This and That, Swimming and Framing, Memories and Possibilities

It's a swimming day today - happy me! I love being in the water, even though the chlorine is horrible for my skin. I do what I can to barricade myself against it, and consider it a necessary evil. I'm very grateful that I can swim again. I think it also is wonderful exercise for my lymphatic system. LOL

I'm usually in the third lane from the right. My friend Meg 
and the group she swims with are in the far left lane. Our 
water aerobic people are either in the far end of the first 
lane if there's only a single lifeguard on duty, or they're in 
the diving pool if there's a second guard available to be with 
them. Everyone is much happier when we have two lifeguards. 

DH was working on cleaning out the framing room at the shop yesterday. He got rid of a lot of stuff we can't use any more, among which were several boxes of frame samples from TC Moulding. My goodness but they had some really beautiful frames! I'm so bummed that they went out of business last year. There was one black frame in the group that would have been perfect for a piece we matted on Sunday. Instead, we're having to deal with a slightly wider frame with a different profile that is more dominating. *sigh*

TC Moulding was a joy to work with. They would cut 
to order (although we could cut our own), and their 
selection was vast. I think we tossed well over 400 frame 
samples into the dumpster at work yesterday. *sigh* They 
might have merged with another local supplier and I'll do 
some more checking into that today if I have some time. 

Anyway, DH was taking load after load out to the dumpster. I haven't taken a look at how the framing room looks now, but I'm quite sure there's a bit more room to breathe down there. I've got a new ATG tape dispenser and a roll of acid-free ATG tape on its' way to me. As soon as I get that, I can finish up several pieces that just need that final assembly to be ready to put into their frames. I know I used to have an ATG tape dispenser, but either it broke or we just haven't found it yet (even though we've been searching extensively for it). ATG tape is a double-sided tape which is used to fasten a top mat upon a bottom one. The acid-free type is essential for top quality and to save original artwork over time. You apply it using a dispenser. It's quite slick and quite mandatory. 

ATG tape is double-sided. The applicator separates 
the bottom from the tape, then you remove the 
top protector layer when you need to. It's slick, 
works really well, and is pretty basic. 

So, it was a very busy day yesterday for both DH and I. He was cleaning things like crazy, and I had groups of customers instead of the singles or occasional doubles. That made for more intensive times when I had people in the store, followed by empty times since groups tend to arrive and depart together. I'll be working with Chickie today which makes things slightly easier. I won't be solo on the sales floor while DH is working in the basement. 

Have an excellent Tuesday, I'm off to the swimming pool. It's been a hot night (it's still 78 F at 3:40 am). I'm going to be quite happy in the water today instead of sweating on the treadmill - LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Boxes and Water - the Texas Floods and Swimming Pool

We've been so busy with getting the store into shape for sell-down, I've hardly had room/time to think at all. I'm really grateful that I did drop out of LJ Idol this time. I don't think I would have been able to handle that stress on top of everything else. DH and I are snapping at each other, I suspect the stress is getting to both of us. Add to that the lack of customers (at least yesterday) - I had three people through the door, only one purchased anything, and that was under $10. Not exactly a stellar day, although I did get a lot of busy-work done. 

Our wall of boxes is NOT this organized, but it's equally 
intimidating. It's stacked 3-4 deep up multiple layers, but 
it's boxes of various sizes and weights and really is a 
mish-mash. It's all stuff that we need shredded, but we only 
want to contact the shredders a single time. 

DH decided he wanted to clear some sales bins from the back of our leather/hides area. Great ... except we really don't have any space in which to put them or their contents. *sigh* He wants to tackle our "Wall of Shredding" - apparently he needs to double-check some boxes that were put there early - meaning they're at the bottom of the pile, and close to the back. The pile is at least 4-5 boxes high, and more than 3 rows deep,. so a lot of digging for him to find whatever he's looking for. *sigh* You'd think he would have thought about these boxes two-three years ago! But no ... he has to go on a tear to get to them now. *sigh*

It's always a good day when I can start it out with a swim 
under the rising sun. 

