Category: Pandemic

Day To Day News and Politics Pandemic

Pandemic Day 375

Well, hooray! The Governor this morning lifted the restrictions. So, what does that mean? Masks aren’t mandatory and we can have larger crowds. More people have been vaccinated and positive cases and deaths are down significantly. Cool. That sounds great!
Well, now we are going to be in this new weird space where we businesses want to do the right thing, and we aren’t quite sure which way to go for the best interest of our guests and teams. Some businesses are already posting that they are going to continue requiring masks for the health and safety of their staff and customers. Some businesses are really taking a stand right now in that announcement. I have been wearing a mask at least 12 hours per day every single day for about a year. I think we are all anxious to not have to wear them. I am not sure I want to take a stand about enforcing them at my shop, but I also am not sure I want to just suddenly be loose about it either. I already told the staff we would continue to wear masks for now and until we are certain that we no longer need to. However, I also took down the signs on the door that state that masks are required before entry. I needed to clean the glass anyway and those papers had been there a long time. I could always put them back if we decide that is best.
Right now, it is so uncertain and we want to behave well for our guests and our team. That is the most important factor. I think when our guests feel comfortable without masks, and our team feels comfortable without masks and society as a whole feels comfortable without masks…through that process, we can gently shift I suppose.

Blah. The politics and the pandemic have really made stuff not as fun! Not going to lie. I really am eager to burn all the masks I own.

Day To Day Pandemic

Pandemic Day 327

Some days I wonder if can keep fighting and other days I know definitively that there is no other option. Today was a good day and gave me a little jolt of the dopamine needed to muster up the strength to deliver a good return punch. Still hanging on by a thread and hopeful for a couple of significant pieces to come together and praying that I can keep things from crumbling in the mean time.

Today we took in $60 above our daily baseline. That is two Wednesdays in a row that we were slightly above our daily baseline requirement. It makes me wonder, “why Wednesdays?” I am kind of a statistics fanatic, as you know, and tracking data for a pattern to emerge is my geeky obsession.

So we had a good day, and I live to fight another day.

This is so freaking hard. I am so extremely grateful for everyone who purchases and supports us. The online DIY Take-Home kits are finally getting traction again over the last few days. They had unexpectedly become non-existent in January. We ended up the month of January only bringing in 66% of our required revenue just to cover essentials such as rent, payroll, utilities, taxes, etc. None-the-less, I was happy with the way the month ended. That last week of January made all the difference. The first three weeks…super stressful, nail-biting kind of days.

There are pressing matters that I absolutely have to get a handle on that require our revenues to get up to at least baseline. I have to be able to breath soon. I feel like my time is running out. I am driving DoorDash like crazy, and it is certainly helping. Most weeks, I can clear above $500 and sometimes even above $700. But $500 average is pretty typical working about 3 hours per day 7 days per week. And most of the time, I drive dinner after spending the day at Burst Of Butterflies.

Additionally, I feel like I am keeping well focused on the objective and handling it without falling apart or letting emotion lead. That is a pretty good change.