Lot going on this week, a bit of traveling, a bit of visiting. Had a pretty good weekend, got some chores done--dump trip, cleaning a bit, did laundry. Kept the fire going. I went to the calling hours for my friend Betsy on Sunday afternoon. It was very sad--lots of great pictures of her, plus her curling equipment and golf clubs in the corner. I had nice visits with friends who were there, and we talked about Betsy and how much we'll miss her. Monday was the funeral, in Lake Placid, and some of us from work went together. It, too, was sad. Nothing particularly moving about the service, I just felt sad. Saw some people I haven't seen in a while (and maybe would rather NOT have seen at that time)--former director, Keela, and of course ex-husband. It was OK seeing them all, everyone is on good behavior at funerals. Jamie and I had a brief conversation--he doesn't have much to say to me, it seems. I guess that's all right.
Wednesday I worked in Keene, barcoding the collection there (again, and still). That was a nice day. When to Plattsburgh after that, then drove to Malone with a colleague to the retirement party of the director there. Yikes, he'd been there since 1957. I was 5 then. He needed to retire a while ago, but finally, at 80, was getting frail so had to leave. This leaves our 3 largest libraries with no/new directors, which will be a big adjustment for us here at the System.
Yesterday was quiet, just catching up on work and doing some cleaning. I have 2 full file cabinets behind my desk, and am trying to clean them out so I can use them for storing things I might actually want. One is my vertical file, full of files on things like spontaneous human combustion, dowsing, making maple syrup, wine making, etc. I used to get asked lots of reference questions, but my job has changed so dramatically that I never need this stuff now. The Internet has had a huge impact on the way libraries serve their patrons, and the way I do my job. So I can ditch most of the contents of those drawers, and maybe clear off my desk a bit. Will have to get file folders and get organized. I keep pawing through the piles of papers & periodicals on my desk, sorting and tossing, but always putting the piles back on the desk. Not a good habit.
This weekend is the Big Burn--every summer some people in the neighborhood have brush hauled up to the burn pile behind Ken's house, and in March or so some of the people have a big burn. The pile is 10' high, so it's impressive when it burns. Last year I had planned to go but there was too much snow to tromp through so I didn't attend. Maybe this year I'll be the first woman ever to show up.
We were supposed to have a huge storm yesterday, much fuss made about it, but it only ended up bringing us about 4" in Hawkeye. Which is fine with me. We have more than a foot on the ground right now, and it's due to rain tomorrow. That will make it interesting. I'm so happy to have it be March, even though March is always the cruelest month weather-wise. Someone told me it is supposed to be -8 on Tuesday night. Swell. I got the house really warm last night, up from the 55 degrees it was when I got home. I have a ton of firewood left, which isn't really a good sign, it means I've been pretty lazy about keeping fires going. This means I owe the electric company a ton of money.
What's up for today? A training session for member libraries on how to use our e-readers. Guess I'll sit in on that. Then what? Cataloging some DVD's ("My brother the pig," "The magic dog," etc.). We now have a book budget, so perhaps I'll put together an order. I ordered some e-books yesterday and should do more to build that collection, so maybe I'll give that another go today. Random House has raised its prices for ebooks to outrageous levels--$70 or $80 per title, so that leaves out a bunch of titles. I'll not spend that much for a single title. Or so I say now.
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