This is No Way to Live...

I wasn't planning to come home from my night class to only be stuck in the electric-less dark. Damn you unexpected summer thunderstorms! (shakes fist angrily upwards)

It's Perfectly Acceptable..

To call out of work to watch a premiere of a movie that brings back childhood memories. All the negative reviews about Transformers 2 did nothing to dissuade me from watching it opening day. I don't know what all the fuss was about, its an action movie. How can you complain then that there's "too much action?" Just sounds like a bunch of Michael Bay haters. The only thing that did bother me was the amount of cussing, another sign of my aging, I guess. I didn't think it was needed, but whatever, box office numbers completely contradicted whatever critics had to say.



Oh, and I know I should feel bad about leaving my coworkers "short staffed" last Wednesday night, but me calling out is really nothing in the long run. How is it possible that both of the Circ managers are taking their vacations during the same week? But yet when one of my coworkers requested to take off the first week of this upcoming December one manager gave her a hard time. With both of them gone it sounds like a perfect time to form a coup...

Damn you Summer Reading!

So I have worked 3 summers at 3 different branches. The past 2 were smaller community branches. This year I am stuck at a much bigger regional branch. Today was a typical horrible Friday. I alone registered at least 8 new patrons. The majority of them were applying so they could borrow books for their childrens reading requirements. I will be the first to admit that I work my ass off on the desk but slack a little when I'm off. I need the time off the desk to recover. So where else to head on a Friday night?

One of the Many Hazards of the Bookdrop...

Never mind the occasional book that flies down the shoot at the speed of light thumping you on the head. This little thing could probably do some damage if it bit you. Luckily my coworker saw it and called me over before she reached in there. I took care of it...

You Know its Summer when...

You register the first wave of Russian lifeguards. You would think I would have learned some Russian by now because no matter where I work there is always a group of them like clockwork when school ends.

If Summer Reading was a Person...

I would have punched it in its face 12 times today alone. Today is so damn busy. Our fearless "leader" only has 2 people scheduled on the desk per hour. But of course whenever the desk is slow there's 3 people scheduled. It doesn't take much insight to realize that the first weekend of summer for kids out of school will be INCREDIBLY BUSY.

A Must Read for any Library Worker...

Manager Meetings...

are a great time to kick your feet up, relax, and enjoy the time you don't have to deal with them.

Got Jokes...

Question: What do you get when you have two managers working the circ desk?

Answer: Absolutely nothing done.

I don't know if the ineptitude is just centrally located at this branch alone or what. Granted that at the first library I worked at a certain manager would be talking to a friend on the phone while checking out patrons. I call that multitasking, you can call it what you what but she was still working at the desk!

Punch a Patron in the Face Day...

I will be the first to admit that working the circulation desk is easy breezy. But like in all jobs, there will be errors, whether human or mechanical. Fortunately for me, the biggest possible error I could make is overcharge someone's credit card(which my manager has done) but that is easily fixed, no damage done.

So it pissed me off yesterday when I heard a patron ask a volunteer who was working the circ desk to check in her books because she's had problems with them not being checked in properly. After all of her returns were checked in she told the volunteer, " this wouldn't be necessary if you did your jobs." I was in earshot and the patron was lucky she was not in arms length because I would have popped her(ok in my mind I would have). After she stomped off, the volunteer and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes.

Yes, there have been plenty of times were people have been charged for an overdue book(s) that was not checked in properly and found on the shelf. I know how frustrating it can be. But you know what, it is easily fixed. It does not involve bringing 2 state issued ID's and a urine sample to clear your name. It could even be done over the phone. The comment about not doing our jobs is just plain low. I did go over to the computer and made note of the patron's name --- let's see what happens next time...

Last hour

There are not many things as fine as working the phones during the last hour on a busy day such as a Saturday. While my coworkers have to deal with the always predictable last minute deluge of checkouts, I am back safely in my cubicle counting down the minutes. Why is there always a group of people who wait til we start turning off the lights to run to the check out desk with their arms full of books?

