Schadenfreude

Can inanimate objects feel hurt? Can they get revenge? Do they feel a kind of still glee when “things come around?” This is a serious question and since the inanimate objects in question are made of wood and paper, they were living once…
 
I visited my shed earlier today to get out my wellies and found everything inside the shed soaking wet.  Two years ago, a tree fell on my shed roof and so I had it replaced.  The old roof was always 100% waterproof and so is the new one… but, and this is something that never happened with the old one, galloping condensation has appeared and the new shed roof is pouring rivers over everything. 
 
Son bought me an e-book reader for Christmas. It’s not quite the same as holding a real book, but it’s great fun and has already saved me from buying loads of books just for the sake of buying them. I’ve bought disks of e-books from eBay and they’re fantastic value; literally just a couple of quid for whole collections of books. There may not be the latest best seller available for this price, but I’m happy to be able to get the entire John Grisham collection, or over 120 Stephen King e-books, for £2.49.
 
But back to the point … one of the raisons d’être of my shed is storage and that includes storage of the dozens (ok, probably hundreds) of paperback books I have accumulated over the years.  My carefully stored, can’t-bear-to-throw-away books are damp, soggy, smelly and swollen and might have to be thrown away anyway.  Do you think that the shed knew I’d got an e-reader and was helping my stored books get their own back on me in a kind of nasty, kamikazecal way?

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Hah! It sounds like you have already started reading those Stephen King novels…

January 10, 2010

Seriously? All the Stephen King books for £2.99? Where can I get one of these? I was holding out for a Kindle… (if your books are wet, they’re dead – and yes, the shed knew – sorry)

January 10, 2010

Hmm… to be on the safe side, never venture into that shed at night or alone… cos you just never can be sure…

January 10, 2010

hmmm – it seems that not only is your roof on fire, it looks like it’s flooded, too!

January 10, 2010

Your e-book reader sounds good. I like holding books and turning the pages.

January 10, 2010

It’s not your shed plotting with your books to get even with you. God is punishing you for embracing evil technology.

Yes, the roof knew. I laughed out loud at Only Sujema’s note. It reminded me of my precautions today, on our first 2010 day of serious fire danger (it’s presently about 107 F here, at 5.30 p.m., and the wind is starting to pick up) I’m checking fire updates in case one breaks out nearby, as it did Feb 7 last year, have a bag of vital papers etc. packed, as advised, and am ready to flee if necessary. I don’t want a “Roof on Fire” here. But if I do have a fire here this year, I’m leaving the oxalis to burn!

January 11, 2010

I believe you may be right. 😉 On Saturday I bought Stephen King’s latest book, “Under the Dome” and started reading it last night. It is so huge, I think I need to hire someone to hold it for me! Now would be a good time to have an e-reader.

January 12, 2010

Books are going to go down without a fight. This was just the first wave.

I don’t think so….but it is terrible that you possibly lost your books.

January 12, 2010

You gotta watch out for those sheds, let me tell ya.

January 14, 2010

It was definitely paperback revenge. No doubt.

January 29, 2010

Oooo thanks for the heads up – my shed is used for storage as well and I have a load of books in there too – quite a few are hardback ones because they take up much more room. So I won’t be buying a kindle or anything like it. (hope the shed is listening …………).