Thursday, June 02, 2005

"They have the Internet on computer now"

That's a quote from my guru, Homer Simpson, when he was researching his new Internet company during the dot-com era. This week, I'm reaping a little benefit from the proliferation of that lil network that could.

Commercialism ain't all bad. I've found the abilities to research products and shop around from the convenience of my own home to be quite beneficial. But it can also be frustrating as hell to keep finding the same things, over and over, just priced differently and advertised on a variety of web pages.

So I went looking for some specialty art for my home. Had seen some people with metal artwork that had a Texana design. SPecificially, I was looking for a silhouette of a star, with a circle around it. Some web sites called it a Texas Ranger badge, others a Texas star, yet others a Lone Star. Regardless of the name, I wanted one. Only I wanted one custom-made with my family's name around the top part of the circle and the year we got married on the bottom, as in "Est. 1995."

I found a site for a place within 15 miles of my home that offered such star. What luck. I sent an email. I called their 800-number. I filled out their on-line request form. No friggin' response. I finally asked someone I work with if they knew the person running this outfit (because they were from the same small town as this woman) and she said, "Oh, I think that guy is going through a divorce and has closed down."

OK. So find another source. Looked and looked and looked, but nothing that was the star in a circle with customizable words. Thought I was gonna go crazy.

Then I started searching for indirect words. Metal art was one of the search terms. Turned up a site for a guy's side business Expressive Metal. He didn't offer my piece directly, but did offer custom work. One of his off-the-shelf pieces had a star and circle in it, so at least I had a point of reference.

We discussed. He made some drawings. Agreed on a price. And it is ready. I'm picking it up this weekend in Houston. He sent a preview. Looks great.

Long way to go, especially after the first website seemed so perfect and so oddly close to home. But in another twist, the guy lives 10 minutes from my cousin who lives in Houston. So I may very likely get to see him while making the trip.

Who said the Internet is only used for porn, gambling and video games?