Last Friday

And this Friday too. Aren't some people lucky?

[Charity dentistry clinic, with a dentist working on a child's teeth]. 1910. Chicago Daily News negatives collection, DN-0008189. Courtesy of
the Chicago Historical Society. Retrieved from American Memory at
http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/
cdn:@field(NUMBER+@band(ichicdn+n008189))

What Did We Do?

How did we live fulfilled lives before the age of the Internet? My life has meaning, knowing that I can download two complete albums (one somewhat obscure) for $16.98 at 12:10 am, in my pajamas, while sitting on my bed.

Granted, I would be better off if I were fast asleep, but where's the fun in that?

It's Friday

So how do you think a single, slightly-eligible girl would spend her Friday night? Mine was typical.

Took a nap in the late afternoon, after watching a taped episode of Law & Order (library not open today, but I worked anyway, went to the dentist and Target)

Went out at 7pm for a visiting teaching appointment and was stood up

Stopped at Auto Zone to buy some fuses, and at the gas station to buy gasoline

Spent a happy 30 minutes at Publix, wandering the aisles and seeing the sights

Came out of Publix to find the freezing precip had started

Went through McDonald's drive-through for a diet soda as a Friday Night Treat

Am now home, preparing to "cook" steel cut oats for dinner

Will later probably watch some tv whilst picking up the front room, in preparation for my 9am visitors tomorrow

Hmm. Wonder why I'm still single.

My (non-perishable) Publix purchases

Part of Why I Love My Job

Starrlett recently blogged about one reason why she loves her job.

Here's one reason why I (sometimes) love mine. My story isn't nearly as succinct or interesting as Starrlett's, but I need the reminder even if you don't care to read it, so here goes:

A student asked me why when she tried to browse an issue of a journal in OmniFile database in order to find the inclusive page numbers for a particular article, the only visible record was the table of contents. I figured out that 1) the database was doing weird stuff, and there was a way to make it show you every article in the issue if you knew where to look and 2) the article in question wasn't in that issue anyway, because it was an "online only" extra.

I was able to email the student back with the solution to the problem, and I haven't heard a reply yet, but it's satisfying to know I have the ability to connect someone with the information they need. It only took me about 10 minutes to figure out.

One reason I only love my job some of the time: the student asked the question at 10 am, and it was 5 pm before I had ten minutes to sit down and find the solution. Or eat breakfast or lunch, or check email, or breathe...

Live to Shop, or Shop to Live?

Based on this week's purchases, I think I fall somewhere in between the two extremes of living to shop and shopping to live. What do you think?

MS Office 2007 Standard (we're switching over at work, so I really don't have a choice but to get a copy for home)

2GB flash drive, because you never know when you might need another one

USB hub, because I'm tired of fooling with ports at work that I can't see well

Numeric keypad for the laptop, probably not a necessity, but after paying for MS Office...

Two bras, because, well, I don't need to explain that

Multimeter, to test the watch batteries in the clickers at work (except I think the model I bought doesn't even test batteries. Dad?)

Telescoping magnetic pickup tool, because it was there, and I do love magnets

Various groceries from Kroger, all relatively nutritious, believe it or not, with the exception of one Cadbury Creme Egg

photo: Colville student, Walter McClung's account of shopping trip, Spokane, Washington, June 12, 1902. Eastern Washington State Historical Society. Available at http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/aipn:@field(DOCID+@lit(p1101))