A Day of Accomplishment and Frustration Combined

I started yesterday out driving to the licensing division to get the license for our Going Out of Business sign. It wasn't a problem to find, and parking was no charge (a rarity for downtown St Paul). Although the website said their hours started at 7:30 am, their doors actually didn't open until 8:00 am, so I waited for about 15 minutes. No problem. 

The banner license is given by these people. It 
has to be within certain dimensions, and placed 
in a way that it's not impeding traffic or other things. 
That's fine, but if their computers are down for 
the week, they'll need to send it to me by hand. 

When I spoke to the young woman about my signage license, she directed me to fill out the information on their on-line system ... PROBLEM! Their on-line system is actually down for the week while they download the past 20 years of records into their new system. When I pointed that out to the young woman, she consulted with another person, and sent me to the zoning department at the other end of their very large room with lots of desks. (Of course, since it's a governmental thing - the desks are on one side of a barrier, the public on the other - LOL). 

I'm not sure exactly what my sign says - DH didn't 
even unfold it when the box arrived yesterday. It 
should be something similar to this, though, and 
measures three feet high and 8-1/2 feet long. 

At Zoning, I spoke with an older woman - very friendly. She told me the same thing, I again pointed out that their computer system is down for the week, and she gave me a paper form to fill out. I did that, she double-checked that I had everything there for their guy, and then we bonded over the store closing, and how she loved Native American art and crafts, and is moving from her place to a different place. She noted my address and said she'd try and drop by during our sale. She's more than welcome. We chatted for a bit, and when I left she said she would personally take my paperwork to the appropriate person when they arrived for the day. If I don't have the appropriate permit for my sign, I did everything that I could. 

My baked fruit - which varies from batch to batch - is my 
normal daily breakfast, along with a couple of slices of 
gluten-free toast. 

I spent the rest of the day in the kitchen. I have no idea when I'll have any chance to cook again with the sale starting soon, so I made my next batch of fruit which will take me through a couple of weeks, and also made my "Ogre Juice" for the next week. I didn't get a chance to make the soup I had wanted to get cooked, but that's actually something I can do at night. If necessary, I can put it into the crock pot overnight and pack it up when I wake in the morning. Since my pulled sciatica muscle still isn't allowing me to treadmill, I'd have time in the morning to get the soup packed up and put into the refrigerator. I'll probably get that going tonight. 

I'm sure that in some ways, Travis is regretting 
taking us on as clients. However, we're picky 
about what's happening, and we've paid him 
a LOT of money, so he can gripe all he wants, 
but he'd better come through. 

So, plans are made. I spent several hours exchanging grumbly texts with Travis. They set up a website for us specifically for the sale, StormcloudTrading dot Net. When I pull it up, I get the store closing information , but I'm also getting a subheading that says "Ann Crittenden Hallmark". If you have a chance, could you go on to stormcloudtrading.net and see what the splash page looks like to you? I'd love some additional input from people not directly connected with either Travis or STC. 

If you have a chance to check out the website, I'd appreciate 
it. There's a ghost website coming up in the header when 
I check here, and I want that eliminated and the correct 
web address inserted. 

On that note, I'm wrapping this up and hoping to make it to the pool. We had a possibility of icy stuff overnight, and if it's a skating rink out there on the roads, I'll skip the swim today and try for tomorrow instead. Have an excellent Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.