OK - so maybe you’ve never had the chance to save a little old lady getting mugged or disarm a bank robber, but heroism could still be within your grasp. Data loss makes people cry like little children who’ve lost their parents. We’ve seen it. It’s awful. On the other hand, SAVING someone’s data makes even the scrawniest, zittiest, World of Warcraft playing, uber-dork look like he’s 10 feet tall. Instant Rock Star! Yes - we’ve seen this too.

Onyx Consulting has been working on a product launch for awhile now and it’s finally up and running. OnyxSync is an automated internet backup solution with business class capabilities and rates that no one else seems to be matching or beating. The target market for this product is small to medium businesses who’ve been searching for a cost effective total solution to the preservation of their data.

Over the years as technology has advanced, we’ve employed a wide range of backup and archiving solutions for hundreds of Atlanta businesses. Previously our efforts were always restricted by what the customer could afford and whatever varying products and solutions were available. We’ve been through every possible combination of storage device, portable media, tapes, drives, RAID’s etc. Mountains and mountains of products with varying degrees of reliability. Often we employed multi-tiered or “bullet proof” solutions for our mission critical clientele so if one aspect failed, another two would still preserve all data. Even the very best of these solutions left plenty to be desired. The issues of maintaining the equipment and monitoring functionality had to be dealt with. Every four or five years certain aspects had to be replaced entirely - on and on it goes and the costs definitely add up. There didn’t seem to be any way around it - until now.

OnyxSync provides the ability to forget all about the data preservation dilemma. It can be installed in any business to provide easy access and full control to all data maintained off-site in a secure facility. All of the neccesary encryption and security standards are employed and it operates on multiple platforms. It’s an amazingly simple interface for any client to navigate and utilize. Best of all, it’s local to Atlanta and related to Onyx Consulting. Our technicians can perform the initial data collection at the clients location. After that, daily incremental updates are set to occur over the internet with any degree of frequency. The choices for configuration are limitless. Any additional needs can be addressed promptly through support provided by Onyx Consulting.

If you’re an IT administrator who’s ready to put this data storage and preservation issue to bed - for good, you owe it to yourself to look into this product. There is strong potential here to save your company an enormous amount of time, money and trouble. What would that be worth to your employer? What would their gratitude be worth to you? Click on OnySync to get started!

Bernadette and I  watch entirely too much crime TV or “murder and mayhem” as we’ve taken to calling it. Law and Order, 48 Hours Hard Evidence, Law and Order SVU, Cold Case Files, Solved, Snapped, I Survived, Women Behind Bars, The Interrogators etc. Horrible and morbid as it all is, it’s become an occasional source of mindless “checking out” entertainment. I’ve wondered why I remain interested in the endless parade of depravity and tragedy it presents and I’m faced with two likely possibilities:

1) I’m the guy who can’t help looking at the auto accident scene as I drive by.

2) I really want to see the perps get caught and punished for their crimes.

In all honesty it must be a mixture of both with emphasis on the latter. That being said, it never ceases to disgust me how lenient and impotent our so-called justice system is. No one ever seems to really get what they deserve - in my ruthless opinion. I find myself frustrated time and time again by the injustice. Oh the Humanity!

So what can we do about it? I used to think there was nothing to be done. I put it out of my mind. There are cops and prosecutors and a whole army of people who’ve taken the oaths to handle these people “for us”. But as soon as you jail one, another pops up or another one is released or “rehabilitated”. Yeahhhhh. Rehabilitated sex offenders. Love ‘em. When can they come over for dinner? Anyway - realizing these bastards proliferate as fast or faster than they can be taken off the streets, you quickly reach the conclusion that the number of victims continues growing exponentially. Seems like helping the VICTIM to recover and leaving the bad guys to the pros is the way to go. This is what brought us to the idea of The Onyx Consulting Foundation - a way to help fund the already woefully underfunded Dekalb Rape Crisis Center. I am proud to say that our efforts have produced the first revenue disbersment for the DRCC which I will be delivering to the director (Phyllis) when we meet this Thursday to discuss our partnership.

