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I had a customer drop off some furniture and fabric (COM) yesterday, Sunday. She found the fabric at Jo-Ann Fabrics and with her 50% off coupon it was cheaper to order it from them than through my wholesaler.
However, she went on line and found it for 15% less than the discounted price at Jo-Ann's, including shipping/handling and taxes. It's a Robert Allen fabric.

Many interior designers get paid for their time by marking up fabric. I would think this trend is not a good thing for them.

I've seen this same thing with foam. Our one foam supplier here in town sells to anyone, and on-line. There is no longer wholesale pricing with them. And they raise their foam prices 4 or 5 times a year. They are protecting their margins at their customers' expense. And there are many places on-line that sell it cheaper. I haven't bought it on-line yet because I'm concerned with the quality, but it's getting to the place where it makes sense to give it a try.

Has anyone else noticed that those 80" sheets of foam usually measure out to 79 1/2"? My recent 4 sheets of 24" wide all measured out to 23 3/4" exactly.

Costco and Sams will get into anything that has a high margin. I wonder if they will sell fabrics in packs of 4? (A joke here.)

It's not my intent to complain or to blow off steam. You will know when that is my intent! I'm just sharing some market info that I found of interest.

gene

I quit playing competitive volleyball about 8 years ago. I could still make the digs, but it just took too much time to get up off the floor.

I was thinking last week of buying knee pads for work so I can spend more time on the floor without having to stand up as often to stretch my legs. I also am going to get one of those poles with the clinchers on the end: you squeeze the handle and the clinchers grab whatever you want to pick up off the floor.

Regarding prisons: I know a psychologist who does a lot of the mental exams for our county judicial system. She said the line between the people on one side of the bars and the other side of the bars is very thin - often times there is no difference. People do not want a prison build in their neighborhood, not because of the prisoners, but because of the family members who would move into that neighborhood, or just frequent that neighborhood, just to visit and be with the prisoners.

gene

Thanks for the replies. I knew I could find voices of reason on this forum. I really thought this was one of the most stupid things I had ever heard and I was logging on to this forum when my wife told me it, which is why I put it on here to begin with.

Mike: Vizzini and Inigo Montoya are characters from the movie: The Princess Bride. It is an obscure reference but folks who know it always respond with "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die."

I did some checking: 2 issues.
1. Some folks think that on old cars there are metal parts floating around in the tranny fluid and this adds friction to the belts. If you change the tranny fluid you will loose this additional friction and the belts will slip even more. This screwed thinking would seem to ignore the fact that there is a filter.
2. Oil change businesses now flush the transmission when they change the fluid. This flushing can sometimes damage internal filters, especially on cars where the tranny fluid had never been changed because there can be a lot of crud on the filters. These shops flush because it is cheaper and faster than removing the pan.

My uncle, who is no longer among the living, used to work for AAMCO. A customer would bring their car in for an oil change and a free transmission inspection. They kept a jar of metal shavings in the garage that they got form a local machine shop. They would pull the transmission pan and sprinkle some metal shavings in the pan. Charlie would show the customer and tell them that the gears are grinding really bad and it is going to break down in a few days, a week at the most. IT IS REALLY BAD! The customer would almost never want to pay for a rebuild.
  Charlie would then have the mechanic put a ball bearing in the vacuum line of the transmission. Within a day or two, sometimes a week, that ball bearing would work it's way up and close off the suction. The transmission would stop working. The customer would have their car towed to AAMCO and tell Charlie how wonderful he was and how he was right and they should have listened to him the first time. Charlie would have the mechanic remove the ball bearing and Voila! A brand new rebuild transmission.

My car is running quite well and the slipping has stopped. The fluid level was low which may have been the culprit all along. If it ever breaks down though, I'm sure my wife will say it's because I changed the transmission fluid. LOL

gene

Vizzini: Inconceivable.
Inigo Montoya:    You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means.

I have a 11 year old car with an automatic transmission. The transmission is starting to slip a bit. Either the transmission is on it's way out, or a change of fluid is all it needs. Probably the first thing, but I'm going to try the second today.

My wife said a mechanic told her that you should never change the transmission fluid on an old transmission because if you do the gears will drop down and it will ruin the transmission.

I can't think of ever hearing something more stupid than this! I am incredulous! Inconceivable!

The upholstery is in great shape for a car 11 years old, by the way. I'm mentioning this to quality my post for this forum.

gene

Thank you for the chuckles, Mojo.

