CornSnakes.com Forums  
  Tired of those Google and InfoLinks ads? Register and log in!

Go Back   CornSnakes.com Forums > Member Forums > Rich Z's Blatherings
Register FAQ Members List Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

Rich Z's Blatherings Since Connie and I have retired the SerpenCo business, topics here will focus on topics of a more personal and general nature.

Retirement........
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
Old 05-25-2009, 10:32 PM   #11
Drizzt80
Wow Rich! Not unexpected, but wasn't expecting it so soon even though the writing was on the wall. Good luck to you and Connie, and it's good to hear you plan to keep your websites around for the immediate future. Losing them would hurt the reptile community even more than you riding off into the breeding sunset.

As for regrets, just think about how many lives you have touched over the years! Incredible!

I'm sure you could write a book or three to help supplement your retirement. Please take that risk before hiring on at Wal-Mart!!!

D80
 
Old 05-25-2009, 11:08 PM   #12
Russell
I've always loved your for sale list every year. I'd drool over different snakes and stuff... Thank you for the many snakes you have sold me over the years. I still have many of them and their descendents!
 
Old 05-25-2009, 11:14 PM   #13
cornspot
I'm glad it is because you are just ready to retire and not because one of you is seriously ill (that has been my thought with all of your recent hints)

Congrats on beginning a much deserved rest.
 
Old 05-25-2009, 11:18 PM   #14
dionythicus
Good for both of you, Rich. There will be a large hole in the cornsnake world without you. I'll miss your "I don't know what this hatchling is, but its cool" pics.
 
Old 05-25-2009, 11:22 PM   #15
Khaman
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drizzt80 View Post
I'm sure you could write a book or three to help supplement your retirement. Please take that risk before hiring on at Wal-Mart!!!

D80
Kathy and Don have done it. Now it's your turn.
 
Old 05-26-2009, 01:03 AM   #16
kathylove
Great idea!

Since you write so well, and have so much experience to share, it would be a great use of ALL of that time you will have on your hands, lol! Besides keeping the forums going, of course! There can never be too many corn books, if they are good ones!

Whatever happens, I wish you the best in your retirement and whatever projects you pursue once you get there!
 
Old 05-26-2009, 01:26 AM   #17
DragonSpawn


On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 8:45 PM, <zuchowski@comcast.net> wrote:

First off, I hope everyone had a really nice Memorial Day weekend.

Secondly, I have put up my 2009 pricelist and as I have mentioned here and there, I will not be holding back any keepers this year. So I have put up a lot of stuff on that list that I ordinarily wouldn't be selling. I have also done something different with the price list, in that I am not doing any sort of pre-hatching sale, but instead doing a more direct method of listing wholesale prices (for those "out of egg" animals) along with the regular retail prices. Hopefully it's not too confusing for anyone......

Also, as you will gather from the text below, I am listing my older animals as well for sale. Right now I have the "keeper" 2008 animals listed, and will try to get the 2007s and 2006s listed as well over the next month or so. In effect, I am making my "no keepers" retroactive through the last few years....

So drop on in if you haven't been to my site within the past week or so.

http://www.SerpenCo.com

But now onto other news......

I know I've been dropping hints about my retirement taking place one of these days here and there, and quite honestly I wasn't sure when this would take place, much less HOW. Several months ago someone approached me about buying SerpenCo, and quite honestly at first I was kind of shocked by that idea. Not that anyone would consider buying my business, but that the offer snuck up on me without my expecting it. I thought I would have to advertise it for sale, at least, instead of someone just coming out of the blue to ask ME about it.

Well unfortunately that sale fell apart after months of the buyer talking like this was a done deal and 100 percent certainty, and quite recently as a matter of fact. Truth of the matter is, all during these months the more Connie and I thought about the idea, the better it sounded to us. I sincerely wish the sale had happened, for quite a number of reasons, but it didn't and that is that.

In the meantime, our mindset has been pretty much set in that we were going to be done with this business this year. I discussed this with the buyer, and my goal had been to have him take possession of the the adults and younger snakes directly after the females had finished laying their eggs. This would have been this past week, had things gone according to our plan and his assurances. Then as babies were hatching, they would be shipped to him immediately. So as you can imagine, Connie and I were elated that this year was going to be so much easier than previous years, and our exit would have been easy and simple. When the signed contract did not materialize by the deadline just a few days ago, and I got a "Dear John" email from the buyer, Plan B had to be initiated, as although this deal was dead, not so was our intentions to be done with this. The goal was the same, but our method to getting there obviously needed to be revised.

