DP..
i think i was implying voting when stating the expected time frame…
but i think this could also put people off politics…
as it is becoming more and more difficult for individuals to make any kind of impact…
Our government is currently for sale to the highest bidder :(
Smitty…
this isn’t about feeling good..
it’s about being paid for the work you do.
if the average wage at your company is 40K
and the execs aren’t allowed to top out at above 200K
the savings would leave 300K available for bonuses… even if there were no new hires.
it’s simple math.
if top execs didn’t get bonuses regardless of actual production…
or didn’t get golden parachutes for speculating and tanking a company…
i am guessing there would be more jobs…
because CEOs would then actually care about production instead of profits and stock prices…
what a concept!
btw.. this takes us back to that other amazing concept…
employees who feel appreciated produce more
win win
Hello to fellow musicians!
The West Seattle Symphony is looking for more trained musicians. The Symphony (our top) orchestra is especially in need of another bassoon player, a French horn player, a percussionist, possibly another trumpet player–and, of course, string players, especially cellists!
Unfortunately (or serendipitously!), we are not in need of clarinets or flutes or trombones, not even a tuba!
Hmm, sounds like a “Stone Soup” story: If we only had a bassoon/viola/cello player . . . we could create an orchestra.”
Seriously, we have a great core of musicians, just need a few holes filled.
As to the less-experienced groups, the Symphonette and the String Ensemble, we’re doing great with over 40 young folks and a few adults sprinkled in, but we can always grow larger. We have a spot for any musician–beginning to advanced, young to antique–who’d like to give it a whirl. FOR STUDENTS IN GRADES THREE THROUGH TWELVE, IT’S FREE!!
People can link to our website for more info: http://www.westsidesymphonette.org or email or call me:
Hope to see you soon!
Toni Reineke
Artistic Director
West Seattle Community Orchestras
tonireineke@comcast.net
Home: 206-243-6955
Hi Maria, I pretty much agree with what others have said here, but I wanted to mention I think it’s important to establish a comfortable working relationship with clients, and reassure them. People want someone in their house they can trust, who understands their routines. I don’t think there is a job much more intimate than being a housekeeper. You end up knowing A LOT about who those people are, their physical health, their habits, interests, fears, relationship and family issues, etc. and if they’re home when you’re working, they’re also seeing you grunting and sweating and crawling around. Everyone pretends not to, but everyone sees. Aside from worrying about whether the housekeeper is going to steal, slack off on the job, or break their stuff (and you can’t take any of that personally cuz it’s natural for them to feel that way) it’s important to convey, probably more in how you act than in what you say, that you will protect their privacy, safety, comfort, and emotional space. It’s way different cleaning for private residential clients than it is through an agency, hotel, or office building, in my experience, because there is no anonymity for anyone, but you still kind of have to pretend there is, and walk this line of being friendly but keeping it professional.
Thank You, very much for all the comments and ideas it really helps to know what people think.
I have moved to this area for 11 months now and instead of trying different ways to get to people me, decide to focus in just one way to advertise. If, I make the investment better do it in a way that it will have more results.
Do in this was a very good way to help me understand the actual dynamic of the whole thing.
As a fare rate people has a good idea of a realistic cost for a service like the one I provide.
I really appreciate all the comments.
The Pumpkin Scrub Pedicure is $55, but if booked with a color or spa service you can receive 20% off.
smitty…
no-one is out for revenge…
this is about equity.
that’s a totally different concept.
when United “reorganized” without ever taking a day off their flying schedule and dumped their pension programs their pilots had earned along with their wages…
the top officials who bartered that deal all got big bonuses for “saving” the company money… approved by a bankruptcy judge.
Had you worked a lifetime for that company so that you could retire on the benefits you earned i doubt you would find that equitable.
those pilots all had college educations and had invested a substantial amount of their time and sacrificed normal family life to practice their craft…
so much for the basic concept of getting a good education and investing in marketable skills….
you will find out just how specialized a skill flying is if your plane takes a sudden nose dive. You had better pray that someone who knows what they are doing is at the controls… because without that skill it’s all dumb luck… and no amount of money is going to buy you that.
yes.. their pensions were backed by the pension security fund.. which nets them a fraction of the pensions they earned.
and that is just the story of one company.. the tip of the iceberg when it comes to pensions, health plans.. etc…
I’m certainly not jealous… the lifestyles of the rich and infamous look pretty jaded to me…
but i do think we are all entitled to what we have earned.
