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best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

• February 05, 2012
• 11:01

  Here's how I feel about...

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Here's how I feel about religion:
  
  It's my business and no one else.
  
  ***********
  
  Here's how I feel about politics:
  
  I lean toward the liberal, but I want it to work.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about writing:
  
  I think I'm almost good enough.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about working:
  
  It's engagement with life and with others.
  
  ***********
  
  Here's how I feel about money:
  
  I need it for security, not luxuries.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about age:
  
  Damn. That sure snuck up on me!
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about family:
  
  Too far away.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about friends:
  
  Hard to make and hard to keep.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about friendship:
  
  "What? You want me to do something?" (Which may explain the previous.)
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about my life:
  
  Self-directed. (Which may explain the previous.)
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about books:
  
  Organically attached.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about digital:
  
  Not attached.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about the internet:
  
  Unexpectedly social. (Or social substitute.)
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about Google:
  
  Spoiled.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about T.V.:
  
  Too much good stuff.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about movies:
  
  Life's markers.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about growth:
  
  Ignore it. Bend is still underneath.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about Bend:
  
  Crisp and vibrant. Home.
  
  **********
  
  Here's how I feel about Linda:
  
  Everything.
• 9:52

  blah, blah writing blah blah.

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  Sorry, another boring writer's blog.
  
  I've done 27 chapters over the last 9 days. 7 chapters still to rewrite. I have 1 chapter, the last, to write from scratch.
  
  I've been locked in my room, writing at least 6 hours, up to 10 hours per day. I've left the house only once.
  
  My brain is drained. I started strong, but I'm limping to the finish.
  
  I've been diligent. But this has been a great reminder of how much time I used to devote to writing, and why I couldn't knock off a novel in my spare time. It requires all my attention all the time, or it slips away.
  
  I don't know if the book is ready for primetime, yet. Or even good enough to submit as a pilot. I know I've improved it, incrementally at least.
  
  I'm pushing through to the end of the rewrite, by Tuesday. Take two days off, go to work, and then come back and write the last chapter. Then go to work again, then come back and decide what I want to do.
  
  Should I try to run through it again? I'm sort of inclined that way, right now. I had thought I would be done, but now I can see how much work needs to be done.
  
  I think there was some self-deception here. I thought I could take the second draft, and pass it along. But now that I've actually almost finished it, I'm thinking it needs more work.
  
  Here's the thing. If at the beginning of the second draft, you had told me I might need to do yet another run-thru before passing it along for vetting, I might have despaired. But now that I'm actually done, it doesn't seem quite so daunting.
  
  I don't want to waste my critiquers -- I know from past experience that you only get that one chance at it.
  
  We'll see.
  
  I'm finding that even the small amount of written criticism by my writer's group has been hugely helpful.
  
  Yesterday, I came to a dramatic scene, and one of the critiquers wrote "boring."
  
  Harsh, but when I looked at, totally true.
  
  So I ramped up the drama, had the character make a rousing speech, and the scene works much better.
  
  The best criticism is when I'm told I've not done enough to dramatize the scene, or I've done too much boring explaining.
  
  A blank page is hard to dig into. Having some criticism, any criticism, is like finding a path up a cliff. Something I can work with.
  
  The other thing I've noticed, and this is more in the way of copyediting, but it's amazing how easy it is to missed dropped words. (or backward words, heh.) Nine people may have read the manuscript, but only one finds the error.
  
  When we read, we tend to fill in so much that I think a simple dropped "a" or "the" can be totally overlooked. Even more complex words can be completely missed.
  
  I'm assuming that other writers find this whole process easier, or they aren't as lazy as me, or both. Or there would be less books in the world. Or maybe there are just so many people. Something.
  
  I'm impressed by other writers, I can tell you that.
• February 04, 2012
• 11:38

  Is writing a craft or an art?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  To me, writing a novel is more a craft than an art.
  
  Not to get all mystical, but the art is either there or it isn't. It is your creative soul on display.
  
  The craft part, though. That's on me.
  
  I have to learn that part. Some of it comes by instinct, by reading, by copying others.
  
  Most of it comes through experience.
  
  Because I'm lazy, most of the craft part of writing has come by slow accretion. Actually, that's not quite fair to myself. I took a lot of writing classes early on; and I think I read every book on creative writing in the Deschutes Library. (None of which agree with each other, by the way.)
  
  But since then, I just want to get on with the writing, and my weaknesses become exposed in the process and then I try to fix those weakness by learning a little craft.
  
  I've been conscious in writing this book of dialogue, in particular. What sounds natural and what doesn't. How much dialogue can be used to advance the story. To reveal character. And just to facilitate the nuts and bolts of the plot.
  
  I think I've always felt every line of dialogue had to mean something. Say something. But I've been very aware lately of how often in the mystery books I'm reading, there will be a simple line like, "I'll meet you there." "Let's go." "How you doing?"
  
  You know, simple stuff.
  
  And it works.
  
  I was watching Fringe last night. It was the best-written Fringe I've seen so far; up to the best X-Files writing. I was trying to diagnose how they were being so effective at telegraphing emotion and meaning in such a skimpy teleplay.
  
  I noticed that what wasn't said was as important as what was said.
  
  Anyway, that's the kind of learning I mean by craft.
  
  And the even harder part of applying that learning to what I do.
• 11:01

  Steady progress on the book.

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  I've been making steady progress on the book. Small improvements as I write the second draft.
  
  It's more like chipping away at a block of granite. I can see how much still needs to be done.
  
  The question is, how much am I willing to do? How much improvement can I make?
  
  I'll probably finish this second draft in the 12 day period I gave myself. Then I'll take a 5 day period to write the last chapter. Then, I think, I'll probably read the whole thing aloud to myself and see how it sounds. (Reading aloud seems to catch all kinds of awkward phrasing.) Maybe another 5 day spurt.
  
  So, pretty much the rest of the month.
  
  Then I'll print up a few hard copies and try to get some other people to critique.
  
  My request of them will be to make as many changes, cuts, suggestions, as possible. So that I'll have something solid to bounce off of in the third draft of the book.
  
  Then?
  
  We'll see. If it still isn't good enough, I may have to step back and give it a little time and then come back again and see if it can't be improved.
  
  
  
  Later: I'm bogging down. I'm about 2/3rds of the way with 4 days left. I took a day off in the middle to do errands.
  
  There is some pretty lame dialogue that I can't seem to fix. So I'm doing my best and moving on. The book kind of veers in a strange direction about halfway through, and I'm not sure it works, but again -- I've traveled too far down that plot to turn back. I can either try to make the silliness less silly or more, but I don't think I can leave it alone.
  
  Some things I'll just have to save for the final draft.
  
  I'm trying to make this good enough that I won't feel like I've presumed on my critiquers better natures.
• 10:45

  Writing in stages.

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  This is the first time I've written a book in distinct stages.
  
  Before it was just a big mess. All seven early books were a hodgepodge of effort. Rewriting early chapters, adding on, rewriting again, changing everything, tacking on the last chapters, rearranging, rewriting, adding.
  
  I've been very careful to do it differently this time.
  
  The first draft is the brainstorming draft. Getting the plot down. Adding elements as I go along without actually rewriting anything. Some chapters come full blown, others are kind of threadbare.
  
  The second draft has been trying to fit all the pieces together, make them consistent, and concentrating on continuity. Also trying to flesh up parts that needed it, and cutting down parts as needed. Trying to smooth out the rough patches.
  
  I'm not sure how the third draft is going to go, and until now, I don't think I ever thought I'd even considered a fourth draft. But...if it isn't good enough, probably best I give it a little time and try again.
  
  I'm noticing that the latter half of the book gets less attention than the first half, so I'm going to try to trick myself and write the next draft starting halfway through the book, so I burn all the early energy on the second half for once.
• 10:27

  When 1.00 rent is too much.

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  Arts Central is leaving a 1.00 rent per year.
  I've always maintained that cheap rent isn't the be all and end all.
  
  **********
  
  Digging in sand is bad for you? My god, how did any of us survive our youth?
  
  **********
  
  Greg Oden has a career in knee surgery.
  
  **********
  
  Going to DVR the Superbowl. Nobody tell me.
  
  **********
  
  I don't know why I don't like to Twitter.
  
  **********
  
  So the the city council has finally decided that current infrastructure is more important than building for future growth. Took them long enough.
  
  **********
  
  No legal proof, Lance. But I still think you're a fraud.
  
  **********
  
  Alan Moore is a grump. But he has earned the right to be a grump.
  
  **********
  
  Our retirement account is up about 10% lately. It's just funny money. It could just as easily disappear tomorrow. Probably will.
  
  **********
  
  Our cat is getting about a quarter cup of food a day, and she still isn't losing weight. I think she's stopped moving at all. (she's still breathing, that's not what I meant.)
  
  **********
  
  As soon as I read the jobs report, I went to check out the Doubters. (Not the Haters, the Doubters.) They seemed to agree it was real improvement. Of course, you have to ignore the real 20% rate, but still....
  
  **********
  
  Linda loves making bookmarks for her store (The Bookmark, heh.) She sells them for 1.00 and donates to a food pantry. We get tons of catalogs which give her raw material. I suspect she puts at least a 1.00 into making them (not even counting time) but she enjoys doing it.
  
  **********
  
  That's it. I'm not kissing anyone from Prineville.
  
  **********
  
  I have to admit, Las Vegas is probably worse off than us.
• February 03, 2012
• 12:24

  Improve every draft beyond expectation.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  There is an important aspect to writing that I never see anyone comment on.
  
  How improvements to the manuscript happen out of sight.
  
  I've noticed in my writers group, that there are those who bring a story and get critiqued, and who only change the story slightly in response. Or they don't change it at all.
  
  There are others who take the criticism to heart, and the next time they read the same chapter it's improved by leaps and bounds.
  
  This latter group are the more likely to be published, I noticed. Eventually. That is, I'm not surprised when they later get published.
  
  I'm assuming that the next draft, whether I heard it or not, also improved. And the next.
  
  It's that talent of constantly making genuine improvements that eventually makes a manuscript readable.
  
  But the critiquers are always going to be behind the evolution.
  
  That's why I think people can so often be surprised when a person they read has some success. Because they read the lessor copy, the incomplete, the unfinished work.
  
  Even the last draft -- the one no one ends up reading but the publisher -- can be a big improvement, the final embellishment may make all the difference.
  
  So friends and family read earlier, unfinished and unpolished versions of the final draft. And it's always going to seem wanting.
  
  I've mentioned this before, but I once read a book about Erle Stanley Gardner's writing process. (Perry Mason's creator).
  
  The book showed an example of the first draft of a story, and I'd think: Hey, that's pretty good.
  
  Then it would show the writer's thoughts on that draft, and the improvements he thought he should make. The second draft was twice as good as the first.
  
  Then ...there would be a third round of improvements, and it would be even better. Often, there was that final spark that made it something special.
  
  I've always taken this as an object lesson. It's why I welcome critique, because I can use the remarks to improve what I've done. EVEN IF I think the criticism is off base, it still helps me think about what I've done.
  
  I'm not saying that every draft I make is an huge improvement -- in fact, there have been times when I think I've gone backward.
  
  The real object lesson here is to not get discouraged by early drafts, or by early responses.
  
  To value all criticism, because that gives you something to dig into. A blank wall has nothing to grab onto.
  
  Because it may very well be that you'll vastly improve it by the end. But you can't there without starting, and starting is always going to seem wanting.
  
  I'm over halfway through my second draft, and in a way, whether it's any good or not is still a moot point.
  
  The real point is to make it Better. To improve it.
  
  And then try to do it again.
  
  That's really all I Can do: try to make it better until I can't.
• 9:43

  Technology or magic?

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  "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic." Arthur C. Clarke's 3rd law.
  
  So by that reasoning -- Any practitioner of advanced technology is indistinguishable from a wizard.
  
  The wi-fi on my laptop stopped working yesterday afternoon.
  
  Since my desktop computer stopped working ages ago, this was a disaster. Netflex stopped working a couple weeks ago; so did Linda's desktop, and our cellphones and Ipad --though we could still get 3 G.
  
  But not having internet service was the last straw.
  
  So I called my wizard friend, Aaron Leis.
  
  I only hesitated to call him for help, because I'm always afraid he'll think the only reason I'm friends is because he's a wizard. (Though a wizard is a good friend to have, indeed.)
  
  He came over and waved his magic wand and fixed everything in a matter of minutes. A few mumbles and magic words and it was all up an running, and while he was at it, abracadabra, he fixed them even better!
  
  I just laughed.
  
  Even when he explained what he did, it still seemed like magic to me.
  
  There is something that just tickles me, makes me feel good, about seeing someone who is so casually competent at something. It gives me hope for the future. And it isn't even his real job, just something he does on the side.
  
  He started talking about passwords, and telling us in great enthusiasm about what he's read and researched, and I could tell it's that kind of passion and interest that has made him a wizard.
  
  I'm telling you, every household needs a wizard -- otherwise you have a house full of broken or dysfunctional devices.
  
  If I set out today to try to learn what he knows, I wouldn't get even a fraction of the way there.
  
  Same with my friend Jared. They have the magic.
  
  I swear, if I could do what these guys do, nothing would stop me. Heh.
  
  Alas and alack.
• February 02, 2012
• 10:35

  January, 2012 results.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  We beat January of last year by 2%. Pretty tiny increase, but a win is a win, I guess.
  
  I feel the weather really hammered us this year. We had some incredibly slow days. My guess is sales would've been at least 10% better without the horrid weather.
  
  Normally I hate blaming such a random factor, but this slop was the worst kind of customer turnoff. (A reminder to me that that exact same kind of weather could've hit mid-December to devastating effects -- which is why I need to hedge my bets instead of going all in.)
  
  The 20% increase at Christmas was great -- except so many of the bills come due in January.
  
  That makes 7 months in a row I've beaten last year, which equals the previous increase that I had in the middle of the recession. As I've said before, these increases are usually built on decreases -- I will really only believe the recession is over when I have increases over increases.
  
  ***Comics were strong. The continuing effects of the New 52.
  
  ***Books were up. This is the first month I've kept tract of used versus new books, and I was astonished that new books by far outsold used books. I'm guessing that I sold a few more used books than the register showed because of old habits -- the new books button used to be just the "books" button.
  
  Still, it's pretty clear I was overestimating my used book sales and underestimating my new book sales, which makes me feel a bit better about spending so much on new books.
  
  I'd thought the used books were supporting the new books, but the new books have been performing all along.
  
  ***Cards were up slightly.
  
  ***Card Game were down significantly. It kind of feels like the new interest has leveled off. I also think my main competitor has gained throughout the year as he's become established and found by the gaming community. (Plus, he seems to have decided on a discounting strategy.)
  
  ***Games were up slightly.
  
  ***Graphic Novels up slightly.
  
  ***Toys about the same.
  
  I should be able to beat last year in February, knock wood, because I have an extra day to get there.
• February 01, 2012
• 11:26

  Wednesday Wats.

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  I got to admit. I didn't understand the Savvy Shopper article in the Bulletin today. Those guys could have just as easily shopped from a thrift store and looked the same. Instead it was all "branded" clothing.
  
  Huh? So you'll pay 5 to 10 times more to look sloppy? Er...I mean casual?
  
  **********
  
  I've got to say, it looks to me like Romney is trying to buy the presidency.
  
  And before you all jump all over me -- they are ALL trying to buy the presidency.
  
  That's the problem.
  
  **********
  
  Housing prices are still dropping.
  
  Just saying. In case you happen to read a lot of real estate blogs -- who would lead to believe the opposite.
  
  **********
  
  You know what I wish economic reporters would do? Not just tell me when a economic gauge goes up or down, month to month -- because what you get are constant, "Confidence is Up!" "Confidence is Down!" (for example) as stories. But what that doesn't tell you is if the Up gauge was up say 10 points, and the down gauge was down 2 points, followed by another up gauge of 10 points, and another down gauge of 2 points.
  
  So instead of pointing to the obvious trend upward (or just as easily downward) what the reader gets is, Up, down, up, down.
  
  I know trends aren't always obvious, but where they are....make it clear.
  
  **********
  
  Eagle Crest is taking on the Holiday Inn brand?
  
  Hilton Hotel in the Old Mill?
  
  So much for our unique destination resorts. Turns out, we're just like everyone else.
  
  **********
  
  So Amazon's stock dropped yesterday, for some silly reason like they grossed 17 billion instead of 18 billion or something like that.
  
  But, their overall strategy of "growth" is "intact."
  
  I don't know if I've ever mentioned this before, but I think this is a very, very dangerous strategy on Amazon's part.
  
  But they're HUGE! And getting HUGER!
  
  So what, if they aren't making big profits? Instead, if I read it right, 1 penny on the dollar.
  
  Here's the thing; think of it as a poker game. You win a hand, you put it all back, you win another hand, you put it all back, you win another hand, you put it all back.
  
  So, say you started with a hundred, and now you've got 100,000.
  
  But if you lose the last hand, you lose it all. Every freaking cent. Doesn't matter how big your stack got.
  
  I don't see retail as much different, and I actually have a very specific example of that: if you'll pardon me, sports cards.
  
  In the first 5 years I carried sports cards, they expanded exponentially. So every dollar I made was plowed right back in to buying more product. For five years. And I had incredibly impressive sales results. I borrowed money from the bank twice. I opened three more stores.
  
  Then it all crashed. Not only didn't I make money, I was suddenly losing money.
  
  What I had told myself was that the day would come when I could take my foot off the accelerator and start earning profits. Instead, that chance disappeared.
  
  I don't see why Amazon is any different. A new technology, a new business model, could come along at any time and take a significant percentage of their market -- and it won't matter how big they got, if they start losing money and never made money.
  
  It's just churning cash.
• 9:37

  Do as we say! Wait....don't do it!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Flashback about 8 years ago or so.
  
  Manga is all the rage. Teens and pre-teens line the aisles of Barnes and Noble and Borders. The cheap little books are selling like hotcakes.
  
  And most comic books stores have been left in the dust.
  
  Most of them simply missed the boat -- not understanding them, or caring for them.
  
  Other comic stores (like me) tried, but it was hard keeping up with the onslaught of books without return privileges. We were left with too many clunkers for it to be very profitable, plus it seemed like it required more and more space.
  
  Anyway, a theme developed that comic stores were being stupid. (Comic stores are always stupid --we never have enough of what they want when they want it --)
  
  Look! the manga proponents would say, look how many manga books are selling in the mass market! Look how many young people and -- gasp -- girls! are buying manga. Comic stores are stupid, as usual. They don't have a clue!'
  
  Comics are doomed, because they aren't following the manga model -- book-sized bang for the buck. Cheap stories.
  
  Silly comic stores.
  
  
  Flash to present.
  
  Borders is gone. Manga is selling less than half as well as it once did. Major publishers like Tokyo Pop are gone. Most kids who are still interested simply pirate the material off the internet.
  
  What went wrong?
  
  Well,these experts say, manga made the mistake of being targeted toward younger people and especially girls, who have now grown out of the fad and moved on.
  
  Also, they put out book-sized material that was too cheap per page.
  
  
  So...if you'll please notice... the very same things the comic store haters were telling us comic stores to do 8 years ago, they are now telling us caused the demise of Manga.
  
  We can't win.
• 8:52

  Every writer is different. And every book.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I speak here for myself. Other writers are probably different. In fact, every writer is probably different from each other. Hell, every book writing experience is different from each other.
  
  But writing full time is a strange way of life.
  
  For me, it's very isolating. To be effective, I have to pretty much sequester myself for the interim. Less T.V., less reading, less going out of the house, less interaction with others.
  
  I don't want the fictional flow interrupted.
  
  Cameron was asking why writing a book was so much harder than writing a blog.
  
  For me, it's the difference between keeping track of one or two things at a time, and keep track of hundreds, thousands of interrelated threads and thoughts.
  
  Plus, a blog is ephemeral. Yeah, it stays on the net, but many entries will lose pertinence after awhile.
  
  A book is supposed to hold together, forever.
  
  Plus -- to be frank, I don't think I'm a good enough novel writer for it to be easy, and writing isn't easy enough for me to be a good enough novel writer. I need something extra. I need to take time and effort to make it readable. (And even then, I wonder if I succeed.) I need to wait for inspiration a little too often for it to be fast. I need time between re-readings to keep some freshness. I need some help from others to spark changes.
  
  So for me, it always seems like more needs to be done.
  
  I was mentioning this to a successful pro writer once, and he looked at me in shock and said, "Why would you ever send it off if it wasn't perfect?"
  
  Which shocked me in return.
  
  Perfect? I envy him his certainty, but that never comes to me. I don't care how long I take, or how much work I put in.
  
  In fact, I have the opposite danger of taking a perfectly good story and ruining it. Like working on any art project, there's that moment where you need to stop.
  
  Like I said, every writer is different.
  
  The other dangerous thing for me about writing besides the danger of isolation, is that it almost invites laziness.
  
  It's not really laziness, but that's how it must seem to others. Because I need to mope around, cogitate, drift and daydream. I want to daydream, let me mind wander. Wait for the thought, the idea, the phrasing.
  
  So it doesn't LOOK like I'm really writing. It looks like I'm lazing about. Staring into space, laying back on the futon. Doing nothing.
  
  Thankfully, Linda understands this -- in fact, there are times I lose her to her own fictional world for a few weeks or months. (Unfortunately for her, I'm more demanding of her time than she is, for which I'll try to do better next time now that I've been reminded what it's like...)
  
  I'll tell you what: I'm a champion daydreamer, moper, laze around the house kind of guy. I take to it like a fish to water.
  
  Helps that I'm a loner and being alone doesn't bother me in the least.
  
  I've mentioned before, I think owning a store was probably a better life for me personally than being a writer. Being an "author" has more romance to it, but its cost for an isolating, lazy person like me probably would've been too high.
  
  Not to mention the creative feedback was much faster and I could actually make a living.
• January 31, 2012
• 10:50

  "Rewriting is a misnomer.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I know some of you are thinking -- "rewriting" a book in 12 days?
  
  But what I'm trying to do here is come up with a "reading" copy; which means that continuity is the most important aspect.
  
  The "rewriting" is a misnomer. Actually, it's more that I'm reading the book and making corrections. Significant corrections, but not actually rewriting the whole book.
  
  I write a book in parts. All the parts could work but the whole be unreadable. So I want to try to read it how a reader would read it.
  
  If I have time at the end, I may read the whole thing out loud to myself. I find that I will often read it slightly differently than what's on the page and what I read aloud is almost always an improvement, like my subconscious has a better choice.
  
  
  I got another 4 chapters done, but I suspect I might be slowing down, because the later chapters probably need more work. Arrggh.
  
  Anyone who thinks that one should write a book simply for the "fun" of it, has never written a book or is kidding themselves. By kidding themselves, I suspect they secretly or not secretly harbor the wish that the book will be published, make tons of money, and be covered in glory.
  
  Writing a blog is "fun."
  
  Writing a book takes time and energy. There are fun aspects in the process, but actually finishing a book -- to me -- becomes a little less fun. There is a great sense of accomplishment, though.
  
  The fourth chapter needs some additional material -- so I'm hoping I can write that before I start doing the next 4 chapters.
• January 30, 2012
• 12:00

  Big surprise -- having half your market in two stores isn't a good idea.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  A New York Times article on Barnes and Noble.
  
  The publishers are scared to death that Barnes and Noble is going to follow Borders into going out of business, dragging book sales with them.
  
  Because independent bookstores only account for 8% of the sales.
  
  Well -- who's fault is that?
  
  Did it ever occur to these morons that supporting Borders and Barnes and Noble instead of the independent bookstores was putting all their eggs in one basket?
  
  It was inevitable and foreseeable.
  
  And avoidable. Giving preferential treatment to the big box stores was going to kill the independents. This isn't in dispute. The publishers were sued and found guilty of doing exactly that. They still do, just in legal ways.
  
  You CAN'T KILL YOUR BASE OF SUPPORT!
  
  And your base, basically, are the small stores all throughout the U.S.A. This was true of sports cards, and it was true of the music industry, and it's true of book publishers.
  
  Like the sport card manufacturers before them, and the album producers, the book publishers went full blast into the big box stores. They couldn't be bothered with the little guy.
  
  I know what some of you are saying: The big box stores sold more, they had a better model, why should the manufacturers fight it?
  
  I'm not saying they should have fought it. I'm saying they shouldn't have cooperated so thoroughly to it. Really, it was collusion. They saw big bucks in chain stores and they didn't put a moment's thought into slipping the knife into the small stores by making it difficult to compete. Whatever they told themselves, they gave better terms to the big boxes.
  
  The big box mass market chains stores achieved their size and pricing because the manufacturers HELPED THEM DO IT!
  
  I just get tired of the media leaving out this step.
  
  The manufacturers were responsible for the market they got. They could have made more of a level playing field.
  
  Even -- gasp -- giving preferential treatment to independents, if they had to give preferential treatment at all.
  
  Bulk discounts (I'm sorry, selling 10,000 books to a hundred independents, or 10,000 to one bookstore, you STILL sell 10,000 books.)
  
  Exclusives, early shipping, overships, expanded returns, longer payment terms, endcaps, cheaper prices, etc. etc.
  
  They did it in a hundred ways, folks.
  
  It's their own damn fault.
• 10:24

  Or is it two steps forward, three steps back?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I made myself a couple of checklists for my writing the second draft.
  
  As I mentioned, I have three themes I want to pursue:
  
  1.) HUMANS ARE STRANGE.
  2.) WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE?
  3.) THE WEIRD MENAGERIE.
  
  For nuts and bolts writing, I made a second checklist.
  
  1.) Is there a more original way to say it?
  2.) Is there a telling detail you can add?
  3.) Does it read professionally? Is it smooth and pleasing?
  4.) Does it advance the story? Is there anything you can add for suspense?
  5.) Sight, sound, color, touch, feel, all the senses.
  6.) Are we emotionally connected to the narrator?
  
  I planned to go through the chapters once. Then run through them again with the critiques from the writer's group. Then a third time with Checklist 1; and a fourth time with Checklist 2.
  
  In reality, I ran through the chapters once with the checklists pretty much in mind, and then a second time with the writer's group critiques (which have turned out to be kind of skimpy -- the critique at the meetings can be anyway from 5 minutes to an hour, but there turn out to be only a few written comments and corrections.)
  
  My test is -- if I picked this up in a bookstore, would it seem out of place?
  
  I tell you what: I'm so glad right now that I actually had those books published back in the 80's, as well as got some real positive feedback on the unpublished manuscripts.
  
  Cause if it wasn't for that, I'd be afraid I was making a fool of myself.
  
  It is so intimidating. I've just put on my blinders, stuck a needle through my eye for a small lobotomy, and I'm finishing the damn book!
• 10:11

  Drinking quit me.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I decided after doing the first four chapters, to drink a little beer and look at the story with a skewed perspective.
  
  This used to be very effective for me. Made me more casual in my writing, looser, a little more creative.
  
  Last time I drank anything was way back on my other writing binge, when I went to Baker City in the first week of September. Back then, it didn't seem to help at all.
  
  Neither did it this time. Got very little out of it, the changes I made I'm not even sure are that much better.
  
  Meanwhile, went to bed and dreamed that I wrecked both of my cars while drinking. I feel like crap this morning.
  
  I haven't quit drinking, drinking quit me.
  
  The only time I'm going to do it anymore is during social engagements where alcohol is suitable; and in my life, that seems to be only during the rare McGeary family get-togethers.
  
  My wife, who is a life-long teetotaler, is not crushed.
• 9:31

  Three steps forward, two steps back?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  So here's what I'm doing.
  
  I'm giving myself 12 straight days off from work to pound I'M ONLY HUMAN into a readable copy. This is the copy I'll put into manuscript form and print out and pass around for a few people to go critique.
  
  The first two days, I spent just putting the chapters in the proper order. I started the process of cutting unnecessary chapters, or chunks of chapters. Title-ing and dating.
  
  Started the real rewrite yesterday. Need to do at least 3 chapters per day, and I estimated between 2 and 3 hours per chapter.
  
  Found out right away that some chapters are more finished than others. The first chapter needed hardly any work, the second chapter (which is a new insert) needed a lot more work, and so on.
  
  I started around noon. When I finished, I looked up at the clock, it was 9:15 and I'd missed Downton Abby which was the only show I intended to watch on a usually busy Sunday viewing.
  
  I got four chapters done.
  
  I like them. I think they flow very well.
  
  I did quite a bit of dumping of explanations. What I feel I need are thinner but stronger transitions. Anything that smacks of an "info dump" needs to be cut or integrated into the narrative or dialogue. Fantasy is hard, because you've got to explain so much more. But the more you explain by showing, putting it into scenes or in character's mouths, the better.
  
  So, I think I was pretty ruthless. (It helps to have an intact first draft that I can always go back and check if I go too far.)
  
  Meanwhile, I also fleshed out some of the actual scenes, gave them a bit more depth. This is where I tend to underwrite the first draft because I'm eager to follow the plot.
  
  The first draft was probably close to 70,000 words, so it will be interesting to see if it gets bigger than that, especially since I've cut 3 and half chapters already.
  

  
• January 29, 2012
• 10:29

  Roll your own. Really?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Something seemed hinky about the cigarette rolling business mentioned in the Bulletin.
  
  You know, the "too good to be true" dictum?
  
  I think it's the math.
  
  The company promises that one can make a "300%" return.
  
  The machine costs 34,000.00. Right off the bat, I have a question. Has this guy bought the business of a RYO Filling Station, or did he buy the machine? Does the "rent" refer only to the customer's use of the machine, or the business owner?
  
  But assuming he bought the machine, and it's just a one time purchase, is this a good deal?
  
  Let's make a couple of more assumptions.
  
  Basically, the story says that he charges for material and time, at about 30.00 per eight minutes. For this, the customer gets 200 cigarettes. Now, if the article was right and people are paying 5.00 a pack in stores, then that's a savings of about 20.00. If you don't count the probably 15 minutes the whole thing is going to take to finish.
  
  So assuming that the machine is running 30 minutes out of every hour, with the other thirty minutes being the preparation and selling part. (Actually, this is if he's busy. Not counting minutes where there are no customers....) Well, I'd love to be busy with a transaction 30 minutes out of every hour, on the hour. Instead of busy sometimes, not busy other times. But...hey, people got to smoke.
  
  Anyway, I'm thinking 4 of these transactions an hour is an upper limit to how many times he can do this. (Of course, if they pre-roll them, they could get around this -- but that would be illegal....)
  
  Which works out to 120.00 per hour. Assuming an 8 hour day, 6 days a week, that would bring in a lot of money. Let's say 5000.00 a week.
  
  Now, assuming that he is paying 50% for cost of goods, he's making 2500.00 in profits. 130,000.00 per year.
  
  So the company itself says you'll do three times the cost of the 34K, so that works out to 102K.
  
  If you make it past the first year, it would seem like a bonanza.
  
  
  So I googled RYO + Scam and learned the following.
  
  
  First off, the company itself was served an injunction in 2010, and had to close down. The injunction hasn't been lifted, but is not being enforced. What that means, if I understand the legal issues here, is that any money accrued in the interim will be subject to full taxes if they are ruled against.
  
  Since most of the money saving in this enterprise is by subverting the taxes -- they guys had better be saving up their profits to pay to eventual judgement to the government.
  
  I'm doubting that the government is going to give up their taxes so easily.
  
  Several states have banned these machines already.
  
  
  Secondly: An already in-operation store mentioned that they sell 3000.00 worth a week in sales, which seems more reasonable. The 5000.00 I came up with assumed a high level of busyness. They also implied that they pay about 1/3rd in cost of goods. One of them mentioned a 3.50 royalty to the company on every cartoon of cigs.
  
  Anyway, the sales are bit lower than I estimated, the costs a bit lower. Overall, they make about 20% less profit than I estimated. Still a pretty good 2K per week of gross profit. (Before business costs; rent, electric, insurance, labor, etc. etc.)
  
  Third: The company itself says that it takes "10 to 20 minutes" to roll 200 cigarettes, not the 8 minutes in the story. In fact, they claim they can only roll 10 cigarettes per minute, tops. So that changes some of the assumptions above.
  
  That means, if the machine is running every minute, they can complete 3 -- 200 count transactions an hour. Which means if they run every minute, they can sell 90.00 per hour.
  Going back to my original assumption, that they are running half time if they are super busy, that works out to 45.00 an hour, of which 30.00 are profits.
  
  This is looking less profitable all the time. Still possibly viable. 240.00 per day in gross profits, or 5700.00 a month. Still not bad, assuming low overhead.
  
  These are the estimates of the actual producer of the machines. (They are trying to wiggle off the hook of being a "manufacturer", so apparently they scream they are slow to the regulators, and scream they are fast to potential customers. Assume something in the middle, and it still isn't looking as good.)
  
  Fourth: The profits really come from cheaper pipe tobacco being used in the process. You can use legally taxed cigarette tobacco, but it's much more expensive. However, you apparently can go out right now and buy the same kind of pipe-tobacco cigarettes for under 10.00 a carton, already rolled. So you're actually paying more per cartoon, if that is the kind of tobacco you're using.
  
  Fifth: There are discount cigarette retailers who sell a carton of branded cigs for closer to 45.00, than the full retail 60.00 a carton. (I don't know local costs -- I'm sure a smoker out there can tell us.)
  
  So the savings, even on the pipe-tobacco cigs are now about 15.00 per cartoon, not the "half" that is advertised. This if for legal, brand-name, already rolled cigarettes that you can buy in 1 minute store transaction.
  
  
  So. A good deal?
  
  There seems to be a big risk that the machine will either be shut down legally, or become much more expensive (with taxes) to operate, as well as a danger that the operator will "owe" big bucks to the government. If he can make it past the first year, it might be O.K.
  
  It seems to me, that even in the best-case scenario, the profits are less than advertised. You always have to assume that you'll be less busy than you think you will be.
  
  But it might be enough to be part of a diversified tobacco shop. If I had one of these machines, I'd probably get all kinds of tobacco paraphernalia, maybe some food and drink, a gambling machine or two, whatever it took to keep the doors open.
  
  I'd probably try to hold back a significant percent of my revenues from the machine for the eventual day of reckoning.
  
  The Taxman Cometh!
  
  
  P.S. Math isn't my strong suit, so if any of you can point out errors, let me know.)
• 10:07

  getting ready to get started getting going on beginning

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  It took me two days to get the manuscript ready for rewriting.
  
  Organizing it, rearranging.
  
  Numbering and adding titles.
  
  Formatting.
  
  So now I'm ready....I think.
  
  I'm hoping to do about one chapter per day. It may be more, it may be less. I won't rush it, but will do it at whatever pace seems right. I've read almost all the chapters at writer's group, so I have hardcopies with critique and corrections to spark off of.
  
  My intention is to finish a chapter, whatever chapter. Then the next day, read what I finished the day before and move on to the next. And so on. Hopefully, rereading a rewritten chapter before starting the next one will give me an approximation of how the reader approaches a new chapter.
  
  I know this isn't very interesting to anyone, but so be it.
  
  This is going to be what I'm doing for awhile.
• January 28, 2012
• 9:46

  Getting serious about finishing.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I took a stab at putting my book, I'M ONLY HUMAN, into a second draft yesterday.
  
  Changed it quite a bit. Put a 'floating' chapter in as the 2nd Chapter. Cut about half the original 2nd chapter and made it the 3rd chapter, and moved the 3rd chapter to the 11th chapter. Cut the 4th Chapter.
  
  Cut quite a few duplicate explications. (Going to explain less, and hope the story shows it.)
  
  Simplified some of the terminology.
  
  The willingness to cut one's "precious" words is the hallmark of a serious writer, in my opinion. It means I'm getting serious about getting it into readable form, even if I have to cut out some really nice sentences, paragraphs and pages.
  
  (At least four chapters can be used for the prequel, which I've already got in mind.)
  
  Since it turns out to be flashback heavy (seems unavoidable for an eternal protagonist...) I've decided to title each chapter, and put in timestamps where necessary. (NEW YORK, 1845.)
  
  I wrote a few simplified bridging scenes.
  
  Anyway, got as far as the 11th chapter. Pushed the wrong button, and it disappeared!
  
  Then spent two hours trying to find it again. (Yes, I tried everything -- dropbox, trash, everything. I even read the damn manual. ugh.)
  
  Got really angry, then depressed. Almost any of the other chapters I could have reproduced. (I'm keeping the first draft intact in case this second version just doesn't work.)
  
  Anyway, it was VERY UNSETTLING and pretty much destroyed any momentum I had. Went to bed unsettled and still feel unsettled this morning.
  
  So, I'm going to try to reproduce the Chapter 11 today -- but not slave over it. Then move on to getting the rest of the book in the proper order.
  
  THEN: I can get serious about revising the actual words.
  
  
  As I mentioned: I feel like I've now fleshed out this world, ironed out the rules of engagement, created the characters. But I did this by writing the book. Now as I read the first draft, I can see where I was feeling my way into this fleshing out, and many of the explanations have been slightly changed or are unnecessary.
  
  The rules should go into the background, to be abided by, but only hinted at.
  
  I also sort of figured out the themes. Which I want to play up in the second draft.
  
  Big signs over my desk.
  
  Theme #1. HUMANS ARE STRANGE. As the main protagonist, Kobb, "becomes human" I want to highlight all the strange things about being human, make little remarks about human behavior.
  
  Theme #2. WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE? So the main human emotion the protagonist learns is Love. So I want to show a Love story.
  
  Theme #3. THE WEIRD MENAGERIE. It turns out, that Kobb is "The Protector" of creatures, great and small, in both his world and ours. Want to show these creatures, and how he has tried to save them.
  
  I've included several scenes with historical characters who are famous writers. I want to do some research on these writers, and put some of their own words in their mouths and just try to make them believable. (As well as historical verisimilitude in the settings.)
  
  At this point, it's very hard for me to get a sense of the flow of the book, and I'm doing it by instinct. This "feels" right here, this "feels" right there. I'm trying hard not to get to that point where I simply can't see the book anymore with fresh eyes. But this point is unavoidable, as far as I can tell, and I just have to have faith in my original vision.
  
  Hey, if it doesn't work, it's been another learning experience, which I intend to apply toward the next effort.
• January 27, 2012
• 10:36

  Friday fuds.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I always figured it was unlikely the state would do anything to drive away Facebook. But I suppose it had to be processed.
  
  You win again, Facebook!
  
  **********
  
  Why doesn't the Deschutes Pub expansion seem an overreach, when I remember thinking that Merinda was?
  
  Because it's a proven success, I suppose.
  
  **********
  
  Managed to insult a builder yesterday, without meaning to. What's next, bankers?
  
  Bankers are people too.
  
  I suppose you can't write anything without bleaching it to a pure bland without risking a little bit of misunderstanding.
  
  So my snarky remark was: "They are the absolute LAST PEOPLE ON EARTH I'd ask for an honest opinion."
  
  To which Builder Dude expresses mock disappointment in the comments. "Awww.....Shucks...."
  
  Then I ask Builder Dude: "So....how's the building going?"
  
  He answers: "Could be better....but it's been worse."
  
  You know what? I believe him.
  
  Queue one of my favorite sayings:
  
  "A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, adored by little statesmen and philosophers and divines. With consistency a great soul has simply nothing to do. He may as well concern himself with his shadow on the wall. Speak what you think now in hard words, and tomorrow speak what tomorrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day..." Ralph Waldo Emerson.
  
  **********
  
  Online reviews are bunk?
  
  Who'd have thunk it?
  
  Well, obviously, it's easily manipulated. And even when it's not, the strongest opinions -- fair or not -- will out.
  
  I know my own experiences have been completely contradicted by what I read online -- both positive and negative.
  
  So....bunk. Total, useless bunk.
  
  This is one of those cases where the internet isn't going to be able to replace a journalistically independent reviewer. (Among other things.)
  
  **********
• January 26, 2012
• 9:42

  Not an ounce of integrity.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  According to Yahoo Finance:
  
  "Fewer Americans bought new homes in December. The decline made 2011 the worst year for new-home sales on records dating back nearly half a century."
  
  So what do the "experts" conclude?
  
  "Although this decline was unexpected, it does not change the story that housing has likely bottomed," said Jennifer H. Lee, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
  
  Um, why? Because it's reached a new low? You just told us it was unexpected, so how can I not expect you to miss the next forecast too?
  
  But this last statement floored me.
  
  "A sustained rise in new home sales is imminent," he said. "Homebuilders say so too, and they should know."
  
  "Homebuilders say so too, and they should know."
  
  
  I'm speechless.
• 9:19

  Tough patootie, artists!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  The comics world is ablaze with arguments over the future of independent comics. Much of the disagreement is over piracy.
  
  But I think the problem is more fundamental than that.
  
  There just isn't enough of a financial reward for almost all comic creators. There are exceptions, but even regularly published and well-known comic people are having a hard time surviving. Many of them are approaching or are already middle-aged, and without much net worth, without health insurance, and without much of a guarantee of a future that will provide.
  
  I sort of believe this is true of almost all artistic fields. That the same thing could be said of musicians, painters, actors, and writers. I think we all get to about 30ish and have to decide if we are willing to risk our future on a very uncertain way of life.
  
  I wish there was an answer.
  
