Short Exhalation

[thedarkages]

It is ten to four on a hot, sweaty, airless Sunday afternoon. We are becalmed, with not even the hint of a breeze. The fan isn't close to cutting it. My friend Mary down in Imperial County is probably thirty or forty degrees hotter than I am, but she has no choice: run the air conditioner or die. I, unfortunately, have the choice: run the air conditioner and pay $120 extra in electricity per month, or swelter frugally. Not having the extra $120 makes my choice a non-choice.

No one is home. I don't pester my friends regularly, but there is a vast pool of unused night and weekend minutes at my disposal. Even my Uncle Louie is out, bagging groceries at Publix for his retirement job. The book on medieval logic I need from the library will not be available for another two months; I'm fairly sure who has it, and he does not heed recall notices. Used copies of the book range from $418-$855 at ABEBooks, so that's right out. In any case, I can't spend money, because I am one of the two members of our household's Partnership for Fiscal Responsibility, an quasi-governmental entity directly opposed to our household's Library Acquisitions Department, which I chair. There is a clear conflict of interest here, but, sadly, it only goes in one direction. (I add, shamelessly, that there are roles for Friends of the Library.)

Maybe if it cools down in a couple of hours, I can read. There's a wonderful American poet named Rachel Wetzsteon, whom I know from long ago, and her new book, Sakura Park, is pretty darn sublime, and worth every penny, too.

Comments

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

Wet a towel in cold water, wring it out so it isn't drippy, and either lie down under it as if it were a blanket or sit with it over your shoulders and another one over your lap. Unclothed, obviously, unless your modesty is exreme and your clothing is machine-washable.

[thedarkages]

Good, practical suggestion. Thank you.

[pocketnaomi.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. This lesson learned courtesy of several summers in Chicago without air conditioning. People who've never lived here don't realize how bloody HOT Chicago ges in the summer.

Which mediæval logic book?

[djenner.livejournal.com]

This sounds like one of those things where the author is an Academic, and the book is printed-on-request. Generally, this means there is little audience for it. One might ask why this is so? One might also ask if you had bothered the author (assuming he or she is still alive) for a copy of his wp files. I doubt he worrys much about royalties or advances -- that sort of book doesn't generate much of either.

Re: Which mediæval logic book?

[thedarkages]

Meaning and Inference in Medieval Philosophy : Studies in Memory of Jan Pinborg ed. Norman Kretzmann (Synthese Historical Library) (ISBN: 9027725772)

I think that it is PoD -- but ordinarily, PoD keeps prices down, Here it seems as though the press and booksellers are charging whatever libraries will bear.

Kretzmann died on August 13, 1988, so I think I will have some difficulty wresting the files from his dead hands. He was, from all accounts I Googled, beloved of his students.