The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
The Vacation
I had absolutely no trouble being alone for six days.
I was telling a (young) co-worker about taking the long way from Hot Springs, where I was staying, to Mt. Rushmore. The route was through Custer State Park. I had to stop my car for buffalo crossing the street. (Ask anyone in my family. I cannot get over the fact that my car has seen real live buffalo.) But it took 2 1/2 hours, so I decided to take a shorter way home. “I was pretty sure,” I said, “That highway 40 would take me back to 79, which was the road I took into town in the first place.”
“Did you have a map?” she asked.
“I did,” I replied. “But it was on the floor. I was pretty sure I knew where I was.”
“Pretty sure? You don’t even have a GPS.”
I have a brain. And a sense of adventure. My car has a compass and really… It is pretty hard to get lost in this country.
How do kids ever have any fun?
I never even opened my atlas on this trip – I-90 takes you from Chicago all the way across South Dakota. So I took the atlas to my brother today. He has been talking about taking a road trip through Pennsylvania this summer.
He just bought a GPS.
At the Refuge – Marty
At the Library – Autographed Books
On Thursday nights, Library traffic is pretty low. Last night I logged in $3 in sales – and one of those was my own. So spending my time listing books for sale online makes a lot of sense.
I may have mentioned that we use Amazon’s web site. And they are starting to bother me.
The trouble is in what are labeled “collectible” books. For example:
I had a hard cover copy of Tom Clancy’s The Sum of All Fears. First edition, 1991. When you look that book up on Amazon, there are over a thousand copies available, and some are listed for $.01 (plus shipping).
I had in my hands an autographed copy. In order to list a book as “collectible”, Amazon will not let you list the book at anything less than the full publisher’s price – in this case, $26.95.
If you could get a book you wanted for $.01, how much would you reasonably pay for an autographed copy? I’m thinking not $26.95.
I listed it, and several others autographed books, including Madeleine Albright’s autobiography, and that biography of Roberto Clemente that David Maraniss did. I could list them as regular used books for $10 or $15, and put “autographed” in the description, but I am afraid they will get lost in the shuffle of all of the books that are selling for pennies.
I do not have a good answer for this yet.
Public Service Announcement
Two months ago I was a victim of credit card fraud on the Internet. Chase Bank was fabulous in spotting it and shutting the card down before anything bad happened. They recommended that I check my credit report.
It hadn’t been much more than a year since I last checked it, but 12 months were certainly up. I went to Creditreport.com.
I filled out their online form and it asked for a credit card number. That made me suspicious, but it specifically said that it was for identification purposes only and the card would not be charged.
I got my report instantly and there were no surprises.
Until. My credit card was charged $11.95. I suspected such a thing would happen, and I am angry. I sent this e-mail:
Dear Creditreport.com:
I have just noticed that your company has charged my credit card. Your website assured me that the card number was only being requested for identification purposes. I did not intentionally purchase any additional services. I wish to have a refund of the $11.95 posted back to my credit card and to have my information removed from any mailing lists that you maintain. I feel tricked and offended by your practices. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
I got this response:
Thank you for contacting Creditreport.com:
We apologize for any inconvenience you may be experiencing. In order for us to make any changes to your Creditreport.com account or have questions regarding the website or services, we ask that you contact our customer service department at 866-365-6818. Our office hours are Monday -Friday 6:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. PST, Saturdays 8:00 a.m. -4:00 pm and Sundays 8:00 a.m. -4:00 pm PST.
Thank you,
Customer Service
CreditReport.com
O.K. – first? No freakin’ dot-com should be telling me to call customer service when I use the online contact information.
I call customer service. Someone whose first language is not English (sorry, but the outsourced call centers are starting to bother me) told me that I was enrolled in the monthly credit check service and I must not have read the web page carefully. And they have a “No refund” policy.
All I wanted was to make sure that no one had opened a new credit card in my name. I do not require monthly services. I realize that they are a business and have to make money somehow, but I feel deceived. Thank you, Internet, for your attention.
At the Refuge – Addison
In Chicago
In Washington
The Lincoln Memorial is easily my favorite place in Washington DC. Easily in my Top 10 Favorite Places on the planet. I try to make a pilgrimage every time I am in town. I read the Gettysburg Address and remember that there are still some things that are sacred.
I walked down from the hotel Wednesday night. It is about two miles. I am listening to the iPod and the weather is nice and I am very happy. I get to the steps:
It was swarming with children.
Taking the pictures and yammering or sitting 25 across on the stairs so that the actual people trying to pay their respects are tripping over their Chucks.
I was feeling cranky for a minute, but then I remembered that that 8th grade field trip was the reason that I went to college in Washington DC. I remembered that while I was one of those kids that wouldn’t shut up and snapped a million pictures of nothing, I still made the Lincoln Memorial pilgrimage the very first weekend after I arrived at AU.
Never mind that it was 2am and I was drunk. I had never been there at night!
My point is that I walked back down the steps thinking that the place was so powerful that it seeps into even a 13-year old by osmosis and we are all better people for it. I hope the remember, too.
The Semester Ends
I felt liked I choked on that final exam. 70 questions and I am going confidently through the T/F and multiple choice when around question #45 I get a Fill in the Blank. Completely froze.
I was already out of study rhythm because the exam was on a Friday and I shoot for Mondays. Then I was at the Library Thursday night, thinking I would list books for sale online for two hours and then study for one and that didn’t happen. I was still ok until the Fill in the Blank.
I kinda got my rhythm back and did a second run-through of each question. I changed half a dozen answers, which is not a good sign. This exam was 50% of the final grade and I left feeling terrible.
I got back on to our class site and at least one other person owned up to having a hard time so I had some hope that the curve would save me.
We were told grades would be posted by the end of the week and I flew to our Washington office on Monday. Exam grade posted Tuesday. A-. Final grade posted yesterday A-.
Relief.
I am taking the summer off. In fact, I am going on vacation the week after next. Today, I was in the car with my mother – on my way to my brother’s house for lunch. I asked her what the hell I did with my time before I started school again.
“You read books and watched movies.”
Oh, yeah. That was fun.
Finals
Library Used Book Sale
This lovely sketch was on the library website. I believe it is the original plan that was presented for approval two years ago. I also believe we have been downsized out of it twice. Nice to know what we’re working for. If they would just break ground already.
I didn’t think much of the design at first. I think it is trying to do a modern Prairie style thing – Glenview is very into Prairie anything. And I suppose it is better than Northbrook’s, which we always referred to as “Jabba’s Sail Barge”. And not in a good way. Wait – I can find a picture of that.
So if you are going to be around town that weekend in July, stop by – I believe I picked up 12 books at the December sale (and have perhaps read two of them). Then go across the street to the Dairy Bar for ice cream.
The Next Dark Age 
