I live in a small community. It is larger than the one I grew up in but still the whole community is only about 2,000 people. It is a small sea side town, unincorporated and totally (at this point) a very unassuming uninteresting stop in the road. I and a small group of people are working to change that. We envision Clinton as more than just a bump in the road. We envision a community that supports each other, nurtures each other and invites others to enjoy our town with us. We want to help grow Clinton into a seaside destination. My shop is a start (or so I have been told) along with our new city beach. We currently have many artists residing in Clinton but my gallery is the only one alive. We have a community hall that only has about 12 members and we have all the standard businesses that you find in a small community. We also have a framery run by a good friend of mine (she's also our port commissioner) and we have a small library. This is a community that is desperately in need of changing.
One of the things I love about Clinton is that most of the people who live here are individualists.. Still it is the thing that could end up destroying our fair town and that will end up allowing for growth that is uncontrolled and undesirable. Those of you that know about highway 99 in Seattle know what kind of growth I am speaking of. So we are going against the tide and trying to create a community that encourages community activities together and that supports new progressive businesses that encourage tourism and shopping. I envision a Mayberry RFD of sorts. I don't want to know everything that is occurring in Clinton.. I don't need to know my neighbors secrets... I simply want to know my neighbor.. My many neighbors...I want to look at the people in Clinton as friends not strangers ... Not even acquaintances... But friends who share some of the same loves and hates (love of the ocean, the island, and our community, hatred of violence, and things that damage us as a society). I want to hear discussions again, and I want to hear involvement in our citizens. Involvement in the local community that surrounds them. This is the Mayberry RFD we will foster here. This is kind of community that will foster a joy of living here. This is the kind of community that we will see happen if there is enough of us to get the ball rolling. Eventually we will get to the top of the hill with the ball and when it picks up speed going down the otherside it will pick up others who will also see our community changing and will want to be a part of it as well.
I guess I just needed to post this so that I could put in writing what it is I want to see.. How can one share a vision without being able to express it? I guess I am done for today. Am I unrealistic in my endeavors? Is Mayberry RFD a community that only exists in the past? or is it a community vision that just needs a little guidance to exist today?
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Such is life in the fast lane
Hi there, it is just me again and again I find myself waiting for those valuable customers. I need to move! I am in an awful situation here. The only people who come to my shop are those that are definitely headed my way or those who use my parking to visit the bar next door. This has to stop! Soooo, I find myself looking for new digs! I think I may have found a place and it is in the right kind of environment with 700 additional square feet but on days like today I find myself wondering if those additional square feet are truly necessary! still when we have had music I have found that an additional amount of space would truly be wonderful for the extra seating. It is a tough call though. Anyway, I am hoping that this move would be a good one and would have real benefits for me. Still, if I do get this space it would mean moving over Thanksgiving or Christmas and I do have to admit I hate that idea! But better to move during our slow season then wait till we get busy.
I have had kind of a heart breaker the last few days. I learned that several of my bands have "disbanded". This is really tough news for me and for those who love music here on the island. I am hoping some of the players will come visit me though and possibly continue playing here as individuals or when they get new bands together. It is tough though.
On a lighter note, I have to say that the weather outside has been incredible lately! It has been sunny and cold and the nights have been so clear you could see all the stars in the heavens. So it has been a nice time for the age old traditions that come with Halloween. I have to admit that Halloween is not one of my favorite times of year. As a matter of a fact I rather hate it but I do have a story about my favorite Halloween and I figured I would go ahead and share it with you.
I grew up in a little town in Eastern Washington. The town of Spangle, with a population of 210 people back then. My father was a science teacher at the high school. He also taught the yearbook and photography. Any way, he was a very strict teacher and expected that no matter what, the kids who took his class would learn science or they would not pass his class. This was not a popular expectation especially since sports was such a huge part of life in Spangle. Most of the families believed that if their kids were going to college it would be through sports scholarships or the kids would simply farm like their fathers and their fathers before them. Most of the basketball players skated through their classes with b's and c's but dad would not allow skating! Needless to say he at times was not a very popular man! On the other hand he was very respected by most of the other teachers and many of the kids who had older siblings that had graduated and gone on to college respected him as well because of the things they were told by their siblings about the difficulties of college and the prep that they received from my father's classes. So, when I got into high school I inherited a rather mixed bag of behaviors from other school mates. Anyway, during my 8th grade year, our high school FHA decided to do a fundraiser and came up with the brilliant idea of selling trickster insurance. If someone came to your home during Halloween and soaped your windows or tp'd your home and you had purchased the insurance then a small group of kids from the FHA/FFA would be dispatched the next day to clean up the mess. If you did not purchase the insurance then the cleanup was on you.... For weeks my father was pestered by kids to buy insurance from them. He always refused saying that our dogs would protect the house and he would shoot any intruders. In the meantime he secretly went to the director of the FHA (another teacher of course) and purchased insurance knowing that we would be visited by a group of kids come Halloween night.
Halloween night came and so did the visitors. My dad was expecting them and had taken the insurance and on the back of it had written a note inviting the tricksters to come in for hot apple cider and doughnuts. He then hung it on our front door. The tricksters would not see the insurance until they went to leave the house and we would see them the next day. The first group that came to the house tp'd the large pine trees that surrounded the house, soaped all our windows on the house and the cars and generally made a real mess. They were boys and when they were done they came in for doughnuts and cider. They laughed and laughed at dad who made all the appropriate noises of dismay. Then they went to leave. It was a new experience watching those boys faces! They were completely white and the smiles on their faces were totally frozen. Then it was Dad's turn to laugh as he said good by and asked them when he could expect them tomorrow.
About an hour after the boys left I went out to feed the dogs. I could hear some girls trying to sneak onto the back yard through a wheat field. They had one small flash light and as they got closer to the house they kept falling. They were giggling and carrying on and they could not have sneaked up on anyone the noise they were making. I ran in and told my dad and dad jumped up out of the sofa and ran for his guns. He had a blank (starting pistol) pistol and when he got out into the back yard he started firing it and making noises like "Who's out there? Who's there? I 'm turning the dogs loose... go get em Hattie... get em thistle..." The girls could not see that the dogs were not outside nor could they see where dad was firing his gun. They just assumed he was firing it at them. They had parked their car about 500 feet away from the field and the field was about 500 feet from the home. They had made it about half way to our house when dad started shooting. That's when they lost their flashlight. There is nothing quite as noisy as 4 girls trying to run through a stubble field in the dark with no light and someone shooting at them and with dogs that are supposedly chasing them. Three girls made it to the car by the time my dad hopped into our pickup. The fourth one was left standing in the road while dad went after the car. The fourth girl was told to go to our house and her friends would be back to get her when my dad caught up with them. Dad chased the car for about 4 miles when the teens decided to pull into a driveway and lay on their horn. They just knew dad was going to shoot them! Dad was laughing so hard when he caught up with them that I thought for sure he was going to drive off the road! The girls had the windows up and all the doors locked on the car and it took dad about 5 minutes of yelling to get them to understand that he was inviting them back to our house for doughnuts and cider. The joke was on them and when they finally realized it they sheepishly came back to our house. They did not have an opportunity to do anything to our house so when they saw the insurance policy on the window they quickly made the boys the butt of yet another joke. The boys came by the next day and cleaned everything up and dad added yet another prank to his list of pranks that he became famous for. It was a fun Halloween and one I remember with smiles each year.