  I suspect that the internet is going to mean that there are going to be a few -- a very few -- financially successful artists, and a whole bunch of people doing it part-time for the love of it. This has always been true. But I think in the past there was a mid-list zone, where talented and diligent artists could at least make a living (and hope to move into the upper tier.) I think it's this middle that is being hollowed out.
  
  And that it's the internet that's doing it. Piracy, to be sure. But just the access to so much material has flattened the pay rate for most everyone.
  
  Anyway, if you are interested in the issue, and you have a strong stomach, I urge you to visit The Beat: The News Blog of Comic Culture, and read the over 100 comments that follow the essay. People can be pretty cold-hearted.
• January 25, 2012
• 10:33

  Just going about my business.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Sometimes it's best to just quietly go about your business, you know?
  
  And a blog isn't quiet.
  
  Then again, the crossover between customers and blog readers probably isn't huge.
  
  No dark secret, just that I'm quietly curtailing much spending this month. Just letting what I've already ordered come in. My orders from several months ago were bigger than normal, so that seems to be bringing in a healthy supply of product.
  
  
  
  Meanwhile, I'm sort of taking a step back from writing, as well.
  
  I was stumped for awhile, and decided that it was better to wait until I was ready before I started again. Well, that seems to have worked. I've dreamed -- literally -- a couple of solutions, and I think I'm ready to get going.
  
  So next week, without fanfare, I'm going to start in on the second draft. I'm doing a bit of Jedi-mind tricks on myself.
  
  See, it's important to get all motivated and loud about starting a book, but ironically, to finish a book I need to take the opposite tack. A sort of a lessening of pressure, a "It's no big deal" sort of attitude. The closer I get to finishing, the more I have to quit thinking about it.
  
  I have to sort of turn off all my critical thinking again, and just enjoy the process -- and feel my way toward a flow of words that seems right.
• January 24, 2012
• 10:49

  Tuesday tings.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I need to start saving up some of these entries. I've been doing two or three a day, but then I have days like today where I can't find any blogger fodder in the paper or from the internet, and I don't have anything bugging me.
  
  I'm sure I'll come up with something.
  
  *************
  
  Have a guy in the backyard cutting up the fallen tree. He asked if he could take the wood and use it, and I said By all Means!
  
  Linda had wanted me to find someone to use the wood.
  
  **********
  
  Today seems to be Taking Care of Business day. All the little errand-y type things I've been saving up. Plus, I've got to do my monthly orders.
  
  **********
  
  Had lunch yesterday at some of Linda's church friends house in Crooked River. Walked to the Deschutes gorge, about 800 feet distance, through the sagebrush and juniper. My shoes are CAKED with mud, which no amount of banging against the floor will dislodge.
  
  We have a joke. Most of Linda's church people only know me by reputation. Linda jokes that I'm the "Mythical Duncan."
  
  So I think they're always surprised by how talkative I am. I bet they were assuming I was shy.
  
  **********
  
  My hair and beard cutting person has moved to Redmond and I've been debating whether it's worth driving all that way.
  
  Thing is, I'm comfortable with her.
  
  Why is it so hard to change hair cutters?
  
  I'm starting to look like a mountain man, so I've made an appointment.
  
  **********
  
  I think this is the worst two weeks stretch I've seen affected by weather. Slop and wind are the two most customer-discouraging patterns. Snow...people get used to it. Cold...they bundle up. Rain...they run to the door. Heat...they walk to the door.
  
  But slop on the ground and wet slush blowing in your face? No way.
  
  **********
• January 23, 2012
• 11:31

  Small business cycles are both conservative -- and liberal.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I'm using these terms loosely, but you'll see my point I hope.
  
  When business is booming, it seems to me the smart thing to do is play it very conservatively. You grow only as fast as you can grow without taking on debt, without overspending, without stretching your cashflow.
  
  Indeed, you take the money that's flowing in and you pay off your debts. You DON'T take more money home, but stay on an even keel. Instead you spend that money on infrastructure improvements, or an increase in inventory.
  
  By playing it this way, you may not grow as fast, but you grow manageably.
  
  When business is bad, you take home the same amount of money, and you continue to spend everything else on keeping up the inventory and day to day management of the store. You are going to take on more risk to keep the business up, in hopes of increasing market share, of locking in the reliability factor with the customers so that they know they can depend on you.
  
  By taking on more risk, you probably are going to take on some debt as well, but if you have gone into the slowdown without debt, this level can be kept manageable. And if you hang in there, you can probably count on the eventual recovery in taking care of this debt.
  
  As far as I can tell, just about everyone else does it the opposite.
  
  They spend like drunken sailors when times are good, they grow fast, they take home lots of money, and take on lots of debt. New cars, new houses, new everything.
  
  Then when business goes south, they cut drastically, and hold on. Except, by cutting drastically, they've probably cut their own throats. When business is bad, you need to be at your best.
  
  I think that's why I've survived this long, because I seem to never do as well as other businesses when times are good -- but never as bad as other businesses when times are bad.
  
  As far as I'm concerned, it's been a fair tradeoff.
  
  Most small business owners experience only one or two complete cycles in their career. (If you last long enough, you'll experience at least one boom and bust.) I've been lucky (?) in that I've experienced maybe a dozen or so, manifested in "fads."
  
  What I mean is, I've had 30 to 50% drops in sales over and over and over again. And eventually, I arrived at my contrarian approach to the business cycle that I mention above.
  
  The last five years have been the best five years we have experienced in terms of profits.
  
  Which is the result of not making as much money as everyone else during the boom years.
• 11:04

  It's not easy being a liberal.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  It's not easy being a liberal.
  
  There is an article at the Economist which asks: "The Hangover; America is Recovering from the Debt Bust Faster than European Countries. Why?"
  
  If I'm summarizing this correctly, it seems to come down to a reduction of household debt. And that reduction is due mostly to foreclosures. Whereas in Europe, people are hanging onto their houses -- and their debt -- more often.
  
  The liberal part of me says, Good for them! That's seems more humane.
  
  The other part (dare I say conservative?) is aware that historically, economies which deal with household debt recover faster and eventually increases in productivity bring the economy back which is good for everyone.
  
  The other part of the equation is, that the U.S. (the federal government, but not the state and local) has continued public spending, unlike the austerity measures in Europe. This is the liberal side of me, agreeing with Krugman that we need to spend money.
  
  Again, historically, if the private debt is dealt with first, the public debt is taken care of by increases in productivity. This is a lot like my business, where cutting is not always the right thing to do in the face of a slowdown. Indeed, I think I'm still around because I've sometimes made the decision to increase spending at a time when everyone else is cutting back.
  
  Finally -- such soul searching comes from my liberal side.
  
  So, overall, I'm still a liberal, right?
• 10:24

  The bad news is....the good news is...

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  The number of e-readers in the hands of customers more or less doubled over Christmas.
  
  (Because most of them were given as gifts.)
  
  But about half the people who got Kindles haven't taken them out of the package.
  
  I had my first urge to buy an e-book a couple of days ago. I don't have an e-reader, so it wasn't much of a temptation, but I had the fleeting inclination. It was a book mentioned in passing, that sounded really interesting but which I've already forgotten. This is always happening, of course, but I usually don't pay much attention. I find plenty of books to read.
  
  Thing is, I know enough about the availability of books to know that I'd be unlikely to find that particular title anywhere locally, not even at Powell's. So that would seem to be the perfect book to look for online. Of course, maybe it wouldn't have been available there, either.
  
  I'm still sticking to my assertion that people will continue to buy book books. Because people like to browse and touch and talk about books. I just don't believe it's a Zero Sum game. And there is some evidence that people who buy e-books also end up buying book books.
  
  The independent bookstore would seem to be the place for that. (I think Barnes and Noble is doomed, however.)
  
  You can find various surveys over on Shelf Awareness, of which I'm summarizing.
  
  Amazingly, over half of the respondents say they won't buy an e-reader. This percentage is up over last year, which was up over the year before.
  
  So they say.
  
  A "killer app" could change that.
  
  Interestingly, the percentage of people who say they want to buy their books from Indies is about 3 times the number of people who actually do buy their books from Indies. Their heart is in the right place, but when it comes right down to it, they buy from where they're at -- and they're closer to a computer and the mass market and big box stores.
  
  This fits in with my overall impression of the comic market, the card market, and just about everything else I sell. If you ask people, they are very supportive. But the numbers don't add up.
  
  So we just have to keep chipping away at that.
• January 21, 2012
• 12:05

  Sunday suds.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Because of a skin condition, I have to take cortisone every day -- on my forehead, around my ears, and a bit around my nose.
  
  Fortunately for me, a little over the counter medication every morning after a shower is effective.
  (I've met people with the same condition who didn't get the same relief -- the red, itchy, scaly stuff some people get on their elbows and on their chests and on their face-- but for me it works.)
  
  For the last two days, my eyes have been swollen and red. That worried me, because the condition gets really bad if I can't use the lotion.
  
  I'd just started using a new tube of lotion. Sure enough, when I read the small print -- it is a very slightly different formula. Package looks the same in every way, except for one small banner.
  Phew. Dodged another bullet.
  
  **********
  So are you lucky when bad things happen in a good way? Or unlucky that bad things happen at all?
  **********
  
  All those headline writers were just waiting for the moment they could pull out the "newtered" headlines....
  
  **********
  
  Robots are taking the place of Malheur Lake carp. Oh, wait. Did I read that headline wrong?
  
  **********
  
  I think I've got my sleep patterns back to normal. Forced myself to go to bed by 12:30, and then forcing myself to go back to sleep in the early morning. Seems to be working.
  
  **********
  Lost my wifi connection on my laptop at home, which is a little scary. I'll reboot and see what happens. It isn't the cable because my wife's computer works. Damn.
  **********
  Went to see Girl With a Dragon Tattoo, American version. It was well done, Linda really liked it, but it seemed kind of unnecessary to me. It did remind me of what I liked about the book, though, and that was the detailed nuts and bolts of the investigation.
  Some of the reviews I've read find that part to be boring, but that's the part I liked. Almost all mysteries and thrillers skip those steps these days. The literary thrillers are all gray and inconclusive, and the non-literary thrillers just skip all that and go straight for the action.
  Went to see Haywire the day before, and, yeah, I believe that dame could kick the crap out of most guys....
  I do love to go to movies...
  Came home and watched Star Trek, and marveled how good it was. I told this before -- that my Mom went to see the Star Trek, Return of the Whales, movie and came back and said; 'I liked it. It was like spending time with old friends."
  You have to understand my Mom had a disdain for sci-fi (and had a hard time understanding my fascination with it.)
  Anyway, that's how the new Star Trek movie felt -- spending time with old friends.
  Looked it up: the next Star Trek is scheduled for May, 2013.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• 10:20

  Oh, yeah. THAT's why I don't do that.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  We were up 20% in sales in December from the previous year.
  
  But I also spent the whole season replacing inventory. I wanted to see what would happen if I was fully stocked all the way through the season.
  
  Flash forward to the floods of this week, and a huge drop in customer visits and sales, and -- coincidentally, many of the bills coming due from the Christmas surge.
  
  Ouch.
  
  Weirdly, I've found that I have a much less stressed store if I order heavily in the slow months, and tail back in the busy months. The opposite of what makes sense on the surface. Sure, it probably keeps sales lower on the busy months, but that is counteracted by sales probably being a bit better in the slow months. Everything seems to be paid for much more smoothly. (Bills more often come due during the busy months, and slacken in the slow months.)
  
  Thing is, I actually had results from the heavy inventory buying -- so the situation is temporary and can be adjusted for. But I could have ordered all that inventory, and the weather that we had this last week could have been the weather we had the week before Christmas. Not a pretty possibility.
  
  There were also some long term objectives in keeping my inventory up through the Christmas season. I knew that I wouldn't have to order as much in the rest of winter, which has been more or less true. As soon as I get this bulge of bills out of the way, I'll have clear sailing for awhile.
  
  I also wanted to keep my new higher discount level with DC, which I've probably locked into for at least the next six months, by which time I'll be in the summer season. So I've probably saved myself hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars -- eventually.
  
  And finally, I had a one month chance to order DC product for an extra 5% and I took that opportunity for ordering extra copies of the best-selling graphic novels, so that will also rebound to the bottom line -- eventually.
  
  So a little short term pain for some long term gain.
  
  But I think I'm going back to the old way of doing things. It's much less risky and stressful --
• January 20, 2012
• 11:53

  Kick ass movies.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Woke up this morning to find a tree crashed in our backyard. Missed the deck by inches. Phew.
  
  **********
  
  My custom is to watch Jon Stewart every night. Funny stuff. Almost always get a belly laugh or two. Is there anything more soul cleansing than a belly laugh? But I used to watch Stephen Colbert only once in awhile.
  
  Now -- he's a never miss, and as funny as Stewart. We are lucky to have these two guys.
  
  **********
  
  The Mayor thing is just unnecessary and a distraction.
  
  What are these guys thinking? We've got bigger problems.
  
  **********
  
  Linda always responds to heartwarming, or serious movies advertised on T.V. by saying, "I want to see that!"
  
  So this morning, I say, "Let's go see Haywire," and she says, "Yeah, I really want to see that!"
  
  It's a kickass movie, with a lady kickasser.
  
  Thank goodness, when it comes to the crunch, she is always willing to see a thriller, comedy, blockbuster, horror, sci-fi, or cartoon with me.
• 10:27

  Planning for temporary disasters.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I was mentioning at Pegasus how these last four or five days have been hard on sales, and a guy said, "Yeah, they said something on the radio about how most businesses don't plan for these kinds of things."
  
  Well, sure. But neither do most households.
  
  Anyway, I think what happens is that we tend to plan for the average. But when things are better than average, we spend the money trying to keep that going. Instead of saving it for when things are worse than average.
  
  Under-capitalized businesses will always have trouble with these unexpected events, because they spend every dime they have trying to get more product and or catching up on bills.
  
  Many small businesses are under-capitalized because the business --is -- their backup plan. They can't find a (decent) job, or they have a great idea (they think) and they hope they can leverage up their business through hard work. So they go all in, throwing everything they have into the effort.
  
  I know someone is going to pop up and say that an under-capitalized business needs to raise money, hold back on the cash. But if you actually are one of those businesses, you quickly realize that you pretty much have to throw every dime into the business -- all the time. If you're not trying to leverage growth, you're probably going to go backward.
  
  There simply isn't enough margin to both save and build. Because here's the thing: What you're trying to do is leverage every dollar into two dollars. So every dollar you withhold is really a potential two dollars you didn't make, which is a potential four dollars which is a potential eight dollars.
  
  I mean -- that's what it means to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You have to invest it in your future -- you're taking the risk to grow.
  
  Of course, almost everyone makes mistakes (really, everyone makes mistakes) or gets caught short by some unforeseen event, and that's where businesses get into trouble with debt. The credit cards used to be fairly willing to loan money to struggling bootstrap businesses (don't actually know if that's true anymore.) So then, not only are you trying to build your business but you're trying to pay back debt.
  
  I'm not saying that someone smarter than me can't build his business and save money at the same time, but I never found it possible.
  
  If you are well capitalized, you might have an emergency fund -- and ironically, you'll probably need it less. Or you may have an opt-out where going backward for awhile isn't something you want to do. "Screw this not making money!" and you quit.
  
  Some of us though are using different coin -- hard work, to be sure. A better idea, maybe. But also -- but mostly, well, the willingness to risk. You may not have much, but the fact that you'll risk it all may be the reason you are in business, and others aren't.
  
  That same willingness to risk is going to go into the building of your business.
  
  It wasn't until this last decade or so that I had enough credit and cash on hand to handle the temporary disasters -- and I remember thinking, the first time it happened --"Oh, this is how it feels to actually have emergency funds!"
  
  Wow. It's a totally different feeling.
• January 19, 2012
• 10:00

  It's still Poverty with a View as far as I can see.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I was ready to tackle the "Growth is Expected in Central Oregon" article in the Bulletin. But there was nothing to tackle but air.
  
  Other than Facebook creating more (temporary) jobs, not a lot substance. The forecast was so general and vague as to be pretty useless.
  
  Let's see. To get more jobs, we need to be more "innovative." Which is pretty much saying that we could get more work done if we work harder.
  
  Thanks. What are we paying you, again?
  
  So nothing much there. I'll just fall back on my on internal guesstimates.
  
  As I mentioned a few days ago, I don't expect my sales to get back to pre-crash numbers until 2016 or so. Which falls in line with the other article in the Bulletin, "Few Cities Have Regained Jobs...." which predicted it would be 2016-2018 before Bend regained the jobs it lost.
  
  Is the economy improving?
  
  Lots of articles to that effect. All over the place.
  
  My own guess isn't that it's improving so much, as that people have settled in. The new baseline to work from.
  
  Unless Europe goes south, and gauging from the falloff in news about that (and only gauging from the falloff in news about that) the danger seems to be slowly receding.
  
  Still, plenty of warning articles as well.
  
  Not that the media is a reliable gauge, but probably more reliable now than it was during the boom. There is definitely an optimism bias there. But at least there is a bit more skepticism these days.
  
  Locally, I still know quite a few people who are struggling. I have a customer who works for a major employer around here whose entire office division was laid off -- and he thought the manufacturing part was not far behind. If so, it will be a major blow.
  
  On one hand, this is the 'real' economy in Bend, and I think it's still struggling. But I can deal with that. It's just a one damn thing after another scenario which I'm completely accustomed to. What I was dealing with in the first decade of my business....well, hell, for most of the years I've been in business.
  
  On the other hand, I'm actually more fearful of economic panics -- such as the collapse of Europe, or any other earth shaking event. Those can have more dramatic impacts on sales than the slow drip, drip, drip of a struggling local economy.
  
  
  We had a nice Christmas, but I think that we're talking about tourists who are affluent enough to visit Central Oregon in the first place -- are probably affluent enough to actually shop, and since they are on vacation, will buy in shops instead of online. (This goes double for new residents who start new businesses -- that they can move here and open stores probably just shows they have the means to do so.)
  
  Which is a real valuable attribute to Bend's tourist economy. (The Growth article also mentioned the "retirement" business as being a growth area.)
  
  So, as usual, I fall back on tourism and retirement as being our main industry around here, which unfortunately means that we'll remain mostly "poverty with a view" for most of us.
  
  I think that's O.K. as long as we understand and adapt to it.
• 7:07

  Talking to my friend Noah....

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  What shall I talk about today. Gee....anything happen lately?
  
  **********
  
  All the water we've been missing over the last 3 months got dumped in one day....
  
  **********
  
  I'm not afraid of snow. I am afraid of other drivers.
  
  Especially the slow ones. I'm always afraid they're going to slam on their brakes in full on panic.
  
  **********
  
  Rain, baby, rain.
  
  Melt this gunk away before it freezes.
  
  **********
  
  My ceiling at the store sprung a leak.
  
  I caught it pretty fast. Stuck a bucket under it. I think only one toy container was damaged.
  
  But it freaked me out. This is not a store where you want to spring leaks. Just a tiny bit of water can soak into cardboard and paper and it becomes a soggy mess.
  
  I'm pretty sure we have a lake up there, probably all the water trapped by gunk. It didn't make me want to leave at 6:00 without being sure the flood was over.
  
  But what am I going to do -- sleep here?
  
  ***********
  
  First leak I've seen in 30 years.
  
  Then again...it's been 30 years....
  
  **********
  
  I was surprised....a bunch of my comic customers came in to collect their shelves. That's the advantage of having periodicals for sale in the store. Regular regulars.
  
  As opposed to counting on drop-in customers only.
  
  **********
  
  The roof guy came by pretty quickly, and he confirmed that the gunk had clogged the drains and dammed huge puddles of water.
  
  **********
  
  Dropped by the Bookmark and it also sprang a leak, as well as having a window that "failed."
  
  I have to wonder if every old building in town sprang a leak.
  
  ***********
  
  The "rain baby rain" part I wrote yesterday above?
  
  Forget I said it.
  
  I'll take a slow melt instead....
  
  ***********
  
  Linda got up at 6:30 this morning and is headed for her store to see if the buckets under the leak overflowed. We were going to go back late, just before bed, but we just couldn't get up enough gumption.
  
  So depending on how big the puddle was above her leak....
  
  Hopefully, it's all right. Because at least the rain slowed down.
  
  **********
  
  Heh. All you industrious driveway shovelers.... my driveway is clear this morning.....
  
  **********
  
  Water related:
  
  Pouring water into a volcano. On purpose.
  
  Oh, oh.
  
  I remember the last time I poured water on a hot griddle. Watch out!
  
  Probably will crack the earth, and we'll be staring over the abyss, what? At least Central Oregon will be on the cutting edge, for once.
• January 18, 2012
• 8:48

  When Bend was Bend.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  When I went to bed, I was all ready to accuse the media of being alarmist about the snow -- we had maybe half to an inch on our porch.
  
  Then....this morning. 4 or 5 inches, which is considerable.
  
  Still, I do think the media tends to play it up, versus my youth, when they tended to play it down.
  Then again, that could be a false memory. Old Bend versus New Bend. A time when I walked to school with snow up to my knees.... When men were men, and Bend was Bend, and winter was winter.
  
  Or maybe I'm just remembering my school age self hoping that a little snow would cancel schools.
  
  ***********
  
  Yesterday was horribly slow at the store -- so what can I expect today?
  
  A day of going around rearranging and cleaning things, I think. Maybe I'll do my orders.
  
  I'm so thankful I have the resources to handle these sudden drops, unlike the Dark Years when I would have had to scramble.
  
  **********
  
  I got back the nice print of Star Axe, beautifully framed.
  
  I switched pictures at the store, and took the original painting home.
  
  **********
  
  Video game sales were down 8% last year.
  
  I'm no expert -- I have nothing against them, but I decided that trying to keep up with one more media, my head would explode. (New books -- I'm already inclined that way, and Board Games -- I probably fall down a little there....)
  
  Anyway, even so -- I can guess that this has to do more with "Hot" games and "New" platforms than it does with actual interest in games. One web site mentioned boardgames as competition, but I think that's ludicrous. I'm pretty sure boardgames could double, and they'd only move the video game meter a smidgen.
  
  **********
  
  Hey, I just realized I could take my first day off blogging in five years and say it was a Blackout in support of anti-SOPA efforts.
  
  Nah.
  
  **********
  
  I read this week's Sunday New York Times, instead of putting it on the pile. Just try to keep up from here, instead of trying to catch up.
  
  **********
  
  How not to get my business.
  
  I go to a certain website to order books. They have new listings every day. So I add to my order each day, through the month until my credit card turns. This way, I don't miss anything and I can get to my 'minimum' order.
  
  So....books sell out, during the process, which is the chance I take. I understand that.
  
  Anyway, I got to the minimum two days before the turn, and then -- bam! It went up about a third. So I checked, and they had raised the minimum order on about 25 books from one to two.
  
  When I eliminated those books, I was all the way down to 2/3rds the minimum again.
  
  I go back the next day, and suddenly I'm at half the minimum.
  
  I deleted the order.
  
  Thing is, this site had been borderline in satisfaction for some time. (Don't like the condition of some of them.) And I've been needing to cut orders slightly.
  
  So they made it an easy decision. I'm probably done with them, for the time being. Maybe I'll cherry pick in about six months.
• January 17, 2012
• 16:33

  Just write the damn book.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  This week was supposed to be my big start to the 2nd draft, but I kind of froze. I started letting outside considerations enter my thinking.
  
  Will people like this?
  
  Am I prepared for people not liking this?
  
  Is this a manuscript that I would send off to a publisher?
  
  And so on.
  
  In the end, none of those questions are pertinent. I'm writing the book I'm writing. I'm not sending it off to a publisher.
  
  So I just need to write through the doubts and finish the book.
• 13:17

  Reading as Escapism

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I read for the fun of it.
  
  What's fun for me are well-written genre books. With the occasional seasoning of non-fiction.
  
  I've been keeping up a list of the books I've read since 1982 in a blank notebook, which is nearly full. It was really useful in that first decade or so; I could refer to it whenever I was in doubt. Over the last decade, not so much. I have to go through pages and pages, and even with the publishing date, it's a bit of a pain trying to figure out if I've read something. So I read mostly newer books.
  
  My lowest total was in 1991. 20 books read. That was just before the big sports card crash. I had four stores, and I was very, very busy.
  
  My highest total was in 1998: 85 books read.
  
  I seem mostly to read between 40 and 60 books a year.
  
  Last year, I read 60.
  
  Anyway, something that becomes very noticeable is that I actually read much more in the stressful years. When business was bad, or declining.
  
  My worst years, as far as stress and debt and just hanging on were concerned, were between 1992 and 2001; I averaged 65 books a year.
  
  My busy years, 1984-1991 and 2002 and 2009, I averaged 36 books a year.
  
  What's clear, is I bury my head in books when I'm stressed out.
  
  Not to mention the decade that I suffered depression. I'm pretty sure that I was reading well over 100 books a year back then. There was one year where I remember reading a book every day or two.
  
  It was all I could do.
  
  And thank god for that....books probably saved me.
• 10:30

  I'm smarter than the Fed.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Apparently. That's not saying much.
  
  Read the New York Times article: "Fed was Slow to Connect Dots on Housing Crisis" ... and weep. Turns out the Fed was even more clueless about the Housing Bubble than we thought at the time. These transcripts have become available after 5 years, so ignore everything they said they were thinking and read what they were really thinking.
  
  Over the course of the housing bubble, I spent most of my profits on inventory and or paying down the debt. I knew that there was going to be an implosion, I knew that that implosion was going to impact the economy.
  
  All I needed to do was look at my regular subscription comic customers and count up how many of them were employed in some aspect of the housing business to know it was trouble.
  
  When Bear Stearns ran into trouble, I immediately pulled back on my expansion plans. I immediately assumed that the anticipated recession would soon start. (It actually pretty much began that month for me.)
  
  According the N.Y.T.'s article, the Fed didn't think the Housing Bubble would affect the overall economy. In fact, they thought it would be GOOD for us.
  
  If you really want to be frightened by our future, just read all the comments by Tim Geithner, (who seems to me to be Obama's Donald Rumsfeld -- a complete incompetent who keeps getting promoted.)
  
  In fact, I'll go ahead and reproduce those comments in all their horrid glory:
  
  "We think the fundamentals of the expansion going forward still look good." December, 2006. Timothy Geithner, President of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
  
  "We just don't see troubling signs yet of collateral damage, and we are not expecting much." September, 2007.
  
  About Alan Greenspan: "I'd like the record to show that I think you're pretty terrific, too. And thinking in terms of probabilities, I think the risk that we decide in the future that you're even better than we think is higher than the alternative."
  
  What a mouthful of obsequious gibberish!
  
  Our Treasury Secretary, ladies and gentlemen!
  
  Now....don't you feel secure, just all warm and fuzzy, in our Greenspan granted, Geithner graced future?
• January 16, 2012
• 12:59

  2011 Pegasus Books results.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  We ended the year at 5% over 2010.
  
  Overall.
  
  However, we were 10% down in the first half of the year and up 16.5% in the second half.
  Six months of better than last year sales, July through December.
  
  I'm not going to feel the recession is over until we not only beat last year, but we beat a positive month from last year. So far, every time we've seen an increase, it was over a decreased month. So, if I can string 10 out of 12 months where we not only beat last year, but we beat months where we beat the year before that -- then I'll believe we're on the upswing.
  
  The biggest increase was card game sales. 53%. My two competitors both took a bite out of my sales in the last 3 or 4 years, but we seemed to regain some ground last year. I just tried to be steady and have the product available at all times. Plus, Magic just seems to be having a resurgence.
  
  Games (boardgames and rpg's) were up 7% for the year, but the second half was pretty big.
  Same with new books -- they were up 10%, with the emphasis on the second half of the year.
  
  Toys were down, 16%.
  
  Comics were down 6.5%. The New 52 kept it from being worse that. I was able to restock or newly stock a ton of graphic novels which should hold us in good stead. I'm going to save several hundred dollars a month in a better discount rate -- and that on top of saving several hundred on shipping costs. Add in, constantly jumping on any "sales" and I think this category will be stronger this year. (Comics and graphic novels.)
  
  Graphic novels were up 2%. Some of this is bleeding into the New Book category, I believe. It still feels vibrant.
  
  Sports cards and anime aren't significant movers in the store, anymore. I actually rededicated myself to restocking them this year, so I haven't given up.
  
  Toys -- that's where my big push is going to be this year. Can't sell what you don't order, and over the last few years I was ordering pretty slim numbers of new toys -- except when they went on sale. So I've decided to get at least a couple of series of new toys every month and see what happens.
  
  
  We matched 2009 sales in 2011.
  
  So my goal would be to match 2008 sales in 2012. A 10% increase, which is a lot.
  
  And then, the biggest year on record -- 2007 sales in 2013 or 2014.
  
  Then we'd be back to square one....Mr. Greenspan.
• 12:17

  Sunday T.V. is the Bee's Knee's.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I've stuck with Hell On Wheels, mostly cause I really like the whole western thing. I spent my youth watching just about every western on T.V. (Except ironically Gunsmoke and Bonanza -- my Dad was a reverse snob.)
  
  I still think it's the most lackadaisical work crew in the history of labor.
  
  They seem to have a real problem with trying to keep the characters workin' on the railroad, and yet having dramatic things happen to them.
  
  Bohanon running from the law, the Swede being tarred and feathered. How they coming back?
  Whatever they do, it's going to seem a little unlikely.
  
  **********
  
  Am still loving the Good Wife. Kalinda -- everyone falls for Kalinda. (Boys and girls. This show has more girl/girl longing looks than I've ever seen.)
  
  I had just read an article on Bitcoins, so at least I knew what they were talking about.
  
  **********
  
  I watched The Firm, and you could tell they were trying for Good Wife vibe, but it didn't happen. They fell back too much on the old cliches. Won't be watching.
  
  **********
  
  Downton Abbey is still totally addictive.
  
  **********
  
  Most of my other shows seem to still be in the never/never land between re-runs, co-opting, and new shows. Which is really irritating.
• 10:58

  Buy the stuff that sells, sell the stuff they buy.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  So let's say you have a store full of stuff and it isn't selling.
  
  What do you do?
  
  Here's the kind of advice I imagine you would get if you threw that question out to world.
  
  1.) Lower prices to sell more. Have a "Sale!"
  2.) Advertise more. Let people know what you have.
  3.) Promote more. Instead of spending money on ads, do it with events and other efforts.
  4.) Provide more free service. Give them more for their money, expand your "Open" hours, give the customer free events and services.
  5.) Move to a better location, a bigger location.
  
  And so on.
  
  In my opinion, all the above are wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
  
  
  If you have a store full of stuff that isn't selling, fill it with stuff that WILL sell. Stuff that people are willing to pay full price for. That will bring them in during normal hours. And that --if you carry it-- knowledge will be spread by word of mouth.
  
  You don't have to get rid of what you have, but search for the product that will sell. I can almost guarantee you, there is something just around the corner, something tangential but not opposed to what you already sell, that might do better. Or-- if 3 product lines aren't enough-- add a 4th. And so on.
  
  The problem probably isn't your service, or your prices, or any of the other things experts will tell you.
  
  The problem is that you don't have product that people want enough to buy.
  
  
  O.K. I know I've simplified it somewhat, but I'll stand by it. Do the math. If you need to sell to 1000 people, but what you sell only sells to 1%, and you have 90,000 population base, you will fail.
  
  You need to have a product that sells to enough people that you can sell it. If you don't, then carry a diverse group of product that WILL sell to enough people.
  
  I'm not saying it's easy, but having the right product is the best solution.
• January 15, 2012
• 12:01

  First the store, then the promotion.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I can see that I need to explain myself better on my assertion that "promotions" cannot save your business over the long run.
  
  If you don't mind, I'm going to use the 80/20 rule for illustrative purposes.
  
  I will make a bold statement -- that 80% of the customers who walk in your door have not been affected by your promotional efforts. Seriously. They've never heard your ad, they don't care that you had an author signing last week, they missed that newspaper article on you.
  
  No, they are there because they are regulars, semi-regulars, browsers, tourists, whatever.
  
  They look around your store and if you have something they want at a decent price they buy. Or not.
  
  I'll take that even further. Of the 20% of the customers who walk in your door who HAVE been affected by your promotional efforts, 80% of them won't buy anything because of those efforts.
  
  So what is that? 20% of 20% is about 4% of your sales.
  
  Not insignificant, I suppose. You have to weigh the time, energy, money, space, and all the other elements that go into a promotion to decide if it's worth pursuing. If so, then go ahead by all means. As long as you know the payoff.
  
  O.K. The 20/80 rule is convenient. So say you go crazy with promotions, and a full 30% of your customers are affected by your promotional efforts, and a full 30% of them will buy something. So 30% of 30% brings it up to 9% of your sales. Again, you've been promoting like crazy ("6000 author signings!) so you have to weigh the costs versus the results.
  
  In my case, I'd say that less than 10% have ever heard any promotional efforts on my part, and almost none of them will buy just because they read a story in the Bulletin or read my blog or whatever.
  
  This is NOT the impression you get reading stories about retail. You'd think that promotional efforts are the most important part of being in business. Image is everything, according to this way of thinking.
  
  But I think it's putting the cart before the horse. It's the equivalent of the Dress for Success. Or driving a fancy car to prove to your clients how successful you are.
  
  I think true successes get there by being efficient and hardworking and honest and experienced and -- on and on.
  
  Otherwise, you're just an empty suit. A nice empty suit, in a nice, debt-ridden car.
  
  It seems to me that most of the stories about business I read are about "image". Almost all the business blogs I see are about "image": how to market yourself online, or with advertising and all that.
  
  And I'm saying it just way too overblown. To the effect that it attracts people who buy that entire message and they are simply unprepared to run a real business. They want to have a successful image without putting in the fundamentals to make it a successful business. And they think they get there by promoting, burnishing their image, joining the clubs, dressing nice --whatever.
  
  Again, most of my customers have never read my blog, or seen an article in paper. I've spent thousands of dollars on advertising before, and had a 1% hit rate when I ask people in the door. I've had months, even years, of a fad driven clientele -- way beyond my normal numbers of customers -- who then disappeared when the fad was over.
  
  So promote your store by all means. Just don't mistake that for success.
• 11:00

  Sunday suds.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  We put Panga, our cat, on a bit of diet.
  
  The other night, she tried to jump onto my lap and she didn't make it. She seemed really embarrassed by it -- I mean, she acted like it was no big deal but you could see it was. She is 16 pounds currently, and has been as high as 18 pounds.
  
  We're giving her a tiny third of a small can of wet food in the morning, a quarter cup of dry food around dinner, and then about half a cup of dry food before bed.
  
  Doesn't seem like much, does it?
  
  But we really weren't feeding her much more than that, anyway...
  
  If this doesn't work, I'm going to see if I can't get Linda to agree to leave her in our enclosed backyard during the day while we are at work. See if she can't shiver away a few pounds.
  
  **********
  
  Had a young guy come in yesterday and introduce himself and tell me he's been looking "everywhere" for Icetowers. For "years."
  
  Icetowers is the sequel and conclusion to Snowcastles, and my guess is that it never got as wide a distribution as Star Axe or Snowcastles.
  
  Anyway, I did my usual, "Probably have to buy it off the internet" but I could see he was living close to street level, so that wasn't helpful.
  
  Here's the thing. He seemed to be genuinely enthusiastic about Snowcastles -- I mean, you can tell when someone really, really likes something and he did. He went on about it, why it was good and all.
  
  So I gave him my store copy of Icetowers (my visual proof that I actually wrote it.)
  
  This has happened a half a dozen times over the years -- people I don't know seeming to really like one of my books, and it is obviously most gratifying.
  
  **********
  
  I'm stuck on my book. I thought I might have had an elegant solution yesterday, but after sleeping on it, I decided that probably wouldn't work.
  
  I think I'm just going to have to do some heavy rewriting, despite all my efforts to avoid such a thing.
  
  But first, I have to figure out the organization of the rewrite, and that's something I just want to be sure about for I start.
  
  So I'm sort of in limbo.
  
  Once I start the second draft, it probably won't take all that long. Then ... depending on how it comes out, a third draft?
  
  Oh, why did I start this?!
  
  **********
  
  I think a lot of us bubble busters thought there might be a surge in property crimes when the Great Recession started.
  
  Instead, there seems to be arson fires just about every day.
  
  What's going on? Is this just Bend, or is it some kind of recession pathology?
  
  **********
  
  My sleep patterns are still off. Not getting to sleep before 2:00 or later, and waking up at least an hour late, and still feeling groggy. Makes it harder to get my blog out in the morning.
  
  With the daylight savings shift jumping an hour forward, this is only going to get worse.
  
  Ah, well. This too shall pass.
  
  **********
• January 14, 2012
• 14:57

  Arguing against the obvious.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Having book signings and events is good for business. Obvious, right?
  
  Not to me.
  
  A couple of recent articles caught my attention.
  
  The first deals with the storied Kepler Books in Menlo Park, California, which was saved back in 2005 by a consortium of book-loving investors. The owner is retiring, and they are talking about making it a non-profit bookstore. (I've made my opinion about that kind of thing known -- get out of the way and let someone make a living!)
  
  Anyway, this statement caught my attention:
  
  "In the past seven years Kepler estimated that the store has sold two million books, held 3,000 author events, collected $3 million in sales tax and donated $200,000 to schools and nonprofits. Still, it is barely breaking even."
  
  3000 author events = barely breaking even.
  
  No correlation, you say? Maybe it would be worse without the events?
  
  Maybe, but I browse books sites every day, and there is funny common characteristic to bookstores that go out of business -- many of them hosted multiple author events. (That, and they sell online -- another supposed savior of bookstores.) They all act surprised that it didn't work.
  
  The second statement comes out of an article that is actually addressing the problem of Amazon versus independent bookstores. It's written by a publisher (strange how that keeps happening, too. The publishers and authors and customers and just about everyone else things it's a grand idea!) "Independent Bookstores: How to compete with Amazon." Huffington Post.
  
  He uses as an example, a bookstore in Boston, which he says he got started down the path toward 'events.'
  
  Two statements, actually. First:
  
  "Perhaps only 10 or 15 of those 40 people actually bought books that night, but since then more and more poetry readings have been booked there..."
  
  Notice how the second half of that sentence more or less assumes that results were better with more events. But the ONE event he mentions, let's average out his number of books sold (I'm betting he was being a bit on the high side, but...) to 12.5 books.
  
  Average profit on a hardcover 12.5 books -- maybe 125.00. ($25.00 book times 12.5 times 40% markup.)
  
  Whoo hoo! $125.00! Sorry I missed dinner, honey, but I just made 125.00!
  
  (You might have done just as well by staying open the same extra hours. Eventually, unless you want to burn out, you have to have set hours --- which allow you to go home and have dinner with the family and go to a movie or whatever...)
  
  Thing is -- every time I see ACTUAL numbers, they aren't impressive. (I've also held two events myself, and I sold almost nothing -- literally. A couple of comics, a single graphic novel....something like that.)
  
  So that 125.00! Now subtract expanded time and space and employee hours, plus sales the store didn't make because everyone is listening to the author, plus probably refreshments (at least for the author) and whatever other costs it incurs.
  
  The second statement is more in the way of, damning with faint praise:
  
  "...since the push to have more events, their overall sales have improved too." This comes from the owner, who in the article is mentioned to have since jumped ship and moved to New York.
  
  I'm sorry, "overall sales have improved too" is pretty vague. One or two books a day, ten more books a day? I'm guessing that if the sales had improved "dramatically" they would have used words to that effect.
  
  Here again, I've actually talked to several bookstore owners who do events, and they are usually anything but enthused about actual events. They usually mutter that the events are a big huge hassle without much results.
  
  So it comes down to -- events will bring in future customers...
  
  Where have I heard that before?
  
  Oh, yeah. Downtown street closures. Yet, I have about 30 years experience with downtown street closures and I simply don't buy the "future" customer argument.
  
  It's obvious, sure. Obvious to everyone.
  
  But -- I think -- it's also wrong.
  
  What's sad is -- it has become so much the accepted wisdom, that just about every bookstore will start doing it.
  
  And then be surprised when they go out of business.
  
  
  If you want to host events because you like it, or because you want to provide a community service -- fine. I'm sure there is a plus factor (minus all the negatives, but still a small plus). What I'm saying is;
  
  It isn't what will keep you in business. Being a good bookstore is what will keep you in business, not being an event center.
  
  Try not to confuse the two things.
  
  And remember, the above examples were actually provided by the Proponents of the idea of events, and even the numbers they provided pretty much sucked.
  
  O.K.............I'm ready for everyone to disagree with me. :/
• 10:31

  The Gordian Book-knot.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I spent most of yesterday afternoon and evening transferring my book into the Scrivener program.
  
  I couldn't find a simple, easy but totally necessary first step and flailed around for a couple hours. Linda came home and listened to my blustering frustration for awhile, and then figured it out. A simple thing that seemed utterly unintuitive to me.
  
  I think the problem I have with lots of computer stuff is that I can't see the forest for the trees -- that I want a few simple things, and they give me hundreds or thousands of options.
  
  Anyway, I finally got the book into the program -- in roughly the format I want.
  
  However, it seems like a bit of an unwieldy mess, right now. It goes from A to G to B to F to M to C to....something like that.
  
  I think I need to work out the organization of it before I start doing the second draft.
  
  The actually sitting down and writing I don't think will take that long.
  
