Messages

http://youtu.be/Q0Dgwcw1UnM?list=UUiTn2kpB0EZySO7U-odTGag

http://youtu.be/e4rOFyqb7DU?list=UUxXnIREb0sbedL_D9gVwztg

http://youtu.be/BnvLS09yU4Q?list=UUxXnIREb0sbedL_D9gVwztg

Your shop is unreal!!! I'm jealous LOL.

Darren:  You wouldn't be to jealous if you saw it before I turned it into a shop.  When I first bought this place the roof leaked so bad someone had built a little shed inside the barn to keep things dry.  The second floor was so rotten from the roof leaking for so many years that you couldn't walk on it.  The first floor had been partially filled in the front, but dropped off sharply in the rear.  There was an addition on the back, but it fell down with the first heavy snow load.  The building sits crocked, but from what I can tell, it was actually built that way. 

The first job was a new roof, it is a very steep pitch, probably thats what keep the whole thing from rotting away.  Then I started with the first floor, many loads of pea stone brought in with a shovel and wheel barrow.  I have a friend who is a concrete contractor and he helped me pour the floor.  Next was new studs placed 16" on center, wiring, insulation and drywall.  Then I got to do it all over again on the second floor.  Once that was done I rebuilt the addition.  Then I could start collecting all the tools for the shop, you are viewing the accumulation of 18 years of hard work, all done by myself except for the help on the floor.  I was a younger man then, today I think I would just walk away.

Sofadoc:  I know just how you feel, it's like asking an artist to carve two sculptures and expecting a discount on the second.  I think its the Walmart mass produced mentality, they just dont understand craftsmanship.  The guy totally annoyed me by sitting double parked outside reading my sign.  If you want to talk, park and come on in.  The guy told me he had many 40 foot tractor trailers filled with fabric, if he thinks he is going to move that much volume up here he is in for a rude awakening.  I used the double parked analogy so people could better understand what I was trying to say, but someone really can't double park in front of my business because their is no room to single park, the guy was just stopped in the middle of the road.  We have words for people like that with big city plates up here and they aint nice!

Hey, Mike, a couple of years ago, you posted some videos or a blog on your bus to RV conversion.    What's the status of that project, as I haven't looked in a long time?

I'm still plugging away on the bus, I have some video updates I can post I'll get them up as soon as I can.

Thanks everybody:  And thanks Mom for keeping me on my toes.  Ive been in this business for 30 years this year and by far the hardest part of being a one man show is being very good at "EVERYTHING"  If I could, I would fire myself in many of my positions, Janitor, salesman and prof reader especially.  But I can't run this place without myself, so I'm stuck with me. Plus the Boss owes me to much in back pay to let me go.

There is an interesting story behind the misspelling, or at least I think it is interesting.  I spent a lot of time building this chair for an upcoming trade show, mostly after hours and on weekends because I still have to get paying work out the door.  Anyway, as always the last week comes down to a mad dash to get everything finalized, not only the chair, but everything else associated with the show.

Fully aware that I do not speak French, I consulted Google on spelling and proper pronunciation, first having written down my version hoping that would get me close enough for Google to know what I was looking for.  Apparently in the rush to get everything together I grabbed my version of the spelling off my desk when packing up and did not realize it, never giving it a second thought.  And as they say the rest is history!  What it boils down to is one man going in too many directions at once.  I don't beat my self up over it too much, if I loose a job because of someones snobby attitude that is probably a customer I don't want anyway.

I had a guy call me the other day, he was double parked out front of my business saying he was reading my sign, asking just what I did.  I told him, and he started talking about his business, he apparently owned a fabric distribution outlet and wanted to move the whole operation from a major city to Vermont.  He wanted to line me up as a subcontractor, where he would sell the fabric and the upholstery job and I would do the work.  He did'nt like my prices and wanted wholesale.  In my mind I see me having to hire help to keep up with the volume, if it ever materialized, which I doubt it would, working twice as hard with all the headaches of hired help only to see my bottom line stay about the same.

It occurred to me as I hung up the phone that I like my business just the way it is.  I wouldn't mind selling a few more high priced pieces a year, or even having one piece that sold regularly, but I don't need that, nor would I want to give up what I have now to acquire it.

Hate:  Does anyone really hate?, or are we just socially programed to believe we do?  I for one do not hate, yes I become angry, annoyed, upset, frustrated, but justifiable anger is normal, even healthy, it's what one does with it that matters.  

I think it's important to realize that sometimes we are justified in our anger, or other emotions. Then think it through and decide just why we feel how we feel, I have had times when this took days to sort out.  Then deal with it and let it go.

It's also important to understand we can't change anyone!  The only one you can change is yourself.  If you want to change the world you have to realize you can only change it one person at a time and that one person is yourself.  Others will see the positiveness in you and want to emulate it, and thus through changing yourself, someone else decides to change as well.

I think once we realize that we are not responsible for other peoples behavior that feeling of "hate" goes away, and we realize it for what it is, our own frustration towards ourselves for not being able to change people.

I believe in karma and what energy you put forth into the world you will receive back.  So many people see Karma working only in the negative, but it is a positive force as well.  If you send out negativity, you will get negativity, if you send out positivity, you will receive positivity.  If you don't believe me, check it out, when walking around people, smile at them, most will smile back, scowl at then and most will return the favor.

As Gandhi once said "Be the change you want to see in the world"

http://youtu.be/EEIWuLCAyFk

Thanks Chris:  Feel free to share on your facebook page.

mike did you ever finish the bus?

I am still plugging along on it, been real busy lately and just haven't had much time.  I do have some videos that I should up load showing the progress I have made.  I will try and get then posted in the green room this weekend.

http://youtu.be/Yz6gsoMsTG8?list=UUiTn2kpB0EZySO7U-odTGag

Hi everybody:  I started a new project that I think many here might be interested in, you can watch the video in the Green Room.  

Great video!  Background music is difficult, I think mostly because good music for "free use" is difficult to find.  In my videos I use an assortment of different tracks to cover up even more annoying machine noise.

I once had a customer drop off a sofa and two club chairs with fabric.  About a month later I upholstered the sofa with the chairs fabric and the chairs with the sofas fabric!