Happy Old Year?

It is that time of the year when we cover-up last year's resolutions by making new resolutions. Fair Enough!

I think a great deal can be learned from our failed resolutions and in my case I can clearly see that I must stick to simple and measurable goals. Life is complicated as it is and the Fun Time quota is limited.

This year, I feel the Force is working for me. I have .... not decided but perhaps accepted the idea as an alternative...... considered not to buy any chess books for a while. I soon realized that the well defined time period "a while" might be less than a week. However, the Force kicked in and I might be able to prolong "my while" for some time.

A book I have been keen on for quite some time appeared on an online book seller's list. I placed an order but got the message that the book was unavailable. I could live with that as I discovered that the book also was available in mint condition at an US based shop. No problems ordering the book but for unknown reasons they charged the same shipping fees for single books as for orders of 3+ mid sized elephants.

A friendly online chess player informed me that the book was available from a German bookseller. However, they refused to accept orders below 15 Euros and my planned purchase was listed at 14.95 Euros. A few friendly emails might allow me to bump the cost upwards by a fraction of an Euro or I should go with the flow and obey the Force.