I'm on the hunt to get cushions made for my new furniture that is coming in the next week. Here is how things have gone:
1) Talked to a boat company that my mother used to get foam for a cushion she had. They are open on Saturdays only by appointment. I called to see if I could make an appointment. "Why don't you call back on Friday afternoon to see if I'll be here? If I have a boat or something in, then I would be around."
I'm so glad I'm not sufficiently important to merit being worthy of an appointment. I looked up some other options.
2) An alterations company. The woman who answered didn't speak much english, but said they couldn't do what I wanted.
3) A home-based business. I guess. Answering machine left no identifying infomration. Click.
4) A upholstery company that had quite a nice web site and appeared to do what I needed. I called the phone number on the site. "Hi, this is Michael. Uh. I'm sorry I missed your call, please leave your name and number and I'll return it as soon as possible."
To be fair, the name of the company is Michael's Custom Upholstery. But nowhere does he mention that in his answering machine message. Again: is this a real business? So I filled out a contact form online. Had a call back later. He used caller ID to do it: hadn't looked at his web site yet.
Gah.
Had a reasonable conversation with him, but I cannot BELIEVE the going rate for labor to make a cushion. These particular cushions aren't all that difficult - they're basically a squared-off bag. The first place I talked to: $95 /hour for labor. Michael's: $82/hour for labor. Holy cow!
5) I called the original boat shop to see if I could buy the foam and fabric from them, as I figured I can find the labor less expensive elsewhere. "Hello?" (Again: Please tell me who you are. You are a business. Identify yourself as such!) After I asked him about the possibility of buying just the foam and fabric: "Ummm.... I guess so." I explained that the labor was really quite expensive. "Do you know Joann's fabric?" Well.... yes. But I was trying to avoid the labor cost, not the material cost.
Folks, if you have a product you want to sell, please provide information about your business such that others may understand who you are. Provide contact information about your business. Ensure your answering message, if you are not available, clearly identifies who you are. When asked a question, answer what the person is asking.
I am frustrated because my need for clarity is not being met. I would like for people who do business to clearly communicate with their customers. Are you willing to give that to me?
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
"It's a small world, after all..."
About 10 days ago, I had a presentation with a team out of Chicago. As people were gathering and we made small talk, someone asked about the weather in Chicago.
"Beautiful, but it might snow this weekend."
I chimed in that my mom was in Steven's Point, to which I heard the surprised reply, "What's your mom doing in Steven's Point?"
"Visiting family."
"My family is from Steven's Point!"
I said - jokingly - we were probably related. Josh replied it was possible: his grandfather had 21 children by three different wives.
In subsequent emails, we traded family lineages. He talked to his mom this weekend: "She says Dr. Stanley delivered all of my grandma's children." (my grandfather) Dr. Stanley and Dr. Jim, actually, but Dr. Jim would have been a little young for those deliveries.
Last name, Wierzba. Silly me, I thought that might be identifying enough, but not in SP - both my mom and my uncle said, "Wierzba? There's thousands of those." Ah well. But Uncle Jim did remember the family.
My grandpa delivered Josh's mother. What are the odds?
"Beautiful, but it might snow this weekend."
I chimed in that my mom was in Steven's Point, to which I heard the surprised reply, "What's your mom doing in Steven's Point?"
"Visiting family."
"My family is from Steven's Point!"
I said - jokingly - we were probably related. Josh replied it was possible: his grandfather had 21 children by three different wives.
In subsequent emails, we traded family lineages. He talked to his mom this weekend: "She says Dr. Stanley delivered all of my grandma's children." (my grandfather) Dr. Stanley and Dr. Jim, actually, but Dr. Jim would have been a little young for those deliveries.
Last name, Wierzba. Silly me, I thought that might be identifying enough, but not in SP - both my mom and my uncle said, "Wierzba? There's thousands of those." Ah well. But Uncle Jim did remember the family.
My grandpa delivered Josh's mother. What are the odds?
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Kudos to Rep. Roach
Well, I still wish I'd had an answer to my budget questions as to what his plan is, but it's a personal and thoughtful reply, and points out some things I didn't know, so kudos to my rep for responding:
Anne-Marie,
Thank you for your comments. I didn’t know that you worked for Pete. I worked for him briefly a number of years back on the King Co. council.
Regarding the budget – generally we (republicans) would offer our plan on how to balance the budget. However, this year we decided not to. It was apparent well before we began session that Republicans were not going to be a part of budget negotiations. (We are outnumbered 61-37 in the House and 35-17 in the Senate).
Our budget writer actually has a budget proposal that would balance our budget without raising taxes. He has decided not to reveal it however, because none of the ideas he has proposed over the last couple of years have been considered. So you have to ask yourself, “why put a budget out there, that does make some tough cuts, when it will not be considered?” You know politics – the media and special interests would get a hold of it and take the focus off the real problem of living within our means.
The Governor also offered a balanced budget at the beginning of the year, so we know it’s possible.
The thing that bothers me the most right now is that things are so out of balance. It happened on a national level when Bush and the Republicans ran the place, and it’s happening now on a state level with the Democrats running the place.
