The Best…

Vacations can be stressful.
I know how weird it sounds, but for me they are.
Always… something comes up while we are away. Usually something goes wrong at the shop, some drama or problem that I get called about, that I can’t do anything about. So I stress.
But not this time.
It was fantastic!
Everything went well, no calls from work. And bless my staff, each time I called they reported that things were going well and for me just to enjoy my time away. That’s never happened.
I could have kissed each of their little faces when I got back.
Yes, it was a great week.

YouTube

Someone told me today that one of our customers YouTubed her piercing… here we are:

Click on the video to start it, if you click on it again after it’s started, it will take you to YouTube… the comments on it are fantastic!  I have the best customers ever… what a fantastic job to have!

I am NOT a weirdo…

I am not a weirdo despite what some might think on first appearance. For my age group, some might consider me quite tattooed, I might have a few piercings and some are fairly large in gauge. Ok, I’m not your typical Grandma. But I’m not a weirdo. I’m actually quite conservative contrary to the box some might try to put me into based on looks. Over the years I have developed a code of ethics I hold to as well as defined personal and professional boundaries. When those boundaries are crossed, just like everyone I am apt to experience hurt feelings, offense or anger.

I own a tattoo studio and I pierce professionally.

I am not a weirdo. I am a masochist.

A guy comes into my studio today looking for a thicker piece of jewelry for his relatively new frenum piercing (penis, the underside web of skin where the shaft meets the head). I advise to give it a while longer. The client feels sure he is ready. We go into a private room and I prepare to “stretch” his piercing. Usually it is a somewhat uncomfortable process but I am generally careful to be sure to take the jewelry up in very small increments. The client is wearing fairly thin jewelry (14g). Then he begins to ask a litany of odd and inappropriate questions. “Will my wife like it?” (I dunno, what “it” are we talking about?) “Will she feel “it”? (again, what “it” are you asking about). “If it’s larger, I guess she’ll have to be pretty wet, huh?” (at this point I reassess the meaning of “larger” jewelry and grab a barbell that is not one size, but two sizes thicker). He continues along this line… and my jewelry size bumps up one more… I mean he’s asked for thicker jewelry, right?

Anyway, the client didn’t make is successfully through the stretch and ended up leaving with his original piece and a very, very sore penis…. I’m not a weirdo, a marriage counsellor, or the girl at the other end of a 1-900 number. But I am a masochist.

In Training

Back in the good ‘ol days of tattoo studios… people “new” to the business had to earn their “creds” by doing menial chores, being a gofer, often times doing work others in the shop were unwilling to do from early in the morning until late at night.  Eventually the “new” person would earn the respect of his or her co-workers over time.  This often took years.
These days, kids walk in and act like “we” owe them respect as a peer from their first day.  They expect to earn the same wages as those who are years in do and often times cause more harm than good as they try to test their skills well beyond their level of experience.
I have a newly licensed apprentice.  My theory is that I earn respect by giving respect and doses of constructive criticism when needed, praise for a job when it’s well done.  I pay a decent starting wage (while most studios do not pay anything at all).  I never ask any staff to do anything I am not willing to help them with and often I do.
My frustration that my new apprentice has no sense of commitment to the skill of body art, she is easily frustrated when pushed (which she readily takes out on clients… like they’re an imposition).  She occasionally comes late and seems put out after a busy day if we need to stay a little late to catch things back up for the next day.
She is grateful for the job, but not humble to the opportunity she has been given, she is often frustrated by clients on busy days, she asks other (more experienced staff) to do parts of her job for her (such as running to get her food if she is hungry or answer the phones).
My quandary is how to handle the situation from here… I am planning to have a “come to jesus” talk with her on Friday (her next day back), many of my old school staff believe she should be treated like an old school apprentice so that she has an appreciation for the art.  I believe this will do the trick, it will make her or break her… but my basic nature is to treat others the same way I want to be treated which creates a bit of a conflict for me.
I’m just tying here by the way, just trying to sort out a situation.

The New Girl

I hired a gal last summer who wanted to work the counter and hopefully learn to pierce… Today she earned her piercing license and did her first couple of piercings!! She did fantastic (although I tried to not get too excited in front of her… newbies tend to develop ego problems after a few successes). This perhaps means (with a little luck) that by the end of summer, I may have some days off again!

On a side note… I think I’m becoming a cosmetic procedure junkie. It all started with botox (the gateway drug), then the boobies. Last week I had thermage done to my eyes (a radio frequency, collagen tightening treatment) and next week starts laser hair removal (starting with my ‘Tom Selleck’ mustache and working my way down).

