New addiction

I find that sales can be addicting. When you know that the item being sold generates profit for YOUR company, it's quite the feeling. I know that when I was in retail before, I was proud of the products and I enjoyed making sales. But this is very different. I am proud of MY products, and I am very happy to make sales. Today I was supposed to be "off" from duty at the store. But I had this nagging feeling that David was hungry, and that I needed to log onto our system and try to resolve some mysteries that are still haunting me in the bookkeeping part of the business. I was right about David being hungry, and also it was fortunate that I showed up because he had to deliver a washer and the subject of my repair man blog offered to assist him. Actually, along another line of thought, the repair man's attitude is changing quite noticably... but that's not the point of this drabble. I had 3 customers while I was minding the store. Two of them were walk-ins, and had to take measurements but I am sure they will both be back. One is buying a dryer, and one is buying a refrigerator. The third was a phone customer. What a hoot. He had seen the ad for the Maytag Neptune stacking washer/dryer set. He wondered if I knew how much those were SUPPOSED to cost. I laughed, and said that yes, I was aware. So he bought the unit on the spot, over the phone. Cha-ching. He's picking it up tomorrow. It's the most expensive stacker we have, by the way... yeah baby.

So back to the repair guy. Yeah. He's making solid eye contact now, and calls me by name very strongly. I guess that would be hard to understand if you hadn't met him, but JB says she can picture this guy by the sketch I "drew" so maybe you get it. He makes sure to say "Goodnight, Ruth" at the end of the work day. He even teased me a bit today, and that is amazing. I honestly think that a bit of appreciation and recognition was needed badly by this man. I think he's realizing that the new owners are cut from a different cloth than the old owner.

When David decided he was going to deliver that washer unassisted, our repair guy looked at him thoughtfully and asked "do you think that's a good idea?" Very, very cool. I believe this man was used to his opinion meaning nothing. I have made sure to ask his opinion on potential items we might acquire, etc.

My babies are coming tomorrow night. Tonight I get to finish laundry and do a bit of bathroom cleaning since Laura is pretty sick. It seems like she's got the same nasty virus I had a few weeks ago - with the fever and chills and all. She's on the couch all wrapped up, eating little oranges.

So Adam came over last night, which in itself was a very happy thing, and then he proceded to make dinner (chicken alfredo) and do ALL of the dishes, including ones that were already there. Hmm. So he scored 149,125,498 points. His hair is almost short, which is weird, but okay.

Love me some my Adam.

Well, as I said, I get to see my babies tomorrow night. There is also an Endeavor show, and I would LOVE to go, but I believe the two events will collide. BAM. BUT, if the kids get here early enough, mayhaps we all can go.

OH OH OH I got a call today that was so awesome. It was Dean, and he was inviting me to a concert on March 3rd. He knows I like 'Classic Crime'. Isn't that just way stinking cool??? How many kids call a 40-something to tell them about a rock concert?
How many 40-somethings know and like the music of the bands that are playing at 'El Corazon'? ha ha ha. I'm weird.

Post Game show

Don't leave home without it!!!

I worked on Sunday, so while everyone else watched "THE" game, I was just slaving away... no, actually it was an easy day at work. A couple of funny things happened, but nothing tragic.

I got a phone call from a woman who sounded very concerned, and almost out of breath. She was calling on the 911 line to report a "suspicious" vehicle. I asked her for the direction of travel and highway, as usual, and with some begging I got her to tell me it was last seen southbound on I5 from SR2, and that was 10-15 minutes previous. It was a passenger car with British Columbia plates, and had 3 male occupants. "What about it appeared to be suspicious?" I asked her. That's when she launched into her rather unusual bit of detective work... It seems she was following this car on I5 and it was driving poorly. So she decided to drive up alongside the car and look into it, so to speak. When she did this she noticed that the 3 male occupants appeared to be uncomfortable with her presence. She was, after all, writing something down on paper. It seemed to her that they tried to "get away" from her. Hmm. Go figure. So I'm taking all this down, and I guess she didn't think I was taking it too seriously so she went into more detail. The males were around 30 years of age and had dark hair. Ok. They looked worried about her checking them out like that. Yes, I got that part. They DIDN'T HAVE A PILLOW!!! Ehhh... okayyy now... She excitedly told me that anyone traveling from BC into the States would most certainly have a pillow in their car. She dropped her voice to an urgent loud whisper. "I think they're TERRORISTS." She ended her call with a reminder to me that citizens have been told to call in anything suspicious, and this was most certainly suspicious. I thanked her for her concern, disconnected the call, and finally was able to bust up laughing. I don't believe my supervisor broadcast the information, but if he had, it might have gone something like this: "Everett local patrols, passenger car southbound on I5 from SR2 past 15-20 minutes. Three male occupants. No pillow."

