Items added

Items added in March = 735

February = 782
January = 760
December = 852
November = 552
October = 699
September=986
August = 589
July = 501
June = 571
May = 635
April = 845

#@*(&$#(* BLOGGER!

So glad to know it's not just me having trouble.

Or is it!?!

No more blogging today--it's taken me most of an hour to post two memes.

Plus I managed to blow up my work database login (something I do fairly regularly). All in all, this is just not my week for technology.

List of rules

Word of the day: magniloquent \mag-NIL-uh-kwent\, adjective:

Lofty or grandiose in speech or expression; using a high-flown style of discourse; bombastic.

Quote(s) of the day: "Sometimes I think we're alone. Sometimes I think we're not. In either case, the thought is staggering." --R. Buckminster Fuller

Mood: Good
Listening to: Blowers, but I'll have the 'phones on later; I'm at the Reference Desk at 10 for an hour
Where am I? Work

This is what we are reduced to--rules for our library (only partially completed):

Conduct that is never acceptable; staff always expected to intervene:

Fighting
Yelling
Running
Pushing
Feet on
furniture
Sitting on tables
Blocking walkways (sitting on floor, backpacks etc.)
Eating except on lower level
Skateboarding on library property
Beverages by computer

When [i.e. at what point] do you stop [patrons who are]:

Sleeping

In new book section
Snoring loudly
Rearranging furniture to make bed
Sleeping on the floor

Loud conversation

Decibels
Location
Length of conversation
Treat adults same as children

Giggling

when loud or continual

Study rooms

Conversation may not be heard

Computer games—behavior or number
More than one person at computers
Cell phone use
Sound leaks from headphones
Public display of affection
Talking in the Quiet Room
Playing cards or other games
Rolling cigarettes

Yeah, we are the library police. Thank goodness I work in the back--I'd have so much more to gripe about if I were out in Patron-Land!

Going home.

Frustrated.

Best part of the day so far was zoomey Gmail.

But!

I'm going to the chiropractor now. Woo-hah. And maybe tomorrow OCLC will have not only found its shit but gotten it in a stack so we can use the bloody database!


There is a staff meeting tomorrow morning at which we are supposed to "be thinking about the patron behavior rules that we want to set up for ourselves so that we are all expecting the same thing and are all enforcing the same rules." Sounds fun, no? zzzz....

Petty

Word of the day: temporize \TEM-puh-ryz\, intransitive verb:

1. To be indecisive or evasive in order to gain time or delay action.
2. To comply with the time or occasion; to yield to prevailing opinion or circumstances.
3. To engage in discussions or negotiations so as to gain time (usually followed by 'with').
4. To come to terms (usually followed by 'with').

Quote(s) of the day:

"We do not know what we want and yet we are responsible for what we are - that is the fact." -- Jean-Paul Sartre

Mood: OK
Listening to: Blowers and gossip (see below)
Where am I? Work

Just came back from lunch.

The two senior librarians are klatching about another librarian. One of them--Crazy Cat Woman--has been on a tear for months about how the other librarian "never does anything." She has been making the rounds yet again about this of late. Now she's bending the ear of the Schedule Nazi about how the other librarian "needs more to do."

Oy. Shutten-sie up, folks!

CCW needs to get a frickin' life. The main reason this whole thing started is because the third librarian told her at election time that she shouldn't assume that their politics matched. And then proceeded to tune her out at every opportunity: headphones, reading at the desk when they are assigned together, etc. Which, admittedly, is rather passive-aggressive. Since they share an office, I can see why starting a verbal argument would be problematic.

Anyway. You know when you get a thought in your head and you can't stop thinking about it. Or a song (my song du jour is "Camelot" from the musical, because I was looking for the DVD this morning for someone: "...those are the legal laws..."). Normal people obssess on something like this for a day, maybe two, and then move on. By Saturday, I'm sure I won't be humming "Camelot" nor will I be worrying about our crank caller -- unless she calls again.......long story -- but CCW will continue to bend people's ears about how annoyed she is about ...blah blah blah blah....

******

On another annoying note, we have a guy in the Reference area today replacing bulbs in the "high" fixtures. He has to use a scaffold. Which beeps whenever he goes up or down. Which is quite annoying, since the Reference area is completely acoustically retarded. So patrons are cranky. And it's not very bright in that area either, since the whole circuit is turned off while he works.

It took him--no lie--2 hours to do one fixture this morning. There are approximately 15 of them to check.

And more in the Children's Room, but I'm not sure if they need attention.

******

And OCLC has crapped out yet again. Or still. Or whatever. So I'm at an impasse again.

That should go some distance toward explaining this v e r y - l o n g post.

******

On the up side of things, the weather is lovely and sunny. We are expected to have some actual Weather this afternoon and evening, called "strong storms" by weather.com, "severe" weather by the National Weather Service, and "tornado watch" by NPR while I was at lunch.

Library director's credit use suspended

[K.] is disciplined for six months for misusing a business card.

The director of the city's library system says she's "embarrassed and sorry" about using the system's business credit card for about $1,000 in personal charges, charges that prompted the board to suspend her privileges for six months.

Nobody is asking for [K.]'s resignation. The board chairman says trustees will "bring closure to the matter" when they meet next month to evaluate [K.]'s annual job performance. In fact, [the chairman] credits [K.] for boosting circulation and participation in library programs since her arrival in R_____ in June 2002.

[K.] said she hopes the issue won't damage the district's ability to pass a property tax referendum, an undertaking the board may launch as early as next year. Voters last approved a tax hike for the city's library system in 1984.

"I'm completely embarrassed and sorry," [K.] said. "I'm disappointed in myself that I put my integrity in question."

[K.] has reimbursed the library district for $1,084.14 in expenses she made dating back to April 2004 on the business credit card. She reimbursed about half of those expenses last year after the district's CFO ... noticed the inappropriate charges and brought the matter to [K.]'s attention.

[K.] made another series of personal charges on the credit card in February, which prompted [the CFO] to notify board members. [K.] reimbursed the district for those charges, totaling $418.87, last week.

In an interview with the [newpapper] on Thursday, [K.] provided a list of the personal expenses, which included gas, groceries, restaurant meals, movie tickets and more than $500 in clothes at Marshall Field's and Nordstrom's.

Board members suspended [K.]'s credit-card privileges for six months at a special meeting March 18. [K.] said she apologized to the nine-member board for the "lapse in judgment."

[K.] also said she promised the board to repay the tax-supported library $770 that the district spent on alcohol last October for an after-hours networking event for the R______ Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Trustees hired [K.] to replace [the former director], who resigned amid complaints of a brash management style. [K.] worked at libraries in Mich. and Colo. for five years before coming to R______, where she earns $81,900 a year.

