We spent some time talking about what  her vision for what the bakery was going to be and how to capitalize on her strengths in both making great baked goods and art. Specialization in wedding cakes and other special occasion cakes would be the obvious thing to do. We talked and talked. Nel and I are alike in that we have a vision of these kinds of things that is very complete, down to the last detail.

I remember we were sitting at the kitchen counter and she announced that she had decided on the name of the bakery. It would be CAKE CITY. I instantly said “great!… now you will need a logo”.

I’ve designed my share of logos in my career and it usually involves a week or two of pondering, sketching, looking up stuff, trying to find inspiration, etc, etc.  I was kind of shocked when Nel reached for an envolope from the junk mail pile and began drawing on the blank side. I scanned the envelope and you can see it in the upper left of this post. As you can see there are a few erasures, but she finished the drawing in less than a minute. I was astounded! The next day she traced the scan I made in Adobe Illustrator to make a vector file and added the type.  A few days later, I was filling out forms on the Patent and Trademark Office website to apply for our trademark.

Trademarked Logo

Things can go quickly sometimes and that is a good thing. Like I said, Nel sees this project in a very complete form. The logo is just an example. It seems like no thought but in reality there is almost infinite thought and it is immediate. She then proceeded to draw a floorplan for the space and we were off and running.

Next was a website. We were able to get the domain name cakecity.com and I set up a temporary page. Visit the page and sign up for updates as we get closer to opening day. If you like to watch the “cake shows” on TV you will be pleased to know that we will have a video channel on the website that will show the goings-on in the bakery. You can watch your pastries being made and be part of the fun!

http://cakecity.com … sign up now!

Photoshop mock-up of our sign as it will appear and where it will appear.

I have a pilots license (private, instrument rating) and because of this I often receive forwards from other pilots relating to aviation. Recently I received this one…

In addition to communicating with the local Air Traffic Control facility, all aircraft in the Persian Gulf AOR are required to give the Iranian Air Defense Radar (military) a ten minute ‘heads up’ if they will be transiting Iranian airspace.

This is a common procedure for commercial aircraft and involves giving them your call sign, transponder code, type aircraft, and points of origin and destination.

I just flew with a guy who overheard this conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai. It’s too good not to pass along. The conversation went something like this…

“Iranian Air Defense Radar: ‘Unknown aircraft you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.’

Aircraft: ‘This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.’

Air Defense Radar: ‘You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!’

Aircraft: ‘This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send ‘em up, I’ll wait!’

Air Defense Radar: (no response … total silence)

It was followed with this picture:

On the surface this seems to be a variation on the typical school yard bully challenge. But upon reflection, isn’t it about the power of our technological superiority? Or, to put it another way, “our engineers are better than your engineers”.

There are concerns expressed in the electronic engineering trade journals about the future of engineering. Those of us who grew up in the run-up to being the technology leading country in the world recall the days when building radios from kits was a beginning of a life in engineering… or at least an appreciation of how such things are created.

I was fortunate to have been friends with Scott Crossfield while he was flying out of my old hangout, Leesburg Airport (KJYO). We spoke often about the race to technological superiority with the Soviet Union and the role he played in that race. For more insight into this read his book Always Another Dawn (free).

So, if you have a curious child on your list, give them this book.  Think of it as investment in America’s future.