Stay the Course

 And we're racing through another slow weekend.  This is always the case.

Today is lawn waste pick-up day, and I have no waste.  Tuesday or Wednesday, when I have off, I will wack my weeds. pick up a few small branches that have fallen, and that's about it.  

So far I've harvested 5 cucumbers, several banana peppers, and there's a 3rd eggplant waiting to be plucked.  The tomatoes and the cantaloupes failed.  Maybe I should plant them in the front yard next year where they will get full sun.  Because of the trees surrounding my house, in the backyard they only get about 5 or 6 hours.

I had some customers yesterday who are selling their house and wanted a refresh of carpet to make it more attractive to potential buyers.  They have 195.67 square yards, or 160.60 square meters for all of my metric readers.  That's a lot of rug.  Even with the dirt cheap carpet their tally came to over $4300.  And they balked at the price.  He asked if they could skip the padding.  Carpet without padding is like raw pasta... hard.  Welcome to the real world.  As I handed the printed final quote to them, he laid his phone on the desk and I could see he was already checking out our competitor.  Fine with me.

And isn't it interesting how sounds from the past can sometimes be a source of creative inspiration?  Like this.

And doesn't that Ronnie DeSantis have one hell of a Covid problem?  Abbott from Texas?  He, too, is in a bad way.  They both remind me of Ronnie Reagan in that neither has the ability to see other options.  Back when Ronnie got his Reagonamics passed, the economy was in a sorry state.  It took a while for the Conservative legislation to kick in, so almost daily Ronnie would say we need to 'stay the course.'  And for a while, it seemed to work, but the rich never spend as much as they need to for the economy to grow, so it began dying.  So it goes with Covid.  And both DeSantis and Abbot are going to 'stay the course.'  Because of that, every day there are fewer Republican voters in the country.

Suckers in Washington

Well, let's call today Friday, not that names of the week really mean anything to me.  For the next couple of weeks my schedule is 'on again, off again.'  I don't believe there's a stretch where I work more than 3 days in a row, which is ducky dandy for me.
This is day 11 for my viral infection.  I have reached a point where my symptoms are normally what I would call "a cold."  Usually, when I do get a cold, the total duration is 3-4 days... sometimes they'll hang around 6-7, but rarely.  This is not fun for me.
One of the statements I hear as a flooring specialist that I find most appalling, is when a customer states they're "looking for a color that's going to hide dirt."  Think about that now....   Are you thinking?  Just what does that statement tell you about this customer?  They don't vacuum?  Or maybe they just pull out the old Hoover every other week.  And, if they do get a carpet that "hides the dirt" will they ever pull it out...? the Hoover, I mean.  I have dogs, one is sort of large, the other is very large, and when they do a dump outside, they do a dump.  They also play outside... a lot, and even though my yard is fairly large, you can  bet the farm that one, if not both of them, will run through that pile of shit.  Now, I have hardwood floors with area rugs and believe me, I would not want an area rug that "hides the dirt."
On the Idiot Jerks recent, and not too secret, trip to a very safe war-zone is coming under more fire for very many reasons:  the faces of clandestine operatives were revealed, and he handed out those little. red sinner's caps so many of his followers wear.  But he said something to the effect of "we are no longer the world's suckers."  Now, there have been times when our government has made bad decisions and gotten us involved in wars a majority of Americans didn't agree with, Vietnam for one, and W's Desert Stomp (or what ever he called it).  Never once, however, did I think a foreign government was using us the way you use a 'sucker,' or a stooge.  The definitions for a sucker is

 a gullible or easily deceived person.and they got suckered into accepting responsibility

As far as I can remember, we were never suckered into anything.  And when it came to defending democracy, whether our on, or that of other peoples, the Republican Party had always been at the forefront. Not anymore.  Those who go to help others are now seen as "suckers."  With that one word the Idiot Jerk wipe away the honorable life of every American who has died in war from the Revolutionary War to the present.  
Remember that great meeting with Kim Jong Dumb and the Idiot Jerk.  Afterward, the Idiot Jerk crowed "they will denuclearize!"  Well, that's not happening.  Reports are coming in that just the opposite is the new reality, that the North Koreans are moving into a 'mass production' phase, adding up to 20 new nukes a year.  Denuclearize?  Kim just showed the world who the real sucker is... the Idiot Jerk in the White House.

