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I was watching CNN this morning and a human interest story by @edlavacnn ( Family has heartbreaking dilemma amid pandemic) played. I thought that I should do something. And wondered what. Here is my idea:
I wrote to CNN and Ed Lavandera:

I watch CNN in the background while I work and have seen some of your human interest stories about people struggling during this time. I came up with an idea of a way I can help.

I make mugs & other items. It is a long story. Not enough space here to explain. I would like to reach out to my artist friends and design a mug for as many families in need as I can and feature them on my website then give a portion of the money from each mug to that family. I know there may be some rules about this, but since our government seems to be doing nothing it seems it may be time for individuals to do something. I have limited resources to find people that need help. You guys have the ability to find these people. Please contact me and help me: Office: 760-820-9100.

Erick Johnson

So, now with a bit more thought I am flushing through my idea and working out the details. We’re going to create a new category on the site. I’m not sure what I’m going to call it yet, but something like “Human Interest” or “Helping Others”. (I am open to suggestions.)

We are going to reach out to our artist partners and others to design mugs based on the stories of the people that we’re able to help. We’re going to post those stories in the descriptions of those mugs and contribute every penny over the cost of making and shipping those mugs to the Go Fund Me pages of each story.

I’m going to put the links to the Go Fund Me pages in the descriptions of the stories so you can contribute to these people directly without buying a mug. Some of our partner sales channels will not allow links off their sites. We won’t be able to post links on those sites.

Please share the stories, with permission, of people you know. Please tell me how to make this a better idea. We need to do something to help. There are people in need.

-Erick

Nancy and Jill over on our Facebook page pointed out an interesting idea the other day. They both agreed that our Milk and Cookies Mug (pictured below) which, when working with a Facebook ad rep, I decided to advertise for Valentines Day on sale was both “NOT a loving message” and “kind of creepy”.

I can see both of their points. I posted on the Facebook page a link to my previous blog entry about the purpose of mugs and started to explain my take on relationships. This is probably not such a great thing, a permanently single guy handing out advice to all those bound in true love, but you know me, I’ll take a shot at it anyway. So here goes: (and this doesn’t have to be exclusive to loving partnerships, so maybe I do have a chance of having some meaningful insight.)

Relationships built on foundations of trust and honesty are those built to last the test of both time a struggle. I know, cute, quaint words that roll off the keyboard with amazing speed and rhetorical meaning. “Every one does that”, You say. I propose not. Site: about 40 to 50% of all marriages fail.

So, back to the mug. It’s cute. You gotta give me that. In every relationship all parties have FELT this way. The difference between feeling and doing is vast. So this mug can be that starter for your communication. Or any of our other mugs, for that matter. Consider them you mugmunication starers.

If we learn to talk about how we really feel, honestly, then we start to get somewhere with our partners. In business or at home if we are able to tell people “This is how I feel. It is not how I am going to act, but just how I am feeling”.

I do this with my God. I tell Him how I feel all the time. Sometimes I feel great like He is parting the waters in front of me. Sometimes I feel lost and I’m seeking His light and guidance in the darkness. Sometimes I’m mad at Him because I think my plan is better than His. (I’ll give you a clue on that one, my plan is always bound to fail.) But I tell Him, because it’s honest and true. If I really want a relationship with Him then I have to trust that His shoulders are big enough to bear my burdens. Here is the tricky part: If I really want a relationship my shoulders have to be big enough to follow Him.

So, I’ll end with this: While God’s head is definitely too big to hold under a glass of milk, I did nail His only Son to a cross and turn my head while He died for my sins. And there’s nothing NOT loving or creepy about that.

Thank you for your comments Jill and Nancy. Keep ’em coming!

Trying to pour the perfect mug of coffee with no mug. You see Joshua Tree Mug Company doesn’t just provide funny, serious, political, beautiful, inspirational, sarcastic, you name it mugs to make statement or to look at, they all actually have a function. They serve to hold our coffee. Or for the more discerning (proper) among us tea. Or is there even more of a purpose for them than that?

I personally have a favorite mug. It’s a little weird, but it’s a misprint. You see, when we press the mugs we need to print the art in reverse. When I designed the “God Bless America” mug I was so excited to make a photograph of it and get it up on the website that I forgot to mirror the image before printing.

