A slug in the garden.

That's me.

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Dreamed I went to work today (my new day off.) I was all fumble-fingers and inept and overwhelmed. Retailer anxiety dream -- the buttons on the calculator just get smaller and smaller, every time I turn around I knock something over, people get disgusted and leave.

I need this day off, I think.

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I got a gander at the floor-plan of a very very very expensive house. Such self-indulgence! So out of proportion! Do the very rich just lose all moral compass?

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An intriguing tidbit about the new head of DC comics. She was the person in charge of shepherding J.K. Rowling's licenses through Warner Brothers.

A Harry Potter comic, anyone?

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The giant Redmond Home Center is having it's Grand Opening?

Could they have picked a worse time?

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Amazing how many people ask for super-hero stuff, but aren't the slightest bit interested in super-hero comics. They like the idea, I guess. But I've found over the years that such requests are usually a little too specific. Decals? But not those decals. T-shirts? But not those t-shirts. Posters? But not those posters.
And so on.

When Marvel went bankrupt in the late '90's they dumped most of this stuff for pennies on the dollar, and I picked up a bunch of it. And no one wanted it, even at half the price.

Oh, hell. Let me throw that open to the world. You all are into Batman and Superman and Spider-man? Right?

Not unless you've read a comic you're not.

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Every morning, Panga and Linda have a little hugfest. I wake up finding Panga draped over Linda's shoulder.

Then every evening, Panga seeks me out and demands my lap. Linda and I joke that she has split the day in half for us.

This morning, Panga wanted me to give her the hugfest. She's a big girl, nearly 20 pounds, and she always wants more cuddling than my arms can stand. When Linda is gone for more than a few days, she'll walk into the middle of Linda's office and meow loudly.

I know how she feels.

Linda is such a constant presence in my life. Always supportive and nice. Always willing to listen. Always a cheerful, bright nature soul. For the first few days she's gone, I keep feeling her there anyway. And then, the house starts to feel empty, hollow. Me and the cat look at each other saying, you aren't enough, bozo.

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Looks like Linda has resolved her sister's situation in S.F. for the time being. Lois apparently said, "You did good," to Linda, who had felt so overwhelmed by it all. The guy at the bank said, "You're lucky. Because your sister prepared, it only took you a couple of days. Most people keep coming back for weeks and months."

We'll see. I sort of expect a call after Linda gets home. But for now, Lois is in a safe place.

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Another article in the paper about how people are cutting back to "needs" rather than "wants" in purchasing.

Again, I don't think I'm seeing that. What I'm seeing are people who quit buying because they lost their jobs, left town, or had hours cut and expenses increase. They quit buying anything.

But the people who are still buying are still buying books and comics and such. So the focus shouldn't be on this idea that cutting back is somehow voluntary, but should be on the fact that they really are broke.

I don't know. The whole frugality argument seems like a red herring. Not the true cause of the downturn; nor real evidence that people have really cut back.

The frugality argument makes it sound as though we can't recover until the consumer starts spending again, instead of on the real culprit of unemployment, under employment, diminishing wealth, and low wages.