A kingdom for a pencil.

Two sets of dreams, last night.

In the first, there is a very important vote, and I'm supposed to write six names on a piece of paper and put it in the ballot box.

Except every time I try to write, something goes wrong. The paper is two small, or it breaks up, or it's too dirty, the pencil breaks, the pens run out of ink, on and on.

And I'm also forgetting the names, and having to ask the other guys again and again for the names, and I memorize them, but when I try to vote the same things happen and I start forgetting......

The second dream is, I'm an intern for a very prestigious organization. It's starts off good, but then I start making mistake after mistake after mistake, and the other members are starting to draw away from me and I can tell the boss is ignoring me.

I finally realize, I don't have to stay in a doomed enterprise, and I leave.

I wake up and toss and turn for an hour. Apparently, my subconscious is not convinced of my competence. I call these "ostracism" dreams, and they are very common for me.

Thing is, I used to wake up from these dreams and think: why did I stay and take all that abuse? So me actually walking away from the bad scene is an improvement.

When I finally fall back to sleep, I have another dream where I'm telling the big boss from the above dream why I had messed up. I'm telling him how much better off I am when I'm doing things myself, instead of as part of a group. Everything is cool.


Reflecting back, I think these dreams came from the HOUSE episode last night, combined with watching THE SOURCECODE.

Don't know how it relates to my own life, except to reinforce my lone wolfishness.

Monday mopes.

There was a sample four questions in the N.Y. Times for a college entrance test: 3 of the questions were liberal arts or social science questions, and I was pretty sure I knew the answers. The fourth question was a math question, and I felt like I knew the right answer.

So I got all four right.

Except, I can't tell you why I got the math question right. I just intuited the answer.

Sure it could be luck, but I had the same experience back when I was younger and taking these tests -- I'd do much better on math than I had any right to.

Because I don't know WHY I got the right answers.

If you don't know WHY you get the right answer, did you really get the right answer? If you can't explain it? If you just puzzled it out, using a bit of logic and counting on your fingers and drawing crude pictures?

Just wondering.

Later: took the more extended sentence completion and reading comprehension samples, and they seemed easy. Am I getting smarter in my old age?

************

Went to see The Lincoln Lawyer, which was surprising good.

It was also surprisingly faithful to the original novel. Which just confirms my long held belief that the closer a movie sticks to the source material, the better it is.

But I also wonder why, with all the great mystery and thriller writers out there, so few of them become movies. Lee Childs, James Lee Burke, John Sandford, John Connelly, and on an on.

Some of them have one movie made out of a major character, and that's it. Most don't even seem to get that one movie.

Just wondering.

**********

I spent several hours building a book order, until it was over 100 books. They were all good books. Books I think I can sell. They were cheap.

But I deleted the order.

I never do this.

But I came back from the store, where I looked around and realized that no matter how good the books, I didn't have any place to PUT THEM.

So, I'll spend about the same amount of money on fewer books, that I absolutely need in stock, but which are full wholesale price. The evergreens -- and restocking Game of Thrones.

**********

Speaking of Game of Thrones.

I liked it, O.K. I wish they had done two hours.

Like all fantasy, when it is actually visualized, it brings it a bit down to earth. Some visual elements, like the ice wall, were impressive. Others, like the White Stalkers were kind of disappointing...

I loved Tyrion. One of the reviewers was calling Peter Dinklage the "Jack Nicholson of dwarf actors" which I think is right on. Forgot what rotters the Lannisters were (except for Tyrian, who along with Arya, are two of my favorite characters) -- hard to imagine that Martin actually makes some of them more sympathetic (?) later in the series. Or that the Starks "nobility" becomes annoying later in the series. Nice trick.

SPOILER:

What happens to Bran is like the "original sin" of the series, from which the rest of the plot flows. No matter how insufferable the Starks become, and how sympathetic the Lannisters, it's hard to forgive that act.

You end up almost cheering for the Targaryen's, who in most fantasies would be the bad guys, to sweep on in with their fire-breathing dragons and clean up the freaking mess that the royal families have made of it.

**********

Read every other review except the N.Y. Times about Game of Thrones.

Sadly, the Bulletin ran the N.Y.Times review which has garnered quite a bit of controversy online for it's cluelessness.

Read the critique of this review on Salon for a more balanced view.

Ridiculous review.

I often say, I wish that comics could gain the same kind of credibility as S.F. and fantasy.

