Reading

I’ve made my trip to Chico and brought back a fair amount of books for the library book sale in September. Maybe 12 boxes. According to Gary, we now have the largest amount, ever, of books in storage. We’re no longer sorting them as there is no room to do that anymore. And we’re planning on giving away (or recycling) all of the hard back fiction novels after this sale. We have close to 100 boxes, with 20 to 30 books per box. And they continue to be donated.

What I find fascinating about these fiction novels is the fact that they are all available in the local library…for a total cost of nothing. Zero. Zip. Are we idiots? And I’m not absolving myself in that indictment. I buy books that I shouldn’t.

On my way to the library, I was listening to NPR and heard a story about the growing prison crisis in California. Apparently, they need over 3,000 more officers. And they need more cooks. And doctors. Plus a prison or two. Mandatory overtime of up to four 16 hour workdays per week is the norm now. And that is happening in dangerously overcrowded prisons.

They are recruiting officers anywhere they can…which only results in the lowering of standards for the officers. Got a warm body? Be a highly paid (with overtime) correctional officer!

I think it’s time for a prison to be built in the Sacramento metro area. The legislators seem to think that Folsom is too far away for them to be concerned. How about one right across the river in West Sacramento? Would that be close enough for the governor and the lawmakers?