February 11, 2012
► Congratulations to Patrick for passing his CPO in Atlanta with a 100% grade. Also, congratulations for stretching out to teach two classes at the Aquanology seminar in Atlanta, to pool store owners and managers from all over North America. Here is some feedback from his teaching:
From April Nielsen, National Accounts Manager, Arch & Advantis Professional Dealer Channel, Lonza Microbial: The presentation and handouts were absolutely perfect, and Patrick did an excellent job! You would have been proud, we certainly were. Patrick seemed very relaxed and comfortable in front of the group, and represented your business well. He had good attendance at both sessions, and a lot of participation with the audience. We are very glad that Al recommended you for this topic; you obviously have developed a system and program that work very well. We wouldn’t have changed a thing. I believe you have inspired a number of dealers who had gotten away from doing these to take another look. We hope that Patrick found that the rest of the programs that he attended were valuable as well. Once again, Dennis, we truly appreciate your assistance with making Aquanology 2012 a success. We would love to have you join us for a future event.
From Al Bornemann, Lonza: I agree with April on this. Patrick was excellent. He was well prepared and organized, and there was a lot of positive feedback after the presentation. A lot of people who attended used to do pool schools and stopped doing them for one reason or another. I strongly feel they may start doing them again. One of the neat things was that the presentation was in the format of your pool schools. I think that went a long way with the attendees. Thanks again for letting us have him for Aquanology. We’d love to have both of you attend in the future.
► Congratulations to Paul, for passing his exam for Certified Hot Tub Technician.
► Web advertising starts tomorrow: “Relax at Home”.
The Sports Collectibles sale continues.
► The Game Table clearance sale ends next Sunday, the 19th.
► The other sales (Above Ground and Hot Tubs) end the following Saturday, February 25th.
► We had 18 One-of-These Awards in January. Finalists were Rose, Landon, Stephanie, and Victor. Owner’s Choice was Rose. The drawing winner was also Rose. Congratulations.
► We have already started the March Patio Furniture Sale.
► Happy Anniversary to Seth for five years of service.
► Thank you to Paul for bringing in information on the Prescription Discount Card that he posted on the bulletin board. Or, go to www.nhrxcard.com.
► On a related note, I am reviewing the health plan renewal right now. They changed our plan, but kept the price the same – which means they are probably screwing us somewhere, and I can’t find out where, yet! As an FYI – assuming we do stay with that plan, there will be some coverage of eyeglasses and one eye check-up a year. They are also dropping Viagra and Cialis from covered prescriptions! A word to the wise may be to delay buying one of these, and stock up on the other, before April first!
► Happy Birthday to Landon on the 23rd.
► Website Update:
The new website style almost went live Tuesday, but our current host could not handle it now that we have installed software that allows our office staff to make their own updates. So, Anne-Marie is working to move the old site and our email accounts to a new hosting company. We will keep it there for a couple of weeks, before we go live with the new software – so we know who to blame when something goes wrong. The first move will eliminate the problems with the site going down some Saturday mornings. The mobile site will probably to live next week, and we will revise and correct it while it is live.
► Submitted by Jen: Amazing Simple Home Remedies (Do not try these at home, though):
1. Avoid cutting yourself when slicing vegetables by getting someone else to hold the vegetables while you chop.
2. Avoid arguments with the females about lifting the toilet seat by using the sink.
3. For high blood pressure sufferers – simply cut yourself and bleed for a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure on your veins. Remember to use a timer.
4. A mouse trap placed on top of your alarm clock will prevent you from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze button.
5. If you have a bad cough, take a large dose of laxatives. Then you’ll be afraid to cough.
6. You only need two tools in life – WD-40 and duct tape. If it doesn’t move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn’t move and does, use the duct tape.
7. If you can’t fix it with a hammer, you’ve got an electrical problem. Daily Thought: Some people are like slinkies – not really good for anything but they bring a smile to your face when pushed down the stairs.