February 9, 2012
Can you believe we’re into February already? AMRCON is gearing up for quite a year.
I was a little confused about how I would title this post—we missed the end of the year and it’s not quite the end of the quarter. I just don’t know where the time has gone. So here I am making up for lost time and getting a report together.
I guess first things first. Our little Domenica turned 6 months old just the other day. I can’t believe it.
Can anyone tell me how I can slow this growing stuff down?!
I mean just the other day Santino asked me if he could come work for me so he could earn some money. He said he has a few things he really wants to buy. I told him the hours and how much I would pay him and I found myself in negotiations with my 5 year old for 15 minutes. I have to tell you he made some good points.
This month in tech history:
1971 – Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard hits the first golf ball on the Moon. With only 1/6th the gravity, I wonder what that really looked like.
1985 – Steve Wozniak decides to leave Apple. He remained a shareholder on the board but he comes back when Gil Amelio takes the reigns.
1998 – AOL takes over CompuServe. Does anyone remember what either of these companies do? lol
2008 – Microsoft makes an official bid for Yahoo! Hmm, see what happened after that?
AMRCON is gearing up for quite a year.
We announced, at the beginning of the year, our merger with MDP, and we’ve been very excited to meet and work with so many new clients.
Along with our ODS Managed Services clients, it seems IT projects and professional services have been warming up quite a bit. For the past few years this side of the IT industry has been very slow due to the economy. If an increase in new projects is any indicator of an economic turnaround, then it should be an interesting year.
I hope everyone is off to a great start. Check in with you again next month.
Sincerely,
Dee Rudko, CEO
November 2, 2011
I meant to write my 3rd quarter personal note a few weeks ago when I wouldn’t have been thinking so much about winter. Instead, I’ll have to recalibrate my thoughts and recall what July, August, and September were really like.
Warm thoughts, warm thoughts, warm thoughts…
For the Rudko’s, the summer months were a complete blur. Thanks to my wife—the trooper she is—we managed to get upstate for a small getaway and a few weekend trips.
After all, we had to maintain our sanity as we prepared for the birth of our daughter, Domenica Anna.
Our little Domenica, the princes of the family, was born in August. I’m not sure how some of the other fathers out there might feel, but having a daughter has made me a little nervous.
Raising boys was easy. I knew what to do almost instinctively. I knew which toys they would like, where they would want to go on trips, and how to interact with them when we spent time together.
Unfortunately, I don’t think my daughter would have as much fun cutting the hair off a My Little Pony or getting into gunfights with a Cabbage Patch Doll as I did when I was a kid.
So far she’s been terrific, and I love spending time with her. I probably have some time before I really need to get on my A-game with this, but you know me—I’m always thinking a few steps ahead.
If you have any advice for me, please share it in the comment section!
As for business side of life, I think I can sum up the year already in that the effects of the economy are still punching through new bottoms, just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse.
Some areas in technology have remained stable or are even climbing, but then we see some familiar struggles happen to even a giant like HP. I think it’s fair to say we all worked harder to earn less. It’s times like these we need to reinvent, change our comforts, and be mindful of the “what ifs.”
At AMRCON, we’ve increased our capacities and have begun our policy and protocol rewrites earlier than normal just to make sure we’re staying ahead of the curve. Also, project work took a surprising increase this year compared to the year prior when most businesses were in a purse lock down.
Now is the time to take advantage of technology projects. The large hardware providers are cutting some nice deals and financing is available. IT companies that offer professional services, like AMRCON, can schedule out in advance. This helps us allocate labor and keep overhead costs low, which translates into savings for our clients.
Be sure to share your comments. I hope everyone has a great 4th quarter and close to the year. The next time we talk will be 2012.
Sincerely,
Dee Rudko, CEO
July 27, 2011
I wanted to wait as long as I could after the close of the 2nd quarter to write. As many of you may know Sunny and I are expecting our first little girl this Friday. I was thinking she would be here already but none the less she’s making us wait the time through. Luckily I have the birth scheduled in my calendar anyway. I feel that if born on Friday, Saturday or Sunday that she’s off to a good start with her father. I would be able to relax and partake in the moment and still be at work by Monday. It would be great! Regardless Santino and Deeko are patiently awaiting their sister.
