The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The signs and banners have arrived. They're top quality, which is good because we pack all of them up into their boxes again after we're finished with them, and return them to Travis. DH isn't happy with the banner which says "Going Out Of Business". He had wanted the shorter version - "Closing Sale", but we didn't have any say in that and it is what it is. Now to figure out how to get the damned thing up on the storefront. But there are other things taking a higher priority right now. 

Our Going Out of Business sign is all yellow, and 
doesn't have the red stripe below, but this is as close 
an image as I could find. Now to get the damned 
thing up on the storefront. We have SO much to do 
before we open the sale next week. 

DH realized, late yesterday, that we hadn't been updating a form that we had filled out in February. Looking the form over again, we realized we had completely misunderstood its' purpose when we had originally had it presented to us by Travis. We had thought it did A, but it actually does B and we had all of the wrong information in it as a result. He immediately started reworking it, and was deep into it when I went to sleep. 

 
I can't seem to get this centered, just par for the 
course right now. ARGH!!!

Travis really dropped the ball too. He did a press release and didn't run it by us first. Big problem - he used my full name in the press release. I'm not out there with that name associated with the business at all - I use my maiden name for the business. We're VERY unhappy at this one, because the release has already been picked up and published in several places. Great for the publicity, very BAD for the error. 

Can I just quit now? What a total mess. If 
I can make it through the next 6-8 weeks, it 
will be miraculous. 

I have no idea how late DH was up working on the inventory form. I gave up dealing with his bad mood shortly after 8:30 pm and went to sleep. At least I got a good night's sleep out of it. I'm not seeing papers and notes scattered all over, so I assume he accomplished something with the task and I'll be hearing about it today. We're under the gun, and this extra task which took almost all of yesterday, really wasn't welcome. 

So, on that note, the good and the bad, I'm out of here. I'm going to have breakfast, and then head to the shop. It's going to be a LONG day and my sciatica still is acting up, which isn't helping at all. I'll update as I can, but my posts might be short for a few days while we start the sale in the middle of next week. I'm not sure how much "spare time" I'll have. I'll at least say "Hi", but it might not be much more than that. LOL

DH Dropped The Ball and a Piece of Coral - ARGH!

So, I happened to be in the back of the shop yesterday afternoon, and noticed a copy of a handwritten list that DH had put near the television. I assume he did that because he's the one who always has the TV on all day (set to CNN because I refuse to listen to the financial station all day). BUT ... if it was him who had put the list there, he taped it up and then forgot about it. And we're screwed. So his assignment today is to get this taken care of. I'll just have to work on my "day off" - a day that I sorely needed because my refrigerator is BARE. 

I really didn't need this additional stress. And if we 
can't get the City license, we can't hold the sale! 

But, apparently,  the City needs to issue us a license to hold our Closing Sale, and that should have been issued to us a week ago (2 weeks before the sale commences and it's scheduled for April 8th). I'm so pissed I can just scream! We have to have a physical inspection, and a close out affidavit. I think some of this was taken care of when he was last over at that office several weeks ago, but this was HIS area of responsibility, and if he dropped the ball on it. ... well. GRRRRRR

The last thing I needed was for DH to drop the 
ball for the one item he was responsible for 
in the outside world. GRRRRR

The postcards announcing the sale have started arriving at places because we've already had a phone call or two about the sale. The ideal time for the postcards to arrive would be in another day or two, but it's close enough, and no-one controls the US Post Office - not even the US Post Office. 

So, my stress levels are through the roof, and I really don't have time for shop BS today because I won't have my "day off" for the next seven weeks and I really needed cooking time today. Maybe I'll get some - but I'm not counting on it. Oh, and of course, DH has been working on jewelry repairs, and managed to fling the final piece of pink coral inlay up into the air at his repair desk, losing it. Totally. He spent a half-hour or so looking, without success,. and I spent a bit of time this morning looking again, also without success. Of course, the desk is a total mess - containers and piles of materials everywhere. It would be really nice to find it within the next week or two - I'd love to sell the damned bracelet. 

I'm both angry AND frustrated. This was the one thing that 
DH needed to take care of for us. He apparently really hit 
it off with the head of the department when he was downtown 
a few weeks ago. BUT, I'm not sure that will save us now. 

