Remember when I was lamenting about suddenly increasing my load of super-secret projects? Oh, say, yesterday?
Allow me to introduce you to Creative Grease, the official Hot Glue Media blog. It’ll have stuff about our latest projects and clients, as well as little geeky tips and tricks that we discover and post so we can be more popular with the other little designer kiddies on the playground.
I’ve added it to the list-o-projects down in the sidebar, and you can check it out on your own time. The secret project list is back down to one again, and I’m going to go back to playing with my phone now.
Happy New Years if you celebrate it, Happy Friday if you don’t. Ciao!
Not much new here at the homestead — the holidays came and went, and the Fundamental Consecutive Christmas Dinner Limit has been discovered to be 2 (and I know this because I got to enjoy four of them). Now we’re staring down the barrel of New Years and just hoping for smooth sailing, and I had a couple of news items I wanted to share.
First, this is the guy who wrote the story for Acoustic Tea. I had no idea he wrote a blog before now. Ain’t he adorable?
Secondly, I got a Motorola Cliq! Yay android-powered phones! I spent most of my day learning how to prioritize my social networking vectors as well as get my podcasting stuff running.
Third, I’m having spaghetti for dinner. And there’s new stuff at Catch The Spoon, detailing some of our culinary holiday hijinks. The two are not necessarily related.
Fourth, the Secret Project List has expanded from one back to two, oh help me Maude.
That’s all. Later babies.
I know I said I wouldn’t do these on Mondays but I have some free time and these are good and so here we go!
wordpress 2.9 podpress
I have yet to hear any whining from anyone about how the current version of wordpress breaks the current version of podpress, and the upgrade went smooth as silk for me. Give it time.
what’s living in old books?
Dreams. Stories. Fantasies. Information. Possibly silverfish or mice. Your mileage will vary.
boot screen when i’m 64
When I’m 64 years old, if computers haven’t finally evolved into Instant On type machines, Imma gunna run up a clock tower with a sniper rifle.
julia child’s creamed onions recipe
I don’t have a copy to share, but I’ll bet you a dollar that you need to make a bechamel sauce, season it with tarragon, sage and white pepper, and simmer your pearl onions in it for a minimum of 20 minutes after giving them a good stiff water boil for 5.
can you pre make lasagna with the no boiling
Sure can. Either you get yourself some “no boil” lasagna noodles, or just use regular noodles and add a little extra sauce. This is a great option if you make a homemade sauce based around stewed or canned tomatoes, since the sauce tends to be runnier. Then, you can stick the pan in the fridge for a few days or the freezer for a few weeks. Do note that when you’re done, your lasagna will be denser than it would if you’d boiled the noodles, and it’s normal.
“living behind the curve” chicken tomato
Up until very recently, I’ve been reluctant to cook much with tomato, mostly due to some very unfortunate decisions my mom made while I was growing up, involving scallops and a jar of Ragu. I’m learning, though, and I can heartily recommend Quick Tomato Chicken Curry and Tomato Chicken Rice. Edited to add: Dani also pointed out Tomato Poached Chicken, as well.
selling books for pulp recycling
In theory you can do that, but the scale is a little difficult for normal people to make any money on. Rates right now for scrap paper can run anywhere from $11 to $150 or more per ton, but these are industrial businesses dealing with many tons and many specifications for the paper composition. You’d do better to take an afternoon with your pulp books and run their ISBNs through Amazon and see if you have any winners you can sell, and offer the rest to your local Friends of Library sale, or just pitch them in the recycling bin. If you’re determined to scrap for profit, consider dumpster diving in business parks for old computers and office furniture – the metals are far more profitable, pound for pound, and there are simply more publicly accessible scrap yards for metal.
lolcow
Ok.
rainbowistan
Srsly? Ok, fine. It’s where fundamentalist queer terrorists come from. Happy?
That’s enough for one day. Go do something productive now.
It’s been a little busy here at the Behind The Curve Homestead.
First, there was a major Wordpress update, which provides no end of fun for a couple of Wordpress developers. Version 2.9 mostly installed without a hitch (and for once didn’t break PodPress, which is remarkable in itself), but we’ve all discovered a problem with scheduled updates. I haven’t run into this problem myself yet, but I did get this fantastic little link from Erk over at Twitter, and it needs to be shared widely.
How to fix the scheduled update bug in Wordpress 2.9.
