Summer work

I have worked all summer so far and parts of it has been an ordeal to get through. Last week it was 31 degrees outside and not much lower inside the library. I spent several days at the storage, where there is 18 degrees. In the corridor (which has a glass roof) it was probably over 40 degrees. Not pleasant. 

Earlier, in May, we hired a moving company to move 165 shelf meters of books to the storage. It went really badly. To begin with, the staff couldn't find the way to the library. During the day we got delayed because the gate at the storage was unexpectedly locked, both elevators we had to use only functioned occasionally and it rained like hell. We couldn't get everything moved even though I assisted. A few weeks later we did the rest ourselves. 

The past few months we have received some minor book collections from the Biology library, the Physics library and a professor of Medicine. We are happy to get additions to our collection. 

In May we also got a visit from a Canadian scholar who was interested in books as a physical object. We have a small book coellction with handmade covers she wanted to see. The easiest way was to bring her to the storage, so that we didn't have to retrieve five meters of books. 

In late May/early June we had a lot of returned books to take care of, so we have been busy. In late June we got three summer workers, all women. They divide their time between the desk, the stacks and the storage. They are very efficient and learned most of the routines here quickly. 

I have been at the summerhouse several weekends, including the Midsummer weekend of course. I have been to many of the flea markets in eastern Skåne. There is a new charity shop where I bought several pieces of clothing. At one big fleamarket arranged outdoors by a soccer club, it rained so much that many items couldn't be sold. Only bought some small things there. My mother and I were standing in the town square of Åhus one Saturday in July, where we sold craft items my mother had made. We sold aprons, necklaces, tote bags and cushions. To our great surprise it went really well. 

I have made some excursions to other towns also. In May I was the guide at the cemetery tour in my birth town. It was very windy that day, but we persisted. In June I went to the History Days in Lund. There was a new exhibit in the History Museum about the university. Also joined a short guided tour there, which happened to be about old coins. On our national holiday June 6 I usually go to Denmark. This year the stores there were not open because of the Pentecost weekend. This fact I didn't realize until I got there, so I returned and spent the day in a mall in Malmö instead. After this I unfortunately got food poisoning and was sick for nearly a week.

In mid-July my mother and I attended a great birthday party at a local history museum in northeastern Skåne. It included a quiz with questions about the birthday girl (who turned 75).

New organization

There hasn't been much written here recently. The spring is very busy at work and the flea market season has started. 

In April my birthday was celebrated in modesty. My father and his girlfriend treated me to dinner at an American style diner. The hamburger was very good. Easter was spent at the summerhouse with my mother, her boyfriend, my sister and niece. We had a nice time playing badminton and going on some excursions in the nearby area. We saw art exhibits in several places and also some small fleamarkets. I also got a haircut.

At work all my colleagues are now physically present at the library. This has meant that there are never any clean glasses or mugs in the kitchen, the fruit basket gets emptied very fast and you have to wait for the elevators quite a lot. I didn't really appreciate the absense of people the past two years until just now. 

We have received more books from two different libraries in the network. Their staff did the transportation and shelving, so we only had to open the doors and give advice. We have also had a moving company move a collection of journals at the storage for two weeks. In the beginning it went well but later they sent new staff who didn't understand the instructions. There were about 200 shelf meters placed in the wrong order because of this. 

One of the cataloguers told me he had discovered that there are 130 000 items missing from the library catalogue. These items exist in the national catalogue but have for unknown reason been removed from our local database. When or how is unclear. The technicians have started to do renewed transfers, so we will get our books back both in reality and in the database. 

The general situation in the world is affecting also my library. We have been asked to make plans for a scenario we hope will never come true. There is an air raid shelter in the basement. We have reorganized a few things so the card catalogue which was there is now elsewhere. The janitors have cleared out some other things, so the room can now be used for the intended purpose. There will not be space for all the staff members but there is also another larger shelter which can be used. 

