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Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Comments Please, Stone Laying and Spending Time With Friends, Jubilees are All Done and Sales Approach $3,000

I am noticing that plenty of you are reading my posts, but almost no comments are forthcoming regarding any of the topics that I am writing about, which surprises me as I had hoped that some of them would spark some discussion. I feel that my readers would benefit from hearing other people's perspectives about some of the topics that I am raising in my posts. The only way that I know of to achieve this is if readers leave a comment when some idea resonates with them or they disagree with something I have said, or have something to add. So please, if you read something that touches a nerve, please leave a comment.

One of the main reasons why I left the world of public accounting is the lack of flexibility and work-life balance. Having to drive into the office every day and having to be there every day engenders an inflexible mindset. Even though I always had the option of leaving the office to tend to a personal matter, I rarely did as I knew that my absence would be noticed. My best friend is going through some trying times right now and getting together has proven to be difficult for both of us. So when I was invited to join him in laying some stonework at his parents' cottage on a Friday, I could hardly pass it up. To me, being able to take the day off to go be with him is the main reason why I became self employed.

He and his dad were laying a slate pathway from the driveway to the front steps:





I have seen countless walkways like this and I never gave much thought to all the work that goes into laying them. To do it quickly, you have to have excellent spatial skills and an excellent sense of geometry. You have to select stones whose angles will complement each other, while not leaving odd angles that cannot be easily matched later. Of course when you buy the slate from the landscape supply, it comes in large skids and you never know what your slabs will look like, so laying the walkway is like putting together a jigsaw puzzle with pieces that weigh between 20 and 80 pounds each. What you see there took 3 days to lay and cut. Cuts were made with a stone saw and it created a lot of dust.

Working together in the sun was fun and it gave my friend and I a chance to properly catch up and talk. I also got to know his parents better, as I had met them a few times before, but only socially and never really spoke to them for more than a few minutes before. This it what life is all about - spending time with people that you care about. I just hope that things work out for him.

Last week, I met my target of completing the listings for the Jubilees, and I managed to link my blogs to Google +, which has increased the readership twofold. I have fallen quite far behind on posting to the Canadian stamp blog though, so I think I will take a couple of hours today to compose some posts for that blog. Sales over the weekend were brisk and I now am approaching $3,000 for a month and a half of sales activity, which continues to be promising. I think my biggest problem will actually be labour: finding enough labour to get all the inventory I do have up for sale. I am thinking that I may search for some retired people who are interested in part time work to help me out. I found a website "Retiredworker.ca" where I can post jobs aimed at people who are 50-64. I have thought for a while about who the best people to hire would be and I came to realize that because I can't afford to pay high salaries, I need to find people who would enjoy the stimulating nature of the work and for whom money is not their primary concern. Based on this, I don't think youth would be the best employees, but rather older, educated people who might be interested in what I am trying to do.

Tonight, I am making a slow cooker chicken taco salad and will post the recipe online tomorrow if it turns out.



1 comment:

  1. The best way to know someone is to spend time with them anyway you can.

    PS: you write good.

    ReplyDelete