books about baseball, free stuff and juice.

sunflower_pixie posted about a flood at the brand new library here in town. It's been open two months, and though I haven't been there, it looks nice from the outside. And, it does really suck that this has happened, especially to a library that's so very new. But, the article about the flood just now made M and I laugh absolutely hysterically. I was reading it aloud to him when the humor bug struck. Here's why (emphasis mine):

And it soaked through the second-floor concrete through ceiling tiles, dripping on the non-fiction section on the first-floor of the library, said Gibson, noting that a good portion of the damaged books were about baseball.

About baseball?? That's just the most absurd statement that I've ever read in a news publication. It sounds like something Douglas Adams could have written. I mean, I'm sure it's true that the ruined books are mostly about baseball, but it just seemed so... well. Random. M points out that our laughter over this is surely a symptom of us being so well-matched, because we're probably the only people who laughed until there were tears flowing because the ruined books were about baseball. It was especially funny to geeks like us, because it goes on to say that there was several thousand dollars worth of damage because the water ended up in the computer room (doesn't that just strike terror in your hearts, fellow geeklings?) and damaged several printers, monitors, switches, etc. But the noteworthy damage was, of course, the books. Specially, the ones about baseball.

Okay, moving right along. Let me emphasize first, though, that I am not making fun of the fact that the library flooded. Just that the article emphasized the damaged books about baseball. Because that's hilarious.

This has been a good week for the packages. I have been doing things online for the last six months with an eye towards getting things for free. I signed up for two different free book offers. Yesterday, I received The Nasty Bits, by Anthony Bourdain. In hardcover, no less! Completely free. Last week, I received Guy Food: Rachael Ray's Top 30 30-Minute Meals. Today, I received The Tycoon's Hidden Heir (Yvonne Lindsay), which isn't even out yet, and Tame Me (Caroline Cross). I don't remember how I signed up for the Anthony Bourdain book, but the Rachael Ray one was from a site that asked for travel recommendations in less than fifty words. The two romance novels which arrived today are part of the We Hear You panel. Presumably, they send me stuff, I review them, and then they'll send more stuff periodically. Isn't that neat? They don't seem to be accepting new members now, though. I signed up for it and then forgot about it until now--it's the first package they've sent. I also got a box of perfume samples today. (I've gotten a ton of samples in the last few months--some of them have even been pretty good ones.)

And, this wasn't this week, but I also signed up for a points thingie where they send you a few emails every day, and you click on them to go to the sponsor's webpage. You accumulate points that way (there are other ways, too) and then you eventually redeem the points for things like gift cards. I have a ten dollar Barnes and Noble gift card from this--it's slow to build up points this way, but there's very little time or work involved, so I figure that it's worth it. I love free stuff. By the way, that company is MyPoints, and there are a few notes if you want to sign up. You should use a junk email address because you WILL get spam from it. I messed up and used a real account, and now I can't sign up for a lot of the offers they have because I don't trust them (the sponsors) to not send junk email. I'm planning on switching my address to a gmail account. You kind of have to become zen about the spam... and use an account that you can shut down when it gets too bad. Also, do not give anyone you sign up with your phone number. M found that one out the hard way.

There was something else that I wanted to write about tonight. I can't remember what it was. I had two goals tonight, and I didn't accomplish either one. Fold the laundry and scan the ultrasound pictures. I have felt a bit crummy tonight, though, and am just hoping now that I avoid getting sick. Now it's late, and I should go to bed. I should also stop drinking orange juice because it gives me indigestion but it tastes like liquid sunshine and I don't WANT to give it up. I have been off of it for a couple of days now, but I fell off the wagon big time tonight. As much as I complain about caffeinated beverages, I really do drink a lot of water, so is it that much to ask that I also be able to drink some frickin' juice now and then?