Weekends at Marjie's

The boys had fun at the book sale. Truthfully, I had never seen a library used book sale before I got here, but I'm a real fan. I have gotten some really interesting and odd finds for virtually nothing over the years. I've found several encyclopedia sets for $20 to $50 (that one was the Encyclopedia Brittanica!). So they aren't new - so what? If you want current statistics on Switzerland, "google" it. Has the history of Switzerland really changed in the last 10 or 20 years? The most fun set of encyclopedias I ever found was a "children's" set from 1928, which set me back a whopping $5. The writing is much more advanced than that in "children's" reference books today, and some things are down right funny. Quick, who is Rurik the Oarsman? (The Viking who led the settlement of Russia, which was named for the Vikings, called "The Rus", meaning "The Red") And how's your macadam holding up? You probably know it better as asphalt, blacktop, or just the street. Trust me, I'm glad I have macadam; I'd really hate to worry about bogging down in the spring's mud. And the articles about automobiles and aeroplanes are a hoot. But I digress.

The boys each got about a dozen books. I got a cookbook, and a little gift for a friend. And my car is clearly too big for the parking lot. They are looking forward to the sale next week at the library a few miles in the other direction. Their parking lot is even smaller. I could have to hog up a couple of spaces.
And in my quest to stop running trivial errands, I signed up for both Netflix and Blockbuster online. To aid you, my blogland buddies, in getting the most bang for your buck, I have to say that Netflix probably wins. You simply cannot count on Blockbuster getting a movie back from you in less than 2 days, they take a day or 2 to send another, and the next one takes 2 to 3 days to arrive. I was shocked to find that Netflix often has another in my mailbox 2 days after I send it out. This was true even the time I mailed one back from 650 miles away from my mailbox (why I did that is too complex to discuss). Netflix makes recommendations for you based on your filling out a questionairre of preferences, but doesn't necessarily show you the new releases. One good thing about Blockbuster is that they have a listing of the movies which are currently in theatres, and you can sign up to get them whenever they become available. So, since I can afford the $30 or so to belong to both services, I will, but if I could only afford one, it would probably have to be Netflix. For whatever that's worth. And since I drove less than 50 miles in September, I think I'm doing pretty well in my "no trivial errands" pursuit.

And I didn't get any sewing done this weekend, because some of the kids came home for the long weekend. Ah, well, maybe next weekend.