memphisism.

i have no fun one liners from the rest of this week. it was a rather uneventful week.

well aside from a guy telling me he had bladder cancer - and then proceeding today to tell darwin the entire story of how he found out. thank you overly zealous life story telling man.

well a couple of weeks ago, darwin, his brother robinson and i were driving around north georgia scouting properties. ya know because of this whole long standing "our landlord sucks at life and is a lowlife scum eating turd face" debacle we are in.

things you see a lot of in north georgia:

-abandoned chicken farms
-abandoned homes
-sweet trailer get-ups
-above ground pools (apparently this is not just a south georgia phenomena)
-lots of winding roads
-very little cell service
-riding tractor/mowers

you know the standard.

speaking of above ground pools. well we saw one of them and i was sitting in the back seat with praia -- while ro was trying no to vomit in the front seat -- and i looked over at it and said, well that is greener than shit.

to which darwin promptly replied: wow you are from memphis.

similar to this, but greener and grosser.

i sometimes forget that there are things that people say in memphis that you just don't hear elsewhere. greener than shit being the front runner at the moment....

back to the search for land...with or without the greener than shit pool...i mean i wouldn't turn down a pool. who does that?

next week is a short week for me. i am leaving thursday for my very best friend's bachelorette party. we are going to the beach and I AM SOOOO EXCITED (see how many caps were in that? that's pure excitement gold right there). which means next week is going to be a shit show.

we only have the rest of a floor to deliver, a pay app to get in, and i am sure something will go terribly wrong. it's guaranteed to in fact. weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee work crises.  oh and dolly and 1 forklift are broken...good lousy.

i'll take the work crisis in exchange for the beach any day. mmmm salt water and air....that's the cure right there folks.

mmm ocean sunsets.

ciao.

p.s. i apologize for the number of "shits" (that was eloquently put, no?) in this post. i take that back. no i'm not....shit

source

paperwork.

it's monday and we are back here again:

paperwork.

can there be some sort of paperwork fairy that flies around with her/his magic wand and dust making all the paperwork be done, sorted, and handled accordingly?

i don't like being that magic fairy anymore. well let me restate that. i am okay with doing the paperwork once. even twice if i've got too, but we are on round 7, i believe, of getting this paperwork correct.

preferably not this guy...

do you know how many notaries that has required and how much time has been spent fighting with the printer, driving to a notary, driving to the post office, scanning paperwork, etc? no? me neither, and i frankly do not want to know.

after being on the phone with their lovely office administrator for this project, i believe (again i've certainly said this before) we have finally turned in the proper paperwork.

aside from that. it is beautiful here. so pretty in fact that i had my first pool day of the season yesterday. i am so excited that it is almost acceptable to be at the pool all day every weekend. because that means i can be in a swimsuit at all times. we all know what my main goal in life is: be somewhere where wearing swimsuits is acceptable at all times of the day...

it's been a rather uneventful few days around here. darwin was out of town friday, which meant that paperwork that needed to be turned in before he left was ultimately wrong and i had to hunt him down before he actually skiddadled (absolutely a word, i don't care what the dictionary says) out of town. so that was a fun morning for me. because it didn't just mean finding him to resign things, it meant fighting the printer as well. which always turns out to be a graceful affair for this kid...not. sailor like language, multiple head bangings, a lot of unplugging/plugging back in, and of course the occasional kicking and screaming at it. woosah. woosah. not so much.

here is a picture of a piece i was working on for darwin as a surprise. it still needs one more coat of finish. i have drawn up a couple of bases, so hopefully this piece can come together.

see that stack behind this? that's what i sifted and sorted through to get the heart pine the other day...

we've got a new set of pieces on our website (urbanreclaimed.com). it is a "matching" set of end tables. i say matching because they are from the same tree, but they are not exact matches on dimension. they are BEAUTIFUL though.... go.look.at.them.NOW

that's about all i got for the time being folks. not a very entertaining post i realize, but i am serious about the paperwork fairy. i'll chip in some meager coin for that to come to fruition. 

ciao. 

p.s. look at me with two pictures in one post...woaaaaah

toothfairsource

catching a drift...

