Tag Archives: CrewTLD

A New Sponsor or: X1 Marks the Spot

29 Friday Jun 2018

Posted by in Blogging, Life as We Know It, Podcasting, The Less Desirables Network

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

So, the entire The Less Desirables Network got a new sponsor this week! I am so very proud to announce our partnership with X1 Communications, the standard of internet providers in the downtown WSNC area!X1 Logo

Nathan Geipel, the owner-operator of X1 Communications is a member of TBD Referral Group that I’m part of (that stands for The Best Damn Referral Group) and I know that most of the businesses in the downtown area rely on them for their internet needs. So, when I was going into The Lab at Industry Hill, I called on him to see if they serviced that location. Wait, what? Don’t all internet providers in the area service all the area?

Nope.

X1 Communications are different than traditional internet providers in town. First of all, X1 uses “Fixed Wireless” technology. According to their website: Fixed Wireless is the process of enabling communications between two locations, using a radio as a wireless link. Say what!? Yes, they do not use wired technology. They’re not renting lines from bigger communications companies. They have radios on a few of the taller buildings downtown. In order for them to service your business, they have to have a line-of-sight connection with your business from those points. At that point, the data is transferred between radios using passwords and high-level encryption to ensure fast and secure data transfer. This stuff is high speed!

Does the line-of-sight provision limit their reach? Well, kind of, but what it does is allows Nate and Josh to take care of and provide high-level service to the folks they do serve. I think that’s important.

They own their entire network. Unlike their competitors who rent wires from the phone company, they are not beholden to those primitive measures and can guarantee 99.99% uptime. Which, is imperative to business owners, especially those like me who are internet-based. I didn’t have to buy any special equipment, either. They put the radio on the roof of the building and the building was already wired internally. I plugged my router into the port and BAM! I’m surfing and uploading.

I don’t have to worry about weather problems, either. Their network is on the 5Ghz bandwidth so it is “weather resistant.” I’m not really sure what that means and it doesn’t matter if I know or not, it’s taken care of.

I know what you’re asking. “Is it safe?” Oh yes. X1 uses AES 256 Encryption – the same
level of security as the Dept. of Defense. So, my info, data, properties and all that are quite secure. And, man… it’s fast. The only thing worse than slow internet is no internet. X1 guarantees consistently high speeds, so you focus on your work, not your broadband service. That helps.

Are you like me and tired of dealing with Spectrum and AT&T? Well now, you don’t have to. No more hassle in dealing with the major telecommunications companies. You’re in the capable hands of a local provider, with a history of excellence.

Have I done an ample job of pushing X1 Communications? I hope so, because not only are they my sponsors, I think they have a great product and we know that I love promoting local businesses, especially the ones that I can get behind. But, if you’re looking for more testimonials, I’m sure you can ask Alma Mexicana, Krankie’s, Inmar, BB&T Ballpark, The Ramkat, WBFJ, Camino Bakery and fellow TLD sponsor, Underdog Records. I am sure all of them would give you raving reviews of X1 Communications, too. If you’re in line-of-sight of the taller buildings downtown WSNC and want high-speed broadband internet, contact X1 Communications at (336) 773-9950.

Here’s welcoming X1 Communications to the CrewTLD family! Thanks, Nate and Josh!

Until tomorrow, broadcasting at breakneck speeds…
Scorp out!

—
“With more than 20 years of combined experience in the field of Digital Communications, X1 is proud to provide custom internet solutions to a variety of businesses and residents.” – X1 Communications

What Kind of Boots? or: Celebration

13 Monday Mar 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

I touched on The BCPF’s birthday, yesterday, and only slightly, but I wanted to talk a little more about it; about the whole weekend, really. It started on Friday when The BCPF and I went to Willows Bistro to eat, since we weren’t going to be there for our regular Saturday night standing rezzie. Chef Brent Andruzzi made us some fantastic pork dishes. Boneless pork chops and pork tenderloin prepared in the Andruzzi “culinary ninja” style. I have to go back to look at my notes to see what they were. That on top of four red wine sangrias made it a little hard to concentrate.

