New Job Report

I've been at the Longmont Library for two weeks now and I can safely say that I am enjoying myself!

My very first day was a little stressful - since I didn't know anyone and I wasn't sure what I should be doing. I felt very much like an intruder in the place. Not that anyone was unfriendly - far from it - but it was still very awkward as I didn't know what I should be doing with my time.

(My second day with Longmont was a paid holiday off for Veteran's Day!)

Now I've had some time to get into the flow of things and meet some people, and things are much better now. I have logins and authorizations that I need to do my work and I have a better understanding of what the expectations are with my position. In fact, that was what threw me off at first: I wasn't supposed to me a 'peon' that just followed instructions - I was supposed to be a decision-maker. They wanted me to come in and use my experience and expertise to actually start making changes to improve the place. Once I realized that, I started letting my imagination run wild!

So anyway, my basic duties at Longmont are to support the public side of the computer system (that is, any PCs used by the library patrons) as well as do time monitoring the computer lab. In addition, I'm responsible for the weekly scheduling of the lab monitor staff. Finally, I'm a basic on-call troubleshooter for any technical problems that occur in the building.

So far, it's kept me pretty busy - which is good. I have some ideas that spawned from my time in Fort Collins that I'm pretty sure will help stabilize and secure a number of the public computers. There's also a big project coming down the pipe involving computerized management of the public lab computers and printers, and I'm going to be pretty central to that work. There's e-commerce software to test and implement - which will be a change for the library. There's also a lot of work to be done to catalog, inventory, and standardize the configurations of the public computers. I'm seeing some security or procedural holes that I'd like to patch up and I've got ideas for how to do it. Plus, the city tech guys (called ETS) have some projects involving centralized virus/spyware proection and virtual machine profiles that they might want me in on. In addition to all this, I'm also a part of the Library Leadership Team, a group made up of all supervisors, department heads, and the library director who discuss and make decisions on overall library policy.

Yeah, I'm busy. :-)

The commute hasn't been too bad. I can take either I-25 or US 287 up and down and I don't really have much of a preference for either route. It takes just a bit longer to use 287, but sometimes the traffic is so bad on I-25 that the time ends up being pretty comparable. I haven't had to try making this trip in the icy winter (yet) but I'm prepped. Kate and I assembled an emergency kit for the car and I have a couple of friends from the Fort Collins Library who live along my route to and fro that have offered to let me crash on a couch if the weather is ever too rough to risk. I'm also getting through a lot of audiobooks during the commute. :-)

Okay, some fast pictures to share. I'm hoping to have more eventually,but these will have to do for a start.

First off, my desk...



Yep, that's my own desk with my own printer and phone and lockable cubby space.

Opposite my desk is a computer work area for fixing PCs...



There were several computer waiting for me on my first day. :-)

Next is the computer lab that I'm responsible for...




This is the CATS (Children and Teen Services) Lab, which I don't monitor but I'm responsible for maintaining...



Here are some of the other public desks around the library...

Reference...



Media/Periodicals...



Childrens...



And the Information Desk...



(Didn't get a good pic of the Circulation desk yet, but this is a picture of the back sorting/check-in area...)



Here's a shot looking down in the main foyer...



The two entrances to the library...




And, of course, the break room...




Finally, here's a shot of a picture of me on the Computer Lab Team section of the picture board, in which pictures of all staff members are posted with their names and which departments they work in...



Steve is the library's systems administrator and my boss. Pat is the other Library Technician; she's been doing all the tech support work by herself until Steve showed up in July and I showed up now.

So all in all, I'm very glad I made the move to Longmont. Yes, the commute is a little trying at times and yes, I do still miss the Fort Collins Library, but I think that this position is a great opportunity for me to stretch my talents and really make a difference in the organization. I'm looking forward the challenges and the experiences to come!

Thanks so much for reading! Hope you're having a great day!

Bang Bang

Today was the first I'd ever fired a gun.

Bill and Tammy have recently joined the Front Range Gun Club - mostly for the experience and to decide if they'd like to purchase a firearm. They actually find that they enjoyed the sport of target shooting. Their membership allows them a certain number of guests each year so Bill invited me and Ron to go target shooting today.

Ron already owned a couple of handguns (a Beretta 9mm and a .38 revolver) so we didn't need to rent any from the club (though they had quite the selection). Bill bought some ammunition from the club along with a pair of 'zombie' targets for us to shoot at. Bill also had some spare safety goggles and ear protectors that I borrowed.