it's thursday. which means tomorrow is friday. which in tandem means: no work and the beach! WOOOOOO!! i cannot wait to get away from atlanta. i love atlanta, well most of the time, but right now i want out. in quite possibly the worst way possible. i don't want to play anymore. i want to sit by the ocean, drink beer, eat copious amounts of seafood, and watch the world melt away. that seems fantastic...

whoever tells you that moving isn't stressful and will be pain free, should be shot in the face right then in there. no questions asked, no waiting to see if they are kidding, no nothing. they should be shot. granted our move hasn't been terrible (i think i just called myself out here). but seriously, i have organized the move within and inch of it's life. i mean come on, i am good at organizing. we have almost completed the warehouse. the yard, well the yard is a whole 'nother story completely. i knew that was going to be a bitch from day one. it always is. staring at me with that smug - there is nothing you can do about me - face. that is if it were a person of course instead of an inanimate object, but you catch my drift.

ahhh drift. to be adrift. tomorrow tomorrow. focus. focus.

well i'm shot now. all i can think about it sand, salt and sea. the three major food groups of the soul. well my soul anyhow.

but seriously. moving. it's sucks any way you plan it. it's daunting unless you can do it in stages. or when you realize that half the stuff (more like 3/4) you thought you had to move isn't yours. SCORE. we also got inspected by the fire marshal. because you know what is useful. getting inspected when you have a month left on your lease and you have been there over 3 years. seems like a good a time as any. oh, did i forget to mention that we have never had one before? yea that's right. NEVER.

so we weren't quite up to snuff on all of our codes, but the guy was nice and let it slide and said to fix it and told me when he would be back to make sure i had fixed it. then darwin opens his big mouth...i swear. he told me to handle the fire marshal and then he decides that he wants to butt in on things and talk with the dude. i could of kicked him. if we were all sitting at a table i would have, or maybe thrown my knife at him. i had it covered. the paperwork was signed and we were ready to go. JESUS PETE!

now, i should have clearly seen that coming from a mile away. you know. boys being boys. i've got to make sure that everything is in working order. i'm not an idiot, i got it covered. you do leave me in charge of your company and made me cfo....remember????????????????

silly boys. when will they ever learn?

ciao.


THE BEACH!!!

slow down. you move to fast.

it has been a minute since i have actually written something about work on here, aside from ya know being the commander in chief and all. now that darwin is back for longer than a 10 minute period, i can finally breathe for a second. i think i forgot to breathe for those two weeks that he was gone. just holding my breath until i was about to explode. i came damn near close to that explosion i will say. i staved it off, but phew, it was a close one.

now that things are relatively back to normal and by that i mean i am leaving next week for vacation, and it cannot come fast enough. atlanta, is silly hot. you begin to think you are melting the moment you step outside. it is absolutely disgusting and not a pretty look at all. AT.ALL.

so now i sit here typing this and multi-tasking like a champ. currently this is what i am doing:

-researching - CNG, california architects, sustainable design/architecture/building

-car shopping - groan.

-phone answering - in the least possible sense

-updating facebook/work blog

-vigilante money obtaining - borders upon stalking....

-perpetual cleaning of the office

-crafting ideas

-realizing that i am starving - that waffle at 745 this morning just ain't cutting it

it's a glamorous life i lead folks. g.l.a.m.o.r.o.u.s.

wouldn't change it for the world. i will say as much as i run the ins and outs of mississippi wood trader, when darwin is around, it seems to flow much smoother. it astounds me sometimes the level of incompetence some people have, right up until darwin calls them. i know i sound like i am 12. i know that. i know i am girl. i am WELL aware of that. but sometimes, really just once, i want someone to listen to what i say and realize that i do in fact know what i am talking about.

i relayed all this information to darwin and he said he was going to coach me in the ways of talking to customers. (let's hope it goes smoother than teaching me to drive a stick shift in the warehouse...). he told me i need to slow down. SLOW DOWN? me, ha. i don't know how to slow down. and he is one to talk i might add. but i am trying to get better about slowing down.

another mantra to add to 2011. slow down. stay calm. breathe. those are things i don't do very well. that and sleep. but that is neither here nor there. why sleep when there are 24 useable hours in a day? ha, i would love to be able to sleep longer that 4-6 hours a day. not a night, a day. who has two thumbs and is a huge fan of naps? this kid.

