Monday Rambles

FALL IS COMING!

Yesterday the high here was 80.  Yes. 80!  I did some alley exploring for junk for the first time in ages.  So nice.  Temps this week are not supposed to get above 90 here.  I believe Fall may be on the way.  Woo hoo!

To celebrate, I put up a fall wreath in my booth.  It's my only fall decor item right now, but I'm rooting around looking for the hay bales and gourds.

The wreath itself was a freebie find from in the neighborhood.  I had a little trouble getting it off the front door it was nailed to,  but a good determined yank finally brought it right off.

Okay, I'm kidding with that little bit.  It actually came out of a renovation dumpster a couple doors down.  I saw workers filling up a new one last week, when I was on the way to the bus stop, but I was running late.  I checked it later that evening, and the wreath was all I could get out because they had piled a mound of icky old mattresses on top of everything else.  The wreath came out in great shape, though.  Sometimes, you gotta take what you can get and be happy.

The guy who took down our water heater closet told me that all the reno in the area is due to one guy, who is buying up all the old shotguns, gutting them, rehabbing them, and flipping them.  If that's the case, there will be dumpsters for a while yet.  There are a lot of shotguns in this neighborhood.

SPEAKING OF THE BOOTH

I didn't get sales emails for the first three days last week, so I was freaking out.  No gravy!  No potatoes!  No plate!  ACK!

Turned out to be a glitch in the system.  Last week was a pretty strong one, all week long.  Still not all the way where I want it, but the gravy ladle is coming out more and more.  The weekend was especially good. Best one in a while in fact.  I was afraid the nice weather might pull people away, but I did pretty good both days.  It was the first weekend of the state fair to boot!

I'm planning a complete booth overhaul and massive restock that will probably take me two weeks or so to complete.  I'm ready for a new look and I want to connect most of my spaces into one long continuous booth.  I'm still working on the ideas, but I intend to start next week.  I have treatment tomorrow, so this is my rest week.

CHIQUITO TO THE RESCUE

I had a really bad case of the "I don't give a's" last week.  It got progressively worse too.  I started out not giving a shit, and then went downhill from there.  I didn't leave the house.  I didn't blog.  I didn't do nothing.

Then the cat started bringing me mice.  The first two were still alive.  The third one was dead.  At that point, I decided that I'd rather face the world than the building carnage at home.

My sweet little boy is a killer.  (I think he was getting tired of me hanging out at home and bitching.)

RECORD BUYS

Like I said yesterday, there was a music sale at the comic shop yesterday.  Everything was a quarter.  I went looking for oddball and fun and I found it.  More on that tomorrow.  But, for today, a little preview.

I give you Cesar Romero. In all his glory.  Complete with the mustache he refused to shave off to play the Joker on Batman. In TRUE HIGH FIDELITY!

I picked up several albums, but only one CD, which was actually for me.

This is the only Anonymous 4 CD I didn't have. (Except for the newest one.) Well, I used to have it, but it was tossed when our much missed and beloved Himalayan Brianna peed on it.  She expressed her displeasure with the management that way.  This particular bout of ire aimed at me cost me the CD and three comics, one of which I still have to replace.  Believe it or not, she was a total sweetheart, except for this one issue.

SPEAKING OF THE JOKER

Since the topic of Batman just came up, I have to share the most wonderful news!  There's going to be an animated feature based on the show, with Adam West, Burt Ward, and Julie Newmar reprising their roles.  Do I even have to tell you that I am pumped for this?

Here's the trailer:



Adam West sounds a little rough, but I don't care.  It's still gotta be him.

DOUBLE FEATURE FINALE

It's a special day here at the Ramble.  I'm combining the regular music for Monday with the DVD of the Week. 

I spent some time Saturday night watching several Atomic Betty DVD's I picked up at the Peddlers Mall.  From time to time I like to try and make up for my misspent adulthood of employment and responsibilities by catching up on more recent cartoons that I had to miss the first time around, like Betty.

Quite frankly, it was a lot of fun.  Pop culture always seems to be lacking in heroes for younger girls, and Atomic Betty fits the bill nicely.  The first few episodes are a little rushed and don't quite work, but it evens out over time.  Betty is an every day school girl, who is secretly a Galactic Guardian, protecting the universe from all kind of menaces.  Quite enjoyable.  And kick-ass.  Very kick-ass.

Here's the long version of the theme.  Try getting this out of your head today.



Even better, try this mash-up with Betty and Sailor Moon.  Fun!

Monday Rambles

Let's do this!

Last week was a bit much here, but I think this ones going to calm down a little bit.  I am still struggling to fit the newest booth into my routine.  I have no clue what my regular work day is going to be, but I desperately need to establish one.  Two training days last week knocked out any hope of having a work day.  I don't have that challenge this week, so at least I'll have a work day.  I'm just not certain that it will become my regular day or not.

My sales suffered a lot last week.  I've got the rent made at both spots, but I'm not having the high sales days and rapid growth I've become used to over the summer.  I know that until I get a regular day to stock and prep at both sites, that growth is not likely to come easily.

Seems pretty cut and dry, right?  Get to work and everything is going to be okay, dummy!  If only life were that simple--or at least if only my life were that simple.  Alas!  There are complicating factors.