The board laid off five custodians last October and hired two private firms to trim $120,000 a year from its $7 million budget. A new catalog system is saving the district $100,000 a year, [K.] said.

"She's done a very good job of moving the library forward, but she made a mistake," [the board chairman] said. "I'm not happy about it, but I've also got to look at the intent as well. I don't think there was any malicious intent that was perpetrated.

"The important thing to remember here is that this was handled appropriately. The CFO alerted the board, and the board took action."

[The chair of] the board's Financial Planning and Properties Committee has vowed to examine monthly library expenses to ensure credit-card abuse doesn't happen again.

"I'm extremely critical of her handling of financial matters," he said. "As the board's treasurer, I have to keep an eye on that."

As for a referendum, [K.] and the library board have visions of renovating the main downtown branch, building a neighborhood library to replace the ... branch on the city's west side and building a regional library [on the far northwest side].

The district will launch a campaign this summer to seek private donations. An upcoming feasibility study will help determine how much of a tax increase to seek.

"Even if we weren't going for a referendum, I'm particularly sorry about this because I take my role as a public servant very seriously," [K.] said.

{edited by siteowner}

Musica musica!

OK, I did this entry once and it didn't take, so I'm doing it again...grr.

I just remembered that there are thousands of radio stations available online. So I'm currently listening to Soukos Radio where they are playing "Malere" by Jules-Henri Malacquis. Since it's in French, I have no idea what he's talking about, but it's good music for working.

Back to the skinny Spanish books for kids and 7-piece wooden puzzles, many of which Amy's library already owns, oddly enough.

[The next song is "Digital" by Digital Express, containing a chorus that sounds a lot like they are singing 'oompah loompah oompah loompah.' Seriously.]

Homesick? Not really. ... And airplanes

I forgot to mention in the earlier post that I was introduced yesterday to a guy who lived in the Denver area for 21 years. We had a wonderful time discussing where he lived, where I lived, etc. The conversation was kind of comic because he kept saying things like "just off C-470 in Morrison" and I had to keep saying things like "when I lived there, there WAS no C-470! And Quincy isn't in Morrison."

Nice guy. Colorado clearly rubbed off on him. heh It is funny how street names and places from childhood bring back a smorgasbord of memories: Quincy, Sims, Hampden, Cinderella City, Red Rocks, drag racing, Colorado Speedway... I could tell a story about each of these... But I won't. Not right now.


What I really wanted to say here was how odd it is that I have so much airplane/airport stuff in my life. The first time I flew on an airplane, I was sixish. It was about 1970, before people did that, at least people of my socio-economic background.

I flew alone to visit my sister when I was 10. The next year I flew alone to stay for 5 weeks with another sister while my parents went overseas to visit yet another sister (how dumb was I that I chose to stay in the States!?).

I've probably flown somewhere almost every year of my life, except for those first six. I love flying, not as much as I was young and clueless, before I undersood hijacking and terrorism, but still a lot.

My brother worked at two different airports in their Air Rescue Fire Fighting units (that's what ARFF stands for at the airport...nothin' much to do with dogs). He sells fire trucks now, but through him I did get to see a lot of 'behind the scenes' things at airports that I wouldn't normally have seen.

We live near a small airport now. One of these days I'm going to screw up my courage and ask one of the pilots for a flight over our house. I've always wanted to take flying lessons.

And now I know at least two pilots. Neither of them sent me the following, but it's funny anyway. Happy flying to all those business- and other travelers.

Actual exchanges between pilots and control towers

Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!"
Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!"

**********************************************************************
Tower: "TWA 2341, for noise abatement turn right 45 Degrees."
TWA 2341: "Center, we are at 35,000 feet. How much noise can we make up here?"
Tower: "Sir, have you ever heard the noise a 747 makes when it hits a 727?" {this should make all those who don't fly much feel right comfy}

**********************************************************************
From an unknown aircraft waiting in a very long takeoff queue: "I'm f...ing bored!"
Ground Traffic Control: "Last aircraft transmitting, identify yourself immediately!"
Unknown aircraft: "I said I was f...ing bored, not f...ing stupid!" {if my brother were a pilot, this would be him}

**********************************************************************
O'Hare Approach Control to a 747: "United 329 heavy, your traffic is a Fokker, one o'clock, three miles, Eastbound."
United 329: "Approach, I've always wanted to say this...I've got the little Fokker in sight."

**********************************************************************
A student became lost during a solo cross-country flight. While attempting to locate the aircraft on radar, ATC asked, "What was your last known position?"
Student: "When I was number one for takeoff." {and this could be me if I ever tried to fly}

**********************************************************************
A DC-10 had come in a little hot and thus had an exceedingly long roll out after touching down.
San Jose Tower Noted: "American 751, make a hard right turn at the end of the runway, if you are able. If you are not able, take the Guadeloupe exit off Highway 101, make a right at the lights and return to the airport."

***********************************************************************
There's a story about the military pilot calling for a priority landing because his single-engine jet fighter was running "a bit peaked". Air Traffic Control told the fighter jock that he was number two, behind a B-52 that had one engine shut down.

"Ah," the fighter pilot remarked, "The dreaded seven-engine approach."

***********************************************************************
A Pan Am 727 flight, waiting for start clearance in Munich, overheard the following:
Lufthansa (in German): "Ground, what is our start clearance time?"
Ground (in English): "If you want an answer you must speak in English."
Lufthansa (in English): "I am a German, flying a German airplane, in Germany. Why must I speak English?"
Unknown voice from another plane (in a beautiful British accent): "Because you lost the bloody war!" {minus the accent, this would be my dad}

**********************************************************************
Tower: "Eastern 702, cleared for takeoff, contact Departure on frequency 124.7"
Eastern 702: "Tower, Eastern 702 switching to Departure. By the way,after we lifted off we saw some kind of dead animal on the far end of the runway."
Tower: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff behind Eastern 702, contact Departure on frequency 124.7. Did you copy that report from Eastern 702?"
BR Continental 635: "Continental 635, cleared for takeoff, roger; and yes, we copied Eastern... we've already notified our caterers."

************************************************************************
One day the pilot of a Cherokee 180 was told by the tower to hold short of the active runway while a DC-8 landed. The DC-8 landed, rolled out, turned around, and taxied back past the Cherokee. Some quick-witted comedian in the DC-8 crew got on the radio and said, "What a cute little plane. Did you make it all by yourself?"

