Web Site Update

I was going to place a status update on the facebook page but I thought that it may be a little long and decided just to put this in a blog.

I was updating the Georgianna Hardware Corporation web site and though I am still having a little problem with the site, I stumbled upon the visitor report.  Since GHC primarily connects through social media I rarely bother looking at the report but I did tonight and had to catch my breath.  I remember telling somebody that the site had hundreds of visitors and tonight I find I have underestimated that figure.

I am absolutely thrilled that the Resume help page has been a free resource for so many people to use. Though I have had a few people mention that the resources helped them find gainful employment, I never would have known anything if they hadn't mentioned it.  The report I saw today suggests that at least one of two people I have never met found some help through the site.  I think this is great!

I would give a report about each page but I'm starting to think that the Resume page means more to me than any of the others.  I'm very proud of that page!  

  Thanks for letting me brag a little!

Stuff Just Happens

I sat down and heard a crash on the deck followed by a thump. I thought Prince must have jumped off to take his daily tour of the yard. When I got to the deck the window box planter was on the deck floor. Prince was laying down looking as if he couldn't believe somebody would make such a mess. He has grown up and become a compulsive liar! Typical childhood phase.

That was one of my posts from a week ago. Today was different. It's a special day, high school graduation for my son.

Let me take you back to December, 2013. My home educated son completed his high school course of study in December and the plans for the graduation event were made. This would be a family event which was to include the presentation of the diploma followed by dinner out and dessert at home. Everything was in order and this would be fun!

I know that it is unusual to graduate in December but it is not unheard of but every day presented something different. I think he was the first to say that there was no big rush since Christmas was approaching and we would be having especially busy around the holidays. Then, it was the post holiday which brought us to Valentine's Day, my birthday celebration, his sister's birthday, a myriad of weather events and work schedule changes until I finally had enough and put my foot down. By plum! I have been waiting since December and if this is going to be done we are going to have the presentation of the diploma on May 26, 2014, Memorial Day.

Well, the son got sick. Fortunately it was nothing other than a lousy cold but he started not feeling well late last week and then I turned up with it too. Not again. The date was set. I had put effort into getting schedules changed and we were not going to cancel. Since he was not feeling well changes were made to the planned dinner out. Since I wasn't feeling well I modified the dessert menu from the elaborate cake served on my favorite china to a half dozen cupcakes and ice cream.

We went to a local restaurant for dinner. It wasn't the reservations that I had made in my mind at the fine dining establishment that is out of state but the food and service were more than acceptable. It stinks that he and I were both not feeling very well. This is an exciting time for a young person and it's exciting for the parents too but we surely missed something, didn't we?

We left the restaurant and arrived home. I was ready to serve dessert when my son told me that he didn't think he would like to have any dessert because he would rather spend a few hours gaming. My daughter offered my husband and I the ice cream, I pulled a cupcake from the plastic package for my husband and the three of us sat down to finalize the celebration. I heard a crash from the dining room. When I arrived in the dining room, the cupcakes were on the floor. Stuff just happens.  It's a typical adulthood phase!

Success!

As I sit to write this blog I am thrilled because of my success!  I don't mind bragging a little bit about it because if you have been following my story you know that I have been alone in this process for a little while and I doubt it will come as a surprise to you to find that people are very happy to be critical of my attempt to maintain GHC on my own without making changes.

As I write, I still believe the decisions that were made over the years were good and solid.  I had faith in my team and still respect their opinions.  The problem was that when I was left to my own devices I found that I needed to learn a lot.  My team had skills that I didn't have.  I was left with no choice but to learn about whatever void I found in myself.

Recently, I saw an infographic about learning that referred to the learning curve.  It showed the upward curve and a short way up the line was marked that suggested you hit a point of  "I don't know what they heck I'm doing".  I guess that is when we hit a wall and just throw in the towel but this time was different because I refused to do that.    

Tonight, with all of my problems, I found that I had cleared one of the hurdles that was holding me back. When I sat down after doing a victory lap I saw I was left with a pile of junk on my desk.  My coffee cup now has orange juice in it and I'm ready to continue on tomorrow with my little bit of success.  I guess it's not a shocker for me to let you know that I have already been reminded that it's only one of the many more hurdles that I will encounter.

Thank you all for being an inspiration to me.

Georgianna Hardware Corporation/GHC

Blogging for GHC

Blogging for GHC has led to a little bit of trouble for me.  As I told you a while ago, I am currently alone in this venture.  It happens and I'm thrilled that I have been able to hear about the success of the people that chose to move on to greener pastures!  I know that some readers may think that I say that to be politically correct but those people are wrong.  I like to see other people succeed and it pleases me to see that happen.

