A Day at the Library

Believe it or not, I actually get out of the house from time to time. Today wife and I decided on an outing to the local library in our neighborhood. For one, its a beautiful building that matches Mission San Jose which is nearby. Plus I had a book ready to pick up.

I'd been mostly reading on my tablet when I do read. But my eyes have been fatiguing more lately and since I'm blogging now in addition to my regular work, I wanted to not look at screens for at least part of the day. So I've been trying to read paper books. In addition we have a super small house. We had to get rid of a ton of books before because we just don't have anywhere to put them.

My plan here is if I see a book I like, to look up my library and see if they have it or can get it. I put a hold on it there first. I'm also trying to save a bit of money here and keep from piling more things up that I use once and forget about. Plus with the library, I have 3 weeks so I'm more likely to push myself to read it on time.

First thing we did when we arrived, well me I got my library card and then got my hold book. I didn't know how the hold cart was arranged, so the librarian was nice enough to help me. Once I got that set, we found a table and I sat down and took out my laptop and finished doing my legal work for the day. I've mentioned this before, but for my work I write legal documents for disability cases. Outside firms contract it with us and pay me per document to complete them. Its not the sexiest work, but its helping someone and decent money for only needing to take a few hours a day to complete. I love I can do it from home, or the library for that matter.

Only trick was I have to use the hotspot on my phone since the library wi-fi isn't secure. No biggie there. I'm kind of fascinated by this building. I don't know how old it is, but it has an old look to it and I like old things (I'm old so that tracks). But it has a nice aesthetic to it and big tables we can spread stuff out on. The book I checked out was Extremely Online by Taylor Lorenz. It talks about pretty much the history and effect the internet has had on our society. Pretty interesting stuff I think.

While I'm typing this the library security guard scared the hell out of me. I tend to really zero in on what I'm doing and she came up behind me to tell me my card had fallen out of my pocket. I had no idea she was there, so when she talked I about jumped out of my skin. I'm sure that didn't look weird at all.

Its interesting being here with all the sights and sounds and people all around. Some guy was fussing when we came in about them not having the proper tax forms he needed. Then there was a woman and her little girl, the girl seemed like she hadn't been in a library before and her mom was showing her how things work. Then someone to my left is sitting at another table writing with headphones on.

This makes me think of times when I was younger I'd hang out at McDonalds and just people watch for hours. Wife and I when we were dating used to give people names and little back stories and lip sync whatever conversation they were having, but make up our own stuff for them to be saying to each other. Not the most grown up of things, but fun nonetheless.

I want to use the library more not just as a way to save money and space but to get us out of the house sometimes. Working from home, its easy to just sit on the couch with my laptop and watch TV and work intermittently. But going out and seeing things is better for my mental health and better creatively. When I'm stuck in the house for too long, I get depressed and/or anxious much easier. I don't like going to stores usually as that can be crowded and stressful.

The library is the perfect place for me. As a kid growing up in Indiana, our library was my refuge. Since I didn't fit in anywhere else, I would go there and spend hours, especially when the got their first computer. I don't even remember what it was other than it was DOS and ran on 5.25 inch floppy disks. At the time it was the most amazing machine I'd ever seen. When it wasn't my turn to use the computer, I'd look at books. Or sign out the electronic typewriter and type out crazy stories off the top of my head. Our library was a magical place.

I remember it was always a neat place, but then they renovated it. During renovations they needed to move all the books to a temporary building. Me and a bunch of other local kids signed up to help move things which we did. It was a group effort and we all got t-shirts saying we helped move the library.

When it was finished it was even more magical. It looked massive to me (I was maybe 12) and had rows and rows of more books, historical items on display, more computers, microfilm, all the bells and whistles. This library at Mission Branch is really nice too. I'm not as awestruck as I was as a kid, but its  beautiful building with lots of books and things to do. Our local Swiftie Group met at another branch nearby a few months ago for a Taylor Swift Crafting group. That was a lot of fun and I had intended on using it more then, but 2024 was a wild year I hope not to repeat.

So here I sit typing, wife is sitting across from me working on her legal work and I hear the librarian helping someone nearby. Its like this is the perfect place for me because I can get out of the house and be around people, but not too many people and folks have to mostly be quiet. Plus there are lots of books here. What more can I ask for? I have another book on hold that will likely arrive in a few days. Gives me a reason to stop back in, though I think we should work here at least 2 days a week just to break things up. just my thoughts.

Anyway, that's a day in my exciting life when I actually leave the house. Thank you for tagging along. Feel free to comment and subscribe, and maybe consider a paid sub or tip to help me keep the lights on. Until next time.