Monday, September 13, 2010
Librarians And Teachers
10:00 PM / 22:00
One student needed an article from a long-running magazine. It had to be at least 100 years old. I'm sure somewhere in the country there are libraries that would have what she needed on microfilm but our library system does not. We have access to some great databases but they don't go back that far yet.
The children's librarian discovered a third grade teacher assigned the whole class to read a book of which there are five or six copies in the entire local library system.
I admire teachers very much. It's a hard job that not just anyone can do. I love the cooperation that happens between schools and libraries. It's all about knowledge and sharing. It would go a whole lot smoother, though, if teachers would check to see if the library has the needed resources before sending students to the library.
Labels: on the job, up on my high horse
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
I Hate Drive-Thru
7:05 p.m. / 19:05
Back in my ice cream shop days, I much preferred to work the drive through window. Now days, I'd be fine if they closed all of them. My reasons:
Back in my ice cream shop days, I much preferred to work the drive through window. Now days, I'd be fine if they closed all of them. My reasons:
- Popular fast food restaurants, such as McDonald's, have lines that can actually block traffic on the city roads. I pass two McDonald's on my way to work that sometimes have lines out into the street.
- You can get stuck in them. A lot of them are set up so you can't pull out of line if you have a need to.
- All those idling cars? Seriously not good for air quality. They really should close drive-thru's on ozone alert days.
- It's probably not much up against a Big Mac or a Whopper, but walking to the counter from a car is more exercise than sitting in the drive-thru lane.
- I haven't done a proper study, but I've never found much evidence that going through the drive-thru actually saves time.
Labels: up on my high horse
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Public Service Announcement
9:45 p.m. / 21:45
This is going to be very random, but I believe it needs to be said.
Do not paint over hinges. As a general rule hardware on doors and windows probably should not be painted, but hinges turn out especially bad. Think about it; hinges are moving parts. The paint is going to crack and peel on your hinges, making them look bad, long before the rest of the door. In both of the old homes my parents have owned, most of the hardware was painted over at some point. It's annoying; please don't do it.
This is going to be very random, but I believe it needs to be said.
Do not paint over hinges. As a general rule hardware on doors and windows probably should not be painted, but hinges turn out especially bad. Think about it; hinges are moving parts. The paint is going to crack and peel on your hinges, making them look bad, long before the rest of the door. In both of the old homes my parents have owned, most of the hardware was painted over at some point. It's annoying; please don't do it.
Labels: up on my high horse
Thursday, November 30, 2006
No Books!
1:28 a.m. / 01:28
The quote in my previous post is really just funny, especially in the context of the book I pulled it from, but it reminded me of something less funny.
I have been aware for quite a while now that many people around here only have library cards because the library has movies and music, in addition to books, but only in the past year, since I left the big library downtown for a branch (two different worlds) have I realized there's something worse than that. If an individual chooses not to check out books, that's one thing. But in the past year, I have repeatedly heard parents tell their excited, knowledge-hungry children "No, you're only getting movies today; no books!". Every time, it makes my co-workers and I cringe. Why? Why would you not allow your children to check out books? We have options for parents concerned about what movies their children are checking out, including a no movies at all, ever, option, but books? No books? If asked, these parents might say something about fines, but book fines are .05 per day, and movie fines are .50 per day, so movies are a much greater risk, fines-wise. I just cannot see the advantage to not letting the kids check out books.
Okay, I'm done with my rant now. I should probably mention that I am not a mom, so maybe I'm lacking some parental perspective, but it bothers my co-workers too, and most of them do have kids. Okay, I'm really done now.
The quote in my previous post is really just funny, especially in the context of the book I pulled it from, but it reminded me of something less funny.
I have been aware for quite a while now that many people around here only have library cards because the library has movies and music, in addition to books, but only in the past year, since I left the big library downtown for a branch (two different worlds) have I realized there's something worse than that. If an individual chooses not to check out books, that's one thing. But in the past year, I have repeatedly heard parents tell their excited, knowledge-hungry children "No, you're only getting movies today; no books!". Every time, it makes my co-workers and I cringe. Why? Why would you not allow your children to check out books? We have options for parents concerned about what movies their children are checking out, including a no movies at all, ever, option, but books? No books? If asked, these parents might say something about fines, but book fines are .05 per day, and movie fines are .50 per day, so movies are a much greater risk, fines-wise. I just cannot see the advantage to not letting the kids check out books.
Okay, I'm done with my rant now. I should probably mention that I am not a mom, so maybe I'm lacking some parental perspective, but it bothers my co-workers too, and most of them do have kids. Okay, I'm really done now.
Labels: on the job, up on my high horse
