May 27, 2010 - Day 11, Last Day at Rob's Word Shop
Left apartment at 10:48 on foot (rain was expected) and arrived at the shop around 10:57 AM. Set-up from 11:00-11:10. Immediately following set-up, I received my first 2 customers who came in together.

Customer #1 requested that I assist him in his choice of a phrase. After considerable discussion about his new project, we decided upon the phrase: "all that's left." Total sale: $3.00.

Customer #2 also requested my assistance. In this case, we enjoyed a lively conversation about a famously disputed umpiring call in the 1985 World Series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals. The phrase that we decided upon together was: I'M STILLIN'. Total sale: $2.00.

Customer #3 arrived around 11:30 and patiently waited for Customers #1 and #2 to finish their business. When it was her turn, Customers #1 and #2 stayed on to help Customer #3 in her choosing. Customer #3 purchased 7 words, on 5 separate sheets of paper (1 purchase was a phrase). There was a collaborative discussion between myself, Customer #3 and Customers #1 and 2 for each of her words/phrases; the results were:
Balslamic
Galvanic
Azurious
Seabed
Lights, for sure

Total sale for Customer #3 was $7.00.

Customer #4 arrived around 12:30 and purchased 4 words on 4 separate sheets of paper. The words were: BIRD / WILL / SING / A. Total sale: $4.00.

Customer #5 also arrived around 12:15 when several other customers arrived. He purchased 1 word: "Their." As a gift from the shop to his family, I scribed the following phrase gratis: "Where are you?" Total sale: $1.00.

[At this point, I took inventory of my paper supply because I had a few new customers who had large orders. I realized that I was about to run out of paper, so Customer #5 graciously offered to watch the shop while I ran to the Copy Shop 3 blocks away. I was gone for 8 minutes.]

Customer #6 arrived with a list of 19 letters, words, and phrases to be purchased. They were:
PORTLAND
ICELAND
HEATH
BATMAN
WITCHYPOO
MUDKIP
PANDA
BONDI
VIRUS
READING
EQUALS (gratis)
DISTRACTION
PONG
SONY
SQUARE ENIX
MARIJUANA
DREAMWORKS
ILYY
TL;DR

Total sale: $18.00 (1 word gratis for purchasing over $10).

Customer #7, who arrived with Customer #8, purchased the following:
W/
Tangentially Judicious
Landmine
Through (across 2 sheets of paper)

Total sale: $4.50

Customer #8 ordered the following words and phrases:
SPARKLE
DRESS CIRCLE
LASHES
PEANUT
CHARITY
ORVIL PYM
GALLEYS
DUPLICITIOUS
DARLING
DARLING
CRISP
TUBULAR (gratis)

Total sale: $13.00

Customer #9 arrived around 1:45. We agreed to a barter beforehand--he exchanged 2 CDs from his band for the following purchase:

1) approximately 60 periods (.) as part of a series;
2) the phrase: "algae & tentacles"

Total sale: $0

Customer #10 purchased 4 words (plus 1 gratis):
AJaR
SINK SYNC ("sync" was gratis because this was suggested by the other customers)
ROBERT
FITTERMAN

Those last 2 words were written in script like a signature and Customer #10 wanted the words written inside of a book titled "Notes On Conceptualisms." Total sale: $4.00

Customer #11 was waiting patiently for her turn as the last customer. She purchased 2 words: "Committee" and "Ampersand." The latter was purchased as a series of letters from a stencil set. Total sale: #2.00

Packed up the tools of the shop, disconnected the printer, and removed the signage. Left the shop at 3:10 PM.

Total for the day: $58.50

Rob's Word Shop is closed.

Thanks to everyone who has participated in Rob's Word Shop. Check blog periodically for updates on this project.

May 26, 2010 - Day 10 at Rob's Word Shop
Left apartment at 10:51 on Bicycle and arrived at shop around 10:56. Set-up was very quick and easy between 11:00-11:10 AM.

Customer #1 arrived around 11:20 and purchased the following sentence: "Are you going to the Guggenheim for the Buckminster Fuller film, or what?" We arrived at tis phrase together--it was part of a short prose "portrait." Total count 13 words, $13.00. Because Customer #1 had purchased over $10 worth of goods, I offered a free letter, word or phrase. The free phrase he chose was "kimono clooney," which is also related to his prose portrait.

Customer #2 arrived around 11:45 and chose the word "poetic." We tried it both as all caps printed and as lowercase script. We both agreed that the first choice looked better, but I offered the other as gratis. Total sale: $1.

I also filled 3 mail orders:
Customer A : die moglichkeiten (umlat over the "o") $2
Customer B: antique / grandmother / short $3
Customer C: "Frame This" and, gratis, "Pipe Down" $2

Total sales: $21.00; amount received $13.00.