Month: June 2004

The 16th Annual Ft. Bragg Civilian Employee Awards were today. I was nominated for Employee of the Year (GS 7-11) but didn’t win. Not too surprising as I am still pretty new here and it looked like the majority of awards were going to folks with direct GWOT contacts and projects (Global War on Terror, acronyms, annoying but useful).

What they did have was a video of civilain employees at work at the beginning of the program featuring 60 seconds of ” goofy me at Storytime” footage. Picture if you will, me in overalls doing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” with 25 preschoolers. It was the biggest laugh of the program.

And my boss, and my boss’s boss, and my boss’s boss’s boss and the commanding general all got to see it.

I guess the “dignified librarian” award is another one I’m not going to get.

The program was nice, otherwise, and was very concise. I liked the fact that it was very to the point.

I’m listening to a good book on audio, “The Mummy Congress”. It’s a nonfiction title about mummy researchers. I noticed I’m kind of on a dead body kick lately. I also recently read “Stiff” and “Death’s Acre” (about the Body Farm in TN). The science is fascinating, if a little gruesome, and I think I’m attracted to it because of my squeamishness about zombies and dead things and stuff.
I’m also listening to (and enjoying) the Thomas Cahill books, “How the Irish Saved Civilization”, “The Gift of the Jews” and Across the Wine-Dark Sea”. All excellent examinations of their respective cultures.

On the reading front, I’m doing “A Walk in the Woods” by Bill Bryson, about his attempt to hike the Appalachain Trail. It’s a quicker read than a listen. He’s a great author to take on a trip. He’s lively and not too taxing.

We’re getting ready for an event next week called Art Attack. It should be fun.

All the men in my life are grouchy today. Mr. Phil, my boss, is tired and frazzled. I can’t say that I blame him, he’s got a tough job.
Tom is miserable at this new job. Working for this company is hard on him as they are trying to do more with less and so the work is piled on.
I think a lot of this comes down to coping strategies in both cases. There is no concept of making things work in the current situation. Both guys deal with stress by getting out. I wonder if this is a guy thing or just the ones I know.

So I’m feeling better. I’ve eaten and shopped (found patterns and some cool fabric at Hancock’s on sale). Mr. Tom is watching movies in the break room of the library (hopefully he’ll take a nap, but prolly not as I gave him $$ for Mt. Dew). He’s going to play Diablo 2 tonight so I will have to sew and watch movies (I know, “such a big sacrifice”).

I’m looking for some fun multi-age games to play with the Summer Readers tomorrow. Nothing too competitive. I’m going to try Buddy Tag. I hope the little guys won’t get trampled.

Summer Reading Club starts tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll be ready, but I’m tired of the slog. I feel like Sisyphus (Sissy-fuss) the guy with the big dumb rock. What irritates me the most is having to find things for my adult co-workers to do. I don’t mind helping someone learn something new or coordinating a special project but it really bothers me that people can walk around this library and not see any work to do. RRRRGGGHHH.

It’s like being at home. The work is so obvious it’s overwhelming and Mr. Grouchy doesn’t see it. I’d have about 75% less to do if he could finish what he starts and put stuff away when he’s done with it.

God I’m tired. I’d say I hate Mondays, but it’s Tuesday and really Monday just means people are in their offices for once. So we can actually get some things accomplished. I used to think that tons of vacation time would be a good thing, but lately it seems that everyone takes vacation but me.

I really need to get away for a few days.