Just when I thought that things were calming down at work and we might be able to get ahead and get some of the little projects done, we get an e-mail today that the next auction has been scheduled....UGH !! And not much time to waste....we have to mail certified letters tomorrow (over 50 of them)to stay in the proper time sequence and then get the legal ad typed up to send to the papers for publication. There isn't any time to spare....our auction is November 12. Hopefully we might be somewhere else at that time...LOL...This is the first auction that we've had to get started. Once before we came in right after the certified letters went out but left before the auction and then at this location we came in the night before the auction and worked till 2 a.m. getting ready for the auction. So, I guess now we are seeing the front end of the process.
Weather has taken a chilly turn lately. Have the furnace running tonight....didn't get much above 60 degrees today. At least the wind died down today so I could pick up trash around the property. Yesterday it was so windy that it was a futile project. In fact, the bucket I had on the back of the golf cart, half full of already picked up debris, blew off the cart and all the contents blew away before I could even get to the bucket. Now that's windy !
There are some good, new shows on TV this fall. Last week I watched Cougartown with Courteney Cox. It was really funny. Missed it tonight but am now watching Eastwick, which is equally as fun. I also love Shark Tank, where budding entrepreneurs pitch their ideas to five rich venture capitalists to see if they buy into their business. I enjoy seeing the ideas that people have come up with and have turned into businesses. Last night there was a college student who developed a soy based Playdoh type of product that kids with wheat allergies can play with safely. The "sharks" went crazy over it and several of them were pitching him. This young man cooks up the product in his mom's kitchen but can only make 12 tubs of dough at a time. The makers of Playdoh have approached this young man to buy his patent. How cool is that ? Well he took a deal, from one of the sharks, and will probably be rolling in the dough very soon.
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Monday, September 28, 2009
Too fast...
Early Sunday morning Becky awoke and saw lights flashing outside on Rt 1. When Linda took Boomer out for his morning walk she saw several cop cars and wreckers out at the intersection in front of our store. I looked on-line for some news of what had happened but couldn't find anything. Today, Linda and I went up to Wal-mart and Sam's Club and while going north, I pointed out the bouquets of flowers that were piled up around the light pole at the intersection. That wasn't a good sign...sure enough Linda researched on-line tonight and found where at 4:10 a.m. Sunday a 19 yr old young man was killed there when his car veered off the road and struck the light pole. He had just dropped his girlfriend off and was headed home. How sad ! People drive way too fast on this road...sad for an outcome like this, especially for this young man's family.
Watched "The Secret Life of Bees" with Becky on Sunday afternoon. Great movie...not what I thought it was since the book has been around for a while. Great cast of characters and a "2" on the hanky scale (out of 5) for sadness.Wonder if my brother, the beekeeper, has seen this movie since it deals alot with the life and habits of bees. He has many, many hives and makes a ton of honey products to sell. He also taps maple trees and processes maple syrup to sell. The characters, in the movie, seemed very comfortable handling the racks in the bee infested hives...they must have had some good training to not be nervous or good stand-in actresses taking their places. We tried to return the movie to the Red Box drop off at Wal-Mart but the machine was out of order. I'm going to look tomorrow for another location in the area where I can take it to.
Back to work tomorrow....good thing. We are getting bored. Did laundry all day today. Although we can do it for free here (since the apartment is empty), it takes all day to do it with only one washing machine. We got all of our bed linens washed up though...an inordinately large amount of laundry for this week. Tomorrow we have training on a new scanning system for checks in the office. Wednesday the carpet cleaners come to do the apartment and lots of other projects going on in between. Weather is turning more fall like....rained off and on all afternoon. We were hoping to get out today and try our hands at geocaching but didn't get to it. I looked up on the site for locations of "hidden treasure" around here and there are quite a few spots so we will save that adventure for another day.
Watched "The Secret Life of Bees" with Becky on Sunday afternoon. Great movie...not what I thought it was since the book has been around for a while. Great cast of characters and a "2" on the hanky scale (out of 5) for sadness.Wonder if my brother, the beekeeper, has seen this movie since it deals alot with the life and habits of bees. He has many, many hives and makes a ton of honey products to sell. He also taps maple trees and processes maple syrup to sell. The characters, in the movie, seemed very comfortable handling the racks in the bee infested hives...they must have had some good training to not be nervous or good stand-in actresses taking their places. We tried to return the movie to the Red Box drop off at Wal-Mart but the machine was out of order. I'm going to look tomorrow for another location in the area where I can take it to.
Back to work tomorrow....good thing. We are getting bored. Did laundry all day today. Although we can do it for free here (since the apartment is empty), it takes all day to do it with only one washing machine. We got all of our bed linens washed up though...an inordinately large amount of laundry for this week. Tomorrow we have training on a new scanning system for checks in the office. Wednesday the carpet cleaners come to do the apartment and lots of other projects going on in between. Weather is turning more fall like....rained off and on all afternoon. We were hoping to get out today and try our hands at geocaching but didn't get to it. I looked up on the site for locations of "hidden treasure" around here and there are quite a few spots so we will save that adventure for another day.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Saturday...
Our work week is done so now we can relax for two days. My daughter, Becky, came last night...arriving at the Rahway train station about 7:30 p.m. Downtown Rahway, near the train station is quite pretty.From the drop-off area, outside of the train station I could see Becky's train arrive and it was only two minutes overdue from its schedule. Outside the train station was an exhibit called the "Mom Memorial". There were upright cut-outs of soldiers and on each one were broken hearts with the word Mom written across them. The memorial displays the impact that the death of every soldier from the Afghan/Iran conflict has on the soldier's family. The family's heart is broken and the mother is the central figure in the family. There was a broken heart for every soldier killed in the current war. Was really something to see...
