I thought Covid was scary!

 Library hours vary from day to day.  Thursdays they are open from 3:00-7:00.  Open is actually not the right word.  The staff is there, and they will get any books that are  on hold for you, at their branch.  Depending on the branch the method of actual delivery varies. Today we had to go to the Henderson branch to pick up a book, and then to the Transcona branch to pick up a second book.  We also had to return some books.  Returns go through a hole in the wall into a storage area where they are kept, untouched for 4 days. They are then registered as returned, sterilized, and put back in circulation.  The only way to get a book is to request it, online, and then wait until you get an e-mail telling you where it is available.  Sometimes the waiting list is so long that by the time you get the e-mail, you have forgotten that you ordered a book to be put on "hold" for you. Then you have to phone the branch where it is, and let them know when you will be coming.  They book it out in your name and have it ready at the appropriate time. Today, at Henderson, staff met me at the door, I gave them my name and they gave me the book.  Others were also waiting, but they hadn't phoned ahead, and I have no idea how long they were waiting for their book to be provided to them. Then we drove over to Transcona, through what was becoming rush hour traffic.  It has been quite awhile since we have been in traffic so dense and busy. Downright scary!  But we made it.  Then I had to go into the foyer, and put the books through the return slot, before going outside again, where there was a table set up, with my book waiting with my name on it. Again, there was a poor woman waiting for a book she hadn't called ahead about, outside in the cold. Then we drove home, taking a route we were quite unfamiliar with, as it had been built since we moved out of Transcona.  It ran along the other side of the railway tracks that had run behind our house.  I'm so glad we found this route.  Not only did it cut quite a bit of time off the trip, but was it relatively free of traffic, such as that we would have had to navigate, had we taken Regent.

This trip made me realize how small and insular we have made our life since retiring, not just since Covid. The traffic scared us both, and yet while it was busy, I don't think it was necessarily busier than what we used to get 5 days a week, when we were working.  This worries me, and yet, I don't know what to do about it.  Not much before the lockdown ends, but I'm going to have to come up with some sort of strategy to remedy this.

Our Kindle arrived to day. No instructions.  This evening, I plan to get onto The Geek Squad and see if they can help me.