Crazy Frank is a little psychic, I think…

Meet Frank:

I first met him about 13 years ago when I was a prison nurse and he was an inmate. 
I’ve worked with a couple of thousand inmates but I distinctly remember my first meeting with Frank. I caught him “cheeking” his meds and he accused me of using “x-ray vision without a license” because I’d caught him. And he wasn’t happy about it, as I remember he was hauled off to his cell promptly as he had a small melt down over the ordeal. Our Ward Clerk was kind enough to make me an “X-Ray Vision certificate” and it hung on the wall forever… Frank was impressed by my newly acquired certificate and we became fast “friends” from there on out.
He was released a few years ago and he lives downtown on the streets now.
He’s still nutty, but he’s one of my favorite nuts (if you don’t count the one’s I’m related to 😉 )
He knows that he knows me from somewhere, but denies ever being in prison… he thinks he babysat me when I was a child and he always treats me with that kindly spirit.
Occasionally I’ll slip him a few bucks and it seems he really spends it on food (I’ve never seen him drink or drug).

One day he came into the shop to buy a soda from the machine… he was a quarter short, so I gave him one from the till. He returned an hour later to give us back the quarter. I’ve never met anyone quite like Frank.
I’ve only had to talk to him once about coming by the shop to visit (he can come in to buy soda, but he can’t hang out or panhandle by the studio).
I’ll chat with him on the street, but not in the shop. We have a deal and he’s totally OK with that.
Anyway.
Today I was telling Rori how I need to go to the dentist… my teeth need some love and the front one has a little chip that I absolutely hate. I’m very self conscious about that chip.
Not five minutes later, Frank walks through the door to buy a soda, put his money in the machine, looked straight at me and said:
“You have adorable teeth” 
He gave me a strong nod as if to say he was certain of what he’d said, he turned and left.
Rori and I were left with our mouths hanging wide open.

A coincidence I’m sure… but it was weird.

Flickr Toys

I recently discovered Flick Toys…
and it’s been fun to play with!

Meet the contenders

Last week we “interviewed” 2 ladies and a surprise guy for Joshes old position at the shop.

#1  A long time customer.  Works in a dialysis center so she has a regular source of income, has developed a bedside manner, is outgoing and personable.  She wants to eventually be trained as a piercer.

#2  A house wife, is friends with daughter #1 and is really sweet.  Her availability is fairly open.  She is just a little quiet but I think she could easily be drawn out once she feels more comfortable.  She is married to a Physician’s Assistant who (small world) is my primary care giver.

#3 My piercer (amy) sent in an 18 year old guy who we originally were not even looking for, it was really supposed to be between the ladies. He’s a little emo but just in clothing style.  Wants to be a piercer someday and during his “audition” he grabbed the reins like an old pro. He works with his father in an automotive shop.

After we (me, my lead piercer and my senior tattoo artist) get a chance to interview prospectives, we have them come in part of the day for an “audition” where they are put into a counter person position to test their ability to fly, their adaptability and so they can see if this job is right for them… it’s kind of a ‘try before your buy’ system for hiring.
We do go out of our way to make the audition a little challenging for them.

I’m so torn that I actually plan to go with a combination of the three.
#1 will be on schedule 2 days a week on a regular basis.
#2 will be called in to fill holes
#3 will be offered shifts that #1 and #2 are not available for.

There is a potential that we may lose our full time counter guy (Spud… who I adore) so #2 & #3 would work his shifts should he decide to go to work for his Dad.

It feels good to have a plan… but the staff around here is getting huge!

Shop Drama

So I’ve got gossip and I’m dying to spill…  Since I know you’re really good at not repeating things, I’ll just dump it here.

You you remember I had to let Josh go last week right?

He and Rori (beautiful tattoo artist) were seeing each other… they’d wisely kept it to themselves for quite sometime before letting anyone at the shop know just to give them time to feel it all out before they ‘came out’.
Rori is very “together” and I jut love the piss out of her. She has so much going for her.
Josh had a very rough start in life, has the potential to pull himself up out of it, but like many 22 year olds, he’s well… a 22 year old guy.
It was an odd pairing.

As these things go, they had hit some rough spots. Rori really didn’t let it effect work, but when there was trouble Josh was a mess at work… he was visibly upset, a little rude to customers, and rarely completed any job tasks. Often it was difficult to get him to show up for work because he was ‘just too distraught’ to see Rori. At the shop it created lots of problems, drama, and I resented paying Josh for doing a job, everyone else had to do the actual work. It would have never flown in “the real world”.

Rori and Josh ended up breaking up and I arranged the schedule so they would work opposite each other. Josh was starting to shine again, right before he crashed. Very soon after he became worse than ever at work. After several pep-talks I finally had to let him go so I could find someone who was able to do the job.

Josh broke up with Rori because he missed his old girlfriend… she was fairly overweight. He’d always said she was perfect for him, but he couldn’t get past the weight thing. She’s always pined for him, even while he and Rori were together, so she dropped the weight in an attempt to win Josh back (crazy and very superficial, I know).
It worked, Josh broke it off with Rori and moved in with the other girl.
After a week of this, after telling Rori that he and the other girl were living together, after blah, blah, blah…
He changed his mind and asked Rori to take him back.
I’d have told him to kick rocks…
Josh and Rori are back together again.
But Shhhh… it’s supposed to be a secret and no one is supposed to know.

Such drama… God I’m glad I’m old.

:(

I had to let Josh go today…