I'm a jerk #2

Maniac Lok called the store the other night asking about his new album which he has consignment. I couldn't hear very well, but he went by his real name (which I will not disclose here), but I had to ask him his artist name 3 times and I still couldn't make it out. So, being the jerk that I am, and too embarrassed to ask him to say it again, I pretended to look. I then asked him how many he left at the store. He said 2, so I told him we still have those 2. He asked, "Are you sure?" I said, "Uh, yep." He said, "Thank you for your time," then hung up. Knowing who this guy is by his real name, I realized I messed up. The dude is legit. So I pulled out the consignment book and looked through all the different forms for everyone who has a consignment with us. (There are a lot, because everyone thinks their band will make it big time if they have their CD in our store. If you ask me, it's a waste of time because nobody buys consignments at our store.) So, I find his form and see the name is "Maniac Lok". I run out there and see that we only have ONE copy of his new album. I straight up lied to him, after a friend of his probably came into the store and bought a copy, then called him up and told him. I felt terrible and tried to call him back twice, but his message service is too full of messages for me to leave one for him. So Maniac Lok, if you ever read this, I'm sorry I lied to you. Sometimes I have a hard time hearing things over the phone, but that is no excuse. I should have sucked it up and asked you one more time...I am sorry. This guy used to play for the Trailblazers. That was how I knew who he was by his real name. He has a barbershop in NE Portland, in case you ever need a trim. (LC)

My neighborhood

I live in St. Johns. It's the most northern residential neighborhood in Portland. There's St. Johns, then a bunch of industrial parks and docks on both the Willamette and Columbia rivers. Lots of trucks go by. St. Johns used to be its own little town before it was annexed as part of the city. At first look, it still has a small town feel to it. There's an old movie theater, some shops with old signs, and gem of a diner called Patti's Home Plate (I'm not really a fan). It's cute and quaint and a little charming, but don't be fooled. St. Johns is a dump. There's all kinds of riff raff who like to dump our trash out in the middle of the night, and walk out into traffic, and deal drugs at the bus stop. People believe in this neighborhood, though. People keep trying to fix it up, and have community activites. I've seen one place change businesses 3 times in the 4 years I've lived here. Drunks are in the Bluebird before Noon. My jeep was broken into and my crappy Alpine stereo from 1996 was stolen 2 summers ago. Anyway, my advice to newcomers to St. Johns that are falling for it's "charm": You can't polish a turd. (LC)