The Dawning of a New Year

Here's hoping this new year will be better than the last one, especially considering how the last day of the old year turned out.  As I mentioned last week, I was threatened by the coming closure of my store, Booknotes.  However, I found a way to keep the store open, for now.  That still didn't help out with the rest of the day.  It started at midnight, literally.  I had problems falling asleep.  While I've frequently had insomnia much of my life, the problem has been compounded by a strong light from a neighbor's home that Is thing directly into my bedroom window.  It is so bright, I could almost read by it.  I can definitely see some color with it.  I don't even need to turn on light in case I need it.  I didn't fall asleep until almost 2:00 am or so.  I woke up about 6:30 feeling awful.  I had a few issues getting ready to leave for work, but it ended up being only a few minutes off my regular time.  Unfortunately, I needed to get to the bank before I could open the store. For some reason, there was a hang-up, and that made me almost late in opening and I had a few major things to do.  Before I could do any of that though, I had to check on a book the I had back-ordered at the distributor.  It was going to be shipped out early, meaning I had to make sure there was extra money in the bank to cover the additional costs.  Then, someone had to go online to check on the menu and prices at a local restaurant.  We had gotten a gift card for it at Christmas and Tuesday would be the last best time for using it at a time that was good for us.  This cut into the time I needed to confirm some information I needed to create the store's new releases whit board.  This made me about thirty minutes behind schedule.  I actually had to work on the board while going online, alternating when necessary.  Yes, the included playing games.  Tuesday is the day that I set up for getting my biggest bonus in Candy Crush Saga and that hour of extra powers is crucial at times. At least we didn't have anyone come in. Just before lunch got picked up (this after ten minutes of wrangling the order correctly, after some changing of minds), I managed to finish the last puzzle I wanted to work in one magazine, while I finished reading the fitness magazine that I had started over the weekend.  Lunch was okay.  The portions were bigger than expected, including the bonus rolls.  I tried a few bites of something new, but hated it.  I wolfed down the rest, but I couldn't eat it all as parts were seasoned incorrectly.  After calling back, the restaurant confirmed that others had mentioned the same problem and would be emailing a gift certificate to make up for it.  Not sure it if or when it will be used.  For the next hour after lunch, I did some busy work to use up some calories, before I went online again.  I had nothing else to do, as I had the radio off because of the bowl game.  I don't like listening to sports on the radio, and the reception is so bad, it is nearly impossible to get my favorite station back if I try to tune to another.  I alternated playing games while double-checking the year-end inventory count.  I didn't have a single problem for the first half of the recount, then a hit a snag.  It took me over fifteen minutes to check my totals for one column.  I kept hitting the wrong keys.  I also managed to lose a game I was playing because of the added distractions.  Anyway, I kept having to start over columns of figures, while getting the store ready for New Years.  I might have been late in taking out the trash, but I managed to finish inventory but I couldn't finish rearranging some books.  So, instead of leaving a little early to do some last minute shopping, I actually left slightly later than usual.  This meant getting home late, only to find out that I didn't record my show.  Turns out, I may have accidentally erased the programming when I had to recalibrate the clock that morning.  Peg it to my sleeplessness. This also meant dinner was over thirty minutes lat as well, although that was somewhat helpful given my big lunch.  The rest of the night was spent playing games (and again losing in one of my favorites), marveling at others' posts on social media, and trying to find something to watch on television that wasn't New Years related.  After ringing in the new year, I waited about thirty minutes before going to bed, to make sure all of the pyrotechnics were over so I could sleep.  Yes, that light was on again, but I fell asleep somewhat sooner.  After such a bad day, the new year cannot be much worse.  Yes, it could be.  Don't want to tempt fate.