I am not one who enjoys Halloween now though. I find that sitting and listening to "War of the Worlds" on the radio is my favorite way of celebrating this night. However you like to celebrate Halloween (or don't like to celebrate it) I hope this eve agrees with you and finds you well tomorrow. Good night for now. R
I have had kind of a heart breaker the last few days. I learned that several of my bands have "disbanded". This is really tough news for me and for those who love music here on the island. I am hoping some of the players will come visit me though and possibly continue playing here as individuals or when they get new bands together. It is tough though.
On a lighter note, I have to say that the weather outside has been incredible lately! It has been sunny and cold and the nights have been so clear you could see all the stars in the heavens. So it has been a nice time for the age old traditions that come with Halloween. I have to admit that Halloween is not one of my favorite times of year. As a matter of a fact I rather hate it but I do have a story about my favorite Halloween and I figured I would go ahead and share it with you.
I grew up in a little town in Eastern Washington. The town of Spangle, with a population of 210 people back then. My father was a science teacher at the high school. He also taught the yearbook and photography. Any way, he was a very strict teacher and expected that no matter what, the kids who took his class would learn science or they would not pass his class. This was not a popular expectation especially since sports was such a huge part of life in Spangle. Most of the families believed that if their kids were going to college it would be through sports scholarships or the kids would simply farm like their fathers and their fathers before them. Most of the basketball players skated through their classes with b's and c's but dad would not allow skating! Needless to say he at times was not a very popular man! On the other hand he was very respected by most of the other teachers and many of the kids who had older siblings that had graduated and gone on to college respected him as well because of the things they were told by their siblings about the difficulties of college and the prep that they received from my father's classes. So, when I got into high school I inherited a rather mixed bag of behaviors from other school mates. Anyway, during my 8th grade year, our high school FHA decided to do a fundraiser and came up with the brilliant idea of selling trickster insurance. If someone came to your home during Halloween and soaped your windows or tp'd your home and you had purchased the insurance then a small group of kids from the FHA/FFA would be dispatched the next day to clean up the mess. If you did not purchase the insurance then the cleanup was on you.... For weeks my father was pestered by kids to buy insurance from them. He always refused saying that our dogs would protect the house and he would shoot any intruders. In the meantime he secretly went to the director of the FHA (another teacher of course) and purchased insurance knowing that we would be visited by a group of kids come Halloween night.
Halloween night came and so did the visitors. My dad was expecting them and had taken the insurance and on the back of it had written a note inviting the tricksters to come in for hot apple cider and doughnuts. He then hung it on our front door. The tricksters would not see the insurance until they went to leave the house and we would see them the next day. The first group that came to the house tp'd the large pine trees that surrounded the house, soaped all our windows on the house and the cars and generally made a real mess. They were boys and when they were done they came in for doughnuts and cider. They laughed and laughed at dad who made all the appropriate noises of dismay. Then they went to leave. It was a new experience watching those boys faces! They were completely white and the smiles on their faces were totally frozen. Then it was Dad's turn to laugh as he said good by and asked them when he could expect them tomorrow.
About an hour after the boys left I went out to feed the dogs. I could hear some girls trying to sneak onto the back yard through a wheat field. They had one small flash light and as they got closer to the house they kept falling. They were giggling and carrying on and they could not have sneaked up on anyone the noise they were making. I ran in and told my dad and dad jumped up out of the sofa and ran for his guns. He had a blank (starting pistol) pistol and when he got out into the back yard he started firing it and making noises like "Who's out there? Who's there? I 'm turning the dogs loose... go get em Hattie... get em thistle..." The girls could not see that the dogs were not outside nor could they see where dad was firing his gun. They just assumed he was firing it at them. They had parked their car about 500 feet away from the field and the field was about 500 feet from the home. They had made it about half way to our house when dad started shooting. That's when they lost their flashlight. There is nothing quite as noisy as 4 girls trying to run through a stubble field in the dark with no light and someone shooting at them and with dogs that are supposedly chasing them. Three girls made it to the car by the time my dad hopped into our pickup. The fourth one was left standing in the road while dad went after the car. The fourth girl was told to go to our house and her friends would be back to get her when my dad caught up with them. Dad chased the car for about 4 miles when the teens decided to pull into a driveway and lay on their horn. They just knew dad was going to shoot them! Dad was laughing so hard when he caught up with them that I thought for sure he was going to drive off the road! The girls had the windows up and all the doors locked on the car and it took dad about 5 minutes of yelling to get them to understand that he was inviting them back to our house for doughnuts and cider. The joke was on them and when they finally realized it they sheepishly came back to our house. They did not have an opportunity to do anything to our house so when they saw the insurance policy on the window they quickly made the boys the butt of yet another joke. The boys came by the next day and cleaned everything up and dad added yet another prank to his list of pranks that he became famous for. It was a fun Halloween and one I remember with smiles each year.
I am not one who enjoys Halloween now though. I find that sitting and listening to "War of the Worlds" on the radio is my favorite way of celebrating this night. However you like to celebrate Halloween (or don't like to celebrate it) I hope this eve agrees with you and finds you well tomorrow. Good night for now. R
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sometimes even a great hostess has a breakdown
No one told me that the worst part of being a shop owner is the long hours spent waiting for customers. There is always the dusting, the cleaning, the stocking and the other time consuming tedious parts of owning a business and the time serving a customer (especially a difficult customer) can be gruelling but the WORST part of this owning a business, by far, is waiting for the customers to come.
I belong to a little tiny community in Washington. My shop is a coffeehouse. You can find pictures of the shop at www.rockhoppercoffeehouse.com. Washington is a hard place for a coffeehouse. We are innundated with coffee drive-thrus and almost every bank and grocery store now has coffee for its customers. To make matters more difficult I do not do food! I sell pastries (including freshly baked scones) and I sell soup beginning at lunch time through dinner. I also sell juices, teas and italian soda as well as blended drinks and I sell ice cream. My primary focus though, is coffee. The coffeehouse is a folk art gallery as well and the art is very important to the shop. Soooo... My clientele is limited. I offer events every night of the week (tonight is "chess" and "go" night and I usually have 12 or so players at the shop. It is generally a good night for me. I have Scrabble on Wednesdays, and I am offering an altered book group to meet on Thursday evenings. I have puppet shows, magic shows, cards, and dungeons and dragons and we have live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. A lot of time the musicians are amatuers but every once in a while I have someone terrific come play. Lately I had MSM which is a small group out of Seattle. Their music can be found at www.msmjazz.com This last weekend we were blessed with music from Jerry McCann. Jerry plays in San Diego. His music can be found at www.jerrymccann.com
Check out these guys and you will see that i really lucked out that they wanted to come play at my shop. This last weekend was an amazing weekend for us. We had incredible music and we made budget for two days in a row!
