Epictetus. Part 1. Here's where I lose you...

I'm going to be doing a bit of philosophical meandering. But it will be in addition to what I already blog about, so just ignore these entries if it be your wont. I'll give you fair warning by using the name Epictetus, and a number.

I not saying my reaction to these philosophical thoughts are going to be deep or mind-blowing, but I believe thinking about them just might help make me a little more patient and understanding of other people.

I've been reading an entry in the morning, and the same entry just before bed, and I've been trying to consciously maintain them through the day. I think writing about them will help.

The numbering is mine.

Epictetus. A Manual for Living. (Interpretation by Sharon Lebell.)

I think it's pronounced Epic (as in an epic movie) tea-tus.

"Know What You Can Control and What You Can't."

"...some things are within our control, and some things are not."

"...things within our power are naturally at our disposal, free from any restraint or hindrance..."

This idea really appeals to me. It doesn't require anyone else; nor tools, nor money, nor a situation. My own "aspirations, opinions, desires," are always there and I can always access them.

I just like the self-sufficiency and completeness of this idea. It is always with me. I can work on this now. I can carry this idea with me -- in traffic, with customers, with bills, with friends and family. My attitude toward these things are the only thing I can control -- but at the same time, I can control them as much as I am capable. It's up to me.

"...those things out of your control are weak, dependent, or determined by the whims and actions of others."

I think, perhaps, some of the things Epictetus counts as beyond our control, like wealth and status, were probably more under our control today than when he was born -- but, then again, I know what he's saying. Certainly, others opinions of us are not under our control.

So much frustration in wanting other people to act differently.

More on that tomorrow.


**********

Ignoring the obvious.

If I ever get arrested for a heinous crime, I'm definitely going to trial.

Rodney King, O.J. and now this Casey Anthony trial. Apparently if you can get 12 average Americans in a room and drown them in extraneous information, you can get them to ignore the obvious.

Roger Clemens probably has a pretty good chance.

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According to the Bulletin, no arrests for fireworks. Only warnings?

We had a cop car come roaring down our street, and stop about a block away, and urgent calls to "get out of the car!" And then another cop car, and another, and another. Seven cop cars in all.

Must have been some warning.

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I manage to read all the New York Times Sunday, except the magazine. Apparently, the magazine is a bridge too far. The articles are interesting, but not quite interesting enough.

**********

Last three gardening sessions started out as just wandering the garden and then starting to do something simple and then before I know it, 3 hours have gone by.

Problem is, I'm wearing my street clothes, t-shirt, shorts, sandals, and I'm covered in scratches and scraps and slivers and...I just about itched myself to death last night.

I also drank some diet cola left over from the 4th. I used to be addicted to soda -- I mean, really, really addicted -- but I managed to wean myself off. Except the occasional treat. But drinking caffeine at 9:00 at night isn't a good idea for me anymore.

**********

Had an old customer who only comes into the store every 8 months or so, exclaim, "You look healthy!" Thing is, he said almost the same thing last time he was in.

He remembers me during the dog years -- the years when I was working every day for 7 years straight, and even when I wasn't, I was scrambling to make a deposit every day just to cover the ongoing checks.

So, the stress is off a little nowadays. That, plus I think I've let myself hit my "natural" weight, which is about 15 pounds over what I fought to keep down for years and years, and I've been outdoors a lot this year.

But mostly the stress.

**********

I've decided to read one small chapter of A Manual for Living by the Stoic philosopher Epictetus, per day. Same chapter in the morning and in the evening and cogitate about it.

I thought of blogging it, but I don't think my thoughts are deep enough. Maybe I'll do it, with fair warning.

**********

A Dance with Dragons, by George R.R. Martin, the 5th book in The Song of Ice and Fire, is coming out on the 13th. It's a $35.00 book.

I was just starting to carry new books when the last Harry Potter book came out in hardcover, and I still managed to sell 3 or 4 copies -- despite it being half price just about everywhere else.

I also managed to sell some hard copies of the last two Robert Jordan books, as well as the Patrick Rothfuss's first two fantasies.

I was going to order five, with the idea of reordering immediately if I needed to (I'm only a few days at any time from getting a shipment.) Cameron, who was working, suggested 2, I settled on 3 in my mind, and then ordered 4 -- knowing that I'll always be able to take one home if they don't all sell.

Also, busts my budget a little.

**********

Speaking of the obvious. The Bulletin has an article saying that "Defaults drop 25% in Deschutes"

Fair enough, but I have a bit of a problem with the sub-title: "Opinions differ whether change represents waning of foreclosure crisis."

When you read the article, it's pretty clear that no one believes the foreclosure crisis is "waning". The foreclosures are being held back for procedural and legal reasons. Instead of the 581 bump in April being an outlier, I suspect it's more like the number it would really be if the banks let loose.

Pretend and extend.

Tuesday tids.

Because the first two movies we watched on Netflix were Centurion and The Black Death, they seemed to decide that we liked "violent British movies."

Heh.

I had also checked out about five minutes of Hard Days Night, to listen to some tunes, so I don't know how that fit in.

