This past week it was sports break for many people. A few of my colleagues went off somewhere to go skiing or engage in other winter sports. The flu season is even more noticeable now, two people were absent from my department. I unexpectedly got desk duty today because of this. Not what I had planned for.
Last week there were some difficulties with the trains. In fact it was so bad Tuesday evening that I turned around and went back to work to borrow the storage round car overnight. I understood it would take hours to get the trains back in action so I decided it was best. It happens once or twice a year that everything fails like that. I have general permission to borrow the car in those cases. I did of course make use of it and went for groceries on the way home.
The Olympic Games turned out to be the most successful ever for Sweden, with 14 medals in total. One of the more unexpected gold medals was in women's curling. The athletes did very well in biathlon and downhill skiing also.
It's cold here. Down to 10 below zero and winds from the north. At least it's light out when I leave home in the mornings now. The darkest times have passed.
Monday, February 26, 2018
Sunday, February 18, 2018
Medals
Since some of my tasks have turned out to be a little too straining it was decided that I no longer have to drive the storage round or do any shelving/retrieving of books. This remarkable decision taken above my head will have a very negative effect on my colleague's work load. Especially since we are one person short already. At the same time they have changed the schedule for desk duty and given the staff in the stacks even more work retrieving also from the open collection. I really think they should have engaged another person first before telling me to stop working with this. Now, there is not a chance that I will be idle since I'm involved in several projects and my to-do list is long.
At the Olympic Games the women are doing very well in skiing competitions. So far there are seven Swedish medals, six of them have been awarded to women. I have been watching quite a lot of it on TV, I especially think biathlon is interesting.
It's not as cold outside anymore but still high winds occasionally. It's flu season and this is noticeable at work. Several people are at home, either because they are sick themselves or have sick kids.
At the Olympic Games the women are doing very well in skiing competitions. So far there are seven Swedish medals, six of them have been awarded to women. I have been watching quite a lot of it on TV, I especially think biathlon is interesting.
It's not as cold outside anymore but still high winds occasionally. It's flu season and this is noticeable at work. Several people are at home, either because they are sick themselves or have sick kids.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Storage round
It was another tough week at work. This Wednesday I drove the storage round for the first time in almost an entire year. It took a long time and there were problems with the electric compact shelves. There was only one meeting scheduled but it meant that I got more tasks to do. My to-do list is now almost two pages long. I had to go to the chiropractor also. The last treatment was in April. I should go at least once every three months so it was definitely time.
It's relatively cold outside. It has been below zero most days recently. Also windy, which makes the cold effect feel even worse.
The Olympic Games started this weekend. There is one gold medal for Sweden already. A female cross country skier won the first event called skiathlon. Impressive.
It's relatively cold outside. It has been below zero most days recently. Also windy, which makes the cold effect feel even worse.
The Olympic Games started this weekend. There is one gold medal for Sweden already. A female cross country skier won the first event called skiathlon. Impressive.
Sunday, February 4, 2018
Free genealogy database
The big news in the world of genealogy here is the fact that the Swedish National Archive is no longer requiring a fee to view their scanned material. They got extra money for the budget so they don't have to charge people. Both as a librarian and a researcher I am in favor of this development. The databases now available can be used by not only people doing family history research but also scholars of history, geography, demographics, social history and much else. It contains a varied kind of material from about the 15th century and on. The link is: https://sok.riksarkivet.se/digitala-forskarsalen. If you prefer the website in English, chose Other languages in upper part of the page.
At work it was a tough week, both for my brain and my body. I was scheduled to attend five meetings but only made it to four. There just wasn't time for all of them. I have desk duty at the internal desk every Friday starting this past week. It's the desk on which all the problems end up, basically. Books without barcode, call slips not processed, printer failures, questions from staff and patrons, books not catalogued and every possible mishap imaginable. Friday evening I was pretty brain dead, in other words. The woman who was hired to replace me during my illness was not allowed to continue even though we really would have needed her. One person has retired so there should be budget allowance for it. We are not happy about this, as she proved to be very well suited for the job.
