Goodbye McD's.

One of the measures I do at the store when ordering product is to gauge my own interest:

Way back when I was a sophomore at Bend Senior High, one of the senior debate guys was doing a presentation and said that, when you try to choose an interesting subject to talk about, you have to decide if it's interesting to you, and if it is, then there is a good chance that others will also.

Stuck with me. 

On the other hand, I often get customers in the store who act surprised that, "people are still..." doing whatever; magic, comics, cards, games.

"Yes," I say. "Believe it or not, this stuff went on without you." 

Anyway, I've stopped going to McDonalds, or indeed, any other fast food joints. Once McD's dropped the $1 sodas, they lost me forever. 

Working a week straight.

These periodic weeks where I work full time are good for me. I get the chance to experience the more general flow of the store.

For instance, I see more comic customers, which reassures me that it is still an active product line. I get to see where people are coming from by their zip codes; it appears to be more than half non-locals, though the majority of those are from Oregon. 

I've been leading people over to the new back issue bins and that's been a great success. I need to remind Sabs and Ash to physically lead comic customers over to that section.

(My crew at are a comic convention in Seattle for six days...)

I've also sold one of my own books every day I've worked, without really trying that hard. There is a certain percentage of people who will simply buy; but I can't tell who they will be in advance. The heavy majority will shrug it off, but a significant minority will buy. 

Could I still work every day if I had to? Probably now, with this slowdown, but it would be very hard. The problem I have with people is more me than them. There is a fair amount of thoughtlessness, but I don't think there is maliciousness involved. So it's up to me to shrug off the thoughtlessness because I can't change that.

I'm definitely tired. No way around that. And that is due to age, I think. I could probably get back into the routine if I had to; it's a matter of rationing my time and energy, of delegating time, pacing myself. 

I feel really good about the store. For once in my career, there is very little I would change, and nothing much to add. Just keep refining what we're doing.