So, here it is:

And why am I showing you this? Because a mug needs to be something that holds your coffee, yes. But it can be much more. In my case this mug reminds me to slow down. Measure twice before cutting, or in this case pressing. Before doing something permanent, check to see if it’s really something I want to do. So I wander around the print shop with my mug, more slowly now, not making as many mistakes.

Stop by sometime and check it out. I’ll bet you’ll find me with a backwards God Bless America mug in my hand, full of coffee or something else. Because Joshua Tree Mug Company mugs aren’t just made for coffee.

I just posted our 200th Mug Design! Yep, you read right. 200 designs now on JoshuaTreeMugCo.com!

For most of this week I’ve had the dreaded disease. No, not the one you’ve been hearing about on the news. I’m writing about MUGBlock. It’s something only I can get and I can’t seem to pass it on to anyone else. It’s when I know that a particular mug needs to be designed. I know it has to be special and unique. I sit in my corner and just think and think and think until I’m all thunk out.

Well, early this morning I was working on a completely different project for another client and it came to me. So I dropped their project, like a hot potato, and got to it. They don’t need their project done anyway. Mugs are really what’s important. So here it is:

So, there it is. This mug is going to add a very colorful flavor to whatever you put in in. Hopefully I am cured and you are pleased. The best of both worlds where rainbows and unicorns are free to roam. – Enjoy

So… Here is what you’ve been looking for: To celebrate our 200th mug design I’m going to give away 20 of the 11oz versions FREE. You’ve just got to pay for the tax, if applicable and cover the cost to ship it to you. The first weekend of February 2020 use coupon code ‘the200th‘ at checkout with any version of the Paint Drip Mug in your cart and you’ll get $9.95 off. But, there are ONLY 20 coupons available!

So I wanted to make a video to show off this new part of Joshua Tree Mug Company, but I’m both too afraid to be on camera in front of you all and am so busy making mugs and designing new stuff that I just can’t seem to find the time to get it done. So….. this will have to be the big announcement!

We have gone to solar here at the print shop!

Yes, all our mugs are now pressed using solar power, exclusively. We have 500 watts of solar panels charging a deep cycle battery and a 3000-watt inverter powering our mug presses. So far we have been able to completely fill all the orders for mugs, coasters, and mousepads with the solar power we are generating.

When our batteries are full we divert the excess solar power to for our web and database servers that run the Joshua Tree Mug Company website.

I’ll be taking so pictures and posting them here in this blog entry really soon, but I just got an idea for a new mug design so I better jet now and get it done before I forget it!

Would you like to participate in our solar project? buy one of our mugs and you’ll be as green as we are 😇

Edit: Here is a picture of our system. We have ~500 of 12v solar panels running to this setup. They currently yield about 1kwh per day.

Edit: February 8, 2020 – We’ve added more panels to our solar array and can now run our web and database servers full time on renewable energy! We are on our way to full energy independence!

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Update: February 29, 2020 – Happy Leap Year! Yesterday We started testing our new 15k Watt inverter. It should run most of our buildings needs. We now have a total of 18 panels up and running.

This morning at 08:11 am we were pulling a total of 1.4 kW to recharge the batteries from overnight use. Yesterday afternoon we got to 40 amps on the charge controller running one of the solvent printers straight from solar. (It’s time to add another charge controller)

This Tuesday we also installed the load center that took the servers and data center off the grid permanently.

Update: April 12, 2020

I know I haven’t updated this post in a while, but We’ve been busy around here. Even with the Covid Virus outbreak, we’ve been using the time to build out the off grid solar system and move circuits slowly to it as we assess the battery and load capabilities.

I’m going to write a separate blog on how I recommend any individual business or family starts a project like this. I think I have some unique insights that are off of the normal path.

I haven’t been keeping track of exactly what this project has cost as we have several of our clients that are helping with the expenses, but to date the total investment has been in the neighborhood of $15,000.

We now generate somewhere in the ball park of 25 kWh per day between win and solar between 3 different systems: a 48 volt DC primary system with a 15k watt split phase 220 volt ac inverter, a 12 volt DC heat press system with a 3000 watt 110 single phase inverter for making Dye Sublimation products and lastly a small grid tie inverter running any left over 36 volt solar panels that don’t fit onto an array. The latter system will be phased out as we have completed the transition of both our power meters to the off grid inverters.

