I've been a fan of Rick Segel now for several years. For those of you who don't know him, he was a specialty retailer in Florida and then he started writing books and consulting for other retailers, some small, some large. He has a great following at trade show events where his retailing expertise provides the basis for his tutorials and discussions. I'd strongly recommend that retailers, shopkeepers, heck, anyone in business, take the time to visit his site and check out what's happening in the world of retail through his eyes.
Rick Segel runs a membership site called The Retailers Advantage where you get access to much information and discussion on the art of being profitable and successful in a very competitive marketplace.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Today has been quite surreal
Today has been a day of extreme contrasts. It started well enough with the news that I have another contract for a web site, as well as a good online sale in my Scottish Gifts web site. There are a couple more web enquiries outstanding, so hopefully they will also come to fruition.
However, in some respects, the day went downhill from there. One of our friends came in to the shop for lunch and told us that her best friend had had an accident while entering the local bus. So our friend ended up arranging medical care, transport, etc instead of travelling to Glasgow for a nice day out. When she arrived at the coffee shop, she was white and drawn; it took a wee while for her to recover her composure.
Then later on, a group of four people arrived for coffees - and gave us the news that a regular customer had died in her sleep last weekend - and that the funeral had already taken place. We were numb, because the lady had lunched with us just a couple of days before her death.
The day was "topped off" by being told that another customer had died of mesothelioma almost a year ago. His widow said that there had been no indication of it until he had an accident and at that stage, there was no possibility of effective treatment.
We're going home shortly and are going to say silent prayers for the friends we have lost, the friends we still have - and for all the relatives and friends left behind.
M
However, in some respects, the day went downhill from there. One of our friends came in to the shop for lunch and told us that her best friend had had an accident while entering the local bus. So our friend ended up arranging medical care, transport, etc instead of travelling to Glasgow for a nice day out. When she arrived at the coffee shop, she was white and drawn; it took a wee while for her to recover her composure.
Then later on, a group of four people arrived for coffees - and gave us the news that a regular customer had died in her sleep last weekend - and that the funeral had already taken place. We were numb, because the lady had lunched with us just a couple of days before her death.
The day was "topped off" by being told that another customer had died of mesothelioma almost a year ago. His widow said that there had been no indication of it until he had an accident and at that stage, there was no possibility of effective treatment.
We're going home shortly and are going to say silent prayers for the friends we have lost, the friends we still have - and for all the relatives and friends left behind.
M
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Frank Kern reminds me of .....
erm,... "Hey, Dude" - I finally figured it out. It's been bugging me for days. I knew I would get it eventually, but today I finally worked out who it is that Internet Marketing Guru Frank Kern reminds me of - and that is ....
Donald Sutherland
... particularly in Kelly's Heroes
whew - now that I have made the connection, I can go and get on with something else, LOL
Margaret
Fresh Air - Spring Cleaning
After a cold, frosty spell of weather, today is the first day when I can say that it feels spring-like. I opened our bedroom windows wide and felt the lovely fresh air flooding into the room. It's great - just getting the room aired out - and it made me feel like doing more than whisk a duster around the furniture. There isn't quite enough "drouth" - or drying wind - to get the curtains down and wash them, but there are corners which need refreshing and I'm just off to do that.
Vinegar for windows
A quick tip for cleaning windows - use
2 cups of water,
1/4 cup of white
distilled vinegar,
1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap or detergent in a spray bottle.
(The liquid soap is added to take away any residue from using a commercial window cleaning product - sometimes they linger on windows, leaving them streaky.)
That's all there is to it. (Make sure to label the
bottle and keep it out of the reach of children.)
Donald Sutherland
... particularly in Kelly's Heroes
whew - now that I have made the connection, I can go and get on with something else, LOL
Margaret
Fresh Air - Spring Cleaning
After a cold, frosty spell of weather, today is the first day when I can say that it feels spring-like. I opened our bedroom windows wide and felt the lovely fresh air flooding into the room. It's great - just getting the room aired out - and it made me feel like doing more than whisk a duster around the furniture. There isn't quite enough "drouth" - or drying wind - to get the curtains down and wash them, but there are corners which need refreshing and I'm just off to do that.
