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Are changes fun? Don't even ask!


Hi there.....

I am in a bit better mood today than the last couple of weeks. You see, about three weeks ago, I got an email from my dear friends at Quickbooks, with whom I have done business for 28+ years, informing me I had a month to get a point of sale program with someone else. For all of these years I used the Quickbooks Financial program and their POS system....the systems liked each other most of the time, and would talk to each other at the end of the month. They would also provide all of my business information to my CPA at the end of the year. Everything was nice....or so I thought. 

I really had 26 days to find a new system due to the incorrect date on the letter, which started things off well. The letter suggested I use Shopify which I looked at but it did not suit my needs at all. Plus I would have had to buy all new hardware....receipt printer, scanner, cash drawer, and credit card machine. I didn't really want a program that most people use on their phone! Besides, to even look at how their system works, I would have had to provide my phone and email to view the info and I do not need them to bug me for the rest of my life! 

Fortunately, the company that hosts my website also offers a point of sale program, so I chose to go with them. Over about the last 10 or 12 days, life in the store has centered around transfering information, setting up all of the functions of the system (banking, inventory...tons of stuff) and training sessions on how to use the new system. Talk about teaching an old dog new tricks!!!!

I had the final chat at 7am Thursday, before going live at 9am. I was told there might be glitches...easy for them to say....At 9am I started using the new system, and yes, there werer glitches. The big one was typing in an item number and nothing happened.... that was a really big one. I emailed them to let them know I had found a glitch. When I walked in Friday morning at 8:20, the phone was ringing and they wanted to make sure they understood what the program was doing,...rather what it was not doing. About 10 minutes after hanging up they had it fixed. Yippee!

Everything has worked well today.....happy day!!!! I have been roaming around through my new reports and am finding some interesting  things.....I wonder how I have -2417 sheets of WorldWin cardstock. (that is negative 2417)....I wonder what other fun facts I will find that moved over from Quickbooks. Our new system is actually very user friendly and I know it will be much better. Their customer service is really good....something Quickbooks knows absolutely nothing about. We lived through the change, which was the big thing.

Thankfully Melissa was here to help, as Monday was the day we had to transfer most of the information and I could not be in the store. I was at the Animal Center for our first-ever low-cost spay-neuter day. We had a high volume spay/neuter team come in from Oregon to perform surgeries on 58 dogs and cats. The Center looked like the program "Mash"....but with dogs and cats waiting in crates prior to surgery, and in volunteers laps on the floor to recuperate after surgery. We are working toward hosting three low cost surgery days a month until we can hire a regular vet and have a more regular schedule. Those stressful 14hour days are really rough. 

I finally got a good night's sleep night and today has been a good day. It is amazing how different a person can feel when a load is lifted from their shoulders. If you came in the store during the last week and a half and we were a bit more "off" than usual...that is our excuse! We apologize!

Soooo......we do have some other things to fill you in on! ....Christmas is three months away! And it seems we were just complaining about the February snow. How can it be Christmas? Class themes are already "Christmasy" and the weather is cooling off, so I guess we just have to face the fact that the year has flown by. This summer was such a relief with no major fires in our area. Knock on wood! We can see a difference in tourism in the area, that had taken a hit due to Covid. For over two years there were no tour buses in the grocery store parking lots in the morning. They stop on their way into Yosemite, or in the afternoon on their way out, to pick up snacks. In the store, we have visitors who travel on their own. It is always fun to learn where they are from. There are definitely crafters everywhere in the world. 

Of course, I need to give you an update on the kittens. They are looking pretty grown up now that they are eight months old. Their inquisitive personalities have not changed, so more and more things in the house have gone into protective custody. They are looking more like cats and less like kittens. Check them out! I love the way they pose for photos!

                                                                         

Just a reminder that if you plan to attend The Great Yosemite Stamp Escape, 2024, you should at least send a form with a deposit to secure a spot. The information is on our website, www.catsmeowstamps.com.

We have great classes coming up ....you can find additional information on the website, but here are some sneak peeks! 

                

       Kathy's class   Oct 14th                         Melissa's class Oct 21st                          Robin's class   Oct 28th

 

                                                                  What's new?

We have a really fun new paper collection that would be great for a camping trip, kids cards, or anything summery or colorful. It has a fish theme but is not too masculine. Of course there are also other coordinating print papers...and we even bought the stickers that go with the paper! 

We have ordered some really fun Christmas dies....some make dimensional pieces, such as a sleigh. We will let you know as soon as they arrive.  

Some new background paper pads are on order. Everyone loves the 6x6 and 8s8 pads. Some of our favorites are in new colors that are sure to be a hit. 

We have filled in our Tombow marker fixture. Our distributor had been out of some colors for a while, so we changed distributors to get your favorite colors back in stock.

We are considering bringing in an expanded line of inks from Hero Arts. We love Hero Arts and their policies. They do as much in-house, or locally as they can. They are very community oriented and supportive of the companies who buy from them. We will let you what we decide on.

Kathy is teaching kids classes every few months. This is definitely something new for us. We have had some requests over the years, but none of really wanted to do it. I mentioned it to Kathy and she said she thought it would be fun. Her second Kids Class will be November 4th. She will accept kids 8 years and over. She asks that a parent or other adult attends with the kids (one or two kids per adult). If the parent wants to make the cards, they can also sign up.....otherwise they are just there to help their kids. Her class for November is very cute....

We have signed up for a virtual show in January that will feature 14 vendors, so that should be fun.....we'll keep you posted. 

I know I am missing some of what's new, so as I think of things I may shoot everyone an email! 

Take care....