Catching Up

So, there have been many things that have happened to me since my last entry.

The first thing to start everything off is I haven't worked at the library for a few months now. The reason for that is ultimately my back's medical issues. The disk in my lower back has been having issues for years but now it's finally been enough of a problem to even keep me from working as I was at the library. Thankfully, the Director of the library has given me the opportunity to get back to full health and then work with him about what job position I can change to and work with the library.

The disk in my lower back was replaced on December 30th, 2010. My neurosurgeon went in and replaced the entire L5-S1 disk with a plastic replacement. That was followed by a fusion of the surrounding bone so that when I move from now on, I'm not going to strip any of the four screws that are now in my back holding that plastic replacement in place. Unfortunately, there are a few handicaps I'll have for the rest of my life because of this. The reason for putting in a plastic replacement disk instead of a cadaver is because of how young I am. There are many issues that could have occurred if they decided to put in a cadaver (a skeleton's disk). Because of it being a plastic disk, if I lift more than 38 pounds at any point in the rest of my life, I break my back and shatter the plastic disk. Another problem with my age is that there's a high chance I'll need this surgery again for the disk above what was just replaced in my back as well. So, I'm handicapped because of this.

A positive note within this whole medical ordeal I've been dealing with for two years is that I met this amazing woman. Heather and I knew each other on and off for about a year and then about mid-2010, things just happened to click and we were talking all the time. We both talked about having feelings for the other and on November 14, we got together with our parents and started our relationship. Before that happened, Heather was fully aware of my health issues in my back, the side effects of the surgery, and knew that it wasn't going to be an easy life at all to be with me. However, after thinking it over and knowing all of this, she wanted to be with me anyways. She's kept me in line on a few areas I was lacking in and I'm amazed at her love for life. For someone who has their whole life available to them to whatever they want and want to be with someone who can't life more than 38 pounds for the rest of their life, will have the same issue again later down the road, and wants to be with that person anyways, that speaks volumes to me. She and her parents are truly a blessing in my life. I'm very thankful for all of them.


Now, the latest thing that's going on.

Mid-December, there was an article in the local paper (Idaho Press Tribune) asking for people to be part of the 2011 editorial board. Basically, having influence on the editorials written for the paper as well as giving opinions on other various local issues, topics, and whatever else goes on that would effect the community. In fact, the requirements spoke to me. From asking to be opinionated to being able to talk about hot topic issues without killing the people that you're talking about it with, I knew I wanted to do what I could to become a part of it. Not to mention, a resume that has that on there wouldn't be too bad either. So, this last Thursday was our first official meeting and tomorrow, the four other board members and myself, will be introduced to the public in the editorial section as being the 2011 Editorial Board for the Idaho Press Tribune.

One last thing.

In April, I'm leaving the country for a cruise with my parents and my younger brother. My parents decided since this year was the last year before I would be getting into more college schooling as well as seminary, they wanted to do a special vacation for my brother and I. My parents went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera last year through Princess Cruiseline and loved it. So, they're going to take us this year. Hopefully, my body will be back to normal by then and I'll be able to fully enjoy the trip. We'll see what happens.

Tales From The Library VIII

So, a few days ago I went and spoke to my boss about getting some time off in April of next year for a family vacation. See, my parents have decided that both my younger brother and I are going on a cruise with them to the Mexican Riviera. The vacation, in all, will be about three weeks.

The first week will be spent with my mom's side of the family in Southern California as well as visiting places like the San Diego Zoo, Disneyland, Universal Studios, and California Adventure. The second week, we'll be sailing down and back through Mexico's northern ports. The third week we'll see more family and go to places we didn't go to the first week. Overall, it's going to be exciting.

However, I work part-time at the Library so I'm only allowed 38 hours of Vacation time which is without pay. With my job, that equals out to be 2 weeks. The downside, however, is not only do I miss a week of the vacation, but I also get an unscheduled absence writeup if I get sick till April of 2012. Because I'm using all the 38 hours, I won't be able to have sick time.

My boss explained that I already have four of these unscheduled absence reports. Two were from actual issue. The first, I was at work on a Tuesday, when we're closed, and my pain meds for my back made me throw up. They make you go home if you do that. The second was because I had gotten hit in the lower back where I have a Bi-Lateral Broad-Based Disc bulge. I wasn't going to be able to even stand after working 4 of the 8 hours I was scheduled that day and they immediately sent me home so I wouldn't hurt myself on the job.

