Last Day at Logos

Well, here it is--the very last Today at Logos entry.  It was an ordinary day, with nothing really special about it.  My 4+ years at Logos has ended with a whimper, not a bang.  I was sorry that Bruce didn't come in and I haven't seen the train guy in awhile either, but my friend came to say goodbye.

I had a nice note from Susan, who always writes to us after each of our shifts to thank us and let us know how much we made.  My note said, "Bev, you've been with us since the beginning of our volunteer search, and Thursday afternoon in your slot!  I know a lot of regulars who are going to miss seeing you there."

Vojka was working in the morning and was talking to a guy named David, who is going to be doing my slot when Logos re-opens as Friends of the Public Library.

First thing that happened was that Susan called to let me know that her new grandson, Gabriel Peter, had just been born (in New Jersey), after 19 hours of labor.  Congratulations to the new grandparents (Susan and Oeter's first).  Ashley will like his name, since it's the name of her son too.

The first customer, who came to the desk as I was congratulating Susan, was a guy who bought 3 coffee talble books all, about Florence (one was on the Uffizi gallery).

David, who had left wth Vojka, returned to buy a book on music (I think was something about how jazz shaped American music).

That morning I had been inspired by my e-mail friend Claire, who makes pictures of a doll doing various fun things to send to a little boy she knows.  I found a teddy bear in the house and decided his name was Benny and that I would take him on adventures to send to the girls.  Today he went to Logos and found a book to read about his cousin Paddington.

I'm looking forward to finding various things for Benny to do to entertain Brianna and Lacie.

A guy came in wanting to know about volunteering.  I didn't have any information about what the Friends were going to do, so I had him leave his contact information.

A middle aged woman looked around for awhile and then said how happy she was that the Friends would be taking over because she loves the store.

A girl came in who had just discovered the store the day before and loves it. She said she thought Logos was the ideal of a small book store. She bought a copy of "David Copperfield" and as she left, she was saying "Look at me! I bought a book!"

A guy I didn't really recognize bought four bargain books and said he was really sorry to see me leave, but hopes that the Friends make a success of the store.

A guy bought a tiny Berlitz Spanish travel dictionary and a big coffee table book with photos from sites around the world.  He found a bonus--a bookmark from the Getty museum--inside.

A guy wearing a UCD cross-country shirt, a sweat band around his head, black-rimmed glasses, and ear phones (not ear buds--these puppies were huge) came in looking for books by French philosopher Jacques Derrida.  He didn't find Derrida, but bought 2 books on philosophy and a copy of the Quran.  He had chosen four other literature books, but put them back, when he added up the price.

Peter's friend Tom came in with another book for Peter and took back three books he had donated awhile ago.  He never pays for anything.  Susan says he uses Logos as his personal lending library.  Such a nice friendly man.

A dark guy with very dark eyes was looking for books on woodworking.  He found one on box making and said he bought it for a shop on campus.

My friend (whose name is Willard) came in at 4:15.  The time had flown by since 2 and I was surprised it was that late already (I was engrossed in "Judy and Me" by Sid Luft, Judy Garland's former husband, which I had received the day before).  Willard bought 2 bargain books and a book on Japanese history and one other history.  We said our goodbyes and, as he was carrying a copy of this week's Sacramento News and Review, I showed him my review and he said he would start checking the paper for my reviews.  I will miss seeing him each week.

A guy came in with a bargain book by Vince Flynn.  I told him how much I enjoyed his books and he said he had just read one of his books and enjoyed it.  He was sad to learn that Flynn died a few years ago, which means no more Vince Flynn books!

A very large, round guy came in to ask about the book store changes.  He was carrying a blg slurpy sized drink in a massive hand.  He did look around a bit, but didn't buy anything.

Three women came in together.  They were a vision in knit.  One had a chartreuse tam-o-shanter and matching chartreuse sneakers.  One had a wine colored mult-layer scarf around her neck.  The guy who was with them, bought a Jack London book.

The man I have thought of as "Physics Guy" because he seems to come in each week to buy a book on physics was my last customer.  He bought 2 bargain books and 2 books on thermodynamics.  I mentioned that I had typed "Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics" three times, in the days pre-computer.  He was not impressed, or even interested.

And then Susan was there with photos of newborn Gabriel Peter.  A hug, a goodbye and then my days at Logos are over.

Today at Logos

I was happy to see Sandy in the store, with her wife and a mutual friend.  She won't be working next week, so this was our goodbye, but we have promised to get together for coffee or lunch or something after the dust settles.  She'll be my eyes and ears to how the new guys are doing, since she plans to volunteer for a bit longer.  We also commiserated on tomorrow's inauguration.  She and Wendy are doing a TV blackout too (though told me I should keep my TV on, tuned to some station like Hallmark or The Food Channel so if someone is keeping track of how many TV sets are tuned to election coverage, we will be counted as NOT being tuned.  My god we are sounding like we are living "1984," trying to fool Big Brother.

"Pete Seeger" was the first customer.  He bought a book on music and paid by credit card, so I was able to find out his real name.  Several "old friends" came by today and it felt like I was saying goodbye to each of them.  I hope that Bruce stops by next week.

A guy came in with questions about the takeover and if there would be one more half price sale before Susan and Peter walked away (I didn't know)

A guy bought a thick French dictionary, a photo book on whales, and "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court."  He asked about when the store changes hands and said he'd be in one more time before the Friends of the Public Library take over.

I had to enlarge this on the scanner to figure out what I wrote. which was that a tall man in a striped knit cap was looking at the music section and finally purchased a copy of "Elementary Training for Musicians."

A middle aged woman wearing a sweatshirt that looked like that old Partridge Law shirt I burned came in (it had an emblem that said "Golden Gate Basset Rescue" on it).  She asked about volunteering with Friends of the Public Library and I had to tell her I knew nothing about what they did and did not need or how their volunteering was going to work.  She talked at great length about the new public library they had built in Alameda, which she hates and which sounds completely out of place in that warm, cozy, Victorian-laden town!

A woman with long straight hair and Michael Straham teeth came in, briefly.  She had a very odd backpack which was split so that it had two satchel, one on each side.  I was just barely able to snap a photo of it as she was leaving, without making a purchase.

A guy with a beard and "man bun" found two bargain books and a regular book that came to $6.34 but he didn't have that much cash and the machine rejected his credit card.  He said he'd been having problems with the card and asked if I could hold the books while he went to his bank to sort it out.  I did.  He returned, bought the books (no problems this time) and then found 3 more bargain books on his way out, so all in all bought six books--and a bag to put them in.

A guy buys a book on fluid mechanics from the bargain book section.

Another guy in a beanie and dark glasses was looking for a copy of Plato's "Republic," but did not find it.  I commented that I had sold a copy of that book last week and he said that it is required reading for a course he is taking.

My friend came at 4:05 and bought 2 bargain books and a book of Tea, which had been one of the display books in the window.  We talked about how it was my next to last day and he said he would see me next week.  I will miss him.

Peter's friend Tom, who usually brings Peter a couple of books each week, brought him a math book and a Mark Twain anthology.

A distinguished man with a neat grey beard bought 2 sci fi books and asked if we bought them back.  I explained the whole "for charity" policy of the store and how it didn't make any difference anyway, since we would be gone in a week and it would be up to the Friends how they handled things.

I was glad to see the Antiquarian, since it is probably the last time I'll see him.  He didn't buy anything today, but we talked about the change over.  Apparently his wife is the treasurer for a Friends of the Public Library in nearby Roseville.  He left telling me it was nice knowing me.  Nice man.  I'll miss him too.

John, who reminded me he's "the big Lawsuit fan" stopped by to say hello.  I hadn't seen him in a year, during which time he and his wife of 14 years have divorced.  He says he sees me on Facebook from time to time and so he knows about "the Trump thing" and told me his ex wife and their daughter are going to D.C. for Saturday's march.

