Friday, July 11, 2014

Today at Logos

My chat with Sandy was brief today.  I was kind of sorry.  I enjoy talking with her.

The first customers were 2 girls who bought a German children's book, which I thought was "Three Little Kittens" but there were only 2 kittens on the cover and 3 is not zwei, 2 is.  So I don't know what the title of the book was.
A woman bought two mysteries and asked if we accept donations.  I gave her the spiel about donating to charity.  She was impressed to year Logos had donated $40,000 last year, and will be making donations.

I went to look for the Ruth Rendell book that I accidentally gave to someone a couple of weeks ago and then downloaded for my Kindle, since I hadn't finished it yet.  It was back on the shelf, so I took that as my book to read today.  I had brought my Kindle with me so I could synch to the right page.

A guy wearing a "worms and coffee" shirt came in and bought a book about war and one about VanGogh.

A family arrived, parents and 2 kids, one a teen, one younger.  I told the kids where to find the children's and young adult books but neither went there.  The older girl and the dad stood at the window looking out, very bored, while Mom and the younger one looked around.  The younger girl looked through all the craft books.  Dad and girl finally went outside.  Nobody bought anything.

Two women, around my age, came in.  I can only describe them as "Davis Dowagers," and I can't really explain what I mean by that.  It's one of those "you know it when you see it" things.  One wore a flowing long culotte skirt with a contrasting top and nicely coordinated jewelry.   Looking at her arms, I decided she was probably a tennis player. I didn't really notice her friend, except that she was wearing a bracelet like one that I have.  It hung loose on her, and my wrist is too fat to wear it.

Neither woman paid the slightest attention to me, or even acknowledge my presence, other than to hand me a credit card and sign the receipt.   Kinda the reaction I am used to getting from Davis Dowagers.

A lady, who says she goes on hikes with the Sierra Club was thrilled to find a book of flower drawings on the bargain table.  She says she wants to get back into botanical drawing and that the book was just perfect...and only $1 at that!   I asked her if she knew our friends, who go on Sierra Club hikes, but she did not.  She later came back to check the Religion section and found a thick, $12.50 book on the history of Christianity.  She looked at it for a long time at the table in front, but ultimately put it back on the shelf.

A tall, thin girl, looking a lot like Kate Micucci, who plays Lucy, the girlfriend of Raj Koothrappali on The Big Bang Theory came in.   She acted like it too when she shyly handed me a Sci Fi book to ring up for her.

A tall girl came in with a very short friend and both were looking through the old book sections.  Finally she found "a book I can't live without" (an old book of childhood rhymes).

A man in an electric wheelchair was trying to get in the front door, so I got up to help him, but he said he preferred to do it himself.  It was easier when I told him that the "PULL" sign on the door was misleading, and that he could also PUSH the door and that made it easier for him to get the wheelchair in. He was looking for Carter Brown mysteries, which I guess were written in the 1950s.  In fact Wikipedia tells me that Brown wrote some 322 of them.  When I told him I didn't think we had any, he told me that they were usually set in the English countryside, as if he thought that might help me help him find some!

A guy who looked a lot like a taller version of our Brasilian friend Nelson asked if he could read a book at the table.  I told him he could.  He read for awhile and finally brought a "History of the Crusades."   When he spoke, he had an accent, though I don't think it was Brasilian.

Another very tall, very thin girl with long straight blonde hair and black horn-rimmed glasses came in.  She was carrying a binder and some other folders in one arm and looked like a high school girl.  I was impressed with her pants, which were blue but had many pockets, making them look puffy. When her friend joined her, they were pointing and laughing at the kids' room, and then left without buying anything.

My friend arrived at 4:25, with the news that a local used music store (Armadilllo Music) has just expanded into larger quarters and now has a book section.  I joked about losing his business and he said that no, now he'd just have to visit two book stores each week.  He was carrying two books from Armadillo and bought a Raymond Chandler mystery from  me.

A mom and young son arrived.  He was probably four, wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle t-shirt, baseball cap and some jazzy green rimmed sunglasses.  I think he's been in before.  He gave me kind of a mischevious smile as he left Mom and headed for the kids room.  Later he walked out and both left, without making a purchase though the kid was making some quiet whining noises.   Mom told me that he had spent the afternoon in Grandpa's pool and was exhausted.

I finally finished my Ruth Rendell book at 5:40, so close to quitting time and since we had almost nobody for an hour, I decided to switch to the book I was reading on my Kindle.

Just before I left, an old guy with a cane and baseball cap came in and said "I need something to read."  He explained that he was meeting his daughter at the train station and she had just let him know she was going to be late, so he wanted a book to keep him company while he waited.

Peter arrived just before 6, with Walt a few minutes after.  We said goodbye and went to Steve's Pizza for their salad bar for dinner.   I knew I had nothing at home to cook, and I was kind of hungering for the salad bar, as they have the best one in town.

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