I can work out some of my frustrations in the pool today. I'm totally in favor of that because I really need to de-stress a bit, and swimming is a great way to do just that. The weather should be great - not too cold, and not overly hot. I'm already looking forward to it. 

That horrific flood in Texas - quite amazing the power of 
water and how quickly it rose. The current death-toll is 
104 people. As I was listening to the news throughout the 
day, it seemed the death toll was increasing by the hour. 
What a tragedy! And so many kids! So very sad. 

And then, there are the floods in Texas. OMG - what can be said about something so horrible and destructive. I've been on the outskirts of several floods in Colorado over the years, and they're so frightening. The power of water ... it's amazing and awe-inspiring. But all of those kids drowned ... tragedy doesn't begin to describe it. My heart bleeds for those families who have lost a loved one to the waters. 

It's always good to look at what you did during your day 
that helped someone else in some way. You can make a 
real difference one person at a time. 

Have an excellent Tuesday, I'm off to the pool. Be kind, say positive things, and try to make the world a bit better because you're sharing it with the people you're interacting with. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It Was an Interesting Tuesday - Today Will Be Lots of This and That

I spent more than four hours at the shop yesterday, deep diving into information about my framing equipment. I joined a chat group for framing questions, and I also had a lovely conversation over the phone with a gentleman from Fargo ND who has operated a framing shop for more than 45 years. He was a fountain of knowledge and we chatted for almost 30 minutes about this and that. He has a huge handout/help sheets on his website and I'll be printing that out tomorrow. I would have printed it yesterday, but apparently my printer at the shop is out of ink. *sigh* Getting new ink cartridges is HIGH on my "ToDo" list for today. 

I had a totally lovely conversation with "The Frame Guy" from 
Fargo, North Dakota. He was a total delight. We were on the 
phone together for about 45 minutes - a long chat. I could 
learn a lot from him, but I actually do know framing, I just need 
to relearn it - not learn from scratch. Getting my equipment back 
into operating condition is task #1 before I can cut or frame 
anything. 

I'll also spend some serious time pulling the horizontal mat cutter apart (carefully) and making sure it's completely clean, oiled, and ready for operation. Right now, DH's idea of "cleaning" my mat cutter is completely insufficient. It's absolutely filthy! I'm actually looking forward to taking it apart, though. I'll be very careful (of course) because I need it to get back together again - LOL. But it will also give me a chance to look carefully at the blades that I use in it. 

I have a Carithers Signature mat cutter. I thought I had a 
Fletcher for my mat cutter, but I was mistaken. DH took 
a photo of the nameplate for me. It's a good cutter, does 
straight and 45 degree bevel cuts without muss or fuss. I just 
need to get new razor blades for it. 

It has two different blades, one for a straight cut, and a separate one for a bevel cut. I don't think we have replacement blades available in those shapes, so I'll have to order some before I can jump in and actually do some cutting on something that I actually want to sell. I'll probably grab a scrap piece or two from the shop that I can waste in practice cutting before I cut into colors that I actually need for a piece. I always enjoyed framing - the challenge of it was great fun. So I'm looking forward to getting back into it in many respects. Of course, it's time I really don't have ... but that's neither here nor there. 

The other major piece of equipment that I own is this 
one - the Fletcher 3000 Glass and Mat cutting machine. 
It's a fabulous piece of equipment and we've actually 
been using it quite a lot to cut the foam-core backing 
boards for our artwork pieces. It's slightly out of true, 
and that will have to be resolved before I can use it 
for glass again. I also need a new glass cutting 
wheel for it, and I should probably change the 
razor blade in this one too. It's a specialty razor blade, 
of course - LOL. 

