How much does a letter weigh?

Today I went to the post office to buy some stamps. At home, I'm used to just swinging by the post office and picking up a book of twenty five stamps so that I can have them on hand. I didn't know what to expect here, but I figured it wouldn't be too complicated.

I was not prepared for the third degree from the man behind the counter. His words are in caps because that's what he sounded like. If you don't feel like reading, you can watch this. It's basically the same situation.

Can I buy stamps here? YES YOU CAN BUY STAMPS. IF THERE IS A QUEUE THEN YOU HAVE TO JOIN THE QUEUE BUT THERE IS NO QUEUE RIGHT NOW SO GO AHEAD. Okay... so... I'd like to buy some stamps please.

*At this point he gives me an exasperated look while shrugging his shoulders and holding his hands apart, and I start panicking because I don't know what else he could possibly need to know and I feel like an idiot, so I just kind of stare at him like, "I'm a foreigner. So are you. Can you maybe just tell me what to do?"*

WHAT ARE YOU SENDING? Um, just like a regular letter I guess? Or maybe a postcard or a Christmas card?

HOW MUCH DOES IT WEIGH? (What? How would I know that?) Well it would just be a piece of paper, so... HOW MUCH DOES IT WEIGH! I don't know! It's just a piece of paper! Like a regular letter! HOW MUCH DOES IT WEIGH!! TEN GRAMS? FORTY GRAMS? HOW MUCH?? Ten grams, I guess?

*Let me just pause here to point out that the last time I weighed anything in grams was in Mr. McLaughlin's science class at Reading-Fleming Middle School. That was seventeen years ago. Continue.*

WHERE ARE YOU SENDING? To the US. (That one was a fair question. I should have specified that it was international.) 

HOW MANY? How many? Um, five? (I actually wanted way more than five, but I wasn't prepared to say how many I wanted because I'm used to just buying a pack. I was also getting the vibe that it's not normal to buy a lot of stamps at once here, so I just said five and hoped that I didn't sound stupid.) 

FOUR POUNDS NINETY. For five stamps?? FOUR POUNDS NINETY! Okay.

Good grief.

Reading Week, or: It's not Christmas yet

It's Reading Week! No classes means a chance to catch up on all of the reading we're meant to be doing. For neurotics like me, it's basically a chance to spend a week panicking and feeling like all of my coursework is due RIGHT NOW. Hence this masterpiece of organization:

It's so beautiful. Check boxes. Colored tacks. I can't even. Gah. 

This afternoon I was meant to meet a friend at the British Library so that we could register for passes to use the reading rooms, but she wasn't feeling well and had to cancel. As a Very Responsible Student there were a few things I could have done at that point, as I was already out and had my laptop with me. These things were: 

(1) Continue on to the BL and register myself anyway

(2) Head to school and do some work in the library there

(3) Both 1 and 2. 

Instead, I went to the new Fortnum & Mason at St. Pancras station and played with their musical Christmas biscuit tins. Oh my goodness, y'all. This was the greatest thing that could possibly have happened. First of all, let me just say that I have been doing my best to keep the Christmas at bay until after Thanksgiving, but it is not easy when all the department stores are already decorated and there are puddings and mince pies and musical biscuit tins. 

I wasn't planning on indulging in Christmas today; I just thought I'd go for an innocent walk around St. Pancras station. Maybe pop into Paperchase and get some markers. But then F&M was there with their Christmas goods, and I was weak. I went in. 

There followed a brief moment of confusion when I read this:

Even though my brain knew better, for the flashiest of flashes, I thought, "Are these musical biscuits?" It made me think of one of my favorite scenes from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, when Paul, reading a jar that he found on Ms. Price's shelf, throws out this totally logical puzzler: "'Poisoned Dragon's Liver'... does that mean they poison the dragon, or just the liver?"  

This, however, was not quite as complicated, and it took me all of no seconds to realize that there was no way those biscuits were going to sing to me, and there must be another reason for the tin to read "Musical Christmas Biscuit Selection". I commenced further investigation... 

And lo! The tin itself plays music when you wind it up, and it is magical:

IMG 1664 from Molly Kernan on Vimeo.

If you listen very carefully, it's playing "The First Noel". There were also ones that played "Jingle Bells" and "We Wish You a Merry Christmas". I, of course, wound up each one to hear it play in its entirety, multiple times, to the delight of the man behind the counter. I'll bet he can't wait until I come back. :-)