After meeting with two flooring contractors for bids (and calling a third to meet up with tomorrow), we headed over to Book Bay at Fort Mason (the Friends of the San Francisco Library used book store) to look for a copy of Gibbons’ DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE — a special request from the younger niblet.
Couldn’t find a copy, but did find several other books I wanted as well as fourteen books on the $.50 (3/$1) table. Couldn’t find a fifteenth, but the staff gave me a deal.
With my Friends of the Library discount and one of the “extra 25% off” coupons they give you when you renew your annual membership, I got 35% off my purchase: eighteen books for $15.60.
But not a DECLINE AND FALL.
Talking it over with his nibs, I realized I should just rummage through the book boxes labeled HISTORY and pick one of the duplicates that isn’t an old, old copy. His nibs remembers having a copy his Aunt Burta bought used back in the first quarter of the last century. I know I had a 2v. copy when I was in my late teens and we probably have other editions as well. I’ll find a good — but not valuable — copy to send. I’m assuming that any book I send to Ukraine will not be coming home in 2010, and I’d hate to have the younger niblet worry about damaging a book I held dear.
Nice trip to Book Bay, though.