So, as I head off to the swimming pool to work out some of my general frustration, I wish all of you an excellent Wednesday. I have my first load of laundry in the washer, I have a pork tenderloin to make for our July 4th meal on Friday, I have a large watermelon on my counter waiting for me to cut it into pieces. I guess I won't be bored - LOL. Enjoy your Wednesday, I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Summer Routine - the Outdoor Pool and Summer Breakfasts

The outdoor pool was OPEN yesterday, and I had the chance to swim in the long pool for the first time this year. So fun! Of course, they don't have a clock for the outdoor pool. They have something that they use for swimming meets, but it tracks time differently than a standard wall clock. So I ended up getting out of the pool and heading to the showers about ten minutes earlier than I should have. Bad me! I won't switch my wristwatch to the exercise setting today, I'll just let it stay on time so that a shortened workout won't happen again today. 

I've tried a lot of watches over the years in the 
pool, and this one is the only one I can actually 
see in the water, without my glasses. It's also 
easy to switch modes on it. BUT, I'll need to 
keep in on "time" instead of on "exercise" to 
actually use it outdoors. No problem, just a 
small shift in routine. 

I was in the mood for vegetable soup, and there were a LOT of very tasty veggies at the co-op and my local grocer. I ended up with eight quarts of soup by the time I had put it into containers. That's a LOT of soup - LOL. I think I'll take several of them and bag them, putting them into the freezer tomorrow. My entire side of the refrigerator is nothing but soup right now, and that's beyond ridiculous. 

Minus the sprinkles of Parmesan cheese, this is pretty 
close to what my vegetable soup looked like after I 
was done with this week's batch. It's really tasty, but 
it's a LOT of soup. A LOT!!! LOL

I think the baby robins have flown the nest. I haven't seen their little heads above the nest lever, Mama bird isn't hanging around any more, and it just has that feeling of desertion. Of course, they left a terrible mess behind. I was going to take a hose to it yesterday afternoon, but realized that DH hadn't connected the upper yard's hose to the house spigot, and although I tried, I was unsuccessful. The fact that I was attacked by a hoard of mosquitoes probably didn't help my cause. I left it for DH to do. I'll text him about getting it hooked up later today and see if he did tomorrow. If not, I'll try getting the upper hose connected later on Friday. I'd really like the entryway to look clean and fresh once again. 

The babies were already getting pretty big for the nest when I 
first posted this photo more than a week ago. I'm not seeing 
any sign of them now, and the nest looks abandoned. I think 
they have all left the nest. Now it's up to DH and I do to 
clean-up. They're very messy birds. 

Friday will be a very busy day, however. Not a lot of time to spend on hoses and outdoor cleanup. I'll be making my weekly Ogre Juice (alkagizer) as well as baking my next batch of fruit. I have four pears and four apples waiting for tomorrow in a bowl on my kitchen counter. I can't let them sit there for a long time - our counter space is limited and we'll need full access over the weekend. 

I love having a portion of baked fruit every morning for my 
breakfast. I vary what I bake, and tomorrow I'll use 
four apples, four pears and a bag of cherries. I might add some 
walnuts or pecans too, although not a lot of nuts - it should 
be primarily baked fruit. It's part of my daily breakfast, and 
I make it often - always different, but basically the same. 

So, I'm off to the pool. I'll leave my wristwatch on time instead of tracking meters and I'll be fine. Today I won't cut my workout short, thinking that I'm out of time. Having finally had a good chat with Aearwen yesterday, it's feeling like things are finally back to a normal rhythm. From me to you, have a glorious Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Time - Both Friend and Enemy and A Product to Recommend

I awakened early, so took time with my morning meditation and answered comments and emails. So ... of course, that time I had has now evaporated. Strange how that can happen - LOL. 

It's rather amazing how time can work. You can look at a 
segment and think "Oh, that's plenty of time to do X", and 
then realize, half-way into the task, that time has 
evaporated and there isn't enough time for the task 
after all. 

I tried a new product yesterday, and it actually saved me from tossing an item into the recycling. It's a product called "Bottle Bright" and it's fabulous! I had a Contigo coffee carafe that I had been carrying my tea back and forth from work daily for several years. The tea stains were absolutely BAKED onto the inside, despite daily cleaning. It was disgusting. So I bought a new one and was going to toss the old one. 

I think I had added this to an Amazon cart, just on 
a whim. But I highly recommend it. It works a charm! 