I was glad that Susan came in early to relieve me because I had to catch the bus home (Walt was in San Francisco at the symphony).  We naturally talked about the ending of things  She also asked if I would write an article for The Enterprise.  My colleague had planned to write one but she felt that I would do a better job since I was more intimately involved.  Whether the paper will want one at all is questionable since the lady who writes the business column devoted a lot of space to the news about Logos just a week ago, but I've written to the editor to ask what she thinks.

It takes >30 minutes to get home by buy, so I had a chance to listen to my audio book and then when I got home and checked Facebook, I learned that Trump has decided to go back on ALL his promises not to cut Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security and they are on the chopping block for the $10 trillion in cuts he wants to make over the next 10 years.  He also plans to defund the National Endowment for the Arts and privatize the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

I think I need to find a bunch of other Erma Bombeck books.

Today at logos

At Logos last week, I had a whopping total of 3 sales, with a few other customers in the store.  Normally I write notes on a quarter sheet of paper, an 8-12 x 11 piece of paper torn into 4ths.  In a normal week, I fill four sheets of paper.  Yesterday, when Walt arrived to pick me up I had just started my EIGHTH sheet of paper.  It was last minute gift buying day! Susan tells me that we sold $399 worth of books!

I needed to go to the bank, which is across the street from Logos.  I'm so frustrated.  I have used my pin on ATM machines for over 10 years and suddenly it's just..gone.  I know the four numbers, but I cannot for the life of me get them in the right order, so I have to deposit a check at the bank and get my pin switched.  I had hoped to do that before working, but we left the house a little too late so I was going to ask Sandy if she could stay just a bit longer, but her wife was there with their granddaughter, so I didn't.

Thinking the store was empty we were talking quite openly about our latest favorite subject: the upcoming Trump presidency.  Today we were talking about his decision to up our nuclear capabilities and what a danger that was after decades, ever since the Sainted Ronald Reagan, of working to reduce nuclear arms around the world.  It's probably not the conversation we would have had with customers in the store, but suddenly this very tall guy with a French accent appeared, making a statement about France's nuclear capabilities.  That was a surprise!

The next guy to come in was kind of a blend of Anderson Cooper and Mister Rogers.  He didn't buy anything either, but I had to mention him because I loved the visual I had of him!

3 women came in, looking like mom, daughter, and grandma.  Grandma had kind of a sour look and said loudly 'What are we DOING here?"  I couldn't tell if she was being funny...or if maybe she was like my mother, who would probably wonder the same thing.  The mom bought a book of ancient civilizations of somewhere I can't remember and the daughter bought a history of Greece.

A portly red-headed bearded guy searing a Bob Marley shirt under his dark corduroy jacket had worn-looking shoes with toes that turned up almost like those of elves.  His rumpled jeans dragged on the floor over his shoes.  He wore his sun glasses on top of his head and he spent a long time looking through the literature and the history sections, but ultimately didn't buy anything.

A woman who looks like my blog pal Mary Wise looked at cookbooks briefly and then bought a book on pizza.

A woman asked questions about the future of the store and of the French discussion sessions, which I told her I assumed would not continue with the transfer of ownership to Friends of the Public Library.  She bought a bargain book.

A man arrived with an armload of wrapped Christmas packages.  I said "Oh you shouldn't have" and he gave a small smile at my pathetic joke.  He bought a big coffee table book on the Bayeux tapestry from the window display.

A woman came in with a bargain book and asked for directions to a news store.  I told her how to get to Newsbeat, just a couple of blocks away.  She asked if she could leave the book there and get it later, which I said she could do.  I had told her to turn right out of the store; she turned left and I never saw her again.

A woman bought The Physics of Golf and The Story of English.  She put them both in her book bag, with a bag of coffee beans and the whole store smelled of coffee.

5 people entered at the same time, groups of two and three.  The two, kind of swarthy looking men with head bands, left quickly, while the 3 women stayed longer and laughed a lot.  

A man bought a contemporary fiction book.  His right arm, I noticed, was heavily tattooed (I suspect they were henna tattoos) with the letters spelling YOKE on his fingers and ornate flowers covering all the skin I could see.

An older man with white hair and mustache, who walked with an unsteady gait was looking for art books, but didn't find what he wanted.  He was so unsteady when he left I worried about him (the man needs a cane!)

A very tall woman bought a book on witchcraft and a man I had not noticed entering bought a book on the Celts.

A woman named Carol J brought in an armload of 10 bargain books, paid for them, and left them behind to pick up later  She met a friend outside as she was leaving and the friend was picking her own stack of bargain books (7 of them).  She returned an hour or so later for her books and bought a book on Van Gogh for $7, which was teeny compared to the bargain books she had purchased.  She also bought a kids' Christmas book.

Two women were sitting on the floor in front of me looking at cookbooks.  One of them had the biggest, fattest stuffed cat I had ever seen, which she had just purchased at the toy store across the street.

A woman chose a book that costs $7 but didn't have that much and said she would return, but she did not.

A woman bought three kids books, including "The Phantom Tollbooth."  The total came to about $7 but I kept screwing up the cash register and at first had her owing >$20.  I finally got it right on the third try.

A man talked with me about the takeover of Friends of the Pubic Library and when I mentioned Logos' donations to charity over the years. He was unaware of it and was impressed.

A woman asked if we sold gift certificates, and since I didn't find any blanks in the drawer, I guessed that we no longer did.  Another Logos tradition leaving.  The woman bought three personal growth books, including one by Edgar Cayce, the "sleeping prophet," the "father of holistic medicine," and the most documented psychic of the 20th century. 

A striking tall woman in a long white coat with a long scarf around her neck and a regal bearing entered, looking for "coffee table books."  She looked like what I would imagine Kay Scarpetta looking like, if Scarpetta were taller.  The woman was pleased to find three books, one on Scorsese, one on Humphrey Bogart and one on movies of the 20th century (I think this last book was one I donated).

Next there was a zaftig woman in blue overalls and a blue gingham shirt with a red knit cap.  She reminded me of Laffing Sal's nicer sister. She bought a book on Pancho Villa and had lots of interesting things to tell me about Villa's son, who apparently grew up in Hayward, CA and didn't know he was related to Villa until he was an adult ("Villa had kids all over the place," she said).  While she was talking to me another customer (Carol J from earlier in the day) stood right next to her having a conversation on her cell phone, making no effort to lower her voice or move out of the way.

Two Asian women came in, one bought a book of poetry and the other a cook book for the wok.

Another man came in wanting to know about the future of Logos. 

The last customer bought anther coffee table book and also talked about the future of the store.  Amazing how many people have come to love the store and are very concerned about what will happen when Susan and Peter retire.

Lunch and Logos

I had lunch with my friend Joan and Nancy today.  We lunch periodically when the political scene is overwhelming and we need to talk about it.  I realized today that we've been doing this for about 12 years.  This was easy to figure out because we were first Bashing Bush Babes, perhaps after Bush's re-election.  We met maybe once a month to let off steam.  We couldn't do this on a regular basis because Nancy's schedule is so crazy and she is often out of town.

For the last 8 years we haven't really had that much to complain about, so we haven't lunched together to talk politics in a long time but things ramped up during the campaign and now things are taking a more serious turn as we face the upcoming inauguration. Maybe we are now the "Dump Trump Dames."

It's always such a wonderful catharsis to spend time with these wonderful, intelligent women and I always come away with a big load off my shoulders.  At least I had somewhere to dump my frustrations.

Today we had an unexpected visitor at our lunch, though.

