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Posted on 11/27/2005 7:34:17 AM PST by snippy_about_it
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 are acknowledged, affirmed and commemorated.
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| Our Mission: The FReeper Foxhole is dedicated to Veterans of our Nation's military forces and to others who are affected in their relationships with Veterans. In the FReeper Foxhole, Veterans or their family members should feel free to address their specific circumstances or whatever issues concern them in an atmosphere of peace, understanding, brotherhood and support. The FReeper Foxhole hopes to share with it's readers an open forum where we can learn about and discuss military history, military news and other topics of concern or interest to our readers be they Veteran's, Current Duty or anyone interested in what we have to offer. If the Foxhole makes someone appreciate, even a little, what others have sacrificed for us, then it has accomplished one of it's missions. We hope the Foxhole in some small way helps us to remember and honor those who came before us.
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 by request :-) As we near our first year as eviiiil capitalists we can look back and see mistakes made. They weren't all huge, not all small but part of the learning process. We learned from them immediately. This experience will make next year go much smoother and hopefully profitable by next Christmas season. The trick is to be able to hang on (pay bills and eat) until we get the customer base we need to sustain us. We still believe in what we are doing and we believe it will work. The store is moving upward ever so slowly. We've learned where to spend our advertising dollars and where not to. What ads work and what doesn't, what "sales" work and what doesn't. We've learned about consumer spending habits and what works in what month as far as product. Summer was much slower than expected and that set us back a bit but we learned from that also. We need to work summer different than last year, offer different products and carry less inventory than we initially thought. This will also allow us to bring in more items for the Christmas season. We will also probably take Sunday's off during the summer. Yippee! We've changed our hours on a few occasions trying to get an idea of when folks shop here at this type of store. I'm building a chart with customer counts so we can see the trends and the growth. I think I can safely say we both have gained confidence in ourselves and our abilities. This shop is the kind of place customers like to stay in and chat awhile. We have folks staying and talking for 30 minutes to an hour. They are comfortable with the store and us and they get attention they don't receive in the "box" stores. We learned about location. Mind you, we knew it was important and our problem here is that there is no "good" place in our city to place a business so we had to pick what we thought was the best with what was available in this "no growth" state we are in. It isn't ideal but then again, there is no ideal place, at least not around here. We really like our short 2.9 mile commute. We've learned to balance our strong points against each other, we each have certain tasks we do but make sure we both know the "other's" job. We still have a lot to learn but I think we have the major areas covered. We need to be able to afford and take the time to go to trade shows, increase our vendor contacts and continue to get the word out that we are here and do all that while spending as little money as possible. We are still happy about going to work everyday and though some days seem horrible and we get worried, the next day or week will surprise us and we are again encouraged. I can tell you it is something we both wish we had done earlier in our lives but the timing would have never been just right, in our case, this time in our lives, it was this or McDonalds. LOL. Health insurance is outrageous when you have to pay for it yourself. For anyone thinking of going out on their own, keep this in mind and save money ahead of time to cover it. We didn't and it takes a good chunk of change at our age to cover it even with very high deductibles. We have some really wonderful loyal customers, just not enough of them. Word is spreading and word of mouth is the best kind of advertising but it is slow going. The economy in Oregon doesn't help but like I said, if we can just hang on we know one day we will be able to make the store pay our personal expenses. We don't need to get rich or own more than one store, we just want to be able to pay for a roof over our heads and food on the table. Don't think we aren't aiming high, a nice vacation would be great too but we will be happy with not ever having to work for "someone else" again. We do it all, too. From cleaning the store, buying and placing orders, managing and stocking inventory, bookkeeping, banking, window displays, cashier/sales clerks, advisors and window washers. LOL. It is truly a "mom and pop shop" and we are enjoying it and hoping for the best. It's ours and it feels good to be able to say that. The website has some pictures but believe me, we change the way the product is displayed almost weekly. It's a must in this business.  We aquired a stray cat at the store about 7 weeks ago, just before we got the dog and he now lives in the store. Customers come in just to see the cat. Some carry him around the entire time they shop, some come in to see him and don't necessarily shop at the time! We have one customer that bought him a collar about a month ago and today brought him in some flea medicine because we found a few bumps on his back near his tail, though we see no fleas. The cat is perfect, he greets most of the customers and insist they pay attention to him! I have a list of customers that want the cat if we ever decided to give it up. We are having a contest to name the cat and we will select the name on Christmas eve so the cat finally gets a name for Christmas. The dog on the other hand is too rambunctious to be in the store unfortunately. :-( We take turns puppy sitting the dog away from the store and just this weekend splurged to get him a crate which we will try to ease him into staying in it, eventually for at least a few hours. The customers like the dog but at not yet 5 months old we are having difficulty teaching him to stay down off folks and he is just too big of a puppy to not knock things over when he gets excited (which is a mood he seems to stay in perpetually). He is very, very stubborn.  How can you not love a dog who sleeps on your head?  And brings you toys to play with? So there you have it, the Sam and Snippy (and Sarge and "the cat") shop is plugging along and we are happy to share our experience and lives with our Foxhole family. We wish you could all come and visit with us and see the store. Thank you all for your continued support of Sam and me. We love you guys.      |
Does this mean you're workin late?
