They don't put that on the Grad School brochure

Tonight I was putting out a fire at the library. And I mean that literally, not figuratively. We've got this ashtray/trashcan right outside the doors, and most people don't put their cigarettes all the way out while using it. So, on windy days like today, those cigarettes occasionaly blow out of the ashtray and into the flowerbed mulch, lighting fires. It's happened twice this week.

Tonight, when it happened, I grabbed the fire extinguisher and strolled out to put out the fire. I don't rush anymore - the mulch fires are not fast burning - they just kind of smolder and occasionally catch to flame for a second before going back to a slow burn. Its a purposeful stroll, don't get me wrong. Anyway - I released the pin, aimed, and... nothing. Nothing happened. Disconcerting, I know. So, I sent the security officer off to borrow the building attendant's fire extinguisher, and in the meantime, I thought - its a small fire, maybe I could... stamp it out?

Um, not so much... It turns out that mulch fires are tricky, and stamping on them only results in spreading the fire, and slightly melting your shoe.

Go figure.

Book of the month - The Physik Book of Deliverance Dane

I picked this book up because I liked the title, and I had seen an interesting variety of readers picking it up at the library. Twenty-somethings. Middle aged men. Your typical book clubbers. I figured I couldn't go wrong. As I started reading, I wanted to dislike this book - something about the plot struck me as clunky - but I just couldn't. I still felt like I should... but it was a compelling read. In fact, I read it past bedtime a few nights. Mostly this was because I wanted to know how it all came out, and, libraries and archives featured pretty heavily throughout. My biggest complaint is that the ending seemed rushed, and the bad guy's motives weren't fully realized. But a fun piece of fiction.