Today at Logos

I did a calculation and there are only 12 more of these entries left before Logos is no more.  I have mixed feelings about that.

Sandy wasn't there today and someone I didn't know was.  She talked with me abut negotiations for what is to happen when Logos closes, but she whispered as if it was some deep dark secret that we weren't supposed to talk about.

Today most of my "regulars" dropped by.  Train guy, who hasn't been in over the summer, was back to pick up something read before catching his train.  Today he had a whole 5 minutes to browse, so he found two books he wanted. one art-related book and a book on film.  His credit card was rejected and he had to pay cash because he didn't have time for me to ring the sale up on a different card.

A guy carrying a Prevident bag (that's a toothpaste) wandered around and then stood at the desk and said "The Carthaginian Solution."  No question, just a statement. He repeated it and said he couldn't remember where he'd heard it (I said it sounded like the title of a Big Bang Theory episode, but that didn't register with him).  Then he explained that he had been looking through a copy of Herodotus and that phrase popped into his head, but he couldn't remember where he'd heard it before.  Then he walked out.

A guy with the name of someone we know in Davis (but not the same person) wandered around.  We got to talking about what will happen to the store after January.  He's lived in Davis since 1963, so 10 years longer than we have, and we reminisced about businesses that have some and gone downtown.  He used to teach German, he said, and he bought 3 contemporary fiction books and one in German.  But then he started telling me about Iceland, which has a population of just a bit over 300,000 and he said that the population is so small everyone is distantly related to everyone else.  Marrying a relative is such a problem that they have developed an app to avoid "accidental incest."  I found this fascinating article about it.  Apparently there is an on-line database of everyone in the country.  It certainly is not a problem we have in this country.

A stylish woman in a purple top that matched her purple sneakers waved "hello" when she came in and "thanks" when she left, without a purchase.

There came a parade of folks who came, looked, and left again:  a woman who spent a long time looking at cookbooks, a woman who carried a skateboard around the store with her, a woman who reminded me of someone we know from Acme Theater Company (but it was not she), a tall guy with curly hair, blue ear buds and a big key ring hanging out of pocket with jangling keys, and a guy who just popped in because he saw a bowl of leftover Halloween candy on the table and wanted to know if he could have one.

An African American man in a shirt that almost matched his skin tone walked in, handed me $1 for the bargain book he was buying and then walked out again.  He did not speak a word.

A short, odd-looking older Asian man wearing baggy jeans, with his hands in his pockets, browsed for a very long time.  He finally left with a woman who was apparently with him, who bought 6 contemporary fiction books for $38.89, my biggest sale of the day.

Bruce came in, carrying a bag from the Davis Co-op.  He looked around for a bit and then handed me a book to put on hold for him.  When I took it to the back, I discovered he had another book on hold.  Susan says he often picks out books to give to other people, doesn't buy then, puts them on hold, and then never picks them up again.  He's the only customer we will put books on hold for.  She's had to admonish him lately for asking other customers for money, though he did not do that today.

An older guy spent a long time looking at cookbooks.  He didn't seem the cookbook type but ultimately he bought one cookbook, two biographies, and a book on the background of various Shakespearean characters.

A guy in a bright green shirt came in pushing an enormous stroller.  He didn't buy anything and as he left, I went to glance at the baby and saw...nothing.  Then I realized he had a car seat attached to some sort of a buggy thing and that the baby was hidden.

My friend arrived at 4:20 and bought two books on weaving and "Nibelungen."  I asked him if he was a fan of Wagner's Ring Cycle and he laughed and said that he enjoyed Anna Russell's version.  He hadn't heard her version of Gilbert & Sullivan, which I prefer, just because I'm not a "Ring" fan.

The Antiquarian came in and bought a small volume of children's plays from the older book section (he never looks at any other section).  He asked the future of the store and I told him what I know, and also told him that Susan and Peter are still going to book sales because if the store is taken over by Friends of the Davis Library, they would like the books to remain.  I wanted him to know that he could continue to check back over the next 12 weeks, because there would still be "new" old books on the shelves.

My last customer was a chubby woman in a too short flowery shirt with a black Jack Daniels T-shirt.  She was looking for a biography.  I had not heard the name of the book and I was not familiar with the subject of the book.  I showed her where the biography section was and she pulled a chair up to look through it, explaining that she was in a dance class and her legs were hurting.  She seemed upset that we didn't have the book.  I explained the problem with used book stores relying on donations.  She said the book had been written in 1983.  When she left, I could see that her already short skirt was bunched up in her crotch.  I felt sorry for her because I have been her (and probably still am).

Susan and Sammy (the dog) came in to relieve me.  I don't know how long it's been since I've seen Susan, because it seems that it's Peter who relieves me every time now.  It was nice to see her and we got caught up before Walt arrived.  He and Susan compared Halloween photos on their cell phones, he of pictures of Tom's family in costume, she of the costumes of her grown sons and their significant others.

I copped out and cooked a frozen dinner tonight (spanakopita from Trader Joe's) and as the evening wore on and on I was so sleepy that I called it a night mid-way through The Blacklist.  I went right to sleep at 10:30 and slept until 3:30, when I started worrying about whether or not my mother had toilet paper, and the fact that I hadn't written this entry yet, so here I am, finishing up at 5 and will probably go crawl under a quilt and a Chihuahua in the recliner and see if I can sleep another couple of hours.

(I just saw a new Trump ad focusing on Hillary's email on Weiner's computer, which says that "someone crippled by criminal investigation cannot lead this country."  Failed to mention HIS criminal investigations for rape and the mess with Trump U,  Dear, God please let it all be over soon!!!)