I found a ticket and got dinner for four!

Why I go to the Casino in such bad times
My Mother and Father-in-law like to visit the slots once in a while for entertainment. We usually go to the MGM® or Motorcity® in Detroit. They like the mechanical, 3 wheel quarter slots. So my wife and I drive them for safety reasons and watch them. We make a day of it; we leave early so we can get there and enjoy sometime before we get lunch. Then we help them find more slots to play. Then we leave and go to Wendy’s® and get a baked potato and a drink. I’m talking about 12 hours for the day. That’s mostly because my Mother-in-law has just enough luck to keep playing. She really loves it. We do to, and laugh about the luck she has.
It's a fun day to relieve the daily stress.

The Ticket Story
About two weeks ago we went to Motorcity® and got them all setup at some slots. I went and got them a coffee. Then I noticed the casino had moved some new slots and also got some new ones. So I told my wife I was going to look around and be right back.

I was walking around and made my way looking for quarter slots for them later. I went down this one isle but noticed it was dollar slots. Then something caught my eye. It was a ticket that was waving at me from the strong force of the air conditioner. I thought to myself it was a ticket for small change or something like that. Then I thought, if I take that ticket, the cameras might be watching and I will look like I’m taking it for myself. My heart started pumping because some people were heading my way and I didn’t know what to do. I’m talking about a lot of thoughts in just seconds. I then thought if I don’t take it, they will certainly take it! So I grabbed it and tried not to attract attention to myself. I got away from the people and looked at the ticket.

My eyes couldn’t believe what they saw and my Heart about jumped out of my chest. The ticket was for. eight hundred and sixty some dollars. I was now very scared because I have to prove I’m not going to keep it. I believe that is steeling, period!

I headed to the area where the gaming tables are and looked for someone important. I seen a guy pushing a cart and I told him that I need to talk with someone with authority really fast. (I’m sorry folks if you’re saying to yourself that I’m an idiot!) But that’s just not me to keep something that’s not mine. I have to live with myself even though my wife and I could have really used it. It was not mine to keep. The guy with the cart pointed to a really slick dressed guy heading our way wearing ID tags. He was the Gaming Table Manager.

I said excuse me sir but I just found this ticket hanging out of a slot machine. He took a look at it and said Oh my gosh! He seemed thrilled that someone would turn it in. I thought, yes, I’m an a$$, but I’m an honest a$$.

He told me to have a seat for a few minutes. About five minutes later he brought back the Slot Manager and told him what had happened. The slot Manager told me to stay seated for a few minutes and he might be able to find the person it belonged to because the ticket has all the information as to what machine it was and if he had a member card inserted, they will be able to know the name of the person.

I don’t know why but while I was waiting, I started freezing and shaking. I think I was really tested that day.

They came back with the owner of the ticket. He was a gentleman that was around 70 or so. He looked at me right in the eyes and said “Sir, there is not too many people like you any more. Thank You!”
After he left I felt a calm like I never felt before. It was all good! The Slot manager asked me if I would like a comp for a dinner. I told him I couldn’t take it because I was with my wife and in-laws. He said “so that’s dinner for four?” I did take that because I knew my wife and in-laws would really enjoy getting the buffet this visit.

That’s the day that made my day!
Thanks for reading this.

NEWS; The ship is sailing

The container has been on the water now for about 3 weeks and should arrive at our warehouse mid August (week of August 16-20). This container should carry us through the holiday season and into 2011. This should take care of most of our out of stock items. The items that are coming are

2501 Dionysus Pinot Noir in stock
2502 Dionysus Cabernet Sauvignon in stock
2503 Dionysus Chardonnay in stock
2504 Dionysus Zinfandel -White in stock
2505 Dionysus Zinfandel -Red out of stock
2506 Dionysus Merlot in stock
2524 Dionysus Carafe 10 1/2" in stock
501 Milano Brandy 5 1/2" in stock
502 Milano Whiskey 3 1/2" in stock
503 Milano Beer 7 3/4" out of stock
504 Milano Cordial 7 3/4" out of stock
505 Milano Goblet 10" in stock
506 Milano Red Wine 9 1/4" out of stock
507 Milano Regular Flute 10" out of stock
508 Milano Halo Flute 10" out of stock
528 Milano Longdrink 6 1/2" in stock
529 Milano OS White Wine 9 1/4" out of stock
530 Milano Balloon Goblet 9" out of stock
531 Milano OS Goblet 10 1/2" in stock
532 Milano OS Red Wine 9 1/2" in stock
537 Milano Shot Glass 2 1/4" in stock
538 Milano Shot Set Plate. This is the plate to hold our shot glasses . The plate is out, glasses in.
563 Milano Wine Decanter 13" in stock
566 Milano Beer Mug 4 3/4" in stock
568 Milano Martini 7 7/8" in stock
569 Milano White Wine 8 3/4" in stock
577 Milano Champagne Saucer 7" out of stock
705 Georgio H. Flute 10" in stock

Hi all

I have not added to the blog in a very long time. It's a very ruff year here in Michigan. As you may know if you have ever visited my about us page on our store, I run my business from home. I started this business as a way to introduce myself into the business world and maybe learn a few things. I don't draw an income from it and many would say I'm crazy. I really get a thrill just providing great customer service and getting comments like "these glasses are so beautiful, thank you" and in return I tell them, NO, THANK YOU!!