Vinegar for windows
A quick tip for cleaning windows - use
2 cups of water,
1/4 cup of white
distilled vinegar,
1/2 teaspoon of liquid soap or detergent in a spray bottle.
(The liquid soap is added to take away any residue from using a commercial window cleaning product - sometimes they linger on windows, leaving them streaky.)
That's all there is to it. (Make sure to label the
bottle and keep it out of the reach of children.)
Saturday, February 07, 2009
Map of 52 States in the USA
View Larger Map
I need somewhere quick and easy to find a map of all 52 states in the USA - and this google map is great, because you can expand it to see much more.
Enjoy!
Admin
Monday, February 02, 2009
Presidential Autographs - for the Collector
List of Presidents
in Numerical Order
- George Washington (1789-1797)
- John Adams (1797-1801)
- Thomas Jefferson (1801-1809)
- James Madison (1809-1817
- James Monroe (1817-1825)
- John Quincy Adams (1825-1829)
- Andrew Jackson (1829-1837
- Martin Van Buren (1837-1841)
- William Henry Harrison (1841-1841)
- John Tyler (1841-1845)
- James K Polk (1845-1849)
- Zachary Taylor (1849-1850)
- Millard Fillmore (1850-1853)
- Franklin Pierce (1853-1857)
- James Buchanan (1857 - 1861)
- Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865)
- Andrew Johnson (1865-1869)
- Ulysses S Grant (1869-1877)
- Rutherford B Hayes (1877-1881)
- James A Garfield (1881-1881)
- Chester A Arthur (1881-1885)
- Grover Cleveland (1885-1889)
- Benjamin Harrison (1889-1893)
- Grover Cleveland (1893-1897)
- William McKinley (1897-1901)
- Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909)
- William Howard taft (1909-1913)
- Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921)
- Warren G Hardin (1921-1923)
- Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929)
- Herbert Hoover (1929-1933)
- Franklin D Roosevelt (1933-1945)
- Harry S Truman (1945-1953)
- Dwight D Eisenhower (1953-1961)
- John F Kennedy (1961-1963)
- Lyndon B Johnson (1963-1969)
- Richard Nixon (1969-1974)
- Gerald Ford (1974-1977)
- Jimmy Carter (1977-1981)
- Ronald Reagan (1981-1989)
- George H W Bush (1989-1993)
- William Clinton (1993-2001)
- George W Bush (2001-2009)
- Barack Obama (2009-present )
I've found some interesting presidential autographs for sale. I wonder if this could be the start of a new collection??
Bill and Hillary Clinton
Kennedy Speeches
Barack Obama
Ulysses S Grant Presidential Pardon
Very Rare President John Adams Signed & Owned Book
White House autograph of President Theodore Roosevelt
Friday, January 30, 2009
Wild, windy day in Helensburgh
... ok, I guess this is only to be expected at this time of year, and stormy days certainly make for more dramatic photos, but it's possible to have too much of a good thing. I amn't sure just how the holiday season is going to develop this year - we know of several people who are going on a cruise shortly, but these have been booked for several months. I am sure that there will be people taking advantage of special offers and vacation deals - but I am also hoping that a lot of people visit Scotland to take part in the Homecoming 2009 events. At present it's impossible to gauge.
Despite the uncertainty, we've had a reasonably good start to the year at MacGillivray's Scottish Gifts - and part of that is down to the efforts we made to market our business over the last twenty years. Every now and again someone turns up from a far-flung corner of the world and says "Hey, it's great to see your still here and we made a special trip just to see you!" ... It's the greatest compliment we could get.
... we'll maybe see you sometime in Helensburgh?? I hope so.
Best
Margaret
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Moorcroft pottery - it's just delicious
The quality of the Moorcroft pottery shines through in this lovely example of a vase designed by Emma Bossons. It looks good enough to eat. I love the fact that it comes with its original box as well.
The reason it caught my eye in amongst the other Moorcroft auctions was the box - I would have recommended separating the vase and the box in the picture so that the box was evident in the background but didn't overwhelm the shape of the vase. Anyway, when I finally figured out what was going on, I had to show hubby how lovely the vase is :) - he can start saving for my birthday gift right now :)
M
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