orangerful: (done)
Remember my post from a few weeks ago about COVID related nightmares? Well, I got to live one this week.

We had a BIG delivery of some shelving items and the only door they could fit through was our front door. It was about 11am and the delivery driver called to say he was on his way so I was standing around, hoping it was a box that could be slid through our side door. While standing outside, a patron pulled up and asked if he could get his books and I directed him to the curbside area.

The truck arrived and just by the size of the truck, I knew whatever was inside was not going to be easy to move. The driver said he was going to need the big doors.

The front doors.

I figured it was a quiet weekday and this would only take a moment, we could do this. We opened the front shutters where the doors are and then wrestled with them to knock them off their sliding tracks so he could get in to the building. While I am trying to do this, the man from the parking lot walks in and starts telling me he can't get through on the phone number listed on curbside and I had to explain he needed to TEXT it (which, you know, the other 30 people who had been by before figured out).

I moved some furniture around and was able to guide the delivery into the children's area and the sign the paperwork.

And what do I see when I turn around? Some old dude at the desk, NO MASK, trying to talk to staff. I heard my staff trying to explain to him about curbside and he started to leave the branch, but then stopped in the lobby and started BROWSING FLIERS! I finally just shouted "SIR, WE ARE CLOSED" and he asked "Well, I can I look at these?" and I said "The building is closed, I had to open the doors for a delivery, we will see you in July."

ARGH! I pretty much stomped around for the rest of the day because I was so annoyed that this person did EXACTLY what I was worried people would do. Which makes me wonder if all the OTHER things I am worried about will happen.

But I think that was the most stressful day so far and it was really only about 30 minutes so yeah, could be a lot worse.
orangerful: (Default)
Today was my first day back to the library since March 13. I was so anxious in the morning, I had to make myself eat breakfast because I didn't feel hungry at all. I think it is the most nervous I have been in a long time.

But it all went well. We were all so happy to be around other people. My voice is hoarse from talking all day. Wearing a mask got annoying by the end, but honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

We got most of the things set up for curbside service next week and my crack scheduling team planned out how we would cover all the services with the limited staff we have.

So I left feeling a lot less nervous about things. Obviously when we do open to the public, that will change things, but I am really hoping that gets put off until July. There's just a lot to figure out and many of the supplies we ordered to help create social distancing and make safe spaces have not arrived yet.

But, yeah, I'm feeling ok about going back tomorrow.

And I've already decided on Wednesday we are taking an extended lunch and all going to the ice cream shop down the road because I am the manager and I can do that. We all need a treat this week.

...it was also kind of good to be away from the news for the day, even though seeing everything right now as I get ready for bed is not helpful for sleep but being caught up in getting the library up and running was a welcome distraction.

Poor America. I'm not sure what will come of any of this...at this point, I've seen too many mass shootings with protests and police brutality with protests where nothing changed...it is hard to believe things will change, especially with this asshat sitting in the white house.

Going to sleep now. Stay safe.
orangerful: (donuts)
Well, if this whole pandemic has taught (or retaught?) me anything, it is that I am a creature of habit to the nth degree.

There was a reason that I had perfect attendance all through elementary, middle and high school. There was a reason I never get any better at my instrument.
There was a reason I went to every single class, lecture and lab in college.

If I’m not in a work environment, I am awful at doing work.

I am the kind of person that keeps their home life and work life as separate as I can. I mean, yes, most of my friends are from work, but I never bring work home with me and I rarely let it bleed into my every day life. I’m lucky like that, it is what attracted me to my job. I work 9-5 (and once a week 1-9) and then I am done. When I go on vacation, I will look at my work email and scan it for any emergencies (now that I’m a manager) but my staff knows to text me if there is something urgent because otherwise I am not working when I’m off.

So being at home and trying to work from home has been a challenge. Especially since when the library first shut down, we were just stuck in a holding pattern, with very little we needed to do apart from updating the signage when our closing dates were extended. And now that the date is finally feeling tangible, I’m starting to panic? Because I know there are things I need to do and get done and suddenly it feels like I need to get everything done right now even though I have a month but the way April flew by, a month seems like nothing.

When I’m at work, I am more self-motivated but apparently at home, I have little to no motivation because I have programmed myself to feel like being at home means time to relax. And I really don’t want to throw that off?

I may attempt to create some kind of schedule for next week, force myself to get up, do work. Because here is the thing, I think I am most productive from 9am-11am when I’m at work but when I am at home and have nowhere to be, I naturally sleep until 10:30am so therefore, though I feel well rested, I have missed my productive hours and tend to not want to do anything. (normal workday usually has me in my office from 9-1, eating lunch from 1-2, and then usually working on the desk or mingling with staff from 2-5 so you can see how my internal clock is set up already).

