The Kind of Folks I Work For

This article appeared in The Davis Enterprise this evening.

(Note the "customer" at the back of the store...)

Downtown Davis’ beloved used bookstore, Logos Books, is not your typical book seller. Unless a typical store donates $35,000 to Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders.

Susan and Peter Linz opened Logos Books, 513 Second St., in February 2010, specializing in used and out-of-print books. But they’re not in business to make money; instead, they donate proceeds from the business to the two international charities.

Peter is a UC Davis emeritus professor of math and computer science who ran an online used book business for about 10 years before opening the storefront.

“People don’t realize it’s not for profit, that’s why I put the sign in the window,” Susan said.

Logos was featured in the current issue of Doctors Without Borders’ magazine, Alert, because of its generous gifts to the two organizations.

The Linzes have been donating to Doctors and Save the Children since the store opened. In 2010, they gave $10,000, and in 2011 they donated $22,000.

“Peter chose these two charities very carefully: First, because they have an excellent reputation for using the money donated on the people and projects it is earmarked for, rather than on administrative costs,” Susan said. “Second, because we feel that there are people in so many places in the world who are desperately in need of help and that these agencies minister to them most effectively.”

“It’s going up every year,” Peter added.

The $35,000 is what the couple collected after paying rent, utilities and their one employee — an assistant manager who oversees the store and assists the volunteers when the Linzes are gone.

Volunteers staff the store on weekends, when the couple are at book sales getting new inventory and restocking their shelves.

“I really want to underline the volunteers, they’re so great,” Susan said.

Logos hosts Second Friday ArtAbout receptions, poetry readings and monthly meetings of its Spanish and French conversation groups, El Círculo Español and La Table Française.

El Círculo Español meets from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the third Monday and La Table Française meets from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on the second Wednesday. Check logosbooks.wordpress.com for topic information.

The couple said their lease on the current Second Street location is up on Feb. 1 and they are searching for a new home for the store.

“We don’t know yet how long we are going to stay in our current location,” Susan said. “But if we are to re-establish at another location, we have to start looking now. If we find a suitable location, we may indeed move before February.

“We feel like we contribute to the downtown Davis life,” she added.

Said Peter, “We’re the only used bookstore in downtown Davis.”

Local residents who know of a space that might be able to accommodate Logos are asked to contact the Linzes at logosusedbooks@gmail.com.

Identify Your Knickers

I love having my mother in Davis.  She gets to see Ned more often!  We included her in a Father's Day celebration by going to the Father's Day BBQ at Covell.  Not much of a bbq, but they were grilling strip steaks out in the parking lot and bringing them into the restaurant.  They were downright tasty, and Walt had two.

(someday we're going to teach Ned not to be so
nervous around cameras!  LOL)

Someone from the staff came around distributing bow ties to each of the fathers in the room.  I loved the sight of Ned helping his father put his tie on.

Somehow a bow tie with a plaid shirt does not exactly make a trending fashion statement!

When we had finished brunch, we went back to my mother's apartment where a very weird thing happened.  My mother told me that someone had come into her apartment yesterday and had left their underwear in her bathroom.  I reminded her that I had taken her clothes home yesterday afternoon and washed them and had brought them back that night.  She had a stack of clothes all folded up on a chair, the clothes I had washed, and she swears she had never seen them before and that they belonged to someone else.  I tried to convince her and I will be curious to find out if I actually did because when we left she was still considering taking them to the front desk and telling them that they did not belong to her.

I also started telling Ned and Marta about the goats and the poison ivy at my friend Dair's house and he said that he had seen Dair last week, when she came to visit my mother.  My mother has no memory of their visit.  This morning I found out that Dair and her husband and their granddaughter had come and spent an hour with her. She has absolutely no memory of that at all, and when Dair called to find out if she was going to be home, Ed was there and she told Ed it was "someone trying to sell me something."

The thing that I am wondering now is how long things have been this bad.  I thought I saw her often and Ed saw her often, but seeing her every day is completely different.  I see a lot more and see a lot more of the loss of memory than I ever noticed before and I'm wondering how much of this is due to the whole moving and being in a new place thing and how much was there all along and we never realized it.

Whatever it is, I am so glad that she is somewhere where people are at least aware of her.

Ned & Marta, Walt & I left and went to see Star Trek: Into Darkness.  I had been uninterested in seeing the first Star Trek movie, made in 2009.  Without William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy, I didn't see how I could possibly enjoy it, but it was really nice to see, as Ned put it, what an homage to the original series this movie is.  A lot more high tech, of course, but you never lose sight of the original series at all, and the actors playing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Sulu, and Uhura are just great, and quite believable as their younger selves (the least believable was Uhura, but she was still good).  I came home to find the 2009 Star Trek on OnDemand and will watch that later this week.