So, I'm off to swim off some of my anger and frustration. GRRRRR I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It Was a Here and There, This and That Kind of Day

I had two prints to frame yesterday morning, The first one was no problem and looks great with a triple nested mat around the print. But, the second one required a quick trip to my mat supply store around 10:30 am because I had completely miscut the twin mats for this one. OOPS. So, $26 later, I had two new matboards in the same colors in my car, heading homeward again. I had worked out a schedule with DH where I could work on my framing in the morning, and come into the shop about 2:00 pm when he could go home and work on his repairs. 

The first piece, which I chose a triple mat for, turned out 
great. 

It actually worked out pretty well, except he stayed at the shop until about 4:00 pm. But I was in the framing room in the basement, and we weren't very busy, so Chickie didn't need to call me upstairs. I put one piece together and it's stunning. I'm very pleased. The second piece, however, I had cut too short on the width opening. The actual full size of the mats was perfect, but the cutout was incorrect. *sigh* I was back at my detail cutter at home at 6:00 am this morning, and by 6:30 am I had those mat cutouts lengthened, smoothed, and the completed items back in their bag ready for transport to the shop. I'll assemble them today, get the frame onto them, and I'll be ready to put in the nails and attach the hanging wires. 

The first picture, that turned out great, was this one - "Evening 
on the Washita" by Donald Vann. I chose a triple mat with a 
gradience from the peach to the light blue, and then black  
for the mats. The frame is almost a driftwood color/feel. I really 
like how this one turned out. 
 

The clock, of course, is ticking towards our big sale. On one hand I'm grateful that we're on a schedule, on the other hand I'm frightened to death. It's rather like "What if we hold a sale and nobody comes?" on the right hand, while the left hand is screaming "What if we have too many people to actually be able to handle things on our end?" It's the same nightmares I had when we ran our big Swarovski crystal sell-down sale last year. That ended up manageable (barely), but this one ... well, we've never had a sale like this before, and won't have one again. It's virgin territory for us and we're all petrified in our own ways. 

I have to keep reminding myself of this, even though we 
are actually on a rather strict time schedule. But, there are 
times, like now, when we're just hanging in there until 
the next surge. 

So I'm going to end this here and hope that maybe I'll get a "day off" tomorrow (although I doubt that - there's still a LOT that has to get done at the shop, so I'm sure I'll be there for a few hours, no matter what). Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday morning. Be kind and enjoy life. It's the only one you get, after all. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Tuesday - I'm Heading to the Pool

It's a Tuesday, and I'm back to the swimming pool today. I'm wearing the skin suit that's most stretched out and I really wanted to order a new replacement. But, there aren't any sales going on, and I simply can't afford the full-price of the suit. I don't know how much longer I can wear this one, however. Right now it would easily fit someone 20 pounds heavier than I am, which means it's VERY baggy. Baggy for a skin suit really doesn't work well. But, I'm tight on funds. 

I really like Slipins divesuits. I wear them 
for my pool days. The one I'm wearing right 
now, however, has stretched to the point where 
I'm not happy wearing it. I checked their website 
today, but just missed out on their latest sale. I 
might be down to two skinsuits. *sigh*

DH spent the day in the warehouse yesterday, assembling a shelving unit for photographs. We finally got the last screws into it after I had locked up and ended the day on the sales floor. It looks good, he did a good job. They're a total bear to put together with a single person, but he managed. 

DH got one of these assembled yesterday. It was 
a serious CHORE. It stands either 80" or 95" 
tall (I don't recall which), and the shelves are 
the heavier weight - the industrial instead of 
the commercial. It took him ALL day working 
solo to get this together. 

I've got a couple of household bills in front of me, I suppose I should get those paid this morning since I'm running slightly ahead of schedule. It'll be one less thing to have hanging over me, right? I also should try to get back to the lawyer I contacted last week. I might have a chance to give him a call later today. 

I have too many things on my "To Do" list. I suspect 
that many of you are in the same situation. LOL

Well, that's about all I'm inspired about this morning. Not all blogs at 3:45 am will be pithy and great fun, but that's also life itself. I hope you have an excellent day, I'm wrapping this up and heading for the swimming pool. Slava Ukraini. 

Shelves and Cellphones - A Double ARGH!

