Praying for sheetrock,... and lumber, and...help!

I’ve had the good fortune of having my brother come and visit for a few days, which is always fun and interesting to say the least. He is the first visit to my new home in Hot Springs NC, which I have mentioned in previous posts. The house is still under construction and more than a little cluttered with tools and building materials. So I was scurrying to get cleaned up and organized enough that I could vacuum a corner of the room with my trusty Dyson so I could roll out the rug and set up a Coleman air mattress(borrowed of course, since I have more crap than I need) for the poor guy and show some hospitality.

I love having people come stay with me, and now that I live in yet another beautiful place the guests will be arriving en mass. The trick of course is the state of the house when said guests arrive. And since I’m living in a construction zone its different every time someone new comes around. The brother decided to tackle the trees outside, and I have been mowing like a mad woman, so construction is all encompassing.

I have met one of my neighbors who has a Caterpillar bulldozer, who will probably be my new best friend here soon, who is going to level and fill my driveway, so you don’t have to have a 4 wheel drive monster truck to get to the house, which is a deterrent for the would be visitor. Of course, for those of us looking for privacy and seclusion such deterrents are welcome, but I don’t want anyone to say “I would come see you but I can’t get up the driveway” which is a common occurrence in Western NC, some driveways are pretty incredible, fortunately mine isn’t vertical it’s just bumpy, muddy and no fun for those with little to no ground clearance. Thus my beautiful Chevy Suburban and Honda Ridgeline, both in jet black of course. But short of a shuttle service improvements need to be made. I need to get a truck and trailer loaded with the new bikes to be parted out up to the house, and hopefully a semi loaded with a new metal building in the near future.

So, Yes, I am the consummate hostess but, a girl still needs to make a living, right? So lately the concern is organization and trying to keep the money machine running. The newest issue is the lack of power to my out buildings where my inventory is housed, and the fact that the local population of country rats have decided that if I’m away too long they’ll claim the buildings and my inventory as their own. My dogs are completely entertained by the wildlife in and around the buildings and property, obviously a different life than that of the big city of Asheville.

But other problems have arisen as of late which are no fun to deal with and tend to ruin your day. Like the shipping costs have dramatically increased since moving and hour out of Asheville. But the biggest problem is that shipping vendors like UPS have these systems online to help you calculate your shipping costs so you can negotiate deals and project profit if you offer FREE Shipping like I do. The problem is when they don’t work right, like this morning. Waking up to a $359.86 dollar charge to my account that was an adjustment on an international shipment, now wait just a minute! If I put in the address to an automated system like UPS or Paypal where I do my shipping, I expect the charges to be accurate. If there is a discrepancy between the systems talking to each other, than why do I have to eat it? That shipment would have never occurred; the deal would have been negotiated very differently. So after using multiple systems like UPS.com and USPS.com as well as Paypal I’m the one who is screwed for the difference? So I want to complain about UPS. They need to fix the damn system to work right. If you want me to use your tool make it function properly, and I hate to say it, be idiot proof. I’m tired of it always being my screw up, “I’m sorry ma’am there’s nothing I can do” …Bull. I’m not a multimillion dollar corporation with thousands of employees worldwide who can afford a random $350 charge. I can’t, I’d love to, but that’s not an option right now, I need sheetrock, lumber and inventory.

So if you have gotten hit by some big company with something that is wrong because of their system or just wrong and they’ve given you a run around, fight! If you don’t have money then you have time to fight, because we are the ones that need to keep the money we make.

Everyone is hurting for cash, but the big companies are getting bailed out with billions of dollars in government bailout and support and we, the little people, who are trying to make a living being self employed can’t get help to save our lives. I don’t “qualify” for Chapter 13 bankruptcy, I don’t “qualify” for loan modifications, obviously I don’t qualify for help from anyone really, I made a lot of money at one time in real estate and now I don’t qualify for anything. So is that punishment for past success? I wonder, ‘cuz it’s not supposed to be that way. There are some non-profit agencies that are there to help you like “On-Track” in Asheville. But I’m sick of getting screwed at every turn. I do a lot of business with a lot of people and if something is wrong and I make them aware and present an effective solution, the response shouldn’t be “sorry”. Especially if it’s a glitch with a website, there is an accountability that needs to be recognized. If there is a problem with anything I sell or a service I provide, I will jump through hoops to make it right, but once a company reaches a certain size…they just don’t care anymore, since apparently there’s another one of me who won’t fight or question, around the corner. Well, in case they haven’t noticed, there isn’t a line around the corner like there used to be, and customer service should be the first thing they do, not the last.

So here’s to the little girls and guys who are not going to take it anymore… unite and fight!