Monday, August 03, 2009

Clogged, Stalled, Hampered...

(^ My current status in three words ^)

Major effort does not always produce positive results
in our first attempts. Is that normal?
Or am I dumber than normal? Too blonde?

Criminycrackshit.

Flea Market = No Go.
In five weeks I took in $62. Rent paid = almost 5x that.
I removed all my products from the Flea-O Market-O.
Fine. On to...

1. Trying to create the finishing touches for the on-line store.
Unfortunately, still learning the tricks of the new camera to
produce clear, readable photos. Making progress, but... when?
Soon, I hope. (Thank you, Berry, for continuing to help.)

2. Getting information from as many small local arts/crafts shows
as I can find. (Dozens)
Whothefuckaretheykidding??
For 1 or 2-day events, the entry fees are outrageous.
More money than I feel comfortable investing on another gamble.
I know, I know. Risk is unavoidable in business.
But, I believe a better effort in developing the on-line store makes
more sense. At least for now.

And, of course, daily life must be dealt with...

Last week, the clothes dryer died.
The drum seemed to be jammed.
In the garage, in the heat, it took quite a while for me to
figure out how to get it apart. Then, when I did, there is a
squirrel corpse wedged where it should not be.
Bloating. Messy. *gag*
I still can't get the dryer to run so I've had to make trips to the
public laundromat.
(I know I'm whining here but, this was not in my plan.)

Thennnnnnnnnnnn... there's been so much rain and
I have been so terribly neglectful that my yard looks like,
not just a jungle but, an overgrown jungle. Yeah, that bad.
The only lawnmower I have is one of those push-reel types.
It is completely worthless, especially now.
So, I swallowed my pride and asked to borrow a mower from a
neighbor. He brought it over late last night.
As in, too dark to mow.
I mowed less than half the yard this morning because
I have to mow every spot over and over again. I think I'm going
to owe this neighbor a new mower blade by the time I'm done.
Took a break for lunch, to cool off and to run a couple of errands.
Now, I can't get the mower to start again, it's getting ready to rain
again and the only neighbors at home are decrepit females.
The mower-owner doesn't usually get home from his business
before 7 or 8 in the evening. Crap.

If there was a brick wall close by, I'd bang my head against it.
Repeatedly.

Since I have probably succeeded in either boring you or irritating
you, I'm going to suggest that you read a few other bloggers with
much more valid reasons for ranting than I have blathered about here.

Actually, the topic they are all addressing, pisses me off, too.
Since I am more than lame when it comes to politics, you would
do much better to read VMan, Dick and Joanie.

edit: Click on Joanie first, then you'll know what I'm talking
about. VMan and Dick have done more posting, so you'll
need to scroll down a bit at their places. sorry.
I'm too lazy to link correctly right now.




13 comments:

Carteach said...

Jean, why are you not posting photos of the items here on the blog? Why not start a new blog to sell your works on? Pain in the ass? Maybe, but FREE and it's a start. I sold much of what I posted on 'From the Earth' while it was up, and it only got 20-40 hits a day. The trick is for your friends to link it, and post about it.... and I think you have many friends.

If your work is small enough, ship things to me and I will take photos for you. Email me about that if you wish.... you have mine. I'd be very, very glad to do it for you.

Jean said...

Bless you :-)
I am working on a new blog for the store:
http://theponderingstore.blogspot.com

Carteach said...

Kewl! How much are the mugs? Are they man sized or itty bitty goyl sized?

Jean said...

heh... 14 oz, $12.00.

Doom said...

Nope, didn't get bored and do not want more political bad news or anger. Sometimes it is good to know I am not the only one. And, it is probably just as good that you have some of us to listen to it. Sometimes just being being heard helps. It doesn't fix much, but it gets it off the chest and allows one to reassess, take stock, and try to figure out which to do first, when to do it, and all that.

I certainly feel sympathy and empathy. Some of it is foreign to me, some of it I know. And, I will put you in the special prayer queue. I know it may not seem like much, and even if something works out, you may need it again and later, but this I can do. And, of course, just listening (or reading). I wish I could just drive over and get the mower going and maybe work it a bit, but my mileage sucks, when added to my account balance and the distance anyway.

the walking man said...

Jean my dear and darling correspondent friend...I am going to teach to speak Detroit.

There is benefit in knowing this simple language, especially once you come to the place where it is the first response ot all negatives in life.

Ready?...............................
.....................................
...................................
"fuck it."

and if it people causing the consternation......................
....................................
...................................
"fuck 'em."

Living Dees Life said...

hey sweety! sending you tons of hugs!! and rant all you need! gotta get out the frustrations some how

boneman said...

OK, well, that all looks like fun, but, the problems at hand.
Squirrel bloated? You have a fine piece of goodwill junk, there. Sorry. I once had a friend with a vet he bought for a mere $500. Yeah...that's right. five hundred dollars.
The previous owner went out into the countryside and committed suicide (hose fed into the window, and the window sealed with rags and such)
Stayed there for two weeks.