The Cherokee pilot, not about to let the insult go by, came back with a real zinger: "I made it out of DC-8 parts. Another landing like yours and I'll have enough parts for another one." {this also sounds like my brother--he's not a big fan of pillots...}

*************************************************************************
The German air controllers at Frankfurt Airport are renowned as a short-tempered lot. They not only expect one to know one's gate parking location, but how to get there without any assistance from them. So it was with some amusement that we (a Pan Am 747) listened to the following exchange between Frankfurt ground control and a British Airways 747, call sign Speedbird 206.
Speedbird 206: "Frankfurt, Speedbird 206 clear of active runway."
Ground: "Speedbird 206. Taxi to gate Alpha One-Seven."
The BA 747 pulled onto the main taxiway and slowed to a stop.
Ground: "Speedbird, do you not know where you are going?"
Speedbird 206: "Stand by, Ground, I'm looking up our gate location now."
Ground (with quite arrogant impatience): "Speedbird 206, have you not been to Frankfurt before?"
Speedbird 206 (coolly): "Yes, twice in 1944, but it was dark, -- And I didn't land." {hi again, Dad}

*************************************************************************
While taxiing at London's Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727. An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming: "US Air 2771, where the hell are you going?! I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!"

Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically: "God! Now you've screwed everything up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour, and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?"

"Yes, ma'am," the humbled crew responded.

Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit out around Gatwick was definitely running high. Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone, asking: "Wasn't I married to you once?"

*************************************************************************

Does anyone else watch the show on the Travel Channel called Airport? It is absolutely a riot. There's a British version and now we've just found an American version, the first of which had a guy scamming the airline employee by saying he was a wounded Iraq vet. When she called his family to check something else, he turned out to be a wounded, fell-off-the-roof-of-his-house idjit.

Random post-Easter thoughts

Word of the day: contemn \kuhn-TEM\, transitive verb:

To regard or treat with disdain or contempt; to scorn; to despise.
{how unfortunate a word choice for a lovely day like today}

Quote(s) of the day:

"Talking with you is sort of the conversational equivalent of an out of body experience." --Bill Watterson
{but THIS is a perfect quote}

Mood: Good, but still sick
Listening to: Sparky in the shower. He's been in the bathroom above where I'm sitting for over 30 minutes. There is lots of thumping going on right now.
Where am I? Home

• Quotes from yesterday's sermon (loosely based around the Terry Shiavo case):
  
  • "Joy is not achievable, but it is receivable."
  • "...spiritual vegetative state .... persistent vegetative state of the soul..."
  • Ante-ing in our time just to stay in the game of life is not the way to live our lives.
  Great sermon!


• What could possible possess a man to tell his wife that she's boring--because she stays home with his kids?--and has no future aspirations when he is confronted with proof of his own wandering penis? And then effectively telling his wife that the woman in New Orleans is more interesting and her kid is more worthwhile than the two he helped create.
  Wait, I get it: he's NOT a man, he's an overgrown adolescent.


• Do you suppose that jellybeans and malted milk balls for breakfast (washed down with Diet Dr. Pepper) has any effect on my weight or health?
  Yeah. Me too. I'll go have a bagel now to make up for it.


• It's supposed to reach the 60s today! I can 'legally' wear a T-shirt and not be called ridiculous. Not that I have been called that, but....


• There is something in the house that's beeping every five minutes or so. Sparky and I can't figure out what it is. It's not any of the cordless phones, and it's the wrong sound for a smoke detector. It's going to make me nuts if I don't figure it out.


• Two nights spent in a recliner do not really count as sleep.


• J had a baby boy! He had to be dragged out, but was over 7 lbs. and 20 inches long. He is adorable (not that I've seen him, but I'm sure he is). He's NOT going to starve, she's NOT going to kill her mother (or any other adult relatives), and she IS going to develop amnesia about the past week. At least the bad parts. And she IS a fabulous mommy. Trust me. I know these things.


• I wonder what I'm going to do today? I really have no firm plans. Which is kind of nice but somehow it makes me anxious, too.

H A P P Y

E A S T E R ! ! !

This just in....

...JW is not the only person to steal library books. In fact, he's just small potatoes compared to this dude. [Unless, of course, JW is this dude.]

Thanks to librarian.net for linking to this story.

Sensing a theme...

Some of the books cataloged so far today, in order (I've omitted a couple of books on divorce and about two dozen Spanish-language kids' books):

Almost Paradise : the East Hampton murder of Ted Ammon
Sharing the dream : white males in multicultural America
Lucasville : the untold story of a prison uprising
Africa in history : themes and outlines
Tracker : hunting down serial killers
Nation of rebels : why counterculture became consumer culture
Serial killers : the method and madness of monsters
Into the buzzsaw : leading journalists expose the myth of a free press
Why boys don't talk--and why it matters
Lo que los ricos saben y nunca explican a nadie
Dino dung : the scoop on fossil feces
The new face of grandparenting : why parents need their own parents
African voices of the Atlantic slave trade : beyond the silence and the shame
Blood diamonds : tracing the deadly path of the world's most precious stones
Those who dare : real people, real courage ...and what we learn from them
Hank the Cowdog : the case of the falling sky
Somalia on five dollars a day : a soldier’s story
Killer clown : the John Wayne Gacy murders

I'm now moving on to graphic novels and more Spanish stuff for the kiddies. Anything to cheer up.

Easter Saturday

Word of the day: luculent \LOO-kyuh-luhnt\, adjective:

Clear; easily understood.
I've never heard this word! So I can say I learned something today.

Quote(s) of the day:

"It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English -- up to fifty words used in correct context -- no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese." -- Carl Sagan
"Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions." --G.K. Chesterton
Mood: Good
Listening to: Blowers and occasional questions re "where do we keep...?"
Where am I? Work

I'm wearing my Henry IV T-shirt today. Because, even though it snowed yesterday, it's spring dammit and I'm tired of wearing sweaters!

I made lovely succotash soup last night. Well, I thought it was lovely. Just before it was finished cooking, Sparky announced he didn't feel good: he was shivering (he was in a T-shirt yesterday, but that is fairly normal for him) and red in the face. Sure enough: the ear-thermometer read 99.7 and since it's usually at least 1.5 degrees low, that would be 101.

So, no Tenabrae service for us. Two Tylenol for Sparky. He ate a small bowl of soup and went directly to bed, at 7:45.

This morning he seemed fine, but Beasty says that after Sparky's shower, he said he felt dizzy.

So the medical marvel that is our family's life continues. I'm still sickish, although I definitely feel like I'm over the worst of this cold. Sparky rarely gets knocked out by illness, but this winter has been atrocious for him. And we all know about Beasty and his sinuses (he's nearly back to 100% now, btw).

But I am at work. Trying to make up for the time lost last week to OCLC's hardware issues.


In other depressing news, from a Mom standpoint: Sparky is now officially shopping in the "junior" department. {sniff}

[EDITED @ 11:30: Sparky is scamming us. When presented with the possibility of coming into town to do some Yu-Gi-Oh gaming, he suddenly became much more chipper, cleaned his room and did a rough draft of the gameboard he has to create over vacation. huh]


{Hi Kirk!}

Snow??!