Saturday my father came to visit. We had quite a lot to talk about because the local history book was published. He is interested in the history of Norra Strö even though this is not his ancestral home. We did live there for a few years in the 1970s and we do know many people there so there was lots to discuss. We also made a trip to the nearest mall. I handed over even more junk to the charity shop and we did some shopping. I also stocked up on food items.
At work it was a tough week, both for my brain and my body. I was scheduled to attend five meetings but only made it to four. There just wasn't time for all of them. I have desk duty at the internal desk every Friday starting this past week. It's the desk on which all the problems end up, basically. Books without barcode, call slips not processed, printer failures, questions from staff and patrons, books not catalogued and every possible mishap imaginable. Friday evening I was pretty brain dead, in other words. The woman who was hired to replace me during my illness was not allowed to continue even though we really would have needed her. One person has retired so there should be budget allowance for it. We are not happy about this, as she proved to be very well suited for the job.
Saturday my father came to visit. We had quite a lot to talk about because the local history book was published. He is interested in the history of Norra Strö even though this is not his ancestral home. We did live there for a few years in the 1970s and we do know many people there so there was lots to discuss. We also made a trip to the nearest mall. I handed over even more junk to the charity shop and we did some shopping. I also stocked up on food items.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Bibliography
This past week was busy at work. I am involved in several projects and there have been a few meetings. Wednesday I went with two colleagues in the larger transport vehicle to the storage. We needed to move two ladders and five carts with books out there.
Thursday I stayed at home because a firm would come and inspect the ventilation system. It was given approval. That day I also did quite a few chores like cleaning the bathroom, moving stuff off the floor and doing some hand-washing.
This week I received a copy of the local history book from the author. I'm very glad to have it. This has meant that I have started a new project. I'm currently listing articles and books relating to the history of Norra Strö parish. It's a small parish so there aren't that many references but the list is five pages long already. I have found several articles I didn't know existed. Someone had for instance interviewed my mother's godmother and written about it in a journal for children. There were also some prints from 1736, relating to a funeral of the owner of the manor house. Very interesting finds.
Thursday I stayed at home because a firm would come and inspect the ventilation system. It was given approval. That day I also did quite a few chores like cleaning the bathroom, moving stuff off the floor and doing some hand-washing.
This week I received a copy of the local history book from the author. I'm very glad to have it. This has meant that I have started a new project. I'm currently listing articles and books relating to the history of Norra Strö parish. It's a small parish so there aren't that many references but the list is five pages long already. I have found several articles I didn't know existed. Someone had for instance interviewed my mother's godmother and written about it in a journal for children. There were also some prints from 1736, relating to a funeral of the owner of the manor house. Very interesting finds.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Archive visit and a new book
This past week was rather busy. The semester started on Monday and we had a lot of requests to process. We just barely made the noon deadline that day. The lines were also long to get student id-cards (they are produced at the library). I was busy doing even more shelving and book searching. Had to go to the storage one day also.
Friday I was really surprised to find a new book about my home parish Norra Strö. It was written by a local resident and included both results from research and his own recollections. I got even more surprised when I read the preface. My name was mentioned there. The author thanked me for my efforts to dig up archive material relating to the parish. I had no idea he had written this. The book is nice with varied content spanning several hundred years.
Saturday I went to the Malmö city archive. They had open house and I joined a group allowed down into the stacks. The archivist showed us a book with tax records from 1517 and I could read most of the names on the displayed page. They have records from factories, societies, churches and local administration dating back hundreds of years. I also attended a lecture on DNA in genealogy, which is the latest in this business. The lecturer gave an example from his own research, where his great grandfather had an unknown father. After doing the DNA test he had to change a part of his ancestral tables because the man he thought was the father of this child could not be related. Eventually, he was able to find the correct father thanks to other people having done this test too. It was a very interesting day at this archive.