Raining tonight off and on....much cooler today and it was very windy. The area around our building seems to have its own vortex going on. One of the assistant managers was telling me about the time that they had the sandwich board(that displays our current move-in special) out in front of the building, the wind picked it up and over the six lane highway and sent it through the windshield of a brand new car at the dealership on the other side of the highway. Holy cow ! That must have been some wind !! I can imagine that was an interesting conversation with our corporate headquarters when we got THAT call from the dealership..."Hi, this is Sansone Motors and we have your sign over here...Ah, actually it came sailing across the highway and went through the windshield of one of our cars." I've been a little reluctant to put it outside if there is any wind and there ALWAYS seems to be wind here.
I feel like I've accomplished alot this week here at work. Today I worked in the apartment and replaced the door knobs and some of the hardware on the bedroom bi-fold doors. On Wednesday the carpets will get cleaned. The other day I got some oven cleaner and tackled the oven and broiler pan....it was really nasty. We hung a new light fixture in the dining room, cleaned the light fixture in the kitchen and I took measurements so we can replace the vertical blinds in the living and dining room. The apartment is just about ready to go ! Now we just need to find the right applicants to work here and we will be all set.
Raining tonight off and on....much cooler today and it was very windy. The area around our building seems to have its own vortex going on. One of the assistant managers was telling me about the time that they had the sandwich board(that displays our current move-in special) out in front of the building, the wind picked it up and over the six lane highway and sent it through the windshield of a brand new car at the dealership on the other side of the highway. Holy cow ! That must have been some wind !! I can imagine that was an interesting conversation with our corporate headquarters when we got THAT call from the dealership..."Hi, this is Sansone Motors and we have your sign over here...Ah, actually it came sailing across the highway and went through the windshield of one of our cars." I've been a little reluctant to put it outside if there is any wind and there ALWAYS seems to be wind here.
I feel like I've accomplished alot this week here at work. Today I worked in the apartment and replaced the door knobs and some of the hardware on the bedroom bi-fold doors. On Wednesday the carpets will get cleaned. The other day I got some oven cleaner and tackled the oven and broiler pan....it was really nasty. We hung a new light fixture in the dining room, cleaned the light fixture in the kitchen and I took measurements so we can replace the vertical blinds in the living and dining room. The apartment is just about ready to go ! Now we just need to find the right applicants to work here and we will be all set.
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Big Bang...
Day at work started out pretty normal. Decided around 9:30 to go to the bank and then to Lowes, Wal-Mart, etc. to get some items that I need for projects around the facility. Was driving up Route 1 towards Staples, with Boomer in the back seat, and all of a sudden I hear a big bang. I sensed that I had been hit by something but it didn't feel like someone had rammed into the truck. In that split second, my mind raced through a dozen different thoughts...Did i drift out of my lane into another car ? Did I blow a tire ? Oh God, I hate to even look at the truck if there is damage to it.....I look over and see that the passenger side mirror is against the passenger window. I was driving in the middle lane and I look over to see another large cargo truck in the outer lane next to me. He appears to have been the one involved in whatever caused that big bang so I keep an eye on him. He pulls off on the berm and I find a side street where I can pull off.
He gets out of his truck and walks over towards me. I am really ticked at this point. I ask him "What were you doing ? Why did you hit me ?" He says that he drifted into my lane as he was trying to make a wide turn into a side road. Luckily the side mirrors extend beyond the width of the truck so when he got too close the mirror was the only thing to take the "hit" and it swung over next to the cab (the mirrors have multiple positions that they can lock into and are not fixed in one spot). I took down his information and continued on my way to finish my errands. I swear the drivers here are crazy....I had another harrowing experience as I was headed to the bank. At that point I was about ready to go home, climb into bed and pull the covers over my head. Sheesh ! We constantly hear the screeching of brakes as cars try to come to a stop at the red light out in front of the store or the shrill whine of motorcycles as they fly down the highway. Seemed to be a particularly hazardous place to drive. Glad we don't have a commute to get here and we only have to walk to work....it's just when we have to go out to do anything that it makes me nervous. The mirror just suffered a little gash on it....nothing serious. Thank goodness for that...don't think we could stand losing any more of our stuff here in New Jersey. Losing our bike was enough.
He gets out of his truck and walks over towards me. I am really ticked at this point. I ask him "What were you doing ? Why did you hit me ?" He says that he drifted into my lane as he was trying to make a wide turn into a side road. Luckily the side mirrors extend beyond the width of the truck so when he got too close the mirror was the only thing to take the "hit" and it swung over next to the cab (the mirrors have multiple positions that they can lock into and are not fixed in one spot). I took down his information and continued on my way to finish my errands. I swear the drivers here are crazy....I had another harrowing experience as I was headed to the bank. At that point I was about ready to go home, climb into bed and pull the covers over my head. Sheesh ! We constantly hear the screeching of brakes as cars try to come to a stop at the red light out in front of the store or the shrill whine of motorcycles as they fly down the highway. Seemed to be a particularly hazardous place to drive. Glad we don't have a commute to get here and we only have to walk to work....it's just when we have to go out to do anything that it makes me nervous. The mirror just suffered a little gash on it....nothing serious. Thank goodness for that...don't think we could stand losing any more of our stuff here in New Jersey. Losing our bike was enough.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Girls Night Out....