Roll this

Well, Monday has arrived and I don't have to go into work today.  That doesn't mean I'm not going to be doing anything.  Yard work is planned.  In the dining room, I have to pull the table front, replace the quarter round, and get that section of trim painted; as well as hang the tapestry and the mirror at the foot of the staircase.  Oh, and I want to see if I can get an 18 mile ride in... hopefully.
Yesterday I had the displeasure of selling some cheap indoor / outdoor carpet to a woman who refused to listen to what I said.  Initially she had picked up a pre-cut roll (6' x 8').  However, she saw "a better quality of carpet" on the 6 foot rolls we cut.  I told her that it was the same carpet, but not everybody wants 8 feet.  And she said, "no, the carpet on the rolls is better.  You can almost see through the pre-cut carpet."  It's the same thing, more like Felt then carpet.  Oh, and it's more expensive when we have to cut it.  She totally refused to understand, and so I cut her a section that was...(are you ready for this?) 6' x 8'.  After it was cut, she lifted the corner up and said, "oh, you can almost see through this."  And I said, "yes, it's the same carpet."  I have no problem when stupid people end up paying more money they they need to because they're... well... stupid.
And evidently Dense Pence is speaking at the annual NRA gathering in Dallas on Friday and there will be no firearms allowed in the arena.  The NRA has no problem with this.  Can you smell the hypocrisy in the air?  Supposedly some gun enthusiasts smell it too, but most will have no problem surrendering their weapons.  They will all be sitting targets in that arena, and none of them will care.  These people are phony as hell.  One of the things which make the above article so... amusing, is a comment by some Idiot Jerk supporter about Hilary still not being in jail....  Which is the kind of thing I'd expect to hear from the woman who bought rolled indoor / outdoor carpet because she thought I didn't know what I was talking about.  Wait... no, that's not right.  That's giving the supporter way too much credit.  That woman is an embarrassment to America.  She proves stupidity has no bounds... especially if you're a conservative.

Well, it's Easter

I wasn't scheduled today which is amusing since I'm not religious.  That means this is just another day off.  My sister is having me over for dinner, but for the most part today is going to be laundry and yard work.
One of my female associates was disappointed she was scheduled to work.  I'm not really impressed with her performance.  She actually said "with all the holidays we have, I thought the store would be closed."  I have no idea what she was talking about since we're open every holiday except Thanksgiving and Christmas.  In her early 30's, she has 3 kids, 2 from a previous marriage and one from a previous boyfriend, and she let herself get pregnant again because her current boyfriend told her he want the two of them to have a baby, at least that's what she's telling people.  She calls off a lot because of her "kids."  Once this baby is born, I suspect she'll go part-time... I mean, she's already getting support payments for 3 of them, is she really going to need a full time job?
I told Steve, another of my associates, that when he was off I'd run a $7000 carpet sale for him (our carpet can be expensive), and also mentioned that one of the "twins" had been in to change the color of the carpet his brother had ordered.  Steve asked "was their mother with him?"  When I said 'yes' he shook his head and said, "she's evidently the driving financial force behind their project, and from what the brothers say is incredibly difficult to deal with."  Says a lot, don't it.

Oh, and I had to deal with a creepy old man yesterday, meaning he was in his mid-seventies and flirty; at one point he winked at me (I'm surprised you didn't all hear that my inward groan).  I said "that's nice," quite a few times and tried to pawn him off on the pregnant woman when I went to lunch.  Didn't work.  He waited, said he only wanted to work with me....  Ugh.

Well, I'm off to pull a load of laundry from the dryer, and throw another one into the washer.  Fun day.

The Return of Nick

Yesterday was Good Friday - I don't know how good it actually was, I can tell you we were busy at the Flooring Desk - sales going through, measures being scheduled, and the return of Nick, one of the twins I've been working with as he and his brother rehab a house.  Oh, and I got to meet their mother.  She's making the color decisions for this rehab.  She thinks she's color savvy.  She isn't.
On Thursday Max had come into the store, changed the color of the carpet to something a bit lighter and paid for the installation.  Mom evidently didn't like the color even though it was more neutral than the color Nick had chosen previously.  You see she didn't like the way it looked with the color paint she'd chosen which was what you might call a muddy, steel grey, brown which has the potential for looking very dark.  Standing there in the glaring fluorescent lighting, she chose a color just as muddy, just as steel grey, and darker than the painted sample she was using to make her decision.
Now, as part of the measurement process we have pictures taken of the rooms that are to get new flooring; often we see potential problems homeowners do not.  That room is an upstairs bedroom in a Cape Cod, and has one small window at each end, and after that carpet goes in, and with that color paint on the walls, it's going to look like a cave.  That's not the way you entice potential buyers.
Anyway, I Googled Nick and got a pic - he's below, and he is, unfortunately, his Mom's favorite.

At one point I mentioned that the brother, Max, had taken a pic of the carpet color he'd chosen and sent to both his brother and his Mom for approval and had received no response from either.  He then called Nick on the phone and talked over the change of color and got his 'okay.'  Their Mom said, "well, it just doesn't go with the color of the paint," at which point Nick said that Max was "an idiot."  She said nothing.  And I just kind of smiled as I saw failure written all over this project.  Why is  it that some parents are the worst thing that can happen to their children?  

