textbook savvy - declassified

so i have almost come to the end of my semester. By the stroke of 11.40 am on Friday I would've been liberated and can go on chreographing my dance, planning my sydney trip and enjoying my sydney trip.

but before i end, allow me to let you in on something. i spent not a single cent on text books this sem! no kidding! i got 3 text books from my senior, on loan, to be returned at the end of the semester. for one more subject, i, or rather the sly weasel of an alter ego, had fooled the library into lending me the library text book for 4 whole months!

dates due to return bookssee, Metropolitan College Library has a system. Students can borrow a book for 1 week. At the end of 1 week, students may renew the borrowing period as many as 3 times. However, being the kind and ever ready to promote reading librarians they are, they usually renew it for you as often as you like. There is a reservation list however. Students who want to borrow a book that has been checked out, can reserve the book so that when it is returned, they can be given priority. Once a book is reserved, it cannot be renewed. Students holding the book, is not allowed to reserve it either.

So how did i manage to hold the book for 13 weeks without having to return it? i, too, am surprised at how scheming my mind can be. i played my cards right. i got the book at the begining of the semester, when no one bothered to borrow it. so i kept renewing until a couple of weeks before mid term. i returned it. here, i wrote my name in the reservation list. so 1 week prior to mid terms, last minute procrastinators will desperately search for text books, which they failed to grab earlier. technically, i should return it to people who reserved it. Guess who did? :)
After mid terms, when all the hoo-ha had died down, nobody wanted the book anymore. This is where i continue my renewing. 3 weeks prior to finals, I did the same thing. Return, reserve and borrow.

I have to admit though, that should my plan fail, and someone got to the reservation list before me, i was ready to hold the book hostage till finals. The penalty for late books is RM3 a day. That would make it RM21 for a week, which is a price I'm willing to pay. A brand new text book outside would cost RM40 at least. A photocopied version would cost RM20 odd. So what's RM21 for an original coloured text book? :)

But luck was on my side, and my plan ran flawlessly. :)

I'm sly, i admit, but I'd much prefer the term streetwise. Besides, would you rather I "pirated" the book?