It's Cold, ICE Kills Again, and We're Continuing Onward

Today is Monday, it's -12F outside (so just a BIT chilly!), and ICE is still in Minnesota creating havoc. The last person that ICE killed was a Veteran who worked at the VA Hospital and yes, he had a weapon on him, he had a concealed weapon permit and always carried. He didn't raise his weapon towards anyone, he was attempting to assist people who had been tossed to the ground. That's three unjustified deaths that I lay directly at Trump's doorstep. To say I'm angry is an understatement. I'm angry, I'm filled with sorrow, and I'm seriously upset. My state has become a battleground in a battle it never asked for. 

It's slightly warmer, but still sub-zero - so VERY cold. Anyone 
who's homeless hopefully found shelter, but the shelters will 
have to empty for the daylight hours and people will, quite 
literally, freeze to death under culverts and on park benches. 

In other news, however, I need to get my next payment out to Travis for our business liquidation. Last time Chickie was at the shop to help me over the bumps in the road. Today it's her day off, so she's not at the shop, but I had her write me out step-by-step directions so that I could get this accomplished. Next week I need to upload a five-minute video walk-through of what a customer would see if they came to my shop. I'm learning a lot of new things that I never anticipated learning - LOL. 

Travis is sharp, and hopefully will do well with 
our very eclectic shop. No guarantees, of course, 
but I have confidence that he'll give us our 
greatest chance of success. 

DH has been busy working on the shop. He's moved and repurposed sales displays, set up a new art stand for prints (we have a LOT of prints for sale), and things are starting to look really good. We've always been a store divided - Native American art on the one hand, the supplies used by our Native American (and other) customers such as beads and jewelry making materials on the other. There's overlap, but not a huge amount. Still, that's the store that we developed over the decades, and it's the one we'll have to sell off within a very short time. I'm pinning a lot of hope on Travis and his methodology. He's costing us a lot of money, but if he comes through and we're successful in liquidating the store, he'll be worth every penny. 

Travis' book is our bible, so to speak. Everything 
is detailed in it, and sure, we could have just used 
the book to progress, but we really needed someone 
to guide us a bit more, so we hired him. I'm really 
hoping for the best. 

So, I'm going to bundle up and brace for the cold. That cold is also part of living in Minnesota. We had an unusually warm and mild winter last year, and it's not quite that nice this year - LOL. Have an excellent and safe Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's a Deep Freeze and ICE Out in Minnesota

Yesterday was "ICE Out" or "No More ICE" in the state of Minnesota, or at least in the Twin Cities area. Multiple businesses were closed, people were demonstrating against ICE on almost every corner. The fact that the weather was at -8 F also didn't help/hurt. Essentials like banks, etc stayed open, and we were open, but the day was spent on some serious remodeling. We have to do a video walkthrough of the shop for Travis, and Chickie and DH dug into things - basically doing a fairly decent remodel of the North side of the shop. It looks good - really good. There's still a LOT to do before we film, but it's starting to come together. 

Minnesota is a state where we take personal freedoms 
very seriously. The entire state united in protest against 
ICE yesterday. It was remarkable, and given the wind chills 
of -16 or more, it was done in short, but sustained bursts. 

We didn't have any customers at all yesterday, and given the mess that the store was in when I arrived from appointments in the early afternoon, I was rather grateful we had been given this day. I immediately set myself at the typewriter and worked on getting the W-2 forms typed out. DH will look them over today, and then they'll be ready to distribute so that everyone can get their taxes done on time. 

I usually try to type the W2 Forms in the very 
early morning hours when I won't be 
interrupted, but yesterday afternoon proved to be
a good time to get them done. DH will look 
them over today and then distribute them where 
they need to go. 

It's going to be early mornings and late evenings for a while now, though, as we get the store ready to close, so my daily updates might be shorter on some days. The kink for yesterday came with massively cold temperatures added to the fact that our garage door at home wouldn't close properly. I contacted my garage door people and they added us to their list of homes. They arrived shortly after noon, replaced and repositioned some sensors, and voila! The door now works once again. I am pleased about that, but it meant that I was at home waiting for repair people for the entire morning - a real waste of time in many ways. 

