Return from Missioning

I'm back. (I love living in a house rather than a mobile home.)

I'm exhausted. (I love sleeping in my own bed.)

I'm nowhere near as sore as I anticipated being. (Apparently, shelving on low shelves and weeding share the same muscle set.)

I'm clean. (Using a grody school locker-room for daily 3-minute showers that are either 120-plus degrees or 50-degrees--but never both mixed together!--does not promote good hygiene.)

I'm footsore. (I probably walked 5 miles every day, and/or stood for 6 hours every day, this week.)

I'm appreciative of the weirdest, smallest things. (Privacy while showering, small mosquitoes, having just one child--and a son!--of my own, bedroom windows more than 10" off the ground, not having to shout a color every time someone burps....)

Roll With It

When life is too much, roll with it, baby
Don't stop and lose your touch, oh no, baby
Hard times knocking on your door, I'll tell them you ain't there no more
Get on through it, roll with it, baby

Steve Winwood (not an artist I like, but, well, the lyrics fit)

So.

Beast is in Memphis on a last-hurrah business trip this week. He got a call this afternoon from his boss. Apparently the past week...? Specifically last Tuesday? Forget it ever happened.

As in "Nevermind."

As in they aren't laying him off after all.

Confused? Yep. Relieved? You betcha! Corporate America is weird.

OMFG

Sparky and I are working our way through Star Trek: The Next Generation. We've gotten about midway through Season Two to an episode called The Dauphin. One of the 'new life forms' that appears at the beginning is played by an actress called Paddi Edwards. Here's her photo:

Any of you who read me often enough probably remember me talking about someone I call CT.

Welcome to my world: this actress--in this getup and role--looks and acts a LOT like CT! Especially around the mouth, less so around her eyes. But if you've seen the ep...well, I'll just say that the resemblance tends to increase in certain ways over the course of things.

Consider me officially freaked out.

Weird Day

Yesterday was a strange day at work. Part--most?--of that strangeness can be attributed directed to the fact that, starting Monday, we will have two Directors for a week. There is a great deal of time being spent thinking about that, planning for the current Director's going-away party, thinking about what we need to find out from her before she's gone, tying up loose-ends of projects, etc. The staff is doing a special presentation and there was a lot of talk about that (when the boss wasn't in the room).

About midway through the day, I suddenly realized that everyone had received a 'script' for the party via email. Except, that is, me. It was inadvertent, I'm sure, but it explained the sort of low-level cluelessness I'd been experiencing all week. I knew something was percolating because people were talking about it out loud, but then they'd say something about squirrels (I kid you not) and I'd think, "What?"

Yes, part of our presentation involves squirrels.

Being aware enough to know that I was missing something is paranoia-inducing, especially since there are some other, actual, paranoia-inducing things going on at work right now as we prepare to start working for the first new Director the library has had since the early 1970s. I hasten to say that I know from prior experience that things could be MUCH MUCH worse. The last time I worked a 'regime change' was horror-inducing. This will be a breeze, no matter how angsty everyone gets!

But some other weird stuff was going on too. It is the end of the month so I was working up the cataloging stats. Weirdly, this is something I generally find very calming. I've only recently started doing this for the boss, so I still have to think through each and every step. When I got to the main stats document I was lost. Fortunately, she was nearby to ask, "Where do I put May??" Er, duh, Cat.: new budget year. New spreadsheet. New new new ... everything. I figured it out, after much faffing about. There was some intense praying that I didn't manage to delete last year's entire accounting document. In fact, I had to keep getting up and walking around to clear my head enough to ensure I wasn't jumping to conclusions before deleting/saving over docs.

[Realized as I typed this that I left out a piece--rats! Fortunately, it's a piece that I keep for my own joy, so it's not a big deal. The numbers are there; I'll just have to do it on Tuesday.]

Because of all the up-and-down, plus the Public Desk schedule, plus trying to tie of other projects including entering order records into the catalog all morning (that always makes my brain itch) and running the July Hot Books in Publishing list, I felt like I had a big case of ADD.

Did I mention the scheduled eyedrop breaks? Yeah. The eyes are better but they require constant maintenance and coddling. As, apparently, they will for the rest of my life. I will be single-handedly supporting the individually packaged Refresh et al. market. Absolutely nothing with a preservative can go in my eyes. And the Greek chorus shouts, "THANK GOD I am alive now, not 50 years ago when there was no understanding of this sort of thing, no options, and I would probably be legally blind by now."

And finally...while I was at the Reference Desk, a woman came up to me, seething with fury. She claimed that while she was away from her internet station briefly (to put money on her print account, 10 feet away), someone sat down at it and "deleted" the pages of work she was just about to print. So, yeah, I'd be furious too, but then she said something to the effect of "This is why I wish I carried a gun!"