DH and I spent most of yesterday at the shop working on photos for Travis. At one time we had three full shelving units completely emptied for less-than-great photos (you can't really do a lot with photos in a four-foot wide aisle with 96" tall shelving"). We tried to assemble a new shelf downstairs to use for the photographs, but they're a total PITA to get together and it just wasn't working well. So we abandoned that idea and just emptied the shelves for poor photos. 

We have two different types of steel shelving - industrial 
and commercial. They're configured a bit differently, and 
each company who makes them makes them slightly 
differently. Some are as old as 50+ years - original to 
Jim's Dad's business way back when. It's a LOT of 
shelving. 

What a job, and what a mess! I'm quite certain things are out of their usual order now, and it will take some reshuffling of merchandise until I can find beads easily once again. We understand why Travis has us do the photography, but it would have been SO much easier to take a single good pic and say "Shelving like this in either 6, 7 or 8 shelves, 6-8 feet tall." But no, we're supposed to photograph EVERYTHING, and the deadline to submit all of these to Travis is Friday. We have a LOT of photos on DH's phone, and he still needs to send all of them to me so that I can send them to Travis. I'll be running that through with him today. 

I'm hoping that the photos are the last major hurdle that we'll need to go through. No guarantees, of course. But it's a dream - LOL. 

I forgot to recharge my cell phone overnight. It's next 
to me, plugged in now, and it's now up to 19% from 
a total 0%. *sigh* That was how exhausted I was last 
night. I was absolutely BEAT. 

And, just to make things even better ... I forgot to recharge my phone last night, so it died while I was on my final meditation (good thing that was a short one). I have it recharging now, and will plug it in to continue charging as soon as I get to the shop. It's very rare for me to forget to charge overnight, I must have been totally exhausted. So, have a great Monday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

Argh ... Just Argh

Just a quick check-in today - so much that I need to do. DH is assembling and re-assembling the metal shelving that we keep all of our products on both on the main floor and the basement level. That's close to 75 individual 6 foot shelving units, each with anywhere from 6-12 shelves. The entire event rests on the fact that there are two different kinds of shelves - commercial and industrial. He's trying to match up the shelf type as much as possible. It's a JOB! 

All of our backstock is kept on industrial shelving very simlar 
to this, in bins very similar to those in the photo. That's 1000's 
of small items, collected together with others and organized 
so that we can pull the beads the customer wants easily and 
quickly. But now we're trying to get the shelving put 
together and matched into one of the two types we have - 
industrial and commercial. It all comes down to how much 
weight they'll hold. 

I'm trying to figure out when I have time to cut the mats for the newest art pieces I want to get onto our walls to sell. I've got the frames, but one of those will have to be recut - Wednesday's agenda. I've got the mats, what I don't "got" is the time. But I need to get it - so somehow I'll make this happen. 

We're all growling at each other, while banging on steel 
shelving and helping customers. We're under a hard 
deadline to have this done, and it's taking a LOT more time 
than we had thought it would. 

I heard from an attorney I've done business with before and he recommended a different attorney to help with my paperwork. I contacted Lawyer #2 and give him the quick scoop. It's a bit out of his normal range - he works with adoptions mostly - but he'll check things out on his end and get back to me. Baby steps. I'll get there yet. *sigh* 

All I want is a "Real ID' so that I can actually 
cross the border into Canada or Mexico if I'm 
so inclined. You would think I was asking for 
the damned moon! 

So, I'm off and running. If all of you could put your thoughts and mojo towards DH finding the very large orange-handled screwdriver that he put down somewhere yesterday and that has been MIA ever since, I'd appreciate it. Right now, it looks as if it has joined the single socks in their black hole. But it's a BIG thing - very hard to miss. We're missing it - LOL. ARGH. Have an excellent Friday and I'll wrap the week up tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

GRRRRRR - I HATE Small People in Large Jobs

I have no time today, just a quick post to let you know that yesterday's attempt at getting an updated Driver's Licenses was a complete and total disaster. I've sent an email off to my attorney, and might have to get him, or someone he recommends, involved in this. Meanwhile, I'll soon have an expired Driver's License which also won't be good. GRRRRR I'm off to swim off some frustration. 

