I went to the local library yesterday. More out of necessity than anything. Although I normally do enjoy the library where I live - it's an impressive place. I had been reading one of Stephen King's Dark Tower books. I checked it out 3 months ago and after trying to renew it for the 3rd time online, I was denied. So, after plowing through 108 pages in 90 days (an average of 1.2 pages per day if you're keeping track at home), I had to return it. While I was there, I browsed for a while, spending time in my usual areas. To be honest, despite the grandiosity of the library here, when it comes to books on science (and non-fiction and, well scholarly stuff in general), the pickings are pretty slim. To the point where friends of mine have recommended a few books recently, all of which I've had to purchase. So today I decided that I would be a good citizen and give back to the community. I wanted to donate these books that I had recently purchased to the library, so that others like me would have the opportunity to read them for free. (For a brief second I thought of Benjamin Franklin and got all misty eyed. Ok, I didn't get misty eyed. But public resources for knowledge are pretty cool and I was honored to help).
To make these donations, I was told to talk to "Melissa" who was in the children's section. (Her name was really Melissa, so I'm not sure why I used quotes). So, without insulting their current selection, I explained to Melissa that I wished to donate a handful of books to the library. She pretty much told me that it was too much work to inspect and catalog the books. And that, unless the book was written within the past 6 months, there was pretty much no chance that she'd accept them. However, I could donate them to the book shop which is in the front of the library. They sell used books and then the library takes the profits and buys other books. (The fact that they'd sell my $20 book that I read once for $1.50 seemed a little inefficient and absurd, but that's not what upset me most). While I don't feel like I need to defend my opinion of the value of certain books, that wasn't even relevant - it made no difference to Melissa whether or not my opinion was valid. Or that their current selection of informational books kind of blows. The problem was simply that I was making her life more difficult. I wanted to offer up, not only the books, but my time to catalog and shelf the books myself. She wouldn't have cared. Instead, they're most likely going to rot on my shelves at home (unless you're interested in what I read). So much for wanting to help my community. (As you can tell, I'm still upset. If I were a motivated individual I'd run for some sort of local office to fix this. But I'm not. So I'm just going to bitch about it instead.)
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If there's one thing I didn't need is Netflix's latest promotion - Online Movies. For every dollar you spend, you can watch an hour every month of certain movies online. Great - more ways to waste time.
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I'm 23 months late on this one, but George Lucas wants to re-re-re-re-release the original Star Wars in 3D. That would be awesome, wouldn't it? Yeah - that'd be awesome.
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There was an experiment from my high school physics class where we measured our own personal horsepower based on the height of stairs we climbed in a certain time and our weight. I wanted to do that again, but can't quite find the right formula. What I have found is this worksheet. Can anybody help with this? In a simple formula?
To make these donations, I was told to talk to "Melissa" who was in the children's section. (Her name was really Melissa, so I'm not sure why I used quotes). So, without insulting their current selection, I explained to Melissa that I wished to donate a handful of books to the library. She pretty much told me that it was too much work to inspect and catalog the books. And that, unless the book was written within the past 6 months, there was pretty much no chance that she'd accept them. However, I could donate them to the book shop which is in the front of the library. They sell used books and then the library takes the profits and buys other books. (The fact that they'd sell my $20 book that I read once for $1.50 seemed a little inefficient and absurd, but that's not what upset me most). While I don't feel like I need to defend my opinion of the value of certain books, that wasn't even relevant - it made no difference to Melissa whether or not my opinion was valid. Or that their current selection of informational books kind of blows. The problem was simply that I was making her life more difficult. I wanted to offer up, not only the books, but my time to catalog and shelf the books myself. She wouldn't have cared. Instead, they're most likely going to rot on my shelves at home (unless you're interested in what I read). So much for wanting to help my community. (As you can tell, I'm still upset. If I were a motivated individual I'd run for some sort of local office to fix this. But I'm not. So I'm just going to bitch about it instead.)
--------
If there's one thing I didn't need is Netflix's latest promotion - Online Movies. For every dollar you spend, you can watch an hour every month of certain movies online. Great - more ways to waste time.
--------
I'm 23 months late on this one, but George Lucas wants to re-re-re-re-release the original Star Wars in 3D. That would be awesome, wouldn't it? Yeah - that'd be awesome.
---------
There was an experiment from my high school physics class where we measured our own personal horsepower based on the height of stairs we climbed in a certain time and our weight. I wanted to do that again, but can't quite find the right formula. What I have found is this worksheet. Can anybody help with this? In a simple formula?
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