I told a friend, jokingly, that in our politically correct society, the day is coming when 'blonds' will be protected by law from being made fun of. He said, "No problem! Just add them to the "Americans With Disabilities Act."


On another note:
I just saw a spam posted on How To Use This Forum. The next time you get tired and fed up with your job, just think of what it would be like spending your working time posting spam on the internet.

gene

I was tying tufted buttons on a big window seat cushion. I wrapped duct tape around my baby fingers and that's where I pull the string to tie off the buttons. The only thing I need to do is to remember to use the baby fingers and not my other fingers.

Does anyone use these or other gloves to tie off tufted buttons or when tying springs?

gene

The guy with 35 years of fixing sewing machines here in my town said a Chandler will go for 25 years before it has a problem and the Juki will go for 30 years before it has a problem. He said that's the primary difference other than the price.

He said the Highlead and Chandler are similar machines with no difference in the quality.

I think that the primary question you should be asking comparing the Juki, Chandler, and Highlead is where can you get the best service from if something does go wrong with it.

gene

Here's the original post that got this post started: http://www.stripbit.com

I have 6 dining room chair slip seats at the shop. Today I cut the fabric around the edge along the bottom of the wood frame. I then took a 7/16" drill bit in my cordless drill and wrapped the beginning of the welt cord around the drill bit. This is the welt cord that runs around the bottom of the slip seat. I then ran the drill all around the bottom of the seat and the welt cord came off. It was really, really easy. No strain on my wrist or my drill. I was actually surprised.

I then went around the seat bottom and pulled out the staples that were sticking up.

The only issue I had was getting the wrapped welt cord and fabric off the drill bit. I can see where the stripbit would allow you to slide the stuff off much easier.

I'll let you know how the stripbit works when I get one.

gene

Thanks for the chuckle.

I had heard the second joke before but it was a woman and she was a divorce attorney.

gene

I use a mono thread on a juki wannna be machine and I never hold the threads. Did at first because I was told to, but would forget to and realized that I didn't need to. It must be able to catch that first stitch.

gene

Search this forum. There's a lot of good posts on this topic.

Our host sells staplers also. I have my eye on his long nose since mine died in Dec.

Having a regular work horse for furniture upholstery and a long nose for cornice boards works for me.

gene

Peppy had a video on JuneC's post that I didn't understand. He also had a post about a Christmas tree plug that I did understand.

So, here's my post that Peppy's posts reminded me of. You've got to watch the entire thing to 'get it'.

What?

http://wimp.com/itsdecember/

gene

If the needle did hit the bone:
you might want to check with a doctor, maybe an x-ray, to make sure the bone is OK. Certainly any swelling, discoloration, or numbness is cause for concern. If you get a fever in the next few days to a week that may be an indication of an infection.

Good job on not getting blood on the fabric.

I was surprised that you didn't go on and on and on about the awful pain!!! But then I realized that you are a woman. That's why God gave child bearing to women. He knew women could handle the pain.

Glad you are OK.

gene

1. You billed a company for work that you did not do. Never a good idea. Yes, hind sight is 20/20.

She got the benefit of a nice tax write-off and you got the worry.

"I cannot bill you for work that I did not do. My company policy, my accountant, my business adviser, my whoever, will not allow that. My payment terms are 1/2 of the amount due paid at the beginning of the job and the remainder due upon completion of the job." Or whatever your company policy is. Here's a good reason to have company policies, in writing.

2. Her company is probably on an accrual basis for accounting. She credits at the time the bill is received, or accrued, not when it is paid. I don't see her doing anything improper - just a bit unusual.

Her company is also probably having cash flow problems if she is asking folks to bill her in 2010 for work that won't be done in 2011. Or, she may be bringing in so much money that she is looking for tax write-offs to help offset her tax liability. Either way, I would not appreciate being asked to do this.

There are still 10 months and a few days left in 2011. I think you may be jumping the gun a bit. Don't worry. Be happy. And file an amended 2010 tax return in 2012 if you never do the work.

Doyle is correct in that your books will show an accounts receivable not paid. I don't think the IRS will mind you paying taxes on money you did not receive. They get a bit testy when it's the other way around.

Good luck on getting a handle on this.

gene

They have to post a joke on Mojo's Friday Funnies. If the joke is not funny, or if it is about Vodka, Chernobyl, or bread lines, they get the ax /// (these are ax marks).

Just a thought.

gene