You know as a shop owner I often find myself totally amazed at just exactly how interesting some people are. Do people who go shopping honestly think that the only thing we as shop keepers/owners pay for is the supplies they buy? I pay rent, water, electricity, supplies for bathrooms and cleaning and advertising. I am responsible for the appearance of my shop and to a smaller degree for the building it is in. Consequently, I pay for garbage and sewage as well. The only thing I ask of my customers is to buy something while they sit and work on wifi or if they need to use my bathroom. I sell tea for $1.50 per cup. For $1.50 you can tie up a table at my shop with your computer on my wifi for hours and I will smile and serve you while you do. Did I mention that WiFi costs about $90.00 per month for me so that i can offer that service to my customers? Probably not but it does... Anyway, the other day we had a woman come into the shop looking for a bathroom. The restaraunt next door to us has closed and the bathroom that they had in the hall is closed until a new renter comes onto the premises. I explained that the bathroom was available for our customers and the woman stated she would love to buy a cup of tea. She headed to the bathroom and when she was finished in the bathroom she snuck out the back door and got in her car and left. I laughed..... How bad is it when you cant support the businesses that you like and use by buying a $1.50 cup of tea. The truth is I am a very nice person and I would not have chastised her if she could not have afforded the tea. Of course she was driving a mercedes benz... but well.....
I have had people go to the coffee shop down the block, buy coffee there and then come back to my shop to use my wifi... (I discovered an on and off switch on my wifi now so that doesnt happen often).
The truth is these are niggley little complaints that are just that little gripes. We all have them about our jobs and on days when the stress is getting to me because of poor business or just trying to make ends meet they come bubbling to the surface. As a struggling business owner I am saddled with start up expenses. I am not wealthy and I truly love my shop and want to keep it open but the word is struggling and I do not use it lightly! I also am human and understand if someone cannot afford something from the shop. I dont make people buy things when I know they cannot afford it. Frequently, I work out deals with some of my customers for trades or freebies or just credit. But I am amazed when a person just asumes that they are entitled to services for free just because I am the owner of a business that serves the public. This truly has taught me some social graces that I never thoroughly explored when I did not own a shop.
Anyway, i do love my customers. They are by far a wonderful group of people and I consider myself blessed that i get to wait on them and see them when they come to the shop. If you ever get an opportunity to visit the shop please come in... I will welcome you with open arms. Sometimes even a great hostess has a breakdown.
I belong to a little tiny community in Washington. My shop is a coffeehouse. You can find pictures of the shop at www.rockhoppercoffeehouse.com. Washington is a hard place for a coffeehouse. We are innundated with coffee drive-thrus and almost every bank and grocery store now has coffee for its customers. To make matters more difficult I do not do food! I sell pastries (including freshly baked scones) and I sell soup beginning at lunch time through dinner. I also sell juices, teas and italian soda as well as blended drinks and I sell ice cream. My primary focus though, is coffee. The coffeehouse is a folk art gallery as well and the art is very important to the shop. Soooo... My clientele is limited. I offer events every night of the week (tonight is "chess" and "go" night and I usually have 12 or so players at the shop. It is generally a good night for me. I have Scrabble on Wednesdays, and I am offering an altered book group to meet on Thursday evenings. I have puppet shows, magic shows, cards, and dungeons and dragons and we have live music on Friday and Saturday evenings. A lot of time the musicians are amatuers but every once in a while I have someone terrific come play. Lately I had MSM which is a small group out of Seattle. Their music can be found at www.msmjazz.com This last weekend we were blessed with music from Jerry McCann. Jerry plays in San Diego. His music can be found at www.jerrymccann.com
Check out these guys and you will see that i really lucked out that they wanted to come play at my shop. This last weekend was an amazing weekend for us. We had incredible music and we made budget for two days in a row!
You know as a shop owner I often find myself totally amazed at just exactly how interesting some people are. Do people who go shopping honestly think that the only thing we as shop keepers/owners pay for is the supplies they buy? I pay rent, water, electricity, supplies for bathrooms and cleaning and advertising. I am responsible for the appearance of my shop and to a smaller degree for the building it is in. Consequently, I pay for garbage and sewage as well. The only thing I ask of my customers is to buy something while they sit and work on wifi or if they need to use my bathroom. I sell tea for $1.50 per cup. For $1.50 you can tie up a table at my shop with your computer on my wifi for hours and I will smile and serve you while you do. Did I mention that WiFi costs about $90.00 per month for me so that i can offer that service to my customers? Probably not but it does... Anyway, the other day we had a woman come into the shop looking for a bathroom. The restaraunt next door to us has closed and the bathroom that they had in the hall is closed until a new renter comes onto the premises. I explained that the bathroom was available for our customers and the woman stated she would love to buy a cup of tea. She headed to the bathroom and when she was finished in the bathroom she snuck out the back door and got in her car and left. I laughed..... How bad is it when you cant support the businesses that you like and use by buying a $1.50 cup of tea. The truth is I am a very nice person and I would not have chastised her if she could not have afforded the tea. Of course she was driving a mercedes benz... but well.....
I have had people go to the coffee shop down the block, buy coffee there and then come back to my shop to use my wifi... (I discovered an on and off switch on my wifi now so that doesnt happen often).
The truth is these are niggley little complaints that are just that little gripes. We all have them about our jobs and on days when the stress is getting to me because of poor business or just trying to make ends meet they come bubbling to the surface. As a struggling business owner I am saddled with start up expenses. I am not wealthy and I truly love my shop and want to keep it open but the word is struggling and I do not use it lightly! I also am human and understand if someone cannot afford something from the shop. I dont make people buy things when I know they cannot afford it. Frequently, I work out deals with some of my customers for trades or freebies or just credit. But I am amazed when a person just asumes that they are entitled to services for free just because I am the owner of a business that serves the public. This truly has taught me some social graces that I never thoroughly explored when I did not own a shop.
