For some reason… I am having a helluva time posting at this blog address.
So I moved all of my shit to this address instead!
I’m sure I busted something in the code over here and just can’t get it untangled… so this is my last post over here, I’m moving on to greener pastures!
Back in the good ‘ol days of tattoo studios… people “new” to the business had to earn their “creds” by doing menial chores, being a gofer, often times doing work others in the shop were unwilling to do from early in the morning until late at night. Eventually the “new” person would earn the respect of his or her co-workers over time. This often took years.
These days, kids walk in and act like “we” owe them respect as a peer from their first day. They expect to earn the same wages as those who are years in do and often times cause more harm than good as they try to test their skills well beyond their level of experience.
I have a newly licensed apprentice. My theory is that I earn respect by giving respect and doses of constructive criticism when needed, praise for a job when it’s well done. I pay a decent starting wage (while most studios do not pay anything at all). I never ask any staff to do anything I am not willing to help them with and often I do.
My frustration that my new apprentice has no sense of commitment to the skill of body art, she is easily frustrated when pushed (which she readily takes out on clients… like they’re an imposition). She occasionally comes late and seems put out after a busy day if we need to stay a little late to catch things back up for the next day.
She is grateful for the job, but not humble to the opportunity she has been given, she is often frustrated by clients on busy days, she asks other (more experienced staff) to do parts of her job for her (such as running to get her food if she is hungry or answer the phones).
My quandary is how to handle the situation from here… I am planning to have a “come to jesus” talk with her on Friday (her next day back), many of my old school staff believe she should be treated like an old school apprentice so that she has an appreciation for the art. I believe this will do the trick, it will make her or break her… but my basic nature is to treat others the same way I want to be treated which creates a bit of a conflict for me.
I’m just tying here by the way, just trying to sort out a situation.
WTF is up with wordpress and publishing new posts???
Just wondering…
When I was on my last vacation… my brain was at work the entire time. I made or received 3-4 calls a day from the shop. I was in the process of letting someone go and it was complicated and everyone was at odds and feeling really insecure. The timing was bad for a trip, but it was our anniversary and we’d booked months in advance.
A couple of weeks ago… husb looks over and says “Just think, 40 more days and we are out of here for a week!” and I had a panic attack. Yup, we’re leaving in April for a little trip.
Things at the shop are smoother, I’m still down a piercer but the New Girl is coming along nicely. She’s doing well on basic piercings, she just needs time… I’m finding we are in a bit of a growth spurt and needing to hire a 3rd front person, but that can probably wait till I get back.
12 days now until vacation. Things are coming together better than I thought they would, but there are still lots of ends to tie up.
As I move closer to ‘reverse puberty’ I’ve discovered that KY is sheer genius!
Some time ago, I ran out of the good old fashioned stuff in the white tube. Feeling adventuresome I bought the warming KY (I’m more than a little sad that “warming KY” is my idea of adventurous these days… but that’s another post).
Secretly, I was looking forward to the “warming” part, after all who doesn’t like to be warm? We broke out the new fancy bottle with the silk screened label, the exciting warming enhancement lies immanently ahead…
And
FIRE!!!
Either I’m allergic to it or the warming effect is caused by something like cayenne pepper. It was like having my privates maced (I’m guessing here, I have no personal knowledge of what maced privates would actually be like).
Time passes… and last night I get out the plain, boring, tried and true, unflavored, unheated, unseasoned KY.
Husb and I are talking and I mention that the “old stuff” (referring to the KY, not to either he or I personally) is quite cold and perhaps I should invent something… maybe like those “glade plug-ins”, a KY tube holder that plugs into an outlet to take the chill off… maybe we could combine it with an air freshener or a night light!!
I’ll never be able to hear the “Plug it in, plug it in” jingle without laughing now!
The good news? *This* might just be the baby boomer’s latest “pet rock” invention.
The bad news? *This* was foreplay.
In a recent post I’d shown a picture of Charles Hogue and Mary Jane Hollenbeck Hogue… my great grandparents on my fathers side. My Uncle Jim has done some genealogy and also a bit of family history. Here is some of what he’s found:
Mary Jane Hollenbeck (12/08/1852 - 7/13/1947) was born to John Hollenbeck (2/25/1804 - 12/17/1855) and Elizabeth (Patton) Claypool (6/13/1824 - 2/09/1857)
She married Charles Edward Hogue (07/20/1850 - 1907) on 09/28/1875
Mary Jane and Charles had six children:
Walter L. Hogue was my grandfather (07/03/1877 -10/12/1954) who married Emma Elizabeth Ritchey.
