Not much to report from here, just a lot of work (including two meetings, which resulted in more tasks for me, unfortunately). The only nice thing was the shopping trip I did Monday (on my day off). I toured two malls near Malmö and also the city of Malmö. I got a few Christmas presents and some things for myself. I noticed several new shops that were interesting, a discount book store and a Danish style shop with lots of ornaments (very cheaply). I ended the day at the TGIF restaurant, treating myself to a good sized meal with brownie & icecream for dessert.
My back isn't doing that great, so I got a treatment by the chiropractor again this week. Every time I'm there he tells me I have to find another job... It's the heavy lifting during the storage round that is causing some of the problems.
The weather here is not winter-like at all. It has been the warmest fall ever in recorded history. It's still not below zero and we are driving our cars with spiked tyres (it's the law from Dec 1st) for no reason. Not a snowflake in sight. It's dark and moderately rainy, but not cold. The calender says it's the first advent tomorrow, so it's time to get some of the Christmas decorations out. Seems a little early.
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Saturday, November 23, 2013
Christmas market
It was an extended weekend at the summerhouse, I was there until Tuesday. Our database at the library was down for an upgrade and there would be very few requests, so I took the opportunity to get vacation. Especially since my mother wasn't well and wanted company. Saturday we took the bus to Åhus for a flea market round. This day all proceeds went to the Philippines, so we paid extra at the cashier. We got some ornaments and glassware. Also got a very ugly plastic necklace in a disturbingly green color, and the saleswoman asked what on earth I would use it for. The upcoming Christmas party at work will have a theme - the 1970s!
Sunday we took the bus to Kristianstad to go to a Christmas market. The first stall sold ointments for people with muscle inflammation (and that had nothing to do with Christmas). But my mother, who has exactly that problem (and right now pretty severely), asked for a demonstration and was given one treatment on the spot. She noticed a difference and bought the product. After one day she quit taking the strongest pain medication. She has been to a chiropractor, a doctor and two fysiotherapists, but the thing that helped the most was a liniment bought at a Christmas market. It's incredible.
Getting back to work Wednesday was not pleasant, the tasks were piled up on my chair (they put it there so I will be sure to see it). But the database upgrade went really well. At least we haven't noticed any disasters so far. Friday I did a repeat of my (by now) famous lecture on biographic works. I think I have given it about five times for the staff. It's about biographic works with more normal people, like farmworkers, schoolteachers and craftsmen. It's more likely that you will find your ancestors listed in those books than in the ones about noble or royal families. The books I showed were published about 1920-1960 and they can be quite interesting for genealogists, but also for people studying the 20th century in general. Several colleagues have found relatives in those books during these lectures.
Sunday we took the bus to Kristianstad to go to a Christmas market. The first stall sold ointments for people with muscle inflammation (and that had nothing to do with Christmas). But my mother, who has exactly that problem (and right now pretty severely), asked for a demonstration and was given one treatment on the spot. She noticed a difference and bought the product. After one day she quit taking the strongest pain medication. She has been to a chiropractor, a doctor and two fysiotherapists, but the thing that helped the most was a liniment bought at a Christmas market. It's incredible.
Getting back to work Wednesday was not pleasant, the tasks were piled up on my chair (they put it there so I will be sure to see it). But the database upgrade went really well. At least we haven't noticed any disasters so far. Friday I did a repeat of my (by now) famous lecture on biographic works. I think I have given it about five times for the staff. It's about biographic works with more normal people, like farmworkers, schoolteachers and craftsmen. It's more likely that you will find your ancestors listed in those books than in the ones about noble or royal families. The books I showed were published about 1920-1960 and they can be quite interesting for genealogists, but also for people studying the 20th century in general. Several colleagues have found relatives in those books during these lectures.
Friday, November 15, 2013
International visit
The work week started Tuesday with three meetings. It's remarkable that I survived. We do have a lot of issues to discuss, mainly staffing and long-term planning. Thursday we got a visit from the medical faculty library in Copenhagen, Denmark. Five librarians who work in their stacks came to see how we work here. They were fascinated by our call slips and asked about logistics and rules for borrowing. We also talked about digitization (seems like unavoidable these days, when talking about libraries). It was interesting to compare our work issues (they are similar).
