Month: January 2015

Some days need a “redo” button.

Ohhh….. lest people think that every day at a winery is a breeze… or that every winery employee skips out of work everyday giddy (or drunk), let us dispel that rumor. Everyone has bad days. Even Harvest Ridge. Last Sunday was one such day. With several managers gone, frigid cold weather, and a burst pipe, it was the perfect storm of suckage. Our wonderful, dedicated, and exhausted employee sent the following email after valiantly holding down the fort that day. (Names have been changed to protect the innocent.)

I hope everyone is having a wonderful Sunday!!

Today at the winery wasn’t the greatest… it was very eventful to say the least. The pipes at the winery seemed to break today or last night. I’m not sure when. But Mike noticed there wasn’t a lot of water pressure today when he came in to start filtering. He came over to the tasting room and we checked our water and we didn’t have much pressure either. So… Mike and I had both heard something in the production area when I let him in at 11:30 (I honestly went up to the barrels right there by the stairs and thought air was coming out of them or something!) but we just thought it was a weird noise. He came over a few minutes later when he realized the water pipes had burst and were spraying water everywhere so he turned the water off and we called Steve. Mike ran to Lowe’s twice today to get stuff to fix it. My dad even came up, helped him saw the pipe and showed him what to do. Mike ended up fixing the one pipe but then when we turned the water back on another pipe burst that had a crack in it. We didn’t realize it had a crack in it too until the other pipe was fixed and the water pressure pushed out the other crack in the other pipe.
It was a mess. But Mike really tried his best.

We actually had a pretty busy day with tastings. The people who did walk through the door were offered a complimentary tasting to come back a day that we weren’t having plumbing issues. Most people left or stayed and did a quick tasting and then left. Our neighbors John and Jane came out today and they did offer their restroom. People also went up the road to use the bathroom at B’s Pizza ( I called them and thanked them for letting people use their restroom). I just felt terrible not being able to let people use the bathroom. But some did anyway even though we posted “out of order” signs on the doors. We tried our best to apologize for the inconvenience.

All the dirty dishes are in the dishwasher and some in the sink and on the counter that need to be washed. Brianna and Rita did vacuum the whole event room tonight but we did not have water to mop so it was swiftered as best we could.

Music was great. I gave him his check and he filled out his form.

Food truck got lost and were late because they had a flat tire. But they got here and were so sweet and apologetic for being late. They said they had a good turn out for food sales though and would love to come back again soon.

I will attach a picture of the pipe that needs fixing. Mike and I left the primer and glue in Matt’s office and the one broken pipe and a description of what is needed to fix the other pipe. They will need another 3/4 inch pipe and the connector things. Mike paid for everything as well. He left the receipts there and said he would get it another day when he was in. He is not there tomorrow though. Steve said he would let them know what to do tomorrow. I  also took the dirty towels home from the kitchen to be washed. I will wash them and bring them back up tomorrow (if you wonder where all the towels went!).

Brianna and Rita also said tonight that it didn’t seem like both vacuums were picking up too much… I’m not for sure what’s up with that.

I just wanted to try to give you guys a heads up on some things!!

I’m sorry for writing a novel and bothering you guys on your days off and vacations! It was just a crazy day! Thank you for all your help! I hope you all have a great week!!

We chalk it up to new building bugs and move on — learning lessons as we go. Onward and upward! And, in the words of Scarlett O’Hara, “After all, tomorrow IS another day!”