It’s a sign.

Hello there, good morning blog readers!

Good news about my new location in Colorado, and we’re now officially “Finished” with this site. The new sign went up on Saturday!

I know, it’s just a sign. However this is a new venture for me because normally our signs are pretty simple and constrained by the city in which we reside, or the building limitations, or some other factors.

My Corporate headquarters and flagship retail store in Lakewood Colorado has what I would consider a “real” sign that’s LED lit and ready for action!

The process is not an easy one; personally I take business signs for granted and don’t think twice about them when I see them. Now that I’ve been in the “sign market” for about a year ordering, designing and having signs installed on our Mission Repair locations, it’s a task all in itself!

At this location, the fruits of my labor have paid off, and we can put this project to bed. See you in the store!!

Take care, Ryan

A little sightseeing doesn’t hurt.

Hello there friends,

I’m out here in Colorado this week working with my crew and making a changes and working with Chris our store manager. After my trip to the Otterbox headquarters last night, I decided to jump on my motorcycle – I brought it with me, I knew this might happen;-) I headed up into the mountains while there was still some daylight left.

I made it to Central City, and it was on May 6, 1859, John H. Gregory located, staked, and preempted the first mining claims in what was to become known as the “Richest Square Mile on Earth.”

This spot, marked by the Gregory Monument, is near the city limits of Central City and Black Hawk. The area was originally called Gregory’s Diggings, but very soon became known as Mountain City. Did you know Central City nearly became the Colorado state capital? It is also home to the Gilpin County Museum, Teller House and the world famous Central City Opera.

It’s also known for it’s “left-over” ruins from times past; I rode up onto some dirt roads and stopped to take a lot of pictures. I thought this one was particularly cool:

It’s an old mine ore car that’s been sitting for a hundred years or more. I don’t know why, but these types of things really appeal to me. It was so quiet it was kind of creepy…and I kept looking over my shoulder!

Once I got back to lay down for the night, I got 10 hours of solid sleep and feel like a million bucks this morning. Must be that mountain air, right?

Well, I’m back in the office here in Lakewood this morning, so if you stop by I’ll be sure to say hello. Thanks for reading!

Take care, Ryan

Apple Watch Repairs becoming a reality.

Good morning Apple Watch fans – or maybe not – I’m not even sure if the Apple Watch is something that I can get in to.

I’m a watch guy, I like them. But I’m not normally the type of guy that lives on the cutting edge of technology by waiting in line for the new release of the newest device. I’m happy with my Late-2010 MacBook Air that I’m typing on right now 😉

The Apple Watch is easily the best-selling smartwatch ever…but that’s not saying a lot. The question that Apple and all smartwatch manufacturers have had to answer when trying to push their devices to people is, “Is this thing actually useful?” From the start, many people said that the Apple Watch would survive based on the 3rd party Apps that we have all come to know and love.

The New York Times points out that 15 of the 20 most popular iPhone apps have not made Apple Watch versions of their software yet, a list that includes Facebook. In fact Adam Mosseri, who oversees Facebook’s news feed, tells the Times that while Facebook has been taking a look at the Apple Watch, it still hasn’t found a compelling way to make its mobile app work on a wrist-based computer.

“I don’t know if we could get it all in there in a way that feels good and works well,” he said. “You’d just want to get your phone out at that point.”

The Times also quotes Snapchat’s Evan Spiegel as saying he didn’t see a compelling use for Snapchat on the Apple Watch simply because its display was too tiny to be appealing. Even companies that have made apps for the Apple Watch seem a lot more unsure of how to make apps that people will find compelling and useful — as The Weather Channel’s Chris Huff tells the publication, “We’re still figuring out how users want to use an app on their wrist.”

So while the demand for repairs hasn’t been overwhelming at this point, we are coming online with our service set shortly here at Mission Repair. I’m personally not a huge Apple Watch fan especially due to the price; and with some of the high end models that reach above the $10,000 mark…I still think that a timeless Rolex or Breitling would ultimately carry more value even if they don’t come with the Angry Birds App.

Thoughts? Have a great day, Ryan

Our Lakewood Mission Repair location is getting it’s identity!

Hello there, we’re getting excited out in Colorado!

Our newest location is getting the “real” signage installed tomorrow and we got a sneak peak at the sign sitting in the installers warehouse today:

Yes, those are individual letters- it will say “Mission Repair” before you know it. It’s LED lit channel letters with a marquee below it. This is my first “legit” retail store sign, so I’m eager to see how it looks installed.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a picture of the finished product!!

See ya, Ryan

Bronze giants on Interstate 70. Wow.

Hello friends, I’ve been doing a little traveling and arrived back into town late last night. I’m pretty whipped today and I can’t believe that it’s 2:40pm already. I haven’t even had a chance to have my morning coffee yet!

On the way back from our Lakewood, Colorado location yesterday I was cruising along and saw this as I approached the truck:

I got up next to the semi and snapped this pic of the giant bronze snowboarder looking over at me, almost to say “hello”:

It’s just wasn’t normal to see some awesome “artwork” driving down the highway without being covered. I mean, who knows what’s really in most of those trucks driving along the road, right? I guess these pieces might have just been too big to put inside of a truck, so they were out on display.

I’m blogging about this because I don’t know what they belong to…I don’t want to spoil a “big reveal” anywhere, but heck they weren’t traveling in stealth mode so I gotta ask.

I’m interested. If I never find out, no biggie, but do these belong in front of the X Games, Cabelas, or somewhere that I might want to visit, I’d love to know! Any ideas?

Back to work for me, Ryan