The new bike path makes getting in and out of my neighborhood much safer, but I no longer find myself behind the neighborhood Wal-Mart MegaStore, which means I’ve lost touch with the Inkstain Cheap Shit From China (CSFC) Index. It’s based on the number of shipping containers out back to hold the overflow inventory they can’t fit in the store at this time of year.

Cheap Shit From China

I swung by this afternoon on my way home from a ride to find that, as one might expect, the CSFC is down from previous years. I’ve seen it reach near 40 of those big shipping containers as Christmas approaches. It’s frequently in the mid 20s by Thanksgiving, rising steadily as the Holiday of Shopping approaches.

This year, Dec 20: only 23.