Messages

I did not shave today and I had 3 customers come into my shop. I was VERY conscious of the fact that I was looking more grubby than I wanted to.

I mentioned to an Interior Designer that I can look like a craftsman, an upholsterer, she has to look like success. She agreed with me and appreciated my comment.

Presentation does have a big impact.

It's interesting Rich: you quoted from Wikipedia and gave a link to the Washington Post. In my mind, both of those raised a big red flag about your post. If you had not given the link, I would not have believed the story at all. With the link, there's a bit more credibility to the story being true in my mind, but not much.

I guess we just can't put our best foot forward for everyone.

Good post and a good point.

Gene

I do not compete on price. I do not compete with other upholsterers. I do not compete with new cheap furniture.

I compete with new high end furniture: do they buy new, high end furniture, or do they reupholster their old high end furniture?

I compete against soft window treatment workshops on upholstered cornice boards and boxed cushions.

gene

I got number 9 wrong. Hey, 11 correct out of 12 is 92%, good enough for an A!!!

I hope that they are practicing catch and release. It's just one small way that we can save our planet, and prevent marriage.

I heard a guy say that he was thinking of getting married until he was told that 51% of all marriages last forever.

I used to cry at wedding because I was so happy that it wasn't me.

Today, I am married, happy, and working to do what I can to make it will last forever.



gene

It's a con game. The scum bags have a monthly quota. In order to MEET IT, they try to con you into signing up for their product or service, which is usually both more expensive and inferior to what you currently have. If they cannot turn you, they will BEAT IT to their next mark.

If they have a competitive product or service, why would they need to "meet it or beat it"?

That term is always a turn off for me.

Gene

Take pictures! You can post solid white pictures and tell us this is your house, this is your back yard, etc. and we wouldn't know the difference.

I have always wanted to winter over in the far north, just once. I've read a lot about people who have.

I almost spent a summer canoeing in the Yukon. We were going to buy a dog and name him "Dinner", just in case.

Gene

My intention here is not to defend sofadoc, but rather to just share my point of view.

I did not think that sofadoc was being a bottom feeder by buying a tool worth $500 for $50.

If I see a $10.00 bill on the ground, and no one is around, and if I pick it up, then I am taking advantage of a situation, not another person.

If I see a person drop a $10.00 bill on the ground, and I wait for that person to leave, and then I pick it up, then I am taking advantage of another person, and not a situation.

I think a bottom feeder is someone who takes advantage of another person.

Someone who takes advantage of a situation is creative, lucky, fortunate, at the right place at the right time, a good business person, etc. How many religious people "thank God!" when they come out ahead on a transaction, or when they get a really good deal?

Sometimes it can be a very fine line.

It is possible that if sofadoc did not buy that tool for $50, the son may have thrown it away as a reaction to his grief. We don't know. And I think this is an important point. If I don't know what's going on with you, then how can I take advantage of you? Also, and even more important, I am not responsible for you, your decisions, your life situations, etc.

If sofadoc knew that the son was going to sell the tool for $450 and he waited until the son was in the shop for the first time so he could pounce on the son and take advantage of his emotional state, then yes, sofadoc took advantage of the person, not the situation.

Good things happen. Sometimes good things happen to me. And sometimes good things happen to sofadoc.

Gene

Dogs, and cats, can really capture our hearts.

I like the prayer, "God, help me to be the kind of person that my dog thinks I am."

I got home awhile ago and my wife came downstairs. She asked me what I was doing. I said that I was trying to sneak the dogs some treats before she caught me. He looked at the treats in my hand and then started to say something to me. I said, "Hey, you asked me what I was doing. If you don't want to know, then don't ask." LOL

Gene

Almost Friday or almost funny?

I can't believe you can drive in Canada without wearing a seat belt!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ueg7Q7hO7U

Gene

Wow. I'm sure that was difficult for the son also.

An upholsterer died last year in my town, but he was at home. Died in his sleep. Only early 40's.

I recently told my wife that when I die I want my body scattered over a nearby park from an airplane. Not my ashes. Just have my body chopped up in little pieces and scattered over the park. She did not laugh!

Gene

If you have solid documentation a collection agency may give you 20 or 30 cents on the dollar??? You get some money and the knowledge that the customer will get at least a few phone calls.

Gene

Has anyone tried mayonnaise?

My real question is: How, or why, would you even consider using anything but sewing machine oil? I'm asking because I had never even thought to use something else.


On a somewhat related thread: I was told by folks that work at Valvoline that Federal law dictates what can be put in 2 stroke motor oil. The only difference is the color additive. When husquavarna or Sears or whoever tells you to use only their oil in their products, well, they are being a bit less than honest.

Gene

I may have mentioned this before:

I have a customer who works with autistic children. They have 'pits' in the classroom that is kind of like a big tub filled with pieces of foam. The kids quiet down and feel safe when they are sitting in the foam pieces.

I gave her a bunch of my foam scraps. That was the neatest thing I've been able to do with scraps of anything.

She asked me how much I wanted for all the foam scraps. I said, "About a hundred dollars." She thought my answer was "cute". She knew the movie to which I was making a reference.

It was my pleasure to give them to her for free.

Gene

I've been told to never ask a person what kind of lap top they have. If they have an Apple, they will have already told you that they have an Apple. If they have a PC, you will just be embarrassing them by asking.

My son, an Apple user, loves this joke.

Years ago Apple was better for graphics and cad-cam programs. PC's were better for other stuff. Today the software and hardware is such that I do not think there is an advantage either way, especially in terms of running a business.

My son loves Apple and thinks there is nothing better.

My brother in law, who works with computers, says that the only thing Apple does is locks you into overpriced Apple software and Apple hardware.

There are fewer viruses out there attacking Apples, but this is only because there are so many more PC's that hackers are not too interested in Apples.

My laptop, that I use for business, is an HP.

Gene

http://i830.photobucket.com/albums/zz228/genejoe/Wing%20bakc%20chair%201-10/jzz8d3.jpg

50% of my Estimate for a deposit, also. The remainder is due when the job is finished.

Any fabric or other big costs, such as new foam for outdoor furniture cushions, is paid in full along with my deposit.

It has never happened to me, but, if a customer dies, changes their mind, gets into a nasty divorce proceeding, disappears, becomes a monastic hermit, or whatever, I at least have some of my labor paid for, all the big supplies paid for, and the furniture to donate to the free store.

Also, the perceived value of a product or service diminishes greatly as soon as the product or service is delivered or rendered.

My business adviser says, "If the job is $50.00, get a deposit for $25.00.

Gene