Today I took my mother to see The Great Gatsby, which she enjoyed.  She is even starting to recognize things in Davis.  But while she was going to her room to get her key, I asked the front desk if she had turned in some clothes that she said didn't belong to her.  The woman pulled out a box of clothes, which at least did NOT contain the clothes I washed, but contained other clothes that I recognized, because I gave them to her.  This came from a box that she "found" outside her apartment and snickered when she told me she had pushed it to someone else's apartment so nobody thought she was throwing away garbage.  The the box contains her clothes and now I have to go through it and see how much belongs to her and figure out how to take it back into her apartment without having to convince her that they really are her clothes!

Each day is a new adventure.

Sunday Stealing

This week's questions come from Do These Shoes Match This Purse? Maggie doesn't say where she got it, but it was probably stolen there as well.

The Weird Question Meme, Part Two

What is your ring size?
It used to be 7.  Now I don't have a clue.  I haven't worn a ring in years.

How often do you wear jewelry?
I wear a pair of jade earrings I bought in China and a necklace from the granddaughters which says "A grandma's love is forever."  I don't take them off.

When was the last time you consumed alcohol?
We had vodka and tonics 3 weeks ago when my mother moved into her new apartment

Any big plans for the summer?
You betcha!  Going to Ukraine and Istanbul (assuming it's not on fire by then) in August-September.

What is your favorite comfort food?
bread and butter

Do you prefer broccoli or asparagus?
It's a tossup, with the edge going to asparagus (which, like artichokes, is God's message that it's OK to eat mayonnaise)

What color are your bedroom walls?
I don't sleep in a bedroom, but my living room walls are a very light yellow. Kind of buttermilk.

With whom do you live?
A husband and 3 dogs

Which Star Wars movie is your favorite?
Can't remember one from another.  (My favorite StarTREK movie was the one with the whales)

How about Harry Potter?
It's been so long since I've seen a Harry Potter, I can't remember.

What was the last movie you saw in theaters?
Star Trek: Into Darkness.  Saw it today, thanks to Ned & Marta.   Loved it!

Did you get the popcorn or candy?
Difficult as it may be to believe, I am capable of going 2 hours without something to eat...especially at theater prices.

What is the most romantic text in your inbox?
There is no romantic text in my inbox

Have you ever played miniature golf on a date?
Yes.

What’s a phrase you overuse?
"No problem."  I'm trying to break myself of the habit.

Do you always use good grammar?
I try.

Do you have an accent or a speech impediment?
Everybody has some kind of accent.  I have no speech impediment, other than foot in mouth syndrome

What did you eat today?
Went to a big buffet at Covell today:  eggs benedict, steak (special for Father's Day), sausage, fruit cup and coffee.

What do you do at work?
I don't go to work; when I work at home, mostly I sit and stare off into space.

Do you know the rules to any sports?
I now the basic rules of several sports, but don't ask me to explain the infield fly rule

Do you prefer to watch or play sports?
That should be a no brainer.  Watch, of course.  Playing means...like...moving, right?

What is your favorite kind of hat to wear?
I HATE hats.  I look terrible in hats.  And my head is too big to wear almost all hats.  "One size fits all" does not fit me.  (Apparently Oprah has the same problem. I'm not sure if that is a comfort or not.)

Do you pray?
Not in the traditional sense.

To whom do you pray?
Usually Paul, David, Gilbert and, if S/he's not too busy, God (but I don't want to bother him/her; S/he's got enough on his/her plate these days!)

What is the closest mountain to your house?
Mount Diablo in the San Francisco Bay Area

What size engine is in your vehicle?
V6 (I think)

What do you need to do tomorrow?
Go to something called "brain gymnasium" with my mother.

And Samuel Makes 9

 
Now that my mother is living at Covell Gardens, I was able to cancel her LifeLine, which was costing me $50 a month, as Covell has its own system which is included in her monthly fees.  The idea of having an additional $50 made me think that maybe I'd see about sponsoring a 9th child.

I've done this before but nobody ever leaped out at me as needing me. 

It took about 2 seconds for me to choose Samuel from Kenya.   With his oversized head and his bloated stomach, he looked like a little Yoda...

...and also looked like he probably has a lot of health problems that being a sponsored child could begin to address.

Besides, I want to see how his appearance changes as he grows up.