I have to say that having never been at a shooting range before, I thought this place was pretty top quality. They had about a dozen lanes and it wasn't too busy. The targets are stapled to rectangles of cardboard and a computerized control lets you move the target out to the range you want.

I tried both of Ron's handguns and decided that I kind of like the revolver a bit better. Both had kick to them but the revolver wasn't quite as pronounced. Also, the ejecting cartridges from the 9mm could be distracting. (A couple bounced off my head - glad I was wearing the required cap!) I noticed that I had a tendency to tense up just as I fired...and it'll take some getting used to not to squint when I'm aiming. All of my shots hit the actual target...but tended to drift to the right and slightly down. Probably has something to do with my stance or my squeezing of the trigger.

I also realized that gunshots are very, very loud. The ear protectors that Bill loaned me muffled out a lot of sound...but I could still hear the shots as audible cracks and could 'feel' the reverberation of the shots both that I made and my friends made. On the other, for whatever reason, I found the smell of gunpowder to be rather pleasant. Hopefully, that isn't a coloring of my character or something. :-)

I think the experience was pretty cool though. I finally got exercise those Second Amendment rights of mine. I don't think I'm quite ready to run out and buy myself an arsenal to stash at home...but I think I may tag along with Bill again every now and then. Whether or not I actually have a need to use a firearm, I suppose it's just one of those skills that it doesn't hurt to have.

All in all, pretty cool. Thanks to Bill for taking me and Ron out!

As always, thanks for reading - hope you're having a great day!

New Job Means Changes

So I'll be starting my new job exactly one week from today.

I interviewed for the Senior Library Technician position at the Longmont Public Library a couple of weeks ago. The interview went great - and before the end of the week I had an offer. The background check took a bit of time (I guess it always does) but now my official start date is November 10th.

This is an awesome opportunity for me. This position involves IT support (maintaining and troubleshooting hardware, software, and network aspects), computer lab monitoring (helping customers with problems on the computer), and probably some management (directing, training, and scheduling the lab monitors). My library experience combined with my technical expertise made me an obvious fit for the library's needs - and the hiring group seemed to agree!

I'm very excited about this chance - it's a full-time position in an industry I've grown to love and the field I wanted to work in. It sounds like a small group of folks in the IT department so my input and ideas will be carrying some weight. It sounds like they're hoping for a 'visionary' to help them evolve their library - and after watching the Fort Collins Library grow and change over the course of 12 years (!) I've seen a lot of potential changes. These ideas I can bring to Longmont.

It's not without some sadness though that I leave the Fort Collins Library. As I mentioned, I've been with that library for over 12 years, starting as a humble shelver and working my way up to serve as a Shelving Crew Lead, a Library Services Representative (ie, Circulation Manager), and Desktop Support Specialist. After working in a place for so long, you get comfortable - you understand how things work and have an easy time flowing with things even on bad days. It's difficult to uproot yourself and try something new. I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a part of me that didn't want to leave the Fort Collins Library - but this is a good chance for me...and sometimes you just have to do something a little different if you want to grow.

Currently, Kate and I don't have any plans to leave Fort Collins for Longmont. Kate's hoping to get a position with the new Fort Collins library branch (recently dubbed "Council Tree"). This position would be full-time at a branch where the philosophy will be a bit different. Kate's eager for a chance to embrace that difference and likes the idea of being a part of the crew that forms the baseline for business at this new branch. So...we decided that we would see how that played out. If Kate gets the position, she'll still be able to take the bus to work and back very conveniently so it'd make more sense to let me do the commuting. We may eventually move a little closer to Longmont, but for the moment we're staying here in Fort Collins.

(Maybe the light rail project will one day get the green light and I'll be able to take that down to Longmont and back!)

I have to give a shout-out to our friend and co-worker Marg, who clued me in to the position at Longmont. I'd never have even known that it was there if she hadn't mentioned it to me. Thanks, Marg!

So I'll be spending this week trying to get stuff wrapped up at Fort Collins since my last working day will be tomorrow (Tuesday the 4th). I'll also need to chat with Fort Collins Human Resources to get organized about my accumulated vacation time and retirement funds. (I hope this job change doesn't affect my Christmas and Summer vacation plans!)

Thanks for reading my thoughts on this change in my life. I'm excited and nervous and regretful all at the same time. I'm certain that it will be a great job and that I'll enjoy it, but it's still hard to fight away that melancholy that comes from leaving a place you've loved for so long.

I'm certain everyone knows what I'm talking about. :-)

Thanks again for reading. Hope you're having a great day!