Books and keyboard

Two noteworthy things today.

First, I went to the campus library to pick up a whole pile of books. A week ago, the library administration had sent around an e-mail that, starting Monday of this week, teaching staff could go look at their stash of books that are being surplussed. The following week it would be open to other staff; and the week after, to students.

So, lovin' the books, I showed up around noon on Monday, and had a look. A lot of 1970s woodworking magazines (??!!), but they weren't very good. But, a lot of other stuff as well. Wrote my name, phone number, and e-mail address on a slip of paper as per instructed, and brought my piles and piles o' books up to the front counter. The guy at the counter said they'd let me know when they'd removed them from the system.

A day or two later, they e-mailed me to say the books were ready. So today, I borrowed the departmental handtruck, and picked 'em up.

Fifty-six books, plus or minus. About four and a half feet tall, if you stacked 'em (about 1.4 metres). All for me... all for free!!! (Well, actually, some of them for for The Lady.)

A lot of research methods books; a dictionary of ballet(!) terms; a book of quotes; a book about the musings of B. F. Skinner (famous behavioral psychology guy); a Germish-English dictionary (sure...!!!); the psychology of travel (including motion sickness, pilot disorientation, and etc.); a dictionary of the world's religions; some developmental psych textbooks (for The Lady); some classics of criminology; and some psych books on cognitive and personality testing procedures (e.g. I.Q. tests, the MMPI).


The other noteworthy event is that my ''up-arrow'' on my keyboard at work spontaneously ceased working. I contacted the I.T. folks, who e-mailed back that it's a ''known issue'', and they're getting a new keyboard from Dell in a day or two.

Meanwhile: I'd never realized how much I use the ''up-arrow'' key!


--GG