Stuck accelerator....

I can't believe an entire month has already gone by. My internal time clock is stuck with a Toyota accelerator, and I don't seem to have a neutral shift.

Time to do my monthly orders for the store, again.

I'm keeping my pre-orders low for the time being. I get a slightly better discount when I pre-order. But it's pretty much pure guesswork.

On the other hand, re-orders by definition are things I have proof I actually sell.

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I experimented with how long a full night's charge would last on my MacBook: All day Friday and the first hour Saturday. So now I know I need to hook up every night; I pretty much leave it on most of the day at the store, but I thought the creature was going into hibernation. Or....maybe Solitaire just takes up lots of juice...

I've decided to call it Fred.

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So I've exactly broken even in January: expenses/sales.

But I won't be so lucky next month, since I've been pounding on buying the 'sale' product from everyone. There is always more of the discounted stuff this time of year, and it has more effect. And what doesn't sell, is here for summer and Christmas.

It's nice to be able to take advantage of the deals, and in theory if I sell enough of them, I can take advantage of future deals. Prosperity buying prosperity, if you're not too stupid about it.

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I can't be bothered. That's my usual response to new technology.

But then I try it and I'm hooked.

Nevertheless, how many gadgets do I really need? I'm finally getting a cell phone because I want to be able to take time off, and I have three employees with insufficient hours to get all the training and messages they need, so I want them to be able to call me. On the other hand I want them to come up with their own common sense solutions to problems instead of over-training them. They come up with things I haven't thought of, sometimes...

I've also figured out another reason I haven't been utilizing all the tech around me. For instance, the last three CD players I've had have all malfunctioned after awhile. Maybe they just need cleaning, I don't know. But I just stop using them.

Neither of my desk computers have sound, so I'm not partial to all the video and music online.

The other day, I started fiddling with the new car stereo, and it had some amazing sound, and I found KPOV, which at least plays interesting music, and I realized that my old radio was so basic and tinny that I just lost interest.

Maybe that's why. Either I'm too dumb to figure out all the capabilities, or the damn things don't work just right, and I just give up.

Since the laws of entroopy break everything down, it's a very Zen response, I think.

A bare room and my thoughts.

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I seem to think of my sister Tina every night just before bed, and every morning when I wake up. Then, during the day, I get busy.

But I also get reminders from friends who are just finding out, and dropping in or calling or e-mailing me. Mattie thinks she's going to try to have a Memorial on March 20th, at Hollingshead Barn, but that isn't firm yet. I'll try to update the plans.

It's just sinking in that I won't be able to scoot by Tina's for a good chat....

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Speaking of gadgets, what with Tina's illness and doing inventory at the store, I just haven't had time to get my big-screen T.V.

I'm pretty much settled on a 65 inch LCD, which will cost a pretty penny.

One universal piece of advice I've heard: "I wish I had gone BIGGER!"

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We're going to see our financial guy tomorrow morning. We still haven't finished off Lois's affairs. One of the banks has been less than cooperative about the transfer, and Linda is just tired of the whole thing, but we're hoping with help to finish it off tomorrow.

We still have to find out what the tax bill for Lois will be.

So, in the end, the predicted six month period of wrangling will turn out to be right on.

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A friend who had a colonoscopy which found rectal cancer was urging me to get the procedure.

"Just think of it as being abducted by Aliens...."