The alarm clock went off at 7:35 like it does everyday and I hit the snooze bar until 8:35, at which point the alarm clock turns itself off. I got out of bed and checked my email but all I got was the Doctor Dictionary word of the day, like I get every morning. I didn't even read it.

I put on my jeans and went into the bathroom to pee. Ian had taken a shower and the bathroom was all steamy and something about someone else's bathroom steam makes me a little queasy. I put on a white t-shirt and my Red Sox hat. Then I sat down in my desk chair and put on my socks and my shoes. I grabbed my bag and I left the house and walked to Verna's.

At Verna's there was the usual group of old timers sitting at the table and playing scratch tickets. The woman working was the mother of this punk girl who also works there, but I can never remember either of their names. She said, "Medium with cream and sugar?" and I nodded and she got my coffee. I paid her with two one dollar bills and put the change in the tip cup.

There was an old Asian woman at the bus stop and we didn't make eye contact as I walked past her. I made the walk signal at Rindge Ave, which made me happy because it meant that I didn't have to wait for traffic.

Ricardo was already at work and he had the computer system started up. He said, "Good morning muchacho," and I said, "How you doing, Ricardo." I put my time card in the punch clock and made sure the date stamp was centered between the two lines so it didn't look sloppy. Then I took my shop apron from the hook and put it on. It usually occurs to me that I should put the apron on first, and then punch in, but I don't mind stealing a little time from the company now and then.

I went upstairs and turned on the radio to WERS to listen to their morning show, The Coffeeshop. I was hoping that they would play that song about the girl who looks into this other guys bathroom window, and then she says, "I hope I never figure out who broke your heart, 'cause if I do...." I never happen to catch who sings that one but if I did I would try to find it on the Apple Music Store. So far I have bought two songs from the Apple Music Store: "Love Song" by Tesla and "Psycho Killer" by The Talking Heads.

Ricardo was doing cycle counts of the router bits. A cycle count is when you count the inventory by hand and then update the amounts that the computer thinks we have. As Assistant Manager, Ricardo is in charge of the cycle counts and I never help him, he never asks for help. I went around the store and turned on the lights, then I doubled back to the library and turned on the television / VCR unit. I put in a tape about using bench planes and adjusted the volume so you could hear it, but it was still soft.

At 9:00 I opened the front door and turned the closed sign over so it read "Open." I walked back to the register and leaned against the counter. I sharpened my pencil with my utility knife and took the tape measure from my belt and then put it back on. The first customer to come into the store was a contractor, I could tell, because of the Carhartt's and the tape measure next to his NexTel.

"How's it going?" I asked and he said, "Where are your hinges?"
"What are you looking for?"
"You know, concealed hinges."
"Those are right there in that display," I said and pointed to the Blum hinge display right behind him. He turned around and started opening the different doors on the display. Every hinge was behind a door that was set up using the hinge it displayed. That way, you can tell what the hinge does by looking at the display.
"I just need regular hinges," said the contractor.
I approached him and said, "Are your doors inset or overlay?"
"Overlay."
"OK, are the cabinets face frame or partition frame?"
"They're regular," he said, which usually means partition frame. Blum is the manufacturer of the Eurpoean style hinges we sell. Euro hinges are the ones that can not be seen from the outside of the cabinet when the cabinet doors are closed. We have Blum hinges for all kinds of applications, your standard face and partition frame doors, inset and overlay, with half overlay and full overlay. Then there are the Mini-38's, which only have a 105 degree opening capacity instead of the 120 degree of the rest of them. Up until a couple months ago, the bulk of the Blum line was only 110 degree, but they have been phasing those out in favor of the newer, 120 degrees. We also have special application Blum hinges, like the 170 degree, the Zero Clearance, the 81018 Pie Cut, and the 270 degree Aximat.

The contractor and I agreed that he needed four sets of the 55793's, the 120 degree full overlays, and eight pair of the 55801, half overlay. Unfortunately, we only had six pair of the 55801's in stock, so I suggested he either call the catalog or that we could do a special order for him.

"How long will the special order take?" he asked.
"Well," I said, "They could be in as early as Tuesday."

He opted for to call the catalog, so I brought his 10 pair of hinges up to the counter and punched my ID number into the computer.

"Are you in our customer database?" I said.
"Yeah, I think so. I get your catalog," he said.
"Can I try your phone number?"

I entered his phone number and his name came up. I rang up the order and he paid with a credit card. While the system printed the receipt, I put the hinges in a bag. He signed the credit card slip and I put it in the register. As he walked out of the store, I looked at the clock.