Food, Facials and Tom Foolery.....

The Sweely Clan Sitting Down to Thanksgiving Dinner...

I had a wonderful time at my mom's over the Thanksgiving holiday. My daughter stayed up until Sunday and then I drove her back to Philly. We had a wonderful dinner, prepared by my mom....with contributions by all of us. On Friday Becky and I needed to drive to her dad's house to pick up her suitcase which she left in the trunk of his car. We did a little shopping, got the oil changed in my car and went back to hang out with mom. On the way back to mom's house, we went by the site of the gas well that Linda and I saw the last time we were home. Here it is now...all capped off and producing gas. Two more have popped up within a short distance from my mom since that time.

Becky had made up a "To Do" list while at grandmas house and one of the tasks was to make cookies. Sounded like a fun thing to do so mom pulled out her mother's sugar cookie recipe and they made oodles of cookies. Becky decorated all of them except for one.....I had the honor of doing one in a sun/moon motif. I was going to take it home to Linda but my brother ate it before I could get it boxed up to take home.

Thanksgiving evening Becky and I went up to my younger brother's house to watch him make maple cotton candy. He needed to make a bunch of it to take to a craft show this past weekend so he had the cotton candy machine fired up and was in full production.

Here my niece Angela is stirring the sugar blend while a
heat lamp keeps it warm....

My brother, Jim pours some of the sugar mixture into the machine...

And...voila..here's the finished product..ready to bag up.

It's good stuff...I'm not a fan of cotton candy but this isn't as sweet as the other stuff and has a light, maple taste. He was going to make up around 60 bags of it, which he said would take him about an hour to make.

Saturday night Becky and I had facials....she had bought some packets of "mud" and an avocado/olive oil blend and we were all set for some pampering. It was fun and our faces came out really soft and smooth. I brought the remainder of the packets home and gave Linda a facial tonight and also painted her toes.

It was a wonderful weekend, with lots of laughs and good food. I drove Becky back to Philly Sunday afternoon. On the way we stopped at the Rt 15 flea market and we loaded up on veggies, fresh pressed cider and some cute things bought from the outdoor vendors. The car was filled to the brim with all sorts of goodies when I dropped Becky off at her place. Arrived home about 9:30 Sunday night....

Today Linda and I took some items to the Ali Forney Center in Manhattan. This is a wonderful facility that serves as a shelter to homeless gay and lesbian youth. These young people have been kicked out of their families' homes because of their sexual orientation and have no place to go. We didn't think the trip was going to be as difficult or stressful as it turned out to be. We had to go through the Holland Tunnel and then drove straight up through Manhattan...through tons of traffic. We got to the center on 35th street and found a place to park right across the street. We grabbed the bags of items we had taken, put our four way flashers on and headed into the building. We only stayed about 10 minutes...just enough time to get some info from the receptionist and leave our items with her. We get back to the car and find a $115 ticket on our windshield....oh great !! It would have been cheaper to have stayed home and sent them a $100 check than to brave the traffic, spend $8 to go through the Holland Tunnel and then get this stupid ticket. We'll just keep telling ourselves that it was all for a good cause.....grin and bear it !!

Tomorrow, it's back to work....

Happy Thanksgiving !

Wanted to post something as it's been a while since I've put anything on here. We have been working hard, getting ready for a Vice President's visit to our unit next week. Yesterday and today I put several coats of wax on the office and restroom floor. Our store/office is really quite large so it took almost a gallon of wax to do it all and I had to divide the space into thirds before getting it all done. Since I was doing the largest part of the room today, I locked the door that goes from the office into the hallway leading to the storage unit and placed a sign on it that said they needed to use the side door to get into the office. Well, our cranky postman arrived and came to that door and do you think he read the sign....heck no. He tried the door, then yanked hard enough that I thought he was going to pull it off its hinges. All huffy, he finally came around and in the front door. This is the same postman that couldn't bother to deliver our mail to us when the rear gate was broken. He said he wouldn't drive on Rt 1 to access us although our address is 1004 Rt 1. He's a real piece of work....one of our wonderful federal workers at the postal service.

