It seems to me that everything large, and everything
microscopic, and everything in between acts the same. Electrons orbit around nuclei, and moons orbit around planets,
and planets orbit around suns, and the entire universe is spinning. This can all make you kind of crazy if you
think about it too much, and I don't even do drugs.
A former coworker once told me she was unfriendly and
uncooperative when I started my job because she had really wanted her college
friend to get the position. How could I
know her friend applied for the job?
How could I know my coworker's misguided loyalties would make my life
difficult? There were invisible orbits
of people around me, and all I knew is that I was trying my best with
inexplicable obstacles in my path.
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| Jennie Cramer was my Grandma's mom, Thomas L. Lee was my Grandpa's dad. |
I don't know why I started remembering this, but then I
couldn't stop thinking about it. All
this time later, I want to yell "I won't do crazy with you!" This woman is still in the outer orbit of my
life. She puts effort into looking and
acting professional. You'd never know
she'd sabotage her own job for the benefit of someone who didn't qualify for
mine.
Sometimes we have to accept that there are invisible forces
around us, and we may or may not learn what those forces are. We just have to do our best despite it
all. I'm glad this woman confessed her
motivations to me because she illuminated a life lesson that these people walk
amongst us. They look normal, and I don't
think knowing her thoughts would've been helpful at the time. What could I do? Quit my job so her friend could be rejected again?
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| Don't judge my lit -- these are my popular light reading when I have a bad day :) |
This is the kind of stuff I thought about while
consolidating my library this week. I
built a bookcase because I had a vision of the perfect bookcase -- which of
course nobody sells ready-made. I'm not
saying it's the best bookcase, but it's the best for my space.
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| Advertising on the back of the textbook. |
I gathered my books from around the house (which are HEAVY
by the way) and hauled them upstairs.
Then I had to sort them all, then of course I had to alphabetize them...
well okay, I'm my own kind of crazy, but I was a great page when I worked at
the Columbus Library, and now I can find any book in a moment, and all of my
series are together.
Anyway, I mused about the old coworker and I handled my
treasures, which include these old schoolbooks from my ancestors. I love seeing the signatures of my great
grandparents on the fly leaves and the old illustrations... It takes a long time to shelve books when I
have such lovely distractions along the way.
These books aren't in good condition, but I suppose they
could be in worse shape. To put it in
perspective, they're from not long after the American Civil War. You know, like when people were slaves. That seems long ago to me -- or maybe the
flip side of it is that slavery really wasn't long ago at all? Which puts the idea of crazy coworkers into
perspective, doesn't it?
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| You can see the bindings on the old books at left are gone or falling apart |
If anyone knows the best way to store these books, please
let me know. I'd like to prevent
further decay. I'd like to put them in
boxes, but not sure if I should wrap them up in something first?
