The first thing to understand is that the dilemma was of my own making. If I had looked at my schedule ahead of time, I would have known that it didn't tell me how I was to travel from downtown Cleveland to the Beachwood branch library.

Could I take a cab? Of course I could take a cab, and for a very reasonable amount. But, usually, the schedule says "Take a cab," and I was worried that there was an plan, and I didn't know it. (And, yes, the schedule usually states such basic things as "Take a cab" because touring lowers your IQ point-by-point, until you are basically an idiot.) I didn't want to take a cab and later learn that some nice library person had shown up at the hotel and been thrown into a panic because the author was missing. What to do?

I e-mailed the branch manager -- whose e-mail was available to me because we're both members of DorothyL. Wendy Bartlett not only picked me up, she let me hang out in her office, using the library's Internet, took me to dinner at a lovely Thai restaurant and drove me to the airport. She is, in short, a full service branch manager.

And without DorothyL, I never could have found her. I also wouldn't know what spotted dick is, but that's a story for another day.