Lurking and stress, with a little optimism for good luck

I've been meaning to write a new post all day. It's 9:00 at night and I'm finally getting to it.

I'm not sure what brought me to Blogger. I think it was when my old friend Sheree started a blog to chronicle bringing her daughter home from China. I saw the little tab on top that said, 'next blog'. With that little click, I entered into a part of the web I had no idea existed. I clicked, next, next, next until I found The 4th Avenue Blues. And I read. I spent hours reading. I read Andrew's blog back to the beginning. Andrew inspired me to start my own blog. I'm so grateful to him for that. I read his blog, but I never commented. His writing was so good. I didn't think I could write anything nearly as good in response. The comments that people left on his blog were so good too. I started reading their blogs. I was a lurker. I didn't even know the term existed until Andrew wrote a post about it. I came out. Not only did I comment on Andrew's blog, but I commented on the blogs of the people who consistently left comments on his. They wrote wonderful blogs. You know who you are, friends. My life has really been enriched by the people I've met here. It started with Andrew, and he's always held a special place in my heart. I've seen his life evolve. He listed my blog on his sidebar years ago, and my readership quadrupled. I was honored to be his special friend. He helped me figure out the HTML and get my former template up and running. He put this one up too. I trusted him with my password. I've sent him cards over the years. He's been a buddy, a friend. I'm profoundly sad that he's gone without a trace. So many people feel the same way. If you're reading this Andrew, know that I miss you. You won't be forgotten. I await the day that I hear from you.

I had a horrendous hair color experience on Saturday with a long-time client. Lesson of the day? Trust your instinct. I was very careful with mixing my client's color. I was showing someone new to the salon how we use scales to measure color. I told myself, Cheryl, pay attention to what you're doing because you're talking and measuring and reading your formula all at the same time. So when *the color in the bowl didn't look quite right, I ignored my instinct that something was wrong. Because I knew I measured the right colors exactly. I had a break while she processed and I spent it hanging out in the back room. I never have time to hang out. I should have checked her color since my instinct had told me that *the color in the bowl didn't look quite right. When I saw her color (I had applied it to her inch of gray roots only), I was speechless. She had an inch of pinkish-red hair. We don't have mirrors in the color area. Oh shit, oh no. Red is very hard to fix. Pink-red especially. I broke it to her, and told her I'd be getting my friend Sheri to help me out. Sweat. Fear. Loathing. Well, stress, yeah. My client was great about it. So easy-going. She said she didn't have anything to do so she was fine. Sheri was only going to Bed Bath and Beyond. I was supposed to get off early and go to Borders. I really, really wanted to go to Borders. Thank goodness she was my last client. Long story short? Can't do it. I told Sheri how sure I was that I did the right thing. We looked in the trash to find the empty color tubes. 6G (gold). Check. 7G. Check. 7N (natural)? No. 9R? Yes. RED! How could this be? So it was my fault. Sheri came up with the formula to correct it. I apply it. I leave it on a full 30 minutes. Sheri stays. What an angel. We rinse it out and it's...darker and red. I had to tell my client again. She said, maybe I should look at it? I said, I don't think that would be a good idea. And she didn't! Can you believe that? The fix should have worked. The fix was 6G and yellow. While I was working on the next step, which was putting in foil highlights, Sheri investigated. She checked all the chemical records of the day. One person used 9R and threw away the empty tube. The one in the trash. So it wasn't me! I didn't use red on her hair. The fault was with whatever was in the tube of 6G. And not just one tube. The one that caused the initial problem. The one that didn't fix it. So, I foiled. Another stylist, Debbie, helped. We tested a new color to apply to the roots of the un-foiled red hair. It worked. We applied it in-between each foil. The 'fix' took 90 minutes. When my client finally saw herself, she said she could still see a little red. We told her what she was seeing was nothing compared to what it had been. It was barely noticeable. And the good/bad thing about reds? They fade. Can I tell you how happy I was to leave for the day? SO happy. I went to Starbucks and had two lattes. It was BOGO day and I needed both.

Tomorrow's a work day. I'm having a one-day weekend. Tomorrow I have 3 (count 'em) 3 new clients. Three new clients in one day is really stressful. I'm not one to wish away time, but I can't wait till tomorrow is over. Even though I know in the end the day will turn out to be fine, just fine. Forever an optimist. That's me.

Is it Thanksgiving yet?