Goodwill Towards Me

Work  has been crazy lately.  

Long hours, six day work weeks.  It's dark when I drive to work and dark when I drive home.  These intensely busy periods happen a couple of times a year, but knowing it was coming hasn't made it any less miserable.  

Life goes on hold when you work too much.  Laundry piles up.  Dishes go unwashed,  television goes unwatched.  Netflix sent me the first disc of Homeland back in December.  

I'm disgusted with myself.

I worked three consecutive Saturdays and after working the last one, I stopped by Goodwill on the way home.  The books and records are less plentiful and less interesting of late, but I did manage to find something.

This edition of Best American Short Stories caught my eye because it's from 1967, the year I was born.  It's popular among collectors because it contains the first appearance of Raymond Carver, whose story “Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?” is reprinted here.  An earlier Carver story,  "The Furious Seasons," was among the honorable mentions in The Best American Short Stories 1964.

The book was in good shape and probably worth $50.  I paid two bucks.

I flipped through the records, but didn't buy anything.  There was a striking copy of Frank Sinatra's Sinatra Swings.  The sleeve was bright and beautiful, but the vinyl had a huge chunk missing from it, like someone had taken a bite out of it.  

I don't mind buying records with a scratch or two, but the record has to be intact.  I'm cheap, but I have standards.  

I'm going out again, just as soon as I catch up on my sleep.