Border Crossing

I got a shock this morning.  While returning a book to the library, the librarian informed me that one of the books she had ordered for me had come from Canada.  (The Paddlers’ Reading list is in the right margin under ‘favorite posts.’)  She has been ordering me books through the interlibrary loan exchange program.  It was no surprise that a desired paddling title may be available only from Canada, but the postage was a surprise.  I had paid $2 for an interlibrary loan book, but when she went to return it to the lending library in Canada, she had to pay $10 in postage.  Shocked herself, she called them and asked how much they had had to pay to mail the book to the U.S.---$17.   She said that from now on, if a book was only available in Canada, she would have to check with me to make sure I still wanted it.  The implication that I would have to be responsible for the excessive postage was obvious.  I said, “No need to call me.  If the book is only available in Canada, just scratch it off the list.  For $27 I can probably find a used paperback version on line somewhere."  Postage is almost getting to the point where you can seal the book in a dry bag, throw it in the canoe, and paddle it to its destination yourself.  Another example was the GPS bracket I was prepared to order.  It was $12.  The postage for it, which weighed about an ounce, was $24.  I took a ‘thank you, but no thank you’ stance, and will continue just hanging my GPS from a thwart.