Strained Saturday

I'd say I'm still not 100%, but I just have so much trouble taking it easy when there is so much to be done.  First, I ran off and got the groceries. 

Then I decided I didn't really want to see Arthur Miller's Broken Glass today, but I could run up and get the ticket for later in the week and then take care of other errands.  This set off quite a chain reaction.  There wasn't much point in getting started before 12:30, since the box office wasn't open until 1.  So I started pulling together some books to sell.  I recently picked up a signed copy of Orhan Pamuk's The Museum of Innocence, so I could sell off the hardback version I already owned.  I had planned to sell Bissoondath's On the Eve of Uncertain Tomorrows, but when I opened it up, I saw there was a long inscription and signature, so I decided to keep that (even though it wasn't dedicated to me).  Finally, I had a book bag full of books and a few CDs I could part with.

It was a long wait for the bus (in the cold), so I wasn't in the best of moods.  Then I got to Bloor and Yonge only to find out that part of the subway was down and they were running replacement buses.  While it was only a relatively short stretch, it was very slow and very crowded and just unpleasant all the way around.  I think in the end, this added 40+ minutes to the trip up and back, which put me in a foul mood.  About the only good thing to come of it, is that I made substantial progress in Austen's Sense and Sensibility, and I'll probably finish that off tomorrow.

My mood worsened when I found out that the only discounted tickets were for seats with obstructed views.  Even the balcony seats were full price.  I thought that was uncalled for (and this put the show just a bit out of reach of what I thought was reasonable, which was the same reason I finally bailed on Wilson's Burn This).  I actually stomped out and went about halfway down the road when I decided that I was being a bit ridiculous, given that I had already invested close to an hour to get to the theatre box office, so I went back and bought a ticket for next Tues.  However, this is very likely the last time I come up to North York to see a play unless it is something I absolutely must see.

In some way, going back south seemed even worse than coming north, but I finally got back into the core.  I managed to sell off several of the books, and than ran over to Robarts.  I had just enough time to renew my alumni card, but then needed another 10 minutes or so to check something out at the Media Commons.  I was so close.  The same thing happened with Laidlaw Library, which also closed at 5.  No question had the TTC not shut down a bit chunk of the subway, I would have been able to complete all these tasks.  Indeed, it is possible I could have gotten it all done had I reversed the order.  Still, I was thoroughly pissed off.

I ran down to work, partly to drop off the ticket (so I didn't lose it) and also to pick up a few more books I was trying to sell.  I took them to a different BMV and managed to sell two more (though I picked up one book, Passing Ceremony by Helen Weinzweig, but passed on Basic Black with Pearls as I just pre-ordered the NYRB edition).  In the end I sold $25 worth of merchandise.  I had hoped to make it $30, but times are tough.  I actually have a fairly tall stack of CDs that I need to try to take to a store (it looks like the one I used to take them to has closed).  I guess that is something I can work on later in the week.  So it was a partially successful day, but it would have been much more productive if the TTC hadn't been so slow.  I'll try to ensure I don't have to rely on them tomorrow!