Gulp. I suggested, strongly, that this would not solve the problem, and she should CERtainly not bring a gun to the library for this purpose.

As I got to thinking about it, I am pretty sure that she had to wait awhile for staff to put money on her account and the computer she was using timed out and shut down. The guy who came and sat down there had no way of knowing she had been using it at that point.

Eventually, I asked her if she had said anything to him. "No. I'm too angry and I might say something...." Yeah, something out of line maybe?! But on the other hand, there is a sudden stench of passive-aggressive here. I'm not either person's mom, and by the age she is she should be able to stand up for herself.

When she finally finished up she stopped at the desk and said, "That guy just left a few minutes ago. Maybe I can catch him in the parking lot and punch him." I reiterated that she shouldn't do this on library property. Now I'm wondering if I should have called the cops. Would I if she'd been a Big Scary Guy? I didn't because I rationalized that if she was too much of a wienie to talk to him, she was not likely to punch him. And had I really thought she might have a gun, I might have at least followed her to the parking lot to keep an eye on her.

That situation was exacerbated by the book I'm reading: Columbine. It's probably NOT the best book to read, as I did Thursday night, in bed before going to sleep. Definitely not if you have or know teenage kids, or have spent any quality time in a school recently.

However, it did bring about an epiphany of understanding about why a certain architectural feature at Sparky's school freaks me the fuck out. Every time I walk into the building, I shudder, and now I know why--it reminds me of a bit of the blueprint of the area in which most of the killing took place at Columbine. [The design is different enough that now that I know WHY it gives me the wobblies, I can start working on letting go of them.]

Bookending the day was a nice walk from and back to our favorite service station where I had left the Honda to have a lug nut replaced. Beast got a little carried away while fixing the brakes a couple of weeks ago. So I drove it to Bob's in the morning, left the keys, walked to work, and reversed the process at the end of the day. Both walks took place with perfect-in-every-way weather (temperature and humidity were moderate and the sun was shining), and because there was a train at the station on my way to pick up the car there was no traffic as I walked across the street, even though 5 minutes later I could barely drive out of the parking lot.

The capper to the weirdness, I think, is that Beast is the most relaxed I've seen him in months. Which is odd, considering his job situation and the uncertainty around that. On the other hand, the other shoe has dropped. And that, at least, is over.

I'm hoping for Less Weird today. Grocery shopping, weeding, dropping off Sparky's job apps, visiting an elderly friend, cleaning the kitchen and bathrooms.... Boring is fun. ;-)

Vagaries of cataloging

Legal: Myrmecophaga -- Juvenile literature.
NOT legal: Anteater -- Juvenile literature.

Legal: Killer whale -- Juvenile literature.
NOT legal: Orca -- Juvenile literature.

{eyeroll}

Ridiculous day

• So there was the lengthy non-service Customer Service call outlined earlier with FOX (grrrrrrrrr.......)



• I have also been trying to get our account cancelled with another Big Name Company (whose boilerplate claims to be "the world’s leading source of commercial information and insight on businesses." Fair enough, except they have priced themselves out of our budget. I called last month sometime to commence this process (bargaining them down on rates). After no rate quotes were forthcoming for three weeks, I called and left a message to cancel our account and send me a confirmation email/fax/snail mail. Two weeks, three calls, and an email (today), and we're finally set. At least it was cleared up before the budget year rolled over.



• CT has turned into a canker on the souls of the entire staff. It's gotten completely out of hand. I've heard at least three other people--besides me--ask, "Is it just me, or is she even worse than usual today/this week/lately?" No, it's not just you. Or you. Or you. With the director out of town this week, and all of us on our last nerve with CT, either someone is going to start WWIII or someone's going to have to tell her to back the hell off whatever is going on that's causing her constant harping, whining and complaining. Did I mention extreme unhelpfulness? Oh, yeah, that too: she will not help anyone out for even the shortest or easiest reasons...except when doing so would be the most useless 'help' possible.



• Sparky has a tux. That took an hour. Them 'r expensive suckers, too. sigh Oh, well, it's only money, right? Supporting the economy, right? ...we still need to figure out flowers. This looks like a $300 'date,' not counting her ticket(s), dress, or hair/nail appointments. I'm reverting back to my own high school point of view: What, precisely, is the point?



• Beast got a call from one of his customers today asking for help. The customer's company burned yesterday (?I think), and he's going to have to start over from scratch. What a huge bummer, though definitely not bad news for Beast's business. We both feel awful for the guy, though, and Beast is going to ask if there is anything we can do for the community, which apparently was pretty messed up by these wildfires.