I decided to update today because as I was moving a couple circuits around I glanced at our secondary SCE meter and saw this:

Apparently with our sales office computer and lights taken off the grid and moved to solar we now have excess power on the grid tie system, occasionally, which we give to SCE, as we do not have a net metering agreement to sell them the power.

We are now very close to being completely energy independent!

Update: May 3, 2020 –

WE ARE OFF THE GRID!

Over the last two weeks we have been testing our final configuration and have used no power from SCE, as the usage graph below shows.

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We now have 10kW of solar panels on the roof, but summer is coming faster than we expected and air conditioning is going to be necessary soon, so it is now a race to see who is faster – Mother nature or us putting up panels.

We have 75 more 270 watt panels to install to add an additional 20kW of solar. It will take a bit more work, but it is doable before we need to turn the AC on.

We have completely retrofitted the old circuit breakers in the building and added the additional circuits required for our printers to all run at the same time.

The next step is to add a complete “power station” in a climate controlled shipping container on the side of the building. Large inverters make lots of noise and it will be nice to get them out of our working space. It will also be nice to get the more than 2000 amp hours of batteries we need to run through the night into a climate controlled environment to extend their lifetime.

We’re just starting this blog. Stay tuned as we move the content from our regular site here and post more content as we create it! Soon there will be a bunch of stuff here to read. Lots of fun, some serious, and most informative!

Welcome to 2020! Happy new year!

So, It’s New Years Day. Last night I finished re-designing the Joshua Tree Mug Company website, which included adding this blog. Today I have very little to do. I’m going to finish some loose ends getting this website done, move a few things around and settle in. Then I think I’ll design a mug or two.

We have some exciting things coming in 2020, so stay tuned. Sign up for our newsletter and specials and we’ll e-mail you every time we do something we consider spectacular!

Joshua Tree Mug Company (JTMC) wants to help support your non-profit organization. We have developed a program that allows your organization to leverage our website, on-demand printing facility and drop ship capabilities to run a fundraiser with no cost to you.

Here are the details:

1. We collaborate to design a mug or a mug/coaster set that best represents your organization or fundraising event.
2. You will have the opportunity to write the item description for your mug/coaster. JTMC may need to make some changes to your description, but you will have final approval.
3.  You will choose the price your items will sell for. JTMC will donate everything over the last column pricing for each item sold to your organization. For example, the last column pricing for our 11oz mug is $7.00. If you choose to sell your fundraiser mug for the standard $9.95 price your organization will receive $2.95 for every mug sold. Quantity discounts are not available for fundraiser mugs and other items. Your organization may purchase your mug/coaster designs at last column pricing with no quantity limitations.
4. Joshua Tree Mug Company will post the mug/coaster in our Fundraiser category.
5. JTMC will provide a link to your organization directly to your custom product on our site for you to advertise in any way you desire. Send the link in an e-mail blast, post to your Facebook page, Tweet, etc. Advertise your fundraiser however you feel is best. JTMC can help you with Internet CPC marketing if you would like to reach a larger audience.
6. Your item listing will include the text: “Part of the proceeds from the sales of this item will be donated to charity.” Unfortunately because of the way California law works we cannot specifically name your organization without extensive and expensive reporting on both our organization’s parts.
7. We will post your item on our RSS Feed, Facebook Store, Pinterest Store, Google Merchant Store, Bing Merchant Store, and all our other automatic product feeds. We also now have a partnership with Wayfair and will determine if your design can be posted to their storefront. This option will require a different pricing structure.
8. JTMC will issue checks on each Monday for the previous week’s (Saturday – Friday) donations.
9. Your organization may terminate the item(s) listing with written notice to JTMC. JTMC will fulfill any outstanding orders and remove all listings within 7 business days of such notice. JTMG will deliver a final donation check within 7 business days.
10. JTMC may terminate items as necessary. JTMC will fulfill any outstanding orders and deliver a final donation check within 7 business days.

This program costs your organization nothing. You do need to be a properly registered 501(c) US federally registered corporation. JTMC will NOT discriminate based on what your organization supports, except you may not engage in any type of hate speech. JTMC reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to determine what includes hate speech.

Did we miss something? Is there a way we can improve this program? We want to hear from you. Please leave us a comment below and we’ll get back to you. We really want to help your group in a significant way, so let’s work together and start improving the world around us!