Anyway, i do love my customers. They are by far a wonderful group of people and I consider myself blessed that i get to wait on them and see them when they come to the shop. If you ever get an opportunity to visit the shop please come in... I will welcome you with open arms. Sometimes even a great hostess has a breakdown.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Thursday, September 28, 2006
A Time to Speak as an ordinary person
I hate what our president is doing in my name! I hate that he continues to degrade Christians by his actions and that he is doing on my behalf as an American citizen! I hate what is happening in our country! And I REALLY hate the current politics that have divided our country by beliefs and actions! So given that I will rant for just a short period and then I will sign off for today. When I was growing up we had a song "Whatsoever you do to the least of my brothers that you do unto me..." This was a song that stated that each man is our brother and that when we treat them as a brother we also treat Jesus as a brother too. I was raised on this principle.. I live this principle and I truly believe that this principle is the foundation of my beliefs as a Christian. I believe that it is my responsibility to be the better brother in some cases but also to be the brother. It is my responsibility to care for everyone as I am able and to let GOD be the judge of my actions. I do not believe that the war in Iraq is justified any more than I felt the war in Afghanistan was warranted and I am offended that my president has made this my burden along with every other adult in the United States. Don't we get it? Mr. Bush and his cronies are pushing through a bill in the Senate today that will allow for the unlawful detainment of people who are considered "terrorist risks" and the bill will allow for the additional responsibility of torturing the detainees to obtain information even though it has been shown time and again that this is not an credible way of obtaining information from anyone and it further damages those humans (namely our sons and daughters) who are forced to do this awful abuse! How can we stand by and cry innocence when we ourselves are not above hurting others to obtain our own gains? What makes us better than those we have continued to fight on a moral basis if we ourselves have no respect for our own Christian morals and ethics? This is unconscionable to me! It is intolerable. I have called my senators and asked for their help in fighting this abusive legislation and I ask you to join me! I will not be held responsible for crimes committed on other humans by those who say they are doing it on my behalf! I refuse to accept that they are doing this on my behalf and I withdraw all support for this action or any further action on my behalf as a United States Citizen! This is an action that my president and my politicians are taking upon on their own behalfs NOT ON MINE! Join me in calling your senator and fighting this action now before this becomes a sin upon all our heads.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Why?
I had a customer (a regular) who came in today to the shop and we got on the subject of politics. This is always a bad way to start any day. Anyway she was asking me if I had seen the Queen of Jordan on TV yet. I don't have television so I told her no and she said that if the world would just stop for 8 hours and do what she has talked about that maybe we could be done with the wars and get on to the livings. I am not an unreasonable woman most of the time but I am getting really tired of people killing off people for ideals that are imagined. Religion should never condone war. There should not be war over a piece of ground or over the minerals in that ground and we need to start listening to each other without framing things in black or white!! Our world is collapsing around us under our weight. Actually the world will survive long after we do. She will simply shake us off like a dog does with unwanted fleas. Why are we (People) who are the most advance species? In the world so actively trying to kill off our own species. Why can we not see that the very thing we do is killing all of us? The Shiites and the Sunnis fight over political and religious differences. Neither is black or white, right or wrong. In Africa there are warlords that continue to kill indiscriminately so that they may control the land and their people, never mind that their people are dying at a far faster rate than anywhere in the world or that their land is drying up and wont be able to support life much longer unless the people living their start concerting their efforts toward finding a solution. There are so many reasons that the earth would want to shake us off that I have problems finding simple reasons why she wouldn't.
The truth is that people are failing to live! We are failing to be of worth to each other and to ourselves. People are losing at the very largest game of all! We are getting ready for elections in the US. Talk about colossal failures! We don't have any politicians anymore because it is way to much trouble to come to a equitable solution for all involved. Its true! To reach a "happy medium" requires patience, tolerance and willingness to compromise. It is too much work for those men and women who call themselves politicians. Its to much work to do research, to find out the very least of what is needed and negotiate with each other for a fair portion of the rest. A fair portion being defined as an equitable portion and agreed upon by all. This is the very basics of politics! And yet most working adults will admit that their jobs do not require even a tenth of that much work! That's why politicians get paid so much so they can become negotiators, not legislators, not kings, not people who control through intimidation and by seeing everyone who doesn't agree with them as being wrong!! It isn't a matter of black and white! When did it become a matter of black and white! When did the world become black and white? The world I live in is flexible, and understanding and full of learning. It isn't until we start to identify things as black and white, right or wrong, left or right, that we start to disregard those around us and parts of ourselves as well. We become failures. It's time to spend money on making peace and preserving it... Not through the threat of intimidation, but through negotiations, talking, understanding, mediation, and acceptance. Until our people (all people) can come to some form of this they will be failures and no more that unwanted fleas on our earth's back! We will not be living up to Christian values, or Buddhist values or Jehovah's values or mother earths values or any other deities that we follow. For what God could want to see his people destroy each other?
The truth is that people are failing to live! We are failing to be of worth to each other and to ourselves. People are losing at the very largest game of all! We are getting ready for elections in the US. Talk about colossal failures! We don't have any politicians anymore because it is way to much trouble to come to a equitable solution for all involved. Its true! To reach a "happy medium" requires patience, tolerance and willingness to compromise. It is too much work for those men and women who call themselves politicians. Its to much work to do research, to find out the very least of what is needed and negotiate with each other for a fair portion of the rest. A fair portion being defined as an equitable portion and agreed upon by all. This is the very basics of politics! And yet most working adults will admit that their jobs do not require even a tenth of that much work! That's why politicians get paid so much so they can become negotiators, not legislators, not kings, not people who control through intimidation and by seeing everyone who doesn't agree with them as being wrong!! It isn't a matter of black and white! When did it become a matter of black and white! When did the world become black and white? The world I live in is flexible, and understanding and full of learning. It isn't until we start to identify things as black and white, right or wrong, left or right, that we start to disregard those around us and parts of ourselves as well. We become failures. It's time to spend money on making peace and preserving it... Not through the threat of intimidation, but through negotiations, talking, understanding, mediation, and acceptance. Until our people (all people) can come to some form of this they will be failures and no more that unwanted fleas on our earth's back! We will not be living up to Christian values, or Buddhist values or Jehovah's values or mother earths values or any other deities that we follow. For what God could want to see his people destroy each other?
Thursday, August 03, 2006
It is the dog days
It is that time of the year when everyone in their right minds wants a rest! I would love a few days to just sit at home and veg! I can do it here at the shop but after a while it gets kind of depressing because you should really not have time for veggin' at the shop. I am getting hit by more and more bills and they are getting to the point where they hurt! The neighbor (LaPaz restaruant) just told me yesterday that they are closing down their shop the end of September and I find myself wondering how I will survive with them closed. To make matters worse I am at that lull in my cycle where I am feeling slightly sorry for myself and I just want to stay home and sleep. I think they call this depression! Fortunately it doesnt last long for me and then I will be on the upswing again.
I have had a few customers in today and that is generally really a good thing. But it is lunch time. The hardest time for me is these few hours since I seldom have any from 1:00 to about 3:00. It is hard and disheartening. To make matters worse i bought three new chairs to paint. They are all stripped and ready but I just cant seem to find any creative juice to paint them. I have seven other chairs and a small end table waiting for my attention. Will probably get to them tomorrow. I guess I should go. I have to visit the hardware store for tacky cloth and primer and I need to pick up my other chair. Talk with ya soon. R
I have had a few customers in today and that is generally really a good thing. But it is lunch time. The hardest time for me is these few hours since I seldom have any from 1:00 to about 3:00. It is hard and disheartening. To make matters worse i bought three new chairs to paint. They are all stripped and ready but I just cant seem to find any creative juice to paint them. I have seven other chairs and a small end table waiting for my attention. Will probably get to them tomorrow. I guess I should go. I have to visit the hardware store for tacky cloth and primer and I need to pick up my other chair. Talk with ya soon. R
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Something everyone of us should see
If you are an internet junkie you probably have already found the following video. If not please check it out. http://tv.msn.com/TV/realitytv?GT1=7703 The video is the the full first episode of 30 days. It is wonderful. I have to tell a story about this subject so perhaps you can understand why I feel it is important.