Anyway, got the floors done shortly after lunch today. Boy, do they look awesome ! Nice and shiny like a new penny. Then it was time to start working on month end reports. I am off now till next Tuesday. I'm heading out early in the morning to go to my mom's for Thanksgiving and will stay there till Sunday. My daughter and son are coming up too from Philly. My son will have to go back home tomorrow afternoon but my daughter will stay up and I'll give her a ride home on Sunday. It will be fun to see each of them. I haven't seen my son in quite a few months. My daughter has already given my mom a list of things she "wants to learn"...how to make candy, canning, etc. Sounds like we have a busy few days ahead of us.

On this Thanksgiving day, what are you thankful for ? I am thankful for the love, guidance and wisdom of my mother. For the great relationship I have with my kids. For Linda's love, friendship and support. For a circle of friends that we've gathered in our days of full-timing in this wonderful RV'ing lifestyle. Here's hoping that all of our friends and family have a blessed Thanksgiving and safe travels ahead of them ! We love you all and think of you often....

Time For Work...

Am up and getting around to go to work. It's nice that I only have to walk out of the rig and into the office....makes for a short commute to work. Been a really long couple of weeks though. Between Linda and I we've been working everyday since our assistant quit. Linda is getting a break this weekend. Mine comes later this week. Can't come soon enough. We got word on Friday that the second highest in command, for Dahn Corporation, is coming here on December 2. So I'll have been back to work one day and he'll arrive, with the lenders for our property, the next day. Will have to scramble to get last minute tidying done. We are in good shape though. The property looks great. I put up Christmas lights yesterday so the office has lights across the front and down the side of it...should look nice from Rt 1 that runs by us. Today will be a short day at work....glad for that. Today is last NASCAR race of the season and want to watch that at 2:30 although it's pretty certain that Jimmie Johnson will take the championship AGAIN. ...He's won it several years in a row now. Time for someone else to get a turn. Well, off to shower and get in there.

Week is Winding Down...

Glad tomorrow is Friday although it doesn't really make much of a difference as I'll be working straight through now till Thanksgiving day. I'm tired....we've been working pretty much seven days a week since one of our assistants quit so it will be nice now that we've hired a new one and he's trained, we can actually have our two days off again. Linda left last night after work to start making her way down to her daughter's place in Virginia Beach. She arrived there this afternoon, safe and sound and she'll stay until Sunday. She'll get to spend time with three of her kids and her one grandson while she is there.

Kind of a slow day at work today as far as customers goes but there is always lots to do. We did have a little bit of excitement....I went home to get some lunch and had just started cooking something when our assistant manager called me and said there was a state policeman in the office. I went over and it turns out they had arrested one of our tenants last night and needed to conduct a search of his storage unit. Luckily they had keys to it so I didn't have to drill the lock out but it didn't turn up any illegal items in it so didn't have a dramatic outcome. Just was interesting to see what happens under circumstances like this. There were a total of four officers that came to conduct the search. They said that it might be a long time before the tenant comes back to make anymore payments on his unit and to keep that in mind as time goes by....

Weather is turning rainy tonight but temps are staying in the mid 50's which is awesome for this time of year. I need to go out and buy some white Christmas lights to hang up outside the office. Might do that tomorrow if it's not busy. Will also need to get a ladder as we don't have anything here other than a step stool. Maybe that will put me in the mood to get out some of our Christmas decorations. We are usually on the go around Christmas time so we don't mess with many decorations around the rig. Last year we did put up a mini Christmas tree which was really cute. I'll have to look for it and get it out. Put a little bit of Christmas spirit in our home.

Nothing Special....

Training is winding down for our new asst. mgr and he's doing an awesome job ! Tomorrow is his last day of training so he will run the office while Linda and I do other things...close enough if he has a problem but otherwise he needs to figure things out on his own. He has sort of been doing that for the last day or so as he opens by himself, with very little help from Linda and he has closing down pat...and everything in between. Today I worked with him on the "outside" stuff...location of timers, knowledge on the facility, how to clean, etc.