The last two movies we watched were "Hot Tub Time-Machine" and "Secretariat."

Let them try to figure that out.

**********

When I was helping my son Todd weed his garden, he mentioned that he was more interested in the "architecture" of the garden than the plants. Which is the exact phrase I always use.

An article in the Bulletin today mentions a Master Gardener who know the names of every plant.

I think my Mom was a blend of both; eventually, the plants became part of the architecture.

**********

I don't usually comment on political columns, but I think "Obama's Original Sin," by Frank Rich in The New York Magazine is right on. The subtitle says it pretty well:

"The President's failure to demand a reckoning from the moneyed interests who brought the economy down has cursed his first term..."

Don't get me wrong, I won't vote for any Republican I can see on the horizon -- but I really wish he had taken the bull by the horns.

Super 8 - 4th of July.

Linda and I went to see Super 8 yesterday. She didn't know anything about it, (I told her it was Speilbergian), so she was very pleasantly surprised. "I really LIKE this movie!"

When we did the math, the boys in the flick would've been about the same age as our own boys at the time, maybe a bit older. (Just before I entered the picture...) So she got on the phone and called both Todd and Toby and told them to go see the movie.

It was kind of a mix of Goonies and 3rd Encounters and E.T., but perhaps a bit more threatening.

I liked it, too. Found myself laughing a lot by myself at the kid's antics and interplay -- and no one else was laughing and I'm never quite sure if I'm laughing inappropriately. Sort of like laughing at the old lady flying out of the house in Gremlins or Bill Paxton's lines in Aliens -- I mean it's tense and people are dying but it's also funny. Linda says she remembers laughing at lines no one else was laughing at, too. So there you go.

Going to finish up the gardening in the main yards today. Heavy, heavy work, which is why it's happening last. But it's got to be done. And I have a free day.

I still want to do the side of the house, but that is out of sight out of mind and often never gets done. For one thing, I want to do a thorough job so I only have to do upkeep next year.

Linda's brother, Dave, is coming over for hot dogs and fireworks. We can see the show from out back deck, though even in just the 7 years we've been here, the trees have grown enough to obscure some of it, dammit.

We were in Crescent City last year on the 4th, but I told Linda I don't feel safe with all the neighborhood fireworks and with all the dry brush in the 'wild' side of our backyard, so we're sticking close to home from now on.

I think it's a day to relax -- well, digging holes for the boxwood will be hard work -- but it's still relaxing, too, somehow.

Happy 4th.

"Entrepreneurial Spirit is Alive."

Oh, hell.

BEND BULLETIN: Business Section: 7/3/11.

"THERE'S NO BUSINESS LIKE NEW BUSINESS."
"Bend Chamber reports increases in new licenses."

Glory days!

Except, when you do the math, it's an increase of..... drumroll please! ...are you ready to be bowled over?....here it is!.... 1.5%

Yep. One point five percent. We are talking about an increase of 81 business out of 5,623.

According to the executive director of the Bend Chamber of Commerce:

"The economy has been depressed since the last quarter of 2007, and I think the increase in new businesses we're seeing this spring show people are tired of the doom and gloom."

"People are picking themselves up, dusting themselves off and getting back in the game. They are not waiting for someone else to save them. People around here are not sitting on their derrieres looking for government to bail them out. They are embracing innovation and using that as a guiding light to start a new business, or take and an existing business to a new level."

Good lord. He hammered that boiler-plate with a sledge hammer!

I love the way he uses quasi new age positivism -- "...guiding light.." "...a new level..." with conservative dogma "are not waiting for someone else to save them" with relentless boosterism "people are tired of the doom and gloom" "getting back in the game."

Well -- at least 1.5% of the businesses are.

I'm not sure the tone of the article matched the actual reality. I'm not sure that a 1.5% increase is worth the hype.

That dead cat just bounced 1.5%.

Gardening: two steps forward, one step back.

Had the landscapers come back this year to finish off the drip-line they created last year, but which I didn't know where I wanted it installed. While they were here, I went ahead and had them add three sprinkler heads to where my future garden will be going.

But they left a mess. Not really their fault --when you dig down a foot or two in Central Oregon you dig up a mess of rocks and pebbles. Pebbles, pebbles everywhere. The soil was left soft and dusty on the path.

So I spent a couple of days going back and flattening the upturned soil so it could become firmer, and scooping up as many pebbles as I could. But there are years of pebbles to scoop up.

It was also a little bit of a bridge too far financially. I had to borrow from Linda for a few days until I could come up with the money.

I think the basic outlines are in place -- both of the watering infrastructure and the plants -- from now on, I want them to mature, and then I'll subdivide.

What I remember about Mom's garden was she was never satisfied. She was always starting a new project, digging up a section of the garden.

Sort of like what I do with my store.

Got ambitious last night after the sun fell, and edged the front yard. I do this with a straight shovel, foot by foot.

Two tricks I learned from Mom -- edging the garden and digging up the garden soil, makes everything look great. (Digging up the soil also has the benefit of getting any weeds.)