Trying to stay well read on news regarding construction and manufacturing, keeping up with the GHC social pages, and maintaining the web site means that I am fairly busy.  Anyway, I have posted a blog on the GHC blog page and I would appreciate your sharing your thoughts about my changing the GHC web page host.

Thank you for sticking with me through thick and thin!

Made In America

I'm not so sure how it happened, but it did. For some reason when I visited with #FBLT on Twitter today I ran across clothing companies that are located in America. This is great news for production in the United States! The reshoring effort seems to be paying off and Made In The USA has meaning again.

One business that I ran across is http://www.bluerdenim.com/. Bluer is true premium denim that is Made in America. Their “Buy one, Give One” program offers the buyer an easy way to participate in the Bluer philanthropic program. Bluer also covers each denim product it sells with a one year warranty against damage or defects that result from normal wear.

I also learned about http://www.overunderclothing.com/. Over Under Clothing has premium quality, Made In The USA designs, offers custom sizing and care instructions, and actually prewashes each tee-shirt to assure a true fit. The giving back program at Over Under Clothing specifically focuses on at risk dogs and they personalize each purchase by donating to at risk dogs in your area.

These two companies exemplify the integrity and selflessness that Americans have. They are a true inspiration in helping others to achieve the American dream.  

www.georgiannahardwarecorporation.com

Gold Rush - an American Dream

We've been waiting to read the article about Dave Turin of Gold Rush in Aggregates Manager's July issue. Today the issue arrived and we were thrilled to see Gold Rush right on the cover!

It was refreshing to read that Dave Turin questioned Todd Hoffman and his vision from the very beginning. I know that as my family and I watched Gold Rush through the seasons I wondered aloud how these guys could simply up and leave the lives they had established to follow a dream. The television series never really showed us how much consideration any one of these men had put in to their decision, but they did think long and hard about their choices.

We were all happy to read that Dave Turin contacted KPI-JCI/Astec Companies not only based on his past experience with the company but because of it being an American company with local ties.  

As a 'Friday evening miner' I will say that I saw many mistakes but these Gold Rush guys were not unaware of their mistakes. They're still willing to take a chance and willing to make mistakes while they are following their dreams.

Don't miss Michelle Cwach's inspiring article, Golden Boy, in Aggregates Manager and be ready to tune in to Discovery Channel on August 2 when the new season starts.

http://www.kpijci.com/

Georgianna Hardware Corporation

I'm Taking Over For The Day!

My name is Maria Calderara. I have worked behind the scenes at GHC since 2011. I generally handle accounting but today I decided to take over the blog. My rant follows, please share if you agree!

This past weekend I went shopping for a pair of shorts. After choosing a few pairs that I thought would fit I ended up trying them all on and putting them all back because not a single pair fit. Mind you, I tried all sizes ten to sixteen. The size nor the brand mattered.

I couldn't help but to notice a woman that was wearing a men's handkerchief that had been sewn into shorts. No man's handkerchief is going to go around my hips! I'm Italian and we Italian girls have hips. There's no reason to wait to see what happens after I have a baby because everyone can see how I'm built and everything will probably just be more pronounced than it is now.

I appeal to designers. We're in America and ethnic diversity is here to stay. Though “Vanity Sizing” has been around for many years, it seems that designers have expectations that are not real. I guess they think that the size zero female population has enough money to buy all of those clearance items. It's obvious that many American women have hips and thighs that are strong. When I started looking for help to find a brand that may fit me but I only found suggestions to have my clothes tailor made. If I use Heidi Klum as my representative, even she won't be able to find clothes that fit properly.

Designers, what percentage of the female population do you consider your demographic? We average size women need you to tell us where we can buy our clothes off the rack.

Who are/is They?

Tonight I log onto Twitter and six of the first ten Tweets I receive are making comment about how our personal information is being mined by the NSA as well as businesses.  Yes, this is ridiculous BUT...

Remember when you closed on your house?  I remember being a little surprised when the attorney asked me to confirm my alias name.  Fortunately I remembered that many years ago I had received a check that was made out improperly.  I was able to deposit it to my account as long as I was willing to wait the ten days for it to clear.  Yes, I did use that alias and yes, the check cleared but years later "they" still knew.

I'm not sure who "they" are.  I'm thinking "they" are the same as "everybody else's mother" but I do know that there are times this works to my advantage.  There was the time that my credit card company had placed a hold on my account because I used the card for an unusual purchase.  It wasn't convenient to call the company and confirm that I had bought gas and used their card but "they" noticed.  Good catch, "They"!

Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are all on the list of place that tapped into their user's communications.    It raises questions but you need to be aware that this happens and it has been happening for some time.  Remember you read it here and be sure to be nice, polite, and well behaved!

http://www.georgiannahardwarecorporation.com/Pages/default.aspx

Made in America Movement

America is absolutely amazing. Apple made an announcement that they were bringing some of their production back to America. This made the headlines, but we were curious. We wondered if we are still in the minority of people that look for products that are made in the United States of America. Come to find out, we're not the only people that believe in America.

