The Library

[BarbStAubrey]

 

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[BarbStAubrey]

Oh dear Sally you are going through tough stuff - I too hope the treatment works - as to the hospital I have heard several times that a stay in the hospital is how they find other problems so that they can milk every bit of money for all sorts of treatments that you probably did not need - either the hospitals have figured out how to milk this cow or they are in cahoots sharing the bounty with medicare -

Part of it I understand - the Doctors hate it - they had to hire more and special help to handle the paper work and so that additional expense forced them to go together with other doctors rather than going it alone and now their reimbursements have been cut back again, supposedly using the computer was supposed to save time so they could see more patients - now they do not have time to really see a patient other than showing up in th exam room for a few minutes and not really listening. - they have staff do all the testing they can charge to try and make up for the losses they have experienced because it turns out, and I only learned this from a young man who is a high school friend of my daughters and is a Doctor who I thought I could use but he has a clinic to service the poor rather than dealing with medicare because once you are on medicare legally they have to use it. 

Where my daughter lives in NC there are many nurse practitioners who are very good and whatever their system they do have time for you - so I get a physical every year when I visit over the holidays.

Sally I sure hope you infection is cleared - an jaw infection - it sounds scary.

[Frybabe]

Barb, I just saw a Dr. from Texas on Fox News this morning talking about the forced use of computers and how it has slowed down his practice to a crawl. There are thousands of new codes to learn and sift through. That and other things have made it impossible for him to see more than two or three patients an hour which is extending waiting time for all. Personally, I like having at least fifteen minutes or more with my Dr. My Dr. has never had a crowded waiting room, so I won't see a difference I don't think unless he takes on more Medicare patients that others drop. Anyhow, he is never in a hurry to rush you through.

[Steph]

I had read about that before, that medicare pays for hospital things that could be done at home, but wont pay for the at home studies.
I have a friend who has recently been cut off from any more physical therapy.She had eight months and that is it according to Medicare.. She had a horrendous infection, knee replacement removed, broken ankle in the middle of it and all sorts of infections again.. and they decide that eight months is it. She is doing much better, but still needs some form of therapy..
I think ( repeat, think) that things are now straight. I actually got two apologies, one from the prescription on line company supervisor and one from the AARP supervisor.. I have been assured that the meds are on their way and will be here in 24 hours.. We will see. But I still intend tocall my doctors office, get new prescriptions and when it is time to refill, get them refilled at a regular drugstore. No more mail order, even though it is somewhat cheaper.Three times with me and you are out and that was their third mistake in threeyears.

[nlhome]

I suspect that once the doctors get more comfortable with the computers that they will get more efficient - my clinic has just switched to using the computer, and already they seem much more "together" with both providing me a printout of the appointment and the billing (of course). The VA also is very much using computers, and my husband can access his records from home very easily. It's a change, but in this cyberworld, it's a necessary change.

Reading on the Medicare.gov site can be very interesting - and then reading a good book after that is a relief.

I tried to read  The Supremes at Earl's all-you-can-eat by Edward Kelsey Moore. I just could not like it. Has anyone here read it?

[Frybabe]

[quoteI suspect that once the doctors get more comfortable with the computers that they will get more efficient - ][/quote]

I believe the same. My Sister's doctor uses a tablet to enter his notes, etc. during an exam rather than paper, so his office is well ahead of many others, including my doctor.

[Steph]

My husbands oncologist had a PA. While he examined Tim, he would say out loud everything and the P.A. would enter it on a computer that was built into the room.. He could check on meds, etc. We could check for appointments, etc.Very very efficient. Doctors just need to get up to date, but then according to a lot of studies, doctors are not good at anything new. They are the worst in hand washing according to hospital studies.

[maryz]

My rheumatologist went into a solo practice in a new building about 7-8 years ago.  It was computerized from the beginning, and has worked very smoothly - terminals in each exam room, automatic Rx renewals, etc.  Terrific!  Our FP (of 25 years duration) is still with our thick paper charts.  Our optometrist is being dragged, kicking and screaming, into computers, but is showing signs of liking the results. I got new glasses last month, and I've gotten an e-mail from the office asking how they were fitting, and to be sure to come in if any adjustments were needed.  It just depends, I guess. 