I have to "Rant" for a sec,
Sales have been providing me enough cash flow to just run the store. My wife lost her job a year ago and with me working as a sub-custodian in the local school system with it being summer, work is slow. Well let's just say I struggle to keep my mindset in a forward motion.

We are all struggling with our mortgages. The Fed and Michigan has a new "Helping Hardest Hit Homeowners" program. The program is on a first come first serve basis. Well the list of banks get's longer by the week but Bank of America has yet to get involved.

I'm going to give my customers my services as long as I can, it's my good feeling mood.

"Rant" over

Thank you to all my current and future customers.
The pleasers all mine :)

Looking to 2010

Hello everyone!

I spent the weekend re-arranging my homepage. We added a 3-D Carousel too. It’s pretty cool! Have a look. We also just added Free Shipping for orders over $100.00. That's through out the store.

The Christmas season was a good one for us. We had many happy customers that told us the customer service and products we great. That's a really good feeling!

The stock took quite a hit for the Holidays. We believe our distributor will be ordering another container from Romania soon. We still have plenty of the more popular products on hand. We also have the Cathy Martini glasses (set of 4 glasses) dicounted at 50% off for a limited time. You can get the Romanian Cathy Martini set for $17.99 plus shipping. That's only about $4.50 per glass. Not a bad deal for hand blown craftsmanship. You can see the video of these guy's making these glasses right on our homePage.

We look forward to 2010 being a better year in sales! I wish you all a great new year for you and your families.

Lawrence Hagedorn
Founder/President
GreatLakesBuy.com

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all from GreatLakesBuy.com. I have a free gift for you, good for one day. Use Coupon Code GoodLuck2010 To apply a Free Shipping discount on all products in our store. HAPPY NEW YEAR :)

The Bacchus Red Wine

THE BACCHUS COLLECTION

Each piece in this line of mouth-blown and hand-decorated crystal is produced individually in the European country of Romania. The Bacchus Collection appeals to the senses with its bold grape pattern and subtle gold accents. Not only is the creative process time consuming, it is also demanding. Each glass is a piece of art created by a master artisan.

Glass blowing is the art of crating an object from molten glass by blowing air into it utilizing a tube. The glass in the oven takes days to melt (the oven is never turned off). The artisan collects molten glass onto the tip of his blown rod, being careful to accumulate just the right amount for the piece to be blown. Each ware is then blown to the proper thickness and into the proper shape by mouth. When the glass is just right, the piece is taken out and allowed to cool.

It is then sent to an etching station where the grape pattern is cut by hand into the glass. Different craftsmen cut the different pieces of the etching: one person etches the grapes, another the vine, and yet another the leaves. When the glass etching is complete, the glass is polished and sent to the painting station. Here the etchings are painted by hand, using natural luster and real 24k gold. Once the piece is in its final shape, it is fired one more time to ensure long-lasting strength, durability and color.

Could we Lose a Great Art?

Could this be the end of a great Art and Talent that is unique in it's own way? I hear that the Factory that makes our Hand Blown Glassware in Romania may be going out of business. The reason I heard is because of high propane prices. This will be devastating to the beautiful glassware it produces, the end of a product that has its own unique customers.

If you’re unfamiliar with this Beautiful Art form and would like to know more, then let me provide you with a little information.


The Art of Romanian Hand Blown Glassware

Each piece in every collection of hand blown and hand painted lead free crystal is produced individually in the European country of Romania. Not only is the creative process time consuming, it is also demanding. Each glass is a piece of art created by a worker best described as an artisan. We are providing this information to give you a better idea of what goes into producing the glassware.

Glass blowing is the art of creating an object from molten glass by blowing air into it utilizing a tube. The glass in the oven takes days to melt and the oven is never turned off. The artisan collects the molten glass onto the tip of his blowing rod being careful to accumulate just the right amount for the piece to be blown. Depending on the décor of the glass, two or three artisans may have to work together on the same piece quickly before the glass cools. Each piece of glassware is then blown to the proper thickness and into the proper shape by mouth. Once the shape and thickness of the piece have been achieved, the glass is allowed to cool. If the décor requires etching, like the Bacchus Collection then the piece is then sent onto the etching stations where artisans use an etching wheel to cut the pattern into the glass.

Once etching is complete, the glass is polished and sent to the painting stations. Here artists paint the glass by hand using natural luster and real gold, if the piece calls for it. Once the décor is complete the piece reaches the final stage where it is fired on more time to ensure long lasting strength, durability and color.

Watch this Video that was taken at the Factory from GMG and sold at our Store.



These artisans work all year long to produce the quanities needed for a once a year shipment to The Georgia Marketing Group, Inc who is our supplier. We as a retailer, truly Love and Appreciate the hard work these people do. We are saddened to see the possibility of a Beautiful Art for fading away.

While it's not to late to get most of our products, take advantage of our sale if you would like to get your hands on a Great Glassware Collection.