Samuel lives with his father and mother.  He is responsible for gardening.  His father is sometimes employed as a laborer and his mother is sometimes employed as a farmer.  There are 5 children in the family.

Soccer is Samuel's favorite activity.  In kindergarten his performance is average and he also regularly attends church activities.

He lives on the plains of Kasyalani, home to approximately 3,000 residents.  Typical houses are constructed of dirt floors, mud walls and thatched rofs.  The regional diet consists of maize, millet and cow peas.

Common health problems in this area include malaria and typhoid.  Most adults in Kasayalani are unemployed but some work as subsistence farmers and earn the equivalent of $25 per month. 

So Samuel joins the rest of the family.  

I also let Compassion know that now that they are needing correspondence sponsors (people who write to sponsored kids whose sponsors don't want to write to them).  They previously had a limit of 3 children to whom you could write and I don't know how I actually got four, but I did say I was willing to write to more than four and so they sent me Lovson, from Haiti.  I don't have any information about him yet, but was able to get a copy of his photo.  When I have it, information will be avalable on my Compassion Kids blog site.

* * *

I meant to mention in yesterday's entry the two girls who came in in the middle of the afternoon, asking if I had a book called "something like 'a dream in the middle of the night in summer.'"  They told me it was written by "a guy named William Shakespeare."  When I asked if they meant "Midsummer Night's Dream," they brightened and said "That's it!"  I directed them to the Shakespeare section and they were disappointed at not finding what they wanted (after about 15 minutes of looking and whispering).

 

They showed me a book of the complete works of Shakespeare and asked if there wasn't a book like it with just "Midsummer" in it.  I directed them to the new books store (meaning it sells new, not used books) in the next block.  While they were gone, I checked the shelves again and sure enough, there was a paperback copy of "Midsummer" and when they came back, I showed it to them, but apparently they wanted a hardback copy.  I told them I thought they would not find it.

Then they picked up the complete works again and asked me if this was the text as it was originally written.  I said I was sure that it was.  They finally decided to buy that instead.

These girls looked like they were from a different country but they spoke impeccable college-ese Engliah and I was surprised that they seemed to have zero knowledge about Shakespeare!  But I did make the sale, so it wasn't a total loss (and I had something to share here!)

A Day at "The Home"

I spent most of the day at Covell Gardens and it was...quite interesting.  Amazing what sorts of things you learn when you are there all day, and "do stuff."  You learn, for one thing, that the reason you "do stuff" is because when you "do stuff," you also "learn stuff."

There was an activity called "keep your brain sharp" that I thought started at 10:30, so I got to my mother's around 10:15, only it turned out that the activity actually started at 11.  I figured we could take advantage of the extra 30 minutes and get her change of address cards written.

I discovered that doing anything that involves thinking overwhelms her.  She couldn't find her address book and when I reminded her where I had put it, it wasn't there and she wandered around all but wringing her hands for not being able to find the address book.  I finally found her rolodex which had many of her addresses on it.  I asked her to look for the names she wanted to send change of address cards to.  She said she'd been thinking about it and she knew she had to do it but whenever she picked up the rolodex, she would get rattled and so overwhelmed that she finally put them in a drawer.  So much for THAT!  

I finally decided that I would have to address the cards and mail them myself.  As for the addresses she could not find, I called her best friend in Marin County and she gave me all of the addresses I needed (and couple I didn't know I needed).  It's a good place to start.

Next we went to "Keep Your Brain Sharp."  We arrived a little late and two other women (a resident and a woman who looked like a college student who was there to help) were fillling out a form.  It was a true and false test about how you think about brain function (adults laugh just as much as children on a daily basis, all fruits and vegetables are good sources of anti-oxidents, etc.)  My mother was flustered from the get go.  She was so tense because she didn't want to make a mistake  Everyone kept telling her that there were no right or wrong answers that it was just a starting for discussion, except the other resident who grumbled at her to hurry up because everyone else had already finished their forms!

The second activity was to write down the names of all the animals you could see around you.  When that paper was passed out, my mother rolled her eyes at me and said "I don't belong here" (I think it was because she could only think of 3 different animals).  The grumpy lady had a huge list of animals, but they were mostly zoo animals, which wasn't the assignment.  The new lady who had joined us didn't even try, but got up and left.

The interesting thing about this activity, though, was a discussion about rodents.  Apparently the C wing (my mother is in A wing) has had an infestation of mice and the lady who left the class told us that the other day she found a cute little mouse in her apartment and she went to pick it up and put it outside, but it panicked and ran under...something.  Later, when we went ot the hair dresser, I heard more about the mice in C wing.

