Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Store Needs Books

More and more of the customers are not returning the fiction books for credit. I have holes in my shelves and no duplicates to fill them.
We need paperback fiction of all sorts. I'll buy them or give store credit for them.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Children's Books

We have gotten a lot of them into the store in the past month. From easy readers to Young Adult, all sorts of them have arrived. One box was nothing but Berenstein Bears and another box was all Boxcar Children mysteries. It took some finagling, but I got them all out on the shelves now.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Well Traveled Book

A customer in the store today told me that she lives in The Netherlands since her husband has a job there. In a used bookstore there, she found a book that had Curt's stamp in it!
I wish I knew just how that book traveled there from here.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

More Excitement then Necessary

The shop next door to the west is Tobacco King. About a month ago they were broken into when someone rammed a truck into the back door and broke it out of the frame. Then, this week, in a well planned, carefully done project, a group broke into the empty shop on their west side, then broke through the wall into the store and cleaned them out. The thieves also cut the phone cable which cut my phone line also. Verizon did get someone out by noon but he could not fix cut cables and it wasn't until the end of the day that I had phone & DSL again. I wonder if they will ever be caught.

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

It's Dry in Here Now

The leak is fixed. It was coming from the neighbor store who had a drain leak. Then, the following weekend, the neighboring store on the other side, sprang a leak from a pipe in the ceiling. I've been keeping my plumber busy with referrals.

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

It's Wet in Here, Part 2

The plumber came back yesterday to check on some things for re-routing the pipe. I told him that my faucet still had water and it looked like the valve in the meter box did not turn off completely (no surprise as it probably is the original valve). The valve in the meter box for the store next door also did not turn off very well. By chance, there was a city water works truck in the parking lot & the plumber talked w/ them to come replace the valves. So we ended up with 6 guys in orange shirts with two trucks working on two new valves in the meter boxes. In here, the carpet is drying out.
The plumber and the landlord are still talking.

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

It's Wet in Here!

The good news is that the water pipe broke while someone was in the store. It would have been real bad if it had broke overnight.
This shopping center was built in 1980 and it was cheaply built so now things are coming apart. The water pipe in the concrete slab (and just who was the genius that decided water pipes should be in the slab?) broke and found its way into the store. Once we ascertained that it was not the sink or the toilet, I put in a call to my great plumber who rushed over and shut it off at the meter, which I could not do as I don't have a meter key.
It has been decided that it makes no sense to dig up the slab & fix the leak but instead to run a new line from the meter, into the store, up into the ceiling and back to the bathroom. Work will start when it starts. Plumber and landlord are in negotiation now.
Since the store has no water, I brought 4 one gallon jugs of water from home so I can flush the toilet. One does what one must.
Part of the back carpet is wet and has a fan running on it. We lost a few books but overall, it could have been much worse.

Friday, April 16, 2010

It's Finally Finished!

Yes, the shelf shift in the Novels section is done. Finally. This shift should be good for some time, I hope.
The Paranormal/Urban Fantasy/Dark Fantasy section expanded and has many good books.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Elm Creek Quilts Novels

These charming and compelling books are written by Jennifer Chiaverini. You don't have to be a quilt maker to enjoy these. The stories are propelled by the people whose lives the reader shares. The books range from the present day back into history to the pre-Civil War era and the turn of the 20th century. They are just a very good read.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

This & That

I've been moving books from one place to another--again. I rearranged the cookbooks and made space to move the Movie/TV books over which opened up space for the military books and let me move the WW1 books over and then put more antiques/collectibles in that space.
Then I straightened up the Fantasy books, making room where needed and eliminating the open spaces of books sold.
Now I am continuing the shelf shift of the novels, making that area more orderly.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

WHOOT!!--3 boxes of books new to the store!

It was a good day on Wednesday as I got 3 boxes of books new to the store and they are all Paranormal Romance/Urban Fantasy/ Dark Fantasy. I had to shelf shift to make room for them but most are on the shelf now.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Author Patricia Briggs

I've read two of her Mercy Thompson novels and have been impressed with both. They are fun, good reads dealing with the paranormal (werewolves, vampires, the fae and one walker). I look forward to more of her books.