New nickname...

So within my first hour working the Circ desk on what started out as a slow Friday, I got my new workplace nickname. I was working with one of my older coworkers, Miss P, and during me helping an elder female patron, she mentioned that I was, "such a sweet thing." I blushed a little and told her to have a good weekend. Later on another coworker, Miss M, asked Miss P what names she chose for her new kittens, Miss P turned to me and asked, "what did that patron call you? Oh yeah! 'Sweet Thing.'" Miss M had a big laugh and I blushed hard because well, I'm not use to being called that, not at work. Fortunately for my the sake of my embarrassment one of my younger coworkers Miss V heard this exchange and ended up telling another coworker. And before the end of the day, I was christened, "Sweet Thing" or "ThAng" depending on who calls me it. My cubicle has even been pimped out by my coworkers with my name. Wonder what's in store at work tomorrow : \

Correction, one last minute phone call for a renewal.

Spent my last hour working the phones and not one call... At least I got today's online crosswords done.

Don't believe the hype...

So everybody had to suffer through a whole pay period without any pages. If you asked me what I thought about it a month or two before, I would have probably used the words, "utter", "and", "complete", "hell," maybe even in that exact order.

During the few circulation and staff meetings I attended before the dreaded page layoff, some of my coworkers were also airing out their lament of having to drag carts out to the stacks and place them on the shelves---correctly at that. Page managers were scrambling to educate and prepare the 30+ staff members for this new arduous journey. They even printed <wasted paper> up guides on how to sort books on to the carts and how to shelve properly. One of my coworkers, bless her heart, even warned the others that paging is physically demanding, and pre-shelving stretches are a must---don't want to pull a hammy shelving Large Prints.

The time has come and gone, half of our pages have returned, and I'm wondering why I even stressed one ounce over it. I actually feel like we got the books out faster and more efficiently than when we had about 20 pages or so. Ok, a lot of the pages were bums anyways. Lazy high school kids, who spent more time talking to their friends who visited or bothering me at the circ desk or at my cubicle.

I am still being scheduled to "Page" an hour here and there, and I'm wondering if my job is the same as before, because shelving was not in the job description. I can't really complain all too much, it is a welcome break to the monotony of the circ desk. It also does give me more time to people watch from the stacks too.

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Testing from the Crackberry.

Pages make the books go round

My desk is situated right in the middle of the backroom. As far as privacy goes when it comes to conversations, these cubicle walls suck. Over the past week I have heard several arguments between various pages and the 2 page managers. It all stems from the recent county wide page layoff and rehire event. The county wanted the library to cut its costs so they decided to fire all the pages at once, hold mass interviews, and only rehire half of them back at the starting wages. I'll be the first to admit that the starting page wage is very decent compared to the amount of work required, but some of these pages have worked for years and have accumulated yearly raises that rival my hourly wage. There is one page here who has been here for 17 years, 17 freaking years of sorting and shelving.

Anyways, so the rehired pages had to go through a whole interview process that tested their sorting prowess and tested their commitment to the straight shelves and spines out. They had to sign a clause saying that they will be entirely flexible to the scheduling needs of each branch that hires them. In short, they had to join the Dark Side and pledge their utter and complete allegience to the library system.

I have heard at least 2 different pages argue with the page managers over how they do not like the new scheduling procedures and another one cried because this branch was not her first choice to work at. I have overheard the page managers use the argument that, "this isn't the same job as before." The pages are still shelving and sorting the same old books like before so there's a discrepency there. Oh wait, this isn't the same job, it pays less and sucks even more now.

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They callin' me...

Why is it that whenever I'm scheduled to cover the phones, there are long periods where no one calls. The second after I get a call, someone else calls right then and there. Oh, and I'm posting this during my telephone coverage hour... Multitasking is fantastic.

Fail

Yeah, I have not been keeping up with this.