Friday, March 27, 2009

Good news on the garden front

Last week I decided to plant some seeds in regular soil. I was pleasantly surprised to find sprouts in the basil pot already. I noticed them on Monday, but they seemed a little too small to show up in a photo. Yesterday they had really taken off and I snapped this picture today. So far, I can't see anything happening in the other pots, but I'm hopeful.

I also changed the hydroponic set up. The plastic starter tray was not working at all. I decided to take twelve 20 oz styrofoam cups and embed them in a wire grid. I put a slit in the bottom and four on the sides. Next I put the rooters into the cups and secured them with toothpicks. I'm really happy with the results so far.

I think one of the main problems with the tray was that the fish food would float over it and get caught on the rooters. The fish were probably bumping it because they knew the food was there. The hornwort was also washing up onto it and weighting it down.

Another thing I learned it that not all the rooters float. I skimmed the bottom of the pond with a net and recovered most, if not all, of them. Since I already had the problem with the fish food, I set the cups far enough apart that they could swim underneath and get to whatever food does rest next to the cups. I put the extra rooters in a plastic baggie so I can use them another time. Sphere: Related Content

Tucker


As much as I complain about this shop, it does have one redeeming quality. Tucker is a Ragdoll, given to the owners as a gift. He had a seizure, so the breeder decided not to sell him. He is about a year and a half old now and was finally neutered last week. Hopefully he will stop spraying all over the store now.

I know a lot about cats, but not much about Ragdolls. I have to say, this is the dumbest cat I've ever met. He is not curious about anything and has very little energy. I had two cats in my shop and they wanted to see everyone who came in because it meant they would probably get petted. Tucker just sleeps, completely oblivious to everything going on around him.

The basket he's in is where I put the orders I need to make. This is the first time he's gotten into it since I started working there in December. I liked having him there, so I moved the tickets to a table. Another time I was making a funeral spray and turned around to find him just sitting about three feet behind me. I don't know how long he had been there, but he was just sitting there watching me work. Most cats would have come up and started rubbing on my legs, but Tucker just sat there. Even when I petted him a little he just rolled over and stayed there.

It's a good thing he is so cute because he is severely lacking the "pet me" personality. Sphere: Related Content

Rotten grapes

Take a look at this. I don't know how well you can see it, but those are rotten grapes. For the past couple of weeks one of the coolers at work has been smelling like rotten fruit. On Wednesday, the owner of the shop pulled these grapes off the bunch and sent the rest to a customer in a fruit basket.

To make matters even worse, he made it Tuesday night and heat sealed it, locking the ethylene gas into the customer's "gift". All fruit emits ethylene. It is part of the composting process. By sealing it inside, the composting process will accelerate, especially as the temperature rises. Basically, if they don't refrigerate it immediately and instead put it on the table in their home, it will rot more quickly. If they leave it sealed it will be worse.

I sincerely hope the recipient of this fruit does not get sick. I hope the flavor was impacted and they throw it away. I am, once again, truly astonished that this is the way they do business and they've been able to get away with it for this long. Sphere: Related Content

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Early onset Alzheimers?

I was reminded today just how ditsy I am sometimes. I went to the grocery store this afternoon. I usually try to go pretty early thinking it will be less crowded, but I got side-tracked doing something else. I *think* I got everything I went there for; I should probably start making a list due to the advanced age and all. I was pleasantly surprised at the short lines and was even thinking on the way home the afternoon might be a better time to go from now on.

Anyway, I got home, put everything up and started doing other things. It wasn't until a half hour ago, a full 6 hours from the shopping trip, that I realized I was missing a bag. Not only that, I couldn't find my receipt. I distinctly remember the cashier handing back my debit card with the receipt wrapped around it. I checked my purse, the debit card is there, the receipt is not. I have no idea where it went. I called the store anyway to see if the bag with all my food in it was still there waiting for me. At first they said it wasn't and that I would need the receipt. Well, that was obviously a problem, so I started naming some of the things I could remember that were in the bag.

Finally they found it and I just got back from picking it up. I wish I could say this was the first time I've left bags of groceries at the store. Sadly, it's not and probably won't be the last. I can't even be upset by it, it wouldn't serve any purpose. I've actually chased after people in front of me who have left their stuff, too, so at least I know I'm not alone. Just another day in my weird life. Sphere: Related Content

Garden progress - week 3, or is it 4?

I'm getting a little impatient with the progress of the hydroponic seedlings. Today I decided to plant some spinach, arugula, basil, and lavender in soil in regular terra cotta pots. Since the fish have bumped the plastic tray so many times, now I have not only mixed rows, I'm not sure if some of the rooters even have seeds in them anymore. I'm afraid the instability and floating sideways is adversely affecting the growth. I'll have to wait and see.

