From Chaos to Cozy: Why I’m Thankful for Great Vendors This Season
“The storm outside, the fire is bright.”
– Dave Matthews Band, “Say Goodbye”
As the temperature plunged below freezing and we got our first real snowstorms of the season, our fireplace quickly became our favorite place in the house. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE the winter, and we spent an afternoon sledding out there. We’ve also been preparing for our first ski/snowboard trip of the season, happening soon, but this spot quickly became a welcome refuge after the day’s fun snow activities.
I mean, I’m not sure I got my wife any gifts that weren’t fireplace-related this year, honestly. Bellows, fire-resistant gloves, fire starter sticks, a canvas log carrier, and better lighters to go along with the half-cord of wood we got delivered were all well-received and used nightly.
The kids got in on this action as well, as some of their Chanukkah and Christmas presents included telescoping Marshmallow roasting sticks and Enchanted Flames. Combine all of this with a cup of hot chocolate and a Super Mario-themed board game, and we were all set. We were, quite simply, cozy.
As life is wont to do, we were then thrown some curveballs. My Mom was hospitalized for 10 days after she contracted pneumonia. She has COPD already, so it’s a bad combo for sure. She is thankfully home now, using oxygen when moving around and healing up nicely.
We had our first water leak in the house, which resulted in a plumber and an appliance repairperson visiting to determine that we needed a new dishwasher. While we didn’t relish having to pay unexpectedly for a new dishwasher, luckily, this is exactly what one of our clients does. The team at Royal Green Appliances was AWESOME in this endeavor – from sales through install. So helpful. Thank you!
The next leak was even more out of the blue. The fire chief stopped by one day to finalize the approval of our already installed solar panels. Immediately upon entering, he said, “I smell gas”. Sure enough, we had a gas leak downstairs. That definitely explains the higher-than-expected gas bills and several of our guests who said they smelled gas when they came over, too. We smelt it when we moved in as well, but were assured it was oil, not gas, and then we got used to it. A fire truck, a small army of firemen, a Con Ed worker, and a partridge in a pear tree later, the leak was thankfully fixed, but the story continued.
The Con Ed worker kept at it with his “sniffer” device and found a second gas leak, this one coming off our water tank. He was sincerely apologetic as he explained he’d be shutting off our hot water the day before Christmas Eve.
Call #2 to the plumber, who explained our options as either “trying to find that specific valve for an expired water tank on the eve of Christmas Eve” or that they could be there in 20 minutes with a brand-new water tank covered for the next decade. Again, didn’t love the money flying out of our wallets over the break, but that’s some serious response time, and Plitnik Plumbing and Heating deserves a shoutout too.
Lastly, while we were hosting some friends for a brunch, we were getting decidedly too much smoke in the living room from our fireplace. A few months ago, we spent a good chunk of change on re-sealing the fireplace to get it ready for us, and we were worried we had a serious problem with our beloved fireplace. Luckily, this one goes down as “user error” as we just needed to push the grate holding the logs to the back of the fireplace.
Oh, and I almost forgot to mention – a tree went down across the street, taking down the power line with it, landing in our intersection. We are very lucky it didn’t hit our house, nor take out our power. The car in the video is lucky too – that could have been a LOT worse.
All in all, we had LOTS of vendors in the house, and spent a lot of money abruptly (during the holiday season as well), BUT we now have some new appliances we shouldn’t have to worry about, fresher air in the house, a healthier Mom, and a roaring fire in the fireplace again.
How was YOUR holiday break?
This month, Murph Consulting turned 18. I cranked up Alice Cooper's "I'm 18" and Skid Row's "18 and Life" to get the vibes going. My company is now old enough to vote, get a tattoo, and get married, all without parental consent. Watch out, world!
In all seriousness, the passing of another year of entrepreneurship and running a successful business always feels like a good time to reflect. Since we started in 2007, we've assisted nearly 600 small businesses and residential clients. Businesses in every industry, ranging in size from the solopreneur to 100 employees. There’s no company we’ll say “you’re too small for us to help”, and that gives me great joy. Small businesses need tech and CyberSecurity support, and we’ve got their backs.
Speaking of, it's October again, and you all know what that means, right? The Mets have failed us, and the Islanders, Jets, and Rangers are about to. It's also Cybersecurity Awareness Month. Every small business should be implementing some basic security measures by now. It's easier and more affordable than you think it is, and definitely cheaper than dealing with the fallout of something drastically bad happening to your business.
How's your password game? Do you use strong passwords on all the sites you visit, or are they all slight modifications of one word, like your kids or pets' names or birth dates?
If it's the latter, let's chat. You should be using a password manager. They are easy to use, create complex passwords for you that you no longer need to remember, and keep them all safe for you. I can't remember the last time I had to click on the "forgot your password" link for any site, and I love that for me.
A password manager is just one of the seven software we feel EVERY small business should have in place to help keep them protected in 2025. We’ve packaged these up together neatly and made them affordable for the small businesses we will always support. If you’d like to learn more, please click the “Contact Murph” button below to send me an email.