17264683_10211584182742060_5058955342521874721_n.jpg

©Stacy Verner

After that, we met with The Traveling Mixologist, Jordan Keiper from the Tavern in Old Salem and co-host with me on Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking, at Wise Man Brewing where we had a behind the scenes tour and a few beverages  while Facebook Live-ing. Great night.

The BCPF and I got up on Saturday morning and we didn’t do our Saturday “walk.” It was her birthday weekend, after all. We did however go to Mary’s Gourmet Diner to have brunch and then over to Underdog Records to buy some awesome selections on vinyl. We went home, listened to a few. We met Jordan up in Pilot Mountain, at JOLO Vineyards & Winery, tasted great wine and talked with JW Ray of JOLO and Jay Raffaldini of Raffaldini Vineyards before we came back down the hill. We had time to kill before our next plan so we went to Meridian to have a few drinks before we met with our pals, the Verners, the Joneses, and Our Jim Young and Chef Mark Grohman and staff took awesome care of us at the “chef’s table.” I had the antelope and The BCPF had “the meat ball,” which is a rather large ball of beef stuffed with ricotta cheese over a pile of housemade pasta. Several libations, there.

Next phase: we all traveled back to the Verners’ house and The BCPF, Our Jim Young and I taught the rest how to play a card game called “Sh!t Boots.” Yes, it’s called that. We played that for a few hours and drank good beer and whiskey. Apparently, we drink a lot. Of course we do. It’s us that are part of the CrewTLD/The Beer Dads families. We drink. We have fun. We were missing the Lowders from the night, but they were still in the Bahamas. Can’t blame them for missing that, eh?

Next day, after the crazy time change (I wish it stayed Daylight Saving Time all year around), we went to Willows for a celebratory brunch and again were treated with fantastic Willows stuff including pork and pork belly & collards benedict. You just can’t do wrong there, I don’t think. We went and picked up 3B and went to a few open houses before doing some grocery shopping and coming home to cook and listen to records. Good times with her and my boy. So, according to The BCPF, her birthday weekend was fun and enjoyable. I did my job. I made her happy. Happy birthday week to you, still and again, my darling!

Until tomorrow, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Sh!t! BOOTS!” – everyone at the Verners on Saturday

Seven Year Itch or: Happy Anniversary, Baby

03 Friday Feb 2017

Posted by in Life as We Know It, Podcasting

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Salutations™!!

February 3, 2010.

I drove to the fork of Silas Creek Parkway and Wake Forest Road. I was there to pick up my pal, my buddy, my future business partner, Brian Attridge, from his (now-) former place of employment and drove him to my house. His car was in the shop and I told him I’d pick him up and then take him home (he lives in Greensboro). But, first, he and I had something to take care of. Something we had been planning for a few months.

We arrived at my house and walked into the downstairs bedroom, it wasn’t a “bedroom” at the time, it was my music room/studio room. I realized I was missing a mic cable, so we got back into my vehicle, drove to my family’s office to where I had some extra cables – that’s where the bands I had been in practiced. Then we went back to my house. I made the connections I needed to and turned around to look at him.

“What are we going to talk about? How are we going fill 20 minutes of talking? What are we getting ourselves into?” we took turns asking each other. “I dunno,” was pretty much the response to each question, regardless of who was asking it. Finally, I said, “you know what? I’m just gonna hit the record button and let’s see what happens. If we don’t get 20 minutes, oh well.” I hit the button. 38 minutes later, the very first episode of The Less Desirables podcast was recorded and produced (well, production took another 45 minutes at that point). Wow, that went by quickly! And, so has the last seven years.

