Monday, January 20, 2025

Bamboozled

 I started this book today:
Getting it was not without some minor drama.

It all started when I was reading If Nietzsche Were a Narwhal. In one chapter, the author discusses truth default theory (TDT) and this book. I sent an email to a (US) friend about this because I knew she'd be interested. She went off on her own journey, looking into the idea further and recognizing herself. We had an email 'discussion' about it. Near the end of December, she emailed me and said she'd ordered the book for me and was having it sent directly to me--she commented that this way I can mark it up as much as I like. She'd inadvertently used the wrong address for the order, though, so she had to get that all sorted. It was dispatched during the last days of 2024. By the time it got here, we were in the middle of a winter weather event. It was far worse to the south of us, but we did have plenty of ice, cold temps, and a little bit of snow, which was enough to cause chaos. Unfortunately, the courier the bookseller used was Fastway, a company with drivers who always have a problem understanding where we are. So when the book came to town on the Fastway van, the first I knew about it was when the driver sent a text saying he'd dropped the parcel off at a small shop at the edge of the town. Needless to say, I was annoyed. Normally, I would have been only slightly annoyed and a little bit amused at the incompetence that is apparently clustered in this one company--no other courier has a problem, only Fastway. I would have briskly walked to the shop and picked up my book. But considering that it was a complete mess outside and we had ice warnings in place, I opted to contact the shop instead. The woman was very nice and kindly offered to hold the package until I could go get it. A couple of days later, we made the treacherous trek, walking in the road because, as the lady at the shop said, 'The footpaths are lethal.' Indeed they were. But we made it and I had my book. I am thrilled with it! I have started to mark it up and I have questions that I hope will be answered as I read on. I am sure it will be an informative read. I'll let you know.

On another note, it seems as though we're having strange wifi issues and I am unable to access/comment on some blogs. I couldn't even access my own this morning. So I am going to attempt to post this now and hope it works. 

2 comments:

David M. Gascoigne, said...

The book I read while travelling to and from Costa Rica was “If Nietzsche was a Narwal” and enjoyed it very much, so there is little doubt I would enjoy this one. Perhaps I can get my hands on it though without making an icy trek to my local store! As you know, I review books for PUP and they have my name and address in their system. My house number is 606, but every so often they send a book to 600 and the patient lady there trundles down the street to bring it to me. How that happens, I have no idea, and neither do they apparently. It is minus 17 degrees outside right now - a perfect night to stay home and read. Perhaps for both of us. Anything but watch the crowning of America’s new dictator on television. Take good care, Shari.

Shari Burke said...

I do miss the cold! Glad you enjoyed that book. I tried to leave a comment on your blog earlier but got an error message. I'm glad you had a great trip with a group of wonderful people. I got an error message on my last attempt at a reply here, so am trying again.