- Erulisse (one L)

We're Drowning In Metal - Shelving and Desks

Yesterday was a grind - I did get the next check sent off to Travis, but DH spent a rather unproductive day dealing with the metal shelving we're overwhelmed with. We've got two types of metal warehouse shelving - industrial and commercial. The difference is the quality of the actual shelves - the amount of weight they will hold. The side braces are almost identical, and the shelf difference is slight, but it does make a difference if you're putting a lot of weight onto them. 

We have close to 50 units of steel shelving, most of which have 
eight to ten shelves. That's a LOT of shelves to make sure are 
all assembled with the same types of shelves per unit. I think 
that's a waste of his time - we're not going to get a massive 
amount of money on the steel shelving, but at least the 
photos for the main room's furnishings are complete. One step 
at a time. 

The boxed sets are easy - but the assembled shelves are a mismatch of what was at-hand at the time they were first assembled, and what was at hand when they were reconfigured to fit one place or another. I think DH said we have approximately 60 shelving units, some still in boxes, but most already assembled. Since both types of shelf fit onto the same brackets, it comes down to figuring out which shelves need to be switched out to make it one type of shelf or the other. I think it's a tremendous waste of time. We won't get that much for them in general, and he's spending days tearing his hair out trying to get them configured correctly. *sigh* I'm VERY annoyed. 

The difference between heavy-duty and industrial steel 
shelving is the amount of weight they can bear. Our shelving 
is a mix of both, and we also have extra shelving - some 
of which is still boxed in the original packaging. We've run places 
with metal shelving in the warehousing for decades. It's a lot 
of steel that we need to sell. 

I'm also annoyed at Verizon. I've been trying to get my bill paid with them for almost a week now, and I'm having all types of difficulties. I pay my bills on-line all the time. It's only Verizon that gives me grief, and I really can't afford to be without my phone. I'll try again at the shop today, but it's very frustrating. 

All I want to do is pay my Verizon bill. But it's becoming 
an impossible dream. I don't know why I can't get it paid, 
but their website is bouncing me off time and again. Can you 
say "Frustrating!"? 

I'm getting things together for Travis - I sent a lot of things over to him over the past few days, but it occurred to me in the middle of the night (because that's when things can creep up, as you well know), it occurred to me that I hadn't done anything about the desks, etc on the main floor - the ones we use every day. Those have to be included, and we've done nothing with them. We need measurements and photographs. I'll have to put that onto Sunday's agenda because I'll have to clear the tops completely and that's a chore. They're working desks, not ornamental - LOL. 

We have four industrial metal desks that we use - one is 
in the main room, one in DH's area, and two downstairs 
in the warehouse area. They're heavy and bulky and probably 
would survive the Apocalypse. I can't wait to get rid of them.

So, I'm leaving to swim off some of my frustrations. I'm hoping the exercise will help me unclench my teeth and breathe a bit deeper. At any rate, I can work off a bit of the three pounds I put on last week. Shame on me! Big thanks to Samtyr for the wonderful "Year of the Horse" shirt she sent to me. It's fabulous and I'll wear it happily when the weather gets warmer. *hugs* Have an excellent Tuesday and I'm off to the swimming pool. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Going To Be a Busy Day and Lost Items!

It's a trash day and a recycling day, a "home" day and a shopping day, a kitchen day and a laundry day, and let's just start the whole thing out by swimming. I'm going crazy - I'm not finding the certificates that DH wrote out for this past holiday season. Every year he gives me handwritten certificates - something as simple as a bottle of my favorite rum, or something more complex like a night out. It's something I look forward to every year, and I know this year was/is no exception. EXCEPT ... I can't find them. I had them organized, and for some reason or other, I didn't put them in the usual place. Now I need one for this weekend (a new set of running shoes from FootLocker - desperately needed), and I can't find them at all. I'm practically in tears, looking everywhere, and I'll continue the hunt between errands, laundry, trash, recycling, etc today. But I'm simply not finding them. ARGH doesn't even come close. 

It's going to be a very busy day today. If I make myself some 
soup or stew, that'll be easy and I won't have to spend a lot 
of time in the kitchen. 

