Today at Logos

It was a fairly busy day at Logos today.  I was surprised when I got there to see Peter working.  Apparently Sandy couldn't work today, which made me glad that I decided to come in anyway, though I still wasn't feeling 100%, but maybe 80...and with only having to sit at a desk all day, I figured things would be OK.

The first customer I noticed was a tall, thin woman with a regal carriage, wearing a lightweight white blouse trimmed in lace and with a V-hem, walking around with her head held high and gnawing on the earpieces of her sunglasses.  She seemed interested in the things she was seeing, but left when she got a call on her cell phone.

A young woman who reminded me very much of one of Paul's old girlfriends came in.  She was short, her hair was in a bun, and she wore a sleeveless black shirt (showing off her generous decoletage), and glasses.  She had earphones in her ears.  She looked around for a long time and finally brought to the desk:  a bargain book, Twain's "Puddin' Head Wilson" and "Life Along the Mississippi," Edith Wharton's "House of MIrth," a book called "Metaphors we live by" and Eldridge Cleaver's "Soul on Ice."  Then, before she paid for them, she put most of them back and just kept the bargain book and "Soul on Ice."

A tall balding man in grey wrinkled sorts and a too-large shirt from the Davis Turkey Trot (a bike race) came in and plopped down at the chair by the desk and seemed to settle in for a chat about books, movies and TV.  He recommends an Australian movie called Cosi.  While he was talking, another balding Middle Eastern-looking man came in and passed us.  The first guy started telling me about a specific book and said "Here, I'll show you" and got up to go to the book shelf, but I heard him talking to the other guy.  I figured he was desperate to talk to anybody, but as they continued to talk, and later leave the store together, I realized they really were together.

A thin 60-ish woman with a protuberant belly rushed in and said "Did you sell the books I brought i last week?"  I told her I had no way of knowing, but she was unaware of the store's charitable donation policy and said she would now bring all her books to us instead of one of the other used book stores.

I spied Bruce outside, but he didn't come in.  Looks like he has made himself a new hat, in a brown color, but I couldn't figure out what it was made of.

An older man and a younger woman came in looking for a book on appropriate technology, but when they didn't find what they were looking for, they left, with him talking to her about appropriate technology.

Three guys came in together and were so Sheldon, Leonard and Raj (not Howard).  "Sheldon" bought a book by Herman Hesse and "Leonard" bought a book of American short stories.  "Raj" was noteworthy because he had the brightest pair of orange shoelaces I've ever seen.

When they left, I saw anther woman sitting cross legged between two bookcases, reading.  She eventually bought a book by Calvin Trillin.

An Asian man wth a cap on his head and a camera over one shoulder looked around for a long time and then asked when half-off day is, and if he could reserve a book to purchase then.  I told him no.

Two girls in very short attire (one skirt, one shorts) came in.  One bought 3 contemporary fiction books, the other bought 4.  I only remember four titles:  "The Tower, the Zoo, and the Tortoise," "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night," "Memories of a Geisha," and "Death Comes to Pemberly."

An old man, nearly bald, hunched over and leaning on his cane came in saying "I found 3 outside already!" He then went on to buy five more books, with a political theme.  He bought a bag an it was very heavy!

I took a quick break to run to the bathroom and when I returned, there was a guy standing there, impatiently, trying to buy a book about Harley Davidson.

A big older guy from Tennessee came in, saying it was 93 degrees with 30% humidity, which is like air conditioning  to him, coming from Tennessee, where humidity gets up to 90-100%.  He bought "The Deerslayer," "Last of the Mohicans," and "Life upon the Mississippi."

A perky young African American woman with her head in dreadlocks and then in short pony tails on either side of her head bought "The Ultimate Frankenstein."

A very fit young woman with a St. Joseph medal around her neck bought a book called "Stretching."

My friend arrived at 4:45 and found a book on the bargain table and another in the contemporary fiction area.  He's always interested in what I'm reading.  Today I was reading a book by Peter Mayle called "Acquired Tastes," a celebration of life's extravagance." I had just finished the part about how the best cashmere is collected and why it's so expensive, because the goats have a double layer of down underneath and coarse hair on top, and you must separate one from the other very carefully.

A guy with a large brimmed straw hat and a t-shirt that said 'Siam" on it bought book of the Philosophy of Bertrand Russell.

A perky blonde girl bounced wanting to know if we had anything in "new age philosophy"  She found "The Last Lecture" and "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff" and was very happy.

Two women were looking for a text on Constitutional Law and I referred them to the campus book store.

My last customers were a couple, the guy wearing a Guinness beer t-shirt and his visible skin covered with tattoos.  They were looking for audible books.  We have a few now, but they didn't buy any.

I was still feeling "not sick/not well" at the end of the day, with the lethargy from the day before persisting, so when Walt offered to go get the car and pick me up, I was very grateful.