So, tonight, as I watched the utterly horrible documentation of a “schoolgirl rapist” who damaged the lives of several young women from Rochester to Alabama before he was sentenced to life - it occurred to me: Two years of cultivating this project (with the help of my colleagues at Onyx) has finally begun to bear fruit. I turned off the TV with the realization that we’re not just gawking in morbid fascination and disgust anymore, we’ve actually become part of the solution. Maybe that will help ease the guilt of watching all that garbage.

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This is my Spyderco.
There are many others like it, but this one is MINE.
My Spyderco is my best friend. It is my life.
I must master it as I must master my life.
My Spyderco without me is useless. Without my Spyderco, I am useless.

Quite awhile ago, I was heading back to the Northcrest location with a co-worker when we spotted this poor unfortunate soul sweltering in the mid-summer heat. You can see the Onyx sign just over his shoulder. I parked, grabbed my camera and returned on foot where I encountered his father standing nearby in the shade of the Marta stop. After reading the sign, I managed to partially conceal my amusement enough to ask the man if he would mind my taking a picture. “Hell no, I don’t mind, Take as many as ye’ like!” Amazingly, his sign describes a trouble combination I actually did not achieve. It certainly took me back to a tumultuous time when my father excercised similarly rigid disciplines. I commended the man on his creative punishment citing similar father/son interactions. He saw my Onyx shirt and asked if I owned the company behind his son. When I replied, he said to his boy “You see that? This guy did dumb stuff like you and he owns that company over there. You wanna grow up and do something or you wanna go to jail?” I told the kid to hang in there and walked away feeling a little weird but laughing to myself regardless. He was out there all afternoon - more than five hours. Good luck to you Pot Kid!

Does everyone out there have their very own private muse? The benefits are overwhelming. I highly recommend it. You can learn all about mine and download her music at bernadetteseacrest.com. What can I say? I’m a lucky S.O.B. She offers her music at no cost, although it sells off iTunes and CDbaby. As frustrating as it is for an entrepreneur such as myself to observe, she insists that “getting it out there” is far more important to her than making a buck. It’s “art for art’s sake” and that’s surely part of why it stays genuine. Gigs are another matter. Aside from the Daddy D’z sessions, they command a respectable fee for bookings and engagements.

Much to my embarrassment as a lifelong Atlantan, a handful of dopey club owners throughout Atlanta were seemingly disinterested when the highly revered chanteuse of the Southwest introduced herself as newly arrived from Albuquerque. UPDATE - B and the boys packed Eddie’s Attic 10/8/08 and are playing there again 1/21/09. Having recently finished a gangbusters tour in France she wanted to try a couple Atlanta venues on for size. The reception was less than warm. Some fella’ at Red Light Cafe even suggested she come by for “open mic night” (?!) um…..yeahhhh - no. True to form, she flipped them the proverbial “bird” and picked the least pretentious dive in town to play a series of FREE shows for a strictly “word of mouth” crowd. Evidently, the right people were listening - Bernadette won Creative Loafing’s Best Atlanta Vocalist within her first year of being in Atlanta and playing Daddy D’z.  We took advantage of the effort to hold many a company funded evening of beer, BBQ, and some of the finest in underground music entertainment in Atlanta for all the Onyx people. It was here that Bernadette first sang the brilliant songs that Charles had written for her. This was also the place where my daughter Delia would sing an opening number of “You Are My Sunshine” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” when she’d only just turned four. She and Bernadette would “rehearse” at home before shows. These small private shows marked an era in our lives that I’m very sentimental about. Now that I’ve had time to reflect, I wanted to blog about what I thought was their best show since Bernadette moved here from Albuquerque in 2006.

