Excessively decorated tree

I did go shopping on Black Friday. It wasn't too crazy but still an ordeal. I got some small things at ridiculous prices, which was the idea. 

The first snowfall of the season was in the beginning of December and caused a great deal of problems here. I decided to stay at home one day when the forecast said heavy snowfall and severe traffic issues. Right now it is above zero degrees again and all the snow has melted. It's raining instead. Quite boring, in my opinion. 

At work we have started the Friday morning breakfasts again, which is nice. I'm back to full time also. Today we will have a Christmas party at a restaurant. It has been uncertain if we could have a party this year but the university said ok. My department is arranging it but we have kept it simple. The dreaded virus is spreading faster in society and I wait for the third shot of vaccine. I still don't know if I will be able to get to a Christmas celebration anywhere, we'll see what happens. My apartment is decorated in the seasonal style with an overloaded tree, candles and figurines. It looks great.

For many years I didn't think there would be any emigrants on my mother's mother's side of the family but about ten years ago I found out that my great grandmother's uncle left for America in 1879. His name was Andersson, so he was not easy to find in the US census records but he ended up in Minnesota, like so many others. I did the research but never contacted any relatives. Just recently, another relative here got interested and saw my research, and he decided to contact the living relatives in the US. He managed this thanks to social media and is now in contact with some of them.

Visit to Borås

I'm still working part-time but it can be debated what counts as work. If someone calls me after I'm supposed to have left the building, I answer. Also I answer e-mails. I have had to spend two afternoons in meetings that were important, even though I shouldn't. One afternoon I drove to Malmö City Library to look at a book collection they were discarding. I picked out about 12 books for my library. Driving in the center of Malmö in rush hour is not something I will be doing again soon. It was absolutely terrible. Despite these ordeals, I managed to visit three charity shops also to get more books. Soon after, someone contacted us to say she was clearing out her mother's house and asked if we wanted the books. I went there during my working hours this time and picked out a few, mainly on local history. 

At work I have shown parts of the reference collection to new staff members. Most of the time, I have desk duty or retrieve books. The weeks around Halloween were stressful with too few staff members. The Thursday just before, I got desk duty because a colleague was sick, but could only be there until 10 AM, then I had a meeting. After a quick lunch I drove home. Just minutes later my father came to pick me up and after 3 1/2 hours we arrived in Borås. I stayed with my mother and her boyfriend. Friday my mother and I went to a few second hand stores. In the evening my father, sister and her family came over for the usual taco dinner. Saturday morning I watched when my niece trained figure-skating and then went on to the second hand store where my mother volunteers. Bought more books. For lunch I went with my sister, niece and father to a farm in the countryside. We had a tasty tomato soup in a room decorated for Halloween. Lots of cobweb, pumpkins and skeletons. In the evening my father treated us all to dinner at a restaurant. The up-scale bacon burger was very good. After a very nice weekend my father drove me home on the Sunday. 

Another Sunday I visited my colleague Maria. She asked for help reorganizing her family history documents and photos. We sat in their screened-in porch and sorted through hundreds of items. I learned after a while what her relatives looked like, so I could sort the photos in piles. We also got the old folders exchanged for new ones and wrote explanations on the envelopes. One particular photo caught my eye. It was of the students at a house-keeping eduction in Lund 1911. Maria's great grandfather's sister Alma was on this photo and to my surprise so was my great grandfather's sister Olga! Incredible that there would be such a connection. Since Maria had duplicates of this photo, I received one. In all, a very nice visit. 

Even though I work too much, I have had time to update my genealogy files. I have added more generations on the family tree I keep at MyHeritage. Last week there was a new match showing up on my DNA-profile. It was a rather close match, a second cousin once removed. I have never heard of this woman before and when I reviewed her family tree I couldn't see that we are related. I actually did research on her tree to make sure she hadn't missed anything but it's correct. In my opinion there could only be one explanation here - her father cannot be the one she thinks it is. I hope that she has figured this out herself so that I don't have to be the one telling her...

