Fine with me

Did you ever have a task or errand that you just kept putting off and putting off...for 82 years?

This takes place in Nova Scotia, Canada, where someone returned a book that someone else borrowed in 1939 - the same year that Lily Tomlin and Francis Ford Coppola were born, for reference.

The book is "The Adventures of Doctor Dolittle" by Hugh Lofting, and what happened is, a homeowner found it in his attic and thought he'd better make sure it got back to where it once belonged.

The Cape Breton Regional Library was glad to see it come home.

Jordan Muscyscyn bought a 100-year-old house, and thought, "You know what this bathroom needs? A fan!" And so he cut a hole through the ceiling, into the attic, and there was a trove of old books stashed away long ago.

And Musycsyn said that the Dolittle book had library markings, so he figured it ought to go back. It even had the withdrawal card from 1939.

He thought it best to get it back because he "wouldn't want to know what the fine on an 82-year-old overdue book would be."

Well, it turns out that branch from which this book was borrowed burned down in 1959, so actually, keeping it safe in an attic saved the book from the fiery fate of  its fellow tomes.

Nicole MacGibbon of the Cape Breton Regional Library pulled out her calculator to tote up the fees and fines...

"Assuming a charge of 15 cents a day, if we had charged a late fee, it would have amounted to about $3,000," MacGibbon said.

She said they are trying to catch up with the girl who originally took the book out in 1939 - the year that Hitler invaded Poland, mind you - to find out how the book came to be hidden up in the attic.

If she's smart, she will admit to nothing.