The remaining two should actually be tardies. See, there are times when people don't read the schedule right and they're an hour late because they forgot and someone called them or because they just simply thought they were to come in at a different time. Both were because of this happening to me.

Now, if I get two more of these things, I get a rather firm warning. Two more after that, whatever for, gets me fired. So, with no time left, I'd get those instead which would mean I'd just end up getting fired.

So, how it was explained to me was that I'm not able to get three weeks off unless I quit my job. Now, if I was through the temp agency the library hires through, no big deal. However, I"m through the City. That means if I quit, I have a chance of NOT getting my job back.

As an added bonus, I had to take three days off this week with a sick note from my doctor saying I couldn't work at all this week.

Now, it's not my boss's fault for any of this because he's just following the procedures that he's given. He does everything he can to take care of us and he's an amazing guy. But, my dad had talked to Human Resources the other day to ask them what they thought because my dad is also a City Employee and has practically a legend behind him. They explained it should be easy to get me the time off with no hassles and not losing my job with this much notice.

So, I have to find some time to talk to the Director of the Library and explain what's going on and see what my options are. Perhaps things have changed and procedures taken away or redone since the previous administration there left. I won't know for sure till I sit down with him and ask him.

I guess we'll see what happens within the next few weeks here.

Tales from the library VII

So, last time I wrote I mentioned something that had never happened before. Well, something new has happened again.

Last Saturday, I was working in the book drops area when I heard a loud crash. It’s common to hear the occasional crashing sound of someone accidentally tipping over a card or dropping a few books. However, this was a different type of crashing sound. So, I went over to where I had heard it and sure enough, it was bad. On the back wall, downstairs, a shelf had been completely ripped out of the wall in a section. A three or four year old was bumped in the head by a book that fell from the shelf. The two spots that the shelf literally was pulled out of the wall wasn’t connected to any studs in the wall. The little girl was the only person there when all of this happened. There’s no way that the shelves simply just gave out because it looks like the wall screws were pulled by some kind of force. I think it’s possible that the little girl was climbing on it but we can’t prove it and nobody saw it happen.

Today, while I was shelving books downstairs, I heard what sounded like another shelf collapsing upstairs. When I got up there, it was the magazine rack. Some of the shelves fell off of the display. That time, however, there were some kids that were messing with those shelves to cause that to happen.

Lastly, there’s something that I don’t understand at all. What is it that people who are at the library looking at non-fiction, are obsessed with condoms? Numerous times I’ve gone through cleaning up loose items on the shelves and found condom wrappers or unopened condoms. Seriously, what is this fascination with leaving things like that on the shelves? Today, I found an unopened one that was just sitting there on a shelf under two books that had nothing to do with sex or anything. Just doesn’t make sense to me at all.

Tales from the Library VI

So, here’s something new that’s never happened here before. We had a woman come in with her two or three kids. She must have been at least in her mid to late 30’s because her kids were around the age of teenagers. Anyways, she asked one of the librarians to get some security guards for her. The reason? There was a teenage boy, probably about 12-13, that was her younger brother that she didn’t want to have anything to do with. She didn’t want to be around him or even see him. So, she asked if there were some security guards that could be with her so that she didn’t have to deal with him. As I’m watching this, I’m watching the little boy’s face as his sister is saying all of this. It was a face of someone who didn’t understand what was going on. Like he was being shunned in a way. Quite sad to watch stuff like that but it was also quite funny watching this woman freak out like that. She was actually trying to request that this kid be thrown out simply on the grounds of she didn’t want him to be around her.

In other news…one of our pages that was hired on the same day I was is now leaving. That means that by the middle of August, we’ll be short two library pages. The other one that’s leaving is going to college. She’s been working her for a little over a year so she spent a little while around here. However, the other page is moving to a different library I guess. At least, that’s what I’ve heard.

Tales from the LIbrary V

Yesterday, I was working on my closing duties, towards the end of my shift. This consists of making sure that the books on the shelves are neat and presentable and aren’t sticking out or shoved back. After doing this to the Adult Fiction area, I moved over to Graphic Novels. (For those of you who don’t know, that’s comics) So, I started working on them and made sure they looked presentable and such. However, there were a few books that were stuck. The reason for them being stuck was because there was a broken key that was underneath them. I have no idea why that would be there. We find all sorts of random and weird things at the library after it closes and during the day in the book drops.

