Today at Logos

I started my day with lunch with my mother.  She was very disoriented today.  She said she had slept until 11 and so she was really confusesd and didn't know where she was or what she was supposed to be doing.  I found her in the dining room at 11:15 and she didn't know if she should order breakfast or lunch, couldn't find the breakfast items on the menu and then after ordering said she should go back to bed so she could wake up, thinking she had already eaten.  Loretta, one of the other women living there, who is about as confused as my mother sat with us.   They are good friends (though neither knows the other's name), and always have a good time teasing each other, so by the time the meal was over (lunch for me, breakfast for her), she was a bit more "with it."  Loretta apologized to the quiet woman who sat with us for the fact that the three of us were "nuts," she said, and the woman smiled for the first time and said not to apologize, that she had enjoyed listening to us.

By the end of my stint at Logos, it was 102 outside, which explained why there was not a lot of activity in the store for most of the day, especially as the day got later.  Not the kind of weather that makes you want to go out and wander around the streets.  But I did have some flurries of activity throughout the day.

As I got out of the car in front of the store and watched Walt drive off, I realized I didn't have my insulated bag of water and snack.  I tried to wave him down, but he didn't see me, so I called him right away and when he stopped the car to call me back, he said the bag was not in the car.  I had left it at home, so I was facing a hot afternoon without water.  Argh.  Thank God for the air conditioning and the desk fan. 

Shortly after I sat down, I saw "Eliza" pass by with her bike.  I marveled again at how she can walk the streets of Davis bundled up in blankets and warm clothes when the weather is so hot.  She didn't cme in, though.

I settled in to continue reading the Ruth Rendell book that I picked up at the store last week.

A very tall man dressed all in black (shorts, cut-off t-shirt) and looking like a cross between Steve Schalchlin and Justin Bieber came in.  He had very hairy legs, I noted.  He was looking for a copy of "The Princess Bride," which we did not have, so he left.

A woman came in with some Spanish workbooks from a class she had taken.  She left them as a donation.

A man with a baseball lcap that had a logo I could not read came in.  His shorts had tiny black squares all over them.  He checked Sci Fi and cookbooks but eventually bought 5 books with a history theme.  Told me he had a book seller's license and should not be charged tax.  He's been in before and I keep forgetting to ask Susan if this license/tax thing is true.  I just didn't charge him tax.

A trio of 2 women and one man entered.  One of the women was wearing a cut off t-shirt (no sleeves) with a skull in the center and 360 degrees around it alternated a tiger, feathers, and swords.  She was looking for a book of mixed drinks.  The three looked around for awhile, but left without making a purchase.

A woman wearing tights with some sort of black and grey pattern also arrived, wearing a t-shirt with a "Spin to go" t-shirt came in, but left without buying anything.

Now came my moment of flurry of activity.  Two different coouples came in, followed by another couple.  In all there were 11 people in the store.  Every aisle was filled with at least two people.  I don't think I've ever had a moment when the store was that full. Maybe they were all there to enjoy the air conditioning!

I couldn't keep track of them all, but one woman had a big camera slung around her neck and a guy had a messenger bag that was covered with buttons and flags.  I found out he was an organ donor from one of this buttons.

The man in one of the couples was a chemist (I determined from the shirt he was wearing from a Chemistry conference).  On the front of the shirt it had written Ah, with the chemical number 8.314 and the explanation that "Ah" was "the element of surprise."  He bought a small book of Emily Dickinson poems.

He was apparently with a woman in a long black dress who was wandering around another part of the store, carrying a coffee cup.  She found an Agatha Christie novel and carried it to the Ah guy by holding it by the corner with two fingers, as if she was carrying something nasty.  He was thrilled and bought that book too, and soon after his son also bought an Agatha Christie novel.

A girl in very short torn denim shorts was standing by the desk looking at cookbooks.  I noticed that her shorts had lace decoration along the side and I think she's been in wearing those same shorts before.

When the Ah guy left with his family the woman mentioned Nancy Drew books.  I asked if she had found some and she said they were at the front of the store.  We have had a whole collection of Nancy Drew books in the children's room ever since I've worked at Logos and I always thought I should re-read one of them just for fun.  Then last week two girls bought two of the books and asked if we had any more.  I found out that the whole bunch of books had been sold the week before.   Now there was a collection of books on display in the front, each volume contained two of the stories.

A man came in looking for a copy of a dictionary of additives and preservatives.  He said he was afraid he had donated it to us by mistake last week, but we couldn't find it and he said he would have to go and buy another one.

Lots of people checked out the bargain books outside, but none came into the store.  Finally a guy came in to buy one bargain book ($1), paid by credit card, and took several bookmarks with him.  He left his credit card behind, but remembered before he had gone far.

A man wearing shorts and an odd aloha shirt came in sweating and sighing to be inside in the air conditioned store.  He said it was 103 outside.

He was followed by a large man with an Alfred Hitchcock build who checked sci fi and humor and ended up taking a coffee table type book about cars to the front table to read.  When he later paid for the book, I noticed he was wearing a cool Mickey Mouse watch.

My friend showed up at 4:25, displaying none of the heat exhaustion that so many had mentioned.  He didn't stay long and bought a book on the art and architecture of ancient America.  I told him about Alice Nan's recent trip to Macu Picchu and he said he just might have to go there some day, but said that the book was the next best thing and that he could explore from home and that it was much cheaper.  I agreed.

A Middle Eastern guy in a hurry came in, picked out a copy of "The Shah," for a friend and "1001 classical recordings" for himself.   The entire transaction from the time he came through the door and the time he left took less than 5 minutes.

A girl wearing a very short skirt had legs that looked like they were covered in mosquito bites.

A thin old woman (she was probably younger than I am) with long thin grey braids that came to her waist and a skimpy sun dress that looked like it was in danger of having a wardrobe malfunction at any moment, from the way she kept pulling up the front brought in about 10-15 books from the bargain books and put them on the table at the front.  She said "I'm gonna buy so many books you won't believe it."   Ultimately she paid for 17 and when I asked if she needed a bag, she said her boyfriend was in the car outside and she'd just take them to the car.  On her way to the car, she found four more books outside she needed and then one more book.  She paid with a $100 bill.  We have been warned by the police that counterfeit $20s have been found this week, so we're supposed to check, but her $100 seemed for real.

Interestingly, the warning from the police says that if you suspect a bill of being counterfeit you should not put yourself in danger, but you should not give the bill back to the customer, and should detain him/her while you call the police and the secret service!  As Susan laughed--we don't have the Secret Service phone number on speed dial!  If you can't detain the person, you should at least get their car's license number.  Right.  In Davis, where everybody walks or bikes and you can't find a parking place anyway!  Fortunately, I didn't have to do that with this woman.

My last customer was a Japanese girl who was looking for easy books.   At least I think that was what she said.  It was very difficult to understand her, but I think she wanted a book that would be fun to read, but would be easy so she could work on improving her English.  I tried to help her find a book in the young people's section, but she told me 3 times what kind of books she likes to read and I couldn't understand her at all.  She did finally find a book she wanted to try, though.

Walt arrived at 6 and we hurried home to eat some leftovers for dinner,because I had a show to review at 7, so we had almost no time at all.  My weather app said that it was 101 outside and the very last thing I wanted to do was to go out again, but at least the theater was air conditioned.

Day 32:  Sunflowers always make me happy