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12/23/2007 |
 When you are a catalog retailer, the day's end of last shipping day before Christmas is when you start your holiday. We elves here have been busy. For the past several weeks we've put stuff in boxes, checked them twice, and sent tools everywhere. We spend the whole year preparing for the holiday rush and it is really wonderful to hear the enthusiasm of customers excitedly buying tools for someone else. Well, sometimes for themselves too, but mostly as presents.
Today (I am writing this on the evening of the 21st), after we got the last remaining packages out the door, some people started heading for long weekends (we are open on Monday, but we will be short-staffed), others started cleaning up, and still others checked as well as they could to see if we forgot anyone. As for me, I sat back in my office, had a meeting or two and mostly reflected on how far we've come. In the past seven holiday seasons we've gone from me working out of my living room to working in a large and roomy warehouse with colleagues who worry just as much as I do about getting your tools out the door and on a FedEx or USPS truck.
Anyway, by 5:00 p.m. we were done and I was wandering in the workshop where we make the saws, and I saw an image which gave me the idea for this blog entry. For me it sort of sums up the holiday pause in all the activity we have had going around us for the past months.
The image shows where we assemble the saw blades of our dovetail saw into the brass backs. For the past few months, this has been a really busy work station, but now it's quiet, at least for a few days until after the holiday. You can see in the foreground that the bat we use to bang the blades into the back has been worn with a groove where hundreds of blades have been whacked. The other bat in the picture is the first one we wore out but keep as a souvenir. I don't know how many bats the workshop has gone through, but for me it almost looks frozen in time and is a testament to getting our work done.
On behalf of everyone at Tools for Working Wood, thank you for your support in 2007. Your appreciation and interest is what sustains us. We wish you and your families a happy and healthy Holiday and New Year.
Joel
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