And the week had started out so well too.
Last weekend was Kate and my sixth anniversary -- that's right, six years of Kate putting up with her slipshod of a husband. :-) We had decided that we would have a relaxing weekend. Kate had to work on Saturday so Tessa and I had a Daddy-Daughter Day in which we got quite a bit of house-cleaning done plus some grocery shopping. All that in time to prep chicken enchiladas for dinner and walk through the neighborhood to meet Kate on her walk back from the Main Library.
Sunday (our actual anniversary date) was just as good. Tessa went down for her nap without much trouble and Kate and I played some Lego Harry Potter on the Wii for a couple hours. Then when Tessa woke up, we took a family outing to Edora Park and showed Tessa how to kick a ball and toss a frisbee. Naturally she needs some practice, but she's very enthusiastic. Then Tessa's babysitter for the night, Emily (one of the girls who work with Kate at the Council Tree Library), took our kid for the night while Kate and I got gussied up and went to dinner at the Melting Pot, a fancy fondue place we've been wanting to try. Dinner was exceptional and our server Ian was fantastic. We're definitely going to find some excuse to frequent the Melting Pot again.
So naturally...with that kind of weekend, we were raring to start the week off. So guess what happens? If you said, "Both you and Kate caught a cold," you'd be right. :-(
It hit Kate pretty hard on Monday and tagged me hardest that evening. I still plowed through work Monday and Tuesday (primarily because I had desk time) but I was so congested and exhausted that I just couldn't focus on getting any real work done. I finally called out on Wednesday and took a serious rest day with Kate. Bless her, Tessa was pretty well-behaved and we both got good rest.
Now it's the end of Thursday and we're both on the mend - mostly just that annoying cough that seems to mark the end of a stuffed and congested head. While I'm glad to be recovering, I can't help but look back at the week and grumble about the wasted time. I'm already a trifle behind in my projects at work and the load isn't looking to lighten any time soon.
So far Tessa hasn't shown any sign of catching our bug. (Knock on wood!) She had her first cold some months back and the poor thing was miserable. She obviously felt awful but couldn't understand why. She didn't understand that if she'd rest and have some food and liquids, she'd start to feel better. Nope, all she knew was that she hurt and Mommy and Daddy weren't doing anything about it.
Not that her parents are much better when they're sick. We're a pretty whiny pair when under the weather.
Oh, well, here's hoping that we're both fully recovered by this weekend and maybe we can hit the ground running for next week!
As always, thanks for reading and I hope you're having a great day.
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label thoughts. Show all posts
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Toughing it Out
Ugh! I've spent this entire week thus far with a darn-near crippling back pain. It was so bad the first part of the week that I couldn't even sleep - I'd doze off for a little while but my back would stiffen and hurt, forcing me to wake up and struggle to shift to a comparatively comfortable position ... before doing it all over again in about 30 minutes.
Fortunately, the pain is slowly going away. I started making myself walk around the library or do my back stretching exercises over the last couple of days. One of my co-workers suggested taking Aleve to help with the pain - which worked great since last night was the first night I was able to sleep most of the way through the night! Today, I'm still a bit stiff and sore, but it's nowhere near the pain I was in earlier this week. Kate even said I'd been moving sort of weird.
Yeah, I was even tempted to call out from work earlier this week since I was so sore it hurt to move certain ways. But I have a ton of work that needs to be done pretty quickly - and more keeps piling up! So instead I decided to cowboy up and push on through - which I'm glad I did, since I'd just be back-logged with tasks by this point if I had stayed home.
The Longmont library is going through a "re-alignment," which means an analysis of our services and workflows to see how we can adjust, shift, change, or otherwise re-work our processes to streamline our day-to-day duties. Naturally, this is call from on high to make us (among other departments) more efficient and effective - especially with current budget concerns. It's a huge project with a lot of details and brainstorming to handle. I know it's consuming a lot of Judith's (our director) time, and there's a lot that other managers are shouldering as well.