• An hour or so ago I finally got around to checking Facebook, only to find that a blogger/Fb'er/Twit friend of mine found out from her son today that his speech teacher is a complete moron. Or as a commenter wrote, concisely: "Starts with a C. Rhymes with Bundt Cake." One does not make comments about who 'should be' allowed to parent. Apparently, in spite of being a Christian Speech Teacher, she never heard the one about casting the first stone, or even the one about living in a glass house. Ppl r toopud.

And now, I'm mixing a drink for myself. It's not even a full moon!! What is going on around here??

Edited @ 9:45 p.m. to add that the first Tweet I read this morning was this one: "New idea to save libraries. Be an opinionated, trusted "filter." Hire librarians with taste. Buy only excellent books. Guarantee quality." Yeah. That's radical and new. And utopian and impossible due to tax support. Do you know how many good friends I have who think The Shack is the Best Book Evah?!

Should have known from the moment I read that how the day was going to go.

Quite quiet

We're watching Dirty Jobs. Mike is reaming out the sewer in Rifle, CO. This is near where my mom and sister live. Another town nearby is Silt. Imagine living in those towns! Yuck.

I'm as caught up on blogs, Fb and Twitter as I wish to be tonight and will soon be going upstairs for a bath. And then bed, early, so I can get up early and face Bible Study at 6:30 tomorrow. Yes. That's a.m.

Sparky is on his laptop watching (and, with earbuds, listening to) videos, having worked a bit on his Spring Break homework. His ACEN pass arrived in the mail today so he's pretty stoked, and that reminded me that he "needs" a fishnet/mesh shirt for his costume for that. [I think that's the hairstyle he's going for on a regular basis, except with his natural auburn hair color, and for ACEN, pinky-red falls/inserts. My kid = weird.]

Beast is downloading TurboTax. It sounds like the CD-ROM is sucking and grinding data right into the hardware of his laptop. Then it's quiet for a bit. Then it starts grinding away again. Weird.

My mom is stable. I didn't mention last week that our oldest employee at work (she's 96, I think) fell at home and hit her head. Sparky and I stopped by to see her at the hospital today. She's in remarkable shape, really, but not really herself again. Apparently she is MUCH improved since Friday, however.

All I did at work today was email, unload my desk and triage everything piled on it, download orders/input records/place holds, and cover two public desks for an hour each. It was terrifically busy. If anyone thinks the economy isn't affecting people, come on in the library. It's constant now. That's good, right?

The boys are going to Ohio for a couple of days later this week for some paperwork and stuff regarding FIL's belongings there. It'll be me and the guinea pigs. That will be quiet.

I think that's all the news that's fit to print, or worth blogging, or whatever the new cliché is.

And with that, and following close at Sparky's heels, I'm headed up to the sleeping storey where I will take a long, hot bath and go to bed. Yawn.

Four hours of work

(a.k.a. what is NOT going on my weekly report to the boss about my time usage)

• Kicked two feet of snow out of the way of the distance (outdoor) bookdrop so that I could open and empty it. They didn't plow the lane to drive up to it, and piled snow in front of the door. Idiots. I hate the bookdrop more than any other part of my job. And what did I retrieve? Three of our items and 10 donated trashy paperbacks.
• Found out that the labels we use to indicate that an item is new had a typo. The whole batch is ruined. Nice.
• Realized I forgot my lunch at home.
• Got drawn into a rant by CT. Sigh.
• Was attacked by my eye. Called doctor for a referral to my eye doctor. Called my eye doctor for appointment.
• Ate a Tootsie Roll
• Another staff member asked me about an email I forwarded to her yesterday about filling holds from other libraries. I explained: politics. Turf. Grr.
• Looked for new labels to replace the stupid ones. Considered redesigning. Decided against it.
• General email stuff.
• Ranted to Beast via Meebo about my eye and other stuff.
• Realized my eyes feel just fine again right now (well, right then).
• Redid most of a document I worked on last week because I'd done it all backwards. My boss checked it over and was still confused, because I'd REDONE part of it backwards. But the colors are pretty. (and it's fixed now)
• Talked to Box Lady about Large Print books.
• Forwarded document to our system tech, and waited for the stupid questions to ensue.
• Cataloged 8 DVDs. One of them is The Jazz Singer. It arrived with about 15 postcard-type things, 4 or 5 booklets that reprint a bunch of period reviews and such, and a reproduction of a telegram. In other words, a bunch of JUNK. Grumbled to people about that.
• Ate another Tootsie Roll.
• Put in Rx eyedrops. Sting, a little itchiness, but generally still fine.
• Received reply from tech. Only one really retarded question. Since he cc'd to my boss, she came down from her office and dared me to call him a dork in my reply. I said I would. We answered his other questions, and I (naturally) explained the obvious to him without using the words "dork" "asshat" "blind" "fool" or "kill." Am quite proud of myself, and I'm getting an AWESOME-funny new password so it's ok. So far he hasn't answered me back. But he will. I've complete faith in him. [Update 3:20--yup, I was right, and now my blood pressure is sky high. He is a fucktard.]
• Ate another Tootsie Roll (so much for that "not eating junk" thing...)
• Discussed the budget cuts that must be made this year, and the rest of the impact the dismal economy is causing. Havoc, much? Oh, it's only just begun, my friends.
• Ranted briefly at Beast some more.
• General email. One of the lists I'm on is having a long discussion under the subject "turkey parthenogenesis." Cracked up. Catalogers are weird.
• Realized I haven't eaten lunch.
• Realized I'm cold. My hands are ice blocks as I type this. Quite unusual--the library is normally warm in the winter.