No, not God, just the guy who created Joshua Tree Mug Company.   I wanted to write a letter to you and let you know why I did all this and tell you a little about myself.   I'm not going to give you a whole life history, but I will tell you a few personal details, all in an effort to get you to buy a few mugs and maybe some of my other creations.

First off, today, October 24, 2019, I decided that I wanted to make this website fun.  Both for me and for you.  So, to that end, I have started adding my sense of humor, warped as it may be, all over the site.  Please don't be insulted by anything you find here.  What drove me to this decision Well, I'll tell you.  (Bet you weren't expecting that!)

Last night I had a chat with one of my best friends.  I had sent out messages to all of my friends and family asking them to help me by sending links to this website to all their friends.  Sort of some viral marketing.  Please understand that this site is, while an expression of my art, still a place to sell mugs and other stuff and you would not be here is someone had not told you about it or I had not paid some search engine for your click.  Marketing for a website is all a part of the process.

Anyway, back to my friend and our conversation.  We were chatting and he mentioned that most of his friends would boycott my website because I had Trump mugs listed.  In fact, he said, if it were not me that was designing the stuff he wouldn't even consider shopping here.  Even though we have liberal mugs as well.  He suggested that I build separate websites for each genre of products.  My reply was one of shock.  I know he was very liberal, but I never expected that kind of bias.  I replied that if we as a society are that polarized then it is quite possible that our empire is already lost and we just don't know it yet.   I don't believe that.  I still believe in America!

So, I decided to run to humor and I hope you will join me.

This site has a little of everything.  The designs are whatever comes to me, through lots of different methods.  Customers suggest things.   I see things in the world around me.   I have an inspired thought, not very often.

Let me tell you how this all started.  I retired from a professional career in data management in 2005 for health reasons.  After trying several different hobbies in 2013 I took up the hobby of photography.  I decided to print my own work and be on the Hwy 62 Art Tour in Yucca Valley, California.   As my mother calls it this became a "hobby gone wild" and it turned into Innovus Print Shop in 2015, a printing shop that could print just about anything on anything.  Over the years I grabbed a couple of domain names for things I thought I would like to do, one of them being JoshuaTreeMugCompany.com and JoshuaTreeMugCo.com for short (Not very short).  I've since added JoshuaTreeMugs.com that hosts a visual copy of our products RSS feed and our specials landing pages and JTMugs.com that hosts our individule products landing pages with some of the mugs with 360 degree views.

Innovus Print Shop running under the banner of Innovus Photography, LLC now supports 15 employees in Yucca Valley, California and Twenty Nine Palms, California.  I remain retired and come up with ideas for the company.  It is a small business that makes stuff for people that want quality printed items that are creatively produced by unique people that want to live the American dream.

My hope is that you will find this website as entertaining as you will find the products on it fun and useful.  I hope you will buy something.  You may not agree with everything here.  That is OK.  You don't have to buy anything you don't agree with ot like.  Believe me, I won't make you buy a Trump mug if you don't like Trump.  But there are some Democrat mugs here too.  Feel the Burn!

We had a straight Trump-supporting Christian woman come into our retail store the other day.  My mother and I were having a discussion, as I had just designed an LGBTQ mug, about whether that would drive away from the Christian Trump people from the store.  I asked here if the mug offended her, the Trump lady.  Her reply: "You aren't going to make me buy it, so no."  She did happily buy a Trump mug, though.

I purposely will never tell you what political party I support, if any.  I will tell you I am a Cristian, but I will never tell you that you have to be one too.   I do recommend it, though.   I will not point out the sin in your life, because the sin in my own is far greater, I assure you.

With all that being said, take a look around Joshua Tree Mug Company.  Find a mug you like and buy it.  Buy one for a friend, family member, co-worker or frienemy.  You'll be supporting a small business in Yucca Valley, California and having a bit of fun!

If you are so offended by some of the stuff here that you don't like that you won't buy any of stuff here that you do like then I'm not entirely sure that problem lies with me or Joshua Tree Mug Company.  But I could be wrong.  That did happen before once.

All in all, life is more than any of this stuff.  Everyone needs to stop and smell the roses and talk to the Creator a bit more often.

God Bless,

Erick