Happy Valentines Day.

It is Valentines Day - a time to celebrate true love.

A little over forty-one years years ago I moved to Vancouver Island. I was in my senior year of high school. I started my own business that same year painting signs. Shortly after we moved to the Island I met this charming young lady. I dated her a couple of times (Janis was the first girl I ever dated) and I immediately knew she was the one. I asked her to marry me shortly after. But Janis wasn't as sure as I was and didn't say yes. But I just knew and being a patient guy waited a couple of weeks before asking her once more. As I recall it took a couple more tries before she said yes. We were young, very young and we waited three more years before we said our vows and started our life together in June of 1974.

What an exciting journey it has been! We've been partners in life and in business ever since. After working outside the house for a year or so Janis chose to be a stay at home mom. I've worked out of our house most of those years meaning we've spent a great deal of time together, more than most couples. We've built houses and businesses together, worked on the road when necessary, travelled many tens of thousands of miles with our two kids in tow. We worked together and played together all these years. We still hold hands and we like to be close to each other. We both believe in true and lasting love and the hard work to make it so.

Has it always been easy?

I think Janis summed it up one day when she told me...  "I'll ALWAYS love you but some days I don't like you very much." Life is like that on occasion. But the good days (and there are so many) more than make up for those occasional 'other' days.

This year we will celebrate our thirty-eighth wedding anniversary. I look forward to a whole bunch more!

The other day we were sitting together and Janis told me NOT to get her anything for Valentines Day. I won't. Instead I'll show her my love in other ways. I'll make sure the dishwasher is empty - without being asked. I'll cook her a nice supper, of her favorite food. And I'll do my best to not do things that I know bother her. It's how we show love and respect to each other - not with something silly like a box of chocolates. Love needs to happen 365 days a year - not just on Valentines Day.

Just the same I'll wish Happy Valentines Day to the love of my life.

-grampa dan

I really mean it this time... maybe.

Each time we go to the Fox and Hounds to work I am determined to get everything possible done, to stroke the last of the items off my list and call the project finished. It is just that time. The truth is we are a little ways from that but the to-do list is now getting very short... even if we manage to add a few more things to it every time I go there. Today we spent the morning there, hanging a bunch more little signs, the scoreboard for the dart board, and some other small details. 

Before we left I measured up a few more areas for the signs they needed. As they operate it quickly become apparent where signs are needed. As I was designing the routing files I noticed I had absentmindedly named them 'final signs'. But when I hit save I found the name was already taken. So was 'final signs 2'. Apparently I've thought we were at this point before. So I named the file 'Last signs'. Just maybe we've reached that point at last.

The truth is the Fox and Hounds Pub project is a lot like Disneyland. When someone asked Walt Disney when it would be finished he replied "It will never be finished as long as there is imagination left in the world'. The pub project is exactly like that. We'll just go on to a new contract and then continue on being creative. 

Today when we got back to the shop I was doing a little fabricating on some needed brackets. When I got to the wall bracket that would hold up the hostess sign I couldn't resist getting a little carried away...

While I hope to be finished this portion of the contract real soon I also hope the project never ends. I've had so much fun and I have lots of ideas left over.  :)

-grampa dan

My favorite customer

We all have our favorite customers. Chances are they don't spend the most money. These customers understand schedules, give us the time we need to do our work and don't haggle over price. They just ask for what they need and give us the freedom to do as I please, trusting me to do what I do best. I'm blessed with many good customers but there is one who stands out from the rest.

My favorite customer happens to be my neighbor Gord. He's also a very good friend. He lets me use his forklift and is always more than willing to give me a hand when I need it. He even changes the oil in my tractor and makes sure my ridem mower runs perfectly. He's an all around good guy.

Gord has a unique business. He goes by the name of Groovin' Gord. His unusual job is to cut slots in the concrete inside dairy barns so cows don't slip and fall. I had never heard of anyone doing this before we moved next door to Gord, but that's the business Gord is in and he does well at it too. A few years ago he asked me to design some new signs for him. Or maybe it was me offering to help him out... I can't really remember anymore. I came up with this crazy image which he has gone on to use just about everywhere. It's now on his trucks and trailers. Every piece of equipment he owns sports this funny looking cow standing firmly on some freshly grooved concrete. It is seen in his trade show booth, on is business cards and even on the fridge magnets he hands out to customers. He originally called his business CJ Concrete Grooving (after his kids) But over time he's changing it to Groovin' Gord. If you look close at the cow you will see the initials CJ in the black spots. 

While the farmers may think this cow is anything but perfect the image is very memorable. It makes everyone smile too. It works well and suits Gord perfectly. Gord's business is prospering in part because of the image we were only too happy to provide.

-grampa dan