Automatic garage doors operate with sensors that send an 
electronic signal from one side to the other. They weren't 
communicating on our door, and needed to be replaced. 
So, the techs pulled the old ones, installed new ones, and 
pushed the new ones a bit farther away from the actual 
door surface for a stronger connection. We'll have to be 
careful when we pull out the snow blower, but I think 
that extension was a good idea. 

So, I'm heading out into the cold. It's only -16 F right now, which is a big improvement over the -26 F of yesterday at approximately the same time. We're totally into the deep freeze of Winter. Bundle up, be safe, and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's VERY COLD and A Short Discussion of Weaving and Gowns

Happy Friday! My phone is telling me that the current temperature is -21 F. Yeah, that's a minus sign in front of the number. It's COLD. DH spent yesterday photographing Navajo weavings. We'll probably be putting most/all of them out to auction with our Santa Fe auction people, but to do that we need photos, dimensions, etc. We're also freaking out a bit over the scheduling for our closing sale - it's VERY precise - 15 pages worth of specific instructions and dates. The sale itself starts in early April, so time is running out and we're nowhere close to being ready. But, we're putting noses to the grindstone and working hard at it. 

Whichever way you look at it, it's damned COLD 
this morning. I'm grateful for my cold weather 
gear, but I'll still be shivering and Minion 
won't be happy being parked in the cold either. 

Yesterday DH pulled down a lot of our Navajo weavings, replacing them with other ones - mostly lesser quality at a lower price point. The good ones we'll be bringing down to Santa Fe ourselves after the shop has closed. But it was an all-day affair photographing each rug on the photo board, culminating with packaging many of them in plastic for storage. Our weavings cabinet is far from empty, but it's nowhere as packed as it had been. 

In this picture, the weaver is weaving a sampler 
weaving - one style on the left, a second 
style in the center and a return to the left style 
on the right. The loom is a vertical loom and sheep's 
wool is usually spun for the yarn. It's a tradition 
that goes back centuries. 

I spent a fair amount of time on the phone contacting a variety of places I thought Mom's couture dresses might be accepted at for resale. I have two "very interested by not accepting anything until April" responses, and one recommendation for a specific Minneapolis shop that I had thought would be worth while to contact. When I contacted them, they expressed an interest in photographs, but also warned me that they usually will only accept items in a group of 10. Well, I don't have quite that many - I think it's either 7 or 8 items that I have - but she said to go ahead with the photos and send them anyway, even if I'm below their minimum quantity. Exceptions can sometimes be made. So I'll try to get that done early next week. Meanwhile, they're in the trunk of my car - not the best place for them, but then again, with the temps as they are, the car is probably safer than many other locations. I might move them back into the house, but I'll leave them for the time being. 

Large weavings, such as this one worked on by two 
weavers simultaneously, are rarely made any more. 
The looms are too large to fit within the hogan, 
and the dollars paid don't make up for the time 
when several smaller weavings will sell for the 
same or more and take less time to make. This photo 
probably dates from the early 1900's. You can see 
a second loom in the background with an additional 
two weavers working on it. They were probably 
working at one of the trading posts and would 
sell the finished products directly to them. 

So, despite the cold, I have to get a very early start today. I need to get the W3 typed up for the Federal Government, and I only have a single copy of the form. NO MISTAKES ALLOWED. I have no correction ability on my typewriter at the shop anymore, and the computer and computer printer can't be used on it either. So, I've got to eat breakfast, bundle up, and hope that my car will start tonight after sitting in the parking lot for hours and hours. Minion was a bit slow to start last night when it was -11, adding an additional -10 to that and an extra hour in the parking lot ... well ... it could be problematic. Have an excellent Friday and I'll be back tomorrow to wrap up the week. Slava Ukraini. 

I'm Getting Pulled In So Many Ways Right Now

Yesterday was a VERY busy day. Between errands here and there, I took my Mom's couture gowns to the local thrift shop to see what they would accept. I wasn't happy with them, so I didn't leave any of them, and they're in my car trunk. I'll need to make a few calls and see if any of the more upscale 2nd-hand stores would like any of them. Otherwise I'll look into putting them onto Etsy or Ebay. 

In the 1950's, emphasis was on the shape 
of the body, and draping. The gowns don't 
look great on hangers, but they look amazing 
on a dress form. I don't have the time to deal 
properly with them while we're working on 
the store, and DH was bitching about the space
they were taking up in the spare closet. So, I 
need to sell them or toss them. 