Well, spoke too soon. This review shows we still have a fair distance to go to get any genre treated credibly.

Sunday snips.

I'm not surprised that Mark Zuckerberg's visit to Prineville was news in Central Oregon. (Actually, I was surprised it wasn't more in the news -- seems to me the Bulletin mostly missed it.)

But that it was news nationwide -- in the USA Today and Huff Post?

Even then, I wonder if the nationals really understand how much in the middle of nowhere Prineville is: sorry, Prineville, I love you but you know it's true...

**********

Wow. I really am knocked out by the complete lack of notice on the part of the comic retailers over the demise of Tokyo Pop. There isn't a peep out of the Comic Book Industry Alliance -- nothing, no alarm, no sadness, not even the small of amount of schadenfreude I expressed.

The complete dismissal of the subject tells volumes....about how we weren't selling volumes...

**********

The comic publisher Boom has apparently lost its right's to Disney titles.

One of those outcomes you knew was coming once Disney bought Marvel, despite the usual protestations that nothing would change.

I've been buying as many Disney comics on the liquidation lists as possible, and I'll probably up that for awhile until I see if Marvel is going to follow through...

I always like to have a stack of Uncle Scrooge and Walt Disney's Comics and Stories around.

**********

Linda and I watched Splice last night. This was an effectively creepy movie not so much because of the 'monster' girl, but because of the behavior of the humans. Deeply flawed and believable and unsettling.

**********

Blog reader and game customer was commenting on my "tax the rich" sentiments. He mentioned Atlas Shrugged.

"What happens if they leave the country and take their innovation and jobs with them?" he asked, (which is pretty much the theme of the movie...).

"I just don't think that would happen," I said. "Besides, they've been doing a bang up job of creating jobs, haven't they?"

Anyway, we agreed to disagree, but as he was leaving he made another dig, and I shouted out in revolutionary fervor "Eat the Rich!"

"Eat the rich? What if YOU become rich."

"Why....I don't think that is going to happen. But....if it did. Umm...........I'd have to leave the country to avoid taxes..."

I have another customer that assures me that Atlas Shrugged was the best movie since Gone with the Wind and was going to be a huge hit. It currently has a 5% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- or, as it happens, one positive review out of 22 which if you read it, is actually a negative review. (Just checked, it's bumped up to 10% positive, but still...)

It seems to me that his conservative views are equally delusional...

I don't understand why so many of my favorite customers are so damn conservative...

**********

Caveman professional...

Way back in caveman days, there was a guy or gal who was such a good storyteller and singer around the campfire, that his tribe said to him:

-- "Stay in the cave and create some more of those great stories and songs. Don't worry we'll do all the hunting and gathering."

Thus was created the world's (second) oldest profession.

You can't get professional work for free.

The word for free labor is "amateur." You get amateur work for free...


Way back in caveman days, they invented the wheel.

Oh, wait.

We're not trying to reinvent that....

Bootlegging a ticket to the Titantic.

Tokyo Pop is no more.

At one point, this company was the biggest publisher of manga in the U.S.A. It was responsible for introducing Sailor Moon, the first really big hit. They made popular the original flip format, (reading the book backward), and the easy price-point, $9.99.

Borders was an early adopter of Tokyo Pop manga, filling their aisles.

And we comic shops were pounded by the internet 'experts' for being too stupid to buy a ticket on this wonderful new ocean liner called manga, which was indestructible, and would leave us stupid comic shops left floundering on shore.

We missed the boat, was the common wisdom.

I am one of the comic shops who actually did bring in vast amounts of manga and anime. I was a little doubtful -- I thought the demographic was a lot like the fans of music 'boy groups' and it was possible it was nothing but a fad.

Well, it was a bit of a fad. But more importantly, it was the group of customers who seemed to completely adopt the "free" form of downloading material. (otherwise known as pirating...)

I cut my losses --

I reorder only the top ten series, now.

A few years ago, two biggest entities in the U.S. manga world were Borders and Tokyo Pop. Both are toast.

So maybe comic shops were right to be skeptical of this ship. ( I noticed that there hasn't been even a comment so far on the Comic Book Industry Alliance.)

Some of the disdain that I saw from manga and anime customers toward the business of producing, distributing and selling this product, is the same disdain I now am seeing toward the business of producing, distributing and selling books.

And I expect I'll hear the same dismay when the structure falls apart.