Word of the day: pestiferous \pes-TIF-uh-ruhs\, adjective:

1. Bearing or bringing disease.
2. Infected with or contaminated by a pestilential disease.
3. Morally evil or dangerous to society; pernicious.
4. Bothersome; troublesome; annoying.

Quote(s) of the day:

"I daresay one profits more by the mistakes one makes off one's own bat than by doing the right thing on somebody else's advice." --W. Somerset Maugham

Mood: Okey-fine
Listening to: the ever-pestiferous (def. 4) Sparky, and the tribble he just found (yes, we have tribbles)
Where am I?
Home

It's snowing. I can't fucking believe it! Crap.

Yeah, so, the plan for today was Sam's Club, allergy shot, Easter clothes shopping, bake communion bread, update book blog.

Then I didn't sleep well again last night. Because I'm pestiferous in the first two definitions. So today's new plan is bake, update, possibly buy Easter clothes.

The baking is underway: Challah crowns.
The updating is done.
I'm trying gear myself up to go outside--in the SNOW!--and shop for springy clothes. With Sparky, for whom clothes shopping is akin to the inner circle of hell.

Or, I can stay home, take a nap, replay this week's The Amazing Race, and surf around the 'net all day.

Yep, another day of "Responsible, or Not?" my regular game-show.

Update

Remember how I mentioned this back in January?

Well, number 5 is still true, especially when combined will winter-dry skin.

Yaargh.

By the way...

...no baby news yet.

Which either means J's been in labor for two days now {YIPE}, or she's busy. Hah, it couldn't possibly be the latter, not with a new baby to look at!

Terse Day

Word of the day: copacetic \koh-puh-SET-ik\, adjective:

Very satisfactory; fine.

Quote(s) of the day:

"In America, through pressure of conformity, there is freedom of choice, but nothing to choose from." --Peter Ustinov (1921 - 2004)

Mood: Cranky (see below) but generally ok
Listening to: Blowers, and Sparky
Where am I? Work

OCLC is still wrecked. So no, things are NOT copacetic.

So, what am I going to do today, especially if they can't get it fixed?

Hmmm:

1. on the fly crap
2. weird problems
3. re-cuttering biographies
4. playing with the statistics stuff I learned yesterday at the class I went to
5. yawning...a lot {though I'm not sure I'm done with that}

[not necessarily in order]

Sparky is in the next cube, checking his blog, and giggling and talking to himself. Crack me up. ;-)

The conference with all his teachers went well, with one exception. In health class, he's got a 101.6% average going. Again, crack me up. The teacher for that class is a riot; he taught the kids how to be lawn sprinklers so they spent Monday doing the Sprinkler Dance.

OK. Time to accomplish something.

EDITED: OCLC just came up, at about 9:30 a.m. Yeesh! The good news is that I got other stuff done. [see above]

Grr...woof

Word of the day: lumpen \LUHM-puhn; LUM-puhn\, adjective:

1. Of or relating to dispossessed and displaced individuals, especially those who have lost social status.
2. Common; vulgar.

Quote(s) of the day:

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." --Krishnamurti

Mood: Lumpen, that's a good word...but I'm really just mushy-brained
Listening to: Blowers (faintly)
Where am I? Work

OCLC is down.

Of course, the most important stuff I have to do today involves bringing in records from OCLC.

Crap.

It's just been that kind of day. My ears are plugged and I can't stop coughing. I should present a lovely picture at parent-teacher conferences this afternoon.

In more positive news, I slept from 1:30 till 5 yesterday. The concert was...a middle school band concert (not awful, but then the expectations are low). Afterwards, we all came home and were asleep by 9:30 or 10.

Nope, OCLC is still crashed. I guess I should find something else to fritter away my time.

Did I mention the 'sick' thing?

I'm leaving work. I feel like a huge wuss, but I'm also really tired and logy. Nothing useful is getting done here, and I suspect much of what I have done will be returned later to fix.

I need a nap. The Beast will be home from the doctor in an hour, after his most recent post-op checkup, and he will probably take a nap, too. How exciting is my life!

Plus, I want to be able to stay awake at Sparky's band concert tonight. Well, maybe I don't really want to be awake, but I don't want to embarrass him by lurching over and drooling on someone I've never met, while the jazz band tortu ... er, plays Glenn Miller.

I'm sick. And tired (cuz tired always follows sick)

Word of the day: stygian (also Stygian) \STIJ-ee-uhn\, adjective:

1. Of or pertaining to the river Styx, the principal river of the underworld in Greek mythology; hence, hellish; infernal.
2. Dark and dismal.

Quote(s) of the day:

"The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at or repair." --Douglas Adams

Mood: Good
Listening to: Blowers, chit-chat
Where am I? Work

I spent most of the day yesterday convincing myself that it was just some kind of allergy-thing. But it's not: it's a cold. I guess my body has decided that it's safe for me to get sick now that The Beast's surgery is done and all the other drama of winter is (seems to be) passing.

And I had an epiphany about my mom this morning, in the shower where all epiphanies seem to happen for me. So hopefully that means I can deal with her a little better than before.

On the down-side, I've gotten virtually nothing done today since arriving at 8 a.m. I feel like I'm trying to run underwater, with weights on my legs. It's not helping that what is waiting to be cataloged are skinny Spanish (kids) books and continuations like The Million Dollar Directory.

Oh, well. I still somehow am feeling perkier.

I smelled wet, springy dirt in the air this morning: Spring Is Coming! The days are no longer stygian... heh

BABY

J's having her baby today!

Woohoo!

I love babies--especially when I don't have to take them home with me! heh heh

[In case anyone is wondering why I care, J has been my best friend in the world for {gasp} over 20 years. She is one-of-a-kind. And she's going to be a rockin' mom!!]

I'm declaring today Pray To the Goddess for an Easy Birth Day.

Light at the end?

Word of the day: furbelow \FUR-buh-low\, noun:

1. A pleated or gathered flounce on a woman's garment; a ruffle.
2. Something showy or superfluous; a bit of showy ornamentation.

Quote(s) of the day:

"There is scarcely anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse, and sell a little more cheaply. The person who buys on price alone is this man's lawful prey." -- John Ruskin

Mood: Pretty good
Listening to: The hum of the computer
Where am I? Home

I really like Mondays: I get lots of 'stuff' done, which at least starts the week well. And I always like Mondays after I work Sundays the best...yesterday was a true zoo at the library, as usual on a Sunday.

So far today, I've made bread (well, it's on its first rising anyway), updated the book blog, cleared out 400 emails from our inbox here at home (guess it's been awhile, eh?), and done dishes.