Speaking of PodPress, there’s a new episode over at Braindouche!, so go take a listen. And don’t go far, because there’ll be another one on Christmas – my first episode 100! So exciting! (If you missed the whole episode 100 rigamarole, click here and be enlightened.) And, if you’re paying attention, you’ll see that the podcast points to a whole new place.
A new website has joined the Hot Glue Harem, Acoustic Tea.
Acoustic Tea is, for the moment, a place to get audio stories. Dani reads them and makes the graphics and the website frontend, I produce the audio and work out the back end code stuff, and the stories come from wherever we can find them. In the future, you’ll be able to find not only more than one awesome Christmas story, but lots of short stories and even novels, all for free for you to listen to and enjoy. Later, you may find print books, downloadable PDFs and even music. We’ll see what happens, but even in the bright light of day it sounds great and I love that logo.
Therefore, our really-very-secular Christmas present for you: Good Will, by J. E. McNeil. Go listen and enjoy.
So, there’s that, and you can see Acoustic Tea has joined the other sites in the side bar. You’ll notice that there are still secret projects there? Of course you will. Because there is totally another secret project under way, and that’ll fire off in January, with a little luck. No rest for the wicked, as they say.
That’s all. Click some links and have a great day.
Marko Kloos is a damned immigrant libertarian pro-military gun nut, and he writes a blog mostly about living in the middle of nowhere, raising his kids as a stay-at-home dad, having fun with his gun collection and writing sci-fi novels with extra explosions in them at his blog, The Munchkin Wrangler. Dude gives good blog, yo.
On Mondays, he does this thing called the Monday Search Term Safari, a dead simple little game where he pulls search terms from his site stats and writes about them. Here’s an example. It’s killer fun, so I’m stealing the concept for myself, and until a better name comes along it’ll be called Search Term Polka (and I’m open to suggestions, seriously). Let’s go!
isreali shisha tobacco
Israel, being a part of the Middle East (is that still a politically correct name for the region?), is fond of hookah, and both pipes and supplies are readily available in places where there are people. Not being much of an export nation, however, any shisha that may be produced in Israel stays in Israel. Much like Israeli wine, there doesn’t seem to be any worldclass, export-quality shisha manufacturer there yet, and whatever is made gets sold locally.
how long to bake frozen macaroni and cheese
Until it’s hot. Frozen, prebaked mac’n'cheese can be very dense, very fluffy or very full of water, and it can be very difficult to tell the difference just by looking at the frozen brick coming out of your ice box. Stick your frozen macaroni and cheese in a 350 degree oven covered with foil, and check every 30 minutes or so to see when the middle is hot. It should take about an hour.
what is ftaghn
Very roughly translated, fhtagn means “dreaming” or “waiting”, referring to the condition of Great Lord Cthulhu, laying under the sea in the sunken city of R’lyeh, not dead but dreaming, or Cthulhu fhtagn.
is it ok to be behind the technology curve
Sure it is. Most “amazing technological advances” are really small incremental updates to pre-existing technology produced with the sole intention of reselling the same crap to the same people all over again. Holding off on technology purchases until any given gizmo gets a little age on it is a reliable way to save you time and money. Be careful, though, because it’s a slippery slope between “wise and frugal technopatience” and “bizarre anti-progress retrofetishism”. Nobody really needs to buy The Most Latest Extreme Turbo Blackberry 5g With Cheese the day it’s released, but if you find yourself loudly wondering in public the usefulness of mobile phones on the whole, you need to check yourself.
nice things people say about other people
Most people never tire of being told how awesome they are. Reminding folks about how they’re funny, smart, wise or skillful almost always hit the mark, and even a simple and too the point “You’re awesome!” will almost never go unappreciated. If you’re in a real pinch, you can focus on a person’s possessions, like a shirt, shoes or a bag.
how to roast chicken in slow cooker
1. Put a chicken in your slow cooker. Consider liberally salting or peppering the skin and the body cavity, as well as stowing some flavorful savory things in there as well, like onions, carrots, celery and garlic. (Citrus or other acidic things aren’t suggested in this application.)
