Starfish.... Here Starfish!

Busy week getting caught up on stuff and adding new programs. I was offered the chance to have a class on how to make personalized Google Maps. I think that would be tons of fun, but I am not sure who to market it to. There are only 8 spots in the class, unless folks want to bring their own laptop, which I am going to offer as an option. It is probably better for people to learn on their own computer, rather than on the lab laptop. I am going to bring my laptop that day. Here is an example of a cool map that was made for the West Seattle Blog during the snow in December.


View Larger Map

If you view the larger map, you can see what the points are for.

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Riding metro seems like a great way to introduce yourself to street culture. For example, Dr. T and I were taking the bus home from watching Coraline (yay!) we saw two very interesting events in people watching land. One was a guy talking very loudly on his cell phone. He called his roommate to tell him that he was on his way home--sounds sunny and domestic, no? Then he proceeded to tell the roommate that a "friend" of his was coming into some mad money and that they needed to get it from him. He insinuated that something would change hands for that money and that they had to do it now or the money would be gone. He left the bus saying "I feel bad, but we have to take it." Gives a whole new meaning to the sign that says "Too loud, Too much" on the bus. Where are the undercover cops when things like that happen?

The second was this kid (as in 20 something kid) gets on the bus with a huge rottweiler. He lets the dog go as soon as he gets on, so the dog runs all the way down the aisle to the back. There are some other "kids" back there and they heckle the dog, some moaning that they are scared, others baiting it to come sit with them. The guy that owns the dog finally catches up and he sits fairly close to the other kids, but they continue to heckle and he moves to the bench seats in the middle of the bus, calling the dog after him. Poor guy looked miserable, like he had just been dissed by his best friends, but the dog was pretty happy and well behaved for being able to run around free. He got off a few stops later, still looking dejected. Oh, and the dog's name was Starfish. Hmmm.

Well with those shockingly well written and driving stories, I am out!

No woman cann't help to getting laid with you

Now there's some good english. It appears that I am an object used to lay women with. Yikes. And this email came from "me". Love these email scams, they just keep getting better. I didn't open this one for fear that my computer would self destruct, that is just the subject line.

I am home sick again today and I feel like my head weighs 100 lbs. Mostly right behind my nose. You can imagine my mouth open so I can breath and my head keeps bobbing forward with the imagined? weight in the front of my face. Drugs make me weird, so I have been trying to only use them at night aside from the usual ibuprofen.

I have a lot to do at work. My valentine's display is still up in the teen area and I need to finalize my summer reading programs. I have to change one date because of my sister's wedding. Which leads me to a somewhat amusing/embarrassing tale--to me anyway.

When I was looking at the vacation calendar to see if I could get the week off leading up to and including the weekend of the wedding, there was a note above the date that said "closed." I blame my cold addled brain that I thought that meant the library was closed, although I couldn't see any rational reason why. So I emailed the person that takes care of the calendar and ultimately approves vacation requests to find out. He, of course, emails me back to say that it meant "Maxed Out" and that he would change it to say so. I almost left it at that, but for some reason decided to email him back, joking about weddings planned at the last minute. He replied that a concession could be made for one day. I jumped on it, included my managers in the email requesting the week off sans Sunday, which I might get off anyway. He approved it right away.

Opps. Backwards. I am supposed to email my managers first and they send it to the vacation manager. I totally jumped them and did I feel dumb. Caught up in the moment with my excitement to get the day off and I was just starting this darn cold, I just wasn't thinking straight.

I hope that is the last dumb thing I do for a while. I also hope I am back at work tomorrow. I still feel like I have potential to do idiotic things in a situation where I need to use my brain, so it is probably good that I am at home.

Speaking of idiotic things to do while sick--how about ording things online? Amazon Fresh has come to my neighborhood! I totally want to order my groceries online!

Blame it on the Fever

Wow, 8 days without a post. That is a long time for me, and a lot has happened.

I had a program where we basically had a party in the meeting room. There were video games, board games, crafts and snacks. Everything was really popular and I had almost 30 people come. It was a lot of fun.

Went to Chop Suey to see the Bird and the Bee and they were great. One of the band members has another band, who opened, called Obi the Best, and I got their cd. Sister R and I went and met a few library friends.

I also went to Spokane for my niece's first birthday. She is such a sweetie. There were almost 40 people there, which attests to how well loved my brother, his wife and daughter are by their community.

Sister M got engaged last week, which is really exciting. We spent most of the rest of the weekend looking at wedding venues and dresses. It was fun to see her transformed into such a beautiful creature--not that she isn't anyway, but there is something different about putting on a wedding dress. Especially when you find the "right one."

Now I am sick. I went to work the last couple of days, but today really kicked my butt. I feel like there is a mass pressing into my head in the right side. Pressure is building... I just finished Season 4 of Battlestar Galactica and I don't know how I am going to wait for season 5.

Productivity? I try, but it's against my nature...

Ah, [stretch], first day of "productivity vacation." What is that, you ask? That is were I take two days off to get things done. Like spring cleaning, going through closets, taking things to the Goodwill or selling CD's and books at Half-Price.

