Sheriff of Nottingham

Filling in at work today.  Going to do expanded hours.

The Sheriff of Nottingham tried to cancel Christmas this year, but people finally came around on about the 19th.

The 19th!  That's pretty late!

It seems like it gets a third of a day later every year, which would mean over the last 30 years, we've lost 10 days or something.  Just a theory.  Up until the 19th, we were doing no better than average.  The last 4 days have been as good as any other year -- but its only 4 days, not 8, not 12, not 16 days of above average.

I bemoan this lateness every year because it's a matter of putting all the eggs in one basket.  Anything goes wrong -- a blizzard, a economic collapse, a disaster, anything 24 hour cycle newsy -- could derail the whole process.

About the only bright side, if there is one, is that people can't blame me if I'm sold out of something 6 days before Christmas.  So...well, I may as well sell what I have in the store unless people look like they are going to spend.

Last year, they showed every indication of wanting to spend on boardgames and books and I ordered heavily.

This year, they didn't and I went with the inventory at hand.  (Which was no small potatoes...)

So, ironically, I'll make more of a profit this year.

I'll just keep saying it -- it's not how much people spend, it's how much I spend.