I went to bed around 12:30 pm last night. I had to get my day's report in before daybreak.
I am ready for today, Day 4. I will be picking up where I left off after my visit Oh Boy! Print Shop. Today's weather is no different, but again I have to brave it, and get Day 4 in.
But right now let's make today's first part of the post short. Got to head out.
Off to it, (see you in the evening.)
Day 4 is done, in the bag. Today started a little differently because I stopped by a supermarket to get Clif Bars before I caught the bus. I had skipped both breakfast and lunch, and needed to fill my "tank," before I started. I got to the field around 2:50 pm.
I started by visiting with Art Hall Awards. As you all probably know by now, most of my stops end with collecting business cards, since the owners are often not in. Art Hall's was not too. But in my short talk with Becky the attendant there, I learned the company has been around since the 70's, and is owned by Bill Dreher.
A short visit this was but name and address is gold, and life is a long journey, and though I may not be able to reach Bill today, our needs may cross sometime in the future. Better to have the contact handy.
Next I stopped by "Compu Signs," and the absent owner story continued. But Alex, the staff on hand gave me the owner, Ray Noorzad's, card. "Try him next week Monday," he said.
The story was not different with Garden Spot and Biz Twister my next stops. The guy I spoke to at Garden Spot said they had already closed ( at 3pm; they are open for only 4 hours a day, since 1982), but just happened to leave the door open when I walked in.
And Biz Twister's attendant was prepping for a conference call. I felt a bit dismissed by her, but took it in stride. It's all good, I thought to myself.
I took owner cards at "10 minute inspection" a car inspection shop, at "Thai House," a restaurant, and at 'Casa Chapala Mexican Grill and Tequila Bar,' my next three stops. Got to keep going.
Mark walked up to me and asked of the purpose of my stop, after he was called over by the receptionist at his restaurant Mikado, Japanese Tapas & Sushi Bar. He is one of the owners and kindly filled out my survey, and asked me to follow up with him on Monday between 2 to 4pm. I will.
But one interesting happened after I left Mark. The next stop I made was at Honeybaked Ham, a sort of pastry shop. Honeybaked is corporate owned, and is thus out of my league for now. But the manager I spoke with there spoke well of Mark.
Mark had taken over the restaurant space, and was working hard to get it going, and though it had taken time, things are beginning to pick up for the restaurant. But when mark filled out my survey, he answered my question on what he thought could help him by checking of testimonials. Testimonials?! Oh mine, and here next to his restaurant is a glowing one by Marie.
I quickly penned down Marie's words, and asked her permission and approval of the words I had written down. I will when I follow up with Mark on Monday hand it over to him for his use, and we'll go from there. Funny, this world.
I crossed a major thoroughfare to get to my next set of shops. The story of picking up cards continued as I left the shops with cards at all three of my next shops.
At this point the cold was biting, and I had to take shelter from it. I stopped to take a breather at "Chili's." The attendant there was kind and attentive as she filled my empty water bottle on request, and made no fuss about my taking a breather there without buying anything.
After my rest, I realized the shadows were coming in, and it was time to head out. This is a Friday, and the evenings get busy for most shops, as folks come out to all kinds of activities to mark the arrival of the weekend.
I caught the next bus home at 5:40 pm, after a short wait, but not before getting into a conversation with a young man at the bus stop.
"Not a good day to be waiting for the bus, right," he said to me."Nah," I responded, unsure whether to give him my full attention or not. But I noticed his bike, and wanting to get a bike myself for a while now, I asked where he got his.
"I bought it from a friend for $25.oo," he let me in."It was pretty good deal," he added. I nodded, agreeing with it. He suggested the possibility of finding affordable bikes on craigslist, and even checking out the "Yellow Bike Project" for their volunteer time for a bike trade arrangement.
Though Cameron Jones couldn't vouch for their bikes, the Yellow Bike Project makes it possible for folks to who volunteer a certain amount of time with them to get bikes of their own.
We both caught the 24o bus headed north, and got into more of the conversation. He is a programmer with Volusion, a website building company, and also has his own website at www.camjonesdesign.com. I just checked it before writing the previous sentence, and I like the simplicity of his website and his illustrations.
I am home now, and I called Jose Gonzalez to give him a heads up about the interviews I have lined up for next week with Oh Boy! Print Shops, Aces Jiu Jitsu Club, and Triple J's Tire Shop. Hopefully, they all go well.
Okay, got to turn in. On to day 5.
Rest!
