Commercial fridge repairs

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refrigerator repairs

Mum always used to say that I was the filthiest daughter she ever had. I said, it’s just clothes on the floor of my room it’s not actually dirty. Messy and dirty are two different things. But I guess leaving clothes on the floor was the first step in what was to become a cascade into filthiness. It wasn’t until we needed commercial fridge repairs at my restaurant in Sydney that I realised my mother was right all along. And she was also right when she said that I never should have gotten a career in hospitality, let alone a catering service.

Well, I did tell my assistant kitchen hand to clean the fridge out but okay, okay, the responsibility was all my own. I should have taken out all of that old decaying and rotting food instead of stuffing more stuff in and cramming the fridge overfull. When the refrigerator malfunctioned, none of us noticed…. Until it was too late. But by that stage, we had people vomiting up our food and the phone ringing off the hook: angry customers and OHS officers out for blood.

Man, you can’t imagine how bad I feel about making all those people sick. We should have got the refrigerator repairs done before things got out of hand. And I should have had a better hygiene system, like clean out the fridge every once in awhile or whatever. Thankfully we had a major brand of fridge and the whirlpool repairs near Sydney were completed in no time. I got smacked with a great big fine though, which sucks.

I’m actually thinking of getting out of the restaurant and catering industry. It’s too risky, especially for someone with such extreme hygiene lapses as me. I’m thinking about maybe pursuing a career where hygiene doesn’t matter as much, like maybe nursing or midwifery. I’ll show you, Mum.

Eccentric problems

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pest control

I live in an old house, a pretty, victorian house with gorgeous little eccentricities you just can’t find in somewhere newer, more modern. Part of the charm of my beautiful old house is where it’s located – in the middle of nowhere. I know it’s not for most people, but I live the kind of lifestyle where living a bit apart from society is a bit of a necessity. What I’m trying to say, is that I live this far out of the city by choice, my choice. But living in the countryside and having an old house can create a bit of a problem when something goes wrong.

When I moved in originally, the price tag of the place took into account the fact that it had a termite problem. Nothing too severe, not too much havoc wrecked, but enough that some work would need to be done. Accordingly, one of the first things I set about having done was to call a termite control firm in Dandenong, but you wouldn’t believe what I found out. To my dismay, they wouldn’t extend their services to my home. I realise that I live a far way out the the Dandenong region, so this wasn’t a particularly great shock, but at the same time, I’d set my expectations rather high. A close friend of mine who has been in a similar predicament with his dream home had recommended this particular company as an expert in the field, so I was hoping for the best.

Although they weren’t able to help me, that particular branch of the firm recommended me to a colleague who typically serviced the pakenham area. The pest control branch in Pakenham were, in fact, happy to service my house, but unfortunately, this problem has recurred again and again over the years. It just doesn’t seem to go away, and even though I love the house, I’m over it. I just want to live in a place where the walls aren’t falling down around me.

Aluminium trestles for petrol station

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trestles

I tell ya, being a small business owner in this day ‘n age is no mean feat. I’ve been struggling since the mid nineties and the only reason I’ve lasted as long as I have is thanks to my refusal to give up. The most recent obstacle to making a living, is the darn major petrol station which just got built down the street. It’s putting me out of business! I don’t know why everyone goes to that one, our prices are the same and it’s killing me. I mean, I lower my prices to be competitive with those big monster companies and then everyone still flocks to them.

It’s just that a  big name is trustworthy, right. And I have to do all the work myself so it looks like a very small and dodgy company. I mean, I pull out the aluminium trestles to do a bit of maintenance on my petrol pump and suddenly the place looks like a servo in a bum-fluff nowhere in some redneck town. Having to do the work yourself really cheapens the look of the place and discredits the business. Whereas the major servo down the road can hire their companies to come in and do the job real quick.

Another thing is I’ve had to do some minor renovations to the place so I’ve got this mobile scaffolding up against the wall. It needs a new paintjob but I’ve hardly got time to finish the thing cos I’m always so busy working there at the servo. I’ve only got one other guy to help me so it’s taking forever to get done. The place looks cheap, there’s aluminium platforms everywhere and the massive global corporation down the road are stealing all my business. The only good thing is the company that provides my platforms and trestles. Everyone else is good for nothing.

Buying the property of Melbourne’s underworld

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property agent

Earlier this year my husband and I were looking to buy a new house. We wanted a change of scenery and also to upgrade to a suburb where the house would fetch more in sales and appreciate better as an investment. So we called up some Melbourne property advocates to help us out. My sister had told me that they are the experts to consult when you want to buy a property. What they do is they research everything, like the value of the properties you’re looking out, how the area will be in five or ten years time, whether it’s going to go up or down in value. They also weigh up the cost of living for you in that area and in that house, and they compare what your lifestyle will be like. For example, if you need a lot of stimulation they’re going to show you the city’s best hot spots and if you want peace and tranquility to raise a family they’ll show you the sleepy suburbs.

