On a positive note, one of my current adoptive homes came by and adopted a chin, a FN that was taking up lots of space in my garage, and some supplies. Yay for that.
Also, supposed to have someone coming by to pick up a rabbit to foster. Also yay.
One thing though. I've had a few people offer to foster, who never ended up adopting, not because I denied them, but because they never showed up for appointments, or dragged their feet for two months, or couldn't get the money together, or cancelled four appointments.... if you fit one of these descriptions or something like it, you're not adopting. Sorry, but I can think of one person in particular who did just about all of this, wasted oodles of my time... I don't think I'd ever get the chins back from them, not even cause they'd intentionally try to keep em, but because they'd keep cancelling appointments and things would keep coming up. Sorry, no. Granted, I realize, if people offer to foster, who I don't know, that's not really much better, they could be just like this, but at least I know who to, for sure, stay away from.
Speaking of, I don't have chin cages to lend out, since I use the FNs. Even the rabbit cages I have at the moment are borrowed from the person who dropped off the rabbits. So, if you're looking to foster, that's great, but for a chin, you will need a rescue-approved cage. Which for most people, means you will need to make or buy shelves, as the pet stores don't sell any cages that actually are good.
One more thing. I've gotten a lot of emails this week asking when the hidey houses will be back in stock. Again, I hate to get snippy about things, but honest to god people, you want them back in stock, I need some people here to help. I've had multiple people say, oh drop something off at my house. Which is fine, its still help, but for a lot of this stuff, I'd have to bag up so much random crap for the average person to help, it's not practical. Want to make toys at your house? I need to bring you the wire, wire cutters, pliers to bend the wire, snap hooks, toy parts, sanding block, drill.... it's just not practical for a lot of things I need help with.
Anyway, what that boils down to is this -- the houses will not be available until I get through the current backlog of orders. Yes, they sell wonderful. That's the PROBLEM people. If I put them back available, I won't have 20 orders backlogged, I'll have 50. That kind of thing, having that many in waiting, stresses me out. Especially cause then, once I've got half these people's order almost ready to go, I get an email, well, I haven't gotten it yet, and I don't want to wait any longer, can I cancel it? Most things are not custom and can be sold to someone else, but it's the point of the matter. Until I get through my current pile of orders, I just cannot add the houses back. Period. Want the houses back quicker, come by and volunteer.
Two more things. This is not a petting zoo and I value my time immensely. So when you email and say you want to come visit the rescue, please don't get mad when I ask if there's a reason you'd like to come. Are you looking to adopt, want to learn more about chins, need supplies? No offense to anyone, but it is a pain in the ass to clean up the entire rescue cause someone wants to come here and pet the cute little chinchillas and waste 3 hours of my time with no intention of ever adopting, being educated, or getting supplies. Unfortunately, that's what typically seems to happen when people say they "just want to come visit."
Also. I have an email from someone say they want to adopt, but want to do it all through text. One word: NO. I can't get you documents through text, and I don't have the time, between my job and my life, to sit around and text answers to all your questions. Emailing answers to everything takes forever. Calls are a little quicker, but I can't respond to them at 3 am. Texting the answer to, and "why shouldn't I put a random male and female together?," "why can't I feed them the stuff with all the peanuts and seeds and other stuff that they love so much?!?!?" or any other long-answered question you have, is not something I ever plan on doing. Sorry. You will email or call, for the majority of our conversations prior to adoption, or you will not adopt. I will not text for days on end just because someone can't be bothered to pick up the phone (which, come on, you obviously have if you can text) or answer an email.
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Thursday, September 25, 2014
Really?
People are really starting to piss me off.
First, someone adopted a chin a while back. They emailed me a few days ago saying his poos smelled and they were kinda squishy, and they'd read that they shouldn't be that way. And they said, they're not always that way, but they go back and forth. I told em, well, if they're that way at all, it's likely an infection, take em to the vet. They ASK for a recommendation, so I give them one. And what do they do? Oh that's too far, we found a closer one. And then I guess that one didn't work, so they find another one.
They take the chin in, turns out it has some bacterial infection, on meds for a week. The vet said the body temperature is too low, he is "cold to the touch," and is "too skinny." Now, granted, I have no idea what this chin weighs, but he was fine while he was here. Course, if the poos were squishy for some time (which apparently this person didn't think was a problem until now, even though his poos were not squishy when leaving here), he could have been losing weight.
I don't know, but this really doesn't seem to add up. First, if he has an infection, his body temperature should be up. Should be high. Like you know how humans have a fever when we're sick. If there's a low body temperature with an infection, chances are it's something serious like sepsis, which isn't easily fixable. (also, something that wouldn't happen overnight)
The vet also said, get this, that he had to be in a different environment until they could get rid of the infection. So these people put him in a carrier. Which is fine and dandy... I've heard of vets saying, well, clean the cage... but a different environment entirely? Do you move out of your house when you're sick? No, because it's not practical.
Anyway, part of what has me upset about all of this is, had she taken him to the vet I'd suggested, which wasn't all that far from her to begin with, I feel like we may have had a more knowledgeable response about what is wrong, but also, now she's saying, with her schedule "he has become too hard for me to care care of." Oh baloney.
And of course she wants suggestions (like?) or wants to bring him back.
I don't even care if she's reading this. When you get a pet, you take the good with the bad. The only thing that should have changed, due to this illness, is that now, she has to medicate him for a week. That's IT. God knows why he's losing weight or has squishy poos, but if I recall, I haven't seen her back here for FOOD, even though I recommend that people stick with the food the chin is on, so if she's feeding him junk, that might play a part in it. He always ate fine when he was here. I actually emailed her back and asked if something else has changed that I'm not aware of, because to me, that's the only change I see.
Also told her, if she wants to bring him back, right now she has to bring cage back with him, because my cages are full. Which is always the time everyone wants to bring back their ill chins.