Meanwhile, I have about 10 square feet of mulch, about 2 inches thick, covering my driveway which I need to dig up and use -- and two pile of gravel I need to spread when I'm finished.

Early morning, or after the sun goes down kind of work.

Getting ready to start thinking about maybe starting to....

As I was getting ready to close last night at my usual time of 6:00, I had a family rush in and buy about 8 books. As I was dealing with them, about 5 or 6 more people came in and milled around, and I looked out on the sidewalk and there were tons of folks and the weather was beautiful and I wondered out loud, "Maybe I should stay open."

"I would think this would be good for you," the woman buying the books said.

"I haven't found it to be so, strangely," I said. "But it's been a few years, maybe I should try, especially since it's summer and a lot of that crowd are probably tourists."

"We're tourists," she said. By then, it was 6:15.

So I went and flipped the sign. I decided to stay open one more hour.

So I sat there, and about 10 more people came in, and I sold another 10.00. (Hordes of people streaming by my door.)

I never learn.

Still, I'm thinking it might be fun to spend one Friday evening a month visiting with people --IF Linda was with me, so when I got home I asked if she'd be willing to come straight to Pegasus on First Fridays after work, and we'd be all social-like for an evening. "I'll just drink a couple of glasses of wine and relax," I said.

Of course, Linda is always up for social things. (Don't know why she married me, but I'm glad she did.)

So, no promises, but we'll maybe be giving it a try, and not have too high expectations, but just look at it as a way to see some old friends and customers....

Shoot me first.

I will NOT be seeing Transformers.

I haven't been to a Micheal Bay movie since Armageddon, which I loathed. I have a unreasoning hatred of Bay movies.

Don't get me wrong. I love big loud dumb movies -- just not Bay's big loud dumb movies. I think it's the false sentimentality, the cynical use of explosions (every 10 minutes for that T.V. generation) and the lame humor.

Just saying.

A meaningless phrase.

The phrase I'm tempted to use, hell, I DO use all the time is, "You'll miss us when we're gone."

I usually elaborate. "You don't think so right now, but later you will. In ways you haven't even considered."

While true, it's a pretty meaningless phrase.

And one in which every threatened industry can indulge.

I just read a story about newspapers that used those exact words. And -- it washed right over me.

For one thing, what can I do about it? I do buy the Bulletin and the Sunday New York Times, but a paper I used to buy every day, I now read online: U.S.A. Today. Part of me says, "Well, they'll just have to figure out ways to survive..."

It's so easy to get caught up in your own industry, that you forget that other businesses are even more threatened.

For instance, I had a German tourist in who was looking for a camera shop because he needed his camera fixed.

"There is no camera shop downtown," I said. "But you know what? Camera shops used to survive by not only fixing cameras, but also by selling cameras and film and processing the film and accessories. But you don't MISS the camera shop until you need your camera fixed."

Like I said, I still believe that people will miss the brick and mortar stores, but I understand that
saying so makes absolutely no difference. Appealing to people to buy local and support their small town stores works with some people, but not all people.

The problem is the 20% of people who are simply going to leave without looking back. (I'm making up the 20% -- it could be 10% or 50%, more likely the latter than the former....)
A simple question: Can you do as good a job with 20% less revenue? Well, neither can most stores. And of course, that just creates a downward spiral.

I'm very aware of all this, and have found a bunch of ways around the problems, but ultimately the problems will get too big for most stores. So, for instance, one of the ways you'll miss us when we're gone is that you'll have a bunch of decaying storefronts everywhere, right? I guess we can turn them all into parks, right?

It's not going to happen all at once, but I'm glad I'm nearer the end of my career than the beginning, because it's going to get real challenging for the next generation of entrepreneurs.

I know that a lot of people are going to say, "Why not go online and also run a brick and mortar?"

But if the online part of the business is what makes you viable, and the brick and mortar requires that you be there every day paying rent and employees and overhead -- why bother? Just go online.

There will always be the exceptional people -- who are smarter, work harder, and are just more talented than your average person. They'll create exciting storefronts (at least until they burn out being "harder worker"s) and it will seem all is well. But the exceptions don't prove the rule.

I'm thinking boutique businesses, who depend on shopping browsers, in high rent districts, may survive -- as well as low rent, extremely thrifty stores. It's the middle that will disappear.
By the way, that first description describes downtown, and I think it's no accident that downtown Bend has managed to keep up appearances.

I'm sure something will fill the hole. Service businesses, who need actual people to accomplish the services, seem to do better in this new world. They can expand into areas that were once retail oriented. Secondary stores -- who take all the mass of material that is sold online and in mass market stores -- and repackage it, will probably take the place of stores that used to buy new material.

I'm not sure a world of high end boutiques and thrift stores is exactly healthy, but we're well on our way. There is nothing that can or should stop it. And saying, "You'll miss us when we're gone" is as useless as saying, "Gosh, I really miss the old A.M. radio stations playing the Doors, and my bell-bottoms, and all those headshops."

NOTE: I should always add when I write a blog like this -- we're not going anywhere. Both Linda and my stores are doing just fine, thank you very much.