Mabel L. Hogue (Robbins) (1879 - 1960)
Clarence Hogue (1881 - 05/28/1956)
Harry Hogue (1884 - 05/03/1951)
Gertrude Hogue (1888 -02/02/1972)
George Hogue (1886 - 1886)
Walter and Emma Hogue (grandparents) had 10 children:
Marjorie Hogue (1909 - 191 
Evelyn/Eleanor Hogue ( 1911 - 1911)
Edward Preston Hogue (1915 - 197
His children: Melvin, Jacqueline, George, Sidney
Alice Georgia Hogue (1917 - 1996)
Her children: Jasper, Brenda, Cedric, Cindy, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Donald
Eugene Clarence Hogue (1919 - still living)
His children: Linda, Susan, teresa, Christine, Eugene, Steven, Michael
James Harry Hogue (1921 - still living)
His children: James, William, Russell, Janice, Patricia, Ronald, Rebecca, Rachelle, Robindonna
Gilbert Lee Hogue (my father) (2/15/1923 - 11/16/1982)
His children: Emily
Cedric William Hogue (1924 - 1965)
Clifford Blaine Hogue (1926 - still living)
His children: Kevin
Howard Elliot Hogue (1928 - still living)
His children: John, Karen, Lauren, Randy, Edward, Steve, James, Sharon, Allison
Some stories to follow about Walter (my grandfather)… mostly I’m just getting this down on “paper” just in case my kids ever wonder where they came from and how far back they go.
Big family huh? Not bad for someone who seems to have come from nowhere!
Teavana… a little bit of heaven in your mouth.
History… either you have it, or you don’t.
I received a message at the shop last month… someone was looking for me. Nope, not another bill collector… it was family. More family. An uncle (in his late 80’s) asked his son to help him find me… my Dad’s brothers had wondered what happened to The Girl.
When I was moved into foster care (age 10) I was swallowed up by a system meant to protect. A side effect of protection and privacy is sometimes getting lost. Mostly, I don’t think getting lost is entirely bad and really, and how does one possibly miss what one doesn’t know anyway?
When I met my Mom, I was off on a new life… A few years later when my Dad passed away, I was all but lost in a series of moves, name changes and then sheer time from my Father’s side of the family. I had not seen anyone from this side since well before entering the foster system and really thought that at this late date that perhaps no one would really remember me if I went in search of them.
So a call came, an elderly shaky voice looking for Emmy. I was enchanted to talk with 2 uncles. One with an incredible sense of humor (whom I barely remember), the other a self styled historian. There is so much I don’t know about my Dad, his family history, his life. So much I don’t know about my own childhood (I was quite young 
and had no one to pass on the stories).
Historian Uncle (whom I do not remember at all) put together some pictures and had written a short book about his family history back to the early 1800’s. I’ll be sharing some of his stories here… because you listen and because some of them are pretty damn good.
Speaking of family… meet my great grandparents, Charles (July 20, 1850-1907) and Mary Jane (Dec 8, 1852-June 4, 1947). My Father’s, father’s parents.
Anyway… the part about history that I talked about earlier… embrace that. Even the embarrassing stories and goofy pictures if you’re fortunate enough to have them. If you have history, perhaps you have no idea of the treasure you hold… but perhaps you do.
Just finished watching the “Bicentennial Man”. In how many movies do they all die and yet, live happily ever after? I’d forgotten how much I like that movie!
I hired a gal last summer who wanted to work the counter and hopefully learn to pierce… Today she earned her piercing license and did her first couple of piercings!! She did fantastic (although I tried to not get too excited in front of her… newbies tend to develop ego problems after a few successes). This perhaps means (with a little luck) that by the end of summer, I may have some days off again!
On a side note… I think I’m becoming a cosmetic procedure junkie. It all started with botox (the gateway drug), then the boobies. Last week I had thermage done to my eyes (a radio frequency, collagen tightening treatment) and next week starts laser hair removal (starting with my ‘Tom Selleck’ mustache and working my way down).
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