A Dollar Here and There. ..

I had to wrestle a guy today to get him the $20.00 tip that he really deserved. There was a bit of blood and I got a Charlie Horse in the deal but in the end I won and stuffed that $20.00 down his shirt. He still has a black eye from the first attempt to give him $20.00; also my win.  It is not easy being kind but it is important to fight for the concept.

Why the tip was deserved was for the following reasons. He works at a strip mall in Guelph in an establishment that has high traffic. Whenever he works he shovels the walks along almost the whole length of the mall. He does it all night, keeping up with the snow. He also salts at the end of the shift. When it is time to plow I simply have drop my blade and skim the snow away.

Now, he is a self serving guy really; certainly not stupid.   If he shovels for 3 minutes he saves himself 20 minutes of cleaning and thus he has more time for more enjoyable things. What he does for his fellow workers and me is exactly what he does for himself, he saves them time and makes the unit spotless. He also saves at least 10kg of salt per snow event so he is good for the environment.

My point is "why can't I recognize it?". Sure he considers the tip offensive but then I just as easily could find it offensive that he does my work. I get tips as an expression of thanks for simply doing what I do and I have had to learn to take it and appreciate it. Let me say thank you. Lol, if I was paying him $40.00 for the work he has done or even attempting to bribe him I have been cheap. It is an appropriate expression of thanks as it is.

Spring runoff help??

I have one fan. What an inspiration that is! The question was posed, " what can be done to minimize problems with spring runoff.?" That is a tough question, one in which the only answer that came to me was "buy a wet vac". Well, I have another POSSIBLE answer, one which I would like feed back on. One which is difficult to get across in a blog so questions too are appreciated.

The following will help divert water If you know the grading of your property. If you have a slope like we have and a swale between your house that you want the water to run to then this solution is a possibility. It is creating an ice dam that will take longer to melt than the surrounding snow. It will mean looking silly and doing things that seem counter productive.

First step. Determine a line across the back of your property that you would put sand bags along to redirect water. Second step, walk back and forth across this line. Bri.g the whole family and invite your neighbours and start stomping. Put snow from the lower end of this line on top of the packed snow and take another walk. Repeat. Third step. Pour water on the uphill part of this packed area and make this area ice.

If you are really ambitious and really worried about a basement you know is prone to leaks then take the snow from your deck, window wells and snow on the down hill side of this ice dam and move to the upside. Use a scoop or a blower. In theory the thicker ice you created will take longer to melt than the unpacked snow. The thicker this ice the longer it would take to melt and, hopefully, it will be the last to go and this will be when the ground frost is gone so it will dissipate into the soil and not pose a problem. Also in theory the runoff from the snow on the higher grade will hit this dam and divert around. Like all ice dams it will freeze behind this dam and slowly the water will go over it.

If anyone is trying this let me know.

January 6 and 7th 2014

Well this has been quite the start to a new year!! Two days of bus cancellations and today the schools are cancelled due to the extreme cold and blowing snow. 

There is probably a foot and half of snow that has fallen and it is all being blown around. Drifting will be bad today and ice melt products will not work with the cold temperatures. 

Stay safe and warm!! 

Ice Storm

Well its been a while...

It has certainly been a while since I have posted on my blog. To be honest with all the social media outlets out there it is hard to keep track of when I have been on what..Starting this week I have someone taking over ALL of the online stuff so I can focus on the jobs I need to do. 

Currently we are getting out Fall Cleanup and Winter Maintenance estimates. If anyone is interested in receiving a quote please let us know! 

Making Good Resolutions

Today as I was enjoying the thoughts of yesterday's trip with the Grandkids to Rockwood's "Parade of Lights" there was a new resolution made. Recognize what should not be changed. Who after all would want to change the spontaneous hug of a two year old as he whispers "I wove you Gwampa". Who wants to change the imaginary dragon nipping at all of us? Why change the obvious highlight of the event expressed by my granddaughter, "Santa ran over the horse poop". Life is like that. Horse poop is funny.  

There is a need for me to resolve to change but no need for it to be some statement made on a specific day. This year there have been enough necessary changes. It is likely this is true of all of us.  Improvements made around the house, more help being offered in regular household chores, changes made in business and even changes in personal habits. These were conscious choices many have made this year.  Budgets get changed, income changes and family dynamics change and all these demand a resolution to cope and adopt. Good people change, they cope, and they resolve and overcome. They fight, often without really knowing what it is they are fighting for.  

In starting this blog I rhetorically resolved to finish it. Douglas interrupted me.  In many ways the story of my life is that "I" have been interrupted.  This is great. It fits with my past goal of relishing hiccups in plans. It is wisdom to understand that the "I" that I strive for is best reflected in the mirror of interruptions. Interruptions by a beautiful wife, wonderful kids, customers, friends and strangers. This wisdom is only half of it though. The other half is that all the above people have graciously allowed me to be an interruption in their life.  Good decision, I loved the break in my day Douglas created, loved learning more about Cerebral Palsy and was fine with having to write this now; which is later than I had hoped.

My business involves discussing changes in a garden.  This consulting process demands a lengthy conversation on what is good about the existing yard. In fact it is my job to point out good things that they missed.  If there is no recognition of strength in the current garden they will likely be disappointed in the creation they hope to make.  Personally, though this likely hurts sales, it is necessary to warn people about the amount of time and money a new garden will cost them. If one has never weeded in the past there is little hope that they are going to weed in the future. New sod takes hours and hours of watering. If you dream of a Ferrari you need to be able to afford the insurance and the maintenance. Better to let us "garden" a change over time than landscape an immediate change.

