An Intriguing Tale Of Being An Owner

So the town met – and by the town – i mean the people who makes the decision for the town – and determined how much they wanna tax us.  The commercial rate increases this year – and even though the occupancy tax is said to be eliminated – you and i know that our landlord whose commercial rate is gonna go up this year – will also in turn raise our rent to get back the extras they are asked to pay up.

How can we not expect it – when even the sewage rate is going up by up by 25% and we don’t pay for sewage at the store – so you really think the landlords are gonna pay for it?  come on..!!!!  they get taxed..and they tax us !  easy calculation.  Our lease is coming up this month.. and i can only imagine  what is going on in the minds of all landlords of this town afterall, they won’t even give us our own  personalized basketballs when we asked for one – they were giving away during seafest.  Will update – once i see the lease.

So we closed the store for the first time – to head up to the city – because I had an eye doctor appointment and to look for  stainless steel drums.  I feel better closing up then to get in a part time employee to help for the day – because then you know that you don’t have to worry about anything. You have to make sure that the person you hire will not need  Cocaine Rehab, or have some other personal problems. After all when you have a good security system it is better to not chance it!
The store is secured with a new security company and we had put in more sensors even in the basement and on the windows in front and at the back of the store.

Of couse, I’m sure the spouse wasn’t really, really too keen on closing the store – but when you can’t find the right help – what can you do eh?  and the person we wanna hire – well, he just ain’t barging at all – hahah!!  you know who you are bugger     Anyhow – if i had it my way – i would stay another day – but this summer – with good rates from help from a customer – who works for Westin – we are staying longer – for sure.

Crime fighters we are not but we just want to do the right thing and hope that by doing so – one day – someone would stand up for us too.  It is hard to make an honest living when someone keeps breaking into ppl’s car or houses in broad daylight – so when a report comes in like that – we keep a look out for the things that were taken and we try our very best – to get any info we can to the owners or cops.

A few days ago, a stolen item came in – and even though we tried to get the name of the person – the person didn’t fall for our bait.  But we took a video footage of the person – and was able to give it to the cops and the owner of the said item – they tracked him down and yesterday we were asked to give a statement.  Of course, this would mean that we might have to go to court to identify the person – and waste a day’s of work – but doing the right thing is important to us – because we have to make sure that crime does not pay for those crooks – what say you?

Lipovox

A month and a half ago, i had written about this ex-customer renting 3 movies and not bringing them back.  After leaving a message on a voice mail for him at his parents – about collections – he came in to scream at us in vulgarities – but still not returning our movies.  Yes ! the nerve of some people – he then told the boss he was gonna bring it back the next day – and pay up his late fees.

But guess what?  another month later – today – he came in with the movies – but walked right out without paying his lates either.  2 months and 3 movies later – paid only $3 bucks for renting it each – this person has not even an inch of integrity in him – for people like that – he will never rent from us again – and the next time – he comes in and wants to rent – i would give him the  best acne treatment i can find and tell him to take it with him free – for he is nothing but a pain.  People like that don’t know that they are hurting not only our business but others – because we are planning not to even rent movies soon – all because of people like him and his g/f.  Both owes us money – $100 each.   You see his g/f ripped us off – a few months ago – and now the b/f – so birds of the feathers do flock together eh.

The school board made some changes recently for the town for the high school – i don’t really know their reason for it but while out looking for wedding accessories with my friends – for her forthcoming wedding – this was what we saw.  Yes! Picketing again!   Man ! oh man! you must be telling yourself – why is there so many things happening to displeasure the entire town.  From the MLAs being caught with their hands in the cookie jars to the ceased operation of the CAT and the airline changed – it’s a drama rama here.

More than 100 parents were in the meeting with the school board for making changes about certain grades moving from one school to another. Parents were upset because of several issues like busing and the transition of students – especially those with special needs.   They are also concerned about the lunch program and the noon hour supervision or the lack of it at the Junior High.  As a parent – i really sympathize with the parents – but with a child so at grade 7 or 9 -  can it be so much trouble emotionally?  but having said that – i know some just don’t want to go to the Junior high because of its bad reputation and I can’t blame them for it because we want our children to be safe.   I’m just glad we are currently not affected yet.