Since Linda B had to work on Sunday, she got to have today off while I worked with one of the assistants. There is always lots to do. Today I had a bunch of locks to drill out. These are locks that the locking mechanism is too large, for some odd reason, and we're not able to get them out of the opening. Kind of hard to rent the unit out if we can't get into it...ya think ? So there are 19 units like this. I've got over half of them done....will finish them up tomorrow.
Nights are getting cooler and is getting darker earlier. I keep setting the timers, on the exterior lights, to come on earlier and shut off later, due to the changing season. Today was the first day of autumn and a pretty day it was. Temps in the 70's...and tomorrow it's supposed to hit 82.
Last night Linda and I went up to her sister in laws house to have dinner with her. What fun we had...went to a restaurant literally across the street from their house and had a great meal. Was a fun girls night out ! We laughed and had a good time. Was just what we needed for a day off.
Missing all of our friends....wish I could gather all of them up, with a snap of my fingers, and bring them all together. We stay in touch with all our RV'ing buddies but it has been anywhere from six months to almost a year since we've seen them all. They are scattered all over the country, doing all sorts of things. Many of them are headed back to Amazon.com to work for the Christmas season. I was thinking about the 16 miles a day we used to walk at our job at Amazon, picking the orders, as I was walking through the hallways at work the other day. I'm sure I don't cover 16 miles a day, doing this job, but I cover alot of territory in a day's time. We won't be with them this year in Coffeyville, Kansas but we will sure be thinking about them and will be with them in spirit. We hope that they have a great time there and that the cold weather stays away till they get out of there.
Nights are getting cooler and is getting darker earlier. I keep setting the timers, on the exterior lights, to come on earlier and shut off later, due to the changing season. Today was the first day of autumn and a pretty day it was. Temps in the 70's...and tomorrow it's supposed to hit 82.
Last night Linda and I went up to her sister in laws house to have dinner with her. What fun we had...went to a restaurant literally across the street from their house and had a great meal. Was a fun girls night out ! We laughed and had a good time. Was just what we needed for a day off.
Missing all of our friends....wish I could gather all of them up, with a snap of my fingers, and bring them all together. We stay in touch with all our RV'ing buddies but it has been anywhere from six months to almost a year since we've seen them all. They are scattered all over the country, doing all sorts of things. Many of them are headed back to Amazon.com to work for the Christmas season. I was thinking about the 16 miles a day we used to walk at our job at Amazon, picking the orders, as I was walking through the hallways at work the other day. I'm sure I don't cover 16 miles a day, doing this job, but I cover alot of territory in a day's time. We won't be with them this year in Coffeyville, Kansas but we will sure be thinking about them and will be with them in spirit. We hope that they have a great time there and that the cold weather stays away till they get out of there.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Stuck...
Yesterday was the day for people getting stuck at work. About mid-day we had a couple of guys get stuck in the elevator, while the distraught wife was outside the elevator. She buzzed us in the office about the same time that the elevator company called us saying a man had just called them, advising them that he was stuck in the elevator. Roger, from the Hanover location, was over at our site doing some work so he and I went to see what the problem was. The more minutes passed, the more distraught the wife became. She was asking her husband if he had enough air in there...clearly not a problem unless he was stuck inside a ziplock baggie. Roger did some things to the doors and the doors were pried open so the two men could climb out. They had gone about 24" above the first floor when the elevator stopped. After this ordeal the couple had lost their enthusiasm for having a storage unit on the second floor so we got them set up with a first floor unit. I'm sure it will be a while before that woman steps foot in an elevator again.
Later on, that same day, I was walking back to the office through the back corridor. I could hear someone banging and yelling so I went out the exterior door to see what was going on. Nothing there.....came back inside and continued on towards the office. Again...banging and yelling. Now I could see a woman outside the restroom door and as I approached she told me that her son was "stuck" in the restroom. I asked her how old and how tall he was. Our door doesn't have a locking doorknob (probably so the key can't be locked inside the restroom) so a sliding bolt was installed but it is about 2/3 of the way up the door. This 5 yr old had jumped up to slide the lock over but then couldn't get it unlocked. I told the mom to have him turn the garbage can on its side and to carefully stand on it to reach the lock. He did so with much fanfare and dramatic "ooohhsss" and groans, coming from inside the restroom. He was successful and got out of the bathroom in one piece and armed with a story for his friends. Bet he won't be locking that door anytime soon.
Yesterday Linda and I received the gift we had bought for ourselves....a new laptop. It is great !! I'm not sure how to act since I don't have to wait 20 minutes for the computer to start up.....I barely have time to get my slice of bread in the toaster mornings and the computer is "ready to go"....WOW !! I can watch videos like the "turkey rappers" without any additional hiccups inserted or the stopping and starting of the video that usually happenes. We got an Acer Aspire....$399 on NewEgg.com. It has the Vista operating system which I've heard good and bad things about. So far it's OK....not a big deal that I can see. We do have the option of getting Windows 7 when it comes out in about a month. We'll see whether we will want to change over when the time comes. The screen is super crisp....nice big keys on the keyboard (reminds me of those large button phones)..has a separate numbers pad on the side,a webcam, 4 USB ports ( a huge improvement from the one working one we had) and is lightening fast ! Life is good....
