Various and Thanking Soldiers

Picked up Aline for our usual cheap--but pretty good--breakfast at John & Sonia's, then dropped her off at the library.  Spent a lot of the rest of the day digging out stuff, wrapping, and packing.  I have more donations for the thrift store, plus other things I want to take with me.
Hauled out most of the rest of the books and filled four very large cloth bags. Many of these are what's called "coffee table books," that is, they're big, heavy, and copiously illustrated.  People give them as gifts and the recipient peruses them slowly once or twice, then lays them out to form an artistic--and, he or she hopes, intellectual--display, after which they're never touched again. Except to dust.
I had several about Atlantic City, which I put up for grabs (free) on Facebook's "Atlantic City Memory Lane."  Almost immediately, somebody named Dan McMahon asked for them.  I'll send and he'll send back a check for postage.  Next, I tackled decorative pieces, separating them into "donate" and "keep."
Took the other books to the library for its coming book sale.  Made a date with R.E. agent Walter and my friend for next Tuesday. At that time, I'll sign the papers and whatever else I have to do to get my house rented and be on my way.
WIDER: This seems to me an excellent commentary on the "thank a soldier" travesty:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175969/tomgram%3A_nan_levinson%2C_america%27s_new_military_mystique/#more