The sun shines. Daffodils dance in the light breeze. Blossom and leaf bud declare it's spring. In between customers I snatch time to pen my column. That' s right! I'm not at my desk typing as I usually do. Instead, I'm at Charlotte's and Jack's shop, ‘Tendance etc’ and I am using my Samsung tablet with stylus to ‘pen’ this column.
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You might remember that months ago, I had bought the tablet with mobile phone capability as a useful travelling tool. With Wi-Fi capability and a SIM card I found it easy to keep in touch with family and friends. Since I've returned home I thought I'd not needed to use the tablet as often. That's not the case. Even when at home with access to a desk top, I still regularly use my tablet.
The tablet’s large screen and light weight make it my favourite reading tool for online articles and documents. Likewise its size makes showing photos more enjoyable than on a smart phone.
Such usefulness would be enough for me to recommend it to you. Yet tools and programs available on the web extend the uses I have for my tablet. For starters, I store most of my photos on my desktop computer which synchronises with Dropbox, an online file storage site. When I take photos with my tablet, those photos find their way to my desktop via Dropbox.
A few weeks ago I added Google's 'Sheets' and 'Docs' apps to my tablet and to my delight, my tablet has become a mobile office. Here in the shop, I use the Sheets' spreadsheets to record each sale and each save of the Sheet synchronises with Charlotte's computer via Dropbox. No matter where Charlotte is, whether with her family in the south of France or at a trade show in Paris or elsewhere , her business data is available to her. That Charlotte doesn't have Google's apps on her computer doesn't matter. I save each sheet in "xls" format and she can access them using Microsoft's powerful Excel program.
Looking up from my writing, I catch sight of Charlotte’s daffodils bobbing in the wind through the new large windows of the shop. These bulbs were bred by local daffodil breeder Lawrence Trevanion. Can I suggest that a visit to his place, just 10 minutes out of Yass, to view a paddock full of his gorgeous, drought hardy blooms would be wonderful. Email Lawrence at info@trevaniondaffodils.com.au and ask him if he is open this weekend.
Surprisingly it has taken me all day to write this article, stopping and starting between customers! So many are out exploring, browsing, shopping, and generally enjoying the beautiful weather. Customers either buy items or take business cards so they can easily visit the website to plan their gift purchases. It seems confidence is springing back!
