Then the summer was over with notice. Rain and debris... Back to the reality... It's the first summer I've actually had more than a week of continuous vacation. As nice as it gets! My and my family's holiday trip to Italy was cancelled, but at least we got away with our old motorhome for a few nights around our beautiful country. Of course, there has been a bit of fishing that is close to my heart as well, but it is nice to be back in reality with new challenges and new gadgets.

 

But the world is not what it used to be anymore. It feels like ages since you were at a tattoo fair and met many of you at the same time. I sincerely hope that Inkbash goes off as planned. I used to be pretty tired of lugging around two tons of tattoo equipment but now I actually look forward to getting going. We acquired a brand new truck just before the pandemic hit and a brand new fair concept began to be planned. Now we really have to cross our fingers that it goes away. But will people venture out to the exhibition halls as before? Let's hope so. Above all, I hope that the spread of infection turns downwards, so the worry and talk about covid will be a thing of the past. Everything, just everything is about Covid. I vomit in my mouth every time I hear the word, but often it's actually me who starts the conversation about covid, strangely enough. Despite the pandemic, Sweden has in some way not received the same stick in the wheel in the tattoo business as many other countries have experienced. In fact, many clients I speak to are experiencing greater booking pressure and brilliant deals. I'm glad to hear but will it get worse if or when the pandemic lets up?

 

Maybe it's the autumn depression creeping around the corner, but from my side the industry is pretty empty of news and innovative solutions. The pandemic has of course left a real mark on missing functional products. The Chinese are responsible for the biggest development right now. Why not a grip with a built-in power pack or a wireless pen with touch buttons? Of course it feels futuristic, but no one has given a second to think about safety and cross-contamination. The big players on the market don't really have anything new and fresh to present either. At most, we are talking about a new color on a machine or a different display on its power supply. Cartridges have come out that should hold the front better in the tip. It works great... for 15 minutes then it freezes again and you have to change the cartridge. It will get worse when the new "Reach-adapted" colors arrive. These colors must not contain Isopropyl alcohol, but will likely be replaced by ethanol, which means that the colors will dry out in just a few minutes if that happens. The reason they must not contain isopropyl alcohol is that it is listed in some annex that isopropyl can be harmful to the eyes. It doesn't say ethanol because it's quite obvious that it's harmful. You get so tired...

 

In addition to the lack of fun and good products, shipping prices have skyrocketed. A container from the US costs about three times as much as before. From China it costs five times as much.

Nitrile gloves are in short supply and often cost more than twice as much as before. We have also seen both latex and vinyl gloves labeled as nitrile. It is worrying how it is developing.

 

Am I starting to become an old curmudgeon who says things were better before? Maybe?

 

But there are glimmers of light out there that make it all more optimistic. We have a Swedish machine manufacturer who has some fun going on. We actually have some other (currently secret) things going on in our own manufacturing, as well. We have a webshop that finally works something like that well. We have so far weathered the pandemic with flying colours. We expected the worst, but it's business as usual. If we can now start some fairs as well, it will probably be as nice as possible. The inspiration could have been better, but somewhere you see the light.

 

I want to end my column with a thought for a nice customer and colleague of ours who unfortunately checked out far too early. Rest in peace Markus

 

Have a nice fall everyone and see you at Inkbash!

 

/ Mattias Lundberg with staff!