I have my first load of laundry in the wash (yes, I checked all pockets before putting things into the wash). I'm hoping that the roads are a bit less icy today. Yesterday's drive to the YMCA was dicey - it was very slippery out. A road that I'm normally doing 55-60 on at 4:30 am, I was creeping along at 35. Walking into and out of the YMCA was also a slippery experience. And the pool was just me and the lifeguard for the first half hour. Rosemary is off on her annual get-away with her family, I knew Meg wouldn't be there since she's still in her wheelchair, but I've never been solo - LOL. By the time I ended, Mary was in the lane to my right, and an unknown swimmer was in the lane to my left, so it wasn't just me any more, but since there weren't any others, I actually swam 10 minutes longer than I usually would have. That was a very good thing since I'm trying to drop my holiday weight down by about 10 pounds. 

The scale is not really my friend just now. It's the end 
of the holiday season, and I need to drop a couple of 
pounds back down to where I want to be. Getting back 
to the pool is a real plus. I don't lose weight as well 
if I'm just on the treadmill. 

Today is grocery shopping and cooking. My cupboards are bare (relatively speaking). I have food to eat, but nothing cooked that I can just grab and reheat. Maybe I'll make a stew if I can find decent, inexpensive stew meat for one. I'll also continue my hunt for my certificates. It's really driving me up the wall. They're SUPER important for me, and I never lose them ... except maybe I have done so this time. I went through all of the trash last night before bagging it and putting it into the bin. They weren't in any of the trash containers. That gives me hope that I put them someplace "safe", or forgot them in my robe or something silly. I'll be looking today. 

Putting something into a "safe" place is working a bit 
too well this time. I can't find the certificates at ALL. 
What Saint is it who helps find lost items? Maybe I should 
send up some prayers. 

So, I'm off to the pool. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back for my final swim of the week tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

A Bit of Extra Time So I'm Not Rushed! Whoot!

Today I awakened about 1/2 hour earlier than usual, and just decided to stay up. I guess it's my body still adjusting to Daylight Savings Time, because it's not used to that "Fall Back" extra hour yet. But whatever it was, I was awake and I took my time with my daily meditation, etc. So I'm about 15 minutes ahead of my usual time right now, and it's nice to not be rushed. 

It's rather nice to not be in a rush writing my blog on a 
swimming day. I'd best not get used to it, though. I really 
do need that extra 1/2 hour of sleep that I didn't get today. 

DH and I got along fine at the shop yesterday until late in the afternoon, when the shit hit the fan because he needed to activate his new American Express card and he didn't have the information needed to do it. He needs a PIN number, and he never set one up for that account. Frankly, I don't know what to tell him. I don't know if I have one set up for my own AMEX card either, it's a card that I rarely use - mostly for purchases for the store when needed. I might phone them today and find out the procedure for getting a PIN set up for his account. Maybe. If he doesn't yell at me again. *sigh*

He needed a new card for his account, and it came in 
the mail yesterday. Now he needs to activate it, and 
that would normally be going on-line, signing in to 
his account with his PIN number, and voila. But ... he
 doesn't have a PIN for this card. (Looking at my 
records, I don't have one for my AMEX card either. I'll 
have to do something about that.) 

Two days of China Restaurant, although a lovely treat, also put 4-1/2 pounds on me. It's a good thing I'll be in the pool today. I can work some of that excess weight off. I really hate going "Ack" when I step on the scale in the morning. I haven't been over 125 in more than a year, but I am now! GRRRR 

I'm not happy with my weight, although I knew two days 
of China Restaurant would put a few pounds on me. 
But, what goes on quickly usually will also come off quickly 
and I'll probably have it all off again by the end of the week. 

So, I'm heading to the pool to work off some of this excess weight. Of course, it's Winter now - or at least late Fall - so my body is going to want to hold onto the weight "just in case". But we're not freezing around fires in caves any more. So that "just in case" really isn't necessary and I want the weight back off! LOL On that determined note, I'm wrapping this up and heading to the pool. Have an excellent Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini. 

It's Monday - A Very Busy Day Ahead Filled With Arguments, I'm Sure

I'm supposed to be on my treadmill right now, but obviously, am not. I'm stressed (of course - that's a natural course of events for me these days), and I'm also scheduled for a phone conversation with Travis early this morning at the shop. It's a 15 minute conversation, and as I recall, he's extremely prompt and time conscious, which will be great for keeping on schedule, and not so great with inserting additional questions. The more I concentrate on getting the store closed and the stock sold, the more it's apparent to me that we simply CAN'T make this happen in our current location and that we HAVE to move everything to a secondary location. DH is adamantly against this, thinking we can do fine in our current space. He's so wrong, and I can't get through that thick German/Scottish head of his. 

