Reflecting on 39 Years with Naim Audio - August 2024

While driving to Cleveland to see my wife, who now has been in the Cleveland Clinic Cardiac Intensive Care Unit for over 2 months with no end in sight, I had to think about the August blog.  I have been very busy with my wife's situation, insurance companies, and the farm.  Thus, I have not written anything in a couple of months.  But today, I was driving for 11 hours and could think about something I needed to write. 

There is never an easy way to say goodbye to someone you have known and served for so many years.  For us, Naim Audio represented our oldest line.  39 years is a long, long time.  A lot of time, money and knowledge went into serving Naim Audio.

But, over time, all of us change as do companies.  In the case of Naim Audio, Julian Vereker's death was tragic.  A brilliant person and dedicated music lover was lost.  What happened after that was a bit of wandering which, while we didn't fully agree with it (the addition of RCA inputs and outputs on Naim gear) we certainly understood why. 

As things move through time, Naim Audio merged with Focal in 2011 and things began to change a bit under the ownership of Naxicap Partners, and investment group.  Another investment group, Vervent Audio Group acquired the majority stake from Naxicap in 2019.  These investment groups look for returns and are not likely to have any particular love for what they own as long as it produces.  I suspect all of us have seen this happen to companies, hospitals, you name it.  What is usually lost is the original founding spirit much like Walmart has nothing in common with Sam Walton.  It becomes "something else."

It is that "something else" that I don't recognize.  After going 9 months without any access to the portal to order product (this and another line) and ending up refunding about 75,000 in sales this year, it became obvious that we were no longer wanted and we tried to resolve this many, many times.  But who Naim Audio is also changed and in ways that, if I were looking for a product line today, I would avoid.  

Sadly, after substantial difficulties with their service department, sometimes taking up to 4 months to get customer units back, we are also ending all support of Naim Audio products.  We have already taken enough grief from customers about their units and I fully understand that.  So, rather than getting caught between a rock and a hard spot with no cooperation, we simply are going to bring it to an end immediately.  Ironically, as our oldest line it also has become the first that I will no longer service. I didn't choose this nor do I want to lose your gear.  It's that simple. For older product, we recommend a fine Naim Audio servicer in Chicago.  For current things, well, you will need to contact them in Canada.  We are done. 

So, if you want, journey over to our YouTube channel where I talk about our history with Naim from the past to the present.  In the end, it is what it is.

Lou

Shall We Try Again? - May 2024

It was my hope and belief that May's blog would be back onto the topics of audio or video but, unfortunately, this is not the case.  Life can be like that.

After weeks of deteriorating medical numbers, Deb ended up the Emergency Room of Norfolk General Hospital operated by Sentara.  They are the backup to the Cleveland Clinic and made the call for her to come in and we are so very grateful that they did.  They immediately determined that Deb was in serious heart failure and that the best thing to do was to get her to Cleveland as they know her history the best.  They provided excellent care while we waited for a bed in Cleveland.  Ground transportation was out of the question.

This required Deb and I to guarantee the payment of the emergency flight to Cleveland and the associated ambulances in the event Medicare (as is required under Virginia Disability Program) does not pay.  It required pre-authorization which was not an option Friday night - Saturday morning.  We have taken the leap of faith that they will as the potential bill is $20,000.  Being given that choice on Saturday night at 10 PM when the flight was to be at 9 AM Sunday morning was torture.  There was a delay as we were stunned.

The Cleveland Clinic team has turned Debbie upside down and inside out with all the battery of tests they have to find a way to treat her condition.  While they have managed to control certain aspects of the failure (they alone could have resulted in death) they could not find them all.  They turned to Canada where a new experimental system is being used to assist in diagnostics.

Unfortunately, this Sunday morning the results came back, and like all the other tests, negative.  This means there are no further treatment options known to man at this time. 

Cleveland Clinic has proposed a second heart transplant and, with Deb's permission, they have begun that process.  A second transplant is rare and, in the scheme of things, not an absolute priorty when compared to those seeking a first.  There is no guarantee that it will happen at all.

