Excuse me miss, do you work here?

No, no I do not. I'm just pushing this cart filled with books around and putting said books back on the shelves for the pure pleasure I derive from such mind-numbingly repetitive tasks! Sheesh, yes I do work here, I'm the one behind the desk aren't?!

I have been employed at a local library for about six years. It's a good job for someone working their way through college. I've made some great friends there and have a TON of crazy patron stories. But today isn't a day for telling you stories about patrons, today I'm talking to all of you. I'm writing this for all the people that come into the library, that have library cards, that enjoy the programs that local libraries provide for communities.

Lets begin by looking at the picture above. Notice how beautiful the books look! They are all pulled out to the edge of the shelf so book titles can easily be read by tall, short, and average people alike! You might be able to see how there is a nice open space at the end of the shelf. That allows for more books to be placed on the shelf without cramming the books too tightly and making them impossible to be removed by patrons (AKA: all of you).

Please remember, YOU are the patrons, I am the staff. I am the one who knows the ancient secrets of book shelving. I am the one that spent all those months cloistered away in the Library at Alexandria, toiling over my studies in an effort to learn the art of shelving books. I am the one with the scars from innumerable paper cuts and scabbed blisters from tending to the volumes. NOT YOU. So please, unless your education was somehow superior to mine, leave the books that you don't want on a table of just return them at the front desk. You don't know where the books go so don't hurt your brain trying to figure it out. Place them in neat piles on a table, return them to someone with a cart, or even to the return desk. It's all ok.

Libraries offer a variety of family programs, especially during the upcoming summer months. The increase in family programing will mean an increase in the number of children running around the place. To all of you who have children, a word of advice: muzzles. Please. For everyone's sake. A library is a place of QUIET, not a place for a parent to enjoy some free babysitting. SHUT YOUR DAM KIDS UP. It's not that I hate little 'uns at the library, but I vastly prefer the cute quiet ones. Oh, and that awful 'shushing' sound? Yeah, most useless noise in the world, it just makes you sound like a snake or a tire with a slow leak. Hows this for a new rule (patrons with children do not get to vote): children are not allowed into the library until they have mastered the basic commands of sit, stay, shut up, and heel.

I should probably mention the porn....do I have your attention now? Yeah, our computers are public access and the adult computers aren't filtered. Combine that with your first amendment rights, and there ya go. Free access to porn with a library card. But before you get carried away, keep in mind the page staff knows what you're up to. We see the computer screens as we wander around. And you better believe we judge you. Also, some, but not all, librarians will ask you no to look at those nasty icky gross sites. There are plenty of children zipping around the place and boat loads of old people. So keep it in your pants and just don't look at porn in public. And there I go, solving problems again. Like a boss.

One last thing for this post before I go, hello all you regular patrons. Hello all you people who have earned nicknames based on your behavior or appearance based on how often we see you. Hello Katie Cobalt, Kurt, Purple, Limper, Porn Guy, Little Porn Guy, Thursday Guy With His Cute Little Daughter, Cute DVD Guy, Friendly Old Black Guy, Russian Guy, Annoying Girl Who Always Needs To Use Bathroom AFTER I Lock It, and anyone else I missed. Each and everyone of you is special, and each an everyone of you is remembered for a special reason. For some, the reason might be obvious. For others, they have a longgggg story behind them...Maybe someday I'll share with the rest of the class....

So yeah, there ya go. A small look into the life of a library employee. Pretty cool, pretty fun, love my job.

EDIT: IF ANY OF YOU ARE LUCKY ENOUGH TO BE LIBRARY GRUNTS LIKE ME, I'D LOVE TO HEAR YOUR STORIES OF WORKPLACE FUN! LEAVE ME A COMMENT AND I'LL INCLUDE YOUR STORY IN MY NEXT LIBRARY BLOG! boo-ya. subtlety

Oh Hai Thire

Zounds it has been ages since my last post!