Smitty,
I am just curious, what does the CEO of Vandelay Industries where you work make? Does everyone, including the CEO get extra incentives for abusing the female employees? Inquiring minds want to know!!
Let’s make it reeee-aaa-l simple…
Real income for middle class-flat since 1980s
Real income for top 2%- wayyyyyy up
During 1990s-early 2000s rich people loan middle class peoples lots of money so they can buy stuff and go into deep debt (cuz their real income has not gone up)
Economy seems to be humming but its really a big bubble that finally bursts-result-rich people make lots of money off the scam-middle class and poor saddled with massive debt while no rise in real income-collapsing fake economy causes unemployment and recession while rich people hang onto their money and fail to “create jobs” which, according to Republics, is what they will do if we just let them have more money but somehow they’d rather keep the money and spend it on themselves than help their country and fellow citizens-Wow! what a surprise! (not)
smitty’s solution- be a rich CEO, try not to be a poor or middle class person. Yeah, that’ll work.
OK, buddy, what did you expect me to do in stop-and-go traffic on the bridge heading East at 9:10? You came up right on me, gesturing wildly, when you could see as well as I that the only thing I could do was get RIGHT on top of the car in front of me. You kept it up–I gestured back–I even went to the middle finger–I wanted to jump out of my car and ask you–a reasonable-looking guy in a nice car–exactly what you were trying to do. Make it to a meeting? Emergency? And, you went around me when it goes to 35mph into two lanes, cut back over after passing a few cars and got RIGHT on top of the poor dudes in the red jeep. You tormented other people!
I have your license and a picture of your vehicle, and I am hopping mad still. Unfair, uncool, UNSAFE!
Maria,
I agree with everything that has been said here, and I would add that it might be a good idea to come out with some kind of coupon for new customers; maybe offer a buy one get one free deal or 2 hours free cleaning. You could get cheap add space in lieu of flyering or you could coupons. I would be more willing to try someone new with a deal.
It might help to use greener products. I would, personally, be more likely to use someone who relies on green products.
Good luck!!
Escondido…
i believe that workers deserve a fair wage for the work they do…
i believe that if you sign on for a 40hr/wk job that even if you are a salaried employee you should be paid overtime for working over 40 hours.
i believe that when you take your paycheck home you should be able to pay for a roof over your head, food on your table, healthcare and education.
I believe that if retirement benefits including healthcare were part of your employment package.. your employer should not be able to “reorganize” without fulling funding the retirement you earned.
i believe that the most productive workforce on the face of the earth should be paid for that productivity…
no.. we are not all captains of industry.. but there is no reason captains of industry should be paid so much more than the support staff that makes them successful.
wage disparity is at an all time high :(
this is why it is so important for working people to get out and vote in this election…
i have heard all of the rationalizations for why democrats are no better than republicans and some days i hang my head in shame at the excuses for legislation our democratic congress has passed…
but at least democrats are willing to give a little to the working classes…
republicans only see them as a tool to be inflamed by speakers like glenn beck and sarah palin and the entire staff of FOX’s nightly news for political gain.
at least democrats ask what they might do for you.
republicans only ask what you can do for them.
the band wagon of greed inspired initiatives is counting on you being either angry enough to throw over anything that is established or too discouraged to get out there and vote at all.
lets surprise them.
I agree with waterworld on two key issues: please do not leave flyers on doors or mailboxes, or attach them to utility poles. This really ticks people off, and the item goes straight into the trash. I also think that $15-25 is reasonable, perhaps $15 to start and the higher end as you gain experience and clientele.
Licensing and bonding is a good thing for any occupation that requires access to private property. I don’t think it has to be specific to any and every job title.
Good luck.
Maria: I don’t know for sure what kind of license or bond you are talking about. I have never heard of a specific license for “housekeeper,” nor have I heard of any bonding requirement. (Maybe I’ve just never hired anyone who had those things.) I do think it’s important to have a general business license and insurance if you are working as an independent contractor. If that’s what you mean, then I think the insurance in particular might increase what you could charge.
As for advertising (and I think it’s abbreviated “ad,” not “add”), I have only ever hired housekeepers based on word of mouth recommendations or recommendations from other people on this forum. I particularly don’t like, or respond to, flyers that people leave on my doorstep. If I wasn’t able to find someone my usual way, I would probably go next to online ads, such as a sponsorship on a blog like this one, or a webpage. I would bet that newspaper ads don’t reach people the way they used to. Craigslist ads for in-home services make me nervous. There’s such a wide variety of people advertising there, you never know what you might be getting.