If you get a dog and it gets sick, do you say, oh hell, forget caring for it, let me return it? You better not. I see it ALL THE TIME with small animals and it REALLY pisses me off. These animals are living things, JUST LIKE THAT FUCKING DOG THAT YOU LOVE SO MUCH, they're just caged, and DESERVE NO LESS. I probably spend more time and effort cleaning up after these caged animals than I spend cleaning up after my dogs, and yeah, they don't show the same level of affection, but they are shown the same level of care if they need to go to the vet. So it drives me absolutely insane when, the second an animal gets sick, which, let's be honest, no one should be stupid enough to think they'll get an animal and it'll never get sick, their first instinct should NOT be, let me dump it back where I got it, and let them deal with the vet bills and hassle, even though they're already overwhelmed and I only have ONE and I find that TOO DIFFICULT. OMFG. You people are a TRIP. I care for something like 30-50 animals at once, usually MULTIPLE with medications at once, and you people can't handle ONE???? Give me a fucking break.
Moving along to the next aggravation of the day -- I got an email today asking for me to send someone samples of my items so they can do a review. Which is great if people are questioning quality, but that rarely happens. Chances are, the items they want to review are the hand-made items like the houses and such.... and with the rescue running out of money, I emailed her and told her, I can't be shipping out anything heavy right now. She wants to review some herbs, toys, by all means. But my guess would be, she wants a house or a motorhome free, shipped free, so she can review it. Well, hate to break it to her, but I'm not eating the price of the house, my time making it, and the ridiculous cost of shipping, so I can get a you-tube review that no one will watch. I have you-tube videos of my dogs doing tricks. Videos from 3 years ago, mind you, have under 50 views. Hardly think it's worth losing probably $50+ on shipping out a house/motorhome and other freebies for 50 people to watch it. And how many youtube videos have you watched for some product and not bought it? Oh yeah, plenty. Just another tactic to get something for nothing. You people make me sick.
First, someone adopted a chin a while back. They emailed me a few days ago saying his poos smelled and they were kinda squishy, and they'd read that they shouldn't be that way. And they said, they're not always that way, but they go back and forth. I told em, well, if they're that way at all, it's likely an infection, take em to the vet. They ASK for a recommendation, so I give them one. And what do they do? Oh that's too far, we found a closer one. And then I guess that one didn't work, so they find another one.
They take the chin in, turns out it has some bacterial infection, on meds for a week. The vet said the body temperature is too low, he is "cold to the touch," and is "too skinny." Now, granted, I have no idea what this chin weighs, but he was fine while he was here. Course, if the poos were squishy for some time (which apparently this person didn't think was a problem until now, even though his poos were not squishy when leaving here), he could have been losing weight.
I don't know, but this really doesn't seem to add up. First, if he has an infection, his body temperature should be up. Should be high. Like you know how humans have a fever when we're sick. If there's a low body temperature with an infection, chances are it's something serious like sepsis, which isn't easily fixable. (also, something that wouldn't happen overnight)
The vet also said, get this, that he had to be in a different environment until they could get rid of the infection. So these people put him in a carrier. Which is fine and dandy... I've heard of vets saying, well, clean the cage... but a different environment entirely? Do you move out of your house when you're sick? No, because it's not practical.
Anyway, part of what has me upset about all of this is, had she taken him to the vet I'd suggested, which wasn't all that far from her to begin with, I feel like we may have had a more knowledgeable response about what is wrong, but also, now she's saying, with her schedule "he has become too hard for me to care care of." Oh baloney.
And of course she wants suggestions (like?) or wants to bring him back.
I don't even care if she's reading this. When you get a pet, you take the good with the bad. The only thing that should have changed, due to this illness, is that now, she has to medicate him for a week. That's IT. God knows why he's losing weight or has squishy poos, but if I recall, I haven't seen her back here for FOOD, even though I recommend that people stick with the food the chin is on, so if she's feeding him junk, that might play a part in it. He always ate fine when he was here. I actually emailed her back and asked if something else has changed that I'm not aware of, because to me, that's the only change I see.
Also told her, if she wants to bring him back, right now she has to bring cage back with him, because my cages are full. Which is always the time everyone wants to bring back their ill chins.
If you get a dog and it gets sick, do you say, oh hell, forget caring for it, let me return it? You better not. I see it ALL THE TIME with small animals and it REALLY pisses me off. These animals are living things, JUST LIKE THAT FUCKING DOG THAT YOU LOVE SO MUCH, they're just caged, and DESERVE NO LESS. I probably spend more time and effort cleaning up after these caged animals than I spend cleaning up after my dogs, and yeah, they don't show the same level of affection, but they are shown the same level of care if they need to go to the vet. So it drives me absolutely insane when, the second an animal gets sick, which, let's be honest, no one should be stupid enough to think they'll get an animal and it'll never get sick, their first instinct should NOT be, let me dump it back where I got it, and let them deal with the vet bills and hassle, even though they're already overwhelmed and I only have ONE and I find that TOO DIFFICULT. OMFG. You people are a TRIP. I care for something like 30-50 animals at once, usually MULTIPLE with medications at once, and you people can't handle ONE???? Give me a fucking break.
Moving along to the next aggravation of the day -- I got an email today asking for me to send someone samples of my items so they can do a review. Which is great if people are questioning quality, but that rarely happens. Chances are, the items they want to review are the hand-made items like the houses and such.... and with the rescue running out of money, I emailed her and told her, I can't be shipping out anything heavy right now. She wants to review some herbs, toys, by all means. But my guess would be, she wants a house or a motorhome free, shipped free, so she can review it. Well, hate to break it to her, but I'm not eating the price of the house, my time making it, and the ridiculous cost of shipping, so I can get a you-tube review that no one will watch. I have you-tube videos of my dogs doing tricks. Videos from 3 years ago, mind you, have under 50 views. Hardly think it's worth losing probably $50+ on shipping out a house/motorhome and other freebies for 50 people to watch it. And how many youtube videos have you watched for some product and not bought it? Oh yeah, plenty. Just another tactic to get something for nothing. You people make me sick.
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
the latest
So, not much going on. As in, no emails about adoptions, very little else going on. Sold a few pet things at the garage sale, so a few more bucks for the rescue, but not much to speak of.
