Here is Job Security

I have had a fairly quiet day Tuesday.  There was enough free time that I got the commission report done early and straightened the office a bit.  Around 3:00 in the afternoon I went out to dump the trash at the Car Wash and found this.

 The walls were totaled as bad as the floors

 

It appears that some guys who have been working on the roads used the car wash to clean up.  Bay one was filled with tools and gloves, bay two had uniforms and boots, and I am not sure what was in bay three but it too was filled with road tar and gravel.  Now I do not blame these guys for making such a mess, in fact I want them to come back.  Providing a place to get things clean is what we do.  Not to mention they were out in the bays for 30 to 45 minutes.  Constant use of our bays for that much time means they spent some good money with us.  (after pulling in the cash on Wednesday, bay 1 & 2 totaled more than $50  in quarterdcombined)

The sad fact what took them 45 minutes to use took me 2 ½ hours to clean up.  I wish there was a way to do that kind of cleaning without leaving that kind of cleanup. 

 

Now a fact I knew was reinforced ,  within two minutes of getting the last bay clean a truck pulls in a uses the car wash.  The fact is a clean car wash is what people want  and the cleaner we keep it the more they will use it.

 

Hey! I am back.

I have been silent for a few weeks, but I am back. My time has been very packed. I have learned that you may be able to manage two stores, but you can’t work two stores. There is just too much to do to keep one store running let alone trying to do it twice.

My hats is of to John, not only a great guy to work with, but he puts up with my foul moods when time is not my friend. Now that we have some employees to work with at Access we can start getting things done.

As for Guardian, my wife Linda will be taking the helm on the first. This will give us a lot more time to start catching up with a lot of things. One the weeds are moving in so it is time to go to war on them. Of course this also means we get to start our favorite activity “AUCTION”!!!

I have tried this twice before, this year, but the purchase of the new facility took the front burner.

Now we are starting to pick up speed. We are now renting U-Haul trucks from the Access facility.

Debbie was the first to rent a truck. I was not there to get the historic photo. I did catch John renting his first truck the facilities second overall rental.

　

I never thought I would be excited to get back into the Truck Rental Business, yet here I am waiting to get more trucks to rent. 7 years with Budget and Ryder really took it out of me. I am really banking that the new and improved U-Haul will make up for all that. Only time will tell.

　

I am so lazy

So today I slacked off and slept most of the morning.  In fact I never opened the store at all today, I am the laziest man I know and I have proof.

I had a little outpatient surgery today and since we haven’t found the right people to work yet, I just closed shop.  Now this picture was taken while I was getting prepped for surgery.  Now I do not like needles or IV’s or anything that goes into my skin.  What can be so bad to make me make a face like that?  They cut off my bracelet!

It was just a little bit of roped but it was to remind students and parents to pray during the school year.  Our churches youth group gave those out the day before school started in 2011 and as far as we can tell mine is the only one still on a wrist. Well I should say was the only one.

I would like to say thank you to my wife Linda for taking the photos of me before the surgery.  My question is when was this picture taken and why. 

 It is obviously after the surgery (note the big bundle on my arm).  I will also say that I was awake (the glasses are on my face).  I just do not remember this picture.  Me awake, and talking, without my brain in gear it a very scary thing.

A Critical Mass Moment

Sometimes a Friday is just another day of the week, then there are days like today. I manage a small storage that we are growing into a medium size storage. With that growth comes more business which is great. Then all of a sudden you get a critical mass moment (we will call this a CMM).

Friday morning started out fairly normal I did some paperwork and then left the facility to help count money at the Car Wash. As I was leaving I received a request for help from a friend of mine, not a real problem He needs my help for about two minutes and he is willing to come by the storage. I have 55 minutes to travel one mile clear the bays and get back to the office. I should be back with about 20 minutes to spare.

When I got to Access we got right to work for about 5 minutes then we ran into a problem locking up one of the bill collectors. Once we got that put together a customer had a problem with a wash bay. Then almost immediately another customer wanted to pay a bill. When ever one of us stops the collection or the count then both of us have to stop. It is call two deep coverage and makes sure we get the most accurate count, with the highest security. High security does not make for quickest count.

We get back on track and the customer who paid the bill is now having trouble opening her door. Ok we stop again and we fix this, and back to the collection. As we get into the office I get a call from my friend that he has arrived at my office so I tell him to give me 10 minutes and I will kick it into high gear. High gear makes me 10 dollars off on my count. It was not a hard fix but at this point I had to throw in the towel. I called my friend and apologized, but work needed to come first. Dave is great and didn’t have a problem. I finished my count and got back to the office in time to kill weeds.

Killing weeds is a calming activity.

The I actually went to lunch with my youngest son. I don not take many lunches and this was a special treat.

Back to work! All I have left on the to do list is close out this day and make sure I am caught up on all deposits. No problem, its 2:15 and I can get this done in about 45 minutes. First I just need to help this customer who pulled in at the same time as I did. 20 minutes latter she has seen all the space sizes, knows the prices and specials, and leaves to go talk it over with hubby. Then the phone starts, and the parade of payments. Someone I talked to weeks ago comes in to rent a space (Yea!!). When the dust settles it 4:30 and I still haven’t started close out. (My eyes are bugging out a little) I love the business we are having but it is hitting as a CMM.

Ok time to get tough I jam out my close out, swing by Access and pick up Johns close out and off to the bank.

Have you ever had a Star Wars moment, that is when you look at something and say “ I have a bad feeling about this”. That is me pulling into the bank. The line at the commercial window is long. And I get a text from my wife to meet another friend of ours at the storage to talk about a special storage need. Not a problem the line is actually moving! I can be there at this rate by 5:30.

This is what it looked like at the time of the text.

This is what it looked like 13 minutes latter.

And this is what it looked like 15 minutes after that…

5:40 I finally left the bank, and our friend had to wait till 5:45 till I got back to the office. I love having business, I love making the company money, but I hate making anyone wait.

The last chapter…. My wife had pizza and wine for dinner. Now that was sweet.