Why, why why does the WHOLE place have to shut down for an entire week during the chaos of wedding season??!!!! I LOVE their books but now I am going to have to order a book from somewhere else. So frustrating!

Tirade over........

I agree totally, we have stuff backed up here!

Another little rant, we got an email from a lab the other day (Natural Color) telling us that for the coming months, due to the high gas prices their staff are paying, they will no longer be open on a Friday!!! Are they serious????

I appreciate that gas is high (actually, when I left Scotland a year ago it was around $10 a gallon, so I don't worry about it here) But what does this mean? If interest rates go up a little, companies will close on certain days? This is life, things go up, sometimes they go down.

I wondered what the difference was between say, 3 months ago and now, for the average car owner. Maybe an extra $10 a month? I am guessing, but is it enough to go to a 4 day week? In the peak season no less.

I am flabbergasted! Sorry, that was rant, right?

Hugh

So are they paying them for 4 days now instead of 5? Is that saving money?

Anyway, you might just find that if you order from WHCC or ACI that you don't use Asuka anymore.

Digilabs has a lay flat book that we like much better than asuka. Though the asuka book is nice, it itsn't lay flat, and Digilabs has faster turn around. And digilabs customer service is freakin' awesome!

I just heard a story on NPR about a city doing the four day work week thing to help their employees save on gas. They are also anticipating that it will save the city quite a bit of cash on utilities--having the lights/air/computers on for four days instead of five. Wonder if it really will help.

Asuka's turnaround time is already frustrating to me, too, and I don't do weddings. I wouldn't mind them shutting down for a week as much if each book didn't take a month to get to me already....

My husband's work is going to the same thing next week...4 ten hour days rather than 5 8's....to save the employees gas.

I think going to a 4-day work week is a great thing - both for people's pocketbooks as well as the environment.

But honestly, the company is probably thinking in terms of their own bottom line - energy costs for a company are astronomical. Going to a 4-day work week helps an incredible amount for their costs.

My husband works four tens. I'd much rather work four tens than five eights.

I can completely understand your frustration here.....the turn around is a little longer than usual and closing for a week is not so great....but after attending Kevin K. bootcamp in December, I understand that he has had a passion and a desire for quite some time to go over to Africa (with a lot of his staff in tow) to build wells for those that have no water.

I know that won't get your album done any sooner, but at least you know that they are not just kicking back watching the Olympic Trials or something

After meeting him and seeing what a giving person he is.....I try to support his efforts.

But at the same time, I can totally understand your frustrations.

I agree...it's killing us too! Haha...last week I had to work a lot extra to go ahead and order what I would have ordered this week, just to get it all in "in time".

And of all times of the year to do this, during this season? Seriously?

Yeah, I appreciate the volunteering in Africa, but I have to wonder about the timing... bonehead move.

I got my very first Asuka just before they closed, and the day it shipped I got a message that the EX case was damaged and they were sending me a new one. I thought "Oh, how nice of them to catch it and fix it immediately, instead of trying to wait and see if I'd even notice!" but then I got the album and it appears that the book was dropped on its corner. The damage went through the EX case and affected both the jacket and the hardcover. It's a minor dent, but I can't send it to a client already damaged!
My email asking them to replace it and rush ship it must have just missed the cutoff of their departure. Siiiigh.

"I wondered what the difference was between say, 3 months ago and now, for the average car owner. Maybe an extra $10 a month? I am guessing, but is it enough to go to a 4 day week? In the peak season no less."

Hugh
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I don't know, I'm spending almost double on gas and I have a 4-cylinder. I need a tune-up so I know that will help, but the higher prices have dramatically cut into my cash flow. And, it doesn't help that here in Chicago we have the highest gas prices in the nation.

That would be great except that most people in the corporate world down here are called "slackers" if they put in less than ten hours a day. So I doubt that would work.

that's exactly what I was thinking....I'm sure my wife would love to work only 8 or 10 hours a day.

This has gotten so far out of hand... work to live, not live to work.
Thank god I'm my own boss.

I agree.

My husband works at a saw mill. They operate four ten hour shifts, nights and days, Monday through Thursday.

I work in an office and work five days a week. I don't often get out with less than ten hours a day either. But then, I don't have to worry about standing over fifteen foot piles of logs stuck in three foot saws while I cut them out with a chainsaw either.

My husband works:

Mondays - 12 hours
Tuesdays - 9 hours
Wednesdays - 9 hours
Thursday - off
Friday - 12 hours
Saturday - 10 hours
Sunday - off

Approximately 2 times a month, he has to work on his Thursdays. Thank goodness that auto dealers in PA are closed on Sundays, or I'm sure he'd have to work then too....

I'd LOVE for him to have 4 10-hour days....that would be such a break for him! Or even 5 10 hours days! LOL