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.