clean for another week

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon, and here's a few pics of it clean for another week...

Can you see the snow pile out the front window?

Yep! That's me!

When we do move to Vegas, we're taking that mirror. It'll look great in the front entryway.   :-)

 And also this copper sun. It'll look great on the kitchen wall by the table.

It was a very busy week in the Salon, and I'm happy for a weekend.
Saturday after work, Craig made us a tasty Mexican Pizza for dinner.

Then we watched a new movie. Dumb and Dumber To.

I really wasn't expecting to enjoy it, but it was actually entertaining!
Now, with the Salon out of the way, time to enjoy my weekend!

a short post

Good morning.
It's a cold dreary Friday. 32 out this morning, and dark. The days are getting rapidly shorter. I now go to work in the dark, and go home in the dark on my 2 long days. It's looking to be only about 50 for the next several days and a chance of rain, so not sure what I'll do this weekend. We'll see.
It has been a busy week at the Salon. And other than that, not much to say.
Have a good weekend!

post #1174

Good morning.
Yesterday was mostly a wash-out. Drizzly rain, off and on all day.
Sooo, I spent a good part of it cleaning out the garage. That seems to be the accumulating point for everything. But I got it cleaned and straightened, and a car full of stuff I'm dropping off at Goodwill. Now Craig has room to park the Kia when the snow starts flying.
Craig did pick up his new glasses. And of course, balked at letting me take his pick for the blog. :-)
Today, I'm calling our electrical guy to replace a couple of sodium lights on the outside of the Salon. I think the sensors have fogged over too bad and the lights stay on most of the time., except one that keeps going on and off. I've tried cleaning them, but they're just too bad. And I know, "isn't that the landlord's job?" But anyone who's rented commercial space knows it's like pulling teeth to get any money out of them. And by the time they did get around to it, it would be spring, and the days are rapidly getting shorter, and the girls need dependable lighting at night.
Sooo, with that, its time to get ready for another work week. Looking pretty decent so far.

it's not quite over, and what do you think

Good morning.
The weather has been cool, but sunny. It rained all night Sunday night, but quit by morning. I've accomplished a lot during the last 2 days. I now have about 85% of the yard cut back. All that's left is some late blooming perennials and all the grasses.
Here's whats still blooming.....
A pretty l\plant called Toad Lilly. Above a closer view of the tiny flowers.

Above, Monkshood. Because each individual flower resembels the hoon on a monks robe. Below. Japanese anemones.
So even though most of the yard is tired looking and mostly done for the season, there's still a few spots of color. :-)
And for our anniversary, we went out to lunch yesterday. We decided on Finlay's. I had their famous ribs, and Craig had their American Cheeseburger. Both were very good.
And we're in the process of deciding on new dryer chairs for the Salon.
We have a couple of styling chairs that have cracks in the vinyl seats. The seats are the same ones we have on the dryer chairs. Soooo, I want to swap the dryer chair seats for the cracked styling chairs. Styling chairs are about twice the cost of dryer chairs, so it makes sense to get new dryer chairs instead. Her's are 3 choices......
A...

B....
And C....
I like C with the chrome handles, Craig likes A with the ribbed back. What do you think?

this and that

Good morning.
It's been a wet, cold, windy week. Everyday. But the weekend looks dryer.
Work has been steady this week, but not without issues.
I got to work Wednesday morning, and was straightening things up when I noticed we needed more coffee cups on our coffee stand in the reception area. As I got out more cups, I noticed quite a bit of water on the counter around the cups, and sugar and creamer container. I realized right away, the coffee machine was leaking. It's happened before. This coffee maker keeps a pot of water inside heated and ready whenever you want to make another pot of coffee. Because of that, the heating element eventually 'cooks' through the bottom of the water chamber, and it starts to leak. In our 14 years here, it's happened twice. So over to the store I went for another one.
I got the new one set up and the old one out in the trash. I then went out to get the mail. Our mail is delivered to a central location in the mall. It's not delivered to the individual stores. On the way back, I notice our open/closed sign was missing the lower half of it's P. It now looked like a small D instead of a P.
That's the problem with LED's. I've seen it on cars too. One section of lights go out, and the entire thing is ruined. So now we need to put that on our shopping list.
And it was time to order our pocket calendars that we hand out for Christmas.
We've done this for more years than I can remember. We don't give out near as many as we use to, with all the smart phones and such, but we still have a good size core of customers who look forward to them every year. So after our staff agreed to the style and number needed, I went online when I got home last night and place an order.
And now with that, it's time to get ready for another work day....

