Back in Black Friday

I mentioned multiple times that I currently run a book store, Booknotes, in Pikeville, Kentucky.  AS such, one would think that the day after Thanksgiving, commonly referred to as Black Friday, would be a very important time for me.  Well, for almost every year since Booknotes opened, Black Friday has not been a good time for the store.  I guess it started from about the first year.  We had flyers to put on people's cars while they were at other locations.  Well, one of the first cars had an alarm that triggered when the flyer was put on.  After that, the people putting up the flyers decided not to put any others up.  Fewer than twenty were ever dispersed.  A huge event for the store was never publicized due to that error.  Since then, Black Fridays have been "meh" to say the least.  Part of that might be coming from the fact that the store window has usually been bare, or at least under decorated for the day.  I usually start taking down the autumn and Thanksgiving decorations the Monday before Thanksgiving.  I have traditionally done the decorations for the interior of the store.  I  usually can do most, if not all, of it in a day.  Someone else usually does the window.  For some reason, it has taken them two days, or more, to finish the task.  They insist upon sweeping the area, cleaning the windows, and doing every single chore possible before actually decorating.  They agonize of where to hang the lace snowflakes, and they even complain about not having enough places for them all.  This is the one task I would have trouble doing as my hands aren't quite nimble enough to tie the knots perfectly.  Even then, the snowflakes end up in about the same places they were in the previous year.  They have to stuff the snowman just right, sometimes taking a hour or more for a task I could do in minutes.  They have to fluff the fake snow on the floor in the perfect arrangement.  I could just dump the boxes down and have a similar result in minutes.  They have to position the fake trees and little reindeer just so for some esoteric reason, as they pile the fluff just so around them.  Whatever.  The entire tableau is based on the cover from a children's book we had from the early years of the store.  Even though that book was sold, and bought back many times, we stopped carrying it.  Something about the picture book being too expensive, even though I think it's about the same price as other similar books.  Well, this year, the decorating got finished early.  While not everything is out in the window, the main tableau is done.  We will actually look open on Black Friday for the first time in years.  Now, if someone would actually come in.  I don't think we have had anyone actually come in over the weekend after Thanksgiving for a while now.  No one wants books any more, at least from us.  At least I will be there that day, as I was able to get the shopping I usually do on Friday early.  I least I beat the crowds, mostly.