Next up, I need to create a shopping list, finish the bread, clear off my desk (ha ha ha), email my family, wrap a late shower gift from my sister to my niece, and unload the dishwasher.

The Beast is only working half-day today, his first day back since his surgery. And today is also his annual review. Last year he got totally screwed over on it, so he's not exactly thrilled. The upside of work for him right now is that his bonus check came--and a lovely one it was, too!--so he now feels free to start job-hunting.

Later on, I need to go in to church with the bread and some grape juice for Thursday night's communion and do attendance while I'm there. I'm three weeks behind...how quickly that happens! Sparky needs to take his PYPs gift to some church friends this afternoon, and I'm still looking for a sport-coat/suit jacket for him. He's just the wrong size: too big for boys' sizes, too small for the men's department. And since he'll only wear the thing twice, I'm too cheap to pay too much for it. Resale shops, ahoy!

So, yeah, I think there is a light at the end of this l-o-n-g winter tunnel. Our crocus and daffodils are sprouting and you can (almost) go outside for an extended period without a coat.

Weekend review: we watched "Matrix Revolutions." We've just discovered this series of movies (ok, we're old, all right?) and how really GOOD they are. But this one was absolutely hold-your-breath good, one I will probably watch over and over. Guess what The Beast is getting for Easter?! :-)

We also watched TheAnimal Planet's "Dragons" show last night. It was very interesting, but at the end, I had to tell Sparky that, although it looked like there actually was a discovery in Carpathia of a dragon and some humans, the show made that all up. He was crestfallen and I don't blame him: it was presented in a very "National Geographic" kind of way, sort of 'the latest amazing find in evolutionary biology!' Except, duh, no dragons have been found.... I sat there watching the show and picturing people running to libraries today asking for the original news reports on this discovery, and then accusing librarians of some kind of conspiracy to keep it quiet. Don't laugh: it's happened to me, when the whole Nostradamus thing was at its most feverish. Some guy told me that I was holding out on him because I couldn't find the exact prophecy that said (in clear terms) that the world was going to end in 2000.

ANYway. Time to get back to work.

End o' the day

Busy day. Not horrible busy, just busy.

Best reference question of the day: pictures of Russian boxcars ca. 1920
Best feeling of the day: when I figured out how to work the memory card someone brought in to save stuff on
Most time wasted: the last half hour: since I'm not getting paid anyway, I memed my brains out.
Accomplished: April's New Fiction list, and some putzy stuff. I was going to clean out my Outlook mailbox, but oh well I didn't.

"The library is now closed. We will reopen tomorrow morning at 9:00. Thank you and goodnight." (I kid you not...what a dork. You have to imagine a midwestern, nasal sound to it, to achieve the full effect.)

Happy weekend, all! I'm off to shelf-read the library, me and 20 of my closest library friends.

Friday

Word of the day: pecuniary \pih-KYOO-nee-air-ee\, adjective:

1. Relating to money; monetary.
2. Consisting of money.
3. Requiring payment of money.

Quote(s) of the day:

"Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary." --Robert Louis Stevenson (how odd)
Corollary: "Librarians, too, frequently seem to have no discernable real-world preparation...'how do you fix a copier jam?'" --The Cataloger

Mood: OK, so far
Listening to: ...blowers...
Where am I? Work

The only blogging I'm likely to do today is here. I'm on the floor (public areas) all day today. [I could end up on the floor, literally, as well, since I'm completely out of mental shape!]

This is good prep for the mayhem that will be Sunday afternoon: I work 1 to 4, open to close. Sundays at the library are nuts.

Morning at my house

Word of the day: cabal \kuh-BAHL; kuh-BAL\, noun:

1. A secret, conspiratorial association of plotters or intriguers whose purpose is usually to bring about an overturn especially in public affairs.
2. The schemes or plots of such an association.

intransitive verb: To form a cabal; to conspire; to intrigue; to plot.

Quote(s) of the day:

"Psychiatry enables us to correct our faults by confessing our parents' shortcomings." -- Laurence J. Peter

Mood: Good
Listening to: blowers, soon to be Random Girls Girls Girls (ty A)
Where am I? Work

This is the best way to start my day:

• Shower and dress.
• Leave the bedroom and hear Sparky in the shower, talking to himself.
• Stop and listen. Hear him say, "Noah? How long can you tread water?"
• Giggle all the way down to the kitchen.

If, for some reason, you have no idea why that's amusing, then a) you are woefully culturally ignorant, and/or b) you haven't a funny bone in your body.

Once I got to work, I got to hold a 1-year-old during our staff meeting.

I doubt my day will get better than that, but at least I have a new tunes mix....that should help.

Lyrics

Word of the day: fugacious \fyoo-GAY-shuhs\, adjective:

Lasting but a short time; fleeting.

Quote(s) of the day:

"Those who flee temptation generally leave a forwarding address." --Lane Olinghouse

Mood: Good
Listening to: Cowboy Junkies
Where am I? Work

Memories are just dead men making trouble / this memory is just a dead man making trouble.

I just like that line. Never thought of it this way.

Back to work.

World conquest

Giggle for the day: The Homosexual Agenda. With some modifications, this could easily become the Liberal Agenda... heh heh

Thanks for ranting...I needed this.

The best email subject line EVER!

"The end of migfg"

It could mean anything! (although it actually does mean something, to catalogers)


So...
...what's the weirdest you've come across lately? Real OR spammy.

Lookey-lookey!

I've been meaning to post about this new thing we've just started using at the Reference Desk. It's a collection of Internet reference links put together by a new company called Library Links.

They provide a customized Internet links directory for us. The really neat thing about this links collection is they have designed it so the links directory site will seamlessly fits with our library's existing website. In other words, it looks as if the directory is a proprietary part of our site. We got to specify how the directory looks (i.e. background, font type/color, header, etc...).

The links have been chosen, updated, and are continuously (continually?) checked by seasoned, current reference staff. They are useful to typical public library patrons and us librarians.

The really cool part is that the whole thing is searchable, but doesn't bring back junky hits like Google does. It also has a 'Featured Links' section which highlights interesting sites every week.

They only charge $200/yr for the service with a 60-day free trial.

I'm going to temporarily link to a library that uses it so you can play around with it.

So that's my library-related plug for the week. Can you tell I used it a lot today?? :-)

{Link closed May 16, 2005. You'll have to contact the vendor for more information.}

Hiatus

Word of the day: quotidian \kwoh-TID-ee-uhn\, adjective:

1. Occurring or returning daily; as, a quotidian fever.
2. Of an everyday character; ordinary; commonplace.

Quote(s) of the day:

"Things are only impossible until they're not." -- Jean-Luc Picard, 'Star Trek: The Next Generation'

Mood: Better than it has been lately
Listening to: C.M.E. mix: "Suds in the Bucket" (Sara Evans)
Where am I? Work, finally

Long week. L - O - N - G . And, though I feel better than I have in weeks, I know that's just temporary. Things will continue to happen, and life just keeps being complicated and generally annoying.