Anyway, how are you all holding up? Hope you’ve had better luck finding your work-from-home groove. Or, at the very least, reading this post makes you feel less alone in your struggle. ❤

I leave you with the tweet that inspired this introspective post:

orangerful: (Default)
First day was a success! Thank you to everyone who left me positive vibes in the last entry.

It was weird, driving in today, I felt...good. Confident. Like, fuck yeah, I did this, I'm ready for this!

Not cocky, I know I don't know a LOT but I feel like I know I can do this. It was a good feeling.

I got to work and the staff had already prepared my office:

ExpandRead more... )
orangerful: (friends)
ACK! Forgot my last selfie!

Me and Karen

That's my manager, my mentor, and my hero. Happy retirement, Karen!

She already had a local bike trip and a cross country trip planned starting right away. She never sits still, that one.
orangerful: (Default)
I'm the only person in the world who is not interested in Avengers:Endgame, but I'm happy for all of you.

I just hope you're ready for all of my fangirling and squealing when December comes around and Rise of Skywalker comes out. I understand your feelings, MCU fans, and I will have similar feelings once RoS premieres.

I had 14 people come to my photo program! For an adult program on a gorgeous spring day, I'm counting that as a success!

I'm low-key freaking out right now because TWO branch managers (one of them being MY manager) have announced their retirements on June 30th. Which means there will be TWO openings I can apply for. I feel good about it, I just have to not flub the interview like I did last time (though I don't think that was meant to be, so maybe it was the universe holding me back). No idea when the interviews will be, kinda hoping they will happen sooner rather than later, mostly because I don't want my poor branch to be floating without a manager for the whole summer.

I'll be high-key freaking out once a date is announced. Good news is that my resume is pretty much ready to go! Just need to tweak the cover letter and then review my notes like crazy.
orangerful: (Default)
Posts are going up at [community profile] crossovercoffee if you want to check it out!

I even participated and it felt so good! I made a little graphic, but after making the image, I was inspired to write a quick little ficlet/drabble (I'm not really good with fanfic terms) of what was going through my head while I was working on it.

Tonight is my "Organizing Your Digital Photos" program at the library. The weather has been GORGEOUS so I'm a little worried people won't remember because nice weather + longer days = walks in the park. But maybe they will just walk to the library! Anyway, wish me people!
orangerful: (Default)
Computers at work are STILL down, but they actually have people working on it now. Outside people. So that gives me faith that they might be done before 2019! But they are working in our branch tomorrow so I might be internet-less the whole day. #firstworldproblems

I did not get the branch manager position I interviewed for. I had a weird vibe from the whole thing, my manager was sad for me but then she talked to me afterwards and said that she really didn't think I would be happy there. My husband agreed (he works in the same library system, FYI). So, it was good practice, it put me out there and plus I learned some *new* questions to prepare for next time. I was sad because rejection always hurts but now I'm just so happy to be able to move forward!

...well, as far forward as I can move with no email at work. Ugh, I feel so crippled! My desk was hilariously covered in post-it notes today because none of us have email so we are just leaving notes for each other.

To top everything off, I have a cold. Not awful, but just stuffy all the time.

Going to a morale boosting gathering tomorrow after work, a margarita will be involved so I will probably not take any cold medication tomorrow afternoon LOL. I need a drink more than I need a decongestant right now, that's all I'm saying.

Anyway, sorry I'm so behind on everyone's entries but, yeah, my inability to goof off for a few moments at work by looking at blogs has really made me fall behind!
orangerful: (Default)
Welp, our computers at work continue to be screwed. They do have someone working on it all though, but we are discouraged from logging in to a wired device while at work until they have definitely cleaned everything. Which means I don't get to sneak a peak at LJ/DW like I usually do when I have a few minutes of down time and need to relax. So I got a little bit behind this week, just did a speed read of everyone's posts but sorry if I didn't comment.

And because of the computers being down, they haven't said anything about the job I interviewed for. Cue me going CRAZY wondering! Honestly, it was stressing me out so much this week I kinda made myself sick on Thursday. I don't know how to feel about it all, but I'm afraid to start planning stuff for work because what if I got it?? That would mean I would need to switch gears and start training other staff to do my jobs...and it all boils down to the fact that HR can't email out the rejection noticed because email is compromised. :|

And now for something completely different -- Anyone play DON'T STARVE TOGETHER and want to team up? We used to play the game on our group game night but now that our friend got a new job (yay for him!) we had to cancel our game nights. Tim has been playing Star Citizen with some new online friends but i honestly cannot stand that game so I was hoping to start playing but I'm too shy to just jump in to a bunch of randos. I'm honestly not that good at the game so I don't want to get in trouble. Let me know if you would be interested!