My husband and I lived in San Diego for 7 years. During my second year in San Diego I was asked to go to Tijajuana with a missionary from a local church, to deliver clothes, and other donations from a local church. We were to go to a small village on the outskirts of Tijajuana. I had never been to a poor country before and had no experience about what to expect. On the way to the village I was told the people who resided there were mostly squatters and that the only people who owned any shelter where the minister and his family who owned a trailer that they parked on the grounds of the church which was also legally owned. We arrived in a place that was filthy, and poor. Most of the homes that people resided in were cardboard boxes or walls of buildings like the one shown in the film. The trailer that the minister and his family (wife and 3 children with a new baby on the way) lived in was a small travel trailer. Most of the people in the US do not even own a trailer that small anymore. They considered themselves lucky compared to their neighbors. They were gradually adding on to the trailer so it would eventually have separate rooms for two of the children.
We went to a grocery store to buy some items we needed and I discovered young children who begged to help you with your cart. They were paid in tips and often that was the only money their families would get for the day. Most of the schools in the area closed early so the children could work in this way to help support their families.
This trip to Mexico had a profound impact on me. We as Americans have no idea of the hardships that other people of third world countries endure. To deny them citizenship on the grounds of illegality is absurd! We as a country that is so rich as to be the "greatest nation" on earth should be the very people who try to make examples of ourselves through our humanity and our care. We should find a way to work more diligently with the Mexican government in helping to find economic stability for their people instead of using their economic worries to plunder the poor by providing substandard wages and offering substandard housing that is better than what exists but is not what American workers would even consider fair. It is time to make our corporations understand that the workers in third world countries are entitled to the same standards that we as American workers are and that the huge corporate economies that our corporations are declaring are profits earned through swindling the poor. Is this a standard that the United States is willing to accept? I as a citizen of the United States am not and I am embarrassed by those who are and who choose to defend the status quo as a usual means of business.
The fact that these companies can go into third world countries and offer this substandard fare is only due to a government that not only supports the corporations but refuses to be actively involved with the very governments that could help create an economically viable standard for their citizens thus decreasing the need to even address the problem of illegal aliens. Until our government stops spending the trillions of dollars on wars and starts working to address the financial instability of governments that are our neighbors we will never be able to address the issue of illegal immigration. It is time to put our dollars where they can best do the work and take the money away from a government that insists our boys are there to be targets and our money is theirs for the spending.
I guess that is all of my political rant for right now. Thanks for bearing with me. R
My husband and I lived in San Diego for 7 years. During my second year in San Diego I was asked to go to Tijajuana with a missionary from a local church, to deliver clothes, and other donations from a local church. We were to go to a small village on the outskirts of Tijajuana. I had never been to a poor country before and had no experience about what to expect. On the way to the village I was told the people who resided there were mostly squatters and that the only people who owned any shelter where the minister and his family who owned a trailer that they parked on the grounds of the church which was also legally owned. We arrived in a place that was filthy, and poor. Most of the homes that people resided in were cardboard boxes or walls of buildings like the one shown in the film. The trailer that the minister and his family (wife and 3 children with a new baby on the way) lived in was a small travel trailer. Most of the people in the US do not even own a trailer that small anymore. They considered themselves lucky compared to their neighbors. They were gradually adding on to the trailer so it would eventually have separate rooms for two of the children.
We went to a grocery store to buy some items we needed and I discovered young children who begged to help you with your cart. They were paid in tips and often that was the only money their families would get for the day. Most of the schools in the area closed early so the children could work in this way to help support their families.
This trip to Mexico had a profound impact on me. We as Americans have no idea of the hardships that other people of third world countries endure. To deny them citizenship on the grounds of illegality is absurd! We as a country that is so rich as to be the "greatest nation" on earth should be the very people who try to make examples of ourselves through our humanity and our care. We should find a way to work more diligently with the Mexican government in helping to find economic stability for their people instead of using their economic worries to plunder the poor by providing substandard wages and offering substandard housing that is better than what exists but is not what American workers would even consider fair. It is time to make our corporations understand that the workers in third world countries are entitled to the same standards that we as American workers are and that the huge corporate economies that our corporations are declaring are profits earned through swindling the poor. Is this a standard that the United States is willing to accept? I as a citizen of the United States am not and I am embarrassed by those who are and who choose to defend the status quo as a usual means of business.
The fact that these companies can go into third world countries and offer this substandard fare is only due to a government that not only supports the corporations but refuses to be actively involved with the very governments that could help create an economically viable standard for their citizens thus decreasing the need to even address the problem of illegal aliens. Until our government stops spending the trillions of dollars on wars and starts working to address the financial instability of governments that are our neighbors we will never be able to address the issue of illegal immigration. It is time to put our dollars where they can best do the work and take the money away from a government that insists our boys are there to be targets and our money is theirs for the spending.
I guess that is all of my political rant for right now. Thanks for bearing with me. R
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
It's August
Why is it that as we age we see the days go zooming by faster at a time when we really do want the days to slow down so we can enjoy them? It seems that at the very time in life when we have learned gracious living and how to enjoy it we cant enjoy it because it goes by so rapidly. Anyway, the shop is feeling this lazy dog days of summer and the schedule of which I am so proud is showing it. We have one weekend of music this month and as of yet the rest are not scheduled. We have Chess and we have Scrabble, and then there are a few days of odd events occurring that we have and that is all. So it is a month where I am not sure what will happen. I am continually worried about money now since my funds are diminishing rapidly and the profits have not quite found their way to my door. As with all small businesses it is a challenge to keep the doors open. Yet things do continue to happen in my shop that I enjoy being a part of. Synchronicity some call it, others call it magic and others coincidence. I dont have a name for it really. Coffeehouse happenings I guess. I have a friend who says this shop is becoming a vortex for unusual and wonderful happenings. Whatever it is, there is not a day goes by that I am not really delighted to own this wonderful venture.
Last week two young people who were visiting the island met each other for the first time here. I have had women come in who are lonely because of moving to someplace new and meet with another woman who has like interests and become lasting friends. I have seen people meet for other things as well and always it is an unexpected and wonderful event. I had two friends who met for the first time in over 10 years. Niether knew the other would be here but both were drawn to an event that I was holding here. It is a wonderful thing to be a vortex!
