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Is no one busy
lots of people on here just now are we all going through a quite spell, or hiding from the weather.
😮
Lynn
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54 Replies
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late lunch for me, and getting my fire ready 😀
what like is the weather at your bit lynn? its very cold here…snow is on its way 😀
nik
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just ordered lunch from the cafe next door. cutting out for van livery. work is coming in in dribs & drabs now. weather is cold & bright here is sunny norfolk.
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It’s grey and misrable today last few days have been very cold but sunny, it’s not as cold today though, I heard last night they are saying we will have snow shortly 🙄 Have you got a big log fire Nik ? I’d love one.
Lynn
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Work has dropped off the past couple of days, hope it picks up before Xmas otherwise its going to be a lean couple of months.
Im sat here fighting the cat for the keyboard, everytime I type something I get my fingers bitten :lol1:
Very foggy and bitterly cold here in North Wales, looking forward to the snow when it comes, we live on a mountainside and there’s great sledging and skiing when it snows weeeeeeeeeee! :wave3: -
i’m a tad quiet here too, just small jobs now, club stickers etc in small batches, not alot in it but it puts fuel in the jaloppy !
my niggest pain is having two jobs waiting for me to put a date on them, but being unable to sort anymore cashflow to buy anymore material to have all i need to cut them……….been on this job for weeks now, shelled out £600 on the banners and poles etc before the scaffold went up a month ago, then the decorators were help up by the weather, finally gor on site last monday to find the scaffold lift was in the wrong place, so only able to fit the brackets, poles and banners go in morro now as the scaffold is coming down, cant put invoice in til job jobbed, and now it’s holding up other work ! grrr,
hence lots of fishing !
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Blue sky above, mist along the valley floor. Coal man delivered supplies this am, luckily we’re on the sunny side of the hills, so the frost does disappear for part of the day. Chris has the studded tyres ready to go on the car 😮
Bad news is when the snow comes the school bus doesn’t 👿
Not far from you Jayne, can remember all the Wrexham based kids going home from school sooner than us, due to some of them living in Cymau etc. made us quite jealous.
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You must be near us if you know Cymau!!! We live high up but not as high as Bwlchgwyn, but if it snows I cant even get out of the drive as it is steep uphill, so the kids get the day off. I love having them at home once in a while, we have great snowball fights :lol1: The schools seem over keen to send them home at the slightest sign of snow. Thing is it can be snowing by me and we can have 3 inches, go down the hill to Wrexham and they can have nothing, its weird.
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Busy here but mostly vans so am a bit stuck for application in these low temperatures. Just got an order for 135 vans to be done but they have only got a small workshop to put them in so hoping for the temperatures to rise a bit.
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its freezing here, just put loads of signs up all over a new factory thats being built. had to use cherry picker for most. popped in for a heat and then back out to fit 2 15ft by 5ft banners… brrr too cold 😕
we are pretty much chocka just now, if its not signs, we are running daft trying to catch vans. 😕 -
We are having a quiet week … as in sales calls, enquiries coming in …. but saying that it is only Tuesday 😕 We have stuff to do though to keep us out of trouble …… although saying that I did have a few minutes earlier where I bombarded Steve with elastic bands … one after the other …… they were every where …… silly I know but we all have to have our silly moments eh 😉
We knew it would get a little bit more quiet once winter set in …. we have every year … then usually it all comes in at once and we are like headless chickens again :lol1: ….. I hope the work comes in anyway??
😀
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🙁 I’m quiet too. Could count on one hand how many times the fone’s gone today! The last 3 weeks have been poor.
Weather update – grey, cold, drab . a bit like me 😉 -
It sounds to me like all us one-man -band types get quieter during the winter, whereas the bigger co’s carry on.
:wow: Mind you, I’ve had the go-ahead for a trailer, 35 A4 photo’s, some stencils, vinyl car sticker, prints on to Dibond and 3 signs since yesterday. :funky: Need to win the lottery!
I think I’d die if someone gave an order for 135 vans!
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Absolutely up to the eyes in it here, but normally goes quiet from sept. just not stopped this year.
I would still love an order for 135 vans, love doing them recon most profitable of all jobs.