I also got an extensive email from Travis, our business liquidator. It's a full schedule of everything that we need to accomplish, the dates that we need to have them done by, etc, etc. It's rather scary. DH is saying "I don't see how we can get this done in his timeframe" and I'm thinking "It's got to be done, I'll have to make it happen". The one thing I'm a bit worried about is the walk-through video that he needs me to make and send to him. It should be 5-7 minutes long, and I've never made anything of the sort. I'm horribly worried about whether my phone will accommodate that length of a recording. Any of you who have done similar things - can you advise me? 

I've taken a lot of photos with my phone over the years, 
but I've never done much with video. Any advise you can 
offer would be appreciated. He needs a 5-7 minute 
full walkthrough of the shop as well as a serious look 
at the exterior (snowbanks and all, I guess - LOL). 

Along with everything else, DH and I were at the attorney's office yesterday signing the final legal agreements for what will happen to our funds when/if one of us dies. (With the stress of the next few months, that's not out of the question - LOL). But, we're all legal now for the estate and how things will be handled. We each had to make some compromises, but that's how life operates. Because it was snowing and we had the meeting with Corey at 8:00 am across town, I gave up on swimming yesterday - it would have been crowding too much into a short window of time. I'm swimming today, though. I actually was at the YMCA, waiting for the doors to be unlocked, before I decided my schedule would be too tight, told another friend who was also in the parking lot that I was skipping the day's swim, and headed to the gas station to top off before the long day ahead of me. It was a good decision. 

 
We're on a strict time schedule for closing the store and it's 
stressing both of us out. DH can't push things out anymore, 
and I have to really focus on what is needed and get Travis 
the information he'll need to make this successful. 

So, any information any of you can offer on the video that I need to make would be very appreciated. I've never done much with video, and I'm super concerned about whether my old phone will have enough memory left to accommodate a video of that length. So ... please message me back and let me know if you're more up on that particular technology than I am. I use a Google phone, so no Apple, if that's helpful. Have a great Thursday, Slava Ukraini! 

It'll Be a VERY Busy Morning

It's going to be hectic today, at least for the early morning. We have an 8:00 am appointment with an attorney to sign the final documents for our Trust Agreement. That's (of course) completely across town. So, in sub-zero cold, we'll be joining the lemmings as they move from one part of the Twin Cities to a different part within a very constricted time frame on possibly icy roads. Current temperature is 16 F, which isn't as cold as the past few days were. 

It's one of those days that will be MASSIVELY 
hectic first thing, before it settles down into the 
usual routine. Nothing like dealing with rush hour 
traffic to and from the opposite end of the Twin 
Cities to start a day out right - LOL. (NOT!)

Speaking of cold temperatures, the house has recovered and is cozy once again. My furnace guy is amazing. I wouldn't have known about him at all, but my shop landlord recommended him for our old furnace there when it quit within the past year. I still had his number, and I had liked his professionalism at that time, so he was my contact this time also, and he came through for us. I'm delighted to not be shivering in the house any more. 

Our furnace is closer to the bottom right photo in 
this montage of old furnaces. But we have zone heating 
in this house - meaning a set of piping that squirrels off 
in a variety of directions to heat a variety of rooms. It 
was state of the art in 1964, but it's OLD now and not 
everyone is capable of fixing it. My dude absolutely 
ROCKS! Old furnaces are his thing. 

So, today will start out very busy. After the legal appointment, I'll drop DH off at the shop and head to the grocery store. I'll only get my Wednesday off this week, so I have to pack a LOT of cooking into my day. I'm totally out of "Ogre Juice", so that's a MUST, but I'll also need dinners for the next few days as well. I'm not sure what I'll make. My fall-backs have been stuffed peppers and BBQ pork chops, and I still have two portions of pork chops left, but I'm thinking maybe a nice stew. Maybe. I'll have to see what looks good at the shop. It's chicken for tonight, so I may be lazy, pick up a cauliflower crust pizza from my secondary store, and let dinners ride until Sunday. DH will have to live with my cooking on a Sunday since I don't get my Fridays off until after we've closed the store. 

Hubby has been eating a lot of frozen pizza lately, so I 
decided I'd give Clo-Clo pizza a try. It's a cauliflower 
crust pizza. I tried the Margherita flavor and I'd definitely 
buy and eat this again. It was VERY tasty and totally fir 
my dietary principles. They're a local firm, too. So it's 
a total win/win. 

