Virus update

[gene]

Greetings to the last few who still check this forum. I do hope that you are all doing well.

I've got my fingers crossed that opening up the economy again will noy spike the number of cases of corona virus.

I've been able to stay working with a lot of cautions and no one in my shop. But if I'm around someone who gets the virus I may need to self isolate for 2 weeks even though I don't get the virus. Not as big a concern as those folks who do get the virus and all those folks who are hurting for money because of this situation.

It's all new territory for us at this time. I hope it shakes up for the better.

Stay safe,

gene

[MinUph]

You do the same Gene

[Darren Henry]

Hey guys, remember me? I too hope you are all well. We have been pretty lucky here in Manitoba (<300 cases,seven deaths, only 4 still in hospital) compared to Ontario,Quebec and BC and you iin the states. I have been curious to know what regulations (restrictions) your state and federal authorities have put in place.

Here in Manitoba they have re-opened some non essential services like barbershops, but gyms and rec centres are still closed. Restaurants which had been take out/delivery only may now serve on their patios but dining rooms are still off  limits. Effective tomorrow we can now have groups of 25 indoors 50 outdoors up from 10. When you do go to the store the number of shoppers is limited and wait outside on the line/dot whatever 6 feet from the next guy. Some places require a mask, hand sanitizer is available everywhere and mandatory at some locations. Once inside they issue a sanitized cart and you have to follow the traffic tape ( this isle one way up, this isle one way back, no passing stay 6 feet apart). If you can find what you want you are herded onto the dots at the check out line where the cashier behind the plexiglass shield handles all your items with the same gloves they have worn all shift and sends you on your way. Banks etc... will have you answer some questions ( been out side the province last 2 weeks, been in contact with anyone positive for the disease,feel okay, etc...) there does not appear to be a universal standard as to how ofter surfaces are disinfected. At my work we swipe down the counter,hand rail, door knobs etc.. as each customer leaves. Wallyworld you are not allowed to leave your dot until the staffer(s) have wiped down your self check out, yet I have jumped several dots at other places and seen them clean the debit machine or my side of the plexiglass.

One plus though is the gas prices. Gas had come down a little before this started. We were running around $1.10/litre { I forget the conversion to US gallons but 4.54 litres = 1 larger Imperial gallon } then slowly dipped to just under a buck before this shit hit. Three weeks ago a litre of regular unleaded was 78.9  ¢ . It has now crept up to 94.9¢ /l as of this morning in about a week, so I guess things are getting back to normal.

Stay well everybody===look forward to info that hasn,t been filtered the Liberals and their state financed media.

[kodydog]

We are keeping our heads above water as more jobs are coming in every week. The stimulus check certainly helped. Rose just applied for unemployment for the 4 weeks we were without work. It took her 3 hours to navigate the system. Our church did drive-in service for 4 weeks and we are now back to regular services inside. Half of the chairs were removed to comply with state rules. Trump says he will not close down the country down again. I hope he sticks to this promise. In hindsight I think the whole thing was way overblown and bad information was given to our leaders. Florida's economy is recovering faster than most and more businesses are opening every day. Our Governor says unemployment is going down faster than ever.

My dentist is still closed. He was close to retirement and this break may have pushed him to it.

The local dog groomer around the corner has gone to mobile only. This is something she considered before the lockdown. 

America is strong and business owners are resourceful I can see a day when things get completely back to normal.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I had one very slow month.  Prom season had been huge.  Did more dresses very early so I was on track for a record prom season and then things came to a screaching halt. Then a customer I upholstered a boat for 5 or 6 years had purchased a used pontoon and wanted me to bid on reupholstering it for him.  I've been doing a lot of design work, purchasing vinyl, cloth backed foam and new foam as he is building new seats, etc.  I've had a few alterations come in while I'm playing with designs for the pontoon (Husker themed) and the twins across the street are bridesmaids in a wedding so I'm altering dresses for them.  A set of dining room chairs to reupholster waiting in the wings and another boat to reupholster once boating season is over.  So, I've been doing ok, actually a little busier than I prefer but it's nice to stock pile a few $$$'s since none of us know what's over the next ridge.