Something else that has been randomly popping up to me while I”m working is birthday cards. For some odd reason, people just leave those laying around and forget about them. Why you would have your birthday card at the library and then simply leave it on a bookshelf and forget about it is beyond me. I feel bad for finding them too. Sometimes there are handwritten notes and messages making it more personal. So, when I have to throw them away, I feel bad. At the same time, however, the person that left it wasn’t smart enough to make sure they had it with them when they left.

My first day of work at the library was also the first day that the new director of the library started working as well. I’ve talked to him occasionally during lunch and he seems to have a good head and view on a lot of things. One of the biggest things he was challenged with since taking this job is bringing the library back under the umbrella of the City. See, the local library is supposed to be governed and under the City. I work for the City because of how I was hired at the library. Anyways, there are policies and regulations that were changed and not followed all the way through because the library has it’s way of doing things. It likes to keep things internal and run itself. There’s nothing wrong with that at all to want to be self-sufficient. However, the problem is, it causes issues when we need the City’s help. For example, we were having computer issues so the IT department had to come in and switch all the computers back to the domain under the City. The reason for this? The library had decided to go onto its own domain and use on of it’s employees as an IT instead of calling Tech support through the City like it was supposed to be. So, the Director is having to work on getting the library back on terms and in sync with the rest of the City. I have a lot of respect for the Director with him taking this on because it’s a lot of work and it’s not going to be easy. But, he’s sticking with it and working things out while getting his family settled in to town as well.

Tales from the Library IV

So, this last Monday, my supervisor had to pay a ransom of chocolate for his hand sanitizer. Some time last week, someone had gone in and kidnapped his hand sanitizer, made a chain out of his paper clips, and turned everything on his bulletin board upside-down. There was a letter made of magazine letters saying that by 2PM on Monday, he was to leave chocolate on the copy machine in order to get it back. So, my supervisor brought the chocolate over to the copier and left it there. Later that evening, we were told it was one of the pages that we didn’t suspect.

Last week all the pages had a meeting with our supervisor to talk about how things have been going and any plans we have to make ourselves more productive or get our jobs done faster. As we started the meeting, I saw my mom pull out front in the van. A few seconds later, the janitor that was outside brought in a steam coffee. Totally made my day! So, as we’re having our meeting, I got to start off my day with a steaming cup of joe.

However, the day before that was awful for me. Last tuesday I was working and needed something for the pains I was having in my back. Around lunch time, my mom brought me a Vicodin. I took it at lunch after I finished eating and about an hour later, I was noticing that it had finally kicked in. An hour after that, things started to get bad. I started to get nauseous and my stomach was REALLY upset. My co-worker asked if I was okay and I told him what was going on. He told me that if I needed a break to just tell him. So, I tried working but I felt like I was going to throw up, so I told him I needed a break. I laid on a couch in the break room for about 15 minutes and then told him I was back. He said that if I needed to go home to just tell him. 5 minutes after that, I was throwing up in the bathroom. When I told him that, he had me go home. For the rest of that day, I was out of it. I’ve taken Vicodin before so it wasn’t that I wasn’t used to it. But it kicked my butt.

Tales from the Library III

So, numerous things happened today. First off, I was working my shift at the library this afternoon and things were nuts! We started a summer reading program and there are kids EVERYWHERE. When I first clocked in, I was the only page working for the first hour. After that, the other page was set to mail and had to spend A LOT of time doing that. There are several doors that are emergency exits that are throughout the library. They’re all marked saying not to use them because there are alarms. However, I guess you don’t have to be able to read to go to the library. There were Emergency Exit alarms going off EVERYWHERE! The issue with this is I’m the only page and it’s the page’s job to get the keys for the alarms and turn off the alarms as fast as possible. There was one alarm that took me a minute to realize because I was on the other side of the building.

Many people have asked me how I like my job and what are the pros and cons to it. To be honest, I can’t think of many cons to it at all. It’s a simple job where I can get my work done and think about things at the same time. To me, that’s a HUGE plus. I enjoy being in my head and contemplating things. The fact that I can now do this at work in an environment where I also make money, perfect!