(Side note - I continue to be impressed with Judith and the other department heads. I applaud their non-department-centric attitudes - they see no issues with different staff working and circulating between departments. There's no "Reference staff don't work the Childrens Desk" or "That staff member works Circulation; they can't handle the other Desks." It's so very much a "We're all Library staff; we all help each other out." It's an work philosophy I don't see often so I'm glad we have it here.)
I've also got a number of modifications and updates to make to the computer lab. I have hardware issues, mostly shortages - like a lack of headphones and CD-RW drives. There's also the summer schedule to re-work - though I recently finished that. I just got tagged as a 'local expert' on Library 2.0 and online social media by a city committee, and I was asked for my ideas on how to incorporate such tech into the library. Plus, I needed to finish (or mostly finish) reading the documentation for new Envisionware self-service software products that we're going to be installing soon - all in time for a meeting with city IT folk to discuss server options.
And, of course, all this is in addition to the usual day-after-day troubleshooting that crops up all the time. :-)
So - compared to the amount of work that needs to be done - what's a little back pain? A minor annoyance to be ignored.
'Sides, it makes me took tough and dedicated and nets me plenty of sympathy. ;-)
Thanks as always for reading. Hope you're having a great day!
Fortunately, the pain is slowly going away. I started making myself walk around the library or do my back stretching exercises over the last couple of days. One of my co-workers suggested taking Aleve to help with the pain - which worked great since last night was the first night I was able to sleep most of the way through the night! Today, I'm still a bit stiff and sore, but it's nowhere near the pain I was in earlier this week. Kate even said I'd been moving sort of weird.
Yeah, I was even tempted to call out from work earlier this week since I was so sore it hurt to move certain ways. But I have a ton of work that needs to be done pretty quickly - and more keeps piling up! So instead I decided to cowboy up and push on through - which I'm glad I did, since I'd just be back-logged with tasks by this point if I had stayed home.
The Longmont library is going through a "re-alignment," which means an analysis of our services and workflows to see how we can adjust, shift, change, or otherwise re-work our processes to streamline our day-to-day duties. Naturally, this is call from on high to make us (among other departments) more efficient and effective - especially with current budget concerns. It's a huge project with a lot of details and brainstorming to handle. I know it's consuming a lot of Judith's (our director) time, and there's a lot that other managers are shouldering as well.
(Side note - I continue to be impressed with Judith and the other department heads. I applaud their non-department-centric attitudes - they see no issues with different staff working and circulating between departments. There's no "Reference staff don't work the Childrens Desk" or "That staff member works Circulation; they can't handle the other Desks." It's so very much a "We're all Library staff; we all help each other out." It's an work philosophy I don't see often so I'm glad we have it here.)
I've also got a number of modifications and updates to make to the computer lab. I have hardware issues, mostly shortages - like a lack of headphones and CD-RW drives. There's also the summer schedule to re-work - though I recently finished that. I just got tagged as a 'local expert' on Library 2.0 and online social media by a city committee, and I was asked for my ideas on how to incorporate such tech into the library. Plus, I needed to finish (or mostly finish) reading the documentation for new Envisionware self-service software products that we're going to be installing soon - all in time for a meeting with city IT folk to discuss server options.
And, of course, all this is in addition to the usual day-after-day troubleshooting that crops up all the time. :-)
So - compared to the amount of work that needs to be done - what's a little back pain? A minor annoyance to be ignored.
'Sides, it makes me took tough and dedicated and nets me plenty of sympathy. ;-)
Thanks as always for reading. Hope you're having a great day!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Snow Day
So as anyone living in Colorado is aware, the Front Range got washed over by a large snowstorm. I awoke this morning to the Good Morning Guys on K99 reporting that a blizzard warning was in effect until 6am on Friday. I wasn't keen on driving down to Longmont to work but I got up and took a look outside anyway.
At six in the morning, it didn't yet look too bad. It was snowing, but in a light sort of way that promised either heavier stuff later or a constant snowfall throughout the day. As I hemmed and hawed, the Guys announced that they had just received an email saying that all radio station personnel were not to report in for work - unless they were DeeJays, in which case they were expected in. :-)
They followed this up with a series of closures. Over the next few minutes, a number of schools starting reporting closure, as well as a few businesses. There was also reports of a couple accidents - one on I-25 and another on US-36. I started to get twitchy about the drive...and finally decided I'd wuss out and call in to say I wasn't going to make it.
