The Library Card

Yesterday on my way into the building where I work, I found a library card from Millbrook, N.Y., lying on the pavement. It had the initials "B.C." on the back. I figured this must be one of our students' hometown libraries, and they might still want their card to access things like e-books and other electronic resources.

I e-mailed all the students whose initials are "B.C.," and then I heard we were having a college fair on campus that day, with representatives from many American colleges on hand. Aha! I bet one of them dropped the card!

So then I went to the fair, talked to the organizers, tried to track down the card owner and had no luck. It was just impossible to tell whose it might be. They might represent a college near Millbrook (Marist or Vassar?) or they might just live there and commute 50 miles to another school. Who knows? The organizers said they'd make an announcement, and I left the card at the school security desk. It was still there at the end of the afternoon.

Oh well.

I know a library card isn't that big a deal but I enjoyed playing detective. I suspect everyone else was humoring me because I am, after all, a librarian and they didn't want to say, "Just forget it! It's not a big deal!"

Olga continues to perk up post-surgery. She wanted a walk yesterday morning in the rain, which she never does. I don't know what got into her. We walked our entire neighborhood loop and through the housing estate where she tormented her feline friend beneath the patio door.

I left work a bit early to take her to a follow-up vet appointment, and the vets seemed very happy with her appearance and her healing.

We've all heard about energy costs going up this year as a result of the war in Ukraine. That's been an ambiguous threat until yesterday, when I got an e-mail from our energy provider telling me our bills are going up to £179 a month, and although some of that is apparently offset by a government Energy Bills Support Scheme for the first several months, we're still looking at a £152 increase in electrical costs and a £535 increase for gas (!) for the year beginning Oct. 1.

I also got an e-mail from Thames Water reminding me that although we've had some rain, the hosepipe ban remains in effect. "Despite the ban and the rain, river levels are still well below average, and reservoirs are down by as much as 25% – the lowest level since 2003. We’ll need plenty more rain through the autumn and winter to help them recover," the company said. Fortunately we don't really need to water the garden much at this time of year, when things have stopped growing and are mostly dying back.

I found these stickers around Waterloo when I went to the theater a few nights ago. Cig Thief appears to be an artist with an Instagram page; Hartex is a clothing store with an Instagram page. Digo is a musician with an Instagram page.

Saul, on the other hand, is just a grump.