(Not quite) back in the old routine!!

October seems to be fairly racing along. Here we are, two thirds of the way through the month, the weather’s definitely autumnal and many of the local small dogs have already got their winter coats on. I suppose that like the rest of us they have to show off their new winter fashions as soon as possible. As I said, time is rushing past.

And yet I’ve still not managed to get my life organised into what had become its routine last year, Circumstances keep combining to make my life more complicated than it needs to be. Some of it is my own fault but not all of it by any means.

Once our flurry of summer visitors was out of the way I started to harass the library for information about the book clubs I attended last year, one for books in Castilian and Galician and one for books in French. Eventually they phoned me to see if I was still interested, to which I replied, “Sí, claro, sign me up!” It is worth noting that they, the library people, phoned me up twice about this, got all the necessary details from me and said nothing about restrictions of any kind!! (More about this later.)

At the same time, or maybe a week or two earlier, I received a leaflet from the Asociación de Vecinos Fonte do Gallo, telling me about this year’s activities. So I went along to renew my membership and enrolled once again for yoga and this year for a painting class. All sorted out in plenty of time.

We had already planned to shoot off to the UK for a flying visit in early October but this was not going to be a problem. I had time, just, to attend the first meeting of all my activities, make myself known again and explain that I would miss a week or so and then be back.

It was then that things went slightly pear-shaped. First there was the torrential downpour that prevented me from getting to the library for the first week of the French book club. The following day I missed the first painting class because of a lunch with friends that went on rather longer than expected. Then we set off on our travels a day earlier than originally planned and the Castilian/Galician book club fell by the wayside as well.

To cap it all, when I was in the UK, Vigo library phoned me, yet again, not, as I had hoped, to tell me that the book I had reserved was now available, but to let me know I had been rumbled. It had taken several weeks for the results of their earlier phone calls to be processed and they had just found out that .... wait for it ... my name was on the list for TWO book clubs! Shock, horror!!

This year there is a rule that members can only attend ONE book club. That sounds sensible! A good way to encourage people to use the facilities to the full! No explanation was given. Is the library a victim of its own success? Are the book clubs SO over-subscribed that they have to limit membership? I am making enquiries and intend to find out why their rules are interfering with my social life.

So there it is; so far this year I have managed to attend a couple of sessions of yoga (yesterday morning’s was hi-jacked by negotiations for a Manchester-Vigo junior chess exchange) and one painting class yesterday evening. As the chess exchange is likely to monopolise a good deal on my time next week, I can see it being Christmas before I have my social life organised to my satisfaction once more!