The background check is underway on the new management couple....we can start our count down to the time when we'll be leaving here. Yeeha !!

The Gift That Keeps on Giving....

The business woman, through KIVA, that I sponsored a loan to has repaid it so now I can lend it out again.Here is some info on the next woman that I'm loaning money to:

Marivic Bulay-bulay is from the village of San Carlos, Tukuran Zamboanga Del Sur. She is 33 years old. Marivic is married and has 3 school-aged children. Marivic has been selling vegetables and spices in the local community for more than 5 years, and earns approximately 8,000 Philippine pesos (about $171 US) a month for these activities.

In 2008, Marivic joined GDMPC to gain access to financial services to help improve her living situation and ability to do business. Marivic has successfully repaid a previous loan of 10,000 pesos from GDMPC. This previous loan was used to purchase additional products to sell. Marivic is requesting a new loan of 12,000 pesos which will be used to expand the business. This loan will be the fourth loan taken out by Marivic from GDMPC. She plans to use the additional revenue generated from the business to improve the general living conditions of her family and pay the tuition of her children.

About GDMPC:

GDMPC is one of the most progressive cooperatives in Mindanao, Philippines.

It's neat to support these people in making their dreams come true and run successful businesses. I've been fortunate to have had my own businesses so it's nice to be able to help others to do the same. In these foreign countries a little bit of money can go a very long way in helping them to expand their business. Wonder if I could sign up my son for the KIVA program so he could learn how to repay his school loans ?

Good News....

The couple that I had deemed my #1 pick to be the management team here had their second interview today and Peggy also thought they were great and a perfect pick for here. First thing Monday I will fax their paperwork to the corporate office and the background check can begin. Hooray !!!! I think this couple will do a wonderful job here and both of them have a great background of experiences to aid them in their work here. We are looking forward to getting them started with their training. This will occur after our new assistant manager has completed his training and he should totally be up to speed by then and a great help to them. He started work today and did an amazing job ! Linda would show him once how to do something and he'd remember how to do it when it came time to do it a second time. Pretty impressive...When I asked him how he was liking it so far he said that he loved it and it's just the type of job he's been looking for. Sounds like we have a winner on our hands.

Rainy and very windy today....supposed to warm up to low 60's tomorrow. Linda works tomorrow to continue her training with "Peter". I will go in to do the lock report and get them off to a good start and then I will be off the rest of the day. Hoping for a nice day..

Auction...

Had our auction on Thursday at 1:30 p.m.Just a little before 10 a.m. that morning we got a call from the North Brunswick site that they needed help with their auction because their assistant manager didn't come in. I asked them how far away from us they were (cause we had no idea) and she said about 28 minutes. I asked her what time her auction was and she said 10:30....holy cow !Told them I'd jump in the car and be right there. I got there with 5 minutes to spare but the VP was still going through the files to see who should be sold and whose unit would be held out of the auction. North Brunswick's units are primarily drive up units which means they are outside. Well, Thursday morning it was cold, windy and rainy...not a great day to hold an outside auction. They had 30 some units and it took us about an hour to get through them. Once I finished up there, I headed back to our unit since our auction would be starting in about an hour. Grabbed a quick bite to eat and finished eating in time for the first bidders to start arriving and checking in. They have to give us a $100 deposit to participate, then they get a bidder's book. If they don't buy anything then they get their $100 back. If they do buy any units, we keep the deposit until they have cleaned out all of the units. That way we ensure that they don't leave any junk behind. The one exception is if the bidders have a resale permit, making them tax exempt, then they don't have to give us a deposit.

