The Thomas-Bubbler Household: Weeks 2 + 3

 - - - Update 3.5.2010 - - - Monday morning of their second week in New Max, and we find Ty has added some wedding-themed deco to attract more attention to his business: a wedding arch for the customers to walk through when they enter the shop, to put them in the right frame of mind for buying the wedding cakes and champagne bottles he has on offer, as well as shop signs. And he can well afford it - the household account boasts an impressive 89.610 Simoleons now! 

Sam is promoted to Senior Officer today. 

Ty usually makes sure to get the household chores done before he opens the shop. 

And sometimes, administrative work is necessary as well. 

Inside the shop, he has added some wedding deco, too. And on a cold day like this, he lights up the fire to provide a cosy atmosphere for his valued customers. 

And his customers thank him by flocking to the shop like there is no tomorrow! It is Tuesday, and "Bubbler's Bubbly" reaches rank 8. 

On Wednesday, Sam is promoted to Commander. 

Ty has just received his Gold Cash Register Badge - no wonder he is all smiles at the till! 

Most evenings, both Ty and Sam drop into bed really exhausted from their hard work. When Sam is not busy with her own career, she helps out at the shop, mostly with restocking, but sometimes she also makes a sale to a customer. 

Tonight, Ty has both of the Cordial sisters shopping at his venue: Samantha and Kim are witches, but while one of them is an infallibly good one, the other one is emitting an eerie green glow. No harm is done, though. 

"The poor dear, he works at least as hard as I, if not harder," Sam thinks over breakfast. That same day, Friday, she is promoted to Astronaut due to a lucky decision with a chance card. Now she has 6 skill points to acquire before her next (and last?) promotion is due - but she has all weekend, since she is not going back to work until Monday. 

Today, the atmosphere at the shop is not as pleasant as Ty wants to provide it for his customers. For some reason, Vidcund Curious and Phineaus Furley start to argue, and short of getting into a physical fight, Ty politely asks first Phineaus to leave the premises and later, after Vidcund has made his purchase, he is asked to leave as well. 

Peace restored, on the Sunday Ty receives his Silver Stocking Badge - and his shop gets to rank 9. Both Sam and Ty are now 15 days away from elderhood. How long until Ty's shop will reach rank 10? And is Sam really just one promotion away from reaching her lifetime want? We'll find out when I reach the letter "T" in the alphabet, because then I will come back for Sam Thomas :-) 

- - - Update 28.5.2012 - - - Good morning, Sam! Off to a new week of work... Let's see how things will go. 

On this Monday, making a sale to Sally Riley, Ty's business reaches rank 8. (This is strange - the business had already been at rank 9 at the end of the previous week; I don't know what happened to make it go down to 7, but i am glad it is back to 8!) 

A bit later, after Sam returns from her day job and makes a sale to Daisy Jacquet (née Greenman, she is Rose Greenman's eldest daughter and was born as a PlantSim until she became "human" with the help of a potion bought from the Gypsy Lady), the shop reaches rank 9 again, and Sam makes her Golden Sales Badge. 

She does not neglect her day job, though - being an astronaut requires enough rest in between missions, and she also tries to find the time to work on one more charisma and body skill which she needs for her next promotion. 

On Wednesday, the bathtub breaks. Ty is always annoyed when household chores mean he can't keep the shop open at all hours. 

But after he has successfully repaired the tub, he opens the shop and relaxes by doing the crossword while waiting for the customers to arrive. 

And arrive they do! You can see Nervous Singles (formerly Subject) here as well as Bianca Monty (in the red trouser suit), Pascal Curious, Roxie Sharpe, Hermia Capp (the pregnant lady with the ginger hair) and Marissa Cleveland as well as a townie. Thursday is spent mostly working at the shop, and on Friday, Ty reaches one fifth of his lifetime want: His "Bubbler's Bubbly" is now a top level business! 1 down, 4 to go. 

More often than not, Ty or Sam ask one of the customers to do a bit of gardening for them - they simply don't have enough time to do everything themselves, and the customers don't seem to mind. Here, Vivian Riley even thinks about her purchase decision while clipping the shrubs! 

Another household matter needing urgent attention is the clogged toilet. Sam takes care of that. 

Friday evening, Sam and Ty sit down to celebrate their first Top Level Business with champagne and hamburgers (an odd choice, I know!). 

They have almost 110.000 Simoleons in their bank account, and Ty decides to use part of the money to buy his next business, which has to be a community lot. He purchases The Corner Shop. 

On Saturday, Ty and Sam take a taxi to their new shop. 

They remove all the shelves and shorten the counter by one element. Then they stock the shop with bubble blowers and party balloons, and name it "Bubbler's Bubbles" (as opposed to "Bubbler's Bubbly", which is the name of their home business). The shop is opened... 

...and Sam is now willing to try her hand at the cash register. On its opening day, "Bubbler's Bubbles" reaches rank 1. 

On Sunday morning, Sam maximizes her body skill; she can now rightly expect a promotion next week. 

But before next week starts, there is the whole Sunday to work at the shop. Together, Sam and Ty raise their 2nd business to rank 3. 

It has been mostly a good week; with domestic issues to take care of and Sam also having her day job and skill requirements to consider, maybe things moved at a slower pace than what would have been possible with full focus on business, but they are happy; 8 days away from elderhood, and I am sure at least Sam will reach her lifetime want next time we meet her. The question of marriage has still not crossed their mind, in spite of them being a firm 3-bolt-couple. Is that ever going to happen?