FINDING THAT BOOK

Once long, long ago I asked my librarian friend Katy, sitting up there on the bench with me, how to find a book.  She mentioned that she used ABE books to look for books at her bookstore job.  For years I looked books up on ABE.  Only later did I discover Alibris books.  Now I can tell you that I’ve discovered many more book search tools.

Two weekends ago, one family donated a large collection of Nautical books to our ACS.  We usually sell our books very cheaply.  Very.  Two bucks for most hardbounds and one dollar for each paperback.  The moment I looked into the first of these boxes, I knew we couldn’t sell these quality volumes for one or two dollars. 

I have a tiny collection of nautical books, and I’m a member of several Ocean Liner spots.  I follow a few of these authors on Facebook like Bruce Peter.  Nowadays there is a larger selection of search engines just for books.  ABE is still fast and easy, but if you put the author’s name into BookFinder.com, almost every book Peter has written appears and lists the site that has it and by price.

As an example, searching for just one Peter book on BookFinder, “Danish Ship Design, 1936-1991: The Work of Kay Fisker and Kay Korbing,” my monitor fills with book search sites.   If you click on the first listing, Amazon, you find the volume in two shops, both in the UK, and both from $221.00 to $225.00.  Following prices down the right side, they rise until at the bottom it is $411.66.  Another title “QE2 Britain’s Greatest Liner,” by Peter, shows us six pages of new and used books growing in price from $23.58 to $682.82.

Each college or University system has its own unique library search system.  Harvard Library suggests their cyber source, Hollis.  Stanford has Nerd Squirrel as a guide.  Harvard also suggests that Wikipedia’s external links are useful.  Google Books, World Cat, and OAISTER are listed here also. 

Looking up these nautical books, I used the giant search engines ABE, Alibris, Biblio, Amazon, and BookFinder.  If I couldn’t find the book anywhere, I resorted to Google.  I love a good mystery, and searching down a book is just like reading a book by Louise Penny.   The search starts with a gentle question, and it sometimes ends in a long run.  For me, the hunt is flat out fun offering an exciting finish. 

SCREAMING DOMICILE SURVEY

1997 CALLED AND IT WANTS ITS SCREAMING DOMICILE SURVEY

DO YOU LIVE IN A HOUSE OR AN APARTMENT?
Condo
WOULD YOU SAY IT IS BIG OR SMALL?
Just right but too tall.  It’s three stories tall, and a one story would have been just right.
DO YOU HAVE A WELCOME MAT?
Yes.
DOES IT SAY SOMETHING?
No.
DO YOU HAVE A DISHWASHER OR DO YOU HAVE TO DO YOUR DISHES BY HAND?
Dishwasher…Boch, no heater, and needs cleaning out a couple of times a year.
HOW MANY PLANTS DO YOU HAVE INSIDE?
None.
DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL PLACE THAT YOU PUT YOUR KEYS?
Purse.
IS YOUR REFRIGERATOR STOCKED WITH ANYTHING?
A weeks worth of foods plus condiments, salad dressings, coke, and ice tea.
WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR BREAD?
On the counter.
IS YOUR BATHROOM CLEAN?
Two, and yes, because we have a housekeeper.
WHAT IS YOUR BATHROOM’S THEME?
Upstairs: Victorian.  Downstairs: Southwestern.
HOW MANY RUGS DO YOU HAVE IN YOUR DWELLING SPACE?
A big one in the living/dining room.  One in the half bath down,  three in the full sized bath upstairs, one in the kitchen, and two in the garage.  Yes, I trip on them.
DO YOU KNOW YOUR NEIGHBORS?
We knew everyone at our previous places.  Here we all exit are out the garage, and here few know their neighbors.
ARE THERE ANY STRAY CATS AROUND?
Two darling semi Siamese.
DO YOU HAVE A DVD PLAYER IN YOUR BEDROOM?
Downstairs, blue ray upstairs.
WHICH ROOM WOULD YOU SAY YOU SPEND THE MOST TIME IN?
The office/computer room.
DO YOU HAVE A POOL OR JACUZZI WHERE YOU LIVE?
A big pool and a hot tub neither of which we use as we also have all that at the Y.
WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE DVD THAT YOU OWN?
Reds.  Dave.
HOW ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE CD THAT YOU OWN?
G’s favorite is any Willy Nelson….but he loves the ACDC with Hell’s Bells on it.
WHERE IS YOUR STEREO OR RADIO LOCATED IN YOUR HOME?
Big one downstairs in the living room big bookcase.  G has music on all day from his work computer.  I love the GIANT sound from the truck radio.
DO YOU HAVE A COFFEE MAKER?
We are back to a Mr. Coffee on a timer so it is ready when we get up.
DO YOU HAVE AN AREA DESIGNATED FOR ALCOHOL?
We don’t drink.
HOW MANY TELEVISIONS DO YOU HAVE?
Two…one giant Sony, one small HD one that we can roll around in the bedroom, and two corner to corner 27 inch monitors.
DO YOU HAVE STAIRS?
3 story condo.
WHAT KIND OF STUFF DO YOU HAVE ON YOUR WALLS?
A vast art collection.  Books.  See old blogs for images.  See above.
WHERE DO YOU KEEP YOUR TOOTHPASTE?
Basket.
DO YOU HAVE A DEN OR AN OFFICE?
Office.  Four desktops, and one laptop.
DO YOU LIVE CLOSE TO ANY STORES?
A neighborhood market next door to our complex.
DO YOU HAVE A WALK IN CLOSET AND IF NOT WOULD YOU LIKE TO HAVE ONE?
No, but we did at the big house.  We loved them.
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING HANGING FROM THE CEILING?
Sculpture.
DOES YOUR KITCHEN HAVE A THEME?
Blue, white, and clean.
IS IT A PAIN TO DUST YOUR LIVING SPACE?
I don’t dust it….see previous comment.
WHAT’S UNDER YOUR BED?
Nothing.  LOL
DO YOU HAVE A GAME SYSTEM?
I don’t.  He does desktop games.
HOW MANY TELEPHONES ARE IN YOUR HOME?
Yes, we have a landline.  When the power went out here for a day, we had the only phone in the neighborhood that still worked….four of those.  Add two cell phones.
DO YOU HAVE A FIREPLACE AND IF SO DO YOU USE IT OFTEN?
No.
WHAT KIND OF MICROWAVE DO YOU HAVE?
Too old for modern frozen foods tho we still use it.  Nice and big tho.
DO YOU HAVE ANY FIGURINES OF ANGELS AROUND?
No
DO YOU LIKE TO OPEN THE BLINDS OR CURTAINS OR KEEP THEM SHUT?
Most shutters and blinds are open all the time.  We keep the kitchen curtains closed because of our not-ok neighbors.
HOW MANY COMPUTERS ARE IN YOUR DWELLING SPACE?
Five.  One is an antique used for backup.  There’s a tablet too.
WHAT COMPANY DO YOU USE FOR INTERNET ACCESS AND HOW MUCH DOES IT Cost.
Cox.  Cable expanded TV, Superfast Internet:  $222.00 a month.
DO YOU HAVE A GARAGE?
We have a two and a half car garage that fits a full sized truck, masses of old furniture, and gobs of art stuff.  We also have a small attic.

