+El Diablo Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Hi All, Due to personal life changes (for the better) I've decided to retire from making Geo-hiking staffs. As my time has become more limited the staffs have become more popular. I've reached the point where what started as an enjoyable hobby has become a time consuming job. Thank you for all the orders. Everytime I got an order I was flattered that people thought that much of my work. I hope you enjoy your staff as much as I enjoyed creating it. I would like to say a special thanks to Groundspeak for allowing me to partner with them. They have been great to work with. I will complete all the pending orders as quickly as possible. El Diablo Quote Link to comment
+jeff35080 Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 I hate to hear it ED... may your new endeavours bring you as much as enjoyment as the staffs have. Quote Link to comment
+New England n00b Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Good and bad news El D. Good luck with the new endeavors! Quote Link to comment
+briansnat Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Bummer for us, but good for you I guess. You did great work! Quote Link to comment
+planetrobert Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 schweeeeeettt now all the old sticks are collectible... Quote Link to comment
+clearpath Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 (edited) On a selfish note ... I'm glad you are too busy for the hobby because now we get more of your leadership skills at Today's Cacher magazine. Where a lot of cachers can still benefit from your talent ... PS- to everyone else ... no, I'm not brown nosing, I really mean what I said. Edited October 29, 2004 by clearpath Quote Link to comment
+nctreker Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 It always tough when a hobby turns into a job. You've brought a lot of joy into caching with the staffs. They are truly works of art. I always look forward to attending events where you and the Princess of Darkness show up. There invariably is a line of folks wanting to oogle and test your hiking sticks. Of course my wife is now going to ride me hard for procrastinating on her Christmas hiking staff. Quote Link to comment
+ShadowAce Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 I personally am happy for you as it appears to be a good thing, but I am saddened as well because I was working on designs to submit and see if I could get a staff. I guess I will have to go find some scout master around town instead.. It just wont be the same. Good luck to you and yours in this game we call life. I hope for nothing but joy in your selection. Quote Link to comment
+Stunod Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Bummer...I really wanted to order one in the near future. But, alas...that is a selfish thought. Good luck in your future endevours. Quote Link to comment
+Renegade Knight Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Sometimes you just have to limit the numbers because there is only so much to go around. Quote Link to comment
+Touchstone Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Wow! Feels like the end of an era I feel fortunate to have gotten one for Jr. T when I did . Good luck in all your future plans. I hope this means you'll have more time to cache Quote Link to comment
+planetrobert Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 ya know, instead of doing it as you are and QUITTING, you could have a limit, say like 4 a year and just at random come up with a way of taking one or all 4 orders. just thinking your post sounded like you really didn't WANT to quit, and were fishing for a solution to the problem PS: I don't have/want one so this isn't a selfish post trying to figure out how to get one. Quote Link to comment
+joefrog Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Glad to hear you're making the time for yourself, Diablo.. but sad to hear that there will never be a "joefrog" hikings staff! Quote Link to comment
+Strohem Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Good for you! I love my hiking staff! Tricia Quote Link to comment
+Markwell Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 (edited) Dang. I was waiting for the next contest and still hoping to win. Take it easy and relax. Do it for fun and yourself instead of work for a while. Glad you also can see when it's time to step back from something - and here's to hoping you can enjoy yourself. Edited October 29, 2004 by Markwell Quote Link to comment
+Team Teebow Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Sad to hear that you will no longer be making the staffs, just out of curiosity do you know how many you made over the years? One of my work colleagues has one and it is a thing of beauty. Team Teebow Quote Link to comment
+Monkeybrad Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 It is a sad day for those cachers who kept putting off ordering, I was hoping to get one for GWIII. I am sorry to hear it, but we all know how it is when a hobby turns into work. If you get back into it, let me know, I will be ready to stand in line. Quote Link to comment
+CT Trampers Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 El Diablo- Best of luck in whatever you decide to do. Like someone else said, I feel extremely lucky to have been able to purchase one. Now I'll have to put it in a glass case- All the Best, CT Trampers Quote Link to comment
+tirediron Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 One more procrastinating, disapointed voice saying "Good luck El D!!!!" Quote Link to comment
+carleenp Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Good luck in your other endevours! Quote Link to comment
+erik88l-r Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Glad this personal life change is for the better, and I wish you the best. Hopefully in the future you'll be able to return to making those neat hiking sticks. I still remember the hiking stick essay contest of a year or two ago. I still think mine was best, and I'm unanomous in that. Cache on! ~erik~ Quote Link to comment
+sept1c_tank Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Now that you're free of all that stress, will you please get off my a**? BTW, I have a beautiful ED staff. "Tanks" for the memories, and good luck in your future endeavors. Remember, "Everything you do in life...will impact someone,for better or for worse." Quote Link to comment
+El Diablo Posted October 29, 2004 Author Share Posted October 29, 2004 Sad to hear that you will no longer be making the staffs, just out of curiosity do you know how many you made over the years? One of my work colleagues has one and it is a thing of beauty. Team Teebow A little over a hundred after I finish the pending orders. El Diablo Quote Link to comment
+Marky Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 Joani and I love both of ours. They are things of beauty. Thanks so much for making them for us. We wish you well in your future endeavors. --Marky Quote Link to comment