Meet Bartholomew.  Nancy found him at Costco and couldn't resist, thinking he would be wonderful to give to some children's home.  Only so far nobody wants him, so for the nonce, he is going to stay at the University Retirement Community (URC), where Joan lives, and sit next to their Christmas tree.  When Christmas is over, Nancy hopes to give him to the library for their children's section.  What a great place for a little kid to sit and  read.

He was quite a hit, though, and people took his picture and the bus driver for the URC decided he needed glasses.

Before he moved to the Christmas tree, he was going to take a ride on the bus this afternoon, with a bunch of the other residents.  I think those retired folks are going to have a good time with him.

We could easily have spent another hour at lunch, but I had to get home so I could get to Logos. The person I relieved today was someone I had not met before.  When I said I was there to relieve her, she said "No, you aren't.  I don't feel relieved at all."  She was an interesting person who, I thought, had interesting lace across the top of her shirt until I realized it was a shoulder-to-shoulder tattoo of tongues of fire rising up off of her chest.

It was a rainy day and she had a light morning, but the rain was coming down harder and I had the lightest day ever. I think I made five sales.  Things started off just fine, with a guy wearing a North Face jacket buying a coffee table book about mountain climbing.  He said it would be perfect gift for a friend of his.

Believe it or not, I didn't have another customer until my friend arrived.  He was an hour earlier than usual and said he wanted to come in early before the traffic got crazy (he drives in from Sacramento to meet with a group of guys every week).  We chatted more than usual.  He said he will be gone now until January.  He bought a book of Japanese literature and a book abut code breakers in World War II.

Another customer, a tall guy with a wet pony tail bought "Notes from the Underground" by Dostoyevsky.

Some time after this my cell phone crashed.  I went to play my "4 Words" game to pass the time and the screen froze.  It has done this before.  You can't move anything and can't even turn off the phone.  I finally stopped trying and just let it turn itself off and now it won't turn on.  You can call the phone and it rings, but you can't answer it.  I phone recognizes it, but that's it.  Because I can see what is on in the photo files, even if I can't open the phone, this morning I moved all of the photos on the phone to my hard drive so I don't lose them.  We are actually, be still my heart, going to buy me a new one today.

A couple came in looking for books about teaching English to foreigners.  While they were there, the GPS on her cell phone was telling her how to get to the Avid Reader book store in the next block.

Two guys came in to ask about the future of Logos and left without buying anything, but then spied a book they wanted in Bargain books (a book on epidemiology).

A woman came in and walked purposefully to the back, was there a couple of minutes and then left.  A business man came in to drop off a letter for Peter and Susan.  

The last customer for me was a couple, the guy in a yarmulke and either prayer shawl or neck scarf (hard to tell which one!) who bought a book by Voltaire.  His female companion, with her close fit black pants and her boots, as well as just her bearing, looked like she must be an equestrian.

And then it was over.  Walt came by, dripping wet, and we walked the two blocks to where he had parked the car  I had not brought my rain jacket with me, but wasn't all that wet when we finally got to the car.  It would have been lovely to have come home and curled up in the lap of a big bear named Bartholomew!

Today at Logos

Sandy and I had a rather lengthy post-mortem on the election and how we are feeling these days, but nobody else who came into the store all day said a word.  I thought this piece, written by Kande Hooten, said it beautifully...

Eight years ago, the economy was in the toilet and I had recently been laid off. The day after Obama was elected, I was at the Metro station. Never, after an election, have I seen such joy and optimism. People were smiling at each other and marveling with strangers about what the election meant for the country.
Contrast with this past Tuesday. While taking Metro to work, people kept to themselves. There were no smiles, only looks of shock and disbelief.

I don't know if the slow day was any indication of post-election malaise.  I had a better afternoon than Sandy had morning, but it still was pretty slow.

My first customer had two cute little Silky dogs on a leash and he came in to pay for a bargain book, and also to report that there was a disreputable man outside who threatened to kill him when he told him he was not supposed to be smoking that close to a store.  We watched him out the window and I asked if he thought I should call the police.  We decided I would not, but the customer hung out in the store for awhile until he felt safe going to his car.  The disreputable man moved on shortly after that.

A woman came in looking for "The 100-year old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared," which I had not heard of, though Amazon tells me is "the international publishing sensation--over six million copies sold worldwide!"  We didn't have it, so she left quickly.

A woman bought a book on Spanish art.  This was a big art book day, apparently.

A couple came in, with their cups of ice cream and ate and browsed for a long time before leaving without making a purchase.  The woman did leave at one point t o find a garbage can outside into which to throw their cups.

A woman all in black came in.  I thought she was wearing a beret until I got a better look at he hair and discovered it was just the hair somehow bunched into a form that looked like a hat.  She looked around for awhile before leaving without buying anything.

When guys looking like professional business men come in, they stand out from the Bermuda shorts wearing, sandals wearing, back-pack sporting men who make up the bulk of our male clientele, so I noticed this guy who came in, very neatly pressed with a blue business shirt and no jacket, shiny shoes.  He browsed, but did not buy.

Nor did the next guy wearing olive green shorts, and a baseball cap, carrying a backpack.

Only a handful of customers so far and it was already 4:07 when both my friend and the Antiquarian came in.  The latter left quickly, not finding anything that interested him.  My friend bought a book on hand weaving and a mystery. I wondered if he would say anything about the election, but e did not

A short woman who greeted me like a long lost friend (though I had never seen her before) was very sparkly as she wandered the stacks, making comments now and then.  She wore her hair in a French twist, but it was quite messy.  She wandered around with arms crossed most of the time.  She was happy when she found a book by B. Traven, an author she had just heard of the day before when someone recommended "The Rebellion of the Hanged," which we had.  Traven is best known for "Treasure of the Sierra Madre" and was apparently so little known that when he wandered onto the set while they were filming that movie, they threw him out because nobody knew who he was.

A woman bought three art-related books, and a guy bought a book on the Prado.

A guy with communication problems was trying to find out if he could put books on lay-away, but couldn't seem to find the words.  He muttered nonstop and did mention Trump, but only in passing, as if he were talking to himself.  He left when I told him we didn't do lay-aways and also informed him that we would be closing in January.  He tried to convince me that it was a bad time of year to quit and that we should stay open until June.

I was sorry Susan didn't come in because she would have had a lot to say about the election, but it was just Peter, who had nothing to say.

Walt came in and we were on the horns of a dilemma.  I was reviewing The Trojan Women at the university.  it started at 7, so it was too late to go home, but too early to go to the theater.  I was bone weary I ached everywhere especially my back, and just wanted to sleep, so we parked in the parking lot and I napped for about 25 minutes.  I must have looked very bad when hobbling to the car because some guys stopped to ask if I was all right.  I was so out of it I didn't even realize they had done that until Walt told me what they wanted.

We hadn't had dinner and at 9:30, I certainly didn't feel like cooking dinner, so we went to Safeway.  I got a salad, Walt got some beef stroganoff soup and we stocked up on our nightly Haagen Dazs bars for dessert.

When we got home, I just collapsed into the recliner, where I didn't hurt any more, and didn't move--not even to check mail in my office.  I woke up rested and without pain which was very nice. I don't know why I was in such pain yesterday, but am glad it was a short-lived attack.

Today at Logos

It was good to see Sandy again.  We commiserated on last night's debate, which she decided she just couldn't watch, but had heard reports about, and about our fears for the coming election.  I wonder what the people in the store at that time were thinking.  Nobody joined in the conversation, and none of the ones there at the time bought books.

A nice lady from El Cerrito, near San Francisco, came in with a bag of books to donate, unhappy to hear we are no longer accepting donations.  We directed her to the SPCA thrift store.

A couple came in and the woman went directly to the literature section, and grabbed a book, holding it victoriously in her hands (I found out later it was "Death of a Salesman" which she has been looking for).  She looked around some more and found three more contemporary fiction books she liked.  She asked a good question--if we are no longer accepting donations, does that mean that the book selection won't change within the last two months.  I told her Susan and Peter are still going to book sales, so there would be some sort of turnover.