Bob bought the car thinking what a great deal, he'll just dose it with a can of fancy spray, be good as new.
HA!
Ten cans of spray, I have no idea how many packets of incense, open jars of vinegar (it would have been better than the carcass smell left there) and he ended up pulling the engine, transmission, rims...sold them for parts.
Didn't do bad in the long run, but, the lesson learned was, carcass smell sticks with where it became a carcass.
Don't let on about the squirrel. Roll it out to the curb, call goodwill.
Sorry

There is no end to how many ways you can hook up a drying line in your garage.
a photo or two would help me to see the system best for you till your Pondering Store picks up enough to get you a new dryer. (by the way...from the first of this comment, you know not to buy a dryer from goodwill, right?)

The grass.
Girl, lawn is a terrible weed that America has so fallen in love with, it's stupid.
There are several avenues to consider.
Cheap throw rugs...probably from (you guessed it) goodwill.
Anywhere, really.
Cover some of the grass for a week and it'll cut way easier.
Still tiough? Another week. STILL TOUGH!? cover it for a month. Whirte grass is easy to cut, no matter how long it got. Sparky will probably think you're giving him fence to fence rug, but, when you're done, there are still other things you can consider.
Mulch, about four inches deep will slow down most growing lawns for about three months (that's Indiana, so, I don't know how long it'll keep Florida grass down.
Once gone, though, no mowing needed. Another avenue to consider is the fifteen dollar kid. He mows, you give him fifteen bucks.
Ice tea and cookies for a break in the middle should keep him from whining about it being not enough. Play the part of a dumb old lady ....it may not suit you, but, it works like a charm on kids. Boy scouts are real friendly in that way....

I have to cop to a mistake i said to you.
Perhaps you didn't understand and I'm such a dummy when I write sometimes.
I had suggested to you to not have your profile or blog listing at Pondering Store. That was to keep folks from going from there to here.
You should, however, have a link from here to there. Your friends might want to buy something....
Like that CarteachO guy.
Sales isn't hard if you have something worth buying. I use my mug all the time. And, I use the coffee mug you sent, too.
The t-shirt is interesting.
Folks look at the "Podering......." and are impressed with it, but, none have asked me where i got it. I guess that's as much because they think they have something better or that they can just go home and write it on their own shirt.
I dunno.
I think it's a cool shirt, none-the-less.

Festivals and flea markets. Yes...I may have mentioned that's a hard way to do what you're doing, but, your enthusiasm sounded like you might very well pull it off. Don't turn your back on the idea all together, but, weigh your chances carefully next time.
Personally, I think a little online store might just fly.
There's also e-bay, etsy, and any of a few dozen arts and craft online stores that either have no charge or a commission thing.

I'de go on and on and on (oh, sure...like I haven't already) but, I have to get cleaned up to go to the horse show.
And, more than likely, nothing I have will sell.
But the center sure likes me for volunteering the way I do. So, where I lack in sales, I reap in friends.



d=))

Lacey said...

Not boring or irritating. Not to me, anyway.

It's honest. Honest is good in my book.

Anonymous said...

When you get hold of that brick wall, reach for a sledgehammer instead of your head. ;)

I hope things turn for the better.

Enigma said...

Jean,
Get some more stuff up on your blog. Gets those pics moving! Then your army of blog buddies will get the word out!
Keep the faith! If the mountain were smooth, you couldn't climb it.
-E

Jean said...

Doom, I always appreciate all of my readers for listening. It means a lot. And, your prayers are always appreciated, too.
You're right, this is a good place to vent and step back.
Completely understand the mileage issue *g* but thanks for the offer to help with the mower. Got rained out this afternoon so I'll try again tomorrow.

Mark...you dear, sweet man. I came back to your comment several times just so I could laugh. AND practice Detroit Speak.
......fuck it......... ..........
...........fuck 'em.......
how was that? Thank you d:-)

Blaez...thank you, dear! Hope you are well. I'll visit soon.

Berry...a Corvette for $500?
Well, dang..... but that was an enclosed space. I tossed some mothballs under the dryer and it is helping already.
Thanks, too, for the lawn advice d:-)
I will most definitely put a link here to theponderingstore.
I think my Balloon shirt will do better than the Pondering shirt...and, I have more ideas for more shirts and mugs.
Not totally giving up on the art shows but am putting them on hold for right now because of the expense. Need to get the storeblog done! I agree, I think it will do pretty well.
Reaping friends is always a good thing. sorry to hear you got rained out today.

Linda Ray...you and I think alike.
That's why we are friends :-)

Mr. Evans, Esq... sorry your first visit here turned out to be one of my whinefests. Welcome and please come back.
(I really like the sledgehammer idea!)

E - "if the mountain were smooth, you couldn't climb it."
Damn, I like that!

Joan of Argghh! said...

Yep. We're just waiting on the word.

And you still haven't been to the boutique stores in your area? Palm Coast and The Hammocks?