May 1st the departments of the library were changed. Our boss wanted to reorganize everything. We were not happy about the process because we felt forgotten (we actually were forgotten in several of the stages of this discussion). Now we have had a few meetings with our new department boss and she is overwhelmed by all the details of our work day.

Back issues

Most of this year I have had back problems. Especially the last three weeks. I got treatment by chiropractor and massage therapist, but there are few improvements. One week I had to stay at home three days, which hasn't happened in many years, regardless of the reason. My father came to visit one day and he bought groceries for me. It's problematic for me to stand up so I don't cook much. I have noticed that  microwave meals are not particularly tasty. 

At work there is a re-organization going on. My department will be joined with the bookbinders and digitization staff. We don't really have that much in common with them but that's not the biggest concern. All the bosses will have to re-apply to their jobs and others can also apply. The descriptions of the different departments left a lot to be asked for. They had completely forgotten my department, we were not even mentioned in the job ads. Of course we objected to this and the library boss came to a meeting, where he simply admitted to the mistake. We were asked to write down all the issues and describe what we do. I have spent weeks writing these documents and have now handed them in. I really hope this will help.

One Saturday in January my father and his girlfriend treated me to my Christmas present - a dinner at an inn.The food was incredible. I had shrimp toast, meat and veggies, and for dessert pannacotta with salt caramel. A truly great present.

I have had my third shot of vaccine. There were some side effects but they didn't last long. The restrictions in society are now removed. Covid is not seen as a threatening illness anymore. Some of my family members have had it and say it's like a bad cold.

Christmas and New Year's

This Christmas was unusual, since I stayed at home. My father and his girlfriend came to my place for Christmas Eve. We had a very tasty lunch with meatballs (made from moose meat), sausages, roasted ham, pickled herring and some Danish cheese. The cheese was a big hit, it's strong in flavour and smell (to the extent that you need to wrap it in several layers of plastic). At 3 PM it was time for the Disney cartoon special shown on TV every year. My father's girlfriend had made cake for dessert, a sponge cake filled with fig jam. I served it with whipped cream. Very nice. There were no presents given this day, since I had already handed them over. I gave my father a cushion I had made myself and a bag with deli groceries. His girlfriend got a toiletry bag I had made from the same fabric as the cushion. This was the first time in years that I brought out the sewing machine. I also made curtains for a friend and mended a pair of pants.

At work the number of requests slowed down at the end of the year but the returns increased. On the 23rd we were two people in the stacks and it was no problem making it. The present from work was a gift certificate, which I still haven't used. We managed to have a Christmas party in a restaurant (where we were the only guests). It went well, we just had dinner (great food) and then went home before 9 PM. 

New Year's Eve I drove to the summerhouse, where my mother and her boyfriend were staying. We had a tasty chicken meal with chocolate mousse for dessert. At midnight we went down to the beach to look at the fireworks. They were not so many this time, but still worth seeing. I spent about ten days at the summerhouse and did very little. My mother gave me a towel set and a bathroom mat as a delayed Christmas present. I gave her a pair of scissors. On a related subject, she gave me a much needed haircut also. We kept busy with a jigsaw puzzle with 1000 pieces, image was views from Skåne. We visited a few people also but kept the distance. The fleamarkets were open on the Saturday so my mother and I went there but found very little.

The first working day this week was terrible. Many people are sick and the number of requests were higher than ever before. I was told there had been problems the previous week also. This Tuesday I had to get treatment by the chiropractor because I had taken it too easy at the summerhouse. My back crashes if I don't keep active. 

The 4th wave of the Corona virus is spreading fast in society. Many of my colleagues were sick over the holidays, and some are still absent. One colleague got really sick from the 3rd shot, so he is also at home. 

The only other thing worth mentioning is the fact that I finally got a designated parking space at my place. It's very practical because it's very close and I don't have to remember were I parked my car... You will be surprised to know how difficult it was sometimes to find it in the mornings. Apparently, grey color is very common in cars.

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.