[jane]

What we've noticed is that the younger docs (26-35) are whizzes on the computers. They come in, can talk and type at the same time. Click/click/click and they know what they're doing. The older docs(58+)...not so much!!  We've had Ray's cornea surgeon doing a pretty good job...and he'll ask his fellows and residents for help when he needs it...and he does it at their direction, rather than having them do it.  I like that!

Also, here in the rural area where a practice may have satellite offices, it's a wonderful thing to have the computers connected so a PA or Nurse Practitioner that's 20 miles from the home site can see my records as easily as if I were in the main office.

jane

[rosemarykaye]

Our dentist's office has set up an email alert thing to remind you of appointments - which is all well and good, but if you reply saying you need to change the appointment, your reply apparently disappears into the ether.  I know there are many sites like that, but they do usually make it clear that they have been sent by a computer that cannot accept replies - this one didn't.  I told our rather stroppy receptionist that I had replied to the email - she said "Oh THAT! we have no connection to that whatsoever" - it would have been nice if I had known that!

I see they have now reverted to calling people to remind them of appointments.  These systems are great so long as the people who use them know what they're doing!

Our libraries use something called 'library elf' that sends you an email to remind you a few days before books are due back, and also lets you know if a reservation has come in.  It's great - but I see they are now ditching it and are going to send you emails themselves.  I wait with bated breath to see if that works - I'm sure they're only doing it to save money, as the 'elf' thing is an outside company (and a very efficient one, for once.)

Rosemary

[jane]

Our Library and the one I use in S. Texas also send emails or texts to your phone, if you wish, when something you've reserved comes in.  It's sent automatically by the Library's cataloging software.  I've gone, in S. Texas, to pick up a book that I was notified was waiting for me, and the clerks were just putting the paper with my name around the book for their shelving until I came.  They were surprised I'd been notified so quickly.  I suspect it send the email/text the minute the item is checked in.  It'll keep the clerks on their toes! 

[nlhome]

We can reserve books on line, we get emails when the book comes in to our local branch, we get reminders of overdue books - all very efficient. We can also email the library staff.

But I still seem to find most of my books by walking in the door and checking the shelves. There are always displays. One is "summer reads" and another is cooking fresh, and a recent one was gardening books. There is a display in fiction of books that were the basis for television shows (Dexter, for example).

I am more apt to try something in a genre I don't usually read if I see it on the shelf or in a display.

[Steph]

That is why my passion for book stores, both newand used. I can browse and run into old favorites with a book i had not read or forgotten in used book stores and find new authors all over the place.. We lost power last night and to my joy, Ijust used my ipad and read one of the many books i have on the Kindle site.. Did not hve to worry about a flashlight, etc. Hooray.

[JoanP]

Steph...I've a question about using your IPAD when the power is out.  When I have shut off the power to my computer - and router when a storm is coming, I find I'm unable to access the internet.  I suppose I can still use the iPad, without accessing the Internet.  But I'd have to have downloaded the book from the internet before the power goes out, right?  Does this make any sense at all?

[LarryHanna]

JoanP, if you are reading the book on your iPad you have undoubtedly already downloaded it to your device and you don't need Internet to be able to read it.  When you buy a book for the iPad you immediately receive the cover on your iPad from Kindle or Barnes and Noble and to actually read the book it must download when you click on the cover or the link. 

[Steph]

Aha Larry knew the answer. I have downloaded several books just so I can access them anywhere.. I discovered that when I was in Scotland and wanted to download a guide book and had to wait until I had wifi access that night.

[ginny]

What do you think the future of the hardback book is? I'm back from my trip and in London I noticed something very odd.  Brand new hardback books here are paperback there. PAPERBACK! How is that possible? Not only are they paperback,  these brand new books also  have on them, most of the time,  "Buy one, get half off the next one." And they seem to be the same size books, there's virtually not much diference except on the paper quality and the cover, but I didn't do a detailed comparison.