  This may seem like a lame example, but when I was in college, I'd often assemble the elements of term paper without being sure what the final form would be -- and I'd worry about it for awhile, but almost always it would come together in the end.
  
  I need to immerse myself in it, struggle with it, and eventually it will take shape. I hope.
  
  I ended up with 26 chapters, and about 68,500 words, which is actually bigger than I thought. It's maybe already big enough for an e-book, especially if we add visual and illustrative elements as we intend. I want it to be a "fast" read.
  
  I usually add when I rewrite, so it may very well end up the size of, say, Star Axe, which for a fantasy wasn't a large book, but large enough to tell the story. Besides, personally I'm kind of tired of overblown fantasies.
  
  I wish I wrote in more tidy way -- but that's just not the way of it. My creative impulses aren't tidy.
  
  I'm just going to thrash out the structure this weekend and see if I can't find a way to get it all to fit.
• January 13, 2012
• 11:02

  Love the book, hate the writer.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I'm really having trouble with Stephen Hunter. I love his books. He's a terrific storyteller. Addictive, propulsive action.
  
  And he's a ginormous asshole.
  
  He first offended me in his opinions of the pop culture trends that are my very break and butter -- and my first love. Science fiction and comics -- he pretty much dissed them on a regular basis as the film reviewer for The Washington Post.
  
  O.K. I could overlook that. He's just ignorant.
  
  But not...his last three books have gotten progressively more loony tune right wing batshit crazy. The book I'm reading now is so offensive, I can barely overlook it the bullshit.
  
  The story is great, and then he'll do some transparently offensive caricature of Obama-- or any other liberal-- that I have to gulp and keep reading.
  
  It's funny when you see people go off the rails. I'm guessing he started watching Fox News or listening to right wing radio. Ugh.
  
  If only he wasn't such a good writer! It didn't matter to me that Clancy was a simply minded twit, because he is also a lousy writer.
  
  I think this may be the last Hunter book I read. I can't get over his self-righteous smugness.
• 10:12

  Whoopee! 0.1% rise in sales.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  "Retail Sales Rise Scant 0.1%." Bulletin, 1/13/12.
  
  So much for all the predictions. What about all the news stories that we were bombarded with throughout the season about how sales were great, great, great!
  
  Nevermind.
  
  Meanwhile, the media was also full of stories about how stores were discounting, discounting, discounting!
  
  So .... lower margin, with next to nothing increase in sales = lower profits.
  
  The mass market stores have created a very stupid environment -- training the customers to wait for the last minute, and only to buy if it's hugely discounted.
  
  I've been ignoring the whole nonsense for years now. I stock up the store, keep it stocked throughout the season, and sell everything for regular price. So, you know, I actually make money.
  
  Sales in my store were up 20%, and I sold everything at retail price.
  
  These giant stores really are dinosaurs, with huge appetites and tiny brains.
• 10:00

  It is called a "Perp Walk."

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Dear Ms. Sawyer,
  
  It's called a Perp Walk, and you are not the first nor the last the suffer the indignity of it.
  
  Wiki: "PERP WALK is a common custom of American law enforcement, the practice of taking an arrested suspect through a public place at some point after the arrest..."
  
  Notice the words "common."
  
  From my reading of mysteries, it's done for a variety of reasons. The shake the defendant so they might be more malable in questioning. Or to make an example of someone. Nothing like a fellow stockbroker or mortgage agent being hauled out of the office in front of other stockbrokers to make a point. Which happens all the time, right? Right? ......uh.......right?
  
  I'll say no more, since she seems to sue anyone who mentions her name in public.
• 9:29

  "Executive Director of Business Development."

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Something I've noticed is, that occasionally a corporation will hire an entrepreneur to give itself some sort of boost.
  
  And it almost always ends badly.
  
  Turns out, the independent businessman can't operate in the bureaucracy . He's neutered and marginalized. The bureaucracy won't change no matter how it is pushed.
  
  Seems to be the norm.
  
  Same goes for creative people -- some manage to thrive in the bigger organization, but most flail around. (Insert story of Faulkner, Fitzgerald or Chandler in Hollywood.)
  
  Anyway, Diamond Comics has hired a longtime comic person, Chris Powell, for the job of promoting specialty shops. With an apparent emphasis on creating new stores.
  
  Normally, I'd be skeptical of the success of such a venture. But there are several factors that seem hopeful.
  
  First, it's a new position, so he's not trying to work himself into an existing model. He's been given a blank slate.
  
  Secondly, Chris Powell has shown he's capable in a variety of situations -- Comic's Pro, and The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.
  
  Third, he's a constant presence on The Comic Book Industry Alliance forum, and seems to have his head screwed on right. I don't personally know him, but he seems very sensible.
  
  Fourth, he was never the owner of the stores he managed (Lone Star Comics), but has been working for an owner. Which gives him some experience at dealing with higher ups.
  
  So this could be a really great thing for the industry. What's probably holding us up from growth the most is the lack of venues for comics books. The comics are great, but most people just don't know it.
  
  However, I couldn't quite shake a small bit of apprehension. Will he be able to create new comic stores in such a way as to not hurt existing stores? Without creating unnecessary competition?
  
  What I've seen is, people seem to want ignore previously unserved populations areas, to congregate around population areas that seem to have successful stores. In other words, they want to follow the example of the stores they actually see, instead of envisioning store where they aren't.
  
  So that's going to be tricky.
  
  Still -- it's one of those moves that actually seems to make all kinds of sense for everyone involved. In fact, I'd say there is a danger of expecting too much. It's nice that Diamond is actually focusing on Brick and Mortars in a Digital world. (Of course, that's their business -- but then again, I think it's the publisher's business too, and they are pushing willy nilly into digital...)
  
  It will be interesting to watch.
• January 12, 2012
• 10:15

  #*(^#(&& Insomnia!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Business has gotten slow in the last week.
  
  We are back to straight math again. Numbers of people who live here, plus numbers of people visiting, minus people who don't come in the store, minus the people who don't spend money in my store.
  
  Something like that. No matter how you add or subtract, you just aren't going to do all that well this time of year. It's just the price you pay for being in a tourist town.
  
  **********
  
  I was feeling pretty confident about the book, but it is also getting hard to fit together. Like a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces don't fit.
  
  I took a newly written second chapter to writer's group and they picked it apart and they were mostly right, I think.
  
  It's almost as though I need to start over from the beginning, using what I now know about the book. The stuff I only learned about by actually writing the book.
  
  **********
  
  For the first time in five years, I've had trouble getting this blog out in the morning. Because I've been having trouble falling asleep.
  
  Not sure what's going on there, but I've lost a full hour in the morning as a result.
  
  Anyway, last night I started brainstorming the book, and that's never a good idea. Back in the day when I was writing full time, I got really good at saying to my subconscious -- "Great. Hold onto the idea. Now shut up."
  
  But last night it just kept coming at me, fully formed sentences and ideas. I didn't get up to write them down, which I may regret, but I think I've got the gist of it.
  
  **********
  
  I'm thinking if I mull it over long enough, I'll come up with some solutions on the story problems. I like the story, the background, the characters -- I'm just having trouble fitting it together.
  
  **********
  
  It's 10:15, I still need to shower and make breakfast the newspaper is on the driveway and I haven't made a circuit of the intertubenet and I have to leave in half an hour. I feel rushed and flushed and groggy.
  
  I hate insomnia.
  
  Fortunately, I don't get it very often.
• January 11, 2012
• 9:53

  The past becomes nearer.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I was watching a documentary on the great cinematographer, Jack Cardiff. It was interesting, enough. But what really caught my attention was how the man's career went from the silent era right through to a couple of years ago. He died at 94.
  
  He was the camera man for The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. But also for Rambo. It's obvious from the interviews, that into his 90's he was still on top of things.
  
  I don't know -- it just changes my entire perspective of cinema. How relatively new it really is.
  
  If you've seen Hugo, it seems like a quaint bygone era -- and yet, here was the guy who filmed Rambo, also was already well into having a career at that time.
  
  As I get older, a strange thing happens. Things from farther ago, become nearer. Things that seemed like ancient history when I was young, now seem like the recent past. I was born only 7 years after WWII, and yet through my entire childhood it seemed like something from long ago, when people were different, and they acted and dressed funny.
  
  Yet, Star Wars seems almost like yesterday for me. I was in college went it came out. But -- it's far, far more distant now, than say Kennedy's assassination was when that movie came out.
  
  Anyway, any of you longer-in-the-tooth people know what I'm talking about, but younger folk won't give it a moment's thought.
  
  Nor should they.
• January 10, 2012
• 10:16

  Inked stained scrivener. Virtual, that is.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Jared came over last night and helped me with the Scrivener writing program upon which I'm going to write the second draft.
  
  I sort of insisted that it look like a manuscript, which is what I am used to working with. That turned out to be a bit more a problem that it first appeared, but I now have something recognizable to work on. Indented, double spaced.
  
  I'm going to be entering all the material today, and I'll soon know how many words I've already written.
  
  
  I'm being more deliberative in this writing this book than I've ever been before. I'm pretty sure that, in the past, I probably would've just taken what I already have written and tried to dish it out. Rushed it into final form.
  
  Instead, I'm holding off. I'm trying to fill in the cracks before I do that, give it time to gestate, let new ideas come up.
  
  Of course, deliberative can just be another word for lazy.
  
  I feel lazy, even though I'm about to finish a book. I feel like I should be working harder.
  
  At the same time, I don't want it to lose the freshness.
  
  Even though I say that I'm usually in too much of a hurry, at the same time, I've also overcooked some parts of my books in the past -- which is what makes me want them finished.
  
  So I'm trying to take the time to keep it fresh but also do the necessary things. Work deliberately, but without too much laziness. It's a fine balance.
  
  I love the initial process -- but I know that comes more in the form of a sketch instead of a finished book. I don't much enjoy as much the process of turning it into a more solid form.
• 9:38

  "I like being able to fire people."

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  "I like being able to fire people." Romney.
  
  Here's the thing.
  
  No matter what he meant by it.
  
  I can't EVER imagine using that particular combination of words.
  
  Ever.
  
  So that he was able to say, "I like being able to fire people." ?
  
  That to me just means that deep inside he means, "I like being able to fire people."
  
  ***********
  
  Is it just me, or are there a lot more arson fires going on in Central Oregon than is normal? A lot more.
  
  Copy cats?
  
  **********
  
  I'm sure there will be plenty of critics of the handling of the Cessna site.
  
  But it does seem a little stupid to lay aside a guaranteed revenue stream for a "promise" of more jobs. Plus the possibility that they might get another, better deal. (Unmentioned is, they already have one business in place and wouldn't it make more sense to entice a second business?) Like the promise of destination resorts that they'll eventually get around to building The Hotel, promises of future jobs seem pretty shaky. (We planned to hire 75 more people, but -- you know -- the economy....)
  
  Anyway, I think sometimes that our local governments give away too much to attract business, which then sticks around for a couple of years and crashes. Yes, Redmond and Prineville seem to offer better deals -- but I wonder if they have less to lose?
  
  I've said it before -- if people really want to move to Bend and they have the financial ability to do so -- then they will. Bribing them makes me wonder how much they are really interested in coming here.
  
  **********
  
  Wow. A huge article on Dungeons and Dragons in the Bulletin this morning.
  
  As long as it was, though, it left out some crucial history.
  
  D & D has always had the problem of -- once you sell the basic rules, what do you sell after that? Sure, you can sell packaged adventures and supplements, but the basic rules are all you really need, and since D & D players are individualistic enough to play the game in the first place, they usually end up creating their own adventures.
  
  So...once they buy the main books, they're done.
  
  It became kind of obvious that the company would periodically "update" the rules just to get that revenue stream going again.
  
  There is a new role-playing game, called Pathfinder, who seems to be doing what D & D should have done. Come up with a nice functional system, and sticking to it. They are a much smaller company, and don't have the corporate expectations.
  
  There was a pretty strong rejection of D & D 4.0; after nearly universal acceptance of 3.0 and 3.5. (Sure there are people who want the "original rules" but they are like people who never buy anything anyway.)
  
  The "original rules" were almost immediately messed up by TSR, the company that owned D & D before Wizards of the Coast bought it (which in turn was gobbled up by Hasbro.) Because of not wanting to pay royalties, they changed the name to "Advanced" D & D, and confusion has reigned ever since.
  
  In other words, the damn license has been mismanaged from the beginning.
  
  So for 5.0, Hasbro is asking for input from the fan community. Good luck with that.
  
  Back to 4.0. This was a kind of misguided attempt to become more friendly to the video gaming community. But the appeal of D & D is that it ISN'T a video game.
  
  I've been getting more and more requests for the 3.5 version, but this only exists as a used game, and I don't buy used games.
  
  I carry one copy at all times of the main books -- Dungeon Masters Guide I and II; Players Handbooks I, II, and III; Monster Manual I, II, III, and so on, so when they become obsolete, I won't have too much inventory to try to get rid of.
  
  Still, I do hope they do a good job with 5.0 and ....just stick with it, dammit!
• January 09, 2012
• 14:49

  For profit non-profits...or non-profit profits. Common Table.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I can't resist commenting on the Common Table troubles, as detailed in the column in the Bulletin today.
  
  There are a couple of points that seem to come up again and again, in Bend (and in this blog.)
  
  First, that something that "works" elsewhere doesn't work in Bend. According to the story, all but one of the 18 other "non-profit" restaurants were in more populous areas.
  
  Well, there you go. It won't be the first time that Bend tried to act like it was as big as elsewhere.
  
  But more than that, Bend is different. I really believe that. We have strange demographics....
  
  I've explicated that I think it's because of our relative isolation. We don't really have another metro area for at least 130 miles, over the High Cascades. We don't 'really' have a 4 year college. We are isolated by the fact we aren't connected to an Interstate -- the same 130 mile distance. I think, as well, we don't have a whole lot of strong industry here -- we are a retirement and tourist destination. I think second-home and retired people and tourists act differently overall than long-term residents. Oldtimers act differently than newcomers.
  
  Truth is, though, I don't really know why Bend is so different. I just know, when I compare it with the experiences of other towns, we always seem a little ...off.
  
  Secondly, I just don't believe that mixing profit and non-profit works well together. Whether it's a profit store that asks for non-profit contributions or volunteers or a non-profit store that tries to turn a profit. In the first case -- well, that's kind of scuzzy. In the second case -- well, doesn't seem cost effective.
  
  Other -- true -- non-profits can make meals for the cost of 1.00, according to the article. So, I'd have to say, the money stretches quite a bit further, without blurring the goal.
  
  So it comes down to the experience of the poor sitting down next to the rich. I'm not sure why this can't happen any old time. Just head on down to Drake Park, and strike up a conversation. In fact, it probably happens every day at McDonalds. Or even more often, at the public library. It seems like a "do-gooder" idea to me, but one that doesn't have a lot of long term viability.
  
  Unless a bunch of you are doing this on a regular basis? I'd be more than glad to be wrong about this.
  
  I mean, if it works --- great.
  
  But it it doesn't work -- you have to wonder how many meals could be distributed for the same cost.
• 12:06

  Christmas results.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  December sales were up by 19% over last year. It was the second best Christmas on record, eclipsed only by 2006. It beat 2007 by a little bit.
  
  (2008 pretty much sucked, and 2009 and 2010 were static.)
  
  Sounds very impressive, except that I more or less spent that 19% extra on product, so the profits were probably actually down a little bit.
  
  This was a tradeoff, for me. An active business atmosphere, following up what strengths I have, pursuing the areas where I feel that the competition is weak. I mean, the profits are encased in the inventory, so you could actually say I made more profit -- but it just isn't the same as liquid assets. Still, I have a packed store which means I won't have to spend all spring just trying to catch up again.
  
  These kinds of decisions are the very essence of running a small business; the kind of decisions where even in hindsight you can't be sure you made the right choice. I do know, it was the best of all results from the actual decision. I could easily have spent the money and not gotten the increased sales, for instance.
  
  As I mentioned before, boardgames actually beat comic sales, for the first time. Totally seasonal.
  Books actually beat graphic novels, equally seasonal.
  
  I've finally got the three-legged store I've been trying to reach all these year. About 35% games and books; 40% comics and graphic novels; 25% everything else. (yearly.)
  
  The results, compared to Christmas 2010.
  
  +7% Comics
  -7% Cards
  +53% Card Games
  +7% Games
  +10% Books
  -16% Toys
  +2% Graphic Novels.
  
  Card Games have recovered from the impact of two new competitors. It's possible that they've rejuvenated the market enough that I'm seeing an increase because of that. These sales levels are where they were before the two other guys opened.
  
  Toys are a tough sell these days. They seem to be impacted by the recession spending more than any other category. Nevertheless, I'm going to concentrate on trying to get a boost out of them this year.
  
  Books and Games are still increasing, albeit not as fast as the first few years.
  
  Comics and graphic novels seem in good shape.
  
  Sports cards are pretty steady, pretty low, but not totally inconsequential.
  
  I've dropped anime as a category and I'm going to ring them up under toys. I've replaced it with Used books, so I'll know how many used versus new books I'm selling.
  
  All in all, I'm pretty happy with it.
• 11:20

  Downtown Comings and Goings. 1/9/12.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  All right. I feel somewhat compelled to do this list again,
  because of the Downtowner's press release which you can find
  on KTVZ.
  
  Most of the "new" businesses they list aren't actually new. Some
  are expansions, and several are simple lateral moves. The only
  new business I could see was the Solar Power business and I decided
  it doesn't my perimeters of retail. ("information and consultation")
  
  Lotus Moon is actually losing a storefront and moving into Tres
  Jolie. By my definitions, that is a lost space...so I'm listing it as
  "leaving" with a note that it has moved.
  
  Game Domain has moved into a smaller space below in the downstairs
  of the Penny's Galleria, so they've lost their street front space but I'm
  keeping them on the list.
  
  Brother Jon's has named their new restaurant: The Ale House,
  so I'm changing that name below.
  
  The Dog Patch seems to be definitely leaving. And Bend
  Mapping and Blueprinting is moving out of downtown to
  Greenwood.
  
  So by my definitions, we've actually lost three or four
  spaces -- and the occupancy rate of 92% would imply maybe one
  or two more that I haven't discovered.
  
  NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN
  
  The Ale House, Bond St., 12/10/11.
  What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
  Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
  Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
  Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
  Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
  The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
  Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
  Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
  Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall, 2008.)
  
  BUSINESSES LEAVING
  
  The Dog Patch, Minnesota Av. 1/9/12.
  Bend Mapping, Bond St., 1/9/12.
  Lotus Moon, Brooks St. 1/9/12 (Moving into Tres Jolie)
  Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
  Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
  Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
  Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
  Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
  Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
  Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
  Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
  Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall 2008.)
  
• January 08, 2012
• 11:15

  Have begun the rewrite.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Actually, most of my 're-writing' has taken the form of adding new material to the first draft.
  
  I'm taking advantage of the characters' longevity by adding flashbacks. This will allow me to:
  
  1.) Add historical personages, who have had contact with the "dark."
  2.) Develop the love relationship between the main character and the love of his life.
  3.) Bring in scenes where I describe the creatures who will show up at the end.
  
  Since the two overall themes of the book are to show the long process of "becoming human" and the long process of showing the demise of species -- of both worlds -- and the main character's efforts to save them, this flashback process allows me to show it happening, instead of telling.
  
  I've had a blast incorporating historical characters into the scenes. And the two themes as well as the love story are going to add some depth and texture to the story.
  
  The biggest problem with bringing in the new material isn't the new scenes themselves -- by definition, they pretty much hold up as distinct material.
  
  No...it's the narrative and the explanations that are going to be hard to time -- to make all the connecting tissue in the right places and not repeat myself or give away too much in doing it.
  
  I'm keeping the faith that I can be clever enough in the end to smooth all that out.
• 10:20

  A good result.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I'm feeling extremely proud of myself right now.
  
  I didn't have to make that big step toward gaming and new books a few years ago. It was a risk. I could have just tried to keep making what I do work.
  
  And I did do that. Sales this Christmas were higher on comics and graphic novels than last year, so I haven't lost any ground there.
  
  But sales on boardgames actually beat comics in December, which is totally unexpected. Sales on novels beat graphic novels, also unexpected.
  
  So I'm proud of diagnosing the problem and coming up with a solution and making it work. I've managed to bring in two strong product lines without displacing existing product lines, which with my limited space, was a very creative effort.
  
  I'm now trying to imagine how my store would be doing if I hadn't made the investment in games and books. Ouch.
  
  Throwing more money at comics and graphic novels and card games and sports cards and anime and toys wouldn't have boosted sales all that much. They were already fully developed and mature categories.
  
  Now that I've established games and books, I'm taking a second look at all the other categories, and trying to rejuvenate them, as well. Toys, (starting the carry the standard DC and Marvel action figures), cards, anime (brought in all the Myizaki movies, for instance), etc. etc. Small increases would be acceptable in all these categories.
  
  I never did ease up on comics and graphic novels. I've been buying them full bore all along. And especially in comics, I've actually increased the numbers I order. I'm not letting them fall away.
  
  Basically, books and games are doing about twice as well as my initial hope for them, with room still to grow.
  
  I haven't had the urge in the last three years to bring in more categories, though. It simply isn't possible....
  
  
  I'll have more detailed totals later in the day, for both the month and the year.
• January 07, 2012
• 10:32

  Sat. Shots

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Stupid me, it never occurred to me that The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo would still sell. I knew that all the used copies of all three books were gone from the store, and none have come in lately. But I didn't think anyone would want it new.
  
  So the constant flow of requests surprises me.
  
  I mean, it was a bestseller for a couple of years, or more. There has already been a trilogy of movies released (Swedish) and well....it just seemed like old news.
  
  But -- apparently -- a Hollywood movie. That's different.
  
  **********
  
  Meanwhile, Hunger Games sells O.K.
  
  But I know the big surge is coming...
  
  **********
  
  We sold a whole bunch of Tintins. Unlike the usual pattern of graphic novels mostly selling in advance, in anticipation of a movie, I'm pretty sure these mostly sold to people who had seen the movie.
  
  It had that effect on me.
  
  **********
  
  The Blazers seem to be winning without any big stars.
  
  Sadly, that probably won't continue. But wouldn't it be cool if it did?
  
  **********
  
  Dear T.V.
  
  QUIT putting all your good shows on SUNDAY! Even my DVR can't keep up.
  
  **********
  
  Tucker and Dale vs Evil: What a fun movie!
  
  Did this movie even make it to Bend? Did I just miss that?
  
  Also watching Troll Hunter, though I'm not a big fan of the Blair Witch kind of movie. But I appreciate the cleverness of it.
  
  (I HATED Blair Witch, and honestly don't get why people like it...)
  
  **********
  
  A couple of the online reviewers of my books Snowcastles and Icetowers made fun of the possibility that people could live in such places.
  
  But ever since, I've been reading more and more instances where people build such things, Ice Hotels and such. There was an blurb in the Bulletin the morning about a church in Bavaria that was built of snow and ice.
  
  I just figured it was possible -- like giant igloo's.
  
  "But how do the people handle fire?" Linda asks.
  
  "Not my problem. It's a fantasy." I answer.
  
  "But it IS your problem...."
  
  "O.K. They have a special formula that makes the ice as hard as rock. Sheeesh."
• January 06, 2012
• 12:36

  The future's so bright, we need to pull shades.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I know this is a utterly ridiculously contrarian viewpoint, but I think the future of the independent bookstore, games store, comic store, video store, record store -- is bright. So bright, we need to pull shades.
  
  If I had to guess what a town like Bend will look like in 10 years, I'd bet we have at least one independent bookstore, one record store, one comic store, one games store -- maybe more.
  
  What we won't have is a Borders, Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster, Virgin Records -- whatever oversized monstrosity you choose.
  
  In other words, it's the mass market, category killers who are going to be wiped out by the digital asteroid, leaving the survivors of this digital revolution to reap the benefits. The dinosaurs will be gone, and the mammals will have their day. After generations of scurrying into niches, the niches are going to bloom.
  
  For most of my career, the mass market has been the biggest obstacle to my making money. The internet is relatively new, and frankly, the same responses I developed to survive the onslaught of Walmart is the same response I have to Amazon.
  
  You can't beat them.
  
  They will always be cheaper, they will always have more.
  
  I was fortunate in that comics were such a small industry, that the mass market more or less ignored them. I could take a bigger slice of a much smaller pie. There are probably as many comic books stores in the U.S.A. as there are independent bookstores, or record stores, even though comics are much, much smaller market overall.
  
  My guess is, that a small slice of a much bigger market (books, games, toys, music), even if that market shrinks drastically, will provide independents a future.
  
  For sure, there is going to be a shakeout, as everyone adjusts to the new realities. Creative destruction on a massive scale.
  
  But I truly believe that the shopping experience, the browsing, touching, seeing, talking, feeling, atmosphere soaking experience of independent stores is here to stay. Let Amazon have 90% of the market, and the 10% will still probably be more money than most comic stores make today, so I know it can be done. Independents won't get rich, but I think there can still be a satisfying career to be had.
  
  No doubt, digital will reign supreme, but there will still be plenty of people who want books, or who want digital...and books. I think, in fact, that there will be lots of people who come back us, as the soullessness of the computer screen sinks in.
  
  It will be our job as independents to have an idiosyncratic and interesting selection of books, have them displayed in eye-catching ways, be willing (and knowledgeable enough) to talk and interact with the customer, have places and hours where we can be found, and otherwise be a satisfying and enjoyable experience.
  
  Those skills can be developed, even now. After a year or two of absorbing the lessons of the e-readers, I'm feeling more optimistic now than I have in a long time.
• 11:40

  Take the Nook out, and you've got another Borders.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Barnes and Noble is thinking of spinning off the Nook.
  
  I'm not sure I understand all the ramifications of this -- but my general sense is that this is an effort to wring value out of the stock. I figure they'll dump all the debts into the Brick and Mortar operation, and take the high-flying Nook division away to make all the money.
  
  In other words, I think they are giving up on physical books.
  
  They'd never say that, of course.
  
  One commentator was mentioning that it defied the selling option of using the bricks and mortars for publicizing the Nook. Maybe I don't understand the "spinning off" part, but why? Why wouldn't they just push even harder? Devote even more space, time, energy, employees to push the Nook? Let the books crash and burn, what do they care? It's all doomed anyway....
  
  What's been happening is that the Barnes and Noble stock hasn't been going anywhere, despite the 'success' of the Nook. So it seems they've decided to extract the value by removing the one part of the operation that has a future.
  
  Whether that's smart or dumb, I do think it spells the end of the Barnes and Noble bookstores. Without the Nook, they are just another version of Borders, right?
• 11:27

  Writing for the write reasons.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  When you buy, sell, and read as many books as I do, you start to get a sense of the enormous size of the marketplace. Especially if you sell books.
  
  I see hundreds of titles per weekend being touted on the literary sites. I see thousands of books a week being offered by my distributors. And that's just the new stuff.
  
  I don't know how this affects other writers -- I don't know, maybe it inspires them. It certainly would seem to point to the idea there is room for a writer to get published, because plenty of them are getting published. Most you've never heard of. Most you never will hear of.
  
  For me, it's kind of dispiriting. What's the use? I see books on the remainders lists that I've heard of, that were well-reviewed, that I had thought would sell very well. I see books being discounted that have been turned into movies, that got the front page review in the N.Y. Times.
  
  And then it seems like every other person in the door is looking for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, or The Hunger Games. I liked T.G.W.T.D.T. fine, I guess. It was kind of clunky, but I liked how different it was.
  
  But off the top of my head, I can point to dozens of authors who are better.
  
  I very much enjoyed The Hunger Games -- but not to the exclusion of everything else.
  
  Anyway, as I'm trying to pump up my motivation to finish my book, it can be a bit deflating.
  
  I've mentioned before, "writing through the doubt."
  
  Well, there's that.
  
  I'm trying to get back to that feeling I get when I'm writing that it deserves to exist. That there is a story there. The enjoyment part. That is what is going to have to sustain me over the next few months.
  
  The "write" reasons, if you well.
• January 05, 2012
• 10:38

  Thursday thunks.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  This is the first year in a long time that I think the Star Wars franchise didn't play a big role at Christmas.
  
  It'll come around again, I have no fear.
  
  The 3-D movies are coming.
  
  ***********
  
  Best way to watch a football game. DVR, then fast forward all the huddles and time-outs. You don't miss anything but lame commentary, and the game goes whizzing by....
  
  **********
  
  Peace and quiet is probably not something any storekeeper should ever wish for -- but it's kind of nice to come to a quiet and peaceful store after the holiday rush.
  
  **********
  
  I ordered 219 copies of Batgirl #5, instead of the 19 or 21 copies I thought I was ordering.
  
  I think I can return them, but they make it a little difficult, so I'm not looking forward to it. On the other hand, having 600.00 (retail) of extra Batgirls isn't my idea of fun, either.
  
  **********
  
  I'm going to dive into writing tomorrow, and not re-emerge until I've finished the second draft. I've warned Linda I'll be distracted. That I may skip a lot of T.V. shows, and so on. I took most of December off, which was dangerous, but I don't think I had much choice.
  
  So a whole lot of these blog entries will probably be about writing for awhile.
  
  ***********
  
  Finally, I think I'll just say I don't know what to think about the "privatization" of the county public works.
  
  It feels like a bad idea. Rife with the possibilities of corruption.
  
  My general sense is to ask -- is this with 'standard practices' for local government? I would think we'd be best off, usually, doing what the general tradition is. (I know, this sounds funny from a guy who tends to reject 'standard practices' when it comes to small business -- but if I'm wrong, it only hurts me.)
  
  I'll leave this discussion open for those who know more about this than me.
• January 04, 2012
• 10:03

  The Star Axe made real.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I got the painting of Star Axe in the mail yesterday.
  
  I tried to save up all year for it, but couldn't quite get there. So we finally decided that it would be the only Christmas present, and took the money out of savings. There is just no way I couldn't buy it.
  
  The arrival was very exciting. I made a customer and Boyd, the mailman, wait around while I opened it. And opened it. And opened it. The packing was dense, to say the least.
  
  But I finally freed the picture.....and it is magnificent. It is very Frazetta, Royo, Vallejos. But, more accurately, it's a sword and sorcery cover, which is what the publisher labeled my book. (I thought of it more as Heroic Fantasy, but, hey -- they were the ones writing the checks.)
  
  Anyway, the painting was much bigger than I expected -- if it had been any bigger I wouldn't be able to display it in my store.
  
  The details just pop out. Up to now, I've only had a picture the size of a paperback to judge it by. And of course, the writing on the cover of the title and that pesky author obscured some of the picture.
  
  There is nothing like an original oil painting to see the depth and textures.
  
  I didn't choose the artist or the image, but I was very happy when I first saw it, and I've always pretty much liked it since.
  
  I also bought a giglee of Star Axe from the artist, Romas Kukalis. (Signed, #23 of a 100 print run. I think he probably turned around and made a printing because I asked for a copy.) I took it down the street to High Desert Framing. The framing is going to cost 2.5 times the actual print, but I picked deluxe design and materials.
  
  Since it's going to take 10 days or so for the framing to be done, I decided to hang the original painting at the store for a month or two. Not much longer than that, because I'm worried about exposing the work to the constant florescent lights. Eventually, I'll take it home and put up in my office, and replace it with the giglee at the store.
  
  For context, I put my book on a little stand next to the picture.
  
  Anyway, it's a pretty impressive painting.
  
  Come in and see it, everyone!
• January 03, 2012
• 9:03

  No -- what you know is wrong.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  An interesting discussion over on The Beat, where a statistical analysis of the New 52 DC comics has "proven" that the venture was unsuccessful at increasing sales or readership.
  
  To which, several of us retailers pipe up and say, "That's not right. It was very successful."
  
  Then it gets kind of funny, because they come back with, "I assure you, Sir, you were not successful with the New 52" to which they might as well add, "And your name isn't Duncan."
  
  Heh.
  
  More seriously, what accounts for the discrepancy between the statistics and the retailers' experiences? Are we deluding ourselves?
  
  First of all, the statistics have a variable or two that I think most of us retailers wouldn't count. For instance, the "returns" on issues 3 and 4. I'm not returning a single issue, because by the time the 3rd issue rolled in, I had refined my orders to normal numbers.
  
  Secondly, it's possible that me and the other retailers who responded are the exceptions. I don't believe that. There are always a few stores who miss the boat, but this should be a constant. So I don't think that's it.
  
  Third, I'm seeing sales in context. I'd been losing subscribers for about a year, and the New 52 brought us right back to previous numbers. Just as Obama is going to have to try to prove that the economy would have been worse without his efforts, I'd have to try to prove that comic sales would have been worse without the New 52.
  
  In looking at the numbers in the four months preceding the New 52, our comic sales were down about 15% from the previous year (worse than I thought, because they had been covered by my increased sales in books and games). The increase in the first four months of the New 52 is up 20%. So that is a 35% swing.
  
  But I can see how a statistician might just see a 15 or 20% increase, add the variable of returns and (whatever the other variables were, I couldn't figure out; one of the miracles of my college education was I passed a Statistics course without understanding a thing....) and the increase might be reduced to marginal numbers.
  
  But that's not how it felt in the real world.
  
  Fourth, I'm gauging overall interest. Even though I'd been losing subscribers, my actual sales hadn't been dropping comparatively. And yet -- it wasn't a good sign. Subscribers are strongly interested in getting their comics, and sales off the counter are more incidental. I'd say that the New 52 rejuvenated interest in comics, even among the Marvel and independents readers.
  
  Fifth, for me the boost in DC sales was just what I needed, bringing my discount level up another notch, and allowing me to reinvest in DC graphic novels, thus allowing the possibility of increased sales in the future.
  
  Sixth, the new readership is there, but they simply took the place of lapsed readership, so it isn't noticeable. Still, new readership is what our industry needs. It shows that it can be done. That and bringing back former readers.
  
  So I see the New 52 as spectacularly successful.
  
  But I must be wrong.
• 8:01

  Sons of Anarchy (**Spoilers**)

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Finished the second season of S.O.A.
  
  A veritable symphony of bad Irish accents. Our movies and T.V. are full of British and Irish and Aussie and New Zealander actors who do convincing American accents. (Jax is an English actor, for instance.) But Americans often do lame foreign accents. (Meryl Streep excepted, of course.)
  
  I figured out last night, that the world of motorcycles is like a Settlers of Catan game. The resources are drugs, guns, porn and extortion. The players are the Latin gangs, the Black gangs, the White gangs, the Irish gangs, the Cop gangs -- and, the S.O.A.
  
  I have a suggestion for T.V. writers -- "Lockdowns" are obviously inconvenient for your plotting, so don't do them. Don't send off the "Queen" and the "Princess" on a stupid tampon shopping trip, with one guard, if that's what you need to do, and pretend it's sensible. (I looking at you, too, Terra Nova -- either it's a lockdown or it isn't...)
  
  I don't know why, what gave it away -- but I sensed that Numbnuts was doomed a couple of episodes in advance. I turned to Linda and said, "He's wearing a red shirt..."
  
  Finally, if all you are going to do is pop the bad guys in the end -- then why do you make a big deal out of "being smart" and "setting them up?" The shooting them in the head option is always there, but they are wildly inconsistent about when they apply that solution.
  
  
  As long as I'm complaining, I've just about had it with Hell on Wheels. What bugs me is that it is supposed to be a show centered on building a railroad, but they make zero effort to make that believable. Seriously, if they had the same plot and same actors and same costumes -- but actually made a half-assed effort to show the 'working on the railroad' part in the background in a believable way -- it would be a decent show.
  
  I'm trying to winnow down my T.V. watching, so I'm through with Hell on Wheels.
  
  I've suggested to Linda that we write down a list of "Unmissable" shows, DVR just them, and contain our watching to just a couple of nights a week. I don't think that will work when Linda will watch any rerun of N.C.I.S. or Bones and especially Law and Order, and I'm a sucker for any Nova or Frontline or Masterpiece Theater that comes along.
  
  I realize that we watch too much T.V., but there really are a bunch of very good shows on these days, especially on the premium channels. Network T.V.? Not so much. House and Mentalist both are pretty mediocre these days -- the only exception is The Good Wife, which is consistently great. I'm going to drop Persons of Interest -- it's O.K., but that isn't good enough. C.S.I. Las Vegas is barely hanging in there, as the major characters drop away one by one. Grimm falls short of being a good show. Mentalist is hanging by the thin thread of charm. So I'm willing to drop those, as well. Maybe only The Good Wife is truly unmissable, for me. And The Walking Dead.
  
  And the cable shows: Dexter, True Blood, Boardwalk Empire.
• January 02, 2012
• 8:51

  Do I talk about the end of the year, or the beginning?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  So they are talking about eliminating the dollar coins.
  
  But what will I put in my piggy bank?
  
  **********
  
  I have to admit, the "uncanny valley" phenomenon was less troubling in the movie Tintin than it was in the trailers. I've noticed before, the contrast is more more extreme when you get it in short bursts and without the context.
  
  Still -- I think I probably spent the first 20% of the movie noticing the differences. It still is distracting.
  
  I think this will wear off, eventually, if they keep using and perfecting this process. It will become something we all just accept.
  
  I hope.
  
  **********
  
  About midway through the second season of Sons of Anarchy, and the show hit its stride.
  
  I was getting pretty fed up with the constant, "Hey, are you O.K." "Yeah, I'm just pissed at Cole" Hamlet-y stuff that was going on. I was beginning to think Jax was the poster child for passive aggressive.
  
  Then, in the course of two shows, they resolved it all -- laid it all out, and refocused.
  
  Hamlet is all well and good, but I'd like a little resolution once in awhile.
  
  ***********
  
  I've noticed that a lot of my favorite shows over time have taken a year or two to really hit their stride.
  
  Star Trek: Next Generation. Buffy. X-Files. It's like the actors settle on their tone, and the showrunner has refined the message.
  
  **********
  
  "Do you want to see War Horse, Sherlock Holmes, or Dragon Tattoo?"
  
  "Anything but War Horse. It's about war and horses -- and I don't like horses."
  
  "I see no reason to see Dragon Tattoo -- we've already seen it...."
  
  "I want to see Dragon Tattoo..."
  
  "Sherlock Holmes it is...."
  
  **********
  
  Was totally psyched by the last week of the year. We had a very good week.
  
  Overall, this December was the second best we've ever had. Boardgames beat comics for the first time. Novels beat graphic novels for the first time. It's seasonal, but still a good sign for my diversity efforts.
  
  I also spent a whole bunch, so we probably made about as much profit as last year, but we were a full 20% ahead in sales. Our second half of the year was good enough to pull us over last year in total. Cool.
  
  I'm going to have a lot more to say about all this when I analyze the year-end figures.
• January 01, 2012
• 10:06

  Never mind the bullets.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I'm not sure what I find most scary.
  
  That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times on purpose and get away with it.
  
  That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times by accident and still have the right to bear arms.
  
  That a wife could shoot a husband 5 times and they couch it as some kind of moral success story.
  
  
  People are strange.
• 9:12

  Happy New Year everyone!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I never make New Year's resolutions because
  
  a. I'm perfect.
  
  b. I'm so flawed that nothing will help.
  
  c. I'm so weak-willed that a New Year's resolution just proves it...and I'm tired of proving it.
  
  d. All the above.
  
  **********
  
  I kept thinking that the villain in Tintin looked like Steven Spielberg, and when I got home and googled it, I only got as far as "Tintin villain lo....." before a bunch of hits came up, so apparently I wasn't the only one.
  
  I enjoyed the movie quite a bit actually. A rollicking adventure.
  
  I sold a bunch of Tintin graphic novels this Christmas.
  
  **********
  
  Somebody set off such a loud boom at midnight, that our kitchen wall clock fell off and broke.
  
  These celebrations are getting louder every year.
  
  I made this mistake of letting the cat out about 11:30 or so, and after all the noise I went looking for her, finally to hear this strange, plaintive meow near the upstairs sliding door. She ran in and hid for awhile. So much meaning in such a simple meow...
  
  **********
  
  We were watching the trailers in front of Tintin, and they're doing a 3-D Titanic and I'm thinking how gorgeous Kate Winslet was in this movie (she's since gotten as thin and angular as all the other actresses, sadly) and the end tag line comes and I unexpectedly feel a tear in my eye. "I'll never let go."
  
  Whenever that happens -- that Hallmark emotion -- I look at Linda, and sure enough she's crying.
  
  I never did want to see Titanic again, because I found it to be very sad.
  
  I never put down that movie, because it was very effective at what it does.
  
  **********
  
  Also watching the lead in graphics to the Imax process and thinking what a teenager from the '60's would think if he was magically transported to today's experience. (Specifically -- ME.)
  
  "What...you still have the clunky glasses?"
  
  "Where's the holodeck?"
  
  "Is that animation? What is that?"
  
  "Who's Steven Spielberg?"
  
  "Movies cost $13.00!!!!"
• December 31, 2011
• 9:42

  The corporate meatgrinder.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  It's sad to see people chewed up and spit out by corporate America. I'm talking about the employees, here. The underlings.
  
  There but for the grace of god go I.
  
  I saw it happen to Linda, working as assistant manager at Regal Cinemas. She had health insurance, -- which we ended up needing -- but it was a horrible job, in many ways. She has a certain nostalgia for it, but I was there, man, and it was a meat grinder. (Same with her short stint at Barnes and Noble, which turned out to be about anything but books.)
  