Yes, we have one of those every other day – the ones that thinks that they are doing you a favor when they sell stuff to you.  The ones that needs the money – but still thinks that you owe them an explanation as to how much you price the game that they are trying to sell to you.  Yes ! one of those – we had this morning – bringing in a box of xbox games – not xbox 360 eh – the old xbox games and an old xbox and wants them for $170 *slap forehead*.  When the boss offered him $80 – he told us that we could easily get $10 a piece for the games!  hahaha!! YA RIGHT!!  we sell our xbox games for only $5 a piece and even then – it will take forever to sell – because no one has an xbox no more!!!  Not only do they want to sell your their stuff and thinks you owe it to them to give them the price they want – they also wants to run your business – hahahah!!  I think I will sell electric cigarettes from now on – instead of video games – less hassle.

So I hear a lot of people sharing their dreams with us – many wants to open their own businesses – like 2 yrs ago – a lady customer came in to let us know that she just finished her business course at the local college and she is going to get all these fundings out there.   So we wished her good luck and 3 yrs later – she is still unemployed and living on welfare.

Don’t get me wrong – i’m sure many would be good businessmen/women but the kind of town we are in – it’s really hard for any zealous people to get a go at it – I wanna tell them not to loose any sleep over it – about the funding and for some closer customer/s, I want to recommend some  sleeping pills in advance – but I know they would take it the wrong way – so i nod and agree with them.   Why do I say that? or think that?  well, we’ve been down that road – and it sure wasn’t the easiest – in fact – if it weren’t for the extended family – i think we may not have stuck it out that long.   The fundings that are out there – are not for ordinary people like you and I – because they are so deep into themselves – the ones that holds the money – it’s never going to you or me.  The bank?  no way – you are not bankable unless you have assets but at 20 something – what asset would one have ? except for a beaten up old car and some comic books.

Today, someone was in pricing up what we charged for a computer part – because he was working from home.  He wants to be brave and start up – I told him good luck.  But deep down inside – i wanna share our experience with him – but bit my tongue.  I know most ppl will take it wrongly and with such a small town – people who sees you do good – wants a share of the pie as well.  We have been in business for 10.5 yrs and till today – there are some people who don’t know we exist – yes ! you heard me right.  Word of mouth can only go so far – when you are a new business – opening a business is easy – to keep the business going – well that’s another thing altogether – well, unless you have lots of money or strong back up.

Nope we don’t have marc jacobs handbags in our store but we sure have loads of rock band guitars on sale at this moment.  In fact overloaded and we don’t know where to put them – so we currently have them stacked on the empty shelves that we have.  There are at least 3 dozens on sale at the moment – so like any smart business fella – we go on sale for the guitars.  So if you want cheap Rock Band Guitars – drop by at our store – and hey if you are in Canada .. we’ll even ship it out to you.

So the Premier was in town today – and guess what – he was welcomed by the crowd chanting – “Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho – Dexter gotta go! Hey, Hey, Ho, Ho, Dexter gotta go”  Some had their  terry romper on and was standing as a by-stander and just watching.   About a dozen of the town ppl were at the town hall picketing – the numbers were sad!  for those who were there ranting and giving all sorts ofmouthy speech on Facebook were just empty vessels. When the real deal to talk to the Mayor presented itself – there were no spokesperson.   I was late and i didn’t get to see the Premier – but had i seen him – i did have a few questions prepared for him.  Shortly after the doors were closed – the group lead by former Mayor Crosby dispersed.  It was a very sad day for me – i had expected a better turn out – when they were fighting for the Yar’c they had more turned out than this.  I see that the Yar’c is far more important to the people of this town than the ending of tourism.  How sad is that..?