FROZEN IN STASIS

Stasis is defined as a period or state of inactivity or equilibrium.  That’s been me.  Frankly, I’m out of balance, on hold, and so laid back that I am frozen in place.

From an email sent to C: “I have to confess that I have ground to a halt and am accomplishing nothing but pricing books.  Now, at last, I'm done with the books.  There's been a change of managers at work.  I'm going to further complicate the new manager’s life by bringing in six more boxes of priced books on Saturday. 

Slowly my stomach settles down again to vague nausea.  I have a follow-up appointment with my GP doc on Monday and am making an appointment with a gastroenterologist.  Truthfully, I have no excuse now for not coming to the pool.  Except the cold.  LOL  I was thinking of using the gym until the temperature moves into the fifties.  It's 42 degrees right now.  Oh, brrrr.” 

I have promised myself that I’d get off my bum, do my put-off email, write something then wash the sheets.  While they go around down in the garage, I’ll start on the quilt at last.  I’m just deathly afraid that anything I do won’t look crowlike. 

I know for sure that fear is all that’s holding me in stasis.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

• Himself:  He’s been to the gym, and is happily playing a game of solitaire.  He win’s every single game.
• Me, myself, and I:  Pretty much stopped coughing and blowing my nose at last too.
• Reading:  Penny.
• Gratitude’s:  That Poolie’s sister is still donating her perfect and unused books to the shop.

MIXED

Not “mixed” at all.  Instead it is the last box of priced nautical books ready to go downstairs then to the store.  All hail getting done at last. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

• Himself:  Costco for stuff and dinner.
• Me, myself, and I:  I feel heroic…now on to the cookbooks.  Retired and volunteering is not living off the grid, but it is of pretty good value.
• Reading:  Penny.
• Gratitude’s:  That I have found such a perfect way to give back.

MUTTERINGS

It’s a warm sweater day.  Yesterday was even worse.  I’m spoiled and not used to the day time weather being so cold at the beach.  Then again, youngest daughter is driving to her new job in the snow.  Eldest daughter is driving in the rain.  It’s sunny here until the next wave of rain comes through.

Did I forget how it used to be to live in a single wall cottage right off the beach?

I almost finished pricing all the nautical books yesterday.  I did not find “Dry Cargo Ships.”  At work, in the office, there are more unpriced books boxed.  I’ve learned a lot about pricing collections and about pricing nautical books too.  I will deal with them today just to finish the project.

Did I mention that our garage is still lined with boxes of cookbooks. 

I’m getting better at laughing at myself.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

• Himself:  I am really fine today.
• Me, myself, and I:  Vastly better after swimming in Zinc for days.
• Reading:  Louise Penny’s “How the Light Gets In.”
• Captain Poolie:  Her ashes were scattered at sea and many photos pasted up on Facebook.
• Gratitude’s:  That G and I chose to stay on dry land.

A GATHERING FOR POOLIE

 Captain Poolie and her Best Dog.

There was quite a large crowd gathered at a women’s church set far back in an industrial mall.  Many wore pirate garb.  Pam spoke concisely yet movingly, her Part-Time-Job shrink made us all laugh, and her niece spoke a bit endlessly.  She loved her niece.

They played her some of her music, there was a display of her instruments, and her favorite little things were on a table.  Captain Pirate Poolie on display.  She was a funny lady, and several of her ongoing jokes were on display too.  Plays were mentioned.  She directed too.  She flat out loved working with kids.  She was a true renaissance lady.

There was an excellent slide show.  I find that I need to ask friends on Facebook about Copyrights on Facebook, and I need to let my opinions on this go.

There was food….embarrassingly we ate before we went.  The friends and nonfriends were all magic.  That was the very best part of the day. 

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

• Himself:  I’m doing good today.
• Me, myself, and I:  Second day on a very light cold.  I’m drowning it in Zicam and other remedies, and don’t feel bad at all.
• Reading:  Getting to the meat of the latest Louise Penny.
• Captain Poolie:  Her ashes will be given to the sea today.
• Gratitude’s:  That we knew Poole.