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A long, but satisfying day...
Aug. 15th, 2004 11:07 pmDuty called this morning, so I biked to the store and was soon joined by Galina, who drove the Ford and brought along the goodies we bought yesterday.
The Royal "cash management system" (if memory serves, or some equally silly bureaucratic name) had a sticker on it at the Office Max advertising words to the effect of "PC programmable," by which I assumed -- dangerous word -- that you could set up any and all of the 99 possible departments and 1000 item prices via a serial or USB link. I mean, it only makes sense, right?
Hah! According to the (poor) documentation that comes with the unit, the software is (a) "optional," which means you have to buy it, and (b) is advertised only as being useful to download the daily summary from the register. Information about the software package is scarce-to-nonexistent on the Web, and Royal doesn't work on weekends, apparently figuring that small businesses should try to figure out how to use Royal products -- which would be used during normal business hours -- during normal business hours.
It took me basically three hours to figure out what all the keystrokes meant and set up all the departments for the register. This would have gone somewhat quicker if the documentation had been clearer. It took another couple of hours to check it all out, train myself, and write up a "cheat sheet" for the store staff.
Around 4 pm I took the Ford for a swing down "Shaggy Route 1" (aka McManus Road). I found a few aspen boletes in the Usual Place, and then started to scan the edge of the road for shaggies. In the end, I ran across the first Coprinus comatus by accident, while looking at some unknown mushrooms that grow in clusters and smell like oyster mushrooms, but which I am sure are not oyster mushrooms.
The shaggies became more prevalent as I drove along the road, though they were not as dense as they are at the peak of the season. Then again, there were patches of shaggies that had erupted and long gone, leaving behind their black and dried shells. In the end, I gathered enough inky caps to fill two skillets once I got home.
Galina was still puttering about the shop when I got back a few minutes after 6 pm. (She's been putting out Christmas stuff.) Drew drove me home, with Huntür in the back seat. I took a break from cleaning the mushrooms to pull a stool up close to our hummingbird feeder, plant Huntür and myself about 3 feet from the thing, and wait. Huntür learned how to keep still quickly, and we were treated to the sight of hummingbirds flying, feeding, and fighting... almost within reach!
Dinner was London Broil with shaggies. I shall have to get up early tomorrow to get Galina up for a box run to Durango, while I go to the store and brief the staff on the new cash register (as I said, I've made some changes). Then I need to get cracking on a number of items, not the least of which is to prepare for my procedure on Tuesday.
Cheers...
The Royal "cash management system" (if memory serves, or some equally silly bureaucratic name) had a sticker on it at the Office Max advertising words to the effect of "PC programmable," by which I assumed -- dangerous word -- that you could set up any and all of the 99 possible departments and 1000 item prices via a serial or USB link. I mean, it only makes sense, right?
Hah! According to the (poor) documentation that comes with the unit, the software is (a) "optional," which means you have to buy it, and (b) is advertised only as being useful to download the daily summary from the register. Information about the software package is scarce-to-nonexistent on the Web, and Royal doesn't work on weekends, apparently figuring that small businesses should try to figure out how to use Royal products -- which would be used during normal business hours -- during normal business hours.
It took me basically three hours to figure out what all the keystrokes meant and set up all the departments for the register. This would have gone somewhat quicker if the documentation had been clearer. It took another couple of hours to check it all out, train myself, and write up a "cheat sheet" for the store staff.
Around 4 pm I took the Ford for a swing down "Shaggy Route 1" (aka McManus Road). I found a few aspen boletes in the Usual Place, and then started to scan the edge of the road for shaggies. In the end, I ran across the first Coprinus comatus by accident, while looking at some unknown mushrooms that grow in clusters and smell like oyster mushrooms, but which I am sure are not oyster mushrooms.
The shaggies became more prevalent as I drove along the road, though they were not as dense as they are at the peak of the season. Then again, there were patches of shaggies that had erupted and long gone, leaving behind their black and dried shells. In the end, I gathered enough inky caps to fill two skillets once I got home.
Galina was still puttering about the shop when I got back a few minutes after 6 pm. (She's been putting out Christmas stuff.) Drew drove me home, with Huntür in the back seat. I took a break from cleaning the mushrooms to pull a stool up close to our hummingbird feeder, plant Huntür and myself about 3 feet from the thing, and wait. Huntür learned how to keep still quickly, and we were treated to the sight of hummingbirds flying, feeding, and fighting... almost within reach!
Dinner was London Broil with shaggies. I shall have to get up early tomorrow to get Galina up for a box run to Durango, while I go to the store and brief the staff on the new cash register (as I said, I've made some changes). Then I need to get cracking on a number of items, not the least of which is to prepare for my procedure on Tuesday.
Cheers...