R/C Airbus at link below
http://www.funmansion.com/html/Airbus-Remote-Control-Plane.html
Cool News on the high rise P.E.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Norm!
Thanks ct.
Yippee! This is wonderful. I'm glad someplace the economy is on the "rise".
And I can go shopping? :-)
heh, you betcha I'm goin shoppin soon.
Got Christmas taken care of for the kids. Santa needs to get on the ball though. We are having Christmas with my mom early this year since my brother will only be here from Dec 6th-16th. I guess that means I need to get on the ball, too, and get somethin for my mom and my brother.
~sigh~ I guess I could get him some bullets or somethin like that for his guns. Not really a unique gift, but always appreciated by him.
I don't know what an X-pen is but we did finally get a "crate" to keep him in so we could at least go to dinner or a trip to the store. He's stayed in it for two and a half hours the longest and seemed to do okay.
I think he'd stay in one in the store but start jumping and hollering as soon as a customer came in!
Sadie isn't completely trained yet. When we have doggies inside for the night, she sleeps all night in the kennel. Chelsea is and has been trained for awhile. She gets to sleep in our room or in Karateboy's room.
Right now, the kennel is being used for Bittygirl's "treasures." What a packrat she is!
Off to work in a new department today :-( From all indications it sounds like I will be playing astronaut.
That is taking up space!!!
Back Tonight
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
"How's it going Mr. Peterson?"
"It's a dog eat dog world, Woody, and I'm wearing Milk Bone underwear.
| November 29, 2005
Accident Or Design?
Read:
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The Bible opens with this magnificent statement: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth" (Genesis 1:1). How simple those words are and yet how fathomless!
Dyson Freeman, one of today's most brilliant scientists, writes that nature's laws are marked by "the greatest mathematical simplicity and beauty."
While I am not a scientist or a mathematician, I am intrigued by this statement. If there is no Designer—no Creator God—how is it that our universe can be a law-abiding system marked by beauty and simplicity? I wonder, why isn't our universe in chaos?
The only reasonable explanation to me is the God of the Bible. As it says in Romans 1:20, "Since the creation of the world [God's] invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that [we] are without excuse."
If it's only the reality of God's existence that explains the whole universe, that must also be true of our lives. We are not accidents but creatures designed by a Maker of limitless power and wisdom. Look for Him in what He has designed—you'll see Him there. —Vernon Grounds
The design of creation points to the Master Designer.
On This Day In History
Birthdates which occurred on November 29:
1229 Louis II the Stern, ruler (upper Baveria)
1803 Christian Doppler discovered Doppler Effect (color shift)
1811 Wendell Phillips women's suffrage/antislavery/prison reformer
1832 Louisa May Alcott Germantown PA, author (Little Women)
1833 Louis Douglass Watkins Brig General (Union volunteers), died in 1868
1834 Thomas Edward Greenfield Ransom Bvt Major General (Union volunteers)
1849 Sir Ambrose Fleming inventor (diode)
1874 Antonio Egas Moniz Portugal, lobotomist (Nobel 1949)
1895 William V.S. Tubman (Whig), 17th Liberian President (1943-70)
1896 Philip L Carret Lynn MA, CEO (Pioneer Fund)
1898 CS Lewis English writer/scholar/Christian apologist
1907 Merle Travis country singer (16 Tons)
http://www.countrymusichalloffame.com/inductees/merle_travis.html
1918 Herb Shriner Toledo Ohio, host/humorist (Herb Shriner Show)
1923 Frank Reynolds E Chicago IN, news anchor (ABC Evening News)
1927 Vin Scully sportscaster (NBC Baseball Game of the Week)
1928 Paul Simon (Sen-D-Ill), presidential candidate
1929 Don January pro golfer (1976 Vardon Trophy)
1932 Diane Ladd Meridian Miss, actress (Wild Angels, Wild at Heart)
1933 Dr David Reuben writer (Everything You Wanted to Know about Sex)
1933 John Mayall blues singer (Bluesbreakers)
1939 Gennadiy Volnov USSR, basketball player (Olympic-gold-1972)
1940 Chuck Mangione jazz composer/horn blower (Chasing the Clouds Away)
1944 Felix Cavaliere Pelham NY, rocker (Rascals-Lonely too Long)
1946 Suzy Chaffee US, skier/chapstick user (Olympics-1968)
1949 Garry Shandling comedian (It's Garry Shandling Show)
1949 Kenneth D Cameron Cleveland OH, Lt Col USMC/astronaut
1955 Howie Mandel Toronto Canada, comedian
1963 Andrew McCarthy actor (St Elmo's Fire)
1964 Kris Kamm Evanston IL, actor (Stuart Rosebrock-Coach)
1968 Jonathan Raleigh Knight Massachusetts, rocker(?) (New Kids-Hangin' Tough)
ping
Merning, Valin.
We're having a RAAAAAAGEING Blizzard. A whole 2-3 inches. I'm ashamed to admit it but all the freeways are moving at 10-15 miles an hour. I could go off on a worldclass rant about drivers here. It's like they've never seen snow before.
We are having very high winds --been blowing for hours.
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