I swear I have only one more paper left and then I hope to resume a regular-ish posting schedule. Loads has happened and I'm sure you are all dying to hear about it!

Kinda funny that I'm doing this, cause I hate when other bloggers do a short 'Sorry I've Been Away So Long' posts...and I've done like two or three. Yay double standards!

If I haven't gotten any of you loyal readers to watch Doctor Who, you need to start. Like now. This season is incredible. You won't be sorry.

Hugs and such to you all, but especially to those who have been waiting for me to blog again!

Day 14: A Hero Who Let You Down

Aw Bats, why'd ya have to go and be killed? I was always so proud that my favorite DC superhero had never been killed and have a stupid 'magically returned from deathhhhhhh!' storyline. Those stories are dumb. But I want you back. I want you back so badly. I haven't been able to read the newest story lines, so by now you might very well have been brought back. But I'll still always be kinda sad that you died. Cause comics really won't be the same for me anymore.


I am entirely serious in this.

Day 13: A Band or Artist That Got You Through Some Tough Days.

Rascall Flatts

&

Taylor Swift

Thank you so much for being there. First breakups are hard, but you helped me believe I would get through it. And I did. So don't make fun of country music, it is what it is: sappy, over-sentimentalized, and mentions pick-up trucks more then any other style of music.

But when I was in one of the saddest points of my life, country music reminded me that I wasn't alone in my sadness and that people don't actually die from broken hearts.

Day 12: Something People Never Seem to Complement You On.

I have beautiful, big, brown, expressive eves. My eyes are easily my own favorite part of my face (can't say what other peoples fav part is). But behind glasses and a thick veil of messy hair, my eyes get missed.

Update: Family Health

To understand what I'll be addressing in this post, read this post. I'll wait.
 ...

 ...
All caught up? Ok, lets go.

So, since that, I'm sad to say that things have not gotten better with my uncle. He and my Grandma are constantly fighting and not speaking. Just as soon as they start to talk again, they fight again. And the fights spread to Momma. She is constantly being put in the middle of a situation that is hundreds of miles away and hears two very different accounts of what is happening. So, with my stubborn Uncle trapped in the anger/denial phase, our contact with him has become very limited. When Momma talks to him it just upsets her, so they don't talk very much lately.

But things are a tad brighter for Aunt A. She had a total hysterectomy and had a LARGE tumor removed from her abdomen. After that surgery, she began chemo right away. I'm not sure how treatments are going yet, she's only been going for two weeks. But in the time that all this has been going on, her lungs have been fulling back up with fluid. That is probably a bad sign and could point to the cancer perhaps growing somewhere else. Aunt A hasn't brought it up, so Momma doesn't ask.

I've mentioned this before, but my faith is really important to me. My family, my church, and many of my friends are all praying for my aunt, uncle, and Momma. My uncle is still resistant, he doesn't want people praying for him. I'm not sure if he'd go so far as to blame God yet, but I also wouldn't put it past him. But Aunt A, oh WOW. She has gone from totally running from God to appreciating all the prayers we've heaped on her. People from our church who she's never met have been sending her cards and messages. Our pastor and his wife have visited her, she later told Momma that they were the only pastors she'd want to see and pray with. Once she's better she has told Momma she wants to come to church and thank everyone for their kindness and prayers. :)

So, I guess the moral of this story is: Sometimes things change. Sometimes things stay the same. And sometimes we get a miracle.

Day 11: Something People Seem to Compliment You the Most On.

 

NO, not for my resemblance to dogs!

I'd probably go with listening for this one, I honestly enjoy listening to people and trying to help them. When my friends are hurting there isn't much that I can often do for them. I'm not physically imposing, I don't have the funds to fly across the country at the drop of a hat, and I can't leap tall buildings in a single bound (well..not EVERY day). So I just listen and let people vent and rage and decompress. It's what I'm good at. Even when I'm caught up in all my own dramaz and pain, sometimes the best thing to listen to someone who needs a friendly ear. :)

So if you need me, just talk. I'm listening.