Getting Oreo and Zoro returned, the lady said her grandson (who lives with her) lost interest in them. I missed two of her calls, due to being at work, just listened to them now -- she also needs to return the other rabbit she adopted for her daycare awhile back, Nyler. Ugh. I already have two rabbits here, this will bring it to 5. And things like this are what make me not want to take in any other animals. It's fine when I literally have 2. But now I'm going to have three cages of rabbits, which adopt out slower than molasses as it is, and eat me out of house and home in the meantime, and are miserably messy to clean up after. One cage I can do. Three turns this into a rabbit rescue.
I emailed another rescue that said they could always help with transport, and they haven't even had the decency to email me back. Or the other person who would be involved in the transport, she emailed them as well and they haven't emailed her back either. Is it that hard to have some common decency and email people back? I mean, even if they can't help, how much time would it take to say, sorry, on your own with this one. Nope. About two weeks later, and they never emailed back, I ended up finding someone else to bring some critters here. But could they at least have emailed and responded? Guess not.
On a positive note, Peggy (of Rescued Rat Adoptions) took my four senior girls into her rescue, said she would try to cage them with some other seniors she has. That has freed up my rat cages so that if there's any ratties needing to come in, they can. But really, I'm so swamped as it is, I don't need any more animals at this point.
Another thing... I'm all about saving money, but what is it with this whole, I want something for LESS-than-nothing craze going on right now? I must have gotten 5 pm's, TODAY, alone, asking for cheap cages. Cheap is relative, because compared to a pet store, my cages are cheap. But I asked, and they all want cages that I'd charge like $90+ for, for under $50, and chock full of shelves and accessories and whatnot. There's one cage I have for sale for $94 -- the cage ALONE sells for $90, and this one has literally everything you need, food bowl, water bottle, wood shelves, hidey house, accessories, etc etc, hammock, everything's like new, but heaven forbid they spend $94 on it, when they could get the cage new for $90. I guess they aren't figuring, that cage for $90 really costs $96.30 with Indiana sales tax, plus the house would be $15 new (from here), plus the wood shelves, at least another $20 (from here), the coop cup food bowl would be $4.99 new ($5.33 with sales tax from the pet store), the water bottle would be $6 brand new (from here), the two hammocks in the cage would be $8.50 and $7.50 new (from here), the hay holder would be $3 (from here). So, either $94 for everything used and in awesome condition, or get it new for $161.63. Does that $94 sound so bad now? Realistically, everything's going to get chewed up anyway, and look used in about a month anyway, so why not save the $68 and just get it used to start with?
One more thing. People are funny. As in, they email they're interested. I haven't emailed back and it's been a few hours, so they email again. I email back and tell them to adopt, they need to read the care packet, fill out the adoption form, do they want those? They email back right away, yes, they do. I don't email for a few hours, I get an email, well can they find them anywhere without my help??? (which is kind of an odd question if you think about it). I email back and say, well they are on the website, but I've attached them. And then... after all the rush rush rush.... it's been several days and I have yet to hear back from them. But... I thought they were in such a rush!
Getting Oreo and Zoro returned, the lady said her grandson (who lives with her) lost interest in them. I missed two of her calls, due to being at work, just listened to them now -- she also needs to return the other rabbit she adopted for her daycare awhile back, Nyler. Ugh. I already have two rabbits here, this will bring it to 5. And things like this are what make me not want to take in any other animals. It's fine when I literally have 2. But now I'm going to have three cages of rabbits, which adopt out slower than molasses as it is, and eat me out of house and home in the meantime, and are miserably messy to clean up after. One cage I can do. Three turns this into a rabbit rescue.
I emailed another rescue that said they could always help with transport, and they haven't even had the decency to email me back. Or the other person who would be involved in the transport, she emailed them as well and they haven't emailed her back either. Is it that hard to have some common decency and email people back? I mean, even if they can't help, how much time would it take to say, sorry, on your own with this one. Nope. About two weeks later, and they never emailed back, I ended up finding someone else to bring some critters here. But could they at least have emailed and responded? Guess not.
On a positive note, Peggy (of Rescued Rat Adoptions) took my four senior girls into her rescue, said she would try to cage them with some other seniors she has. That has freed up my rat cages so that if there's any ratties needing to come in, they can. But really, I'm so swamped as it is, I don't need any more animals at this point.
Another thing... I'm all about saving money, but what is it with this whole, I want something for LESS-than-nothing craze going on right now? I must have gotten 5 pm's, TODAY, alone, asking for cheap cages. Cheap is relative, because compared to a pet store, my cages are cheap. But I asked, and they all want cages that I'd charge like $90+ for, for under $50, and chock full of shelves and accessories and whatnot. There's one cage I have for sale for $94 -- the cage ALONE sells for $90, and this one has literally everything you need, food bowl, water bottle, wood shelves, hidey house, accessories, etc etc, hammock, everything's like new, but heaven forbid they spend $94 on it, when they could get the cage new for $90. I guess they aren't figuring, that cage for $90 really costs $96.30 with Indiana sales tax, plus the house would be $15 new (from here), plus the wood shelves, at least another $20 (from here), the coop cup food bowl would be $4.99 new ($5.33 with sales tax from the pet store), the water bottle would be $6 brand new (from here), the two hammocks in the cage would be $8.50 and $7.50 new (from here), the hay holder would be $3 (from here). So, either $94 for everything used and in awesome condition, or get it new for $161.63. Does that $94 sound so bad now? Realistically, everything's going to get chewed up anyway, and look used in about a month anyway, so why not save the $68 and just get it used to start with?
One more thing. People are funny. As in, they email they're interested. I haven't emailed back and it's been a few hours, so they email again. I email back and tell them to adopt, they need to read the care packet, fill out the adoption form, do they want those? They email back right away, yes, they do. I don't email for a few hours, I get an email, well can they find them anywhere without my help??? (which is kind of an odd question if you think about it). I email back and say, well they are on the website, but I've attached them. And then... after all the rush rush rush.... it's been several days and I have yet to hear back from them. But... I thought they were in such a rush!
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Busy day.
Today was a busy day. It was like people knew I had the day off.
Woke up, got a phone call from someone who had adopted a chin, wanted to come get supplies. So they came by, got supplies.
Packaged up some orders, the ones that didn't involve majorly building anything, and got those in the car. Went out to the post office, mailed those out. Already emailed everyone and refunded any shipping overages (well, the one). So if you didn't get an email... sorry, but you're still waiting. Though I did knock out quite a few orders today.