The problem with the medical system is the medical system.

My brain is still mushy from our three day trip to Portland. Geez. How am I ever going to go on longer vacations? How do other people do it? My travel stamina absolutely sucks.

***********

Coffee is good for you.

Diet soda makes you gain weight.

Shade is the answer to skin cancer and more exercise the answer to obesity.

Vitamins help. Vitamins don't help.

Screenings help. Screenings don't help.

1 beer is good. 3 beers is bad. (One beer? I don't even start feeling a buzz until 3 beers. As a result I don't drink at all.)

I think I should buy a mail-order medical degree and make random prognoses. I'd be right about half the time. Or just say the obvious things -- "The thing about skin cancer? Stay in the shade. That will be 150.00, please."

Once the medical system has you in their maw, there seem to be no end of tests and procedures and office visits, and the doctors and nurses seem completely unresponsive when you tell them you have a high deductible. (I think they expect you to spend the 2000.00 or 5000.00, and THEN you'll be covered so what are you complaining about? Whereas I'd rather not spend the 5000.00 on tests and procedures that don't really seem to advance my health.)

I think I lost interest when I read a study that said that if you do absolutely everything right, you average an extra 3 years of life.

And Lou Gehrig's disease taking my Mom -- which seemed totally random, and took a person who really had done absolutely everything right.

I'm just fatalistic, nowadays.

Don't everyone yell at me at the same time.

If I had a high tech startup, Bend is the last place I'd go.

Let me tell you a story that I think illustrates why.

There is a long established high tech business here in town who hires their young workers from elsewhere, usually places like Portland, Seattle, San Francisco, and so on.

These new workers usually check out my store.

When they first get to town, they tell me about 'pop culture' things I don't know anything about. Then, usually around six months later, I start hearing about them through normal channels.

After the same guys have been in town for a year, they come in and tell me about pop culture things, and I'll usually say, "Yeah. I just heard about that."

After two years, the guys come in and start to tell me about a 'new ' pop culture thing, and I'll say, "Ummmm. Heard about that months ago."

My point is, I have to believe that technical proficiency is similar.

These guys come from a milieu of pop culture hipness, they swim in a sea of it. I don't think they are even aware of it. And much of what they hear and see and sense they get first hand.

They get to Bend, and they are isolated and on their own.

Turns out -- just getting your info from online DOES NOT keep you up to date. (I suspect by the time it's online, it's been around for a while -- which means by the time it hits the magazines, it's ancient.) I'm talking about the idea stage -- or the accumulation of information and disparate ideas -- which might begin taking form online as you go -- but don't really have the same impact of ideas that are being formulated as YOU SPEAK>

I think being surrounded by a culture of high techness is probably invaluable. Info and innovation and ideas float through the air, and you see your friends at the local Starbucks, or at a nightspot, or at some meeting or another, and bounce ideas and just totally immerse yourself in it all.

In Bend, you check online and go skiing and twitter and go biking -- but other than flying out of town and dropping yourself back into that high tech culture on a regular basis, I think it's inevitable you will fall behind.

And trying to keep up long-distance NO MATTER HOW CONNECTED is not the same thing.

I know they THINK it is, but by the time they find out differently, it might be a little too late.

I was having a discussion with a high tech guy, and he was disputing much of this.

At the end of the conversation, he mentioned that he had gotten work in San Francisco to tide him over.

"Ummmm.....I rest my case," I said.

The Usual Suspects.

The Oregon Business Magazine has an article entitled: "Bend's Economy Is Coming Back To Life."

Too bad they didn't have the smarts to put a question mark behind that title.

How do we know that Bend's economy is coming back to life? Because the real estate agents, and economic development people, and the city officials, and the new entreprenuers in town tell us so.

You know, the Usual Suspects.

Why on earth would they tell a reporter anything different?

From the first page, we get the usual B.S. A tone of --" the crash just all happened at once, who could have foreseen it? "is established, and the reporter -- who has apparently never heard these excuses repeated ad nauseam in the last three years, repeats it all with a straight face.

Did you know that aviation was supposed to be the diversifying element in Bend? Well, now that its gone, it turns out we were betting on it. Huh.

The reporter acknowledges that Bend topped the list of "most overvalued" property in the nation, but immediately dismisses it because of Bend's exceptionalism...

"...not take into account the value of the rapids of the Deschutes River flowing through downtown, or the view of the Sisters, Smith Rock, Mount Jefferson and more from the many available homes in the west side..."

Where have we heard that before? Proof is in the pudding. Housing prices DID drop precipitously, and somehow the river and the downtown and the rocks and the mountains didn't stop it from happening... (Besides which, there are many western towns with just as gorgeous of scenery -- I wonder if the reporter has ever visited, oh, you know -- Washington, Idaho, Colorado, Utah, and on and on. I think they have rivers and mountains, too.)

A series of small business start-ups are interviewed, and they put the best face on it all, as you would expect. (see comments in previous posts about what I think new startups mean...)

But mostly it's puffery, and I don't have the heart to go on.

P.R. isn't going to bring Bend back. It's just P.R.

