Road to ruin

Kauto demanded earlier today that we go down to the cellar. I don't know where he got the idea (or actually I do, but it's quite a long story - he's two years old, after all), but I did have some stuff to take down there and I agreed. I noticed right away that there was something wrong: a stack of boxes, full of magazines and books, was collapsed. There were some boxes with the Ruudinsavu/Gunsmoke magazines on bottom and I noticed that the boxes felt wet. I opened them and noticed that some of the mags were also damp. They also smelt mildewy. I touched the concrete floor underneath the boxes - it was damp. I don't know why, but as you know, it's no good for books. I'll have to call the maintenance tomorrow.

And they weren't the only boxes that felt and smelt mildewy. Kauto got a bit restless after a while and I took him upstairs and after he'd gone to bed I went back downstairs and tried to save my precious paperbacks. Some of the books were ruined and there were some books I'll have buy again, such as the early seventies translation of W.T. Ballard's Murder Las Vegas Style, which is one of my favourites. I left some books to dry, but some I just had to throw away. I also threw away some 20 or 30 copies of several issues of Ruudinsavu/Gunsmoke.

I'll have to go back in a couple of days to check out the real damage. I noticed that many of my Richard Prathers were also damp, and the hardback copy of K.W. Dwyer's (= Dean Koontz) early thriller (the title escapes me at the moment) was actually ripe with mildew. I couldn't throw it away, I just couldn't.

Now, you ask, why are these books in the cellar, if they are so precious to me? Umm... I really don't know. There's no room for them up in the apartment, which is really no excuse. I guess I just thought that the cellar would be as a good place as any, since it's at least warm. Maybe the books should be in metal boxes or some such.

I tried to put the boxes back so that none would touch the concrete floor (and I threw away the mattresses that had been under the boxes), but we'll see whether the mildew keeps growing and destroying my precious paperbacks.

Ben Benson: later, later. I'm going to a business meeting tomorrow and after that I'll be busy.