08:30 – Science kit sales continue to be strong, at least for this time of year. We’re running low on both biology and forensics kits, so over the next couple of days I’ll build new batches of each. We’re currently shipping kits at a rate of about 30/month, and increasing. We expect that rate to peak at about 300 kits/month in August, so for now we’re building just enough finished kits to keep reasonable stock levels while we focus the rest of our attention on building subassemblies for the summer rush.
12:02 – I’ve spent the morning doing miscellany. I managed to get 30 of the regulated chemical bags for the biology kits assembled. Then I filed the annual report for our LLC and wrote a $200 check to the Secretary of State for the protection money it demands. Since I had the corporate checkbook out, I paid an invoice on some stuff that arrived Monday. Which made me think: remember when invoices used to say something like “2% 10, net 30”? Remember when the accounting department used to hold off paying invoices until the last moment so the company would get the benefit of the float? You seldom see discounts for quick payment nowadays. Every invoice I get just says “Net 30”. With interest rates where they are, discounts and slow paying are pretty pointless. I simply pay invoices as soon as the shipment has arrived and been checked in.
When I returned the corporate checkbook to Barbara’s office, I happened to look in the bedroom door. The bed pillows were all pillaged, which is usual. All of our Border Collies have arranged the pillows to their liking, so they can lie on the bed and look out the window while having a comfortable place to rest their heads. But today Colin had done more than rearrange the pillows; he’d shredded the corner of one and pulled out some of the stuffing. I chastised him and he slunk away.
Then I went out on the front porch to put the new mail on the mailbox. There was already a note on the front of the mailbox to let the mailman know there were boxes awaiting pickup inside. That note was held on the mailbox with two clothespins, the tops of which held the lid of the mailbox up. The entire mailbox was full to overflowing with small sticks, grass, leaves, moss, and other assorted biomass. Obviously, spring has arrived early and a bird had decided this would be a good place to build her nest. So I cleared out the nesting materials, reclamped the note and envelopes to keep the lid of the box down, and came back inside. Colin was standing there watching me the whole time. When I came back in, Colin claimed that he’d shredded the pillow and removed stuffing to help the bird gather good nesting materials. Yeah, right.