Dave
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quote Jayne Marsh:You must be near us if you know Cymau!!! We live high up but not as high as Bwlchgwyn, but if it snows I cant even get out of the drive as it is steep uphill, so the kids get the day off. I love having them at home once in a while, we have great snowball fights :lol1: The schools seem over keen to send them home at the slightest sign of snow. Thing is it can be snowing by me and we can have 3 inches, go down the hill to Wrexham and they can have nothing, its weird.
Same here. when we lived in Clawddnewydd it would be snowing there but a couple of miles down the road at Pool Park there would be none whatsoever.
The mists now reached us up the hill, can’t see Bryn SM anymore or come to that the trees at the end of the field either 🙄
I know what you mean about hills 👿 when we take the caravan out we have to reverse down the drive, then it’s downhill and round a hairpin until the bottom, only trouble is we then have another short steep hill to get to the main road.
But I still wouldn’t change where we live for anything. 😎 😀
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Me neither, its very beautiful 😀
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Gone a bit quiet this end regarding phone ringing.
Still got a fair bit before xmas.I don’t know about anyone else but when it’s quiet it makes me very
lethargic, I have no get up and go. All those little jobs I said I’d do when
a quiet period comes I now can’t be bothered to do.Ive also just lost my premises, so hunting for new unit just to add to the
stress of coming into the quiet period. 🙁Been to see somewhere today that might be ok, 🙂 just a little bit in the
sticks compared to where I am now. 🙁 -
We’ve gone extremley quiet now, just done the first 30 of 300 vans but ford cant get us anymore before mid december they say, so read january for that.
As for the phone I have to keep ringing in on my mobile to remember what the ring sounds like.Looks like its going to be a bleak winter.
Phil
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it’s the same for us every year with quieter spells Dec/Jan/Feb we have to allow for it………….
the only bl@@dy thing that changes every year is the monthly break even figure creeps up…….I’m sure the accountant over allows for depreciation 😀
also shouldn’t take the 2 weeks off
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quote Lorraine Clinch:It sounds to me like all us one-man -band types get quieter during the winter, whereas the bigger co’s carry on.
We ain’t big! Just me, wife and son. Wife does accounts, packing etc and me and son do the main production. Have to close the workshop to go and fit fleet vehicles.
Dave
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Are you serious 😮 is Bwlchgwyn are real name or abbreviated? I thought we had weird names like wooloomooloo is sydney, but Clawddnewydd is fantastic. 🙂
For what it is worth, I am flat out with work, just finished 8 60 seater buses, got confirmation today of another 4, and won a tender for another 20 starting January next year. I also start a bus fleet in December that will take two weeks to complete.
One of my major clients has sent me an email tonight booking out the second week in december too 😮
On the down side, my #1 & #2 helpers, my dad and mum, were informed today that dad has serious angina, and has been booked for exploritory surgery on friday. Apparently he could drop dead anytime. Explains why I find him asleep at his computer some days 🙁 Mum of course will need to look after him, so my only help will be unavailable until probably early January. Looks like I will be closing mid december after all.
My wife was rushed to emergency at 2am this morning, so I’ll have my hands full there too for the next fortnight 😮
And I am turning away work because I just don’t have enough time in the day 🙁
All this, heading into our hottest climate period, and summer storms.
Reading the way you guys are slowing down tho, I shouldn’t complain. I could do with some sleep time tho… and of course snow would not go astray… up here in the tropics 🙄
don’t know what I’d do if I had 300 or even 135 vans to do
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Hi all
We’re still busy at the moment but in the middle of moving premises, need to be out of old unit by christmas.
Its not easy when you need to keep the workload up to date as well and typically it gets busier!!
Rebecca
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Definitely real names Shane you want to try pronouncing them!!!!!
Sorry to hear lifes still troubled for you. If you could persuade me onto a plane I would willingly come out and help you with all your work, mind you Id have to bring the hubby and the kids and the daughters boyfriend 😮
Oooooh and Id love some sun it is soooooo cold here 😀 -
…. But there are no a,e,i,o and u’s. You must just about lose your false teeth trying to get your tongue around them 😮
Thanks for the offer Jayne. I’d have you and your family out here in a heart beat, but I will close down for a holiday anyway. Just doing my newsletter up now, so I’ll inform my subscribers and clients before it gets any later in the month.
The wife is having a rough trot. The hospital have just sent her home after dosing her up with morphine. She is on the road to recovery tho, so it is a short term albeit painful thing from here.
