Re-occuring Themes

Today has been a job search day at COL. At opening time I had a woman come in that needed to fill out an online job application for the University of Washington. The problem was that while she spoke pretty good english, she can not read it. I had to tell her that I was not able to sit with her to fill out the application. I was the only one here, and I don't know the neighborhood that well. I have been to the Worksource down here though, during my woefull year of unemployment, so I gave her the information there. I have since found that there is a place called the Rainier Vista Technology Center that might have been able to help her, but this was hours later. I also recommended that she have a friend help her, preferably someone that spoke Arabic so they could communicate on all levels.

Another gentleman came in a couple of hours later. He started out asking how he could get on a computer. We went through the card application process, and I explained to him how the computers worked. He was dismayed by the short amount that SPL allows patrons to spend on the internet. I ended up finding out that he recently lost his first job out of college. He asked me if he qualified for unemployment and I told him what I knew from my experience, but told him he should talk to the folks at worksource to find out for sure. He was a quiet young man that asked a lot of smart questions. He had an accent that I would describe as very light bronx, but really could have been anywhere on the east coast.

It is absolutely beautiful today. The sky is blue and bright with both fluffy and jetstream clouds. On my lunch I went for a walk and had a coffee. I emailed my dad earlier to find out the best place for coffee down here, since this is his neighborhood and I don't go in for Starbucks for various reasons. He directed me to the Columbia City Bakery. What a gem! Cafe Vita coffee served very well and with very little wait, and beautiful baked goods--I got a pretzel roll for a snack and a sunflower mulit-grain loaf for later. There were a lot of lovely croissants, cookies and scones calling my name but that don't fit into my goals for the moment. I was barely able to resist!

Have I mentioned that I love this area?

Oooh, another one! A woman just asked me for Seattle Magazine, which I happen to have looked up for a patron yesterday. She also wanted the top physicians issue, so I was able to direct her to their website--I even knew the url off the top of my head. No wonder some patrons think we are magic...