Yesterday started leisurely enough. I picked one last handful of blackberries for my cereal, being careful to wade into the bushes only after I'd put on my long pants and long-sleeved shirt to thwart any insidious flower bugs. (My itchy arms, by the way, are slowly getting better, but it's been, what, three weeks?)
By the time I got out the door I was running a bit late for work, so I decided to take the tube instead of walking. Problem was, the tube wasn't running. Or it was, but with "severe delays." I got to West Hampstead station and there were about 200 people on the platform and no train in sight. So I texted my boss and said I was walking and I'd be a bit late. She didn't take me to task. After all, I can't control the tube.
It wound up being another incredibly busy day, mostly with re-shelving and numerous classes having library orientation. Some of you asked about covering books and what that entails. You know when you get a library book it often has a clear plastic film over the dust jacket, to protect it? Well, that's a book cover, and that's what I put on. Paperbacks get a different type of clear plastic that adheres to the cover. I'll take some photos the next time I cover books so you can see what I mean.
Anyway, the day sped by, and I walked home in the afternoon just in time to get rained on. We do need rain, so I am not complaining -- well, not too much -- but I got rained on Monday too. Why does it have to rain right at 4:45 p.m. when I'm walking home?
I got home damp, again, and Dave said, "Why didn't you take your umbrella?"
"Because if I had it would have been like the Mojave Desert out there and I'd have been carrying around a 40-pound umbrella for nothing," I said.
"Your umbrella weighs 40 pounds?" Dave said.
(I hate carrying anything as a rule. I will always opt to endure minor discomfort if it means I can leave things at home.)
"It's psychic weight," I said.
(Photo: A newsagent in Soho, on Saturday.)
Psychic weight is when you buy a small loaf of bread and by the time you've carried it home it feels like you bought out the bakery. Thank you for the upcoming covering information.
ReplyDeleteIt definitely greatly increases the actual weight of any carried item!
DeleteI think it's a law of physics that objects become heavier the further you carry them.
ReplyDeleteSounds good to me.
DeleteWe've had enough rain here, all that intense heat, too hot to breathe and now toooooo much rain!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure where you are, Chris (and I can't access your blog from work because of our web filter) but I wouldn't say we've had too much here. But we will probably get a lot more in coming months. Autumn tends to be a very damp time in London. I have to break out a dehumidifier!
DeleteI'm with you on the umbrella. Unless I am going somewhere and don't want to arrive wet, I never take an umbrella. To date, I've never melted in the rain on my way home and the clothes just go in the hamper, just like the ones I wore home in the sun the day before.
ReplyDeleteExactly -- rain isn't harmful. I'd rather just be damp.
DeleteI hate carrying things too.
ReplyDeleteDid I read that there was industrial action affecting the Tube yesterday?
It's coming this weekend, I hear -- Sunday, I believe, but lasting into next week.
DeleteI am surprised that Big Boss Woman did not invite you into her office for punishment.
ReplyDelete"Pants down! Bend over! Do not squeal like last time!"
THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! THWACK! (Delivered with the child's cricket bat that hangs behind her door)
"And do NOT be late again!"
Well THAT's a disturbing image.
DeleteI'm with you on the "psychic weight". In our house, Gregg is the sensible one who would ask why I didn't take an umbrella. Ah, marriage..!
ReplyDeleteIndeed!
Deletelol, I totally get that psychic weight thing.
ReplyDeleteJust can't be bothered.
DeleteIt’s a psychic weight. I love that. I, too, hate carrying extra things and never carry an umbrella, not even a little one in my bag. SG carries an umbrella if he knows there’s a chance of rain. His is one of those huge ones. I’m sure it weighs 40 pounds.
ReplyDeleteIf I carry a bag -- which I often don't -- I might put an umbrella in it, if rain is in the forecast. But I hate carrying bags too!
DeleteI feel you. Psychic weight indeed. I'll have to remember that answer:)
ReplyDeleteIt applies to a lot of things. Trump is also "psychic weight"!
DeleteUmbrellas. Glen and I got caught in a bad thunderstorm a few weeks back. We were in my car. "Do you have an umbrella in here?" he asked.
ReplyDelete"Of course not," I said.
Even my car cannot bear the psychic weight of an umbrella.
Ha! At least in Florida the downpours are often short-lived. It's easier to just sit in the car and wait for them to pass!
DeleteI am the exact same way. I hardly ever carry an umbrella, and there have been numerous times when I regretted not having one, but I have never learned my lesson!
ReplyDeleteOr maybe you have subconsciously concluded that it's not worth the trouble!
DeleteAh, the psychic weight of an umbrella. You remind me of Carlos there!
ReplyDeleteHa! I can't hold a candle to Carlos' witticisms. :)
DeleteThe newstand is so interesting. Great color, and so much to look at.
ReplyDeleteIt's a great shopfront. I should go back with my good camera and get a more formal picture.
DeleteMy neighbors have giant golf type umbrellas, but I think you can't see where you're going with them. I usually forget my umbrella or forget I own one and leave it behind when I set off home.
ReplyDeleteI used to keep a golf umbrella in the back seat of my car when I lived in Florida, and it was handy.
DeletePsychic weight. I get it. I hate having to carry and be responsible for a purse therefore my clothes must have pockets suitable for wallet, keys, phone, glasses though I do have a small pouch with a long strap I can put over my head and one shoulder in a pinch.
ReplyDeleteI've decided I'm never going to buy another shirt without a front pocket for my glasses.