Day of the Day Trip

As I am currently running a business, I don't get to go out much.  I really can't afford to close my store for long periods of time to go on a vacation.  The best that I can do is a single day, usually for a shopping trip.  I know that I should try and shop local, but sometimes I just need to go somewhere else, frequently for things that I can't find locally.  It's usually just four or five times a year that I close the store for an entire day and go somewhere.  Yesterday, my trip, as it were, was to Lexington.  I almost wish I had waited to go.  My problems started the night before, when I was delayed by almost fifteen minutes to go to bed.  I wanted to go to sleep early, because of the earlier start time.  Didn't happen.  What's worse?  Soon after I went to bed, a neighbor turned of a light that shone right into my bedroom.  There was also the noise of an overloaded washing machine or dryer thumping to a loud stop, twice.  Add another thirty minutes before going to sleep.  Waking up a little after 4:00 am wasn't fun either, especially when I couldn't fall back asleep.  Anyway, the morning seemed to be going right, until someone had to change everything she was wearing, making us leave about fifteen minutes later than what we had agreed upon.  At least that meant that the sun was coming up.  The three hour plus trip with one stop was fairly uneventful, save the police officers looking for something near where we had stopped along the way.  Lexington was okay.  We limit ourselves to a few stores along Nicholasville road.  Sure, it can get repetitive, but my guest doesn't like change too much.  Target was first, but they either didn't carry or were out of stock of everything I was looking for.  Joseph Beth was next. I hadn't been there in months, and I didn't know that they had had a major renovation.  I know that it is strange that a book store owner would go to a book store, but I mostly go for the magazines and scoops on any books I might have missed in my own searches. (By the way,  of the four I bought, one of magazines isn't found locally, two might be only found at a competitor, and the fourth was out earlier than it would be here.) They had reduced their stock by 20 to 30%.  They still tried to provide about the same amount of books, but more space had been taken over by other products.  Next, was the Fayette Mall, starting at Macy's at the north end.  We had just really began browsing when I heard an alert suggesting that the store was going to be evacuated.  The sales associates on the third floor where I was at took a moment to realize that it was real.  However, my guest didn't realize what was happening due to her hearing problems.  She barely knew what was going on even after all but being dragged down the escalators to get outside. It turned out to be a false alarm, but the ten minute delay killed any enthusiasm for shopping.  We spent a few more minutes looking a collecting price information, but we wound up not buying anything there after the incident. Note, that because of the late start and the alarm, we were now over thirty minutes behind schedule, even with the curtailment of shopping at the previous stops.  She demanded such at Chick-fil-a, which was okay, if a little early and maybe a little more expensive than usual.  (The clerk may have rang up the wrong order, but it wasn't that a big of a deal.) A few store were passed over to get to Dilliard's at the south end of the mall.  I had already searched online, and knew that they could still have what I was looking for in stock.  I was mostly right.  I would up getting my cologne, as well as a shirt and a pair of pants (both on sale), but they didn't have anything else that I was looking for, at least in my size, style, and price range.  We actually managed to leave the mall early enough to stop to do some grocery shopping and still leave town before school let out, although that meant I couldn't stop by the Apple store to get some more hints and supplies.  On the downside, the store we went to did not have any of the groceries I was really looking for.  Should have went to a larger one; maybe I will the next time I go to Lexington, which is usually only two or three times a year.  The trip back, with another stop for something to eat, was uneventful.  Just some sprinkles of rain.  And I accidentally got some lemony flavored drink in my refill of Dr. Pepper and root beer.  Didn't taste too bad, but it was still weird.  At least the gas station had nice new pumps.  The rest of the way was boring.  I even got tired of listening to the SiriusXm free trial.  Hours of changing stations, trying to find something, while also listening to each song for a few seconds, gets tedious.  I quick stop in Prestonsburg to drop a book off at the library, run a few things off, and then pick up dinner, and then it was a dull ride home.  In the summer, we would have gotten home later, but I have some weird problems driving at night.  It is not that I have trouble seeing, but I have such good night vision that ultra-bright headlights can blind me.  Most drivers turn them off for oncoming traffic, but those that don't really hurt my eyes.  Anyway, dinner turned out to be a problem, as the restaurant got my Stromboli order wrong.  After I reheated it, giving the top a crusty crunch, the bottom collapsed. Too many toppings.  I noticed that the flavor was off just a tad.  It was only after the other sandwich was started on that I realized what had happened.  Her peppers had been put on my sandwich, and the mushrooms had been left off.  Fortunately, I had only eaten half of mine and many of the peppers and onions had fallen off of that side, so I could just scrape the rest of them off the uneaten half.  Still, I would have liked my mushrooms.  I felt a little sick the rest of the night from eating too much that day, especially those peppers.  The final straws--the hearings preempted my show again so I didn't get to record it and the episode won't re-air because the west coast probably did get to watch, and I forgot to watch another one of my shows because I was so caught up it reconnecting on the twelve hours of computer time I had missed out on, including the ten hour bonuses I collected in Candy Crush Saga.  With all of these problems, is it any wonder that I only do this a few times a year?  When I move to Lexington next year, as planned, things will be better.  Or at least they should be.

Brother, Can You Spare a Fob?