I’ve always complained about the bad stuff happening around the store and in this town as a owner by association but there are perks with owning your own store – and that’s the joy of being able to sell the stuff you don’t need anymore in your own store – without having to pay a commission for it.  Just like the old  tv stands that we had – but since we bought a new plasma thru’ Aeroplan Miles – there were no need to have them at all because we even bought those to sell at our store.   Today, we sold the last of those tv stands and with the money we had gotten back – we are going to put it into savings again or pay some bills.  Yes – these are the perks we enjoy – as business owners and i guess that balances out some of the bad stuff that happens at our store time and time again.

So we have people who rents from us – games and movies and they expect us to be ok that they don’t bring it back on time.  Some even expects us to forget about our rentals for playstation 3 games and you and I know how expensive they are and no – if i can help it – i would do everything and anything i can to get our games or movies back.

So – we call and we leave messages and if we so happen to know you know someone that we know – we will ask for help from your friend.  If not – we will leave messages for you.  We always try to be nice – but after a month – and i still can’t reach you – because you don’t have the correct phone number for us – and we only have your parents  – well, we’ll leave a message for your parents.

So that was what i did to a renter today – at his parents – i said in my message that i wasn’t going to call no more because it was his responsibility to bring it back and that if i didn’t’ see it at the end of the week – i was going to send his name to the collection agency.   And guess what he miraculously appeared the very same day – albeit swearing at us and tell us that he didn’t like we threatened his parents – blah, blah, blah.  Well, buddy – in the first place – if you respected yourself and your good name – you would have brought it back like 4 weeks ago – and since you can’t – i have to do what i have to do – to protect our property.  It always work and no amount of swearing would get him anywheres – he is definitely  not renting from us for a long time.

As you all know we are a computer/game store – but the questions that some people asked us when they walk into the store is amazing.  Sometimes, you don’t know whether to laugh or roll your eyes in disbelieved.  Today, we had a woman coming in to try and sell us her collection of CDs that she said she did not use anymore.  Fair enough, we explained to her that we don’t pay much for it.  In which she replied – so do you sell any CDs yourself *roll eyes*.  So what did she think we were gonnd do with the CDs that she was planning to sell us…??   This is not the funniest though – the other day – a customer who was a skinny as a pencil came into our store – all huffing and puffing asking if we sell weight loss pills – hahahha!!  the spouse look at me .. and i looked at him – and we both pointed at our sign above us – saying – computer sales and repairs.  hahahahaha!!

We love our customers.. but some are just crooks – like the one i saw at Tim’s this morning -  it’s people like him that makes us wary of other customers and mistaken the good ones as a crook too.   Why?  because a year ago – this long time crook customer took our dvd and a computer monitor to test for his mother because he said he didn’t know which was the one that was not good – the monitor or the tower.  And since he was a long time customer .. and he didn’t give us any beef till then we said sure.  But till today – we still haven’t seen him come back with the dvd or monitor or the money he owes us.  After leaving so many messages – we just gave up – he was just out to rip us off.  The spouse asked if i said anything to him at Tim’s and my reply was – why waste time on people like that..??  i might as well spend time looking out for  natural joint pain relief for the old folks home here.  We just cut our loses and people like that can only cheat us once – even if he does come back with the money – he won’t be anyone we would trust no more.

I was doing my diet pill review when yet another customer came in coughing and sneezing and without feeling bad about it at all.   This sick customer like any who comes in sick – still carry on chatting with the spouse and selling him stuff and sticking around and coughing and even telling other customers that he has the flu *slap forehead*.  Why are ppl so inconsiderate?  just because you are sick doesnt’ mean that you need to get other ppl sick right?  common sense tells you that flu or any kind of illness can be contagious thru’ the air.   But we can’t control who comes in or out of our store and even though we lightly joke about not wanting to get sick along with them – they still hang around – and guess what..?? not only is my spouse sick – so is my daughter now.  *shake head*.  I don’t mind if we adults get ill but the kid – i’m sure you know where i’m coming from.

We get a lot of sales calls ..  from insurance company to web design companies and even those who wants to sell us the best diet supplement – I kid you not.   I can understand why a computer supplier or a movie supplier would call and do their sales pitch on us – but mannn….!!!  you get just about anything and everything these days.  Just the other day .. the RCMP called to ask if we wanted to support their some RCMP book but you and I know – that all these donation will come to nothing – because who really go look at those RCMP books or even the school year book.  Even Roger’s the telephone company would call and don’t get the hint about not wanting an extra phone.  So what do you do when you have one phone line for the store.. and there are customers in front of you waiting to pay up..?? usually i don’t get mad with them.. but the boss.. he hangs up on them.

