Today was the last day with Lon. We went over how to use the separation software again and set up another job. As we were coating our screens we noticed that the new batch of screens had spots on them that would not come out. I will never forget to check my screens right away when I first get them in. We learned that lesson the hard way!

We had a great week learning how to add more creative printing styles to our designs. He also helped us become more efficient and more knowledgeable about the products we use. I feel like I have a great friend that I can get help from if I am having issues.

TGIF... with a holiday weekend on the horizon. It’s my final day here at Heritage Logo Works and it’s almost a bit depressing. We have had a great week and I have become fond of my new friends. It will be a little hard to say goodbye at the day’s end.

Since we started so very early yesterday, we decided it was best if we came to work with bribes. So Rose stopped and got some bagels and donuts for our employees and Lon—which was really to our benefit in the long run since our employees are much happier with full stomachs. And less whiney too!

I love a routine. When you travel as much as I do, you almost relish a bit of consistency. Once again, shortly before the crack of dawn, Gary picked me up at the hotel. Only this time it was in the company limo. Not exactly a town car. More like a delivery van.

Back at the office, we had to hit the ground running. By my outline, we were half a day behind so no time for coffee and bagels. Okay... less time for coffee and bagels, but we knew we would need to hit it hard.

Today started off right! Even though it’s 5 a.m. in Colorado and Lon isn’t used to our time zone yet, its 7 a.m. here and we were ready to put him to work. So we went right ahead and got him here at 7 a.m. sharp… with a smiling face and a sunny disposition.

When Gary showed up at my hotel at 6:45 this morning, I was excited to hit the office. Yesterday had been a good day. We got the inkjet running, built some art, output some files, selected mesh, checked some tensions and began building screens for today’s activities. Quite a little accomplished, leaving us feeling great about the day ahead.

Well today certainly was exciting! When Lon arrived, we started the day with a morning meeting to discuss what we’re going to focus on for the week ahead. The information we went over was helpful and we’re excited to start working on some of the ways he mentioned he could help us be more efficient.After the meeting Lon helped me fix the settings in my RIP program that made it so that I could use the roller feature on my printer to make all-over films. Before this, we had only been able to use sheets for films and this will definitely make it easier from now on. Since we had gotten my printer to work, we went ahead and made an all-over film to put on a screen to test print and see how it does.

Day two began early when Gary picked me up at the hotel shortly before 7 a.m. (that’s 5 Colorado time, folks). The weather was brisk and we would hit the ground running once we reached the office. Gary, Rose, Nancy and I met for an overview of our goals for the week the make sure we were all on the same page. We would need to put in some work hard to accomplish the plan.

Rose and I picked up Lon at the airport in a whirlwind of activity. Rose even forgot her phone back at the office we ran out of here so fast! We could definitely tell who Lon was by the flames on his shirt when we went to get him. Our nervousness and excitement could barely be contained but we were relieved to find that Lon was a relaxed and calm individual; we’d also find he’d be laidback and not judgmental about how we had arranged our shop.We showed him around both sides of our shop and clued him in on what kind of jobs we were currently handling and processing. With our new automatic screen press in place, we talked about our floor plan and discussed potential layouts that could help make us more efficient.

Hit the road early this morning. Coming from Colorado and going east to Plymouth Michigan got me in about half way through the day. Nancy and Rose, two owners of Heritage, picked me up at the Detroit airport and drove the short 20 or so minutes to the shop where I we met up with the other owner, Gary. After the meet and great a quick tour of the place they ran me to the hotel where I could change into some work clothes and get back to the shop begin our makeover.