See, there are these things called "books" and if the publisher who owns the rights to these "books" isn't around, they don't get produced -- at all.

You can't pirate what isn't produced.

Not to sound like an economist....


Sales: Bookstore Sales Up 9.3% in February

February bookstore sales rose 9.3%, to $1.107 billion, compared to February 2010, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau. For the year to date, bookstore sales have slipped 0.5% to $3.289 billion. (Note: under Census Bureau definitions, bookstore sales are of new books and do not include "electronic home shopping, mail-order, or direct sale" or used book sales.)

Shelf Awareness, 4/14/11.


Ah, hem. Bookstores are down only .5% for the year, despite the huge increase in e-book sales.

Not quite the end of the world, yet.

Grumpy grump.

If you're looking for something cheerful, I'd advise you to go away.

This crappy month continues. Car won't start. Computer won't start. Last minute picky tax details. Pretty rotten sales.

I have nightmares. Last night's nightmare was an end of the world one. We finally found some other surivivors, who are better off than we are but still welcoming, and we're having a celebration in an old house and a fire starts and everyone but me dies.

I woke up with heart pounding, and had a weird insight. End of the world stories are really about your own death. Every death is an end of the world.

Oh, and I have a nasty hangnail.

Told you not to read.

Anyway, in the grand scheme of things, these are more annoyances than problems. But what's a blog if not a place to vent?

Our little Peyton Place...

"Bend Doctor Suspended for Relations With Patient." Bulletin, 4/14/11.

Dr. David Redwine "has been reprimanded and placed on one month's suspension..."

"...he was involved in a sexual relationship with a patient and improperly prescribed drugs to her and members of her family."

This is the same guy who sued Tami Sawyer after investing and losing money with her company.

The patient he had "relations" with?

Yep. Tami Sawyer.

Let's see: Sex. Drugs. Alleged theft.

Bad judgment all around.

Maybe there's a lesson here: don't invest money with someone who is cheating with you.

And don't take investment money from someone who is cheating with you, and prescribing drugs.

Just a suggestion.

**********

I ordered an equal number of the George R.R. Martin Songs of Fire and Ice books, and sold all of Clash of Kings. Did everyone suddenly decide they needed to read the second book in the series? Weird.

**********

Never fear, the Fear Itself comic is here. A week late, but it's here.

**********

Whenever I'm out of town, I consistently have fewer readers than when I'm in town, even though the messages I post seem to me to be exactly the same kind.

Same thing happens at the store: I decide to start cutting back on something, and even before whatever I'm doing can have any possible effect on inventory, sales drop.

It's got to be subtle signals that are so subtle as to be almost E.S.P.

**********

Finally! Obama speaks to me!

Yes, tax the rich.

Obviously.

**********

On the coast.

Wrote this last weekend:



Linda and I are in Astoria for the weekend.

We had planned on staying with our son Todd in Portland, but there is a tad bit of family drama going on with him and his girlfriend, so we decided to just drop by and give him a hug and a talk, and be on our way.

We really enjoyed our last visit to Astoria --which is now more than 4 years ago!

We had dinner at a place called Baked Alaska. I asked for a private booth or some other private place , but where we could see the ocean. "You can see the river and about two feet of ocean," she says, obviously having been asked a million times.

They placed us very near the entrance. I never know if we are being shunted aside or what. Turned out to be directly across from the pilot boat ramp, so watched them come and go out to the big freighters.

"Are these ships actually unloading here in Astoria?"

"Most are waiting to either go up the river, or through the mouth of the Columbia. But, really, for most of them it's just Free Parking.'

The dining location turned out to be fine.

I passed on the clam chowder until I saw my wife's arrive, and I immediately ordered some for myself. The meal was great. (Being on the coast, we ordered steaks. In Bend, of course, we would order seafood. heh.) I do believe the servers are always a tad bit taken back by my gusto.

"How's the meal?"

"It tastes wonderful!" I say in a totally enthusiastic and genuine way.

Had a Baked Alaskan desert, and Linda says dubiously, "Is that alcohol?"

"Um, I believe it has to be 100 proof to ignite," I say. "But don't worry, it ALL burns away."

At the center, I got a pure dose of unburned alcohol and so I suspect did Linda, but I didn't want to spoil it so didn't say anything.

"I think I'm actually starting to get used to this eating out thing. We could do this every week!"
I say.

