I bid a job back in January of 2010 for a developer I do work for from time to time. I have revised the proposal at least three times and thought it would never come to fruition. The job consist of a small amount of demo, custom millwork and all new furniture and accessories for an apartment building clubhouse and business center in New Hampshire.
Well, here we are, a year later and the job has finally been approved and needs to be completed PRONTO!!! I am so happy that I stuck it out, because so many times when that phone would ring, or that email would come in, I thought, here we go again, more changes with no end in sight, and no money.
You see, I have bid many a job for this developer, and I am up against some very well known and respected Design firms/Staging Companies across the country. I can't always bid where they want me to because I am one person with a Part-time installer who helps me. Those of you who know me, know that this very trusted bull of a man is my loving Brother in Law Len.
Well, needless to say, Lenny and I went to New Hampshire. The craziness started the day before, with me getting a truck that was too small to fit all the furniture and accessories I had stored in my warehouse (garage) and having my wonderful husband say, I knew it was too small, you do it every time...what was it that Ralph on the Honeymooners used to say.."the moon Alice..." Anyway, as punishment he was forced to meet Len at the Uhaul place and trade trucks...which meant transferring everything that we already packed (about 15 huge baxes-70lbs each) to the other truck.
In hopes that my 2 rather large pieces of glass for table tops would not break. we set out the next morning at 6:30 a.m. for N.H. Lenny driving the truck, me driving my Volvo full of accessories. We made it with no speeding ticket and no major breakages. We worked tirelessly all day only stopping for bathroom breaks and lunch and finally completed the job at 11:30 at night. We then hit every single garbage dumpster on the property to rid ourselves of a truck load of cardboard before hitting the road at midnight. We did it and were slightly fired up at how well it went.
All in all, this is truly my favorite part of the job. The install. The true challenge of it all is working with existing situations that may not be ideal...in this case we had to keep the existing flooring (ugly carpet in both rooms) and only the Clubhouse and Business Center were done, not the corridors that lead to it. The client was happy, NY developer happy=Me very happy and paid finally!!!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Cleanliness is next to Godliness
I have clearly been procrastinating...actually, I couldn't decide what to write about next! I had so many ideas and started writing a few and scrapped them. Then I woke up this morning and could only think about getting my shit together and really getting organized, and then it came to me...Organization and order.
So, needless to say, I spent all morning getting organized, and really this is not a difficult task for me, I love when things are neat and tidy and put in their place. It gives me a sense of calm. Its the strangest thing that something as simple as having all your ducks in a row can really bring peace and harmony. It is such a stressful thing to know you have ten different piles of things to do and no time or energy to sort through them.
Everyone has a baseline for what is and what isn't orderly. My baseline tends to be pretty neat and clean. I like that fact that at any time, I am ready to entertain. A quick wipe down of any surface and few chips and wine (always wine) and I am ready. For the most part I can thank my parents for this.
My father was military all the way...all his drawers were color coded, he had an entire tallboy dedicated to socks. Yellow ones, brown, green, navy blue, light blue, black and oh yes, white ones too, they all had their own drawers. You see, this is the foundation, he was a little OCD with it, but taught us well. My mother is very stereo-typical British, and would basically walk around with a white glove. If things were not perfection, then she would freak out and you'd have to start all over, meaning she'd rip the room apart!
It all worked out in the end. I took with me, an ability to be highly organized and achieve a sense of harmony in my home and workplace. I think, that if nothing else, we all need a little peace and harmony in our lives and this can so easily be accomplished by simply arranging the things around you in an orderly and consistent fashion.
Yes, you can clean and it feels good for that day. The kids come home or you husband, and things get thrown off. The BIG idea is to keep up with it and have a "place" for everything. It all needs a permanent home. This is not to say that you can't have a junk drawer, but really try to keep it a little organized, so its not a disaster to go into. The whole idea is to make your life easier and to know where things are when you need them.
When organizing a linen closet for instance, I like to have all my bath towels on one shelf. I like them all to be folded the same way and have them all stacked with their folds going the same way, so it looks like a nice neat pile. I keep all my wash clothes and hand towels stacked on another shelf and so on and so forth. It so much nicer to open that closet and see it orderly than to have things falling on me as I open the door.
I have a few friends, you know who you are, who are absolute slobs! I have no idea how they get anything accomplished being so disorganized. I hope this will inspire you to get rid of a pile or tackle a closet and try to bring a little peace and harmony into your home or office. Good Luck!!
So, needless to say, I spent all morning getting organized, and really this is not a difficult task for me, I love when things are neat and tidy and put in their place. It gives me a sense of calm. Its the strangest thing that something as simple as having all your ducks in a row can really bring peace and harmony. It is such a stressful thing to know you have ten different piles of things to do and no time or energy to sort through them.
Everyone has a baseline for what is and what isn't orderly. My baseline tends to be pretty neat and clean. I like that fact that at any time, I am ready to entertain. A quick wipe down of any surface and few chips and wine (always wine) and I am ready. For the most part I can thank my parents for this.
My father was military all the way...all his drawers were color coded, he had an entire tallboy dedicated to socks. Yellow ones, brown, green, navy blue, light blue, black and oh yes, white ones too, they all had their own drawers. You see, this is the foundation, he was a little OCD with it, but taught us well. My mother is very stereo-typical British, and would basically walk around with a white glove. If things were not perfection, then she would freak out and you'd have to start all over, meaning she'd rip the room apart!
It all worked out in the end. I took with me, an ability to be highly organized and achieve a sense of harmony in my home and workplace. I think, that if nothing else, we all need a little peace and harmony in our lives and this can so easily be accomplished by simply arranging the things around you in an orderly and consistent fashion.
Yes, you can clean and it feels good for that day. The kids come home or you husband, and things get thrown off. The BIG idea is to keep up with it and have a "place" for everything. It all needs a permanent home. This is not to say that you can't have a junk drawer, but really try to keep it a little organized, so its not a disaster to go into. The whole idea is to make your life easier and to know where things are when you need them.
When organizing a linen closet for instance, I like to have all my bath towels on one shelf. I like them all to be folded the same way and have them all stacked with their folds going the same way, so it looks like a nice neat pile. I keep all my wash clothes and hand towels stacked on another shelf and so on and so forth. It so much nicer to open that closet and see it orderly than to have things falling on me as I open the door.
I have a few friends, you know who you are, who are absolute slobs! I have no idea how they get anything accomplished being so disorganized. I hope this will inspire you to get rid of a pile or tackle a closet and try to bring a little peace and harmony into your home or office. Good Luck!!
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