Well our grandson and my son and daughter (in law) will be visiting in September and will an open Studio tour through my studio and coffeehouse the following weekend after the visit it is beginning to look like September might just be a huge time for me. We will see what happens when we get closer to that time. I guess I should get ready to go now though since I still have table tents to make for the business next door and I need to get some work done on some chairs I am getting ready to paint. Until next time. R
Last week two young people who were visiting the island met each other for the first time here. I have had women come in who are lonely because of moving to someplace new and meet with another woman who has like interests and become lasting friends. I have seen people meet for other things as well and always it is an unexpected and wonderful event. I had two friends who met for the first time in over 10 years. Niether knew the other would be here but both were drawn to an event that I was holding here. It is a wonderful thing to be a vortex!
Well our grandson and my son and daughter (in law) will be visiting in September and will an open Studio tour through my studio and coffeehouse the following weekend after the visit it is beginning to look like September might just be a huge time for me. We will see what happens when we get closer to that time. I guess I should get ready to go now though since I still have table tents to make for the business next door and I need to get some work done on some chairs I am getting ready to paint. Until next time. R
Thursday, July 13, 2006
It's a Thursday!
So it was another day... another Thursday.... Could have been any Thursday. It was quiet in the shop but steady with customers. I arranged for delivery of my freezer for the frozen yogurt, fought with the ice making machine, took in milk, paid the phone company and dealt with the bank. All the things that are part of owning a business. I got my ads done for my big marketting blitz and I am really excited to see what happens with it. I am getting ready to switch featured artists this week and tomorrow night and Saturday I will host two wonderful evenings of music here at Rockhoppers. So things are happening and about the time i wish they would speed up a little I remember that this shop is not a
slam bam thank you maam type of shop. We want to be a place where people come to visit, read, talk, play games, listen to music and spend time. It is a meeting place, a social place and a happy place. I worked hard to get it there. Still, income is a problem.... and well this place cannot survive on good intentions. I am feeling a little down right now but I am sure my spirits will pick up soon. I need to go.. will talk again soon. R
slam bam thank you maam type of shop. We want to be a place where people come to visit, read, talk, play games, listen to music and spend time. It is a meeting place, a social place and a happy place. I worked hard to get it there. Still, income is a problem.... and well this place cannot survive on good intentions. I am feeling a little down right now but I am sure my spirits will pick up soon. I need to go.. will talk again soon. R
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Ferryfolkdays
Well it is another day in paridise? I have had a slow day today. I hate saying that! I have several artists that I have contacted about showing thier art but it is the height of the craft season and many do not have the inventory to show at shows and here. I just sent my wood sculpture guy home with his pieces and boy do I miss having them here. I am getting ready to bring in a few more of my pieces and we will see where we go from here. Anyway, I have been working on a desk for our public computer and I need to finish a doll for a contest that is due the end of this month. So my crafting (although limited) is going along well. I am trying to decide about how to do the desk and have yet to come up with a design I like. When I am finished it will be a one of a kind item though.
We had one of those days of synchronicity occur here this weekend. I will begin this story on Friday. I have been thinking of doing a mass mailing to try and gain a group of regulars from the community and increase my exposure here in Clinton. The mass mailing was going to cover every house in Clinton. My girlfriend said I should contact this company that does coupons in a mass mailing and they send out 10,000 of them to your community. I contacted them and they sent a representative down to the shop on Friday to discuss what i wanted in the ad and to discuss cost. During our discussion I suggested that I would also like to advertise in Mukilteo WA which is just on the other end of the ferry ride from Clinton. It is closer to Mukilteo than it is to Langley here on the island. She told me she didnt think this was a very good idea but I was still trying to decide if this was what I was going to do when she left. She said it was hard to split up your advertising market and effectively covering your home base. I was left to ruminate over this for the weekend. On Saturday, my husband and I were in the shop playing cribbage and in walks this couple. Seems they found an ad of mine down at the ferry and decided to check out the shop. They were from Mukilteo and had never been to Rockhoppers. This was kind of interesting to me and after we talked with them for a while, sharing stories about our animals, in comes another lady and her two kids also from Mukilteo. They just were visiting the island and saw the shop and decided to stop in. The mom said she loved the shop and would return when she didnt have the kids with her and she and the boys left for home. So Dan and I continued talking with this other couple and in walks this guy from Edmonds. He has a guitar and he would like to play at Rockhoppers when he comes to visit his mom (who lives here on the island). He takes out his guitar and does a wonderful audition and the couple from Mukilteo absolutely loved being in the center of it all. I sat and watched each persons face that was in this shop while he played and I knew this was synchronicity at its very best. Where else could I get things like this to occur? and what more proof did I need that Mukilteo was a great market for advertising in?
Oh, and Dan read the blog before this and tells me he does too believe in synchronicity and that it is one of the more charming things in his life. I must be synchronous?
Well, with all the ads that I am getting out it is my hope to start picking up more customers for the shop! I hope though that I will be able to do some blogging daily as well. So keep posted... there is more to come. R
We had one of those days of synchronicity occur here this weekend. I will begin this story on Friday. I have been thinking of doing a mass mailing to try and gain a group of regulars from the community and increase my exposure here in Clinton. The mass mailing was going to cover every house in Clinton. My girlfriend said I should contact this company that does coupons in a mass mailing and they send out 10,000 of them to your community. I contacted them and they sent a representative down to the shop on Friday to discuss what i wanted in the ad and to discuss cost. During our discussion I suggested that I would also like to advertise in Mukilteo WA which is just on the other end of the ferry ride from Clinton. It is closer to Mukilteo than it is to Langley here on the island. She told me she didnt think this was a very good idea but I was still trying to decide if this was what I was going to do when she left. She said it was hard to split up your advertising market and effectively covering your home base. I was left to ruminate over this for the weekend. On Saturday, my husband and I were in the shop playing cribbage and in walks this couple. Seems they found an ad of mine down at the ferry and decided to check out the shop. They were from Mukilteo and had never been to Rockhoppers. This was kind of interesting to me and after we talked with them for a while, sharing stories about our animals, in comes another lady and her two kids also from Mukilteo. They just were visiting the island and saw the shop and decided to stop in. The mom said she loved the shop and would return when she didnt have the kids with her and she and the boys left for home. So Dan and I continued talking with this other couple and in walks this guy from Edmonds. He has a guitar and he would like to play at Rockhoppers when he comes to visit his mom (who lives here on the island). He takes out his guitar and does a wonderful audition and the couple from Mukilteo absolutely loved being in the center of it all. I sat and watched each persons face that was in this shop while he played and I knew this was synchronicity at its very best. Where else could I get things like this to occur? and what more proof did I need that Mukilteo was a great market for advertising in?
Oh, and Dan read the blog before this and tells me he does too believe in synchronicity and that it is one of the more charming things in his life. I must be synchronous?
