Here's an update to my sordid tale of my textbooks. This is for my Thermo book.

Once upon a time, there was a young (1st edition) thermodynamic textbook who lived at the Arizona State University bookstore. Its name was Thermal Physics, and it lived happily on the Shelves with all the other textbooks. A young happy-go-lucky man wanted to own this book, but unfortunately, it cost $45. Wishing to save much money this semester on textbooks, the man went to the science library and looked up the book's cousins. There were three: one was being born, one already had a master, and one was sitting on the library Shelves. When the man went to look for the book, he discovered that was not living on the Shelves, but had run away. Then the man found someone on the internet who wanted to trade his book for $38. This seemed a good deal to the man, so he agreed to the trade. However, the book had to travel a long way, and would take many days to reach him. But the man needed the book now, so he went again to the ASU bookstore to buy a new book, which he could then return later for a full refund when he received his slightly cheaper version. Alas, the ASU bookstore had no copies of the book, so the man spent three days (plus or minus two days) looking for anyone who had the book. He finally found the book at a bookstore on College Avenue and purchased it, with the intent of returning it later for a full refund.

Now our story becomes complex. At this point in time, the man owned two copies of the book, one in his hand and one that was travelling to his office. The book in his hand could only be returned before the magical date of September 09, 2002. Three days before the magic date, his travelling book had not yet arrived, and the man began to worry. His plan hinged on receiving book on route before returning his book in hand. Then, respite came for the man, because the lost library book had now been found. The man quickly changed his plan. First, he bought a book from the bookstore until the library book was found, then he used the library book until his travelling book arrived. The man desperately hoped this new plan would prove successful. ... To Be Continued