I'm trying to land on my feet, but I suspect I'm more 
likely to face-plant the landing. Much more 
uncomfortable, dangerous and painful. 

I'm not on the treadmill for my physical body, but I'm on my mental treadmill of "what if we do this?" and "what if we do that?", and that's running full speed ahead. Eventually the treadmill will toss me off - I won't be able to keep up the pace any more. The only question is when, where and how I'll land. Will I break lots of bones from a really poor landing and a flinging tread? Or will I land on my feet and walk away with my head held high, if a bit dizzy from the journey. At this point there's absolutely no telling. 

There are too many "What If's" in my life right now. Too 
many choices, too many decisions, and all of them having 
serious repercussions. Closing the way DH is envisioning 
it could be a complete and total disaster! 

I'm going to try to relax as much as possible this morning, my stress levels are already through the roof and I don't want to add to them. I'm regretting my decision to skip the treadmill, but I'll be in the swimming pool tomorrow and back on track once again. Taking a single day off isn't the end of the world. Oh, by the way, my virtual runs are back up and accessible once again, so at least that's one really good thing. Maybe I'll run with penguins on Friday - LOL. 

Getting the store closed isn't doing great things for my 
blood pressure, although I've always had great numbers 
for that. Still, the stress is factoring in, I'm quite sure. 

So, I'm going to pay a bill, maybe play a game or two on my phone, and generally try to kick back and lower my blood pressure before heading into the pressure cooker of what my Monday will be like. I hope you all have an excellent start to your week and I'll be back tomorrow - hopefully at a bit more even keel. Slava Ukraini. 

The Computer Has Its Own Ideas Today - Thus a Minor Formatting Issue

I'm hitting the ground running today, even if it is actually a swimming day. I actually slept until my alarm went off - that's rare these days. A quick meditation of about 45 minutes, changing into my swim gear and making sure my clothes for afterwards are packed, my first load of laundry in the washer and in its' cycle, has all led to a bit of time to sit at the computer and chat for a short time. 

My photo program is being picky today, fortunately I'm 
not so short on time as to not get photos loaded - quickly! 

I have to drop by the shop very early this morning to finish the inventory I was in the process of taking last night when I ran out of time. I have bins on my countertop and just need to finish that one product before I can get to the grocery shop and start my day. Who am I kidding? My day started an hour ago (as I sit here and look at the clock). I can tell it's going to be a very busy one, not just my usual three loads of laundry and cooking dinner. 

It's going to be a very busy day today, starting out 
at the shop where I'm finishing the task I was 
working on when I ran out of time yesterday. 

I've been trying to get my Treo Wellness app renewed. I've been working with their customer service, but the codes they're sending me are not getting received by my phone. I'm quite irked at that - there isn't any reason for my not getting text messages, I get them all day long after I bring my phone back out of "bother me for emergencies only" mode after my morning exercise. I've still got time, I'm not back on the treadmill until Friday, and I proved to myself that I can easily do my fast-walking without the virtual reality, just listening to my latest book, the way I do my laps in the pool. 

Treo Wellness is the app for the virtual reality programs I 
watch on my treadmill. They have a lot more than that too, 
but that's the aspect of their stuff that I use. We're trying 
to get it renewed, but the code they send to my phone 
simply isn't being received. Sometimes electronics simply 
isn't my friend. *sigh* 

So, some of you might be wondering ... "Listening to a book?" Well, I'm a book fiend. I've always been a book fiend. I blame my father for that, and it's a good blame and a big "Thank You". The moment I discovered books (and how to read them), I was entranced and it's a love affair I'll keep until the moment I die. I'll probably be listening to an audio book when I kick the bucket. It would only be reasonable, given that reading is the great joy of my life. 

Books are the mainstay of my life. I don't care if they 
are physical, or on my phone screen, or audio. Books 
are the one necessity of my life along with air and 
a bit of food now and again. 

