mizarchivist

I'd been swearing up and down that in September, I'd start setting my alarm so when it was time to go back to work on the first of October, I'd be ready and not cranky and dragging and otherwise not a happy camper. So, today I started. I've been up for an hour and a half, did all the morning routine: shower, food/caffiene, read AM stuff (comics/blogs/etc) ... and now what. At this rate I'll be so ready to go back. It must be conditioning: if I wake up to an alarm clock, I'm more alert than when I wake up on my own. It implies a sense of purpose.
Given my immediate reaction to this (I was awake before the alarm went off even), I don't feel badly about not starting this until now.

I also am wondering: what have I forgotten, re: goals. I know I need to fine-tune what I need to do with my fall workshops. The review of tech options for the antiquated organization, I have more than enough material. It's the primary sources for educators that still has me flustered. I guess I still don't quite have my focus yet. I'll get there, but this not feeling sure thing sort of sucks.

I've used too many spoons in the past few days. And on stupid shit, like waiting in airports and sitting in planes, and shifting time zones. However, I got through my luncheon with church people. Of several types, not just the type that employ me, so I had to retool everything I said to make sure the Catholics and so forth didn't wish they'd found somewhere else to spend lunch.
Now I'm lying in the hotel room under warm blankies with lots of pillows with some fresh air rather than hotel air and the computer in my lap. Perfect. No need to be anywhere but here for the next 3 1/2 hours. Oh look, I have a DVD player....

As part of my sabbatical, I have decided to (finally) catalog all my books of the books in the house. I discovered today that LibraryThing has a limit of 200 titles for their free account. I chose to give them the princely sum of 25 bucks for a lifetime membership. (It was 10 for the year- seemed a no brainer)
I had not quite grokked that when I use the barcode scanner and have the window open to the LibraryThing page and the cursor in the search field, by gum, the isbn comes up right there!! No cut and paste! Love!! Not all of the barcodes are isbns, but sellers codes. Sometimes the ISBN isn't in the front of the book, either (mostly paperbacks. Mostly), so I had type it in as I go. I had been going back for them later, but this time I take the more tedious in small bursts rather than lots of keying in all at once. I also find that if I have my mouse placed just so on the page, all I have to do is click when the suggested title is brought up. No moving around extra! Unfortunately, I went up to the 2nd floor - where 99% of my paperbacks live- without the cord for the laptop. I worked until the laptop said "feed me!!" It's now after 1 and we're leaving for Maine at 3-something. It seemed a sign to stop. My back's killing me from sitting on the metal stool, too.
Not only is the project useful for me in the long run, it helps me find out the details of LT that I'd not know without extensive use, and I'll be able to talk about it for my upcoming classes with Real Authority. This is an awesome thing.
Now... time to eat lunch, go to the library, and clean up!

Yesterday, as part of my sabbatical professional development/ prep for teaching, I attended TDC's workshop on group/meeting facilitiation presented by Peg Kelly of Facilitation Plus. I was really impressed and learned a lot for a half day class. So if you are someone who has to deal with setting up meetings that usually don't end up being as productive as you'd like, I'd recommend this class. We talked about how to deal with people going off topic, negative attitudes, unprepared, and so on. You also get a really groovy big packet of material to refer to later.

Since the class was downtown and all, I had lunch with my coworkers. We had a lot to catch up on and it was very cool to hang out. I ended up sitting in my office the rest of the day surfing the interwebs and doing some polishing of yon resume for my bit of web page for teachering. (No. I'm not looking for a new job, really really really).

Robin and I had made plans to meet up with a posse of her friends for Midsummer Night's Dream in the park, which was fantastic. If you haven't seen it yet and can, do so! The downside was no chairs for us, just blankets, and my back was KILLING me by the end of the night. A sound sleep- the soundest I've had in a month, I swear, seems to have fixed that, though.

Oh right- health. So, it turns out running or even prolonged brisk walking- you know, city.commuter walking- is Right Out. Makes my lungs burn. I stamp my little feet at this continued slow convelescence.  I shrug philosophically and hrmph somewhat.

I've been given the packet of papers for teaching continuing ed. The contracty ones saying: you'll teach this, we'll pay you this. Please produce something useful by some date not that far in the future for the web site and all this proves we're flying under the assumption you know what you're doing. Hah! Um, not so much! The first deadline is in August. It's not tomorrow. I'll be fine and I will come up with a plan. It's hard not to feel like I should know it all right now already. I don't even need to figure it out by the end of tomorrow. Stupid PWE. You're not the boss of me!!