I'm sorry to say that the Emigrant Institute in Växjö will close. They hold a large collection of books and archive material relating to emigration/immigration and they have had such big financial problems that these collections have been in reality unavailable for quite some time. It's sad that it ended like this. It's unclear what will happen to the collections, but there are a few options and I hope they can find an archive that will be able to take care of it (and also make it available). The museum part, with exhibits about Swedish emigration and Swedes in America, will continue like before.
After two more meetings this week I'm pretty tired and I will be off to the summer house this evening, to visit my mother.
I'm sorry to say that the Emigrant Institute in Växjö will close. They hold a large collection of books and archive material relating to emigration/immigration and they have had such big financial problems that these collections have been in reality unavailable for quite some time. It's sad that it ended like this. It's unclear what will happen to the collections, but there are a few options and I hope they can find an archive that will be able to take care of it (and also make it available). The museum part, with exhibits about Swedish emigration and Swedes in America, will continue like before.
After two more meetings this week I'm pretty tired and I will be off to the summer house this evening, to visit my mother.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Weekend at the summer house
The rain storm early last week meant that I stayed at home both Monday and Tuesday. Normally I would be at home only Monday, but the trains were cancelled both days and I need to use up more vacation days anyway. Many trees fell over the railtracks, and it took a while before they could get that cleared. I was just glad not to have to go out in that weather, some pretty big objects were flying around and glass windows were damaged (not in my building, though).
My work week was very short, I worked Wednesday and half Thursday. I then took the train and bus to the summer house. Last week was Fall break, so my sister and her kids visited. My mother was also there, of course. She needs some treatments at the medical center here, so she is staying for a few weeks. The long weekend at the summer house was pretty wet. It rained almost the entire time. But the others had been active cutting logs for the fireplace and storing them in the garage. We did some short visits to the nearest towns also, the rest of the time we just relaxed and played with the kids. I think that I easily can get accustomed to having this much time off from work. It's very nice.
My work week was very short, I worked Wednesday and half Thursday. I then took the train and bus to the summer house. Last week was Fall break, so my sister and her kids visited. My mother was also there, of course. She needs some treatments at the medical center here, so she is staying for a few weeks. The long weekend at the summer house was pretty wet. It rained almost the entire time. But the others had been active cutting logs for the fireplace and storing them in the garage. We did some short visits to the nearest towns also, the rest of the time we just relaxed and played with the kids. I think that I easily can get accustomed to having this much time off from work. It's very nice.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Lots of tops
I finally got that bad cold all my colleagues have had. One week later, and I'm still sick. I worked the last three days of the week. There were meetings booked, and I basically just attended them. I heard the ephemera collection move started last Monday, and there had already been misunderstandings between the movers and the librarian. It was very unprofessional of me, but I just laughed at the librarian when he told me about it.
The first two months of the semester have been very tough at work and I wrote an evaluation of the plan I had done earlier. The outcome was pretty far away from the plan, that's all I'm saying. At the same time as I handed in the evaluation, I told my boss that it can't continue like this and I have to take vacation. It would kill my colleagues if that took effect immediately, so I said to count me out starting April 1st and the rest of the year. (Yes, I mean it). The reactions to this information were mixed...
On a completely different matter, I did some serious shopping this past week. There is a top that I got on mail order earlier that I liked so much that I now got the same one in three more colors. Also got a pair of black jeans, some underwear and a fluffy cardigan. A visit to my favorite mall resulted in a shirt and two tops.
The weather here is not particularly cold, it's 12-14 centigrades and not so much rain as would be expected for this season. But I hear there is a massive rain storm coming in from the southwest tonight, so that will change.
The first two months of the semester have been very tough at work and I wrote an evaluation of the plan I had done earlier. The outcome was pretty far away from the plan, that's all I'm saying. At the same time as I handed in the evaluation, I told my boss that it can't continue like this and I have to take vacation. It would kill my colleagues if that took effect immediately, so I said to count me out starting April 1st and the rest of the year. (Yes, I mean it). The reactions to this information were mixed...
On a completely different matter, I did some serious shopping this past week. There is a top that I got on mail order earlier that I liked so much that I now got the same one in three more colors. Also got a pair of black jeans, some underwear and a fluffy cardigan. A visit to my favorite mall resulted in a shirt and two tops.