They also have specialist knowledge that isn’t typically available to the general public. For example, you can do all the research you want and click away madly at the internet for months and you’ll never come across the opportunities they can land. They have connections. They know about private sales and secret markets and all kinds of things. They can totally broaden the horizon of your property buying ambitions!

Since we started using the buyers advocacy in Melbourne, my hubby has got it in his head that he wants to live in a plush, european style villa. The buyers advocate, god bless her soul, showed us what she could find, but also felt that it was incumbent on her to mention that the properties in question had once belonged to members of the Melbourne underworld, that is, gangland houses. This of course, excited hubby. But now I’m just not so sure. I mean, imagine finding a big stash of white powder in the house, or some money buried in the backyard. That would be terrifying.

Boat race diaries

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boat catch systemI knew that in order to win the race I had to put in some serious time. Not just training but time but the boat was not in the shape of a winning vessel at the moment. I always tell my kids it’s not about winning but when it comes to the annual coast to coast family boat race, it is only about winning. My wife thinks I’m taking it all too seriously but she won’t be saying that when we’re up on that podium being applauded and cheered by thousands of people. I’ve blocked out the next few weekends for family training time but before that I needed to improve the boat. I am getting a new boatcatch system that can launch in just 20 seconds! A swift and smooth launch sets the tone of the race and is incredibly important for first impressions. My wife keeps telling me it would be more sensible to spend the money on little Sammy’s braces, what does she know. I took the kids to see the new boat catch system in action! They loved it. I promised my eldest, Charlie, that if he put enough time and effort in to training he could launch us on the day. Working with kids is all about inventive. You have to give them a reason to want to win aside from winning itself. My wife has pretty much refused to take part apart from coming to look at boat catches in Melbourne with me, but I think she was only there to ensure I didn’t spend our entire life savings on boat accessories. She did allow me to buy a captain hat though! Every year the Flannigans show up with they fancy super yacht and matching outfits, they have won the last five years in a row but it’s the end of their lucky streak. The new boatcatch along with our improved crew should glide us through to first place.  

A career in advertising through packaging

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package design MelbourneWhen people think of advertising they often think of tv commercials, billboards and magazine spreads. But actually, packaging is advertising too. I love just strolling through the supermarket and looking at all the pretty packages. They come in all shapes and sizes, some with simplistic elegant designs, others with busy, chaotic characteristics. Some are so inventive, they’re like a little toy or gadget unto themselves.  It’s become something of an obsession actually. Sometimes I buy products I don’t need just because I like the packages. Like women’s pantyhose and tampons or crayons and thumb tacks.

Advertising is so pervasive that sometimes you’ll see it on every courier bag in the city. I’d love to be the person who designs these logos, warnings and ads. Perhaps I should get a job at a packaging plant or something. That way I’ll get to stroke and caress packages all day. I could open them up and close them or do whatever I want. Maybe draw pictures on them. Advertising on product packaging is really underrated. I mean, copywriters spend ages crafting their ads so that people go out to buy the product. But what about all the people strolling through the supermarket who just buy things that catch their eye. We’re like magpies, we like shiny things. Give me some good packaging and I’ll be really excited about the product. In fact, they’ve done studies in the past where if someone liked the ad they liked the product, and I think the same goes for the packaging: if I like the packaging that has a psychological effect where I’m more inclined to like the product. If I were to work at Australian food packaging companies, I’d probably get fired because I’d spend too much time admiring the packaging and advertising rather than doing whatever it is that my job description prescribes.

Collectors Anonymous – tamper evidence bags

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design for postage bagsI’ve always loved collecting things. It started with stamps but that got boring by the time I was six and so I started collecting way more interesting things like exotic birds eggs and animal bones. Today I found the holy grail of all collector items. It was a bunch of tamper evident bags.

I guess they’d been misplaced by the police or something because these top secret bags containing crime scene evidence were left at the foot of a slight or stairs in the city. I saw the cop car pull away so perhaps they were interrogating someone or raiding their home. In any case, I was the first one to lay my hands on them. Now I want to collect many many more.

The thing about this collection is that I don’t even want to open the bags up. The thing with collectors is that they usually buy their figurines in packages and never open the packages. Even though I can’t see the evidence inside, I can feel around and guess what they are. I prefer it this way, it’s more mysterious. One of them feels sharp and has a handle. Another one is large and tube-shaped with a bulb at the end.