  I remember going to the movies the week after she finally quit, and meeting some of her co-workers, and turning to Linda and saying, "Do you see that look of panicked stress in their eyes? That was you a week ago."
  
  She landed in her own bookstore, and is the mistress of her domain, and happy at it. And all those managers from Barnes and Noble and Regal, who in my opinion treated her unfairly, can go suck eggs. (That may be a bit mean-spirited, because at the local level they are all victims of the meatgrinder.)
  
  Yes, owning your own business can be stressful, but at least you are charge of your own decision making. Yes, you can fail, but so can you lose a job. I read once that the worst kind of stress is having all the responsibility but none of the power to make changes. When you own your own business, you have both the responsibility AND the ability to make changes; stressful, but it has a different flavor to it.
  
  What brought this up is reading another blog, (Rocket Bomber) written by a guy who works in a national book chainstore. He seems terribly put upon. He fantasizes about opening his own bookstore, but the fantasy is so over-the-top that it will never happen. I suggested once that he open a more modest endeavor and he slapped me down. (Admittedly, he had asked for no comments, so I probably deserved it. Still....kind of lost a lot of sympathy for him.)
  
  It's strange to see someone keep their corporate meat grinder job year after year, and hear how he rationalizes it, and wishing he'd just take the chance and put that kind of effort into his own business.
  
  I probably should be careful about advising that, though. It does seem like an awful lot of these 'dream' businesses fail. But I know what I would do.
• December 30, 2011
• 10:04

  Selling what no one wants.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I say it every season. I'm happy when Christmas (and summer) get here, and happy when it goes.
  
  I like the money. I like the activity. But all the frenetic flow and people wear me out.
  
  I'll be content to hibernate for a couple of months.
  
  Everything in a cycle, in waves....that's the way life should be.
  
  **********
  
  I'm going to dive into writing next week, and try to push thru to the finish. I might -- if I need to -- go on a short writing trip to kickstart the process.
  
  I'm seeing how I've maybe set myself up for a reaction that I'm not quite prepared for. When I wrote my first books, it was more or less an impersonal process. I never met my agent or editors or the vast majority of my readers.
  
  I'm going to be a little more vulnerable to opinions with this process. What I'm not going to do is put anyone on the spot and ask.
  
  **********
  
  I was talking about the lucky streak of warm shopping days had come to an end. Ironically, it may have helped business. I had several groups of customers mention that they had decided to skip skiing after a soggy day on the mountain.
  
  The worst scenario for a tourist -- coming because there is good snow, and being met by bad snow -- is the best scenario for shopping.
  
  Sorry bout that.
  
  **********
  
  Stupid wolf. Going to California. Sheesh.
  
  **********
  
  Another brewery in town.
  
  Maybe I should get in on the action. I don't know nuttin about beer, but I figure I'll just hire a bunch of home brewers, put a cute name on it, some artsy packaging, and sell it really really cheap.
  
  Speaking of which -- I saw so many Powell's Candy bags this Christmas, that I'm convinced it must be the busiest store in Bend.
  
  I KNEW I should have gone into a different business -- beer, candy, drugs...something sinful.
  
  Because selling reading material is just stupid.
• December 29, 2011
• 9:44

  It's time to get started on my 2011 projects.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  It's time to get started on my 2011 projects.
  
  Which one to do first?
  
  Write a book?
  
  Lose 20 pounds?
  
  Start an exercise program?
  
  Cut down on my T.V. viewing?
  
  
  Ah....I think I'll mull it over for a day or two and then decide.
  
  Yes, sir. 2011 is when I'm really going to get things done.....
• December 28, 2011
• 9:08

  Wed. wats.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Much as I appreciate the rain (I was thinking about resorting to breaking out the watering hoses for my garden, cause I was afraid my plants were being freeze dried) I'm sure it will put a damper on sales for the rest of the week.
  
  It's kind of the end of our lucky streak. The weather was so uniform this shopping season that I think it helped. There wasn't the usual one or two inexplicable clunker days.
  
  ************
  
  I'm proud of myself for figuring out the Hamlet connection to Sons of Anarchy all by my lonesome.
  
  Linda and I have blown through 10 episodes. (They are relatively short, at about 39 minutes.)
  For those of you who are way ahead of us on what's happened, please don't tell. For those of you who haven't started watching, there be spoilers ahead.
  
  In the show, Jax (Hamlet) spends much of his time in the ramparts (the roof of the garage) communing the dead ghost of his dad (in the form of diaries.)
  
  The one thing that bothers me about the show, is sometimes they seem to try a little too hard for the swaggering tough guy effect -- which can have the opposite effect of reminding me that they are all just actors, after all.
  
  I think it's partly because of the shortness of the show, that things that can be a little more developed on HBO or Showtime, with an extra 10 or 15 minutes, in this show seem to be slightly telegraphed.
  
  It's a problem with all tough guys shows, really. I remember seeing French Connection last year, and what had seemed so gritty and real when I was young seemed slightly fake and almost cartoony.
  
  The actor's are mostly pulling it off -- so I'm not sure if the problem is the writing or the actors or just that they are talking about a foreign world and trying to show the "hearts of gold" and all that and it somehow doesn't quite seem -- realistic.
  
  It walks a very narrow line, and pulls it off -- mostly.
  
  **********
  
  So far, we haven't had a single return. (knock wood). They may still all come in like an avalanche, but so far so good.
  
  I'm very casual about telling the customers that if it isn't the right thing, they can exchange it for anything in the store.
  
  We try not to give cash back -- but sometimes you just can't avoid it. But it sure hurts when it happens.
  
  Exchanges? Those only make sense.
  
  **********
  
  I did my December orders yesterday, and allowed myself to order all the "cool" stuff I saw -- and it came in about 25% higher than is healthy.
  
  Is the store strong enough to take the chance? If I order 25% more, can I sell about 15% more to cover it?
  
  This kind of thing almost never pans out, but occasionally -- it does. And it's how the store takes a step forward. It's that risky move that you can usually avoid taking -- but not always.
  
  I'll add up the Christmas profits, see how far down I'm paying on the debts, and make my decision by Thursday. I more or less already made the big gamble this Christmas -- so I need to see how that panned out by paying all the bills and seeing what's left.
  
  **********
  
  That the Parks and Rec district has millions to spend on land points to the off-kilter nature of public funding. I'm sure there are firewalls protecting the money from raids by other entities who might need to money more...in the short term.
  
  In the long term, I think they are being smart snapping up the land while they can.
  
  As you know, my belief is that Central Oregon is fundamentally a tourist and retirement economy and will mostly remain so.
  
  It makes sense to have as many park amenities as possible.
• December 27, 2011
• 10:24

  A "wide range of merchandise" ?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Golden Apple comics is for sale in Los Angeles, if you got a spare $679,000.00 laying around.
  
  The founder of this "iconic" store died a few years ago, and my sense is that it's been more or less going downhill ever since.
  
  What caught my notice was this description: "The Golden Apple was a forward-facing store with a wide range of merchandise..." (Interesting phrasing: "was" a "forward looking"....)
  
  If you look at the actual merchandise, though, it's:
  
  58.3% New comics.
  31.7% Graphic Novels.
  10% Everything Else.
  
  I suspect that the vast majority of those 90% comics and graphic novels are superhero oriented.
  
  Anyway, as comparison, I checked this December's totals for the same categories in my store:
  
  21.1% New comics.
  16.8% Graphic Novels.
  
  62% Everything else. Yes, comics are about 38% or a little more than 1/3rd.
  
  Now THAT'S a description of a store with a "Wide Range."
  
  I think that's the description of a store that is more likely to survive over the long run.
  
  That 38% of sales for comics and graphic novels doesn't represent an actual decline in sales of those two categories -- in fact, we will probably beat last year. I haven't slowed down my support of these two categories at all, indeed the diversity of product has allowed me to continue to buy what I need there, and to up my orders on new comics.
  
  What it shows is that the other categories in the store have increased.
  
  Boardgames are almost exactly equal to new comics this Christmas. Granted -- this is the high water mark for that category.
  
  New books are almost exactly equal to graphic novels this Christmas. Again, a seasonal high water mark.
  
  Sports cards and dvd's accounted for another 5%.
  Toys accounted for 7.5%
  Card Games accounted for 10%.
  
  This 22.5% of sales is an even bigger argument for diversity -- it's probably what makes the rest of the store work.
  
  Comics and graphic novels will probably come closer to 50% of the total in most months -- and that shows the strengths of my regular clientele. The strength of the other product shows the strength of the foot traffic of the downtown area and of the seasons.
  
  Together, they make for a "diverse" store that has a chance of selling something.
• December 26, 2011
• 11:30

  "Sons of Anarchy" Christmas.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Of all things, we watched the first four episodes of this motorcycle gang saga.
  
  You know how we're identifying with the bad guys in these shows? Meth and arms dealers. Or serial killer Dexter, or Gangster Nucky. Kind of a weird development.
  
  I wanted to watch this show for some time, and with reruns going on, this was a good time to dive in. We have several seasons to catch up on. I thought I might have a hard time getting Linda to watch, but Ron Perlman is one of her favorite actors (ever since Beauty and the Beast) , so that's how I got her to watch the first episode...
  
  "You know," she says. "He's getting better looking as he gets older."
  
  "He's still ugly."
  
  "Well, sure.... but better looking than before."
  
  **********
  
  "Exit through the Gift Shop."
  
  The documentary by (about?) street artist Banksy.
  
  I have a strange reaction to these art documentaries. These people all seem like raging egotists and preening narcissists.
  
  Banksy's anonymity actually makes him seem even more of an egoist, somehow.
  
  Maybe that's what it takes to get noticed in the art world.
  
  As far as the documentary is concerned, if you like mind games, this was a good one. I don't think I liked it much -- I would have preferred a straight documentary about street art, with many more examples.
  
  And yet, it makes its point.
  
  **********
  
  "Angry Bear" blog has a cute column about how Unitarians "saved" Christmas. (And the Puritans literally "outlawed" it.)
  
  heh.
• December 25, 2011
• 10:54

  The "Retro" store.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Somebody should just start a "Retro" store.
  
  Boardgames, books, non-electric toys, vinyl records....abacus's....
  
  Make a virtue out of necessity.
  
  I would go heavy on the mechanical toys, the art design toys, the retro-futuristic toys.
  
  Also wood toys and puzzles.
  
  Heavy on the classics books and records. Have an old fashioned record player, where you played records all day.
  
  Chess, cribbage, go, backgammon.
  
  You would pretend you've never heard of computers. (Of course, you'd have to track down an old mechanical cash register.) Just look at people blankly when they mention anything electronic. Have fake gas light looking fixtures. Maybe a candle or two.
  
  I'd sit at my counter all day with a old typewriter and try to write.
  
  When someone pulls out a cell phone, you say, "What demonic device is that!" and act scared.
  
  You'd have a steampunk clothes for the store uniform.
  
  Probably be best if you tried it in Portland, but if you had money to burn.... Bend would be cool. No...not cool, unless I do it.
  
  I would call it: "Luddites from Space." or "Forward to the Past!" or "Steampunk Cafe" or ....?
  
  
  Later:
  
  And comics! How could I have forgotten comics? And sports cards!
  
  What you would do would be play up the old-fashioned handlebar mustache era of B.B. cards, while mostly selling new ones.
  
  Play up the 30's Batman era, while mostly selling new ones.
  
  
  This wouldn't be a junk store. Everything would be shiny and new.
  
  In fact, just about everything I currently carry would fit -- except my DVD's.
  
  Anything New that had an Old-fashioned feel would be fair game.
  
  I'm pretty sure most people with this idea would limit themselves -- but I'd go in whole bunch of directions.
  
  For instance, have a heavy brass and mahogany section with all the steampunk; another brightly shiny metal and heavy plastic for my retro-futuristic section; another plastic, day glow section for my 50's style section; a paisley tapestry and candles for my Hippie section; a faux stonework medieval/fantasy section, and so on.
  
  Obviously, I'd need a very big store, lots of money, and hip employees who stayed around for awhile.
  
  
  I've come up with probably dozens of ideas for stores over the last 32 years -- but all of them run up against a problem.
  
  There be only one of me, and I have my hands full.
• 9:45

  Christmas wishes.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Hey, I could just have a nice Christmasy blog today (Merry Christmas!) but I think I'll just do the normal meanderings, since no one else is....
  
  **********
  
  Nice inventory management, if I do say so myself.
  
  I have 3 each left of Ticket to Ride, Ticket to Ride: Europe, Carcassonne, and Settlers of Catan.
  
  The store feels almost untouched -- probably because I was receiving shipments every day of the week. We have matched last year in sales, with six days to go. We will beat last year overall. I won't be able to zero out my credit cards, but having six straight months of higher than last year sales is worth it.
  
  **********
  
  Common Table gets robbed.
  
  I wonder if this falls under the rubric of "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished."
  
  The very people, one would think, that the place is trying to help.
  
  **********
  
  I've got the remember that number: 1,459 licensed real estate agents in Deschutes County.
  "Realtors Get Real." Bulletin, 12/25/11.
  
  And then compare it to the total number of houses sold this year. It can't be good.
  
  I suspect that a handful of agents are reaping the benefits of all the others' efforts.
  
  **********
  
  It seems to me that the steady progress toward a 4 year campus in Bend is a model that the city and county should be following on other projects.
  
  Sure, it isn't fast enough. But I think it's going to happen, because it needs to happen. A second city out at Juniper Ridge? Doesn't need to happen, and probably won't. Juniper Ridge could have been a modest "industrial park" success, instead of a grandiose failure.
  
  A four year campus is taking much too long -- but in the face of overwhelming problems, it still seems to be trending that way. And it's much more feasible, with a solid foundation, than throwing money at land and spending huge bucks on plans that never come to fruition.
  
  I wish the city would just take care of business, one step at a time, instead of constantly overreaching.
  
  I'd prefer they use the money they are using to fight the state over the Urban Growth Boundary, the money they spent on useless buses, the money they spent on plans for Juniper Ridge that will never happen, the money they are spending on having the best of all (read: most expensive) option for the water system; the constant drain of studies that just tell them what they want to think anyway; the money they have wasted getting the handicap ramps wrong; and on and on...
  
  ...and spend it on having a real Mirror Pond again. You know, small, achievable goals.
  
  Nah.
  
  **********
• 0:08

  Christmas Eve is a drug.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Every year the same thing happens.
  
  About 5:00 Christmas Eve, a giant wave of lassitude sweeps over me. As if someone shot me up with endorphins.
  
  I used to think it was delayed Christmas feelings. Strangely, in retail, it's hard to get into the Christmas feeling.
  
  But I think it's more that the weight of worry has been lifted off my shoulders, at least for a while. I don't have to worry about having enough money in the bank to pay the bills. I can almost go into hibernation in January and February. What will be will be.
  
  There is always a low grade worry when you own a business -- that you bought the right things in the right quantities; that people will come in the door; that they will be willing to pay the price you need.
  
  The boundary between what a small retailer needs to survive and the price the customers are willing to pay is very very narrow.
  
  So you are always walking a very thin line. And almost inevitably, during the normal course of a year, you'll be making mistakes. Little mistakes, mostly. Occasionally a big one.
  
  You try to deal with it within cash flow, but sometimes you have to fall back on credit. So the credit debt starts to slowly accumulate.
  
  And then, about twice a year -- the end of August and Christmas Eve -- you get enough of a boost in sales to not only pay the bills, but to pay down on the credit debt. You may not get it all the way to zero (I won't this year, because I decided I wanted a full store) but you take the edge off.
  
  Then the low grade worry sets in, day after day, until the next Christmas Eve.
  
  But right now, I'm just enjoying it and letting it wash over me.
  
  Merry Christmas Everyone!
• December 24, 2011
• 9:47

  We're open all day.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  We could close at 4:00 or so, but I kind of like wandering around the store, tidying things up, soaking up the atmosphere, relaxing.
  
  So I send the kid home and stay open myself that last two hours.
  
  I also mosey around and pick up presents for family, anything I've had my eye on that people didn't buy. Scoop up several calendars and books and maybe a toy or two.
  
  **********
  
  I'm sorry. I just couldn't get myself to play Christmas music.
  
  I'd planned to do it the last two days before Christmas, but....I couldn't do it.
  
  **********
  
  I need to update my talking points about the store.
  
  I keep saying "We've been here for 30 years!"
  
  But-- as of next week -- we'll have been here 32 years. In a few months, I will have owned the store for 28 years.
  
  I'd never have guessed it. I never thought it was going to be my career. I'm glad it was.
  
  ***********
  
  I think maybe I overdosed on people a little this week. Toward the end of my shift, I was feeling a bit frazzled and was just giving back blank looks when people asked me questions.
  
  Fortunately, I have a cheery, well-trained crew in place this year.
  
  Yesterday was the biggest day of the year -- maybe of several years. And we are a stone's throw from beating last year with a week still to go.
  
  ***********
  
  Had the regular customer who is the husband of another downtown business owner. I was telling him that sales were good, but I'd also spent so much that it would still be a challenge to stay in the black.
  
  He just shook his head. "Why do you guys do that? I keep telling my wife, the money you make is the money you don't spend."
  
  Which is undeniably true.
  
  But I just don't think you can ever remove taking risk from small business, no matter how many years you are around. If you weren't the type to take risk, you'd probably never have opened a store in the first place. And if you quit taking risk, then you're dead in the water.
  
  **********
  
  The real reason for the big reboot of the DC titles. I wanted to order more Green Lantern #4, and I had to go through page after page after page of Green Lantern stuff....
  
  I suppose I still do, but at least the comic ordering has been simplified.
  
  **********
• December 23, 2011
• 9:23

  Bank robbers...our new industry.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Bend has a new industry!
  
  It requires no real skills and is very lucrative.
  
  Apply at your local bank today!
• 9:17

  A Bookish Proclamation.

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  I've settled into the notion that books and comics aren't going away.
  
  I don't doubt the digital. I just think they'll co-exist, and in the end, many, many people, young and old, poor or rich, will prefer to actually own and read a paper book.
  
  There will be a shakeout. Taking 10% or 20% or 30% or 40% off the top is going to be brutal to a lot of marginal businesses who didn't diversify. It's going to hurt the non-marginal businesses who did diversify.
  
  But in the end, the demand will still be there and therefore the storefronts who will fill that demand will still be there.
  
  I plan to be one of them.
  
  When you want to talk books, come and see me!
• 8:19

  Christmas business update.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Two busy (too busy?) 9 hour days in a row and I'm near done in. At the same time, it's invigorating to have so much activity. As always this time of year, I fantasize about all the things I could do if we had this much business every month.
  
  I mentioned that we were briefly -- briefly, I tell you! -- sold out of a couple of boardgames. But we are restocked -- almost completely stocked in everything. So it was a bit dismaying to have a couple of people comment on the brief -- brief, I tell you! -- shortage.
  
  We have had shipments every day this week, to keep up. In fact, that has been the theme of this Christmas; to make sure that I order everything we need. I've been all in. I can already tell that I won't need to do as much restocking in January and February as I usually do.
  
  I can tell that I have a whole lot of work ahead of me convincing locals that Pegasus is not some fanboy dungeon. I'm getting constant remarks that the store "Has so much more of what I like than I expected."
  
  Well, I've really made the effort to have a nice selection of books -- for every reader. In fact, I think I filled quite a few wish lists of people who totally didn't expect me to be able to do it.
  (At the same time, I had a huge number of specific requests that I doubt ANYONE could fill.)
  
  When people ask how we're doing, I never know quite what to say. It's been the medium range Christmas. I always forecast a high, a low, and a middle.
  
  Pegasus is almost certain to beat last year, though the first half of the month was slower than I would have liked. It's been a good week, so far. But -- not to sound ungrateful -- but such largesse is Expected. It is Factored in. It Needs to happen. So, yes, it's busy -- but it's absolutely supposed to be busy. ("Is there no satisfying the man!")
  
  We still have shipments coming in today, and I'm pretty certain our stock level right now might even be higher than normal. It was a bit of experiment to do it this way. Usually I try to sell through and make more profit; (and then spend all Spring trying to gear up again) but I decided I'd rather keep the store strong all the way through the holidays. So I traded higher sales and higher inventory for a bit of profit, which I think is the right move in the long run.
  
  Boardgames and new books are the stars of the season -- again. I'd been wondering if the Euro-style boardgames had become mainstream enough that we'd be undercut; but they are still a mystery to the majority of customers. I didn't do as much handselling this season as last year, but we'll sell about the same.
  
  These days, I'm not so much congratulating myself on taking the step of bringing in new books and boardgames -- as trying to imagine how my store would be doing without them. I dreamed last night that some 'interior decorator' type person was complaining about the store displays, and I patiently explain that my store only does well if it is as packed as I can get it.
  
  It will be interesting to see how the store does in the week after Christmas. This can actually be more revealing of popularity than the week before, because that's when we become more of a 'destination' than a downtown browsing experience.
  
  (sorry about all the "I"s in this entry....I never know when talking about my business whether I should say 'I' or 'we' or 'Pegasus' or 'the store'. It's all about me, me, me. heh.)
• December 22, 2011
• 8:47

  Rushing to nowhere.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  So I read the lead story in the Bulletin today twice, to see if I was missing something.
  
  Because it seems to me that neither the headline or the lead paragraph are proven by the ensuing story.
  
  "Tetherow Investors Race to Claim Single - Family Lots."
  
  On first reading it, I assumed to this was referring to -- you know -- actually buyers of single-family lots. But no, they are referring to those entities -- of which there are several, who picked up swatches of land out there and who now want permission to build homes. Problem is, they don't want to build the resort units that are necessary to fill the letter of the law.
  
  "....ownership if fractured after the crash of the real estate market...." "....instead of one developer, there are no multiple owners and each has its own financial interests."
  
  Bad enough for the one developer having to build an unprofitable hotel --but at least that developer would have had the whole development to ameliorate the costs. Hard to see how a bunch of separate parties are going to pull that off.
  
  Oh, wait. That "unprofitable hotel" which hasn't been built accounted for the first 398 lots. What they are talking about it developing another 117 lots with the vague promise of more tourist units. (More tourist units when the original still not only aren't being built, but have been orphaned.)
  
  Time to prove it. Build the hotel before any more lots are approved. (Where's the state in all this? Why aren't they enforcing the land-use laws here?)
  
  Oh, by the way. I don't believe "rush" is quite the right word. Go ahead, go out to Tetherow and tell me there is a rush to build anything. This many years later, it still looks pretty empty to me.
• December 21, 2011
• 9:32

  Downtown Abbey. err....downton.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  There was a time when I was seriously addicted to Masterpiece Theater. "I, Claudius." (Which inspired me to read the books, which were equally good.) and the one about Edward VII's mistresses, and....especially.... "Upstairs, Downstairs."
  
  Just started watching "Downton Abbey," and, by golly, it's just another version of "Upstairs, Downstairs" as far as I can see. It's like someone took the basic elements of one of your favorite show, but then didn't copy any of the details.
  
  Enjoying it, in the good old-fashioned soap opera way.
  
  **********
  
  Saw Mission Impossible on Imax.
  
  Wasn't what I expected. I suppose it was quite a bit 'clearer'; almost had a 3-D feel to it, but not as spectacular as I thought it would be.
  
  The movie was great fun. I didn't even mind Tom Cruise, who is still looking about 35 years old somehow....
  
  **********
  
  I'm really enjoying that Netflix streaming has so many documentaries available. Started watching Senna, about the Formula One race car driver, and they have a scene where they show a crash, and the driver (not Senna) is in the middle of the roadway looking like a pretzel. Very disturbing image.
  
  Most of me doesn't understand the appeal of race cars -- but there is a small part of me that does.
  
  **********
  
  Finished off the first season of Downton Abbey. We had 4 episodes left to watch, and we couldn't stop watching until they were done. Totally grabs you.
  
  Mary is a really fascinating character. She drives me nuts.
  
  **********
  
  Much as I'd like for the Tintin movie to succeed, I just don't care for the motion-capture process they are using. It's fine for non-human aspects, but the "valley of the uncanny" thing still bothers me.
  
  I read a review that said Tintin is only known by "weird europhiles" which was funny and actually kind of accurate.
  
  But I can sell them on that basis, just as I can sell "eurostyle" boardgames.
  
  Apparently, most stores have gone to the smaller sized multiple collections -- but I've stuck with the original oversized color albums, which is more traditional.
  
  **********
  
  I was bound and determined not to run out of boardgames, but as of 2:00 p.m. yesterday I had sold my last base Settlers of Catan and the last base Carcassonne. Argghhh.
  
  I have more coming in today, and I ordered more to come in on Friday, so I'll only be out for a few hours, but I still can't believe how everyone waited until the last minute!
• December 20, 2011
• 8:50

  Dis and dat.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Does anyone actually believe the unemployment rate has dropped around here?
  
  Or have people just left town or the job market or gone back to school or assembled a bunch of part time jobs or under-the-table jobs or flat out retired?
  
  Has someone been hiring I haven't heard about?
  
  **********
  
  How could I have been so stupid to just order two each of the 10.00 windup Tardis and Daleks toys?
  
  Which sold out in one day?
  
  By the time I tried to order more, they were gone. Damn. Always clear in hindsight....
  
  ***********
  
  "Ready when you are, C.B.!"
  
  **********
  
  Just saw a little bunny wabbit run across my lawn. First of those I've seen. Squirrels, damned deer, double damned rockchucks, yes, but no bunnies. (I have smelled but not seen skunk.)
  
  Ahhhh.....it's just a little bunny rabbit......Urgh!
  
  **********
  
  My breathing has been clear the last couple weeks, which is remarkable because it usually isn't. I broke my nose skiing 40 years ago, so one nostril is partly blocked even now. But I could actually live off it today, if I had to stick a straw in it and breath from underwater while Aliens were searching for me -- when normally I'd suffocate -- or be implanted by Alien spawn -- if I had to rely on it.
  
  So, something environmental is affecting my breathing. Something outside.
  
  (I've avoided both of Linda's colds -- I think because I'm pretty healthy right now, sleeping and eating right and all that. Much less stress because my hours at the store are finally reasonable and the stores are doing O.K.)
  
  Just feels weird to be able to breath, and not to be wheezing.
  
  **********
  
  Ranch Records advertises as a "Music, Movie, Poster" store.
  
  Yep. Hybrid is the way to go, these days.
  
  I've been adding to every section of my store, even the slow sections.
  
  I can really feel the overall pull of having so many books, games, toys, cards....buttons, posters, t-shirts, calendars, dvd's -- pop-culture paraphernalia of all kinds -- is having on the browsers.
  
  Sure, it's a bit overwhelming.
  
  But it seems to work. At least work better than just doing one thing and hoping the person who walks in the door is interested in that one thing.
  
  ***********
  
  Rumor is -- (and just yesterday, I said I didn't pass on rumors!) -- that something like 80% of downtown businesses feel that there are too many street-closures downtown.
  
  So I'll just leave that number out there -- labeled a rumor -- and see if anyone wants to give me the real scoop.
• December 19, 2011
• 9:44

  What'd we do?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Once again, the comments on Tilting at Windmills make my blood run cold.
  
  Feel the love from the digital fans! (Excuse me while I slip quietly under the ice.)
  
  I think retailers and digital proponents are talking past each other.
  
  Pretty much the same with bookstores. I thought at one time that people maybe liked bookstore a bit more, but the recent column in Slate disabused me of that notion.
  
  I think, somewhere at people's core, they really don't like retail of any kind. And if they have to do retail, they'd rather do it with some huge, faceless corporation.
  
  Anyway, I've come up with some bullet points (for both comic shops and bookstores) that I think are true -- but like I said, I doubt the digital folks will agree:
  
  
  *The market is small and not very strong. It won't take much to collapse it completely.
  
  *The biggest casualties will be the very types of books the digital people say they want; small press, independents.
  
  *Digital cannot totally replace physical. There isn't enough money in it.
  
  *People won't start reading comics just because they have access to comics online. They have to want to read comics first.
  
  *A lower price won't convert more people into readers, or cause current readers to buy enough more to replace lost revenue.
  
  *Without a physical presence of hobby shops, the hobby will dwindle.
  
  *There will be a blizzard of product with unconnected results. No one will know how anything is selling, or what has caught the attention of the general public, except the biggest, most common denominator books.
  
  *There is sizable minority that can't afford to go digital.
  
  *There is a sizable percentage who will always prefer physical books.
  
  *Books and digital will probably co-exist for the foreseeable future.
  
  *Revenues will fall for the publishers, who will eventually be mostly replaced by do-it-yourself.
  
  *Small bookstores (comic-stores) can adjust better than large chains.
  
  *Everyone will have to sell something else. Hybrid stores will be the rule.
  
  *People like to shop. They won't quit shopping.
  
  *There is room at the top, for the best. I don't have to be faster than the bear, just faster than the other prey.
  
  *The market will evolve. Radio survived, albeit in a completely different format. T.V. is evolving toward cable quality shows.
• December 18, 2011
• 9:28

  Sunday suds.

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  I plowed through some of my backlog of New York Times newspapers.
  
  Many hours later, my fingers were black and shiny, and I was soooooooo much more informed.....
  
  **********
  
  The article on the cluster of stores at Ninth and Wilson was interesting. I have no idea how this model of retail works. For me, the more foot traffic the better and I'm willing to pay for it. Saving a few bucks on rent just wouldn't make the difference.
  
  The Bulletin mentions that they pay .40 a foot and downtown pays 1.50 a foot. Uh....try more like 2.00 a foot, (when triple net is included.)
  
  Basically, the savings on rent would be worth about 20% of my sales. I'm pretty sure that my sales would drop by more than 20% by being in such an out of the way location.
  
  Also, not being open 5 days a week?
  
  **********
  
  Much as I love writing this blog, I don't think of myself as a journalist.
  
  On the other hand, I can see how a journalist might want to write a blog, and need to be protected by the 1st Amendment. Well, actually, I -- Do -- want to be protected by the 1st Amendment. Then again, I try to be truthful and honest in this blog. I try not to pass on scurrilous rumors. I try not to indulge in (too much) unfounded speculation. I try not to personally attack people. (And I try to enforce these rules on the comments as well...)
  
  These are personal rules, arrived at by trial and error. I came to realize, for instance, that even if not a whole lot of people are reading this blog, that anyone can do a websearch of their name and what I say about them might pop up. I'm not interested in hurting people.
  
  The Bulletin's editorial, and the article inside about the legal case surrounding Summit, raise a lot of troubling issues.
  
  I can't tell you what a blog that deserves protection looks like, but I know it when I see it.
  
  **********
  
  I'm going have my first Imax experience this afternoon.
  
  I'm not going because it's Mission Impossible.
  
  I'm certainly not going because it's Tom Cruise. (Ugh.)
  
  No, I'm going because of Brad Bird. Of the Incredibles. And even more importantly, of The Iron Giant!
• December 17, 2011
• 9:52

  Slate has jumped the shark.

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  I will dump websites when they get overly annoying. (Just as I have no doubt people dump this site all the time....) Anyway, first Slate had that horrible article entitled, "Indie bookstores deserve to die a dogs death, drowned in a vat of steaming poo." (Or something like that, I don't remember the exact words.) and then yesterday they literally --I counted -- had 31 articles on Christopher Hitchens. I kid you not.
  
  Not to speak ill of the dead, I didn't much care for the Hitchen's constant railing against Clinton or his promotion and support of the Iraq war, but he could be interesting in a drunkard's way.
  
  But for god's sake, show some perspective. 31 articles? Even 5 articles would have been overkill for me.
  
  It is time to dump Slate off my daily readings. I'm taking the radical step of removing it from my bookmarks. (I'm sure they felt a cold whiff of fear....)
• December 16, 2011
• 9:35

  Is Christmas here yet?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I consider today to be the real start to the Christmas shopping season.
  
  People are buying in-store from here on out. We get out-of-towners and tourists and vacationers and families. They LIKE downtown -- and I'm sure it's not as interesting to them to visit the exact same giant chainstores that they have where they came from.
  
  Up until today, I've been having a hard time gauging the Christmas sales right. Too early, I suppose. I usually only do a bit above average in the first half of December, and then have a huge last 10 days or so.
  
  I've been ordering tons of books -- and also anything else I think the store needs. My instinctive response is to order more material, not less, when in doubt. I can probably get a couple of more weekly shipments in before it's too late.
  
  I also ordered a lot of boardgames, especially the big three: Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan, and Carcassonne. These games can sell in spurts -- like yesterday. I'm getting an order in today, which I thought would be the last of it -- but now, I'm thinking, I need to make one last -- just to be safe -- order. Not like I can't sell these games next year.
  
  This time of year is kind of nerve-wracking because I just don't know what's going to happen and it matters. Trends are amplified. If something is selling good, it might sell even better. If things are on a downward track, they can go down even farther. Last year I sold more boardgames than I thought possible, but I was very aggressive in promoting them. This year, I'm just letting things happen. I'm not sure, but I suspect these games are more readily available elsewhere.
  
  I mean, no matter what, (knock wood) we'll have one of our best months of the year. Despite threatening and blustering, the Sheriff of Nottingham hasn't quite managed to "Cancel Christmas!" yet.
  
  I've kind of fallen out of the habit of comparing "This Day" to last year; and I haven't missed it. Except at Christmas. Then I kind of want to know what the trends were last year. Still, I haven't quite felt compelled to dig out last years records.
  
  It will be what it will be.
• 9:03

  A washboard road.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  You want to see what bumping along the bottom looks like? Check out the graph in the business page of the Bulletin today. "Bend Home Prices At 6-Year Low."
  
  / / / / / / / / //////////
  
  When the bust commenced I'd say to people who came in the store planning to buy a house -- "Wait 2 years." I started saying this in about 2007. I think I could probably say the same thing today -- at the very least, there isn't much jeopardy of the housing prices shooting up.
  
  I regret that Bend Economy Board no longer posts their very handy "price changes" graph. It used to be 99% down arrows a couple of years ago, and if I was on the haunt (boo!) for a house, I would want to know about that.
  
  I suspect it would be a whole lot worse if all the underwater and held back houses suddenly appeared on the market. It appears to me that they are trying hard to hold the line at about where it's at, thus the picture of a bumpy road.
• December 15, 2011
• 9:03

  Still catching up to us?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Yesterday, it was Pronghorn.
  
  Today it's Fuqua Homes. "Bend Homebuilder Faces Suit Over Payments." Bulletin, 12/15/1.
  
  One of the things about booms and busts, is you can get in the bad habit of constantly trying to see the end of them.
  
  I've always maintained that isn't until about the time you give up looking for an end, that it actually starts coming around.
  
  False dawns aplenty. Lots of boosterism. Wishful thinking.
  
  Anyway, I see no real signs that things have improved substantially around here. Tourism has come to the fore, and that's what is keeping our economy from collapsing completely. That and retirement. Those were always going to be our main industries, and unfortunately, they don't pay all that well.
  
  A lot of us Bubble bloggers were predicting a range of 7 years for the length of the downturn. That seemed to be about an average for regional housing busts. If that were to be borne out, we still have about 3 years of downturn to go. Got to remember, though, that Bend wasn't the average and this bust isn't the average.
  
  I go back to the '80's and how we had to wait a good 6 to 8 years for the economy just to get back to close to normal. Bend's situation was actually worse back then, but the national economy was much better.
  
  So I'm planning for us to just keep on bumping along the bottom, with casualties on a regular basis as it finally catches up to them.
• December 14, 2011
• 10:04

  The Kindness of Strangers.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I had an odd reaction to Farhad Manjoo's article in Slate: "Independent Bookstores are Expensive, Inefficient, and Don't Deserve to be Saved."
  
  As you might imagine, at first it was, "What a jerk!."
  
  Then it was, oh, this is just an outrageous ploy for attention. Besides, he's the 'tech' guy and not reliable in his assessment.
  
  But you know what? I'm not going to even argue with the contents of the article. (Which I think is mostly bulls**t, and wrong.)
  
  The point to me is -- THAT attitude exists. It's not often said out loud, but it is a very strong undercurrent. In the comic business, there are the local comic book shop haters. It's probably a little less politically correct to say the same about local bookstores. But it's there.
  
  This article has gotten 605 comments, and the ones I read were mostly in favor of his view. And it got 754 'likes'. A pretty big confirmation that he touched a nerve.
  
  I think the wisest thing to do is be aware that that sentiment exists, that it is strong, and that there isn't much you can do to change their minds.
  
  Deal with it.
  
  Before I go any farther, I want to say -- I very much appreciate the "local" buyers, and the supporters of independent, locally owned bookstores -- or any other locally owned store.
  
  But my own guess is -- the entire appeal to customers by the movement is pretty ineffective, except at the margins.
  
  My own business model accepts that there is a large percent -- probably the vast majority -- who prefer larger to smaller, and that they will assume that larger will have more, at cheaper prices.
  
  If we have to depend "on the kindness of strangers" I think we're doomed. We should take a cold, hard look at what we can really do in the face of this phenomenon, instead of just really, really wishing the Tinker Bell will get up an fly. Please....Tinker Bell?
  
  So, my reaction is -- this is a bracing reminder of what we are up against, and it's best to take it into account.
• 8:46

  Someone took a bath.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I'm assuming that since it's the loan notes that sold for Pronghorn, and not Pronghorn itself, that someone took a bath. At the very least, no blue sky.
  
  Love how they spin it as a good thing. The lender "selected" the buyer -- um, because they actually had the money?
  
  But I always look for this phrase: " He said he doesn't expect the deal to impact members."
  You know, the "nothing will change" reassurance they always include, just before they change everything.
  
  Having been turned away at the gates like a barbarian, I have very little sympathy for these guys.
  
  And while I'm throwing water on things -- I liked the announcement the other day that the developers of Eagle Crest and a couple of other resorts were spending 3 million on updating each place and concentrating on the "resort" elements. Is 3 million supposed to be a whole lot? How much do they usually spend on just maintenance anyway?
  
  Resort -- you know, the way it was supposed to be, instead of the subdivision real estate that it really was. The real money was in the buying and selling of real estate. Now they have to do something with those pesky things that were actually built....
  
  Welcome to the tourist economy, folks.
  
  So are there any of these newer destination resorts that HAVEN'T been dumped?
• December 13, 2011
• 8:35

  Dreamapooloza

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Let's see.
  
  I was trying to sell comics out of my college dorm room, but I suddenly realize I'm missing this week's comics.
  
  I'm dating a sexy 30 year old girl, and am scolded by a nice looking middle aged woman who comes on to me.
  
  I keep stopping my motorcycle in the middle of the road. A pedestrian comes along and pushes me to the side. (This after nearly going off the road taking a turn too fast.)
  
  And on and on. One dream after another, like they had been blocked up.
  
  **********
  
  I was driving through the very busy intersection of 3rd and Greenwood last night, heading east, when I just happened to catch the silhouette of a pedestrian.
  
  Then I couldn't see him again at all until I was about 10 feet away. Standing in the passing lane. Throwing his life to the winds....
  
  **********
  
  Poor German guy. He was just trying to be friendly. Girls on bikes!
  
  **********
  
  Bank robber is just going from town to town, now. I guess he wasn't planning on coming back, and didn't give a damn that anyone knew who he was.
  
  **********
  
  "....Amazon launched a promotion for Saturday that gives customers 5 percent off (up to $5) on up to three qualifying items on its site if they check the prices of those goods on the app while browsing at a physical store."
  

  WIKIPEDIA: In business predatory pricing is the practice of selling a product or service at a very low price, intending to drive competitors out of the market, or create barriers for entry for potential new competitors. If competitors or potential competitors cannot sustain equal or lower prices without losing money, they go out of business or choose not to enter the business. The predatory merchant then has fewer competitors or is even a de facto monopoly and hypothetically could then raise prices above what the market would otherwise bear.

  In many countries predatory pricing is considered anti-competitive and is illegal under competition laws. It is usually difficult to prove that prices dropped because of deliberate predatory pricing rather than legitimate price competition. In any case, competitors may be driven out of the market before the case is ever heard.

  ***
  

  RDC will be along shortly with a vigorous defense of this practice....
  

  
• December 12, 2011
• 8:53

  Developing the themes.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Went out to the Badlands again yesterday for a few hours to try to write.
  
  Well, more like think. I'm not really in writing mode right now, but more in a musing thinking mode.
  
  When I wrote the first draft, I concentrated on plot and characters.
  
  I'm finding that the more I think about how to improve the first draft, the more I'm thinking in terms of "theme." The themes are running through the story from the very beginning, which wasn't thought out on a conscious level -- but there it is. It's a mystery how that happens, and rather miraculous.
  
  The themes are there, and they are in turn fleshing out the characters and plot. I think I've got a pretty good handle in what I want to accomplish with a second draft.
  
  I'm thinking it will add about 50% more content.
  
  Linda warned me against unnecessarily "complexifying" the story. Which I'm leery of. But in fleshing out the characters and the plot and fully developing the themes, I feel like it will make it a better book.
  
  It's the old eternal dilemma: Do you want it fast or do you want it good?
  
  (The answer is: I want it fast AND good.)
• 8:32

  Why....you dirty rat!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I used to have rats as pets, and they were great. Fun personalities, very friendly. There was Elmer and Paveratti and the inevitable Ratfinks....
  