weather, water heater, and business

Good morning.
Yesterday was a typical fall day in Michigan. Cool and cloudy.
Craig got the yard mowed while I blew the leaves off the deck and vacuumed the leaves off the driveway and along the garage. The windy weekend blew a lot of the color away. Fall can be so pretty, but we often get wind and rain to spoil it.

Craig mowing the front yard.

Before and after.
Of course, this will be repeated time and again until all the leaves are down. Usually around thanksgiving.
And it appears we'll be getting a closed system water heater. The furnace guy said there's no venting problem with the vent he put on the chimney. He says it's more likely a faulty water heater. With the 6 in tube he put into the attic, there's plenty of make-up air and no reason air should be coming down the water heater exhaust. So we're kinda stuck between the furnace guy saying one thing, and the plumbing people saying another. Craig says he's just tired of it all and wants an end to it, and a closed system will do that.
So since we haven't had any venting issues since it's gotten colder, I've got time to get a couple more estimates, since it looks like it'll run a couple thousand dollars. :-(
In better news....
Craig has done the totals for the third quarter at the salon, and we are currently a little ahead of last year.
Business has picked up a little more. We've also seen a few new businesses opening up in the area. So some people must think the worst is behind us. We don't see much new hiring, but at least it appears to be no more layoffs. But with the economy so stagnate, I'm not sure it can get a whole lot better. Time will tell.
And with that, time to get ready for another work week. It's looking pretty good so far.

Friday

Good morning.
After a slow start on Wednesday, (at least I got my hair cut and highlighted and cut Craig's) the phone started ringing, and I became completely booked Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And actually working later Saturday than usual. The weather has been great, though I've been inside. :-( But it looks like it'll extend through the weekend. :-)
That will be good because I need to get out and start cutting back the perennials. A lot of them are way past their prime and the cold weather will soon be upon us.
The trees are turning quickly. We should be in peak color in another week or so.
And we've got a couple of companies coming out early next week for estimates on a closed system water heater. Even with the make-up air the furnace guy installed, we are still occasionally getting the water heater exhausting into the house. It isn't happening very often now since the air conditioning season is done, but when it does, the carbon monoxide detector goes off, and we get dull headaches. Can't be good for us long term.
Well anyway, have a great weekend!

it's over

Good morning.
Yep, fall is in the air. It's all of 36 out this morning, going for a high of only 56. It's suppose to get back into the low 70's later this weekend, but you can feel that the seasons have changed. It happened the day after Labor Day. The 'heat' was gone. Cooler weather had arrived overnight. It's chilly in the mornings. And darker. The days are getting quickly shorter. I dislike and despise our long winters. But, as I do every year, I'll enjoy our last few trips, stretching the season as long as I can, then spend the long, cold, dark winter, planning next years trips.
Yes, I could plan a week in warmer weather, but it would go by so fast, and I'd still be stuck in the rest of winter. And that money could better go toward the summer trips I enjoy so much.
Anyway, the Salon has been busy. The phone has been ringing, and I'm completely booked the rest of the week. :-)
It's good to see business getting back to where we were before the recession.
Now, time to get ready for work...

That was it?

Good morning.
Sorry for my later than usual post. I got up this morning, and no Internet. :-(
So I called tech support, registered the problem, and went in to clean the Salon. Upon returning, still no Internet, so I went out and polished the mo-ho tires.
I survived the big wedding party on Saturday. Ended up doing 5 up-dos. Was exhausted when I got home. With all the rain we've gotten this month, it's not only nice and green in the yard, but a bumper crop of skeeters. The wedding was at 4pm, I figured they'd be at the house around 5-5:30 for the yard pics. I went out at 5 with 2 cans of yard guard to see if I could keep the skeeters at bay. At 5:15 no wedding party yet, but a massive down pour. We figured with the rain, they'd probably skip the outdoor pics and head to the reception. Around 6:15, a half dozen cars pulled into the driveway. The weather had cleared and they left the reception, which was right across the street, to get her out door pics. My yard guard had been long washed away. They ran to the arbor where some pics were taken. I took a couple myself...

