THE HUNDRED-AND-TWENTY-THIRD PAGE

Of course, I was wrong. And yes, indeedy, he stuck to my scheme of things. It was foolish of me to think that he could not employ outside computer help. I had done so.

So, one crisp morning I booted up my computer to check my mail and to weed out the porn, employment and investment opportunities, and travel plans. My heavy literary traffic had resulted in a proliferation of book advertising. It was usually interesting and sometimes led to new bibliographic finds.

How could I resist the line: “Books: Leisure-Pleasure-Treasure” from “Bookfiend”? And I hit the return to open my mail.

A Rhyme for you!

Yes, Books are for Leisure, but also a BASH.

Books are for Pleasure and good for a SMASH.

Treasure is treasure if found in the TRASH.

A secret, sweet usage is found in the CRASH!

I sat there in a kind of stupor, not knowing what to do. The meaning of computer crash had never been a particular concern, because it falls on you out of nowhere; after panic, you find a way of repairing it. The computer screen heralded a collision as certain as headlights moving directly to your car at great speed.