Tomorrow is supposed to be our day off but one of our assts. has her EMT class tomorrow so Linda will go and work with the other young lady. She is new and not able to handle things yet on her own. I'll work around the house, getting some things done. Will be a short day for Linda....we close at 3. I'm hoping to watch the NASCAR race too....might be a relaxing day.
Later on, that same day, I was walking back to the office through the back corridor. I could hear someone banging and yelling so I went out the exterior door to see what was going on. Nothing there.....came back inside and continued on towards the office. Again...banging and yelling. Now I could see a woman outside the restroom door and as I approached she told me that her son was "stuck" in the restroom. I asked her how old and how tall he was. Our door doesn't have a locking doorknob (probably so the key can't be locked inside the restroom) so a sliding bolt was installed but it is about 2/3 of the way up the door. This 5 yr old had jumped up to slide the lock over but then couldn't get it unlocked. I told the mom to have him turn the garbage can on its side and to carefully stand on it to reach the lock. He did so with much fanfare and dramatic "ooohhsss" and groans, coming from inside the restroom. He was successful and got out of the bathroom in one piece and armed with a story for his friends. Bet he won't be locking that door anytime soon.
Yesterday Linda and I received the gift we had bought for ourselves....a new laptop. It is great !! I'm not sure how to act since I don't have to wait 20 minutes for the computer to start up.....I barely have time to get my slice of bread in the toaster mornings and the computer is "ready to go"....WOW !! I can watch videos like the "turkey rappers" without any additional hiccups inserted or the stopping and starting of the video that usually happenes. We got an Acer Aspire....$399 on NewEgg.com. It has the Vista operating system which I've heard good and bad things about. So far it's OK....not a big deal that I can see. We do have the option of getting Windows 7 when it comes out in about a month. We'll see whether we will want to change over when the time comes. The screen is super crisp....nice big keys on the keyboard (reminds me of those large button phones)..has a separate numbers pad on the side,a webcam, 4 USB ports ( a huge improvement from the one working one we had) and is lightening fast ! Life is good....
Tomorrow is supposed to be our day off but one of our assts. has her EMT class tomorrow so Linda will go and work with the other young lady. She is new and not able to handle things yet on her own. I'll work around the house, getting some things done. Will be a short day for Linda....we close at 3. I'm hoping to watch the NASCAR race too....might be a relaxing day.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Work
Not much going on here. Just working and trying to get caught up. With there being an auction as soon as we got here, that threw alot more work into the mix of things right off the bat. Today I had about 20-25 units to clean, eleven of those from the auction. Seems to be a busy time for people moving out although we did have a couple of move-ins today. Linda is still trying to resolve things from the auction but it is a struggle to work that in between the phone ringing and people coming into the office. It is very busy at this location. I spent time on the phone getting more bids for cleaning the manager's apartment, steam cleaning the carpet, doing some handyman things and work for a plumber. On top of that, the old managers left alot of stuff in the apartment that I had to haul to the dumpster. The golf cart comes in handy for hauling stuff around.
Other than that we're trying to learn some of the back roads to get to different places....such as shortcuts to the supermarket, etc. A few nights ago we went to Shannon Rose...an Irish pub that has a huge billboard right outside our front door. It looked interesting and our asst. mgr recommended it so we went there. Very neat ! All the food was excellent too.
Such a bummer that it's getting dark earlier and earlier. I adjusted the timer on the exterior lights so they come on at 7:00 p.m. I hate this time of year when it starts to get dark by the end of the work day. Nothing is more depressing than coming home in the dark :(
Other than that we're trying to learn some of the back roads to get to different places....such as shortcuts to the supermarket, etc. A few nights ago we went to Shannon Rose...an Irish pub that has a huge billboard right outside our front door. It looked interesting and our asst. mgr recommended it so we went there. Very neat ! All the food was excellent too.
Such a bummer that it's getting dark earlier and earlier. I adjusted the timer on the exterior lights so they come on at 7:00 p.m. I hate this time of year when it starts to get dark by the end of the work day. Nothing is more depressing than coming home in the dark :(
Monday, September 14, 2009
Job Openings....
Since I'm doing the preliminary interviews for the open positions in New Jersey, I'm going to put a plug in for these jobs. Looking for two management teams....one for Rahway, NJ and one for Maple Shade, NJ. Must have two people....too much to do for one person. A GREAT job for a husband and wife team, partners, best friends....the key here is that a two bedroom apartment is provided so whoever you are going to live and work with, you better be on good terms with them. Daytime work hours....5 day work week....chance for bonuses...major holidays off....Dahn Corporation is a great company to work for. You can find specifics on these jobs here If you know anyone looking for work, that isn't afraid of hard work and responsibility, tell them to apply. Pass the word....
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Home Sweet Home...
A day off....yeah...beautiful sunny day and warm temps. We opened up the windows and lounged around for some of the day and then about 4:30 I thought I probably better accomplish something so I went outside and washed the rig and truck. Was good to get that done since we've been pretty busy and haven't had time to do it.
Did I mention that we are next to a football field....yeah...well, we had end zone seats to today's football game. While I was washing the backside of the rig, I was watching the game. Those coaches were screaming their lungs out at those kids. My oh my....hope their wives like sweet nothings whispered in their ears cause those boys aren't gonna be able to do anything OTHER than whisper the next day or so. Screamin and hollerin'...The first game was pretty much a blow out...43 - 0. Not sure how the next game turned out.
