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June of 2016 the bridge was out for repair one road over.  My street was not the designated detour, but a lot of people used it anyway* A semi made a turn at the corner, did not realize the ditch was there and tipped it over on the power pole.   Within a day (but not sooner) a replacement pole was up and power restored.    Drove by this morning and noticed the old post is still there, all shattered and 4 feet away from the new one.

Last Xmas eve day, at 3 am, about 1/2 mile down that side road, clear and straight, a guy ran off the road and hit a telephone pole.  Power company sent out a sub-contractor, determined it needed a new pole and transformer and at 8pm, had power back.  Merry Christmas

Earlier this year, the road one over had a power outage and needed 17 poles replaced.   Don't really know what happened there because road was closed most of the day.

Love living in the country.

* Neighbors complained, "There's so much traffic now."   Geez, a car every minute instead of every 5 minutes?   I got 20,000+ cars by my last house every day.

Keith,
  The missing outsides is a trend I must have slept through. I'm glad I missed that one.

Yes, and those are fake tack holes and fake aging on the wood
http://media.restorationhardware.com/is/image/rhis/030512_furniture_deconstructed-slide-6?wid=1000&fmt=jpeg&qlt=80,0&op_sharpen=0&resMode=sharp&op_usm=0.3,1.0,5,0&iccEmbed=0

https://media.restorationhardware.com/is/image/rhis/prod2110880_av3?$l-pd1$&wid=650

SofaDoc nailed it.

Here's a whole portfolio of "upcycled" http://designs.generalfinishes.com/color-category/kitchen-bath-upcycled?page=1

It's usually old furniture painted with (faux) milk paint, chalk paint, sometimes glazed, decorative fru-fru paint, distressed, bejeweled, etc.   If it's not properly repaired and prepped, it will look old and abused in a few years.

Personally, I think it will turn out to be a fad just like the rustic (faux aged, unfinished) furniture, "decomposed" furniture (no outside panels, just see the burlap lining for the inside panels, complete with a few holes designed to look like nail holes, with an occasional tack holding a tuft of cotton batting for effect -- yes, this is true)

Gene used to be an on-the-road salesman.  He said he would ask for a discount and they offered AAA, AARP, etc, none of which he had.   Eventually, they'd take a library card that he'd offered up.    They must not have liked you, Dennis.

Going out of business sales are big business. Ever notice the pricing for them is higher than the old price they tried to get before the going out of business sale?

I think there was a store around here that got into trouble with that.  There was no instance of anything ever being sold or listed as "original price."

There's a place near here that advertises "Guaranteed Low Price or It's Free!"   So I'm wondering if I find something there and it's $3000 and it's $2990.00 down the street if they will give it to me free, or just match the price?  Or if it's $2500?   Or $1000?  At just what point is is better to give it to me free or just get something from it?  Do you think they've ever given something out "Free?"   Methinks not.

Official Policy Statement:
"At Furniture Fair we guarantee that our prices are the lowest available in the Cincinnati Ohio Tri-State market. If you are able to find it advertised lower, we will beat that price or it is free! Competitors pricing is subject to verification. Excludes: clearance items, floor samples, close-outs, and discontinued merchandise. "

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Sears near one of my kids was closing last year.  I went by to see what they were clearing out tools for.  Wow, 5 & 10% off.   Better deals at the Christmas sales, no?

Nearly all my work is pre-delivery or warranty work on pieces less than 5 years old.   I do see some real junk.   Probably the worst (other than Ashley stuff, or stuff from the grocery store), was a sectional frame made from particle board.   The owner was a fireman, so in good shape, but not obese.  While sitting on it, it collapsed in the seat, ripped the fabric, popped the springs and tore loose from the back.   A hot mess that was beyond repair.    And stuff is usually stapled together with structural staples, often way too many and 10-20% that miss both layers entirely.   One of my regular stores closed in the 2008 credit crunch recession, that was about the only stuff I saw that was not entirely made in Asia, even the top-end lines.   I used to do a lot of casegoods pre-delivery for one retailer.   You know the 8 piece bedroom set for $999, and generally 7 of the 8 pieces needed touch up (flaws from the factory, not always transit damage), often each piece in multiple places.

Multiple pages show up when you create or reply to a message.   

Hmmm.  http://www.whio.com/news/national/furniture-store-receives-ottoman-with-pounds-pot-inside/SIr1YZZxoK160pMAmgMWgK/


I had a customer who closed his store and ordered a bunch of new stuff for his going out of business sale.   I did a lot of work at his warehouse.  A couple years later, he re-opened and I never did work at the warehouse any more.   About a year later, he was busted for a pot growing operation at the new warehouse. 

Be careful out there

I had a couple of MBA classes in accounting.   But I have quickbooks and wife is a retired accountant who was an EA (IRS Enrolled Agent) and CPA specializing in tax accounting for a while.    I do the day-to-day income and expenses and monthly sales tax filing and she does the monthly books / banking closing and (God Bless her) the annual income tax return.  M,ost all my expenses are not materials.   Most of what I do is labor with incidental shop supplies.

P.S.  Don't forget to ask for Senior Discount

I don't know if I've said it here, but I've said it many times, "Sometimes the most profitable job is the one you turn away."

I'm sure SofaDoc will chime in here, but he's talked about the problem when the consumer comes directly to him after some jobs with with designer.   The designer feels cheated and/or wants a cut.   Be prepared on how to handle this.

The effort setting up a shop to suite your needs is a great undertaking.  For me the time spent is off the charts.  I go to estate sales some weekends and when someone has a home workshop I can't help but to look around at their set up and think what it meant to them.  When the time comes it's tough to imagine someone going through my shop and picking out stuff they like -
SA

There's a nearby estate auction with a ton of tools, hunting equipment, camping equipment, gardenng equipment, knives galore, and storage shelves.   Must have been a good life ;-)

"I hope when I die, my widow does not sell my tools for what I told her I paid for them."  -- Anon.

Next time  I get a customer that doesn't want me to use "chemicals" to clean a spot of their sofa, I'm just going to get right up to it and yell, "Out, damned spot!"

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/06/you-cant-escape-chemicals/372760/?utm_source=atlfb