I am writing about this today as her transplanted heart has already been a 3 year battle of ups and downs.  All the while, like so many others, the owner has been trying to operate their small business in an environment of mail order and other less favorable competitive factors.  My wife has been an incredible trooper through all of this and has been learning how to counsel families going through difficult and long-term illnesses. She wants to help others now that she can no longer work in the medical field.  (She was both an EMT and later a phlebotomist.)

We in small businesses are human and have our share of events like yourself.  Your patronage is exactly at the core of supporting small businesses as we try to care for you and our employees notwithstanding our personal struggles. It's not a click of a button, stuff put on a conveyor belt by robots (and that... is coming my friends) and dumped on your porch in whatever weather in the prying eyes of pirates.

So, as I wrote in December's blog, Living on the Edge of Science, the question now stands "Shall we Try Again?"  The ultimate decision to try, with no guarantees, now rests in the heart and hands of my wife, Debbie.  The costs will be substantial. 

I would certainly appreciate whatever support you can provide to us.  My staff would also as we are, once again, possibly in for a ride.  Make it possible.  Back onto the Edge of Science.

-Lou

Losing Part Of Your Soul - April 2024

This month's blog has been a most difficult one to write and it has taken me quite a while to find the words that may help you understand me a little better and in the process, help you understand your feelings with life's events and challenges with our best friends.

I found something, recently, that was a beautiful way of expressing our relationship to animals and in this case, pets.  Let me just repeat it here:  In Hawaiian, you don't call yourself your pet's owner, you are their Kahu.  Kahu has many meanings among them are guardian, protector, steward, or beloved attendant. Basically, someone who is entrusted with the safe keeping of something precious, something cherished. What a Kahu protects is not their property.  What they protect is a part of their soul.  

Using this as a framework for understanding, the next element comes from spending some years with a Hopi Shaman who was most enlightening about a great many things.  One of those was to understand that animals too possess Spirit which some may call Souls.  I have reflected on that, particularly when people experience the grief, the schism, of their death in which I believe part of them remains in you and a part of you moves on with them.  I came to understand the Native American perspective of realizing it is rather arrogant to think our species is the only one that has souls.  The more we watch, the more that is revealed. 

There is, however, a unique bond between a rider and their horse. Unlike smaller animals over which you can easily have physical control (dominion), the relationship with a horse requires trust. It is, with its might, capable of easily dispatching you. Likewise, with the blind spots of a horse being directly ahead and directly behind, you become their eyes and in you they place their trust that you will bring them to no harm. A horse and a rider become one.  And, unlike many other animals, this relationship can last many years and, in my case, nearly 25 years.

As it is in the title of George Harrison's Album, "All Things Must Pass."  And so it was for me on March 18th when I discovered my mare, Roulette, was in trouble in the early morning.  The general term Colic is applied when there are gut issues with a horse.  We first used our basic pain medication that we have on hand but also called for an emergency visit by our vet.  His initial approach was to try to clear the gut with both a relaxing medication and fluid.  We watched her and walked her around and she seemingly responded well.  I treated her to grass and dandelions she rarely got, brushed her out completely which she always enjoyed, and walked on the property she never could go.  After a good hour, things began to go wrong again.  Another emergency visit quickly turned less promising and all we could hope for is her to roll herself out of it.  We continued through the rest of the day to work with her but it became apparent that we could not resolve the problem and that she was in a good amount of pain.  Late in the day it became apparent that either I put her down or risk her suffering through the night, not for her benefit, but mine.  I took my clips of her mane and tail and said our goodbyes.  As her partner, I could not let her suffer any further, and ended her life in the early evening after a final check indicated multiple organ failures were in progress.  I had her buried on the farm the next morning near Deb's personal horse, Tigger, whom we lost Christmas Eve two years ago.  They were pasture buddies.  Needless to say, it's been a difficult month for Deb and I. 

I'm sharing some of our pictures of her and me and, like many of you have experienced on a smaller scale, her last picture which pretty much says it all.  So, I tried to be a good Kahu and, in the end, a part of my Soul went with her.

-Lou