Robin Writes

Changes, they are a-comin’!

Due to, er, our financial situation, we’re making a few changes. NO, WE ARE NOT CLOSING!

However, starting Monday (I think!), Dennis will be going back to work. You know – a real one job, with a paycheck and all that. Whew! So, that means that yours truly will be running the bookstore. Oh, sure, he’ll be in and out, but mostly it’ll be me up at the store.

Seriously, how often do you get a real, live author behind the counter at a bookstore? Oh. I guess you could run down to Parnassus, but whatshername already gets a lot of press for being a bookstore owner/author. Probably too busy touring or whatnot to be in the store very often. Anyway, *I* don’t have that problem (darn the luck!), so I’ll be up at AOTSP every day.

Besides that particular change, our hours will adjust. Don’t panic! We’re only going back to our fall/winter hours, year round. So we’ll be open from 10:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday, and 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.

There MIGHT be a gap in open hours come mid-afternoon, though. Someone will need to pick up the kid from school around 3:00 p.m. But it all depends on scheduling. If it happens, the door might be locked between 2:30 and 3:30. Unless I can get a volunteer to drive carpool or man the register? Anyone? Bueller?

We’ll still do all your special ordering and we’ll still sell online. And of course, we’ll definitely have all our local authors and all our events. NONE of those things will change!

The place might look a little different, though. I’m going to be officing (Heh. New word!) in the back of the store and so will have to rearrange a bit. Oh, and once school starts, every day may turn into “take your puppy to work day.”

So, there it is. Changes. We love ‘em!

A lot of people think that preppers are crazy. Nuts. Over the edge. Some probably are, just like the population in general. But most of us are pretty normal. Whatever that is.

Reasons to prep:

Zombies

Apocalyptic event

Economic collapse

Riots/crime

Emergency/disaster

Let’s take a look at these: zombies? Um, yeah, these are the crazy people if you go by a strict definition of “zombie.” You know, like in the movies. If you base your definition on “stupid sheeple,” you might be on to something…

Apocalyptic event: this could be almost anything that causes chaos, like a giant asteroid that doesn’t immediately kill us all, or the Rapture, if you believe in that sort of thing and if you do, you probably don’t think that YOU are going be left behind, so…

Economic collapse: certainly more like that the first two scenarios. Look at Greece. And other countries where SHTF, economically speaking. Yeah. Good possibility.

Riots/crime: these things go hand-in-hand with all the reasons, ‘cause, you know. People need stuff. People want stuff. Some people HAVE stuff.

Emergency/disaster: here we go. THIS is why a lot of preppers prep.

Big ones, little ones, doesn’t matter. Sometimes you’re going to need an extra stash or supply of something.

For example, last week a water main broke in our yard. We had a little notice – geyser shooting up three feet in the side yard – and we knew it would last at least several hours or so. We filled up buckets for the animals to drink, to water plants, to flush the toilet. Pulled out a case of bottled water for drinking and cooking, stuck a few in the freezer, and we were good to go.

Sure, with no bottled water we could have still survived, but even if I hadn’t used a few of those, I still had – at hand, which means I could quickly find them – clean gallon jugs to fill. Just in case. Likewise, if a power line goes down or I forget to pay the electric bill or, more likely, I can’t afford to pay the damn bill, we’ll still be okay. Tons of firewood, a propane grill, a gas stove that can be lit with matches since the electric starter will be out.

It’s the little things that count. No mad dash anywhere, no panic with the water off for a few hours. Or the electric, if it came to that. No worries about cooking dinner that evening, either. Of course, no good excuse to go to a restaurant either, like many of my neighbors.

It’s a good trade-off. A lot less stressful to be ready for… whatever. Like Nana used to say, get ready for the worst, then you can forget about it. Until it happens.