I'm going to lunch. Maybe I'll catalog 8 more things this afternoon. That'll help. I've got about 250 things to go before I'm all caught up. ha ha ha ha ha {choke}

From Thursday a.m.

Beast and I had a lovely chat Thursday morning. He was at work, I was "getting ready to leave for work" (i.e., eating breakfast [i.e. goofing around on the computer before RACING through the rest of the preparations])

[07:20] Psalm23: I just discovered that they now make pancakes in a spray can
[07:20] Psalm23: OK, just the batter (and there's music on that site--beware)
[07:22] Beast: great - instead of mainlining whipped cream, you can do pancake batter instead.
[07:22] Psalm23: but it's ORGANIC
[07:22] Psalm23: rofl
[07:23] Beast: available at [local chain], meijer and [another local chain]!
[07:23] Psalm23: "dicalcium phosphate" don't we grow that around here?
[07:23] Beast: yeah, i saw that. organic compressed crap in a can. the CANS, so organic, too.
[07:24] Psalm23: yes
[07:24] Psalm23: very eco friendly
[07:24] Psalm23: (I may buy one just as a giggle)
[07:25] Beast: yeah - and after making fun of it, we'll probly like it.....
[07:25] Psalm23: we can make fun of liking it!
[07:25] Psalm23: Oooh, I'll take it to Amy's on Saturday!
[07:25] Beast: you're doing organic breakfast?
[07:26] Psalm23: who says we can't have pancakes or waffles for lunch??
[07:27] Beast: it WOULD save on the mess of mixing the batter
[07:27] Beast: how much does a can cost, do u know?
[07:27] Psalm23: no dishes to wash
[07:27] Psalm23: just eat off the griddle!
[07:27] Psalm23: I'd guess at about $5
[07:28] Beast: just the opposite of sticking your tongue on a frozen pole, eh?
[07:28] Psalm23: oooh, the can is RECYCLABLE!!!
[07:28] Psalm23: I'm not sure where to find it in the store, though.
[07:28] Psalm23: Near the milk/eggs?
[07:28] Psalm23: Near the Bisquick?
[07:29] Beast: in the refrigerator section....
[07:30] Psalm23: ok, I really should go finish getting ready for work
[07:30] Beast: Banana and Nutella Pancakes with Hot Buttered Rum Sauce
[07:30] Psalm23: oooooh, lovely
[07:30] Beast: recipe on the web site
[07:30] Psalm23: see, now THAT's not breakfast
[07:30] Psalm23: and kinda messy, too
[07:31] Beast: Christmas Tree – You can make a simple Christmas tree shaped pancake – add M&Ms for the ornaments and a Hershey's Kiss star.
[07:31] Psalm23: CREAM CHEESE FROSTING!!!!!
[07:31] Beast: copied off the site, again
[07:32] Psalm23: yeah, I'm there [on the site] too
[07:32] Beast: snowy pancakes....
[07:32] Psalm23: I'm totally LMAO
[07:32] Beast: probly developed by some schmuck in [the town where we live]
[07:32] Psalm23: Nope: San Francisco I googled their phone
[07:33] Psalm23: AIMED at [the town where we live], no doubt
[07:33] Psalm23: I will be looking for these......
[07:33] Beast: "I didn't have any mixing bowls left, so I opened up an old can of WD-40, stuffed some batter inside, and voila!"
[07:33] Beast: (inventor on Martha Stewart Live)
[07:34] Psalm23: oh, it totally gets better
[07:34] Psalm23: The phone number used to belong to a company called Periodic Tables: a cabinetry business [helps here to know that Beast is a chemist]
[07:35] Beast: lmao
[07:35] Psalm23: They apparently diversified!!
[07:35] Beast: i LIKE that
[07:35] Beast: well, you have to use the tables for SOMETHING
[07:35] Psalm23: rofl

We crack ourselves up. The rest of the joke, however, is that I bought a couple of cans and took them to Amy's yesterday...and the pancakes aren't half bad.