So, I've got to get moving. It's a trash and recycling day, so I need to get those buckets to the curb before I leave for the gym, and my clock is continuing to click down my "free time". I hope you have a totally fabulous day and that you have a chance to do something today that you truly love. I'll be back tomorrow before my final swimming day of the week. Slava Ukraini.  

SOMETIMES OUR MODERN "CONVENIENCES" AREN'T CONVENIENT AT ALL!

My computer locked me out yesterday morning, just one more example of me and my issues with modern technology. I had a post all ready to load up, but it disappeared into the ether and I had no additional time to spare. Today is almost as bad, but on the back end. I'm working on about three hours of sleep, maybe four hours at a stretch. DH kept me up an additional two hours last night while we were dealing with a customer service rep regarding his website, and I finally gave up. Apparently he got a couple of hours of sleep, then got up again and worked through a bunch of things. 

Of course, I'm usually up by the time indicated on the 
bedside clock here - LOL. Still, I'm running on fumes 
today. 

Our issue? It's actually a pretty simple one. We renewed our SSL certification a month or two ago, but it was never changed by our website host. We contacted them yesterday and worked with a lovely lady to get everything figured out. Because DH can't hear, I opted to chat with her via keypad on his phone - not my favorite way of dealing with customer support, but effective. Eventually she found two large lines of code that needed to be plugged into our SSL certificate to make it valid through June of 2026 (the date we had extended it to a couple of months ago). 

I don't know why everything to do with DH's website 
is difficult. Renewing an SSL certificate should be a 
breeze, and it's turned into a tornadic nightmare. 

Of course, that code was total random BS letters and numbers, and I lost the connection with my customer service rep shortly afterward. I was exhausted, and unable to pull the texted phone conversation back up on DH's phone (he uses a Samsung, I use a Google - they operate very differently). I went to bed, and he went upstairs, but kept fiddling with his phone. 

Customer service and I had been texting back and forth for 
almost 30 minutes when this happened and I couldn't bring 
back the conversation. She had just sent me two very long 
lengths of code that needed to be put into our website to tell 
it that we were good for another year. I gave up at that point and 
went to bed. Better to get four hours of sleep than to waste 
my time any more. 

When I got up this morning to run on the treadmill, DH said he had found the entire conversation and the codes and was going to do something or other with it today at the shop. So ... OK. I moved to the treadmill, which suddenly was asking me questions instead of bringing me straight to my treadmill options. GRRRRR I knew I needed to re-up for another year this coming week, but I couldn't get anywhere in finding out who to contact. I'll dig down through that later today, and/or call my sales rep and friend Elizabeth and get some phone numbers from her. Actually, I think Treo Wellness has a Coon Rapids office that I've contacted in the past. If so, I'll try to reach them to update my payment information and, hopefully, have virtual by Monday. If not, I'll skip my Monday run and work on things while I'm swimming for my three days in the pool. 

I've been pretty happy with Treo Wellness on my treadmill. 
For me, I can zen out a lot easier if I'm looking at 
scenery and pretty things than a clock. Right? LOL

Sometimes our modern "conveniences" just aren't convenient at all! *sigh* Have a great weekend and I'll be back on Monday. Slava Ukraini. 

The Ryder Cup and STC - At Least It's a Saturday

The Ryder Cup (that's golf, for those of you who don't recognize it) is going on right now. The USA vs the rest of the world, this time it's being played in the USA, so of course, our reigning President had to stick his toe into it. He attended the 18 hole match with his granddaughter yesterday. She's quite pretty, he was his usual pompous ass. Oh well, no surprises there. LOL

The Ryder Cup Trophy features a golfer atop the chalice 
with the bands below engraved with the winners each time. 
The golfer on the top of the trophy is Abe Mitchell, who as a 
youth made his own golf clubs before serving in the trenches 
of WWI in Europe. He was a commoner, who got some 
rather unexpected breaks which, when combined with his 
skill at the game, made him famous. Want the full story? 
Just go here:
 https://thegreensidegallery.com/blogs/news/unveiling-the-enigma-who-is-the-player-on-top-of-the-ryder-cup-trophy

Right now, with 8 of 28 matches completed, we're down 2.5 to 5.5. OK - weird golf score, right? Well Ryder Cup has nothing to do with standard golf scores, per se, and everything to do with how well each player on the team performs. There are people on both teams that are relative unknowns sprinkled alongside the big names in the sport - all chosen to bring balance and specific strengths to each team. It is played alternatively, Europe followed by the USA followed again by Europe. It's a rather strange golf tournament, if you're used to PGA tournaments. But it can be a lot of fun to watch. 