Research and shopping

The first two weeks I worked full time and had lots to do. The second week I attended five meetings, for instance. After that, I have taken leave 50%. This is because I have too many vacation days left. Despite this, I'm in the building anyway to do personal projects. There is always some research to do. Last week I got a surprise visit from my grandmother's cousin and his wife. I hadn't seen them in over a decade but remembered that they have been at the library before. They have been to the hospital (next block over from here) quite a lot since the wife is undergoing treatment. We have met and talked several times the past two weeks and also had lunch together. On one occation the wife told me that her brother didn't know who his father was. These cases can be very complicated but this one was very easy. Her brother  happened to be noted in two different birthbooks; one contained the information and the other one did not. He was grateful to get the information but sadly his half-siblings are deceased by now. 

The weather is slightly colder and darker, just like normal. On weekends I have visited fleamarkets in all directions. Five of them were new to me. Bought some designer egg cups in one place, they didn't know the value of those so got them cheaply. One of the clothing chain stores where I could go shopping went out of business earlier this year but have restarted in a shopping center nearby. There is also a newly opened second hand store in the same area, and I have been there several times already. Many activities are starting again, since the restrictions are no longer in effect. A vast majority of the residents are fully vaccinated. This week there is a choral festival in Lund, and I listened to the Cathedral boys' choir yesterday at lunchtime.

Back to work

I had six weeks of vacation in total and there was not that much done. It's still difficult to travel abroad, so I remained for the most part in the summerhouse or its vicinity. One Saturday I was the guide at the cemetery tour at my birth town church. 16 people showed up, which was surprising since it was cloudy and had just rained. After two hours of talking most of the attendants walked over to the local school building. They had a reopening after renovating. For being such a small village they had lots on offer; coffee & cakes, popcorn, chocolate raffle, icecream, face painting, grilled hamburgers and games for the children. I talked to several people there and ended up getting research requests.

I have also done some short visits to other towns (with or without my mother), bought two tops at my cousin's clothing store, picked mushrooms, watched sports on TV, solved a large number of crossword puzzles, cleaned my car and visited most fleamarkets/second hand stores within a 40 minute drive. I have bought quite a few books for the library. At one place we bought very nice fabric, and my mother made me a pillow case and a kitchen curtain from some of it.

One Sunday we went to Ronneby in Blekinge province to visit one of my mother's friends. We toured the local fleamarket and then had a buffet style lunch. We also went for a walk in the pretty park where there used to be a spa facility.

Occasionally, I have spent some hours at work to do research, and I also went to the regional archive a couple of times to use their databases. The research for others is sent off now. 

The situation at work this Monday wasn't crazy but I was told I had been missed. Last week they had apparently been only two staff members in the stacks. That is definitely too few. I have so far been able to wade through the enormous amounts of messages but only taken action on some of them.

Visit to Hanö

The first Saturday on my vacation I went with my sister, her husband and their daughter to an island off the coast of Blekinge, Hanö. It's a small island with a dry and stony landscape, where the wind is always blowing. We went on a guided tour of the lighthouse at the top (about 60 meters above sea level). It was a nice excursion. On the way back to the summerhouse we stopped for a large icecream in Åhus.

Tuesday last week I had to go back to work temporarily. The language library delivered 160 boxes with journals to our storage, and I was there to open doors and give advice. This time they had hired a moving company to get the boxes in and then the faculty library staff did the shelving. It was raining very much so the floor got wet but apart from that it went well. I kept busy shelving other books and searching for books suitable for an upcoming exhibit. In the afternoon I returned to the summerhouse.

I was all alone the first week, since the others were in Borås. I spent my days driving around the area of northeastern and eastern Skåne, visiting lunch restaurants, cafes, icecream places, antique book shops, flea markets, thrift stores, consignment stores and malls. So far I have bought a nightgown, a blouse, a top, a cardigan, a scarf and many books for the library. One day I also went to my birth town cemetery to spray some of the gravestones to get rid of the moss and lichen. It has been very nice to be on vacation at this time, when most others are working. The number of tourists everywhere has gone down dramatically. 

This Tuesday I returned home to do laundry and because I had to hand my car in for the annual service. This evening I will return to the east coast again.

Soon vacation

It has been a long and tiring summer in the stacks at the library. Mostly because of the hot weather. The summerworkers have been efficient and got many projects done. Today we had chocolate cake to see them off. 

