Cans

The kids have been asking for ways to earn money this summer.  Since we are pretty limited on some things, mostly staying close to home and the radiation center, we had to think of something that could be done within our town, pretty close to home.  This was my idea: "No need to even leave the home!  No need to face the blistering heat of summer, I will find jobs around the house, such as: blinds cleaning, scrubbing grout with a toothbrush, that sort of thing."  This was Randy's idea: ask the neighbors if they would save their cans and plastic bottles for us to recycle in Oregon when Randy travels for work.  Which one won the hearts of the kids?

While I was showing them all the fun gadgets for cleaning different things around the home (I was legit with a cool microfiber thingy that you clamp down on each 2" slat of wood on the blinds!!) Randy was setting up a spreadsheet for the neighbors' name, address, and phone number, complete with clipboard and black plastic bags for them to handout for easy storage and collection.  I admit, Randy's idea won by a landslide.  No surprise there, I married a Salesman after all.

It seems that we produced some Salesman of our own.  This was after just one week and only two "clients."  They made $30.00!  So, here's the catch: Apparently you should not expect the Dirks' kids to wait for conventional business hours.  Unbeknownst to us, Shelby and Tyson went to gather cans on their first Monday pick-up at... wait for it... wait for it... 7:00am.  Oh, wow, Randy was NOT happy. 

"DID THEY COME TO THE DOOR IN THEIR PAJAMAS?!?!?!"

Tyson, giggling:  "Yes!"  He did not understand that this was not a joke.  We have since talked with them about 1) leaving the house without our knowledge and 2) waiting until at least 8:30am.  Possibly, some of the "client" didn't answer the door because they were SLEEPING!  That got their attention-- they will now wait until later in the day to collect.  Like me, their most productive time of the week is Monday morning, after our day of rest on Sunday.  Well, productive after 8:00am anyway.