Several men came in and looked around and left,  Finally Santa walked in.  Or his twin brother.  He had snow white hair and a show white beard and was wearing jeans and a plaid shirt.  He had a broad face and a round little belly.  He was also chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf.  He bought a book about Frida Khalo so if any of you have that on your Christmas list, congratulations.  Santa is coming through for you!

A man with very red hands -- almost as if they were frostbitten, though unlikely in today's warm weather, bought 2 John LeCarre books and two contemporary fictions.  He returned a bit later with his wife.  I recognized him by his jaunty hat.  The wife bought 4 books on architecture and told me she was remodeling their house, which she had never done before, and wanted ideas to confer with the guy who was doing the work.  She also bought a book of Japanese verbs and a book called "Two Years on the Yangtze," which I may or may not have read around the time we were going to China.  The title sounds familiar and I know the author's name is familiar.

A tall woman with white hair piled on top of her head in a bun came in, reminding me of Dorothy in The Golden Girls until she walked toward me when I could see she was much too young and had botoxed lips.  She didn't buy anything

The next woman didn't buy anything either, but I was wearing my "Litograph" shirt, with text from Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander" written teeny teeny teeny to fit around the outline of the standing stones in Scotland where the book starts.  She said she liked the shirt and had been thinking of getting one of those shirts for herself.

A woman stopped by the store and looked in the window and then quickly came in and picked up the book "Homegoing" which she said is a new book that is on everybody's "to read" list and she was thrilled to find it for only $6.  It was only published in June of this year and was a New York Times best seller.

I had been reading the two chapters I never got to finish of "The Cat Who Went to Paris" which I almost finished last week and went looking for a new book.  I found "The Girl in the Spider's Web," which is #4 in Steig Larsson's "Millennium" series.  I had read the first three, but sadly Larsson died in 2004, at age 50 after climbing 7 flights of stairs to his office because the elevator was not working.  His fans mourned that we had seen the last of Lisbeth Salander, but a brave man, David Lagercranz has written the fourth book in the series and so far it's quite good. I brought it home to finish.

About now, the cash register tape was running out and I had to put in a new roll.  I'm generally pretty good at doing that, but for some reason, this particular role was quite stubborn and I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get it to pick up after all and my friend would be by soon and always needs a receipt.  But finally I did get it to work.  Close call. He arrived about 15 minutes later.

This time he bought out our collection of Mary Poppins books (3 books) and we talked about the book I was reading. He asked if it lived up to the original three but by that time I had barely started it and couldn't say.

An older man with white hair and stooped posture came n, hands clasped behind his back, and asked where the mystery books where.  I showed him an he looked through the section and left without buying thing...or unclasping his hands!

A girl brought in a flyer for the Davis Treat Trail, companies that will be giving out candy on Halloween.  We talked a bit about it, she left the flyer for Susan and Peter to put I their window and left some little flyers on the front table, explaining what it was all about.  I think they have participated in the event every year.

A guy sat at the front table for a long time looking through a book, which he finally bought -- "Christian Mythology."

Another guy bought a book called "Random Walks in Biology" which reminded me of my years working in the Physics Department at Berkeley when my boss, Fred Reif, wrote "Fundamental of Statistical and Thermal Physics," which I have mentioned before.  The only thing I remember from that book (other than how long it was and how many times I typed the 650 page book (which now sells on Amazon for $100) was the random walk problem.  One of the examples Fred used was a drunk leaning against a lamppost and the fact that there was no way you could predict which way each step would go because he was too drunk and would take steps left and right randomly. When the book was finished, I found a little statue of a drink leaning against a lamppost and gave it to him.

Walt was off in San Francisco at a "geezer dinner," a gathering of several "old" Lamplighter guys--actors and tech guys--who get together periodically for pizza and beer.  It was nice that they had it at the home of one guy who has been pretty much house bound because of pain for several years now.  He used to come to our annual Gilbert dinners, but can't make it any more. Walt said it was good to see him again.

I rode the bus home, which gave me an hour to read my book before confronting the hungry dogs who were ecstatic that someone had finally come home to feed them.

Today at Logos

Today Sandy starts her "every other week" schedule and I met Vojka, who will be alternating with her.  Seems like a nice lady.  I doubt we will become chatty like I have become with Sandy.

The first thing I did was to buy a photo card by Sandy Granett, local photographer who sells her cards at Logos.  I'm in a swap on SwapBot to share works of a local artist and I just love her stuff.  Usually she does flowers, birds, and bugs around Davis, but I liked this Halloween theme.  I hope my partner likes it.

I thought my first customer was a guy, when I saw "him" hunkering down in front of the craft books that should have been a clue) wearing a dirty cap with "Dubois" on it, sitting backwards on her-yes, she turned out to be a girl--head. She bought 7 bargain books, a crafts book a book on California History, and a contemporary fiction...and a bag to put them in.  The biggest sale of the day, at $42.77)

A farmer type in rumpled jeans, a blue shirt, and dusty shoes, as well as a camouflage baseball cap on his head.  He looked around for quite awhile and finally bought a book called "They Were Ragtime."

A tall guy in a plaid shirt bought a book called "Gershwins" which has been on the shelves for a very long time.

A guy looked around kind of aimlessly for a long time and finally asked me if I could help him choose a book.  He's trying to "get into reading" and wanted something short.  I gave him Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men."

A large woman dressed all in black bought the Screwtape Letters and a copy of the Koran.  We talked about the problem of having too much stuff in our purses.

A older middle aged woman came in having just finished watching Deep Water Horizon at the theater down the street.  She liked it a lot.  But she didn't find an book that she wanted to read.  She thanked me when she left and said again how much she had enjoyed the movie.

The Antiquarian was in and out in about 3 minutes, finding and buying a copy of poems by Robert Browning.  He was in a hurry, so we didn't chat.

Peter's friend Tom came in with 4 books to donate.  He does this every week, then shops at the math book section and if he finds something (as he did today), I don't charge him for the book.

A woman with Minnie Driver curly hair that extended down the middle of her back was dressed all in black with a black back-pack and a multicolored scarf.  I don't know why I found her striking but I guess it was her bearing, but she just looked so "together" in a way I never have.  She carried a book around for a long time and ultimately put it back and left.

A tall guy with grey hair, a baseball cap and glasses on top of his head. He bought 4 bargain books, and 2 scientific books and then after he'd paid, he noticed the stack of books that Tom had left for Peter.  I just made up a price and sold him the one he wanted.

A blonde with a long aqua colored sweater with wide white stories at the bottom asked if she could put a book on hold. I told her we didn't do that.  It was a book on Korea and I told her that the chance of it being gone when she comes in tomorrow were slight, though admitted that I thought that about "East Across the Equator" which I set aside 2 weeks ago and was gone the following week.  She found that book for me!  I'll see if it's there again next week.  Last week I read something on my Kindle.  This week I chose a different book:

(No connection with Lillian Jackson Braun's "The Cat Who...." books)

A woman with a large drooling dog stopped by to look at the bargain books, but did not come in, which, given how much the dog was drooling, was probably a good thing.

A swarthy guy with big headphones hanging around his neck spent a lot of time in the show biz section and ultimately bought two plays and a Dostoyevsky book.

A woman wearing shorts an flip flops looked though the fantasy book for awhile and finally bought a book by Neil Gaiman.

Another woman with pink/blonde hair wearing a dress, sneakers and a backpack and a violin case took off her sweater and settled herself on the floor with her ebook and looked at the fantasy shelf.

An older woman bought 2 bargain books and said, again, how sad she is that Logos is closing in January.

