Another day

Today is another beautiful sunny day in Victoria, BC. I can feel autumn in the air with a hint of expectation. With it being a short week for me, (I had Monday and Tuesday off) I keep thinking it is the wrong day.
Today was a steady day of dropping off dirty area rugs for cleaning, not so much for rug pick ups. With the getting back to school routine picking up their area rugs seems to be the last thing on people's mind right now. I miss the back to school routine, probably because I don't have to do it. No children have I.
I did something new today, my boss got me to put an ad on www.kijiji.com. It is a free ad site for what seems to be everything. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising, but it never hurts to get your business name out there on the Internet. It is kind of funny how the Internet used to be called the way of the future and now it is the best way to reach clients.
Not much else has been happening today, I caught up on some loose ends, wished it was Saturday, broke the tape measure, got tape measure replaced and wrote this blog. All in all just another day at Luv-A-Rug.
Thanks for reading RugloverMary

Do you get excited by your vacuum?

Today I feel renewed. Thank you to all who commented on my blog yesterday, it is much appreciated. I know that we can all lose our passion for our jobs or careers, it is of some comfort to know that it can happen to the best of us. Why is it harder to get it back than it was to lose it?
Now onto today's subject, the vacuum! I will admit that I get excited about new household items. I love kitchen gadgets and such, but today it is our new vacuum for work I am excited about.
Have you had your DYSON vacuum experience yet? We here at Luv-a-Rug have. We have the yellow model (yes that is the technical term for this model, yellow) of the Dyson vacuum and it works pretty good. I love that it gets a lot of pet hair off the rugs so we don't have to use a lint brush as much. The bag less canister is wonderful, just press a button and the bottom opens up to release the dirt and rug fluff. The handle pulls up to become the hand tool and comes with three attachments for furniture and crevices.
The Dyson rolls smoothly on rugs and self adjusts to any height. It is easy to switch from beater bar to suction by using your foot or hand to turn the orange button on the head of the vacuum.
I find the Dyson is quieter that other vacuums. I can hear the phone ring and don't have to yell if I need to say something to a co-worker.

If you live in Victoria or Duncan, BC, Canada you can see the guys at Mr Sweeper to get your Dyson experience.
In Victoria: 3561 Ravine Way (in Saanich Plaza) phone # 250-475-3454
Duncan: #2-378 Trunk Rd. phone # 250-748-1962, or visit their website at
www.mistersweepervacuums.com
They have the vacuum to suit your needs.
Thanks for reading RugloverMary

Lost Rug Passion

I must apologize for my lack of blog writing. Nothing has change with work or anything, clients are still bring in dirty area rugs and taking clean and healthy ones home. The only thing that has changed is me.

I've lost my passion for area rugs. It got lost in the shuffle of the day to day and I am still working on getting it back. A month ago a client brought in a Gabbeh (my favorite type of rug) and that didn't get me out of it, but then about two weeks ago a Chobi area rug was brought in for cleaning and that stirred a little passion. It has been a while since we've had a Chobi in for cleaning and I love Chobi area rugs. I would like to blame my lack of passion for my job on my personal life, but I try very hard to keep my personal life separate from my job. Take today for instance I am dealing with a chipped heart and you would never know it, I just look a little tired (which I am). My co-workers know that I am not that happy inside but I am at work and that is what I am concentrating on.
Someone told me today that it was very brave of me to say that I was dealing with a chipped heart (I say chipped and not broken because it wasn't a long thing). I found this perplexing. Why would it be brave of me to admit that I was human and had feelings? I am a very open person and have no problem expressing myself, hence the chipped heart, but I understand that some people have a hard time with saying how they feel.
Okay enough of that back to work and my lost rug Passion.
This job I have of being the front shop "girl" has so many opportunities and potential. Unfortunately my boss cannot tap into all my creative wants but some it would be nice to do. I would love to learn how to do hand repairs, do surging and binding of edges and learn more about area rugs in general. I am a hands on learner so reading about rugs on the Internet doesn't keep my attention very long. I need to be able to feel, see and explore to understand fully.