"More like every month," Linda says, as she eyes the bill. I glance at the amount and gulp.

I had a couple of Deschutes Brewery on tap, and totally felt them. Fell asleep a full hour before normal,(listening to the bellowing of sea lions) and slept a full hour later than normal -- 9.5 hours. Quiet hotel. (Comfort Inn, this time) Nice.



Linda is off visiting church friends this morning, and I'm going to laze around and read and write, and go for a walk along the Columbia River. I don't know why, but I feel totally relaxed in these motels. No pressure.

Read for awhile, (FIDELITY, Thomas Perry, good book), watched the Masters for awhile. Tiger wasn't going anywhere (Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, I thought, poor 'ol Tiger...)

Why am I in my motel room on the coast?



Went walking, east as far as the river trail went. About an hour. It was drizzly, which is fine since it's the coast, and I'm visiting and then it rained a little, which was fine since I had a hood. Only thing that got sopping wet are my shoes.

Farther I went from civilization, the more relaxed I felt. Stress dropping away like layers of clothing.

Counted 12 freighters parked, almost counted my steps, but resisted. Obsessive - compulsive and a control freak? 58 years old and still figuring things out about myself... (I don't really think I'm obsessive-compulsive -- maybe a little twinge.)

Got back to the motel and Tiger is in the lead through nine wholes, made up 7 shots. (Tiger, Tiger, Tiger, good 'ol Tiger. heh.)

When Tiger falls out of contention, will go visit the comic shop here in town, and go to a movie -- then back to watch the killing. Yep, we had to drive 250 miles to watch a movie and golf and t.v.

And baked alaska!

Wednedsay's WTF's

Dark Horse comics laid off some folks, and sent a scare through the comic community.

There are always those who pop up and say, "Good! If we kill the patient, we'll cure the disease!"

Comics will survive, they say, without the direct market, without publishers, without comic shops, without distributors.

Well, sure. The artform will survive. I suppose.


************

Turns out the young tsunami victim from Oregon washed up in Astoria on the weekend Linda and I were visiting. (We didn't hear about it until we got home.)

I always wonder if these young people have been in my store when I read about them -- chances are good. Both Linda and I always comment about how familiar they always look.


On our visit, we went up to Long Beach, Washington. It was sort of joke for Linda and me, because we took a wrong turn last time we were there and could never find it. As we drove along the highway, I kept seeing Tsunami Route signs.

They pointed in the opposite direction from the beach, which of course I -- never -- would have figured out without the signs....

***********

While on the coast, Linda and I went to see HANNA.

Spoilers.

I usually try to judge a movie by what it is, not by what it isn't. And by those standards the movie was fun to watch, with some good action sequences.

But I really feel like they missed a bet -- they could have really explored the nature versus nurture theme, the savagery of kids, the meaning of empathy, etc.

The movie really didn't have the courage of it's own convictions. There is a family that helps Hanna along the way, and they are captured by the bad guys.

But we never really find out what happens to them. Which I think was a copout. They probably weren't let go, which would've negated the evilness we'd see up to then by the bad guys. But we don't see them killed either.

The movie was trying to have it both ways.

Why was the experiment stopped?

What happens to Hanna now? (Sequel! Linda says.)

I'm just saying, the movie had seeds of a much deeper movie, and they instead went for thriller status.

***********

Back to comics and business.

Apparently, comics have had a very rough time in the last year or so.

I sort of just expected drops of 10% or even more, because of the local and national economy. I factored it in.

But I do worry about the industry as a whole. Especially Diamond Comics. My rep has been difficult to get a hold of, and I've had to wait long periods of time to get an answer. They closed the west coast warehouse. What's going on behind the scenes?

***********

We could always get rid of the grocery stores, the distributors and all that.

Food will survive.

We can always go back to subsistence farming, and hunting and gathering.

Population will have to drop a little.

And they can draw comics on cave walls.

**********

People seem to be misunderstanding the very nature of modern civilization -- how interconnected it all is.

We could go back to free music, free art, free writing, I suppose.

If we don't mind Amateur. We can sit around the campfire and tell stories and play crude instruments, and draw pictures on rocks from the charcoal we create. (Actually, I suspect there were professional "artists" very early in our development -- who were excused from hunting and gathering so they could learn their skills...)

Because the very definition of a professional, is being PAID.

And the infrastructure of culture was created so that work could be PAID FOR...

