Turning and turning in the widening gyre ...

What a week it has been! It all began a week ago today when the new friend (a youth pastor) I had planned to spend some time getting to know that evening called to tell me that his father had been in a fender-bender, and he needed to help him take care of that. So we post-poned our "hanging out" until Saturday. He said he would call me at noon to set up plans.

Enter Saturday. Not knowing exactly what our plans would entail, I spent the morning cleaning up my apartment, making the living room and kitchen presentable. When 1:00 rolled around and I had yet to receive a call, I called him to see what was going on. Since there was no answer, I decided instead to take a book and go read by the pool. He called just as I made it pool-side, and plans were made to go goofy-golfing at 2:15. Given these plans, I returned to my apartment, changed clothes, and ate something small for lunch. The phone rings at 2:15; someone rear-ended him, so it would be at least another hour. I returned to the pool with my book and waited for him to call again. An hour and a half later I realized how long it had been and decided I should probably get out of the sun. Just as I walked in the door he called to say the police had finally left and he needed to run home to get cleaned up before coming over. He didn't call and didn't call, so I called twice to make sure everything was ok. He didn't answer. Five hours later, and deeply apologetic, he called. He had fallen asleep.

Sunday comes. I'm in great pain from the severe sun burn I received the day before, but I made my way to church anyway. The youth pastor asked if I'd determined what his penance should be, and after tossing around possibilities of manicures or leg waxing, I decided to be kind and instead make him go with me to see the new Disney movie. After church, I drove to a drug store to buy some aloe and sunblock. I spent the rest of the day tending to my burns.

The dreaded Monday. I was in too much pain to go to work, so I took a sick day. Based on advice given by the brother of a friend of my mother, I went to the store and picked up of a container of Dreft laundry detergent. The rest of the day was spent soaking in a bath of Dreft and alternately applying aloe and lotions. (Dreft, by the way, robs the sun burn of some of its sting.)

Tuesday. As I got in my car to go to work, the "malfunction indicator" light came on in my car (which has fewer than 2000 miles yet!). While at work, a severe thunderstorm arrived in the area, bringing with it tornado watches and one tornado warning. I drove home at the end of the day through flooded streets and tracked the storm on my television and computer, preparing to hide in my closet should the need have arisen. About an hour before the tornado watch was set to expire, lightning struck and took out my computer.

Wednesday arrived bright and shining with no trace of the evening's storm. While at work, I called my insurance company about the computer and found out that the $500 deductible isn't really going to help much in repairing or replacing my $500 computer which is already 1.5 years old. I also called the local Chrysler dealer to find out what to do about my car. Their first suggestion was that I check the gas cap, which was fine. Since that didn't take care of the problem, I headed to the car dealership after work and they ran a diagnostic test which told them that there had been a problem with the transmission ... but evidently it's fine now. A man from church came in the evening and picked up my computer to work on it.

Thursday. No word about my computer. The youth pastor called to set up our movie night, and a very good friend called to cancel/delay the tentative plans we had for the weekend. I was a student for many years, so I absolutely understand the time crunch of the end of a semester. Still, it's somewhat disappointing since that means plans are now delayed for another two weeks.

And now Today. My burn still hurts, and despite my best efforts with aloe, creams, and lotions, I'm peeling like crazy. I'll call the computer guy when I get home, and hopefully he will have good news for me. I'm also completing the cycle by planning to get together with the youth pastor again tonight. I hope all goes as planned, because this could really set the tone for my next week. :P

Slaving away ... at what?

Thus begins my third week as the Preservation Librarian at LPU (Large Public University). I think I'm going to like it here, though I am still working without any kind of a performance agreement. I was promised that we would discuss this sometime last week. It didn't happen. I was also assured that I would have my employee ID number, which allows me to have such things as an ID card, access codes to disarm the security alarms, and a key to my office, by the end of week two. This hasn't happened yet, either. So ... What am I doing? Well, I've been reading through documents in a shared file on my computer to get a feel for just what it is that goes on in my department. I've been talking to my staff, student assistants, and graduate library assistant about what it is that they do here. And I've been contacting the woman who held this position before me to find out such things as what this jug of odd-smelling colorless liquid is under my desk. Turns out it's just water. As it kind of smells like paint-thinner, I'll be disposing of it shortly.

I will have some direction in my actions this week, since I have four meetings to attend. Two of them are today. I'll meet with my staff to discuss metadata for the new web re-design and then meet with a new representative from the commercial bindery we use for many of our repairs. Later this week I'll attend the Collection Development Workgroup meeting and the Library Liasons Meeting. Evidently I'm going to be the liason to the Honors College next fall. So what is it I do here? I go to meetings.

Happy Easter!

Well, I arrived in Texas just in time to spend yet another Easter alone. Or so I thought. Last year I had papers to write or something, and so I wasn't able to spend the holiday with my family. I spent it alone, working away and eating a hot pocket for Easter dinner. I had feared this holiday would pass in the same way, only without the school-work to distract me. Instead, a good friend living a few hours away invited me to visit his family for the weekend. His parents and sister, whom I had never before met, graciously took me in and treated me as though I were family, quickly making me feel as though I were at home. It is not just anyone who would open their doors to a complete stranger on what is traditionally a day spent with loved ones. This was an Easter I will not soon forget.

Howdy!

Well, I'm still working on arranging my apartment into some kind of order. A few rooms are in fairly good shape, but my kitchen, especially, is a disaster. I can't bring myself to really cook dinner until it is cleaned up and arranged, so I guess I'll be eating frozen pizza and such at least until the weekend.

It's been quite a week. I finally got my license on Tuesday after having my permit for just six weeks. I then left home and drove to Texas with my parents on Wednesday. I moved into my third-floor apartment on Friday. My parents left early Sunday morning and someone picked me up to take me to a church service. And then I started work today.

I've gone from absolutely hating Texas on Friday, to finding it quite beautiful on Saturday. I've gone from being terrified of the traffic on Friday, to disliking it on Saturday, to being fairly comfortable with it today.

I just hope I don't end up saying Y'all!