Our little family will be a family of five soon. I’ve spoken to other families of 5 for tips. It seems the game didn’t really change because of a new total of 5, but the fact that we’re having our first girl. So I did some research in fear that I was not prepared. After speaking with many parents I found they’re right, everything is going to change and I will now have a new expense that will grow greater than her mother . lol, needless to say this made Sunny very nervous. I’m not sure if they will be friends yet or not. We’re looking forward to it, any day now. We’ll make our announcement on my personal page on FB.
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer. I’m finding the summer more and more important as I get older. I’m enjoying the
outdoors and the weekends with the family. During the week we all work so hard. I know I usually find myself at the office until 7 or 8. I still pack 50+ hours into 4 days. I preffer to get everything done and have a light Friday. This way I’m ready to be in the moment for the weekend. Without the light Firday I find my head still at work on Saturday. Anyone relate?
So this summer I’ve recommited to golf, and having a great time. After the loss of a good friend, Dr. Jason Weniger in March, I made a commitment to do what he’s been trying to get me to do for years. “Get back into a physical routine”, I can hear him telling me. After my knee surgery and PT by Eileen Fee at Marlboro Physicall Therapy and a little ongoing diet of watching what and how much I eat, I was ready to rock. I’m taking advantage of my membership at Bella Vista, not just for golf. I starting to actually use the gym over there with my personal trainor Eraldo from Fitness Training by Eraldo. So I’m back to running at least once a week for 30 minutes, workouts twice a week with a 800-1000 cal burn, and I get to squeeze some golf in once or twice. I’ve never felt better and feel completely in balance. How do you find balance?
Feel free to post to this blog about any of these topics. You can always share anything else you have in mind on my FB page, or email. Everyone enjoy the summer and we’ll talk to you in the fall. Dee Rudko – CEO
March 31, 2011
I know ,I know I’m late with my personal note. I hope everyone likes the new site. We have so many things going on in the background to make this site be very successful in our SEO and SEM efforts to help generate more business for AMRCON. So much that they’ve cut me off to a quarterly personal note. Now I know what you’re thinking, “how dare they!” and I know you’ll seriously miss the monthly posts. However, I promise to make sure I fill you in about all 3 months in the quarterly post. Continue Reading
December 31, 2010
In his personal note for December 2010, Dee Rudko talks about closing the year in good spirits in spite of family concerns around health and well-being. AMRCON has also done well, and he’s looking forward to doing more in 2011.
Happy New Year everyone! I waitied to get my final note for 2010 unitl the year was over. January is always a time to reflect, get throguh the holidays and regroup to stay on track for the new year.
We’re very lucky that even with family that were in an out of hospitals, everyone closed out the year with good spirits and health in their
line of site. What is it with the holidays and some of our presious family icons needing to spend time in the hospitals? Do they know that does not count as a siesta? I want to wish my grandmother Anna, or Baba as we call her in Ukrainian, good health for 2011. I wish to extend good health to everyone needing that extra prayer for 2011. Continue Reading
November 29, 2010
Busy month, end of year rounding the corner and projects getting pushed to close before the end of the year have simply left me in a time deficit. My beautiful wife Sunny and I still managed to spend some time together. We were very grateful to be invited to the The Silver Hill Hospital Gala held at Cipriani’s 42nd Street NYC, for a benefit dinner. It was attended by about 200 people to include some celebrities and many other supporters. The event was a huge success and benefited the lives of children suffering from mental and substance abuse disorders. Silver Hill Hospital in New Canaan Connecticut devotes an entire segment to such adolescents. Sunny and I have been active supporters for several years.
Yes, some fun and games went into my business trip to Florida for the IT Nation Conference. I already spoke about the business end. This picture to
the right is of my little guy Deeko and myself by the pool watching Santino go down the water slide at the Waldorf-Astoria in Orlando. He looks like he’s thinking “hmm, when do I get to do that”. I think Santino went down the slide at least 10 times. I feel like I’m getting pretty old! Not getting used to those crows feet next to my eyes. Will someone please comment and tell me if those go away?