Having done two buses yesterday, then sitting all night with the wife in the emergency dept, than back out again to do another bus with no sleep, is really more than I can handle. Feeling every bit my age right now. 😮 :lol1:
It is 10pm here now, so I’ll get off of here, and finish my work,
Cheers
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nite nite, dont actually think you’d get me on a plane that easily Shane :lol1: :lol1: :lol1:
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lol, ust finished me last job, now gorra send the invoice and hope they’re quick !! thankfully just had a few more smaller jobs n that’ll keep the fire burning for another week or so !!
re welsh place names, they’re fantastic, being partly welsh i spend alot of time down there, love the language aswell as the places, even if i cant pronounce them very well !
Shane…
pronounciations are quite odd at times,
for eg Clawddnewydd would be pronounced clowth-newth (i think !)best one has to be (see guiness book of records for lngest name)….
Llanfairpwllgwynyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllanttysiliogogogoch ….
its a name on the train styation in a small village, it translates as ….
the church of maryin the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpol and the church of tysilio by the red cave !!
i was quite proud of the fact i could recite that once, just tried and failed miserably on the middle bit tween gogery…. and .. llantysilio.. !!
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Just done one of those quotes that you know you wont get, but thought Id do it anyway and bumped the price up too, you never know I might get it then I’ll be quids in :lol1:
going Xmas shopping now, because Ive spent all day sat doing design work and my heads all mushed :lol1:
Now what does everyone want for Xmas?????? -
i have been to that rail station and the station master at the time was feed up being asked to say the name but that was a long time ago.
chris
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Jayne – could you get me a maid to clean my house for xmas please? I’ve got bits of vinyl, dog hair and dirt everywhere. Thanx! 😀
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I with Marcella on this one, 1 maid (with proper outfit on) long legs and good with her hands (for all the cleaning) :lol1:
Dave
Suffering a migrane 🙁 -
If you’re lucky Dave, Jayne might get you a maid who will massage away the migrane!
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quote DaveBruce:I with Marcella on this one, 1 maid (with proper outfit on) long legs and good with her hands (for all the cleaning) :lol1:
🙁To quote someone famous – “I HAVE A DREAM” 😳
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I was thinking more along the lines of soap on a rope 😳
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We always get a lot quieter at this time of year. I have always found that when we send out Christmas cards to all our regular customers business picks up a bit. I know its a bit mercenary but a christmas card acts just the same as any other mailshot in reminding people that you are here.
By the way Jane – I’ve heard rumours about “soap on a rope” but always wondered what was involved with this technique 😮
😉
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I wouldnt know about that sort of thing 😕 😳
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quote Shane Drew:Having done two buses yesterday, then sitting all night with the wife in the emergency dept, than back out again to do another bus with no sleep, is really more than I can handle. Feeling every bit my age right now. 😮 :Lil1:
Shane sounds like your really going through it, at the moment with your
Dad aswell.I wish you all the best and hope it all works out.
Sounds like you have got to take some time out aswell I know it’s
easier said than done but I don’t know how you’re keeping going.
Don’t end up in the same boat, work isn’t the be all and end all.All the best
Martin -
Shane, you know what happened to you a few weeks ago!!!!!!!!!!
sod the work……….look after your own health 1st, then you will be OK to look after your dear wife & do your best with your parents.You are obviously a dam good sign maker, your customers will understand, they will wait till your home life is sorted.
YOU MUST LOOK AFTER YOURSELF, because while your wife is ill, no one else will, & then what will your customers & their bus’s do?
Please give your wife all our best wishes from all of us here on uksb.
look after yourself mate.
L J
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Same as John above Shane
Look after yourself mate!
Hope things improve with your family
Take care
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hope everything works out okay with your family shane…and listen to the blokes above, they are giving you some good advice 😉
nik
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Shane Mate,
gotta agree with all above, sometimes you have to say sod the work, there are more important things to take care of.Peter
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thanks friends.
really touched by your concern.
I have given a bit of work away today to other sign guys in the area. Not sure if they appreciated it, no phone calls to say thanks yet 🙄 I’ll see how it pans out, still got other work I can drop yet, but will wait a week to see how I am fairing
Bit sobering to hear two of my local opposition to me have had heart attacks in the last week, certainly makes you think. 😮
cheers again,
sorry to kill the thread to.
for what it is worth, tonight I am enjoying a chinese nosh up in front of the telly. 😮
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Work to live, not live to work. That’s my motto!