Today I can feel autumn in the air. I have heard the ducks and geese staring their migration south, lucky birds. Soon it is back to school cleaning, same as spring cleaning just different month. We get a surge of area rugs to clean in Sept. because now that all the family and visitors have gone home it is time to freshen up and remove the summer time dirt. I just had a horrid thought: Soon it will be Thanksgiving (in Canada), then Halloween (my favorite holiday) and then GULP! Christmas. Where has the year gone? This picture is from our doorway, there were ducks in the picture, but by the time I focused the camera they were out of sight. It is a cloudy almost gloomy day here in Victoria, BC.
This has been one unforgettable year that is for sure, especially work wise. The fire will not be forgotten any time soon, mostly because of our shrunken office space. I miss having the tubes to store the rugs in. It was fast and easy to find the clients area rug, not so much now. I really really don't like taking 1-2 minutes looking for a rug when you know it is here, but then you get that sinking feeling that we called them too soon and their rug isn't ready for pick up. It makes me feel incompetent, a feeling I do not like to feel and have felt a lot since we had to move to our new location.
This is how we have our rugs that are ready to go home
These are the rugs that are five feet and under. I must add a little note to my boss. My feelings of incompetence and frustration are not directed towards him in any way. I miss our old shop and how it was setup and the system we had there. Change isn't one of my strong points, unless I am in control of it and the fire through me for a loop I wasn't prepared for emotionally. It wouldn't matter what if our new rug cleaning shop was the same size as our old one, it still wouldn't feel the same. It is like visiting a relative you haven't seen since you were young and the awkwardness that goes with that. That is how I feel, you have all the old memories, but they don't correspond to the current surroundings.
This is where the large rugs rest before going home.








Enough of that. I have explained my feelings toward the move from Oak St so many times now that I am sick of it so you probably are too.
Writing this blog today should help get me back on track and write more like I used to.
Thanks for reading RugloverMary

People really DO read my Blog

I feel like most blog writers; Does my thoughts and words matter to anyone, but me?
I have received many comments about my 'Oak St. Fire' blog. Our clients appreciated and felt my sadness. It can be difficult to understand how hard a fire can hit someone if you've never been through one. I pray that I never have to go through another one and that people shouldn't have to go through the same ordeal.
This weekend we received two e-mails from two ladies, one local and one from Belgium, who have read my blog and enjoyed it. My boss is happy that I write it the way I do because he wanted it to be real and raw. Since this is the only way I write bonus for me. I also write poetry and I write it the same way. I will never be compare with Keats or Bronte because I write in regular English not poetry English, ie: I don't rhyme or use vague references to what I mean.
These are the two e-mailed comments I received (they have been edited for privacy):
"Mary has done an excellent job with her blog...have just scanned a few, but find them interesting and the personal notes are also great."
"I've had an off white area rug cleaned by Luv-A-Rug and both times have been very impressed with your 'service with a smile'. It is always pleasurable to encounter people who love what they do......From my initial phone conversation with Mary, who was professional and friendly, to Steve's cheerful and helpful attitude when he delivered my rug to me, the process was seamless.
........the job is wonderful, and the expanse of brightness in the room gives me pleasure each time I pass it.
Thank you so much for your wonderful service.......I refer my friends to Luv-A-Rug enthusiastically.
P.s. Mary, I like your blog! Your candor and the interest that you take in your work are impressive."
I am always in awe that people enjoy my writing, be it my blog or my poetry; Low self-confidence will do that. Well maybe not so much confidence as it is belief in myself. I am confident in my work and my knowledge of area rugs, even though I only know a small drop in the bucket, but that is just memorizing what makes a Persian area rug a Persian or a Chinese area rug a Chinese. I am glad that our clients trust our knowledge and expertise on area rug cleaning. We do strive to be the best because competition is always just around the corner. Luv-A-Rug is the only company in Victoria that specializes in area rug cleaning. It isn't an extra service we offer it is our main service.
Receiving feedback from our clients is awesome! hands down because face it with working with the public we usually only get negative feedback. I have a friend who every time she receives excellent service she lets the person know right away and asks if the manager is available so she can tell them too, if they are not available she asks if there is a company comment e-mail so she can let the company know who gave her the great service. I try to remember to do this because it can make a difference to that employee's career with the company and it just brightens up their day or week.
My day was definitely brightened by those two e-mails and when ever I am having a trying day or just dealt with a more difficult situation I will read them so I can remember that not all is bad.
So to end my blog today I would like to send out huge thanks to H.F in Victoria and T.D.W. in Belgium for their very kind words. They have brightened my day!
Thanks for reading from a very happy RugloverMary

As Good as can be Expected.......