We took a bit of time to get the word out, admittedly. People didn’t get what podcasts were back then. I still have to explain it at least once a week. I’ve been podcasting longer than anyone I know around there (just over 10 years) and certainly longer on the scale and consistency that I am now. That’s not bragging, at least it’s not meant to be. I’m just proud of where this has gone. Since then, though, we’ve grown our listenership to good numbers (at least from what we can tell), we have great guests almost every week, now. Heck, I put out one mention about a need for guests in February and now I’m booked through April, some dates even double booked. The name The Less Desirables has become synonymous with community awareness and I love that.

Brian has moved on to bigger things outside of the podcast world. I had my bestest buddy in the world, Eugene as my co-host for over four years. He moved on. I had my good pal, Bruce come on to replace Eug and Bruce, too, had to move on. I have my two wonderful and beautiful work-wives, Caitlin and Danielle who keep me in line but also take good care of me. We’ll lose Caitlin in May/June when she graduates the PhD program and moves to Maryland. I dread that. Dannie B and I will find an ample replacement and we’ll continue on.

We started in that small bedroom downstairs in my house and moved to the upstairs where there was a bit more room and we had to share that loft with my bedroom. That was odd, but it worked. We moved from there to downtown Winston-Salem, the city we talk about and support. Two different studios in the bunkers under Fourth Street and to our current home in the arts district, behind Test Pattern Bar, in what we call Test Pattern Studios. We’ve come a long way.

I expanded my reach from the one show to now doing FIVE as part of The Less Desirables Podcast Network. Fan Interference, The Beer Dads, The Man Who Ate the Town and Sipping NC: The Art of Drinking. To you and the co-hosts of each show, thank you for making the network grow.

To Bruce, Caitlin and Danielle, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for what you’ve done to help me keep this dream going. To Brian and Eugene, who still are my business partners, albeit in a very small role, thank you for helping me start and/or perpetuate this show to break out into bigger and better things. To Jon and Paul, my Beer Dad brethren, as well as major business partners, thank you for pushing me, supporting me and keeping me sane. This ride would never have reached the heights it has, and will, without all of you. You are all CrewTLD.

To Stephanie/The BCPF, thank you for your wisdom, support, dedication to me and the cause and for loving me. This journey started just before I met you but it would have never gotten where it is without you. I love you dearly for it. And to 3B for giving me something to strive for: being a pain in your arse… just kidding. I love being your dad and I hope you’re proud of where I have this show. Mes ‘Rents, I have to thank you guys, too. You always have pushed me and I have always needed it. You are all CrewTLD.

I thank all of you, our listeners, for hanging around the last seven years and into the future! All the guests that have appeared on the show in these past seven, you’ve made the show what it is. It went from a pop culture podcast to something a little more. Musicians, store owners, brewers, bloggers, vintners, comedians, film makers, writers, business folks, even politicians, and though I try to avoid politics and religion on the show as much as humanly possible. There’s more a variety of guests than that, but that’s the short list. You are all CrewTLD.

City Beverage, a/perture cinema, Finnigan’s Wake, King’s Crab Shack, The Garage, Washington Perk & Provision Company, Test Pattern, Bull’s Tavern, Underdog Records, Hoots Beer Company, Spring House Restaurant Kitchen & Bar. All sponsors of TLD or the other podcasts on the Network, past or present. Thank you all so much for your support for all of our shows. You are all CrewTLD.

Everyone, including past guests, sponsors, friends, family, listeners… you’re all invited to join us tomorrow night, Saturday, February 4 at Finnigan’s Wake Irish Pub & Kitchen for our Annual Post-Holiday/Post-Anniversary Celebration. It’s from 7-10pm. Come have some Irish fare, great libations and celebrate the whole CrewTLD family with gang and me. I look forward to seeing you all!

I’m not going anywhere. This has to go at least another seven years, if not 27 more.
Until tomorrow and the next many years, same blog channel…
Scorp out!

—
“Your weekly podcast with guys with more time on their hands than you’ll ever know…” – The Voice of The Less Desirables