Yes, a trip to Orlando would not be complete without a visit or two to Downtown Disney. Buzz lightyear and crew are well represented here. Even little Deeko almost jumped off a bench yelling “to infinity and beyond”, I was lucky to catch him and explain he shouldn’t try that again, lol. That wasn’t the last of it. This page makes it seem like I was on vacation but I really put in about four 12 hours days, really I did! Only a few days were spent on leisure time. I got bits and pieces while Sunny ran around entertaining these guys. Not sure how she has the energy, maybe that’s why we’re such a good fit, we’re both high energy.
I’m going to cut it here and hope everyone stays calm and relaxed with the holidays coming up. Talk to you next month. Dee Rudko, CEO
October 31, 2010
It seems like everything went into turbo mode this time of year. Not sure what it is, but I’ve hardly had time to sit at my desk. Halloween is always a little busy for the Rudko’s. Before the 31st I think we take part in at least 3 events where costumes are required. The biggest hit is our trip to Hershey PA for trick or treating. If you have children it’s a great little escape and it’s become more and more popular each year. Hershey does quite a bit around the park and they keep adding new things each year as it grows in popularity. They even have a section just for trick or treating. The guys love it.
We also had another big occasion in the family with the Christening of Douglas Thomas Hay
. Congratulations to the Hay family and please let us know what you’re feeding that little guy? I think he’s as big as Deeko already. It was nice to have the entire family together. It seems events like this are far and in between.
I am sorry we’re late this month with getting all of this out. Between traveling and all that we have going on at the office it’s been tough. Expect quite a few new announcements from AMRCON from now until the end of the year. Not to mention our new website will be completed in just a few more weeks. We’re very excited to have it completely overhauled once again. It seems I’m just never happy with technology for too long before I have to redo it all over again. This is a good thing for all friends of AMRCON. It means we’re providing a better experience for you. Thanks everyone for following us.
September 29, 2010
Some people say I’m a bit nuts for doing this but I’ve always wanted to learn how to fly! So starting in August I began training on the helicopter in the picture. Now I’ve flown small planes before so being up in the air in a small aircraft is nothing new. I will say a helicopter takes a bit more coordination and control. It’s been a lot of fun and hope to continue toward my license through the year when I have time of course. That’s usually the only part that gets in the way, my schedule. However, it’s a bit more time efficient then playing golf. It only takes a few hours of my day, so its a lot less time and you don’t need to coordinate with other people other than the instructor. So I can schedule a flying lesson much faster making it an efficient hobby. My hope is to be able to someday avoid the traffic going upstate to the house, or to CT to visit family. In the next couple of months I will test both routes to see how long it takes and learn the route. I’ve flown over CT quite a bit in the past and its pretty neat that before I could only circle my family property, this time I get to land in the yard!
We have a very happy family announcement to make this month. My little sister Motria was married to Robert E. Grasing II late this month. I think she’ll always be a little sister though. They are 
currently all over Europe and Facebooking their days which is pretty cool. The ceremony was absolutely perfect, as it should be for my little sister. I think both sets of parents were a part of quite an amazing union. I only had room for one picture, so here it is. I think this is the one that sums it up. Everyone is very happy for the new couple and wish them many years of happiness. Friends & Family who want to see more, please visit “Motria Grasing” FB page, where you will find 1.1M pictures.
So with September coming to a close, we have one more quarter to year end. This is always an exciting time of year, but none the less stressful as well. The holiday’s are coming though, and I always look forward to them. It seems during the year everyone is so busy with their own lives. Even my side of the Rudko family, now with 2 sons, have mini vacations, the Jersey Shore, upstate and all kinds of busy trips planned over the weekends. I generally work nonstop during the week, so no one really sees me. The holiday’s are the times that really bring the extended family together. It seems the cold usually slows everything else down just in time. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming months. Regardless of how fast and crazy this year went by, I think we’ve been really blessed. The holidays are a nice time to share that all around. This image kind of sums it up, walking along the boardwalk in Keyport on the water.