Catching up on the news.

Back from our trip to the coast, and working my way through 3 days of newspapers.

I was going to let the article about home sales "...climbing closer to pre-recession levels..." pass, except this caught my eye: "Home sale s in Sisters have gone beyond recovery..."

"...beyond recovery..." ?!

Let's look at the money: Those 15 houses in 2007 sold for a 415,000 average. The 26 houses sold for 173,000. So roughly 60% more houses sold, at an average of roughly 60% less. Some recovery.

As a parallel: I'm going to give away more free comics on Free Comic Book Day than I sold in the previous month.

Of course, I won't make any money.

Chances are, those house sold for cost of goods, or less. No one made money.

**********

Bend has possibly racked up another 12 million in debt. (Court judgment in favor of Juniper Utility.)

We had better hope there is a "recovery" soon.

**********

Here's some stats I found over on the Bend Economy Bulletin Board which seem more telling:

Single-family new house construction building permits:

1996: 381 buildings, average cost: $114,400
1997: 563 buildings, average cost: $117,200
1998: 560 buildings, average cost: $142,300
1999: 824 buildings, average cost: $139,000
2000: 829 buildings, average cost: $137,200
2001: 944 buildings, average cost: $142,600
2002: 1195 buildings, average cost: $136,100
2003: 1156 buildings, average cost: $151,100
2004: 1663 buildings, average cost: $190,100
2005: 2050 buildings, average cost: $221,800
2006: 1517 buildings, average cost: $230,300
2007: 759 buildings, average cost: $224,200
2008: 276 buildings, average cost: $237,900
2009: 159 buildings, average cost: $228,300

It's the actual building of houses that creates jobs, and new revenue, not selling houses for a loss. I'll believe in a recovery when we have permits in the 400 range, or about 15 years ago....

**********

The Bulletin seems to be having a full-court press this spring to convince us we're on the road to recovery.

There's a national article:

"Primed for Renovation" -- in Florida's "rubble." (Despite the upbeat tone, they just couldn't resist using the word "rubble" and "bubble" in the same article...)

Locally, I think the Bulletin just assigns the new-to-town reporters to the 'Upbeat' Beat. Probably because they aren't jaded by the reality of realty.

"Signs of Life."

Basically, the people quoted in the article seem to be saying, "Well, yeah. There isn't any evidence of a recovery, but it's coming! I can't tell you why, but it is on it's way!"

Yep, I see that body twitching.

**********

Then again, kudo's for the Bulletin for telling us that 1 out of 5 residents are on food stamps in Central Oregon.

If you take the upbeat articles as real (which I don't, quite) then what has been revealed is that Central Oregon is split between those who have money and those who don't. Like everywhere else, but more so...

Sounds so easy.

This article (Shelf Awareness) caught my attention. It's about Indigo Books, which is Canada's B & N, only with an even larger share of the market (50%).

First of all, the figure that 40% of the books sales are going to disappear is a firmer figure than I've ever heard before.

Secondly, there is this assumption I'm seeing that bookstores can just add "Other" product to make up for the loss.

Really? "Tableware?" "Tote Bags?"

As someone who has been diversifying my store for the last 20 years, I can assure you it ain't that easy. No product is out there that hasn't been picked up by someone else -- no product immediately sells just because you begin carrying it. Every new product has consequence in the time, energy, space and money you expend.

And most product takes time to develop.

You know, if it was that easy to add income, why wouldn't they have kept the same model and just added the new product -- in bigger stores, maybe? I'll tell you why. Because it wouldn't have worked. It would have either taken away from the product they were carrying or not added enough to pay for the extra space.

These kinds of solutions are more in the way of a Hail Mary pass, I think.

We are going to see all kinds of hybrid stores for awhile. Many of them won't work.

"In the book industry, when you are in a situation where you know that 40% of your business is going to go digital--you need to change," she said. In addition to having a "toehold in the digital books business," Reisman's vision of Indigo as a "cultural department store" means "betting more than ever on other categories. Indigo is stepping up its offerings of tableware, toys and tote bags--

Her goal over the next two or three years is to increase non-book sales from 15% to 40% of the company’s business to replace lost book revenues. "The only way to stay in the book business is to find the ability to marry our book offerings with other products that our customer would value," she said. "I think of that as affordable items with intrinsic value."

A rare and pertinent thing...

Now here's something that's rare.

