Yesterday was the first full day back at work for all the faculty and staff. (Yes, I started last week, but I report to work a few days earlier than most teachers, in order to get the library ready.) Dave and I got to walk to work together, which I'm not sure we've ever done before. Until this year I've worked a much later shift, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., but now it's been decided that everyone must leave campus when the school day ends. Since there won't be any students using the library in the late afternoon, my shift is now congruent with Dave's -- we start and end together. And since we're not risking the tube, we'll be walking together a lot. Kind of fun!
As we walked, we wound up talking about what a disaster Donald Trump is, which is a common theme of many of our discussions. Thank god we have the same political perspective. My maternal grandparents were apparently politically opposed -- my grandfather a Republican, my grandmother a Democrat. Is such a marriage even conceivable now, in these highly polarized times?
Anyway, work was uneventful -- more furniture-moving and book re-shelving. I haven't even begun to tackle the mountains of magazines which arrived over the summer. Normally I'd log them in on a spreadsheet (so we can make sure all the issues we've paid for have arrived) and then I'd put the newest ones on a display rack in the center of the library for our patrons to peruse. But this year, when we're already going through a complex process to check in and quarantine library books to make sure they're Covid-free before they're borrowed again, we're not even making the magazines available. They're just going into boxes. Kind of sad. We didn't renew our newspapers at all, though we already make The New York Times available to everyone digitally through a group subscription.
I went to the post office and mailed my small collection of vintage milk bottles to the woman who bought them on eBay, Vivian from Grimsby.
Once again, I lost money on this auction. I truly am a terrible eBayer. I charged £10 for shipping, but it turns out that sending six bottles to Grimsby (with tracking) costs £17! Argh! But the point, I suppose, is that the bottles have a new home with someone who will value them -- and I have clearer windowsills.
Dave and I have taken to watching "Hart to Hart" in the early evenings, with a glass of wine. It makes me feel approximately 90 years old, and yet it's oddly comforting. Kind of like green bean casserole or a Kraft pizza in a box.
(Top photo: Renovations on a building near Fortune Green.)
I applaud your small clearance project - ditching the milk bottles. Sometimes I think that the very heart of living is simply an ongoing struggle between hoarding and minimalism. I hope that Vivian in Grimsby will cherish her bottles for a few days before no doubt selling them at double the price via her own e-bay site.
ReplyDeleteI am glad to know that you are the same sort of business man that I am, I lose money every time! I like your bottles that are no longer yours. It is time , though, unload.Your walking together to school is perfect and yes your conversation is the thing that is keeping me awake , it is nearly 1:00 am.The electoral college determine the outcome last time, and may do so again. Worrying- plus my raccoon family has not been back, just one lonely baby...I suspect humans have trapped them.
ReplyDeleteIt is hard to imagine having a partner who is the political opposite to yourself. It is hard enough to have friends/acquaintances who are political opposite. As you suggest, in your grandparent's time, parties weren't as extreme.....well, there wasn't a #45 in power.
ReplyDeleteUneventful at work sounds good to me. It was something I always strived for.
Never mind the cost. It is good that the bottles went to someone who wanted them and appreciates them. In the early days of Ebay I sold a rare book for quite a sum. I regretted and managed to track down a copy and bought it for more than I sold the earlier one. William Yang's Sydney Diary if you care to take a look.
Oh, my god. Hart to Hart! I never got into that show, but can't believe how long ago it was. My parents were in many ways different in their political views (my mother was a dove, my father a hawk). It was common in those days. But now it's not just about politics. I don't know how any couples can have a healthy relationship if one supports Trump and the other does not. The differences are fundamental, deep, heartbreaking. Someone explain the Conways to me, please.
ReplyDeleteI've said this before, but you are so good at catching the accidental-ballet of the streets--people in dynamic poses--like the guy top, right, gesturing. I really enjoy that.
ReplyDeletePolitics have become so toxic now, that I cannot imagine two disparate views in one household without bloodshed. I just want the darkness to move out of the WH. So much damage has been done. I wonder how much longer print news will survive, with all of the challenges that face media today. I still get the Sunday NYT every now and then as a treat. I can't imagine reading it virtually. It must be nice, being able to walk to work together.
ReplyDeleteI loved Hart to Hart back in the day. It's been so long since I watched anything other than sports on TV - I wonder what I might like now? I suspect that Schitt's Creek would be right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteLike Linda Sue, I'm pretty worried about the electoral college. I'm afraid we'll have a repeat of the last election. I would LOVE to be wrong!
Well, my husband watches Wheel of Fortune every night so there you go.
ReplyDeleteI...just...can't.
How nice that y'all get to walk to work together! And that is sad about the magazines. As if print media wasn't having a hard enough time.
But needs must, as they say.
I love that you and Dave are walking to work together. That's the best way to start a work day.
ReplyDeleteI need to find some new/old shows to watch. I may have to take a look at Hart to Hart.
Hart to Hart, that's a TV show I hadn't thought of in a long time. Walking together after work will be a nice change.
ReplyDeleteI made it through the first night of the Republican convention last night. I wanted to see how they were going to approach things. With lots of lies is what I determined. The worst endorsement came from the McCloskeys, the St. Louis couple who confronted Black Lives Matter protesters by pointing guns at them. What an awful pair they are.
Frustrating in work when many things cannot be done or done in a normal fashion.
ReplyDeleteI can't imagine having a different political affiliation than my partner. Marc posted something on FB a few years ago, some liberal political thing, don't remember what it was about but his republican uncle made a snide comment about me influencing him as if Marc was incapable of having or holding his own opinions. he was insulted, I was pissed. changed my whole attitude towards the man.
ReplyDeletewe really don't watch TV even though it's on all the time. We watched The Big Bang Theory. And last season, Bob hearts Abhilasha which is wonderful and funny and we're glad there will be a second season.
These political times are so polarizing now that I can't imagine a Trumper and a non-Trumper existing in a healthy relationship. Trump is such an epic failure and I just don't get why people support him. There are so many colorful adjectives to describe that idiot. Glad you can walk to school with Dave. What does he teach?
ReplyDeleteI know a couple who have vastly divergent political views, one a hardcore Conservative, the other a true blue Liberal. They don't usually discuss politics but the air around them still crackles with tension. I'll say no more.
ReplyDeleteI love that you can walk to work, and that it's with Dave. I've always had to drive, too far, people hostile roads, terrible weather conspired to keep us in our cars. At one point Jim's commute was 36 miles one way. That was bad.
ReplyDeleteI always make the mistake that people I find nice must have my political view point or at least tend to lean my way. I also do this with bloggers and some years ago, after the brexit vote, got my head chopped off (virtually) for expressing my disgust with it. Not just by the blog owner but the whole commentator gang had a go.
ReplyDeleteI like the thought of you walking to and back from work together. That's nice.
Re your maternal grandparents - good on them. A marriage, indeed any relationship/friendship should be able to accommodate opposing views. Nothing enriches one's thinking more than a view different to our own (providing our shutters aren't down). Watch fencing (no, not the garden variety, the sport) and you'll know what I mean.
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Congrats on selling your bottles. I'll bet it feels really good to be back at work. Especially when you can walk to work together. Enjoy your day, hugs, Edna B.
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