It had been roughly a year up to this recent Wednesday show in August 2008. A year of no shows makes for a pretty good turn-out as all the people who were lamenting their dissapearance made sure to come out and bring their friends. There was a perfect mixture of people to include past fans, several of our friends, Onyx customers who’ve become friends, a scattering of family and the coveted “newcomers”. They played all their best stuff with several of Charles’ more recent songs. Everything Bernadette had been saving up over the year was coming out clear and strong. I stood at the back with a couple friends looking dumbstruck as usual - “is that MY woman up there doing that?!”. “Cabbagetown Girl” was the final number and seemed to have a   lot of locals mesmorized in what could only be described as a “you had to be there” kind of moment. It was, without a doubt, the best show I can recall. The people who came, the focus and energy of the performers, the absence of promotion or pretentiousness and the intimacy of Daddy D’z dumpy little BBQ-shack stage area - all these things converged to create the perfect underground Atlanta show experience. I was proud. I was re-energized and inspired. It felt good to be there. It really did.

During the renovation of the Decatur building, I discovered a whole new level of Murphy’s Law aggravation with regard to timing and logistics. Despite my best efforts to consolidate tasks and plan my days, every time I arrived at the Norhtcrest Rd location and settled in to work, the phone rang and I had to return to the Decatur building. Finally I gave up and decided to camp somewhere in Decatur where I could get wi-fi and await my next summons. I decided to try Dancing Goats and was immediately struck by the spacious atmosphere. There was a time when I enjoyed clutter and funkiness, but as I get older I’ve grown weary of “bohemian” accoutrements, decor and especially odors. Dancing Goats is clean and contemporary. There are really comfortable deep leather couches to sink down in or, if you’re in an attentive business mode, you can opt for clean counter tops and firm chairs

Decor is all fine and dandy, but is the coffee good? Well, you can smell a distinctive roast in the air when you walk through the door, and I’m happy to say - it’s possibly the best coffee to be found in the Atlanta/Decatur area. It’s a good thing it’s at the bottom of Ponce and not next door to our shop or I’d be consuming far far too much caffeine on a daily basis. As it is, I drop in at least a couple times a week to get my fix and pick up whatever the guys want as well. The Chilly Goat beats any other frozen concoction I’ve had and when you see the work that goes into it, you’ll know why. Another plus I noticed was the staff. everyone there has been very friendly from the first purchase. The manager Lorrie Bodnar made us feel very welcome as a new business and has been kind enough to refer us as well. On a good day, I counted 16 laptops humming away in there and 1/2 of them were Macs. That’s a high ratio. We hope all of those folks realize we’re over here and stop in. Go to Dancing Goats. You’ll surely become a regular.

Lynne Sawicki and I share the same accountant and it was he who informed me that Lynne (who used to work with my family at Indigo) had her own place in Decatur by the name of Sawicki’s - Meat, Seafood and More. I decided to get over there and try it. It’s located on Ponce right across from CVS in downtown Decatur. When I walked in, the first thing I noticed was the most amazing hunk of Wagyu Kobe Beef Ribeye I’ve ever seen. Then I was reacquainted with Lynne who doesn’t seem to have aged since I last saw her?! Very odd. How did I miss out on that phenomenon? So this was about 3 weeks ago and I’ve probably eaten Sawicki’s (or picked it up for my staff) at least 6 or 7 times since. It’s outstanding and the guys are all over it. Andrew is partial to the Beef tri-tip with french fries and herbed aioli on toasted baguette, Craig has declared the French ham and swiss panini with aioli and tomato to be his favorite. They all routinely order the Meatball sub with fresh mozzarella and homemade marinara on a warm baguette. I usually get a really flavorful salad with all high-end fresh ingredients, but I tried the Roasted lamb with red onion jam, lettuce and tomato on baguette and it was very good.

I wanted to write about Sawicki’s because I want to spread the word and let as many people as possible know about this rare oasis of quality. It’s VERY hard to find a really good sandwich and/or specialty shop in and around these parts. I’m often amazed at how unappreciated or unnoticed quality offerings can go in our money-grubbing metropolis. I know that half the battle is getting someone to actually TRY something so they can realize and understand the difference from what they’ve been accepting previously. For example - anyone who uses Onyx just once would absolutely NEVER go back to a chain store for service again. Anyone who can appreciate real food with attention to detail and the craft will certainly return to Sawicki’s again and again. I’m hooked, and I haven’t even tried half of the offerings I see awaiting me in those chilled cases. I’ll be ordering a couple hand cut 2″ thick ribeye’s soon amongst other things to take home and have my way with. If you haven’t been to Sawicki’s - get over there and try it. It’s tops.