Which brings me to another thing. Postage has gone up, again. Yeah, I know. I literally am writing this as I am taking a break from going, item by item, through the webstore, and upping shipping slightly on every item. You know how I can tell shipping went up? Most orders that I shipped out today went something like this: shipping charged: $10.00. Actual shipping: $15.00. Whereas last week, the $10 woulda been about right. So... no drastic changes, nothing over $1 change, but shipping prices in the webstore are going up.
Now, that said, as always, if there's a significant overage in shipping, you get the overage refunded. And I ship directly from the post office, so when you receive your package, you can see right on the label, how much I paid for shipping. So like earlier today. One guy was charged $15.15 for shipping (the only person I refunded today). Actual shipping was $8.85, with handling that'd be $9.60 ($0.75 handling), so I refunded him $5.55. But this is way better than the example the other day where I ended up with $0.65 for two goodie bags because shipping wasn't set high enough.
Also went through the webstore and took down items that had sold, removed the "new" listing from items that have been up forever.
Picked up some chin chow earlier. The bag changed, check out the facebook page for the picture. Now has timothy hay and flaxseed in it. Which I hear is fine. But I wonder why they changed it.
Had some donated chin food (from awhile back), so mixed that in with the mazuri and mannapro, so I can use that up in a batch for the rescues.
The chins and guinea pigs that were boarding here for the last two weeks were picked up tonight. They were good little critters while they were here.
Did hammock inventory. The webstore is supposed to work where you put in, ok, I have 5 of this hammock. One sells, the webstore should then show there's 4. But... not always. Like I just sold a polar bear hammock that was listed as "one remaining" and it still shows one remaining. Except, there's none remaining. So, I try to keep as up-to-date as possible and delete the listings for things that have sold. And I try to keep the numbers up to date as well, so it doesn't show I have 3, and I sit here and can't find one... so I counted and updated all of the boh's (balance on hands -- I've worked in retail too long) for the hammocks. Took some pics of the new-er hammocks that haven't made the webstore yet. If you've been to the rescue, you know they aren't new at all, but they just haven't been put up in seemingly forever. But... some of them have been added to the webstore. Not all, because it got late and I have work in the morning, but I took some pics and worked with them, and this is some of the new-er hammocks
http://www.nwichinchillas.com/apps/webstore/products/category/943322?page=1
I will, sooner or later, be having a huge amount of cuddle buddies being listed on the webstore as well. Michelle (of ChinniePop fame) was such an awesome volunteer, and sewed a ton of them, and I have yet to even get a picture of how many. But first, the hammocks, then I tackle the rest of the junk on my work table, and THEN I will get to the cuddle buddies. One of these days.
Woke up, got a phone call from someone who had adopted a chin, wanted to come get supplies. So they came by, got supplies.
Packaged up some orders, the ones that didn't involve majorly building anything, and got those in the car. Went out to the post office, mailed those out. Already emailed everyone and refunded any shipping overages (well, the one). So if you didn't get an email... sorry, but you're still waiting. Though I did knock out quite a few orders today.
Which brings me to another thing. Postage has gone up, again. Yeah, I know. I literally am writing this as I am taking a break from going, item by item, through the webstore, and upping shipping slightly on every item. You know how I can tell shipping went up? Most orders that I shipped out today went something like this: shipping charged: $10.00. Actual shipping: $15.00. Whereas last week, the $10 woulda been about right. So... no drastic changes, nothing over $1 change, but shipping prices in the webstore are going up.
Now, that said, as always, if there's a significant overage in shipping, you get the overage refunded. And I ship directly from the post office, so when you receive your package, you can see right on the label, how much I paid for shipping. So like earlier today. One guy was charged $15.15 for shipping (the only person I refunded today). Actual shipping was $8.85, with handling that'd be $9.60 ($0.75 handling), so I refunded him $5.55. But this is way better than the example the other day where I ended up with $0.65 for two goodie bags because shipping wasn't set high enough.
Also went through the webstore and took down items that had sold, removed the "new" listing from items that have been up forever.
Picked up some chin chow earlier. The bag changed, check out the facebook page for the picture. Now has timothy hay and flaxseed in it. Which I hear is fine. But I wonder why they changed it.
Had some donated chin food (from awhile back), so mixed that in with the mazuri and mannapro, so I can use that up in a batch for the rescues.
The chins and guinea pigs that were boarding here for the last two weeks were picked up tonight. They were good little critters while they were here.
Did hammock inventory. The webstore is supposed to work where you put in, ok, I have 5 of this hammock. One sells, the webstore should then show there's 4. But... not always. Like I just sold a polar bear hammock that was listed as "one remaining" and it still shows one remaining. Except, there's none remaining. So, I try to keep as up-to-date as possible and delete the listings for things that have sold. And I try to keep the numbers up to date as well, so it doesn't show I have 3, and I sit here and can't find one... so I counted and updated all of the boh's (balance on hands -- I've worked in retail too long) for the hammocks. Took some pics of the new-er hammocks that haven't made the webstore yet. If you've been to the rescue, you know they aren't new at all, but they just haven't been put up in seemingly forever. But... some of them have been added to the webstore. Not all, because it got late and I have work in the morning, but I took some pics and worked with them, and this is some of the new-er hammocks
http://www.nwichinchillas.com/apps/webstore/products/category/943322?page=1
I will, sooner or later, be having a huge amount of cuddle buddies being listed on the webstore as well. Michelle (of ChinniePop fame) was such an awesome volunteer, and sewed a ton of them, and I have yet to even get a picture of how many. But first, the hammocks, then I tackle the rest of the junk on my work table, and THEN I will get to the cuddle buddies. One of these days.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
Few things
Few things.
Flat rate prices went up. Again. Which likely means, so did mail prices, but let's start with flat rate. That means, the flat rate boxes of mazuri or dust or care packages are going to cost a little more. Not only because of shipping, but also because I will be adding handling. I couldn't tell you why that hasn't been a part of it before, but it's always been cost of food + actual cost of shipping = price. Well, problem with that is, I have to use tape, ziploc bags, markers, etc. And really, I could use an extra little bit per package. That's why every other package I send out has a tiny bit tacked on to shipping (usually not even $1) so I can afford those extra items. But I ship out a good amount of flat rate food, and it's just not cutting it to ship it out without any handling charge. Something's gotta pay for that tape and bags. So, there's now a little added on for that.