The final person I dealt with was a woman, all in black, who came in, stood at the front and looked around.  Then she asked me "do you sell books?" Not sure what she thought we were doing in a store filled with books, but she said 'We have nothing like this in Orange County.  We have to go to Barnes and Noble or the library"

Maybe that explains a lot about Orange County.

Today at logos

The guy I replaced at Logos today is a guy who always rearranges the desk.  Moves the charge machine to the front right side instead of the side left, moves the cash register and I'm not sure why, but first thing I did after he left was to move it all back to where it usually is.  It was a decently busy day, which was nice after the dead-dead-dead day I had last week.

The first couple didn't buy anything, but I liked her sleeveless shirt with wide diagonal stripes across the front and flower decorating the bottom of it.

I had brought the current book I'm reading (Khaled Hosseini's "and the Mountains Echoed") with me to read (since I almost never read my Kindle in a book store), but a guy came in with some book donations and I started looking through Scott Adams' "Stick to Drawing Comics, Monkey Brain!," a collection of essays from the Dilbert cartoonist and enjoyed it so much I read it all day and brought it home to finish.  The guy who brought in the books then bought three books, "Longitude" which I looked up on Amazon and it sounds like a fascinating book,  Who knew a thing that we take for granted these days was once a real problem?  He also bought a book of For Better or For Worse cartoons, and a book called "Don't Think of an Elephant" (the essential guide for progressives).

A guy wearing a black t-shirt with a HiLife logo on it bought a book by Tolstoy and another book from the Literature shelves.  He also bought a biology book that I didn't copy the name of.

A couple bringing in two bags of books turned around and bought a book by Margaret Atwood ("Bones").  I dunno  Seems to me if you bring in two bags of books, you could get one book for free, but they like to donate to the cause.

 A woman came in and wandered around for a bit, didn't buy anything, but as she left, she took the bottle of water she was carrying and watered the little palm at the front of the store.  I guess she thought it looked thirsty.  She didn't say anything, but then left.

A gentleman sat at the front table reading for a long time, and ultimately bought "The History of the Church of England."

A girl wearing a Trinity College t-shirt came in and I asked her if she had been to Ireland, which she had.  We shared Ireland stories.  She told me how much she'd loved the Cliffs of Mohr but that it had been very windy while they were there so that they had to stand almost parallel to the ground.  Now she said the wind was 100 mph, but I suspect it might have been more like 100 kilometers, which at ~60 miles is still a hefty wind, but I doubt someone could move about in 100 mph winds, especially not at such a steep cliff.

A short woman with short reddish hair wearing slacks, a salmon colored short-sleeved shirt and sandals with small heels.  She carried a big bag over her shoulder.  She had this "aura" about her that made me think she was either a teacher or at least some sort of executive.  She didn't buy anything but said "goodbye" as she left.

A couple came in holding hands.  The woman had dark brown hair with the last 6" or so streaked with white.  He had Bermuda shorts that were really weird.  They seemed to be a silver color but with a black panel, front and back, that made it look like he was wearing an apron, especially when he stood with his legs together.  The bought a book called "Word Freaks," which was on of my donated book  Always nice to see an old friend sell.  When they walked out of the store, her black dress had kind of a scoop in the back, which let her flesh-colored bra and teddy show through.

Next two moms came in, each with a toddler (one mother told me her daughter was 13 months old.  Both little girls wore sundresses and both were so cute as they toddled around the store.  One was more friendly than the other, who didn't want anything to do with me.  The friendly one was very interested in the portrait of an egret drawn by our current artist in residence, Richard Barry.  The group bought two cardboard baby proof books.

A middle aged woman was looking for books by Spider Robinson (she didn't find what she was looking for).  She looked as if she had lost a lot of weight, with arms dimpled with cellulite and a rather large derrier.  She asked if I had any Kleenex because her nose had started running.  I went into the back and brought her 3 sheets and she balled all 3 up together and wiped her nose.  I would have used them one at a time so I had extras if needed!

A mom with a boy who looked pre-teen and a girl who looked to be about 2-1/2.  They spent some time in the kids' room and then left, but the girl was unhappy at not getting a book, so they went back and got a teeny board book, about 2" square, just the right size for a two year old!

A clean cut young man left his backpack at the desk and browsed.  He finally bought "Lady Luck" a book about probability theory.  I remember all those gambling examples of probability theory that my old boss, Fred Reif wrote about in his text book, "Fundamentals of Statistical and Thermal Physics."  I wondered if he was a physics student, or planning a trip to Vegas.

Bruce came in, still all in white, but carrying his hat this time.  He chose a book on medicinal plants to have me set aside for him to buy later.  Normally we don't do that, but for Bruce, we make exceptions.

A cheery red-cheeked guy had 3 books for donation and said he was looking to buy back the Dorothy Sayers books he had donated the week before.  He ended up buying a thick Sayers book, which contained 4 of her books, but it was not one that he donated.  He was wearing a big safari hat and it looked so strange when he left and buckled a bike helmet on top of it.

A guy who looked like a Native American, with long back hair, a scarf around his head, and carrying a guitara came in.  He bought a bargain book called "American Hardcore," and sheepishly told me it was for a friend...I later discovered it was a genre of music, not a book about the porn industry.

My last customer looked like Jennifer Beals of Flashdance bought a book of Grandma Moses paintings and two companions to the Oxford Englsh Dictionary and a fourth book on politics.

Peter came in to relieve me and we compared notes on Florence Foster Jenkins, which I liked more than he did.

Today at logos

Well, you're going to read a lot of "left without buying anything" here.  I made a grand total of THREE sales this afternoon.

I was pleased, however, to find Sandy and granddaughter Sarah working when I got there.  It's been several months since I've seen Sarah and I swear she's grown a foot and suddenly is starting to look more mature.  She's less than a year older than Brianna, which makes me wonder what Bri is going to be like next year!

She was telling me about watching Steve Harvey's "Extraordinary kids" and in particular one little kid who taught himself to play piano at age 4, while watching his father playing. It was fun having the brief visit, but yogurt was calling them, so they didn't stay.

The first customer came in looking for a specific philosophy book, which we did not have, so he left.

The next customer was a Latino in cargo pants and a maroon polo shirt, carrying a drink.  He checked the literature section, but then left without buying anything

An older man with white hair was standing at the Bargain Books but didn't come in.

A red headed girl came in with a bag of books to donate.  They were packaged in a bag from the store "Forever 21."  After I emptied the bag and started to fold it up, I discovered that on the bottom of the bag the store had printed a Biblical reference ("John 3:16"), which seemed a bit odd.  Reminded me of a local attorney who advertises on TV a lot and his commercial always contains a biblical quote on the bottom of it.

A guy I described as a "Mike Blackford" type, but he wasn't as put together. He had long unruly white hair under a baseball cap, and a goatee.  He was carrying a big heavy backpack an wearing flip flops.  He checked the literataure section for a bit, but left without buying anything.

A middle aged man wearing cargo pants (which seem to be very big around here) and a blue polo shirt.  He had either a 5:00 shadow or was doing a good Don Johnson imitation. complete with sunglasses.  He was looking for books by Julia Whitty, but did not find what he was looking for. so left without buying anything

(is this becoming a recording?)

A middle aged man wearing a salmon festival t shirt was looking for a Fodor guide to national parks, but he didn't find it and left without buying anything.

Two young women, each wearing baseball caps with distressed very short denim shorts came in.  They looked around for a long time, but ultimately left without buying anything.

An older man with a walker came in to donate books.  He sat down to rest before leaving.  I gathered from what he said that he had been a photographer and never used things like PhotoShop to enhance a photo.  He had been to Alaska trying to photograph Denali, but never managed to see it without clouds surrounding it. He asked what the status of the store is and I told him I didn't know, but thought they had another year to go on their lease.

