Switched Keys

Tomorrow is the first day of the Fall book fair. The book fair that I'm talking about is where you can purchase used books at a fraction of the cost. The Smith County Medical Society Alliance sponsors the sale and proceeds go to provide scholarships for students nursing and related fields. There is also a spring version sometime in April. The books are all donated to the organization for their semi-annual sales. The first one was held in 1969.

They are located on D.C. Drive in Tyler. Inside you will find a well categorized selection of books at severe discount prices while many of the books displayed under the tents outside are 25c each. At the very end they usually go on sale for $1 or $2 for a bag full.

While you may not have in interest in books given the availability of almost every useful fact on the internet I have a "thing" for books. I have a number of interests and book collections to go with them. I'm obviously not trying to get the most books but I do like to have a reference library on a number of subjects.

For one I get anything I can on every form of statistics probability theory and other higher math subjects. There are many varieties of introductory statistics texts but I also have texts of statistics applicable to different fields. Unfortunately I don't yet have one devoted to inventory control statistics although I've studied that subject quite a bit. That'll be one I'll be looking for along with something on Arpad Elo's rating system.

Another collection is one of cookbooks. Lots of folks have lots of recipes. Again I don't need a lot of them but like to have them to cover any dish prepared in any instrument and for many cultures. Not just recipes but catalogs of utensils techniques famous chefs. After all eating is one of my most favorite things to do.

I also like dictionaries and other books of "words". Being a Scrabble player it is "useful" knowing a lot of words. Books related to creative writing and journalism are also good finds. One of my prized items is an encyclopedia set from the depression era. The books are only about 4" x 7" with 25 volumes. It may not have much archival value but it's a neat thing to have. It's funny to look up words that have only been around a few decades words like "computer".