Thanks to those who have been sending positive energy this way. I don't know how much 'real' blogging I'll be doing; I'm feeling sort of empty, like a dry-socketed tooth.

I'm more likely to be meming to keep the brain going. But I'll be back here eventually.

(Johnnie and Annie, you have a meme over there addressed to you, btw.)

It's...

...Friday.

Surviving.

I'll be fine.

Yes, I will. I will.

A rare evening post

Tonight's Plan Was...

• Come home
• Find my mother-in-law cooking dinner
• Watch the Beast and Father of the Beast sleeping in front of the TV
• Check on Sparky's homework situation
• Eat all together
• Relax a little after m.i.l. and f.i.l. head back to hotel
• Hopefully the Beast would feel better

What Actually Happened Was...

• Came home
• Found Sparky watching TV in the basement
• Found the Beast watching TV in the living room
• Found no m.i.l. because she took f.i.l. to the hospital at 1:00
• Waited till 6 for word from her, then made a quick meal of spaghetti
• Pissed off the Beast
• Finished dinner just in time for m.i.l. to return, update us, eat, and leave for f.i.l.'s CPaP delivery
• The Beast feels worse

The most positive event of my evening so far is finally rediscovering where I "hid" The Beast's hospital discharge papers so I can see if we need to call the doctor or take him to the emergency room:

No fever, no gushing blood, no excruciating headache, no vision problems = no hospital visit for him. Just another trip through "The Matrix" on TV.

I really hate my life.

No. Really.

I hate my life.

Is there someone who would please shoot me? Tranqs, bullets, stun gun...whatever.
I just want it to stop.

Can someone explain...

...why we'd need 6 copies of this book? It is ostensibly 32 pages long, but I doubt there are more than 100 words.

Six.

Copies.

In paperback.

sigh

Who is she singing about??

Read these slow. It could be a table of contents for a modern novel.

But it's not.

I wished on the moon -- What a little moonlight can do -- Miss Brown to you -- If you were mine -- These 'n' that 'n' those -- You let me down -- Life begins when you're in love -- It's like reaching for the moon -- These foolish things (remind me of you) -- I cried for you -- Did I remember? -- Summertime -- Billie's blues -- A fine romance -- One, two, button your shoe -- Easy to love -- The way you look tonight -- Pennies from heaven.

That's life I guess -- I can't give you anything but love -- He ain't got rhythm -- This year's kisses -- Why was I born? -- I must have that man -- My last affair -- Moanin' low -- Let's call the whole thing off -- They can't take that away from me -- I'll get by (as long as I have you) -- Mean to me -- Foolin' myself -- Easy living -- I'll never be the same -- Without your love -- Who wants love? -- Trav'lin' all alone.

He's funny that way -- Nice work if you can get it -- Things are looking up -- My man -- Can't help lovin' dat man -- When you're smiling -- I can't believe that you're in love with me -- When a woman loves a man -- You go to my head -- I'm gonna lock my heart (and throw away the key) -- The very thought of you -- I can't get started -- I've got a date with a dream -- Long gone blues -- Some other spring -- Them there eyes -- Swing! Brother, swing! -- Night and day.

Gotta love Billie.

Tuesday at work

Word of the day: ambuscade \AM-buh-skayd; am-buh-SKAYD\, noun:

An ambush.

transitive verb:

To attack by surprise from a concealed place; to ambush.

Quote(s) of the day:

"Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are." --Bertolt Brecht

Mood: OK
Listening to: I'm about to start a new "Ode to" disc
Where am I? Work

I've been at work half an hour. I've sorted all the crap on my desk into apprpriate piles, thus providing access to my monitor, I've read about 1/3 of my emails, taken a call from a plugged-up/drugged-up Beast, and realized that I don't really want to be here.

But I don't really want to go home either.

Random Thoughts:

• Hospital waiting rooms look a lot like airports now. And that's not really a good thing. Except the chairs are better.
• Hospital cleaning solution is really awful-smelling. Why?
• Every single person at Sherman was really nice and helpful and friendly. How often can you say that about anyplace??
• My shoulder is killing me. Not that this is anything new, but it goes to show that stress is the reason for it.
• I'm tired all the time lately. I know it's because of some new meds I'm taking, but it really sucks. Not sure if the tradeoff is worth it.
• Go to my Monday Mambo and guess!
• I'll be posting Jenica's meme-y thing later this week. Not sure if I can do it today; it looks like I really should focus on work today. The best way to explain how I know this is that it's a good thing I don't have claustrophobia: there are piles of books everywhere
• Speaking of which, was anyone else cringing last night during The Amazing Race, watching books get man- (and woman-) handled??
• And why is claustrophobia not fear of Santa? ;-)

Right! Enough. To work. NOW!!

Under the knife

For anyone keeping score at home, The Beast currently looks as if he's had a massive nose-job. Yuck....kinda reinforces that I'm not at all interested in doing that for real.

Everything went fine and he's all drugged up appropriately.

Regularly scheduled programming will commence again soon.

If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed where to tune in your area for news and official information.

This is only a test.

Boy, is it Friday!

Word of the day: billet \BIL-it\, noun:

1. Lodging for soldiers.
2. An official order directing that a soldier be provided with lodging.
3. A position of employment; a job.

Quote(s) of the day:

A censor is a man who knows more than he thinks you ought to." –Granville Hicks

Mood: Good. Why, I don't know.
Listening to: Steve Earle
Where am I? Work

I'm supposed to work 9-5 today with an hour for lunch. I'm here at 8:00 because it's quiet. And it's a good thing I came in early, too: of the seven actual work hours I'm scheduled here, I have exactly 1 hour to catalog today.
9---Circ Desk
11--Ref Desk
(12-Lunch)
1---Ref Desk
2---Ref Desk
3---Ref Desk backup
4---Kids' room

Guess who's not here: The Schedule Nazi. Because she's never here Fridays. Because she comps herself every week. W h a t e v e r.

Consquently, the only blogging I expect I'll be doing is at the reflog.

On the other hand, this is the first thing I came across today, thanks to Shelly! Stick with it for awhile, too, or you'll miss part of the fun.

Have a good Friday.

Why I like Thursdays (continued)

My Bottom Shelf...
IS EMPTY!!
{much cheering throughout the land}

My stacks of projects...
are filed,or at least depleted to the point that they CAN be filed.
{more cheering}

Stuff I have to send out to be "properly" cataloged (done before we had access to OCLC)...
is waiting for me to bundle up tomorrow first thing.
{rah rah rah}

March New Books lists...
are finished and on display before the end of the first week of the month.
{sheer amazement there--people are fainting}

My list...
is crossed off for the week, except for Buffy. ( grr)
{shred shred shred}

I'm going home...
and watching Survivor tonight, after cooking a meal for the first time in 6 days.
{thud--that's the sound of a collective faint}

{{wave}} See you tomorrow!