A middle aged woman with a lovely pink patterned blouse and jeans looked around in Lit for awhile, but then left without buying anything.

A curly headed young man I had not even seen enter was actually my very first sale, at 3:30.  He bought "90⁰ North," about the quest for the North Pole.  He didn't seem impressed when I told him he was my first sale of the day.

3 Asian women came in together and looked around for a long time, but didn't buy anything.

A very tall man who looked like Michael Gross from Family Ties didn't stay long before leaving but he turned his head around as he was walking out and gave me a smile.

3:45 and my second sale, a middle aged man who bought a book on the 12 Century Renaissance. 

 

A woman who looked like me, rotund all in black and unkempt, came in and out without buying anything

By now I was getting so bored that I was actually taking pictures of my wrinkled skin to post to Facebook.

My friend came at 4:15 and even he didn't find anything he liked today, so bought nothing.

A middle-aged woman in a skirt, with her hair in a bun and a heavy backpack on her back entered.  She asked when our next Monday sale as going to be, and then left without buying anything...but she returned later and bought four bargain books.

A woman stopped by the window to take a picture of a book on the display table.  Then she came in and asked how late we would be open.  I got the idea she planned to come back later and buy the book.

A tall guy wearing a shirt that said "Make it rain" was looking for textbooks but looked around anyway and then left.

Susan arrived early since her Italian speaking group was meeting tonight.  I asked her the status of the store.  The building has been sold to some conglomerate that builds strip malls.  The jewelry store had its rent raised so high they moved out, but the shop has remained empty for months.  The athletic shop next door will probably close.  

Susan says their lease is up in January, and they may have to close up shop.  But since Peter just turned one of those "zero years" he may be ready to give up working so hard to do some traveling.

We talked about the upcomng "Nifty Fifty" party the Pinata Group is having on Saturday (celebrating the 5 Pinata kids who turn 50 this year).  

 

There are 44 coming and one guy has bought a pinata.  Of all years for Tom to decide not to come...but maybe hitting a 49er symbol would be too painful for him.

I bought enough clams and cream cheese to make a vat of clam dip and ingredients to decorate the cake I promised to bring.  Another pinata cake (we will not hit it...I don't think).

In the morning we are meeting with Atria reps again to see about arranging for assisted living for my mother, an in the afternoon Lizzie gets her annual shots

Oh yeah...and something exciting happened at the end of the day:

Jeri and Phil arrived from Boston!!!!

Today at Logos

To quote my mother lately, I'm getting old, guys!  For 16 years now, I have often stayed up until 1 or 2 a.m. to get tomorrow's entry written.  More and more nights now, the idea of getting up from my comfortable recliner and coming into my office is moderately overwhelming, when the thought of lying down and going to sleep is so much more inviting.  So you'll discover that probably at least half of the time, entries are posted in the morning of the date instead of the night before.  Which may not make a difference to anybody but me, but I thought I'd mention it!

So...Logos.  Sandy is still on vacation so there was a kid working, and I guess the woman with him was his mother (Walt told me later that they are neighbors).  At the end of the day Susan asked me if the kid had said anything about something and I told her in all honesty that he didn't. say. a. word.  Seemed like he didn't know who I was or why I was there, took his time about leaving the front desk, and left without saying goodbye.  So much for chit chat!

A couple of African American men came in, the one with the beard and wearing bright red plaid cargo pants and a red shirt, the other was carrying some take-out food and 3 or 4 of those commemorative rubber bands on his wrist.  They didn't buy anything, but waved and said "have a good day" when they left.

The next guy was very ordinary looking and bought 3 science fiction books and a book by Cesar Milan.  He left saying "I'm so excited!" (to be getting those books).

A very tall man with Einstein white hair and a goatee, wearing shorts and carrying a book bag was looking through the foreign language books, but I didn't notice when he left.

A woman came in with two bargain books.  She laughed and told me she had been in the day before and bought three books then and that she was addicted. I told her I understood!

By this time I had chosen "Next" by Michael Crichton to read.  It was one of the ones I had donated and figured that I could take it home if I got into it.  It's one of those gene-manipulation/cross species things.  I noted, with some amusement, that everywhere I looked, I found books that I had donated on display!  We brought the last two boxes in yesterday and I told Susan she now had all of my donated books, but from the smallest of the book rooms in the house.  Lord help her if we ever start donating the books in the big bedroom, which is almost the size of Logos.

A tall Peggy-type wearing an aqua top and denim skirt came in.  The resemblance to Peggy ended here because her blouse, while neat, was not ironed (it would have been) and Peggy doesn't wear skirts.  She left her heavy book bag at the desk and browsed for a long time, ultimately buying "Gilgamesh" and "The Devil and Daniel Webster."

A tall guy with "Silverson Pickups" and a big owl on his t-shirt, wearing bright green trainers, was looking through science fiction.  He disappeared for so long, I thought he had left but about half an hour later he showed up to buy "Watership Down" and "Stories of Mark Twain."  He paid by card, but it was a debit card and the machine rejected it, so he left, went to the bank and was back in 10 minutes to buy his books.

A British woman, nattily dressed in black and white (but with bright salmon colored trainers) came in to ask if we had law text books for her daughter.  Sadly, we don't.

An older couple came in.  The guy didn't stay long and left quickly, but the woman spent a lot of time going through the craft book section and ultimately bought 4 books on quilts.  I told her it sounded like she was going to be busy, and she admitted she only bought them for the pictures.

My friend arrived at 4:30 and bought a set of booklets on King Arthur.  He said that if he had met any of his grammar school classmates he wouldn't recognize them.  I told him I probably wouldn't have either, but we'd contacted each other on Facebook.

A mom with two girls about the age of Brianna and Lacie came in.  The girls were dressed in matching bright royal blue dresses made of some flimsy material.  The dresses had long scooped hems in back and some sort of embroidered panel in the front.  One had what looked like oversized Converse high tops and the others was in flip flops.  The girls didn't buy anything, but the mom bought a very heavy book by George R. Martin.  I told her it felt like, at $6, she was getting her money's worth!

Two middle aged women came in with bargain books.  They mentioned the guy whose card had been rejected and told me of a Davis friend who was shopping in Fairfield (about 15-20 miles away) and had her card rejected.  When she got home, she had an alert from her bank saying someone was trying to use her card in Fairfield!  What? You have to notify the bank if you're going out of your home city???

A very tall guy with a female friend came in.  He bought 'The Prophet" and she bought "On Death and Dying."  Sounds like light reading for the two of them!

Then there was the woman who bought 3 books on Australia (one a box of "Australian words and phrases--didn't realize Australian was a foreign language!) and a box of Tarot cards.  I asked her if she were going to travel to Australia and she replied that she was buying these for her boy friend, who was going for a few weeks doing research (she told me what he was doing, but with my impaired hearing, I didn't understand her),  I mentioned that I had been to Australia for 3 weeks and said that I had only gone to Western Australia.  She appeared shocked.  "WESTERN Australia?" she asked.  "Does anybody even LIVE there?"

I assured her that there were a couple of hardy souls who eked out an existence in the wilds of Western Australia...and mentioned the city of Perth, for example.

Two women came in looking for a bathroom and I said we didn't have a public restroom, sending them to the bank across the street.

About then Peter and Walt arrived together, followed short by Susan and dog Sammy.  I packed up to leave.

We watched the wonderful night of the Olympics and the accomplishments of Simone Biles and Aly Raisman (watching her parents was almost more fun than watching her), and especially watching Michael Phelps win his 22n gold medal (he has enough of them now to decorate a Christmas tree!)

Then, exhausted, I went to sleep and left this for the morning

Today at Logos / Nicholas

Today was The Day of Nicholas...but I'll get to that in a bit.