A business article that actually speaks to me. That actually addresses my small business concerns. That is actually something I've thought long and hard about, but never seen anyone else write about.

A new piece of info. Something that might actually make me change the way I do things.

Clutter.

"Clutter In The Aisle? It's There To Get You To Spend." Bulletin, 4/8/11.

Actually, I'm probably already doing what they talk about here -- through sheer accumulation of stuff, some of it is spilling over onto the floor. Just a little, mind you.

But maybe I should lighten up a little about the straightening up. Both Linda and my stores try really hard to square everything away. My feeling is, we have so much material, that things will quickly degenerate if we don't keep up.

On our trips, you've heard me complain about how "messy" other bookstores are. How easy it would be for them to straighten up.

But maybe those other stores have been benefiting from that clutter. Maybe, they instinctively know that they need to have a bit of mess to intrigue people.

I know this will be a hard sell to Linda. She hates clutter in her business (her office at home is a whole nother thing...).


**********


Later: I wrote the proceeding at home, after reading the article.

Ummmm....walked in the door of my store, and immediately thought, no problem. Clutter is not ever going to be something I need to strive for.

Basically, my current "Fight the Entropy" strategy is correct, because no matter how hard I try, things are going to be misplaced, set back in the wrong spot, knocked askew.


**********


"...it turns out that lots and lots of stuff piled onto shelves or stacked in the middle of store aisles can coax a shopper to buy more..."

Describe my store, why don't you?

I once had a neighbor from across the street complain that my window was "too cluttered." (This from a woman who had spiky pink hair and day-glow letters in her windows...).

But see, I had learned that a nice, artistic window looked good -- and did nothing for business. Whereas a window that had a sampling of all the different types of product I carried, pulled people in.

"They loved the experience," says the article about Walmart's makeover into a sleeker look. "They just bought less. And that generally is not a good long-term strategy."

Indeed.

You have to watch what customers Do, not what they Say. They'll always say they want neat, tidy, wide, and artistically designed aisles. Always. But that doesn't always translate into sales.
I'll repeat. "THEY LOVED THE EXPERIENCE. THEY JUST BOUGHT LESS."

My instinct has always been to fit as much merchandise in my 1000 ft. sq. space as is humanly possible. Not only do I have more merchandise to sell, but it gives the consumer the message that I'm thriving, that I'm engaged, that I'm really, really into my store merchandise.

I ain't stinting. I ain't scraping.

And I've always HATED the question: "Is this all you got?" I think I was permanently scarred by being asked that in my first few years of business when I had limited inventory and even more limited money to buy inventory.

In fact, the history of my store has been a constant leveraging of my resources to get more material -- which left me constantly vulnerable to downturns. One of the reasons that my store is more stable now is that I finally got to a point where I need only to bring in replacement product and make incremental improvements -- which is a much easier thing to do.

"As it turns out, the messier and more confusing a store looks, the better the deals it projects. 'Historically, the more a store is packed, the more people think of it as value...'"

Well, I don't know about messy or confusing -- but I do think that having tons of product intrigues the customer.

"One of the ways to improve productivity is to get more things out on the floor and to show the product in a better way...."

I have to constantly remind the employees at the Bookmark that we want as many books out on the floor as possible, and not in the back room. Fit them in!

The article makesthe case that because they aren't expanding anymore, the chainstores are putting more product into the existing stores. Well, that's also a decision I made long ago.

"Think of shelf heights as air rights, if yo will -- it's easier to raise the shelf height than expand the footprint of the store."

Again, in my store, the merchandise starts on floor level and goes to the ceiling. I have so far left the ceiling alone, though I joke about it...


**********


O.K. Not all clutter is bad.

But not all clutter is good. Not when it reaches the level of messiness and chaos.

I think maybe the trick is to be casually, and artistically, cluttered. Which requires a certain "design" sense --which I doubt the mass market can learn to do, or can be done by fiat. I suspect it will tip one direction or the other too much.

One of the advantages of a small store is the owner can constantly monitor the look and feel of his store from an aesthetic viewpoint. Hard to see how chainstores will be able to mandate that.

**********

Interesting that the chainstores are coming around to my way of thinking: I think they were expanding so fast and so crazy it was all about footprint growth. What I've always thought of as a Ponzi scheme.

Having expanding into four stores and seen my sales soar into unexpected heights -- and making no money from the experience, I'm not too surprised that the mass market is learning some of the same painful lessons.