My vacation starts now, at least in theory. Already on Tuesday I have to go to the storage to receive a shipment with journals from a faculty library. It's easier if I don't have anything else that day. 

The Olympic Games just ended. I didn't watch that much because of the time difference. Sweden got three gold medals; show jumping, pole vaulting and the discus. 

Most weekends I have visited at the summerhouse. The activity level has been rather low. We did get to a few fleamarkets and also a historic mill where they baked bread in a wood-fired oven. I spent last weekend at home, going on a road trip on the Saturday. I went to a total of seven fleamarkets, some of which I had never been to before. The results were meagre, only a few books for the library.

The weather is cooler now, thankfully. The ocean temperature is lower also, sadly.

Hot weather

Some days have been terribly hot here. More than 30 degrees. It has been just awful to work in the stacks. This is an old house and the heat stays in for a long time. The air conditioning leaves a lot to be asked for, definitely. I have been sitting at someone elses desk often, since the climate in my office is too hot. The janitors bought more fans but it really doesn't help. When we have desk duty, we have to leave the desk occasionally because it's difficult to breathe there. 

The summerworkers are busy putting old material into new boxes, shelving and also retrieving. The number of requests is low right now. The regular work takes perhaps a couple of hours each day. The rest of the time we engage in different projects. I have added extra dissertations to our collection and continued weeding the reference collection. Since there was time, I have also given three lectures. The summerworkers listened to the talks about biographical works, reference books and card catalogues. 

One Saturday when it rained I went to Ikea in Helsingborg. I bought a new desk, which I have wanted for a while. The box was very heavy and I could just about squeeze it into my little car. The material was solid wood so it was a challenge to assemble it also. It took most of the Sunday. It turned out great. 

The past two weekends I have visited at the summerhouse. My mother and I went on a flea market round, since both the ones in Åhus have reopened. There was a line at both places to get in. We bought quite a few useful things, like plastic boxes, new garden chairs and a rake. I bought books for the library. This past Sunday we went to the market in Kivik. It is one of very few markets held this year. We bought some small items.

Midsummer

It's now July and things have slowed down somewhat at the library. We do get the visitors who have personal projects and this is also the time when we hear some rather strange questions. Recently, one person contacted us and by the way it sounded, she wanted us to do the research for her. We said no. 

The book moving project at the storage ended after almost three weeks but they didn't get to finish it. We will have to continue another time. This summer we have three summer workers. There is a long list of chores for them to do, both at the main building and the storage. They also have desk duty every day. 

Some weeks the weather has been really hot, the highest temperature was 32 degrees. The worst part of it was over a weekend, so I sat at home and did very little. I have a sun deck chair on the balcony, which is nice. There are no flowers in the flower boxes this year. Instead I planted dill, basil, chives and brussels sprouts. I have already made use of most of it. 

I made the Midsummer weekend longer by taking two extra days off. My sister and niece joined me at the summerhouse the same day. We had a very good time. We went on an excursion to Österlen one day and my father came to visit also. It was not the warmest water in the ocean but we jumped in almost every day. My niece did not hesitate, she loves taking dips in any pool/lake/ocean/river/any body of water big enough. Midsummer eve was not really celebrated, since there was no maypole but we had lots of good food to eat. The herring was mandatory, of course. The rest of my sister's family came down to the summerhouse in time for the weekend. 

Last week I got the second shot of vaccine. This time the side effects were not as bad as the first time (which is unusual, I hear).

Storage work

I spent the last three weekends in May at the summerhouse alone. I took extra leave also, so it was long weekends. It was great! I did some excursions to the Österlen area (southeast Skåne) and around Kristianstad. In Tomelilla I bought some clothes. I went to a large number of second hand stores and got some small things. At the book flea market in Hässleholm I got 22 books for the library.

The first cemetery tour of the season took place 22 May. It was a very nice day. Two of the eldest residents in the parish attended and they had lots of information to share. After about two hours I was exhausted and tried to make people stop talking but success was limited. They continued talking out in the parking lot also.

For the past two weeks I have been almost all work hours at the storage. We hired three movers to continue on the project we had to interrupt in March. We need to move some science journals to make room for new issues. While there, I have done a lot of shelving. I have also retrieved dissertations for the Law library. It ended up being eight boxes and I also transported them.