Well it has been a few weeks since my last update on how Luv-A-Rug is doing and things are pretty good. It has been an adjustment in how we do things are here now. Our space is smaller and the floor is carpeted, so storage of rugs is a bit unorganized and measuring rugs is a little harder. How rug cleaners do it without a pre-measured out floor is...well for a lack of a better word silly. I miss just looking down and seeing the measurements, plus moving rugs around on carpet just.....um well sucks.
We now have all of our data up to the day of the fire and a working printer, so no more handwritten invoices. We are functioning as a real business. Up until June 24th I felt out of place and embarrassed that we had to do things by hand. Most of the clients that have dropped rugs off in the last 3 weeks are repeat clients and not being able to give them the same level of service and quality was taxing.
You really don't know how good you had it until it is gone. It is always the little things you miss and took for granted, such as a tiled floor or having all your e-mails saved. Office storage has dropped from a huge filing cabinet and shelves to no shelves and a small filing cabinet. I NEED to have an organized work space and now it is too messy for me. I have submitted to the constraints of my new work space, but I am not comfortable in it.
As I may have mentioned before I don't deal well with stress or high emotions, such as what I had to deal with the fire. My boss wants me to mention this and I will even though I think it is redundant. I started smoking again on the 5th of May. I have been smoking on and off since I was 14. I had quit for 2 1/2 years back in Oct. 2005. I started up again this year when ever I went out with my friends to the bar because as most of us smokers know that when you drink you smoke. Smoking for me was always a social thing. In my hard core days I would smoke 6-7 cigarettes a day (not what you would call heavy). Back in 2003 I again had been smoke free for over 2 years and got fired for the first time in my life and my previous boss was making my life hell so to deal with it I started smoking again. Same as this time, my stress level went up to extremes and I don't have any other way of dealing with it besides my old stand-by, cigarettes!
The fire happened the evening of April 26th and on the 2nd of May my boyfriend of two years and I broke up. Yes I am insane. When I need a shoulder to lean on the most I leave it. So once again I leaned on cigarettes to get me through.
The really stupid thing about all this is I hate smoking! I hate that I smell, that I spend money I shouldn't on them, that with being single it makes me unattractive, the list goes on. SO that makes you think, why am I still smoking if I hate it so much? Besides it being addictive I only have one way of quitting-I don't smoke when I get sick. Every time I have 'successfully' quit I was very sick for at least a week, I don't smoke when I am sick, and I can't feel the withdrawal effects. It is now summer time and I don't want to get sick, so how am I going to quit cold turkey this time?
I have a very loose plan I am implementing. First I am not going out to the bar, second I am making plans with my non-smoker friends, third every time I get the urge to have a cigarette I wait 1/2 hour and not think about it, fourth I don't smoke after 10pm and fifth I keep thinking about the man I will fall in love with, whom ever that may be.
Okay, I am done now spilling my personal stuff in a work blog.
Thank you for reading, RugloverMary

Loyality is Thy Name

After a disaster, will you and your business survive?
I had my doubts about how loyal our clients were to Luv-A-Rug. Yesterday was almost like a regular day at our old shop. We had 15 rugs dropped off and did triple digits in pick-ups. It is true that if you build it they will come.
Hopefully you won't have to go through a fire to find out how loyal your clients are to you. If you provide quality service and have grooved your nook in your market that is all you can ask for. On this very sunny Friday afternoon as I wait for closing time I am glad that I work for a company that can survive. Loyalty of workers is another great thing as well. So please treat your employees well and your clients well!!
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary

Out of the smoke

Big Sigh!
I would like to say that it is good to be back at work, but that would be a bit of a lie. I am glad to finally being able to get the rugs back to the owners after a month and a bit and it is good to be doing something. I didn't work much during the month of May and it took a mental toll on me. It sounds good and all, a month long vacation, but I didn't have pool boys bringing me tropical drinks or have a warm sunny beach to frolic on. No, I had bills to pay, stress and two and a half weeks of hell. Then I received a fabulous book in the mail and my outlook became very sunny. The book contains one of my poems that is published and my poem is the first one in the book. It made me very happy and things had a brighter outlook even though my circumstances did not change physically, just mentally.
Luv-A-Rug has a new temporary home and we are back in business. I have a mountain of work to do and it seems a little overwhelming right now. In a few weeks once all the rugs have gone home to their owners I will feel better. I really miss the old shop though. I miss talking with my co-workers and the groove we had at work. Now we are all in different places, but still doing the same work. Sadness is what I am feeling and there is no way of changing that.
This was the first fire I had to personally deal with and I do not wish to go through it again. I am only feeling a small fraction of the stress, my boss is living with a great deal more. I have learned something from this experience, as I should, it doesn't matter what physical environment you are in, it is all in how you look at it. It wasn't a fast turn around, but after I decided that there was only so much I could do about the situation and I shouldn't let the situation control my every moment I was a much happier person. I know that I am writing about something that we all know about, but until you actually put it into practice they are just words, plain and simple.
That is not to say that I am all lollipops and rainbows, never will I be, I am just saying that the fire and all it destroyed need not affect my happiness or how I viewed the world. I was really dreading coming back to work for Luv-A-Rug, I was pretty stressed about the new location and the changes I have to adapt to, I don't like change unless I am in control of it, but I can't do anything about it except do what I can with the limited resources that I have. If a problem arises there is only so much I can do. I also have to keep reminding myself I cannot fix every problem and I don't have to fix every problem. That is a hard one for all of us control freaks.
Thanks for reading, RugloverMary