And then on the backside of the property we've got "the projects".I think that is where our carts are disappearing to. Hmmmm.....And then on the other side of us, across the highway, we have the Rahway prison. It has a pretty colorful background...appearing in a variety of movies and housing some famous inmates. Click on the link to learn more about our "neighbor". If all of that isn't enough, we went to ShopRite to get some ice cream (not because we needed to cure any recent problems but just because we had a hankering for it)and inside the grocery store is a police substation. I think the officer sitting at the desk must have seen my jaw hit the ground when I saw him....looked down at the front of the desk where it said "District __ Police Substation" and then back up at him. Must admit I was pretty amazed....we just don't see that in the grocery stores in Pennsylvania. You might see a horse and buggy tied up out front but no police stations inside.
We were out walking on the back of the property and saw where someone jumped the curb, drove across the grass for about 50 yards and then ran over the stop sign outside of our gate.No damage to our property....We thought initially that they had hit the corner of the property fence cause it was really smashed in but found an incident report in the office of a previous hit and run that damaged the fence. They did a number on the fence...can't imagine what their car looked like.
Have tomorrow off too....probably get some laundry done and get ready to go back to work tomorrow on Tuesday.
Did I mention that we are next to a football field....yeah...well, we had end zone seats to today's football game. While I was washing the backside of the rig, I was watching the game. Those coaches were screaming their lungs out at those kids. My oh my....hope their wives like sweet nothings whispered in their ears cause those boys aren't gonna be able to do anything OTHER than whisper the next day or so. Screamin and hollerin'...The first game was pretty much a blow out...43 - 0. Not sure how the next game turned out.
And then on the backside of the property we've got "the projects".I think that is where our carts are disappearing to. Hmmmm.....And then on the other side of us, across the highway, we have the Rahway prison. It has a pretty colorful background...appearing in a variety of movies and housing some famous inmates. Click on the link to learn more about our "neighbor". If all of that isn't enough, we went to ShopRite to get some ice cream (not because we needed to cure any recent problems but just because we had a hankering for it)and inside the grocery store is a police substation. I think the officer sitting at the desk must have seen my jaw hit the ground when I saw him....looked down at the front of the desk where it said "District __ Police Substation" and then back up at him. Must admit I was pretty amazed....we just don't see that in the grocery stores in Pennsylvania. You might see a horse and buggy tied up out front but no police stations inside.
We were out walking on the back of the property and saw where someone jumped the curb, drove across the grass for about 50 yards and then ran over the stop sign outside of our gate.No damage to our property....We thought initially that they had hit the corner of the property fence cause it was really smashed in but found an incident report in the office of a previous hit and run that damaged the fence. They did a number on the fence...can't imagine what their car looked like.
Have tomorrow off too....probably get some laundry done and get ready to go back to work tomorrow on Tuesday.
Friday, September 11, 2009
One More Day....
Just one more day till we have our days off. I don't know about the other Linda but I'm tuckered out. It has been a crazy week. We got a question from our friends about what kind of bids come in when storage units gets auctioned off.Well, at this particular auction we got $5 for the lowest unit and I think $350 for the highest. Can be all other the place, depending on what types of goodies people see in the units. Another manager, who recently had an auction, said that after one unit sold for $300, the winning bidder found a bog coin collection in it worth thousands of dollars. Uncut and uncirculated bills, buffalo nickles, etc. All kinds of coins and bills. I guess they hit the mother lode with that buy. You just never know what you'll get. Is sad to hear from some people who are losing their units to auction say that their marriage license are in their units or pictures of deceased family members. Truly heart breaking...sometimes the buyers will bring in the personal belongings and ask us to try and get them back to the owner. That is great when that can happen. One buyer did that yesterday so we are storing several boxes for the owner and now we can't reach them...their phone is disconnected. So we'll keep it a while and try to reach them in hopes we can get the items back to them.
Trying to re-organize the store....it's too cluttered. The displays need to be straightened out and the slat wall displays spruced up. I've got a good start on it but will continue tomorrow. We have a few more reports that need to be done due to the termination. The ex-managers said they will be out of their apartment in the morning. We will have to check that over once they bring us the keys to see if it will need repainting or carpets shampooed. I've started to look over the applications for a new management team. Will continue that tomorrow. I will be interviewing for this location and the opening in Maple Shade, NJ. Looking forward to doing interviewing again.
Trying to re-organize the store....it's too cluttered. The displays need to be straightened out and the slat wall displays spruced up. I've got a good start on it but will continue tomorrow. We have a few more reports that need to be done due to the termination. The ex-managers said they will be out of their apartment in the morning. We will have to check that over once they bring us the keys to see if it will need repainting or carpets shampooed. I've started to look over the applications for a new management team. Will continue that tomorrow. I will be interviewing for this location and the opening in Maple Shade, NJ. Looking forward to doing interviewing again.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Rahway
We left West Berlin,NJ Tuesday about noon time and drove north to Rahway, NJ. The managers were leaving out the back door as we walked in the front door. They had gotten the termination call just a couple minutes before we arrived. We pulled in with the rig and just left it sitting with the four way flashers going until I could size up the facility and determine where there was power and water. We got the site squared away and then went out to move the rig. We are just inside the security gate but close to connections for everything but sewer.