Second. I got some orders mailed out today. More will go out tomorrow, and potentially even more than what I already have packed, if I get some more time to work on them. I already emailed everyone and refunded any overages in shipping, so if you didn't get an email, your package didn't go out yet. Maybe tomorrow.
Third. Shipping. People often email about how high shipping prices are. But people, these are the actual prices. Or very close to. Just one example from today. Someone in Arizona ordered two goodie bags. $2 each, so total of $4 for the items. Shipping (from the webstore) came to $6.00. So, shipping was more than the item itself. I went and shipped it today -- cheapest, absolute cheapest, was $8.76. So I shipped it... but let's keep in mind, after paypal took their cut, my total for this order was $9.41. So, $9.41 minus the $8.76 I spent to ship it, equals.... $0.65. I made $0.65 cents on two goodie bags. Now come on people, they're priced at $2 because they legitimately have stuff in them worth $2. Now, this person didn't complain about shipping (thank god, cause I have nothing to refund them in shipping overages), but, see, sometimes shipping really IS that ridiculous. And yes, I do think it's ridiculous to pay almost $9 to ship two goodie bags to AZ. I do. But... that's what they charge, whatcha gonna do.
Lastly. There is sometimes a reason to open toilet paper rolls. Adult chins are typically too large to get any part of them stuck in them, but young adults, apparently not so much. I will say, first and foremost, that this chin is fine, no harm done... but I just HAD to snap some pics before helping him out of his predicament....
Ahahahahahahaha. Ok, he probably didn't think it was funny. And I'm glad he's ok. But sometimes we need those comical moments like this....
Goodnight.
Flat rate prices went up. Again. Which likely means, so did mail prices, but let's start with flat rate. That means, the flat rate boxes of mazuri or dust or care packages are going to cost a little more. Not only because of shipping, but also because I will be adding handling. I couldn't tell you why that hasn't been a part of it before, but it's always been cost of food + actual cost of shipping = price. Well, problem with that is, I have to use tape, ziploc bags, markers, etc. And really, I could use an extra little bit per package. That's why every other package I send out has a tiny bit tacked on to shipping (usually not even $1) so I can afford those extra items. But I ship out a good amount of flat rate food, and it's just not cutting it to ship it out without any handling charge. Something's gotta pay for that tape and bags. So, there's now a little added on for that.
Second. I got some orders mailed out today. More will go out tomorrow, and potentially even more than what I already have packed, if I get some more time to work on them. I already emailed everyone and refunded any overages in shipping, so if you didn't get an email, your package didn't go out yet. Maybe tomorrow.
Third. Shipping. People often email about how high shipping prices are. But people, these are the actual prices. Or very close to. Just one example from today. Someone in Arizona ordered two goodie bags. $2 each, so total of $4 for the items. Shipping (from the webstore) came to $6.00. So, shipping was more than the item itself. I went and shipped it today -- cheapest, absolute cheapest, was $8.76. So I shipped it... but let's keep in mind, after paypal took their cut, my total for this order was $9.41. So, $9.41 minus the $8.76 I spent to ship it, equals.... $0.65. I made $0.65 cents on two goodie bags. Now come on people, they're priced at $2 because they legitimately have stuff in them worth $2. Now, this person didn't complain about shipping (thank god, cause I have nothing to refund them in shipping overages), but, see, sometimes shipping really IS that ridiculous. And yes, I do think it's ridiculous to pay almost $9 to ship two goodie bags to AZ. I do. But... that's what they charge, whatcha gonna do.
Lastly. There is sometimes a reason to open toilet paper rolls. Adult chins are typically too large to get any part of them stuck in them, but young adults, apparently not so much. I will say, first and foremost, that this chin is fine, no harm done... but I just HAD to snap some pics before helping him out of his predicament....
Ahahahahahahaha. Ok, he probably didn't think it was funny. And I'm glad he's ok. But sometimes we need those comical moments like this....
Goodnight.
Tuesday, September 9, 2014
Volunteers
So, volunteers. I've had one this year so far. In 9 months. That's pretty bad, even for this small rescue, we usually have more than that. But just one, and not even one of the people who I see every now and then, this was someone new.
Anyway, wanted to mention a few things. First, I don't know if there is a misconception about what I do all day, but I have a day job. Let me repeat that. I have to work outside the home, just like everyone else, so that I can afford to live and eat and all that good stuff. This means that I am not home 24/7. Granted, this does make it more difficult to schedule people, especially since my schedule changes weekly, sometimes even in the middle of the week, but it is do-able.
But here's what's been happening lately. I get a text (or call, or email, or contact-method-of-choice) that says, "Can I come volunteer Tuesday at 3?" Now, that's nice and good that that's when the volunteer is free, but... this is why I have no volunteers. I may be free every other day after 3, and they're only free that day. And then, get this, some people actually get upset when I'm not free. I like volunteers. I want help. So chances are, if you've contacted me and I've said, sorry, you can't come, it's not because I'd rather clean cages alone or would rather spend time with the dogs. Chances are, I will be at work. The other day, someone asked if they could come at 3 the next day. I told them, no, I wouldn't be home all night. They said, ok, how bout 4? No? How bout 5? How bout, I start work at 2 and won't be home til after 10?
And then, cancellations. I try to do whatever I can to accommodate volunteers. I do. Because I would like help, and not many people want to help. So for example, today... well, earlier this week, I had someone asking about coming today at 3. I told them, I get off at 3, so they'd need to come 4 or later. So they said ok, they'd come 4:30. They text me around 4:30 saying they're outside. I go outside... no one there. Not sure if they went to the old address or what (they never asked me for the address, but the website, and every place that I can update, has the new address), but they were not here. They asked me what the address was, and I told them, and mentioned that it was only a few minutes away (they said they were in Munster). They said, oh sorry, their parent doesn't have the time to bring them today, they'll have to come another day.