2. Turn your slow cooker on, and put on the lid.
3. When your house smells like cooked chicken, it’s done, anywhere from three to six hours later.
free running circadian rhythms
It is a basic saftey consideration to never participate in parkour when drousy. If this means you’ll be free-running in the middle of the night, make sure to wear light colors, reflective elements, and stick to well-lit areas.
slow roasted chicken
Also known as Baked Chicken. Not Recommended. Cooking chicken in hotter temperatures, on the bone, for shorter periods of time will give you better flavor, juicier meat and superior texture.
poach chicken in tomato juice
You can, but I wouldn’t. I would suggest you use a non-stick pan, add some tomato juice thinned with a little chicken broth, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and some hot pepper if you’re so inclined. Bring it to a simmer on medium low and add some chicken breast, cover and let cook for 20 minutes, or until it’s cooked all the way through but before the meat dissolves completely.
orisinal won’t work ubuntu
You need to check to make sure that flash is set up properly in Ubuntu, which can be tricky sometimes. If you google “flash” and your ubuntu version, someone will have already written up a howto for you, guaranteed. Then you should be able to play beautiful, slow-paced casual games in your browser as you wish.
can outdated beef broth hurt you
If your beef broth hasn’t been opened, the packaging isn’t pressurized from the inside in some weird way (either positively or negatively), and it smells like beef broth, you’re probably fine. If it fails any of those tests, discard. If it passes those tests and you’re still not sure, pour it in a pot and boil it hard for two full minutes first before you use it.
And there you go. If you have a better suggestion for a title, drop it in the comments. I’m thinking, just to avoid that extra level of derivativeness, I won’t publish this on Mondays after today. Be good, go read Marko’s blog, catch ya later.
Not so long ago, I spent a short time writing an advice column for the now-defunct magazine Lucy. This has festered in my draft folder long enough, so for the hell of it, I’m republishing the columns here, with the comments that readers left the first time (and the advantage of a little more editing than the original versions). Enjoy!
Dear Meredith,
Among other things (for instance, things that pay), I run a popular mommyblog. I get hit with a bunch of products to review practically every day because of it, and it’s totally fun. When there’s something I love, I’ll hype it up and promote it, because it really doesn’t take that much time out of my day, but I I’ll usually be rewarded with more free products. When I don’t like something I’m sent, I just ignore it.
This time, though, I have a problem. For a bunch of complicated and stupid reasons, I’m kind of compelled to review a particular book. Normally, this sort of thing isn’t that big of a deal, but this book is truly dreadful. I hate to say it’s awful, but it’s awful. I’m really not sure what to do with it. I need to say something, but I don’t want to put the bad PR out there for the book or the bad karma for myself either. Suggestions?
Signed,
Mommyblogger and More
Dear Purveyor of Poop Stories,
Ahh, the internet, where all traffic is fundamentally amoral because it’s all monetizable, where the worst possible condition is to be ignored, and even to be loathed is a legitimate and proven business strategy. The internet is also a place where electronic douchebags (known colloquially as “trolls”) wander around giving wet, incoherent raspberries at whatever they can reach with their stubby, sticky fingers. These two forces have combined to create what I consider one of the stranger manifestations of internet culture: the taboo of criticism.
See, the internet would like to make everyone feel special and reinforce your short attention span at the same time. If you don’t like something, just move on. Don’t whine about it. Don’t bitch. There’s the rest of the internet you will find pleasing. It doesn’t matter if your criticism is constructive or, god, forbid, justified, it’s just plain impolite to make negative statements about people, places or things. Don’t be a hater, right?
You know this, since you’re concerned about your “karma.” Now once you’re done kindly explaining how you became irresistibly compelled to review a book for free on your own time, do tell me how you’re irresistibly compelled to write a good review for this book, for free, on your own time.
Look, if you have to write it, write it. Since you’ve been compelled to write this review, I can presume you’ve also been compelled to read this horrible book, too. Give an honest review. If you work yourself up into some sort of positive reaction, your readers are either going to think you haven’t read the book, or you’re an idiot. As a blogger, those are much more dangerous possibilities than whatever reaction might come from your review.
Think of it at revenge. Think of it as a posted warning. Think of it as a reminder of why you shouldn’t get yourself in situations where you’re compelled to work for free. Just get over it, take a nice, hot shower, and move on.
Love,
Meredith
Steven Klassen on December 1, 2008 4:33 pm
I’m having the same problem, actually. We get a lot of stuff for free to review on GeekFit and a few things have been really bad.
I don’t try to bullshit our listeners. I’ll find 1 or 2 things that are positive and then load up on the negatives. It’s a review, not paid advertising.
