What a week...
Yeef, what a week it's been!
My Mom has been visiting since the first of the month (hard to believe it's been more than a week already!) and has been an incredible help around the house and the shop, getting things organized and tidied up, as well as providing baby-sitting service so that trixstirand I could get more stuff done as well. We (Mom and I) have spent the last three days working on getting the shop tidied up, cleaning and organizing the "staff room" area, moving shelving around, clearing up clutter. It's amazing how much brighter the place looks now! I would have really liked to have closed the shop for a week so that we could concentrate on things here at the farm, but that simply isn't practical nor possible right now.
Finances continue to be a worry, as the bowling alley is still in the slow (ie, nearly dead) season, though it should be picking up again pretty quickly now that school is back in session, and the cooler weather is coming. We had been looking at purchasing an old-model Perfect Fry machine from a customer of mine at the shop, but rather than spending $1200 on an out-dated, no-longer-supported machine, we decided to invest in leasing (lease-to-own) a brand-new top-of-the-line machine instead. We're also adding a pizza display/oven machine, hoping that by adding these things to the concession we can bring in the youth crowd, as well as offer more options to the adult customers. Frankly, I was a bit surprised that the leasing company approved our credit application, but they did, and we have a 60-Month lease on this equipment. I can see why leasing can be so popular; Your cash isn't all tied up, you can upgrade at any time, everything is tax-deductible, and there's the option of buying-out at the end of the lease.
One of the things that really burns me about banks and our current financial situation is how the banks will debit your account immediately, but any deposits have to wait until the next business day (or two, or three.) We have some automatic payments that will come out on Monday, and while we've made deposits to cover those payments, they were made at the ATM because the bank was already closed by the time we were able to get there. Since their rules are that anything deposited in the ATM must be verified before they post it to our account, there's a risk that the auto-payments could go through at 1am, but the deposits won't be recorded until later in the day when someone gets around to it. :P This is why it's critical to have a float of a few hundred bucks in the account to cover these things, but the recent situations have made that impossible. I'm really hoping that this season puts us back in the black, or we may be forced to shut things down.
On the plus side, Trixstir has a couple of job-offers on the table. Why is it that it can be difficult to find a job, but then you suddenly get multiple offers at once, and they all want an answer right away? In this case, on Thursday Trixstir got a call from the hospital, asking if she might be interested in a four-month run. This would be doing the job she's been doing in the past, which she admits can be a little stressful at times, but overall is pretty good and pays very well. The only problem is, due to union rules the job offer has to be officially posted first, which won't happen until Tuesday. There's a chance that someone else with more senority might grab it, though that is unlikely. In either case, it's a wait-and-see scenario. On Friday, Trixstir got a call from the Co-op, asking if she'd be interested in a position at the new gas-bar C-store. The problem there is, the caller couldn't tell her what kind of hours or shifts they'd want her to work. My advice was to be honest, and say that Yes, she was interested, but she was also waiting to hear back about a position at the hospital. I know that the turn-around at the gas-bar is pretty high, so I don't think there would be much trouble getting back there if the hospital gig didn't work out.
Of course, either of these offers creates a potential conflict with the bowling-alley, but I think between the two of us, we can work something out. The Kidling is old enough to start lending a hand, but at 14 he's at that "surly teen-ager" stage where as a parent you think it would be easier to just shoot him and start over. ;) I'm pondering the idea of actually issuing him a paycheque, but then charging him for his room & board, and clothes, and all the other stuff that he just gets for free and completely takes for granted.
The biggest machine I've ever worked on arrived at the shop yesterday - a massive diesel-pusher motor-home! The beastie has an onboard Cummins-Onan genset that's having some fuel-supply issues. It will idle for a few minutes, then die, or if you try to rev it up it will die almost immediately. In both situations, it acts like it's running out of gas. The owner says he put a brand-new fuel-filter on it when it started doing that, and the fuel-pump seems to be working fine, so my first guess is a faulty float or inlet valve. I'll know more soon when I start taking the carburetor apart. The nice thing about this job is that he was referred to me by the guy who's welder (with the Onan engine) I fixed a couple weeks ago, who had been referred to me by the guy who's snow-blower I fixed last winter! Word is definitely getting around! :) I also picked up the Deutz-Allis garden-tractor that I had worked on a month-or-so back; The tractor itself is running beautifully, but its mower-deck is in need of servicing, so they called me to take care of it. Happy repeat customers are great for business!
I also confirmed that in Saskatchewan, you do not need any official paperwork to say that you're an appliance repairman. I know that you do in BC, and I've heard that you also need official certification in Alberta and Manitoba. I am seriously considering adding this to my portfolio, as there is a huge demand here, and no-one is filling it. The tools are pretty much the same as for the small-engines, so there's no need to re-invest there. There is great potential just on the horizon, the only question is whether or not we can hold out long enough to reach it!
On a final Happy Note, last night we saw a display of the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) here on the farm! They didn't last long, but it was a treat to see them this far south. :)
My Mom has been visiting since the first of the month (hard to believe it's been more than a week already!) and has been an incredible help around the house and the shop, getting things organized and tidied up, as well as providing baby-sitting service so that trixstirand I could get more stuff done as well. We (Mom and I) have spent the last three days working on getting the shop tidied up, cleaning and organizing the "staff room" area, moving shelving around, clearing up clutter. It's amazing how much brighter the place looks now! I would have really liked to have closed the shop for a week so that we could concentrate on things here at the farm, but that simply isn't practical nor possible right now.
Finances continue to be a worry, as the bowling alley is still in the slow (ie, nearly dead) season, though it should be picking up again pretty quickly now that school is back in session, and the cooler weather is coming. We had been looking at purchasing an old-model Perfect Fry machine from a customer of mine at the shop, but rather than spending $1200 on an out-dated, no-longer-supported machine, we decided to invest in leasing (lease-to-own) a brand-new top-of-the-line machine instead. We're also adding a pizza display/oven machine, hoping that by adding these things to the concession we can bring in the youth crowd, as well as offer more options to the adult customers. Frankly, I was a bit surprised that the leasing company approved our credit application, but they did, and we have a 60-Month lease on this equipment. I can see why leasing can be so popular; Your cash isn't all tied up, you can upgrade at any time, everything is tax-deductible, and there's the option of buying-out at the end of the lease.
One of the things that really burns me about banks and our current financial situation is how the banks will debit your account immediately, but any deposits have to wait until the next business day (or two, or three.) We have some automatic payments that will come out on Monday, and while we've made deposits to cover those payments, they were made at the ATM because the bank was already closed by the time we were able to get there. Since their rules are that anything deposited in the ATM must be verified before they post it to our account, there's a risk that the auto-payments could go through at 1am, but the deposits won't be recorded until later in the day when someone gets around to it. :P This is why it's critical to have a float of a few hundred bucks in the account to cover these things, but the recent situations have made that impossible. I'm really hoping that this season puts us back in the black, or we may be forced to shut things down.
On the plus side, Trixstir has a couple of job-offers on the table. Why is it that it can be difficult to find a job, but then you suddenly get multiple offers at once, and they all want an answer right away? In this case, on Thursday Trixstir got a call from the hospital, asking if she might be interested in a four-month run. This would be doing the job she's been doing in the past, which she admits can be a little stressful at times, but overall is pretty good and pays very well. The only problem is, due to union rules the job offer has to be officially posted first, which won't happen until Tuesday. There's a chance that someone else with more senority might grab it, though that is unlikely. In either case, it's a wait-and-see scenario. On Friday, Trixstir got a call from the Co-op, asking if she'd be interested in a position at the new gas-bar C-store. The problem there is, the caller couldn't tell her what kind of hours or shifts they'd want her to work. My advice was to be honest, and say that Yes, she was interested, but she was also waiting to hear back about a position at the hospital. I know that the turn-around at the gas-bar is pretty high, so I don't think there would be much trouble getting back there if the hospital gig didn't work out.
Of course, either of these offers creates a potential conflict with the bowling-alley, but I think between the two of us, we can work something out. The Kidling is old enough to start lending a hand, but at 14 he's at that "surly teen-ager" stage where as a parent you think it would be easier to just shoot him and start over. ;) I'm pondering the idea of actually issuing him a paycheque, but then charging him for his room & board, and clothes, and all the other stuff that he just gets for free and completely takes for granted.
The biggest machine I've ever worked on arrived at the shop yesterday - a massive diesel-pusher motor-home! The beastie has an onboard Cummins-Onan genset that's having some fuel-supply issues. It will idle for a few minutes, then die, or if you try to rev it up it will die almost immediately. In both situations, it acts like it's running out of gas. The owner says he put a brand-new fuel-filter on it when it started doing that, and the fuel-pump seems to be working fine, so my first guess is a faulty float or inlet valve. I'll know more soon when I start taking the carburetor apart. The nice thing about this job is that he was referred to me by the guy who's welder (with the Onan engine) I fixed a couple weeks ago, who had been referred to me by the guy who's snow-blower I fixed last winter! Word is definitely getting around! :) I also picked up the Deutz-Allis garden-tractor that I had worked on a month-or-so back; The tractor itself is running beautifully, but its mower-deck is in need of servicing, so they called me to take care of it. Happy repeat customers are great for business!
I also confirmed that in Saskatchewan, you do not need any official paperwork to say that you're an appliance repairman. I know that you do in BC, and I've heard that you also need official certification in Alberta and Manitoba. I am seriously considering adding this to my portfolio, as there is a huge demand here, and no-one is filling it. The tools are pretty much the same as for the small-engines, so there's no need to re-invest there. There is great potential just on the horizon, the only question is whether or not we can hold out long enough to reach it!
On a final Happy Note, last night we saw a display of the Aurora Borealis (the Northern Lights) here on the farm! They didn't last long, but it was a treat to see them this far south. :)