I particularly noticed this in the bookstore WH Smith, which is in airports and train stations and on main streets and in department stores, (tho I'm very happy to see Blackwells in Oxford is still operating), but they seem everywhere~!

I don't understand how they do that but I sure wish they would do that here. The new Apocalypse book that they say steal this off your teenager's table, you can't put it down: only hardback here:  paperback there.

Man those stores are like a magnet to me. What else have they got?  I swear (but did not really look hard because I've got it at home in 90 pound hardback) the new Inferno, Dan Brown, is in paperback there. HOW do they do that? Are they abridged?

When you see that you think the future of the hardback may be quite limited. All these paperback books seem  to be of a type, the same publisher. I'd like to read the new Prada book but not buying that expensive and bulky hardback, and I left before it appeared in WH Smith (it just appeared here),  and for some reason I just can't seem to enjoy a book on an E reader, so I'm stuck. And here comes WH Smith with paperbacks!!! 

Do the publishers here make a lot on the hardbacks so that's why they still print them? You could buy a couple of the paperback versions of the same book for one hardback and they seem identical in size, and they are so much lighter.

Along with changes to Libraries, I wonder if the hardback will be the next casualty. I bet it will.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny - many books go straight to paperback here now and are never published in hardback.  I have noticed that in charity shops, they find the hardbacks much harder to shift than the paperbacks (I am talking mostly about fiction - people will still buy a hardback cook book or reference book) - the charity shops often sell them much more cheaply than the paperbacks, often for 50p per book.

People do not have the storage space anymore, they don't like holding up a hardback in bed, and they maybe travel more and want something lighter in their hand luggage.

Rosemary

[ginny]

I agree with every bit of that. I was just in B&N and asked them, because there was The Fifth Mile in hardback when I just left it in an airport in paperback and wanted to  know why? And the clerk said maybe the government? What sense does that make?

She said then I'm sure the government.

She said her aunt owned a small bookshop in the UK and she would ask her. I can't, frankly, understand how any bookshop unless of a genre, all mysteries, all antique books, etc., could stand against WH Smith, which is now in every town I visited, they seem to be taking over. And why not?

They would put B&N out of business in a heartbeat.


By contrast, Blackwell's had an awful lot of hardbacks and books nobody else has.  Since they seem to have a niche market I am sure they would keep going even if WH  Smith (I hope I've got that right) moved next door.

I wouldn't feel the slightest guilt buying that lighter, cheaper and, to me, more agreeable book in paperback, unless they are edited or I'm missing something.

There ARE some books I really enjoy the publishing paper and binding of, but a best seller is not one of those.

[ginny]

I did try to read the new  Kingsolver  is it? Flight Patterns? Something like that, also in paperback, but unfortunately it begins with a woman off for an affair cheating on her husband and children and I really was just not in the mood,  (I'm sure all kinds of wonderful revelations ensue but I wasn't in the mood for that theme) and so left it also, just a regular little Jenny  Applebook everywhere I go. Hopefully somebody who reads picks them up and not the cleaners.

[ursamajor]

I want to join the discussion.

[jane]

Please join in, Ursamajor!  Just post as you did above and you're in.  Welcome aboard.

[JoanP]

Just a quick reminder, in case you missed the newsletter -
We're moving so quickly with these short story discussions, we want to be sure you know that today  we are beginning the discussion of Frank O'Connor's First Confession.  Plus, we are leaving open the previously discussed short stories for futher comment.

Welcome Ursamajor - you are welcome to come into the short story discussions as well - just click the link to First Confessions above...and know that when you reach the discussion, there is a link in the header to the entire story to read online.

ps. Thanks, Larry.  I had been reading the short stories online on my IPAD - online, without downloading them.  I conclude that is the reason that when the power is turned off and I have no wireless connection, I am unable to read the stories I'd been reading before.  The Moral:  Download whatever I want to read when away from Internet.

[Frybabe]

Welcome back, Ursa. It's been some time since I've seen you post.