Susan was working for Sandy when I got there but she was in a hurry to get to a lunch date, so she rushed out to the car to help Walt in with 3 bags of books and then took off.  No chance to ask her how her vacation had gone.  We have only two big boxes of books left to donate.  I wonder how many boxes/bags in all it has been over the past months.  Hundreds of books, for sure.

When Susan left there was an older woman with a walker in the store.  She ultimately bought 10 bargain books, all mysteries, which she packed into a Target bag that she had in her purse.

A Latino came in with his daughter.  After a visit to the kids' room, she chose a monster book, which he bought, leaving his change behind as a donation.

Another dad came in with two children, a boy about 6 years old, clutching his penis through his shorts, and a younger sister.  They looked around for awhile  and finally the little girl chose a book on crafts for children.

A tall man with a short woman came in.  She checked out the old book section and bought a very old, weathered book of "Pride and Prejudice" and also a bargain book--one of the Twilight Series.  (A contradiction in book choices, in my opinion!)

A man wearing a black t-shirt with "Video Saloon" emblazoned on it completed his bargain book purchase without an interruption of his cell phone conversation.

A hippie-like guy with a scarf over his ponytail and sunglasses on his head checked the travel book section, but did not buy anything.

I saw Bruce walk by and check bargain books, but did not come in.  He was wearing another home-made hat, which I guess he had to do to protect his balding head from the summer sun.

A group of four came in, together 2 young men and 2 young women, who looked around the store for a long time, talking and laughing all the while, and then left together without making a purchase.

And then there was Nicholas.  He came in with a copy of a Fredrick Forsyth book from the bargain table.  Maybe it was my fault for telling him that I hadn't read that book.  He asked me which Forsyth books I had read and I told him I loved "Day of the Jackal" and told him it was about an attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle.  'Who's that?" he asked.  Sigh.  I'm so old.

Then he started going through the book shelves pulling out random books to ask if I'd read them and what did I think about them. (He ended up also buying a Jules Verne).

At some point he asked if I minded if he pulled up a chair and he sat there for about 20 minutes.  Told me about his family (he lives in Riverside, CA) and summers spent at the Wild Animal Park in San Diego.  He told me he had finished 3 years at UCD in mechanical engineering but he didn't like it so he's quit and he doesn't know what to do with himself.

We talked about Catholic school education and nuns I had known (he thought it was weird to think of a nun teaching in a Catholic school...I'm so old I can remember thinking it was weird when the first NON-nun came to our high school!)

He talked about religion and what I thought of organized religion and why I'd left the Catholic church.  Really very uncomfortable questions.  I finally pulled the dead kid card and how the church, which we had attended for more than 20 years, saw David's name in the headlines two days in a row and which was across the street from the theater where the marquees did a tribute to him for a week and the only time they contacted us was to remind us to give our monthly donation.  That finally shut him up about me and religions.

He finally pressed me for advice on what he should do about his life.  I told him I wasn't going to give him advice when I'd only known him 20 minutes, but he kept pushing so I finally fell back on Jim Brochu's father's advice, which he talks about in "The Big Voice: God or Merman" and told him to "do what makes you happy."  About then a couple of customers came in. My friend had arrived about 5 minutes before then and Nicholas decided to leave.  It was an interesting, unusual, sometimes irritating, and somehow exhausting time I spent with him.

My friend bought a book on Origami and we talked about that.  I told him about the kid I'd interviewed a few years back (the sun of my theater colleague), who was traveling all over the world to give lectures on Origami.

A very talk man was looking for psychology books and bought a book called "Jung and Politics," which sounds interesting!

A professor-type bought five math/calculus books.

A middle-aged woman in a broad-brimmed straw had bought four bargain book mysteries

A Latino guy was looking for an economics book, but left without buying anything.

A young women wearing a tank top with spaghetti traps came in.  She had earbuds in her ears and her hair had a hint of a pink tinge to it.  She had a big wolf tattoo on one bicep, a deer head tattoo on her shoulder and cross swords on the inside of her right arm.  Three friends met up with her -- a tall man with a 'Lighting/Grip Olympian" shirt, and a stocky woman who laughed a lot.  They all talked for a while and she ultimately bought a tiny red notebook (empty).  I didn't realize we had one to sell.

The next couple was a man and his very pregnant wife,  She looks like Ashley must look, with her due date in just a couple of days.  She wandered around the store stroking her belly and looking at craft books.  Her partner found a chair for her to sit in while he continued to shop.  He bought "These United States," a book of farmers essays, and a book about traveling down California's Highway 99.

A couple that I hope was a dad and daughter ('cause the age difference was too creepy for it to be otherwise) came in.  He was carrying a bag that said "Choose Juice," and a murce over his shoulder, along with a backpack and a red bike helmet.

My final customer had the chutzpah to ask "how much of a discount can I get on these?" on books that are already a fraction of the original price.  He tried to buy a like-new copy of "KGB/CIA" which would sell for $30 and was marked $7 for a discount. He bought it anyway, even though I told him I could not discount it.

So it was a kind of memorable day, which helped take my mind off the very bad morning I'd had with my mother. At least these were people I could help, unlike my mother who wants me to help her kill herself.

Today at Logos

I went to Atria before going to Logos, but my mother was still in bed.  After checking to make sure she was alive, I settled in to finish my book, "With a Feather on My Nose," the autobiography of Billie Burke (written in 1948).  I tried coughing a lot, but in an hour she didn't budge and I knew that if she woke up then she would be groggy, so I just left a note and came home for lunch.

There were three customers in the store while I was having a brief chat with Sandy but they had left by the time Sandy took off to pick up her granddaughter.

The next person to come in was a guy who wanted information about the Italian conversation group that was meeting that night.  Unfortunately, I know nothing about the language groups (Italian, French and German -- Susan was an ESL teacher and her husband is from Austria, and Susan is out of town, so I didn't even know how to refer him to someone.  I suggested he just show up and see what happens!

I next looked up and there was a heavier Ted Cruz browsing through science fiction.  Seriously.  Dressed in a suit, same pointed nose and perfect manicured hair, His hand were on his hips which twisted his back into a weird stance and threw his belly out in front.  He walked around like this head down, glowering.  He didn't buy anything, so I didn't get to assess him close up.

Three people in a row came in with donations, which I had to turn away.  One guy had only 9 books but said he had more in the car.  I told him I could take the 9, and he said he would take the rest to the SPCA thrift store.  A woman didn't bring her books in, so it was easy to ask her to return in a week.  One old guy staggered in with a heavy box and I didn't have the heart to turn him away, though asked that he hold off on the other boxes in his car until Susan and Peter return.

Two young women stood outside the front door either taking selfies or catching Pokemon (men?) but never came in.

[Aside:  They did a "what is Pokemon Go" segment on Live with Kelly yesterday and I am more confused than ever, mostly about what the whole point is! I'm definitely too old for this new craze!]

Two men, one quite rotund, one not quite so rotund, came in together.  The rotundest of them had a shirt that seemed to be covered with Pokemon characters.  They both looked around for a long time and finally the rotundest bought 3 bargain books.

A woman spent a long time looking at cookbooks.  Her niece is turning 25 and she decided that a quarter of a century is a Big Deal, so she is giving her 25 different gifts and thought a cookbook would be a nice addition.  By the time she finished (about 20 minutes of browsing), she had 5 books, 2 for her niece, one for her brother, one for her and I'm not sure about the fifth  She had me ring it up on two different credit cards.

I was getting involved in my book ("Phantom of Manhattan, which I read all in one day) so didn't write down much about the next couple of customers except that a woman bought 2 contemporary fiction books and another woman bought Steinbeck's "Winter of our Discontent."