Stacy Nyikos on December 2, 2008 8:35 am
I’ll out myself as a children’s writer up front. However, I was also a professor at the university level for many years, which means I got to write a lot of academic pieces. And I have to say, constructive criticism is a good thing. Not all reviews or opinions can or should be stellar. We need some balance. But balance it well. I don’t think any bad karma will come your way for speaking your mind constructively. I’ve been reviewed for academic pieces where I was ripped to shreds. Painful. Not very helpful. Perplexing. However, the reviews I received that sent a little praise for the things I did well, and some serious critique in a construtive way about what the reader did not agree with or found weak really helped me in my writing. Constructive criticism is the way to help a writer become a better writer. My two cents.
Not so long ago, I spent a short time writing an advice column for the now-defunct magazine Lucy. This has festered in my draft folder long enough, so for the hell of it, I’m republishing the columns here, with the comments that readers left the first time (and the advantage of a little more editing than the original versions). Enjoy!
Dear Lucy Advice,
My husband has a nephew who’s started coming to family functions this year. He’s in his 20s and has a history of theft, hard drug use, job loss and long periods without working. My husband usually gets along with everyone on the planet, but considers his nephew “scum” and is very bitter that he has stolen from his grandparents (my husband’s parents) repeatedly over the years. What I need to know is, how am I supposed to treat this nephew when he shows up for Christmas? It feels like he comes around for handouts and might well be ripping things off while he uses the bathroom. But I’m not used to being so hard-hearted. What attitude should I strive for here?
Thanks.
–There’s family and then there’s family
Dear Family,
I must speak first in defense of 20-somethings everywhere. For this tribe of underemployed, over-aged adolescents, the holidays are indeed a time to look for handouts for even the most solvent and responsible of young adults. The goods, cash and leftovers gathered from family holiday shindigs can sustain both recent college graduates with excellent prospects and notorious felons for months. Please feel free to remember that you’ve done this too, and to get over yourself at your earliest convenience.
Point the second: let’s say a man broke into your house in the middle of the night to steal your stuff. Would you be concerned that he would think you’re a big meanie if you yelled at him to leave while you dialed 911?
Didn’t think so. So, when there is someone strolling in the front door at cocktail hour and you think he’s stealing your stuff, why are you concerned about what other people think of you then? When there is a dude that you feel is compromising the security of your house, you don’t let them in your house. Period. I don’t care if you’re related to him or not; it’s not like you had any control over that. It’s your house. Get in touch with your inner Nancy Reagan and Just Say No.
Then go grab your camcorder. If this nephew is as much of a hot steaming mess as you say he is, he might retaliate against your property. (Since you apparently keep stuff worth stealing in your bathroom, I’m going to assume that you and yours have enough insurance to make this inconvenient and not disastrous.) If he does, call the cops. He probably won’t stick around long enough to get caught, but you’ll have the evidence for the police and plenty of witnesses.
Then, after all this drama is settled out, you can relax with confidence that he’s not going to show up any more. And when that nagging sense of guilt and ambivalence returns, you’ll do well to remind yourself that it’s only because you’re related to that little jerk.
Of course, the really easy solution is to simply avoid the problem entirely and convince some other part of the family to host Christmas, or go out for the holiday and take everyone with you. I really can’t recommend this course of action more highly. If the rest of your family balks at this suggestion, start remodeling your kitchen. A lot of angsty family drama can be squelched if you take it to neutral territory, which is a definite plus of going out for the evening, but even if you just take the party over to Aunt Mildred’s this year, you have the distinct advantage of being able to leave if it all gets to be too much.
And you know what would be really awesome? If you declare that you’re not doing Christmas this year, and come to discover nobody else wants to do it because they don’t want to deal with this little lost lamb, either. Maybe a family conversation will spring up about what to do with this nephew, because your husband’s solution of sitting around be angry all the time might feel satisfying, but it doesn’t seem to be helping much.
Love,
Meredith
Not so long ago, I spent a short time writing an advice column for the now-defunct magazine Lucy. This has festered in my draft folder long enough, so for the hell of it, I’m republishing the columns here, with the comments that readers left the first time (and the advantage of a little more editing than the original versions). Enjoy!
Dear Meredith-
OK, I admit it: I HATE my best friend’s new boyfriend! I’ve been trying to give him a chance, but seriously, he sucks. I thought maybe it was just because I was jealous she was spending time with someone else, but after we all hung out with some friends recently, they also hated him (I did not give them a heads up ahead of time of how I felt). The problem is that he’s rude, inconsiderate, self-centered, and difficult to talk to, and although he’s not physically/verbally abusive, I just don’t think he treats her right.