My back crashed once again. This time I bent down to pick something up from the floor. That's all it took. After two visits to the chiropractor it is better.

We received an extra gift from our employer to thank us for enduring the situation here. It was a gift certificate. There was also some cake on a few occasions; once to see off the student workers and once to see off a colleague who got another job. 

The weather is really nice, about 22-24 degrees and mostly sunny. Too sunny for my taste but I work indoors at the storage where there is 18 degrees all the time so I'm not complaining yet. 

My mother and her boyfriend are back at the summerhouse for the season. Both of them are now fully vaccinated.

Ascension weekend

The month of May was pretty cold until about a week ago when the weather changed. It is now about 18-20 degrees and mostly sunny. This past weekend was long because of Ascension Day. I made it a little longer by taking the Wednesday off. I spent five days at the summerhouse alone. I went to several second hand stores, visited my cousin's clothing store and had a very large icecream in Åhus. Several purchases were made; books for the library and clothes for me. As a preparation for the upcoming cemetery tour, I went to the cemetery to spray some gravestones to remove the moss and lichen. Some stones were covered in moss and I had to use a scrape to get the worst of it off. The visit to the summerhouse also included watering the plants and mowing the lawn. In all, it was a very nice mini-vacation.

Monday I got my first shot of the Covid 19-vaccine. No side effects so far, only the arm is a little sore from the injection. Today I picked up my new glasses. This time I ordered three pairs; two normal and one pair that is to use in front of the computer. They all seem to function well.

Important key

 The level of activity is not that great but there have been a few things to make note of. Easter was spent at the summerhouse with my mother and her boyfriend. The food was good, as always. We visited the cemetery to plant flowers. Another day we went to a bird feeding area where there were about 6800 cranes to look at. Several other species of birds also took the opportunity to get easily accessible food. At the summerhouse I made use of the water hose and washed my car. Also cleaned it inside. My mother gave me a haircut. The last day of Easter it was my birthday. It was celebrated in modesty. I was treated to lemon cake, and got one present: a pair of kitchen towels my mother had made. On the way home there was a terrible snowstorm and the speed on the highway was not as high as normal. 

Just before Easter it was a very intense period at work. I worked ten hours several days. A little later it calmed down. Right now it's low season and the staff has been able to get other projects done. I'm still busy weeding the reference collection. Just this week I found out that they plan on building yet another storage at the place we have ours. We have decided to move out of one of ours and get space in the new one instead. I accepted the task of making plans regarding what collections to move there. This is a long term project. The last time they bult a new storage it took six years from start to finish, so I'm not that stressed. 

This past Saturday there was a crisis when both the scheduled staff members got sick. I was contacted in the morning and said I could take the shift at the desk. We were two people working, both regular staff. This is not common, usually it's student workers. We understood pretty quickly that routines have changed and we were not updated. It took ten minutes just to find the right key to the front door. We got it opened with seconds to spare. I never work at the desk normally, so when people asked for library cards and how to make copies, I had to hand that over to my colleague. On the other hand, when there were reference questions, I excelled. I know the book collection very well, and could answer sometimes without checking the database. In all, it was an interesting experience. If this happens again, at least I know where the most important key is.

This week I sent out a bibliography I had compiled. It contains references to articles and books about the library I work at. It's 36 pages long and I sent it to all the librarians at the university. The response was very positive. It happens quite often that students ask about the history of the library and we have had difficulties answering properly. This bibliography will be helpful, I hope.

Book moving project

I still have back problems, despite two visits to the chiropractor and one visit to get massage. It's really problematic since my job requires heavy lifting. Yes, books are surprisingly heavy. 

Last Monday we started a book moving project at the storage. Three guys from a moving company were hired for the job. When they arrived I was really surprised to see a familiar face - one of them had actually been involved in the Big Book Move 2012-2013. The books we need to move are science journals. The shelving system works very badly right there and the company which installed them says it's because we have loaded the shelves too much. I disagree, but we have to thin out the collection to see if the situation improves. While the guys are moving books I have been at the storage to shelve and to review other collections. It's hard work to be at the storage all day and I'm very tired in the evenings. 