The Reshoring Initiative teaches us that companies benefit from reshoring as offshore sourcing faces higher costs in transportation and fuel, as well as increasing wages. We invite you to visit our December Notables December 2012 Notables page to learn more about reshorenow.org.

There is a whole new trend coming along called "Reshoring" although some refer to it as "backsourcing" or "onshoring".  Either way the efforts support businesses bringing jobs back to the U.S. from overseas.  Companies such as Janssen Boas are happy to help other businesses bring products back to the United States and organizations like reMakeIn still believe that neighbors and local communities can help one another.  

America is amazing!  For many of us America is the country that owed us nothing but gave us everything.  It seems we're realizing that it is time for us to give back.

Why Care About the Presidential Election?

Sometimes I feel like I am preaching to the choir, but today's blog is specifically for the young people that are questioning why they should be bothered being interested in this presidential election.  This will take about two minutes of your time to read.

My mom's family came to America on the Mayflower. History books have taught me that they left England because they felt so strongly about their religious freedom. They were referred to as Separatists and had many difficulties prior to their arrival here.

My dad's family came to America from Nova Scotia, Canada. My paternal grandparents decided to come to America with hope of starting a new life. They were a young couple that had already experienced having two of their children die of Scarlet Fever.

Not having interest in any election is something that is not new to me. Actually, I follow politics for my entertainment and I get it that you're disinterested, but I'd appreciate your being kind enough to allow the few minutes for me to make my case.

This presidential election is rather unique in the fact that our country is divided so evenly. This month we are starting to see changes to our country that have been put in place by our current president. Companies are experimenting to see how they can still make profits while avoiding paying for health care. The first thing those companies did was cut employee hours to 28 hours per week. I bet that hurt. By my calculations those people will receive a check for $168.00. Crap. My smallest grocery order this month was $127.54.

Who cares? Your healthy. You didn't even want to work full time. OK, think about the number of doctors that are becoming disinterested in serving their communities because they never get time off, their pay is going to be reduced, and they will need to make budget cuts with their staff. Odds are they will need to have a part time staff. They went to school for this? They are doing more accounting than assisting people and they're not happy. Can you blame them?

We have heard a lot about Libya recently. Big deal. Most Americans don't even know where it is. That doesn't stop us from sending money to their country and we will do it again next year too. In return we had four Americans killed. Only four, but they weren't your brother, uncle, or friend. Americans care so our government sends money to countries that need financial assistance. Don't forget the millions that we send to others countries and that inludes North Korea, Columbia, and Russia. Wonder why North Korea wants to blow us off the face of the earth? Maybe it's because we gave them $106 million in 2008 but only gave them $2.5 in 2009.  I did the research using our government's web site at http://foreignassistance.gov/CountryIntro.aspx so that you didn't need to.

If you're in the twenty-something bracket think back to September 11, 2001. Do you remember where you were when you heard about the attack on your country? Prior to September 11, 2001 there had been few foreign attacks on U.S. soil. Just for reference, we had the War of 1812, the U.S.-Mexican War in 1846, an attack led by Pancho Villa in Columbus, NM, in 1916, the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, and an attack in New York on the World Trade Center in 1993. These people that you have no interest in keep all of us from harm.  

I remember feeling that my vote didn't count and the president didn't really represent me. Not that either candidate can relate to me now! Who cares? The question is, why care?  Well, as American citizens we have been granted our unalienable right: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  The generations before mine didn't just throw these rights away, they've kept them in check for you. Even with its current difficulties people still have a desire to live in our country and they have good reason to. C'mon, that's kind of cool to know that people you don't even know want to have a life like yours.

If you don't care, too bad. You're not the first and you won't be the last. Worst that can happen is the candidate you choose might not win. I have a realistic view. Is the glass half full of lemonade or is it half empty. Realistic me: It could be piss. You're in America because the generations that came before you thought your rights were important. It's time you care.

Corporate Decision

I made a corporate decision.  Big deal.

When I started this business I started a Twitter account so that I could get the company name out there and share information with other Americans that believe in the American dream.  Today, I had an offer to sign up for automatic tweets.  It seemed like a good idea, but thirty minutes after I signed up I decided to cancel the account. 

This is personal.  I study the accounts that follow #GAnnaHardware on Twitter and want the posts to be seen as a service, not a hassle.  I hope you have benefited from following our company.  Decision?  No auto-tweets from GHC!  <Maybe I'll start a trend.  You never know.>

Please take a moment to visit our web site Georgianna Hardware Corporation.