FILOA has an address

Fiercely Independent Locksmiths of America was started tongue in cheek so to speak, a rant against the establishment. That having been said, the idea of having a formal association of fiercely independent locksmiths meant it had to reserve an address on the internet. We now have two addresses, three if you include the blogger address listed under my account. With any luck these locations will be up and running soon; until then the only one working is the Blogspot account.


http://www.filoa.org/


http://www.filoa.net/


http://filoa.blogspot.com/


We had a successful membership drive in July; we now have two members. I joke about things like this; but we had to start somewhere and the future is bright. Drop us a line and maybe by August we’ll have enough to form a committee. At this very moment we are assembling a webpage and have secured a server, GoDaddy.com.

“Now ye may suppose that this is foolishness in me; but behold I say unto you, that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass; and small means in many instances doth confound the wise.” Alma 37:6

There’s a line from the movie Forrest Gump that fits well. After he’d been out all day on the boat and all he had to show for his efforts were a couple of shrimp, “…a few more and you’ll have enough for a shrimp cocktail.”


I was thinking of an old time locksmith who would travel around the country putting on shows to help fellow locksmiths, Hank Spicer. Hank would have jumped at the chance to be part of this new organization. I don’t know if he’s still among the living; he’ll be the first honorary lifetime member teaching others how to accomplish basic locksmith skills and all he offered our trade/profession. Maybe we’ll have a column dedicated to technical articles intended to help, a “locksmith corner” to honor Hank; like I said, this is a blank page so far and almost any idea is worth considering at this time.


I haven’t mentioned anything about membership dues; not my favorite topic. I’m not doing this for a profit in spite of my capitalistic character; how about $ 15.00, a voluntary fee to help cover the cost of the website? Send money orders or make your personal checks payable to: Fiercely Independent Locksmiths of America; no credit cards at this time.


Fiercely Independent Locksmiths of America
c/o T. F. Stern & Company Locksmith
15707 Autumnbrook Drive
Houston, Texas 77068


With your membership you will get free access to our website; hint, it’s free to anyone who happens to find it on the web. If you act quickly your membership number will only have one digit; easier to remember and something to brag about in years to come. We will also accept articles to be shared along with pictures ( in JPG format ).


Once the site is up and running modifications will be made to separate sensitive information from general public areas to prevent improper use. We’ll be looking into legal consultation and web management skills as the site grows.


This article is cross posted to T F Stern’s Rantings , where the banner reads, “My Op-ed pieces are generally too long, and most definitely too far to the right for our Liberal friends in the press to print. The one time they printed my rantings, they edited it so badly as to destroy its meaning...and so I now have decided to BLOG.”