Now, maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal on the surface. But, few things. First, yesterday, they wanted me to switch shifts. I said, no, I have a volunteer coming. I would have MUCH rather worked the later shift (versus the morning shift), but I kept my afternoon open so my volunteer could come.. which they didn't. Today, they would have liked for me to work an extra hour or two. But, I couldn't, because I knew I had to drive straight home so that I'd be home in time for the volunteer. So I lost out on a better shift, and a few extra hours pay (which god knows I could use right now), for a volunteer that never showed up. Not to mention, when I got home, I spent time cleaning up the rescue. Not significantly, but enough so that when I gave them something to do, there would be less things in the way. I have a ton of other things to do, and if it was just me here, the organizing could wait. But I did it, in anticipation of this person coming. And they never did. The few minutes was too far I guess, for them to come out of their way.
Which is why it irks me to no end when I am expecting someone, volunteer or not, and they don't show up.
This person had asked what they would be doing, if they came. I told them, probably cleaning cages, putting together orders, maybe making something that we sell. They said ok. I'm really glad this wasn't one of those people who insists on making toys, or doing something else that requires a ton of prep work, cause then it irks me even more when I've prepped for something that I will end up doing all myself. Which sounds about right.
One last thing. We had the Darien expo this weekend. We made a total of $5 in donations, and a negligible amount in sales. Like, two sales total. That is pathetic. The same goes for adoptions, which have been inexistent for some time now, again. One of our recent surrenders donated a large amount of money to the rescue, and this will help pay for food and supplies, which are normally paid for by orders, adoptions, etc. But since those are so few and far between right now (and the ones I'm working on packing up are all orders that are like $5 item, $15 shipping, almost not even worth doing), the money is dwindling.
I could deal with less money, if I had less help. Really, I would prefer the help over the money. A few hours of help every week would significantly reduce the time it takes for me to get things done, would make the rescue more efficient at getting things like orders out -- because let's face it -- I can only put off cages and such so long before I have to say, orders have to wait, let me go clean cages -- and more efficient processing of orders would likely mean more orders. Heck, I can't even make hidey houses because no one is ever here to help me, and they take an hour each, and that's time that doesn't exist for me. They bring in the most money for the rescue, and I just have no time to make them right now, because I have no help.
Even if 1-2 people could donate a few hours, say 2-4 hours, one night a week. Or one morning a week, depending on my schedule, it would make a big difference. Everyone says, oh I'll help out, but no one actually does, and it's actually gotten to the point where I cannot do this alone. No offense, but I don't need anyone to help with handling chins, I need help in areas that actually lessen my time spent at the rescue (cleaning cages, feeding, watering, etc) or bring in larger dollar amounts to the rescue (filling orders, making toys, making houses). I appreciate when a lot of people donate the $0.75 change from their order -- it does add up, and it does help -- but I would much rather have people at the rescue helping than the money. The money pays for food, and supplies, and that's great. But there's no longer enough hours in the day for me to keep up with all of this, and if I was more up-to-date on orders, and always had clean cages, I guarantee you the rescue would do better and I wouldn't need so many money donations. Which again, I'd rather have people, because I have tried, and found out, it is almost impossible to find people who will come here and do this sort of work for pay. Which means... volunteers. Which brings me back to my making-sure-my-schedule-was-fine-for-the-person-to-come-today-because-I-could-have-really-used-the-help,-but-who-never-showed. Ugh.
Anyway, wanted to mention a few things. First, I don't know if there is a misconception about what I do all day, but I have a day job. Let me repeat that. I have to work outside the home, just like everyone else, so that I can afford to live and eat and all that good stuff. This means that I am not home 24/7. Granted, this does make it more difficult to schedule people, especially since my schedule changes weekly, sometimes even in the middle of the week, but it is do-able.
But here's what's been happening lately. I get a text (or call, or email, or contact-method-of-choice) that says, "Can I come volunteer Tuesday at 3?" Now, that's nice and good that that's when the volunteer is free, but... this is why I have no volunteers. I may be free every other day after 3, and they're only free that day. And then, get this, some people actually get upset when I'm not free. I like volunteers. I want help. So chances are, if you've contacted me and I've said, sorry, you can't come, it's not because I'd rather clean cages alone or would rather spend time with the dogs. Chances are, I will be at work. The other day, someone asked if they could come at 3 the next day. I told them, no, I wouldn't be home all night. They said, ok, how bout 4? No? How bout 5? How bout, I start work at 2 and won't be home til after 10?
And then, cancellations. I try to do whatever I can to accommodate volunteers. I do. Because I would like help, and not many people want to help. So for example, today... well, earlier this week, I had someone asking about coming today at 3. I told them, I get off at 3, so they'd need to come 4 or later. So they said ok, they'd come 4:30. They text me around 4:30 saying they're outside. I go outside... no one there. Not sure if they went to the old address or what (they never asked me for the address, but the website, and every place that I can update, has the new address), but they were not here. They asked me what the address was, and I told them, and mentioned that it was only a few minutes away (they said they were in Munster). They said, oh sorry, their parent doesn't have the time to bring them today, they'll have to come another day.
Now, maybe that doesn't seem like a big deal on the surface. But, few things. First, yesterday, they wanted me to switch shifts. I said, no, I have a volunteer coming. I would have MUCH rather worked the later shift (versus the morning shift), but I kept my afternoon open so my volunteer could come.. which they didn't. Today, they would have liked for me to work an extra hour or two. But, I couldn't, because I knew I had to drive straight home so that I'd be home in time for the volunteer. So I lost out on a better shift, and a few extra hours pay (which god knows I could use right now), for a volunteer that never showed up. Not to mention, when I got home, I spent time cleaning up the rescue. Not significantly, but enough so that when I gave them something to do, there would be less things in the way. I have a ton of other things to do, and if it was just me here, the organizing could wait. But I did it, in anticipation of this person coming. And they never did. The few minutes was too far I guess, for them to come out of their way.
Which is why it irks me to no end when I am expecting someone, volunteer or not, and they don't show up.
