Meanwhile... Back at the Ranch... Episode 56 (Audio)
Another year gone, and the first podcast of the year. I thought I might reflect back on the year some and look forward some and talk a little bit about this podcast too.
This year was tough just like last year but Covid caused pain in different ways this year than last. Last year we lost all of our business in the period of about two weeks when we sheltered in place, this year people moved out more and took trips by trying to be as safe as possible, road trips, remote trips, camping trips, beach house trips. People get creative when trying to have a vacation and a pandemic at the same time.
This year Covid hit very close to home and killed our only employee Asheley, the pain was just too much and it then hit us as well, thankfully vaccinated even though I was very sick I was going to be okay and I was. Wes also came down with it and at the very end of the year one of our new employees Emma came down with it, Laura, and her whole family are currently trying to recover, volunteers are hit wit it, Dr. Renos staff and just about everyone you know is sick with it. I just hope they are all vaccinated.
We had a good year with business until Omicron came to show itself, we were booked for Christmas and then as the holiday approached cancellations came too. Day by day people called cancelling sick with covid, relatives they were traveling to see were sick with covid and ultimately we lost about 20% of our Christmas bookings due to Covid. Nothing to do but keep pushing forward, withe very single aspect of it.
I lost Georgia this year she was an old girl that lived a great life but it doesn’t make it any easier, I have so many senior dogs I was grateful to have only lost one of them this year. The changes at the Ranch were pretty big, Kirk retired with declining health, we lost Asheley and replaced them both with 4 new employees, which was huge for us.
Those of you that are clients will be meeting them as you come in, they are a great group of kids with lots of experience working with dogs. When you come in allow them to introduce themselves to you and please welcome them, we know it’s different for people to come in and not see us but we assure you they are all great. Emma, Makala, Jennah and Wyatt. It was high time we took some of the pressure off of us and asked for some help with experienced people.
In this podcast we talk quite a bit about Bessie and her allergies, in addition we are never going to give up our cookie business, its turned out to be pretty popular and you know what after going through this pandemic with the loss of business we diversified into cookies, a store, and podcasting because we just aren’t going to keep all of our eggs in one basket anymore. In this podcast we talk about making a new cookie and what we think we might like to make and what we think all of you might like to try. We encourage you to chime in about that too.
We also discuss Covid and Laura’s family and we would like to talk to the village and ask how all of you are doing personally with yourself or your family. Has covid affected your life? Have you lost people you love? Are you a healthcare worker? And if so how are you doing? I think it really helps for us to talk together in this village we have, share stories and support one another. This village is about way more than rescuing dogs, it’s a community and I encourage people to share in this community to find some kind words and support that might make all of us feel better. Can we all hope that we might be able to move to an endemic and away from a pandemic? I’m just so very sick and tired of this virus, so weary and I just want it to go away..
