In our household (as I suspect is true in many households) my Spouse is the “love” and I am the “discipline” for our Daughter. Now as with all generalizations, this isn’t entirely accurate, but it does reflect typical roles we play as parents.
Tonight when I got home I asked Daughter to pause the TV and go straighten her room while I finished some things downstairs in the shop before dinner. When I come back upstairs Daughter is in front of the TV again and room is still a wreck which is clearly visible as I transit the stairs. I inquire to Daughter what has happened and she says “she didn’t get to it” which leads to a predictable parent response from me “Turn off the TV and take care of your room NOW.”
At which point Daughter heads to room to clean and bursts into tears. Apparently she had a very bad day at school, was over-loaded with homework, and too many extra-curricular activities on the first day back from spring break. To her credit, she works with me and straightens the room but doesn’t calm down.
So Spouse says “go finish the dinner, calming the Daughter is not your forte” which unfortunately is true. We trade and Daughter is calmed by Spouse, I get dinner on the table and away we go. A good reconfiguration that led to reconciliation and harmony.
Which leads me to the reconfiguration at the store. We got some fixtures last week and thought we had them the way we wanted them. But, after living with them for a few days, it became clear that the original configuration simply didn’t work. Thus this week we reconfigured the store and voila! It works.
Sometimes the wind (circumstances) change and it’s time to take a new tack. Don’t be afraid to take a reconfiguration and try again. Life is a great experiment!
Why no picture? My posts always have pictures (at least I try.) That’s because most of what I’m working on is not photogenic at present. Inventory. Fixtures. Product Designs. Forms. Yes, Forms. And more Forms.
Filed for our Half Moon Bay Business License and Alarm Permit today. That was fun. Still have the sign stuff to go.
Cleaning. The whole family is cleaning fixtures that are on site. Did a little reconfiguration today decoupling a tall glass doored cabinet and an apothecary counter. The resulting design looks and feels MUCH better.
Daughter, who had this day off as the remnant of spring break, complained about spending her day in the store cleaning things. Until she was paid by Spouse (brilliant.) She now wants to do something tomorrow (we’ll see about that after homework.)
Doing some non-store paperwork too as I’m about to embark upon some consulting over the next few months to help the cash-flow situation out. You can never have too much cash flow! It seems that there are 2 gigs I’ll do concurrently (developer related and open source software related) and one possibility for (platform/apps related) still pending. I might grow to like this as a way to have a bit of variety.
If we get things cleaned up and the minor carpentry work done, I’ll share a photo on my next post. Now, back to Inventory. And Forms. Etcetera.
The first batch of fixtures we purchased from a local collector rolled up in a big rental truck yesterday. There are five pieces in the batch including 2 apothecary style counters, a large cabinet with glass doors, a small glass display case, and a hardware cabinet (think like a small library card catalog.) Click the image right to enlarge.
We are delighted to see these pieces in situ -> they have started to fill the shop in a good way. We have some cleaning and minor reconditioning to complete before they are ready for service. Boy, do they look good just being there!
The team that brought the furniture out was efficient, had a good sense of humor, and got the items in place safely (without injuring themselves, the articles, or the store!) As a bonus shop warming gift, the collector threw in two ship’s wheels of different sizes we love and will find a good use for. Things are progressing nicely.
Next up is the work table and benches…stay tuned.
We identified the physical space for our shop in Half Moon Bay, California in January, 2012. We started talking about the project in early February, 2012 when the renovation got underway. Now, April 2, 2012, we have completed the renovation of the physical space (with lots of expert help on the floors, electric, framing, plumbing, and phone/internet.)
Spouse, Daughter, and I were roaming in the space this evening enjoying the fruits of many people’s hard work and dedication inclusive of:
The flooring company, the HVAC company, and the drywall company (landlord engaged, I don’t know their names, but they deserve special mention for the great results.) The electrical contractor – Bowerman Electric (thanks Steve & crew!) Katja Rimmi for color selection. Larry Mohr (and associates) for painting execution. Rob Genovesi who installed the phone and internet from Coastside Net. Bill Mahar from Alain Pinel Reality who helped us navigate the lease and associated documents.
And last, but certainly not least, Paul & Mary Bettencourt. The Bettencourts own the entire building which houses Cottage Industries, an apartment, and our new store. Paul & Mary didn’t behave as landlords, rather as partners in helping us shape the space and ready it for our new venture. We couldn’t have gotten here without their active support and contribution to the finished space. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.
We’re now fully in fixture and inventory mode. We expect the first shipment of fixtures to arrive this week. It’s a great adventure and we can’t wait to share the new store with anyone who wishes to visit! (Once we open our doors for business 😉 )
Yesterday, for reasons that are boring, I found myself needing to get from Daly City back to Montara, about a 15 mile trek. Since time wasn’t an issue, I decided to issue myself a challenge to get home using only public transportation, which in this area means the bus.
The experiment started by going to the SamTrans website on my mobile phone to find routes and timing. The information was there, but not in a terribly useful format, there was a link to an application for the local transit agencies called 511.org – which was mostly useful in finding a route from point A to home.
My only complaint about the app is that the map is not a normal map driven app, it’s a little goofy on the UI front; but none-the-less serviceable. The app directed me to SamTrans route 112 which necessitated a mile and half walk to the bus stop. Unfortunately, the bus only runs every hour and I had just missed the prior run.
Eventually, the bus arrived numbered #670, and I got on and payed my $2 to catch a ride. The bus body was a Gillig and was configured for 45 seats. When I got on, I was the lone rider. During the 45 minute ride the peak number of riders was 12 and the average number was 5. There were 22 stops that were made. Those are the bare facts of the first leg of the journey.
I sat in the back row, where at one point I was joined by a Jeff Spicoli wannabe and a Jay-like (from Kevin Smith movies) dude. They predictably transacted some sort of (I presume) illicit deal right in the open. I could certainly smell the pungent aroma of the wacky tobacco on both of them. Another couple appeared to be developmentally disabled. There was a smattering of senior citizens and of young people of perhaps high school or college age. And there were a few working people making their commute as well. It was an interesting ride.
When I got to Pacifica, the final link was the 294 route to Montara. Which was no longer running so I had a choice of walking, taxi, or calling for a ride. I chose the latter.
The learning I take from this is that if public transit was your only option, it would be nearly impossible to move around this part of the Bay Area with any confidence. It would introduce a new set of variables limiting movement on other people’s time schedule and coverage capabilities. That being said, even if it is difficult, it is possible.
As Alan Kay says “A change in perspective is worth 80 IQ points.” Not only is this kind of experiment important from a perspective basis, but also for empathy’s sake. It’s a tough road if you don’t have your own wheels for whatever reason. My hat is off to those who do this regularly.
