Sabby Ann

I’ve gotten into a habit of bringing a Rubbermaid container of milk to work with me. I keep a box of cereal and a bowl in my desk, and then I eat breakfast while checking my email. 

Last week the milk transit went awry. I had placed my lunchbag in the backseat, as usual, and somehow the lid on the Rubbermaid container popped off. It was stop & go traffic on the expressway, so at one point I had to brake pretty hard. Apparently my lunchbag slid off the seat, and 16oz. of milk flew all over the backseat. 

1 empty milk container + 80-degree temps = 1 soggy backseat & a very smelly car

I mopped up the milk and scrubbed the areas with soapy water, I used the carpet cleaning solution and the ShopVac, and I sprayed tons of Febreeze all over. The smell of spoiled milk is definitely still there. Even Dad commented that my car smells like someone spilled baby formula.

I hate stinky cars, and I refuse to drive one… so I’m taking my car in to be detailed later this week. They’ll shampoo the carpets and upholstery, and the spoiled milk odor will go away. And it’ll be worth every last cent!  

Maybe I need to implement a new rule, no milk in the car…  :)

 Eric & I, along with the rest of the family, spent yesterday afternoon at the Howell Balloonfest, an annual 3-day festival centered around hot air balloons.  There was the usual assortment of carnival rides, an arts festival, a medieval village, skydivers, entertainers… and tons of carnival-type food. They also have dozens of hot air balloons, and in the evening they make a big show with all of ‘em taking off. 

It looks like Chase is back to the same ol’ dirty tricks. Last November they sent out a change of terms notice to thousands of cardholders, bumping their minimum payments from 2% to 5% and also instituting a $10 monthly service fee. Initially it only affected people with large fixed-rate balance transfers, so we escaped unscathed. 

Well, they’ve moved on to Round 2. 

Waiting in today’s mail was a change of terms notice, saying that they would be increasing the minimum payment from 2% to 5% on one of Hubby’s credit cards, effective August 1st. On the plus side, there was no mention of a monthly service charge… but there’s also no way to opt out of the change. Or so they say - most bloggers online are reporting no luck, but a few have been successful at opting out.  

I guess it’s time to re-do the monthly budget!

Several of my favorite bloggers have been posting photos and/or patterns of sewn fabric bags lately. Purses, grocery/market bags, and now even a camera bag!

I’ve been using reusable grocery bags for several months now, and while I love ‘em, they’re rather expensive. The cheap ones (the $.99 bags that you see hanging near the checkout) I keep tearing, and the nice canvas ones are all in the $5-10/ea range… and I’m not about to spend $100 just for grocery bags!

Well, unless I can turn it into a craft project. Then it’s money well-spent on a hobby, with an added benefit of being useful at the end. I spent a few hours browsing the clearance-rack fabrics at Jo-Ann’s, and came home with quite the collection! I’m also thinking that I will dissect some old blue jeans and use those as well.

I found a few patterns for free online, and a another pattern for sale, but decided to just disect some paper grocery bags and create my own patterns. I prefer the more box-style bags that have a real bottom (more like a paper bag, with long straps), and it seems like I can get one bag with 0.5 yards of fabric, or with one yard if I line the bag.

I’m now thinking that I might have to use some of the fabric I bought and re-purpose it for a camera bag. Commercially-sold bags are, well, rather boring in appearance. I guess most male photographers wouldn’t want to be seen carrying a floral or paisley-patterned bag?  :)  

Anyways, Natalie Norton, a Hawaiian photographer, posted a link to some super cute bags on her website (with a free giveaway contest!).

The bags are actually custom-made by Wicked Stitch Designs. I don’t think I’d be willing to spend $100 to buy one, at least not until the photography business takes off, but I’d definitely take a stab at trying to make one myself….

For the past couple of years, the executives at my company have really intensified their focus on business development and marketing. They hired a outside firm to help us “rebrand”, creating a new logo and slogan. They’ve spent hundreds of hours with another consultant, redeveloping marketing and sales skills. They are determined to expand our client base, provide a broader variety of services, and become leaders in the industry nationwide. 

At the latest staff meeting, our group supervisor invited one of the company’s business development staff members to speak. He talked about some of the latest initiatives, and shared a few lessons that he’s learned along the way. The biggest lesson: allow clients (and potential clients) to do most of the talking, instead of the other way around. The rule of thumb he gave was to spend only 30-40% of the time speaking, and the remainder listening. 

Many companies spend most of their client time giving a “sales pitch” of products & services available. The sales consultant that we’ve hired has been coaching individuals to spend more time getting to know our customers, letting them share what’s going on and what problems they have. That allows us to provide very directed marketing, offering products and services that are directly applicable to what their needs or concerns are. The client feels like we’re listening and we truly care, and we don’t waste time (theirs and ours!) trying to sell things that they don’t need or want. 

After the staff meeting, a coworker commented that she’s heard it before - on Millionaire Matchmaker! It’s a TV show on Bravo that chronicles an exclusive (and pricey!) matchmaking service for millionaires. Most of the millionaire club members are men, and they recruit primarily women as potential dates for the millionaires. During the recruiting sessions, Patty Stanger (the owner) often gives dating advice to the women. She says that women often screw up by not letting the guy talk enough, and that it should be more of a 3:1 ratio. 

And it’s true, in both dating and in marketing. The party who wants something (the gold-digger on a date, or the company trying to make a sale) shouldn’t monopolize the conversation. 

I wonder how much money the company could have saved in consultant fees if all the executives had just spent a few hours watching the Millionaire Matchmaker or reading articles on dating advice from teen magazines!