The Changing of the Guard

That's right, I have a good news/bad news situation here. Bad news first: I no longer have my trusty Toyota Camry, Moya. She was a loyal companion for years, but I no longer felt safe driving her anywhere further away than work. Church, at about 25 miles, gave me mild panic attacks until I was safely there and back. I don't blame her. After carrying me safely across the country and through the DC metro area, I know she would never willingly betray me. I blame incompetent mechanics and the cruel, relentless march of time. I truly do miss her. Moment of silence please for Moya.

Now for the good news. I have a new car! He's a 2008 (!) Ford Fusion. Only 23,000 miles. And more money than I wanted to pay, but a lot less than I thought I would have to for such a nice car. Here we are pretending to drive!

He looks black in most of these pictures, but really, he's a nice dark blue. You can tell best in this picture, I think:

So, this is actually the inside of the car. But if you look there at the edge of the door and it looks kind of sparkly blue? Yeah? You see it? Okay! That's what color the car is with the sun on it.

Here's a side view, showing how sleek he is!


Oh, wait. This is me with the large mylar bunny balloon that the weird Sales manager gave me as a "Thanks for buying the car!" gift. Well, I'm not one to look a gift mylar bunny balloon in the mouth. Here's the actual side view:


Ron and Deena also wanted everyone to notice the pretty flowers. So there you go.

What else to say-it seems to fit my wish list. Spacious trunk (I could probably fit 2 bodies in there! As long as they were not both overly large). Ceiling firmly attached to top of car. All seatbelts in working order. Both sunvisors. Paint not peeling. CD player (I started listening to an audio book in it today! Very chic and exciting). Windshield in one piece. Seems to actually run. As previously mentioned, it was slightly more than my initial budget hopes, but it's also nicer than I initially thought.

Only one matter remains. What should I name the new car? I think he's a boy. In the spirit of full disclosure, I must tell you that Moya was named after the living ship from Farscape. I have had a suggestion that I should name new car Talyn, after Moya's son on Farscape. But I'm not sure how I feel about that. I'm thinking maybe something from another deepspace saga. I could go with Galactica, but I believe, as a ship, she was also a girl. But it could go either way, I guess. Or Serenity. But I really don't think that's a good name for a car. Too vague. I mean, it could be referring to a state of being! Or I could stear away from ships. How about naming the car after a favorite character from one of those shows? Oh, decisions, decisions!

In any case, Welcome to the family, New Car (name tbd)!

Happy National Library Week, Comrades!

That's right, it's that magical time of year again, when you should take the time to appreciate the libraries and librarians in your life. Shay and I will be waiting for money/baked goods/any other tokens you'd like to bestow upon us.

Each day of the week has a different theme. Today was "Teen Literacy Day!" I celebrated by reading from my YA book, Wildwood Dancing (a pretty sweet retelling of the 12 Dancing Princesses) and glaring at problem-causing adult patrons. Trouble makers.

Tuesday was my favorite day-National Library Workers Day. Does this sound like some sort of Communist celebration to you, too? Well wait until you see the graphic!


Periodically throughout the day, I would say, "Library Workers, unite!!! We demand fair wages and the rest of the day off!" Good times.

In other news, I took a quiz on Facebook that totally validates my career choice--I am a Children's Librarian! My answers confirm it. Of course, they were just choosing between different kinds of librarian. But I don't think that's the point.

Last, but certainly not least, I have been paying tribute to Librarians in the media. Marian, you are an inspiration to us all. Really, Meredith the Librarieth does not have the same ring to it. Flynn Carson, I forgive your lack of Library degree since you have 22 other degrees and spend more time Indiana Jonesing it around the globe than you do dealing with the public. Giles, your impressive knowledge of demons and other forces of darkness is parallelled only by your dislike for the actual student population. Dewey, your ability to avoid work enables me to avoid my own work, since reading about your exploits is obviously "professional development." *see key below

I leave you with a little video that really describes so much of my life as a librarian. Trust me. I've shared it with some of you before, but it bares repeating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRBIVRwvUeE

*1. Do you need to ask? It's The Music Man, obsv. Ironically, I keep trying to type The Sound of Music.
2. Oh, those classic TNT original movies, starting with The Librarian: The Quest for the Spear. This is not like my job at all. Mostly I'm glad.
3. I don't recall the school library being like the cool one in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (tv version). But of course, the mortality rate in our high school wasn't that high, either. So, sixes I guess.
4. The genius of "Unshelved, the library comic strip," may only be truly understood by public librarians. But heck, maybe I'm wrong. Check it out! http://www.unshelved.com/

Is a boredom coma a real thing?

Or am I just trapped in some sort of weird time warp where everything moves much slower than real life? Or both? We have all been so bored at work today. I think we really ought to close at noon on Fridays. But we don't.

So I am amusing myself and you by blogging! Yay! Now, what interesting thing can I say. I've been very homesick for Utah today. Not just the people, although that's a big ol' part of it. But I have a powerful hankering for some mountains. Specifically these mountains:


Although it's definitely not that time of year right now. Anywho, there's a serious lack of varietay on the horizon here. Augh!

Wow, I'm even boring myself. I won't go on. I almost don't want to post this. I hope I don't put any of you into boredom comas. Or make you feel as though you're stuck in a time warp. I'd feel really bad. Blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah...