Spring has arrived

Shopping USA

High point of our day! Pick up an order from the USA.

Kirk ordered his boat material from Florida. The main reason, he has been dealing with this company for years now. Second reason, it is half the price than the local vendors.

It is our first trip and order delivered to the UPS store in Port Huron. The border crossing both ways went without a hitch. We just told them exactly what we are crossing for. Show all the appropriate papers and invoices and homeward bound we go.

Our discussion home is about how much money we saved on shipping/handling/customs/duty and time. The comfort level is high which may mean, many more purchase and pickups to follow.

Kirk decided to have a local upholster business recover his boat seats. In return, he will build a rack for their bolts of material to hang on. Win win situation for both. Each will concentrate on their speciality. Kirk also freely offered his contacts in Florida for material. We hope it works out for them.

Not sure if this is good or bad. We both forgot that today is our anniversary. 11 years.

180 Vehicles an Hour

This number represents peak performance. In short, it should take only 20 seconds to; take the customers order, fill the order, collect the payment and pass the product to the customer. And then, have the customer drive away from the take-out window immediately. (some things are beyond our control)

Lucky for us, the owner finds 35 to 40 seconds an acceptable time for processing each transaction.

I'm finding my confidence level at an all time low. At this point in time, I can not vision myself being able to do this. I'm still hunting for the buttons on the register let alone assemble part of the order.

The more positive thinkers tell me it will all come together. I sure hope so, I do like working there. I just feel so bad when I bring their numbers to the unacceptable.

Actually, after yesterday, I'm not sure where I fit in. If something could go wrong, it did. It is my 16th work day which is not classed as a beginner anymore?

Kirk's Sunday Projects

Kirk usually works on his boat on Sundays.

Awhile back he made new windshields.

I didn't really see the process but I know it started with a flat piece of clear plastic.

(click on pictures to enlarge)

In the maze of his shop, he is working on a pattern for the boat seats.

The material should arrive any day now (blue & white) but in the mean time he is practicing with some red and black, left over from way back when.

He mentioned, the seat design may change. He likes roll and pleats.

How much you want to bet, it's going to be roll and pleats.

Which looks good and much more difficult to do.

Affordable Groomer

Click on pictures to enlarge
We found a professional dog groomer who is affordable and close to home.

This is too good to be true.

Her ad is posted on a bulletin board at the Canadian Tire Store. It was one of those things, each time I went by it I would say to myself "I should check this out". Finally, I followed through.

We warned the Groomer of Shadow's age, attitude and now dislike of anyone getting in her face.
Because it was the first visit, the Groomer did ask Kirk to stay during the face trimming. All went well and Kirk left her to finish the job. A few hours later, she called the dogs are done. To our surprise she only charged $35. for the both of them.

Our understanding of the arrangement; we deliver clean dogs every 5 to 6 weeks for her to groom. The hair cut will be affordable and professional. (They do look a lot better than one of my cuts)

For non-pet owners this is going to sound silly.
Since Shadow behaved so well, I bought her a squeaky toy. The hedgehog seen in the picture above. She picked it out of the toy basket right away. Since her vision and hearing are impaired we are not sure if she can see it or hear it but she has claimed it.