The bride and her bridesmaids.

The bride and groom.
With my lush thick greenery, the skeeters were all over them. Arms flailing around trying to keep them at bay.It was a losing battle, and the photographer convinced her to go back to the reception. They were in the yard all of maybe 5 minutes. Just a few arbor pics. None taken anywhere else.
I spent all summer working on the yard, for 5 minutes of pics.......Oh well.

always check your bills

Good morning.
It's been a crazy busy week in the Salon. The phone ringing off the hook.
There was one major issue I had to deal with. We have a 4yard dumpster we share with another tenant. I discovered we were paying double what he was. It appeared at some point way back last year, our rate doubled, and some how Craig didn't catch it. I called and got a totally clueless person who seemed completely unable to grasp what I was saying. He didn't seem to think our rate was out of line. I said , "you mean to tell me it costs $100 a month for every other week pick-up?" He said he'd have an account manager review the account and call me back. I hung up. I was steaming. They weren't going to get away with this! I waited, no call. The next day, for added ammo, I called a competitor, and discovered what I had already thought. The amount the other tenant was paying was more in line to what I should be paying. I called back to give them one more chance to correct their mistake before I cancelled and went with the other company.
This time, I actually got someone with a few brains. She looked through my account, agreed there had been a mistake, said she would discuss this matter with a supervisor, and would call me back first thing in the morning. She even gave me her direct phone #.
Well, the next morning came, and sure enough, she called me back. She apologized for the mix-up, credited our account $150.00, and reduced our monthly payment by 2/3. and eliminated a couple of other fees. She said this new rated would be locked in for 3 years, and to call her direct if there were any changes. She asked if this was satisfactory. I said I was pleased with the response, and thanked her for her time.
So now, our rate is $24.30 a month, instead of $76.52, quite the difference.
So once again, it's all about talking to the right person.
Have a great weekend!

back to work

Good morning.

Another beautiful weekend over.
And I can't say I did much besides our trip.
I did scrub the portable gas grill we use on our trips, and did some weeding and deadheading. Oh, and I did book 2 more trips for the fall. :-)
We've had less than an inch of rain at our house this month. Only got 1/4 of an inch this past weekend. Had a lot more than that at the campground. So I'm continuing to water, trying to keep the yard looking good for the mid August wedding pics.
The Salon looks to be fairly busy this week, with an interesting color request I'm doing Thursday evening. She has very dark brown hair, and wants me to make it blond with purple streaks. She has a lot of color build-up in her hair. We'll see if I'm able to achieve the look she wants without melting all her hair off. :-) Of course, she's 17. That age group seems to be always doing something to their hair. I don't have a lot of customers that age. Seems like most of my customers are aging along with me. The only kids I do are customers kids.
Anyway, I'm off for another work week....

zombie land

Good afternoon,

Sorry, no morning post today. I didn't get home from the Salon until after 10pm yesterday, and got up too late to post and get to the Salon by 7:30 this morning. :-\
The corrective color I did lasted over 4 hours! There was just an unbelievable amount of color build-up that took the largest chunk of time and I still didn't get it all off. So, no blond with purple streaks for her! But I was exhausted by the time I got home. A 14 hour day is just tooo long at my age. :-)
I even felt like a zombie this morning. So bad, I mixed the wrong color for my first client. Good thing I caught it as I was applying it. It didn't look right coming out of the bottle. Pulled the tube out of the trash to find a tube had fallen over a notch. I usually double check the number on the tube when I open it, but like I said, I was a bit of a zombie this morning. I was applying a warm brown instead of a dark blond. That would not have been good. But I quickly got that off and reapplied the right one. Glad this was a short day today.

And with all the rain the last couple of days, Our rain gauge says 4+ inches, I won't have to water for a while. ;-)
And here's some more pics of the yard.....

Have a great weekend!

another upgrade

Good morning.

