4 January 2009

So it's the end of another holiday season...

While I'm sorry to see some of the festivities go, I can honestly say I'm happy to be moving on into a new year. December was, at least for me, a blur of work, not enough sleep, and more work with a big measure of drywall dust, postal dust (your average mail is surprisingly dirty), and paint.

We've got essentially a brand new store now, or as more than one person has expressed "it's just like a real store now". Which leaves me wondering: what exactly did they think we were going for before?

Anyway again, thanks to the many wonderful people who have helped us out along the way...like Cam Marshall who kept showing up, day after day, and working like a dog. We would not have been even close to finished as we are if it were not for him.

And also thanks to Jens Nyboe who gave up a precious Sunday afternoon to reroute a strange little sink that was at the back of the main sales space into the service corridor where it more rightly belonged. He also discovered some very...odd...things about the furnace on the new side. It's surprising it didn't get up and walk away under its own power considering how unbalanced everything is in there.

We also learned that repeatedly cleaning out painbrushes, rollers, and trays without running enough water afterwards leads to the plumbing equivalent of hardening of the arteries. Perhaps I should not have said that. Our landlord could theoretically be reading this blog.

So just a head's up - we're not quite finished moving stuff around. The floor on the new side is non-slip but also abrasive like sand paper. I suspect the wooden shelves are all two inches shorter now just for being dragged around that floor so much as we tried to figure out the most logical places to put things.

It's also a crazy and somewhat traumatic time for Fred...most of his hiding places have been changed or eliminated.

Speaking of trauma...I should probably write this down so there is a record because the story is already changing from the retelling of it:

On Dec 30th, we decided to move the cash till from the old side to the new side of the building. It just makes sense, especially since the door on the new side is better.

As part of our alarm system, we have what is known as a hold up button. It's what the staff presses if we're being robbed or need a quick police response and 911 just isn't an option. I won't go too much into detail about how the thing actually works it except to say that we had to disconnect the button temporarily in order to move the till. On the evening of the 30th, I left the button hanging out of the ceiling. We called the alarm company, advised them that we'd be doing this and to ignore alarms from the button until the technician could come to fix it.

Early (I mean 7:30 am) on the morning of Dec 31, I went to the Store with Fred so that I could finish re-routing the telephone cable to the new side. Just before I disconnected the phone, since I had the ladder handy, I decided it would be a good idea to tuck that panic button up into the ceiling. Past experience has taught me that cryptic hanging wires coming out of the ceiling can spook customers. So I took care of it (and in the process somehow unknowingly managed to trigger the button) and then I went happily to my task of running phone lines.

About five minutes later, I went to the front of the Store and I have to say it was quite beautiful how the blue and red lights strobed across our newly painted walls (keep in mind it was still really dark outside).

And then I had police officers hammering at the door. I let them in and I swear I'm not making this up...two of them had their hands on their guns. Apparently when I'm stressed, I lose control of my hands in what, in some situations - like this one- could be considered a somewhat threatening manner.

They were taking it seriously because the protocol when the hold up button is pushed is for the alarm company to call, and then for the police to call. Which they did. I have the two hang-up messages on the voice mail to prove it. What I didn't get was the actual calls, which could have prevented the whole situation except...did I mention I was in the middle of re-running the phone cord so that the staff wouldn't have a cord dangling down in front of their faces as they were working cash?

So I explained about the button but it didn't seem as though they believed me much (I was dressed in filthy work clothes..oh, and did I mention I was freaking out?) So they actually searched the building looking for, I'm guessing, hostages. At one point I heard them laugh in the back (by that point I was on the phone to the alarm company trying to figure out what the heck was going on seeing as we'd called to inform them that this work was being done and to put that button on "ignore" for the time being. Apparently they had a new guy working the day we'd called and "New guy" interpreted "for the time being" as "turn the button back on precisely at 6 pm the previous night so that Chris can have the daylights scared out of him by grimly efficient polices officers the next morning. "New guy", wherever you are...dude...you really have to work on your active listening skills.

Eventually the two humourless officers left (I honestly think they were just a little disappointed that nothing more than some simple confusion was going down) and the third officer took some notes.

The entire time Fred lay sprawled out on the floor like a throw rug. Apparently that's what they had been laughing about earlier. I'm guessing he must have flopped onto their feet as they were searching the place. Fred is a pretty face and a charmer but he's no guard dog. Either that or he's smart enough not to mess with cops (did I mention the guns?)

So that's the actual story. No SWAT team. I didn't get strip searched. Fred did not try to be a hero (for which I will be eternally grateful because it would be a very hard thing to explain to Ed and everyone else if I'd gotten Fred shot)

And I'm happy to say that everything, at least when it comes to the wiring of various devices and buttons has now been taken care of.

Other news...it's Fireside this coming Friday. No topic set yet, however, hopefully that changes.
The Fireside space is cleaner and less cluttered than it's ever been (I even cleaned the carpets! With a new brand of cleaner! They are, quite literally, minty fresh!).

We look forward to seeing everyone. It will be very nice once things get back to normal, or what passes for normal, around here.