Why I like Thursdays

Word of the day: gelid \JEL-id\, adjective:

Extremely cold; icy.

Quote(s) of the day:

"You have to know how to accept rejection and reject acceptance." –Ray Bradbury

Mood: Good
Listening to: Was listening to Uncle Kracker, but now it's just blowers
Where am I? Work

One of the famous centralized-library Gs is here. Here! Wow, we are honored.

Of course, what it means is that we are that much closer to having ebooks (audio), and therefore, that much closer to me having to figure out how to access these things. Ugh. No fun.

But G. is fun. He always is so calm and unaffected.

My cart is empty. I cleared it--except for the dreaded Bottom Shelf--yesterday. I'm down to about 10 kids books and 3 books-on-CD, plus all the weird stuff: some puzzles, a lot of (mostly Spanish) CDs, some book/tape (or CD) kits and a few books which aren't in OCLC yet. That means I should be able to do some original cataloging this afternoon, if I get my act together enough.

In other words, I get to do my job today! Shock!

More Nina

I'm Gonna Leave You (Rudy Stevenson)

I'm gonna leave you yes I'm gonna
I'm gonna leave you cos I wanna
And I'll go where people love me
And I'll stay there cos they love me

No more headaches no more heartbreaks
I'm gonna leave you where I met you
I'm gonna leave you whit your money
I want somebody to call me honey

I don't want gold rings
I wanna hear sweet things
I need affection and not protection
When you're teasing you should be squeezing

I'm gonna leave you where I met you
Yes I'm pulled up with your person
And I'm pulled up with your person
And I waited getting frustrated

I'm old fashioned I want my passion
So I'm leaving through I'm greiving
I'm gonna leave you where I met you

I'm gonna leave you
When you're teasing you should be squeezing
I'm gonna leave you

I'm gonna leave you cos I'm gonna
Yes I'm gonna leave you cos I wanna
And I'll go where people love me
And I'll stay there cos they love me

No more headaches no more heartbreaks
I'm gonna leave you where I met you
I'm gonna leave you wit' your money
I want somebody to call me honey

I don't want gold rings
I wanna hear sweet things
I need affection and not protection
When you're teasing you should be squeezing

I'm gonna leave you where I met you
Yes I'm pulled up with your person
And I'm pulled up with your person
And I waited getting frustrated

I'm old fashioned I want my passion
So I'm leaving through I'm greaving
I'm gonna leave you where I met you

Highlighted for a certain someone.

New title

...due out in May:

How to Lose Your Ass and Regain Your Life

Can't we keep both?? :-)

Music

Word of the day: fiat \FEE-uht; -at; -aht; FY-uht; -at\, noun:

1. An arbitrary or authoritative command or order.
2. Formal or official authorization or sanction.

Quote(s) of the day:

"He's simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed." --Saki

Mood: Good
Listening to: Nina Simone
Where am I? Work

Strange Fruit (Lewis Allan) sung by Nina

Seven trees
Bearin’ strange fruit
Blood on the leaves
And blood at the roots
Black bodies
Swinging in the southern breeze
Strange fruit hangin’
From the poplar trees
Pastoral scene
Of the gallant south
Them big bulging eyes
And the twisted mouth
Scent of magnolia
Clean and fresh
Then the sudden smell
Of burnin’ flesh
Here is a fruit
For the crows to pluck
For the rain to gather
For the wind to suck
For the sun to rot
For the leaves to drop
Here is
Strange and bitter crop

As singed by billie holiday

Southern trees bear strange fruit,
Blood on the leaves and blood at the root,
Black bodies swinging in the southern breeze,
Strange fruit hanging from the poplar trees.

Pastoral scene of the gallant south,
The bulging eyes and the twisted mouth,
Scent of magnolias, sweet and fresh,
Then the sudden smell of burning flesh.

Here is fruit for the crows to pluck,
For the rain to gather, for the wind to suck,
For the sun to rot, for the trees to drop,
Here is a strange and bitter cry.

Her voice. There is no word to describe it.
Great performance. Great song.

Lemmings

Yes I am. I first did this last year, but after all a year has gone by and perhaps I will find enlightenment this time through the exercise. Thank Amy for reminding me, and Jen!c@ for following up!

20 years ago, I:
1. was a junior in college. Life was good: I had a boyfriend, my classes weren't awful, I was getting good grades, I liked my roommate. I had just gotten back from China, the USSR, Switzerland, and Italy. I was running the campus radio station. My boyfriend was a football player. Yeah, life was VERY good.
2. was living in a dorm. It wasn't awful; I was used to it by then. As I said, my roommate and I got along great (she's now a children's librarian in Texas, which is one thing to do with an art and education background!).
3. what did I know? Everyone was fine. My brother was still married, my family was intact; the biggest drama was that my oldest niece Elizabeth was partying too much in high school.
4. technically still had a dog, Tippy, living at home with my parents, 1000 miles away. He was 11 and a little cranky. My boyfriend had hermit crabs in his dorm room. Do those count as pets? My sister, who lived nearest to the school I was at had a cat, and possibly a dog (Gypsy didn't last very long at their house...).
5. had a loft built by my dad. Why in the world did I sell that when I graduated?? It was a great loft! Otherwise, not a stick of furniture, but a lot of boxes.

15 years ago, I:
1. was working at a job I hated, in a community I wasn’t thrilled with, for Psycho-Boss from hell. I had determined that I was going to outlast her, however, no matter what. Because I was young and foolish.
2. was just about to find our first house. We were living in an upper flat near a very busy street about 4 blocks from a hospital (and very close to a great Italian restaurant).
3. my family (of origin) was getting along fairly well with one another.
4. was breeding zebra finches. Not on purpose: the first pair just had babies, and then those birds had babies….
5. had enough furniture to (barely) fill a full-size pickup truck.

10 years ago, I:
1. was delivering newspapers in the mornings. Over 100 of them. Every day. Brr. And yawn.
2. was living in a house I hated. We were poor—relatively speaking
3. was starting to recover from the deaths of my sister and dad, who had just died at the end of the last year. The whole family was reeling.
4. had a wonderful dog named Shady who really was, as Sparky told me yesterday, “The Best Dog in the World.”
5. had too much furniture for the house we lived in. Some of it nice, some of it ugly.

