Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: Irish Bistro (Page 113 of 114)

Moving day: Virtual men and a truck.

Back in the day – and fortunately I have survived so long as to be able to relate this – it was a simple matter to change locations. Move the stuff and the sign, and when the bank checks run out, order new ones with the correct street number.

Voila.

Oh, sure. There are a few minor and obvious details – like changing the mail delivery address and the utilities. Pretty straightforward modifications.

In this age of the internet those alterations just aren’t enough.

This morning, the phone rang with a question about THIS LAND, a Tulsa-based newspaper that was described to me as a local literary publication. The caller wanted to purchase a copy and was asking how to find the store.

It was clear she was looking at an internet map as she asked for details about the exact location.

When she hung up, I set aside a copy for her, as requested, and ventured onto the internet to find out whether the mapping services can be updated. Sure enough, I found that Google was displaying the old location. After logging in (thankfully the browser knew my password, for I certainly didn’t remember it), I was able to update several items associated with the store, include the hours of business – which were listed as from midnight to midnight.

Talk about a long day. I’m not quite ready yet for QuikTrip’s workday.

Now, I am wondering how many other websites dedicated to directions and information are still listing the old address.

Taking down the weathered wooden storefront sign and tacking it up to the new building just doesn’t cover it any longer.

I require a digital nail and hammer.

Bringing home the baking.

Delicious! It could be there is only one thing that tops the aroma of fresh-baked cookies: the taste of those gooey-chocolatey rounders, right out of the oven. Guilty as charged.

You didn’t think I’d place them out without a sample, did you?

Clicking on the image will enlarge the picture and you can see that the display is missing a single cookie. Proof of my will-power that I stopped at one.

The oven arrived this morning and I’m able to do a little cooking in the kitchen, so I fired it up and made a dozen, just to try my hand.

If someone was to invent a canned spray that had the scent of chocolate chip cookies, it might be a seller. Undoubtedly, it would be loaded with calories enough to pack on pounds just by breathing it in.

Things are still coming together.

A couple of more items added to the wall, in the other picture. I discovered several more boxes of books that still need to be reckoned with, and I’m still fighting with the computers. They don’t want to talk to each other.

It isn’t a drawback that affects the store operation, but there are some items on the older machines that I’d like to access without having to email them to myself (my current system of file-sharing). Maybe before the day is out…

I did discover that tragically-slow running machines can be greatly improved. My once-fast Dell desktop had such a case of the Slows yesterday that I thought someone had filled it with molasses. Figuring that there must be some programs running in the background to slow even the internet access, I checked the Startup file and removed a dozen or so programs that began automatically when the computer started.

Voila! When I rebooted the machine, it was back to its old zippy self.

I just need to find a way to recover my old zippy self…

(Chocolate chip cookies are likely not the answer.)

April update: no foolin’.

I’m grabbing a minute to give an update on the store’s progress – lots of folks have been asking and dropping by. I’ve been leaving the front door unlocked and have met some people and have had a chance to catch up with former customers wondering where I’ve been hiding.

The inventory is going on the shelves in spurts, I’m afraid. Monday brought with it grand intentions for bringing over several loads from storage, but after two trips there were a number of things that demanded immediate attention in other areas. Errands prevailed later. Finally, early Tuesday I managed to get the remainder of the boxes unpacked with the aid of my sister Kathy, who had part of a day off from her activities as proprietor of Martha’s Health Food in Broken Arrow. (Just down the street and around the corner these days…)

I’ve included some pictures that show the interior with a few of the books in place.

It isn’t easy to decide a logical way to arrange the inventory, but it’s getting there. Okay, so it isn’t brain surgery, either. Basically it has boiled down to fiction on the walls and on the right, non-fiction to the left. Exceptions expected and permitted.

The little almost-Irish-green tables came Saturday, courtesy of a now-closed restaurant west of Tulsa. They aren’t exactly what I had in mind, but I’ll admit I like them better in the McHuston interior than I did in the storage unit where they were stashed when I bought them. At the price, I couldn’t really turn them down, and I do like the chairs. Sturdy and comfortable.

Food service is still intended to put those tables and chairs to good use. Questions have been posed as to whether it will be a printed menu or daily chalkboard, and the truth is, I don’t know yet. I have a menu ready that could be printed in a jiffy. I also have a white board on an easel. After running the bookstore all alone for the past five years, I realize that the kitchen will bring on an addition set of tasks and chores. With a five-month hiatus, I’m not in a position to hire someone to help while waiting for customers to come in. That point will arrive soon enough, I hope.

In the meantime, I cannot be worrying too much about cooks and kitchens. There are plenty of books that need to be unpacked and organized before moving on to phase two, which is getting the doors open – for business.

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