Hey teacher, the dog ate my homework. Okay, he ate my books.
Not once, but twice.
The first time, it was my fault. When we leave the house, we put the dogs in the bathroom so they don't get into mischief (as seen by what he did to the book!). I accidentally left a book next to the bathtub, and while I was gone, he used it as a chew toy. Irritate me! He will be TWO in a month, and it's been a while since he has chewed up something. Grrrr.... It was the FIRST time he had chewed up a book. Granted, he's eaten other things in the bathroom (toothbrushes, toothpaste, hairbrushes, etc), but a book?!
I took myself down to the library, showed them the book and paid to have it replaced. Since it is part of the county system, and I request a lot of books, it was from another library, so I write a check to the library that it originated from. No big deal, but I hate paying full price for a book when I know I can get a better deal on books that full retail.
Two weeks later, the dog does it again. Double GRRRR.... This time, I had the book up on a shelf, on top of a stack of towels. He had to WORK to get to this book. The dog was determined to eat this book. What in the world?! Is it the fiber? Does he hate me? WHY DO YOU EAT THEM?
Breathing, must keep breathing. It wasn't just the cover or the spine of the book this time. No, he shredded 25 pages from the middle of the book (which I hadn't even gotten to yet). Sadly, this means that I missed a major part of the plot. That right there is enough to make me want to.....no, we don't harm our animals, as much as we would like to.
Okay, I have to do something about this book. I don't want to pay full retail for it, because that is just crazy talk. I have a Barnes and Nobles membership (my youngest son loves a particular series that the library does not carry, so we buy the series, he reads it for several months, then we donate the books to the library. Win-win!). I buy the book there, get my discount, and take it to the library.
Now, I have gone this replacement book route in the past. Part of living in the same town for *cough, cough* nearly three decades means that you learn some things. But today, I learned that where this book originated, the Lake Oswego Public Library, they do not allow you to replace the book yourself. PLUS, they charge you a five dollar handling fee. EXCUSE ME?! This book is now going to cost me thirteen dollars to replace??!! I bought it myself for $7.19! Pities sake.
I am half tempted to cut off the library bar-code and put it on the replacement book, put some clear contact paper over the whole she-bang and drop it into the drop box and see if they even notice (except that is lying). It sooo feel like extortion to me.
Mmmph. I will wait until next Monday when I am a wee bit calmer, and then I will call the library and see if maybe we can find a middle ground on this issue. Because at the moment, I have a tic. And I am annoyed.
At the dog. And the Lake Oswego Library.
glue. it is the glue in the binding and that is what they are going for. at least you have some of the book left. I had the library ask to see the book for proof. all I could do to contain myself and not bring in the "processed" book. wouldn't be in a form they would like.
ReplyDeleteI feel for you! This happened to me recently. We lock our dogs in our bedroom during the day. I forget one day that I had dropped my book on the floor when I got tired and didn't see it when I left. It was a big hardcover and our lovely Maci ate almost the entire front cover off. It cost me $30. Luckily, it was a book I will read again and she didn't chew off any words! And she's going to be 3 soon so good luck with yours' growing out of it! :)
ReplyDelete