Moving Update

Since my last post many things have gotten done. The inspector finally came - before the fire department. He signed off on the store and then said we could open as soon as the fire department came. They finally came about an hour later. In fact they drove by the store and I ran out to flag them down!!! In the meantime Gary was coming up from Branson and stopped in the fire department to try to hurry things up. So a few wires crossed there. But it all turned out well. They signed off and we opened the store officially at 3:30 pm. Pretty much a bust of a day. I turned several people away - but hopefully they will or have already returned. We have everything pretty much arranged - needs to be tweaked - but that will come.  It looks pretty good to me. I have been training a couple of people to watch the store while I am gone on my trip with Gary. Not my favorite thing to do - but it has to be done. It is very hard for me to explain things that I just do without thinking about them!!! We have one more large piece of the puzzle to finish this move (and many small pieces!!) We still have to move our sign. It is amazing to me, with the economy so low, that people will not even call you back. I get fifteen calls a day from telemarketers - but if someone is supposed to be bidding on something - nothing!!  Finally we got someone - now - again - we are waiting on the city for the permit. I have resigned my self to the fact that it may not happen before we leave on our trip. Would sure be nice if I get surprised though.

My Aching Back

Well, we spent two very long days moving our product and shelves, and setting up the new place. We had some very good friends help us and we got so much done on Sunday that we were very encouraged that night. When we woke up on Monday - I told Gary "today is going to be harder". Little did I know. First of all we were already tired. Next, we got the usual curse of At&T. They came to hook up our phone line and the guys starts to leave. Gary says "What about a box". He is like - I know nothing about a box. Gary knew he had told them we needed one because they gave him the amount to put one in. So the guy sits in his truck for an hour waiting to get clearance to put a box in---now, it seems a no brainer to me, that he could have had the box in and been gone in a hour!! Finally they told him to go ahead. Next thing we find out is that they do not automatically assume that the DSL line is going to follow the phone line. Gary spent a couple of hours on the phone trying to get that done and then another hour trying to get our internet back up and running. Finally, he got lucky and spoke to the right young man and got everything up and going. Internet is pretty important when you take credit cards!! So today, after a stop at the old place to pick up a few things, I hit the new place at 8 a.m. The electricians were here waiting to be let in - which was not supposed to be my duty - but I let them in. We needed them to hook a few final things up so we could get our final inspection and a certificate of occupancy. They got done about 9:30 and I have been waiting on the city guy ever since. It is now 1:30. Very frustrated to say the least. I cannot imagine that there is that much going on in Nixa that he could not get to a business for a petty little sign off in 4 hours. Meanwhile the landlord is calling very hour to see if he has shown and then he is calling the city. Some things convince me that Nixa could care less about their businesses. So far I have turned away six people, and that is without a sign up or an open sign on. I just don't know why everything has to be so difficult. When they did it at the old place - he stepped inside the door and handed me a slip of paper - never looked at a thing. Of course I am sure he would never admit that. This to shall pass and my store is in much larger hands than mine. Welllllll....just got a call that the inspector guy has been waiting all day on the fire department to come do their walk through. Which never happened last time either!!! Our landlord thinks it is going to be done soon - so lets keep our fingers crossed!!!

Moving Day

Today we begin the actual physical move of our store to the new place a few blocks away. Today is Saturday and we have been open. We begin after we close at 5 pm. To say it has already been an incredibly busy time would be an understatement. We attended a funeral in northwest Kansas last weekend. Gary went to work one day and then picked Brad up at the airport on Tuesday morning. They shopped for Brad a car all day Tuesday. Gary did work a bit on Wednesday and then hit it hard on the new place on Thursday. He had previously painted the walls. He remodeled my cash wrap. It is a pretty shiny black marble looking thing now. Very classy!! He also built a couple of wing walls up front so we can do window displays. Brad helped him hang a couple of pieces of slat wall on the east wall. Today Brad helped him clean and finish up over there to get ready for product to get moved. There will be a lot done in the next few days. We hope to open back up over there on Tuesday morning. There is much to be done between now and then. Makes me tired just thinking about it!!! Actually, Gary is pulling stuff out of the back room even as we speak.