I wanted to go out to dinner. I mentioned this early in the morning, as I got ready for work and David got ready for church. I told David I didn't mean Wendy's - I wanted a nice sit-down family dinner. So I text messaged (ah technology) the kids (who were at the Dobyns' household watching the game) and invited them for Greek food as soon as the game was over. They came to the house at about 7:30 and we all headed for Bellevue. The little Greek restaurant looked so quaint, I could see why David wanted to try it out. But just as we stepped up to the door, the 'Open' sign was turned off. A nice looking grey-haired Greek gentleman was obviously in the process of closing. When he saw our disappointed looks, he opened the door and motioned us inside. David, Laura, Daniel and I were the only patrons and we had meals made just for us. It was FABULOUS with a capital fab. David had lamb, shame on him. I had a variety plate and some of the things I was unable to identify but I enjoyed them all. Laura had this rice and shrimp dish that had her groaning with heavenliness, and Daniel ate marinated chicken on pita bread, hold the onions and tomatoes. YUMMY YUMMY food.

We will be back, and in fact I would just about bet that man will come to know David's name and background...

Tomorrow I will put my first 8-hour plus day in at our store. I'm looking forward to it. I went in today to talk to Brandon and told him that he'll be training the old lady tomorrow. :-) He took this very kindly. One of these days I will do a Brandon post. It will be called 'The Manager', I guess. He is a whirlwind. He runs on high octane fuel. He constantly amuses me. He could have been a lion tamer, or a juggler, or maybe a boxer. But enough about that; let's talk about us.

The repair man

He dips his head slightly as he says "thank you". I have just handed him the plate of cookies I promised on Friday. It's Tuesday. He doesn't work on Mondays. The way he does that shy head-dipping reminds me of a Western. He should have a cowboy hat on. In the movies, his character would say "Why thanky, ma'am. Mighty nice of ya'll."

Putting the plate aside he goes back to repairing the washing machine. This is his job. He works for me. For us. His hair is curly and unkempt and sticks out from under the ever-present baseball cap. He wears a long sleeved shirt over a tee shirt, not tucked in, and blue jeans.

He doesn't look professional. He doesn't move quickly. He doesn't enjoy cleaning up the appliances brought in for service and sale. He smokes way too much.

But in his quiet grace as he accepts the plate of cookies I see something. Maybe he was never shown how to act, or look, or be professional. Maybe he doesn't believe himself worthy of that plate of cookies.

I tell him that the "secret" ingredient is maple syrup. He laughs because my secret is out but I remind him that he will never try to duplicate my recipe. He nods silently. Taking a bite of one he says "I can taste it." That is all. No polite society "oh, these are so delicious, thank you."

Then he turns his attention back to the washing machine. This is as good as life gets for the repair man.

Wetness, clouds, mud and a mouse

It rains a great deal here.

I knew that when I moved here, but I believe it's day 26 of constant rain. Maybe day 27. I love the rain. But it's funny how exciting a few moments of pure sunshine became today as we looked out the window at work.

Work is going swimmingly, no pun intended. I love the atmosphere in Marysville, and my new coworkers are fun and accepting and helpful. Today I got a compliment from a line trooper who sent me a message from his MCN directly to my computer screen. It seems I was a subject of discussion out there on the road, where my dispatching "style" was appreciated. Hmm. Nice to hear. I had a blast. It was terribly busy, and the shift raced by. I worked the busy area today, unassisted. I did fine. I had fun. Life was, indeed, good. Between transmissions I asked my coworkers 'Trivial Pursuit' questions. Bob is too smart for his own good. Back off, Bob. Dumb down a bit, eh?

I'm also enjoying working at our own business. I am sort of office Mom, one who cleans toilets and makes sure everyone has what they need to do their jobs. The fact that it is "OURS" impacts me greatly. There is a sense of pride and humility that I did not expect. Funny combination. I love every single washer, dryer, stove, refrigerator and microwave. They are like children, all lined up for inspection. Goodnight, John Boy. Goodnight, Mary Ellen. Wipe a bit of dirt off the little ones' faces. That's better.

I look at the employees, and it is a foreign feeling - they are MY employees. I can say "do this" and they have to do it. Instead, I say "what kind of cookies do you like?"

Do not miss the 'Endeavor' CD release concert if you have ANY hope of attending. I am serious. This is a history-making day. These kids are beyond amazing, and have overcome unbelievable odds to get where they are. I'm so proud. So proud.

If people are tired of me talking about Endeavor, they haven't said so.

And there in the family room the sweet bass player is snuggled up to my daughter and best friend. No, he's not between two women. sheesh. Daughter, best friend, same thing kinda thing. I wonder if she'll dye my hair on Monday evening.

I made cream of potato soup tonight and it was quite tasty. I kid you not. There are leftovers. Come ON!!!!

Have to go to Wenatchee on Wednesday. Dang. But it's important. Sometimes I wish I could make the Wenatchee house disappear.

I called Justin 2.0 a couple of days ago. Today Justin 1.0 called ME. Greg has most likely disappeared off the face of the earth. But he might be reachable during the time I'm in Wenatchee... I can only hope. Dinner, Greggie, dinner.

With much love and exceptional tiredness,

Mom Shap