A couple of years ago I was extremely busy and working 7 days most night until around 10pm sometimes later. My house was a wreck because I spent no time cleaning, I was stressed but most of all I had no quality time with my family. I could pay my bills easy and had some cash in my pocket. But weighing things up I decided that I was no longer going to work like that and be ruthless about my working hours. My phone goes on to answering service only at 5.30pm and every weekend. My family time is what keeps me going it’s too precious.
Work can wait Shane! -
All the best Shane, like has been said, time to put the feet up for a breather, and enjoy the Chinese.
Thinking of you and your family.
Dave
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You guys all need to move to Malta..weather nice and warm…21 degrees…bits of rain but nothing to complain about! and a very interesting market to go with that….
(mod-edit) no advertising
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Thought I would get this thread going again as business has died,
a couple of small jobs and that is it. 🙁Just been speaking to fellow sign co with around 6 staff all scratching
around for something to do.Seems pretty general amongst a lot of businesses the xmas slow down
has arrived a couple of weeks early.Anyone in the same boat??
Only good thing is it gives me time to box everything up as moving
premises over xmas. -
Yeah things have slowed down here to so Im busy tidying things up and doing my paper work….Yuk!
I do have a big job booked in for 21st and a few other things going on but otherwise quiet -
The earlist I can do a new booking for is January 13 at the moment.
Closed my books to new work until then.
I usually have a very quiet January tho, so it remains to be seen how I fare then.
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I am still dead as a doornail.
I’ve been averaging one job every two weeks.
People do call, and I do give them quotes,
but it seems they are all off to the cheapo vinyl hacks.
Got a membership to Sam’s Club yesterday
(like a warehouse Walmart)
Hell even they offer signs “at a 50% discount”.
Thank God for my job at the hardware store, where I make $600/month after taxes.
Pity that I could make that in a day with one good sign job.
Love….Jill -
We are still a bit more quiet than we were in the summer months. But we are keeping ourself busy with other stuff too …… like, Ive just put the Xmas tree up in the office Yay!! :lol1:
On the serious side though if you are a bit more quiet, now is a good time to do a bit of “getting your name out there” thats what we are going to be doing again and we are also getting our sample signs sorted out and put up around the workshop, which are things we have been meaning to do for ages, we are also looking into new products and suppliers etc. But most of all its giving you plenty of opportunity to either mail shot peeps or visit in person etc, things you cant do when you are busy.
😀
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It’s very frustrating, the time of year when we need most cash, christmas, is the time of year most of us get quiet. I’m never organised enough to compensate…. money burns a hole in my pocket. When I have some I spend it!
I’ve got some small jobs on the go but would be delighted to be busier… 😕 -
I thought it was dying off a couple of weeks ago, but seems to have picked up again. Mainly small bread & butter jobs, but keeping me busy.
I’ve been meaning to go through Yellow Pages, as suggested on here a few weeks ago, with the idea of doing mail-shots along the lines of ‘have your van signed like this for only £xxx’. haven’t had time, so can’t complain! 😕
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quote Carrie Brown:we are also getting our sample signs sorted out and put up around the workshop, which are things we have been meaning to do for ages,
Carrie I’m going to do that in my new place, been meaning to make
some sample signs for over a year now and have not done it.
Better than showing clients brochures etc.Be interesting to see how many people have sample signs made up.
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Good idea Carrie;
Bread and butter jobs here at the mo
Actually enjoying the lapse (is that bad!)
I’m sure there’s lots of things we can do especially when we were busy we use to say: ‘Now when I get a moment I’d like to….’ -
Now’s the time to post your christmas cards out to all your existing customers. Reminds them that you’re there and always brings in a few jobs when you’re quiet 😀
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quote Marcella:…. money burns a hole in my pocket.
… are we married? :lol1: :lol1:
Actually Phill is right. I don’t do the xmas thing, but I do have a newsletter I email out every 6 weeks or so. Nothing complicated, sometimes funny, and sometimes stuff I see here, to show the versatility of my peers (you lot).
Without fail, I’ll get two or 3 people that will be prompted to ring me about signs they had been meaning to get done, but forgot to call.
Works really well for me. Been doing it for about 4 years now, amazing how much work it generates some times
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