I'm (sorta) back

Right, so this week was a totally weird week. Beast left Tuesday, having celebrated his early birthday Monday night. I worked Wednesday, but only about 6 hours because of the homework thing we're doing at church after school. Because it was also the evening of our church's Thanksgiving meal, the youth group and I were roped into helping with some basic setup (salt & pepper and water on each table, etc.). And, the person in charge of cleanup called me Tuesday to ask if we (the youth group) could possibly help out at the end as well since her kneecap is fubar.

Sparky and I got home at 7:45, over two hours after the meal started. That's pretty good actually, and we were not the last people to leave (shocking!). Most of the dishes were done, and the work that still needed doing was dealing with leftovers and putting away clean pots & pans.

Thursday I woke up with the alarm, knowing I had a staff meeting at work, Sparky to drop off for a pre-school meeting, and books to pick up at the book drop near my house. By the time we got in the car, I realized that the early morning "Ick" I had been feeling wasn't likely to be going anywhere. Upon arriving at work, I knew that the further I strayed from a bathroom, the worse my life would be. I came home after the meeting.

And slept. Solidly for 5 hours. Off and on while the TV was on the rest of the day, even after Sparky came home. I went to bed before he did. Beast texted me an hour later (fortunately, I brought my cell into the bedroom with me), and we talked for a few minutes. He's coming home today, though his flight doesn't land until midnight.

Went to the store this morning for FIL and dropped the stuff at his apartment after a lengthy and informative discussion with the pharmacist about something on FIL's list. Driving home, I realized that I need to sleep some more, for real. Not that I have, yet. But that's the plan for the next hour or two, until Sparky gets home from school.

I don't feel like I've accomplished anything at all this week. However, I did end up getting my siblings' and mom's Christmas presents ordered and sent, so that's something, right?

I get to work tomorrow. Yuck, mostly because I'm on desk duty for three hours, I think. I hope I feel better...or I'll be under the desk drooling on the floor for part of that time.

We are officially DORKS

Mood: OK, tired
Hair: very warm on my neck
Eyes: they are behaving today
Listening to: see remainder of entry.

Dorks, because Beast is clicking on animals (etc.) on Bzzzpeek and we are making fun of everyone. I recommend the horse, but you probably should work up to it. Start with cats, chickens, and ambulances.

OMG--some of them are just...weird. Apparently, owls are terrifying in India, and the person doing the Chinese horse was actually doing sheep through a mechanical duck call and adding a touch of frog. No horse in earshot.

Donkeys are funny wherever you go.

And Croatian toads have lengthy conversation!

---

Urban Word:

Early Nerd Special: Midnight showing on the day of release of a highly-anticipated film [or book], typically of the science-fiction/fantasy genre.

Sparky was anxious to get his copy of Brisingr, but not anxious enough to pull an Early Nerd Special.

In a rut much?

Mood: Good
Hair: Clean, curled, and actually looking good
Eyes: Pretty ok so far
Listening to: Angelique Kidjo's "Agossi" just ended and Solas' "Nil Na La" just began (which was then followed by Konono No.1's "Lufuala Ndonga" and UB40's "Red, Red Wine" and [omg omg omg LOVE this song!] Howard Jones' "I Must Go"). AWESOME MIX!!

I keep eating badly. That's one very deep rut.

But the biggest one is that when I get to work I have to open the windows on my PC in precisely the right order or it totally messes up my workflow. Reading left to right across the Start Bar:

- IE : Meebo (shrunk and open on the left side of my screen at (almost) all times)
- A second IE window with the following tabs (in this order): Yahoo!Music, the Launchcast player window, Connexion (and right now, Blogger, but usually our catalog)
- Word : My task list for the week, which I email to my boss on Tuesday morning before creating a new one
- Millennium (two windows: Java and the actual database)
- Notepad : for random stuff to be handled as I find it (right now it's got the YouTube URL for Cindy McCain's idiot comment about Palin's "foreign policy experience")
- Any other programs that are needed open after this: e.g., Excel, incoming emails, etc.

Outlook is open, but only shows in the widget window until I click to inspect it.

The kicker: if these are out of order, I completely can't manage.

Unfortunately, I don't always remember to open things in this order, so I often have to log out of something and start again. Anyone know of a way to move the programs around on the start bar like you can do with the IE tabs, without downloading crap?