DeleteI remember many hours covering books during my library life and was so glad when Brooklyn Library started buying processed books including covers from the jobber.
ReplyDeleteCheers
We do that sometimes, too. It depends on the book and its availability from our suppliers. I'm always overjoyed when books arrive already covered!
DeleteSteve, take it from me: Carry an umbrella; even when you know the wind will upturn it the moment you open it. Why? Because when you don't bother to take umbrella with you you can be as sure as hell and high water that it'll rain. If you do it won't rain. Magic.
ReplyDeleteU
That's exactly what drives me crazy about umbrellas! Why do I have to carry this thing that will prove useless? LOL!
DeleteI don't mind carrying an umbrella as I think it wards off rain. Usually if I have one with me, it does NOT rain but if I forget... you know. There are very small, light-weight umbrellas that would fit in a pocket of your backpack. Do you carry a backpack for your lunch, snacks, water bottle?
ReplyDeleteI don't. I sometimes carry a tote bag, but not frequently.
DeleteI carried my umbrella for just 3 days in London but even thought twice I got lightly rained on, I never put it up. It was just dead weight. I understand completely not carrying it with you.
ReplyDeleteAnd you were here during a very dry time, so it was especially useless. Oh well!
DeletePsychic weight! Sounds good to me!
ReplyDeleteRight?!
DeleteI rarely carry an umbrella.
ReplyDeleteThe last time I was in England it rained frequently, and I bought an umbrella that came with a long strap so I could sling the strap over my shoulder and carry the umbrella, hands free. It was brilliant and I've never found another umbrella with a strap.
A friend was recently caught in a downpour and got soaked to the skin. The rain got into his phone which was in his pocket and now he's had to order a new phone.
Now THAT sounds like a good idea -- the long strap. Maybe I could retrofit mine with a shoulder strap? I don't think I've ever been rained on so heavily that it's endangered my phone!
Delete"It's psychic weight" made me laugh - thanks for that :)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad. :)
DeleteI left a comment on your post yesterday, but it seems to have disappeared. Maybe Blogger removed it because I used the word "erotic". haha
ReplyDeleteI had to free it from spam. LOL
DeleteA psychic weight, LOL! I do carry an umbrella but like many Washingtonians, every jacket I have has a hood.
ReplyDeleteYeah, y'all know how to dress for light rain out there in the PNW.
DeleteThat shop looks very interesting. :-)
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it? I didn't go in but it looks intriguing. Right after I took the picture it started to drizzle, and the shopkeeper came out and removed the "Big Ben" top from the magnet rack and took it inside. (It was cardboard and I guess he didn't want it to get wet.)
DeleteMy phone is psychic weight. Unless I think I'll need it, I try to treat it like a landline. Otherwise, I'll be one of those folks always looking at their phone! I'm glad your work days are going quickly, as you count down!
ReplyDeletePhones are DEFINITELY psychic weight!
DeleteMurphys Law , No Umbrella , It Rains - Carry That Cumbersome Thing , Just Clouds
ReplyDeleteCheers
Exactly! So frustrating!
DeleteThe car seems to eat the umbrellas. There we two, now there is one. So far we're making do.
ReplyDeleteHa! It's probably fallen into a wheel well or some obscure crevice.
DeleteThe best umbrella I ever had was one of these with a shoulder strap you can carry diagonally across your body leaving your hands free. It lasted about a week. A whole week!
ReplyDeleteI've been attacked by what we call chiggers recently, tiny red garden mites, a pest here in early autumn especially when the lawns are dry and maybe they live in London gardens also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trombiculosis
We may have chiggers here, but that's not what affected me this summer on my arms. There were no visible bites, just a generalized redness and some minor swelling. Nothing obviously bite-like. I used to get chiggers in Florida and I KNOW what they're like!
DeleteStealing this phrase, "psychic weight." Well done, sir.
ReplyDeleteIt applies to a lot of things! LOL
DeleteOkay.... either you don't like me anymore or Blogger doesn't like words I'm using. My comment on yesterday's post AND my comment here earlier have both disappeared.
ReplyDeleteThey were in spam. Not sure why, unless your use of the word "erotic" tripped the filter, as you surmised!
DeleteHere in Oregon you're considered not an Oregonian if you carry an umbrella. It's considered a sign of being a tourist or a newcomer, while true Oregonians supposedly brave the elements. Even worse, they might think you're from California, which is another no-no in this state!
ReplyDeleteHa ha, I was going to make essentially the same comment, I'm in Portland. That's why Gortex was invented.
DeleteA lot of English people also just get out in the rain, as long as it's not coming down too hard. I really need to get a Gore-Tex jacket or something. I don't even own a rain jacket.
DeleteI am exactly the same when it comes to carrying things. I rather leave stuff at home unless I am really sure I'll need them. Instead of an umbrella, I much prefer a hooded raincoat or jacket; umbrellas have a tendency to be blown about and get very much in the way.
ReplyDeleteAaah, the days when I spent hours sitting at a desk across from my colleague in the library's basement, wrapping newly delivered books into plastic covering! We didn't have to cover every book, since we ordered many via a central service for libraries in our part of Germany that offerend them already covered, but of course that cost more and so we still ordered plenty of "bare" books from our local book shops and covered them ourselves.
Yeah, I should look for a good rain jacket. We sometimes order pre-covered books but not everything is available from those suppliers, so sometimes we have to resort to Amazon or a local book store and cover the book ourselves.
Delete