It's been a hectic week in the Salon. The phone has been ringing off the hook! But busy is good! :-)
With our Salon now 14 years old, we've been doing some remodeling. You remember the new chair mats we got last year and the new surveillance system, now we've replace the heat lamps. I've never liked this type, but there wasn't much selection back then. The top light was shorting out so instead of fixing it, we decided an upgrade was necessary.The old lights above, and the nifty new ones below...

The new ones have only 1 light in the back instead of 2. It was way too much heat on the back of a clients head. And the new ones have 4 branched lights instead of just 3 for better heat distribution. We use the lights for speeding up the processing of hair color. Mainly foils. That's how you get those variations of shades from hi-lights to low-lights.
Also, the new lights have a dimmer switch to control the intensity of the heat. The old ones were just on or off.
Anyway, they are a nice upgrade, and we're very happy with them.
I've got another crazy busy day today, so it's off to the shower I go.......

only 1

Good morning.
I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. Took me over 2 hours today since I did a more thorough cleaning than usual.
I didn't get the 6 tiles up yesterday morning, just one. They're glued to the floor really tight. So it came up in tiny pieces. Took a lot of work just to get the 1 up. But was able to get it prepped and the new one laid before our first customer arrived. And it ended up busy than expected. Got several phone calls, so filled in the day nicely. Craig on the other hand, had just 2 customers, and one had called and left a message she had to cancel. So I sent him out to get a new atlas , propane and more tp for the mo-ho. After work, back at home, I started a pitcher of home made Sangria. It needs to 'rest' over night to let the fruits and wine time to 'mingle'. Thought that would be a nice beverage for the holiday weekend.
We then relaxed on the deck with cocktails, enjoying the quiet afternoon. Dinner was chicken cordon bleu, noodles Alfredo, and Parmesan zucchini.
Now it's shower time and wake up Craig. :-)

Just a bit paranoid

Good morning.
The salon has been very busy. That is good. :-)
I took a couple of pics yesterday morning, of the sign I painted last week to show the grid work on it...

I know, not the best pics. It was a cloudy overcast morning. But it gives you a good idea of all the tedious grid I painted. It really looks like new again. :-)

And yes, I intentionally did not take a full frontal pic. You can go through my entire 6 years of blogging, and not find the name of the Salon, or even my full name. That's on purpose. I have no idea who reads my blog. It's a public blog, so anyone who stumbles on it can read it. I know, maybe a little of Craig's paranoia is rubbing off on me. :-) But better to be safe than sorry. And any one who really knows me, knows that info anyway. That's also why I never report on upcoming trips until they're over. More of Craig's paranoia. :-)

Anyway, time for a shower and another day of work......

it was a busy day.

Good morning.
Sorry for no post yesterday, but I had a very busy day.
As soon as I got up, I went into the Salon. I got the Salon cleaned, and then my mission was to paint the sign outside above the door. I didn't take a pic, but our sign has a metal grid that surrounds it. Kind of mimicking the ceiling grid inside the Salon. Anyway, it's a tedious job. Took just over 2 hours. I knew the paint was peeling, but didn't realize how much the paint had faded. Looks real good now.
Back home, I cleaned and filled the bird baths, and watered the pots. It was now nearly 10am and Craig was finally up. :-)
I fixed us coffee and we read the paper.
While Craig then did paperwork and laundry, I re caulked the mo-ho windshield. Then, after a light brunch of egg and Canadian bacon sandwich, we got to work on replacing the fence sections that were damaged from the accident I wrote about here.
That took the better part of the afternoon as it was a lot of work digging out the old half rotted posts. But it's all done and looks good.
I finally decided I'd done enough for one day, so it was time to relax on the deck, enjoying the perfect weather, partly sunny, and a high near 80.
For dinner, I grilled a pork roast, baked potatoes, and skewers of carrots, mushrooms, onions and sweet peppers.
And after I finish this post, I need to place an on-line order for the Salon, and clean the interior of the mo-ho so it's ready for our next trip. And I need to make sure I get Craig up early (8am) for a doctors appointment. Just a routine visit.
So that's it for now...

It's yard sale time!

Good morning.

I've just returned from cleaning the Salon. I didn't have time to clean it completely, because I discovered an ant issue.