I’ve kept my mouth shut so far, but now she’s thinking about moving in with him. I don’t want to not be supportive, but I am NOT supportive of this relationship! What should I do?
Worried in Western PA.
Dear Worry-Wart,
Congratulations! Because you’ve put off confronting your BFF about her boyfriend until she’s considering making a contractual commitment with him, no matter what you decide to do, you’re going to come off as a bitch in the end. Since it’s obviously all about you.
Not convinced? Here’s how it can play out: Let’s say that you invite your friend over for martinis and Star Trek, and you decide to tell her that you think her boyfriend is a douche during one of those interminable Shatnerian Pauses. She could…
… have spent more time with him than you have in low pressure environments where he’s not on trial by some cheap Sex and the City cast knock-off, and realized that he’s actually painfully shy around other people. On the Bitch Scale, where 10 is Paris Hilton and 1 is Lassie (… rimshot), this makes you a 6, by being totally judgmental, impatient, and possibly conspiring and talking shit with the girls behind the happy couple’s back.
… still be in that first blush of romantic lurve, and so completely swept away by the mountains of brain-melting crazy monkey sex she’s still having with this guy that she hasn’t had a chance yet to realize he’s a douche. Bitch Scale: 3. As her best friend, it is one of your responsibilities to make sure she doesn’t make any important decisions while she’s suffering the temporary insanity of a new relationship. Unfortunately, because she’s completely bonkers on her own hormones, she won’t hear a word you say, and probably be mad at you for being totally judgmental and not supportive until her condition wears off.
… actually like douchey guys, and be personally responsible for upholding Nice Guy Syndrome. She might actually be quite happy to be moving in with such a difficult jerk. Bitch Scale: 5. If this is the case, it’s not something brand new that just popped up. She’s fallen for guys like this before, and if she’s really your BFF, you should know this already. So why are you telling her now?
… know perfectly well that he treats her and everyone else like garbage, and be such an emotional basketcase that she thinks she somehow deserves it. Bitch Scale: 8. Dude! Your friend has serious problems! Quit bitching about her boyfriend and get over there with some brownies and tequila and help her. Did you accidentally toss in your priorities when you went to ceremonially burn your compassion at the ritual Bitch initiation bonfire? Get your head out of your butt, realize the boyfriend is a symptom and get your friend to a shrink or a doctor or a bar or something. Do it now, and shut up.
… thank you for your kindness and concern for her well-being, and seriously reconsider her relationship with Assy McGee. Bitch Scale: Pi (an irrational number, get it?). Because then you’ll both hop on your unicorns and fly to the land Marshmallow-Rainbow-istan and dance among the happy Bob Ross trees and eat nothing but chocolate that has no calories while world peace and fairy dust sprinkle down from the puffy pink clouds like a refreshing early-spring snow made entirely of ice cream.
Do you get it? You missed your chance to tell her how you feel about her guy, by going and telling your other friends how you feel about this guy and then sitting on it and being all broody and emo. You blew it. You are on a one-way train to Bitchtown, population you and your bitchy coterie, you bitch. The only reason you should say anything at this point is that you think your friendship with her is strong enough to survive you not being liked for a little while. It’s up to you. It’s probably worth mentioning that you do find her boyfriend to be a loser, because it’ll probably get in the way of your friendship later otherwise. You just need to double check that your friendship is strong enough to make it that far. Good luck with that.
Love,
Meredith
Grizzly Smith on October 13, 2008 9:13 pm
Now, Mer, stop holding back, tell us what you -really- think. 
All of those ideas are valid, and beside the point. Whether or not you’re doing the right thing at the moment, whether or not you’re Way Too Late, you still gotta take a bullet for a friend sometimes. And yeah, maybe you gain all sorts of catchy categorical nicknames.
But for friends, sometimes you gotta do that. If it was easy, everybody’d have friends.
Griz
So where in life did I read that “friends” were allowed to “dis” relationships of others? Oh, yah… soap operas! Frankly I would think that your friend would want you to keep your nose out of what she is doing in the relationship “ring”. First of all most men are simply looking for one thing. Apparently he is giving her what she is lacking in her life or heart. This may blind her until she learns for herself… A real friend would be there to pick up the pieces! Just like a bird being kicked out of its nest so is the relationship department in a woman’s life. Sometimes you have to learn on your own even if it means failure.