I heard a few days ago (on Real Time with Bill Maher - my TV crush!) that Michelle Obama is having a garden planted on the grounds of the White House. It reminds me of the Victory Gardens planted during the Great Depression. Hopefully it will inspire city dwellers to start growing some of their own food and reduce the dependence on the agriculture conglomerates like AMD, Cargill, and Monsanto.

Speaking of Monsanto, I am boycotting soybeans because this horrible company has genetically engineered soybeans that are contaminating other crops. They modified soybean seeds with bacterium from the pesticide they make called Round Up. They're called "Round Up Ready" crops and are designed to be resistant to it, so the farmers saturate them with it. Around 70% of soybeans are "Round Up Ready". Thanks anyway, but I don't want to eat that.

They're also suing farmers whose crops are contaminated by the GM (genetically modified) crops and taking possession of the land once "their" GM crops are discovered growing. They have literally driven farmers in India to suicide because the seeds they sell cannot be harvested from the current crop for the next year's crop. They are forced to buy seeds from Monsanto every single year. I watched a documentary called The World According to Monsanto that originally aired on French television that was a flat out display of capitalism at it's worst.

It turns out that Monsanto has been buying up seed companies, thereby cornering the market. Between that and their GM crops contaminating nearby fields, it is a possibility that food crops will no longer be capable of reproducing naturally in the not so distant future. The entire planet could be dependent on Monsanto for basic sustenance. That's a scary thought. They'll be the AIG of the agriculture industry. Maybe they already are. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, March 19, 2009

THE LITTLE DOG REPORT: A True Fight for the Little Dogs!

THE LITTLE DOG REPORT: A True Fight for the Little Dogs!

Rep. Senfronia Thompson (Houston TX-D) has introduced HB 3180, also known as the "Puppy mill Bill". It will require commercial dog (and cat) breeding facilities to meet minimum standards of care and housing of their animals. Sphere: Related Content

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Happy Paddy Day

It should come as no surprise that the shop where I work ordered some green dyed Carnations for St. Patrick's Day. That's some of them on the right. These were dyed by putting green dye into a bucket, cutting the bottom of white Carnation stems and placing them into the dye. It is absorbed up through the stem where it leaves pigment deposits. You can't really see it, but these almost looked like lace doilies the way the dye was absorbed. Whether this was food coloring or specially made for flowers I don't know since I didn't do the dying.

Along with the green Carnations I used ivory Stock (smells great!), naturally green Spider Poms and Hydrangea. What struck me as odd about the dyed green Carnations is that there is actually a natural green Carnation called Pistachio. Ironically, it's the only Carnation I like and, of course, this shop never gets any.

After making this arrangement I decided to go rogue on the next Paddy themed order. This one was for a birthday tomorrow (the day after Paddy), but they wanted a Paddy theme.


I used a short green glass urn with the same flowers as the first one (sans Carnations), used white Stock instead of ivory, and added Bupleurum and Australian Heather. Obviously I made it in the style I like rather than the traditional style of the first one. The photo on the left is looking slightly down, on the right is straight down.


Sphere: Related Content

Monday, March 09, 2009

Cat grass grows fast

When I went on my seed buying spree a couple of weeks ago for the hydroponic garden I also planted some in dirt. One says "Cat Grass (Oats)" on the package, so I guess that's what it is. It also says it should take 3-8 days to emerge, but I just planted this 5 days ago.

I've planted it before and it grows, the cats nibble and destroy it, then it dies off. I only planted about 1/3 of the package this time. Sphere: Related Content

Friday, March 06, 2009

Rush Limbaugh at CPAC

Well, I finally got a chance to sit down a watch the speech from last week on CSPAN. It's pretty long and I'm actually listening while writing this. My initial reaction: propaganda, pure and simple. These are the ones who purport to believe in what's good for the country?

This is the same guy who said he wants Obama to fail in the second to the last sentence on his transcript from January 16. It doesn't make any sense to me for anyone who wants what's best for the future of this country to propagandize to the "ditto heads" that our President should fail. I did not support Bush, but I would have preferred for his policies and actions to strengthen the foundation of our country. In fact, those policies did exactly the opposite, leaving his successor to straighten out the mess he inherited.
  • Restoring our diplomatic status around the world is Obama's job.
  • Restoring the strength of our economy is Obama's job.
  • Getting the military troops and equipment safely out of the middle east is Obama's job.
  • Reducing our dependence on fossil fuels is Obama's job.
In which of those would failure be acceptable? I would argue that failure is not an option.

Making fun of someone is a classic example of low self esteem. In the first 15 minutes of his rant at CPAC he admonished Obama for using a teleprompter saying, "Conservatives don't need notes. We speak from the heart." as he pounded on his chest. Less than 2 minutes later he not only looked down at his notes, he actually put his finger on them to find his place.