Layaways are very popular here in the west – I’ve never heard of layaways till i came to Canada – well – that’s not true – i’ve seen it in the States when i was traveling for work and was quite amused with it – but never gave it a second thought – not like it was difficult to figure out but now that we have our own business – layaways are not feasible for us.Why?  because the people in this town is like an adult acne , they are adults and when they have something on layaway – they usually never comes back to get it or worst some wants to take it home with them after partial payment and then we never see them again.   In other words – troublesome – we want to trust everyone and think that everyone is like us .. but nope – after being in business for this long – no one can be trusted but ourselves.  Sorry – no offense.. this is the way to do business .. to protect ourselves.

So I saw a report today that Digby, Yarmouth, Shelburne, Queens and Lunenburg counties has the highest unemployment rate in this region and why am I not surprised?   The government of Canada is giving out money to various companies like they were custom mugs but refuses to support the ferry for Nova Scotia area.   Folks in this area are so complacent even though there are programs and programs and more programs to help them to get back into the job market.

Many years ago – I would have helped anyone who would come in looking for a job and telling us that no one would hire them.  But you see – they don’t really want a job – all they want is to show their social worker that they did attempt to look for a job.  You see when we did offer them a job – they either don’t show up for work or give all sorts of excuses to change their shifts.  One just needed to sit and collect money while pregnant.. and yet she found ways of not coming to work.  It’s pretty sad but I don’t think some people in Canada wants to work at all – I think they only want to work if they are paid more than minimum wage but small businesses like ours just can’t afford it unless you are an exceptional worker.  And in all my years here in Canada.. i’ve only seen one or two exceptional workers.   So how can our region not be the highest in unemployment rate?

We have a local community college of the town – and today we learned from a loyal customer that  this community college will not take quotes from small businesses like ours instead they only support big companies like Staples.    Ironic eh?  Yes!  well, I don’t know the real reason why they wouldn’t take quotes from a smaller company just for a computer or laptop sale for one of their students – surely we can handle giving them a better quote no?

I can understand why they would go to other places for office supplies but not to take quotes from a local but smaller business?  you gotta wonder eh – maybe some kickbacks from bigger local stores than ours?   But nevermind – we won’t be supporting any job placement nor year book donation for some community college too from now on – don’t see a need for supporting our community college anymore from now on. hahah!!

This is tax time for Canada and like anyone in this town – you see ppl splurging their extra money on just about anything and everything from  fitness equipment to electronics from our store.   We love the business – don’t get me wrong but if we did get a tax rebate – it wouldn’t be used for splurging because in times like that without the ferry this summer – one would think you will save every penny you have for the next winter right?  but nope most ppl in this town – just spend every last penny they have.   But having said that – if you didn’t have a family nor large expenses like ours for the business – you can afford it of course.  So if you think that going to business is such a wonderful thing – well, think again eh.

I can boldly say that when we walk into anyone’s business – we are always welcome with open arms – why? because we respect the ppl who owns the store – the ppl who works there – we treat them with utmost respect.  Even if i was just getting a auto insurance quote i still treat the insurance man with utmost respect.

Unfortunately, for us – in our business – it is not always the same – once in a while we get some very unwelcome customer/s – that you hope your worst enemy don’t even encounter.  Not only does this person wants to cheat me of a mere $1 – he wants me to be his philipino maid!   Not only expecting me to throw his coffee cup for him but to drain his cup empty before throwing it out.  On top of it – he goes around the store and touching and turning on just about everything without even asking if it was alright.  Ppl like that have no respect for other ppl or their things – if my grandmother was still alive – she would tell him – he has got no manners in his face.   BOY! i really don’t know how these ppl survive – but having said all the above – i don’t think he works – because he is always at our store – and what a sight for sore eye.