Oh my God I LOVE you, Meredith. I was reading Susan’s book blog and wandered over here to check out what kind of “advice” Lucy was endorsing…and stumbled upon your lovely blog. Holy crap, how I would love to have you shrunken and living inside my purse, to whisper out to me all the zingy comebacks my little heart could desire. I love your acerbic attitude and “tell it like it is-ness.” Please please please write more often! I know I will be checking back here soon to see what you’ll come up with next.
Hey Pernell, I don’t know if you’ll come back for more conversation here in the comments, but I’ve just put up another post and I’d just love your thoughts on it.
Books are mostly trash. Every book you’ve ever met has survived against long odds to make it to your bookshelf, and even then, it’s most likely just waiting until it’s trashed. Don’t believe me?
We all know that publishers will print hundreds of thousands of, say, the latest Danielle Steele romance novel, send out piles of them to book stores far and wide, and refund those same booksellers when they get most of those books back, then recycle the books. Sometimes the publisher will issue refunds for just the covers, and the book stores will recycle the books.
A few of the books get tossed in the discount bin, some of them go to discount book stores, but a lot of them end up as pulp. It’s an old system that’s killing the publishing industry, but that’s how it works for the moment.
Then, most of the books that have been bought get read once, maybe, sit around for a little while, then get trashed or sold for a quarter at a yard sale or donated to a library which will sell them for a quarter. Those books that don’t get sold, get trashed. The books that make it this far through the gauntlet often end up in used book stores. Used book stores are selective of the books they stock, of course, favoring fancy printings, very old tomes, rare tomes, and various sorts of non-fiction. Even then, used book stores need a big stock, because their carefully selected books can languish on shelves for years until the right customer walks in. Some of the used book store stock gets culled every now and then, to make room for new acquisitions, and they either re-enter the used book circuit, or also go to the big Ikea shelf in the sky.
Such is the way of books. The vast majority of them end up in the recycling bin. I know this because I used to make my living selling used books and walked the whole cycle from beginning to end and back again.
So, when I got an outraged link from Tee Morris pointing to the story of a landlord in England inviting the public in to loot a warehouse full of 5 million books, I knew what I was looking at. He didn’t, and neither did a lot of other pissed off folks on Twitter.
The article says that the warehouse was for an “amazon supplier”, which presumably a lot of people took to mean that they were a contract distributor of new Amazon books. I don’t know if Amazon contracts out their book distribution (I bet they don’t), but that’s not what’s going on here. A lot of people got mad, thinking that publishers were just giving away new unsold stock and writing off the loss, meaning the authors get nothing. It’s not particularly uncommon for publishers to screw authors in this manner, but that’s not what’s happening.
I’d like to introduce you to the used bookstore of today. Go over to Amazon and look at absolutely any book they list. Most of those books, you can buy new, but there’s also the option to buy used copies. There are many people across the US and apparently in England that have built businesses on those little links. The businesses that survive and make a living for their owners mostly look like what you see in the pictures in the article: huge warehouses full of shelves of books. Having huge inventories like that is just the nature of the business.
Apparently, one of these huge online book dealers went bellyup, and abandoned their stock along with their lease. 5 million books, just sitting there.
So what in the HELL are you supposed to 5 million used books? The comments show that readers believe these books should be donated to charity, or given to schools, or at least be distributed in a more orderly fashion. Folks are absolutely aghast that these books are being rooted through and given away to anyone who can carry them. It’s horrible! It’s awful!
So what are we to do with all these books? Sell them? If they were easy to sell, the person who was selling these books for a living would have sold them and not gone out of business. Donate them? Imagine the cost of moving and storing 5 million books. Where would they go? A warehouse? A charity could take over the lease, or pay for a truck to move the books, and… sell the books? Again, the books are there because they didn’t sell. The landlord could trash them, but that’s a lot of books, and it’ll cost a lot of money. These books are less than worthless because something needs to be done with them, and all the options cost money, except one: give them away to people who will come and take them. It’s a win on all fronts. Some folks get free books they’ll enjoy. Other booksellers will get stock. The books will go away. Sure, it’s a little disturbing to see the books heaped up in drifts on the floor to be climbed, but so what?
What value do those books have? Only the value that someone will give them, either by selling them, or enjoying them. Books are an overabundant commodity, and most end up in the bin as worthless garbage.
Sorry about that.
