4-2-01 M 9:10 PM

The baby is asleep. The wife is at her math class. The Kings are beating Vancouver and could vault ahead of two teams into a tie for sixth place with San Jose, who are losing. Ugh. I still can’t the collapse of the bookshelf out of my mind. It was like God firing a warning shot across my bow. “Look how easily I can rain anguish down on your existence.” And yet, thank God that neither Rochelle nor the baby were hurt. My wife must think I’m criminally negligent to have screwed bookshelves into a wall above a couch where we sit all the time with our baby. Her little skull might have been crushed. That many books are heavy, and I only screwed them into the plaster. I sense my wife thinks any man worth his salt would never have been so stupid and incompetent. In my defense, the head of a screw was broken off, so it’s not like the anchors didn’t hold. It was a cheap screw, probably made in China with inferior steel. Worse scare I’ve ever had.~~~So, there are stacks of books all around. I had to clear a space on the table here to write. I’ll have to figure out what to do. I certainly can’t put the shelves back where they were.~~~The kids wrote in their journals. I worked through the paperwork on my desk. Called home at recess to check again that Rochelle and Ada were okay. They were. The kids did a lesson on adding money, and I typed a so-so page into Jim. Page 151. I’m two lines onto page 152. Went to La Boca for lunch with Florelle. Read the news after lunch. Rochelle and Ada came up to school. She was still feeling rattled. I was glad to see them. I had to meet with Victorio Gallardo at El Jarrito. Had some Birria. Stopped by Hoover. All’s well. Typed fifteen minutes when I got home. Read a Lardner story called “My Roomy.” A dark story. I realize now all his stories are kind of dark but this one especially. I’ll read the Louis L’Amour autobiography next. Field trip tomorrow. Vacation next week. Tax time is on my ass. I have to file for an extension. Thursday drinks? Friday drinks? Is there a class Saturday? Have to go to ap arty in Buena Park Saturday night. What’s up with Stevo? Have to go to my stepsister’s in Riverside Sunday. Lassen? Check the net.