On building houses

This is a preliminary analogy.

The land has to be cleared, the fence put up to secure the site. There are so many steps one does not think about - the blueprints in hand, one wants to just start building. I have a brick, I want to lay it down.

But is the ground even? Is there rubble, is there poison in the soil which will leech into the water system and kill the residents? These things must be seen and cleared. Protection.

Level the land - remove the garbage which has been so casually thrown into this field by passers-by and squatters, bulldoze the chunks of rotting wood and crumbling masonry - carry it away, do not just bury it - it is not needed, it is not wanted. Oh, that bit of marble looks salvageable, but for what? Does it have a place in the new house? I like this crystal doorknob, but will it open a door, or refuse to turn and therefore trap us in? Weigh it all.

The fence.
It is important. Yes, you want to live free - you want to roam, but this is not a fencing in - this is to keep monsters out. No, they are humans, but they have the hearts of monsters and would tear out yours. You need a fence. They will take a sledgehammer to your work when you're not looking and pour acid into the pipes before they can be capped off.

Materials - need to be strong but not brittle; flexible, but secure. You live in earthquake country - make sure this building has enough sway to not be knocked down, that the doorways are very strong.

You can apply paint, o, sure, but the walls need to be free of cracks, the floors need to support you, and the attic needs to not be cluttered with things you dig up in the back yard.

Ancillary Post

In these boxes from Random House we received:

A set of bookmarks (approximately 25) in the smaller box.
A publicity package of brochures in an 9x12 envelope in the larger box.

Why are they having fiscal trouble? One wonders, given the excessive amount of packaging and the attendant postage and time involved, how they have survived as long as they have. This is, I must point out, a company owned by Bertlesmann, a massive global publishing powerhouse which is undergoing re-structuring even now.