Rahway was scheduled for an auction today and we discovered, from the old managers late yesterday, that no locks had been cut off in preparation for the auction. Eeek ! So last night was a LATE one....our friends and trainers, Roger and Peggy offered to come over from their site in Hanover to help us cut locks and do the picture/video taking. We worked till 2 a.m. - We were exhausted ! Had to be to work this morning to finish up the paperwork for the auction at 2:30 this afternoon. Only had 11 units make it to auction, out of the original number of 32, due to some technicalities. Auction went well...a pretty quick process. We break the seal on the storage unit, throw open the door....everyone looks inside. They can't open boxes or paw through the items....they can only look from the opening of the door. Most of the experienced auction goers have flashlights with them so they can shine into the unit to see better. Once all have seen the unit, we ask for bids to be turned in. (The buyers are given a bid book to write their bid amount, unit #, their buyer number and then they rip out the bid sheet and give it to me.) I look them over and then the top bidder gets the contents. Long day....glad it's over...now we can settle down to the matter of getting the business squared away and the facility cleaned up.It seems so nice to be on-site so that when work is done we walk out the door and into the rig....no commuting. Yippee !!
Rahway was scheduled for an auction today and we discovered, from the old managers late yesterday, that no locks had been cut off in preparation for the auction. Eeek ! So last night was a LATE one....our friends and trainers, Roger and Peggy offered to come over from their site in Hanover to help us cut locks and do the picture/video taking. We worked till 2 a.m. - We were exhausted ! Had to be to work this morning to finish up the paperwork for the auction at 2:30 this afternoon. Only had 11 units make it to auction, out of the original number of 32, due to some technicalities. Auction went well...a pretty quick process. We break the seal on the storage unit, throw open the door....everyone looks inside. They can't open boxes or paw through the items....they can only look from the opening of the door. Most of the experienced auction goers have flashlights with them so they can shine into the unit to see better. Once all have seen the unit, we ask for bids to be turned in. (The buyers are given a bid book to write their bid amount, unit #, their buyer number and then they rip out the bid sheet and give it to me.) I look them over and then the top bidder gets the contents. Long day....glad it's over...now we can settle down to the matter of getting the business squared away and the facility cleaned up.It seems so nice to be on-site so that when work is done we walk out the door and into the rig....no commuting. Yippee !!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
AED...
Crisp cool night out....wisps of campfire smoke drift in our open windows. It sort of feels like Labor Day weekend...maybe a day off tomorrow will thoroughly convince me that the end of summer is here. At the last couple of locations we've been at, we have typically had Sundays and Mondays off so seemed odd today to work. Was a short day though...only till 3. Miss my regular routine of Sundays....morning political banter on TV...and then NASCAR race in the afternoon. Sigh....what's a gal to do ? Perhaps our next location will provide better TV reception AND NASCAR will then move to ABC so I might possibly be able to catch a race. Wish us luck !
Sometimes we will chat with a customer about being roving managers and what that entails. A guy the other day likened us to the "Grim Reaper"....that our arrival at a property was an ominous thing. I guess in a sense that is true but we surely don't want people quaking in their shoes and fearful if they see us pull onto their property. We might just be stopping by to say hello or introducing ourselves (as we have done before at a couple of locations). It does sound kind of creepy though.....I guess there isn't a way to make it more pleasant. It is a tough task. In all my years of management, I never enjoyed firing people (well, except maybe that one time). I had a Vice President tell me once that "if it becomes a pleasant task then you've been doing it too long". I feel that the decision leading up to firing someone should make you stop and ponder the impact you will make on your organization, the employee and their family. It should always have an air of discomfort to it...then you will know that it was a decision that was made with much forethought and not one made in haste. In this job we aren't the ones to make the decision to fire someone. We are the ones sent in to pick up the pieces....resuscitate the business so it doesn't skip a beat. We're more like traveling AED's(automated external defibrillators)....ready to jumpstart a dying business back into life. There, that sounds better !
Sometimes we will chat with a customer about being roving managers and what that entails. A guy the other day likened us to the "Grim Reaper"....that our arrival at a property was an ominous thing. I guess in a sense that is true but we surely don't want people quaking in their shoes and fearful if they see us pull onto their property. We might just be stopping by to say hello or introducing ourselves (as we have done before at a couple of locations). It does sound kind of creepy though.....I guess there isn't a way to make it more pleasant. It is a tough task. In all my years of management, I never enjoyed firing people (well, except maybe that one time). I had a Vice President tell me once that "if it becomes a pleasant task then you've been doing it too long". I feel that the decision leading up to firing someone should make you stop and ponder the impact you will make on your organization, the employee and their family. It should always have an air of discomfort to it...then you will know that it was a decision that was made with much forethought and not one made in haste. In this job we aren't the ones to make the decision to fire someone. We are the ones sent in to pick up the pieces....resuscitate the business so it doesn't skip a beat. We're more like traveling AED's(automated external defibrillators)....ready to jumpstart a dying business back into life. There, that sounds better !
Friday, September 4, 2009
Just A Few More Days Here....
We worked for four hours today because there were alot of Penske trucks scheduled to go out. We also got a call that the manager, from Maple Shade location, was coming over to train for a while today. It was much too crowded for four of us to be working today. Plus anytime that Linda and I tried to show the new manager how to do something, the asst mgr from our location would just "talk over" us. Linda and I couldn't wait to get out of there today cause she was driving us crazy. She would keep moving the paperwork we had out to use cause she likes things "tidy". There is no way I could work with that woman for a whole shift. Thank goodness it is only Linda and I working tomorrow. The new manager is coming over late in the day tomorrow to fix the flat on the golf cart. Apparently the screw fell out of the tire and the tire went flat. I had put some fix a flat in it and it was holding OK but not anymore.