I had purchased this product earlier, thinking to keep my new coffee container from the same fate. I decided to use it on the old container - a "test run" so to speak. I did have to use it both in regular mode and a second tablet in their super-clean mode, but when I rinsed and brushed the container out this morning, it looks NEW! It's a total shock! Of course, I had already tossed the screw-top lid and the rubber heat protector for safe handling *sigh*. But, I might be able to buy a new lid and I can probably cobble together a new sleeve. If you have really scuzzy drink containers, I highly recommend "Bottle Bright". 

My coffee mug was similar to these in style. 
Unfortunately, I'm missing the lid and the 
rubber sleeve. But the container itself, is 
now beautifully clean! 

Apparently we got one shipment delivered into the store yesterday, and others are on their way. DH will be working at the shop today (which will be inconvenient, at a minimum), so he'll be monopolizing the store computer for the day. Ugh! I suspect he'll be at the shop all week, instead of the usual three days. It's always a PITA when he's there - he tends to really get into everyone's way. If he's just sitting at the keyboard and not interacting with anyone, that's fine, but he usually can't keep his mouth shut. *sigh*

It's not a huge problem to shift schedules at the 
beginning of the week. It's a bit harder later on, though. 

So, I'm off. The pool is calling me. They have the chlorine situation resolved, so it's swimming yesterday, today and tomorrow to get my three days in this week. A bit of a schedule shift, but not too horrible and one I've done before. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini and חיים למען ישראל.

It's Been Busy Times at the Shop Lately

It'll be a hot day today, and I'm going to be grateful that I'm at the shop instead of at home. I'll be sweating the heat out tomorrow, but today at least I get to be in the air conditioning of the shop. Today the landlord and the fire inspector will be trundling through. Yesterday the landlord's "Minion" Andrew came through, gathered our fire extinguishers and had them recharged so that they were/are current. That happens about once a year or so, and it's always a good thing. I don't how how our landlord gets them done so quickly - I always had to wait about a week before I could pick mine back up after dropping them off for recharging - but, he's got the "in", I guess. Two hours later and we had totally recharged fire extinguishers. 

We have two commercial fire extinguishers 
in the shop - one for each floor. The landlord 
provides them and maintains them as part of 
his building care and maintenance. We know 
how to operate them, but that's about it. I'll 
need to get an updated one for home when I 
set up my workshop in the breezeway. 

Fire inspections are always pretty minimal, it's a poured concrete basement, and the main floor is concrete walls. Still, they check for functional EXIT lights, working alarm systems, and dangerous things like overused extension cords, etc. The previous fire inspector was a delightful woman whom I'm still in touch with after many years on FaceBook. We run into each other every now and again and it's always a joy to see her. 

My wall of boxes isn't quite this bad, and also isn't 
quite this organized. But, it's just about this daunting. 
We have a LOT of boxes of paper for shredding, and 
we'll be paying Shred Rite some serious $$$ to shred 
all of it. It's WAY too much for us to shred in-house. 

DH has been working very hard on the basement and it's looking better than it has since we moved in. I suspect the landlord will be quite impressed. We do have a wall of boxes stacked for the paper shredding people, but we're not quite finished accumulating them yet. Then I'll call Brian and arrange for the boxes to be collected and taken to the shredder. It'll be an expense, but it will be well worth it. At last count, I had 33 boxes of papers for shredding - at least eight of which are double-long boxes. And it's all in the basement, so the guys will need to carry them up to the main floor to get them into their truck. We'll be paying for this, but it's necessary and well worth the cost. 

They never made the baby blankets with a lot 
of styles. Ours is this "Beaver State Chief 
Joseph" style, but with a grey background 
instead of the white. It's quite pretty, despite 
the damage. This one is on EBAY for $150 - what 
I used to sell the full sized blankets for in the 1990's. 

All in all, we're getting closer and closer to the point where we can actually close the store. We're finding this and that in terms of merchandise or damaged merchandise that we can still put out for sale. For instance, yesterday we found a nice child's Pendleton blanket shawl. It's a bit moth-eaten, but it's an old one - when they were still making the blankets in Pendleton, Oregon (they have shifted their manufacturing to Mexico now - I don't carry or purchase or collect their blankets any more since that happened). A person could easily make some pouches or other small projects from this shawl, and we have a price of $10 on it. I suspect it won't last long before being snapped up. 

