Every August I get a vision of the promised land. The store works the way it's supposed to work, by god. Customers flow in the door, stuff is bought, reorders are easily absorbed, bills are paid without stress. Life is good.

And then September rolls along and slamdunks the store with a 25% drop.

It's an illusion, I know. If I was always doing the level of business I do in August, I have no doubt expenses would go up. But more importantly, my expectations would go up, and it would become the new norm.

I read once that when they survey people about how much more money would make them happy and secure, almost everyone mentioned a income about 25% higher -- it didn't matter if they were rich or poor, they saw a 25% shortfall.

It's also a bit of a dangerous time for me. I'm making orders for November, one of my slowest months, which means I have to squeeze my brain into a smaller jar. I have to stop reordering quite so much right about now, because whatever shows up only has about 10 days to sell, and the bills will come due on one of the worst weeks of the year -- the start of the school year.

Anyway, it's always very pleasant for a month or so. I'm trying to enjoy it.