Aaaaand it's almost 11. I'm going to read for a bit and then pass out because today was a day and this week has been a week. Toodle pip!
orangerful: (fotc - favorite box)
So, just got back from the interview for the manager position.

I was not thrilled with how it went, the questions were...not my favorite. I didn't feel like they lent themselves to personal examples as much as I wanted and I ended up stressing over the actual answers more than I should have. I do not have the positive feeling in my gut like I did after my last interview.

Good news is that I love my job right now so if I don't get this promotion, it's not a huge deal, just kind of a bummer.

But I could use a little boost this afternoon as I'm working 1-9 so tell me a joke or show me a silly gif or something. Virtual hugs are also appreciated. #needy yeah?
orangerful: (Default)
Welp, we just lost four staff to the plague today. And we have programs, so many programs, this week. So, because I am me (even though my nose has been running since yesterday which better just be due to the weather/pressure and not a cold!) I am picking up Babies in Bloom tomorrow and throwing together a Valentine's program for Wednesday.

Wish me luck!!!!!!

Also, GET THE FLU SHOT IF YOU CAN!

Now, because the program was called "BEE My Valentine" I need to go find some bee related rhymes for Wednesday. TO PINTEREST!
orangerful: (pinkie)
What the heck, it has been over 10 days since I rambled about something on here? That's crazy LOL. Though I have been goofing off and playing a lot of Zelda. Last weekend I was supposed to meet up with my friend for a girl's weekend but she caught The Bug that has been going around so instead I just took the time off to chillax at home, watch all the movies that came in for me from the library and generally not stress about anything.

The week before I took my dufus cat to have some major dental surgery. He seems to have recovered but it will take my wallet 6 months to get over it. Both him and his sister suffer from Tooth Resorption, a weird cat tooth thing that no one really understands but they pretty much have to go in and get rid of what is left of the teeth once it happens because it is so painful. But since I am a horrible cat-mom and never took them to the vet on a regular basis until now, things were pretty bad in there. And Apollo lost a lot more front teeth than Starbuck did so it was a little more intensive and a little more money. But he was pretty much fine as soon as the drugs wore off and he could stand up. He immediately began crying for food (since he had to fast the whole day before) so I knew he was going to be okay. I take him in again on Friday for a final check up. I now also have a small pile of cat teeth because the dentist offered them to me and I was so amused I took them. I guess I could use them for a library program LOL. SCIENCE!

Speaking of, we had our "Slime Time" program at the library yesterday since the kids had an early dismissal from school which always means we have parents desperate for entertainment. We had to cap the program at 25 kids because I wanted controlled chaos. Because I always want to make the library events more than what they might do at home, I spent the first 20 minutes talking about the science behind slime, asking the kids about the states of matter and things like that. I told them they were not just kids goofing off with slime, they were chemists experimenting with non-Newtonian fluids! They thought that was great. It all went really well, though I had one girl get a little over zealous with the red food coloring and her side of the table looked like a scene from 'Hannibal'. Luckily, I was able to get it all cleaned up with a few paper towels and the cleaner spray.

I'm all caught up on everyone's entries - I didn't read my flist while I was off last week and I got WAY behind and you all filled up my inbox haha. I think I might need to bump up my Dreamwidth to a paid account so I can get more emails, they apparently limit it for the free account.

#lovemyjob

Dec. 1st, 2017 12:09 pm
orangerful: (OMG)
Untitled

We received a set of Google Expedition kits as part of a grant so I'm figuring out how they work. We have a school program in a couple weeks and the kids are studying South America so I was going to "take them" to Peru. It was very easy to set up and get going, thank goodness! Biggest job will be making sure all the tablets and phones are charged up.

Just a reminder to check out what is happening at your local public library! You might be surprised.
orangerful: (angry)
So, I went into the library public restroom tonight before closing to make sure no one was in there and noticed there was something new installed above the sinks. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was a small metal basket with a smartphone logo on the front so people can store their phones while washing their hands...

taylor swift says ew

But then I went to check the stalls and noticed the same baskets installed inside each stall next to the toilets...