  But they died miserable, tumor-ridden deaths after only a few years, and I really didn't like watching it happen helplessly.
  
  Anyway, there was an article in the Bulletin about an experiment with rats that showed they have empathy.
  
  A roaming rat will work "tirelessly" to free a trapped rat; even when tempted with food.
  
  I really liked the little detail that when the trapped rat is finally freed, the two rats have a little victory "celebration."
  
  I can see that.
• December 11, 2011
• 9:06

  I'll bet you ten million....errr, 10 dollars.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I can't believe it, but the Republicans appear on the verge of picking the fat old corrupt pompous politician guy.
  
  Wow.
  
  I try not to be political on this blog, but this is a pretty interesting development.
  
  **********
  
  Try as I might, I just can't get interested in the Europe economic details -- no matter how much I know it will impact on us.
  
  I'm about at the same level of knowledge I used to be about the American economy, but without the motivation to learn more. "Try as I might?" -- well, I'm not really trying.
  
  Eyes blur, snooooooozzzzeeeeee.......
  
  **********
  
  Walmart heirs have a net worth more than the lowest 30% of the U.S. population.
  
  Who are their best customers.
  
  Instant karma.
  
  They've never gotten a dime from me and they never will.
  
  For some reason, it hasn't impacted my lifestyle one iota.
  
  **********
  
  A big baseball player caught using performance enhancing drugs. And I'm not familiar with him. Ryan Braun, MVP.
  
  I thought I'd stay in touch with baseball better. Not proud of my ignorance (nor about the Euro crisis), just a little surprised by the depth of it.
  
  I kind of like baseball, but I just don't seem to find the time for it.
• December 10, 2011
• 11:07

  The Game of Stores.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  As I mentioned, about 40% of the stores and restaurants in downtown Bend have turned over in the last 3 years.
  
  I don't know if this is more --or less -- than usual. (Which is one of the reasons I started keeping the Comings and Goings list. Eventually, I'll be able to see a pattern.)
  
  I've never trusted the old cliche statistic that half of all businesses fail in the first two years -- I've always figured that was overstated by a long shot. (Now half -- or more -- in FIVE years, that I would believe.) I've always had the theory that anyone opening a business, especially in an expensive downtown, it going to hang on for At Least 2 years if at all possible. An average lease, I'm guessing, is 3 to 5 years, so that is when the big decision needs to be made.
  
  By my reckoning, all the really fancy new restaurants, where a huge amount of money was spent to set up, have been replaced by now. The replacements getting a fancy new spot for a fraction the price -- Leaving a Beautiful Corpse, I call it.
  
  I think the "failing upward" nature of downtown continues, as well. Many of the replacement stores are fancier than the ones before, and the old spaces get renovated because they become available and they become available because an older business left.
  
  Unfortunately, the low vacancy rate keeps the rents relatively high. Housing prices have dropped like 55% around this town, but downtown rents have declined maybe 10 or 20%, and with cost of living increases, much of that has been raised back up again.
  
  So the Game of Stores will continue, because people see a 'thriving' downtown, and probably overestimate the business and the ability to pay the rents.
• 9:36

  Downtown Comings and Goings. 12/10/11.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I was just about to post that the Bond Street Grill was closed, when it was announced in the Bulletin this morning that Brother Jon's is opening a second location in that space.
  
  The Game of Stores continues...
  
  My count, is 80 business locations have changed hands in the last 3 years, or about 40%.
  
  NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN
  
  Brother Jon's, Bond St., 12/10/11.
  What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
  Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
  Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
  Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
  Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
  The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
  Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
  Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
  Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall, 2008.)
  
  BUSINESSES LEAVING
  
  Bond Street Grill, Bond St., 11/20/12.
  Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
  Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
  Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
  Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
  Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
  Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
  Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
  Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall 2008.)
  
• 8:44

  A simple plot.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I woke up this this storyline in my head:
  
  "You know the saying that even paranoids have enemies? Well, that's what this blog is about. Someone is trying to kill me and no one believes me...
  
  I'm not quite certifiable. I can carry on my normal day. Even my wife thinks this is some kind of long con joke.
  
  But it's true.
  
  If you find me dead, you'll know I was murdered."
  
  
  Maybe I can continue this story -- maybe not -- but I thought I'd write it down. Probably not terribly original, but if it I were to continue, it would be an attempt to make it as believable as possible.
  
  I've always admired the book, "A Simple Plan" because the premise is so believable and simple and everything flows from it:
  
  *** While out hunting, three friends find a crashed airplane with a bag of money in it. If they take the money, no one will ever know. All they have to do is be smart and patient....***
• December 09, 2011
• 8:37

  This time, that space.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I'm slowly but surely adding authors to my stock.
  
  Next order -- I'm going to order every Lee Child and Wilbur Smith paperback available.
  
  I'm just going to MAKE you buy because I have it, dammit!
  
  **********
  
  I'm suddenly getting some high profile Twitter followers --well, high profile for the nerd world. Star Wars Insider, CLINT magazine, etc.
  
  What does this mean? Do they just follow everyone? Did one of my tweets get passed around? Is there any way of knowing?
  
  UPDATE: Jerad says they're just fishing for followers.
  
  O.K.
  
  **********
  
  Linda was late picking up Dad. "I just lost track of time and space," she says.
  
  "Einstein says, time and space are connected."
  
  Blank look.
  
  "If you're here, at this time, you can't be there, at this time."
  
  Blanker look.
  
  Hey, I thought it was a pretty good explanation.
• 7:51

  Leave and learn.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  So a guy from Redmond robs a bank in Bend, where people know him. I was told by a customer that the people at the bank even knew his name!
  
  I'd say that's a cry for help.
  
  **********
  
  I have about 4 sites that I go to daily that recommend books. Either stellar reviews or best-of lists or simple mentions that sound intriguing. I'd have to say, about 20 books on average per site. (Actually, way more than that, but I'll limit it to significant profiles.)
  
  If I was just to order 10% of just those books, it would be 8 books a day, 240 books a month. With, say, an average retail price of 20.00 (being newer books, most are hardcover or trade paperback), that would by 4800.00 a month in just those books. Just four sites I happen to visit, just 2 books per site.
  
  That's not including all the replacement books, the automatic purchases of certain authors, the best-sellers, and -- well, just every fricken book that's ever been published up to the day...
  
  I get the feeling that people have no real idea not only how many books there are, but how many really good and interesting books there are.
  
  It can get kind of silly at Christmas. People come in with ridiculously specific and obscure titles. Sometimes I even have them! But they walk away, thinking they'll find it elsewhere, to which I really want to blurt: "Dude! Not only won't you find this book cheaper. You flat out won't find this book!"
  
  Leave and learn. (I just made that up. "Leave and Learn." So pleased with myself today.)
  
  (Leave my store and learn how hard it is to buy it elsewhere. Instant Karma.)
  
  **********
  
  So I stocked up on boardgames. Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, Catan, and many others. Multiple copies of the major games, one or two of most of the rest.
  
  I have people window shopping, which is fine, I guess.
  
  But there is a chance I'll get a run on some of these games and there won't be time to reorder. This waiting until the last week is problematic on stocking levels-- but hey, maybe it's the only thing that gives us Christmas business at all. Everyone orders online until the last 10 days, then they HAVE to buy from us locals.
  
  Heh.
  
  **********
  
  "Midnight in Paris," is still running in town. What? Did the theater accidentally buy the film print?
  
  **********
• 7:43

  "Up to my neck in Dragon turds."

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I wake up with little sayings, or plot developments. It's really kind of a wonderful thing.
  
  I woke up with the phrase, "Up to my neck in Dragon turds," which I like so much I'm thinking I'll title each of the chapters if I can come up with enough clever sayings.
  
  "Dragons are Mean." Is another one I liked.
  
  The other day, I came up with the title of my next book. "The Case of the Lovelorn Gargoyle."
  I even had a kind of vision of an Eeyore type (in personality) character who comes to Cobb for help. Which turns into another apocalyptic situation.
• December 08, 2011
• 18:03

  If you say so.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  "Business Insider" says Bend will be the best housing market over the next five years.
  
  Uh.....if you say so.
  
  I'm posting this so that I might get some second opinions from some of the other bubble bloggers. This seems based on nothing more than the fact that we've dropped so far....which seems like a dubious reason.
  
  What say you?
• 11:45

  Two stores, ten times the work.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Interesting article on a Bend downtown business opening a second store in downtown Redmond. "Extending The Blvd." Bulletin, 12/8/11.
  
  I won't presume to second-guess this decision. (Well, one small quibble -- if they just opened the Bend store in July, 2010, that's awfully quick expansion.) I will assume that they have a solid plan and are well capitalized.
  
  What caught my attention was this statement: "...it is fairly unusual to have a local store in Both Bend and Redmond..." In fact, they could only name one other small business -- Bella Moda.
  
  I would add, that I know several businesses that actually have second outlets in Eugene and Portland.
  
  I can speak with some experience here -- I had a store on 6th St. in downtown Redmond in the early 90's. (As well as stores in Sisters and the Mountain View Mall.) This was mostly due to an absolutely red hot product --that turned out to be a bubble in the end, but had some busy years. (See Andy -- I didn't mention sports cards....oops.)
  
  Anyway, the idea at the time was to spread the copious inventory I was accumulating. I'd buy cases of cards to get the best price, and it made sense to spread the risk.
  
  What I didn't see was the old 20/80 rule: 20% of your product will make 80% of your profits. Turns out, the 20% wasn't so easy to get or easy to spread out, and no one really wanted the other 80%. Turns out, as well, that the costs of managing the stores ate up all the profits.
  
  Turns out, each store will provide one to one and half incomes -- less than the old Mom and Pop, model actually. So when Linda has one store, and I have another -- it works.
  
  Anyway, when the sport card bubble collapsed, I retrenched to my downtown Bend store -- doubling it in size so it wouldn't look like a complete defeat. We managed to sell the mall store, which was still profitable.
  
  Funny thing was, I learned that having a store in Bend and Redmond is a little bit like An Appointment at Samara: you try to avoid your fate, but it happens anyway.
  
  I would spend a morning going to my Sisters and Redmond stores -- supplying them with material -- and then drop by the Mountain View Mall store and see my Sisters and Redmond customers at the counter....
  
  I will admit, it was a very different time. Back then, Redmond was much, much smaller. But then again, the competition level was lower as well. The chainstores didn't really store stomping in to Central Oregon until about 1992 and thereafter.
  
  Anyway, thems the fruits of my experience.
• December 07, 2011
• 10:34

  Exposure. Thanks for nuttin.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Once again I'm hearing the old 'exposure' argument from my business 'partners' further up the food chain.
  
  Exposure of comics in the digital realm will lead customers to comic shops, they tell me.
  
  This is one of those ideas that sound pretty good on the outside, but are complete bulls**t.
  
  I've heard it presented as an excuse for my suppliers to give special consideration to outlets bigger than me -- mass market or internet and now digital -- a hundred times over the last 30 years, and it has NEVER happened.
  
  It doesn't work that way, except in the most general sense of -- the bigger the scene, the more likely I'll sell something. But what happens most often is, the smaller stores like mine actually develop the market until it's big enough for the larger entities to take over. NOT the other way around.
  
  If the product is in bigger stores, than that exposure turns to sales in bigger stores. It doesn't make people turn around and go shop at the smaller store.
  
  Exposure? I had hordes of folk in my store buying beanie babies, and pokemon, and pogs -- but as soon as they were through buying them, they were gone.
  
  Comic exposure? With all the media attention and the big tent movies, anyone who doesn't know that comics are here has three slabs of concrete around their brains and nothing short of a wrecking ball will break through. (And yes there are a number of those people.)
  
  It's much the same reasoning as the downtown festivals. "Sure, you lose sales on the day of the event, but you are 'exposed' to new customers!" I'm told, to which I want to say -- "Wait. They are there. They are downtown. Nothing is keeping them from buying on that day and they don't. But they will turnaround and remember you in a week and make a special trip to the store they passed over while they were there?"
  
  Customers will buy where they see something and where they are. Fine. Don't pretend that it's good for me that Walmart has it....
  
  Exposure. Blech.
• December 06, 2011
• 11:57

  What? Says the N.Y. Fed. There was a bubble?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  If these are the guys in charge, we're in big trouble.
  
  See, I thought the following was a given. Acknowledged by all. Understood.
  
  But, then again, I watched the Bubble from Ground Zero -- Bend, ever-lovin Oregon.
  
  "Flip This House”: Investor Speculation and the Housing Bubble
  
  Andrew Haughwout, Donghoon Lee, Joseph Tracy, and Wilbert van der Klaauw
  
  The recent financial crisis—the worst in eighty years—had its origins in the enormous increase and subsequent collapse in housing prices during the 2000s. While the housing bubble has been the subject of intense public debate and research, no single answer has emerged to explain why prices rose so fast and fell so precipitously. In this post, we present new findings from our recent New York Fed study that uses unique data to suggest that real estate “investors”—borrowers who use financial leverage in the form of mortgage credit to purchase multiple residential properties—played a previously unrecognized, but very important, role. These investors likely helped push prices up during 2004-06; but when prices turned down in early 2006, they defaulted in large numbers and thereby contributed importantly to the intensity of the housing cycle’s downward leg.
  
  Really? Who'd have thunk it.
  
  It was a Bubble, big guys. What part of the phenomenon don't you understand?
  
  They act as though, the fact that "prices rose so fast and fell so precipitously" was a big mystery.
  
  And that they are surprised, surprised I tell you!, that investor speculation was a main factor.
  
  "...previously unrecognized?" Good lord.
  
  In my experience, Speculation is the Major cause of any and all Bubbles. And the speculation in the housing market wasn't just investors in multiple houses -- it was buyers making bad deals and buying bigger houses than they could afford, with the idea that the house would increase in price and allow them to afford it later. Speculation, whether acknowledged or understood at the time.
  
  Are the Fed really so clueless?
  
  Or is this some kind of P.R. bulls**t?
• 8:42

  Make way! Make way!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Another digital brouhaha in the comic world. Dark Horse announced same day and date release of their comics, following the examples of DC and Marvel and several other smaller companies. But they implied they were going to sell their digital versions cheaper.
  
  After a day of outrage from the retailers, Mike Richardson released a statement that comics wouldn't decrease in price for the first month. (But retailers still pointed out that they are selling most of their print comics for 3.50; and because Amazon wants prices to end at -99, they will be selling most comics for 2.99.)
  
  Anyway, the general thrust is pretty clear. The handwriting is on the wall.
  
  I still think that the comic companies are making a huge mistake actually facilitating this change, instead of delaying it, but it doesn't matter what I think.
  
  Each of the companies are going about it in a slightly different way; Marvel is enclosing digital codes in it's comics; DC has contracted with a specific company to set up an account with; Dark Horse and IDW and others are more open, to Amazon among others.
  
  I think that if this weren't being pushed, that reader erosion would be minimal for the first few years. Even with the pushing, I still don't believe it will be a landslide. But, yeah. If you offer it, they will come.
  
  My response is to recognize reality and move on. Make way for another way of doing business. That doesn't mean I've given up, or anything.
  
  It reminds me of the sports card debacle. When the card companies started offering product cheaper through the mass market (this was pre-internet, but it was the same dynamic or worse), I encouraged my fellow retailers NOT to buy this product from them. To cut their orders to only what they could sell. To not engage in cut throat, suicidally competitive practices. As far as I know, I'm the only card dealer I know of that made the necessary steps early on. Most just went off the cliff.
  
  Ironically, my response has been to double down on the other product in the store; games, toys, cards, anime and manga, and especially new and used books. It's ironic, because most of these product lines are already in the marginal zone that I expect comics to be in five years or so.
  
  My response is to make maximum use of the fact that I'm in a downtown tourist zone, by carrying a wide and deep variety of material -- even in product lines that have been thoroughly exploited by the internet and the mass market. I need to have the possibility of a sale to anyone who walks in the door, and make sure those someones actually walk through door and see something they want.
  
  It's not an ideal solution, but I have a lot of confidence in my ability to pick the kind of stuff that people will buy -- even though the internet and the mass market might already have it. I have to be smart in my buying and my selling. The hill just gets a little steeper every year, but you know what? It's always been that way.
• December 05, 2011
• 10:05

  All the beautiful books.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Oh, man. There are a lot of books.
  
  I am resistant to 'best-seller' lists, but I'm a sucker for 'best-of' lists.
  
  I go to sites like Flavorwire or Shelf Awareness, and they show the cover to a book and I want it. They list books in a theme, and I want them all. They mention a book that is "like" other books and I got to have it.
  
  I have a feeling that there is some quid pro quo going on in some of these lists. Reviews and ads do seem to coincide a lot. But if they seem cool, I guess maybe that doesn't matter.
  
  Just looking at the liquidation sites, it's amazing how many cool books seem to have fallen between the cracks of publishing and selling. Good looking books, with interesting subjects, but obviously they didn't sell enough.
  
  There's room for only a few at the top -- and they aren't always the best, obviously. In fact, the reason I don't look at the best-sellers lists is because they are mostly atrocious. I'd say about half of the books are readable, and maybe thirty percent are good. As a general rule.
  
  Pulp, and faux literature. (This is not to say, genre -- to me genre can be as good as anything Oprah recommends, and often better -- no, I'm talking about the lowest common denominator of these types of books.) The hardest thing for me to do is not roll my eyes when someone says they like a horrible author. (And here, I'm not actually talking about the quality of the writing so much as the sleazy, jump on the bandwagon, calculating nature of so many best sellers.)
  
  Meanwhile, there's a book over there that is totally original. But I can't sell it, because the customer has never heard of it.
  
  I can't read all these books -- but I can get a general sense of them. I use that instinct to buy books, and my store reflects that. If I'm right, I'll sell enough of them. If I'm wrong....
  
  Well, I can't be wrong.
• 9:50

  The book I want it to be.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I've decided to hold off writing the last chapter to my book, until I've rewritten all the chapters that lead up to it.
  
  For one thing, the ending incorporates creatures and characters that still need to be fleshed out. Actually, some don't even exist yet, except as a general idea.
  
  Holidays are a really tough time for me to write, especially because I'm in retail. I've gotten a humongous amount of product at the store over the last couple of weeks that I've been dealing with. Holiday party for writers group, the article in the paper -- doesn't take much to throw me off.
  
  So I've decided to spend the month making notes --which has to be done anyway -- and then sitting down in the first 10 days of 2012 and rewriting.
  
  I've got all kinds of aspirations for the second draft -- which is a start at least. I think you kind of have to have to aspirations before you can have the results.
  
  A book spends a lot of time in my mind as a entity that doesn't exist, full of fun and emotion and suspense -- the image, in a vague way, of what I WANT it to be.
  
  The actual book is a whole nother thing -- but I think it's important to have that image in mind.
• 9:45

  Pinched nerve, ouch....blah, blah, blah.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I was just getting ready to brag that I haven't had back or neck problems for a couple years now -- since I changed the position I sleep and --for neck problems -- not drinking before bed.
  
  Then, yesterday, I was casually putting books away at my store, and I felt the nerve in my back pinch.
  
  Same nerve as always.
  
  The first time it happened, about 25 years ago, I was laid low. I couldn't move off the couch.
  
  Each time I get it now, it's a little less dire. I can pretty much function now. I take an Aleve immediately, and then just try not to move much -- nothing I can do but wait it out.
  
  I'm pretty sure this is the most uninteresting blog I've ever written....
• December 04, 2011
• 13:24

  Sunday suds.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Remember when the Ducks couldn't get into a bowl game at all? When having a winning record seemed impossible?
  
  The Rose Bowl was a dream.
  
  National Championship? Don't make me laugh.
  
  So when the Ducks have a season where the consolation prize is the Rose Bowl, I guess we shouldn't feel too bad.
  
  Meanwhile, a Bend school winning the state football championship. That too hasn't been likely for years. Bigger schools, bigger talent pool in the valley. (Yeah, well I suppose there are always Black Swans like Prineville, and that team that Gene Hackman coached in Indiana).
  
  **********
  
  Twilight Breaking Dawn. The reviews made this so utterly unappealing, that I doubt I'll ever see it. (I did watch the first three movies because I could fit them over a weekend...)
  
  Meanwhile -- go see Hugo. Really. A great movie.
  
  **********
  
  Can we root for Tiger as an underdog now?
  
  ***********
  
  Linda has a cold, for the second time this season.
  
  I managed to avoid the last one against all odds. I'm not so sanguine about me chances this time.
• December 03, 2011
• 9:00

  Wishful thinking.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Newt Gingrich has always looked like a fat cat to me. Put some whiskers on him.
  
  (Linda: "yeah, one of those pampered pudgy fat cats with scrunched faces...)
  
  **********
  
  The news of a unemployment rate dropping was tempered by the fact that so many people dropped out of the workforce.
  
  But isn't this a constant? Aren't they always dropping out?
  
  I'm assuming from the news that this was an extraordinary number not a ordinary number of dropouts, but they don't make it very clear.
  
  **********
  
  If I may be a Grinch. The Black Friday sales increase is somewhat of an illusion.
  
  First, for many stores, there is the little matter of cutting margins. (They don't cut margins -- I'm guessing -- as much as they lead the customers to believe, there is some calculation going on there, but....) Higher sales and lower profits just means you have to restock the stores. Or not. Which is why there are shortages, when the stores are in doubt.
  
  Secondly, I think a whole lot of these sales are 'borrowed' from future days. The week after Black Friday is usually dreadfully slow, so slow that you wondered if it doesn't just average out.
  
  **********
  
  It's a bit of a dangerous dynamic that's been created -- by the mass market, and we small stores have to fall in line.
  
  We have become very dependent on the last week before Christmas.
  
  One of these years there is going to be an event-- knock wood -- such as a natural disaster, a storm of the century, an attack, something that will glue everyone to the T.V. for a week.
  
  Ironically, this will have a bigger impact on the big stores, instead of stores like mine for which the Christmas season is a boost, but not the be all and end all.
  
  And like I said, the mass market created this dynamic through shortsighted thinking.
  
  **********
  
  I was talking about these kinds of things with a customer the other day, and he mentioned a Discovery show about how it used to cost the equivalent of a house, or something, to get a suit of handmade armor.
  
  Well, sure.
  
  I'm not advocating for a return to the days when everything was handmade.
  
  Like most things in life, I'm advocating moderation. A happy medium. Some kind of balance.
  
  But that's capitalism -- there is no such thing. There are always people who push to the extremes, whether it's in the best interest of the market as a whole or not.
  
  I know this -- and wishing for people to be wise and moderate is just wishful thinking.
• December 02, 2011
• 13:14

  Downtown Comings and Goings.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Topolino has moved into the Azu spot, and a new business, What Lola Wants has moved into their spot.
  
  I'm taking off Andre's Dance Club until I get confirmation that such a place is going to open.
  
  
  NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN
  
  What Lola Wants, Wall St. , 12/2/11.
  Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
  Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
  Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
  Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
  The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
  Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
  Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
  Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall, 2008.)
  
  BUSINESSES LEAVING
  
  Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
  Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
  Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
  Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
  Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
  Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
  Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
  Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall 2008.)
  
• 12:19

  Trust your instincts and think for yourself.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Easy to say, hard to do.
  
  A major task of a small business owner is to compensate for the stupidity and shortsightedness of those higher up the food chain.
  
  When I started, I had an assumption that those bigger and richer than me were somehow smarter and more savvy and experienced.
  
  It took way too long for me to realized the fallacy of that notion.
  
  Watching the card companies disappear, one by one. Watching Marvel go bankrupt. Watching one publisher after another fail. Watching my banks get bought up, once, twice, trice. Watching the comic industry shrink to one supplier. And on and on.
  
  It now doesn't surprise me at all that the local city officials make boneheaded decisions; and it certainly was no revelation that the Masters of the Universe on Wall Street are a bunch of shortsighted, greedy pricks.
  
  I now carefully watch my bigger brothers to see what direction they're headed and if I think they are going off the rails, I start to look for ways to compensate for their decisions.
  
  You can't wait until it's obvious, or until someone tells you to. This is the kind of thing you have to think of yourself, and have enough faith in your own reasoning to make decisions.
  
  So idiotic as I think it is for comic and book companies to rush into the digital publishing realm. (Have they figured out that -- if they succeed -- creators won't need them anymore?) I have to recognize the trends and adjust accordingly.
  
  Way back in 1992, I made the decision -- at a time when sports cards were 85% of my sales -- to get out of them. To stop buying directly in large quantities at discounts. To stop trading and buying off the street. To stop selling singles and sets and boxes. And so on.
  
  Every time I made a hundred bucks selling cards, I spent 20% to keep the cards going, and diverted 80% into other product.
  
  No one else I knew made those decisions. And none of them are around anymore.
  
  So I just keep trying to make these decisions on my own, trusting in my instincts.
• 8:59

  Working in (and on) the margins.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I worried as I took more time off over the last year that I would lose connection to the store.
  
  I don't think that is going to happen.
  
  I've learned that, without being totally conscious of it, I was pacing myself when I was working full-time. I knew that opening at 11:00 instead of 10:00 had been a huge deal. I knew that stringing days off together mattered, instead of having them interspersed through the week. I'll probably never again let my employees dictate MY hours: I'll either hire enough part-timers or have employees who work the hours I want.
  
  Working less days has been nice. But on the days I do work, I'm working much harder. I'm not sure the energy expenditure is diminished as much as I would have thought. I find myself going to the store on my day's off to finish some of the tasks I haven't competed.
  
  Anyway, the store is always going to be a challenge. That is never going to change. I'm always going to need to be plugged in.
  
  Just in the last two years, the rise of the digital and e-book has created a whole new set of problems to deal with.
  
  My answer to this is to continue to diversify, to move to the margins -- as it were. Up until now, I've had the benefit of comics and graphic novels being half of my business. More or less solid and reliable and with a profit margin that stayed somewhat constant. I'm not sure I can count on that forever, as each comic company announces 'digital' initiatives.
  
  The other half of my business was already made up of product that were "sidelines" if you will. Sports cards and non-sports cards, manga and anime, toys, games (role-laying, collectible card games, and boardgames), new and used books. I look for niches in each of these categories that I can exploit. Either better margins, or specialized knowledge and selection, or simply having them when no one else carries them.
  
  I went into euro-style boardgames with full knowledge that they might eventually hit a tipping point and appear in the chainstores at discount prices. (In fact, I'm a little surprised it hasn't happened quicker.) I went into new books with full knowledge of the challenges from the mass market, the big chain bookstores, and Amazon. (Though I didn't really see e-books coming on so strong.)
  
  But I can make these product lines work in the margins -- and also get better margins in the buying process. The "margins" is a pun for both the placement of the product and the prices I pay.
  
  I'm guessing that I'll need to deal with a slow erosion of sales in comics, graphic novels and books, as the e-world gets bigger. There may be compensations, such as decreased competition (hard to see how Barnes and Noble can be in it for the long run). But basically, I'll need to make each of the margins I'm currently getting improve to compensate for e-book incursions. This isn't going to all happen immediately; but the time to deal with it is now.
  
  My New book sales are still increasing -- because I'm getting more and more and better books and displaying them better.
  
  I look at the products I have in stock, and I'm pretty confident that I can keep adjusting, keep responding to which products are selling at the moment, to keep sales above my break-even point. Or increase my profit margins by being selective and efficient, which the longer I do it, the more I become.
  
  Finally, I'm really having fun bringing in new books. The more I do it, the more I feel comfortable taking chances on new titles. I'm carrying best-sellers more than before, such as Stephen King's 11/22/63 or The Night Circus; because I'm figuring out how to do it.
  
  My new book section is like a new toy, and I'm really enjoying making it work. And that too is keeping me engaged in my business.
  
  My budget is constructed so that there is enough of a margin that I take home the same amount of pay whether sales are strong or weak. (If they got super weak, they might change -- but probably not even then, since I can adjust other things.) (If they got super strong, I might put more money into savings.)
  
  All that usually happens is either I buy more stuff or less.
  
  So my focus has been on making the store something that I can be proud of.
• December 01, 2011
• 10:27

  Banks are our friend. .... .... .... ....what?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley is suing five of the nation's biggest banks: "Our suit alleges that the banks have charted a destructive path by cutting corners and rushing to foreclose on homeowners without following the rule of law." Huffington Post, 12/1/11.
  
  I remember way back when a mountain of foreclosures looked like they were about to fall on our heads, I asked: What was to keep the Banks from playing this? Holding back properties they wanted, dumping others, delaying and hurrying, using their clout to bully and so on?
  
  Good old RDC, who has never seen a corporation he doesn't like, said, Oh, no, they will have to follow proper procedures, the rule of law.
  
  Heh.
  
  What say you now, RDC?
• 8:51

  Biz bits.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Big excitement over a potential employer of 6000 people in Redmond!
  
  Except:
  
  1.) the company is obviously shopping, having supposedly committed to DC last year, and then looking at four or five other places.
  
  2.) the company currently has 10 full time employees. Not 100. Not 1000, where even then we'd be asked to believe they can increase by 85%. 10 employees.
  
  3.) a change in state laws to allow a financing mechanism for the company to do all this.
  
  I recognize such customers. I usually tell them they'll be happier shopping elsewhere.
  
  **********
  
  American Airlines files for bankruptcy. I remember reading once that if you take the airline industry as a whole from its beginnings, it's LOST money.
  
  I read this in an article about "dysfunctional" industries.
  
  I'm convinced that once a industry tips into this kind of dysfunction, it never comes back, but just flails around from then on.
  
  **********
  
  Speaking of Redmond.
  
  A 50-year plan. 10,000 jobs by 2030.
  
  Wait a minute, aren't you going to get 6000 jobs in one fell swoop?
  
  Oh, and a 50 year plan?
  
  Forgetaboutit.
  
  I write speculative fiction, too. I don't mistake them for "plans."
  
  **********
  
  That picture in the Bulletin of a huge crowd of people applying for 50 jobs at Deschutes Brewery?
  
  Where the hell is everyone going to park? (Employees and Customers?)
  
  I never thought to ask this but: Is this business getting too big for downtown Bend?
• November 30, 2011
• 18:56

  "Don't throw away!!!"

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  There's this cardboard ....THING....that's been hanging around the store. Just kind of there, not really noticed, picked up and set aside every once in a while. Kind of looks like a couple of bookmarks, taped together. I think I've picked it up several times, and always put it back thinking I'd figure it out later.
  
  So today, I finally picked it up and read it again.
  
  "DON'T (underlined three times) Throw This Away!!!
  Warning -- on Pain of Death and Dismemberment."
  
  Under this, in a different handwriting, in smaller letters, is this: "Why are we saving this again? Psychology experiment?"
  
  And under that, in different handwriting, and even smaller letters:
  
  "It's purpose will be made clearer in the coming days. All glory to the Creator!"
  
  
  I finally took this home and show it to Linda and asked, "Is this yours? What does it refer to?"
  
  She couldn't stop laughing. "I vaguely remember this...."
  
  "Yes, but now it's become it's own Thing -- eternal and everlasting.... who would dare destroy it? though it's purpose be long forgotten. Even now I hesitate!"
  
  
  What a wonderful dirty trick. Go into a store with a nice label, and put it on a random object. Then check every few months to see if it's still there....
• 10:27

  The wrong kind of role-model?

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  First I was the inspiration for the drunken, sloppy spaceship captain who saves the solar system in Jared's story. Now, Cameron tells me he's using me as a model for his main character in his screenplay for my "awkward" way of phrasing things.
  
  (After which, I spent most of the day being self-conscious of my phrasing of things.)
  
  Gee. Glad to be an inspiration, guys.
• 9:27

  Wednesday WTH?

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  Found a fascinating new site called, Literature Map. You type in an author's name, and a cloud bubble is created with the names of similar authors. The closer the name is, the more other readers have recommended the author.
  
  I noticed that it seems to be more about similar styles of writing or storytelling.
  
  Not so much about the quality of the writing. Putting Terry Goodkind and George R.R. Martin together is like putting spam and steak together -- they're both technically meats.
  
  I've put it on my computer at the store and the next time someone mentions that they "like" an author and who else would I recommend (?), I'm going to use it.
  
  Really, though, it's pretty much what I've always done as a bookseller -- so this will just give me a gentle reminder. I'll try to tell the customer which is spam and which is steak.
  
  ***********
  
  I've decided to double the space I devote to "classic" books, which seem to sell consistently.
  
  I've all but given up on used hardcover mysteries, and I'm just going to pile those at the bottom of a couple of bookcases and sell them for a flat 5.00 each.
  
  This frees up enough room to put all my 'non-fiction' against the east wall, and gives me two bookcases to put New books into. One, as I said, for classics. The other bookcase I'm saving is the one that I'm devoting to themes; a bookshelf for Pirates, and Retro Future, and Weird Western, and Steampunk, and Robots, and Dragons.
  
  There's still room in this Tardis.
  
  **********
  
  I was joking that just getting the covers to the New Yorker was enough to pay for the subscription, with the inside cartoons as a bonus.
  
  The last two covers have been great.
  
  In one, the picture is of illegal immigrants Pilgrims crawling under the fence and racing for the border. Makes it's point.
  
  The latest (which I haven't actually received yet, but which I've seen online, is a Dan Clowes (great to see great graphic novel artists get work with the big boys) picture of a 'future' bookstores. In a store full of t-shirts and toys and e-books, a clerk is pointing out to a dismayed customer a small, neglected row of books at the bottom of a rack.
• November 29, 2011
• 8:21

  5 years of blogging everyday.

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  Yesterday was my fifth anniversary of blogging. Haven't missed a day.
  
  I don't really have much more to say about it. It's been fairly easy for me to do. I'll just keep doing it.
  
  Onward and upward.
• November 28, 2011
• 19:15

  Weird Barnes and Noble ad campaign.

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  I've been making the joke that Barnes and Noble is busily making themselves obsolete. That their goal was to put their own brick and mortar stores out of business.
  
  After seeing their Christmas ad campaign, I don't think it's a joke anymore.
  
  They have a customer asking about a Nook, upon which everyone in the store dances around with an e-reader in their hands, singing that their "sole purpose" is to sell you a Nook.
  
  "Sole purpose." Their words, not mine.
  
  Incidentally, there are paper books in the background, as if anyone still cares. Certainly, none are trying to be sold. None are shown, except as spine out far background props to the Nook. You get the sense that there would be sooooo much more space to dance with your Nook if you didn't have these stupid bookshelves in the way. Which, come to think of it, may be the intended message.
  
  I kid you not -- you have to see these ads to believe them. It seems to be an almost gratuitous insult to books. I have to believe that such a clear statement of intent will have to impact on their book sales -- if nothing else, in how motivated the workers there are going to be. How dispiriting to think you work in a bookstore, when you really work in an electronic hardware store.
  
  I haven't been in B & N in a long time, but I wonder in the next few years if they won't be following Borders down to closing all their stores. I'd say, "Stop pretending that you care about being booksellers," except this ad pretty much says they've stopped caring.
  
  But hey, if that is their attitude, then they'll leave the field to those of us who still WANT to run bookstores.
• 17:39

  Hugo.

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  Went to see Hugo.
  
  What a beautiful movie. Glittering. Ornate. Like a gem, with facets within facets.
  
  Liked it a whole lot.
  
  Go see it.
• 10:34

  NINJAS, STEAMPUNK AND PIRATES!

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  I currently have a ROBOTS! bookshelf. And a PIRATES! bookshelf. And a DRAGONS! bookshelf.
  
  I want to add: STEAMPUNK! and NINJAS! (Ordered a bunch of new books to fill those shelves.)
  
  If I can find enough material, I'd like to do WEIRD WESTERNS! shelf.
  
  ZOMBIES! and VAMPIRES! and WEREWOLVES! would seem obvious, but they are pretty diffused right now amongst the humor, horror, and paranormal romance. So I'm not sure that would be the most effective way to display them, though I may have enough overflow to do both.
  
  I've just ordered a book that comes with Word Balloon stickers -- so I can plaster the store with directions.
  
  Any others you can think of?
• 9:12

  Sunday night shows.

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  We watch a lot of shows on Sunday. And some of them seem to tread water week to week. Last night, finally, some momentous things happened.
  
  But before I start talking about BIG SPOILERS/WARNING SPOILERS! I wanted to compare T.V. shows to books. Reading a book is pretty much an A to Z experience. But T.V. seems sometimes to get caught somewhere between H and N and hover there, trying to maintain the experience.
  
  Problem is, how do you kill off main characters in a drama and still have a show?
  
  Anyway, last night was one of those times when all the shows seem to lurch forward a bit.
  
  
  In Dexter, the big Sixth Sense reveal finally happened -- not much of a reveal, actually, since it was pretty easy to guess from week one. The evil Professor Geller is a figment of Colin Hanks mind. On the other hand, they did some fancy footwork to try to fool us over the last few weeks.
  
  Oh, and I have a new catchphrase whenever Linda says something off the wall: "You're a chair."
  
  
  Homeland kind of disappointed me last week when they did the double/triple switcheroo. Is he a traitor? No? Yes? No?
  
  I guess the answer is -- kinda, sorta?
  
  But they redeemed themselves somewhat by showing a pretty convincing motivation for his turncoating.
  
  
  Hell on Wheels is still in the initial inflation stage where the story is propelled by its newness.
  
  
  Walking Dead finally had an episode where something happened, and where all the talk actually counted for something.
  
  I suppose I'm supposed to feel some sympathy for the Hershel's viewpoint -- but, really, it's pretty hard to be on his side. So Shane's over the top reaction doesn't really look all that over the top.
  
  Dale, too, is supposed to be a more sympathetic character -- but having him try to hide the guns? Idiotic.
  
  The little girl coming out of the barn was very effective, though, and something I didn't see coming.
  
  Now we have to wait until February for more episodes.
  
  
  Boardwalk Empire really put together a solid episode, finally. I was getting impatient with this show. They may have killed off a non-essential character, but they did it in a very chilling way.
  
  And I kept expecting Mrs. Schroeder to ask God for her money back.
  
  
  Yes, Buster. I watch too much T.V.
• November 27, 2011
• 8:50

  They've Madoff with Black Friday.

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  Every Black Friday, I give it the Old College Try. I come an hour early, stay a couple hours late. Wait for the crowds to appear.
  
  And every year I'm disappointed.
  
  The funny thing is, I had a huge Wednesday, and I would be happy to do, say, 75% of that. It's hard to resist the Hype, even for me. I still remember how big a day this used to be.
  
  Thing is, I think the mass market has effectively Madoff with Black Friday. Give the devil his due, they've been very effective in co-opting this day. But I still get a little excited by the prospect of B.F. and then -- well, I say, next year I won't be such a knucklehead.
  
  
  Oh, well. I had some of my normal Thursday work to do, so nothing lost.
  
  I'm writing this before the day, so we'll see how it turns out.
  
  
  O.K. I made in the first hour 10:00 to 11:00, when I'm usually not open as much as I hoped to make the first two hours. So this time, coming early worked. Most of it to one customer.
  
  
  So not a great result at the end of the day. Did about 60% of Wednesday total. Which I believe happened last year, too. Cameron said he didn't do much business between 5:00 and 7:00 but did some in the last hour, 7:00 to 8:00; the tree lighting?
  
  
  I think I'll hold off posting this until we see what happens on Saturday. "Small Business Saturday." We'll see. I'm going to open an hour early, again, at 10:00 and do some paperwork.
  
  (By the way, looking at pictures of the mad rush, I'm not sure that I'm sorry that corporate America Madoff with Black Friday. Wow. Maybe we should just let them have it... It's not like one day out the year should make that much difference if you are doing a good job the rest of the year...)
  
  
  Came an hour early on Saturday, and it was an effective hour. Did about the same Sat. as Fri.: so much for "Small Business Saturday."
  
  So, not a great weekend, not a disaster. I had pretty low expectations, and we came in a little below those expectations, unless Sunday is unexpectedly good.
  
  Nevertheless we are going to beat last year for the month, which will make it 5 months in a row we've beaten last year.
• November 26, 2011
• 8:37

  Bordersnakes.

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  Apparently, my subconscious felt the screaming need to write a book review.
  
  I've been waking up at 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning over the last few weeks, which is a new insomnia. Usually I get back to sleep, eventually.
  
  Anyway, I had this review pretty much written when I woke up and who am I to deny it?
  
  
  BORDERSNAKES, James Crumley.
  
  I've enjoyed Crumley books in the past. He's like a cross of Raymond Chandler, Hunter S. Thompson, and On The Road -- with a bit of Cormac McCarthy's Texas in the mix.
  
  He writes in first person, with an engaging, authentically quirky voice.
  
  But this book's plot seems to be all over the place. It's as though it's been weeks since I read the last chapter, instead of just days. I'm losing characters and plot lines. That could be on me, I suppose.
  
  Meanwhile, the protagonists imbibe enough alcohol, drugs, sex, and dirty language to sink a battleship. Thing is, it feels uncomfortably like an alcoholic trying to justify his binge.
  
  The sex part seems contrived -- beautiful women who keep coming on to these two 50ish aged guys.
  
  It seems more like an alcoholic dream, like a couple of depraved oompa loompas.
  
  Yet, like I said, his first person "voice" is still really engaging, so I'll be finishing the book.
  
  I would still recommend his earlier books.
  
  (O.K. That's weird. I looked him up on Wiki, and they too use the Raymond Chandler and Hunter S. Thompson as comparable authors -- Hey, I thought of it on my own!)
• November 25, 2011
• 14:48

  The value of "Sales."

