Well, after a fun-filled evening of drying out a couple of soaking
wet log books, I have a few lessons to share with all of you boxers
out there, the first of which is a public service announcement that
cannot be said enough:

BAG THOSE LOG BOOKS! I know, maybe that book wasn't in a ziplock
when you found the box. Maybe the ziplock is torn (it is just a
flimsy piece of plastic after all, & most of our logs have those
really nice pieces of METAL holding them together- just perfect for
poking holes in plastic!). Put the book in a bag & seal the bag.
Before you leave for boxing each day, throw a couple ziplocks in
your bag. Buy them in bulk at BJ's (c'mon, you know you need 'em!)
& for a couple pennies you can pack all the sandwiches you can eat
for months & save a few logbooks along the way. See a torn one,
replace it; see a bagless book, save it's life. Pretty please with
sugar on top? Thank you.

Okay, now onto the lessons:

1) For a VERY wet log book, a blow drying on low setting works
wonders. If the pages are stuck together, blast the edges & voila,
those suckers will pop right apart.

2) Hold said blow dryer, about 8-10 inches from the pages to avoid
burning the paper (& your hands).

3) Have a book or some other heavy object handy. Eventually, those
dry, fluffy pages will start to take over (why isn't my hair ever so
light & fluffy after a few seconds with the blow dryer?) & get in
the way of the wet soggy pages- you'll need something to weight them
down & get them out of the way (your foot works too if you're
working on the floor like I was).

4) If the book is not QUITE as wet & you can pull the pages apart
easily, try to do so & stand the book up to let it air dry- with the
pages fanned out if possible... especially after your blow dryer
overheats. They will still be damp in the morning, but they dry
nicely.

5) A Revlon 1875 blowdryer will overheat after approximately 1 1/2
hours of nearly continual use. It will restart again after waiting
approximately 45 minutes. :)

6) All those pretty liquid ink pens that you might be using to
write your messages in log books- gone with the tide. Ball points &
pencils... your messages will last through the plague apparently.

7) Find out what type of ink Strawberry & Forman are using. Not
only did their stamps, in the soggiest portion of the book not
smudge or smear in the slightest. It actually seemed to REPEL all
the other smudgy messes (okay, that might be an exaggeration), but
it was an oasis in a sea of washed out ink). They use magic ink & I
want to know what sort of voodoo magic they are using immediately.

8) Don't drink & dry. Several stamped images of compasses seemed
relatively unscathed. I casually noticed the first one. By the 2nd
one I was starting to think there was some sort of mystery box clue
hidden in the smudges. (If the SOUTH side of the compass was more
heavily stamped & the next page looked like a picture of a
lighthouse I should turn south at the lighthouse. The next compass
was heavily stamped toward NORTH & there was a haystack in a nearby
stamp...where can I find a lighthouse & a haystack....) Friends
don't let friends drink & dry people...

9) If you should come across a log book & it is soaking wet. PLEASE
CONTACT THE PLACER immediately. This book has been wet for at least
a week & at least 3 different sets of boxers knew about it. Chances
are the people who knew about it are not on this list, but for those
of you who are new to the list- if you find a box that is in any way
damaged please let someone know so they can either get there
themselves to fix it or get someone else out to repair the damage.
Keeping it to yourself helps no one.

Thank you & happy hunting!

The Family