Part of the extenuating circumstances leading to this decision is the fact that in April of 2008, I went to the emergency room with appendicitis. A lot of thoughts can go through your mind in the short time waiting for the anesthesiologist to come around to put you under. Laying on a gurney can cause a LOT of introspection, believe me. Foremost in my thoughts was, well, if I DON'T come out of this, just what the hell was Connie going to do with all that crap I would be dumping on her? She couldn't possibly handle SerpenCo alone, even if she wanted to. Really, the reptile business just is not her cup of tea, but she has been at my side the entire time throughout. Quite frankly, she has been my right hand man all these years simply because she knew it is what I wanted to do, and she was willing to devote herself completely to my doing just that. In the meantime, she has had surgery on one of her legs from problems stemming from the long hours of working while standing helping me with my business. I am watching her literally kill herself to make certain that I achieve this dream I have had of running a snake breeding business.

So how can I keep on doing that to her in good conscience? How much of HER life am I willing to continue to take from her for what I want to do? Yes, she would continue doing this till the day she dies if I asked her to, but I just cannot, and WILL NOT, do that.

Then there is another perspective of this that I need to consider as well. Connie's health could fail suddenly at any time as well. There are a few aspects of this I have been thinking heavily on. One is that there is just no way I could run this business without her help. Secondly, if she were in the hospital for an extended time, I would need to be at her side, which would mean that SerpenCo would go kaput anyway. That's just the way it would have to be. And lastly, there is no way I want to be at the side of her death bed thinking that I wished to hell I had given her more fun in her life rather than having it all sucked away to help me with this business. Quite frankly, I would just as soon die today then have that experience.

Not to sound like a wimp or anything, but I doubt that most people realize the workload we actually bear up under doing this business. I think we have symptoms of every type of repetitive strain injury that you can possibly imagine. Who would ever have thought that years of opening and closing thousand of deli cups on a weekly basis would damage your wrists and elbows? That standing for hours on end would weaken your knees, hips, and back? That my eyes would start failing and I would need one pair of glasses to see while driving, and then another pair so I could see to read that small print they use for serial numbers on computer equipment? That I can't remember if I washed my hands after I walked away from the sink? That the reason that time seems to be whirling by so quickly these days is because after the hours have passed I don't remember what I did during them? Golden years, my butt!

Frankly, if that sale of SerpenCo had not fallen apart, right now the business would belong to someone else. I had made up my mind to do this, and having seen the glimpse of the light at the end of the tunnel, there really is no turning back now. So yes, I am planning on retiring this year. My goal is that by January 1, 2010, all of the animals will be sold or otherwise disposed of. That is why there will be no "keepers" for 2009, and I am making this "no keepers" policy retroactive to the older animals that I have been growing up for future breeders. There is NO future breeding in store for them here, so there is no reason to keep them around. Certainly I will be selling the adults eventually, but there is still some hope that the buyer may be able to swing buying my business at a lesser amount (money is always an issue, isn't it?) if the business only encompasses the adults rather than all the younger stock. So the adults will not be offered for sale separately until the last possible moment. Quite likely around October or November. Honestly, we will be far too busy with babies pretty shortly anyway to even think about dealing with that additional workload.

If someone would be interested in buying the entire business, lock, stock and barrel, of course I would be interested in discussing that possibility with them. But it doesn't really matter to me either way. There are some tax advantages to my retaining the "SerpenCo" business itself, so I can do this either way and be satisfied with it. I would like to see someone else carry on the SerpenCo brand name, after all the years we put into making it such a well recognized name in this industry. But if the name retires along with us, then so be it. That's just the way it goes.

Will there be regrets? Most certainly. I don't think anyone can give up something they have done for 30 years because they LOVED doing it without regrets. Should I have done things differently? Maybe. But I'm not sure what, and whether things would have been worse or better off. One severe issue has been hiring help around here. Not sure if it is just this particular area we live in, or people in general are not what they used to be in respect to work ethics, but we have always had major headaches trying to hire and keep competent help. Or more accurately, barely passable competent help. We have had some good workers (rare birds indeed), but honestly, cleaning snake cages is just not a life long career path for anyone. And it takes a very rare breed of person to want to tolerate having snakes trying to eat their hands several times a day for a part time job. Had we been able to hire a few people who would be willing and capable of doing what we need to have done HOW we want it done, indefinitely, then yes, I would consider continuing doing this until I dropped. Not sure I could ask that of Connie, but at least with good workers, then the burden would be off her to give all of herself helping me. But at this late date, there is just no way to hope that good workers are only a newspaper ad away any longer.

So with all things considered, this really is the only right thing to do right now.

Of course, the question really is, CAN we survive after retiring? That is a scary question to try to answer honestly. Yes, we do have some money saved up, but will runaway inflation make that worthless? Can we afford to drop a fairly good source of income with the economy being like it is now?

