Opening The Ball

In Napoleonic terms this generally involves an artillery barrage followed by a blast of musketry.

Here in the shop it means that we have just switched on the new point-of-sale computer operating system and are standing well clear of it to see what happens. I for one would prefer the 12 pounders loaded with shrapnel shell but the noise abatement act makes this difficult in Stirling Street.

So far nothing has caught fire. The coffee machine still works. I am hopeful. The first enquiry about returning an item that was put on account from a lay by on a quote with a discount because the purchaser knows Saul will be greeted by canister and when they want to credit a rental that they made a year ago because they can get it cheaper from Digital Dumpbin in Sydney we will switch to double canister.

And don't ask about the langridge - it will be terrible...