Wednesday, October 7, 2020

The Treasure Hunter


On my walk home yesterday I found both this orange-red leaf and this purple flower, which was lying in a gutter, having evidently broken off someone's bouquet. An autumnal tableau!

I had a very physical day at work yesterday. I had to move around the shelves in the bookcases that house our graphic novels. Although the kids can still browse our catalog online and request books, which we then deliver to their classrooms, the quantity and frequency of our checkouts is definitely down, and the graphic novels illustrate this point. They're very popular, and normally the shelves are continually ravaged. But now a lot of the books are lingering, and I think it's because the kids can't look them over before choosing one. (We're also allowing kids fewer books because we have to quarantine them for five days after their return, to allow any virus on them to die.)

Anyway, in practical terms, this means a lot of the books are staying in the library for longer, and the graphic novel shelves were so packed that books couldn't be properly organized. So I rearranged the shelves and made more space, and this turned out to be a major project involving not only moving books but finding a hammer and some screwdrivers. After about an hour, though, it all looked great, and I was thinking to myself, "Check out my mad carpentry SKILLZ!"

I got an e-mail from the USPS saying my ballot was delivered to the election office yesterday morning. My vote is in! Woo hoo!

Olga found a tennis ball on her morning walk. We always pass a tennis club on the next street over, and sometimes there are stray balls lying in the street, evidence of someone's overstrong returns. Olga grabs them like she's playing Pokemon Go, finding treasures in her path.

17 comments:

spyridon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
crafty cat corner said...

Free tennis balls can't be bad I expect they are quite expensive.
Briony
x

Moving with Mitchell said...

We lived on the Balboa Park Golf Course in San Diego and SG would do a 4-mile walk around the perimeter every morning. He rated his walks by how many golf balls he found. His last walk before we moved was amazing. Eleven golf balls. Luckily his baggy shorts had big pockets.

Ms. Moon said...

Pretty, pretty fall picture.
The idea of all the library books gathering dust makes me so sad. Thank you for attending them with your mad skillz.

The Bug said...

I love your autumnal display - that color of flower is one of my favorites (instead of the usual orange and yellow this time of year).

Your library project reminded me of the days of archiving old files at work to make room for the new year. That required a lot of muscle & shuffling - I would always wonder what had happened to my desk job!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like quite a project at the library. Good job on getting that done. It sure will be nice when/if things finally get back to normal and books won't need five days to disinfect anymore. Oy.

Sharon said...

I love your tableau! Very pretty. Sounds like you had a full day at work. I can relate. I'm suddenly very busy on a new project and there is a bit of a learning curve for me with this one. So far, I'm a bit frustrated by the way it's being led. If Olga is anything like my friend's dog, that tennis ball won't last long.

Red said...

You describe another example of how covid has changed our lives. I still haven't been back to our library. You have to make an appointment to go to the library for an hour.

ellen abbott said...

sounds like a good make work day. I much preferred to be busy back when I held actual jobs than be bored at work.

Edna B said...

I love that purple flower. I did not realize that the books had to be quarantined for five days. That would definitely make a dent in how many books get checked out. Sounds like your day was really busy. Enjoy today, hugs, Edna B.

Catalyst said...

Love your photo. So pretty. But I was wondering why you needed a hammer since you also got screws. Wouldn't a screwdriver have worked better? ;^/

gz said...

Beautiful colours.
It is good to have a constructive sort out!

Michael said...

The photo is beautiful! I am sending my ballot in this weekend!

37paddington said...

Your vote in in! In Florida? Oh I hope so.

The Padre said...

So Olga Girl Scores A Ball, You Find A Purple Flower, And The That Gorgeous Leaf - Banner Day Brother - Sending Positive Vibes

Cheers

Steve Reed said...

Spyridon: It's Greek to me! But thanks for the good wishes and same to you.

Briony: It's amazing how many of them we find. We must have about 20!

Mitchell: So what did he do with them all? Does he play golf? I've heard they can be resold.

Ms Moon: Yeah, we're getting them out there as best we can, but I am sad the kids can't come in and browse themselves.

Bug: I am continually surprised by how physical my library job can be. No one ever thinks of the muscle it takes to move all those books around!

Robin: Yeah, the quarantine process is a pain, especially when one kid turns in a book and another one is waiting for it -- I can't just give it to them!

Sharon: Hopefully time will smooth out the kinks? Olga can power through a tennis ball pretty quickly!

Red: It's crazy, isn't it?

Ellen: Oh, absolutely. A busy day goes so much faster.

Edna: Yeah, apparently three days is all it takes for the virus to die, but we're allowing for a margin of error. It's an ALA (American Library Association) guideline, as I understand it.

Catalyst: I had a screwdriver too! It's not a very exciting story, but basically some shelves were held in with screws and some on pegs that needed a hammer to install or remove.

GZ: It feels so much better to have those shelves orderly.

Michael: Excellent! Every vote counts! :)

37P: Yes! Florida! And Dave votes in Michigan.

Padre: It WAS a banner day. It's the little things, right? :)

Moving with Mitchell said...

He saved them all up in a bucket and, before we moved, gave them to our friend's 89-year-old father who still golfed several days a week.