Mea Culpa - part 2

Where was I? I remember now.

RACCOON!



Villain or ... ?

What the hell was this about? I thought raccoons were nocturnal. This was the middle of the afternoon. My luck to find one with insomnia.

Now what. Not only was this a library book, but it wasn't even from my local library. Oh, the guilt. So as soon as we got back, I did the only thing to do; I logged on to my library account and renewed it. That gave me 3 more weeks.

But all good things come to an end, and so it was time to face up to the consequences. This was a grave matter, so I felt the the only honorable thing was to present the book, in all it's damaged glory, in person. No stealthy book box drop-off for me.

"I'm turning in this book. It's damaged. A raccoon bit it."

"A raccoon? (pause) We'll let you know what the fine is."

A few days later, I got an email with the fine -- roughly the cost of the book, plus a small fine -- and this: "Hope the raccoon enjoyed it! Since you are paying for the book, you may have it."

I was flabbergasted. Now I'm mortified. So of course I reply "Yes, please."



So, here is POK in its new home, wounded, but still standing.

Now, I don't advocate the use of raccoons to procure a copy of POK, and was hesitant to post this tale, but I've been assured by my family that no one reads this thing, so there it is.