Well, with all the ads that I am getting out it is my hope to start picking up more customers for the shop! I hope though that I will be able to do some blogging daily as well. So keep posted... there is more to come. R
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Just another day at Rockhoppers
Never in my life did I expect that I could own a business that is after only 5 months starting to pay its own bills. I am still not earning a salary, but I am working on it. I have 5 employees! 5!!! They are all very part time but still... and I am truly enjoying this venture. I am here 6 days a week 14 hours each day! Not so great but I see friends every day... I am in the center of our community both location wise and with the people who meet here and I get to paint, read, create, play games, and listen to live music at least two times a week. I meet the most interesting people while I am here and i get to introduce people to each other when they normally would not have had the opportunity to meet. It is a blast!
Dan says he does not believe in God or synchrinicity but after spending so much time here in this place (or maybe because of it) I find myself each day being confronted with this synchrinicity theory that I not only never considered important but mostly felt it was coincidence at best. Each day at my shop I find people who have not seen each other for years, accidentally encountering each other here. There are people who need something and invariably there is one or two people here to help them out. The shop is bright and bold and full of life and I sometimes think that maybe it is just a little magical. I want to enclose some pics for you to see and if you do make it over to Clinton WA stop in and see it for yourself.
Thursday, April 20, 2006
The Morning After...
Another day at the shop... I love it here! Last night we had a live jazz band that filled the house. Well sorta... There were over 30 people here. That is a lot for this shop! but according to the permit and the fire department a full house is 72. We would all have to be standing and facing in the same direction to get that many people in here I think. Anyway, this place absolutely rocks when music is going! It is a total blast!
I have a guy who says he sounds like a country Dillon, coming in on Saturday. Wierd guy, wants to do a sound check a couple hours before singing. It's a coffeehouse for goodness sake... but I dont know much about music and well he does... I bow to his expertise.
Anyway, with the jazz group last night i was really hopping and I am pooped today. I brought my little dog in to the shop today since she is kind of lonely at home. Before you go off on me let me say... my little dog is a Japanese Chin and is the cutest little dog around. She is also a very fiesty mean dog that likes nothing more than to look really cute so people will reach out and pet her and then she snaps at them! Fortunately she doesnt have many teeth and now she is almost totally blind. She is mostly comfortable at home where she knows where everything is. But I brought a little pillow that she sleeps on and for the most part she is comfortable. She isnt so sure about having strange people talking in her surroundings and not knowing who they are. We will see how she does though. She may be coming to the shop with me more often if she likes it here.
Dixie is the only dog I have ever felt I needed to apologize for.... daily! She is about 4 .5 pounds and is about the most worthless dog I have ever met. And I picked her out!
About 10 years ago Dan and I had a Shitzu. We got her from the humane society and when we got her she was 10 years old. She was a really sweet dog and Dan and I both really loved her. When she turned 13 she started having siezures. Not often just once in a rare while but I took her to the vet and he put her on phenobarb. She did fine for about 1 year and then the siezures came back and became worse. So I ran her to a different vet who did a blood workup and checked her over really well. After a brief time he told us that she had congestive Heart Failure and he gave us some heart medication and still the phenobarb. She did fine for about 6 more months and then she started to really go down hill ... We took her to the vet and he told us that she was failing. I could not stand the thought of having her put to sleep and took her home and cried. Three days later we made an emergency visit to the vet and we finally had her put to sleep.
I had been working out of the house when we lost our shitzu and after a few weeks discovered how much I missed her companionship. So, I went looking for a new shitzu. There were none to be found unless I wanted to pay a small fortune for one. So I started looking on the net .. first for shitzus in our area, then for small dogs. Up comes Dixie. She was a resident at a no kill facility. I wrote to them expressing my interest and the manager of the establishment wrote back with a form. The form was 10 pages long. I think it would have been easier to adopt a child! I filled out the form and faxed in to them but because the process was taking so long I grew concerned that Dixie was having to stay in a kennel when another person could have her and take her home so I e-mailed the manager and told her that if a good owner did present themselves while I was waiting for approval to adopt her then please let her go to that home. I hated the idea that Dixie was in a kennel longer than she had to be. Both of my other dogs had come from the humane society and neither of them ate while they were there. The manager wrote back and said that this was not a problem and that I needed to come meet Dixie. Seems she had had 10 visits so far from prospective owners/ownees and she had bitten every single one of them. I looked at Dan.. Dan looked at me and we agreed we would go see her the next day. So Dan and I drove to Arlington and met Dixie. She was playing with the managers dog and having fun and of course I was excited and tried to stop her from playing when Dixie bit me! It was love at first sight (at least for me) I wrote the check out and got in the car and the manager put Dixie in my lap. And she bit me again.
Just a few notes at this time.. First, Dan and I really had not come prepared to pick Dixie up that evening so we drove the Fiero. Now if you know a Fiero, you know that it is only a two seater and there was no room for Dixie anywhere except my lap. Second, Dixie is missing most of her teeth so when she bit it was more gumming but she does have a couple teeth and when they hit it hurts. Third, I love fiesty animals... always have.. they survive longer and live better.
Anyway we are driving down the road with this little fireball in my lap when Dan and I realize we hadnt had dinner yet and it was going on 7:00PM. So we pulled into the A&W and that is when Dixie realized how much she loved Dan. She had her first hambuger with us and has been our best friend every since that day. She still bites our sons and any one else (especially teens) but she loves us and only bites when we are playing and she gets a little aggressive.
So that is the story of how we got Dixie. I am sorry I bored you with her story but at least she didnt bite you! R
I have a guy who says he sounds like a country Dillon, coming in on Saturday. Wierd guy, wants to do a sound check a couple hours before singing. It's a coffeehouse for goodness sake... but I dont know much about music and well he does... I bow to his expertise.
Anyway, with the jazz group last night i was really hopping and I am pooped today. I brought my little dog in to the shop today since she is kind of lonely at home. Before you go off on me let me say... my little dog is a Japanese Chin and is the cutest little dog around. She is also a very fiesty mean dog that likes nothing more than to look really cute so people will reach out and pet her and then she snaps at them! Fortunately she doesnt have many teeth and now she is almost totally blind. She is mostly comfortable at home where she knows where everything is. But I brought a little pillow that she sleeps on and for the most part she is comfortable. She isnt so sure about having strange people talking in her surroundings and not knowing who they are. We will see how she does though. She may be coming to the shop with me more often if she likes it here.
Dixie is the only dog I have ever felt I needed to apologize for.... daily! She is about 4 .5 pounds and is about the most worthless dog I have ever met. And I picked her out!
About 10 years ago Dan and I had a Shitzu. We got her from the humane society and when we got her she was 10 years old. She was a really sweet dog and Dan and I both really loved her. When she turned 13 she started having siezures. Not often just once in a rare while but I took her to the vet and he put her on phenobarb. She did fine for about 1 year and then the siezures came back and became worse. So I ran her to a different vet who did a blood workup and checked her over really well. After a brief time he told us that she had congestive Heart Failure and he gave us some heart medication and still the phenobarb. She did fine for about 6 more months and then she started to really go down hill ... We took her to the vet and he told us that she was failing. I could not stand the thought of having her put to sleep and took her home and cried. Three days later we made an emergency visit to the vet and we finally had her put to sleep.