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  So it turns out that when you really examine "Sales" they turn out to be as much a negative as a positive.
  
  They turn out not to generate return business, or customer loyalty. In fact, they hurt future sales because the customer is likely to feel like they've done their shopping already.
  
  At the same time, they also hurt margins.
  
  They devalue product.
  
  They make the customer cynical about real 'value.'
  
  
  But. This being America. Stores do it anyway.
  
  Cause, you know, that's the way it's done....
  
  P.S. This not the same discussion as having real 'value'.
  
  Or even getting a deal. I can often give a customer a deal on an item, when I know what I paid. There is something to be said for striving for a regularly "fair" price, instead of cut throat pricing (and that goes for both higher and lower prices.) In other words, I won't either overcharge you or undercharge you.
  
  I read a book in 1987, called the Big Store, which as about Sear's resurgence. (Obviously -- it didn't take.)
  
  Anyway, I remember the part where the new C.E.O. decided to pull out all the stops in having a bang up Christmas. So they priced everything they could competitive with other stores, tried to beat other stores in other pricing. All predicated on the idea that overall sales would make up the difference.
  
  So the management got all excited by the news that they were having record sales all Christmas.
  
  Until they added it all up. All the "Sale" stuff had sold, but most of the regular stuff hadn't. (Or, more accurately, the sales of the regular prices material hadn't made up the difference.)
  
  They'd lost money. They'd emptied their stores. They had, in effect, "Given Away the Store."
  
  I always remembered the phrase, "giving away the store," because it's easy to do. I see it all the time, in fact, often when another store seems to be selling more than seems possible, it's probably because they are being imprudent.
  
  Even after reading this book, I didn't quite get it. I probably sold millions of dollars worth of sports cards over a 18 year period -- and had nothing to show for it. I call it, "Churning the cash."
  
  I want "everyday regular prices" -- to paraphrase Walmart.
  
  I recently had a woman return a book. The crime? I had charged the regular price of the book.
  
  Oh, well.
• 8:52

  Black Friday.

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  I write a version of this blog every Black Friday.
  
  I doubts the deals on this day.
  
  Sure there are a few overwhelmingly good deals, but because of limited numbers, those deals become mostly the basis for bait and switch.
  
  There's an article today in the Bulletin: "Black Friday Doesn't Have The Best Prices, Research Shows."
  
  My guess is that even lowered prices are simply the new baseline for prices in a month or two. In fact, chances are that prices will be cheaper in a month or two.
  
  Hell, there are stores (furniture come to mind) were 50 and 60% off are the norm.
  
  One final thing -- there are ALWAYS deals. More deals than you can afford.
  
  Not that anyone will be convinced.
  
  Besides, it's probably beside the point: according to an article yesterday, people shop because the "love crowds" and it's an excuse for a family event and stuff like that.
  
  But never mind all that, go shopping anyway. Especially downtown. Especially on Minnesota St. Especially in that quirky little pop culture store you've always meant to go into.
• November 24, 2011
• 9:49

  Small business Saturday. Shop local!

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  You know, I'd rather you guys didn't skip Friday either. I'm a little afraid this focus on Saturday will kill Friday even further. The way it used to work is, people would shop the mass market early in the day, and the downtown later in the day. Sounds good.
  
  (Do I have a right to complain about the long list of store hours listed in the Bulletin -- that almost all of them were big chain stores and not local? What's with that? The article itself, had quite a few quotes from local retailers, at least.)
  
  Geez, that sounded Grinchy. Never mind. Just have fun.
  
  Anyway, we'll be open extended hours on Friday; 10:00 to 8:00.
  
  Hope to see you!
• 9:30

  The fractured time machine.

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  I dreamed last night that I invented a time machine.
  
  But the time machine could only be used to go back as far as the invention of the machine.
  
  So there is all the time up to the time machine, which is unchanging.
  
  Then there is all the time after the time machine. Which becomes fractured and diffuse and confusing as people go backward again and again to fix earlier mistakes and stumble across each other (and earlier versions of themselves) and eventually no one can remember where they started.
  
  Might make a good short story.
  
  I think I had the dream because I've been watching Fabric of the Cosmos on Nova, which is trippy and mindblowing and confusing and makes me feel both stupid and small. How do they come up with this stuff? But which is also fascinating.
  
  Also a good sign when I dream a story, because it means my subconscious creativity is hard at work.
  
  
  Happy Turkey Day!
• November 23, 2011
• 10:30

  Measure the true goals.

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  Having a great store is NOT the same thing as having a highly profitable one, as counter-intuitive as that may seem. In fact, the two goals can be at odds.
  
  It took me a long time to learn this, and personally, I think having a satisfying workplace is at least as important as making money.
  
  "Wait a minute!" I hear you saying. "You have to make money to survive!"
  
  True enough, but I'd argue that you also have to have a satisfying experience to survive as a small business.
  
  I'll say it again -- I think as many businesses quit because of 'burnout' as quit from not making money.
  
  Sure, there are people who open small businesses with the sole purpose of making lots of money. I think that's usually a forlorn goal -- you'll make enough to get by, probably, if you do a good job and you don't burn yourself out along the way.
  
  But other people open small businesses, in a sense, to buy their own job. To be their own boss. To be in a congenial place selling to friendly people and enjoying what they do.
  
  What I see around me, is that people underestimate that aspect of business. They do things they don't want to do because everyone tells them they should and because it makes them more money and then they wake up one day and it isn't fun and they ask themselves why they are doing it.
  
  I mean, why do you own a business if isn't something you like doing? So, you know, try to avoid doing things that will make you dislike what you're doing!
  
  Every advice column you read will advise you to overextend the effort you make. So you have to maintain an inner gauge as to how much you can handle -- that extra service you just offered that brings in a few more bucks a month, is it really worth it? Extended hours? Extended menu? Extended everything?
  
  Measure your workload, your satisfaction, the same way you measure your money.
  
  Time, energy, space, stress....satisfaction....ARE money.
• 10:05

  The store I want.

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  As I've created my store -- and that's what it is, an act of creation -- I've pretty much had in mind a pop culture oasis, a jewel in the high desert. A store that would stack up to any store in a bigger city, with the space limitations taken into account.
  
  In reality, this is kind of silly to try to do.
  
  For instance, I rarely sell independent graphic novels. Books that are well reviewed in the New York Times, and which every comic web site in the world thinks your a 'fanboy' shop if you don't carry. All well and good, but the truth is they don't sell all that great.
  
  Same with statues, same with deluxe editions, same with heritage collections, same with designer toys.
  
  Yet, I carry a full selection.
  
  Lately, I've even replenished the manga and anime sections, though they more or less died off several years ago. (I've just brought in every Miyazaki movie I can, as well a Studio Ghibli, and some big movies like Steam Boy and Patlabor).
  
  I've been keeping up the sports card and nonsport card sections for years, even though they are extremely erratic in sales.
  
  In other words, I've created the store as I THINK IT SHOULD BE, rather than perhaps what the dictates of the marketplace would suggest.
  
  Because the marketplace is fickle and unpredictable and ...well, I'd even have to say, treacherous.
  
  What I'm trying to do, in some ways, is impose my own reality on the store. By force of will, I'm saying: "This is what SHOULD sell."
  
  And I find, that indeed, if I really do an informed and curated job, that it more or less works out that way -- sometimes by accident, sometimes because I'm there to push it, sometimes because we get enough people from elsewhere who are appreciative of what I've done.
  
  Because it's so much more satisfying this way.
• 9:31

  Christmas for the retailer isn't quite the same.

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  I almost went back to work last night because I was so worried about the stress level today.
  
  Yesterday, in just two hours, I felt overwhelmed. I had to give it up as a bad day. I walked away with all the graphic novels and toys undone, the games unpriced, with some of them still on the floor.
  
  No real harm done. Cameron was there to do business as usual. But it bugs me not to complete tasks.
  
  I spent about 10 minutes staring at the game stacks, as if that would suddenly open a space for the excess games....
  
  There is always a solution, I find, if I think about it long enough. Cameron calls Pegasus the "Tardis" of stores -- like the Dr. Who travel machine that looks like a telephone booth on the outside but has expanses on the inside.
  
  I wanted to stock up on games, so that I never run out of them during the Christmas season. So that a run of buying 2 or 3 in one day, won't mean I'm out.
  
  But where to put the extras?
  
  Plus, I ordered everything on the Blizzard Sales list from my main supplier, which means that my overall margin in the last few weeks has dropped more than 10 percentage points, which I'll be happy to have over the long run.
  
  But in the short run, I've probably overdone it.
  
  This is the first Christmas in years that I decided to pursue completely. Usually, I use it as a profit making opportunity. (By profit, I mean making enough to pay off all bills, actually.)
  
  What usually happens when I buy like this isn't that I suddenly get a 10 or 20% boost in sales. But that I get a 1 or 2% boost in sales over the course of the year. In other words, it's an investment.
  
  It's all in the timing.
  
  I'm getting an extra 5% in December from DC and it's my intent to order extras of every single DC evergreen I can get. Even if it means borrowing money.
  
  So anyway, back to the original point about stress. Today is going to be a lu lu. But I'm going to shrug it off, not let it get to me. If I start feeling the tension build up, I'll walk away and sit in the corner for a few minutes.
  
  I did make one concession. I asked Cameron to come in for a few hours, so that will help.
  
  In return, I intend to show up on Friday morning to help out for a few hours.
• 8:15

  Hey, Christmas! Tone it down!

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  Not Ready for Prime Time Town.
  
  Many of the problems this town has had have come from growing too big too fast. We just weren't ready for it. The crony small town politics didn't grow well. And outsiders (and elected politicians who have lived here for 5 minutes and have no memory or perspective) brought unrealistic expectations, and overblown predictions to the process.
  
  Still doing it, actually.
  
  **********
  
  On Monday, I made the mistake of watching House, Terra Nova, and Castle without dvr-ing first. So we sat through a RELENTLESS assault of Christmas Cheery ads, dancing and singing and mugging and otherwise attacking my senses. Pink and red and white all over the place, like a bloody crime scene in the snow.
  
  My god, it was was bruising. I felt like hiding my eyes, covering my head. It was just awful.
  
  Christmas....why are you beating me up like this?
  
  **********
  
  Call me a cynic. I don't watch Dancing With The Stars, but I predicted who would win early on just from reading a few of the descriptions. Who's winning would be the most emotionally satisfying? Yep, the injured vet. Bingo.
  
  "Reality" is such a misnomer for these shows. (From American Idol on....) Staged competitions would be a better description. Our modern day wrestling.
  
  I know this is no great insight, but knowing this, why do people still watch?
  
  **********
  
  Speaking of "stage competitions"; I haven't watched a single Republican debate and can't for the life of me imagine the appeal.
  
  I wouldn't watch if they were Democrats, either.
  
  Do people really believe anything is being said? Other than gatchas? Which may or may not indicate leadership abilities? Kind of like job interviews don't really predict the quality of the worker?
  
  You know, how would Lincoln do? (By that I mean, how would he 'look'.)
  
  God forbid you should say anything honest. You'd get drummed off the stage.
  
  **********
  
  Wow. How does Oregon remain in the Top Ten with two losses?
  
  **********
  
  We have mostly Juniper trees surrounding our house.
  
  Do Junipers fall down much? From the wind? When I see pictures of fallen trees, they seem mostly to be pine or fir trees.
  
  Anyone know?
  
  **********
• November 22, 2011
• 10:46

  One more to go.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Finally finished the penultimate chapter last weekend.
  
  One more chapter to go.
  
  In the meantime, the events in this second to the last chapter pointed out the need for an interim chapter starring some of the characters that show up. I suspect that there will be a few more interim chapters as well.
  
  I've more or less got the last chapter in my head, so I'm in no hurry to write it. I want it to percolate for awhile. Probably the second most important chapter to get right (after the first chapter.) Meanwhile, I can start drawing my time and continuity graphs, and character profiles and those things I'll need to do the second draft of my store right.
  
  I'll give each chapter as I go along to Jared, to see if he has any last suggestions.
  
  It feels really good to get this book done. Just a feeling of accomplishment, that is almost payment enough in itself. (Though that "doing it just to do it" motivations usually isn't enough to get me going, once I'm finished, it sort of turns out that "doing it" is pretty satisfying.)
  
  I was reading some advice from some other writers about getting everything into the first draft, and then refining it. Unfortunately, I don't work that way. I tend to add lots of detail and embellishment in the second draft, which usually improves it.
  
  I don't think I'll have to do any major plot changes, which are the biggest headache when rewriting. The polishing the writing is something that just happens when I rewrite, so what I'm looking to do is add depth and texture if possible.
  
  This new work process has succeeded in making the story fresh for me, which is really important.
  
  Plus -- I can't believe it -- but I used to write my books on a fricken typewriter!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• 8:00

  Who do you think you are?

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  I'm writing this entry days before The Article comes out - for those who read the Bulletin and know what I'm talking about.
  
  (Community Life Section, lead article, WRITE ON, Bulletin, 11/22/11.)
  
  This kind of thing make me uncomfortable. I always think people are going to think, "Who the hell do you think you are?"
  
  But there are a couple of reasons to go ahead.
  
  One reason is pretty mercenary. I'm hoping that those of you have never visited my store, will give it a try (as well as those who haven't been in the store lately.)
  
  So there's that.
  
  I'm also hoping people will give this blog a try -- or another try.
  
  But a bigger reason is -- it will make my 92 year old Dad very happy.
  
  I think he'll like it. . He'll show everyone in Bend Villa Court. So that's cool. (Assuming I don't look like a total Dick in the article....)
  
  There's one more reason, of course, and that is The Book. But that's going to be 3 to 6 months before it's ready to show the world, and by then everyone will probably have forgotten.
  
  Like I said, I haven't read the article yet. I just want something here for comments for people who have.
  
  
  Dunc
• November 21, 2011
• 9:46

  Who could've predicted?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Yes the local OSU has a faster pace of growth. But they had a much lower starting point, which makes the growth more dramatic than it appears.
  
  "Local OSU Sets Pace In Growth." Bulletin, 11/21/11.
  
  I also suspect that it has gotten a real boost from the economic malaise around here. When in doubt, go back to school.
  
  If I remember correctly, there was a few years in the middle of the boom when they weren't getting enough students, and the state was thinking of shutting it down.
  
  I'm glad they are managing to build this institution in an atmosphere of cuts.
  
  Such an approach to growth would have been handy with Juniper Ridge, the bus system, and the water system.
  
  Doing what's possible, instead of building a huge new campus.
  
  Someday, when it's time, they may have a new campus, and that will be good too.
  
  ***********
  
  Financial guy, Bill Valentine, gets props for predicting the housing bubble in March of 2006.
  
  "Real Estate Contrarian Buys Back In." Bulletin, 11/21/11.
  
  I think that was about the time that a lot of us bubble bloggers started speaking up about the bubble. (I started my blog in November, 2006, after reading Bend Economy Man, and Bend Bubble I and II for several months.)
  
  
  After years of doubts -- I can remember wondering earlier in the decade where all these new people were coming from and where they were working-- I think it had become so obvious to some of us by 2006 that we began stating our doubts out loud.
  
  Which is why is still bugs me when people running for office in the town, and so-called 'experts', are quoted in the paper as saying, "There was no way we could have foreseen the crash."
  
  Stuff and nonsense.
  
  I was also alarmed at the time by the crazy building of commercial property here in Bend. I think the powers that be have managed that crash under the radar mostly, but it's still hanging out there.
• 9:37

  What's good for the kid, is good for the parent.

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  "E-books For Parents; Paper For Their Kids." Bulletin, 11/21/11.
  
  So this is interesting. Parents who own e-books are still buying book/books for their kids: "...they say they want their kids to be surrounded print books, to experience turning physical pages as they learn..."
  
  "...cuddling up with..." a book.
  
  "It's the intimacy, the intimacy of reading..."
  
  "The shape and size of a book ar part of the reading experience."
  
  "Size and shape 'become part of the emotional experience, the intellectual experience. There's a lot you can't standardize and stick into the electronic experience."
  
  
  All of which is true.
  
  But it's equally true for the parents.
  
  Are they going to like the sterile world of e-books in the future? What part of their brain recognizes the value of book/books and yet discards it?
  
  Parents are just bigger versions of their kid selves -- hopefully they haven't given up on the more important elements of reading, the elements that they recognize as crucial for their own progeny.
  
  All those virtues listed above are still what I value in books.
• November 20, 2011
• 9:27

  Quarterly graphs in the Bulletin.

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  Not a lot of surprises in the quarterly economic index that the Bulletin publishes. I think the economy is bumping along the bottom, and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
  
  The most important graph, to me, is the building permits, which plunged from a high of 412 in 2006 to the current 45. (Not much above the low of 11.)
  
  This graph represents the false economy of the boom. And the drastic results. New building is where new money can be generated: in so many ways. Construction, furnishing, roofs, yards, etc. etc.
  
  And it's dead in the water, and likely to remain so.
  
  Meanwhile, the real economy of Bend is represented in the two tourism graphs: Airport activity and lodging tax, which are up from the bottom, and not that far down from the top.
  
  This is our present and future economy.
  
  Tourism. And all the minimum wages jobs it provides.
• 7:23

  Sunday things.

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  College football exists to teach you the Zen of not-desire.
  
  You can't get hurt if you don't care.
  
  Oregon Ducks quacked it.
  
  **********
  
  OWS seems to be hitting some tipping point.
  
  Interesting.
  
  I think the kids are digging the 60's vibe, man.
  
  **********
  
  I feel like I can more or less ignore the digital books. I can just keep buying book/books for the store, if I think I can sell them.
  
  But comics? DC and Marvel own about 80% of the market share between them and they are plunging willy nilly into the digital world and I can't do a thing about it. In fact, if I want to carry their product, I also apparently have to cut my own throat by having digital as part of the package.
  
  It's their funeral, I guess.
  
  I just keep on diversifying.
  
  I have games as a object lesson. Biggest thing in the world are video games -- and yet I can still manage to sell old-fashioned (well, new-fashioned, old-fashioned) boardgames.
  
  **********
  
  I've been waking up in the middle of the night. Which isn't normal for me. Not sure why.
  
  It takes me a couple hours to get back to sleep.
  
  I don't feel particularly more worried than before. I've been staying up later, trying to avoid this, but it doesn't seem to be working.
  
  Just one of those things, I guess.
  
  **********
  
  Interesting, when you look at a picture of protesters fleeing tear gas, you can't be sure if its Egypt or America....
  
  **********
  
  A year or so ago, I was drawing a neat little diagram for my customers, that explicated my analysis of the e-books.
  
  It was a graph with two lines, that crossed in the middle.
  
  One was the age of the ebook reader, crossed by the age of readers in general.
  
  "When the age of the readers meets the age of the ebook reader, it will be all over."
  
  Thing is, I had the graph backward. I can see that now. The assumption was that ebook readers would be younger, and most book readers were older, so the lines crossed in the middle, like an X.
  
  Instead, it pretty clear that it's older, more affluent readers who are buying ebooks. So the future is already here. The lines are running parallel upward.
  
  I think the adoption rate will slow down as those readers who are interested and can afford to go that route are absorbed.
  
  But -- as you can see, I've been wrong before.
  
  **********
• November 19, 2011
• 14:22

  Here we go again.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Back in 1974 or so, I took a class on the politics of protest.
  
  The following isn't meant to be an argument for or against the Occupy Wall Street movement. (I happen to think it's important) but about the way the protest is developing and how the establishment is responding to it.
  
  The establishment had come out of the '60's having learned to respond to mass movements very effectively. I think, in fact, that's one of the reasons there haven't been many since then. They knew better how to respond, and even more importantly, how NOT to respond.
  
  (Well, that and the backlash by middle America against the protests. The protest movements learned from the backlash, as well. (Gay rights and feminism). But mostly, I think the establishment learned how to deal with opposition very effectively.)
  
  One thing that was an absolute no-no in the face of non-violent protest was a forceful response.
  
  Pouring syrup on young people sitting at a lunch counter and punching them. Letting loose dogs on them. Power blasting them with fire hoses. Pulling them off buses and beating them. Meeting them at a bridge and charging them with batons. Throwing them in jail.
  
  Not a good idea unless you want to give the protest movement legitimacy.
  
  Strangely enough, the second best strategy by the establishment is -- to do nothing.
  
  You wait them out. You cooperate. You give in a little.
  
  Even better, you "co-opt" them. That's the best strategy of all.
  
  You say to the protest encampment, "Please pick a person who can speak for you and who we can liaison with."
  
  Then you take that person into your sphere of influence, and you say, "Wow. I'm really impressed by your commitment to free speech. How about if we appoint you to our blue ribbon committee. Or, you know, we could pay you a small stipend to help us understand your movement."
  
  And you keep doing that. Taking them in, watering it down, being as soft as a marshmallow. Until you own them or you've dissipated the energy. I think, really, that happened rather quickly to the Tea Party movement.
  
  But what you don't do is dress up in black uniforms and helmets and guns bristling and pepper spray or punch them in the stomachs. This isn't a slam against the police, but against the 'look' of the authorities right now. Not a real good image. Especially if you use force.
  
  Bad idea.
  
  I guess the Occupy Wall Street movement is fortunate that the current mayors and university presidents don't have anyone on staff that remembers the process of co-opting. They are helping grow the movement through their ignorance. Doing all the wrongs things all over again.
  
  Now, if the protest movement won't also repeat past mistakes, for instance, by being foul-mouthed and violent -- maybe history won't repeat itself.
  
  But more likely:
  
  Here we go again.
  
  POSTSCRIPT: I keep hearing the talking heads talking about the "winter" being enough to stop the movement. That's idiotic. Maybe the numbers will fall for a few months, but as long as they can keep it going until spring, it will come back stronger than ever.
  
  Winter? Hey, let's say I want to get to that other field, and there is a five foot fence. Big deal, man. I'll climb the fence.
  
  How weak do they think this protest is? (You know, unless they're right. But like I said, if they keep being filmed beating and pepper spraying protesters, I think the movements got some legs.)
  
  I mean, the 1% problem isn't going to go away over the winter.
• 10:23

  Do you want to live here, or don't you?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I have this theory, which I haven't heard proposed anywhere else, that you build your business on the folks who like you, who want you, who want your product and are willing to pay the price you put on it.
  
  You don't build your business on those who just want more and more, and pay less and less, and who will go elsewhere if you don't satisfy them.
  
  Build your business on the first group, even if it's smaller, and you've built something solid.
  
  Build your business on the second group, and you'll be in constant misery.
  
  Sell to the people who want to buy from you, and don't sell to the people who don't.
  
  Let them go. Some will come back. Most won't.
  
  So -- on to the bigger picture, say you're a town like Bend, and you're hoping to entice business to come to Bend.
  
  Who do you want?
  
  The people who WANT to come here?
  
  Or the people who you have to bribe with fire sales and tax concessions and no-interest loans?
  
  I'm telling you, it may be a slower process (sometimes slower is good) but the first type of business is the one you want, not the second type of business.
• 9:54

  Tricycle weather.

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  If that little bit of melting snow caused Central Oregon traffic chaos, god help us all.
  
  That was nothing. That was, --take it in stride, as your normal due, dudes-- type weather. That was tricycle weather, and if you can't drive it, you're not ready for the big bike. That was, walk the line and tap your nose weather, and if you can't do that, you shouldn't drive. I mean, really.
  
  One of these years we're going to have a real winter or two or three in a row. It's bound to happen. Then what happens?
  
  The carnage on the streets will be unimaginable.
  
  **********
  
  Inordinately pleased that my wife wrote on her blog for the first time in two years. It was nice.
  
  **********
  
  Damn, damn, damn. Lost most of this entry, after laboring over it. Damn.
  
  **********
  
  Restart:
  
  Desperation time at Juniper Ridge? They are offering no property taxes for 3 to 5 years.
  
  Which just points out, really, that not very many people have been expressing interest in moving there.
  
  And if I was someone who had already moved there, I'd be asking for the same consideration.
  
  What's next? A fire sale?
  
  While I doubt it's enough of a saving to entice anyone who wasn't willing to come anyway, it does guarantee that Juniper Ridge doesn't benefit the tax district for another half a decade.
  
  This to me is the equivalent of offering a huge discount on my product. I find that usually doesn't accrue to the bottom line much, and I'm better off waiting for a real sale to a real interested customer.
  
  Isn't this just another give-away to big business on the back of small taxpayers?
  
  Just like there is always someone in small business who is willing to sell at a loss in order to try to capture market share, and who almost always goes out of business but in the meantime devalues the product for everyone -- there will probably always be a small government desperate enough to give into big business demands. (Facebook -- give us what we want or we'll move to Prineville!)
  
  ***********
  
  The Bulletin used the word "heavy" in describing the snowfall, which makes me wonder about the origin of the reporter. And the editor who let that word be used.
  
  **********
  
  Meanwhile, the Bulletin is asking that its interest rate on its loan be lowered to 4.5%. (The Source actually has a longer article about this than the Bulletin does...)
  
  I'm going to surprise everyone and say -- that makes sense.
  
  When I had to go to Consumer Credit Counseling and renegotiate my debts (I had resorted to credit cards to save my business after the comic and sports card boom and busts) I was able to lower the rates on almost all my cards, sometimes to zero. (All except #$^@ Capital One, who wouldn't budge, and who still makes me cringe every time I see their commercials with the Viking dude looking into the camera and demanding, "What's in YOUR wallet?" Whimper, whimper.)
  
  When I came out of debt about 10 years ago, I had paid off the principle and tons of interest and penalties and still had a decent credit rating and a viable business which pays taxes and has employees and is giving me a living.
  
  I hope the Bulletin can pull it off, because I think the local area needs a local newspaper of record.
• November 18, 2011
• 12:55

  Displaced by Google.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  "Did you know your brother Mike is moving to Sante Fe?" my Dad asks.
  
  "Yeah, next year."
  
  "He's closer to a post office there." Uh, huh. See Mike works for the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Apparently, they don't have post offices there.
  
  "Do you know what Sante Fe means?" he asks. The usual preliminary to a story.
  
  "No, what?"
  
  "I don't know."
  
  I'm flabbergasted.
  
  Well, you have to know my 92 year old Dad. I don't think he has EVER asked me a question he didn't know the answer.
  
  Before there was Google, there was George McGeary. Just ask the Dr.s at St. Charles. He was a legend. I grew up in a house with 10's of thousands of books most of which he had browsed, at least. Facts stuck with him. Genius I.Q. turned to the collection of facts.
  
  Our typical dinner would be a discussion until something came up we didn't know, then it was a scramble to the encyclopedia or dictionary or some other reference book.
  
  I always feared that look he gave me when I said I didn't know something, like -- What kind of idiot am I raising? Of course, as the years went by and I accumulated facts of my own, I realized that there were few if any people who knew as many random facts as my Dad knew.
  
  At the same time, he was a hell of a storyteller and the 'facts' could be --- bent, let's say. Most of us in the family knew when a story he told was being embellished, but visitors to our table were totally convinced.
  
  So when Mom would say, "George!" when he told some whopper, we'd all laugh. And our visitors would look around and say, "What?"
  
  There was always a grain of truth to his stories -- maybe even essentially they were true, just ...you know, fixed up to make them more interesting....
  
  So I was talking Dad home from our weekly pizza this morning in my Toyota Camry, and he says, "Your car is smaller than Linda's...."
  
  "Yep. The smaller the woman the bigger the SUV."
  
  "When I was a kid, they didn't have cars. Horse and buggy."
  
  So, here's the thing. He was born in 1920. So...well, do the math. But we just nod at his stories now, even when they are a little wacky. Which have gotten wackier and wackier.
  
  So I pull out my Iphone, and I say, "This is the same kind of new tech. The same world changing tech..."
  
  Dad is really deaf, so I'm never sure if he understands anything I'm saying, so I tap the dashboard and point to the cell phone.
  
  Anyway, about then, I get an inspiration. I pull over in a parking lot, and while he's saying, "Why are we here? You turned into the wrong parking lot" I look up the meaning of Sante Fe.
  
  I enlarge the words: "HOLY FAITH" as big as I can get them, and show him.
  
  Well, he puzzles that out. Doesn't seem that impressed. And we go on.
  
  What my Dad could have done with Google!
  
  Then again, he might have felt displaced.
• 11:06

  The Hook.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Spent the morning working on my short description of my book, I'm Only Human. The elevator pitch, if you will. The hook. The back cover description...
  
  It's not easy. It's an art. It has to work. It has to intrigue the potential reader. We'll see.
  
  Been doing it by using the "chat" mechanism thingy, talking to Jared, my tech and promotional guy.
  
  Chatting online is an interesting experience.
  
  Sentences get short. Choppy.
  
  It's like a real conversation, false starts, overlaps.
  
  But maybe more on point, less distracting.
  
  It's a new world, and I'm just a newbie in it.
• November 17, 2011
• 9:47

  Crazy money.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I don't think the economy has recovered in Bend.
  
  The more time passes, the more I think people assume that it has stabilized. But a lot of the surplus cash that was floating around when the boom went bust has probably dried up by now.
  
  We've gained very little population in the last few years, though our city government is still acting like we're still growing rapidly. I suppose they think we'll grow rapidly in the future -- but I don't think that is any sure thing. Like, where are the jobs coming from? If it's all retirement folk, how likely are they to vote in favor of infrastructure improvements? (Hey, I'm for long term planning, but I think sometimes you have to wait for a few more confirmations about what the long term is likely to bring.)
  
  I usually don't comment on other people's misfortune, but there are some things about the Blacksmith's bankruptcy that were interesting.
  
  One -- the amount of money that was being invested, even recently, here in Bend -- when, like I said, I don't think the economy is going anywhere. 2.5 million dollars is a whole lot of meals, and I wonder where that money was going to come from? In that debt, was an investment from another restaurateur that I would've thought was sufficient to start a whole new restaurant or two or three.
  
  I'd like to know more, but The Source has blocked comments -- which I think is a questionable move on the part of a public media. Public comment should be at the source of what they do. KTVZ has a few comments.
  
  Anyway, from what little I can glean, it appears to me that all the debts are being piled on the "personal" side of the ledger, in hopes of keeping the restaurants open. I have a feeling that probably won't wash. If I was a debtor, I'd think I was more likely to get pennies on a dollar from a couple of restaurants than from a guy who has a foreclosed house and is driving a 2001 pickup.
  
  Still, if true, I give Gavin credit for putting his entire personal life on the line, unlike some other situations where it seemed the debt accruer walked away with a nest egg.
  
  Like with the Merenda, it isn't that hard to break out a calculator and figure out how many full meals a place has to serve to break even, much less pay off a profit, much less pay off the original investment. I don't know the dynamics of a restaurant, but it seems like overblown is overblown.
  
  I don't think that it's just that I think small. I don't doubt that the Deschutes Brewery has gained enough market share and capacity to expand the way it has, for instance. But when the money figures I read for opening a market in the Northwest Crossing, or The Decoy, or Volo, or this 2.5 million, it always seems kind of excessive. Like I said, I break out the calculator and start figuring how many meals they have to serve, and it always seems like an unreachable number.
  
  At least they leave a beautiful shell for someone else to come along and occupy.
  
  Crazy money.
• November 16, 2011
• 10:10

  How many breweries will the market absorb?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  It's interesting to watch the ebb and flow of business trends -- children's clothing stores seem to pop up everywhere, tattoo parlors even more so, and now beer breweries.
  
  We won't know if there are too many breweries until one too many breweries opens, right? That last drink which makes you clumsy.
  
  And that will happen.
  
  I've seen it in my own business. There was a time when there was a sports card shop on every corner. Too many comic stores, too many game stores. I actually saw a pog store open, and saw several businesses who seemed to depend on beanie babies. There are two reptile shops in Bend. Really, is there a need for two?
  
  I've also seen over and over again, successful businesses expand and multiply, and then come crashing down.
  
  Hey, I did it myself. Four stores, two in Bend, one in Redmond and one in Sisters. What was I thinking?
  
  McGeary's corollary to the Peter Principle. A business will expand to its level of incompetence.
  
  The article this morning about golfer's not showing up because of the stock market volatility?
  
  You know what? If your business depends on a stable stock market, you're in the wrong business.
  
  My advice nowadays would be to make your business solid, build in a margin of error, and if you've done all that first, then think about expanding. However, if you expand, it probably makes more sense to get really big, instead of slightly larger. You may fail, but at least the payoff if you succeed will be there. If you get only slightly bigger, the workload increases exponentially, and the monetary payoff will be tied up in the expansion.
  
  Can you say the word -- burnout? Can you say the words -- risky finances?
  
  At the same time, you won't be doing those little things that made your business a success in the first place. You won't have time. You'll have to succeed being bigger by doing things differently.
  
  You'll be in an office, instead of on the floor. Meeting lawyers, instead of customers.
  
  It will be a different thing altogether. I know it is the American way. But is that what you really want?
  
  A lot of small business owners open business because they want to be in control, to make their own decisions, and to do things their way.
  
  The bigger you get, the less that is true.
  
  Just saying, watch out what you wish for.
• 9:15

  If I was a Corporate CEO, I'd have been fired long ago.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Once again, I've gotten a ton of material in, and by logically consolidating, I was able to fit it in, and in some ways even streamline the store.
  
  It's amazing, though, how thousands of dollars worth of merchandise can simply blend in, disappear into the inventory.
  
  Diamond has a Blizzard Sale every year, where I can save 10% to 20% on premium product that I'll sell throughout the rest of the year. As well as stocking up on Christmas.
  
  It's an invitation to spend too much.
  
  I'm buying all this stuff on faith that I can keep the trends going that I saw in the July through October period, but not level of business I'm doing in November. If the Jan. through May period next year falls back to last year's levels, I will have definitely overspent.
  
  In a way, I'm trying to force the issue. Buy so much good product that it will do the positive numbers, not the negative numbers.
  
  One of the things that the limited space of my store has done has made me use every foot of the store to try to generate sales. Every category is backed to the fullest extent; even categories that haven't been doing as well lately.
  
  Earlier in the year, while I was concentrating on comics and graphic novels, as usual, and building on new books and board games, and trying to keep up with Magic, I was letting collector cards, anime and manga, and toys sort of coast.
  
  So over the last few months, I've started to turn my attention back to these product lines. They do will enough to keep them in the store -- what I'm trying to do now is make them do better by resupplying them.
  
  There is always a bit of doubt; that I'm just throwing good money after bad.
  
  It doesn't matter how much stuff you have, or how good it is, if people aren't coming in the door.
  
  But that's my business model these days -- get as much material as I can at affordable prices and hope it sells.
  
  That's retail.
• November 15, 2011
• 10:06

  Using local settings as a spark to creativity.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Wrote half of the penultimate chapter yesterday, and plan to complete the chapter today. (I haven't been using the Title of the book on this blog, yet, because I'm not certain it will be the final title, but for what it's worth, the working title is: I'M ONLY HUMAN.)
  
  This, after thinking about writing all day Saturday and Sunday. It seems like I think about writing for about one day for every day I actually write anything. (Not counting the vast majority of days when I neither think about nor write.)
  
  I can't explain it. Sometimes, it's not even conscious. I just know I'm doing it. Sometimes I'm talking to myself, talking out ideas. Other times, it's further under the surface and I'm just getting glimmers of ideas.
  
  Back in the days when I was writing full time, I had a Wishing Well metaphor in my head that I visualized, and if it was overflowing with water, or near the top, I was ready to write. If I sensed that it was depleted, I knew to avoid writing.
  
  Anyway, mid-afternoon yesterday, I drove my car out the Badlands, and parked at a trailhead and started writing. I'm not sure why, but getting out into nature seems to help me write. Just driving the half hour to my location also helps. As does walking around.
  
  After writing about 3 pages, I started back to Bend. Just the drive started giving me more ideas.
  
  Since the second to the last scene I'm writing is set in the Old Mill district at twilight, I drove down there just as the sun was setting and wrote another 3 pages. I described the old trees that still exist in that part of town, I imagined my character walking over a footbridge and the river looking like a tidal pool at low tide and so on.
  
  In other words, seeing the actual locations can really help spark the imagination.
  
  Strangely enough, when I was writing heroic fantasy, almost all my settings were built upon Oregon terrain. If I had the protagonists climbing mountains, I went into the mountains. If I had them crossing deserts, I went out into the desert. If I had them following a river, I went to a river.
  
  Back to the current effort:
  
  Some of these later chapters are feeling a little sketchy.
  
  In fact, "sketchy" is the right word for it.
  
  Each chapter is like a preliminary sketch for a painting. Some are more detailed than others, some are more like guidelines.
  
  Some probably stand on their own already, some are going to need a lot more work.
  
  There is a fantasy artist I like, Royo, who also produces line-drawing sketchbooks of the same art he fully paints; and frankly, I prefer the sketches more often than not. It's like hearing a promo tape of a song and liking the early, simple version more than the completed song. (As you know, I've been listening to Daniel Johnston....)
  
  But I know that isn't the way most readers want it -- so I'm going to need to go through these sketch chapters, one by one, and paint in the colors.
  
  I'm glad to finish another book. It's been a long time. I really didn't have much doubt I could do it, but still....if feels good. I kept hearing others talk about writing, and it always gave me the itch, to prove "I can do that!"
  
  Like I said yesterday, I'm going to continue the workmanlike approach for the second draft, and then go crazy on the last draft. I've warned Linda that if I get all obsessive like, I might be a little distant for a couple of months, not terribly available or responsive, so watch out.
  
  Linda and I both write. We met in a writer's group. We give each other space to create.
  
  Still, it's kind of a scary prospect. I'm even thinking of going on another writer's trip -- maybe not go quite so far, and maybe try to keep the expense down, but just go on a writing bender, a lost weekend.
• November 14, 2011
• 9:30

  Just a magic pill for creativity.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  In talking about the creative process of writing my book, I'm told in an anonymous comment:
  
  "Smoke some pot boyz, your creativity will improve..."
  
  Which happened to mesh with what I've been thinking about.
  
  First off, me and pot don't mix well. I tend to get rather paranoid, and not very motivated. Plus, if I remember from my high school days, the "creativity" was rather over-rated. I remember waking up the next day seeking out my written down "profound" thoughts, and finding the word: "Cheese." Or something like that.
  
  Plus, it's illegal. And I tend to be a bit of a stick in the mud about that.
  
  Still --- I sometimes think I'm just, sooooo close to getting my fiction right. That I just need one more boost.
  
  I wish for a 'performance enhancer." Much like I imagine an athlete does.
  
  I hate drugs. O.K.? But what it - what if - you had a one half hour length of time that could make you millions? (Jeopardy, a job interview, a stock market manipulation) and you knew by taking a powerful drug you could ace it?
  
  Of course, it wouldn't work that way. You'd be so screwed up from a drug you'd never taken before, that it probably wouldn't work. And if you took it enough to to get used to it, it becomes it's own problem. Something like that.
  
  But you can see the temptation.
  
  Alcohol used to be a pretty good help to me, in writing. Sometimes, just sitting down with a beer or two, I could write for hours. Sometimes, after half a bottle of wine, my mind was just spinning out ideas. But I'm noticing that -- 25 years later -- it doesn't seem to work the same way. (I rarely drink, anymore -- the cost the next day is higher than the benefit of the moment.)
  
  Now, I just get sleepy. Or I feel bloated. Or....nothing happens, and I'm sitting there wondering, "Why did I just do that?"
  
  But I still wish for a magic pill. Not so much for creativity, really, but for performance. The actual nuts and bolts of getting that creative image on page. Which is -- well, writing.
  
  But then I ask myself -- what do I prove, if I do that? Wouldn't it be better for my self image to write the book with my own resources?
  
  If it isn't good enough, at least I tried.
  
  In the end, it's just me and a blank page. No magic pills. No magic formula. No Santa's Little Helper.
  
  It's all up to me.
• 9:13

  Don't doubt we are a tourist economy.

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  If any Bend residents doubt we are a tourist economy, they should own a store in downtown Bend.
  
  This month has really sucked, after 3 good months in a row. I think -- think -- I'll beat last year, but only because last year November was so dreadful.
  
  When did November become the worst month? Even with the Black Friday shopping, it can't seem to raise itself from the muck.
  
  Used to be -- September and January were the worst months for my store, and that correlated with the kids being in or out of school. As my customer base got older, this stopped being true. In fact, September is a pretty good month these days. I think that correlates with retired folk still traveling in moderate weather. I also don't see the huge percentage drops in January and February that I used to see. To which I must attribute to Winter sports visitors.
  
  The bottomline is -- we are slow in-between tourist seasons. Late October and early November, for instance. Late April and early May for another instance.
  
  We need the circulation from visitor's -- whether vacationers or visiting family.
  
  It's what Bend does these days.
• 8:49

  This is the book.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  A parent comes in looking for a young adult book.
  
  I recommend THE HUNGER GAMES.
  
  "Think of your favorite book. This is... That Book... a month before you heard of it...."
  
  "I'll think about it."
  
  And they leave.
  
  Or I say:
  
  "I may be the first one to tell you about this, but I won't be the last."
  
  "What's it about?"
  
  "I can't tell you, because then you won't buy it..."
  
  And they leave.
  
  Or they say:
  
  "I've never heard of it."
  