This person had asked what they would be doing, if they came. I told them, probably cleaning cages, putting together orders, maybe making something that we sell. They said ok. I'm really glad this wasn't one of those people who insists on making toys, or doing something else that requires a ton of prep work, cause then it irks me even more when I've prepped for something that I will end up doing all myself. Which sounds about right.
One last thing. We had the Darien expo this weekend. We made a total of $5 in donations, and a negligible amount in sales. Like, two sales total. That is pathetic. The same goes for adoptions, which have been inexistent for some time now, again. One of our recent surrenders donated a large amount of money to the rescue, and this will help pay for food and supplies, which are normally paid for by orders, adoptions, etc. But since those are so few and far between right now (and the ones I'm working on packing up are all orders that are like $5 item, $15 shipping, almost not even worth doing), the money is dwindling.
I could deal with less money, if I had less help. Really, I would prefer the help over the money. A few hours of help every week would significantly reduce the time it takes for me to get things done, would make the rescue more efficient at getting things like orders out -- because let's face it -- I can only put off cages and such so long before I have to say, orders have to wait, let me go clean cages -- and more efficient processing of orders would likely mean more orders. Heck, I can't even make hidey houses because no one is ever here to help me, and they take an hour each, and that's time that doesn't exist for me. They bring in the most money for the rescue, and I just have no time to make them right now, because I have no help.
Even if 1-2 people could donate a few hours, say 2-4 hours, one night a week. Or one morning a week, depending on my schedule, it would make a big difference. Everyone says, oh I'll help out, but no one actually does, and it's actually gotten to the point where I cannot do this alone. No offense, but I don't need anyone to help with handling chins, I need help in areas that actually lessen my time spent at the rescue (cleaning cages, feeding, watering, etc) or bring in larger dollar amounts to the rescue (filling orders, making toys, making houses). I appreciate when a lot of people donate the $0.75 change from their order -- it does add up, and it does help -- but I would much rather have people at the rescue helping than the money. The money pays for food, and supplies, and that's great. But there's no longer enough hours in the day for me to keep up with all of this, and if I was more up-to-date on orders, and always had clean cages, I guarantee you the rescue would do better and I wouldn't need so many money donations. Which again, I'd rather have people, because I have tried, and found out, it is almost impossible to find people who will come here and do this sort of work for pay. Which means... volunteers. Which brings me back to my making-sure-my-schedule-was-fine-for-the-person-to-come-today-because-I-could-have-really-used-the-help,-but-who-never-showed. Ugh.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Expo day 1
So, today was the first day of the fall season of expos, which means....Darien! Drive over to the expo hall Friday, Meredith was going to meet me at the hotel later, and set up. Ran into Laura, the person who did Taffy's puppy photos, she has a booth at the expo. Dropped off the donation basket which I almost forgot (but threw together ultra last minute on my way out of town) and set up the booth. Made it back to the hotel and had time to unpack and chill and then Meredith showed up. In continuation with my everything-going-wrong theme, as of late, one of my folding table separated from it's frame. Wonderful. And then we went to a gas station and the pump I pulled up to didn't work. That all caused a need for happy comfort food to end the day positively, so we headed to Montecasino Cafe Grill.
I'm not usually the type to sit here and rave about any product or place, but if you haven't been to Montecasino (which, unless you live across the street, you probably don't know it even exists), you need to go. It's this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place on N. Ardmore in Villa Park. I admit, not the best part of Villa Park, and it's in a strip mall, and you will blow by it if you are not careful. But they have the BEST food. Great prices. It's byob, there's a liquor store next door to help with that. It is awesome and the food was awesome as always. Great big portions. We always say we're gonna have dessert and barely even have room to finish the entree. Love love LOVE the place.
Anyway, so that was Friday. Back to the hotel and today started the expo. It was a super slow day for Darien, which is usually one of the more hopping expos. Presented with my new presentation on chinchillas, which went over way better (no glazed over faces this time) than my old speech. Tom from West Burb Weiners held Julie, the chin that came to the expo, while I presented. It went well. He asked if he could say something, and he must have remembered last time, because he assured me that he would not talk about housing. For those that weren't around then, at one of the expos last year, I handed him the microphone and he proceeded to talk about keeping chins in aquariums and giving them pvc pipe to chew on and all sorts of unsafe things.... Which I then had to explain why everything he said was bad advice. But this time, true to his word, he just talked a bit about how he and his wife had chinchillas for years and loved them. So that went well.
Slow day expo wise, not many sales. $5 in donations, and we only got that because, towards the end, a kid came into the booth, asked what our donation box was for. Meredith told him it was for people to donate money. He asked his parents if they had $1, and they asked what for. "They have no money ." So true. So they donated $5, which was awesome. Every little bit helps. Though it is disheartening, still, to see the dog rescues that get $20s donated, multiple, and we get $5 all day. People think it's cheap running a small animal rescue. It's not. I meant to mention this in the presentation but forgot -- it cost over $25,000 to run the rescue last year. You know what we made in donations over the last year? Just over $1000, and $500 of that was from one couple. Without them, most years it's not even usually $500 per year. Don't get me wrong I'm sure dog rescues are expensive as well. But just because these guys are small animals doesn't mean they're cheap to care for. But unfortunately that seems to be the perception.
Anyway, that was it for the day, going to go to bed in a few and hope tomorrow's a busier day for us.
I apologize for any typos, this was typed out on my iPhone.
Goodnight.
I'm not usually the type to sit here and rave about any product or place, but if you haven't been to Montecasino (which, unless you live across the street, you probably don't know it even exists), you need to go. It's this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican place on N. Ardmore in Villa Park. I admit, not the best part of Villa Park, and it's in a strip mall, and you will blow by it if you are not careful. But they have the BEST food. Great prices. It's byob, there's a liquor store next door to help with that. It is awesome and the food was awesome as always. Great big portions. We always say we're gonna have dessert and barely even have room to finish the entree. Love love LOVE the place.