Basically, the reporter could have just stayed home and written his article from Bend's press releases....

Writing is being patient.

Finished my fourth chapter of I'M ONLY HUMAN just in time for writer's group.

I had a challenging scene that I couldn't quite focus on, so I thought I'd just leave it for the beginning of the next chapter. But this chapter didn't work without it, so I pounded it out in the last half hour before leaving, and it was fine.

Being fine is what I'm shooting for.

I tend to underwrite my first draft, instead of over write. Just in the process of rewriting, I tend to fill in a lot of holes.

That's the thing I'm finding -- or rediscovering. A book isn't something that coalesces easily for me-- things like names have to be tried for awhile before I decide if they work; plots have elements I don't see the first time, writing can always be sharpened and refined.

The main thing is to get the story on it's way...

I think 5 or 6 chapters is as far as I've gotten with any story since I stopped being a full time writer -- so in a few more chapters I'll be in new territory.

This last chapter was more workmanlike than the first couple chapters -- less flowing out of inspiration and more pounded out from necessity. Probably the way it will be from here on out. But there is great satisfaction in getting it done, especially since it doesn't flow easily.

Actually I don't think it's bad thing for me to be unpolished for the first draft. I need the feeling that I'm accomplishing some creativity the second time around and even -- probably going to be necessary -- a third time around.

Like I said, the work process itself is what I need to keep control of -- that I neither underwrite or overwrite, but give the recipe time to develop.

Downtown Comings and Goings. 6/28/11.

I asked the owner of Dream Pebbles if I could include her as a "new" business, even though she had already been open in the Penny's Galleria. I haven't kept track of the businesses inside the Galleria as much as I have the businesses that have street fronts. In some ways, this whole list is about street fronts.

But including Dream Pebbles only points out how long it's been since a truly new retail business has opened downtown -- since April.

What's been happening is -- established businesses are expanding or moving into more desirable and or larger locations. (Presumably leaving the smaller and less desirable locations, which presumably would be cheaper, for the new businesses.)

Thus, Lola's is expanding into the space that the Perspectives art gallery was at, and Dream Pebbles is moving into the Smith and Wade Salon space, and Bond St. market is moving into the River Bend space, and Cascade Cottons moved to Donner Flowers space and Wabi Sabi moved from Brooks to Wall.....and so on.

Big news today, Pita Pit is closed.

NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN

Dream Pebbles, Minnesota Ave., 6/15/11.
Bend Yogurt Factory, Franklin/Bond, 4/26/11.
High Desert Lotus, Bond St. , 4/4/11.
Tryst, Franklin Ave., 3/11/11. (Formerly Maryjanes, **Moved**).
D'Vine, Wall St. , 2/9/11.
Let it Ride!, Bond St., 1/29/11.
Gatsby's Brasserie Bar, Minnesota Ave., 1/8/11
Tres Jolie, Wall St., 12/20/10.
Caldera Grill, Bond St., 12/7/10
Bond Street Grill, 12/7/10.
Perspective(s), Minnesota Ave., 11/20/10
Toth Art Collective, Bond St. 11/20/10
Boken, Breezeway, 11/20/10
Dalia and Emilia, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Antiquarian Books, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Giddyup, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
The Closet, Minnesota Ave., 8/11/10.
Showcase Hats, Oregon Ave., 8/11/10,
Red Chair Art Gallery, Oregon Ave. 7/13/10.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 7/12/10.
Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 6/2910
Common Table, Oregon Ave. , 6/29/10.
Looney Bean Coffee, Brooks St. , 6/29/10.
Bourbon Street, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
Feather's Edge, Minnesota Ave., 6/22/10
The BLVD., Wall St. , 6/13/10.
Volt, Minnesota Ave. 6/1/10.
Tart, Minnesota Ave. , 5/13/10
Olivia Hunter, Wall St. 4/5/10.
Tres Chic, Bond St. 4/5/10
Blue Star Salon, Wall St. 4/1/10.
Lululemon, Bond St. 3/31/10.
Diana's Jewel Box, Minnesota Ave., 3/25/10.
Amalia's, Wall St. (Ciao Mambo space), 3/12/10
River Bend Fine Art, Bond St. (Kebanu space) 2/23/10
Federal Express, Oregon Ave. 2/1/10
***10 Below, Minnesota Ave. 1/10/10
Tew Boots Gallery, Bond St. 1/8/10.
Top Leaf Mate, 12/10/09
Laughing Girls Studio, Minnesota Ave. 12/7/09
Lemon Drop, 5 Minnesota Ave., 11/12/09
The Curiosity Shoppe, 25 N.W. Minnesota Ave, Suite #7. 11/5/09
Wabi Sabi 11/4/09 (**Moved, Wall St.**)
Frugal Boutique 11/4/09
5 Spice 10/22/09
Cowgirls Cash 10/17/09
***Haven Home 10/17/09
Dog Patch 10/17/09
The Good Drop 10/12/09
Lola's 9/23/09
**Volcano Wines 9/15/09
Singing Sparrow Flowers 8/16/09
Northwest Home Interiors 8/5/09
High Desert Frameworks 7/23/09 (*Moved to Oregon Ave. 4/5/10.)
Wall Street Gifts 7/--/09
Ina Louise 7/14/09
Bend Home Hardware (Homestyle Hardware?) 7/1/09
Altera Real Estate 6/9/09
Honey 6/7/09
Azura Studio 6/7/09
Mary Jane's 6/1/09
c.c.McKenzie 6/1/09
Velvet 5/28/09
Bella Moda 3/25/09
High Desert Gallery (Bend) 3/25/09
Joolz
Zydeco
900 Wall
Great Outdoor Store
Luxe Home Interiors
Powell's Candy
Dudley's Used Books and Coffee
Goldsmith
Game Domain
Subway Sandwiches
Bend Burger Company
Showcase Hats
Pita Pit
Happy Nails
(Fall, 2008 or so).