I don’t necessarily know what a fair rate is — I assume it varies a lot, but I really don’t know. My general idea of fair rates for a good housekeeper is anywhere from $15 to $25 per hour.
I am interested to hear what other people say!
I remember sitting in a tea room in Bellingham not too long ago with a friend. I remember how much I liked it, and am looking forward to being able to go for a nice warm cup of tea… a plate of goodies to go with it…and good conversation shared.
dobro,
What do you have against pond scum? Frogs live in pond scum. When you call Dino Rossi pond scum you insult pond scum…
The radical right position on the minimum wage is that there shouldn’t be one, federal or state. Workers should just take what the bosses offer and like it. Kind of like life before unions.Another example of the attitudes of these heartless scum.
Patty Murray? I’d prefer a more progressive senator but given a choice between her and pond scum (Dino) I gotta go with Murray.
Dino Rossi is a scumbag just like most Republicans. Here’s a story that mentions a few of his business practices…
http://www.washblog.com/story/2008/3/19/132728/784
He’s only running because the Repubs had nobody except a teabagger to run against Murray and his Building Trades bagmen made him an offer he couldn’t refuse. One of the best things about the upcoming election will be to see this slimeball become a 3 time loser.
We are getting close to announcing the ‘Winery of the Evening’…..stay tuned.
Remember: Spay Is The Way, and Neuter, Is Cuter!
I just read a prior story from a few weeks ago about a door to door security salesman in Highland Park…I commented there, but felt the need to post this in the discussion “room” to make sure people see it.
Obviously, I can’t speak about all the people who are out in the neighborhood knocking on doors, but wanted to assure my neighbors that Nathan from Northstar Security is not a scammer (he’s the clipboard guy in Highland Park). I am also VERY weary of any door to door solicitors and am not a fan AT ALL of door to door sales tactics…especially for security systems because I’ve read about scams before. But, I felt compelled to get on here and let everyone know that this person from this particular company IS legit. We have been wanting a security system for a while (12th Ave. in Highland Park) and we ended up taking him up on the offer (not like us) after meeting for over an hour and knowing that our neighbors already had one of their systems and just had it updated the other day. I am not for one second saying you should let your guard down because one person is actually doing what they say they are, so please don’t miss understand. Nor am I saying go buy a security system from Northstar, that’s your deal. I simply wanted to clarify that Nathan from Northstar is VERY nice, VERY professional, VERY accommodating, wore a uniform and badge and WAS NOT pushy AT ALL! If you ask to take his picture, get ready for a big smile and a thumbs up. We even chatted about how your are screwed in this neighborhood if you piss someone off or freak them out because of the WS Blog (love you guys!). He had read the original story and figured it was about him since it referenced 12th Ave in HP. He also understands that people are initially on guard, as they should be.
Anyway, they installed our system that night and we couldn’t be happier so far (installation guy was great too). Obviously, I’ll let ya know if that changes, but in THIS case, I’m really glad I listened to my gut and didn’t just automatically turn him away (and god forbid call the cops on him…which is totally something I would do…that would have sucked because he really is a nice guy!).
Hi Nathan! Good luck…
p.s. I had never met Nathan prior to the day he knocked on my door…just felt that as long as we are alerting each other to possible scams, we should also alert each other when something isn’t a scam :)
A big thank you goes out to everyone that contributed to Maverik’s fund at Pet Elements for a much needed dental. Your generous donations covered the entired cost and Maverik’s mouth feels great!
Cheers, F3
The OTC Vitamin D was devastating on my, um, digestive system. My wonderful Acupuncturist (Hi, Miranda) recommended Floradix tonic and it made all the difference in the world. My blood is no longer tired and neither is my tummy.
It’s available in PCC and probably other places — expensive, but for me, worth it.
Choice of an elitist, self-serving, self-aggrandizing male who blames the incumbent for necessary decisions to save the country’s economy from tanking? Rossi has no solutions to the current challenges, just petty sniping and get-rich schemes for the rich. Individualism at the risk of democracy and the common good, is parasitic.
I see misspellings in road signage, in college texts, in research studies, in magazine articles for “learned” publications. And not all are spell-check sound-alikes. Who’s on First? If paid news staff aren’t hep to these details, or being edited by other educated staff, what are we paying for? There are grey (or gray!) areas in politics, discussion, reasoning, but we should not extrapolate the ideas of acceptance to include grammar and spelling idiocies!! Shud wee (nails scratching on blackboard)?