We have our next payment due to Travis, our guy who's handling our closing, on Monday. I was in touch with him yesterday and also had Chickie write out the exact directions for me to get the check sent to him - it's a photograph/Dropbox/email kind of procedure that is a bit convoluted because of the various programs that have to be used for a successful transfer. Since Chickie doesn't work on Mondays, I had her write the instructions out, step-by-step. We had all kinds of problems getting the last check to him in a format he could receive and I could send. Old computers and up-to-date electronics don't always mix well. 

It's always interesting to put the trash cans at the curb 
during winter. The sides of the drive are filled with large 
piles of snow, so the can actually has to sit at the side of the 
driveway, restricting our access in and out. Still, we 
have learned how to do this dance over the years. 

So ... life progresses. At least I was able to get the trash into the can early this morning so that I can put the can at the curb when I leave for our appointment at 7:00 am. I hope all of you have a more relaxing day than my day will be - LOL. I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

I'm Terribly Late, But I Have Heat Again!

We have heat, and it was quite the saga. I'll try to tell you all about it tomorrow, but I overslept by 45 minutes on a swimming day, and have to be on my way to the pool in about 7 minutes. So I'm just doing a quick check-in telling you that after more than a day of VERY cold temps in the house, my furnace guy (who is a total miracle worker) managed a fix and we're once again in business. We were first on his list for fixing, and it took him more than two hours to get things going. Apparently he replaced a lot of things that were worn out, and even had to leave and pick up a part that he didn't have with him in his van. Bless him. It took a while, but the house is once again livable. 

The house temp was in the low 40's by the time my 
heat repair dude showed up. We're finally back in 
the right range now, almost 24 hours later. What a mess! 

So, I'm off to the swimming pool, and ready to start my very rushed day. At least one thing went right, LOL. I'll be back tomorrow, hopefully with a bit more time. Slava Ukraini. 

Our Furnace (Boiler) at Home Isn't Working and It's -8F Outside - Life Can Suck Sometimes!

 As all of you know (probably - LOL), I live in the Frozen Northlands - Minnesota, to be precise. Yesterday, our old boiler which provides heat to my house, decided it was on strike. *sigh* I contacted my furnace repair guy (yes, I have one of those who keeps my shop furnace functional) and he'll get back to me as soon as his schedule is set for today, to let me know when he'll be able to come out at take a look/fix my home furnace. I have zone heating in this house, but right now, it's qualifying as "frigid", "more frigid", and "ACK - Damn Cold". We have my small space heater in the computer room and that's where we're spending our time. 

It's cold outside (currently -8 F degrees), and since I have 
no functional heater inside, we're cold in here too. Nowhere 
close to as cold as outside, but not comfortable either. 

DH is the lucky guy who will get to stay home until after my furnace guy has been here. It's reasonable, because he's also the guy who'll get to write a check for the repair. Meanwhile, I'll head to the shop and try my best to be functional with about three hours of sleep. I got to sleep just fine, but the constant clicking on and off of the boiler trying to switch on awakened me in the very early hours and I moved to the computer room. There's no place to be prone in that room, but I sat in my chair, turned on my space heater, and at least I was cozy, if sleepless. I'll be a wreck today, but hopefully will return to a warm house after work tonight. 

It would be nice to just toss another log onto the 
fireplace, but since our flue needs a good cleaning 
before we light any fires (and I have a family of 
squirrels who have been living in the upstairs 
chimney for generations now), I don't light any fires 
any more. 

In some ways it's too bad we don't live in the days when we'd just toss another log onto the fire in the cave, in other ways it's damned nice to have electricity (even though Tesla's electrical ideas were WAY more efficient than Edison's). We all rely on electricity so much, and even though we often have fall backs available, they're far from convenient. The last time our heat died at the house was more than 20 years ago and I sat near the downstairs fireplace and fed it with wood. The flu needs a cleaning, however, and I don't want to roast the squirrels who nest in it every year, so a fire is really a last resort for me this time around. 

Time for a nice, hot, cup of tea. 

So, I'm signing off and going to make myself a nice, hot cup of tea. Have an excellent Monday and I'll be back tomorrow - hopefully with heat and a bit more than three hours of sleep. Slava Ukraini.