I always think of my friend Phil Dethlefsen (another of those who dropped me like a hot potato without a word of goodbye).  Phil got me started reading John Steinbeck because his (Phil's) niece was married to Steinbeck's nephew and it felt like being connected, somehow, to Steinbeck's family.  I still have most of his books (though in the clean up my favorite book still has not surfaced..."Journal of a Novel," which is all the letters he wrote to his publisher, Pascal Covici while he was writing "East of Eden" -- fascinating to read the journal and the book together).  ANYWAY, I have read almost all of Steinbeck's books, but stopped dead during 'Winter of our Discontent.:"  Either I was Steinbeck-ed out, or I just didn't like  the book.  I can't remember now.  But I never finished that book and I don't think I have read another Steinbeck since (mostly because I've read them all) but I always enthusiastically recommend them to anybody who is looking for a good read.  Steinbeck always made me a better writer.  I always wrote better when I was reading his stuff.  Maybe I should read another of his books again...

Peter's friend, a mathematician who comes in every week to donate books and buy books (or just take them) came in and gave me a book and took a book.  He does this so often, I have always figured this is fine with Peter.

A man looking for a book about hypnosis bought "3 Minute Meditations."

A woman was disappointed that we had a lot of Jane Austin, but no "Pride and Prejudice."  I have never liked that book.  It's kind of like Game of Thrones, something that is wildly popular with the masses and something I have tried several times to get into and never could  But I've seen the play several times, so no point in reading a story that does not interest me!

My friend arrived at 4:30 and bought a large Arthur Conan Doyle book about adventures on tall masted ships.  We talked about Doyle's NON-Sherlock Holmes writings (and I had to struggle to remember Holmes' name...another pre-dementia moment).  I didn't realize Doyle and Houdini were good friends.  Apparently they discussed the afterlife a lot, Houdini believing in it, Doyle not.  "Well, they both know now," I said!

Two kids with iPhones, obviously looking for Pokemen came in and wandered around the shelves with their mother, who was carrying a pizza in a box.  I guess the Pokemon pickings were slim and the trio left within a few minutes, the kids still intently staring at their iPhones.  The guy on Live with Kelly talked about how good this was for making friends.  From what I have seen around me the last couple of weeks, it seems to be more isolating (and dangerous) than before the whole thing started.

A sweet young girl in a white and purple striped sundress bought a biography.  When she took her coin purse from her bag, I could see it was decorated in the same color purple as her dress.

There were four customers in the office when the manager, filling in for Peter and Susan, came in to relieve me.

I tried to listen to Trump, but just could not.  When he started hammering away at Crooked Hillary, I turned to The Big Bang Theory, but at the first commercial break, I switched back to the convention.  He was still hammering away at Hillary, the frenzied crowd shouting "Lock her Up!"  I quickly turned back to Big Bang Theory and when it was over, switched back to Trump and he was still hammering away at Hillary.  Maybe there was something substantive in the speech, but when someone is more obnoxious than Sheldon Cooper, that's pretty bad.

The best thing about the night was watching the Stephen Colbert show, where Jon Stewart made an appearance and did one of his old-type speeches railing against the Republicans.  It was like a week at the seaside  I miss him so much!

Today at Logos

I almost thought there would BE no Logos report this week, things were so dead almost all afternoon, but they did pick up.  A bit.  A customer suggested that perhaps it was because kids were out doing Pokemon Go instead and I have to say that when Walt and I left the store at 6, every person we passed was looking at their cell phones.  Susan says you can buy..whatever those things are they are trying to capture...so that they have to come inside Logos.  I don't understand.  I guess I'm just too old.  I do wonder how long this phase is going to last.  I thought Candy Crush was a passing fad and it's still around...

Anyway, again Sandy had to rush off to pick up her granddaughter.  I probably won't see much of her for awhile.  The Grandma duty (how I envy her!) will apparently last all summer...and she and her wife are going off on a two week vacation too.  We may have to introduce ourselves all over again when Fall rolls around.

I did have two customers right off the bat, a guy who bought a pocket-book sized book and asked if we had a small bag.  I asked if he was from Davis and he admitted he lives in Sacramento and didn't realize about Davis' anti-bag law.  He decided not to pay 25 cents for a big shopping bag!

He was followed by a guy who bought 3 bargain books.

And then there was nothing.  I sat there for nearly an hour and a half and not. one. single. person. came into the store. It was good for me because in the 4 hours I was there I read a 200 page book.  But not all that good for business.

Finally a couple came in and disappeared into the shelves.  They didn't make a sound for about 10 minutes and finally he bought a copy of the book "The Physicists."  He was the customer who suggested everyone was too busy playing Pokemon Go to do any book browsing.

At 3:45 I saw a guy who looked kinda familiar looking at bargain books.  When he came in with 3 books to buy, I realized it was Marta's father, a man of few words  Other than "Hi, Bev" he didn't say a thing, just handed me his money, smiled and left. But that's par for the course for our interactions, so I wasn't upset.

A grizzled older man bought a Dictionary of Catholic Devotions and a novel by Paul Theroux.  He was the first, but not the last customer to reek of body odor.  The temps were near 100 outside, though a comfortable 78 in the store.

A woman wearing olive green shorts and matching flip flops quickly looked thru the literature section and then rushed outside to meet a friend.

A tall Lincolnesque man with a blue shirt and black wide rimmed grey shorts and crocs was looking for "Siddhartha," but didn't find it.  He left, but was back 5 minutes later to ask if anyone had turned in a credit card (no one had)

A woman reeking of cigarette smoke, bought two books and told me that if I was looking for a good movie, she recommended Tarzan, which she had just seen.  Made me wonder if the 4 p.m. rush every Thursday is not folks coming in on an arriving train, but rather people leaving the theater, just a block away.

A stooped old man with a monk cut (just white hair on the sides) came in with an exaggerated old man duck walk. He was a vision in paste, with a powder blue shirt and plaid shorts in pastel colors.  He was looking for a book by Houston Smith and told me he wrote fiction, but when I looked him up on Amazon, I saw that it was history that he wrote  In an event, we apparently didn't have what he was looking for and he left.

My friend arrived at 4:30 and was my biggest sale of the day. He'd been looking at a set of books about the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright.  I think it was four books, and each was an in-depth look at one of Wright's houses.  The sale was $50.

A woman was looking for a book called "Pax Britannica," a series of books written in the 1960s.  She seemed surprised we didn't have it!

A guy I had not noticed before because he was so quiet for so long carried an armload (9) of philosophy books.  He said that should hold him for awhile.

A sweet-faced, thin girl bought a copy of "Evangeline."

At 5:30, I finished the book I started when I came into the store -- all 205 pages of it.  It was the second in Robert Parker's 27 book set about detective Spencer (does he have a first name?)  I had already read book one.  This was a run of the mill detective story and there were writing elements I thought were not very good, but he did use a wonderful phrase that I hope to keep in my vocabulary.  Spencer wakes up after a party the night before, surveys the mess and says that it is the "detritus of jollity."  Isn't that just a phrase you want to work into a conversation some time?  I love stuff like that.

A very skinny bought a science fiction book for $3.80.  He handled me three one-dollar bills and then struggled and struggled to get the change out of the pocket of his very tight jeans!

Susan and Peter arrived.  I was surprised to see them because I thought they were going to be on vacation this week, but they were leaving the next day to fly back east to be with Peter's family to celebrate his 85th. Peter is apparently not into birthday celebrations so seemed a bit disgruntled when I wished him a happy birthday.

Walt arrived and we headed home, wending our way through all the Pokemon Go payers.  Leaving the store and being hit by the heat was a real shock.  With the air conditioning on in the store and the fan blowing on me I had no idea it was that hot.  Fortunately we were soon in an air conditioned car, heading for an air conditioned house--and I still had ice cold water in my snack bag, so I was just fine.

I would do terrible in a seriously hot country