---

Urban Word:

meatatarian: A person who eats meat virtually to the exclusion of vegetables. The meatatarian often claims to be conserving veggies for those who would actually eat them, and keeps the veggies out of the waste stream, helping the environment, or keeping produce costs down.

While not an extreme meatatarian, I have moments; for instance, this morning's 'need' for a bacon/egg/cheese bagel from McD's.

Tho'ts from OH

Mood: ok
Hair: uh...well...it's still there
Eyes: dry and itchy
Listening to: the blower in my hotel room

Yes, I'm back in OH. Yesterday was a big milestone in my life: I drove all the Huge City interstates in daylight. Usually Beast does that stretch. I have done it, but it was at 3:30 a.m. or something like that. I made it yesterday. Obviously. I have to do it again tomorrow to get Sparky and me home, but it was a powerful moment when I reached The Crossroads of America.

Today I'm going to revisit a scene from my past. Beast and BIL have done a bang-up job on separating and sorting and packing to prep for FIL's move, etc. No one has really touched MIL's closet. That's my job today: sort, organize, and get rid of anything that can't reasonably be sold and that no one in the family wants to keep. I did this when my sister died.

I'm finding out a great deal about how mindset affects one's reaction to the death of someone close to me. I was not ready, not accepting, about the situation in 1994. This time, while just as emotionally difficult, I don't seem to be fighting so hard against reality, and I'm finding little jewel-like moments of peace and love.

Also: Baymont Inns are perfectly nice hotels, even if they did lose my reservation. My room is right next to the elevator...which is randomly in the BACK of the building in the middle of the wing with rooms. The stairs are towards the other end of the wing with rooms. And, while I didn't see a circus truck in the lot, I was assigned the room under the elephants. These elephants are early risers. So much for sleeping.

Also also: Advil doesn't on muscle spasms. I need to buy a bottle of Tylenol. My right shoulder is so tight I have to move my entire upper body as a unit to turn sideways.

Also also also: For some reason, FIL thinks we are the repository of all things vaguely electronic. I have a box in the car that contains what appears to be a setup for a Museuam of Computer Speakers.

Time to shower and hit the road.

---

Urban Words:

Traffic Tourette's: The uncontrollable urge to scream obscenities at other drivers who infringe on your space (whether real or imagined).

driving finger: Your middle finger. Usually refers to the one on the left hand so it can be displayed out the driver's side window to comment on another driver's behavior.

In spite of being on the road for seven hours yesterday, I didn't have any instances of wanting to use my driving finger, and the traffic Tourette's was pretty under control as well.

Perkier

Last week, Mrs. P tagged me with the "six quirky things" meme!

Here are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged me. {done}
2) Mention the rules. {done}
3) Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about myself. {see below}
4) Tag 6 other blogger´s by linking to them. {er, no--I've a policy against tagging. Swipe it if you want it!!!}
5) Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged. {see #54}

Quirky and boring? Hmmmm........

1. I don't bite my nails. I bite my cuticles though, and I can't stand the feeling of having anything UNDER my nails. Thirty years of doing this. Thank God I never took up anything addictive!
2. I'm like a trivia vacuum cleaner. I can't remember stuff I need to buy at the store, but I can tell you loads of details about a goofy news story from 1983 or the reason Western music uses an 8-note octave.
3. I realized last weekend that I only ever use the left-hand shift key on a keyboard. Why? I dunno--I just realized it!! (I still manage to type over 60 wpm somehow)
4. I do not like Easter lilies. They give me the creeps. I don't know why.
5. I also am totally creeped-out by tapioca. {{shudder}}
6. The older I get the less patience I have with people who share my behavioral faults. Including, sometimes...quite often, myself.

Good enough? Go make your own lists and let me know where I can read them!!

Weird

I'm cataloging a book called Feasting on Asphalt : The River Run by Alton Brown.

The song Launchcast just started playing is "Chasing Pavements" by Adele (sample play here).

WTF--is there a camera over my shoulder that feeds directly into Launchcast?? This stuff happens often enough to freak me OUT!

Why I Love the Public (pt. ...uh...4,000,000,000?)

The phone at the Reference Desk rang last night at 8:43, just as I was about to make the "we're closing, go home you manky dolts!" annoucement.

"Is there...do you know how...{pause} OK, are you busy? Can you just come up to the circ desk for a sec?" It's Thursday night just following a wing-dinger of a thunderstorm--of course it's not busy. I debate making the announcement and then decide that whatever's going on up front can be handled quickly and THEN I'll chuck people out.

