In Praise of My New Hand Truck

Plus: a note about "Notes."

Isn’t she a beauty??!

My wife and son and I recently emptied out a few storage units. As a result, our cozy apartment has become Boxhenge. Something had to be done. So I made this purchase: my first-ever hand truck — painted bright red, capable of carrying up to 800 pounds, and so, so shiny! I mean, come on!!

Sadly, this movie turned out not to be about a hand truck.

I took the hand truck out for its first spin last weekend — and let me tell you, I was not disappointed! First of all: works like a charm. I loaded up three boxes of my book Red Diaper Baby

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and rolled it slightly uphill the mile or so to my downtown Berkeley office. Two things you should know about my office: (1) Having access to a nice bathroom, especially downtown, is a glorious thing. (2) The building has no elevator (which is why I’ve been able to afford the rent there — but as soon as I can, I’m going to move to a place that’s ADA-compliant). One thing I learned that day is that, even with the most wonderful hand truck in the world (mine!), lugging three boxes of books up a flight of stairs is a bit much on the old knees and Achilles tendons. Next time: just two boxes.

One copy of this book makes for light reading. But 132 copies (in three cardboard boxes) get really heavy.

After my first successful, but strenuous, apartment-to-office carting of books, I rewarded myself by purchasing a small cup of gelato. As I sat at a little table outside the gelateria, my loyal hand truck waiting patiently beside me, a man stopped in front of me and bellowed, “Wow — nice hand truck!” This actually happened!! It turned out that this guy’s father ran a janitorial-equipment company and used to wheel his son around on, yes, a hand truck. The man looked over my hand truck with an expert’s eye. “Hand-welded!” he said, approvingly. “Puncture-proof wheels!”

Folks, it just doesn’t get any better than that!

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“Notes” note:

I’m trying out this new feature that Substack (the platform that publishes this thing you’re reading right now) has just rolled out. It’s called “Notes” — which does have a certain pithiness to it.

Here’s my first “note.” You can click on it and then, if you want, you can click on the heart-shaped thingie to “like” it, or the speech bubble to make a comment, or the recycling-type icon to “restack” (think “retweet”) it.

Another thing about “Notes”: You can totally ignore them!!

Importantly: They will not clutter your inbox — you will find “Notes” only on Substack’s website or app.

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How to join:

Head to substack.com/notes or find the “Notes” tab in the Substack app. As a subscriber to “But Not Enough About Me,” you’ll automatically see my notes. Feel free to like, reply, or share them around! You can also share “Notes” on your own.

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If you encounter any issues, you can always refer to the Notes FAQ for assistance.

1. The Red Diaper Baby book is priced to move at my online store. Makes an excellent just-after-Passover-and-Easter gift!