Hey, I'm no slouch. The trumpets and trombones are in the mail. Still have a couple of days to worry about saxes and cheap guitars. Hey Mikey... (my new accountant). How are we going to pay for this stuff? Faith. Faith? Yup, you've just gotta' believe. But Mikey, we didn't even make enough money today to pay for the air conditioning. I worry about him sometimes. At the same time I admire the optimism.

Another thing which came out of this particular episode is that I've come full circle. A lot of fits and starts but I'm starting to buy American. I'm buying into the cartel. Little bits at a time. My predecessors in this store knew it instinctively. I had to find out the hard way. The return rate on the Chinese band instruments is hovering around 50%. Return rate on American instruments is like zero. ZEE. ROH. The return rate doesn't have much to do with quality. It's all a perception issue. When the person sees an instructor or band leader, they scorn the instrument. They'll find things wrong with it. And scold the student for buying a cheap piece of $#!+. If it's an American brand, the same exact things could be wrong with it, but it will be lightly dismissed as instrument character. And I'm also now a much better salesman. I'll tell you exactly why you're gonna' pay me three hundred dollars more. Because you're not gonna' bring it back tomorrow and shower me with all the curses the stinkin' instructor laid on you. You buy the cheap one and I don't wanna' hear you gripe about it. Even if the cheap one is four hundred bucks. That's the deal. You're on your own with the teacher. Oh, and I'm not fixing it and I'm not taking it back. Now this one here? If something goes wrong we'll take care of it. Compelling argument, n'est ce pas?

Wow. I still remember when the chip makers started breaking the micron barrier. Now they're making chips with less than a tenth of that in line widths. Sure glad I got out of that industry before my eyesight started going south. I used to focus the photolith cameras - by eye. Now anything less than an eighth-inch is a complete blur.

My first known incidence of shoplifting. Somebody walked away with an echo pedal. Now to keep my eyes open. If he/she thinks they can get away with something they'll be back to try again. The pedals are all behind the counter now. What am I keeping my eyes open for? Unless this person is a serious guitarist he/she is going to probably need the second guitar cord. One cord from the guitar to the pedal, and another one from the pedal to the amp. You might consider it a long shot but I think the odds are better than fifty-fifty. My guess is that it's a 'he', about 14-16 years old and he's going to come back for the cheapest guitar cord he can find. Those are also going behind the counter for a few days. You need one, you're gonna' haveta' ask. I wouldn't be able to publicly accuse somebody on such flimsy evidence, but I'll know, and he won't know I know. Whoever said knowledge is power is full of it. Secret knowledge is power. Everything else is just trivia.