I think I might even start branching out and collecting other postage bags. But perhaps I’ll open these ones. I won’t do anything unethical or illegal, I’ll just collect the packages that have gone astray. Many are marked ‘return to sender’ and then abandoned. Then there are others that arrive at abandoned properties. Those are really fun to open up. This obsession of mine has become something of a new calling. I feel that I want to devote my life to it. When my collection is finally big enough, I’ve planned to open up a museum. It behooves me to display all the various types of postage packages to posterity. It’s a crucial piece of history.

Falling in love with my courier

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food packaging companiesSometimes it’s hard to see the beauty of what’s right in front of you. So often I’ve missed things that are right in front of my face, like opportunities or blessings. This is how it was with my mail man. I took him for granted, indeed, I didn’t even look at his face. I’d sign off packages at the door, my eyes keenly peeled to the delivery item. And for months, things continued this way…

Then came a day when I had to post something myself. I was wondering where I could find courier packaging. I knew that they stocked some at the post office but I needed a special bag in a particular size and shame (was transporting a toy rhinoceros and didn’t want a square box). I also needed a lot of them, this was a massive order and they had to be of a very particular size. I looked far and wide for the correct type of packaging. I was starting to think that I’d have to get one custom made or even tailor make my own. Then the doorbell rang and the delivery man was there. I asked him if he’d ever seen packages in the type that I described, the shape of a rhino. I wasn’t feel hopeful, just desperate. That’s when he surprised me and said that he had seen packages like that. My eyes lit up and I truly saw him for the first time. My mind switched from the issue of the bags to the beauty of his face. I was in love. Turns out I had to get my rhino shaped bag from a proper packaging company. This food packaging company is the best in town, they also provide tamper evident bags and security bags. They’re very innovative packagers. So now the delivery man and I are planning our wedding, he just doesn’t know it yet. I’m thinking a Spring wedding would be nice. 

Signage at the trade show

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sign writersI own a company that specialises in designing, importing and supplying luxury linen. We’re pretty new in the business, we’ve been running it for about four years and since then we’ve expanded greatly. We definitely need to hire more employees because my partner and I can’t keep up with all the work. Anyway, recently we went to a trade show and that’s when I realised that we need to invest in some signage and call the sign writers. Melbourne business have some beautiful and eye catching business signs, for example outside the office and inside the office behind the reception desk and we actually have neither.

We designed our logo when we opened the business but I think it needs to be redone by a professional designer. We did it ourself so it looks really amateur and I think it discredits our company. A properly designed and beautiful logo will add authority and credibility to our company, and also help us with marketing by distinguishing our brand. I haven’t given it too much thought yet but I’m thinking something that evokes the softness and lavishness of our high-end luxury linen.

At the trade show, many of the companies there also had banners. Melbourne, where we live, is full of business like ours so we want to set ourselves apart. We certainly did stand out as the company in the corner with no signage. It’s high time we hired a signwriter, I say. Although we did get to do a bit of networking at the trade show, we would have done a lot better had we had some signs. As I said, it would have made us seem more establishes, professional and trustworthy, not just a small start up that’s risky and precarious. I’ve been researching a few of the Melbourne sign writer companies and turns out they can also do the design aspect as well, so we can hit two birds with one stone.

The best conference venue

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I’Lorne accommodationm on a quest to find the perfect conference venue in Victoria. It’s kind of a long story and involves several, shall we say, unspoken agreements and (maybe) one or two interesting deals, but it should all work out in my favour. I hope that, in the end, I’ll have bettered my own and my family’s circumstances, and the consequences of my failing are too horrible to even think about. In any case, I’ve been granted enough money for it to actually travel all over the state and seek out what I consider to be the best conference venue.

Of course, for the organisation I work for, there are lots of things that go into an ideal venue. It has to be large enough to host a large number of people, while intimate enough that respective groups can apart from the other. Most importantly, it needs to be easily accessible from the nearby luxury accommodation. My clients do not want to have to travel great distances between their lodgings and their meetings.

Given these factors, I’m currently on route to Lorne, a small town situated on the Great Ocean Road. Lorne has the luxury accommodation my clients are after, while at the same time have conference venues located within the apartment area. The area itself is, from all accounts, a small paradise, a relaxing haven where the ocean meets the shore. I feel confident that this, in addition to its relative seclusion and small population during the off-season, will prove appealing to my clients. Additionally, during the off-season, there is a relatively limited police presence, and there is a nearby hospital which could deal with immediate problems if anything was to go awry.

All in all, I believe it will be the perfect location for this annual conference. In any case, I should arrive shortly, so I shall be able to scout the area and its surroundings for myself.