But...if they retreat into smaller stores, or quit expanding, that just makes them Stores. Store---Stores, like the rest of us. That's a different challenge -- and I'll bet there are some painful lessons for them to learn.

And doesn't having a Store -- Store just make the same as the rest of us? They'll have to compete on the same playing field -- instead of just being so overwhelming big they squash us. You know, things like knowledge and service. Maybe even -- if their Ponzi schemes are finally coming to an end -- maybe even PRICE!

I welcome the challenge.

Who's got the money?

Reading the New York Times continues to be an interesting change of view.

The amount of wealth represented by the ads and articles in the New York Times is astounding.

I guess it makes sense -- the top 5% richest people are most likely subscribers.

But I can't figure out who buys those Castles in Spain.


Now that my income and net worth more nearly approaches the supposed "averages" in the U.S.A., I think I'm even more confused by what I see around me than before.

Before, when I was operating on minimum wage, the big cars and fancy restaurants and Euro vacations were so far beyond me, that I took it for granted, somewhat, that those who were partaking of these luxuries could afford it. (Of course, I also suspected that people were living beyond their means, on credit...)

But now that I am presumably closer in income to those I see living that way -- it STILL seems mostly out of reach, except in very, very moderate steps.


So what accounts for this discrepancy?

1.) A few years of near "average" income do not catch me and Linda up. Lots of backfill going on.

2.) We are having to put way more into retirement late in our career, whereas other people have pensions or higher social security payouts or have saved money longer.

3.) I'm overestimating the spending by others. Maybe they're Leasing those big S.U.V.'s not buying. Going out to dinner once or twice a month, not once or twice a week. Bought their big houses when they weren't so expensive, or turned over a bigger house in California.

4.) I'm just too cheap and conservative. (But if that was true, wouldn't I have money left over at the end of the month?)

5.) Family money. They aren't living just off their income, but from other means. Living off the fat they accumulated earlier in their career.

6.) People are incredibly smart in getting deals; on vacations, on meals, on all kinds of stuff. Coupon clippers, mileage accumulators, wheeler dealers...

7.) People are going big time into debt.

8.) People are not saving for the future at all. Eat, drink and be merry!

A sweet spot.

I think we're in a sweet spot at the store with employees, where they are still enthused about working there, and have worked long enough to do a really good job. This learning process actually takes longer in my store than most stores, probably, because of the complexity of the product. Eventually it will become old hat to them -- just another job.

This equilibrium never lasts forever, unfortunately, mostly because this a temporary job for most of them, and because eventually the newness wears off.

But because they are all working relatively few hours, the chances of them being jaded seem slim for now.

So this sweet spot is something to take advantage of, and I'm taking even more time off than usual.

**********

Since I got slightly ahead over the first quarter, I've decided to use this month to make small changes that will probably cost me money in the short run, but may end up helping the store in the long run.

I need to work out shipping and timing issues, which have been caused by Diamond's new policies.

I have to test the waters. Order on different days, see when stuff shows up.

Also, as I mentioned above, I'm very happy with the way the employees are running the store right now, so I'm taking more time off than usual.

This is strictly on purpose.

I want to see how long sales stay at good levels without me always being there to goose it.

I want my store to operate on a high level with or without me.

Mixed Bag.

For last week's article on E-Books, I was pressed by the reporter to say whether sales were down because of the new technology.

I can never make one to one correlations on sales. Is it the national economy? The local economy? The industries I'm in? The weather? Negative ions?

It's always unclear. It's always in the gray areas. It's always muddled.


In my constant monitoring of the media, it has become a real mixed bag as far as optimists versus pessimists.

Financial Armageddon is as negative as ever -- but I think that's his world view. Big Picture is much more hedgy, and much more willing to tack with the current prevailing winds -- if he invests in the market, it's because he thinks the market will go up for whatever period of time, not that he believe the economy is coming around. Calculated Risk isn't quite a relentlessly negative. Salon and Slate both seems to have political reasons to believe the job situation is getting better.

Locally, it's even more muddy. Bend or Bust, one of the more negative blogs in town, just wrote a blog about U-Haul anecdotal evidence that people are moving to Bend. Say it ain't so, B.O.B.!

Downtown Bend continues to quietly lose businesses and attract new businesses.