  "Of course. That's why you asked. If you knew you wanted it, you'd be buying it."
  
  Thing I always wonder -- for the 90% of the people who ignore my recommendation -- do they remember that someone told them about it? Or -- is it like a fresh discovery to them? And -- why did they ask? It's not like I was lukewarm in my recommendation....
  
  **********
• November 13, 2011
• 14:23

  Big Business Monkey. Daniel Johnston

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Big Business Monkey - Hi How Are You (1983)

  Big business monkey
  Nothing’s funny
  Big business monkey
  Everything’s money
  You sold cheeseburgers with that cashier’s smile
  He runs his house like a burger king manager
  And the only jokes he knows
  Are the ones that’ll put you down
  Big business monkey
  You’ll take over the world
  And you can have it now
  But you can’t take it with you
  Everything you cling to will rot
  And everything you do will be forgot
  By everyone you ever tried to impress
  
  

  
• 12:02

  Taking a different approach to writing.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I think what's bothering me about my new book, is that I don't feel fully engaged in it. Not like I used to be.
  
  Some of this is the way I'm doing it in a measured, cold-blooded way. This was on purpose, to be effective. But I don't seem to have a lot of emotion in there. I mean, I wanted to tell a story with Star Axe, but I also had quite of bit of empathetic feelings in there. Snowcastles and Icetowers were light, but I still was reaching for symbolic level.
  
  So...I'm not sure, but I want to imbue the second draft with a bit more feeling and drama. I really need to totally immerse myself in the book --- totally commit. Can I find the time to do that?
  
  I think, if I wait until January and don't have interruptions for a good few months, I could maybe really go for it.
  
  I'm not sure the story has enough meaning -- but then again, a story has the meaning I put into it. I need to think about that.
  
  I think a lot of the "meaning" I had in the earlier books came from my drinking, at least to some extent. I'm much more emotional when I drink, and I think I'm confusing that emotion with what was actually being accomplished on paper.
  
  I don't think there is more emotion in those earlier manuscripts, but the illusion. It was weighted with ambition and desire and feeling and wish fulfillment.
  
  Whereas, this book is much more workmanlike. Like a puzzle. To see if I can do it.
  
  
  Later:
  
  My original motivation for writing, I think, was to recreate those wonderful moments in books where I was excited and emotionally fulfilled. LOTR's, for instance. Watership Down. The Once and Future King.
  
  I'm well aware of how hard it is to actually accomplish that.
  
  But that's my goal, my motivation.
  
  Well, I probably had that ambition from the time I was 12 years old. I wanted to own a bookstore and be a writer.
  
  But I couldn't get anywhere, until one night, when I was about 20 years old, when I found the key to getting started. I told myself:
  
  "Tell A Story."
  
  I had the basic ideas for Star Axe within one night of feverish thinking.
  
  Actually being an effective writer, however, is a whole nother thing. It took me another 5 years of writing classes and workshops before I finished my first book.
  
  The second and third books came relatively easy. The fourth and fifth books were duds. The sixth book, I remember trying to stretch my boundaries -- trying something new. And being put through my paces by the publishers and editors -- rewriting to their specifications. And my seventh book was written while Linda and I were getting together, so there was a rosy glow.
  
  However, my work process was so all encompassing and intrusive, that I couldn't continue once I owned a business and had a family.
  
  So when I decided after 25 years to write another book, I knew that I wanted to take a different approach. I wanted to be effective. It wouldn't do any good to burn myself out again, if I create a 25 year writer's block.
  
  What went wrong the first time?
  
  I think that I immersed myself a little too much in those first drafts, constantly writing and rewriting and changing. I was totally obsessive, compulsive. I can remember going with sleep or food, of being actually dizzy when I went out into the world.
  
  Then, when I wrote the second drafts, I tried to be more workmanlike and structured. But by then, I was worn out. I just wanted my book to go out. I wasn't really willing to put that effort into it.
  
  I couldn't work that way anymore. Nor was it -- in the end -- truly effective.
  
  
  So I tried with this new book to take a new approach. To learn from past mistakes.
  
  The start: "Write a Story." Still the most effective key to unlocking my creativity.
  
  So that's what I've been doing. In a measured way. About a chapter every 2 weeks. Yes, I could do it faster, but I'm purposely doing it this way. When I was stuck at page 50, I went on a writing trip, and was able to write a bunch and figure out the plot. But then I went back to the measured writing.
  
  No drinking. No compulsive days on end, dizzying writing sessions. No obsessive rewriting over small changes.
  
  So now, as I approach the end of the first draft (two chapters!) I'm starting to look at what I'm going to do in my second draft.
  
  I think I'm going to continue the more workmanlike method for the second draft. I have exposed most of my story to my writer's group, and they made comments and corrections, so I'm going to use those as my springboard. Concentrate on the outline, the consistency, the writing.
  
  And then -- when I'm ready to write the third and final draft, I'm going to totally immerse myself compulsive obsessive like. Do it in a month. No distractions. Completely committed. Imbue it with all the depth and feeling I can.
  
  So in a sense, I'm going about this in a completely backward way from the way I used to do it. The three steps are reversed, almost.
  
  I have more patience now -- and I've come to realize that having great emotion and depth of feeling doesn't necessarily translate into effective writing, unless I do it right.
• 10:49

  Late to the party.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  You'll probably just laugh at this, but I spent a whole afternoon yesterday listening to Daniel Johnston songs.
  
  O.K. I knew who he was -- vaguely. But I was really liking Beck's version of True Love Will Find in the End, so I went to YouTube.
  
  But once I started really listening, I was Gobsmacked.
  
  I loved them all. Every song. Just kept listening and listening.
  
  At first, I wondered how they would sound with professional backup. Maybe cover versions.
  
  Because-- I thought -- he isn't the greatest singer or musician in the world.
  
  Except it turns out he is -- none of the covers are as good as his original songs.
  
  This is one of those cases where I can actually understand why others don't care for him -- without being defensive. And where I could be accused of just being another hipster who likes him as a pity party. But I actually thought his music was pretty interesting. No doubt, though, it's an acquired taste.
  
  I'm also kind of glad I discovered his music without having seen the movie. "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." (Damn Netflix streaming once again doesn't have a movie I'm looking for....)
  
  There is a danger of romanticizing depression and craziness, and having had a major depression episode earlier in my life I know it ain't romantic in any way. But there is something about someone just -- as he says in his song -- living his "broken dreams."
  
  So ........ I know I'm not the first or the last to find this guy, but just marking the moment.
  
  God (nature) bestows it's gifts in mysterious ways.
• November 12, 2011
• 9:52

  Saturday suds.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  We've worn out the "mute" button on our remote.
  
  What does that say?
  
  **********
  
  I suppose it wouldn't have helped if Joe Paterno had retired earlier -- the sex abuse scandal would still reflect negatively on him in a retroactive sense.
  
  **********
  
  Linda said, watching House Hunters, "I can't believe the U.S. has Virgin Islands."
  
  "I can't either. I'm can't believe the U.S. would leave them virgins for long."
  
  **********
  
  Unexpectedly, I've been watching lots of documentaries on Netflix streaming. These are the kinds of movies that seem to never show up either on the cable channels or at the theaters.
  
  "The Art of the Steal, Herb and Dorothy, Van Gogh: Brush with Genius, Objectified, Helvetica, Basqiat: Radiant Child, and several others that have dropped off my "Recently Watched" list.
  
  I didn't realize Netflix was like Pandora, recommending movies based on what you've watched.
  
  I tend to like documentaries about art and/or commerce. Not the kind of thing you can find, even on PBS.
  
  Kind of funny to see what categories they think we like:
  
  "Art and Design."
  
  "Campy Action Thrillers."
  
  "Gritty British Crime."
  
  "Science and Tech Documentaries."
  
  That all fits, right?
• November 11, 2011
• 11:05

  Friday fraps.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  "Earlier Store Openings Anger Some" Bulletin, 11/11/11.
  
  Oh, boo hoo.
  
  **********
  
  What's today's date again? I think it's 11/11........don't help me here, I'll remember......11/11.......
  
  **********
  
  Told firmly by Paul not to try to be funny. Sorry.
  
  **********
  
  So here it is, 11/11/11, and home prices are still dropping.
  
  **********
  
  "Oregon Economic Forecast is for 'Tepid Growth'."
  
  You know, like so tepid you don't notice it.
  
  **********
  
  Seven former mayors of Bend sign a petition to rethink the water filtration plan.
  
  I think it's a case of -- if the current city council felt like they didn't have the money, they'd come up with a viable alternative.
  
  It looks to me like they really didn't consider the viable alternatives, but went for the biggest option. (And a 40% increase in water rates.)
  
  Bend always goes for the biggest option....
  
  **********
  
  Paul said I was being too downbeat, lately.
  
  Which kind of surprised me, because I'm actually feeling pretty good about things.
  
  **********
  
  So a city councilor, running for county commissioner, went bankrupt.
  
  What stood out to me was that he bought his house in 20o6.
  
  By 2006, a bunch of us bubble bloggers were already having long discussions about how unwise it was to buy a house at those prices. I mean, it was pretty obvious. Seriously, it wasn't that hard to see, especially in Bend.
  
  **********
  
  I started watching the Talk of the Town local access show about the downtown street closures, but I can only take 10 minutes without tearing my hair out in frustration.
  
  It seems to me that the Downtowners, the city, and the event coordinators managed to dilute the message within 5 minutes.
  
  In fact, they made it about MESSAGE, which I don't think is the issue at all.
  
  It's frustrating to hear another retailer say, "Well, yeah, sales are down considerably for the day, but it's still good for us."
  
  Argghh.
  
  **********
  
  Paul also mentioned that he thought I was done commenting about street closures.
  
  Well, sure.
  
  But then everyone else brought it up.
  
  *********
  
  Shut up, Paul.
• November 10, 2011
• 9:19

  When I'm wrong.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  That the parking garage in downtown Bend wouldn't be used. Can't imagine downtown without it.
  
  That Magic, the Gathering was on it's last legs a couple of years ago. Wizards of the Coast has just announced that volume has doubled since 2008.
  
  
  O.K. I'm thinking, I'm thinking. I'm sure I've been wrong about something else.
  
  
  Oh, yeah.
  
  
  Big one. That the internet was a waste of time. I didn't have time for it. Hah.
  
  That the Old Mill was one shopping area too many.
  
  That Northwest Crossing would empty out.
  
  The Bend, overall, would lose population and people would quit moving here.
  
  That the vacancy rate downtown would increase. (I didn't think downtown would empty out, boarded windows and all, but I thought there would be SOME consequence...)
  
  That I would never get a cell phone. Or use it.
  
  
  
  Still Not Sure:
  
  Whether books and comics have any future. Or DVD's.
  
  Whether the big box stores are Ponzi Schemes and will collapse from pressure from the internet.
  
  Whether there will still be enough business for small independents to take their place.
• November 09, 2011
• 8:55

  Personal advice by Mickey Spillane.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I dreamed of a personal advice column by Mickey Spillane.
  
  "Dear Mickey,
  
  My husband won't help with the housework, what do I do?"
  
  Dear houseworthless,
  
  Wait until your worthless piece of s**t husband is watching the 4rth quarter of an important game and then whack him to the side of the head with an iron frying pan.
  
  Scream at him, 'Do the f**kin' dishes!'
  
  That should take care of your problem, babe.
  
  
  
  "Dear Mickey,
  
  I'm being sexually harassed by a coworker, what should I do?"
  
  
  Dear Her-ass,
  
  Wear your most sexy dress and lure him to the balcony. Grab him by the balls and push him over the edge.
  
  Be sure and hang onto the balls.
  
  Capeesh?
  
  
  "Dear Mickey,
  
  My neighbor's dogs won't stop barking, what do I do?"
  
  
  Dear barking-mad,
  
  Knock on his door and when he answers, punch him in the nose.
  
  Tie him to his lounge chair, and take away the dog food.
  
  Lock the door behind you...
  
  
  
  I could go on and on with this....I have weird dreams.
  
  Anyone else want to contribute?
• November 08, 2011
• 10:06

  The Difference Engine

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  If you were intrigued by the article in today's Bulletin about Babbage's Analytical Engine, there is a terrific book by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling, which describes the world as it might have been if the "The Difference Engine" had actually been built.
  
  Steampunk and adventure and speculative fiction at it's best.
  
  I love these 'out-of-time' inventions. I love good old Tesla. Einstein. Napoleon.
  
  People who come out of nowhere. (They are also examples of why doubting Shakespeare is moronic.)
  
  Black Swan people.
• 9:02

  Jeff is always upbeat.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Interesting article about Jeff Valley. He was in my graduating class, and my shop used to be on his bike route. When I came back to town after college, he still remembered me from high school.
  
  He'd pop his head in the door, and give me a moose call.
  
  "Hooot. Hooooooot." Big laugh.
  
  "Kinda cold today, Jeff?"
  
  "Yeah, Dunc."
  
  "Don't you get tired riding that bike?"
  
  "Yeah, Dunc."
  
  "You doin' good?
  
  "Yeah, Dunc. Hey, Dunc.....hooot, hoooooot."
  
  
  I can still hear the "Yeah, Dunc's," clipped and cheerful.
  
  
  Stopped seeing him awhile back and was wondering where he went.
  
  **********
• November 07, 2011
• 11:44

  Success breeds success.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  Marvel Comics has a twelve month rolling average for my highest wholesale discount. (Qualifying for roughly an extra 3%.)
  
  DC has a six month rolling average. (extra 3%)
  
  I've qualified for the Marvel discount for a number of years now.
  
  I was always about 25% below the DC discount, and even when I piled on reorders, I could only get to within about 5%. So I gave up, and more or less dropped back down to being about 35% below the necessary levels. (Discount levels apparently can be a de-motivator as well as a motivator.)
  
  Anyway, I was so far below the DC level, that I quit trying.
  
  The DC New 52 has been so dramatic that I've reached the necessary discount level with one dramatic month. Not only was it a five week month, but it just seemed like everything arrived in that time frame.
  
  So the extra 3% went from being unreachable, to totally blowing it out of the water. I'm enough over the level that it would carry me for several months even at the old level of sales. I don't think that will be necessary, because sales --while they've dropped to more moderate numbers -- are still well above the old numbers. So...it probably means I can count on the extra 3% for the foreseeable future.
  
  Every little bit adds up.
  
  I qualified for another 5% discount from DC on backstock in December because I filled out a survey, so I'm going to spend some of my savings on buying up as much Evergreen product as possible. Multiple copies of Sandman and Y-the Last Man and such. Hopefully, I won't have any more instances where I have shortages for a few weeks.
  
  Kudo's to DC for taking a risk and making it work.
• 10:15

  Do No Harm.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  My eyes glaze over whenever I start to read about the Greece crisis.
  
  I can't absorb it.
  
  **********
  
  It's worth remembering that Oregon's one loss was to the team that's beat everyone else; L.S.U.
  
  Of course, they still have to beat Stanford.
  
  **********
  
  Why can't they make movies that look as cool as video games? Everytime I see an ad, I think that wonderful imagery ought to be in a full length movie. Instead, most video game movies suck.
  
  **********
  
  This year has gone by so fast, I've got whiplash.
  
  **********
  
  One woman, two women, three women, four,
  How many women does it take,
  to show Herman Cain the door.
  
  **********
  
  Sunday has Dexter and Hell on Wheels and Boardwalk Empire and Once Upon a Time (for Linda) and The Good Wife and Homeland and Walking Dead.
  
  Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Sat. have hardly anything at all.
  
  What's with these people?
  
  ***********
  
  I hate to agree with a Bulletin editorial.
  
  But it does seem that the city of Bend consistently underestimates the costs of their projects.
  
  As well as consistently underestimating the effect of the economy on revenues.
  
  The common characteristic is huge projects, under the mantra of building for future growth. Which may or may not be right. Thing is, it probably isn't affordable. But because they can justify it, they are going ahead and hoping revenues catch up.
  
  Sometimes a delay isn't such a bad thing.
  
  The motto ought to be: Do No Harm.
  
  **********
  
  Speaking of Do No Harm.
  
  This also ought to be the guiding principle to downtown street closures.
  
  If some businesses are helped by these events, and some are hurt, the people being hurt should have greater weight, not less. If no events means neither hurt nor help, that is maybe what should happen.
  
  I don't buy into the notion that we'll somehow lose our momentum downtown. Downtowners like to crow that we have almost no vacancies. I don't think that would stop, if we suddenly didn't close streets.
  
  According to sources, when asked if the downtown events helped business, half the people at the downtown meeting raised their hands.
  
  Hey, how do they know? From my keeping track, about 40% of them have only been around for a couple of years. What do they have to compare it with? They've never seen an alternative.
  How do they know that summer weekends wouldn't even be BETTER without the events.
  
  And, harsh as it may sound, I'm convinced some business owners are so out of touch with what's happening, they can't even judge it correctly.
  
  But even if it's true that a majority of businesses are helped, like I said above, the fact that some businesses are hurt should have a strong weight. If not doing the events is neutral.
  
  So the motto ought to be: Do No Harm.
• November 06, 2011
• 10:00

  Sunday splat.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  I have absolutely zero interest in the movie, J.Edgar. I can't think of a less appealing person to base a movie on. In fact, he is actively repellent.
  
  So, you know, it'll probably be a big hit.
  
  **********
  
  What would happen if, every time the stock market went up 500 points, you sold? And every time the stock market went down 500 points, you bought?
  
  Just wondering.
  
  **********
  
  I wonder why it seems like half my customers love Tintin and Asterix, and half my customers have never heard of them?
  
  It's either one or the other. No vague familiarity.
  
  Love them, or haven't heard of them.
  
  Of course, after Christmas, EVERYONE will know who Tintin is. Because they know who Spielberg is....don't you know.
  
  One of the more frustrating things about being "in the know" and being a "retailer" is the disconnect to those customers who "aren't in the know" but are potential customers.
  
  "Hey, this young adult book, Hunger Games is really cool. And it's going to be BIG! when the movie comes out...."
  
  "ummmm.....I'll think about it."
  
  So I spend a couple of years talking up Game of Thrones, or The Walking Dead, and getting blank looks and rejection and I'm nearly begging them to give it a try -- and then the shows come out, and it seems like all of a sudden EVERYONE wants them.
  
  Doh.
  
  I make it a habit not to recommend anything I don't actually really, really like.
  
  But I guess the customers don't know that.
  
  **********
  
  See what happens when you retire, Andy Rooney? Happens every time, I tell you.
  
  **********
  
  Check out the Triumph the Comic Insult Dog video about Occupy Wall Street. On the Conan show. Or, it's over on the local The Source site. Genius.
  
  **********
  
  I swore I wouldn't watch any videos or look at any pictures of The Hobbit movie-- but I couldn't resist.
  
  It looks fantastic. Kind of seems like it will be lighter, more humorous than LOTR's; but then, so was the book.
  
  Go, Radagast the Brown!
  
  (I always related to Radagast, because my name, Duncan, can be translated as Brown (dark) Warrior.)
  
  **********
  
  Old technology that still works. Trains and books!
  
  **********
  
  Here's why I don't bother to look at the bestseller lists.
  
  The current top 5. Publisher's Weekly.
  
  1. The Litigators, John Grisham.
  2. 1Q84, by Haruki Murakami
  3. The Snow Angel, Glenn Beck.
  4. The Best of Me, Nicholas Sparks.
  5. The Christmas Wedding, by James Patterson and some other guy (who probably actually wrote the book.)
  
  At least three out of the top five are utter pap, and the fourth is probably pretty workmanlike. I'll let you guess which three. (Well....Glenn Beck? Shoot me now.)
  
  I have ordered 1Q84 by Murakami, however; as well as trying to get his back list as much as possible.
  
  **********
  
  Being a card shop.
  
  I was trying to imagine how hard being a full service card shop would be right now. One of the big three sports isn't even playing. And since Basketball is the only big league sport in Oregon, that's even more impactful.
  
  Panini (the Italian sticker company who has exclusive rights to NBA basketball cards, and what does that say?) hasn't even bothered to put out a brand so far this year.
  
  It's as if a third (or more) of the product that your store sells, just disappears.
  
  What sport card shops who still survive have, is what I call Cockroachability -- not even a nuclear bomb will completely wipe them out. I suspect, mostly, because most current owners don't actually live off their business...
  
  What's interesting to me how demanding sports card customers can still be. They usually give me a "treat me right or else" vibe, to which I usually give a, "here's what I got at what price, buy if you like" answer. As you can imagine, that very often doesn't work.
  
  So I sell the occasional packs to casual customers. And the even more occasional boxes.
  
  The price structure to sports cards is completely dysfunctional. The only way you can survive is to be MORE expensive than S.R.P., and yet, like I said, the customers expect you to be CHEAPER than S.R.P., because there are plenty of people online selling for near cost.
  
  Crazy industry.
  
  I've managed to eke out small profits by doing it my way, but it's constantly on the edge.
  
  I recently had a customer think that I was raising my prices so that I could give him a 10% discount. The truth was, I was actually doing the opposite!
  
  I was keeping my prices lower than usual because he was buying so much.
  
  In the old days, I would've been paying enough attention to know what I had priced something the last time, but nowadays, I do a quick calculation and put the price sticker on. Since I have a fixed formula, I tend to average it out either upward or downward, depending on a number of factors that aren't always the same.
  
  So, say I arrive at a retail target price of 73. 40. So, I'll average that out to either 69.99 or 74.99, depending. But like I said, I may not remember what I did the last time.
  
  What gets me, I suppose, and why I'm writing this, is that this card customer automatically assumes the worst motivation.
  
  Arrggghh.
  
  The solution, I've decided, it to put a price on the box and not offer discounts. That way, there can be no misunderstandings. The price is what the price is.
  
  So I raised all the prices on the boxes to the prices I normally would charge, and I'll stick with that.
  
  Back to doing this the no fuss, no muss way.
  
  The customer can decide. I totally understand if they don't want to pay my price. There are always a few customers who will, fortunately.
  
  A retail store shouldn't try to be a flea market. I don't offer those kinds of automatic discounts for any other product in my store. Well, I give 10% for comic subscription customers, and I give a "Buy 5 packs and get the 6th pack free deal" to Magic customers. But that's it. Everything else is retail priced.
  
  And now, so too are sports cards. No more unnecessary discounts.
  
  I wonder why I was ever tempted to do so? Tradition? Industry norms? Customer pressure?
  
  Whatever it was, it's come to an end.
• November 05, 2011
• 11:03

  The Great God Pegasus To Whom All Glorious Sacrifice Must Be Made.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I realized something this week. Cutting the number of days I work, has not necessarily cut the amount of work I do. It's just more concentrated.
  
  I barely keep up with the work I need to do on the days I work. I don't remember that being true when I was working more days.
  
  Back when I worked just about every day, I got very good about pacing myself. I'd plan for orders one day, receive orders on another day, rearrange another day, pay bills another day, clean another day. It seemed almost effortless.
  
  Now, I feel like I'm scrambling from the moment I get there. I feel like I've pretty much delegated the things I can delegated, and the things that are left to do, are the things only I can do.
  
  I noticed once that Linda would rather work fewer but longer days, while I preferred more but shorter days.
  
  
  Yep....... I'm whining about working fewer days....
• November 04, 2011
• 10:06

  Double down doubtful fodder scraping.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Personally, I've decided the default notices rate don't mean a thing.
  
  "Default notices drop in October." Bulletin, 11/4/11.
  
  It's in the banks interest to keep the current 'owners' in the sweatbox as long as they can, to wring that last ounce of moisture out of their poor desiccated bodies. Besides, that way, the banks can escape liability for the property taxes.
  
  Any time they want them, they can get them.
  
  I think that's all that's happening.
  
  **********
  
  I can sort of tell when another blog is scraping for fodder. Takes one to know one, you know?
  
  Anyway, there is a story over on The Beat that correlates the number of young men living in their parents basement with the strength of the entertainment industry:
  
  "Almost one in five men between the ages of 25 to 34 are living with their parents, according to a Census Bureau report released Thursday."
  
  What's more:
  
  59 percent of men and 50 percent of women ages 18-24 still live at home.
  
  As well as being somewhat insulting:
  
  We’re not saying that all comics are purchased by nerds who live in their moms’ basements. We’re just saying that a lot of people are living in their moms’ basements. Of course, they may not have the most discretionary income in the world, either. Either way, a lack of upward mobility can be a powerful influence towards escaping into a fantasy world.
  
  All this seems pretty dubious evidence of anything but a bad economy and coddling parents.
  
  Of course, me talking about it is probably just doubling down on the doubtful fodder scraping.
  
  **********
  
  According to my math (talk about dubious!) roughly 40% of the downtown retail and restuarant spaces have folded in the last 3 years, since I started my Comings and Goings list.
  
  Of course, even more stores have come in to take their place.
  
  Nevertheless, 40% in 3 years.
  
  From my perspective, it seems like hardly anyone really makes it over the long run in small business. I mean, I know that can't be right, but the more years that pass, the less long lived businesses I see.
  
  Creative destruction, indeed.
  
  I mean, it must benefit the economy somehow, right? Is being in business 5 years enough to be a net plus? 3 years? 1 year?
  
  Hard to figure.
  
  ***********
  
  "I've been giving the store everything It wants this year," I said to Linda.
  
  She laughs. "You make it sound like it's a very demanding person."
  
  "No. It's the Great God Pegasus, to Whom all Glorious Sacrifice Must be Made."
  
  **********
• November 03, 2011
• 9:28

  A Company Will Expand to it's Level of Incompetence.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  There's a story on Shelf Awareness of a longtime online discount bookstore opening a bricks and mortar location.
  
  Owner says it's gotten too competitive online. And she talks about what an irony it is that she was opening a store, when just a few years ago she was encouraging her dad to close his stores and go online.
  
  heh.
  
  **********
  
  "OSU-Cascades May Offer Master's in Creative Writing." Bulletin, 11/3/11.
  
  Just what the world needs. More pretentious writers.
  
  heh.
  
  **********
  
  Oh, the power of it all. The Greeks have complete control of my stock portfolio.
  
  Mention a 'referendum' and the stocks go into freefall. Back off a 'referendum' and they go back up.
  
  That can't be healthy.
  
  As I twittereded. "Oh, stock market. You son of a bitch."
  
  heh.
  
  **********
  
  A paranoid local district attorney creates enemies which makes him paranoid which creates enemies which makes him paranoid.
  
  That can't be good.
  
  heh.
  
  **********
  
  Another local, apparently thriving company, PV Powered, gets bought by a bigger out-of-town rival, and immediately seems to collapse.
  
  Funny how when the parent company gets in trouble, the costs get cut at the new merger.
  
  I hereby call it McGeary's law: A company will expand to it's level of incompetence.
  
  heh.
  
  **********
  
  Linda and I saw that four point buck in the Bulletin on our Sunday drive on the west side. It was standing in the middle of the road when we turned a corner.
  
  It had a look, as if to say: "What's your problem, bud?"
  
  Saw two other batches of deer that day, within a few blocks.
  
  Rodents with hooves.
  
  heh.
• November 02, 2011
• 10:17

  All action movies are based on the 7 Samurai.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

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  By coincidence last night, I watched two movies more or less based on the Seven Samurai.
  
  
  ****SPOILERS****
  
  The first was an English movie called Ironclad. I thought it was going to be a thud and blunder movie, but it actually turned out to be a fairly historically accurate story of the Siege of Rochester castle, by King John (of Magna Carta -- apparently, he didn't accept history's verdict.)
  
  It was a cross between the Alamo and the Seven Samurai.
  
  Where it varied from history was in the scope of the thing. They have 20 knights and soldiers holding off an army of 1000. Whereas the real battle was between about 140 knights and many more soldiers as defenders.
  
  You kind of wonder why, if they are going to be 70% accurate, why not be 100% accurate? I don't think it was just a matter of having the hero ride off into the sunset with the damsel. I think it probably had more to due with budget constraints.
  
  I wonder if the book, The Religion, (Siege of Malta) could ever be made affordably, and without offending Islam. That would be a great story.
  
  ***********
  
  Then I tried the movie The 13 Assassins.
  
  Again ******SPOILERS****
  
  
  What an awesomely cool movie. I mean, it's great. For god's sake, if you like action movies, you got to see it.
  
  Apparently it's based on another movie with the same title, but -- really, it's more a remake of the Seven Samurai.
  
  It had some creepy, atmospheric set-up, as befits the director of Audition, Miike, but when it gets to the action scenes -- it's incredible.
  
  I loved the ending, when the last surviving samurai moves to throw away his sword, and at the last second hangs onto it. And the 13th assassin (who isn't samurai and proud of it) skips merrily down the street like a forest sprite, jumping over piles of bodies. Amazing.
  
  How could I have not seen this movie yet?
• 8:51

  Booksellers or content providers?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Linda came in to my office waving a flier from Barnes and Noble. "I think they're getting desperate," she said.
  
  Offering $25 off Nook; 40% off hardcover bestsellers.
  
  "How do they make any money?" she asked.
  
  
  I wonder if the divide I see with digital versus book/book is one of perception.
  
  I simply don't believe that digital books are the same experience as reading a book/book. Based on my trying the two methods, I much prefer the book/book.
  
  Others see no difference, apparently, and I'll take them at their word.
  
  But fundamentally, I don't think books are the same as music. I don't think pirating is as big a problem, either.
  
  I remember about 5 or 8 years ago when Topps was offering "digital" cards. If ever there was a more acquisitive group of customers than sports card collectors, I don't want to know it. I mean, that was just about the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. And yet, someone came up with the idea, and someone at Topps greenlighted it.
  
  WTF? Really? Did they really think that would work?
  
  Not everything digital is an improvement, just because it's digital.
  
  I think books will be just fine.
  
  I'm not so sure about Barnes and Noble. There was an article in the Bulletin today that fake iPads were "flooding the market;" which just points out that pirating and stealing is going to be a problem no matter what approach the manufacturers and producers take.
  
  So, you don't stop selling something just because it might be stolen, do you?
  
  The whole scenario about digital music and dvd's -- that if you can't beat them, join them, just seems the wrong approach. Make the physical more attractive -- but don't just give up! Lot of good it did the music publishers!
  
  I guess I'm saying, I believe the physical book and comic still has inherent virtues, and the solution isn't to subvert the platform, but to support it.
  
  There is a hypocrisy at the root of Barnes and Noble and Amazon; they are book sellers who don't care enough about books to support them. Now, they are content providers. But who needs them? I can put my own damn book online, if it's going to be digital. (Yes, I'm conscious of the irony but I'm not going to try to explain it...)
  
  Crazy.
• November 01, 2011
• 12:18

  Quislings.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  There is a new book out, FREE RIDE, by Robert Levine, subtitled: "How Digital Parasites Are Destroying the Culture Business and How the Culture Business Can Fight Back.”
  
  Salon describes it this way: "Levine’s book looks at how publishing, the music industry, newspapers and other industries drank the dot.com Kool-Aid, effectively killing themselves off."
  
  "...dot.com Kool-Aid...."
  
  Well, exactly. It's what I've been saying ever since I first started looking at what the magazines and book publishers and mass market bookstores were doing. It seemed really clear to me that it was a faulty premise and that it could only end in self-destruction.
  
  So what do you do when you're threatened?
  
  You fight.
  
  You don't just say, wow, you're probably going to overcome us with overwhelming force so we'll just become what we would've become if you had won, even though you will probably win anyway....
  
  What a strange reaction.
  
  Look up the word Quisling.
• 10:45

  Store status report.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Despite a big drop off in sales the last week, we still beat last year handily for the month of October. Since November was so low last year, I'm thinking we're likely to beat last year this month, too.
  
  It has to do with some of our product selling unexpectedly well, more than it has to do with the economy (local or national). The New DC52, obviously. Magic continues to sell better than last year, and I had a surge on sports cards that probably won't be duplicated anytime soon.
  
  Still, that makes four months in a row. And the likelihood that we'll beat last year overall.
  
  I've been using that extra money to take advantage of any bargains that come along. Gives me the chance to stock the store to the tippytop. As well as keeping the evergreens at a high level.
  
  Space, as always, is the problem.
  
  I qualified for an extra 5% in DC items for December; that plus the extra 3% I gain from my higher discount level means that I'll probably stock up on all the great DC graphic novels I can.
  
  DC has a backstock of the best graphic novels out there; Sandman, Preacher, Y-the Last Man, etc. etc. If I can get two or three copies of the best-sellers, instead of my Just-in-Time one or two copies, it will mean I can always have a copy in stock.
  
  That's been the biggest change in the store this year. I'm trying to catch those small savings; 2 or 3 or 5% points, consistently accrued over the long run. (In the years of the boom, I spent most of my efforts on bringing in new product lines, like new books and boardgames. After that, I concentrated on bringing in piles of heavily discounted product. So this constant angling for small increases in savings is the icing on the cake.)
  
  That plus trying to save a little money on small fees and postage. I've saved about 450.00 in just trying to be smarter, which the equivalent of 1000.00 in sales.
  
  Overall, I'm liking the store.
• October 31, 2011
• 9:04

  Be genre and be proud!

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  An article in the Observer of 10 graphic novels that "transcend the comic medium."
  
  It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken.
  Shortcomings.
  Ethel and Ernest.
  Persepolis.
  Fun Home.
  From Hell.
  Black Hole.
  Blankets.
  Alice in Sunderland.
  The Castlefiore Emerald (Tintin).
  
  See I have a problem with the word "transcend." As if comics need to be "transcended."
  
  They do the same kind of rescuing with science fiction books, and, well, just about any other genre. It's a bit condescending.
  
  (I'm carrying G.N. 4-10. I think I've got at least two of the first three).
  
  **********
  
  Went to see The Three Musketeers, which was about as bad as we expected. But I'll sit through a lot for a few moments of steam punk, I guess.
  
  ***********
  
  And then there is a review of Colson Whitehead's 'Zone One' in the N.Y.T. Book Review that starts: "A literary novelist writing a genre novel is like an intellectual dating a porn star. "
  
  Well, yuck.
  
  Suddenly, I don't want to read this book.
  
  The same with the Night Circus review.
  
  In both cases, it sounds that that unholy "serious" genre novel. The best example I can come up with is, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel, which seemed to be almost apologizing for being a fantasy novel. I know other people enjoyed this book, but I found it underwhelming.
• October 30, 2011
• 12:12

  And, yes, I watch too much T.V.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Saw Puss and Boots.
  
  It was charming, but as I feared, most of the big laughs were in the commercials.
  
  Still, it was fun.
  
  
  We've slowed down -- slightly -- on our movie going. And we aren't trying so hard to see movies in 3-D or Imax. In fact, I still haven't seen an Imax.
  
  
  Meanwhile, on T.V., I've liked two new shows on the networks. Persons of Interest, is very good for a formula show. And I think Grimm has great potential. I hated Once Upon a Time, which was a polyester fantasy. Bad Halloween costumes and idiotic plot. Gives fantasy a bad name.
  
  By the way, both of these networks had optioned the Fables comic series, which is pretty close to the same general idea.
  
  I'd make more of that, if I wasn't myself writing a book that combines Fairy with the human realm. (Central Oregon, as a matter of fact.) I think the idea is just in the air right now.
  
  On cable, I really like Homeland so far. I've never much cared for Claire Danes for some reason, but she is perfect in this role.
  
  I've dropped Ringer, which is bland, and Nikita, which is contrived. I'm barely hanging in there on the Mentalist, and C.S.I. Las Vegas just doesn't seem to have the occasional great episode they used to have. (The other C.S.I.'s are awful and awfuller.)
  
  Speaking of contrived, I still enjoy House. The Good Wife is the best show on T.V. I liked Alphas when it was on, and loved Game of Thrones. True Blood and Dexter and Boardwalk Empire aren't great this year, but still better than most anything else.
  
  Walking Dead has been fun.
  
  I'm eyeing several shows to watch full seasons on Netflex. Justified, Breaking Bad, Sons of Anarchy, to mention a few. But maybe when the T.V. is full of reruns.
  
  And yes, I watch too much T.V.
• 11:55

  Catching up.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I joke about being obsessive/compulsive. Don't think I really am.
  
  Then again, I spent part of last weekend catching up on all the New York Times Sunday papers I had piled up.
  
  I spent part of this weekend, catching up the N.Y.T.'s Book Review and the N.Y.T's Magazine.
  
  It's like I can't stand to throw them away without reading them first.
  
  Next up, a giant pile of The New Yorker.
  
  It's good for me. Very humbling.
  
  Any time I start thinking that I'm well-read or in any way an intellectual, reading the N.Y. Times Book Review or The New Yorker disabuses me of them there notions.
• 9:42

  Zines and the tipping point.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Another article about "zines" in the Bulletin, today. About the national scene.
  
  I think that there is a desire by younger people to make real things -- vinyl records, art toys, and zines.
  
  But I kind of use these things as earmarks, indicators of where Bend is on the "urban sophistication" scale.
  
  We aren't there. Yet. Maybe never.
  
  I see sporadic interest in zines here in Bend. Creators come in with a few copies, and I try to pay them a little bit, and then I don't see them again. Very, very few customers pick them up.
  
  So it becomes a bit of downward spiral; not enough interest doesn't create enough zines; not enough zines doesn't create interest. Not enough, means the few true believers go online to get their fix, or compare Bend unfavorably with Eugene or Portland, and go there instead, which makes it even harder to get to that tipping point.
  
  There are certain cool things that just never get to the tipping point in Bend.
  
  I've often thought on a scale of 1 t0 10, with 8 being the number we need to be at to make these little nerd subcultures truly vital, Bend is like a 6.5. Sometimes we surge for a while to a 7, and often we fall back to a 6. Something like that.
  
  People who move here from cities that have managed to reach an 8 can't see that, at first. We don't look all that different; it seems like we should be able to sustain that culture with just a bit of a push.
  
  But it takes a big push, and that kind of push is hard to maintain.
  
  It's not just population. Theoretically, I think we're big enough. It's the isolation, I think. And the lack of a real four year college, and -- as much as Bend would like to believe it has lots of high techness -- I think we don't really have a tipping point level of techness.
  
  Because there is no real money in zines, or art toys, or street art -- it's nearly impossible to keep up a scene unless there is a surplus of interest -- instead of just barely enough.
  
  Ironically, what would get it to the tipping point here in Bend is if these urban ideas broke out of the subculture and into the mass culture.
  
  But then they aren't what they were, you know? They aren't underground, anymore.
  
  Over the years I've learned that it is easy to get ahead of myself. I carry urban vinyl, for instance, which I think are just cool. But I get mostly blank looks. And the true aficionados compare my selection to online sites like KidRobot and find my selection lacking.
  
  You can't fight the tipping point.
• 9:28

  Are you a bookstore or aren't you?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I've been catching up reading my New York Times Magazines and New York Times Book Reviews. A few months worth.
  
  The content is pretty much the same as I'd find online.
  
  The reading experience is completely different.
  
  I find I stare and contemplate the pictures longer on paper. I find that I read the entire article, flip back and forth to catch nuance, and pretty much get absorbed by the experience.
  
  The exact same articles online, I glance at the pictures, I skim the articles.
  
  Probably just habit. I don't know. An old dog.
  
  But it's so much more pleasant.
  
  Anyway, it's got me to thinking about how so many of these types of blogs about digital and paper devolve into "either/or" arguments. As if, by preferring to sell comics and books, I'm denying the power of digital. That I'm somehow sticking my head in the sand.
  
  I'm saying that there is room for books and comics, and somehow has to sell them, and it might as well be me.
  
  The old buggy maker argument is often used. But I wonder -- surely there were a few old reprobates who preferred to keep working with horses even as the combustion engine was roaring all around them.
  
  This doesn't mean that they didn't see the power of the new technology; just that they preferred to continue to work with the old technology. It isn't going to all happen overnight. It seems to me that someone who looks for ways to make the old model work just a little longer, as a bridge to the new, might be more successful than someone who is hedging their bets, who is actively promoting an alternative while still making most of their money in the old.
  
  I mean, I'd rather buy from somehow who is upfront about selling me a book, than someone who says, "Hey, I can sell you a book, but wouldn't you much rather buy this newfangled Nook?"
  
  It seems hypocritical to me, somehow. Phony. Almost treacherous. Are you a man or a mouse?
  
  They're selling books while stabbing them in the back. (I'm talkin' to you, Amazon and Barnes and Noble and the idiotic independents who somehow think it's a good idea.)
  
  So, sell the frackin' Nook, because you obviously believe it to be the future.
  
  I'll buy my books from someone who still prefers the books.
  
  An ever diminishing minority, perhaps.
• October 29, 2011
• 11:37

  Not doing myself any favors.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  It's no coincidence that I've been writing a new book since June, 2011.
  
  That's about when I finally got the chance string more than 2 days off from Pegasus Books at a time. It simply takes me 3, 4, or even better 5 days off at a time to get anything on paper. Hell, I probably spend at least a day or two just getting creatively prepared. Mulling things over.
  
  What this whole process has done, though, is shown to myself just how lazy myself really is.
  
  It may seem a little strange to say I'm lazy when I'm writing my 8th complete book. But, given the time and inclination, there should have been so much more. A good case can be made that I wasted 2 of those books by not putting in that last bit of effort.
  
  When I resurrected my 7th book, Sometimes a Dragon, I was surprised by how slender the whole thing was -- how thin. I remember expending a great deal of time and energy and thought on that book. I expected more.
  
