Tuesday, November 7th, 2006
Goodbye to a relaxed life…
Lesson #4503: Know your industry. In my corner of business, things are on a tight schedule. When someone needs something done, they check up on you and don’t let you forget it. I’m used to being checked up on. So, naturally, I assume that when I am the client and I am hiring someone, they will assume I will be checking up on them, so they will contact me with the status on things…..not true in the construction world. Maybe it’s my frustration with being checked up on, or maybe it’s my tendency to give people the benefit of the doubt, but I assumed I would receive a call guiding me through the next step. Well, I needed to do some checking up. I had sent an electrical plan with instructions to call me to direct me to a resource for lighting. I waited for a couple of days and thought it was fishy that I was told the entire space would be complete by Monday, but hadn’t heard about the lighting yet. (I’m leaving out LOTS of detail here….you don’t want to know about this entire process!)
So, today I called to see if I could get some recommendations and it turns out that they were waiting for me to make up my mind. humm…..do you see the problem here? Well….after a few phone calls, I now have an appointment on Thursday to get the lighting squared away and to pick up a key to the store. We’re in! I’ll be ready to start this weekend with building some walls. Humm, that means I have to go get a builder’s permit and actually make up my mind about the lighthing.
Wow, it just hit me….I am starting to panic. I have a LOT to do and now it’s the time when it needs to get done. Up until now, I’ve been waiting to do things because I couldn’t do anything with the store not being ready. So, I’ve been running through the list of things in my mind and putting them on a virtual check list. Now, it’s time to take action. The checklist has to become real and tangible. It’s overwhelming. Goodbye to my relaxed evenings with a good meal and good entertainment on TV and a couch full of warm kitten and husband bodies. I thought things were busy until now. Looks like maximum capacity hasn’t yet been reached.
From now on, you’ll find me running like a whirlwind in my own little world. I apologize in advance to those whom I ignore and for those things that I neglect until it’s over.