January 12, 2016

A Cool, Gray Day

January 12, 2016

The cormorants arrived early this evening to find their spots in the trees.

Today was cool and cloudy all day.  There was a little drizzle a couple of times, but nothing measurable.  I got to the office just before 10:00 and Ron soon left on jobs and was gone much of the day.  I stayed busy with customers most of the time.  There were some good sales and nice customers. 

There was not too much time to do my desk work, since I was helping customers, but that was fine.  It kept me active.  The majority of our customers are men.  They are often those doing physical labor all day: men from the utility company, firemen, policemen, Border Patrol agents, mechanics, maintenance men, and truck drivers.  We get our share of doctors, judges, attorneys, insurance agents, and businessmen.  The variety of people is really amazing. 

If I have time, I often ask the customers about their jobs, especially if the name of their company is one I am not familiar with.  A couple of days ago a man was in and his company had an account with us.  I had never known what type of work his company does, so I asked.  He said they are a storage facility.  In the discussion, he mentioned wax (paraffin).  They store and transfer wax (and many other things).  I just never thought about how you transport wax.  I asked if it was in the solid form and he said no, it is kept at a temperature to store and transport as a liquid.  I learn something new every day.  It is amazing the wide variety of businesses in our area.

Again, as I have mentioned in the past, I had gotten to a point even way before my total hearing loss, where I did not try to engage in discussions with customers since I knew I would not hear them well enough to carry on a conversation.  Now with my Cochlear Implant, I can have a normal conversation.  That is such a blessing.

In yesterday's blog I mentioned that our son and his wife in New Mexico thought that they might have found a new rental house.  It looks like it is all going to work out.  We are so happy for them.  The new rental is across the street and two doors down from where they currently are living.  They have been renting the current home for about 4 years, but now the owner wants to move back into the home, so they have to move.  The new home is a mirror image of the current one.  How would that work for you?  I told them I could imagine me getting up in the middle of the night and walking into a wall instead of going through a door.  That could really mess with your mind when groggy.

Moving will still be a major job, but they love their neighborhood and are so glad to be able to stay in it.  They will be able to continue shopping in the same places, going to the same church, enjoying the same views of the mountains, etc. in the new rental.  God answered prayers in a wonderful way.  The new place has a much larger yard. 

Tonight the quilt group met, but only two others were able to come.  For me, that works well.  When multiple conversations are going on, I have trouble picking out one to follow.  They all mix to become a low rumble.  The three of us had a good visit and each made progress on our current project.  I worked on the binding on a quilt.