So much for speaking from the heart, blow hard. I prefer people who speak from their brain. Sphere: Related Content

Thursday, March 05, 2009

Garden progress - 1 week

The sprouts from last week are a little bigger, but I'm not seeing much anywhere besides the mixed Japanese greens.

The fish managed to tip the tray and some of the Rapid Rooters fell out. They ate them. That's my guess anyway because there are 8 missing. Since they float and they're not on the top, that's the only thing I can think of. There were 14 empty spots that were filled with a Rooter the night before. I put 6 of them back into the tray, but one side is now empty. At this point I'm not sure which seeds are in which Rooter. If they grow I'll find out then.

I'm not sure which will actually grow besides the ones that have sprouted. The Basil appears to be surrounded by mold. Since I've never grown anything with water as a substrate I don't know what to expect. Technically I think the Rooter would be the substrate, but there's definitely more moisture than regular soil.

I bought some large Styrofoam cups last week that I am planning to transfer the sprouted Rooters into to use as the floating garden. Maybe I should have skipped the tray altogether and gone straight to that. Sphere: Related Content

Tulips, Gerbera Daisies, Irises, and a Lily

Tulips, Gerbera Daisies, Irises, and a Lily in a tempered and glazed terra cotta cube. There's also white Stock on the back that's easier to see in the view from the top. There are 2 stems of Springerii to soften the focus. The framework is a quarter stem of Curly Willow bent into a knot, echoed above the water line by a single branch tied into a small knot. Another example of a design my bosses hate. Sphere: Related Content

Wednesday, March 04, 2009

Dendrobian Orchids, Curly Willow, and 3 Gardenias

I like the picture quality of the camera on my Blackberry. This is a very nice photo of 20 Dendrobian Orchids, Curly Willow, and 3 Gardenias in a tall hand blown glass rectangle vase. The customer (in New York) requested a photo of their order. I originally stood one of the black foam mats that we stand on against the counter as a backdrop. It fell over and landed on the arrangement, knocking it over and breaking the tips off 3 of the Orchids. My boss (who HATED this arrangement) was shocked when that was the only damage.

The photo to the right is the same arrangement taken with my Canon inside the shop before the mat fell on it. As you can see, the damage is basically non-existent. I was about 3/4 finished with this arrangement (which only took about 15 minutes to make) when the owner came up behind me and said she didn't think the customer would like the Curly Willow. The order was for a 20 Dendrobian Orchids and 3 Gardenias in a contemporary style. She was basing her opinion on whether the customer would like it on what she likes.

As I've mentioned before, this is an old fashioned shop. The number of containers that can be even loosely classified as "contemporary" would fit on one hand with fingers to spare. The one I chose was a clear, 12" tall, rectangular vase in which I twisted a quarter of a branch of Curly Willow in a knot inside to create a structure for the placement of the flowers. The Willow above the rim is part of the design, while what's inside is the reason there was no damage when the mat fell on it.

The Orchids follow the line of and are attached to the Willow with the Gardenias forming a focal point in the front and on each side of the vase. I added 4 stems of Springerii that also followed the line of the Willow.

I wish I could say this was the first time she had made a comment about what the customer would like versus what I was making. By the time she said it there was no way to take it out without possibly destroying and probably damaging some of the flowers. Professional floral designs are made to hold up during delivery so when the customer receives them, they look the same as they did when they left the store. If I could have pulled the Curly Willow out at the time of her comment it would have meant I had not done my job as a professional designer and she knew it. The comment was designed not to help me make the order to the customer's satisfaction, but to undermine my confidence in my ability.

I'm very happy to say it didn't work. I know I'm good at what I do and I also know she's not comfortable with contemporary floral design and advanced design techniques in general. Another of the delivery drivers told me when I first started working there and was upset by something she said that he thinks she's just trying to stay relevant. I think that's probably true, but it's a shame she never learned that constructive criticism and occasional compliments make your opinion far more relevant than spiteful, destructive comments. Sphere: Related Content

Monday, March 02, 2009

No title, just a rant about work

I work for 2 of the stupidest people I've met in my entire life. Considering how many people that actually is, that's saying a lot. Every day I'm amazed by yet another completely baffling experience at this place.

Today, flowers were delivered in the morning. There were about 10 boxes. I had finished all the orders and went over and started processing the new flowers. Processing basically consists of taking the flower bunches out of boxes, cutting them and putting them into water with flower food in it.

The owner came into the back, saw me processing and said she wanted me to make some arrangements for the cooler. Okay, the display cooler is full already. It has 25 arrangements in it. She wants some $35-40 vases in the back cooler to re-stock or add to when an order comes in or something is sold from the front. I don't have a problem making them, but one of my biggest problems with this shop is the complete and utter disregard for proper care and handling of flowers.