August 20, 2010
So far August has been very good to us. The picture to the left was a great long weekend in Seaside, along with my nephew Anthony and niece Arianna, yes we did see Snooki. I just can’t believe summer is almost over. We still have a few nice weather weekends to go and that should carry into September! AMRCON had a sponsorship at the Matawan Idol night, it was a lot of fun and was
amazing to see the amount of people that came out to support it. They had some great talent. We look forward to being a part of it again next year. Thanks to all the visitors that stopped by our table and remember to come and visit AMRCON the first Friday of any month from 8:30 – 10:30am for our Open House Free Breakfast Tour.
The Rudko’s have a few more trips up our sleeves. We’ll be in Lake George this week and in Connecticut in September. My sister Motria is ge
tting married and everyone will be there, here is a picture of Deeko already pulling his tuxedo out of the closet. Yes, he does a lot of black tie events throughout the year so he has his own tux. I guess they really due emulate their father, I just didn’t think it would be this soon! My cloning project is working perfectly. We all hope Motria & Robert have a terrific day. It will be a great time, looking to report on it next month.
We had a great time with my BNI networking group “Sweet Success” at the Blue Claws game. I don’t think Santino will be much of an athlete. He spent much of his time more interested in the bounce house and 
walking around. Deeko on the other hand has quite an arm and watched most of the game, waiting for a ball to come his way. Although I’m glad that the close ones we had were just out of reach since he didn’t have a glove! They have quite a stadium if you ever have the chance to go to a game. Plenty to do, even if you can’t sit still for the game. Here’s a shot of Santino and myself over in the outfield. Yes, it was just to the left of the bounce house, it’s the only way we got him to walk around for the shot.
I’m looking forward to spending some final days on vacation with the kids. It’s all business for me until the end of the year. Well maybe not completely, but for the most part. We have quite a few projects to finish up and I always start thinking about end of year once the 3rd quarter ends. My wife Sunny laughs because she says I managed the family on the fiscal year. I guess I do, but what other way is there? Suggestions?
July 31, 2010
July was a busy month. From 1st hair cuts to me getting on a wake-board for the first time in a few years. Gees I’m starting to feel a bit old! I hate it when old TV shows, children’s toys, or other fun things come up in conversations, and I go and mention something no one else remembers! What happened? Didn’t everyone grow up enjoying the same things I did? I guess not. I can’t believe I have people who work with me that were born in the 80′s. My wife even looks at me funny sometimes when I talk about my youth, or telling jokes about things she has no idea what I’m talking about. I guess I always was a bit ahead of myself. The worst is when I can relate to someone that has some years on me. So why the good old day reminders? I really just want to make sure all of this is normal! Can someone respond?
What will my kids talk about when they’re my age? Will it be Thomas the Tank Engine, The Wiggles, or maybe Buzz Lightyear? I wish I could only explain to them to stay
where they are and grow up slowly. For my sake and their own. I can’t believe my oldest is already 4, and the little guy is not so little anymore. I was always too ahead of myself, never in the moment. I lived my youth wanting time to go by quickly so I could start making my own decisions and get my career going. I think I started thinking that way a bit too young, at 10 or so. I’m just thinking that I hope my boys don’t follow that part of my footsteps. Any ideas on how to keep them right where they are?
We welcomed a new member of the family this month, congratulation’s to Douglas and Jenna on the birth of Douglas Thomas! I hope you guys get sleep soon, lol. It’s been so much fun to watch their oldest Nicolette and Santino grow up together. I’m still not used to being called Uncle Dee by 6 people ranging from 5 to 25 years old. I really got a jump start when I joined this family. It’s funny when Santino hangs out with my nieces and nephews and comes home calling me Uncle Dee.
So August seems it’s going to go by too fast. I hope everyone finds the time to get away and enjoy some summer before it’s gone. I think we have a few trips still planned, although scheduling them has been difficult. But I can’t complain, the year has been good to us and we’re all very thankful. More to come, be sure to comment on my questions. Come out and see us at our upcoming events. The Matawan-Aberdeen Idol Singing Contest will be August 3rd at 6PM on Main Street in Matawan, we have a few others before the end of summer so take a peek and come visit.
24x7 Monitoring and Self Healing
Vendor management and liaison services.
Helpdesk and Onsite Support.
Security, Back up and Disaster recovery.