+TotemLake Posted October 29, 2004 Share Posted October 29, 2004 (edited) El Diablo, You have definitely added a new dimension to the sport by making those wonderful staffs as well as providing a few freebies to contests and such. Your reputation is preceded by your generosity. Sorry to see you stopping the assembly line (so to speak) but I wish you the best of luck in whatever your future endeavours may be. I'm sure I'll see ya in the chat room now and then too! Cheers! TL Edited October 29, 2004 by TotemLake Quote Link to comment
+oldfriends Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 Best of luck in your new endeavors! Geomonsterjr. and oldfriends really like the ones you made for us. Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment
+El Diablo Posted October 30, 2004 Author Share Posted October 30, 2004 Thanks for all the kind replies. I don't think I'll ever stop making hiking staffs...just stop selling them. I've probably given away more than I've sold because I get more joy out of it that way. I actually starting selling them to cover the cost of giving them away. The business got so popular and the pressure became so great to complete a staff that it wasn't fun anymore. I look forward to the day when all pending orders are complete and I can work at my pleasure again. I know it dosen't make sense, and I can't explain the logic. Most people will look at the profits that can be made, I looked at the personal satisfaction that I got when a staff was done and well made. I started off with making staffs with just the GC logo and the name. Then people started wanting artwork, which I enjoy doing, but they wanted them done quickly. Art is hard to do unless your in the mood, but explain that to someone that just paid money for a staff. My favorite time of the year for working on staffs is coming up. I love to go out in my workshop in the winter and crank up the kerosine heater. I can sit there way into the wee hours of the night working on a staff with my cat in my lap and the snow falling past the window. I don't think I'll ever give that up. Besides...it would upset Patches (my cat) if we didn't spend that quality time together. I've always made my staffs out of love for what I did, then it became an obligation. I want to go back to making them out of love for what I do. Occasionally I'll still make one...but it won't be for sale. I know I probably din't explain this in a way that makes sense. I should have had one of my editors for Today's Cacher proof it. El Diablo Quote Link to comment
+ZoomZoom Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 I always dreamed of seeing the initials ZZ engraved in one of your staffs but fiqured I could never afford one hence I never ordered one. It's a shame when a hobby stops being a hobby but you have a skill only a few people have which you'll never lose. Sometimes, it's time to sit back and relax for a spell. Nice work you do. Cheers! Quote Link to comment
+Marky Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 I know it dosen't make sense, and I can't explain the logic. Most people will look at the profits that can be made, I looked at the personal satisfaction that I got when a staff was done and well made. I can relate to this 100%. Joani and I are always doing stuff like that. We find it much more rewarding to be able to do it in our own time frame, and for our own reasons. When it becomes an obligation, it can suck all the fun out of it in a hurry. --Marky Quote Link to comment
+basswoodbend Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 The one I ordered last year for my wife was the major attraction Christmas morning. It is a unique "one of a kind" and truly a work of art. A medical mystery was causing declining energy levels and shortness of breath thus a staff to lean on became an important part of our kit. It got a lot of use poking into snow drifts and also accompanied us to The TC Winter Convergence in January where it drew rave reviews. As the year and the condition progressed, and our stops more frequent, we've had to set it aside for a cane that folds out into a chair. Now with a firm diagnosis and a change in meds, we're hopeful that, in the new year, it will once again accompany us on our hunts. Quote Link to comment
+Cymbaline Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 (Turning around in chair and looking at girlfriends' El Diablo staff received not long ago). Dang. I wanted one. That's what I get for putting it off! Regardless, I understand where you're coming from. Much luck and success to you in the future, and happy caching! Quote Link to comment
+Cloudchaser Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 I, too, am sorry I couldn't afford to purchase one but I'm glad things are changing for the better in your life! I wish you all the best in your new endeavors. Cloudchaser Quote Link to comment
+Fergus Posted October 30, 2004 Share Posted October 30, 2004 I am reminded of the movie Kill Bill. There was a master swordsmith who had sworn an oath never to make another sword. The main character came to him and was able to get him to make another. I think that there will be at least one more geo-hiking staff. Quote Link to comment
+doublestuff Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 El Diablo, Sorry to see you retire from selling your geo-hiking staffs. It's too bad that others will not have a chance to own one of your very exquisite staffs. Team Oreo Cookies definitely enjoys our staffs. I can tell that each one is made with a piece of yourself in it. Your description of your workshop in the winter time sounds so peacefull. Enjoy your retirement. Cache On!! Doublestuff Team Oreo Cookies Quote Link to comment
+DustyJacket Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 Say it isn't so I understand about the preassures when something like this takes off. At least I GOT MINE ! I just hope it never breaks. Can you explain your numbering scheme? I think mine is B2. Quote Link to comment
+DustyJacket Posted October 31, 2004 Share Posted October 31, 2004 If you want to slow down a lot, just keep raising the price. Quote Link to comment
+El Diablo Posted January 9, 2005 Author Share Posted January 9, 2005 What is that old saying...never say never? Well the new good job went up in a puff of smoke. So while I'm sitting at home with nothing to do I've gone back in business. If you have procrastinated in the past, now is the time. I'm hoping to retire again in the near future. El Diablo Quote Link to comment
+*gln Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 GREAT!! now I might have a chance to get one some time. :-) Quote Link to comment
+4agers Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 Great to hear... yet at the same time I hope you can retire again soon. I hope to retire when I'm thirty. Oh dang... missed it. Quote Link to comment
+TinyDiny Posted January 9, 2005 Share Posted January 9, 2005 I'm sorry about the new job falling through... but happy your back in business. Does that sound mean?? I don't mean it to. I would like to order one for Mastifflover without his knowing. No rush,maybe Christmas this coming year. If you could email me and give a price, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks, TinyDiny Quote Link to comment
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