So I arrived up front. As I round the corner to the circ desk, I realize with that I was far too optimistic. My current least-favorite Thursday night regular is standing there, Mr. I've-Been-Hacked-on-the-Library's-Computers. Dude has hit several of us up about people getting his password and logging onto his account and using his time!!! Oh the horror of that! He was so demanding about it the first time--several months ago--that we went ahead and created a new library card so he could start over fresh because he insisted that changing his password on the old card wouldn't stop people from continuing to hack in.

Mind you, all they seemed to be doing thus far was using his time. To clarify, everyone gets an hour a day, which is shown on the screen when you first log in. If you've already been in and checked your email once at 10 a.m. and come back at 3, the timer will say something like "34 minutes" indicating that you have used 26 minutes already.

So about two months ago, dude comes FLYING up to me while I'm helping someone at the Ref Desk: "Someone has hacked my account! They've used my time. I just got here and it's telling me I've already used up part of my hour! I haven't..." Since I was helping someone else at the time, I told him to go log off for now and I'll come figure it out when I've finished with the people ahead of him in line. He was huffy, but I got to him quickly. Of course, he is (always) using the computer farthest away from the Ref Desk--and the rest of humanity--so it's a hike. When he logs back on, he points to the timer and says, "SEE?? SEEE???????? It says I only have 27 minutes left! But I haven't been here ALL DAY!" I look at the time, check my watch, and say, "Well, it is a little confusing, yes, but the fact is that we close in about 27 minutes, so that's all the time you have left today...because the computer will automatically shut down then."

"BUT SOMEONE USED MY TIME!!!" I go through the mechanics of what I had just said several more times and he eventually settled down with some grumbling.

However. Last night. OMG.

He logged on. Someone had used his time again. (same reason, duh) Plus, when he got into the start screen, there were two email accounts open on the desktop. Now THIS is weird: when people log off, the hard drive is supposed to be wiped clean of every-damn-thing they've been doing. He wrote down the email addresses and then proceeded on to use the internet. And logged out.

And then came to the circ desk to get a new library card. Because SOMEONE HAS HACKED INTO HIS ACCOUNT! [Pay attention--you'll love this next part.] See, those two people who left their email accounts logged in? They were hacking him. From those email accounts. Yeah. Because, somehow they knew he would be the next person in, and they could sit at another computer somewhere and log into their email and...what? This is not a party line on a phone where everyone can talk to everyone through any receiver they've left off the hook (i.e. any computer they've logged into their email with). Is it?

For the love of Pete.

So I told him that a) no one had used his time, it was just counting down till closing; b) he needs to tell us immediately when he sees the computer doing something he thinks is bad--like having other people's email still open after he logs in!; c) what you are suggesting is technically highly improbable (hell, it could be possible--how do I know?).

Then I told him again.

And again. And again. I even, at one point, say, "Look, you have to come get us as soon as you see something weird. After all, you don't go to the doctor a week after you stop throwing up to find out what made you sick last week, right?"

Luckily, he had to "leave for work."

Once he left, I made the #)@$*% Closing Announcement. Then I talked to ILL Tyrant--who had called me for help--and she said she had basically gone through the whole thing with him and he wasn't listening. Then Sout’ Sider said the whole hot mess had started with him demanding a new library card because (all together now) his account had been hacked!!

Dude is terminally nutso. He doesn't seem to be capable of getting unstuck from this one subject. But yet, he will sit down at a potentially buggy computer and open his own email and type in who-knows-how-many other passwords? And he will continually use a computer that he thinks has messed him up innumerable times rather than using any one of the other 30 in the building?

So, I have a list of stuff from last night to go over with the boss this morning:

-- Mr. I've-Been-Hacked-on-the-Library's-Computers
-- the non-functional Line 3 that went out during the storm last night
-- the missing emergency light that used to be at the Ref Desk that is MIA now
-- the fact that the pages don't have time to shelve and there are probably close to 100 abandoned books lying all over the nonfiction area since last Thursday when I cleaned all the tables off PLUS the cartload of stuff that's been sitting since the beginning of June next to the Ref Desk
....

Hee.

This is why she gets paid the big bucks.

---

Urban Word:

combat nap: That 5-10 minute nap that you have to take when your body is completely exhausted and your mind is over stressed. Happens if you want it or not, and you usually wake up feeling like you've had a full night's rest.

I really could've used a combat nap last night at about 8:45.

Stuff I've been reading

Mood: tahred, but pleasantly so (after a near psychotic break this afternoon--I l-o-a-t-h-e my family-of-origin right now!)
Hair: barrette up in back at this point, but it's been looking particularly good this week
Eyes: tahred
Listening to: NASCAR truck race (no shit: there is a driver named Scott Speed!)

