Reflections on 2010

Reflections on the Year
by Stephen Cook

Well it happened again. Another year has passed and here we are looking at a fresh New Year. My, how time flies when you’re having fun.

New Years’ give us reason to pause and evaluate. It is the time of new beginnings and often New Years’ resolutions. It is a time for us in the South to know there is not a lot of winter left and we begin to start looking towards spring and the early tree blooms, and even more anticipation of being able to get outside and work and enjoy the great outdoors.

That is a good thing about saw-milling. We get to be outside in God’s creation enjoying the world and nature that he created. We may see deer or turkey on our way to work or late in the afternoon when we are finishing the day. Even though I don’t get to hunt much, I always get excited and want to show my family the deer whenever we see one.

At this time of year we can’t help but look back and think of how blessed we have been both at home and in our families. At home we have good families that are healthy and we are blessed enough that there are still enough freedoms in our country to be able to home school our children. We hope and pray that your families and businesses are doing well and that you can count your blessings and look forward to a new and exciting 2011.

And while there are always some hard things that happen as well, we have known for years that a few problems are just ways to make us become better and stronger. We find that when we can keep our heads and not become too upset that we usually solve the problem and have a better machine or better technique and as a consequence actually have a better life. Sometimes we get caught up in the problems of life, but we need to remember and focus on the good things and count our many blessing and keep moving forward. This mind set will help us get through the tough times whether business or personal and we can look back at the end of the year and often realize that we have become better and grown from the experience.

At Cook’s Saw, this is our philosophy - Never quit. Always be moving forward and do everything with integrity while striving for excellence. We believe that this is the reason we have been blessed with success. It is a formula that works and we believe that it is a “law” that God has put in place. We have to keep working at it and encouraging each other and even using kind criticisms to critique our plans and goals, but this helps us make the best decisions.

All these ideas are not what we as people typically want to do; it is not what the flesh wants. The flesh mostly wants to take it easy, rest, and relax. We have to fight against this and keep working and moving forward. It is one way we know we are alive. This “fight” is what keeps us young and active and most often will extend and fulfill our lives.

This is what I really want to write about today and hopefully encourage our fellow sawmillers and customers to not become overly weary with the cares of life. I have done that and still often do, but I am learning to take one day at a time and just keep moving forward and sometimes falling forward. Usually after a few weeks have passed I come to see that most of my problems often weren’t so big (although some are). And when I get a new one that I am dealing with it usually makes the last one seem like nothing.
Once we get past a problem or hurdle we can usually at least take a breath and relax a little. We definitely need to keep a balance and take a day off now and again to help keep a clear perspective and even come up with new and fresh ideas and be ready to saw again.

When it comes to sawmilling we really do enjoy helping our customers make more money. We try to remember that when you have problems and if we can help you solve them you will be happy and we will be rewarded with kind words and payment for our hard work and efforts so we can move forward and come up with more innovative ideas that will help you more. We certainly have made many friends over the years and are thankful for these relationships.

Our Super Sharp™ blades have made many new and excited customers. Just last week we had an older gentleman who finally tried the new Super Sharp™ blades tell us that we just wouldn’t believe how great the blade made his mill saw. He went on and even said that he couldn’t even bear the thought of opening the box of normal blades he also had because he didn’t want to use them anymore. And this is from a man who was adamant that he “Would not use the Super Sharps.”  So yes we actually do believe and know how well you can saw and we want to help you have this same exciting and exhilarating experience. New experiences like this are what make us feel young and keep a desire in us for sawing. Let us help you make more money and have fun in the process.

One thing that we sometimes find in ourselves and in our customers is that we just don’t want to do a lot of the little and sometimes big things that will cause us to make more money. We are working on our attitudes so that we will “just do it”, “get it done” and move past the issue and back to work. We want to get on to bigger and better things. This reminds me of when I was a child and needed to take out the garbage. Sometimes I would procrastinate and even complain until Mother would say “You have spent more time whining and complaining than it would have taken to get the job done.” I bet most of us have heard this or something similar in our lifetime. And it is so true.

Which is better - get down and depressed over the fact that we have to adjust our mills, fix something (that shouldn't have broken), or just fix it and get back to making money and providing for ourselves and our families. Undoubtedly there is some type of satisfaction in the complaining and becoming irritable and blaming someone else, but it is not what helps us make money. Just fixing the problem and moving on is by far the easiest and expends much less time and emotional energy as well as helps us to do what we are out there to do and that is make money.

With that said it is always best to evaluate a machine, blade (or anything else for that matter) and get the best value for your money. Once that is done then move forward from there and make the best decision again and again. If you have an old machine or even a newer machine that just won’t produce enough, do the math, put it on paper and see if a little faster, more productive machine will make you more money. If it can, then make the change. It could be one of the best business decisions you have ever made.

Try something new once in a while even though many times you will find what you did bring you very little if anything. You’re bound to try something that is beneficial. Just don’t get caught up in too many ads that guarantee us to feel better, lose weight, and solve every problem.  Learn to sort through them but try some once in a while. Just don’t “break the bank” or your wallet.

There are a lot of things that could improve life and work that we don’t try because we doubt it or just don’t like change.  If there is a guarantee with it that will keep you from losing too much or maybe nothing more than a little time, then we should try a few things to help improve our situation.

Super Sharp™ is one such thing. We have proven it over and over. Do some people have problems with it? Yes. We often can help them adjust their machines so they run better in the process and they love them. Occasionally, we can’t solve their problem and sometimes we don’t know why that is. We are sure that if we were there and could work on their machine we could solve their problems. I often think it revolves around attitude; maybe to prove someone wrong or just to feel smarter. Then there are the times when someone just has a poorly built machine with no adjustment. Whatever it is we know that it is not what will make our customer more money and that is the sad part. Pride is a problem that is universal (we struggle with it too) and it keeps many people from making a better living. We all have it, but realizing it and trying not to let it keep us from making good decisions is very important. The good book says that pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.

Our goal at Cook’s Saw is to help you make more money so you and your families can have better lives. This New Years has made me think of this and re-commit to it again. We have the sawmill machinery and support, with knowledge based on years of experience out sawing in the field, just like you.  And always remember the support after the sale. We have been serving the sawmill industry for 40 years; since Tim and I were boys. We grew up in it, we know the struggles and can understand the pain.

If you are reasonable and want to improve your saw milling performance we have the people here to help you do that and we enjoy doing that. We have a great group of people that work with us and although it is impossible for Tim and me to talk to every customer we will be there doing our best, making sure that you receive the best service, advice and machinery so that your needs are met and exceeded wherever possible.

We did have a good 2010 and look forward to building more machinery and providing the best blades for you in 2011.

Now let’s get our Super Sharp™ blades and go make some sawdust out of those frozen logs. Spring will be here soon.

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