You don't have to be a florist to know that flowers last longer when they are in water. The longer they are out of water, the shorter the life span. That's common sense, right? Not in this shop.

The bottom line is they only want the delivery drivers to process the flowers because they pay them less. I, as the highest paid employee (and that's really not saying much), should be sent home rather than process flowers. And that's exactly what happened today. I was sent home at noon because, after making some back up arrangements, I started processing the flowers again. I was essentially punished for trying to make the flowers last longer. The sad thing is that this shop has so many opportunities completely unrelated to labor to become efficient. It's sad, really, that they've been in business so long and learned so little in the process. They seem to do things the exact same way they did them the first time 30 years ago regardless of technological innovations and shared experiences with other florists.

They also don't keep the old flowers separate from the new flowers. They "condense the buckets" which basically means putting the new flowers into the same buckets as the old ones. The problem with this is that not only can the inventory not be rotated (FIFO - first in first out - anyone?), the old flowers are in an advanced state of degradation. They have bacteria which pollutes the water which is then absorbed by the new flowers. The best example of the FIFO method (which is universally utilized with perishable products everywhere except this shop) is the produce section of any grocery store. While it is a health concern with produce, it is plain fraud in a flower shop.

Along with having a psychological disorder (Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder -they are pack rats; they have a room full of barrels filled with decaying rose petals - floor to ceiling, about 500sq ft of floor space), the store is disgustingly dirty. Actually, I mean filthy. A rat died in the ceiling and it took them 2 days to notice the smell. The intact cat sprays inside the store. Now that's a welcoming scent in a flower shop. Come on in, your flowers will smell great! Pay no attention to that disgusting smell.

I got into an argument with the owner about 2 weeks before Valentine's Day because I wanted to organize the room the baskets are in. The baskets were all tossed into a room along with empty flower boxes (in case they need one for deliveries). There were close to 1,000 baskets in this room.

It happened because I had an order for an arrangement in a basket and when I pulled it out of the pile the whole thing came crashing down. I brought the owner into the doorway and told her it was unacceptable to ask anyone to work in those conditions. People coming in to help during the busiest week of the year should not have to dig through a stack of anything to do the job they're being paid to do. She argued with me that it wasn't a problem. I looked at her like she was crazy and asked if she really meant that. It was an absolute hazard as well as a workplace safety violation without a doubt. Finally she agreed to let me organize it. It took 3 1/2 hours and I wish I had taken a before shot, but just imagine all of these baskets randomly piled in the middle of the floor. I grouped them like anyone who's ever watched Sesame Street would be able to do and arranged them from smallest to largest. Very simply, common sense = efficiency. Why they don't seem to have any I can't answer. This is just 1 corner after I finished.

These people have the store listed for sale for $600,000, which they have absolutely no chance of getting. They are so completely co-dependent on each other that when one dies (and neither is in good health) the other will be unable to function. That will be the reason the store closes. It will never be sold in the condition it is currently in. Rather than sending people home, they really should be trying to order correctly (ie. look at the current inventory and order what you don't have, not what you have a lot of - yes, really, I'm not kidding), improve on efficiency, and work to phase themselves out to rely on the store for passive income. It is not realistic to view the possible sale of this store as a vehicle for retirement income. It is never going to happen.

They do have a lot of house accounts and I have a theory about why people still order from them when the flowers are poor quality (due to improper care and handling) and the arrangements the owner makes look like they were made by a child (I'll snap a picture as soon as I can - was going to today, but left too early). Edit 3-4-2009: Got it! That's it on the left. Please tell me you see the difference. Notice especially the Alstromeria (the cluster of red flowers in the center), Spider Mum, (barely visible on the right), and the yellow Daisy (back left) which are all backwards and the poor use of color. The person who made this thinks I'm not a good designer.

My theory is based on my belief that their biggest strength is networking and they have done a good job of it over the years, especially with UT. They have accounts with lots of individual departments at UT. Anyone who meets them in person will no doubt feel pity for them. The husband has grossly rotten teeth with black oozing gums and the wife has to tilt her head slightly to see through the deep scratches in the lenses of her glasses. Who would want to deny them money when they are obviously in such dire need?

They put on a really good show for company, too. I don't have any questions about why none of their children want to be a part of the family business. If you met them you would walk away thinking how nice they are, but that opinion is not shared by anyone who works for them. They call other employees stupid to me, so I can only presume they call me stupid to them. They never learned that their business could never have grown to this stage or lasted as long as it has without employees. The truth is every single current employee hates working there and would leave tomorrow if another job offer was extended. Please make me an offer! Sphere: Related Content