We wound up having 16 units go up for auction. Our company is really great at giving people ample time and opportunities to pay their bills before resorting to auctioning off their units. We started with 56 units on our list....some paid...and some were held to give them more time. Units went for anywhere from $1 to $400. I was talking to one of the bidders yesterday, while he was loading up items he had purchased. I asked him what he does with the items he buys. He said he sells at flea markets, e-bay, craig's list and auction houses. He said that you used to be able to make good money doing this but it has gotten harder. The stuff you think you'll get good money for doesn't and the items you think are junk sometimes bring in good money. Hard to predict, he said....I think so many more people are doing this nowadays too that maybe the market has been diluted by so much competition. He said he once paid $12,000 for a 10 x 10 unit...wow ! He took an incoming phone call before I could ask him what he bid on (or what he thought might have been in the unit) and whether it paid off for him or not. Didn't get the chance to ask him but it sure had my curiosity piqued.Most of the units have now been cleared out by the bidders. One guy has a washing machine to get yet and he'll do that Sunday. Tomorrow I will try to "trash out" several of the units that didn't receive any bids. There is a 10 x 10 unit that is packed with stuff, and (2) 5 x 10's that I will try to fill our dumpster with. There are 2 huge drive up units that are 10 x 20 or 25's that we'll need to wait for the 20 yard roll off. One unit has office furniture in it and the other has alot of twigs and bags of god knows what. I hope we are gone before that one needs to be trashed out. Might need a Hazmat suit for that one....

Tomorrow our new assistant starts his training. Hope that goes well and that he sticks with it. He will train for 5 days with us before going on his own. Tomorrow the couple that I have as my #1 pick to be the management team here goes for their second interview at another Mini U. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this other manager concurs with my selection so we can get started with their background checks and move them closer to getting hired.

In weather news, the remnants of storm Ida...now a nor'easter is moving up the coast and we are having very windy, rainy weather tonight. Supposed to have more of the same tomorrow. I feel bad for the Pop Warner football players out on the field behind our rig...they are getting blasted with wind and rain for their practice tonight. Not a night fit for man nor beast out there....

Hellish Gates...

Well our gates have been giving us fits lately. We have two front gates and one at the rear of the property and seems we've had nothing but problems since we arrived here in September. We're friends with the tech who comes to work on them....having met Steven when we were in training at the Whippany property. Anyway, Steven came yesterday at 1:30 to work on them and worked till 6:30 but at the end of the day two of them were still on the fritz. When Steven opened up the side panel, out popped momma and poppa mouse from this nest. A big ole fluffy nest was sitting on top of the battery that provides power to the system. As he stepped back and was pondering what he had before him, the mice ran back and jumped back in the nest, popping their heads out to look at him. I was only able to get a picture of the nest, minus its residents but Steven got one with them sitting there looking at him. How cute they were but they were not helping matters and had to be evicted from their home. Steven finally figured out that the circuit boards must be defective so he's ordered new ones and we are having to manually close them at the end of the day. Hopefully this next fix will do the trick to keep them in good shape for the new managers.

Tomorrow one of the Vice President's arrives to conduct our auction. We started out with 56 on our list, going to auction...we are down to around 23, which is excellent. Linda has worked really hard with these late tenants to get them to pay so their items don't get sold off. It is alot of work getting ready for these auctions. We will be really glad when it is over !

Checkpoint Charlie

Linda had to work today to help our assistant so I used the day to get some things done around the rig. I rented a carpet cleaner first thing this morning and cleaned the carpets in the rig, then took it in the office and cleaned the office carpet and inside each of the elevators. Made a great difference in all of them ! Today was the perfect day to get it done, before cold weather sets in, with today's temps in the low 70's.

After taking the carpet cleaner back to Home Depot, I went up on the roof of the rig and washed it with the wash/wax mix. It was getting pretty gritty up there from all the road grit here on route 1. While climbing up to the roof, I noticed that one of the black plastic pieces that screws each side of the rung to the side of the ladder is split. I'll need to research and find a new one before I take a spill going up or coming down the ladder.

