Crystalie and I set today aside to go over to Wooden Nichols and begin the process of "spring clean up" inside and outside.

It must be spring because we are getting rain today also, which made it a little damp for cleaning out all the flower beds around Wooden Nichols, but I wanted to get it done and it wasn't rain real hard but it was steady. So with a few layers of clothes on, I raked and pulled dead stems of plants and hauled many wheelbarrows of debris out of all the gardens at WN.

Needless to say with all of our warm weather, many of the plants are up and growing,so it was time. I finished all but our parking area border garden as the rain after lunch was falling very heavy and I was damp enough.

Crystalie, began the process of vacuuming around all the walls and windows sucking up dead flies and ladybugs that didn't survive the cold unheated cabin during the winter. Also wiping down window frames and woodwork as she moved around the rooms, moving every piece of furniture and all the wooden boxes and other display pieces.

Since the rain was coming down harder after lunch I washed all the windows inside and out, and the doors, along with cleaning the bathroom sink and stool. At 2:00 I went back outside and finished a few projects and then began loading up items to haul back home with us. We put in about 5 hours of time and got lots done, but there are a few things to finish in the next week, for me anyhow.

Crystalie, has to clean some more, but then she also starts setting up display area's and putting out this years items for sale and a number of consignors will be bring things by in the next 2 weeks, so it will be full of stuff when she opens on May 3rd!

We got a little rain last night and woke up to a beautiful sunny morning and the temps to rice to 70 degrees today!

So I began my work on my To Do List,

First item head over to Wooden Nichols and start the water system up, and replace a sillcock on the outside of the building. I got over their before 9 and worked on the sillcock, and started up the pump.
While the system was getting filled up and getting to pressure, I worked on removing the old dead hops vine on the walkway arbor.
After that I worked on some lights inside the store and also removed some grapevine from the timbers, in the larger area of the store. I also replace a bulb in one fo the halogen lights.

Shortly after 11:00 am the system was full and the hot water heater was working. I stopped in Garrison for some lunch stuff and headed home.

We had lunch and then I began work on some items Crystalie needed fixed up for projects she is working on for the store.

I opened up our well cistern and cleaned out some sand and replaced the insulation board that was attached to the lid. Took about an hour to finish it all.

After that I finished some more Crystalie projects, and then started up the garden tractor, so I could spread lime on the main garden plot. I bout 2 50lb bags at a garage sale last summer and kept it nice and try and used my fertilizer spreader that bull behind the garden tractor.

Calcium is a very important nutrient for good Tomatoes and peppers, so I try to add some calcium to the garden dirt every two years. After that I cleaned things up a bid, and put the tractor away.

I then cleaned up our washing machine fountain on the back deck and hooked up the pump, and got it going again! It is always nice hearing the trickling water on the back deck.

After that I played with Smarkle some throwing the ball into the lake and then I also brushed Bucky down to get rid of old hair and clean her up a little bit. She enjoyed every minute of it!

Then into the house to prep supper..hamburgers for the grill and then Crystalie and I sat on the back deck with some salsa chips and a very competitive game of Scrabble! which I pulled out a win on the last play of the game!

A busy but very productive day!

Yep, week 5 and a busy week, starting with a trip to Eagan for a meeting with a rep that sells packaging machinery. This one deals with machinery that helps companies with packing the empty spaces around the items they have in the box! Void Fill is what it is called.

This company uses Craft paper in various weights for its void fill, instead of peanuts and plastic bubble wrap or plastic air pouches. Much more environmentally friendly. Which more companies are interested in now, especially with rising costs of plastic based solutions. These machines take paper and crunch it into workable pieces to pack around things in a box. Pretty neat stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2EDeUgIxX8&feature=player_embedded

The link above takes you to an entry level machine designed to provide void fill.

After that 2 hour session it was back to St Cloud with some items I had to haul back up there.

Tuesday involved time in St Cloud and also a road trip east to visit a number of my accounts in Princeton and also Cambridge and into Ramsey MN, where I spent the night. The next day involved a trip back to Eagan office from the north side of the cities and pick up some supplies for some of my customers. Then back up north to Cambridge, and Mora area prospecting, and then worked east to Milica where I toured a specialized pallet manufacturer on an old farmstead where one of my good customers operates. I got a tour of the facility and what they do...very cool also.

Then to Foreston, MN to meet with another customer, where they mill wood for all kinds of cabinet manufacturers, in Minnesota...again another tour of the facility and seeing what products of ours they buy. Then back to St Cloud, to the office to prepare for my next road trip and to meet with one of my customers on some stretch film education for them and also to take some numbers down to estimate film usage and saving based on application by machine over hand wrap application.

Thursday started with a trip to Duluth for a delivery in route to Grand Marias, MN for a dealer open house I would be working at representing the products we sell to the Sawtooth Lumber Company, which started in the mid afternoon and ran into the early evening. It was a great opportunity to talk to contractors about the tools they use and also get their thoughts on a new air compressor I demonstrated, along with showing off some of our nailing tools! They had about 35 people show up and it went well, and I learned lots..and had fun visiting with the attendees.

I spent the night in Grand Marias, on the shores of Lake Superior in a Best Western hotel, the lake was pretty calm and enjoyed the sunrise over the lake this morning for a few minutes before I was on my way.
I also visited my dealer again and reviewed the open house event and then headed south to Duluth.

I arrived in Duluth just before 11:00 am and stopped there to check out the Arrowhead Builders Building and Commerce Show, and did some prospecting, and visiting with various companies at the show, had lunch and then headed home. Pretty much a quiet time, but a chance to reflect on the week and also to think ahead to next week.

As you can see a very busy week, long days but all good, and it felt great to get home this afternoon, and enjoy being home for a couple of days!

Well, I have concluded week 4 of the new job and in a short month, I have logged just over 4000 miles on the new van.

It is more than I anticipated but with going to training and numerous day trips down and back to St Cloud, and lots of calls. It is expected, and I have been to about 2/3 of my customer locations and this next week I will hit another 10 or so, and it will be good knowing I have contacted many of them in person.

I spent the last two days with my new boss, riding with me. it was a little nerve racking but all in all it was a great two days. He offered words of advice and was pleased with my ability to call on people I don't know and strike up conversations and also listen to what they are telling me.

His knowledge of tools and fasteners is impressive and I know that will come in time to me also. But he is very organized and time is valuable, and we need to make the best use of it, are some of the principals important to him.

I had a number of good meetings with some of my customers on larger purchases for upcoming expansion and also some sizable opportunities with new business development, that will be coming up. I look forward to a very busy spring and summer!