Attached is one of my favourite poems on change that I sent to a customer who was going through many changes. Reflect a bit on your changes and resolve to joy and the source of this joy. It is not always fun but Jesus loves you.

 

God's Garden Tour

 

December 5th, 2011

 

I always know when He is there

Coming unbidden to my garden

I cringe at the state of my weeds

My best plants are not in bloom

Yet he comes and walks with me

 

He rests and quietly soaks in

All that has always been His garden

He stirs up the fragrance of me

Reminds me how much I am loved

Refresh’s like dew on Roses

 

He plants some exotic flowers

I have no ability to tend

He overwhelms me with presence

I have no capacity to hold

A kiss of the Son through shade

How we work...a snow story

How we work

There is a certain power in kindness. Over the years I have learned so much about this concept; not all the lessons have been fun. In particular some concepts stand out as more off putting than others. One was recognizing that there is no capacity in me to do all the kind things I would like to do; there are way too many opportunities.  Another flaw understood was that there is no way to control the perception of my generosity and that misinterpretations of motive are many. Finally there is the very sad truth that good people do not know how to simply take kindness. This is me and you.  Odd really that we dream of a "kind" world but when someone steps too far into the "giving" realm we step back because of a feeling of bondage or that the person giving is being too generous. Kindness is not easy.

 

Good people all want equity. They want a balanced ledger, one that feels like they have given as much as they receive.  The words "did you like my gift" and "yes I loved your gift" are a form or relationship accounting and good people all work hard at balancing the book. This is so telling of us.  The story that follows is not good accounting. In this story a debt was created that was never intended to have paid back. There is no record of this debt on my ledger but those people who fell victim to my kindness will remember.  It is not "I" that exceeded this kindness quotient but "us".  My customers, suppliers and my family are all as guilty.  It is because of all of the above people that I had the capacity to give as much as I did in the story soooo make sure you include yourself in this story if you are one of the above people.

 

It was a Christmas Eve about three years ago. Lousy weather all day with the snow coming down heavy and then melting to a translucent slush on the road. At about noon I found out that the city had sent out the plows fearful of what the forecaster flash freeze would do to the roads. I knew this was trouble and went out to clear this slop from my customers. I have never seen such a mess in my life. The piles on the end of the drive started out knee high but immediately started settling like concrete. I could see the asphalt under the pile. It was sooo heavy. Gross.

 

What normally would take two-three hours ended up taking me from noon to 6:45pm. I remember as I almost missed Christmas Eve service and could not clean up before going. I was the poor drummer boy that night lol.  I was the nasty guy in town. People actually cried because of me...and you, you helped pay for and maintain my truck with plow. If you give a boy a sling shot all kinds of things will happen.

 

Here is how it worked. I would drive down the street and see some cute old lady moving the snow one tablespoon at a time. We got eye contact and through some system of signalling that only an auctioneer could understand she moved and let me plow it for her. Time taken was 15.5 seconds. This same visual discourse would happen between me and the small boy already dressed for church or the man and his son trying to get the car out, also obviously late for some event on Christmas Eve. People would reach for their back pocket, they would rub their fingers together with a questioning look or they would force me to open the window. The price was the same for all of them. Nothing. 

 

I was nasty and did not allow a single one to pay. If they could expect Santa, some guy they have never really met, to give free gifts worth many times the cost of my 15.5 second gift AND if they can make the poor sap go through the chimney then poor me can make them take my gift.  Sure having eye contact with the giver was harder, that's why Santa comes at night. All dirty deeds should be done under the cover of darkness. It was weird, these people had to put up with the little bit of sweat trickling out of my eye, mistaking it for tears of joy at being able to give. I don't cry!  I had to put up with their faces. Even now I get a glimpse of the relief and thankfulness and I want more, I feel bad for their debt and yet I pray for another storm.

 

My employees know the drill. They know they are allowed to help, to use our blessing for others. They know that 10 minutes giving directions to some lost guest of Guelph is not "down time". There is actually a rule we have made for "helping" in winter. If someone asks to have their drive done the worker is to charge our going rate and then they are to keep the money for themselves. They are only allowed to do it  3 times, if they like us they can become part of the cool system that is us. If they see someone is struggling with plow excretion they do not take into account the equity of employment but just help. Some of you reading this know this.

Well, I am accepting of the idea that my joy of being a nasty giver comes out of your monies as a customer or the good work of our suppliers. My capacity to give comes from you. It is us giving. Soooo, like with the employees, I am sharing this awesome power. All customers and suppliers now have the power to "give a snow plow". They can sic Sandra, Jami, Mark, Chrissy or I on one person in need during a storm. They can be the giver. They can get the eye contact, they can have the tear and they can struggle with the arrogant concept of being "the nice guy". Lol, you think this is kind?  It's kinda mean. Why should I have to bear all the burden.

Just before printing this story there was an incident at a Tim Hortons. I have heard of this happening. In fact I have done this. The filthy deed of buying a stranger a coffee. Wow. I defended myself as best as I could by throwing out a bunch of words. "No its ok, I can get my own", "are you sure?", "oh thanks so much".  Obviously it was to no avail and this guy won. It will do me no good to get revenge on the next stranger, it will do nothing to eliminate this debt with this kind freak. It will stick in my craw the same as the very kind appreciative words from a long term customer.

 

Thanks to all and keep it up.