I heard on the news today that today is the 20th anniversary of the tearing down of the Berlin Wall, separating East and West Berlin. I remember watching the citizens tearing the wall down on national TV, all those years ago. It was a very important event for the people of East and West Berlin. The Soviet Union prompted the erection of the Berlin Wall in 1961 to stem the flow of Eastern Bloc emigration westward through what had become a "loophole" in the Soviet border system, preventing escape over the city sector border from East Berlin to West Berlin. This event was of personal importance to me because my father had seen this wall in 1968 when he went to Europe as part of a People to People exchange. He represented a group of farmers from the US and he had a wonderful time as he toured Europe, meeting farmers over there. This trip stayed with my father his whole life and he made lifelong friends with the people he traveled with. Upon his return, I remember him talking about "Checkpoint Charlie" and how their group had crossed the wall at this soviet checkpoint and I think he got a picture of the guard that boarded their bus at the checkpoint. This checkpoint was very symbolic to these people and to East Germans, it was the path to freedom. I was only eight when my father went over there but there are a few things, from that trip, that stand out in my mind that he spoke of and this is one of them.

It's interesting but as I was researching some info for this post, I came across the People to People International web site. As soon as the web site came up on my screen I recognized the logo as the same one that was a pin my dad wore on his suit coats. He had a People to People pin that he wore alot. Here is what the group is all about, according to their web site:

The purpose of People to People International (PTPI) is to enhance international understanding and friendship through educational, cultural and humanitarian activities involving the exchange of ideas and experiences directly among peoples of different countries and diverse cultures. It will cooperate with any and all other organizations which are of similar nature and purpose. People to People International is dedicated to enhancing cross-cultural communication within each community, and across communities and nations. Tolerance and mutual understanding are central themes. While not a partisan or political institution, PTPI supports the basic values and goals of its founder, President Dwight D. Eisenhower.

The President’s People to People Program was founded on September 11, 1956 by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, as part of the U.S. Information Agency. After President Eisenhower left the office of President in 1961, he arranged to have the program privatized as a nongovernmental organization and arranged for People to People to become a not-for-profit Missouri corporation now known as People to People International. President Eisenhower was Chairman of the Board of Trustees and recognized as the founder of the not-for-profit organization. It is incorporated as a not-for-profit organization in the state of Missouri and qualifies for exemption from income tax under the Internal Revenue Code §501(c)(3). PTPI is funded through program fees, membership dues and donations.

Among the early leaders working with President Eisenhower were J. C. Hall, the founder of Hallmark Cards, Inc., Walt Disney, Bob Hope and approximately 100 other remarkable individuals from industry, academia, and the arts. The late Charles M. Schulz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, generously contributed three pieces of artwork for PTPI Worldwide Conferences. The organization has reaped benefits from the talents of countless individuals who have supported the ideals set forth by President Eisenhower. Today, President Eisenhower's granddaughter, Mary, serves as President and Chief Executive Officer.

I wonder how my dad got involved with this group. Neat that they still exist. Looks like a neat web site to explore further.

Let us all count our blessings for our freedom. For the Germans, this is a day of celebration ! A day when they got to experience their freedom again after having it ripped away from them for 28 years. Tear down that wall !!

Sunday

We had a gorgeous day today ! Temps hit 70 degrees, sunny, very little wind. Was a really enjoyable fall day. We went grocery shopping and got supplies for the week. Takes alot of food when we prepare three meals a day here....We'll start out with the pantry full today but come next weekend, it will look like old Mother Hubbard's cupboard. Also got our propane tank filled while we were over that way at the grocery store. It's $33 for a 30# tank....ordinarily I'd hate paying that much for propane but since we get reimbursed by the company..it doesn't sting so bad. Washed up the Xterra before the sun went down so it's been a good day. The NASCAR race is winding down on TV....

We can tell that it's getting close to the holidays cause when we went to Sam's Club, they are now carrying the white stilton cheese with cranberries that we love so much. We first tried this when we went to our friend's Carolyn and Elliot's for dinner and they had this as an appetizer with crackers...it's delicious but you can only find it at holiday time. We've been watching for it and today was the special day when it showed up in the display case.