I felt really guilty about this decision, especially because Kate was going to go into work. I rationalized it as - 'well, if I worked in town, I'd probably go in, but the 30-40 miles is just too risky.'
I went out to clean off the Sentra for Kate to take in to work and started to feel a little better about the call. I was covered very quickly in snowflakes and the car was being covered up almost as quickly as I could clean it off. I saw Kate off and went back inside to check the conditions online.
I checked my work email first...and discovered that a half dozen of my co-workers had also chickened out. In addition, 9News and the Coloradoan were reporting lots of warnings and problems and a growing list of business and governmental closures. I-25 was closed north of Wellington and the conditions just sounded frightening. At that point, my guilt evaporated and I was just grateful that I wasn't on the road.
As it turned out, the Fort Collins library decided to call it quits around 11:30am. The Longmont library (along with other departments) shut down around 1pm. I was REALLY glad I didn't trudge down to work only to have to come back in the worst part of the storm.
Kate took her time getting home and made it in safely. We took a short nap (yeah for getting some extra sleep!) and played video games for a while. We both did some playing online - where I watched almost every one of my Colorado Facebook chums mention going home due to snow. We tried to slip in some real work too. Kate fixed some CDs and DVDs and tooled with the schedule. I did some research into creating my own online form submission scripts using PHP and played around with some web design ideas.
I cooked up some teriyaki-ginger pork with curry rice for dinner while Kate baked some fresh homemade bread. Now we're finishing up some online work before calling it a night.
Supposedly the snowfall is going to continue on through the night and the news networks are warning that road conditions will probably be sporting on into Friday morning. There's a slim chance that our libraries will stay closed tomorrow, but I rather doubt it.
I always enjoy a snow day. Kate says it's even better than a day off because it was unexpected and you didn't already fill it up with things to do. You can either laze around (like we did mostly) and not be falling behind...or you can do some extra stuff and be ahead of the game. In all, I'm just thankful that I didn't find myself trapped in Longmont overnight - or worse, stuck on the side of the road somewhere in between.
Thanks for reading - and I hope you're having a safe last-bit-of-winter day!
At six in the morning, it didn't yet look too bad. It was snowing, but in a light sort of way that promised either heavier stuff later or a constant snowfall throughout the day. As I hemmed and hawed, the Guys announced that they had just received an email saying that all radio station personnel were not to report in for work - unless they were DeeJays, in which case they were expected in. :-)
They followed this up with a series of closures. Over the next few minutes, a number of schools starting reporting closure, as well as a few businesses. There was also reports of a couple accidents - one on I-25 and another on US-36. I started to get twitchy about the drive...and finally decided I'd wuss out and call in to say I wasn't going to make it.
I felt really guilty about this decision, especially because Kate was going to go into work. I rationalized it as - 'well, if I worked in town, I'd probably go in, but the 30-40 miles is just too risky.'
I went out to clean off the Sentra for Kate to take in to work and started to feel a little better about the call. I was covered very quickly in snowflakes and the car was being covered up almost as quickly as I could clean it off. I saw Kate off and went back inside to check the conditions online.
I checked my work email first...and discovered that a half dozen of my co-workers had also chickened out. In addition, 9News and the Coloradoan were reporting lots of warnings and problems and a growing list of business and governmental closures. I-25 was closed north of Wellington and the conditions just sounded frightening. At that point, my guilt evaporated and I was just grateful that I wasn't on the road.
As it turned out, the Fort Collins library decided to call it quits around 11:30am. The Longmont library (along with other departments) shut down around 1pm. I was REALLY glad I didn't trudge down to work only to have to come back in the worst part of the storm.
Kate took her time getting home and made it in safely. We took a short nap (yeah for getting some extra sleep!) and played video games for a while. We both did some playing online - where I watched almost every one of my Colorado Facebook chums mention going home due to snow. We tried to slip in some real work too. Kate fixed some CDs and DVDs and tooled with the schedule. I did some research into creating my own online form submission scripts using PHP and played around with some web design ideas.