My paper filled with anecdotes has received praise from colleagues. I plan on making a revised edition, since I have found more photos. 

Apart from work, nothing much is going on here. It's at the end of winter, with storms and a fair amount of rain.

Back issues

Thursday last week was the first time I had to wear a mask. I had an appointment for a routine check-up at the hospital and was told to come ten minutes early and cover my mouth and nose. It was ok but the mask made my glasses misty.

For the past two weeks I have had back problems. I got treatment by the chiropractor but the problems persist. So incredibly annoying. I can't drive the storage round and my colleagues have to do some of my work also. Not what we need right now with so many people absent. 

Last week we got a very challenging request from the Royal Library in Stockholm. They had actually not succeeded in finding the correct reference for one of their patrons. The person who asked had two print-outs from old biographical works but couldn't remember the titles. I could see that the books must be printed between 1820 and 1880 because of the old spelling. After browsing the stacks, the public reference collection and the manuscript department reference books plus some googling I managed to find the correct titles. It was a great feeling to tell the Royal Library of our achievement.

Yesterday I published a chronicle of the stacks. I wrote down some of the history of my department and included many anecdotes and photos. It ended up filling 38 pages. 

The weather is different, it's a lot warmer. All the snow has melted. The spring flowers are already showing up in the park at the library.

Snowy weather

The start of the semester is difficult any year but especially this year. We are few staff members and have to help the desk staff also. One colleague injured her knee and is still on sick leave a month later. My overtime is increasing again and I can't do anything about it. I now have internal desk duty both Mondays and Tuesdays (the worst days), drive the storage round Wednesdays and shelve at the storage every Thursday. Meetings that require my presence must be held on Fridays, so I'm fully booked all days of the week. Not surprisingly, my back is not doing that well, so I had to get treatment by the chiropractor again.

On the positive side, a big mystery was solved this week. Two years ago someone misplaced a folder in the stacks. It was grey cardboard (like most others here) so it was difficult to search for it but we did of course go through hundreds of shelf meters. Yesterday the colleague who misplaced it managed to find it on top of a shelf somewhere. We were so happy about this that we ate cake today to celebrate this marvellous find. 

The weather is cold and stormy with a fair amount of snow. It's worse than recent years so it has been a challenge to drive to work. It's rather icy, especially on the minor roads. I noticed for the first time that there is an anti-spin function in my car. The big roads are plowed but the winds are so high the snow drifts in over the roads again within seconds.

Christmas and New Year's

It was a rather quiet holiday. Early Christmas Eve I drove to the summerhouse, where my mother and her boyfriend were staying. We kept a distance and were careful with hygiene. There was great food in the seasonal style, like Janson's Temptation, meatballs and sausages. I got some very nice presents: a sheepskin to have on the car seat, several types of lotion and soap, a wall calendar, a Christmas kitchen towel, a small led light to have outdoors when it's dark, a Christmas tin containing assorted nuts and a small decorative dog with a Santa hat. My sister gave us a jigsaw puzzle with 1000 pieces. The image was the Titanic, so a large part of the ship was black, the sky was dark and also the ocean. It took over a week to get it done. It was a nice break from the TV watching and the crosswords. 

After the four days off I worked three days and then it was time for the New Year's. The same routine, I drove early on the 31st to the summerhouse. My mother suggested that I should cook a three-course meal for that evening. She helped, also. We had shrimp salad toast, baked salmon with almonds and potato gratin, and dessert was chocolate mousse (made from scratch). It was very tasty. At midnight we stood on the beach looking at the fireworks both to the south and north. 

Monday the 4th we were two people working in the stacks. I was really surprised to see the amount of requests. It seems like many students experienced a sudden urge for books over New Year's. We just barely managed to retrieve everything before noon (when the library opened). It slowed down the next day, thankfully. Wednesday was also a holiday (Twelfth Day), which I spent at home. My father came to visit, primarily I think because he doesn't have a TV and wanted to watch winter sports. We also went out for pizza. 

Today most of the staff members in the stacks were on site to handle the relatively large amount of requests. The semester starts soon and there will be lots to do the next few weeks, even though we have limited the number of studying spaces and closed off parts of the house. The feared virus is increasing here and we try to limit people's presence in the library as much as possible.