I feel like I've been a bit hermited or at least not saying much of late, but then again, I've spent the past week sick, which doesn't help.
What's happened, what's happening...

Leave for Ohio tomorrow with quiet_elegance, return the following Tuesday. I need to pack. I have many things on my list yet to check off, but first: Go to the doctor's today to see if we can speed up this getting healthy thing. At this point, I've been living on Advil every 4 hours and/or Robitussin. This means getting up every four hours to redose at night. It's getting old.

Had my last day of work on Friday til October. Despite living it, I don't feel this new reality yet.
Went to the pool party and took some pictures and videos of spinners. My camera isn't built for that sort of situation, but I got a few decent ones of buxom_bey, dreams_of_wings and lightcastle. Also, I got vid of Gabriel's first burn.
Made a Jayne hat. It's cunning.
Went to my Firefly RPG- first time with all players there!- and managed to do not so much with gaming. Oh well. Still fun.

I took yesterday off to recover from bbq madness, and it was a good and useful thing.
I came in to work today to a large amount of email and voicemails, which I rarely get. My new minion, who is playing the role of me this summer while I'm Not In The Office, arrived on time and I started showing her around. I continued to do this All. Morning. After lunch, I did the work that I couldn't do while training her plus all that set-her-up-in-our-computer stuff, which was a lot easier than I expected thanks to the very very very clueful IT dude who replace the not so helpful guy who's apparently been out of that company for... 8 months? Woot!!
So, Minion is very fantastic. Co-worker, R., finds her very clever, which makes me happy. R's happiness means I'm happy and can leave without worrying that they're cursing me for going. Also I'll be able to come back and not have to spend 6 months fixing.
Minion follows directions, reads directions (this is harder to get people to do than you'd think, even in the library staff. Quit laughing, Kate- I know you know this one). I'm working out the best method to doing stuff with her as I go. She takes notes, then will write them up into a useful document later. I will check the document to make sure it's right and complete. All this means I don't have to create a manual for her while reinforcing what I said, so win-win.

This means, however, I expect the next 2 weeks to be hellaciously busy and I'm a lot less likely to respond to LJ, email, or even my phone while I'm at work. I'll get there eventually, but don't expect me to know what you're writing here. The fact that I'm writing right now rather than reading what ya'll are saying is an irony not lost on me. I'll be headed to Hartford for the big national hoopla on Thursday afternoon and returning Friday night, so it's an extra wacky week.

"With Board approval, three month paid sabbatical-study leaves may be made available to the [director] and the Archivist after five years continuous employment and thereafter at five-year intervals. Such leaves are contingent upon Library Committee approval of a formal proposal for study such as can enhance the applicant's professional skills in their role at the [library].
Employees granted such leaves are expected to return to the Library for a minimum of one year after the leave is completed. A written proposal and report shall be required for all such leaves. . ."

Dude. three month paid sabbatical study. DUDE! What shall I do?! And you know I have to take off when it's motorcycle season.
Half thoughts that would be cool to work on-
Take a class on ... something. History, digitizing, improved educational tactics for my seminars.
Can I figure out how to travel while I'm doing this? Maybe go to the West Coast for several weeks to a key location and do some sort of workshop or think-tank with like-minded people? Learn new techniques from other professionals being key.
Do research on a topic and publish it
Visit a Really Cool Archive and use their stuff
Compare/contrast at other archives to see how their systems work and how we may be able to implement their ways of doing stuff. Publish the results
Ohhher. If I could also get a travel grant to do the research... gah! Aie! Damn. Wish I'd thought of that before the deadlines for this year's regional professional group, which was Feb 1. Ah well. Although that's more of an award than a grant.
So that's what I have so far.
Further contributions to my mad plotting welcome
Edit: In the meantime, given how popular my Records Management booklet is right now (have had a request for 100, then another 200 from another person) , my seminars sell out here at the library. What if I could get some conference or church in some other state to pay for my travel/accomodation and I then give the workshop in their state? How cool would that be?! Ok, I'm fixated on going to San Francisco or some other sexy locale, but still. It would be a huge leap for me and for my library. Bwah!