March 25, 2014

Business as Usual

Tuesday,  March 25, 2014

Included are a few more photos from the island 

Saturday of the birds we saw.  Enjoy.

Black Skimmer

Each day at the shop is different.  The customers each have different needs.  Probably the majority just need extra copies of their keys and I sometimes get tickled at how they think I need to know why they need more or who they are for.  Sometimes when I ask, "How many?"  They will say, "One for my son, one for my neighbor, one for the cleaning lady, and an extra."  Often as they do that, they are putting up fingers to count as they go.  Other times, they tell you why they need them, like the lady who told me she put her spare in her bra as she went for a run this morning and lost it.  Every summer we have several who run over their keys with the lawn mower or drop them in the bay while on jet skis.  Sometimes the stories are interesting or funny, but sometimes I am tired or there is a line of other customers and I just want to know how many they want so I can finish and take care of the next customer.

Roseate Spoonbills

Today I kept pretty busy.  Ron was out much of the day on jobs and I had many customers to help.  Some of the customers are hard to hear.  Some are hard to understand, and some don't speak my language.  The first customer I waited on this morning didn't speak English.  I understood enough of his Spanish to know he was talking about the lock on his car.  We do very little work on cars, so I gave him the phone numbers of two other locksmiths who might be able to help him.  No, that was not what he wanted.  So he motioned he wanted to show me something.  I don't like to go out and look at their cars because there is nothing I can do to help them fix it.  But he walked to the door of the business and did a very good pantomime of spraying graphite in the lock.  "Oh, you want to buy graphite?"  So I made a sale.  I would not want to be on the opposing team to play Charades against him!  He was good!

Black-necked Stilt

The next customer told me he wanted 10 copies.  I repeated it back to him and he said, "Yes."  He watched me cut all 10 keys and then said, "NO, I said 3."  My hearing is bad but not that bad.  Then a salesman came in and stayed an hour hoping Ron would be back, but we had a nice visit.  He is a new one with a company we don't buy from very often.  I was able to share with him about my hearing loss and he said he met a man last week who lost him hearing but then got it back.  Yes, some do.  I didn't.  He shared some major health issues he and his wife have been through and it is the kind of situation that makes you so thankful for your own set of problems as compared to theirs.

Elegant (or Royal) Tern

Opinions?

He and another customer today talked about being without insurance (the salesman has it now, but didn't for a while).  The other was a lady who was limping.  I asked about her problem and she explained that the doctor wants to do knee replacement surgery but she has no insurance.  One doctor had done one procedure for $8,000 cash in advance, and it didn't solve the problem.  The cost of health care is a problem in the United States, but the Affordable Care Act is not making health care affordable. 

Great Blue Heron

Ron was in the office long enough for me to eat my lunch, but then was gone again.  He got back around 4:00 so I could leave to get ready for quilting at our house.  I had a couple of stops to make on the way home.  Once I got home, I took care of my supper and fed the birds and filled the birdbaths.

The hibiscus plants in the yard are blooming beautifully.  I really enjoy them.

At quilting only 2 of the ladies were able to come, but we had a good visit and I accomplished nothing except to have a relaxed visit - which when you think about it is a pretty good thing.