It’s Official, I’m Back In

I get to keep my job at the library! I got the news yesterday evening. Jeff got a full time job (congrats, Jeff!) and I was next on the call back list at number 106, if that tells you how low on the totem I am, seniority-wise. As far as awesomeness goes, I have been assured that I’m nearer the top as the staff who left standing cheered that I get to stay. That makes me feel good.

Destroy Them

The best advice so far on the topic of my library lay-off, received from Cloud (not his real name even though he conned someone in circulation to put it on his library card) when I told him Friday would be my last day.

Book List

As of 02/23/2009

• The Bungalow Mystery by Carolyn Keene – Found it when I was on the Children’s desk yesterday and had to reread it. I am trying to get a complete set at garage sales, etc. I love these books for the nostalgia, the proper way Nancy was liberated (she always got herself and her friends out of a scrape, no man needed to swoop in to save her), Nancy’s bitchin’ convertable, the description of the clothes and food, and of course her titian-red hair.
• Cordite Wine by Richard Helms – Despite the similarities to Robert Parker’s Spencer character, I like how this guy writes. The mystery is fast paced enough but it’s the character studies that interest me.
• Voodoo River by Robert Crais – I read The Watchman earlier this year (not the graphic novel being made into a movie but a Joe Pike book by Crais) and really liked it. There are not many other Joe Pike books so I picked up this one because it was set in Louisiana. It’s very similar in tone, pacing and charactorization to the Richard Helms books but what is really good about Robert Crais is the comparison between the charactors Elvis Cole and Joe. Where Elvis Cole is a Spencer-like wise cracking, mmacho ladies man, Elvis Cole says little and lives his life on the inside. And the books reflect that.

Book List

As of 02/12/2008:

• Fear and yoga in New Jersey by Galant, Debra – Fairly pedestrian slice-of-life. I’m not actually finished but I’m on the horn trying to decide if I’ll finish. I don’t particularly like any of the charactors. I thought it was a light, fluffy mystery when I picked it up.
• Some trashy romance novel with an interchangeable title that I bought at Goodwill for $.50 – I was in a rush in picking it becuase the woman near me was farting and I could see her crack when she was looking at books on the low shelves. Desipite the inauspicious start and my inability to remember the title or the author, it was pretty good. Set in Montana in 1828. Likeable characters. Not unreasonable conflict. Satisfying denoument. It was all a trashy romance novel should be.
• Don’t make me think! : a common sense approach to web usability By Krug, Steve – Reread, actually. I’ve got an interview for my dream job next Tuesday. The topic of this book is my field of dreams and this book is one of the best, concise, no-nonsense and with some sense of humor. Hey, that sounds like me!

It’s official, I’m out

I signed the paperwork today stating that I’m officially laid off from the library. My last day is Feb. 27. When library admin started bandying about seniority as the deciding factor, I knew I was out. Today was hardly a surprise. Ergo, I’m not sure why this feels like a kick in the nuts. Maybe because I really liked this job, the people, the teens, the books. Or maybe because my own business has fallen off a cliff.

Shy Teen Love

Shy Teen Love is what Ames, my former roomie in Malden Rock City, and I used to term anything teens might do while in the throws of puppy love. The teens in my library do a lot that is less shy, more porn. But once in a while they just will surprise you. Take today, for example. One of our regulars came in clutching a pink rose. Whenever a petal fell off, he would pick it up and tuck it back in to the blossom. His friends were teasing him, offering to glue, tape and staple the thing back together. I asked what was so special about this particular flower. He had obtained it somewhere (never clear if he picked it or was given it) and skateboarded it over to the library. His plan was to present it to a girl he liked. He was holding really still, barely moving so as not to disturb anymore petals. He’d taken a papertowel from the mens’ room, whetted it, and was attempting to keep the flower alive or at least fresh until 4 PM when she was supposed to make an appearance. I found a vase and put water in it to keep behind the desk until she arrived. Every 10 minutes he would come and check on it and ask for advice. Should he rush over as soon as she arrived? Or should he play it cool and talk to her first. He was so nervous.

If that doesn’t get you right here there is something bad wrong with you.

UPDATE: She never showed up that day. I even stayed on the desk an extra hour to witness this. The flower was still in the vase a few days later before I threw it out.

How do you get separated from your pancakes?

Lest you think that quirky things have stopped happening at the library now that half of us are being made redundant (that’s how the Brits put it and I think I like it better), a few nights ago I found pancakes, unopened, complete with syrup. Just sitting there. I offered them to a couple of the stragglers who wait until 8:59 to leave. One wanted to take me up on it but we both decided at the same time that it might not be wise for him to eat the pancakes. A) We didn’t know how long they had been there and B) I don’t want to be fired on account of pancakes.