Carpet?

So, since I'm not a flooring / blinds specialist, I thought I'd chat about customers, since this breed is different than those I dealt with when I ran the paint desk.  For one thing, these people are debating, for the most part, about spending a lot of money.  Carpet can be expensive.  Hardwood is expensive.  Laminate... well, even though it's popular, you can end up with a lot of problems with laminate; it's not uncommon to have issues because most floors, in spite of what we want to believe, are not totally level, and with laminate 1/4" can ruin an install.
I had a carpet customer yesterday whom I'll call Sandy.  She told me she was selling her house.  We hear this a lot, and than the customer usually puts in a lower end carpet.  Not Sandy, she was looking at middle range price points.  She didn't want to pay for a measure, but she sure did want to take home samples... about 15, and she also signed out a sample board.  She also told me her husband needed to approve the color and style...   The sample board she signed out was for patterned carpet, which is unusual for someone wanting to sell their house; I mean, what if the buyer doesn't like it?  Will she buy new carpet?  Probably not.  She spent over an hour and a half looking at colors... you don't put that much time into carpet if you're selling your house.

And then there's another customer I'll call Josiah, a nice young man who lives in the heart of Harrisburg's gayborhood who's just bought a townhouse.  I get the notice that his measure is done so I give him a call and I get the following message "This mailbox is full, please try again later."  Not a good sign.  So I tried again the next day and got the same message.  This does not bode well, I mean, if he can't empty his mailbox he has a bit of a problem.  I did manage to get a hold of him yesterday and he told me he'd stop in to pick out his carpet....  Often, when the customer says that, it's like saying "the check is in the mail."

Anyway, I do get measures and I do get sales and so everybody is happy.  The only thing I really hate is cutting roll carpet and vinyl... I'm very clumsy when it comes to putting it on the cutter and usually ask for assistance.  Besides, it's a cheap product, and I never go cheap, and I can't understand why someone would want to install their own carpet or vinyl...

"I'm having my nails done at 9"

When I managed the paint department, most of the customers I dealt with were nice, some were assholes.  The same is true as a Specialist, though these assholes tend to be more pretentious.  Take the couple I sold carpet to yesterday.  She is an RN, I know this because RN is part of her email address.  He appears to be some sort of businessman.  He had his hair in a brush cut and dyed a pale blonde in order to hide the gray (with highlights of Trump orange, if you know what I mean).  I didn't really sell them carpet as much as he decided to "do this."
As part of the process of setting up the measure, I needed to gather certain information about their house: the room, approximate size, current flooring, subfloor, year the house was built, are there condo rules?  That sort of info.  Every time I asked a question he gave me one of those "you should already know this information" looks, definitely trying to make sure I knew just how low I was in this whole process. And, of course, they were both pretentious as hell.  When they were choosing the date for the measure, she had to check her calendar... she actually said about one particular date "well, I'm having my nails done at 9, but that only takes an hour so I should be home."  And the date was 2 weeks out.

When it came to paying for the measure, she asked if we had the chip reader and then, after I told her yes, inserted her card in upside down.  This lead to a private conversation between the two of them.  I say private because I was totally excluded.  And it was really weird.  I mean really.  It was almost as if I had suddenly disappeared off of the face of the planet.  I did say something... and I was totally ignored.  

They were so caught in their own specialness nothing else really mattered.  People like this make America bad.  Unless they know you from the Country Club, you're an inferior. They're going to spend over $2000 to carpet their family room.  I don't mind taking their money.  Early in the conversation, when I was telling them about our free install, I said that their total purchase needed to be over $699.  His comment to me was, "it will be much more than that."  Impress me?  Not in the least.

White Carpet

My schedule today is crap - a mid, meaning I start working at 10:45.  I hate shifts like this. They don't give me enough time to get things done.  On days when I have this type of schedule I don't get to take the girls up to the park.  In fact, tomorrow is going to be a shit day, too.

Anyway, I had off yesterday and got a lot accomplished.  One of things I did was buy a new carpet / rug for the dining room.  This is not that unusual because the girls tend to be hard on that carpet.  For some reason that's where they take their biscuits to eat them, and their bones to chew on.  As a result they get replaced about every six moths.  The one I picked up yesterday is white.  One of the first things a friend said to me was "you have dogs, why in hell would you buy a white carpet?"  My reply just kind of popped out of my mouth before I had a chance to think about it.  I said "why for the photo op of course."  See how pretty they look:

Of course, I have to admit it's not as white now as it was when I bought it, but it was inexpensive.  And of course I did get a lot of nice pictures, and sometimes isn't that what counts?