[rosemarykaye]

Ginny - I can't speak for England as I haven't lived there for 22 years, but in Scotland WH Smith is not that popular for books - their largest presence is on station forecourts, where they sell some books, & a lot more newspapers, magazines, drinks, snacks, etc.  They have closed several branches in the larger cities - they were chaotic messes in which you could never find anything.  In Edinburgh there are still quite a few small antiquarian bookshops, one or two independent bookshops selling new books, two central branches of Waterstones (which is just about struggling on) and Blackwells, which survives, I think largely because it stocks all the university books and also has the contracts to supply many of the independent schools - Edinburgh being probably the most privately-educated city in the UK.

All of the bookshops are finding it difficult these days, I think unless they have developed a strong community base & offer a lot more than just books (eg cafes, author visits, readings, book groups, children's groups. music evenings, etc) they are not going to withstand Amazon for long. 

Rosemary

[JeanneP]

Our library here in town started taking lots of older books off the shelves, took 3000 they say.  Said they  were not getting checked enough. Today they have been told to put most of them back.  People complaining that did not like to see bare shelves. RE taxes in part go to the libraries and after they have spent Millions of $ building new libraries in both cities we expect lots of improvement not less. It is true, not as many people checking out books now,they are putting in lots of tech. Rooms full of computers which get taken over by the teens. Cafe doesn't do much business.  Jazz groups on Sunday big crowds.  Just not same feeling for me any more.  Loved libraries since age 4. Hate seeing them vanish.

[mabel1015j]

Jeanne our library also suggested taking less used books off the stacks, they could be requested if one wished to read them! There was quite an outcry from those of us who like to browse the stacks. I didn't quite understand how that was going to safe much money for them. So far the dcision has not been made, it got lost in the process of building a new library, hopefully they will have enough stacks for ALL the books in the new one.

[ginny]

AHA! So Rosemary, the WH Smith is primarily then, a kind of junk store for travelers, papers, candy, drinks, etc., and secondarily a book store? And they are CLOSING in the UK?  I see! I love them because there are books, you're traveling and here's a BOOK!! Oh manna! And you are in a train station or airport and you want a newspaper and you may want some junk and behold, BOOKS too! hahaha Maybe that's the attraction. I did see an awful lot of junk at the cash registers being bought.

So I've got it exactly backwards! They are,  perhaps,  more organized even with their relatively short stock,  than the B&N's here!

They are in Harrod's as a book store and they are in Chichester as a book store and I do wish I had paid more attention to each of those, as to what they offered.  I can't recall if there's junk in them too.  Have to have junk on a trip, mandatory. hahahaa

Here I was thinking I'd kill for the franchise in America. I really think they would take over here, but maybe we're that kind of society. I also saw only  one Waterstones where in the past you'd see tons of them. And I did get one knowledgeable sales person in a Smiths, looking for Fitzgerald and they had a nice selection (this was not in a train station but a stand alone one) of his old ones, which is not particularly equaled here by the B&Ns. The only thing we have left here is B&N, and Books a Million, and only one of those Books a Million and three B&N's in two cities.

Talking about "chaotic messes," I am finding that lately the B&N megastores here (which do offer a cafe and the things you mention, Rosemary) are fine for fiction but just try to find non fiction. Talk about chaotic. They group it by genre of non fiction, is it history or biography, which history IS it,  is it social commentary or pensive thought, is it psychological, self help, travel musings, cooking, true crime,   or tied in with a movie.... with the unhappy result you need a clerk to "take you to it, " if it's non fiction, or you can try to find it on one of the many exhibit shelves on display,  which to me  is quite odd. They are not even allowed to point.  I keep thinking if you have a bookstore which requires hand holding to that extent you should be back in kindergarten,  the store needs more organization. Then they go with you and valiantly try to find it for you.   I hate that kind of thing, but they are lovely people and nice, etc.

And why IS it that the book I want always ALWAYS happens to be at ankle level, and my days squatting over the fire  are long over?  What is one supposed to do about reading a title which is mid shin?