Well, the drilling of the locks took a total of three days. The assistant and I worked on them two different days and after having two of them be real son-of-a guns and not being able to get them out, I decided to call in the "big guns" to finish up...got our friend Roger to come over from the Hanover site to tackle the last six (and 2 partial ones). He made it look easy but at last we are done. Also had an interview Saturday morning that went well...I think we will have a couple picked very soon. Have another interview on Wednesday and I think at the completion of that, we will be ready to make our final pick. I have a couple in mind...need to see how they make out in their second interview with Peggy. I'm ready to move on...

Half Way....

After umpteen drill bits and lots of tenacity, we are about half way done with the lock drilling. I went to Home Depot and bought more drill bits so we can finish up today. It is hard work, taking sheer strength to push the drill bit through the cylinder locks...unlike using a cutting wheel to cut padlocks which only takes contact with the area you're cutting and minimal pressure. I was really hoping that I had some type of horizontal drill press that could be wheeled up to each door..line the drill up with the center of the lock and then bore into it....I guess enough money and technology could make anything happen but not to be this go round. More later when our mission has been completed...

Prep Time

Well tomorrow we start prepping for next week's auction. We have 25 locks to drill out tomorrow. One of us drills while the other video tapes the drilling, then we photograph the contents with a Polaroid camera (yes, they still have those things around), then tag and lock the unit.That way it's all ready for auction day. We started out with 56 units on the list so not bad to wind up with only 25 that might go. Folks have right up till the time of the auction to pay their balance and get it off the auction list. That is a very real possibility for several more units. If someone pays the balance on any of the units we've already drilled out, then they will need to purchase a new lock to put on their unit. I will work with the assistant manager tomorrow doing the locks so we can share the workload. That way it won't kill my wrists so bad as it would if I had to do it all by myself. Whew !!

Watching the World Series game and holding my breath that the Phillies might pull off tonight's game (not looking good at this point). Another hour will tell but I won't be up to see.

Turning colder here....supposed to be in the high 40's on Friday but then rebounding for the weekend. Rain overnight and tomorrow.

Keep telling myself that I need to get moving and start Christmas shopping but can't get motivated to get started with it. Guess it might help to start making lists of who I might need to buy for and what I might want to buy. Ugggg...

Day Off ?

Well one of our assistants quit on Sunday so now I have three people to hire for this location and Linda and I will have to work and cover the days we would usually be off. We worked some on Sunday but it helps that it is a short day (only open 9-3). Linda went over to do the lock report, which is taking the printout that prints out the previous evening and going to the units listed to either unlock the overlock or lock the overlock. A unit gets overlocked once it goes beyond the 5th day of the grace period. Since we use cylinder locks, this is a lock that fits into an outer ring on the lock and turns the pins inside the cylinder lock so that a tenant's key won't fit into the lock. Cylinder locks are very strong and are a pain to drill out if a tenant forgets their key or if we have to take the lock off for an auction. We have about 28 to drill out the end of this week to get ready for next Thursday's auction. Not looking forward to doing that....Had to drill out two today. The first one came when I thought I'd sneak in an afternoon nap (since I was off today). Linda has this psychic ability that lets her know anytime I'm laying down to take a nap....I think it's called Nap-dar...Something starts beeping in her brain and she knows she needs to call me on the phone cause my eyes are closing and I'm lounging somewhere. She called me on my cell phone, not once but twice to tell me a guy needed to have his lock drilled out cause he couldn't get into his unit. Gave up on the nap and decided that someone other than me needs to learn how to drill them out since it's on all of our job descriptions....(Last I checked mu job description didn't state "You are deemed the sole lock driller for this location".)Our assistant was willing to learn so she got a good workout doing two of them today. She did a great job !

Finished the training in time to come back to the rig to watch Oprah's show on handbags, shoes and bras. Boy, that sure made my afternoon. Good thing her fashion police hadn't run into me on the streets...I would have hit the trifecta on all three counts ! LOL...