I can only hope this is the right decision. The plans are to take as much money as possible from the sale of the animals and put it towards our retirement. Will it be enough? This is one of those kinds of questions that I won't be able to answer until looking back in retrospect. Just dropping the business will cut our expenses tremendously. Which will certainly help. I am also eligible for my state retirement at the end of January, 2010, but social security (if the federal government isn't bankrupt by then) is still over three years away. Not that either of them are going to be pouring lots of money into our bank account, but it will certainly help somewhat. No, I'm hoping that I can get a reasonable amount of money from the sale of the animals to make a difference. That difference being, of course, maybe 10 years from now Connie and I still kicking and able to be comfortable in our retirement, or 10 years from now us working at the local Walmart just so we can afford to put some food on the table between the retirement checks.

There really are times when I wish I had a crystal ball. I certainly could use one right about now.

As for the websites I run, as long as they are a positive cash flow for me, and I am not digging into my pocket to pay the server bills, upgrades, repairs, and technical help, then they will continue as usual. I'm hoping that they may even be a positive enough cash flow that they will hope with this retirement thing we are going to launch ourselves into. But again, we will just have to see what happens, I guess...


I then sent Rich this, The reason I am posting this Is for all who havent Known Rich either Personally, professionally,Forum posts or by reputation, we are losing a great teacher one of a few.


Amen, Rich, Amen.........
Its not fair, I've Only just begun to learn from you, as one of you Internet Students =) The knowledge you have added, started, and dedicated to young herpers like myself over your years have been and always will be priceless. You will be missed by many, There are few that can hold their head high in this industry, You are one.

I understand where your coming from I too suffered Appendicitis, mine burst at 21. I didn't know just felt kinda backed up, and after a wrong diagnosis on a Wed. I wound up spending two weeks draining my own fluids out daily from a tube in my side, because by Saturday I had lost 25 lbs from the start of Mon fever, wound up in the ER, with a finger up my well you get the pic. They drained all the poison from the abscessed organ with a glass needle I was awake for the procedure and then as described above then ensued a month later had to go through another surgery, this time completely under to remove the dead organ itself.

The scariest moment for me was realizing that at that moment that last view of them could be the last time I saw my loved ones who were with me......

You find out what is most important to you, In your own personal midnight hour.I know how you feel or at least my own personal version.

I wish you and your family Well Rich, blessings man you earned it.
Be Well Bro
.
George Demarest
Co. Founder
D.n.A Endeavors
DragonSpawn Cs Forum
 
Old 05-26-2009, 01:27 AM   #18
DragonSpawn
Good luck man

Go where you gotta go man. Live well
 
Old 05-26-2009, 01:52 AM   #19
Rich Z
Thank you everyone. But it's not really like I am going anywhere, just not going to be actively working with animals any longer. And with more time on my hands, you actually may see more of me around here then before. I have literally thousands of photographs and video clips I haven't had time to post. Probably many of them I have just forgotten about. Soon I will have the time to find them (maybe not knowing what the heck they are, however!) and perhaps be more active just posting here. You may even get tired of my ramblings after a bit. I really do like to write..... But as for a book, heck, I dunno..... How many corn snake books can there BE out there?

I would also like to get back into actively coding (programming). It really would gripe my butt to have to ask for programming help when I had been a programmer for a number of years. But delegation of work is something you learn you have to do when time is always in short supply. If programming is nothing else, it is extremely tedious and time consuming. Anyway, I will have the time to play with upgrades and mods here just for the fun of doing so.

And I certainly want to see the new things everyone else hatches out over the years. I really hate that there are so many projects that I will never see the results first hand, but starting new projects was a never ending pleasure of doing this kind of work. So no matter when I decided to retire, I would still face this problem. Probably the most exciting times are when a possibly new gene surfaces. Now that is something that just always gave me goosebumps. To be not only the first in the world to see something, but initially the ONLY person in the world to have seen that kind of animal. That is something that I hope everyone really serious about this as a hobby and a love gets to experience at least once in their lifetime. The thrill of being a pioneer in an uncharted wilderness.

So if there is one thing I would like to ask of everyone here, that is to please share your triumphs with me here. I really will want to see photographs of the new stuff and share your excitement.

Now, all I have to do is get Connie and myself through this one last HELL season without either of us having a heart attack or nervous breakdown.......
 
Old 05-26-2009, 02:18 AM   #20
tricksterpup
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich Z View Post
Thank you everyone. But it's not really like I am going anywhere, just not going to be actively working with animals any longer.

Now, all I have to do is get Connie and myself through this one last HELL season without either of us having a heart attack or nervous breakdown.......
Heck Rich after you get set on selling every thing, I bet there will be that one Gal or Guy you will hold on that is your favorite.
 

Join now to reply to this thread or open new ones for your questions & comments! Cornsnakes.com is the largest online community dedicated to cornsnakes . Registration is open to everyone and FREE. Click Here to Register!

Google
 
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 05:52 AM.





Fauna Top Sites
 

Powered by vBulletin® Version
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Page generated in 0.04936290 seconds with 10 queries
Copyright Rich Zuchowski/SerpenCo