Ariana Grande says ew

And then I thought about it. This means the person must go into the bathroom, smartphone in hand, set their phone in this basket NEXT TO A PUBLIC TOILET, does their business, PICKS UP THEIR PHONE, walks to the sink, puts their phone in the basket there and then washes their hands ONLY TO PICK UP THEIR PHONE!

Sara says EW

I assume this person then comes into the library, uses our computers, picks up some books, uses the touch screen on the shelf checkout station then comes up to set their disgusting phone et. al. on the Info Desk to ask me to order a book for them.

a lot of ew

Apparently this was all installed this afternoon. We are the only branch to have this as part of a "pilot program".

Pardon me while I make out with this bottle of Purell.
orangerful: (angry)
I just got "shushed" by a patron for talking too loud on the phone with another patron.

I think it can be hard to gauge how loud I am when I am talking on the phone with a patron - you can easily lower your voice when they are in front of you, but you never know how loud/soft a patron's phone is on their end and you can't really whisper and know if the phone will pick it up.

Oh well! She just told me I was too loud and I should set a better example! But it wasn't like I was goofing off, I was walking her through troubleshooting a website.

Speaking of, oh my goodness she didn't know what SPAM was. I am always amazed by what I have to explain sometimes. I mean, it is just so second nature to me to check my spam filter if an email I am waiting for doesn't appear but she didn't even know what it was or how to get to it. :|

Also, I have just now decided that "The Loudest Librarian" should be the name of a picture book. Or perhaps my biography. OR BOTH!

Oh and I am not supposed to say "patron" anymore, I'm supposed to say "customer" and I always forget and/or don't care. I still think "member" would have been better anyway but no one asked me.
orangerful: (Default)
Come work with me! My library system is hiring Library Associates. All you need is your bachelor's degree in ANYTHING and fantastic customer service skills - though a willingness to do storytimes would also help in most cases.

Click here for details

Feel free to share with anyone you know who lives in Maryland and is job hunting. This is a great gateway position into public library work! (Outside of Maryland is fine too, but it is expensive to live here so just know that going into it)

LEVEL UP!

Sep. 7th, 2017 10:47 pm
orangerful: (grrr)
I forgot to mention, after all that stressing over interviews and such I DID GET THE PROMOTION!

Which is nice. It would have been fun to get the manager gig but I probably need a bit more work. And I will be staying at my current library, just bumping up a step. It is kinda cool too because this is a new position for my branch so I will be a part of figuring out what it means to BE the Librarian II at a community library. Also, I love my manager and she is already like "Oh we are going to get you READY for the next manager interview".

I am waiting for my official feedback from the manager interview, but the basic things I heard was that I did really well, the person that got it was just a little bit more qualified.

So, yeah, I officially became a Librarian II this week. :)

And just to make things even more wacky, I'm going to sit on the other side of the table of an interview panel NEXT week LOL.
orangerful: (pinkie OMG)
Thank you for all the positive vibes this week for my interview. Despite being nervous, I think I did really well! Like all interviews, after I got home that night I was doing the "OMG I should have said THAT!" inner monologue. But I was satisfied with how I did.

The real fun will be next week when I have an interview for Branch Manager. This one is a bit more challenging since there will be people from outside the system and I have no idea how many people applied. They only have one day of interviews so I think it must be around five people, but it is all about experience.

But I'm feeling pretty good about my preparation technique. I'm going to tweak my notes before the interview so I'm ready (they give you the questions about 20 minutes before the interview so you can get your thoughts together).

At least I have kept myself busy this week with the Escape Room program. Just finished up my second round of groups and the kids loved it. Tomorrow I have a full day of the program. Hardest part is not giving them hints but if they are running out of time, I can't help myself! They all seemed to have fun and the chocolate at the end really made their day LOL.

And now it is time to shut down the library and head home for PIZZA! TTFN
orangerful: (browncoats)
Librarian II interview is tomorrow and I've had a nervous knot in my stomach all day! ARGH! All those little voices in my head and starting to speak up, making my anxious and causing self-doubt.

I swear, if the interview had been the week I submitted the application I would be full of confidence and ready to go but after sitting on it this long, I'm starting to lose my mind.

10:30am tomorrow. Wish me luck!
orangerful: (force awakens)
LIBRARY COMIC CON IS TOMORROW!!!!!!!!

Which means I only get a 1 day weekend (I got my other day off Thursday, which feels weird, but whatever, this time of year is madness anyway)

I wished you all lived closer so you could come have fun with me. :D

I'm totally wearing my "Rogue Librarian" shirt. I'm in charge of the costume contest, so that should be fun.

Aaaaand typing that sentence just reminded me I meant to charge the iPad! CRAP!

GOODNIGHT!

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