Up Early for Worm-Catching Purposes...Or Not.

So last year my chosen gym time was typically evenings. Mostly because I wasn't too busy outside of work. So I felt like I had more of a life, going to hang out with my gym friends (in other words, the regulars I would occasionally nod to on the ellipticals).

But things have changed. Evenings are now mostly consumed with schoolwork. And mulling over big library issues. And coming up with snappy retorts to people who think being a librarian isn't a legitimate profession. And such.

I found myself with no other choice. I had to become an early bird!

I set my alarm. I laid out my clothes. I packed my bag.

And in the wee hours of the morning, when all was dark and still, I crept out to my car and drove to the gym. As I drove, I wondered at all of the people on the road. Apparently things happen before 7am! Who knew?

After a few weeks of misery, I started getting used to popping out of bed at 5:30 or 6. Or, at least, getting up without getting angry.

And now it's kind of fun. It's super nice to work out first thing. I'm energized and feel good. And I don't have to go out later at 8pm after working all day and trying to stuff in some schoolwork.

I see the same people at the gym, dedicated people who are there every day without fail. I even pass people leaving the gym at 6am! The crazies!

I may not catch any worms up that early, but I have proved to myself that I can work hard and be consistent.

I'm Super Workout Librarian!

Take Refuge at Your Local Library

Well, I didn't lose power.

The library did, though, so two days off!

I was one of the lucky ones. People all over my area are still without electricity. The library opened again yesterday, and it was crazy. Here's how the day went.

9:00am...the library opens. I tweet out that our power is back on and we're open. Dead silence. We had a bunch of staff members there and no patrons.

10:00am...the library begins to fill up. Several people come in freezing cold from houses with no heat, and our director decides to put coffee out (oohh! coffee in the library!).

10:30am...bins from other libraries in the county arrive. A lot of bins. We start going through them and discharging material, but are constantly interrupted by more people. The circulation desk gets hidden by piles and piles of books, DVDs, and CDs.

11:00am...constant stream of people into the library. Coffee and cookies out. People exchanging stories of the storm - felled trees, roads closed, and of course no electricity.

12:00pm...I have fielded approximately 843 phone calls. "Hello, library, yes we're open...and we have coffee/heat/water/wi-fi!"

1:00pm...lunchtime! I'm exhausted, as people have been returning things all morning and everyone has questions. Busy, busy.

2:00pm...still chaos! I'm trying to run around and pull items off the shelves to send to other libraries for holds, and I'm climbing over people crouched next to every outlet. Cords are stretched across aisles, and everyone is charging phones and checking email.

2:30pm...should not have worn these boots today. Feet hurt! Saw some Halloween costumes, best one being a girl inside an American Girl doll box.

3:00pm...power goes out. Comes back on two seconds later. Computers never recover.

3:30pm...computer system still down. Apparently there was a surge when some other business in the area powered back up. Or a transformer down? Or something. Desperate calls to IT result in us climbing around in closets looking for black boxes to reset.

3:45pm...I create sloppy handwritten signs to fling all over the library to inform people that they are severely limited in what they can do today as our computer system is down. And guess what? It's not coming back up anytime soon.

4:00pm...patron informs me that the copier is out of toner. Which is impossible because we changed it that morning! I go back there and shake it all about to no avail. Fling out-of-order sign on top of it and charge back to the desk where people are lining up.

4:45pm...get excited because I get to leave in fifteen minutes!

5:00pm...still at work, trying to help with a few more things.

5:15pm...during a lull, I seize my chance and make a run for it!

Whew! What a day. I was very proud of my coworkers; we always work so well together and these rough days bring out the best in us. The children's librarian put together Halloween books and crafts for kids to occupy them while their parents were online. Our patrons were so appreciative of the warmth and coffee. And even when the computers went down, people were very understanding and we helped them as best we could.

It's always cool to see the sense of community when disaster strikes. How neat to see so many people coming to the library for help. Nice to feel like I was making a difference.

Crazy day, but I don't mind a little craziness once in a while.

The Perfect Frankenstorm

I don't care how cheesy "Frankenstorm" is. I love that name!

I also get excited when I hear a big storm is coming. Will there be snow? Will we lose electricity? Will we have to eat all the ice cream in the freezer before it melts?

So many questions.

Also excited about the potential of days off of work. There is nothing more exciting than an unexpected day off.

So... how about all those people running out to the store?

I went shopping on Saturday and it was totally crazy. On a scale of 1 to Black Friday, it was Christmas Eve. My sister works at a grocery store and she said all day people were crowding in and clearing the shelves of milk, bread, and batteries.

Batten down the hatches, as they say.

I don't know, I feel like if we lost electricity for a few days we'd still be able to survive. Even if we ran out of milk.

Although, if the world ends a couple months early and we never get electricity back and we have to fight for survival in a dark world with possibly zombies, maybe buying a couple extra gallons wouldn't be a bad idea.

