Last week I realized that the Davenport map in the Quad Cities guide book had a number of errors. This came to my attention when a potential vendor in Davenport informed me that they wouldn’t carry the book because the map showed their business in the wrong location. (Which really seems a bit petty to me, but, hey, it’s their decision.)

This naturally set me off into a mild panic: I screwed up my first book! How can I sell a flawed product? What would Brian Boitano do?

Once the panic subsided and reason returned—as good as reason gets for me, anyway–I called the publisher to talk strategy. We decided to redo the map and print it on an adhesive-backed sheet that could be placed over the bad map. It seems to be working out OK. I fixed a few books two weeks ago and revisited the retail outlets to swap out the bad books for the good ones: 40 books done, 1,960 to go.

(If you have a book with the bad map, let me know, and I will send you a corrected map to insert over the old one.)

A couple of weeks ago I camped at Nelson Dewey State Park near Cassville, Wisconsin. I was able to get the best camping site in the park because the people who had reserved it saw a snake, got spooked, and moved to another site. Maybe they should have rented a cabin instead. Regardless, I’m glad they were wusses. I enjoyed a relaxing evening reading, listening to music, and watching the changing moods of the Mississippi from 300 feet above it.

On my drive home from Wisconsin, I passed two yuppies on Harleys. Did you catch that? Me, driving a hydrid on a two-lane highway, passed two Harleys. This calls for a new rule: if you are cruising on your Harley and you get passed by a Prius, it’s time to sell the bike and go back to your Volvo.

© Dean Klinkenberg, 2009