We've been busy at the shop. Last week people were dropping 
their beading projects off at the State Fair for judging and 
display, this week they were arranging the Upper Midwest 
Bead Society's exhibit at the State Fair and dropping by the 
shop on their way back to their homes. It's been fun catching 
up with people and I look forward to seeing their work when 
I go to the Fair at the end of the month. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Tomorrow will be a SUPER busy morning - swimming, and then directly off to the orthodontist for a small procedure. I get to repeat the whole thing again next week, for a slightly more extensive appointment. Busy, busy. That's my life. I hope you have a wonderful Tuesday, I'm heading out to the swimming pool for an hour of relaxing exercise - LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Time To Think About Cleaning the House for Sharon's Visit

Sunday was a somewhat lazy day. DH and I spent time in the garden, we gathered up sticks and brush and dropped them over at recycling, and we watched TV. DH fell asleep in mid-afternoon, so I got a little bit of computer time, but not quite enough to clear up the stacked-up emails on all three accounts that I use. Still, I got two of them cleared and up-to-date. That's better than it had been. 

I'm not using this program, but seriously might consider 
using it for my phone emails, which I simply can't 
keep up with and which can't be mass-deleted. I pretty 
well keep up with my computer email addresses, and I 
don't use Google for my email on my computers, but I 
do on my phone, and I absolutely HATE it. 

I've started casting a serious eye over the house, cataloging what needs to be cleaned first in my mind before Sharon arrives at the end of the month. It's actually not horrid. The kitchen is clean, of course. That room is constantly cleaned on a regular schedule. The bathrooms - the guest bathroom and the shower room are also clean, although I do need to scrub the floors in both of them. The sinks and counters are in excellent shape since I've been using the guest bathroom regularly because of my braces and the various extra things I have to use to keep my teeth in happy, clean and good health. 

Aside from mouthwash, toothbrush and toothpaste, I 
also use flossers and my oral irrigator to clean my 
teeth several times every day. I don't have one of these 
at the shop, so there I'm just using floss and brushing. 
But I've found the "water pick" to be invaluable, 
and use it every time I need to at home. It takes up 
counter space - minimal, but still...space.

The living room will need a seriously good vacuum and dust, but again, it's not too bad. The table is cluttered, but that only makes sense since I sleep there, so there are a few things (like charging cables and ear buds) that I keep handy. Still, it's again mostly a matter of getting the dust and any cobwebs taken care of. With the extra-high vaulted ceiling, there are always some cobwebs that escape my initial glances and only get caught in a serious clean. 

It's actually pretty easy to clean any minimal cobwebs from 
the ceiling. It's a bit harder to clean them from my 
copper dragon chandelier. But, I love my dragon, and 
love having him cleaned up and ready to see Sharon 
every year. 

Sharon's Room will take a bit more work. I have the portable clothes rack set up in that room, with my Mom's dresses arrayed on it. I'm not sure I'll have room in the closet for the rack. I'll have to check. Then, it's vacuuming, dusting, and a general clean. I can't open the windows for a good airing, the windows need replacement and if I opened any of them, I wouldn't be able to close them again. So, I might set up a fan in there to get the air circulated. It's a bummer about the windows, but it's an expense since we really need ALL of the windows in the house replaced. 

I have an old-style fan that I keep on the 
bureau in Sharon's room. We never know 
what the weather or temps will be when she 
gets here. It could be upper 90's hot, 
or it could be hints-of-snow cold. We've 
had it all, over the years she's been coming 
up for the State Fair. 

After that, there's just general cleaning - dusting the glass shelving for my dragons, vacuuming the hallway, and making sure that I have access to and can use the second sink in the Master Bathroom. I usually just let DH have that bathroom for himself (he's not the neatest guy in the world), but I'll need to use my sink while Sharon is here using the guest bathroom. DH will just have to tolerate me for a short time, and I'll have to tolerate him. We don't share spaces easily - LOL, but we'll work it out. It's only for a few days. 

