The day did not start out particularly well. I slept in a bit late, and the paper was never delivered. It was on the late side when I called. It is worth noting that the local dispatcher wants me to call his direct number rather than have complaints filed against him, which would be fine except he is extremely difficult to talk to, both because of his attitude (of not wanting to be bothered) and his accent is completely impenetrable. He was very irritable that I hadn't called until 10 am (when his delivery guys had stopped working). I gave him my address and the near major intersection but then he kept saying something like which row, which makes no sense at all, unless he thinks I have a community mailbox. I waited an hour and the paper still didn't arrive, so I put in a formal complaint with the Star (and still didn't get the damn paper delivered). This means I'll have to deal with this route manager again. I really wish that I would get transferred to a different manager, as I really don't like dealing with him when anything goes wrong, and at some point I probably will just cancel my subscription as it is too much of a hassle. As it happens, I do get complimentary access to the digital version, so I'll pull up the comics so my kids can read them if they want. Anyway, fingers crossed that I get the paper tomorrow with no issues.
I mentioned already that I had picked up some books last week and have scheduled another pick up for Tuesday late afternoon. I'm hoping that some of the books my daughter requested show up soon. But this does mean that I need to start returning books as well. I had recently wrapped up (and reviewed!) Carrianne Leung's That Time I Loved You, so I decided I really ought to drop it off, getting some exercise in the process before the thunderstorm (that I assumed was on its way). While I was up on the Danforth, I ran into the Shoppers and saw there was a bit of a line-up at the friendly, neighbourhood cannabis store.
I then ducked into Circus Books. While basically all my favourite used book stores have closed (including two relatively recent entrants near UT), Circus Books isn't bad if on the small side for a used book store. I decided it probably might be a good idea to spend a bit of money to try to make sure that this store weathers the crisis. I ended up getting a copy of Robertson Davies's The Salterton Trilogy and then three books by Josef Skvorecky. While I assumed that I already had a copy of The Cowards, it turns out that I had a copy of The Divine Game instead. However, this copy is in a bit nicer condition, and I can put the other one out in the Little Free Library, so that's fine.
It still didn't rain in the afternoon, so I actually watered the plants and then hung out on the back deck reading. The weather was actually quite pleasant and this was a fairly relaxing part of the day. As there is no internet in this part of the yard, I listened to music on my iPod (as discussed in the previous post).
I managed to get through Camus's The Plague. I started this several months ago, right around the time that restrictions were coming in place. I think I would have finished it several weeks ago if I was still taking transit or, alternatively, if I was still allowed to go to the gym and work out (and read) at the stationary bikes. At any rate, I did enjoy the book while I was reading it, but didn't make it a huge priority, compared to all the other things I have been doing (including trying to more or less find e-book equivalents for my core book collection). While we are by no means out of the woods with Covid, things are slowly returning to a sort of normal, which seemed an appropriate time to get to the 5th section of The Plague where plague is brought under control and the quarantine is lifted. I'm fairly likely to bike tomorrow, and I'll try to hit UT first to drop this book off, then to go over to Bau-Xi Gallery, which has reopened and will be open tomorrow (even though the AGO is closed for one more week to get ready for its grand reopening). I'm super curious if the food court in Union Station is open and, if so, how many restaurants will actually be operating, particularly on a Sunday. Of all the food courts downtown, this is the one that will most likely reopen first (possibly even before the Eaton Centre). I know it is a small thing, but just being able to grab some food at a food court is something that I am looking forward to now...
I probably ought to try to get one or two reviews done, but there is no question my energy is flagging pretty seriously at this point, and I probably ought to just get to bed.
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