At home the biggest change is the fact that all the Christmas decorations are gone. It took an entire day to store everything in the attic again. Sadly, one of the glass decorations broke but there are quite a few items left. This December we could chose (from a mail order catalog) a Christmas present from work. I did this a little late and didn't get mine until last week. I opted for a hand-held blender.
Friday I was really surprised to find a new book about my home parish Norra Strö. It was written by a local resident and included both results from research and his own recollections. I got even more surprised when I read the preface. My name was mentioned there. The author thanked me for my efforts to dig up archive material relating to the parish. I had no idea he had written this. The book is nice with varied content spanning several hundred years.
Saturday I went to the Malmö city archive. They had open house and I joined a group allowed down into the stacks. The archivist showed us a book with tax records from 1517 and I could read most of the names on the displayed page. They have records from factories, societies, churches and local administration dating back hundreds of years. I also attended a lecture on DNA in genealogy, which is the latest in this business. The lecturer gave an example from his own research, where his great grandfather had an unknown father. After doing the DNA test he had to change a part of his ancestral tables because the man he thought was the father of this child could not be related. Eventually, he was able to find the correct father thanks to other people having done this test too. It was a very interesting day at this archive.
At home the biggest change is the fact that all the Christmas decorations are gone. It took an entire day to store everything in the attic again. Sadly, one of the glass decorations broke but there are quite a few items left. This December we could chose (from a mail order catalog) a Christmas present from work. I did this a little late and didn't get mine until last week. I opted for a hand-held blender.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Back to work
Monday I started working again. We are all very sad about the loss of our colleague. She was only 56 years old and a good leader of both the library and the staff. This week it was difficult to get things done. No one was in the mood for working. We did the necessary tasks but spent most of the time talking about what had happened. I did engage in some shelving and was given a few book searching requests.
Several people have commented on my (new) hair. It actually has a somewhat darker tone and it is not entirely straight anymore. It does happen that the hair changes both color and texture after chemo therapy.
This Wednesday I had an appointment at the medical center and they wanted some blood from me. This is rather difficult. This time more so than normal. It took three nurses eight attempts before there was any sign of blood. My veins run very deep. They apologized for their inability but I said not to worry. After everything I have endured I don't think eight needle marks give reason for concern.
Last night there was a movie entitled The C Word (2015) on TV. I have seen it before and do recommend it. It's based on the blog that Lisa Lynch (1979-2013) started writing when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was brutally honest (in a sometimes hilarious way) and wrote for instance about the horrifying side effects from chemo that she got. (I admit to having censored a large part of that in this blog). She also published a book with the same title as the movie. The blog was (and probably still is) helpful to many people who are affected by cancer in one way or another. The blog is called Alrighttit and can be found if you google it. Lisa died in 2013 and the last posting she did herself was in December 2012.
Several people have commented on my (new) hair. It actually has a somewhat darker tone and it is not entirely straight anymore. It does happen that the hair changes both color and texture after chemo therapy.
This Wednesday I had an appointment at the medical center and they wanted some blood from me. This is rather difficult. This time more so than normal. It took three nurses eight attempts before there was any sign of blood. My veins run very deep. They apologized for their inability but I said not to worry. After everything I have endured I don't think eight needle marks give reason for concern.
Last night there was a movie entitled The C Word (2015) on TV. I have seen it before and do recommend it. It's based on the blog that Lisa Lynch (1979-2013) started writing when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. She was brutally honest (in a sometimes hilarious way) and wrote for instance about the horrifying side effects from chemo that she got. (I admit to having censored a large part of that in this blog). She also published a book with the same title as the movie. The blog was (and probably still is) helpful to many people who are affected by cancer in one way or another. The blog is called Alrighttit and can be found if you google it. Lisa died in 2013 and the last posting she did herself was in December 2012.
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