The best part of my day was seeing sir_alf and faekitty. I was so glad to see you guys and get hugs! I only wish I had the chance to talk to you guys longer.

The customer I posted about earlier came in just after you left, by the way. I'm so glad you didn't have to deal with that before eating. Blech.

My lack of posts last week was because I was on vacation. Nothing really exciting - I slept in and was lazy - but I was ready for it. I missed out on the trip to see trio_plus_one because Mom forgot I was off. Thank you for the gifts, by the way. Beads and lavender bath stuff, yay! And you picked out the prettiest beads!

I did well for presents this season, especially considering how grinchy I was. I got a photo printer and a car navigation system. Shiny.

I did have one customer today (OK, yesterday now) who was the customer of the day until the ew incident. She was a mother who asked of her college-age son "Why do you want to get that book if you don't need it for class?" I felt a little piece of my soul wither away when I heard that.

One more note: That coach I mentioned earlier? His BAL was measured at 2.0. More than twice the legal limit here. Idiot.

Merry Winter Holiday of Your Choice from:

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is: Her Royal Highness Wendy the Woebegone of Lardle Midhoop Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

Only one more shopping day until Christmas. Tomorrow (well, actually today) should be fun.

Some highlights from the last Saturday before Christmas:

To my first customer of the day - I performed every keyword search I could think of and found nothing in stock that had anything to do with diamond mines in Kansas. I can tell you with almost absolute certainty that there is nothing in the bookstore, or in any other bookstore in Charlottesville, that has anything to do with diamond mines in Kansas. When you said "I'll look around, I'm sure there is something here," I nearly laughed. I hope you enjoyed your wild goose chase.

For much of the day, the tiny little information desk was crammed with booksellers. There are only three computers, but there were often four or five of us in the there. It was during one of these times when a customer pushed his way into our little claustrophobic hell. Why? To put something in our trash can, which was already as crammed as the desk itself. I wonder if he realized how annoyed I was when I pointed out the much larger trash can about five feet away.

Dear customers: When I say "excuse me, pardon me," what I really mean is "FUCKING MOVE!!!!!" Do you not see that I am leading another customer or carrying an armload of things that other customers were to lazy to put away or take to the desk? Why are you blocking the entire aisle in the first place?

I had a customer pull me aside today for two reasons. One was to tell me that he had been in our store once before. The second was to tell me, very proudly, that his hometown was the site chosen for the George W. Bush presidential library. That's one way to chase me back to the information desk.

Someone else called to check up on his order. I found it, and there was a note saying that the customer had been notified that the book had arrived - more than two weeks ago. He was lucky that no one has had the time to clean out the holds lately. He was very glad that it was there, and asked if I would hold it for five days. Then it dawned on him. "Oh, shit! I have to pick it up tonight if I want it by Christmas! I'll be there later tonight!" Dude, thanks for the laugh.

Manager S paged me at one point to ask if I had the medicine she wanted in my locker, also known as the store CVS branch. "Benadryl? No, I'm afraid I don't have any," I told her and a couple of customers near me chuckled. "You'll need something stronger than that, lady," one of them told me. He also said he would drink some egg nog for me. I assume it was spiked.

Finally, a day off. I needed it badly. Dad has just had shoulder surgery, so he asked me if I'd be willing to drive him around today do do some Christmas shopping, and that was all I had to do all day. It was a lot of time shopping, but not nearly as stressful as work. I actually feel rested.

It won't last.

Some highlights from yesterday:

A guy called saying that he had some antique silver spoons and that someone had told him that we did appraisals. He seemed happy enough when I told there was a chance we had a book he could look at that might have the information he wanted.

There was yet another guy asking if we were still hiring for the holidays. Is anyone?

The pay phone rang again. I was a little bit worried, because I have answered it before, and have been faced with 911 returning a hangup call (more than once), an obscene phone call (that kept me from touching the thing for a while) and a fax machine. This time, it was a modem. Reason #6972543 to love high-speed internet.

Finally, I know that this is the time of year when we sell out of a lot of things, but I somehow never thought that the works of Ayn Rand would be big sellers for Christmas. Nevertheless, the shelves are almost completely bare of anything by her, and we normally have 3/4 of a shelf of her work in fiction.

I shouldn't be surprised. We also sell a lot of copies of The Bell Jar this time of year.

'Tis the season for selfishness and depression, after all.

Yay! I got a card from Krys! You guys are going to make me feel guilty for not sending any cards this year. Maybe next year I can get my act together.

Today, I had a customer call in asking if we had a hardcover copy of The Count of Monte Cristo. I did a little bit of hunting and found that we had a collection of three of Dumas' novels (including Count) that was unabridged and published by B&N so it had a bargain price. It was actually the price that the guy objected to. When I told him it was $12.95 he told me it was "too good to be true" and that I need not put it on hold. Yesterday, I got the complaint that the order would be too fast, and today I hear that a book is too inexpensive. I give up. I don't know what customers want.

This afternoon, a guy asked me if we were still hiring for the holidays. Um, no. Call us back next year.

I helped another woman with a short list of books. I knew the titles, and took her straight to the books, and all went well. She then informed me that I was "a good girl". Lovely. I say the same thing to my cats when they do as I ask.

The worst customer of the day was the last one. After she checked out, she insisted on using the restroom. This was twenty minutes after the store closed. I heard later that she was the same one who was in the store last week, returning items that she had purchased a year ago (and that had since been clearanced out of inventory). She had also tormented lead C in the children's department for nearly half an hour today. It was 11:30 by the time she finally left. Needless to say, we were late in leaving for the night.

The cafe manager is now insisting that I do an additional announcement for the cheesecakes that the cafe has for sale, bringing the total up to six announcements every hour. I think I am only going to do the extra announcement when I know he is in the store. As it is, it is very difficult to keep up with the schedule. We do have a few customers in the store these days. And a few things to put away. And a few nervous breakdowns to endure.

And tomorrow, I get to do it all over again.

*keep your sense of humor ... keep your sense of humor ...*

I have succumbed. I bought a little notepad to keep notes on what I want to blog. I think this is a bad sign of something. I don't quite know what.

Krys - thank you for the card! That was so sweet. I'm doing OK, although I am still pretty well dropped out of celebrating the holidays. No cards, and few gifts. I still can't bring myself to do a whole lot.

Now for the adventures from the store.

The other day, there was a new guy at the information desk. He had been working for a few days in the cafe but had not had any real experience on the book side. Sticking him at the desk was not a nice thing to do. Naturally, he had a lot of questions.

As I was about to step away from the desk to help a customer, he called out to me to ask where the Shakespeare books were located. I quickly told him that they were at the end of fiction, and right next to the drama section. Then I started walking with my customer. Behind me, I could hear lead S saying "Drama? That's just to the left of the Shakespeare section."

We are so helpful.

I did check up on the guy as I returned to the desk, and he had found the right place.

Today, I had a phone customer who startled me a little bit. First, she said that she was not in that much of a hurry to get her books - that they were not Christmas presents. Fantastic. No worries about yet another complaint that it was too late to guarantee holiday delivery. Well, the first book she wanted was on hand at the warehouses, so I told her it would arrive in three to eight business days. No, no, that was too soon. She didn't need it that quickly. Was there any way to slow that down?

What?

I started rubbing that spot between the brows where that kind of headache starts, and told her that we would hold the book for two weeks when it arrived. That helped. Then I had the news that the second book was on backorder and would take a longer time to come in - we really can't predict well with backorders. Now, she wanted me to come up with a way to get both books at the same time. Aiyiyi.

Then, there was the woman who asked me where the "books with stuff that is in museums and that were lightweight" were located. She meant art museums. Art books are generally not lightweight. I showed her where the art section was and pretty much left her to her own devices. It wasn't good enough. She asked a newer bookseller the same question, and got the same answer.

While picking up random abandoned books for reshelving, I found two books stacked next to a chair. One was What to Expect the First Year, a staple for new parents. The other was a travel guide for Tahiti. Interesting combination.

Overheard earlier tonight: "Lindsay Lohan couldn't string together a coherent sentence if she wanted to." I fully agree. I just didn't expect that to come up in a conversation between two middle-aged men.

One week until Christmas. I can't wait for the madness to be over. The shelves are emptying at an alarming rate, the announcements are playing in my nightmares, and there are too many people I have to deal with at work. It's not just the constant demands for help, it's the simple chore of trying to walk through the store that is driving me freaking nuts. It's finding a parking space and getting to the store without being run over. It's being within arm's length of a book and not being able to grab it because of the parade of shoppers between me and it, and the three people asking for help before I can grab the book that the customer I already had wanted. I am worn out.

And I know that January will be almost as busy, at least for the first couple of weeks.

*recites mantra of "keep your sense of humor ... keep your sense of humor ... keep your sense of humor"*

Yep, it is definitely the holiday season now.

I had to park way out of sight of the store (not cool since I got out at midnight and nothing was open near my car).

It was seriously too busy in the store for me to do several of the announcements.

People are starting to ask the vague "I don't know if they make this kind of book" kind of questions.

The first round of "you must buy these books for Christmas presents" pieces are being run during the morning shows - and we're already out of a couple of those titles.

People were complaining that there weren't enough cashiers, when all of the registers were running. The lines really weren't that long, folks. Complain again when the line gets back to the information desk.

Much to my chagrin, the managers finally realized that one of my coworkers had changed the music channel (three days ago) and switched the system back to pop Christmas crap. Gggrrrr. I was not in the mood to hear mind-numbingly stupid lyrics about how wonderful the season mixed in with old "favorites" redone by those not talented enough to buy new songs. Excuse me while I retch into the wastebasket.

The next time Lead C loudly declares that he is putting away a magazine (that I handed him while he was reading a newspaper) when there are stacks of magazines and books that need reshelving, he may not survive.

Good wishes go out to Bookseller B, who may have cracked a rib when he fell off a stepstool today. The poor guy was clearly in a lot of pain.

Huh.

Thanksgiving was actually a bit boring. Not what I expected.

I slept until an absurd hour. I surfed the net. I knitted (I'm still working on my very first knitting project - a scarf, of course). I watched some bad TV. I skipped the Macy's parade entirely and can't say that I regret that.

Life does go on, I guess.

Dad did have the traditional meal without me and he said it was not a lot of fun. Maybe someday Thanksgiving will be fun again. I still have a hard time imagining it, but I suppose there is a chance.

In less than nine hours I have to tackle the crowds of Black Friday, and do so with a smile. I think maybe I can, if only for a little while. The smile may fade, but I have done this enough times that I know I can at least keep moving and not kill anyone. I do have to wash clothes before then. Maybe I should have done that earlier.

I still fell like all the fun has been drained from the holiday season. What's the point if it isn't fun? It's just a whole lot of total insanity for nothing. No one really seems to have fun this time of year anymore, so maybe I'm just joining the crowd at long last. I don't know. It certainly isn't a crowd I ever wanted to join.

I still have to do my own shopping. I don't even know where to begin. I hope everyone on my list likes the books I will almost inevitable buy for them.

Those of you who share my sense of loss this time of year: I hope you made it through the day all right. This is certainly a stressful enough time of year without adding that kind of baggage.