Notes from a three-toed sloth

Dictum est in tres partes.

1. I went to two Barnes and Noble stores on the foolish mission to buy a specific book. IN both cases, I saw many, many Dummies books throughout every business section. I found lots of books that seemed serious about making a career, finding happiness, and riding the latest wave of urgency. I did not find the book I sought.
   I now have a plan. I will not go to B&N unless I don't want to buy a book. My expectations are now in order.


2. We needed a small fire in the fireplace this morning. The temperature was 50^° and in no hurry to rise beyond that point.


3. Get Human helps you reach a human being on the phone. There's no guarantee that the person will be helpful, but you can hope.
   
   FWIW, I spoke to a very helpful Verizon technical support rep last week. I was helping a friend with an Internet problem and we needed Verizon's assistance with the DSL account. We were on hold for about 10 minutes, but the call was worth it.
   

Barnes and Noble and the Case of The Missing Missing Manual

I wanted a book. I went to a book store. I came home without a book. If only it was that simple.

We were looking for some clear guidance about QuickBooks 2012.  The Missing Manuals series has been a good source of guidance on a number of topics. I had some errands to run and so added a stop at Barnes and Noble to my itinerary. I double-checked on my phone to make sure that they had a copy. They thought that they did.



They have a lot of books in the store. I wasn't looking for a lot of books. I was looking for one. Because the taxonomy put books of this type in the Microsoft Office shelf, rather than under business or finance, I had to wander a bit to find the right section, let alone the book. So, somewhat surprisingly, I asked for help. I went to the desk, explained my mission, and followed the clerk to the aforementioned section where we found no such book.



The clerk asked if I wanted to have him order it. I declined. The Barnes and Noble website didn't let me see the contents or index to make sure that it had the information that I needed. (I'd already checked the official Intuit manual on the B&N shelves. That book didn't address the topic at hand.) I ordered the book from Amazon after confirming that it had the information I needed.