Olga has been downright annoying the last few mornings. She's up before the crack of dawn, whining and thumping her tail on the mattress and staring at Dave and me until we're both afraid to so much as twitch. If we do, she leaps up and all her excitement is renewed. I don't know why she's so eager to get up, because once we do she's very nonchalant about it. She usually comes out to the living room and promptly falls asleep again.
I closed the library 15 minutes early yesterday. It's the first time I've ever been able to do that -- my boss always said that if no one was around, especially on a Friday afternoon, I could lock up early. But someone -- and usually it's just one person -- is always there, or I have computer chargers still out and I need to wait for their return. (Not to get into the weeds about our library policies, but chargers are only checked out for the day, and if they're not returned by closing the borrower faces a penalty -- so I wouldn't want to close early and be the reason that person couldn't return their charger.)
But yesterday, Dave and Gordon and Carolyn and Mark came into the library at 4:40 and announced they were going to the pub. I only had one teacher in the back of the library, grading papers. So I told him he could stay without me, and I locked all but one door and turned out the lights (except where he was sitting, obviously). I still had three chargers out, but I'm pretty sure (knowing those specific kids) that they weren't coming back yesterday. If a kid complains that they tried to return their charger and I wasn't there, well, I'll give them a pass on the penalty.
Anyway, this is all very boring for you, but it was a momentous day for me. And I got to go to the pub! Woo hoo!
Afterwards, Dave had a concert, so I came home and watched several episodes of "Absolutely Fabulous" and ate peanut butter on toast and split pea soup. What a wild life I lead.
We're getting a real blast of cold weather this weekend -- subfreezing temperatures (a low of 27ºF today) and a 100 percent chance of rain tomorrow. I'll take the dog out today to work off some of that excess energy. (Right now, predictably, she's lying next to me on the couch snoring.)
(Photo: A "ghost sign" on my most recent LOOP walk. It mentions "His Majesty the King" at the top, so it must be from 1952 or earlier. I wonder what "invalid specialities" were?)
Our cats do the same thing to us in the morning although today was an exception, probably because it was so cold and they decided not to bother.
ReplyDeleteRupert especially pounces on our feet if we move them and surprisingly his claws sometimes go throught the duvet, not so good.lol
Briony
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"Invalid specialities" were invalid-friendly chargers. Any invalids who didn't bring their chargers back before closing time faced stiff penalties - including public flogging and the removal of toenails with the aid of pliers.
ReplyDeleteI googled "invalid specialties" and found this:
ReplyDeletehttp://paintedsignsandmosaics.blogspot.com/2010/02/invalid-specialities.html
You are not the only one to have seen that sign and wondered!
This brought to mind the scene in Little Women where a Blanc Mange was made for an ailing neighbor. That sounded so exotic to me as a child but it is merely a custard-like dish, easily digestible for the sick. Supposedly.
At least no chewing is involved!
It is chilly and wet here. The sort of chill that gets to the bones. It may get close to 27 degrees tonight or tomorrow and oh, dear- I must attend to my jungle of outdoor plants and I do not want to.
I always think that animals have a much higher sense than we do and are able to sense things that we don't and so are worried about something. Dogs sense me when I come behind them on my bike long before their owner senses it.
ReplyDeleteOh, Olga! Haha. She sounds like our crazy George. At least they keep life interesting, huh? :)
ReplyDeleteSome staff at the school where I work leave 30 minutes early on Fridays, but I can never manage it either. Since I'm at the front desk in the main office there are always phone calls to take and loose ends to wrap up ahead of the weekend, and I don't feel comfortable leaving before my normal time of 4:30pm. I'm glad you got to go to the pub!
And I love Ab Fab!! A night in watching that sounds great. It's been very cold and wet here this weekend so we've been staying in with a pot of homemade soup, the fireplace lit (for the first time this year), and old classic movies to watch. Cozy.
Glad you were able to leave work early and get to the pub for some Friday evening fun. Sounds like a great way to start the weekend.
ReplyDeleteI've got absolutely acres of programs and movies on my DVR. I think this weekend is the time to get at them. Our temperatures have risen a bit and are running in the 60's during the day. Your dull life sounds pretty full and rewarding to me.
ReplyDeleteAn afterwork "pub" event sounds like just the thing to end the week. As Catalyst said, it has cooled down here too. Not quite as much as there....well, not nearly as much as there. Your comment about watching old AbFab shows reminded me to tell you that I've been watching the original British version of "House of Cards" on Netflix. I remembered that I had seen it when it first came out all those years ago but I had forgotten how diabolical it was. Our US version really did follow the original story line with of course more added nastiness. I quit watching the US version after the third season. I couldn't take it anymore. And now, it's turned out the Kevin Spacey is pretty much as bad as the character he played on TV.
ReplyDeleteThe pub sounds like a good time...Are you bored with your own posts? They are not really boring, Perhaps you need a bit of new stimulation?
ReplyDeleteNot as boring as mine x
ReplyDeleteI often feel boring with my posts. or at least repetitive. I was so much more interesting in the first half of my blog. But back to you, no not boring. mundane perhaps but not unenjoyable. It's a way we get to know you, you're daily life.
ReplyDeleteBriony: Well, Olga didn't wake us up this morning, and it's snowing outside -- so I think you're right. They know when to get up and when to stay in bed!
ReplyDeleteYP: If toenail-removal worked, I would employ it to get our chargers back. I am a no-nonsense librarian.
Ms Moon: Interesting link! It looks like there used to be a billboard over the upper part of the sign. I'm glad they removed it so we can see the whole thing now!
Red: Yes, definitely! It could be that when Olga is antsy to get up, she's hearing another animal outside or some other activity that bothers her.
Jennifer: There's possibly nothing I like more than staying in and eating soup and watching an old movie.
Robin: It was!
Catalyst: Sometimes we just erase our DVR and start over. It gets impossibly backlogged!
Sharon: I've never seen the British "House of Cards" -- though politics is so crazy over here at the moment I wonder if we might be living it!
E: I'm not bored with them, but I always imagine my readers might be!
John: Winnie's antics are ALWAYS entertaining! :)
Ellen: Well, I'm glad I'm not boring you! As you said, maybe mundane is a better word.