The Rock Wall

Monday night Kimball and I attended a crowded event at the VFW. I have an idea that family and friends wanted to hear and support the Missouri champion of the Voice of Democracy contest. I did.

Lydia Eason was well composed beyond her 14 years when she took the microphone and took control of the crowd.

A standing ovation was a foregone conclusion just minutes into her talk. I hope this is just the first of many successes we get to witness from this talented young lady. I asked the ramrod Roger Floyd for a copy of her talk so we could put it in this issue for you.

– I’ve got a great interview with St. Clair County Sheriff Scott Keeler waiting for his approval so we can publish it for you next week. We’ve had a little trouble getting back together since his department provided security for the slain Clinton officer’s funeral then the sheriff had a seminar this week.

– We went to a fun ribbon cutting Tuesday for Serenity Storage then a lunch the owners, Dave and Martha Kolstedt, hosted at the Chamber office. Dave retired from another career and they chose Southwest Missouri as the place for the rest of their lives. They have 10 storage properties in El Dorado and several in other places around Missouri. Several buildings make up one property.

– I spent Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday on the phone getting our accounting system changed over to Quick Books. Friday evening, I and the young lady guiding me, Ashley from South Carolina, gave up and I starting typing the 1,500 entries one at a time. I saw that was an endless task and went home to get some sleep. As used to happen when Miss Althen was my High School math teacher, while I was asleep, my brain was working on the problem.

I called back Saturday and insisted I talk to Ashley. When she called back, I told her I had figured out that the computer had misplaced an entire row of addresses. Ashley agreed that was the case and said she knew what to do about it.

Five hours later, we had it fixed. She thanked me for not giving up on her. I felt the same way.

On Monday, Mary True and I fine tuned addresses as we put one week of shopper on the books. We plan to plow back into it Wednesday or Thursday. It’s starting to get easier.

I never thought I’d like accounting. Still don’t.

– Meanwhile, Kimball’s hamsters, Pot Roast and Succotash, died. At 18 months the cause was old age. Just last week, as one of them lay in a coma, the other one nailed Kimball as she was trying to check on her. Petting hamsters is somewhat behind accounting in my book. KL