I have started the Behind the Candelabra or whatever the book by Scott Thorsen on Liberace is called and it's really well written, I am really surprised. The bookseller told me at B&N Friday that we could form our own bookclub and discuss it, she found the  movie surprisingly sad and Thorsen's life  (if I have his name right) very sad, indeed.

I love that "indeed" stuff. Very XXX, indeed, the announcers say on British TV. XXX, indeed.  I love that indeed. Am trying not to be affected with it. hahahaa

Amazon is interesting, I think. Here about 20 minutes from me they have opened the biggest Amazon warehouse in the country, over a million square foot megalith  which they ship from, tractor trailer trucks in the back, it's the biggest thing I ever saw but you can't pick up a book there or go IN, and wander about, it's amazing to see from the road and the trucks in the back of it. I must say it's very nice to get books so quickly here hahahaha. Very nice, indeed. hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Somebody stop her!

[Frybabe]

I watched Anthony Bourdain's new show, Parts Unknown, that aired on CNN last night - the one about the Congo. While on his Congo River trip, he talked about Joseph Conrad's descriptions in Heart of Darkness which is in my TBR pile. It made the show more interesting, however, the most interesting thing came at the end of the show. He visited an abandoned agricultural research facility of, I think he said, 250 buildings. Most all of the buildings have been neglected and are disintegrating except for a few, including the library.

They keep the grounds clean and try as best they can with what little they have to maintain the library. The chief librarian and his staff (paid or volunteer? I don't know) show up everyday to do maintenance and continue the process of cataloging contents. Unfortunately, according to Bourdain, the building has had no power for 20(?) years so they cannot run dehumidifiers. In an climate like that, I was surprised to see books on shelves that did not look like they suffered from mold. But then, the cameras weren't up real close to the shelves.
http://www.cnn.com/video/shows/anthony-bourdain-parts-unknown/episode8

I like the pictures in this travel sequence. A number of pictures of the research station start about 3/4 of the way down the page. I saw shots of the interior of the herbarium but not the library. I don't recall Bourdain mentioning that the French now have have a small research presence here.
http://www.lindaspadolini.net/home/Last_Weeks.html

[Steph]

There are also different publish times in many cases on book fromEngland to here. I notedthat the last time I was there.They had two books, that I knew had not been published in the US yet.Both American authors?? Some cities have wonderful book stores, I know how thrilled I was on the West coast in Seattle and Portland, etc. We lived outside of Boston for ten years in the 80's.. There are used book stores and new ones all over the place especially Cambridge. They had and possibly still do the very best Mystery book store in creation. A house.. I think called Kate"S??

[pedln]

Steph, you're so right, there are a lot of wonderful independent bookstores in cities.  I love Seattle's Elliott Bay Bookstore, even though they've moved from Elliott Bay, and the Univeristy Bookstore. Portland has Powell's and NY that wonderful Strand -- 18 miles of books.  NY has a bunch of independents, and I bet Joan Roberts can rattle them off in a heartbeat.  And not to be forgotten, DC's Politics and Prose.  And mystery bookstores -- I feel fortunate to have visited them in at least three different cities.  I hit it lucky in Seattle when Mary Daheim (Alpine series) was giving a reading and talk.

I'm caught up in two books right now, both historical fiction, both with tragedy.  The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman, set in Western Australia in the 1920's and The Ballad of Tom Dooley by Sharon McCrumb, about the NC mountain man who was hanged for murder.

Now, is it time to settle in with one of these good books or is it time for exercise and something physical.  The should do and the wanna do.  What a dilemma.

[BarbStAubrey]

Well I now understand the many used books on Amazon from a Goodwill outlet - whenever I order one they are always in better condition than advertized and they never wreak of either cigarette or marijuana - Well this winter our neighborhood Goodwill drop store added another site - after in investor in California purchased a small shopping center where our Drug Store, that was as much a mini department store that included a florist, next to  a small and loved hardware store, an alteration shop and around the corner an ocularist with a good size frame and glass section, all beloved stores and the new owner significantly uped the rent so that the flag ship Drug Store closed its doors - they had another location. The center struggled with the alterations moving out and of course the florist is gone as well. Been like that for about four years and lo and behold Goodwill opens a retail outlet where the Drug Store had been with a huge section of used books. The book section is larger than most small Independents - almost as many as the smaller Half Price Book stores.