BUSINESSES LEAVING

Pita Pit, Brooks St. , 6/28/11
Smith and Wade Salon, Minnesota, Av. , 6/3/11.
Perspectives, Minnesota Av., 6/1/11
River Bend Art Gallery, Bond St., 5/5/11.
Donner's Flowers, Wall St. 3/11/11. (**Moved out of downtown**)
Maryjanes, Wall St. , 3/11/11. (new name, Tryst, moved to Franklin.).
Di Lusso, Franklin/Bond, 2/9/11.
Earth Sense Herbs, Penny's Galleria, 1/2/11
Marz Bistro, Minnesota Av., 12/20/10.
The Decoy, Bond St., 12/7/10.
Giuseppe's, Bond St., 12/1/10.
Ina Louise, Minnesota Ave., 11/3/10.
Laughing Girl Studios, 10/21/10
Dolce Vita, Bond St, 10/21/10
Diana's Jewell Box, Minnesota Ave., 10/15/10.
Lola's, Breezeway, 10/8/10.
Oxygen Tattoo, Bond St., 10/3/10.
Great Outdoor Clothing, Wall St., 10/3/10.
Volcano Vineyards, Minnesota Ave., 10/3/10.
Subway Sandwiches, Bond St. 9/2/10.
Old Bend Distillery, Brooks St., 6/19/10.
Staccato, Minnesota Ave. 6/18/10.
Showcase Hats, Minnesota Ave., 6/1/10 (Moved to Oregon Ave., 8/10/11.)
Cork, Oregon Ave., 5/27/10.
Wall Street Gifts, 5/26/10
Microsphere, Wall St. , 5/17/10.
Singing Sparrow, Franklin and Bond, 5/15/10
28, Minnesota Ave. and Bond, 5/13/10.
Glass Symphony, Wall St., 3/25/10
Bend Home Hardware, Minnesota Ave, 2/25/10
Ciao Mambo, Wall St. 2/4/10
***Angel Kisses 1/25/10 (Have moved to 'Honey.')
Ivy Rose Manor 8/20/09
***Downtowner 8/18/09 (moving into the Summit location)
Chocolate e Gateaux 8/16/09
Finders Keepers 8/15/09
Colourstone 7/25/09
Periwinkle 6/--/09
***Tangerine 7/21/09 (Got word, they are moving across the street.)
Micheal Cassidy Gallery 6/15/09
St. Claire Coffee 6/15/09
Luxe Home Interiors 6/4/09
Treefort 5/8/09
Blue 5/2/09
***Volcano Tasting Room 4/28/09** Moved to Minnesota Ave.
Habit 4/16/09
Mountain Comfort 4/14/09
Tetherow Property 4/11/09
Blue Moon Marketplace 3/25/09
Plenty 3/25/09
Downtown Doggie 3/25/09
***King of Sole (became Mary Janes)**
Santee Alley
Bistro Corlise
Made in Hawaii
EnVogue
Stewart Weinmann (leather)
Kebanu Gallery
Pella Doors and Windows
Olive company
Pink Frog
Little Italy
Deep
Merenda's
Volo
***Pomegranate (downtown branch)**
Norwalk
Pronghorn Real Estate office.
Speedshop Deli
Paper Place
Bluefish Bistro
(Fall, 2008 or so.)

Escaping the Sanitarium.

Linda and my son, Todd, took me to Edgefield Sanitarium, but fortunately McMenamin's has transformed it into a kind of yuppie Disneyland, so I escaped being committed one more time.


Got to Portland on Saturday in time to help Todd clean up the garden in front of his house. I actually dug in and enjoyed it. Showed him my skills, man. We had that front yard looking good. He gave me a couple shoots of curly willow to take home, and some chive plants.

We figured out that The Cave of Forgotten Dreams was in 3-D, even though the paper didn't say.
Neither Todd or Linda had any idea what the movie was about.

"Two words -- mutant crocodiles." (Well, I wasn't exactly lying and I got them to go along.)

We had dinner at Kenny and Zukes. I ordered a corned beef Reuben sandwich, because I love Rubens and I don't eat corned beef much, but I think it was a bit of a failed experiment. I should have stuck to pastrami Reuben.

