Sunday, May 3, 2020

"Every twenty years, whether it needs it or not!"

I should have the fixtures all roughly back in place by the end of today. Then we have to put all the product back. Not sure how long that is going to take. If we don't get everything absolutely alphabetized, it won't be a tragedy. People will still find stuff.

There is a small possibility we can open on May 15th or so--though I think Deschutes County probably won't be in Gov. Brown's definition of "rural." 

The store is a bit of an uncanny valley to me right now. I mean, the store is roughly the same, but it feels a little off. I'm sure all the fixtures are displaced at least a few inches from where they were--sometimes to the benefit of making more room. (I made a terrible mistake not doing measurements and taking pictures before we started.) I've taken out a few smaller fixtures that didn't add all that much and probably cluttered up the store.

It just feels off.

I think I overwhelmed Sabrina with the changes. Hopefully, when I finish tonight it will look a little more familiar to her.

I've managed not to overdo the exertion, though I go home exhuasted. I used Todd and Toby's physical strength as much as possible, so when it came time to actually move the fixtures back, I was fresh. I've also tried not to work more than about 5 hours at a time.

At this point, I really like doing stuff by myself. I find that when I attempt something and it turns out wrong, I just acknowledge it and change it back. I will spend hours just to move things a couple of inches--because I'm probably going to have to live with these changes for a long time.

Sometimes just trying something wrong actually points out the right answer. But all that changeability is hard to justify when others are standing around waiting.

I'm cleaning everything as I go along, which is taking a lot of time, but also giving me time to mull and plan.

As usual when I make what I consider monumental changes by the time I finish, it doesn't feel like all that much. I question whether it's worth it--and whether anyone will notice.

But it's very true that the carpet couldn't last more than another year or two--and that meant either retiring or leaving the expense to Sabrina, which would have been unfair--especially since this quarantine gave me the least expensive option possible. (It's expensive, but it was going to be expensive whether I did it or not.)

Oh, well. Just need to finish and see how I feel. If nothing else, the store has had a top to bottom cleaning, which it probably needed. The joke I've made to my neighbors is, "Every twenty years, whether it needs it or not!"

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