Some Little Surprises From The City

I really love it when good things happen that you aren't really expecting.  Especially when you've just paid property taxes on your business and wonder just where that money is going.

On the night that I had Zoe's Fall Fashion Party (the night we got 10 million inches of rain), I noticed that the street light was out at the corner of Union and Prince.  I hadn't been at the store quite that late (and in the dark) before that time.  The next morning, I looked on the City's website to see how I could report the issue.  With my technology background, I tend to be very picky about how easy (or hard) it is to do things on line.  Imagine my delight when I found that the City had a very easy to use online form/questionnaire that made reporting the problem a breeze!  I was even given a confirmation number so that I could track the reported issue.

When I looked outside the store on this past Saturday's VERY rainy and dark day, I found that the streetlight that I had reported was beautifully lit!

I know...I know...it takes so little to make me happy.  But that will be a really nice thing as our days are getting shorter all the time.

Moving on to the second happy event, Friday was one of the few really nice days we've had in September.  I had had some nice customer traffic in the morning despite some workmen grinding out the lining of the fountain in the courtyard.  As the afternoon wore on, the grinding got more intense and dust was flying.  I finally had to close Zoe's door because it was so awful.  As I stood at the window of the store, stewing and wondering how much longer it was going to take, I saw a Code Enforcement SUV drive down Prince Street and park.  The Inspector got out and came over to the workers and shut down the operation!  Turns out the City had some complaints from some other businesses about the dust!  The Inspector came in to see me (thinking I was the one who had called).  I told him I wasn't the person who had placed the call and that he should probably also check in with my landlord to explain the situation.

It turns out that the workers needed to have either scheduled the work in off hours (when the businesses aren't open) or have a tent set up to catch the dust.  What a relief!  I was never so happy to see the Code Enforcement team in my life!  With the challenges from the recent weather and the economy, none of us need anything that dissuades people from visiting our stores/restaurants!