Seriously, though, stay safe my readers! Not sure how disastrous it's going to get around my area (I have my doubts). Though for now I'm making fun of the nuts running each other over to load up on foodstuffs, I understand in places it could get pretty bad.

Beware Frankenstorm, Sandy, and zombies. And Happy Halloween! Bwahahahaha!

Blogging for Morons

So it's always a little funny when I'm checking books out to someone at the library and I find, hidden in the stack: Knitting for Dummies. Or, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Auto Repairs. These are intelligent people I'm checking these books out for! Library users!

I can appreciate what the creators of these books are trying to do. I've read some of these types of books before; they're helpful! Basic, easy-to-understand. Lots of pictures and definitions.

But dummies? Idiots? I prefer to not be insulted by the books I read.

So you think I can't read a regular book about flower arranging? I need the Complete Idiot's Guide? Because I'm what, a complete idiot?

Ouch. That hurts.

Seriously, for dummies? Why doesn't the book just sucker punch you in the stomach while it's at it?

Here's what I think. If a person is actually going out and informing him or herself on a subject, that's commendable. Yay for reading, etc. That's super smart of people to read more about things they don't understand. Or would like to learn. Why insult these people?

Sure these books have catchy titles. But who wants to be a dummy?

The best is this book:



Are. You. Kidding. Me. Seniors can't even use Computers for Dummies. It's Computers for Seniors for Dummies. As if seniors don't have enough trouble using computers! They have to get smacked upside the head with this one!

I think we need need a new series with less offensive titles.

Just sayin'.

A Gruesome Halloween

One time I carved a pumpkin.

That's right, one time.

It was a couple years ago. I thought it would be fun. My group of friends together and prepared to rip some pumpkin heads off.

Yes, it was gruesome.

I could almost hear the horror music movie inside of my head as I lifted my carving knife. Was that a faint scream?

By the end of it, we were tired, messy, and in need of police tape. Crime scene, anyone?

Wet newspaper was crumpled all over the floor, and a bunch of dull knives lay scattered about. We had pulled out juicy pulp and seeds, piling them up in soggy heaps.

I had cut and dug and carved and sliced.

My jack-o-lantern didn't even look that good. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to carve one of those guys? I can barely draw a smiley-face, let alone cut one out of a pumpkin.

Not sure if it was worth it. I surveyed the damage inflicted by my hands on an innocent pumpkin and thought, eh, not sure if I ever need to do that again.

And I haven't.

Neville's Receding Leaf-Line

I'm sure you've all been wondering how Neville is.

He's still losing leaves, but he hasn't lost his spirit. I thought I was going to have to chuck him, but he's hanging on.

I do still have to pick dead leaves off, but at least they're not all gone.

And, I may have figured out why he's so dejected.

A plant from a neighboring desk seems to be making some kind of move on him. Observe (and tilt your head to the side because I couldn't load the picture straight for some reason):



See, this other plant is, well, flourishing. It's a bit disheartening to me, so I can't even comprehend how difficult it must be for Neville. Here he is, trying to find his place in this world and hanging on by a thread most days, while this other plant actually appears to be coming over to brag about its good health.

I find its gloating to be rather disgusting, really. Here's a closer look:

As you can see, Trevor the frog pot is protecting Neville as best he can. But those leaves are creeping closer every day. This is a very real problem for Neville, who is having self-esteem issues even without having another plant's thriving leaves pushed into his face.

Notice how you can't even see Neville's leaves in this second picture. The few he has are right on top. Like a comb-over.

Frankly, I'm embarassed for him.

So, morale is low on my library desk. Any suggestions on improving Neville's mental health would be appreciated. Short of therapy, obviously. I'm in grad school; I can't afford a plant psychiatrist right now.

One Man's Trash is NOT the Library's Treasure

For some reason, people think that because we are a library, we will happily take all their junk off their hands.

Let me give you some background:
We have two big book sales a year.
We accept book (and DVD and CD) donations all throughout the year in preparation for these sales.
We are very clear on what we will and will not accept. (for example, no textbooks or reference books)

Sure, we take book donations. But we sell them in our book sale. Do you really think we want to sort through your wet, smelly, or useless material? I love the smell of books as much as the next person, but I do not simply hold onto books because they're books. They're not meant to last forever, people!

That is what the trash is for.

I've had people actually get mad at me for not taking ten-year-old textbooks.

Throw them away.

Just because we are a non-profit organization does not mean we will be weeping tears of gratitude while you try to pawn off stuff that still smells like old attic.

For a sarcastic person like myself, it takes a great deal of self-control to hold my tongue in some of these instances. I almost started laughing when someone tried to give me this pile of large photos someone took of random scenery. Is this a joke? Am I being filmed right now?

Apparently, people would rather feel like they're doing something useful with their junk or crummy books. They would rather take them to the library than stick them out with the trash.

Well, I'm sorry to let you down, now that you've dragged this whole carton of books that smell like cigarette smoke all the way to the library. But guess what?

You might have had trouble throwing that stuff away, but we certainly won't.