as the mantras keep stacking up, i am noticing a theme. they all correlate with each other, and i should take note of that. you can't do one without partially using another. but that would require me to slow down...sensing a pattern yet? you can bet the farm on that one.

so all in all i am doing better about not freaking out about the little stuff. it was touch and go there for a hot minute, with the whole car stolen charade. but i've slowly moved back on track and refocused my energy. wish me luck with that one.

oh if you perhaps would want to purchase a caterpillar forklift, i know where you can obtain one....

ciao.

p.s. i don't recommend googling california architects. they make you realize you are missing out living in a landlocked city. missing out hardcore....

crisis. management.

i do a lot of crisis management around here. i've learned to expect the unexpected or at least fake that i expected it to be coming. doesn't matter how ludicrous it is, someone will undoubtedly ask for it and you have to be on your toes. it makes for an awesome day.

take last week for instance. darwin decided that he wanted to be beach bum and leave me in charge of the company. -that rat bastard - so naturally, i said whatever and went right back to what i was doing. fast forward to the middle of the week, when darwin then tells me that i am in charge of this huge order that has to go out friday, and if it doesn't then we've lost a huge potential client. no pressure or anything....after wrestling with the freight company and finally getting that straight i figured i was in the clear. WRONG. they screwed up the pick-up date and thought it was the day that i started scheduling everything, not friday. son of a...we moved onto round three with the freight company. dot: 0 freight: 2. not good odds. i did however bully my way to a victory. it wasn't pretty and i was almost in tears, but i won.

friday rolls around and everything goes according to plan. so i am sitting pretty. i have managed to get all the ducks in a row and darwin isn't even town. amazing. i log out of work early, because i mean darwin is at the beach, so there is absolutely no reason for me to be there, and proceed on with my weekend. monday comes and everything is still kosher, the delivery is on time. tuesday hits.....cue impending doom music....i am at darwin's house (my new home office...pretty swanky) and i get a frantic phone call from the people who are receiving the material...uh oh...

the freight carrier decided that they weren't going to actually deliver it on time and were holding the material hostage. PHENOMENAL! so i race to work. call the freight company, get passed to about 80 gajillion people before anyone figures out what the heck i am talking about. i have to make up a release form - no, if you are wondering, there is no standard release form from the freight company, go figure...- and fax it off to the world of faxes and hope for the best. made for an exciting day and it was only 930.

the problem with crisis management is that once you solve one, it's then a waiting game for the next one. the other problem is that you can't hunker down and wait for the crisis - that would be a terrible existence - so instead you mosey along with your day/week/month/life and then wham blindsided by another crisis. i unfortunately don't usually get the month long respite, or even the week long for that matter....

ciao.

what's a girl got to do, to get some beach action?

do you ever have those days where you want to politely (or not so politely) excuse yourself from the world and just run away for a little while? i've been thinking, with increasing notion, that this may be a good idea. everyone needs a little break, right? right? right? anyone? just a little break. nothing major. just an escape. oh, i like that better, an escape. it's rather like when you just want a brownie, or a chip, or some ice-cream. it smooths everything over just enough to get you back into the swing of things. a refresher if you will. nothing major or life-changing. just a chance to relax and forget about the stresses that come day to day.

perhaps a fruity drink with an umbrella in it would tide me over for a bit. probably not, but it may be my best option for now. i think me and the beach would get along quite well. i wouldn't be pushy or ask too many questions (i tend to ask too many questions...most of the time i don't want answers, they are just out loud musings.). i promise i really won't.

my best friend and her family were kind enough to take me to asheville, north carolina last weekend. that was a great reprieve. i did learn however that i am a beach kid to the core. the mountains are beautiful and picturesque, but there is just something about the beach. the smell, the waves, the sand, the salt. all of it. it made me miss the beach even more. mainly the beach as a kid. playing in the sand making castles. finding sand for the next three weeks after you've left the beach....

today has been rather eventful and has made darwin and i seriously rethink the way things run around the shop. nothing like calling the cops by 10:45 on a tuesday to get your day going. not one of our better mornings. none of it was our fault, but it means that security is going to be a lot tighter around the shop and that i probably in all likelihood won't ever be there alone again. or perhaps i should start carrying a gun. wouldn't that be entertaining? dot with a gun. ha.