OK, the Vatican is weird. I really have to say that I've never really understood the concept of Decrees on High, but damn. This one is the weirdest I remember in a long while. Who knew there was an official Vatican astronomer? [I've now deleted the beginning of what was about to become a lengthy rant on how better to spend the Vatican City State Budget.]

Since I'm already on a God in Space kick, Beliefnet's blog has compiled a list of the most spiritual sf characters. Personally, I'd move Morpheus up higher, but that's only because I haven't seen many of the others. I remember watching the third Matrix movie on TV a couple of years ago for the first time and having a blinding flash of what the story/ies was/were ABOUT. [Hint: not slowed-down kung-fu.]

Speaker of sf (which of course is now called Speculative Fiction so that we can include Fantasy with it...huh), some enterprising Harry Potter reader (or just someone with a great deal of extra time recently) has discovered a way to build a magic wand that will allow you to ride on the London Underground in spectacularly wizard-like fashion.

OK, since I've now gone completely into Gonzo Land, we women have no idea how complex the men's room is. When I forwarded this to Beast, his reply was a serious discussion urinal etiquette. I was stunned to find out that this is NOT a joke.

Lest we think that civilization is crashing around us, keep in mind that no matter how odious we "grown-ups" find text-talk ("lol", "u" instead of "you", etc.), the Romans started it.

While we're sharing blame, if you've got neighbors from hell, here's a place to complain about them in public. [You can also rave about any good ones.] In all seriousness, registered sex offenders are already posted, and so are foreclosures. But the joy is in the commentary: from the rather unfortunate-in-its-irony named Pleasant Grove, NJ: "Jerk Off." I like this one from Alvin, TX, too: "12 year old MENANCE running wild." It's possible that there are extra points given for poor spelling.

OK, back to the house: here's a bookshelf that doubles as a message center. The trick is training people to check there for messages.

OK, and now I'm going to bed. Happy sleeps, y'all!

---

Urban Word:

attachment disorder : When a person forgets to attach a document to an e-mail after explicitly stating that it is present.

Yesterday was the ultimate stupid technology day; I developed everything from premature window closure syndrome to attachment disorder.

Oh, for REAL?!

This may be the nadir of the internet, and the reason bloggers sometimes get a lot of flak.

Also, kids skateboarding on the roof of our library?

And gang signs in our street? I just came in from talking to the cop who came and took photos, but I think the reason for the grafitti is more of a 'vote' for Ghostface Killah, than a gang sign. However: hot red/pink spray paint?


Really??

Breakin' my arm

Mood: Exuberant
Hair: Clean, curled...whatever
Eyes: Dry but ok
Listening to: Better Than Ezra--Desperately Wanting

Awesomely weird afternoon.

The reason I'm "exuberant" is that I just figured out a way to keep a file on Stupid Schedule Nazi Tricks that's pretty much not going to be found by anyone at work.

Can you guess? Can you? I love technology: it's a Google Document! Google is saving it for me, and I'm virtually certain they could care less that I'm compiling a CYA list. Over the past 24 hours, I've spent time with at least four individual people who want to create their own, or a joint one, or who just are so incredibly pissed off at her ongoing antics.

The first entry: [S.N.] late to her shift at circ meaning [Librarian H] was 10 minutes late to her shift at Ref. and I was unable to leave the Ref desk till 2:15

Petty? Yes, but here's the text of an email we all received last week from the boss(which she promoted from the evaluations she did with people):

After discussing evaluations we thought that we would share some comments with everyone that might be helpful: This is the comment or request that we heard most frequently: When you are scheduled in a Department – Children’s, Reference or Circulation - please be there on time. And, really be present, not working on other projects or wandering away to other areas. Remember, service to patrons is the always the first priority. If you need to leave for a few moments, be sure that the desk is covered and that people know where you are going.

I *heart* Google!!

And, weird email today, too. Just...unbelievable. I need a "clueless" branding iron.

OK, back to the books.

---

Urban Word:

WSD: "Write Shit Down". A popular method of organization. Works equally well in one's personal or professional life.

Perhaps, rather than RIP, I will ask my descendents to engrave WSD on my tombstone. It's good advice no matter what the purpose.

Hello. My name is Ruka.

I had to pull him down from my shoulder to type this:

/h877777v556ii,p]7okytrn---]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]g y.ttttttttttttttttttttttyrktrtttttttttttttttttttttttt rv90v-5=il,6 66666666666666666666666666666666666666685 sssssssssssssssssssssssssss434 555555555555555555555555555555tghfvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvy

Now he's back on my left shoulder with his nose buried between my head and the pillow behind me. He's still a leeeetle skittish. Oop, now he's climbing up to hide in my hair just behind my ear.

Weird little rodent. ;-)

[pictures to come]