  I'm going to expect more of myself with this latest effort. I'm not releasing it until I think it is really ready. None of this -- "well, it's mostly there, let's see what happens" -- stuff. It's impatience, and hoping for someone to come along and "fix" things, and intellectual laziness.
  I'm not doing myself any favors by being that way.
  
  My 6th book, Deviltree, is complete. I was forced to rewrite it several times, and each time it improved. But I don't want to put it into the world until I've at least written a couple of more up to date efforts.
  
  I'm even contemplating going back and trying the "fix" Sometimes A Dragon. I think it can be fixed, but I got scared by how much work it was going to be. Now, looking at how equally hard the latest book is going to be to rewrite, I realize that I have a leg up by having a first draft. In other words, I'm further along in the process with the seventh book than I currently am with the eighth book, but it took writing the new book to see that.
  
  I wish it was easy.
  
  But for me, it's not.
  
  Still, if I really put the effort in, I could see having three new books out in the world a year or two from now. One I just wrote, one I needed to fix, and one I have already completed. Then I'd like to see if I can't come up with a sequel to the current book -- maybe even a series.
  
  I may be dreaming, but -- well, it's that dreaming part that gives me the motive to keep going.
  
  I stopped calling myself a "writer" about 20 years ago, even though I had three published books under my belt. Finishing three more books, and getting them out into the world -- by means of the internet -- I think I can start calling myself a writer again.
  
  Hey, and five years worth of bloggin everyday!
• 9:32

  Downtown Comings and Goings. 10/29/11.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Have it on good authority that Azu on Wall Street is closing up.
  
  I guess Showcase Hats, which had moved to Oregon Ave., closed last month.
  
  NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN
  
  Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
  Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
  Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
  Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
  The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
  Andres Dance Club, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
  Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
  Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall, 2008.)
  
  BUSINESSES LEAVING
  
  Mad Happy Lounge, Brooks St., 10/11.
  Azu, Wall St., 10/25/11.
  Showcase Hats, Oregon Av., 10/11.
  Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
  Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
  Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
  Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
  Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall 2008.)
  
• 9:03

  Well, thanks for noticing, anyway.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  When I first started blogging about street closures, I got little to no support.
  
  I'd get hints and signals that others thought street closures harmful, but no outright backing.
  
  So it's been nice to see the flurry of activity over the last few months. The instigating events was scheduling a bike race on the first Friday Art Hop downtown. Pissed off a couple of gallery owners and the owner of two restaurants.
  
  Just following that, (or possibly just preceding that), was a thoughtful letter to the Bulletin which raised the issue.
  
  A flurry of e-mails were sent between business owners, and a meeting was set up to discuss the issue, which -- from all accounts -- didn't really accomplish much. More meetings and committees.
  
  The aforementioned resturant owner contacted the Bulletin, which then did an article on the subject where I was quoted.
  
  Last week, I got an nice e-mail asking if it would be O.K. to use some of my blog comments in the taping of a Talk of the Town segment on the local cable. Unfortunately, I didn't see the e-mail until that evening, but apparently many of the issues were covered nevertheless.
  
  And finally, I noticed there was a story on KTVZ last night. (Which confused First Friday's with street closures. I'll repeat, I don't mind events as long as there isn't a street closure included.)
  
  Anyway, while I don't believe anything has changed, at least there is awareness of the issue, which is a first step.
  
  Maybe the next time a street closure is considered, they'll think twice.
  
  And then -- they'll approve it, anyway.
  
  But at least they'll be conflicted about it!
• October 28, 2011
• 10:01

  Big greasy lip prints.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  A big greasy lips print on the window outside my Slave Leia standup. Heh. Hey, come on in an buy her. You can take her home!
  
  On second thought. I don't want to know about that.
  
  **********
  
  Had a Walking Dead action figure walk away yesterday.
  
  Hey, you are what you steal!
  
  Amazing how yucky shoplifting makes me feel. I can't describe the feeling. Disappointment, only worse. Vulnerability. Just a deep down discomfort.
  
  Considering the kind of store I have, I'm probably lucky it doesn't happen more often.
  
  I know it's naive of me, but I can't help but wonder at someone who would take enjoyment out of an item they stole. "Wow. What a cool figure! (and I'm a slimebag.)
  
  **********
  
  Read a chapter at writer's group; the scene setting up the penultimate 'action' chapters.
  
  I knew it was just a bridge chapter, a 'marshaling the forces' chapter.
  
  But one of the group members, Gary, told me I'd resorted to "school boy" solutions to the problems.
  
  Ouch. But it was totally accurate. I understood exactly what he meant. It was as if I had a protagonist stranded on a road in the middle of nowhere, and in order to get him where I need him I have a bus come by to pick him up -- just coming up with solutions that aren't quite credible.
  
  He also had a suggestion that would make the set up more credible, but which will require a whole bunch of rewriting.
  
  The closer to the end of this book I get, the more I realize I'm in for a real job of rewriting. I was kidding myself to think otherwise.
  
  On the other hand, I probably needed to kid myself about how easy this was going to be, or I wouldn't have started and continued.
  
  ***********
  
  Took my financial adviser's advice -- heh -- and left the money in the stock market I had intended to remove into safer investments. (I can't believe I even have a financial adviser --inherited from parents-- or for that matter, the finances that need advice.)
  
  Looking like a hell of a good decision as of today.
  
  Let's see how it looks in a week.
  
  What a big game.
• October 27, 2011
• 9:51

  Part of the culture, and not part of it.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Was hauling in my books off the sidewalk when a guy walked up and animatedly started talking about an old Superman comic he once owned.
  
  "I don't really worry about that kind of thing," I interrupted. "Comics are for reading and enjoying."
  
  I felt sort of bad that I cut him off so abruptly. It's a comic store thing -- everyone wants to tell you about the comics they "once" had; usually I try to be patient but I was tired and wanted to go home.
  
  Anyway, this is an entire part of the comic culture that I don't pay much attention to anymore: The collecting and investment part. I also pay little attention to comic shows, and/or costuming, movies, except insofar as I enjoy watching them, cartoons, mostly, video games, entirely, webcomics, only when they are collected. And so on and so forth.
  
  Half the comic websites I visit are talking about these things, and I realize they are a big part of the comic scene -- but I've lost most of my interest in them.
  
  Maybe it's an age thing. I just can't get that worked up over a movie studio ruining a character, or the fact that some person spent a million dollars on an old comic.
  
  The focus, as always, should be on the product itself. The experience of it. The reading and immersing. All the rest is fanboy stuff I just don't have time for.
  
  I realize it's important to the overall health of the market, so I try to be neutral. And I've hired young guys who are much more in tune with the whole scene. They go to shows, play the video games, can carry on a lively discussion of the relative merits of superhero movies.
  
  But I've pretty much narrowed my focus it down to the store itself. Simplified, if you will.
  
  I pick up a lot of this information, nevertheless, just because I read so much. So I can usually carry on a conversation, if I must, about the latest San Diego Con., or the latest movies, but mostly I'm not into that part of the culture.
  
  I mean, I just don't take it all that seriously.
  
  Seems to me, though, that I'm into the most important part of the culture, the comics and books themselves. Which is another place where experience comes in: I realize as most of my customers don't, that there are more things in Heaven and Earth, or even in my little world of comics and books, than I can ever master.
  
  I'll never know it all. There will always be books I don't know about, or comic artists I've never heard of, so I may as well relax. Not feel the pressure to be all things to all people.
  
  Enjoy what I got.
  
  
  Re-reading this, it isn't quite right.
  
  I'm fascinated by popular culture. I have the kind of personality that likes to accrue information, useful or not.
  
  Maybe it's the more social aspects of the culture I'm not part of. Shows, meetings, clubs and such.
  
  Reading to me is a one to one activity. I actually do enjoy talking about the things I've read.
• October 26, 2011
• 8:44

  Someone else might kill your business, so you'll do it instead?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Both Apple and Amazon have reported severe drops in profits.
  
  Which makes me somewhat suspicious. High flyers who suddenly have crappy quarters, just makes me wonder how high the highs and how low the lows. In other words, did they -- for strategic reasons -- pile their profits in one quarter, and pile their loses in another?
  
  But it also got me to thinking how, up until now, all I've been thinking about is how Amazon's Kindle is affecting bookstores. But maybe I should have been considering how the Kindle might be affecting what, up until recently, was Amazon's own core business:
  
  Selling books.
  
  You know, what was once their main reason for being.
  
  Much like Barnes and Noble making their own business model obsolete by selling the Nook.
  
  There is no guarantee, it seems to me, that these new high tech businesses will make them as much money as their old businesses did.
  
  After all, the same dynamics that save them money on the digital, also make it possible for competitors.
  
  In other words, no one was likely to pop up and be competitive to either Amazon or Barnes and Noble in the selling of physical books. They were pretty safely in the lead.
  
  But I can see plenty of opportunity for smaller players to compete with them on the digital.
  Not only the physical e-readers themselves, which I expect will eventually be divided into expensive e-readers and cheap knockoffs, which would make both the Nook and the Kindle in the no man's land in the middle, but also the digital content.
  
  Smaller, more agile providers; or someone out of the blue, like Netflix.
  
  Meanwhile, they've also opened themselves to competition from the big boys -- for instance, Apple, and it's IPad.
  
  I'm still not sure I understand why businesses subvert their own business models.
  
  Their answer -- if we don't do it, someone else will -- just seems lame. Sure, other people can try. But they might not necessarily succeed, especially if you aren't being cooperative.
  
  This is doubly true for the publishers, who are making themselves unnecessary.
  
  Yes, I understand that the music industry tried to fight it and failed. But I'm not sure caving in completely is the answer, either. Much less instigating the change and leading the charge.
• 8:20

  Give me some of that "loan."

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  County loans.
  
  I agree with the Bulletin's editorial today about the unfairness of county loans to local businesses.
  
  I would add, from what I've observed, they are pretty ineffective, too. Yeah, the county forgives some 'loans', which makes them a gift -- a grant, if you will. But mostly it forgives loans because the business can't pay back -- or goes out of business altogether.
  
  My observation is -- most small business operations are Mom and Pop, and while they could use some of that "grant" money, it would be impossible not to be unfair in allocating that money, plus a bureaucratic nightmare.
  
  Bigger loans can be more targeted -- but in some ways are even more unfair.
  
  There was a case a few years back where the county loaned -- what would have been to me -- a very large amount of money to a business that eventually failed. A tenth of that money, a twentieth of that money, would have been enough to put me on a solid footing. (And by extension, 10 or 20 other small Mom and Pops.)
  
  I agree with the Bulletin that this money could be used in more effective ways.
  
  I've mentioned before that I'm leery of mixing 'for-profit' with 'not-profit' monies. Usually seems to go to waste.
  
  That said, if the county wants to "grant" me some of that lucre , I promise I'll try to hire someone.
  
  What do you say?
  
  **********
  
  Meanwhile, I don't know what's going on with the Facebook situation.
  
  Yeah, it seems unfair that they get hit with taxes by the state that are unexpected.
  
  But isn't that their own fault? Due diligence, and all that?
  
  And their whining makes it seem like they want a completely free ride -- which I suspect is pretty much what they've gotten up to now.
  
  **********
  
  I'm sure that not all off-roaders are irresponsible.
  
  Just like not all skateboarders are snarky.
  
  But...well...if you go into the woods at all, you can see that there is a lack of concern by some of these guys toward the habitat.
  
  Fact.
  
  **********
• October 25, 2011
• 14:48

  zombie jerky

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Got some zombie jerky to sell at the store. Kind of pricey, until you consider how they are still moaning and squirming and trying to bite you when you chop them up.
  
  They come with a moldy green patina.
  
  Along with my Soylent Green crackers and True Blood beverages, it's almost lunch.
• 10:48

  Tethered.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Having now carried my IPhone around with me for about a week (and getting a grand total of 2 phone calls and three texts), I realized that everyone has it backward.
  
  A cellphone is supposed to free us from being tethered to communication devices.
  
  But it does the opposite.
  
  We are now permanently tethered to our communication devices.
  
  When we had landlines, we were free from them when we weren't near them.
  
  Just saying.
• 9:57

  Store status.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  DC is talking about producing prequels to the Watchmen. Lots of comic residue there. Alan Moore has famously feuded with DC comics; so this is a bit of "In Your Face."
  
  Trouble with trying to write in the same world as a classic -- you are almost guaranteed to fail.
  
  Before the Watchmen movie came out, this would probably have diluted sales of the great graphic novel. But sales have dropped so drastically, this might actually help.
  
  Sales wise.
  
  Another "In Your Face" to Alan Moore is an omnibus edition to League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, which the great bearded writer has taken later editions to other publishers.
  
  **********
  
  Update on the New 52.
  
  Sales were by far the strongest on the first week, tailing off through the month. This is the last week of the second month, so the trend lines are becoming clearer.
  
  So the only real surprise was selling out that first week -- the gradual falling into sustainable numbers was pretty predictable. I'm still happy with the new customers -- none of them have quit yet. But not every comic is selling just because it exists.
  
  It was a nice surge, and I expect it will settle in at significantly higher numbers than before.
  
  Now if Marvel could just figure out some way to do something similar.
  
  I took a DC Survey, which was a pretty meaningless exercise. I mean, trying to pick winners out the first week's sales was pointless because they ALL sold out. The survey needed to be broader and take in a longer period of time, but, hey, they enticed me so I filled it out.
  
  ***********
  
  I've kind of decided there isn't much point in worrying about e-books. I understand that they are there, that they may take over the world -- but that's neither here nor there for me.
  
  I'm carrying books until I can't carry books anymore. Simple as that.
  
  **********
  
  This surge in business has given me the chance to reinvest on the more neglected parts of my store.
  
  I've ordered more sports cards; more toys; and even more anime and manga. I want every section of the store to perform at least a little, so that altogether they make a healthy total.
  
  One thing that seems to separate the way I do business from just about everybody else I read about: I don't feel like I have the luxury of only carrying the better selling material. I sell about as much of the better selling material as I can and it isn't enough. I have to sell some of the slower material to be viable.
  
  Slightly larger demographics might solve that. But I have the demographics I have.
  
  **********
  
  After lying low over the last 3 years, I'm finally trying to exploit any increase in sales I see anywhere in the store. All I needed was a few signs of life.
  
  This year will beat last year for the first time since 2007. 2008, 2009, and 2010, were all declines.
  
  The increase may be only a few percentage points, but it's an increase. Heh.
  
  I don't necessarily feel the economy has gotten a whole lot better, it just has quit getting a whole lot worse, giving any kind of increased interest a chance to happen.
  
  Comics, as you've been reading from my posts about the New 52, are up. Books and games are up slightly, through constant upgrading.
  
  In other words, I think it's more like it has usually been in my store -- the product decides if sales are up or down, not the economy.
  
  It was the economy having such a huge effect on us that was so unusual, and obviously points to how dire the economy was (can could still be, without much of a push.)
• October 24, 2011
• 9:34

  Monday Mops.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Linda enjoyed Once Upon a Time. I thought it painfully bad. It's the type of "polyester" fantasy that give fantasy a bad name. Bad Halloween costume fantasy. Argggg.
  
  Next up. Grimm.
  
  I'm somewhat perturbed that both of these stories have a tangential take on the "fairytale" to my own version. I didn't know either show was coming when I started my book.
  
  **********
  
  Interesting time warps happen when you read newspapers a month late. New York Times Book Review, 9/18/11.
  
  There was a review by Yale historian Beverly Gage, of a book (American Dreamers, Michael Kazin) about the American Left that starts:
  
  "We might as well call it: The American left is dead. Faced with the greatest crisis of capitalism in almost a century, the left has mounted no effective mass protests...."
  
  What a difference a month makes. Interestingly, the book says that the Left has never "been much good at building institutions..." but "it has been enormously effective at shifting the nation's moral compass."
  
  It also has a timely prescription, that the Occupy Wall Street people have followed, of having "broad" goals, based on "egalitarian transformation of society."
  
  If nothing else, the Occupy Wall Street people have changed the conversation.
  
  **********
  
  Slowly, slowly. I'm carrying around my cellphone, telling my employees they can call me or even text me.
  
  Dragged, kicking and screaming, into the digital age.
  
  Even had my first spontaneous online "chat" the other day.
  
  Whatever.
  
  All because Linda bought me an IPhone and I don't want it to go to waste.
  
  **********
  
  Going to weatherize the house today. Jesus, I'm lazy.
• October 23, 2011
• 9:22

  Sunday such.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  The birds drinking the water in our clogged gutters and s**tting all over our decks.
  
  I got up on a lawn chair to see if it was easy fix. Next thing I know, I'm on my back, my feet and legs bleeding, from breaking through the plastic.
  
  This is how it ends.
  
  **********
  
  Speaking of wolves.
  
  "Nature" had a show a week ago that showed how wildlife has come back strong in the area around Chernobyl.
  
  In other words, humans are way, way more toxic to wildlife than melted reactors....
  
  **********
  
  Read four weeks worth of New York Times this week. Had fallen behind.
  
  You know what? It feels like I have read half the articles from 4 weeks ago in the meantime somewhere else.
  
  What will happen to news in this country when the primary sources go away?
  
  **********
  
  Either the Boys and Girls Clubs have a lot of bad luck, or there are some bad decisions being made. A little of both, I suspect. The bad decisions are probably arising in an understandable desire to save money...
  
  ***********
  
  Owning a home.
  
  Bringing in all the hoses, closing all the vents, cleaning the gutters...where's a landlord when you need one?
  
  ************
  
  "The Other Zuckerberg, Now Out On Her Own."
  
  ""RtoZ Media, to help companies take advantage of social media."
  
  It seems like half the "high-tech" businesses I read about, even locally, are based on a variation of this.
  
  It all seems sort of bogus to me. Let me show you how to advertise? Let me show you how to use social media?
  
  Couldn't you hire a 17 year old to show you the same things a lot cheaper?
  
  ***********
  
  HEH.
  
  Out of the five books in the review pages of the Bulletin this morning, two are graphic novels. The classic Maus, and the newer Habibi. (Both, I might mention, I always keep in stock.)
  
  A third review is about George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire.
  
  At least the intelligentsia are taking graphic literature seriously.
  
  You'd think between all the movies and T.V. shows and the great S.F. and Fantasy books, and the reviews in major media, that comics would be booming.
  
  You'd think that, huh.
  
  **********
  
  Growing up, there was always Ray LeBlanc (obit today) and Dutch (and the inimitable Ruth) Stover around, here in Bend.
  
  I used to mow the Stover's lawn down along the river.
  
  Old Bend.
  
  **********
  

  
• October 22, 2011
• 10:34

  What goes around comes around.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Read another article on the demise of "category killer" stores. These stores were so overwhelming in their inventory of a single category that they wiped out most small independent stores.
  
  ToyrUs, Barnes and Noble, Best Buy....stores like that. It mentioned that it was believed that sales at Best Buy would go up when Circuit City went out, but that it didn't happen. (The same could probably be said for Barnes and Noble versus Borders.)
  
  Whereas I saw a completely different dynamic. I saw Circuit City as Belgium falling before the Blitzkrieg, but that just makes Best Buy -- France.
  
  Thinking you'll do better when all your competitors are failing seems illogical to me. If you saw all your farming neighbors failing because of bad weather, would you assume it would make your farm do better? Or would the same factors also be affecting you?
  
  In essence, the article maintained that most of these stores are no longer working because they are too big in space, that when entire sections of the store become obsolete, it drags down the rest of the store. They have 3/4th a store in a 1 space.
  
  Then I look at my store, and I have, more or less, 3 stores in the space of 1.
  
  The article also suggested that these "category killers" would have to find product to replace the ineffective product, but that it would have to "fit" what they have. No easy task.
  
  Then I look at my store, and after much experimentation and trying and failing and trying again, I have a mix of product that "fits."
  
  The article suggested that each store will have to come up with a "unique" mix of inventory, which runs counter to what a big box store does.
  
  Then I look at my store, and almost by definition, my store is made up of a "unique" mix of inventory.
  
  Category Killers will need to come up with reasons to have people want to browse their stores, and be something other than 'destination stores' for one type of product.
  
  My store is in a busy downtown core where I more or less depend on the people off the street, many of them tourists, finding it worthwhile to come in browse.
  
  Finally, the article suggested that these stores will have to get smaller.
  
  Which as I keep pointing out, just makes them regular stores -- which loses all the advantages they once had. Good luck with that.
  
  Not just Category Killers, which are a specific type of Big Box store, the article goes on to say that it will also eventually drag down the more general type -- like Walmart.
  
  The ponzi scheme of building more and more and bigger and bigger stores will come to an end -- because the INTERNET is the BIGGEST store of all. You'll have to use a tool other than "bigger" and "more product" or, indeed, "price" to attract customers. All the usual tricks won't work.
  
  In other words, I think the irony is that smaller independent stores may well survive the advent of the internet better than the big box stores.
  
  Which is a strange kind of justice.
• October 21, 2011
• 10:28

  Squeezing for productivity.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  "Gaddafi's caught in the crossfire."
  
  Yeah.
  
  You know.
  
  Oops.
  
  **********
  
  This call for small businesses NOT to hire in order to sabotage Obama's election chances?
  
  I think I may have to figure out how to hire someone, instead.
  
  **********
  
  "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned / Nor hell a fury like a CODE WRITER scorned."
  
  Always fun to watch someone throw caution to the wind. In witty rage. It's sort of awe inspiring...like a psycho Dilbert.
  
  If you don't know what I'm talking about, check out the local twitter. (Look for Paul.)
  
  **********
  
  Penney's left the Galleria building in the 70's not the 80's. I don't remember when the place was last renovated, but I suspect it was way sooner than 1989. Can't prove it.
  
  "Old Downtown Building Getting Modern Makeover." Bulletin, 10/21/11.
  
  ************
  
  From what I've read, Steve Jobs refused to have his tumor removed for nine months because he wanted to fight it with "diet."
  
  Being an innovative thinker can be deadly.
  
  **********
  
  Linda has fallen in love with the ads for The Three Musketeers. No matter how many bad reviews.
  
  Based on the ads I expected Footloose and Real Steel to suck; and 3 Musketeers and The Thing to be cool.
  
  The reviews say the opposite.
  
  I still want to see Puss and Boots. Because the preview is great.
  
  ***********
  
  Squeezing for productivity. There's an article on the Bleeding Cool site that talks about Marvel's penny pinching ways since Disney bought them.
  
  I tell you, if I ran my business this way, I'd be in the gutter within 5 years. (My profits might be up for the first couple years...)
  
  Since this is happening all over corporate America, I think we're headed for the gutter.
  
  How much of whatever lackluster improvement in the economy has come from squeezing the employees and the inventory and the lack of infrastructure spending?
  
  P.S. Walmart just cut health benefits. Any guesses as to whether they'll report a corporate profit increase?
• October 20, 2011
• 9:08

  Thursday thunks.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Linda has had a miserable cold. But it looks like a 3 day one --
  
  I sort of resign myself to getting a cold when she gets one -- though once in awhile I get away with it.
  
  **********
  
  The store is still on a roll. This will be the fourth month in a row that we beat last year, and I'm betting we can do it again next month. Christmas might be harder to do.
  
  I'm also spending a lot more, too. I was able to pay my taxes without taking money out of savings, though it meant I wasn't able to pay down my credit cards quite as much as usual. I'll try to take care of that at Christmas.
  
  I gotta say -- it's more fun at work when things are doing well.
  
  **********
  
  I know it's regressive; but a flat tax appeals to me.
  
  Problem is, I get the feeling that we all-- the 99%, if you will -- would pay the flat tax, but the 1% and the corporations would find a way not to pay.
  
  And I'm not that far away from remembering what it was like to have to pay even a small amount of tax when I couldn't pay the rent.
  
  **********
  
  No money for a silt study? (Bulletin.)
  
  Hey, no money for anything.
  
  Except studies that tell us we need more studies to tell us we need more studies...
  
  *********
  
  "Retailers Plan to Offer Deals of Desperation."
  
  Uh, no.
  
  I'm going to spend every dime I have on premium, evergreen product and let nature take care of itself.
  
  I'm not going to flail around chasing after reluctant customers.
  
  I loved this quote: "....the only way to get holiday sales is to offer the one thing that will attract shoppers these days: low prices. That's a change from better economic times when stores could lure customers away with promises of higher-quality products or better customer service."
  
  Uh....unless "these days" means the last half century, this is the way it's always been.
  
  I don't remember the second half of that equation as EVER being true, at least not in my career.
  
  Dream on.
  
  **********
  
  I've already commented several times on the Kindle Fire exclusive with DC graphic novels, and the response by Barnes and Noble and Books a Million to remove those titles from their brick and mortar stores.
  
  I wonder if this the first battle in an 'exclusive' battle. I sort of hope so and at the same time dread it. Hope for it, because such Balkanization will hurt the usefulness of e-books, dread it because of the damage it will do the the publishing industry. (Can't sell books if they aren't making them.)
  
  The publishing industry is in trouble. Amazon has already started the process of leaving out the publishers altogether, going directly to authors.
  
  Hey, what did they think was going to happen?
  
  I still think the publishers made and are making a huge mistake expediting the transformation to digital books. They should have fought it. But they were so freaked out by what happened to the music industry, that they overreacted.
  
  I would have said. "Our books will be coming out in hardcover, followed later by paperback, and when they are through selling, we'll be happy to put them into digital. That is all."
  
  I know that absolutely no one agrees with me.
• October 19, 2011
• 9:00

  More SKU's, please.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Watched a couple of documentaries on "design" last night on Netflix.
  
  One was about the "font"; Helvetica. I'll never be able to look at lettering the same again.
  
  The other was "Objectified" which was more or less about the form and function of manufactured objects.
  
  One of the people they quote talks about how design is meant to replace the old with the new and that sometimes there is no more reason for it than that: that mass marketers need more units and types of things to sell. (Thus filling the worlds landfills for no good reason.)
  
  It makes the whole "cheap" argument kind of bogus, when things could be designed to last and not constantly replaced.
  
  Anyway, the discussion of how the mass market wants more SKU's (stock keeping units) made me think of -- yes, I'm sorry I'm bringing it up again -- sports cards.
  
  When I started carrying sports cards there were three brands. Topps, Donruss and Fleer. Manufacturers did baseball, and football. No basketball. The packs more or less cost .50 and had fifteen or so cards and a stick of gum. Boxes had 36 packs.
  
  Small shops like me figured out that you could take those three basic brands and make more SKU's out of them by breaking them up: Singles (commons and stars and, later, semi-stars), complete sets, team sets, packs and boxes. Add in specialized knowledge and display space and some basic supplies, and suddenly you had an industry.
  
  After a few years, the sports cards were picked up by the major chain stores. By that time the brands had probably already proliferated a bit; new companies like Score and Upper Deck, and some price differentials -- Upper Deck at a 1.00 a back, for instance. But still, pretty much under control.
  
  They exploded. Three tiers -- base, semi-expensive and super-expensive. They segmented into multiple issues within one brand. To differentiated themselves from us small shops and each other, exclusives started being granted. Then inserts and subsets.
  
  Once the packs got expensive, then the mass market could "discount" them. That is -- at .50 cents a pack, there was only so much they could do to beat us. But at 5.00 a pack, they can beat us pretty handily.
  
  Nowadays, I'm offered 500.00 boxes of cards with a few packs in them and a few cards per pack. The value is supposed to be in 'memorabilia' cards (cut up game-worn jersey patches and such) and autographs. I'm offered 150.00 boxes of cards with one pack. Yep, one pack. With one card. Ludicrous.
  
  They finally gave us small shops the better brands, called "Hobby", but which are much more expensive and since grandma can't see the difference, she'll save money and buy the lesser brands from Walmart.
  
  Anyway, to get back to my original point. I read this years ago, and I believe it to be true: The reason sports cards are so expensive is because Walmart WANTED them to be expensive -- the opposite of what everyone assumes.
  
  This all happened because of the mass markets insatiable need for more and more and newer and newer SKU's.
  
  The market is totally dysfunctional. Topps is the only real survivor -- an Italian sticker company, of all things, Panini, is the other major player.
  
  You really have to wonder if all the cheap crap at the mass market is only cheap in relative terms, and in most cases unnecessary in variety and styles -- in other words, JUNK.
  
  Sports card packs are expensive, overall, but cheaper at Walmart.
  
  But not really cheap, you know what I mean?
• October 18, 2011
• 11:28

  Dealing wth stuff.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I was asked why I hadn't commented on the Bulletin shrinking in size.
  
  Well, it isn't terribly noticeable. I remember picking up the San Francisco papers and thinking they looked and felt weird. But those papers were thick.
  
  The Bulletin just isn't thick it enough.
  
  **********
  
  Linda just finished reading The Twentieth Wife for her reader group.
  
  "Wait a minute. I thought you already read that."
  
  "No...that was the 19th Wife."
  
  "Oh....well, what about the 18th Wife, doesn't she count?"
  
  "Chop liver, honey. Chop liver."
  
  **********
  
  I didn't go to the meeting about street closures. If I had, it would have been my first Downtowner meeting in 20 years, so I don't have any clout there.
  
  I feel like I'm more effective in writing my concerns, than in trying to speak to a room full of strangers.
  
  I feel like I'm more effective as an outsider, than as in insider. (See poem: Speaking From the Brambles.)
  
  I hate to be cynical, but I also don't expect much to change. But then again, change won't happen without some preparation, and we are in that early stage probably. Maybe.
  
  **********
  
  Been dealing with financial matters these last couple of days. Taxes went out yesterday, and we also went to visit our financial adviser.
  
  Nothing major. But learned a bunch of things.
  
  Just not things I can talk about.
  
  Heh, I want my blog to be candid, but I ain't stupid.
• October 17, 2011
• 9:16

  How come everyone knows what to do except the actual businesses?

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Thanks Bulletin for telling me what's best for my business.
  
  "Don't Kill Downtown Festivals, Tame Them."
  
  These are the same arguments I've heard for 30 years.
  
  "There are already limits on the number of festivals"...."that can close off downtown streets."
  
  Some limit. 3 weekends out of 4. So they let us have one summer weekend per month to actually benefit from the summer business.
  
  "Reservations for July and August dates will probably be full for the next 100 years...." "Demand for January and February for street closures is typically light.:
  
  And yet somehow -- it's O.K for downtown businesses to pay their high rents during the "typically light" months. But outside vendors are allowed to avoid these months, and cherry pick our busiest season.
  
  "There have been questions and concerns about downtown street closures for years."
  
  And these questions and concerns have been utterly ignored. I should know -- I think I've been about the only downtown business owner who has been willing to go on record. What's most interesting about this, is that they have pushed these events so hard that others are finally speaking up.
  
  "It's not like the city can just look through the books of all the downtown businesses and tally up the sales data."
  
  Hey, my business goes down during events. I'm not lying. But somehow that fact falls on deaf ears.
  
  "The crowds also bring exposure if they don't bring immediate sales. That exposure can encourage visitors to make more trips."
  
  Wait a minute. Didn't you just ask for evidence? Prove the above assertion, because I don't believe it's true any more, no matter how much sense it makes on the surface. Really. Prove it.
  
  In fact, I've told the Bulletin that I think they should do a survey of other cities, to see how they handle these things. How often are streets closed in downtown districts? How often in the summer? What are the restrictions and costs? Are there any studies (not paid for by the promotion industry) that actually prove the long term benefits?
  
  " Bend has a downtown that many communities would love to have. The city must not jeopardize Bend's vibrancy..."
  
  You know what? That's just insulting. It isn't the festivals that make downtown vibrant! It's the businesses. The festivals are feeding off that vibrancy, not the other way around. These street closures should be in proportion to how much we need them. Years ago, downtown Bend needed as many events as possible.
  
  But as we actually succeeded, we should have begun to tail off on the number of events but instead -- like Frankenstein's monster -- they've taken on a momentum that apparently can't be stopped.
  
  It is unbelievably frustrating to see these events continually expand.
• October 16, 2011
• 9:58

  Speaking From The Brambles.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  Speaking from the brambles,
  behind my wall of thorns,
  I give my sage and pine advice,
  through branches I can't be heard.
  
  I've hollowed out my nest,
  my view is veined with leaves,
  The trees are old and hoary,
  they tilt and they shed.
  
  The sky leaks when it rains,
  Winter is coming.
  Snow falls around me, and
  melts on my head.
  
  Speaking from the brambles,
  behind my wall of thorns,
  I give my sage (and pine) advice,
  knowing I can't be heard.
  
  
  
  OR: Would this be better? Or just different?
  
  
  
  Speaking from the brambles,
  "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"
  
  Behind my wall of thorns,
  "Whoops!"
  
  I give my sage (and pine) advice,
  "That's gotta hurt!"
  
  Through the branches, I can't be heard,
  "Told you so!"
  
  I've hollowed out a nest,
  "You can visit but don't stay!"
  
  My view is veined with leaves,
  "Watch out for that hole!"
  
  The sky leaks, when it rains,
  "Winter is coming!"
  
  The trees are old and hoary,
  "Seen it all before!"
  
  They tilt and shed,
  "Ouch!"
  
  I hide behind my wall of thorns,
  and feather my nest.
  And give my best advice.
• October 15, 2011
• 9:00

  Downtown Comings and Goings. 10/14/11.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  I started to write this up a couple of days ago, since the Downtowners were trumpeting the low vacancy rate.
  
  Anyway, I realized that I couldn't visualize where these places were, exactly, so Linda and I went looking for them.
  
  Gypsy Soul ("women’s fashion and gypsy home furnishings") is on Wall St., next to Pizza Mondo, where the t-shirt shop used to be. Lotus Moon ("sustainable gifts, clothes and jewelry") is on Brooks St., where Wabi Sabi used to be.
  
  The Lobby is where the Bond Street Market was before it moved. A wifi cafe. Above it, I guess, is going to be an "all-ages" dance club, Andre's Dance Club.
  
  Ruby, a "chic lounge and bar" on Minnesota St.
  
  Colour N' the City, has opened in Tin Pan Alley. "Furniture and decor."
  
  It seems firm that Jackalope Grill is coming to Putnam Pointe.
  
  
  
  Meanwhile, Bourbon St. is closed, though it may be reopened under a new name and theme.
  
  
  
  Overall, a pretty impressive showing...
  
  
  NEW BUSINESSES DOWNTOWN
  
  Jackalope Grill, 10/12/11.
  Gypsy Soul, Wall St. 10/12/11.
  Colour N' the City, Tin Pan Alley, 10/12/11.
  Lotus Moon, Brooks St., 10/12/11.
  The Lobby, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Ruby, Minnesota Ave., 10, 12/11.
  Andres Dance Club, Bond St. , 10/12/11.
  Kariella, Lava Road, 8/24, 11.
  Plankers, Wall St., 7/11.
  Faveur, Franklin, 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall, 2008.)
  
  BUSINESSES LEAVING
  
  Bourbon St., Minnesota Ave. 10/12/11.
  Curiosity Shop, Minnesota Ave., 7/11
  Luluemon, Bond St., 8/26, 11.
  Shear Illusions, Franklin Ave., 7/11.
  Crepe Place, Wall St., 7/11.
  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
  
  (List begun, Fall 2008.)
• 0:02

  Why do you write a book? Because it's there.

   » ‎ best minimum wage job a middle aged guy ever had

  Tags:    [edit]

  My original springboard to writing was the thought: "Write a story." Simply that. I'm back to using that as my mantra.
  
  I spend a lot of time just thinking about, mulling over my book.
  
  It doesn't seem like I'm accomplishing much, but that's part of the process. Hard to distinguish sometimes whether I'm just being lazy or I'm letting my subconscious work on it.
  
  I want to be disciplined, but I don't want to force it. There is a fine line there.
  
  As I've said before, the writing process is at least as important as the creativity in actually accomplishing a book. Maybe more so. I can let my imagination run wild, but if I can't get it down on paper effectively, so what?
  
  This may sound conceited, but I don't have doubt in my technical ability to 'write.' I also feel I have the creative chops. But the working process? That's more than half the battle to me. Doing the work.
  
  Writing has has given some purpose to my non-working (businessman) life. That is, I've always tended to sit around and ponder things anyway, as part of my personality, so at least this sitting around and pondering is serving a purpose...
  
  After my first three books were published, I could justify no end of sitting around and pondering.
  
  Sitting in an easy chair, in a dark living room, quiet, a notebook on my lap. It brings back some nostalgic memories.
  
  What subverted my writing career before was my own habits. They weren't effective. I would both over write and under write and not in the correct proportions. Especially my first book, STAR AXE. The final draft probably needed more, but it got published.
  
  My second and third books (SNOWCASTLES and ICETOWERS)) came relatively easy, and were accepted right away, but probably needed a bit more work. Still, they are the model for what I'm trying to write now. Push through a first draft, then go back and flesh it out.
  
  My fourth and fifth books were undercooked (under mulled, if you will) and my sixth book (DEVILTREE) was over cooked, refried, burned and salted and frozen and reheated and.....well, it actually turned out pretty good, but not to me.
  
  I'd have to say my seventh book was on overreaction to that and thus, undercooked.
  
  After that, I was so leery about the whole process that I think I created a writer's block. Which more or less lasted 25 years.
  
  Now I'm back to: "Tell a story."
  
  This is the first time I've been able to put together all the working lessons from those experiences and effectively follow through (so far.)
  
  My idea has been to:
  
  Write a first draft, at a pace that keeps the creative and the discipline in line with each other. Then, plan out the second draft and write it. Then, make final corrections (not so much rewriting the whole book again.)
  
  I think this is going to be a much more satisfying experience than I expected. Just finishing the first draft is making me feel like a writer again. I needed to prove to myself that I'm not all talk. The blog has helped. Being at the store and talking to people about creativity has helped. Seeing the possibilities of online and/e-books and have some people encouraging me in that direction has helped.
  
  But the biggest difference is pretty mundane. I have the time, finally. I'm guessing my average time off at the store over the last 25 years has been about 1 day a week. Sometimes it was 2 days, often it was no days off. The few times I had more time off I was so involved with expansions and employees that I really didn't have time off at all.
  
  I've noticed before that I can't even think about writing creatively unless I have 3 days in a row, and that's barely enough. Four days is better, five days and it can be done.
  
  But you still have to commit.
  
  To use a huge cliche, I think it's a lot like climbing a mountain. You take those first few steps and look up and think, "Oh, My God. What have I started?" You get halfway up, and you're just slogging. But you get to the top, and you've accomplished it.
  
  That is -- almost -- enough. Add in some liking of the book by the wife and some friends and the writer's group, and that helps too.
  
  But you can't count on a book doing much more than that.
  
  Why do you write a book? Because it's there.
• October 14, 2011
• 7:27

  "Mixed blessing...."

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  There is a bit of a movement afoot downtown to perhaps amend the street closures.
  
  You all know I've been advocating this for years.
  
  But when they closed the streets for a bike race on First Friday in September, they finally went too far. It upset some art galleries and restaurants.
  
  Thing is, this was going to happen sooner or later. It had to. If downtown kept hosting more and more and longer and longer events, it was bound to infringe eventually on enough businesses that someone was going to break out of the pack and complain. It happened a few years back, when me and a couple of other complained to the city councilors of the time, which is why the rules that are now in place were instituted. But like all inconvenient rules, it seems to me they've been stretched and 'exceptioned' to death.
  
  Chuck Arnold was kind enough to include me in an e-mail stream about the subject. But until today's article in the Bulletin, "Closed Roads a Mixed Blessing in Bend," I was thinking this was privileged information and not for me to talk about. But the cat seems to be out of the bag.
  
  I think it's interesting that an experienced restaurateur, such as Gavin McMichael, owner of the Blacksmith for many years, immediately decided that street closures on peak weekends didn't make sense and hurt business.
  
  I've heard rumblings of the same sort from other restaurant owners over the years.
  
  It's hard to get a business owner to say anything negative in public. At best you'll get a neutral answer. Nobody want to send out anything but positive messages.
  
  So you have to kind of gauge peoples reactions on an cryptic scale. Mild approval is probably really neutral. Mild disapproval means they really don't like it, but don't want to say.
  
  When the reporter called yesterday, I tried to take a mild tone -- pointing out that limiting the events only helped make the remaining events more special; that spacing them out a bit better would be more effective; looking for slower weekends or different locations downtown instead of closing streets (and parking) would be a good thing, and asking the event planners to be more mindful of the needs of downtown merchants.
  
  I was actually kind of surprised to learn that 3 street closures were allowed in each of the summer months. That's at least one too many; and as I say in the article, I think one event per month would maximize the remaining event, and allow us to do business during our normally busy times.
  
  In fact, I think it's backward. We need the events to occur in April and May and September and October -- when the weather is still decent and it might do us some good.
  
  I think in mid-July is almost causes gridlock. Like all good things, too much can be a bad thing.
  
  I'm not sanguine about the prospects of much changing. There is just too much of a lobby in support of these events: City and downtown officials, event planners, media (advertisers), vendors, and of course -- you the public who just want to right to PARTY!!!
  
  But at least this little flurry of activity has served warning that these events are, as the headline put it, a "mixed blessing." Chuck seems to think it's some kind of communication problem -- that we aren't being warned enough or something. But I always know when the events are coming, so I think that's a red herring. It's the events themselves that can be the problem.
  
  Without this constant reminder, they'll just keep adding events until the next time they go too far....