5 years ago, I:
1. was working part-time here, in the evenings and one day a week. Sparky was in daycare two days each week, so I was beginning to regain my sanity.
2. was still living in the same house. I was still obsessing over our bills.
3. was worrying about my mom’s health because it was beginning to become a real problem, and everyone was starting to drift apart a bit.
4. still had Shady, in spite of terrible allergies. She was now living exclusively outside. But she was still a wonderful dog, and Sparky’s best friend in the world.
5. had too much furniture, although less of the crap, and more nice stuff.

2 years ago, I:
1. had just switched to being the main cataloger on staff. I was trying to figure out who all the people in the library system were. I was trying to figure out how I could possibly work 25+ hours each week.
2. was still in the same house, but had finally gotten The Beast to start looking at building a new house. I think we’d even looked at some properties at this point.
3. had found out my sister Jean was diagnosed with Parkinson’s—the “bad kind”—and my mom had just had colon surgery for a small bit of cancer which hadn’t spread at all. My niece Katherine had moved to this area.
4. still had Shady, who at age 13 was really slowing down: nearly deaf, almost blind, arthritic, but still game to chase a tennis ball for hours.
5. had a decent-looking living room. The Beast also had installed a pseudo-wood floor in our bedroom and we’d painted the laundry room because we bought new appliances.

1 year ago, I:
1. was much more settled in my job, and chairing the cataloging committee for our consortia. (How did that happen?) I had met a wonderful new friend there, and generally was feeling like an actual grownup. I had started blogging about a month earlier. I was ready to kill Sparky’s teacher.
2. had MOVED! To a house we designed and built. I loved it.
3. spent my phone calls with my mom asking if I’d wakened her up with the phone and then to please repeat everything she said because she had a real mushy mouth. Oh, a stroke! My brother had gone mental. Marguerite, my niece, was getting married in the summer. We had seen my nephews James and Don and their dad, Dean, for the first time in about 6 years the previous Thanksgiving.
4. didn’t have a dog anymore. She died the summer before we moved. Sparky had received “two boy” guinea pigs for Christmas. One of them was pregnant by this time last year.
5. had just enough furniture to fit in all the rooms of the house with not too much left over. It only looks a little wrong here and there.

6 months ago, I:
1. still was liking my job, but I was no longer chairing the committee (or was I?). I was getting very compulsive about blogging, and had met one blog-friend while on vacation in July. Sparky was starting middle school.
2. had made it through a summer in the new place, which requires a lot more yardwork than any other place we’ve lived. But it has better air-conditioning inside, so that’s a pretty good trade.
3. thought Mom was improving: supposedly she was doing exercises, and she was taking anti-depressants and generally sounding better on the phone. Marguerite was married. Katherine was getting extremely serious about the guy she’d been dating, Alan.
4. still have guinea pigs. Sparky keeps asking about a dog.
5. have curtains on all the bedroom windows and in the office. Still nothing on the rest of the downstairs. The Beast is madly putting up drywall and moving electrical boxes in the basement. And the train set is back out down there. Sigh…

Yesterday, I:
1. didn’t have to come to work, so I address 60 wedding invitations for Katherine. We had a meeting for Sparky’s Challenge Corps last night here at the library. Pretty easy day.
2. had a very messy house, and I didn’t straighten anything up for Katherine's arrival. Well, I cleaned the bathroom, but that’s it!
3. was discouraged about my mom’s life/health, my sister Jean continues to get sicker, Marie's knees are in terrible shape, The Beast is having surgery next week, Sparky’s starting adolescence…. I don’t like my family life right now: it’s very complicated and messy and ugly.
4. was explaining to the pizza dude that those aren’t rabbits, they’re guinea pigs.
5. had no power first thing in the morning. Which sucked.

Today, I:
1. have been working. OK, or not. {Actually, I’ve crossed off 4 of the 6 things on my to-do list, so nyaah.} The Beast is out of town till tomorrow night. I got a haircut, and have to leave to pick up Sparky for his haircut in about 10 minutes. Then we’ll watch The Amazing Race tonight and eat leftovers for supper.
2. have to clean up the house so the cleaning lady can find the floors tomorrow.
3. continue to be discouraged about everything I mentioned above. I sure hope this surgery works for The Beast.
4. may not have to remind Sparky to clean the pigs’ cage. He’s getting better about remembering. Finally!
5. can’t wait to kick back in the recliner and relax tonight. And I really can’t wait for The Beast’s new chair to arrive.

Tomorrow, I:
1. will be at work. I have a chiropractor appointment in the afternoon, which is good because my back was killing me yesterday crouched over those dumb invites. I won’t be able to go to morning Bible Study, but I hope to do the evening one.
2. will have clean floors!
3. will continue to worry about everyone in my family. What choice do I have?
4. really must remember to make an appointment for the guinea pigs’ manicure (pedicure?)!
5. will commence looking for our new window blinds to be delivered. Maybe they’ll be installed before my sister arrives on March 12.

Marching

Word of the day: salubrious \suh-LOO-bree-us\, adjective:
Favorable to health; promoting health; healthful.
Quote(s) of the day:
"The price one pays for pursuing any profession or calling is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side." James Baldwin
“Suppose you were an idiot and suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.” Mark Twain
Mood: Good
Listening to: Blowers
Where am I? Work

Dither, dither, dither.

I’ve met someone who can dither better than me. Well, actually, I’ve known her for 33 years: she is my niece. We got about 100 invites done yesterday. Was she organized? Sorta. Was she focused? Nope. Is she Bridezilla? Nope, thank goodness. She’s just dithery. And they aren’t done yet.

An example of scintillating conversation:

Her: Uh-oh. We call him Phil, but shouldn’t we address the inside envelope to Phillip and Donna?
Me: One L or two?
Her: What??
Me: Is it spelled with one or two Ls?
Her: I don’t know.
Me: Then just write Phil and Donna on the envelope.
Her: What about the outside envelope?
Me: Same thing: Mr. and Mrs. Phil Whatever.
Her: But that’s not formal!
Me: Is he going to care? Is SHE going to care?? Will they even notice?
Her: No, probably not.
Me: [firmly] Phil.
Her: [meekly] OK.

This is after she insisted that we “can’t” write Mr. and Mrs. Phil and Donna Whatever because it’s against the rules. Fuck the rules. Plus, she knows a lot of veterinarians. Do you know how stupid it looks to write Mr. and Dr. Phil Whatever??

[Please, please, do not write me about what Miss Manners says about this issue. Or anyone else in the etiquette field. I love Miss Manners. I hate wedding invitations.]

I’m so glad I’m done with that phase of my life! Have I said that recently? Yes, probably too often.

But March is here. It's the Women's History Month, as I recall. Winter "officially" ends this month. We have crocus trying to sprout in the garden (under snow, of course). The night of winter is lightening. So there are reasons to rejoice.