A few more campers have arrived in the campground for the holiday weekend. The sites are very sandy....although it is packed and firm to walk on. We looked around to try and calculate our route out of the campground since it was so tight getting in the entrance way. We think we've come up with a plan to get out.
We only get two TV stations here and both are PBS ones. Right now the History Detectives show is on. A young man has an item that his parents said was an instrument from the Hindenburg. There was an interview with one of the workers who was directly under the blimp when it caught fire. He said it was the most intense heat he had ever felt. His hair got badly singed from the fire and he ran as fast as he could when the blimp started to crash to the ground. The woman has an artifact, that is presumably from the Hindenburg and she is researching to see if it's authentic. They are testing some of the materials from the device and the chemical testing revealed that it did indeed undergo intense heat that impacted the material. It's authentic !
We've learned alot watching these stations. We've learned about cranberry bogs and the problems that these farmers face. (Did I mention that the town where the campground is located is the Blueberry capital of the World ?) We get to watch the BBC World News each night which has been very informative and a refreshing change from the American news. Lots to learn but we wouldn't be able to get even these two stations if it wasn't for our new "wingman" on the antennae. The camper that came in last night came over and asked what stations we got cause he couldn't get anything. He didn't have a wingman so they were forced to watch DVD's ....no education on cranberries for them.
A few more campers have arrived in the campground for the holiday weekend. The sites are very sandy....although it is packed and firm to walk on. We looked around to try and calculate our route out of the campground since it was so tight getting in the entrance way. We think we've come up with a plan to get out.
We only get two TV stations here and both are PBS ones. Right now the History Detectives show is on. A young man has an item that his parents said was an instrument from the Hindenburg. There was an interview with one of the workers who was directly under the blimp when it caught fire. He said it was the most intense heat he had ever felt. His hair got badly singed from the fire and he ran as fast as he could when the blimp started to crash to the ground. The woman has an artifact, that is presumably from the Hindenburg and she is researching to see if it's authentic. They are testing some of the materials from the device and the chemical testing revealed that it did indeed undergo intense heat that impacted the material. It's authentic !
We've learned alot watching these stations. We've learned about cranberry bogs and the problems that these farmers face. (Did I mention that the town where the campground is located is the Blueberry capital of the World ?) We get to watch the BBC World News each night which has been very informative and a refreshing change from the American news. Lots to learn but we wouldn't be able to get even these two stations if it wasn't for our new "wingman" on the antennae. The camper that came in last night came over and asked what stations we got cause he couldn't get anything. He didn't have a wingman so they were forced to watch DVD's ....no education on cranberries for them.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Day Off So No Drama....
A much needed day off....supposed to be off tomorrow too but with only one asst. working and a whole bunch of Penske trucks going out, we'll need to go in for a while to help out. It is so quiet here ! We had forgotten how tranquil a campground can be. I didn't wake up to the sound of highway traffic but rather to the sound of a squirrel gnawing on the picnic table outside my window. Just about as annoying as the traffic.
We went to the Berlin farmers market and flea market, although it was minus the flea market part....that only occurs on the weekend. What a variety of things in an indoor market. You could get everything from a hair weave to tires at this one....wallpaper to leather goods. Quite the assortment of stuff. We got some veggies (You do know, Tom I can't get through a week without talking about food in one of our posts, don't ya ?)and some odds and ends (aka...can't remember what were in those heavy bags I carried in from the truck). Drove down the road to Clementon to show Linda where the Sovereign bank branch is that I took the deposit to the other day and also the water/amusement park there. Small town but cute....
Big News...hot off the press. Only staying at this location till Tuesday morning and then we are off to another site, for another termination. On Saturday, we will train a manager from a nearby location on how to do the Penske rentals and he will take over on Tuesday and then we'll leave. Hopefully the ex-managers will move out on Sunday so we'll move our rig on Monday when the store is closed for the holiday. Anyhow, we will soon be out of here and on to another adventure....
We went to the Berlin farmers market and flea market, although it was minus the flea market part....that only occurs on the weekend. What a variety of things in an indoor market. You could get everything from a hair weave to tires at this one....wallpaper to leather goods. Quite the assortment of stuff. We got some veggies (You do know, Tom I can't get through a week without talking about food in one of our posts, don't ya ?)and some odds and ends (aka...can't remember what were in those heavy bags I carried in from the truck). Drove down the road to Clementon to show Linda where the Sovereign bank branch is that I took the deposit to the other day and also the water/amusement park there. Small town but cute....
Big News...hot off the press. Only staying at this location till Tuesday morning and then we are off to another site, for another termination. On Saturday, we will train a manager from a nearby location on how to do the Penske rentals and he will take over on Tuesday and then we'll leave. Hopefully the ex-managers will move out on Sunday so we'll move our rig on Monday when the store is closed for the holiday. Anyhow, we will soon be out of here and on to another adventure....
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Surfacing...
Wow, have the last three days been wild ! We hung out at Linda's brother's house on Sunday which was only about 90 minutes from where we needed to be Monday at mid-day. We needed to go to West Berlin, NJ and be there at 11:30 when corporate would call the current managers, tell them they are fired and then we walk in the door. We got turned around a couple miles from the place so had to get back on track to get to the Mini U site. We had gone down on Sunday to scope out where to park, which was about a 2 minute walk down the street. We parked the rig, called corporate...they called the managers...corporate called us...and then we hoofed it up the street to the store to take over. My stomach was churning as we walked up the road to the entrance. Didn't go too badly at first....the two guys were really upset but realized that we weren't a part of it..just there to take over. They gave us their keys,left and went to their residence behind the store.