I am the ranking minority member on the transportation committee. Transportation has traditionally been a bi-partisan issues. Can you guess how many of my party’s ideas have been adopted over the last two years? Zero. I’m not complaining, I’m simply saying that things are completely out of balance.
Dan
Anne-Marie,
Thank you for your comments. I didn’t know that you worked for Pete. I worked for him briefly a number of years back on the King Co. council.
Regarding the budget – generally we (republicans) would offer our plan on how to balance the budget. However, this year we decided not to. It was apparent well before we began session that Republicans were not going to be a part of budget negotiations. (We are outnumbered 61-37 in the House and 35-17 in the Senate).
Our budget writer actually has a budget proposal that would balance our budget without raising taxes. He has decided not to reveal it however, because none of the ideas he has proposed over the last couple of years have been considered. So you have to ask yourself, “why put a budget out there, that does make some tough cuts, when it will not be considered?” You know politics – the media and special interests would get a hold of it and take the focus off the real problem of living within our means.
The Governor also offered a balanced budget at the beginning of the year, so we know it’s possible.
The thing that bothers me the most right now is that things are so out of balance. It happened on a national level when Bush and the Republicans ran the place, and it’s happening now on a state level with the Democrats running the place.
I am the ranking minority member on the transportation committee. Transportation has traditionally been a bi-partisan issues. Can you guess how many of my party’s ideas have been adopted over the last two years? Zero. I’m not complaining, I’m simply saying that things are completely out of balance.
Dan
Monday, March 8, 2010
Letter to My Legislator
I got an email from my representative today, and he said he wanted my thoughts. His email explained why he voted against the current Washington budget plan and all the reasons he disliked it. He said he wanted to hear from us in the next few days before the legislature approves a final tax-and-spend budget. This is my reply.
Hi Representative Roach,
I do appreciate the thoughts you've sent along in your email.
I am not fundamentally opposed to the taxes being proposed. I do not see taxes as an evil. I see taxes as ways in which individuals contribute to their community to share the burden of a common infrastructure. I have been disheartened to see continue Republican opposition to any taxes, and that their only seeming proposal is to cut taxes, continuously. On the other hand, I do not agree with Democrats that raising taxes is the only right step. What I feel is that taxes pay for services and projects, including our roads, our schools, social services, and a number of other vital services that keep people going when they need help.
What I would like to know is what the budget looks like. From my days of working as an admin for then-Senator Peter von Reichbauer, I recall that social services was a huge portion of our budget, as was education. Here is something that would help me:
- What is the size of the budget, in dollars?
- How is that money being allocated?
- Within each area, what are key programs that are receiving money?
I absolutely feel that government is inefficient and that there are ways to save money. However, I also know that government endeavors to serve all, and that government provides a lot of good to this state and to this country. We have two options: we can cut SPENDING (not taxes) or we can raise taxes.
When you have thoughts on how you would like to cut SPENDING to keep the budget down, and can show me how that would serve our state reasonably, I'd love to hear the proposal. Until I have a better sense of where costs can come down, I have to assume that you, and other legislators, are doing what you can to hold the budget down during this biennium. So if it takes raising taxes to make that work, well, then, I applaud the Democrats for being honest about that and doing what they have to do.
Please provide me with your ideas on how you intend to make this work, and not just how you intend to oppose the Democrats and tear them down. I am SICK of politicians ripping aparts plans while offering no solutions themselves. And I am absolutely, positively, sure that I am not alone in my sentiment. Tell me how you're going to solve the problem, and I'll listen.
Yours sincerely,
---
Hi Representative Roach,
I do appreciate the thoughts you've sent along in your email.
I am not fundamentally opposed to the taxes being proposed. I do not see taxes as an evil. I see taxes as ways in which individuals contribute to their community to share the burden of a common infrastructure. I have been disheartened to see continue Republican opposition to any taxes, and that their only seeming proposal is to cut taxes, continuously. On the other hand, I do not agree with Democrats that raising taxes is the only right step. What I feel is that taxes pay for services and projects, including our roads, our schools, social services, and a number of other vital services that keep people going when they need help.
What I would like to know is what the budget looks like. From my days of working as an admin for then-Senator Peter von Reichbauer, I recall that social services was a huge portion of our budget, as was education. Here is something that would help me:
- What is the size of the budget, in dollars?
- How is that money being allocated?
- Within each area, what are key programs that are receiving money?
I absolutely feel that government is inefficient and that there are ways to save money. However, I also know that government endeavors to serve all, and that government provides a lot of good to this state and to this country. We have two options: we can cut SPENDING (not taxes) or we can raise taxes.
When you have thoughts on how you would like to cut SPENDING to keep the budget down, and can show me how that would serve our state reasonably, I'd love to hear the proposal. Until I have a better sense of where costs can come down, I have to assume that you, and other legislators, are doing what you can to hold the budget down during this biennium. So if it takes raising taxes to make that work, well, then, I applaud the Democrats for being honest about that and doing what they have to do.
Please provide me with your ideas on how you intend to make this work, and not just how you intend to oppose the Democrats and tear them down. I am SICK of politicians ripping aparts plans while offering no solutions themselves. And I am absolutely, positively, sure that I am not alone in my sentiment. Tell me how you're going to solve the problem, and I'll listen.
Yours sincerely,
---
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