Todd and I shared a pitcher of beer. We probably would've been just fine with a single beer each, so we rushed to not waste it. A nice leisurely glass through the meal, then we (mostly I) gulped down the rest before walking across the street to the theater. Since I hardly drink anymore, I think I've lost my ability to gauge how much I will consume.

(By the way, I simply can't remember the name Kenny and Zukes, and had to ask twice just while writing this....)

I'm determined not to say no whenever anyone wants to go to a restaurant -- I want to get over this phobia little by little. One trick that helps me, is I ask for a table in the rear of the establishment and then I turn my back to the room. Artificial privacy. (They never seem that surprised when I ask, even though it almost always is near the noisy entrance exits to the kitchen -- must be other people who ask for it.)

Anyway, we got to the Living Room Theaters. They had 3-D glasses piled near the door, and we snagged some (in the theater another middle aged couple seemed bewildered they didn't have glasses so I told them about the pile. Two other couples got up to get the glasses, and I felt in the 'know'. heh.) Bought a couple of more beers, as the smell of garlic wafted over the theater. ("Ah, the smell of garlic and movies...." I said to Linda.) The theater was almost TOO comfortable. If I was inclined to fall asleep at the movies, that could've been a problem -- plus the seats were so wide, I had no place to put my elbows. (I've been trained to be a sardine, obviously.)

The movie was good, but I'd probably built it up too much in my mind. Todd and I started laughing at the "cave sniffer" and a lady behind us joined in, but we were the only ones who thought that was hilarious.

Oh, and the mutant crocodiles were a tad random.


Linda and shared a queen sized bed at Todd's, and I was concerned. See, I toss and turn, and when I toss, I turn emphatically. Meanwhile, Linda has restless leg syndrome, and her leg twitches like a metronome all night.....drives me nuts.

But we were fine, and we're thinking maybe with current mattresses, we could share a king-size bed at home instead of two singles shoved together. That would be awesome.

So, slept pretty well.

But hungover.


It's funny. Todd doesn't have a T.V. even though he has two roommates and their girlfriends. But they have an I-pod playing all day, morning, noon, and night. Different. *** (Later, turns out he does have a T.V. downstairs, but it's just local broadcast. Watched Hercule Poirot which was fun.)


Today we're going to Edgefield McMinamins, which will be a real challenge to my phobia, especially since I'm slightly hungover. But, like I said, I'm determined to say yes, especially accompanied by people I know and like, because someday on trips it will be Linda and Me and I'll want to see these types of places, and eat in these kinds of places -- so I may as well become accustomed to the experiences now.


Sunday.

Huge crowds, beer around every corner, and lots of funky art.

We ate in a kind of beer garden, snagged a table near the reservation booth and told the waitress we'd move if anyone needed it. Ended up being our table.

People watching -- big time. Lots of interesting and beautiful people. I tell you what, if I could get through that situation and not feel panicked, then maybe I just don't feel panicked anymore. It helps to down a couple of brews. I started with Ruby Red and stuck with it.

This was one busy place, and employs a whole lot of young people. What a formula.

You know what this agoraphobic person(former?) likes? Fitting in. Not really being noticed.

Maybe I'm succeeding. The couple next door started talking to us, and we were having a good conversation until the lady came back to the table with a newspaper she had found and started moaning about inheritance tax.

"As long as it isn't over a million dollars," I said. "I don't much care."

"Yeah, but you probably have a million dollars," the woman insisted, "if you add up everything."

"Well," I laughed. ".....999,999.99." ( I'm joking, I'm joking!)

"But I really don't want to talk politics." I said.

She continued on.

"Really, I don't want to talk about politics."

She went on.

"Well, actually, " I said, pointing at my wife. "SHE'S a COMMUNIST."

Linda just grinned and didn't deny it.

I think we quit talking a little bit after that.

But, hey! I think I was fitting in! At least for awhile.

Easy Solution.

I'm just avoiding the downtown street closure events.

Letting my guys handle it.

I expect the streets to be closed every weekend from now on, so I'll be pleasantly surprised on any weekend when they aren't closed.

I think economically, they may be a bit of wash, nowadays, instead of a complete negative like they used to be. I'd still like to be just a store in a retail district instead of sideshow in a circus, but there you go.

Friday was extraordinarily slow -- and once again I wonder if anticipation of (before the event) and satisfaction from (after the event) keep customer counts down. But, hey, I'm assured that the events create future customers, so that can't be right.

A -- mild -- rant this year, HBM.


Postscript. We had a big day on Saturday and a better than average day on Sunday, after a pretty horrid week, so the weekend helped. Stop my bitchin'? Not just yet. I'm still not convinced that overall they are a great idea, even when they come through once in a while.

A bookstore in a non-reading world is a tough road.

Why does it bother me that so few people read? Why does it bother me that so few kids read?

As I've said before, if parents bought books as often as they bought candy, I'd be a wealthy man.

But, ultimately, it's none of my business. I tell myself everyday before I go to work. I don't depend on those dollars, I haven't depended on those dollars for years.

Linda says she has a different perspective -- probably because the people who come into her store are there specifically for books.

