year 1, apartment hunting, and the plague: it's summertime!

So when you're in graduate school, the best part of summer: it means you survived the previous year! So it is official: I have survived Library School Year 1. (And yes, in my pathetic mind that is an oblique Harry Potter reference...)

Speaking of Harry Potter...one of the delights of the past month has been suddenly rediscovering that wonderful long-lost friend Free Time. I just completed a Harry Potter movie marathon. Any suggestions as to what I should watch next?

So I've nailed down my housing for the next year...in August I will be moving literally across the street (but trust me, it's a MAJOR upgrade) to a new apartment with three awesome library students. Let the nerd fest commence. Seriously, though, I'm really excited to live with three other girls who can relate to each others' insanity.

I've also just today begun my new job at the United States Geological Survey's National Wildlife Health Center in Madison. They've hired me to work in their library department, handling cataloging of wildlife journals and articles, responding to wildlife reference questions, and other miscellaneous tasks as needed.

The highlights of my first day:

-Because the National Wildlife Health Center is a federally funded organization that deals with wildlife diseases, it's a closed facility. Meaning I literally had to be buzzed into the building by staff. In my mind, of course, the whole thing felt very CIA and awesome.

-Because they deal with actual wildlife (mostly of the avian and amphibian type) and actual diseases in the facility's labs, I only have access to about 20% of the building. The rest is key-code access limited. I didn't have the courage to ask what would happen if I tried to get into those areas...after some reflection, I decided there are some things you just shouldn't ask on your first day.

-Their main lab is called the "Necropsy Lab," and it is exactly what it sounds like; it's where they do the wildlife autopsies. Unfortunately for me, the lab is viewable from the outside via huge glass walls. And doubly unfortunate: today they happened to be doing autopsies during my tour of the facility. Let's just say I white-knuckled it through, but there was one particular moment when I was morbidly certain I was going to hit the floor. Why is there never a Victorian fainting couch handy when you need one?

-I suddenly know a LOT about the following: white nose bat syndrome, chronic wasting disease in deer, avian flu die-off, and the plague.

-The last thing the HR rep told me after our meeting was "So since we still need to get you finger-printed to issue you an ID badge, until further notice you'll need to be escorted everywhere...and just generally try not to look suspicious, ok?", to which I naturally replied, "Darn it! That was my entire plan, to be creepy and suspicious. NOW what am I going to do?" To which she laughed.

So yep, I think this is going to be pretty awesome...



evil, evil basements

As I generally leave laundry as a weekend chore, about every Sunday night I am forced to dig deep into my reserves of courage and brave my apartment's dreaded basement. And before you prematurely decide that I'm being over-dramatic, let's take a look, shall we?

Stairs off the kitchen that go down to the basement:

The view at the bottom of the stairs (ahead to the left is an empty room with broken floor tiles; possibly it was the room where a previous tenant/psychopath kept his victims chained to the wall)

The laundry area. And yes; I have tripped many, many times into the mini-sinkhole on the floor.

 

And this is the view out the basement window:

So yeah...that's my creepy-as-heck basement/laundry area. I've been here seven months, and it still gives me the creeps every time I go down there after dark. Who knew doing laundry can take as much bravery as Harry Potter going into the forest to meet Voldemort in The Deathly Hallows?

grad·u·ate school. n. def: insanity you voluntarily signed up for.

The good news: inexplicably, in spite of four classes, two-and-a-half jobs (the half being an unpaid practicum internship), living in a shoebox on a non-existent budget with no time for sleep, I love my life. (Well, 99 percent of the time, anyway...)

This semester has been grueling. I'm taking four classes (against the advice of my advisor, who told me three per semester is the maximum they recommend), which should allow me to avoid summer semesters/summer tuition, yet keep me on track to graduate next May. The result: I am never without a textbook in my face (which has on occasion made crossing streets honk-filled adventures) or giant bags under my eyes. Yet I'm constantly reminded that I'm studying what I love, living in a great city, and having more (mis)adventures than I could've hoped for.

Life is good.

more about the new job

So this is the entrance to the library. One must persevere through kind of a maze in the basement of the building to reach this destination, which makes our patrons the few and the determined.

These are some pics of the rolling shelves...

And this is our label-maker I was introduced to yesterday: (what is UP with all these Star Trek themed supplies, anyway? So curious as to what company they buy from...)

Because the audio library is located in the basement, the main circulation department upstairs utilizes a dumb waiter to return music library materials back down to us, which of course as a dork I find completely cool:

Still settling into the new job, but I'm learning a lot, and I really love the quiet atmosphere. And the facilities, in all their musty-smelling old-ness, have a definite charm.

new job hilariousness

So I was recently hired to work 10 hrs a week at UW-Madison's audio library. The main library building is really big and beautiful, with tall ceilings and spacious study areas. That's not where I am. The Mills Music Library is its own separate library collection, located in the basement of the building.

The first time I walked down there to hand in my resume, the library reminded me of Fox Mulder's office from The X-Files. Obviously the library is much bigger than his office, but it definitely gave me the impression that the Music Library is the main library's embarrassing cousin that lives in the basement and is mostly ignored. Of course I fell in love with it right away.