Trump attended the Ryder Cup with his granddaughter. She's 
quite attractive, he was his usual pompous ass self *sigh*. 

This morning we start out with an 18 hole play of four different pairings. The USA needs 14.5 points to win, and the European Team needs 14 points to retain the cup (they won the last time the competition was held). It's both familiar and unfamiliar, and that's part of the appeal - it's quite different than your standard four-day 18-hole tournament held over the remainder of the year. I'm always fascinated by the differences in this tournament vs any other. 

The more I read the more I realize we'll need 
some professional assistance to pull this off 
without losing our shirts in the process. What a mess! 

I'm deep into decisions about how to go about liquidating the business, and it's becoming very clear to me that we'll have to move our inventory to a much larger space to be able to hold a Going Out of Business Sale effectively. I know who I want to hire to handle the sale for us, and I should start looking for suitable warehouse space - someplace not too far from our current location, but with the square footage that will allow us to properly conduct our sale. It's a good thing I'm bald, I'd be pulling my hair out in clumps of stress if I wasn't. *sigh* I know it will all work out, but how easily ... that's the question. 

So, on that note, I'm starting my Saturday. I hope you have a great day and a wonderful weekend, I'll be back on Monday morning. Slava Ukraini. 

Roadblocks and Frustrations - ARGH ... just ARGH!

Yesterday morning a notice had been sent by the YMCA that the outdoor pool would be closed. Apparently the Y lost power on Monday and that allowed the chemicals to become unbalanced in the large pool. I knew I'd be swimming indoors yesterday, but we were all hoping we would be back outdoors today. But no, apparently the pool will take one more day to get all of the chemicals back into balance (and the appropriate heat for the water), so we're indoors again today. Yesterday caught a lot of people by surprise (although I got notified through my app on my phone). Today ... well, we'll see. I'm prepared, we'll see how many others are. 

Hopefully tomorrow the outdoor pool will be available for 
swimming again. We're stuck indoors again today, and although 
I don't mind (I'm in the indoor pool nine out of twelve months, 
after all), I do miss that length of the outdoor one. 

It's going to be a very busy day for me today, though. Not only general cooking, three loads of laundry, and grocery shopping, but also a quick trip to the orthodontist mid-day to re-glue one wire that became unbonded from a front lower tooth. Yes, my braces are off, but my lower teeth have a small fence to keep them in place. This is the second time I've had to pop into the orthodontist to get wires reglued, but in the scheme of things, it's pretty minor and doesn't take time. Except that it's an 11:00 am appointment, so smack in the middle of the day. 

I have nothing to eat in the refrigerator, and 
I'm almost totally out of freezer choices as 
well. I need to do some serious cooking 
this afternoon. 

DH and I realized, to my total dismay, that our projected end date of late this year simply won't work. Not because we can't just put a "Closed" sign on the door, it's because of the city regulations for going out of business. I have a lot of questions for that department, but can't reach anyone there to ask because our city government was hit with a cyber attack early this week and every state agency is closed right now. Not helpful! Our revised schedule has us out of there by May 31. I told DH to "Put It In Writing". I'm going to make his life hell until he does. And then, if he doesn't stick to it, I'm out of here. He can deal with a solo life if my life is messed up any more. GRRRRR

My city requires a COMPLETE printout of our inventory 
before we can have a "going out of business" sale. That's something 
that will be really difficult for us to do. We have thousands 
of small, individual items. I don't think my computer system 
or my ancient printer will be up to the task, and we need to 
go through our computer records and do a lot of deletion 
of out, outdated materials that we no longer carry, but 
that are still in the system. It's a disaster! It seriously 
makes me think about packing everything and moving to 
a suburb just to have an easier time with the rules and 
regulations. 

So, on that lovely "positive" note, I'm out of here. I have an indoor pool to swim in, and I really need to get some of this stress worked off. Have an excellent Wednesday and I'll be back tomorrow. Slava Ukraini.