I cooked up some teriyaki-ginger pork with curry rice for dinner while Kate baked some fresh homemade bread. Now we're finishing up some online work before calling it a night.
Supposedly the snowfall is going to continue on through the night and the news networks are warning that road conditions will probably be sporting on into Friday morning. There's a slim chance that our libraries will stay closed tomorrow, but I rather doubt it.
I always enjoy a snow day. Kate says it's even better than a day off because it was unexpected and you didn't already fill it up with things to do. You can either laze around (like we did mostly) and not be falling behind...or you can do some extra stuff and be ahead of the game. In all, I'm just thankful that I didn't find myself trapped in Longmont overnight - or worse, stuck on the side of the road somewhere in between.
Thanks for reading - and I hope you're having a safe last-bit-of-winter day!
Monday, February 02, 2009
Morning Disorientation
Okay, I have to share. The other morning, I'd been having a seriously intense dream of working in the Longmont Library's computer lab. It was crazy busy (as it sometimes is) and I was desperately trying to juggle a quick reboot and clearing of system caches with the flood of customers pouring in. I remember that in the dream I kept trying to get people to wait in line while I finished up. Yes, I knew we were open but I just needed them to be patient. Etc - etc - etc.
Well, at some point, I must have finished my PC maintenance and turned to start assigned patrons to computer - when I realize that most of them had already sat down at computers and gotten to work - without checking in with me. Okay, so I roll with and start assigning who I can based on what I think was the queue order. Then one patron starts getting all up in my face because I apparently let someone else have a computer when he was clearly next. We start arguing back and forth and there's a part of me that thinks I just ought to hit the jerk when I wake up.
I roll over and look at the clock: ten minutes to seven. Oh, crap, I think, Kate and I both have to leave the house in about ten minutes. Well, maybe I just accidentally mis-set my clock last night while I was setting the alarm. I pull myself out of bed and walk into the next room to verify the time. Sure enough, it's ten 'til seven am and Kate's bound to miss the bus at this rate.
I hustle back into the bedroom and start grabbing up clothes to get dressed. I shake Kate awake and tell her what time it is.
"But, honey," she tells me sleepily, "It's Sunday."
I feel shellshocked. That's right. It is Sunday. I don't need to be at work - I don't even have to get out of bed for another hour or so. I was so disoriented from the vivid dream that I was sure I must be late for work.
Kate gets a good laugh out of it and I crawl back into bed for another hour's worth of rest and lying there wondering what's wrong with my brain.
Moral of the story: Don't drink so much Mountain Dew before bedtime.
Thanks for reading. Hope you're having a great day. :-)
Well, at some point, I must have finished my PC maintenance and turned to start assigned patrons to computer - when I realize that most of them had already sat down at computers and gotten to work - without checking in with me. Okay, so I roll with and start assigning who I can based on what I think was the queue order. Then one patron starts getting all up in my face because I apparently let someone else have a computer when he was clearly next. We start arguing back and forth and there's a part of me that thinks I just ought to hit the jerk when I wake up.
I roll over and look at the clock: ten minutes to seven. Oh, crap, I think, Kate and I both have to leave the house in about ten minutes. Well, maybe I just accidentally mis-set my clock last night while I was setting the alarm. I pull myself out of bed and walk into the next room to verify the time. Sure enough, it's ten 'til seven am and Kate's bound to miss the bus at this rate.
I hustle back into the bedroom and start grabbing up clothes to get dressed. I shake Kate awake and tell her what time it is.
"But, honey," she tells me sleepily, "It's Sunday."
I feel shellshocked. That's right. It is Sunday. I don't need to be at work - I don't even have to get out of bed for another hour or so. I was so disoriented from the vivid dream that I was sure I must be late for work.
Kate gets a good laugh out of it and I crawl back into bed for another hour's worth of rest and lying there wondering what's wrong with my brain.
Moral of the story: Don't drink so much Mountain Dew before bedtime.