So, what did I do first? I slept till 10. I am no good to anyone if I am tired, and I have been seriously tired this last week. I have filled my mornings with meetings and PT and volunteering so there has been no extra time for sleeping. Sad, I know.

What did I do next...well, that is harder to spin in a "productive" direction. I went on FaceBook and my iGoogle; a combination that brings time suckage to a heightened frenzy. On iGoogle, I found many local articles that I wanted to share with folks, so I sent some emails to selected people that I thought would be interested--I will share them with you at the end of this. Then on FB I found that the Library has posted a link to their blog, Shelf Talk that highlights books on odd occupations, which reminded me that the Library just launched its job hunting page. So I shared both on my profile. I seem to know more and more folks getting laid off these days.

So that brought me here, wanting to share the above information with more people. So that is productive--see, I knew I could do it!

But not really productive in the way I need to be these next two days...so, I am out!

(After I link the articles I was talking about:)

Solid Ground gets a Grant from the Seattle Foundation
Former Gang Member Credits Mentor Program for His Success and Survival

Romance! Get some here!

Last week was a bit of a setback, as I had to take two days off sick. The thing that has gotten neglected most is my work plan, which I was mostly done with, but now I have to update with my smaller branch's plan. Shouldn't take too long, but I am always worried I will leave something out, and I can't REALLY be sure that my managers would catch it if I did. They both have a crazy lot on their plates lately.

Next weekend is the evil day of love. Dr. T, The Boy and I will be in Spokane for Niecy's first birthday. It is hard to believe it has been that long. Sister M and her man will be there. They just got engaged over the weekend, their one year anniversary. I am really happy for them. They are good people, to the core. The Boy was really happy to hear it too. The mad texting was pretty fun for a bit. Sister M asked me to be her maid of honor and I am totally honored. She has other friends, but we have become really tight these last...11 years. Ever since she nannied The Boy through his 3rd summer. BFF's! I am really excited for them both.

Oh yeah, so Dr. T, Sister M and her man, Brother M and his wife and I are having a triple date on V-day. I don't think I have even gone on a double date since I was 18. I am not 100% on that. There might have been a double date somewhere. My memory is as faulty as my hearing--ask anyone close to me. We are going out to dinner. Dr. T and I have a hotel, and I think I am going to bring the champagne I bought for New Years that we never drank. A romantic night in Spokane. Who would have thought?

Physical Therapy (feels like it should be a proper noun) is somewhat kicking my butt. Remembering to do the exercises twice a day shouldn't be that hard, but is proving to be anyway (See comment about memory above). I have managed to get most of them in, but they are making me achy, which makes me a bit cranky. I actually went to turn the hot tub up to use it today and found...no water :( I did notice that Landlord A had left on her climbing across the country odyssey. I guess she took the water with her. Sigh.

Prunes Anyone?

Sleep has been evading me lately. If I am not having crazy anxiety dreams, I am having numb hands or achy joints. I am in denial about getting older. I just don't want to deal with it.

Tomorrow I have physical therapy. It seems like that should be for old people, which I am NOT. Evidently a nerve is being pinched and it is causing things to go numb and I need it to stop so I quit having dreams where there are seams down the middle of my arms, and when people touch them they ZING like a jolt of electricity. How my stress manifests. Fun yes?

On the other hand, people assume I am young. As in they ask where the librarian is when I am on desk. RIGht Here! Memememe! My sisters think it is terrible that I get carded all the time, which I admit is nice, but it is not as nice when folks assume I was 12 when my son was born. Not cool at all.

I am feeling old this week, and no amount of Emily the Strange merchandise is going to change that.

Oh, but it makes me very happy that The Graveyard Book got a shiny new sticker.

And I spent all last night watching Brotherhood 2.0 on YouTube with Dr. T. We were cracking up! Nerdfighters!

Nightmares in a Struggling Economy

I had the weirdest dream last night.

I was at my small branch, but it wasn't, all the colors were wrong. The people were right, but there was no manager; or rather, the wrong person was manager. We were having a unit meeting, where most of the staff gets in one room and we go over the things we need to be on the same page about.

The dream starts with the pseudo-manager turning to me, in an explanation about something else and says "and that is why I am going to have to let you and S (co-worker) go." I am in shock, I look at S and she just points her face to the floor in defeat--which is not like her at all.

"But why?"

"Because you didn't shelve the picture books."

My mind doesn't register that I don't shelve picture books usually. It just says "OMG, your right! I haven't been shelving the picture books!" S and I gather our things and leave the room, but then I go back and tell her "But I passed my year's probation time. You can't just fire me."

"You're not fired, you still work at the other branch." Shoot, that's true. So I hang my head and leave the meeting room. In the main part of the library, I get waylaid by a patron asking me a computer question, which I answer thinking that I am going to get in trouble for working off the clock. HA!

That is about where the dream ends. The last thing I noticed was that the library I was in was the Sprague Public Library in SLC. I am not sure how that got in there, except that the picture popped up the other day because someone made it a favorite.