so as much fun as the shop has been today: guy trying to sell me a fake-ass gold chain (ya know, to pay for his car getting worked on next door); cops; forklift driving; darwin in the rafters standing on the forklift...it's been a big day and i am glad to say that i am no longer sitting at the shop. it's not the beach or anything (that would make this tuesday far more exhilarating, not too mention, this blog probably wouldn't be written), but it most certainly is not the ghetto....but then again nothing really is.

ciao.

snowpocalypse...

snow day. part 2. i think the cabin fever may have set in. my driveway goes straight down; there is no getting out. i am not even sure that i could leave on foot if i even tried. that may come later based on how stir crazy i get by the end of the day...

now around the warehouse things constantly need fixed. it's kind of a continuous string of calamities that may or may not get dealt with. one that needed to be dealt with for oh as long as i have been here, and most certainly needed to be fixed before i got here, attempted to get fixed one morning.

i stroll into the warehouse one morning and notice that one of the forklifts is in the shop bay. the mast is all the way up and there appears to be a human hanging from the rafters. imagine this view at 8 in the morning. is he dead? who is he? what in the hell is going on? i put my stuff down and stroll on back to the shop bay to see exactly what is going on.

it's darwin. he is hanging/repelling from the rafters. he has climbed the forklift and has attached himself to the rafters to fix the florescent lights. yes, most of the florescent lights have been out since oh i don't know circa 2005, but that does not mean that we need to be climbing forklifts to hang from rafters.

now this whole scenario wouldn't have been quite so terrible if say someone had actually have been there to make sure he didn't topple off the top of the forklift, electrocute himself, or i don't know help. now that is where i stepped in. handing him lightbulbs, sockets, the whole nine yards. but still nothing is more nerve racking (well actually there is, but we won't go there today) than seeing your boss hanging from the rafters with no adult supervision.

he always tells me to be careful when i am climbing on things (log piles, metal sculptures, lumber packs...) and i always tell him that i am okay, i used to do this all the time. he responds with well i don't want to have to explain to your mother what happened. i proceed to explain that my mother would understand and most certainly wouldn't be surprised....however if we reverse that situation, i am not sure how i would explain that to his mom, besides yes ma'am i am very sorry. i have sold the business and praia and i are moving to the beach...come and visit...(are you sensing a pattern of my life goals yet...beach, beach, and some more beach, with a side of beach.)

so snow day...good lousy i am going insane...

good riddance.

new year. new you. that's how it works correct? well new year, new way of organizing and staying there. i think that may be my motto after what i walked into this morning. the office looked like a tasmanian devil had zipped around and threw stuff EVERYWHERE! i mean good gracious. granted i was gone for a week or so. but really. darwin wasn't here that much...how on earth could it have gotten so bad. so bad in fact that darwin (mister unorganized) called me this morning to chat about the day and asked me if i would clean the office as it was driving him crazy. imagine if it was driving him crazy how it made me feel....

so with the office finally clean and things put in the respective places (for the time being at least) i get to my favorite part of the year. making resolutions that you know you won't keep. ha, that's not really my favorite part. my favorite part is purging the old stuff to get ready for new stuff. like say a tractor trailer load of heart pine...oh wait...that already appeared, and shuffled everything around into places they don't belong.

back to purging. this means that i get to take all of last year's crap, ahem, stuff, and stick it in a box, label it 2010 and close the lid and never think about it again (until darwin needs a receipt circa 2005...) i get to organize AND put away. 2 of my absolute favorite things. absolutely no sarcasm there. really i swear i actually enjoy organizing stuff within an inch of it's life. it's really quite cathartic.

so cheers to 2011. it most certainly can't be worse than 2010. well at least not for me, because if it is, my poor little brain and soul can't handle it and you can most certainly bet i will cash out and move to fiji, or tahiti, or culebra, or somewhere ANYWHERE secluded with no cell phone reception, a beach, and tiny umbrellas for your drinks. you can find me at the bar, third seat from the left...

i would typed the lyrics to auld lang syne here, but really who cares. SALUD!