My own sense is that this is just the usual spring push toward optimism -- but Bend still remains mired in the Mother of All Housing Slumps. A new overlay of people coming to town, who can make fresh starts? Is that what's happening?

I'm not convinced that all the much has really changed.

I will remain cautious and hunkered down.

Mellow?

"So how did the family reunion go?"

"It was weird. We were all so.....mellow."

**********

Speaking of mellow, was a time I would have gone ballistic about the parking dividers, the missing comics and the stupid Visa machine.

I have often felt that you have to get somewhat aggressive to accomplish anything. I have to have enough ire to actually want to change something and pursue it, but not get so upset I'm ineffective.

Getting the dividers removed would require enough anger to actually do something, but a enough management of the anger to effect change.

I called twice to see about the "Emergency Shipment" of the missing comics, and they assured me they were on the way -- but they are still sitting there like a lump at the shipping center. Me thinks Diamond Shipping and me have different interpretations of the words "emergency" and "shipment" and "on the way."

(I was talking to Scott who owns More Fun Comics in Ashland, and he didn't think Fear Itself was a big deal, so maybe it won't be such a big problem.)

The Visa machine was the most important problem to be solved, but again, rather than yell and stomp, I tried to enlist the sympathy of the people on the phone.


So...by being mellow, I corrected one out of three problems, but it was the most important one.

***********

Spending an hour on the phone trying to correct the comic shortage, and not being able to talk to my own rep, and not getting a call back from the supervisor, and getting inaccurate answers from reps who are not my reps --

I'm glad that Diamond is saving money on manpower.

They just sort of shifted the manpower and labor onto MY shoulders.

Thanks a lot. I really appreciate it. I'm sure Diamond (and other corporations who are getting more profitable by being more productive) will pass along the savings.

Right?

"Productive:" Getting more work out of fewer, newer and cheaper employees, and shifting time and labor onto their customers. And giving management big bonuses.

Deep breath. Mellow out, dude.

(By the way, Diamond is a monopoly, so there isn't a damn thing I can do about it...)

Forgot one.

I neglected to post the following, which I wrote a couple of days ago.

To follow up what it talks about, I managed to get the Visa machine going after about one day.

I had a couple people come back and buy the stuff they left, but mostly not.

**********

I tried to close an old merchant services processing I once used -- it was the old fashioned paper and call-in version which I used at places like conventions, and as emergency backup, but which more recently, I have been paying for each month with little or no usage.

Instead, they closed my current machine.

Which scared the bejesus out of me.

The majority of my money comes through cards these days...

I think I have it resolved, and hopefully I'll only miss half a day or so....hopefully.

I think it happened because I wasn't precise:

I handed in the form yesterday, and asked the clerk to give it to woman who had helped me before. "Oh I can fax this in right away!" she said.

"Oh, no hurry."

Unfortunately, I didn't say: "Don't. I want to make sure the right numbers are put in..."

At least in the course of this emergency, I think I may have gotten the right numbers to call, and the right numbers of the current accounts...

************

Monday was my run around and get things done day -- which happens really rarely, these days. Most things can by done by phone or online or by surrogates.

But transferring money, closing accounts (see above), talking to the accountant, buying stamps and grocery bags, that kind of thing has to be done in person.

As a result, I let these things pile up until they are almost too late, and then do them all at once.

Anyway, at the end of the running around, I turned to Linda and said, "Wow. That went smoothly and quickly."

I woke up this morning -- really -- and thought, "I shouldn't have said that..."

I'm both really good at these official things and really bad. I'm sloppy, but when things go wrong, I usually can cut to the solution pretty fast.

It helps not to get mad, and to try to get the reps to try to help you with your problem.

But it's also the problems that gets me to avoid most changes of policies, unless the benefits are large and obvious.

**********

Later: from the material left over under the counter for people who would "come back" and the people who walked away -- I figure I lost 100.00 or so (on my slowest day of the week). If I can't get it up and running tomorrow, this could really run into some bucks.

Meanwhile, I put away comics tonight (Tuesday), and I was missing FEAR ITSELF, the biggest title of the year, the most I've ordered in probably a couple of years. Basically, it's like the biggest movie of the year not showing up at a theater on opening night.

How does this happen?

I'm a bit suspicious that there are people at the warehouse who abscond with these titles -- and the rep will probably have the same suspicions of me -- and with the credit card machine not working, it's the last thing I need.

Once things go off track, they go off track in every direction.

Murphy's Law.