Joann Foley Blog » Business

Loss of friends

Joann — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:00:01 +0000

Well, another of my friends, Mary, is moving out of the country. She is moving to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. As you recall, recently my friend, Linda, moved to Calgary. Mary’s husband just got a new job for a company up there. So, they will be looking for a place to live. They don’t want to buy a home yet, not knowing the area and all.

Mary stopped by the other day and said that she accessed the Internet and visited http://www.rentedmonton.com to see out a home. She said that the website was very helpful and there were several places that she and her husband were interested in looking at.

They are going to take a trip up there next week to look at homes and hopefully they will find one that suits them. I am sure going to miss her.

Moving…glad it’s not me

Joann — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 13:30:03 +0000

The company that my friend, Linda, works for announced that they are opening a new office in Calgary, Albert Canada and she has been one of the chosen few that can go look at houses for rent in Calgary before she actually has to move and starts work there.

She said that she would call me and we could have coffee and look for a new temporary home for her together. I love shopping for houses, especially for other people!! She will be there for 6 months to a year and needs a place to call home. Just a cozy 2 bedroom house with a small yard would be perfect.

I asked her how she was going to find a place to live while she is here in the U.S., and she told me about a website that her company had told those chosen few about, where they could “shop” for homes in Canada right from her own home computer. Well, pooh. I thought she meant we could take a trip to Canada together and look at houses!

I wish her all the luck in the world and can’t wait to go visit her in our great neighbor to the North.

Off to the show

Joann — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:58:41 +0000

I used to work in a comedy theatre in Tennessee. I was the candy shop/concession stand manager and I also took care of ordering all the souvenirs for the theatre. So, I finally got to go to a trade show to see what was new in the world of gag gifts, stuffed animals and other fine gift shop items that one might be inclined to purchase during intermission or before or after the show.

There was this one booth that I stopped by; they were selling stuffed animals, as I remember. They had the most unique logo mat and logo canopy that I remember ever seeing. Then I thought about the theatre I worked in.

What a unique idea for the lobby and candy shop: A beautiful mat with our logo right in the middle for all to see. I thought that it would be a good way to promote the show. I thought we might even be able to place a few around town in different locations to remind people that we were right around the corner.

I realized that I see mats and canopies like that all the time and don’t even realize it. They are in stores, restaurants, even in offices. What a great idea!!!

Labor Day weekend disappointment

Joann — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 22:18:44 +0000

I had originally planned to have a nice weekend with my spouse. We had planned on going to the mountains and enjoy an old-fashioned drive-in movie. They have a great drive in about an hour and a half from our house. It was built in 1956 and has been in business ever since!!! They have the playground, the concession stand and you can see two movies for only $7.50 per person. They play two feature length films a night and…they have two separate screens with different movies playing on each one.

I was so looking forward to eating drive-in concession stand hot dogs or pizza and enjoying the night like we did when I was a teenager. But, as fate would have it, something came up and my husband was not able to come home, he had to make an unexpected trip to Laredo, TX. He will be back next weekend instead. Oh well, it rained all weekend anyway, and so the movies were probably cancelled. It is supposed to rain next weekend also, so we will have to put our little drive-in trip on hold. We were also going to go to a very large flea market in the same area where the drive-in is located. It would have been a nice weekend getaway, but mother nature and his work schedule took it away. There will be another time though; I can hardly wait and am looking forward to it very much!!!!

Friends and new careers

Joann — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:33:43 +0000

I have a good friend who recently went back to school to become a male nurse He is so excited!! After his first few classes, he realized he was going to need uniforms and a lab coat for his classes that he had labs in. He wanted something that was stylish, yet durable and comfortable also. He was looking for a place to purchase men’s scrubs and men’s lab coats that were reasonably priced and easily obtained.

He is a very busy person what with a full time job, classes and study time, and needed a place where he could order online and have them shipped directly to him.

I asked around my circle of friends and I directed him to try http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/categories/Scrubs/Scrubs-for-Men/. I told him that I have another male nurse friend who uses this website all the time and recommended it highly. He told me that they have inexpensive uniforms as well as any other supplies and accessories you might need.

I am happy to say that he visited the website and is now a satisfied customer.

Baby Shower

Joann — Thu, 05 May 2011 21:48:56 +0000

Today we all gathered in the conference room at 4:00 and had a baby shower for one of out IT technicians and his wife. She was supposed to come to the shower but was put in the hospital on Tuesday because of complications. We all hope that she will be OK an that the baby will be born healthy.

The shower was fun but it would have been more fun with the mom here and not just the daddy-to-be. We all pitched in and bought a small gift, and the company bought a really nice stroller for them. That was very generous of the boss and it gave me a good feeling to know that our company cares about its people.

No News

Joann — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 02:41:47 +0000

I stopped subscribing to the local newspaper back in June. I missed the Sunday newspaper at first. There used to be a lot to read in the Sunday paper, plus all the coupons and sales flyers were fun to sort through. But now I don’t even miss that.

I get my news on the TV late news and on the internet throughout the day. I don’t even miss the newspaper anymore.

Gas Pricing Roller Coaster

Joann — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 15:47:27 +0000

Last week the price of gas was dropping and I was just getting comfortable with my budget. Then when I went to the Thornton’s this morning to buy gas I saw that the price has gone up over 20 cents a gallon. What caused this sudden jump? Why are we having to pay so much for gas again?

Even More Banking Stress

Joann — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 17:26:41 +0000

My bank has a collections department that calls and hounds you to death if your checking account gets overdrawn. I told the guy that I’m working with a bank clerk to get the problem straight but that’s not good enough for them. They are sticking overdraft charges on my account every three days that it shows overdrawn. It’s $25 each three days. Holy crap. That can’t be legal can it? This overdraft isn’t even my fault and now they want to hit me with almost $300 in fees. I don’t know how this will ever work out.

More Banking Stress

Joann — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:57:37 +0000

Another big problem with my bank has popped. I had a big fight with them about a year ago and pretty much stopped going there other than letting my minimum balance sit in my checking account so it sat there for free.

Well, I had an urgent need to raise some cash and there wasn’t enough in that account without making an additional deposit. I dug out an old money order and all the loose cash I could find to make a deposit, which they took without issue. So I wrote a check against my balance and expected to leave about $50 in the account.

That was two weeks and not a peep from my bank about any issues, but when I logged in to my online account to verify that the check cleared, I was horrified to find a negative balance on the account. Evidently, the bank returned the money order for some reason and has been charging me for overdraft fees for 2 weeks. I have a huge negative balance and am totally freaked out.

I can’t imagine why the money order would be returned and charged back to my account. That makes no sense to me at all. I thought a money order was the same as cash. WTF?