There's No Such Thing as Autumnal Cleaning

    Normally, Labor Day marks the time of year to change the decorations of my store, Booknotes, over to fall, with actual Halloween decor coming in October. Well, Labor Day was on the seventh this year, the latest it could possibly be, so the changeover was late. While I was able to take down the last of the spring/summer stuff fairly quickly, there was a slight problem with the new. Someone wanted to move some of the shelving and storage around to create a slightly newer look. I didn't think it was needed, but I got overruled, and I should have fought more on my decision. Anyway, I went to move out some of the spare empty boxes we have, when I noticed some damage on the bottom of one. It had been directly on the carpeting, but it had picked up something somehow. I had to go back and look at the bottoms and sides of every box I moved, checking to see if there were any more that had damage. There were many more.  All told, I had to throw about a dozen boxes away due to damage.

    The real question was how did the boxes get damaged in the first place. Last year, a small leak developed in the ceiling, but it was repaired soon after it was discovered. The floor didn't get that wet, and the damaged boxes were nowhere near where the leak was. Someone had spilled various liquids near the affected carpet, but nothing leaked that could have spread as far as it did. The weirdest theory involve the unit next door. An Amazon delivery hub opened up some time ago in the unit to the right. Last month, a clog developed in our shared sewer pipe, far enough down that was affecting both units. Soon after that was fixed, the hub had another problem, possibly involving a leaking fire retardment system. We saw them dumping buckets of liquid out, but no one said what exactly had happened there. Maybe some water, or whatever, seeped under the shared wall. All I now is that there was an odd odor in that area earlier in the summer, possibly from the boxes.

    After getting rid of the bad boxes, the carpet needed cleaning. We were had to wait to bring over the vacuum and other equipment immediately, since there was the probability for heavy rain in the forecast. (It ended up that we barely got a quarter of an inch over the period.) Waiting meant that there were piles of boxes around the store that I had to keep moving around while searching for damages and rearranging the other supplies that were kept in some of them. I also meant that decorating had to be put on hold until the carpet could be cleaned. Yesterday, we finally finished the cleaning and putting the remaining boxes away. Today, the last few decorations are being put up, and I can finally take pictures of the store to post on social media.  Over a week late, but it will be done.

    Even by putting my own spin on some of the design changes, I still don't think it was worth it. At least we got rid of some bad boxes.