But being downtown, I see hordes of people walk by my table of books without so much as a glance.

On Friday, I had 90 people in, about 30 of which were kids, and not one kid looked at a book that I could see. Not one parent offered to buy their kid a book. Not one. (I heard multiple mentions of toys and candy and video games.)

Shudder. Twitch.

Like I said, none of my business.


Update: Yesterday was pretty good. I think it really helps to have my cheerful young guys there when these events are happening.

A weird week: 4 days down by half, 2 days double normal, which is -- average.

Movie talk.

An IMAX in Bend?

Cool.

But it won't be any use unless they're willing to show other than Hollywood blockbusters there.

I was hoping that after the fourth or fifth week of Pirates of the C., they'd transfer Cave of Forgotten Dreams to a 3-D theater. (Hell, if you haven't seen P of C by now, you probably don't care.) (O.K. just checked, P of C isn't in 3-D anymore, but Thor still is -- same diff.)

I am literally going to go to Portland to see the movie, just because every review I read raved about the 3-D.

Bend is sort of weird about independent movies. "Oh, all right. If we must. But we'll stick it in the smallest, oldest theaters and we'll bring it in week's after everyone else and we'll let you see it for a week, maybe two, and then it's gone, baby, gone."

Then again, twenty years ago we almost never got the smaller films at all, so I probably shouldn't complain.


Speaking of which, Linda and I saw Midnight in Paris, which was fun. I wish Woody went for more than superficial versions of Stein and Hemingway, et al, but I really enjoyed his vision of both past era's, which are two of my favorite artistic times.

**********

The store money is not your money.

I'm careful not to mistake the store money for my money.

I figured this out early on.

So I might have a really good day, like yesterday, and have a stack of twenties and fifties and feel really prosperous. Except I don't. It has no emotional resonance for me at all. Because it's way too easy to summon up a vision of the stack of debt that stacks even higher.

The money is not my money.

During the height of the housing boom, I had people in the building trade ask why I didn't use some of that cash to invest in real estate.

You know, because it was a sure thing.

Well, I'd had my fill of "sure things." Sure things are NEVER sure things. Everytime I had overbought because it was a sure thing, eventually I would have an instance where I would lose all the money I'd made before....

But I'm sure that's what happened to the people at Summit 1031.

They probably started off thinking what a waste it was to have all the cash sitting in low-interest bearing accounts. They should invest a little in the market, and make some money with it!

It's a sure thing!

Then as they watched their real estate investments skyrocket in value, they thought, why not take a little out to spend? There is so much more than we actually owe.

What amazes me that there are STILL people who are defending these guys.

Hell, the store money IS mine in the sense that the risk is all mine. That is, if I take from the store and the store fails, I pay the penalty. (Well, so do the suppliers and the rest, I guess.)
Anyway, it's just poor impulse control.

But in the case the Summit people: IT WASN'T THEIR MONEY!

There is no real excuse.

The "Housing Bubble" got us a home.

This is something I've never heard talked about. But did the housing bubble actually get people into homes they wouldn't have gotten otherwise?

(But which they could actually afford if they were disciplined?)

Linda and my combined income for each of the years 2001, 2002, and 2003, was almost exactly 30,000.00. That's literally, two minimum wage jobs. (Hence, the title of this blog.)

By late 2003, it was time to buy a house, I agreed finally with Linda, but I didn't want to be house poor, or have a house that constantly needed fixing.

I expected to be turned down. Or, at best, to get a house that wasn't much better than a trailer.
But they call them "starter" houses for a reason.

But we had a couple things going for us. We had a minimum 10% down cash -- depending on the house -- and despite our troubles with credit cards, to my great surprise, we still had pretty good credit scores, and we had zero debt.

But, of course, in hindsight, I can see that probably would've been given the mortgage even without those things. Because of the bubble.

We found a house that was much better than I could've expected -- in a nice neighborhood, about 20 years old but well kept up, and a third of an acre with great bones for landscaping and ...well, I was really surprised we qualified.

Thing is, Linda and I were more than willing to pay at least 50% of our income on housing -- even more, actually. I made double payments for a couple of years, so even though the value of the house has probably dropped below what we paid (at 2003 prices) we made a pretty good dent in the debt over the years.

And it's a nice house, a house we can live in for many years.

What I'm saying is, in the old days we wouldn't have qualified, or we wouldn't have qualified for as nice a house as we got.

One thing I knew, from our problems with credit cards, was that I didn't want any fancy financial shenanigans. I wanted a fixed, 30 year mortgage, taxes included.

I'm not saying we are paragons of discipline. We could just as easily got caught up in some of the more extreme bubble thinking IF -- I hadn't already been crushed by several bubbles in my business. Sports cards, comics, pogs, beanie babies, pokemon -- all had hammered me.

The credit card problems we had for a decade came from the fact that I fell for not just one, not just two, but three different bubbles.

By the time we bought the house I had been thoroughly humbled.

Still, looking back, I think we qualified for a nicer house than we would before or after the bubble. So in our case, it worked.

I wonder how many "little people" actually benefited...