The activity was over at 11:30, and her hairdresser appointment was not until 1, so we went to lunch while waiting.  Fish and chips today and once again my mother complained that they serve too much and she hates to think it was going to be thrown away, so, good Samaritan that I am, I finished what fish and chips she felt too full to finish.  

We sat with Jean, a new arrival from Redding, who has been her just about as long as my mother has.  I'm keeping a record of all the people we meet so I can greet them by name.  It's nice to start to know people, even if my mother can't remember most of them from one meeting to the next!

At 1, we went down to Lucy's beauty shop.  She's been here many years and my mother had been very leery about making an appointment with her, but put on her best martyr attitude and said that she guessed that she was going to have to find a new hairdresser because she couldn't keep going to Hannah, who has done her hair for 35 years.

When she last went to Hannah, I took pictures of how her hair was set so we could show it to Lucy.  I also took an "after" shot.  Lucy studied them very carefully.

She assured my mother that she does hair like this all the time.   My mother submitted to her ministrations.

Lucy could see that she was going to be a little late for her next appointment(s), so she made some phone calls.  She told me that she wasn't sure if one of the ladies scheduled could come because the memory wing was under quarantine because there was a virus sweeping through the residents there (hadn't heard that either!)

While I was sitting in the beauty parlor reading, I heard a familiar voice and looked out to see Ned's friend's wife helping herself to some of the tea party cookies before going to see her grandmother.  (There is a tea party every afternoon at 2 p.m.)

When the hair dresser was finished, it was pronounced a great success and my mother said she'd see her in 2 weeks for the next "do."  

She had wanted to get a new battery for her watch.  She can't remember for more than 2 minutes that her watch is not showing the correct time.  I told her we could go after she had her hair done, but that activity pretty much wore her out and she decided we should do it tomorrow.  There is a banjo concert tomorrow night that Walt and I will go to, but I will probably come over earlier and take her out for a battery.

I have to admit it was good to get back home again after 4 hours at "the home," but I'm starting to settle into Covell along with my mother and it's kind of fun.

Three a Day

As we were leaving the performance area where we had just watched As You Like It, I told Walt that I think I'm getting too old for days like that.   It was a 3-event (sorta) day and my body was telling me it had to get to sleep now.

It wasn't exactly running a marathon kind of day.  Just a normal running errands kind of day, but I seem to be having more trouble with them lately.   Maybe it's the stress of having my mother to deal with, though she certainly has hardly been much trouble now that she is settled in Davis.

The day started with a trip to the post office to mail a couple of packages.  It was a typical Davis morning at the post office, with 8 customers in line and only one clerk working.  I was amused, though, by a toddler behind me who was making a fuss.  Her mother handed her an iPad and told her to go sit down and play.

And she did...very efficiently.  Today's modern baby, growing up in the computer age!  I imagine this is something Lacie could do quite well also

.

After the post office, I drove in to Sacramento to meet my friend Kathy for lunch, as we do once a month.  We had two months of catching up to do, though, as I was unable to make our last lunch date because of being in the middle of stuff with my mother.  So we talked and talked and taked until I realized that I had to leave now if I was going to get to work on time that afternoon.

I actually got home with 25 minutes to spare before I had to leave for Logos.  The drive home had been a rough one, as I desperately wanted to sleep.   I don't understand why, since I had a good night's sleep (for me) the night before, but I parked in the carport, staggered into the house and told Walt to wake me in 25 minutes.  I climbed into my recliner and was asleep almost instantly.

The mail came while I was asleep (Walt had thoughtfully put Polly's bark collar on her, knowing the mailman would probably come soon, so she wouldn't bark and wake me up!)  I grabbed the mail and took it with me to read at work.

The nap was just what I needed and I awoke refreshed and ready to go to Logos.  It was a not too slow, not too fast afternoon.  One guy came in with his son, who ran right to his favorite book shelf, pulled out one he wanted and curled up on the floor engrossed in the book while his father browsed.  I always love it when I see young children having such a good time with books.  It gives me hope for the future.  :)

In the mail was a package, which I assumed was something from Swap Bot, but I was pleasantly surprised to open it and find a book that I just ordered.   When our kids outgrew their kid books, I put them in a box to save for our future grandchildren.  The box has disappeared.  I have been searching for it literally for 10 years or more.  I found a box of books that were Walt's favorites when he was a kid, but the ones that our kids loved just don't seem to exist.  There were two in particular that I have been sad about because they were two top favorites.   

