From The Editor by Craig Stark #91, 26 March 2007

I'm back from a Virgin Islands vacation, and, whew, I've had a few days of work under my belt - and a chance to recover. If you're contemplating a sailing adventure of your own, I'd strongly recommend that you don't make the mistake of hiring a captain only and agree to assist him on the boat; hire the full crew instead and focus on your tan. The work is back breaking and at times dangerous - and made worse if you don't have a strong stomach. Still, even in intermittently difficult conditions, there are opportunities to observe with at least some deliberation, and I'm happy to report that much beauty remains in the Caribbean: Sailing in high winds on the open sea among the islands was breathtaking, as was mooring in cobalt lagoons, etc. And I should mention that our arrival in St. Thomas was delayed about 5 minutes because of a large iguana crossing a San Juan, Puerto Rico airport runway!

But enough of that. It's back to business, and today's BookThinker starts with an article that has been on my to-do list forever: "A Guide to Understanding Number Lines in Books." See what a vacation can inspire me to do? If you think that number lines are too simple by half to bother with, I suggest you take the short test included in the article. If you score over 50%, I'll be impressed. Keep in mind, also, that accurate interpretation of number lines is crucial in determining edition state.

Also up today is an Amazon seller's lament. Contributing Editor Steve Weber recently looked into the growing Amazon catalog fiasco and reports back with some pointed observations on just how bad it's gotten. Solutions are hard to come by so far, but it's important to be aware of the problems because they could affect your sales significantly.

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