Thanks for reading. Hope you're having a great day. :-)
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Christmas Eve
It's Christmas Eve - and yet another holiday seems to have rushed upon me and Kate. Thanksgiving was like that. We thought about it, registered that we needed to prep for it ... then boom! Time to start cooking! :-)
Christmas hasn't been quite so bad but a few things that we intended to have done before this week didn't get done. We've been doing a little scrambling in the last few days to get ourselves ready but we've also made a concious effort not to allow ourselves to be stressed out about things we can't finish.
After all, it's Christmas, right? This isn't a time for worries and frets - this is a time for joy and celebration! It's a time of happiness and renewed hope! Whether or not you're the spiritual type - regardless of what Christmas means to you - no one can deny that this is the time of year when hearts soften and minds open. People always seem kinder and more generous around this time - even between the hustle and the bustle of last-minute shopping. It's a wonderful reminder of how good we can all be - we just need to remember throughout the year how we feel during these few days.
But enough with my sentimentality. :-)
A bit of bummer news: Due to some severe snowfall in the northwest and a lack of de-icer for the airport, most of the flights out of Seattle got canceled, including the one that was to bring Kate's siblings (Aileen, Glynnis, and Dan) down to Colorado. Kate and I are both sad that they won't be able to join us for the holiday and we both hope that they have a wonderful Christmas at home regardless.
We're still expecting my side of the family. My parents and my sister's family will be coming up tonight (Christmas Eve) and will stay through Friday. Also, Emily and Jason will be coming up on Christmas afternoon to join us for a big holiday dinner. As I write this, Kate is probably zipping around the house, getting things cleaned up and prepared. I also have a handful of things to do before my family arrives (like actually wrapping their presents!) but I've also promised to help Kate finish with the cleaning.
We were originally planning on taking my family out to dinner at Hu Hot tonight, but it turns out that they won't be open late enough for us tonight. So instead, we're going to make up a big pot of mostaciolli and bread - a nice easy meal at home. Should be good. :-)
I guess that's it for now. I wanted to post some pictures of me and Kate decorating our Christmas tree, but I haven't had a chance to download the pix from my camera yet. Maybe I'll put 'em up later.
As always, thanks for reading and, of course, have a wonderful Christmas!
Christmas hasn't been quite so bad but a few things that we intended to have done before this week didn't get done. We've been doing a little scrambling in the last few days to get ourselves ready but we've also made a concious effort not to allow ourselves to be stressed out about things we can't finish.
After all, it's Christmas, right? This isn't a time for worries and frets - this is a time for joy and celebration! It's a time of happiness and renewed hope! Whether or not you're the spiritual type - regardless of what Christmas means to you - no one can deny that this is the time of year when hearts soften and minds open. People always seem kinder and more generous around this time - even between the hustle and the bustle of last-minute shopping. It's a wonderful reminder of how good we can all be - we just need to remember throughout the year how we feel during these few days.
But enough with my sentimentality. :-)
A bit of bummer news: Due to some severe snowfall in the northwest and a lack of de-icer for the airport, most of the flights out of Seattle got canceled, including the one that was to bring Kate's siblings (Aileen, Glynnis, and Dan) down to Colorado. Kate and I are both sad that they won't be able to join us for the holiday and we both hope that they have a wonderful Christmas at home regardless.
We're still expecting my side of the family. My parents and my sister's family will be coming up tonight (Christmas Eve) and will stay through Friday. Also, Emily and Jason will be coming up on Christmas afternoon to join us for a big holiday dinner. As I write this, Kate is probably zipping around the house, getting things cleaned up and prepared. I also have a handful of things to do before my family arrives (like actually wrapping their presents!) but I've also promised to help Kate finish with the cleaning.
We were originally planning on taking my family out to dinner at Hu Hot tonight, but it turns out that they won't be open late enough for us tonight. So instead, we're going to make up a big pot of mostaciolli and bread - a nice easy meal at home. Should be good. :-)
I guess that's it for now. I wanted to post some pictures of me and Kate decorating our Christmas tree, but I haven't had a chance to download the pix from my camera yet. Maybe I'll put 'em up later.
As always, thanks for reading and, of course, have a wonderful Christmas!
Saturday, November 08, 2008
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!
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!
Monday, November 03, 2008
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!
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!
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