Anyway, so that was Friday. Back to the hotel and today started the expo. It was a super slow day for Darien, which is usually one of the more hopping expos. Presented with my new presentation on chinchillas, which went over way better (no glazed over faces this time) than my old speech. Tom from West Burb Weiners held Julie, the chin that came to the expo, while I presented. It went well. He asked if he could say something, and he must have remembered last time, because he assured me that he would not talk about housing. For those that weren't around then, at one of the expos last year, I handed him the microphone and he proceeded to talk about keeping chins in aquariums and giving them pvc pipe to chew on and all sorts of unsafe things.... Which I then had to explain why everything he said was bad advice. But this time, true to his word, he just talked a bit about how he and his wife had chinchillas for years and loved them. So that went well.
Slow day expo wise, not many sales. $5 in donations, and we only got that because, towards the end, a kid came into the booth, asked what our donation box was for. Meredith told him it was for people to donate money. He asked his parents if they had $1, and they asked what for. "They have no money ." So true. So they donated $5, which was awesome. Every little bit helps. Though it is disheartening, still, to see the dog rescues that get $20s donated, multiple, and we get $5 all day. People think it's cheap running a small animal rescue. It's not. I meant to mention this in the presentation but forgot -- it cost over $25,000 to run the rescue last year. You know what we made in donations over the last year? Just over $1000, and $500 of that was from one couple. Without them, most years it's not even usually $500 per year. Don't get me wrong I'm sure dog rescues are expensive as well. But just because these guys are small animals doesn't mean they're cheap to care for. But unfortunately that seems to be the perception.
Anyway, that was it for the day, going to go to bed in a few and hope tomorrow's a busier day for us.
I apologize for any typos, this was typed out on my iPhone.
Goodnight.
Tuesday, September 2, 2014
Few things
Few things I would like to touch on.
First.....I work. I don't know about the rest of you, but to pay my bills, I need money. That comes from working. That also means that I'm not available 24/7 when you need something. I had someone call 5 times today. FIVE times. Fifth time left a message. Wanted to volunteer tomorrow. Then texted me. I told her, tomorrow won't work for me. I check my email and notice an email from this person. Now...this may be the nicest person on the planet but that urgency to get ahold of me, I find mildly creepy, considering this was not a life or death situation. But regardless, I will be at work tomorrow, and considering I just got home from work and will be going back for an early shift, I will not be having anyone by tomorrow.
Not to mention, I've caught a bad cold and will want to rest so I feel my best for the expo.
But the point is, as much as I might wish it, I'm not free 24/7 for when people need something. That would be super convenient if my schedule always lined up with the schedules of volunteers and such. But it doesn't, and that's just life.
Second, waiting for orders. Again, I remind you - I have a job. I don't sit here all day cranking out chinny mobiles and playing with chins, as fun as that might be. I try my best to get food orders out ASAP. I really do. But for just about everything else, it's done in the order received / paid for, and sometimes it takes awhile. Cause it is only me, and I do have additional things to do outside of the pets.
Third, I have had an influx of people, both potential adoptive homes and people wanting to surrender, that cannot drive to pickup or cannot bring their chin here. Which makes me curious how they get the chin to the vet if it gets sick, but also puts a strain on the rescue. Well, back up. If someone cannot drive here to get a chin, they're not adopting. This is not a mail-order-chin-service. But if I, or someone I know, has to pay for gas to go get a chin, that's less money that can be spent feeding the chins. Or spending for chew toys. Etc etc.
And right now, the rescue has very low funds, and really can't afford much extra expenses.
Though if anyone would like to help transport, when needed, please let me know.
Which brings me to my last point of the night. Volunteers. Or lack thereof. We have had one volunteer come by all year. ONE. Don't get me wrong, one is better than none. But if you all could hear these people I talk to. Oh yeah they want to come help. Oh yeah all the time. Oh yeah they'll help with whatever is needed. Yet never available and never actually helping. I was looking at a horse rescues website. It said volunteers could ride the horses after a full days volunteering. A full day!! I can't get people to spend an hour or two here, doing things considerably more pleasant than mucking stalls...and judging by their Facebook page, they have most volunteer shifts covered for the next month!! What am I doing wrong?
First.....I work. I don't know about the rest of you, but to pay my bills, I need money. That comes from working. That also means that I'm not available 24/7 when you need something. I had someone call 5 times today. FIVE times. Fifth time left a message. Wanted to volunteer tomorrow. Then texted me. I told her, tomorrow won't work for me. I check my email and notice an email from this person. Now...this may be the nicest person on the planet but that urgency to get ahold of me, I find mildly creepy, considering this was not a life or death situation. But regardless, I will be at work tomorrow, and considering I just got home from work and will be going back for an early shift, I will not be having anyone by tomorrow.
Not to mention, I've caught a bad cold and will want to rest so I feel my best for the expo.
But the point is, as much as I might wish it, I'm not free 24/7 for when people need something. That would be super convenient if my schedule always lined up with the schedules of volunteers and such. But it doesn't, and that's just life.
Second, waiting for orders. Again, I remind you - I have a job. I don't sit here all day cranking out chinny mobiles and playing with chins, as fun as that might be. I try my best to get food orders out ASAP. I really do. But for just about everything else, it's done in the order received / paid for, and sometimes it takes awhile. Cause it is only me, and I do have additional things to do outside of the pets.
Third, I have had an influx of people, both potential adoptive homes and people wanting to surrender, that cannot drive to pickup or cannot bring their chin here. Which makes me curious how they get the chin to the vet if it gets sick, but also puts a strain on the rescue. Well, back up. If someone cannot drive here to get a chin, they're not adopting. This is not a mail-order-chin-service. But if I, or someone I know, has to pay for gas to go get a chin, that's less money that can be spent feeding the chins. Or spending for chew toys. Etc etc.
And right now, the rescue has very low funds, and really can't afford much extra expenses.
Though if anyone would like to help transport, when needed, please let me know.
Which brings me to my last point of the night. Volunteers. Or lack thereof. We have had one volunteer come by all year. ONE. Don't get me wrong, one is better than none. But if you all could hear these people I talk to. Oh yeah they want to come help. Oh yeah all the time. Oh yeah they'll help with whatever is needed. Yet never available and never actually helping. I was looking at a horse rescues website. It said volunteers could ride the horses after a full days volunteering. A full day!! I can't get people to spend an hour or two here, doing things considerably more pleasant than mucking stalls...and judging by their Facebook page, they have most volunteer shifts covered for the next month!! What am I doing wrong?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)