A huge perk of our new Decatur location is that we’re no longer limited to the sad selection of slop trough offerings that surround our Northcrest location. Decatur abounds with great places to eat. For starters, there’s 2 great coffee houses within just a few blocks of our shops. Java Monkey (for those who like the more textural, funky style coffee shop) is on Church just across from Marta. Very nice folks. Good coffee. The one I’ve spent the most time at is Dancing Goats at the bottom of Ponce across from Watershed. I used Dancing Goats as my office for the duration of the Decatur renovation (say that 5 times fast). It’s a large well lit space with lots of good seating and great coffee. On a side note - I counted 16 laptop users in there the other day and 8 of those were Macs. That’s an unusually high ratio but perhaps not amongst the “coffee house crowd”. I guess I now have one leg in that crowd, but if anyone hears me raving about espresso machine technology or swooning over barista’s - please slap me sharply across the face……then duck (it may take me a moment to realize it was for my own good). But I digress….

There are so many quality lunch spots in Decatur, one could easily transform into a quivering mass of blubber if one wasn’t careful. At Watershed you can get high-end southern fare made with fresh ingredients and great attention to simplicity and purity. Sort of a refined version of Matthew’s in Tucker. If you want a truly excellent sandwich, you need look no further than Sawicki’s on Ponce across from CVS. Pastries a Go-Go is another favorite spot…and the list goes on and on. I’m having to alternate between salads, dry cheerios & fruit so I can allot an occasional “bad” lunch because let’s be honest - who the hell REALLY enjoys going out to lunch and picking at a salad while the person across from you is cramming a Rueben and fries down their gullet? Not I.

A blog about chairs……my my…….yawn…..Oh well. I do blather on.

Five years ago, when we opened our first (company owned) location on Northcrest, we decided it might be nice to stop sitting in the miserable collection of garbage we’d acquired off the side of several roads and other crappy chairs repositories. My first thought was the ever constant Herman Miller Aeron. A great chair to be sure. A chair that always conjured the image of success and good taste. But alas, thanks to the dot-com boom and bust of the Clinton era, I now associate the chair more with pretentiousness and failure! All those Herman Miller chairs on E-Bay selling from all major city’s circa 2001 - briefly owned by hordes of dot-commer “would be” visionaries. Coffee swilling, turtleneck wearing, PDA obsessed tech junkies sitting at the helms of a thousand sinking ships in their mighty AERON!!

Feh!

I always wanted one. When the day came that I could finally afford and justify one, I didn’t want it anymore. Same thing with Harley Davidson’s! So I called an associate who is a member of the interior designer’s guild and asked him what his thoughts were on chairs. We were ready to spend some real money for once and I wanted to weigh all our options. “Aeron’s are nice,” he said “but they’re kinda’ passe’ now. There’s a great line out now from Humanscale that you should check out.” And so we did. The first round we ordered for the Northcrest store were the “Freedom Chair” models - a refreshing design detour from the overwrought technical look of the Aeron. I just want to sit down, not meld my ass to H.R. Giger’s bad dreams - fer cryin’ out loud! For the Decatur store, we just ordered a whole mess o’ the “Liberty Chair”. OK - the patriotic themes are pretty amusing. Even our toilet at Northcrest is called “The Patriot” ! What the HELL is going ON here?! Anyway - the Humanscale chairs are pricey - like all high end chairs, and various people have scoffed at the amount of dough we shell out for these things. But “here’s the thing”:

1) The chairs come with a lifetime warranty. ANYTHING that breaks is fixed at our location from their local office branch in Atlanta. Great service.
2) If you want to keep your people happy while they pound on hardware repairs and wheedle out solutions for all manners of IT issues all the live-long day, you damn sure need to provide a high quality, comfortable cradle for their hams to luxuriate in while they do so!
3) They look cool and they’re not made by Herman “freakin’” Miller. That IS his middle name btw.
4) We’ve got a “connection”…….you think I’d pay full price for these things?! Hells No my friend!

YES. I blogged about chairs. Time to up the dosage I guess.