Then the fun began....The plan was that we were to park our rig next to the store, where there is a 50 amp connection, water and close access to the rest rooms so we can use our macerator. Not sure how soon after their termination the guys started drinking but by the time the end of day came, they were nasty and not agreeable to moving their car so we could put the rig there. So we spent the night in the parking lot down the street. (As Linda observed as we climbed into bed that night, we had a pet crematory on one side and a dirty book store on the other side....In good company, eh ?) Tuesday didn't go any better and we had an exchange of words after politely asking them upon closing if they could move their car so we could pull in and park. They were well on their way to getting intoxicated again so they got mouthy, we called corporate and corporate told us to drive to the next closest Mini U in Maple Shade and park there. Are we having fun yet ?
Tuesday was a long, long day...we went in early (at 7:30) and didn't get done with work stuff till 8:30 p.m. We were exhausted by the time we set up at the Mini U at Maple Shade. On top of all that, no electric hookup, no water and no close sewer access. I was not happy !! I made up my mind then that we were going to a campground until the guys move out and we can get into the space on site where we were supposed to be. We work too damn hard to not have hot showers (or any shower for that matter), to not have electric to be cool on hot days, etc. These guys are really pissing us off. Corporate wanted us to get unarmed security guards last night but by the time they made this decision it was too late to find anyone that could do it.
On top of all this, we walked in to fire them on the last day of the month when end of month reports are due (biggest paperwork time of whole month)....Penske truck reporting gets done on Wednesdays (did that today) and learn where everything is, do all the verification stuff you have to do when you terminate a manager, etc. Holy Cow !!! Our heads have been spinning the last three days and we've been working our butts off to get our heads above water. And try to remember how to do the Penske rentals that we last did for two days during our training in July. No sweat !! LOL..We haven't known whether to laugh or cry....For our first "termination" assignment, this one has been a humdinger !
We left work tonight, hooked up to the rig at the Maple Shade location and headed out to a campground I had located in Hammonton, NJ....about 15 miles away. We got here and set up about 9:30. We are pooped ! Seems good to be "home" and we have tomorrow off to regroup and relax. Supposed to have off Friday but have alot of Penske rentals going out and one of the assistant managers had asked off this week for both Thur and Friday so we will probably go in for a while. Looking forward to next Tuesday when the guys are supposed to be gone...we'll see. I haven't seen any sign of packing and it wouldn't surprise me if they stick around just to make more of a fuss. With corporate in California, not sure what will happen if they refuse to leave. We are closed on Monday so that will be nice. Linda and I are hoping that by the time we come to work Tuesday morning that they are gone. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
Then the fun began....The plan was that we were to park our rig next to the store, where there is a 50 amp connection, water and close access to the rest rooms so we can use our macerator. Not sure how soon after their termination the guys started drinking but by the time the end of day came, they were nasty and not agreeable to moving their car so we could put the rig there. So we spent the night in the parking lot down the street. (As Linda observed as we climbed into bed that night, we had a pet crematory on one side and a dirty book store on the other side....In good company, eh ?) Tuesday didn't go any better and we had an exchange of words after politely asking them upon closing if they could move their car so we could pull in and park. They were well on their way to getting intoxicated again so they got mouthy, we called corporate and corporate told us to drive to the next closest Mini U in Maple Shade and park there. Are we having fun yet ?
Tuesday was a long, long day...we went in early (at 7:30) and didn't get done with work stuff till 8:30 p.m. We were exhausted by the time we set up at the Mini U at Maple Shade. On top of all that, no electric hookup, no water and no close sewer access. I was not happy !! I made up my mind then that we were going to a campground until the guys move out and we can get into the space on site where we were supposed to be. We work too damn hard to not have hot showers (or any shower for that matter), to not have electric to be cool on hot days, etc. These guys are really pissing us off. Corporate wanted us to get unarmed security guards last night but by the time they made this decision it was too late to find anyone that could do it.
On top of all this, we walked in to fire them on the last day of the month when end of month reports are due (biggest paperwork time of whole month)....Penske truck reporting gets done on Wednesdays (did that today) and learn where everything is, do all the verification stuff you have to do when you terminate a manager, etc. Holy Cow !!! Our heads have been spinning the last three days and we've been working our butts off to get our heads above water. And try to remember how to do the Penske rentals that we last did for two days during our training in July. No sweat !! LOL..We haven't known whether to laugh or cry....For our first "termination" assignment, this one has been a humdinger !
We left work tonight, hooked up to the rig at the Maple Shade location and headed out to a campground I had located in Hammonton, NJ....about 15 miles away. We got here and set up about 9:30. We are pooped ! Seems good to be "home" and we have tomorrow off to regroup and relax. Supposed to have off Friday but have alot of Penske rentals going out and one of the assistant managers had asked off this week for both Thur and Friday so we will probably go in for a while. Looking forward to next Tuesday when the guys are supposed to be gone...we'll see. I haven't seen any sign of packing and it wouldn't surprise me if they stick around just to make more of a fuss. With corporate in California, not sure what will happen if they refuse to leave. We are closed on Monday so that will be nice. Linda and I are hoping that by the time we come to work Tuesday morning that they are gone. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
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