A couple of weeks before Chris passed away, he told me about his buddy Tanner and how he was going into the vacuum business. Would I help him out? Could I talk to him? Could I give him some business advice? My initial answer was sure, but I had questions too. Wasn’t Tanner in school? Why vacuums? Really….a 17 year old kid opening a retail operation? Really?
You know Tanner. He spoke at Chris’ funeral and was a great friend. Sometimes school doesn’t fit for everyone at the exact time we think it’s going to. For Tanner, right now the timing is wrong. Now before we go any further I’ll tell you something (and Tanner listen up…this is in WRITING now with witnesses!!) Several weeks ago, Tanner and gang were over and I made Tanner promise he would complete his GED at some point. He agreed. Tanner we have a deal!
That being said, we currently have a business to run. You see, Tanner’s family runs the Big Gary vacuum stores and that’s how Tanner has learned the business. And yes it’s true, at age 17, this young man is opening his own retail operation in Port Moody called Newport Vacuums! His website is a simple marker with contact info for the time being. So…if you are somewhere in the Port Moody area and need a new vacuum or have a broken system that needs some fixing, Tanner is your guy. He is having is GRAND OPENING on Saturday, May 22 at 202 Newport Drive, Port Moody, BC.
Tanner…I wish you every success in your new business. I know Chris would have loved to have you in school with him and the gang, but he also understood school was a tough choice right now and he REALLY wanted you to do well and that’s why he was asking me if I could help you. You and I have had some great business conversations in the past several weeks and I wish you all the success in the world! Remember your customers first and most everything will fall into place for you….and in the long run, don’t forget…we have a deal about that GED, ok?
PS Great voicemail on your business line. Customer oriented, energetic and approachable. Good work.
The weather this week has matched our experiences quite well. It’s been a very extreme weather week. Get where I’m going? I took this picture on Tues evening from the deck of our home. It sort of says it all. The dark clouds are very present, but still a hope persists. As the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. Thinking about the sun behind a cloud actually is a good symbolic view of where we’re at right now. We can sense that more sun is going to come. We can sense there are brighter days ahead and for pockets of time, just like the weather this week, you feel the sun’s warmth and then in an instant it’s raining and cold again. I think the hope is that we believe…no actually we know the sun exists. We know it will be sunny again and even though the clouds and rain persist, the sun will have it’s moment and hours in the days ahead. For now we’ll pack a good umbrella and a hot cup of coffee as we continue on our journey.
ub last year. They really wanted to be in the same boat (so to speak!), but that was not to be. The teams were mixed and they made some new friends. Even though they didn’t get to race together, they stuck with it through the season and these are some pics from their regatta in Bedford Channel at Ft. Langley.
during the first few weeks since we lost Chris. I found this picture yesterday on my Blackberry taken in the first couple of weeks.
Be The Best. 