I finally got my new car last week.  With all of the hassle I have been going through, I am slightly amazed that I actually got it.  I had been searching for almost a year, okay a bit longer than that.  All of the pieces weren't falling into place.  At first, I didn't want the same model that I already had.  Sure, I liked my Impala, but it was being phased out.  I didn't like the prospects of having a car that I would have a harder time getting parts for.  So, I waited around, a bit too long.  After the latest round of mechanical problems with my ten-year old car, it was the time to get a new one.  I had been actively searching for the last few weeks.  I thought I had found the exact model that I wanted.  Everything would have been perfect on it.  All the right features.  A great shape.  Sure, it wasn't available in my favorite color, but everything else about the Lacrosse was great, even though it too was being phased out.  Turns out, the 2020 model, the last of the line, was only available in China.  Otherwise, it was the exact one I wanted.  The 2019 model was not as perfect. Close, but still a few things off.  (And yes, I know that the Impala and the Lacrosse were built using the same chassis, but there were still differences between the two.). I looked at other GM models, because that is the kind of guy I am.  GM all the way.  My other three cars had all been under the GM label, and I wasn't going to stop now.  I looked at Cadillacs for a second, but they were higher than I wanted to go.  There are a few new models coming out soon that might have been in my range, but I couldn't wait that long.  I looked at the other Buick model, the Regal, but it wasn't the right fit for me.  I basically went back to the Impala, especially after I found out that the 2019 models had all the features I wanted and was available in blue.  Still, the price wasn't quite right.  I almost gave up, when a new round of deals took effect in November.  That all but settled it.  I wound up going with a new dealer, as that was the only one that seemed to be able to get the exact car I wanted.  Turns out, I had already found the same one online, in my weeks of researching, in Morristown, Tennessee.  I almost didn't use my old car as a trade-in, but at the last second, I turned it over rather than selling it to someone else.  Unlike my other cars, the actual sale took way longer than expected.  About an hour with the dealer to clear the last details, and another hour in finance getting the documents ready.  About fifteen minutes getting used to the new car on the lot, and then we left.  Only to return a few minutes later when a low tire-pressure warning came up.  Turns out, the tires weren't inflated for the colder temperatures.  That took about another thirty minutes of driving back and getting those tires fixed.  After that, it was another hour driving to the store and opening up three hours late.  It is taking me awhile to adjust to all of the new features. For instance, the wiper controls are on the other side of the steering wheel, not that I have had much need for them yet.  Then there is the radio, and the infotainment center that goes with it. (Is it just me, or should I be frightened that the spell check recognizes "infotainment?") I'm only now getting the hang of the touch screen, although certain processes and techniques are still out of reach.  At least I get three free months of satellite radio.  The biggest peeve I have, though, it the keyless entry and ignition.  I don't like them.  I miss the solidity of a key.   A fob just doesn't cut it.  I find myself flicking open the emergency key back-and-forth, as a means of tempering my restless energy.  The push-button start is exactly my favorite either.  It feels too, I don't know, empty.  Like there is something else I should be doing.  The fob itself is so lightweight, I feel like I could lose it easily.  Hey, it could happen.  I have thought I had forgotten my car keys many times, usually while I was driving, and this was decades before keyless ignition.  Anyway, here is the new car.  Many compliments so far on it.  Now to get used to it.

Christmas Is Coming Soon, and I Am Getting Fat

For the past few weeks now, I've been noticing that my pants were fitting a little snugger.  Not all of them, mind you, and none of them were too tight to actually have problems putting them on.  But some were tighter than I liked.  I put the blame mostly on my computer.  I have been online for a lot over the summer, to the detriment of other activities.  Yes, it has mostly to play games, but that wasn't all of it.  I had been doing some other work as well.  Just not for school, since I'm taking this semester off.  I'll also admit that I haven't been exercising as much as I normally do.  For the past few months, I've been too tired just before my regular weightlifting sessions.  I force myself to lift for the bare minimal, both in reps and weight, to say that I did something.  Just this past weekend, I barely worked out for a third of my usual time, and with the lowest possible weights, even though I felt fairly well and rested at that.  I just didn't want to do it, some of that spark had gone.  I will also admit to eating a little more than I need to.  I try to eat the right portion size, but I frequently end up eating a little bit more than I need.  Maybe not that much more, but enough that I feel slightly uncomfortable afterwards. This has been going on for weeks, if not months.  For instance, I stopped giving out candy this past Halloween after barely a half hour.  I still had a this of the candy left.  Part of it was that it was kind of chilly, and I didn't want to have to stand by an open doorway for so long.  Another was that it was about time for dinner, and I didn't want to have to stop just to eat.  Yes, part of it was that I wanted to have enough candy leftover for me.  I didn't get as much this year as I normally do, but it was all my favorite type.  I still feel a little guilty for not handing more out, but as least I haven't started eating any of the candy yet.  I have already decided to try and exercise more and eat less.  Specifically, eat healthier and less unhealthy.  It's just so hard to do so this time of year, when time is stretched so tightly and food is a dominant focus.  I actually put off writing this post for about half an hour, just so I could walk some beforehand.  It wasn't much, mostly laps around my store, but at least I wasn't sitting down.  For the rest of the year, I will try to be as active as possible.  I just feel so sleepy so much.  A neighbor has a light shining into my bedroom many nights.  Sometimes, it is so bright I can almost see colors clearly.  Not an easy thing to ignore when trying to fall asleep.  The light sometimes stays on much of the night.  This doesn't even take into account my own lifelong difficulties with falling and staying asleep.  Just a little more goo sleep, and I feel that enough of my problems will take care of themselves.  Okay, less time on the computer, especially before going to bed will help even more.