One was a book called "How Joe the Bear and Sam the Mouse Got Together" and I don't know why I always think about that book when I'm with the girls.  I remember some of it  and I figured I could tell the story, making up the parts that I'd forgotten.  On a whim, I checked Amazon for the book and they had it.  You could actually buy a new copy of that book.  For $172.  Yes, $172 for a run of the mill children's book.  BUT, they also had a used copy for $7 and, thrilled about that, I ordered it.

The other book was Jeri's very favorite for a long time, though I'm sure she doesnt remember it.  It was called "I'm Suzy" and is just a simple little book about a girl realizing who she is.  Amazon had that, too, for some astronomical price, but they also had a used copy for $9 (though by the time I ordered, the $9 copy was gone and the cheapest used copy I could get was $15...but by now I was a woman on a mission and I ordered it).

"Joe the Bear..." will probably arrive today.   Yesterday's package was "I'm Suzy" and how excited I was to read the familiar little story again.  It's probably geared to about a 2-3 year old but it's the pictures that make it so cute and I can hardly wait to get to Santa Barbara again to read it to Lacie, and maybe to Bri.  I know they won't enjoy hearing it nearly as much as I will enjoy reading it.

 Walt, bless him, ordered Chinese take-out food for dinner, so we came home and ate and got ready go to up to the university to see As You Like It.   Shakespeare is never my ideal way to spend an evening, but this was a good production.  However, something happens to my body when I get tired like I was yesterday.  It's like every molecule in my body is fighting to go to sleep.  I can't really explain it, but I get to a point where I just ache to lie down.  It's too much effort to keep my head up.  Everything in my body feels heavy. I didn't fall asleep during the show, but I sure wanted to lie down to watch it!

We got to the car and made the short drive home.  I went immediately to put on night clothes and was asleep within 10 minutes of arriving at home.   But I have sept the night and feel very well this morning and am elated to look on my calendar and see nothing written.  I think today is the day my mother can attend one of the memory classes, at 10:30 or so, so I'll do that with her, but the whole day stretches out before me with nothing pressing except writing the review.

Life is good, even if I do sometimes feel very old.

Have a Cuppa

Today I finally used my Linde Lane Groupon and took my mother and my friend Pat to tea at the Linde Lane Teahouse.

We were three different decades:  I'm 70, Pat is 80 and my mother is >90. 

I was a little disappointed this time around.  I thought my Groupon was for high tea, but it was just $10 off on the total bill.  Looking at the menu, both my mother and Pat decided they weren't really hungry.  But I ordered a "Royal Tea," which was soup, salad and then a tray of goodies for the three of us to share.

They included three different kinds of sandwiches (1/4 each), open face cucumber sandwich, and a scone, and then a layer that was desserts.  I decided not to order the tray that included "savories."

What I ordered turned out to be just perfect for two old ladies who don't like to eat any more and me, the human garbage can.  I was disappointed that they couldn't find a way to help us share the one salad and soup that came with the order, but they did give us two extra plates so I could divide up the salad and we all just ate from the same soup bowl, which made me happy because the potato soup was delicious.

We shared a pot of Earl Gray tea and I made sure my mother had the cup with a shoe on it, since she's such a shoe freak.

I decided that when Lacie and Brianna are older, Laurel and I have to take them to this place for tea, if we can schedule a time to do it.  The place was full of mothers and little kids, the little girls dressed in their finery (one even wore a crown), sharing tea in a grown up restaurant.  They all looked like they must have been between 5 and maybe 10, so maybe in 3-4 years we can try to take the girls there.  We could specifically request the table that is in a tea cup, which would really be fun for them.

There were three desserts, a lemon petit four, a cookie, and a chocolate cup.  When everyone hemmed and hawed about which they wanted, I decided that since I was paying for it, I would not be shy and would take the chocolate one.

When our tea was finished and I paid the balance ($6.75...such a deal!), we spent some time wandering around in the gift shop, where they have hats worthy of a Royal Family wedding.  Sadly, they do not permit photos to be taken of people trying on hats, so I didn't do that, but I actually found a couple of hats that might fit me if (a) I wore hats, and (b) I wanted to pay $70+ for a hat I'd never wear.   Usually the "one size fits all" hats perch on my head and never actually fit the head.

My mother was ready for a nap by the time we returned to Davis, but I think she enjoyed herself. 

Tomorrow she will be on her own, since I'm having lunch in Sacramento, working at Logos for the afternoon, and reviewing a show tomorrow night.