Thwarted by tech

Sometimes it's the little things that overwhelm us

Being a bookseller is, of course, a wonderful thing. But as with all jobs there are days when the tech just seems to have it in for you. This week was designated ‘stock-take’ week. I’d hired the required gadget to allow me to scan books in situ on the shelves (last year I tried to save money by carrying the books to the scanner on the till, that was an epic fail as the piles of books got in everyone’s way and it was a mammoth objective to move the entire stock past a red beam of light); got staff to cover me while I embarked upon the task and got the necessary carbs in to fuel me in my mission. You can see why I’d never have made it as an astronaut - just the thought of this task was enough to defeat me. But I rally. It’s only once a year. I clear my diary - no rep meetings or socials - and limber up with a quick half-hour warm up. During which the gadget stops working. It’s a weekend and there’s not the usual tech support that we booksellers pay for. Was it my planning? A sleepless night followed by day one of the proposed stock-take. Still the gadget is ‘failing to read’ which strikes me as ironic. It is now (apparently) stuck on weird settings - I have got through to tech support even though it is a Sunday and I feel they would rather be gardening or in the pub. My efforts are thwarted and the only option is to wait and replace said gadget which takes 48hrs.

Of course a week is made up of more than just tech grumbles and a young shopper comes in to browse with her pet tortoise, Cookie, who has an outfit of their own.

The bank holiday weekend is approaching and the wonky pavements are beginning to be chockfull of visitors. Hay has an amazing capacity to absorb the few hundred extras who flood the town on high days and holidays and today is both as the sun is shining and its market day - always popular. We are well-stocked for the extra footfall and its a relief after the long, slow days of the early months of the year. But could it tip over into carnival? I overhear one visitor saying to a friend she’s with, ‘we’ll come mid-week next time’ and I have to concede that it could seem wearing navigating the hoards. How are the cafes coping? Shepherds queue is manageable and there are streams of ice-cream eaters milling the market square. When Shepherds ice-cream parlour opened in 1987 there were mutterings of ‘it’ll never work, ha! Who eats ice-cream in February?’ Well the Orbachs had the last laugh as they not only proved that people lapped up their sheep’s milk ice-cream 12 months of the year but also rolled the brand out to festivals far and wide. Under new management these days, the parlour serves lots of tasty snacks other than ice-cream, but it’s the full stop to many visitors day in Hay - a ‘shepherds ice cream’.

The bookshop has been heaving, at times I have had to close the door just to re-boot, and the sun has shone at intervals. The stocktake is behind me for another 12 months and in the end made some sort of sense (with quite a few adjustments). My small team of part-time staff has rallied and hand-sold books of many denominations over the four-day bank holiday, with books in translation and fantasy proving to be high-notes. Lots of nice children’s books gifted as Easter presents in lieu of eggs which was pleasing to see. Perhaps the window display inspired them?

And as Cookie came out of hibernation so, too, the streets of Hay are full of friends old and new once more. Oh, and the festival bunting is up!