I have made changes to how I do business.  I let very few people into my shop since it's in the basement of our house and COVID-19 would not be a good fit with my hub's pre-existing conditions.  I've had in my shop since the middle of March, our HVAC guy doing PM on our AC, the maintenance tech who works on my upholstery machine and the twins across the street so I could measure the hems on their bridesmaid dresses.  Everyone else tells me how much to hem up their pants, pins the seams, etc.   Even the boat customer and I have done all our planning in my driveway.  For the forseeable future, this is how I will conduct my business.  I'm protecting my customers as well as my husband and myself.

I also go to the store at 6 AM when they are first opened, come home, unload, throw the plastic bags out in the garbage, run my clothes downstairs to the washer and then shower from head to toe.  You do what you have to do to try and keep this crap at bay.

[kodydog]

Good to here from you Virginia, its been a while. Glad to hear your doing good and sounds like you are doing the right thing concerning your husband. Be careful.

Things here in Florida are turning back to normal much faster than other parts of the country. Rose and I went out to dinner for the first time in 6 weeks last Saturday. I hate masks mostly because they hide the facial expressions. Its hard to tell if someone is joking or being serious or if someone is happy or sad. I don't wear one unless absolutely necessary. We went from 4 weeks of no jobs to now booking for late July. 

I know you posted about information for cloth backed foam. That would be a good question for Mike. Haven't heard from Mike in a while. Haven't heard from a lot of the regulars in quite a while. Its good to hear from you.

[Virgs Sew n Sew]

I'm also not a fan of masks for the exact reason you posted.  Up until a few weeks ago, I wore one while walking the dogs and while riding my bike.  Our numbers have been horrific (meat packing plant in town) and they seem to be subsiding now but no one is really sure as they are no longer including numbers of those testing positive that work at Swift so who knows.

It will be a while before I'm ready to go to a restaurant.  We did a lot of take out from our favorite hang outs but I'm not sure about sitting in one for an hour so that won't change.

I think I've got a handle on the cloth backed foam.  The guy I bought my upholstery machine from, and who does machine maintenance, is a very competent upholsterer.  Went over to his shop yesterday and he gave me a short class.  So, I'll make another rough drawing today, just so I"m sure of what I'm doing and start cutting and sewing.

Glad you're doing well!

[Mojo]

We had to institute some new policies for our employees and customers and while it was a pain it worked out.

We are in a weird cycle right now. RV/motorcoach owners are throwing huge amounts of money at their RV's like no tomorrow. Many are holed up and cannot travel because so many campgrounds closed so they are taking this time to upgrade and do maintenance on their rigs. Our dealer network expanded again and we are getting some strange orders. We just got a huge job from a company that owns a fleet of specialty buses for all new awning assemblies and fabrics. The order was so huge we are doing 5 buses at a time.

Our awning company is backlogged big time. Putting in all the sewing stations was smart as we sometimes have 3 stitchers going on different orders. That big massive cutting table I built is crazy to watch. One stitcher is sewing an awning down one side of the table while another stitcher is sewing another down the other side. I thought the table was overkill when I built it but I reckon it isn't.

I hired another full time RV tech and our service company are going great guns. We added an executive Director to oversee all 3 companies and he is doing a helluva job. We changed up our marketing plan and we did a few strategic ad buys and that created the backlog with our awning company.

I just had the 1st quarter financials run and our sales with the awning company shot up 180 %. Our RV service and parts company is up 35 % and our parts manufacturing company is up 25 %. We are doing well but it has caused a boat load of stress and new challenges. We basically are at capacity now and cannot grow any further without expanding. The SBA came out with some new loan programs so I gave the go ahead today for expansion which will include clearing the property behind our shop and building a new service facility.

Meanwhile I am doing my best to stay healthy and stay in semi retirement mode. Thankfully we have hired some amazing staff who are doing an excellent job managing the companies. My wife ( being 10 years younger then me ) is still overseeing all the operations on a day to day basis. I am now the new housebitch ( as my kids call me ). Life is good.

Stay safe everyone and stay healthy.

Mojo

[Mike]

Great new Chris. And to think it all started with a sewing maching in a trailer and cutting on the ramp door

[Mike]

We also had a rish of work in the spring when snowbirds would head north they didnt because of the norther lockdowns at the time. So they contracted work and some bigs jobs i have been realy booked and then me and my brother were going to make our shop more relaxing time comfortable tv break area ect but john was diagnosed with luakemia and has realy weakend so ive moved work to my small home aewing shop to be with him and work avouple hours a day and take him to treatments as gar as covid they had a testing site here at one of the shopping plazas but just closed it down. I question how bad this coranavirus really is