Rainbows and Buttercups!

Really wish I had Earth shattering exciting news about frenetic activity spurring me on to tales of great accomplishments for this weekend but....NAH!
'Twas a weekend for silence and reflection.  GAWD!  Although, did get two ten minute rules out of it, and oddly enough, that was about all the activity we had!  WOOF!  Saturday, usually reserved for a great amount of repairs and visitors, was more of an opportunity to work on the next book, and that was about it!  'Tis truly summertime.  *YAWN!*  It's funny, really, as whenever I walk down to the corner store to get any goodies we need or cleaning materials, I am inevitably stopped by one or more of my fellow "Strip Mall Mates" and like a scene out of "Clerks" we banter around about how dead things are for everyone.  It's not just us, sadly.  BUT, we persevere, stoke the furnace of creative time management, and press on!  Although, the folks that just bought the "quickie Mart" (some day I'm gonna' don a black trench coat,  backwards ball cap with a Batman shirt and just hang out in front all day!) keep asking me, in rather concerned tones, "is it ALWAYS this slow during the summer!?"  WELCOME to Florida folks!
YEESH!
ANYWAY!  No, nothing new to report on the "New Build" side of things, only because I have had nothing come in to work on!  That's another downside to summers, folks don't want to do anything outside in the Florida Summer Sun, much less dig through an un-air-conditioned garage or shed, so we don't get a heck of a lot coming in.  HOWEVER the upside to that is, when we DO get something in, it tends to be higher end, either because folks are abandoning Florida and are traveling light, or because their employment is cutting back, and they need the cash, so they're slowly selling things off to pay bills.  Unfortunate, really. 
But, as I said, Ten Minute Rule;  first one was in the way of the SWEET Trek Pure I'd mention earlier, the folks had come in the day after another gent spent about a half an hour talking himself out of picking it up after falling in love with it, stating he didn't want to be impulsive, but give himself a little time to think.  Enh.  Hard for an impulsive person to understand that logic, but diversity is what makes the electoral process so interesting, so...who am I too judge!  OK, so not so much a ten minute rule, as it took until the next day to go to anew home, but the coincidence lay more in the fact that the first gent called the next day to find out if it was still here as he had decided it WAS the bike for him, only to have been sent to it's new home, five minuets before!  The second one, occurred Saturday afternoon. After an entire day watching our hair grow, we were about an hour and a half to quitting time, when things got busy!  Had a couple repairs come in that I jumped on with GREAT appreciation, and while in the process, had a gent come in looking to upgrade.  He was on his third Wal-Mart Roadmaster MTB, purchased BRAND NEW for the low LOW price of $87.00, and in just under three weeks had discovered WHY they are so cheap!  He commutes to work over three hours each day (WOW!  I remember THOSE days!) and cannot keep the bike running for more then a few days before something falls off or stops working.  He NEEDED an upgrade.  The one he limped in on, he had purchased on Thursday and by Saturday the left crank arm had stripped and kept falling off.  We spent the next half an hour or so, discussing his options, conversing about his misfortune and then I directed his attention to the newly finished GT, which we had converted into an Urban Commuter.  He test drove it and when he finally came back exclaimed "WHAT a difference!"  Then, after about another ten minuets of chit chat, he commented that he had an appointment for a shave, but that he would come in on Monday morning and pick it up?  WELL, you all know the title of THIS story!
"....six minuets later...."
Having been so close to closing time I can only assume he assumed things were safe, but a young couple strolled in, having recently moved into the area, and having been told that we were the ones to see for a good, cheap used bike, she grabbed up the Mongoose (pre-Wal-Mart, of course) and he, no surprise, the GT.  Unfortunately, this morning just after opening I had to explain this to the first gent when he called. 
ANYWHO!
Another thing that has surprised me (although with years of retail behind me, I have NO idea why it surprises me) is just how effective rolling a couple of carts of movies outside really is!  It's like folks just suddenly realized "HEY!  They sell MOVIES!"  That was by far the biggest volume we did this weekend!  One gleeful lady, greedily clutch a box FULL of classic Disney flicks on VHS, shocked and amazed that she got them all for only .50 a piece!  And we have another "Film Buff" regular who has come in almost every day since discovering us last week, to buy up a handful at a time. Each time he does, he points to one or another chotsky on the wall and asks "How Much?"  I keep reminding him, gently, that the objects on the wall are decorations only!  He offered me $20.00 for my rubber shark, Saturday!  Sorry, but I got that one on my third grade field trip to the Boston Aquarium (the one where I tried to jump off the overhead catwalk to "swim with the fishes" Yes...not the sharpest tack in the box back then!) Memories are not for sale at any price!  Yea, today I'm putting a sign out by the road, "MOVIES!!" 
Speaking of books...
(nice arbitrary segue, hunh?)
Yes, yes, yes...My ego is in charge right now, so bear with me!  I was checking the stats on the two books I put out, and lo and behold, the second one "Anthony's First Time" is number 12 in the Top 100 for "Teen and Young Adult-Short read-30 minuets"!!  COOL!  And, it's not so much the numbers but the group it found a niche with that so compelling!  The story is more directed at making a point to the 30-40 crowd, about the normalcy of domestic life in whatever form it may come.  It just seems surprising to me, that it would resonate for such a younger audience.  Perhaps there is some hope for this generation after all, as they have grown up in a world a little more acceptable of diversity! 
Going to be interesting to see where this all goes!  Needless to say, it has spurred me on to get back to "Pedigree" in earnest. 
OK, so, the phone has been busy this morning, and I will take that as a good sign that we indeed, may have some fun today!  Here's hoping! 
I am SOOOOOO hoping today will bring us LOT'S and LOT's of fun and excitement!
SEE YA!