Seems the new "in" is buying anything recycled - even most college kids, who by the 100s live in the Condos down the hill are shopping with glee for their clothing at both vintage and second-time around shops and the Goodwill stores. They are donating to Goodwill the extra books purchased for a class that are not the text books and in our neighborhood we have many whose schedule cannot handle a trip to the library so they purchase books keeping the UPS and FEDEX trucks hopping. After reading, these books are being donated to the local Goodwill, still down the hill and are now being sold in the new Goodwill outlet up the hill.  

What a variety of in-depth topics - I expected mostly light novels, like Maeve Binchy or Nicholas Sparks - was I wrong - nature - travel, mostly adventure travel - every tech book imaginable and the life of most tech, business and political leaders - novels from Allende to Wharton - the classics - history, lots of Texas history - Religious studies and history especially Jewish, Zen and Buddhism - Mysteries - Cooking - big section on various new biological and science inroads - section on well-being from yoga to acupuncture - whole sections of Books written in Chinese, Indonesian, Korean and Vietnamese, then another whole section written in Spanish, German and French -

Talk about getting a feel for your neighborhood - even more than a regular book store the used book store tell the story of what is actually read. Very few homes in this area keep home libraries or large collections of books - they seem to have a few books on hand and then once read they get rid of them like tossing a newspaper.  I wonder what that says about me since I do not seem to be able to get rid of a book that easily - I've too many and some that I still have not read. Yep, I hoard books.

[Steph]

Never thought of it before, but Barb, I see your point.I lived in a little town in Mass... Bedford. We had a used book store in the library.The donations were incredible. We had some of the most expensive books in creation, plus best sellers. I came in to sort one Monday and I had two huge boxes of medical school texts. So yes where the used books are reflects the community. InSarasota,Fl. there are two GoodWill book stores, nothing else, just used books..So much fun

[Jonathan]

'that wonderful Strand -- 18 miles of books'

Ten miles have been added! I have a Strand bag boasting about their eight miles of books. The last time I was there it was fourteen miles. It certainly is the best of times for us book addicts.

I loved your post on the new Goodwill, Barb. I have one in my neighborhood. It's the perfect answer to Pedln's dilemma: A good read, or some exercise. My Goodwill is a fifteen minute bicycle ride away and I always leave it with another good read. Every thing shows up there sooner or later. Six, so far, from that amazing End of Your Life Book Club reading list.

Ginny, I loved your encounter with 'Indeed'. I watched a British television production the other day, with 'indeed' used in a variety of ways. Right on. Indeed.

[maryz]

I'm in the middle of Edward Rutherfurd's Paris, so it'll be a while until I get to my two new books.  Y'all have gotten me to BookGorilla, and I've gotten autobiographies of Cybill Shepherd and Carl Reiner.  I'm expecting each to be hilarious.

[JoanP]

Speaking of The End of Your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe will be appearing at our Central Library tomorrow evening to talk about his book.  I intend to be there early. Can't predict how many will show up.  Anything you'd like me to ask him?

[mabel1015j]

How is Paris Mary?

[PatH]

Speaking of The End of Your Life Book Club - Will Schwalbe will be appearing at our Central Library tomorrow evening to talk about his book.  I intend to be there early. Can't predict how many will show up.  Anything you'd like me to ask him?

Interesting--he was at Politics and Prose yesterday; I couldn't go, though.  You can add my bit to the appreciation we all had for his remarkable book, if you get a chance to talk to him.

[maryz]

Jean, I'm enjoying Paris. But then I've liked all the Rutherfurd books I've read.  I haven't been to Paris, so I don't know all the geography and neighborhoods of the city, but I'm sure his descriptions are spot on.  I just read so slowly nowadays that it's taking me a long time.

[Steph]

I feel that way about Cara Black and Paris. I am still slowly getting through the first one "Marais" and I feel like I could walk the neighborhood with no problems.