To wit:

COMPLICATING FACTOR NUMBER ONE:  I'm having a hard time trying to find a balance between the two stores.  I have enough space in my original store that I cannot neglect it when it comes to stocking or working it.  If I weren't so worried about that store lagging, I would have just hauled my van load from Saturday over to the new store, priced it, put it out and been fully stocked and done with it.  Under other circumstances, that's the approach I'd take.  However, there's more to this story, which brings us to:

COMPLICATING FACTOR NUMBER TWO:  Sales are falling off at my original store, by as much as two-thirds on some days.  Last week wasn't pretty.  The owners of the building where my mall is have started doing construction in front of the building.  The parking lot is torn up.  The front of the building beside our area has been completely gutted.  There's a fence up that stops just short of our front door.  Worse, our huge front window has been completely boarded up!  From the road, it looks like we've closed up shop.  We can make all the announcements we want in any forum we want, but the perception created by the front of the building is having an impact.  Add to that the rumors that several competitors are taking delight in spreading and I am really nervous about taking attention away from there right now.  I made rent fairly quickly this month, but at the rate things have slowed down right now, I don't have much hope for a strong month.  Fall is supposed to be a busy time for us!

COMPLICATING FACTOR NUMBER THREE:  I could probably weather both of those storms, if it weren't for this last one.  Eventually, I would bite the bullet and do what I had to do for store number two.  Maybe, I'd even overstock it a tad, so I could then focus on the first store with some extra energy.  Thing is, my track record is not so good when it comes to second stores.  I've simply never done well anywhere outside of my original store.  My first two forays into other venues turned into disasters, for various reasons.  I thought that since I was moving into another Peddlers Mall, I would not have that same issue.  Instead, I am having to deal with the voice of history and it's whispering some not very flattering things to me right now.

I know I have a tendency to be a Gloomy Gus.  I'm probably over-reacting somewhat.  I know that things ebb and flow and come and go in this business.  I'm being a tad knee-jerky in my reaction right now, but I cannot help feeling more than a little discouraged.  There's a part of me that wants to say that I've had too good of a summer for this to be my fall.  That would also be my overly dramatic whiny voice.  I know that reactionary side of my psyche has been provoked, so I'm trying to quiet that down.  At the same time, the amount of work one puts into this business kind of makes one prone to these kind of reactions.

Of course, I'm also doing stupid things that aren't helping the situation.  I had pulled a tub of stuff to take to the new booth on Saturday.  I left in my storage at the first store, intending to get it when I dropped off the day's haul.  When I got there, I started talking to some other vendors and guess what I forgot to get?  Goofy Eddie, that's me.  On the other hand, I got some new and rocking furniture from Saturday over there. I also put most of the smalls from last Sunday over there as well.  It is filling up nicely over there, I just don't have enough stuff yet.  It's hard to figure out what "enough" is when you're making up a load to take.  I guess I'll get there.

I guess I should apologize for not putting a "Whiny Eddie Warning" at the front of this post.  Sorry about that.

Let's talk about happier things.

The weather has turned deliciously cool and I am digging it with a spoon!  We are nigh upon my favorite time of the year!  Halloween is coming!  So is my birthday!  (Hint! Hint!)  Leaves will be turning!  Thanksgiving is also on the way.  I have always loved, loved, loved autumn.  This time of the year makes me happy.  There are still a couple of awesome annual yard sales yet to come as well.  I think one of them is this coming Saturday.

I'm writing this on Sunday evening, while Keith is outside doing the yardwork.  He just walked in with a curb find for me!  Yay!  It's be junk set out time again in about a month.

Damn cluttered junk room!

 We did have a good day of hunting yesterday.  I'll have more to say about that tomorrow or Wednesday.  I need to get some pics first.

We got a call from the vet the other day.  It's tine for Old Man Kosh to have a check up.  He's thrilled about that.  (Not really.)  I have my own annual check up on Friday.  My doctor's office happens to be just down the street from my favorite thrift and just a hop, skip and jump across the river from the new store, so I guess my agenda for that day is set.

Thanks for indulging me this time around.  I promise much cheerier content to come.  I'm planning on spending my booth work time this week making a super-load for the new store, while still putting plenty of love on the original booth.  It's time to multitask!

In closing, here's an artsy [ic of me pretending that I'm a Cyclops!

My favorite time of year?

Here's a hint!

And it's all for sale!

Monday Rambles

Fall has certainly fallen in this part of the world.  We've had wonderfully cool-ish, fall-ish temperatures for several days now.  I am in heaven!  I live for this time of year.  Not too cold.  Not too hot.  I just love it!  Too bad it only lasts for a little while.

I spent the weekend cat-sitting, so I didn't really get out and do any yard sales.  I decided to spend some time reading instead.  Actually, I've been doing a lot of that lately.  I can take one bus right from my front door to the latest incarnation of my work gig and back again, so I have a lot of time for reading.

If you are a whodunnit fan, I highly recommend MC Beaton's Hamish MacBeth series for its warmth, wit, and clever plotting.  Unfortunately, her Agatha Raisin series is an acquired taste that I have yet ti acquire.  Another favorite is anything by the wonderful Sharyn McCrumb.  The mysteries usually turn out to be incidental to the overall plot, but her stories are so fabulously hilarious and delightful that I really don't mind at all.  Currently, I'm elbow-deep in Luis Miguel Rocha's The Last Pope.  I've not quite warmed to it just yet.  I think after this one, I'm going to shift gears back into some manga or graphic novels.  I've got a little stack that I want to burn through and get to a booth.

Sales have been nice lately.  The fall bounce is in full swing.  I like that!  I did have a couple of lag days last week, but things picked right back up.  I'm heading to the Peddlers Mall today to set up this year's killer Halloween display, just as soon as I dig all the stuff out of the shed.  I've sold most of the Halloween/Fall stuff that I've already set out already, so it's time to go all out.  I'm going to try and remember to both take the camera to get some pics and then to actually take them.  It seems so simple, but I screw it up so often.

I hope some of you are checking into the YesterNook blog.  I'm updating on Tuesday and Friday over there.