Dave,
I totally agree with your comments. I believe the persons taking the
time to communicate on Orchid, and graciously share with
all of us make the probability of creativity and integrity a given.
The few times one of another ilk has shown up here it has been so
obvious that the wagons circle to protect us all.
While spending time in both Quartzsite and Tucson, I noticed some
“above and beyond” demeanor, and would like to share it with the list.
Hardies in Quartzsite, I spent some time in there and spoke with both
Ken and Alice Hardie, I later saw Ken at the AFMS Faceters get
together in Tucson. They both are wonderful people rich with helpful
This open year round retail and mail order company, aware
of both the Snow Bird and Rockhound influx at this time of year,
routinely reduce all prices by 50%. This makes it easy for shoppers
and rockhounds without resale licenses to get bargains. Many of our
senior mom and pop “dig, create, and sell” small businesses live and
work across many states from their RV’s and have no permanent
location for license requirements. Makes their stuff more affordable
and supplements Social (in)Security.
In Tucson the weather over the years has been both wonderful and
awful. Many venues are simply tents atop soil. In a rain, the ground
becomes a muddy mess and there is no relief from this. One year I
stepped out of my van into this muck and my shoe stayed sucked in when
I took the next step. Well with this in mind the Depue family of
Diamond Pacific spent close to 5K in buying wood and laying it down in
their sizable tent as flooring, then covered it with grass cloth.
Theirs was the only comfortable place to shop in all of the Congress
Street Expo at the new location of Tucson’s Electric Park. When the
electricity was not there at the beginning of this show, they bought
several generators, and powered their tent. There was always a full
coffee pot, hot water and tea as well as cookies and candy. Diamond
Pacific treats their customers as guests in their home whether they
are buying a $1.00 bur or a 36 inch fully automatic diamond saw.
Alpha Supply, I was trying to replace some of the tools stolen from
me. I had about $50.00 worth when I checked out and found they did not
take American Express, and I did not have enough in my checking
account. I asked Andrea when they deposited checks, hoping for some
respite. She told me “I will hold an open ticket for you, when you can
pay, please come in and do so.” I said that was fine and I would leave
my bag of stuff there for that time. Andrea said “no take them with
you now, and pay when you can!” This level of customer service floored
me. She had no idea who I was, or where I came from, yet she gave me
the merchandise there and now. You know where i will get more tools
when budget allows.
WigJig, Suzanne Helwig was demonstrating her WigJig products at Rio
Grande’s wonderful show. I have long had respect for the Helwig
family and their wonderful online WigJig University <www.wigjig.com>
and had previously written them to tell them. Suzanne had responded to
me with delight, and once again I found a merchant who did not take
American Express, but trusted a customer.
While Suzanne was demonstrating her product, I asked why she did not
mention the WigJig University. She explained to me that this was
Rio’s show and she did not want to take advantage of them by
mentioning her Web Site. There is the integrity of an honest merchant.
I think most of us that work with wire know by now, many “books” on
this topic sell for a dollar a page. Are without color, photo copied
sheets, with a slip on spine and sold for over $20.00 for ten pages
double sided. Well on WigJig University there are hundreds of designs,
clearly explained with many illustrations all available for easy
download free of charge. The Helwig family could have easily kept
these designs until enough for a pamphlet booklet, and sold them for a
profit. Instead they maintain an excellent Web Site with excellent
customer service.
I prefer Orchids to Onions any day, except for grilled onions which I
love.
Teresa
She ‘used an HTML cousin many, many years