Hot Hot Hot outside! But the store is still cool. Especially the downstairs. And the Fans make the main floor pleasant. A nice place to hide from the heat for the day. Many out of state people coming by now that they are on vacation. Summer has begun!
Well, can I call the following a Senior moment now that I have turned 60? I had to make a quick emergency run to the post office down the street about 10:30 so I locked the door and went in and out on the side as I usually do. Got back in no time at all and had settled down to checking email, pricing stock and organizing the day when I get a phone call."I am standing at your front door and it is locked " the very polite man says. Of course I race to open it, all apologetic. By then it is past 11 am. Were there other less patient folks there earlier or ones without a cell phone? Did I miss their knocks with Eva Cassidy playing loudly on the boom box? Not the best way to begin the day!
We have been averaging 2-3 calls about books to sell every day. Unfortunately there are a lot of bestsellers and fiction that no one reads anymore out there. We did buy a very large and interesting lot of books on World War 2 from a friend of their owner (a former soldier now 92) that I am putting out as fast as I can price them. On many specific battles, campaigns, soldiers and commanders. Most are in the $5-10 range. You will find them on the main level in bookcase # 52 and downstairs in our other Wars & Military section under the windows on the parking lot side. And we are still putting out new stock in the (mainly modern) suspense and mystery lot that we have been pecking away at for almost a year!
A customer of the week short story here. As most customers know we have many $1 books downstairs and out in the 2 car garage on the side of the building. Well, an older woman came by looking for mysteries and spent some time in the $1 areas. She came up with an old paperback from the 1950's and asked why she couldn't pay the price marked on it, 25 cents, instead of the dollar. My husband Peter, politely and patiently, explained how that was a 50+ year old price, that many paperbacks were collectible, that we thought a dollar was a fair price etc..She declared "Paperbacks are not collectible", tossed the book down and left in a bit of a huff. The title of the book was "Do You Have a Psychosomatic illness?"
A few new consignors in the past 2 months. So come and check them out. Bob Brown, in case # 27, has much Massachusetts history, especially books on Blandford, Westfield, Northampton and other western Mass towns. In #28 are some Paul Brown illustrated horse books which you don't see around much anymore. And case #25 has a very clean lot of classics, poetry and other less common titles. Come check them out.
Someone left 6 large Home Depot boxes of books in the front of the $1 garage during store hours this week. No checking in with me. Very sneaky, not appreciated. I can't move them as they are too heavy. And I am the only book pricer with Eugene still out. Unfortunately, people think giving us books for free is doing us a favor. Most of the time it is not, when they are common best sellers that are choking us, books underlined and other near or worthless titles. But enough of the trials and tribulations of a book shop owner!
Talking about trials and tribulations, Eugene has started his next bout of chemotherapy with one week on and two off. Uncomfortable and tiring, as usual, but he is looking ahead knowing he is more than half way through the regimen. And after having to lie for weeks with his knee above his heart to aid the healing after the operation in April, he now is a bit more mobile. He has a physical therapy machine he puts his leg on and it exercises his knee for hours at a time. Amazing! We miss him at the book shop. He loves getting cards and calls from people he knows so if you are one of them keep it up! One woman sends one every few weeks!
Now on to the day's work...more books to price and shelve and price and shelve and......