Went to work yesterday, meaning to ask Pat which days he was still going to be here so that Linda and I could fit in one more vacation. I had no employee lined up, and just figured I'd work every day for a while. Wasn't looking forward to it, but I've done it before, in fact pretty much done it the majority of time, and it becomes routine.

The next employee was going to need to be all the things I've looked for in the past, and also willing to take on 'tech' support and 'online' selling ventures.

Meanwhile, I was going to take every day off I could for the next few weeks.

But Pat surprised me by accepting my offer of being manager of Pegasus, with a raise that is halfway between what he is already earning and what I had offered him if I went and started Pegasus, Too.

I'm absolutely delighted. He's got the store down, right now. And he's still enthused. He's just eating up the pop culture of the place. D.K. left a box of Doc Savages with me, that I hadn't found room for, and Pat found them and starting reading them. He's discovered Flash Gordon, the new T.V. version, the old movie, and our collections of the old comic strips. One of the things I like about the kid is how curious and open he is to the old stuff.

I've teased him about not knowing who Fred Astaire is, among other old Hollywood actors. I forget how young he is. I expressed before that I consider it all part of one big campy fantastical world.

So with him there, I'll be better able to take on the new P.O.S. system this fall, as well as digging into the backstock and finding ways to exhibit and sell it all.

The store is clicking, right now. You go for years knowing that the store isn't quite performing right, trying to figure out what's wrong and how to fix it, and then you fall into a groove for awhile. It never lasts, but it's fun while it lasts.

It's now a full 7.5 years since the last NBT (Next Big Thing) and we are way, way, way overdue. For once, I'd be in a good position to take full advantage. I came across a beautiful statement, that expresses exactly how I feel about NBT's (or, if you will, pop culture bubbles). I think it was said by Galbraith, the economist. To paraphrase:

'Financial genius is leverage and a bull market.' I would add, and the wisdom to redeem that leverage in a timely manner....