The weather here is not particularly cold, it's 12-14 centigrades and not so much rain as would be expected for this season. But I hear there is a massive rain storm coming in from the southwest tonight, so that will change.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Borås visit
Last week I left work at noon on Wednesday and went by train to Borås. I spent a long weekend with my family there. My sister and her husband celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary by going away to a country inn, so my mother and I were taking care of the kids. We also got to celebrate later, when we all went out to a fancy restaurant for a delicious salmon meal. There was also time to go shopping a little, my mother brought me to an outlet store at one of the mail order companies. There were surplus goods and returns at extremely low prices. Sadly, no clothes in my size, but still interesting to see. I got two tops on sale at the mall instead. We did the usual flea market store round, plus one store I had never been to before.The kids kept us busy with playground visits, lego building and other games. I returned home Monday.
In order to use the remaining vacation days, I have to take every Monday off the rest of the year, so I got back to work Tuesday. When they started telling me what had happened during my absence, I put my hands over my ears and told them I didn't want to know. I wonder why things always go wrong when I'm not there. People got sick and none of the others knew how to print the requests, apparently. Even though I showed them that particular task last week. I have now spent days writing a very detailed instruction, to prevent that from happening again. To add to the mess, our patrons complained about requested but not retrieved books this week. We investigated it, and the technicians noticed that some requests get lost in cyberspace... They were able to fix it after a few days and we also got hold of the missing ones, so all the books are delivered now.
We were rather surprised to learn that we were affected by the US federal agency shut down. The largest fulltext database in education, ERIC, was made unavailable during that time. The entire situation was somewhat odd and we watched the developments with amazement.
In order to use the remaining vacation days, I have to take every Monday off the rest of the year, so I got back to work Tuesday. When they started telling me what had happened during my absence, I put my hands over my ears and told them I didn't want to know. I wonder why things always go wrong when I'm not there. People got sick and none of the others knew how to print the requests, apparently. Even though I showed them that particular task last week. I have now spent days writing a very detailed instruction, to prevent that from happening again. To add to the mess, our patrons complained about requested but not retrieved books this week. We investigated it, and the technicians noticed that some requests get lost in cyberspace... They were able to fix it after a few days and we also got hold of the missing ones, so all the books are delivered now.
We were rather surprised to learn that we were affected by the US federal agency shut down. The largest fulltext database in education, ERIC, was made unavailable during that time. The entire situation was somewhat odd and we watched the developments with amazement.
Saturday, October 5, 2013
Bowling event
Another busy week went by. The manager at the shelving company and the technician were at the storage to discuss the problems with us. They found several new issues that they didn't know about, and suggested that it's the programming that isn't right. Exactly what we have said the entire time. Incredible that it had to take this long for them to get it. No promises were made as to when this will be fixed.
I had a meeting with the colleagues who will be in charge of the ephemera collection move, which will start mid October. My book moving experience is extensive, and I gave them some hints and suggestions to make their move easier. I also had a meeting which resulted in some less favorable things. I have to find space for 1000 meters of folio format books somewhere. I'm still working on that.
Tuesday evening we had the annual dinner and bowling event in Malmö. Great food in Scandinavian style; salmon, herring and several kinds of meat. The bowling tournament was won by one of the recently employed guys, who said he was just lucky to get three strikes in a row.
The hard work shelving at the storage continues. There is still a backlog, but we are beginning to get it under control. Thursday I had to get treatment by the chiropractor and that was not pleasant. The week ended in a good way, with Cinnamon Bun Day. Yes, we have such an official day. I helped myself to more than one bun. After such a week I needed it.
I had a meeting with the colleagues who will be in charge of the ephemera collection move, which will start mid October. My book moving experience is extensive, and I gave them some hints and suggestions to make their move easier. I also had a meeting which resulted in some less favorable things. I have to find space for 1000 meters of folio format books somewhere. I'm still working on that.
Tuesday evening we had the annual dinner and bowling event in Malmö. Great food in Scandinavian style; salmon, herring and several kinds of meat. The bowling tournament was won by one of the recently employed guys, who said he was just lucky to get three strikes in a row.
The hard work shelving at the storage continues. There is still a backlog, but we are beginning to get it under control. Thursday I had to get treatment by the chiropractor and that was not pleasant. The week ended in a good way, with Cinnamon Bun Day. Yes, we have such an official day. I helped myself to more than one bun. After such a week I needed it.
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