Well this puts a crimp in my plans for the day.

Dogs (we have the awesome Drago visiting us for 10 days) waking me up at 3:50 a.m. to go outside? In the RAIN? I think I’m not crazy about that nonsense.

Off to the couch with my bad self. And the dogs are, of course, sawing logs on the floor. At least THEY’RE comfy…

Fink out. Grr.

…and when your team has lost eleven straight games, it’s good to know there is shoe therapy.

And grandsons — two of whom are arriving this morning to spend the day. Tomorrow morning, I bury myself in choreography and lesson plans for music theory, and will remain in that state all weekend. Hence, the hating of everything.

But on the bright side, today is filled with playing ball and trucks and maybe going to the store to buy a couple of baseball gloves.

Is it June yet? Need…more…shoes…

Had a great Monday with BFF Kay. We left after lunch and headed to Cleveland for a day of shopping and dinner.

I generally loathe going school-clothes shopping, as I am both impatient and picky: mutually exclusive — and therefore, unfortunate — traits to possess. I want what I want, but I want to get it over with. Lucky for me, Kay is the same way. So off we went to turbo-bargain-hunt. It was a smashing success; awesome in every way.

Possibly the sweetest bargain was the discovery of a $120 leather purse marked down to $48 at Wilson’s Leather. Sweeter yet: they had two of them, so we both got one. Now we can do the whole “we’re twins!” thing. (Kay was less than delighted when I reminded her of this fun fact.) The bag is cool because while it looks dandy and can go anywhere you’d dress up, it also converts to a cute backpack. Score.

So seven shirts/blouses, three skirts, the purse and two pairs of shoes later, it was a good trip with great deals. Dinner was kind of weird, though.

Neither of us had ever been to Buca di Beppo, so we tried out the one in Strongsville. First off, question: Why do they make it look like Italians have to have every inch of available space on a wall covered? Why is that necessarily an Italian trait? I don’t remember restaurants like these in Italy, and Kay, who has been there many times and as recently as a year or two ago, didn’t either. And even if they do exist there, it isn’t likely that it’s the representative norm. Anyway…busy and interesting walls, but that’s not the most memorable part.

You can tell the wait staff are well trained in their opening monologue. As soon as we answered that in fact yes, it was our first time at Buca di Beppo, we were taken on a whirlwind tour by Justin, who showed us the kitchen (complete with a table one can request in order to watch the food being cooked — no thanks) before seating us in the “peach room,” where someone had painted (stenciled) peaches on the walls. Not that you could tell, mind, because every available centimeter of wallspace was covered with vintage-looking photos. Think borderline-Italian version of Cracker Barrel.

The food was actually quite good, but the waiters in our dining room…yikes. Never in all my years of dining out have I ever heard such LOUD TALKING. I mean, these two guys came into the room and you pretty much had to wait until they left. There’s a point where you just know that everything they’re saying has been said a thousand times before, with the same inflection, word choice, and enthusiasm. Such was the case at BdB. It got old reeeeeeally fast. I hope they’re not all that way.

I’m a basically patient person (unlike BFF Kay), but by the time we left, I wanted to pretty much cold-cock the guy. That’s saying something.

Still, it was a beautiful day, and we finished off by stopping at Malley’s Chocolates so we could bring our husbands a fun chocolate treat. We’re awesome, yes.

Today, the Finkmobile goes to the doctor. Thermostat problems. The car has a fever. It’s always something, lemmetellya…

But happy day! One day closer to you-know-what.

FO

Running at least an hour behind on my morning reading today. How can you jank your neck on a treadmill?? Oy. Regardless, that’s what I did, and I broke down last night and did something I rarely do: I took a narc. The Percocet put me out bigtime, and I didn’t regain consciousness until I heard Rousseau sneeze on the floor beside the bed at 7:00.

*Yaawwwn*

So anyway, to the wisdom. One of my many articles over coffee was about how the Five Guys burger franchise got off the ground. Founder Jerry Murrell said:

Customers initially gawked [in 1986] at the $2.19 price ($4.59 today, adjusted for inflation), but once they tasted the burgers they eventually came around.

 

“Some people said, ‘I’m not paying that much for a hamburger.’ And then we’d say, ‘OK, don’t pay for it, just take it then.’ And you know, in the 25 years we’ve done that, every single customer’s come back and paid it plus a big tip. And they became customers of ours,” Murrell says. “I think people will pay a little extra for food if it’s worth it.”

That really struck me, and I’ll tell you why.

It will come as no surprise to anyone that I have been thinking more and more lately of my *next* career. As many of you know, I’m leaning towards baking in order to supplement my pension when retirement comes. That, and maybe getting on with a university somewhere to supervise student teachers, or work in an office part time…anything but give studio lessons, pal. With regard to baking, I asked myself, “Do I believe in what I’m doing enough to give it away in order to sell it?”

I cover my cakes in buttercream made with real butter. I make my royal icing by hand, and will painstakingly decorate each homemade sugar cookie with it myself. The prices will reflect this formula, for sure. And if someone doesn’t want to pay, say, a dollar and a half for one of my cookies, do I have the confidence to say, “OK, just take it then”? Truth is, as much as folks may not want to believe it, in order to be a success, you have to be in business for more than just money. Scratch that. You don’t have to, but if you’re not, a crucial element is missing, and your customers will undoubtedly, at some point, sense it.

Therefore, your level of passion and the quality of your product — and, quite likely, the success of your endeavor — are inextricably linked. That’s a big bite to chew, because it involves great risk, far beyond the standard dangers of starting your own business. The Five Guys people believed in their product so completely, they were willing to step in front of a proverbial speeding train for it. Will I have that kind of courage? I hope so.

Interesting food for thought on a Sunday morning. And speaking of food, breakfast is ready. Come on over and I’ll give it to you for free.