Must be the spring pollen in the air. All of a sudden a whole lot of people just decided to buy stuff. Oh, I guess some tax returns are coming back as well. Nevermind. That would explain it.

Today I saw something I shouldn't have. Also listened to a lot of history about this particular retail legacy I inherited. Was walking back from the bank this AM and decided for the heck of it to have a gander at the original site of Mountain View Music across the street and down about three doors from where it is now. Never did that before. It's currently vacant - last used as a Japanese cultural center. Ohmigosh. I look in the window and it's a friggin' music store. The entire layout is intact from the wild heydays of the 60's and 70's. It's an awesome music store. Studios, mezzanine, repair center, huge areas to display sound equipment and gazillions of guitars. Perfect natural lighting. Room on the floor to diplay full drum sets and keyboards. Listening rooms. Great full-length display window. The most trafficked side of the street, etc. But alas - it's empty of habitation. The current location (i.e. where I'm at) once was a jewelry store that was modified a bit when the business seriously downsized in the mid-80's. And now I'm sitting here thinking about how the heck I could upsize given the constraints on floorspace and layout. I listened to the whole story of the downsizing event from Tony when he stopped by. If I pulled together every resource at my disposal, I couldn't quite move across the street to the original home of Mountain View Music and survive financially. At least not today. But it's vacant today. I shouldn't have looked. I also have a year's lease in force already. It's like a year from now I want that store. Maybe longer until I can afford it. But I want it real bad. Can't touch it today - and if the landlord gets a long-term renter or somebody wanting to change the layout it would be like a tragedy.