This past Weds., I had a near-perfect day as a bookseller:

1] Began with a nice sale to a fellow book-dealer (book-talk, book-talk, book-talk) who visited the shop and then…
2] …An even nicer sale to a civilian so…
3] …Promptly spent a good portion of these sales on several fantastic (and much-needed) reference books…
4] …Purchased from another bookstore across town (more book-talk, book-talk, book-talk), followed by…
5] …A house-call to buy several boxes of solid shelf stock…
6] …From a guy who could turn out to be a good bookscout, which inspired me to…
7] …Scout another local shop (even more book-talk, book-talk, book-talk) where I found…
8]…A scarce and very desirable book in fantastic condition…
9] …For a pittance…
10] …And ended the day at home where I presented my daughter with a wonderful little book sent to me as a gift for her from still another bookseller, now (I’m happy to say) friend.

As I said to my wife that night: Everything that’s best about this job – great sales, great buys, new books, socializing with colleagues – all happened on one day.

Now if only every day could be like this.