Highlights of yesterday, my first day of work at the library:

Behind the audio checkout desk, available only to staff, is a closed "cage" where they store music related cds, dvds and videocassettes. This area is what they call "closed stack;" patrons can't browse, but they can search the catalog and tell us what they'd like, and we go back into the cage, look through the shelves and grab it for them. These shelves, however, are not your regular book shelves. They are on tracks, and they have big wheels on the sides so you can get between them. The first time I walked back and slipped between two of the shelves, I got this unshakeable feeling that I was about to be crushed accordion style, much like Han Solo in the trash compactor from Star Wars: A New Hope. This is going to take some getting used to.

So in the midst of walking me around the library, one of my coworkers introduced me to the audio library's public services librarian. We walk up to him, and she says, "Lindsay, this is ____" He's a white guy, somewhat preppy-looking, in his early-mid thirties. He turns to me, I smile, and just as I start to put my hand out, he bows. And not the Japanese, head-waist bow. Oh no; he thrusts back his right leg, puts out his arms and gives me a full-on Victorian-era bow. I freeze, looking around in panic. Am I supposed to laugh? Does he expect me to curtsy? (Without falling over? Because I actually doubt I could do that...) My other coworker who is introducing us makes no reaction, and the moment passes, but five minutes later I'm still looking around, waiting for either the hidden cameras to appear, or my coworkers to start laughing and enjoy the prank on the new girl. Nope. Pretty sure this guy is just that eccentric. That night I nearly died laughing describing this moment to my sister. It must be my inner weird that gets such a kick out of the strange ones...

At one point one of my coworkers tells me, "I'm going to show you how to scan the items that patrons browse, since we keep track of those statistics. Let's grab the phaser."
HUH?
My face reflects the above, and she laughs. "Oh; yeah, you'll understand when you see it. It looks exactly like the phasers from Star Trek: The Next Generation." And folks, it really does.

So I think this job's gonna be pretty interesting...

:D

snapshots of Blizzard Draco and holiday break

Blizzard Draco crept in under the cover of night December 19th, 2012, and in 24 hours dumped a total of 15 inches on Madison:

By Thursday morning, Governor Walker had closed all city buildings. Day off for me! As public transpo wasn't running, and none of the streets got effectively plowed in the first 24 hours, my camera and I trekked all over Downtown on foot, taking pics of the city. It was a blast.

Saturday morning, December 22, I managed to dig my car out from under a mountain of plowed snow, and (very slowly) made my exodus.

One bit of excitement: M (my car, named after the immutable Bond character) desperately needed a fill-up. So the moment I got out of Downtown Madison, I stopped at a gas station. And discovered their satellite was down, and so was their ability to take credit cards. Three gas stations later (and with poor M coughing up fumes) we FINALLY found one that was able to take credit. Let me tell you what: as far as I'm concerned, Blizzard + no satellite = Armageddon.

Then for the REAL fun: Holiday Break in Holt, MI (AKA mad fun with family & friends)

We FINALLY saw The Hobbit!

Pixar's The Incredibles movie night with David and Kaitlin and the kids. Pretty sure a bomb could've gone off, and Benjamin wouldn't have moved an inch.

This little dude so contentedly nestled in the snow is Orville. Heather bought him last summer when she found me making friends with him at the store. I took him back with me to Madison, as he will be a traveling knome for the next year. He and I are looking forward to having many adventures together in Mad-town.

Yep, we really did make an upside-down snowman. And it was boss. (And quite the neighborhood sideshow.)

Yep, we are those nerds, the kind that make their own board games. Try not to be terrified of our awesomeness.

Highlights of break: 

• Creating The Princess Bride Monopoly together
• Playing Wheel of Fortune
• Eating Mom's Christmas cookies like they were going out of style (which they NEVER will)
• Seeing old friends
• Throwing clothes over fitting room walls at resale shops
• Getting Benjamin hugs
• Heather's expression when I showed her my poopy cow keychain
• Late-night talks with Megs
• Making leg-warmers (I know, right? Me, enjoying SEWING. The mind rebels)
• Gina's laugh as we watched Boy Meets World 
• Wrestling Shelby in the snow
• Sledding in precarious 10-person trains down Dead Mans Hill
• The dozens of situations I labeled Christmas miracles (everything from our white Christmas to green traffic lights)

Quote of the week: Megan (just after showering): "I'm gonna grab some cookies from the garage freezer." Me: "Okay." ::two minutes later:: Megan: "Could you give me a clue where to look? It's cold out here, and my hair is starting to freeze."

one of those days

So last week I had one of those days:

-I overslept
-literally had to run to class
-was one minute late, so I had to do the walk of shame to the front of the class to get the one empty seat
-forgot my water bottle at my apartment, so I got dehydrated at work
-forgot to return my library books before work, so I had to walk home during my break instead of eating lunch
-forgot my umbrella, and because it started pouring rain JUST as I left, I had to run from building overhang to building overhang on the way home from work

And the kicker: on the way home I literally stepped in dog poo that someone left in the middle of the road.

?!?!

The good news: I got home that night, fell into bed, and went to sleep with the comforting knowledge that the next day could not POSSIBLY be worse than the day I just completed. And I was right.