CA6660017.html

An interesting article in the latest issue of Playthings magazine about puzzles. As a catagory, puzzles are holding up well during these tough economic times. Especially innovative puzzles like those that the Lafayette Puzzle Factory produces.

And as a bonus in the article, my good friend and former co-worker, Tracey Jackson from Fundex is quoted.

JP

Magazine and parent groups are starting to announce their awards for the best toys of 2009.

Lafayette Puzzle Factory will be appearing on some of these lists.

Stay tuned for details!

JP

Last week was the annual Licensing Show in Las Vegas. Previously this show has been held in New York City. This was its first year in Las Vegas. I thought the change of venue was great.

This is one of the most fun shows I attend in a year. I am on the buying end of the transactions, which is always more fun than going to a show knowing that you have to be selling all the time.

But more than that, the booths are all fun. The latest movies, TV shows and cartoons are all trying to catch peoples attention. The highlight for me was getting a picture taken with Bumblebee the Transformer and sitting in the real Speed Racer. And not the new movie version. This is the car from the original TV show. The one I used to watch after school on channel 32 WFLD in Chicago. I can not think of another 70's star I would rather meet.

This week our first puzzles should be hitting store shelves in Canada. Most are being sold through a nationwide distributor so I am a little unclear on specific retailers carrying our items. But the entire catalog is available. I cannot wait to hear how my friends to the north like the line. Canada is a great puzzle market and puzzlers in Canada know puzzles. They are not easily fooled by low quality offerings.

The first person to send me a picture of a Lafayette Puzzle Factory puzzle on a shelf in Canada will win an official piece of Lafayette Puzzle Factory marketing give away. Bonus points if you buy the puzzle and include a receipt of purchase with a glowing review.

If you are a canadian retailer who carries puzzles, drop me a note and I will make sure someone calls you about adding Lafayette Puzzles to your puzzle section.

JP

Sorry for the long delay between posts. A few of yourhave written me e-mails asking for updates. And while I like sending out personal updates, I think this is easier for everyone.

Two weekends ago I traveled to Dewey Beach, Delaware for the wedding of Alex and Elissa. It was a great time. The wedding took place on Dewey Bay. Our hotel was right on the Atlantic Ocean. It was a nice hotel, but the lobby reminded me of the lobby at the Tower of Terror, with better light and less dust. And the elevator behaved as an elevator should.

The weather was perfect and many of our friends from around the country were there. The bride was radiant, the bridesmaids breathtaking and the groomsmen looked very...Scottish. Scottish? Yes, Scottish in our wool kilts. Its hard to dress up four 40 year old guys, but some how Alex thought of a way. I have been in a few weddings, but this was the first one that I ever wore a skirt too. And I liked it. Good luck to Alex and Elissa. And thanks for inviting us.

JP