I have always dusted first, then vacuumed. It made 
sense to me because dust settles in the lowest 
spot it can reach. Your vacuum is the final step in 
getting a clean room. So, I'll stick to that formula 
this year again. It seems to be common sense. 

All told, it's not too bad. I'll start working on this next week on my "days off", between my regular cooking and laundry. It'll all work out, I'm sure. It always seems to, and the house is actually a lot cleaner this year than it has been in some of the years past. When it's done, I feel quite accomplished and ready to face another year of spot cleaning instead of intensive cleaning. Have an excellent Monday and Slava Ukraini. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Deep Cleaning - It's a Bit Different For a Store

Last night was another night of interrupted sleep. Fortunately, I have a cushion for Saturdays, so after I awakened at 2:00 am and couldn't seem to get back to sleep, I did a lot of my "dailies" on my phone instead (which take approx 1/2 hour), and then set my alarm for 5:00 am instead of 3:15 am, turned around, and went back to sleep. That turned out beautifully. I awakened at 5:00, did my morning meditation, took my shower, and hit the ground running. I'm writing this, and then moving onward to my day. 

There's no really good reason why I've been waking 
in the middle of the night (although some people 
might consider my normal wake-up time of 3:15 am 
to be the middle of the night too - LOL). I guess I'm 
a bit stressed and it's coming through in my sleep 
patterns. 

DH forgot his phone at home yesterday, and I was too busy to drop it off at the shop for him, so we were communicating anything necessary through Chickie. Fortunately, there wasn't that much that I needed to communicate. The major deal was our fluorescent bulbs. 

We use the single-pin style of fluorescent bulbs 
in our ceiling fixtures throughout the store. We have 
a LOT of fixtures, and a LOT of bulbs - both active 
and burned out. Fluorescent bulbs, of course, are 
an environmental hazard (they use a bit of mercury 
in them), so have to be carefully disposed of. 

We have old ceiling fixtures at the store. They were prime for 1994 when we moved in, but lighting has moved on from this type of ceiling fixture and fluorescent bulbs, into new and more environmentally friendly lighting. In the intervening years, we used to take used bulbs (usually 8 or so at a time) down the street to the little neighborhood hardware store where we would pay a small fee per bulb to get them recycled. Most places, however, these days, won't accept the 8-foot fluorescent bulbs any more. 

This is my local Batteries Plus store (obviously in a different 
season than the deep winter we're in right now). They're 
always great people here, and have helped me out for 
many years. It's a very convenient location, right between 
work and home. 

After an extensive web hunt, I did find that my local Batteries Plus store does accept them, and we have a business account set up with them because I buy all of my batteries for my alarm systems through them, as well as the batteries for my APC units. The store is quite close to home, so I took a quick drive over to double-check that they still accepted them, and what it would cost. It's going to cost us $1.44 per bulb, but no problem bringing them by. I'll start doing that on Sunday, so I made sure Minion was set up to accept the long bulbs. 

We need our old documents and papers to have this look, 
instead of being readable. I remember working one job 
where they actually had an industrial-sized shredder next 
to their machine shop, and I had to go down and shred old 
blueprints regularly. We simply can't do what we have set 
aside on our own - we'll have to hire a firm to come and 
shred the 40 or more boxes of paperwork for us. 

Time to start the next phase of clearing out the store. After this, we'll have to get a shredding company over to take the multitudes of boxes of paperwork that we've been stacking up for recycling away. That comprises up to 50 years of financial reports, old corporate paperwork, and other items that we simply don't need to keep on hand any more. DH has put aside the items we will need to keep, but we simply don't need our entire corporate history day-by-day forever. That will be an expense, but it's again, a necessary one. 

What a great sign. I could use a few of these in my life. 

On that cleaning-up note, I'm going to plug in some photos and call today's blog a done deal. I hope you have a truly wonderful Saturday and a great weekend. I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini.