Good Sabbath Morning!

Hi there, and welcome to a very cool day. Six years ago J and I married in the Jordan River Temple.

Then we played a little while on the lawn in front of the temple.

See.Thanks J, for six years of fun, and I love you very much.

Are You Really Posting At 5:45 am?

Yes.

Because the two older Mini Holdinators decided they were either getting up with daddy or waking up the youngest Holdinator in the process of trying to talk sense into them.

So, for some early morning merriment, I present you with Porky Pig singing "Blue Christmas."

MT's Log: 12-15 later that same day

I have heretofore failed to mention one of the biggest perks of my new job.

A gigantic roll of bubble wrap.

MT's Log: Bookdate 12-15

So on Saturday a gentleman came into the store and told me he needed two pieces of framed art. After showing him what we had available in each of the works he wanted, he made it clear that he expected an additional discount because he was buying two relatively expensive items.

"I want you to make me a deal," he said.

"I'll get you 50% off this one," I told him as I pointed to one of the works he wanted.

"That's already 50% off," he said.

"That's right, I cut you an amazing deal before you even walked in the door," I answered.

He was not impressed. But the store manager was.

I learned that line at Saturn: the no haggle/no hassle car dealership.

And it was the truth, dangit. 50% off a work of art is an amazing deal. It exceeds my employee discount of 30% (i.e. I couldn't get it for any less being an employee), and anyone would be more than happy to buy something at half off.

But I've discovered that some people don't care if they are indeed getting something at the best possible price, they just want to feel like they are getting a better deal than someone else.

I didn't realize that this attitude even applied to shopping at LDS bookstores. But apparently to the haggler, it doesn't matter where they shop, they just want to feel like they accomplished something by getting themselves a better deal than others could get.

That's some serious competitive spirit, dude.

But then another day a man tipped me five dollars for helping him get his piece of framed art, and concealing it in a box so his wife (who was in the car outside) wouldn't see what it was.

I could do it

Remember a while ago, when I blogged about developing a phobia?

Well, I've decided that instead of developing a phobia, I should just focus on becoming obsessive compulsive about something.

I think it would be pretty easy to obsess about brushing my teeth. It's so satisfying to brush them, maybe I could always carry around a little toothbrush and some toothpaste wherever I go, and any time I eat, even if it's just a little snack or something, I could then run to a bathroom and brush my teeth.

What On Earth is a Twenty-eight year old Man Doing Reading Anita Stansfield?

Getting to know the products we sell, that's what.

When I interviewed for the job at Seagull, the district manager asked me about my product knowledge (you know, of the products that Seagull carries), and I told him honestly that I knew quite a lot about books written by general authorities and religion professors from BYU, but that was about it. I had never read much (i.e. any) LDS fiction. 

Well, now I have read some LDS fiction.

Perhaps I'll get to that another time.

But yesterday I did change up our "Inspirational" section. I made a section specifically for books written by general authorities and took them out of the section where they would sit next to books about people's visits to the spirit world by pre and post-mortality.

It just felt right.

I Had a Dream I Was a Vigilante Sidekick

My name was not Tim, but I'm pretty sure I was a lesser known character.