While vacuuming, I saw a few tiny ants. vacuumed them up and though nothing about it, until I kept seeing more. Upon closer inspection I discovered there was a trail of them. It ran from an out side wall in the bathroom all the way through the Salon to the front door. Just outside the front door in a crack in the sidewalk was a massive ant nest with thousands of ants scurrying about. So I got out the trusty Home Pest Control and had at them. They were no match for a superior force. :-)

So I'll finish cleaning the Salon tomorrow.

Saturday, I was invited to a retirement open house. One of my long time customers was retiring from teaching. I do a number of her friends also. I was asked by one of them if I could supply flowers for the tables as I had supplied lilacs for another event a few years ago. I said I'd be happy to, but the lilacs have been done for a couple of weeks now. I'll pick whatever I have and bring them in.

This is what I was able to scrounge up....

I picked them Saturday morning before work, and took them in with me. She picked them up and took them to the community center where the open house was to be. After work, I arrived there to numerous comments on how wonderful the arrangements looked. I Got home in time to relax on the deck with Craig before dinner, which was home made pizzas.

And now, I'm off to get my yard sale set up for this morning. I open at 9am.

Sunday post.

Good morning.
We're having an unusual Memorial Day weekend. Only a high of 54 on Friday, with a forecast high of 90 on Monday. From cold and wet, to hot and steamy. :-\
Friday, we finally had a day without rain. After we got home from work, we were able to mow the yard. Friday night was home made tacos. Yummy.
Saturday was cold and drizzly. I cleaned the Salon, and we did some running around. Office Max for Salon retail slips and post-it notes, and Lowe's for light bulbs. We have 2 ft u-shaped florescent lights in the main area, and 8 ft florescent lights in the supply/store room. 12 light bulbs, $96.00. Expensive suckers.
Back home, it stopped raining, so while Craig did his usual Sunday bookwork and laundry,( I know, it's only Saturday, but that means Sunday is free!) I took the weed whacker and cleaned along the creek that runs along our lot line.
I also did some maintenance weeding. I'm pretty much all done with the yard. :-)
With iffy grilling weather, Craig made sloppy Joe's for dinner with sweet potato fries. Both were good. Watched a movie called Red Planet. Also very good.
Today Craig wants to go out for breakfast. Not something we do often, so a little holiday weekend treat. :-)
And here's more things blooming in the yard right now...
Above and below, more Tree Peonies....

And between them, an ornamental Rhubarb. The leaves are nearly 3 ft across!

And scattered showers are forecast for today, so it looks like tomorrow will be my best chance to seal the driveway. We'll see.

why do cars have boots?

Good morning.
Spring like temps appear to be here for good, finally. :-)
The salon has been fairly busy this week with me also being booked today and tomorow.
I took the PT Cruiser in on Thursday morning. It's check engine light was on. Turned out to be some sort of sensor. While I had it there, I had them check on a "clunking' noise. They said I had a torn boot, and a bad ball joint. Does anyone know what the hell a 'boot' is? And why is my car wearing a boot? Anyway, it will be done this afternoon and I will pick it up today after work.
We seem to be replacing an awful lot of stuff on this car. I wonder if it's because we tow it so much. His 1998 Honda Accord has never been in the shop. It has it's original everything! Maybe Chrysler just makes crappy cars. :-\
Not much else to say, so it's off for my shower.
Have a great weekend!

still cold

Good morning from a cold (currently 36 out) Lansing.
Our colder and wetter than normal spring continues. :-(
But from watching the news, it could be a lot worst!
The Salon has been slow this week, except for me. :-)
I've been pretty much booked all week, but it looks to be a shorter day today and tomorrow. Which could be good since we are due for a couple of days with no rain. Maybe I can get some more yard work done.
And unless you live under a rock, today is the big wedding day for Britain's royal family. It's been the talk of the Salon all week. Personally I'm not much interested in the actual wedding, but I have learned a lot of interesting things about the preparations and history of the British royal family. Did you get up at the crack of dawn to watch it?
Oh, and gas around here jumped to $4.19 yesterday. Not looking good for our camping season. We may have to rethink some of our destinations. But we won't let gas prices stop us. We may not go as far, but we will go. :-)
So, I'm off for a shower and work.
Have a great weekend!