I had been working out of the house when we lost our shitzu and after a few weeks discovered how much I missed her companionship. So, I went looking for a new shitzu. There were none to be found unless I wanted to pay a small fortune for one. So I started looking on the net .. first for shitzus in our area, then for small dogs. Up comes Dixie. She was a resident at a no kill facility. I wrote to them expressing my interest and the manager of the establishment wrote back with a form. The form was 10 pages long. I think it would have been easier to adopt a child! I filled out the form and faxed in to them but because the process was taking so long I grew concerned that Dixie was having to stay in a kennel when another person could have her and take her home so I e-mailed the manager and told her that if a good owner did present themselves while I was waiting for approval to adopt her then please let her go to that home. I hated the idea that Dixie was in a kennel longer than she had to be. Both of my other dogs had come from the humane society and neither of them ate while they were there. The manager wrote back and said that this was not a problem and that I needed to come meet Dixie. Seems she had had 10 visits so far from prospective owners/ownees and she had bitten every single one of them. I looked at Dan.. Dan looked at me and we agreed we would go see her the next day. So Dan and I drove to Arlington and met Dixie. She was playing with the managers dog and having fun and of course I was excited and tried to stop her from playing when Dixie bit me! It was love at first sight (at least for me) I wrote the check out and got in the car and the manager put Dixie in my lap. And she bit me again.
Just a few notes at this time.. First, Dan and I really had not come prepared to pick Dixie up that evening so we drove the Fiero. Now if you know a Fiero, you know that it is only a two seater and there was no room for Dixie anywhere except my lap. Second, Dixie is missing most of her teeth so when she bit it was more gumming but she does have a couple teeth and when they hit it hurts. Third, I love fiesty animals... always have.. they survive longer and live better.
Anyway we are driving down the road with this little fireball in my lap when Dan and I realize we hadnt had dinner yet and it was going on 7:00PM. So we pulled into the A&W and that is when Dixie realized how much she loved Dan. She had her first hambuger with us and has been our best friend every since that day. She still bites our sons and any one else (especially teens) but she loves us and only bites when we are playing and she gets a little aggressive.
So that is the story of how we got Dixie. I am sorry I bored you with her story but at least she didnt bite you! R
Wednesday, April 19, 2006
I own a coffeehouse!
I know it has been quite a while since I posted. Again I apologize but I do have a good excuse. In December my husband bought me a coffeehouse! It is a really big venture for me since I have never owned a business before. I am spending a great deal of time learning quick books, and how to run a coffeehouse and well it is an adventure! It is also a lot of hard work, long hours, tedium, and waiting and worrying and well the list goes on and on!
Since I got the coffeehouse on January 1, I (with some help from my friends and family) have repainted, remodelled and put up a folk gallery as well. It has been a huge undertaking as the space is 1200 square feet and before I took it over it was 1200 square feet of "not much going on". Since I took over I have scheduled activities each evening with live music two nights a week now. Sometimes I have it three times a week but that is not on a regular schedule. Anyway, I have quite a full house some nights and on others no one shows up and it is a dismal evening. In all it is still a crapshoot!
I frequently have people come in and ask me how my business is doing? This is rather a rude question I think considering it is my business, but people here seem to feel they have a vested interest in my survival as a business. It continues to amaze me just how insensitive and rude some customers can be but then the ones (who are about 99.5% of my customers in truth) are truly becoming friends I would like to have long after my business has expired.
For those of you who follow my art... I am still working on art pieces but it is slow in the coming. I have a rocking horse in the car that I am making for my grandson and I just purchased 7 new chairs to paint and do up for the shop. 4 of them came from the library and are really heavy duty oak. Yes I am going to paint the oak! they are not antique and not anything real pretty even but they will look awesome painted! I also have a small table that I purchased and I am going to turn it into a game table and put it out on the floor too. It is very nice and three of the chairs I purchased are the perfect height for the table. I still have several lamps at home to finish and get out as well. So yes, I am still doing my art, just not as fast as before I had the shop.
My grandson is doing wonderfully in Florida and both of his parents are doing great as well. He is growing so rapidly! I cant wait to see him again. My boys are great. Each is doing his own thing. Dan is working on becoming the Master Chief of the Coast Guard and Mollye is such an asset to him in this endeavor. David is in Boston and preparing to go back to college. He wants to study philosophy since he says he believes that education should make you more knowledgeable not necessarily teach you a career. To a degree I agree with him but my concern is that he is far to intelligent to spend his life as a "flunky" working in a printing company. However, he needs to find his own way and I think his path is rather interesting at this point.
Well, I guess this is enough for today. I will write more tomorrow (I hope) if it isnt too busy here. I wish you all well and bye for now. R
Since I got the coffeehouse on January 1, I (with some help from my friends and family) have repainted, remodelled and put up a folk gallery as well. It has been a huge undertaking as the space is 1200 square feet and before I took it over it was 1200 square feet of "not much going on". Since I took over I have scheduled activities each evening with live music two nights a week now. Sometimes I have it three times a week but that is not on a regular schedule. Anyway, I have quite a full house some nights and on others no one shows up and it is a dismal evening. In all it is still a crapshoot!
I frequently have people come in and ask me how my business is doing? This is rather a rude question I think considering it is my business, but people here seem to feel they have a vested interest in my survival as a business. It continues to amaze me just how insensitive and rude some customers can be but then the ones (who are about 99.5% of my customers in truth) are truly becoming friends I would like to have long after my business has expired.
For those of you who follow my art... I am still working on art pieces but it is slow in the coming. I have a rocking horse in the car that I am making for my grandson and I just purchased 7 new chairs to paint and do up for the shop. 4 of them came from the library and are really heavy duty oak. Yes I am going to paint the oak! they are not antique and not anything real pretty even but they will look awesome painted! I also have a small table that I purchased and I am going to turn it into a game table and put it out on the floor too. It is very nice and three of the chairs I purchased are the perfect height for the table. I still have several lamps at home to finish and get out as well. So yes, I am still doing my art, just not as fast as before I had the shop.
My grandson is doing wonderfully in Florida and both of his parents are doing great as well. He is growing so rapidly! I cant wait to see him again. My boys are great. Each is doing his own thing. Dan is working on becoming the Master Chief of the Coast Guard and Mollye is such an asset to him in this endeavor. David is in Boston and preparing to go back to college. He wants to study philosophy since he says he believes that education should make you more knowledgeable not necessarily teach you a career. To a degree I agree with him but my concern is that he is far to intelligent to spend his life as a "flunky" working in a printing company. However, he needs to find his own way and I think his path is rather interesting at this point.
Well, I guess this is enough for today. I will write more tomorrow (I hope) if it isnt too busy here. I wish you all well and bye for now. R
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