After much preparation, my new library successfully opened on October 31st.  Our book pass was great – nearly 2,000 people lined up along the route between the old library and the new library to pass 300 books.  My day began at 6:15AM with the book pass set-up, continued to the book pass take down, and then the grand opening.  It ended at about 5:15PM when the library closed.  Even though I was exhausted at the end of the day it was an excellent experience.

The community loves their library.  Everyone exclaimed over the space, the artistic elements, the technology, and how much they missed us.  Our gate count and circulation statistics are consistently at least double what they were at the old building.  I have a feeling we’ll continue to be as busy as we are now.

During my off-work time, I’ve been working on my homework.  There are teacher issues with the Public Libraries class…  She disappears without a word, and won’t answer her emails.  Several students emailed the powers that be at SJSU to find out what was going on, but the issue hasn’t really gotten much better.  This is my las semester before I do the E-Portfolio.  I’m totally looking forward to being done!!!

I’ve also been furiously planning my wedding.  I bought my dress, and tonight we put a deposit down on the site.  Our big day is August 22, 2010!  Woo hoo!!!

Anyway, gotta get to bed.

As promised, here’s a pic of my ring.  There’s a wedding band that goes along with it, but I haven’t taken any pictures of that one.

My ring!

Tee hee! 

We bought my wedding set today from the Shane Company.  The center stone is being set and it’ll be ready when they open tomorrow.  Our sales guy was nice enough to put a rush on it, since we wanted it sooner rather than later.  It’s all pretty and sparkly and stuff.  I’ll post a picture later.

Anyone who knows us knows that my hunny doesn’t like to spend money.  He becomes physically ill when we spend more than a couple hundred dollars.  I’m so proud of him – he only ran to the bathroom once when we were picking it out, and 3 times after we paid!  He talked them into giving him a free pen.  Well, he says he paid all that money for the pen, and they threw in the rings for free.  Ha!

My hunny and I have recently begun looking at engagement rings.  On our last trip to Disneyland our conversation went like this:

Him: How much money do we have in our accounts?
Me: $_____
Him: OK
Me: Why?
Him: No reason

An hour later…
Him: How do you feel about sparkly jewelry on your left hand?
Me: I LOVE sparkly jewelry on my left hand!
Him: OK.  And on an unrelated note, how do you feel about parties sometime after you graduate that require you to wear a white dress?
Me: I LIKE those kinds of parties!
Him: Oh, OK.

An hour later:
Him: So, how much money do we have again?
Me: $_____
Him: OK, we can start looking at rings when we get back from Disneyland

Funny guy.  After 14 years, I’m counting that as a proposal.

So, I’ve looked at rings on my own and with him.  Walking into jewelry stores is a completely different experience when I’m alone vs. with him.  Alone, the sales people are nice.  They’re patient.  They’re not pushy or rude or condescending. 

When I’m with him, it’s the complete opposite. We walk in and 2-3 sales people circle us like sharks in the water.  They all greet us repeatedly.  They start in asking what we want without even allowing us to look at their selection first.  Then, when we do finally ask to see a ring, they try to upsell us to a big ol’ ugly ass honkin’ rock that I’d never wear.  Ummm…  no, thank you.  After that they tend to imply that if I’m not interested in a solitaire I’m not interested in quality.  No…  I just think solitaires are boring, not super cute, and their profile stands way too tall.

My hands are little.  I need something that isn’t going to take up too much room on my finger.  I also work with my hands a lot.  I need something with a lower profile so I don’t bang it into things too much.  I also want something kind of old fashioned looking, with side stones and a pretty gallery.  When we bring up these needs/wants, they tend to roll their eyes and launch into a shpiel about their lifetime warranty and diamond replacement thingamajig.  Yes, I know.  Everyone has one of those.  You aren’t special. 

Sadly, things that look small-ish in the case are usually pretty big on my hand, so it can take a bit of trying on to find one that works.  I really appreciate the people who will let me try them on without looking annoyed. 

Then, of course, they ask about our ideal price.  I know that the reason they’re asking is to steer me towards rings within that price range, but honestly, they don’t need to know that.  I’ve sold jewelry, so I know that the price is whatever they make up.  Most jewelry stores start with a markup of 2-3 times the price they paid for it.  I’m looking at the overall value we’re getting for what we’re paying.  How good is the stone’s quality?  Colorless doesn’t matter if you have obvious inclusions or the cut is “off.”  Does the color of the side stones match one another and the center stone?  What about the style of the ring?  Is it too trendy?  The profile too high?  Does initial sizing cost extra?  What about if I have kids and gain weight from it; is the sizing still free?  What about cleaning?  Is the stone certified?  All of these things included…  is it worth what they’re asking?

The bottom line is that I know what I want… sorta.  But if you’re pushy or rude, you won’t get my business no matter how much I like the ring.

Either way, we’ll continue shopping on Saturday morning, then I’ve got a wedding to plan!

In work news: All of our stuff is in the new building.  Some of the collection is still on carts but it’s pretty minimal (700-999, J800-999, Oversize).  We also received some of the opening day collection so we’re triaging it while we unpack our workspaces.  On Tuesday the rest of the opening day collection will arrive.  We’ll see what happens then.

We’re still waiting on a part for our Automated Materials Handling System.  Once it comes in the tech can hook it up and we’ll be able to start testing it and learning.  Woo hoo!

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

Well, the library move has come to a standstill.  On Monday the Fire Marshal shut the move down because of a problem with the lights in the children’s area in relation to the fire sprinklers.  The construction crew worked on it on Tuesday.  Then Wednesday the Fire Marshal came out again and found 15 more things wrong.  The crew said they’d have them fixed by Thursday so the Fire Marshal could inspect again on Friday.  All of that ends up meaning that we can’t move into the new building until Monday at the earliest.  On the plus side, it gave everyone a chance to pack up their desks and other work spaces.

So my little library (which was apparently the largest in the system in 1962) is mostly on huge wooden book carts waiting to move.  My staff is waiting anxiously to get back to it.  Nearly everyone is off today, but a few people don’t have enough vacation time so they’re working at other branches.

I was looking forward to sleeping in today.  It didn’t work out though.  The neighbors do enjoy standing outside my bedroom window and shouting.  That combined with the sorting at the thrift store and the garbage trucks means that I’m up.  Oh well, I needed to write a paper anyway.

We’re moving the library on Monday.  I’m excited and nervous all at the same time.  Excited because it’ll be something huge and new and wonderful.  Nervous because so many things can go wrong.  I just hope it all goes right.

I know the week will be tough – but the people I work with are awesome.

Fall classes started this past Monday.  So far the teachers and the subject matter seem to be OK.  The interpersonal communications teacher has posted all of the work ahead of time and has encouraged us to work ahead.  As long as the work is in by a specific date, all is good.  The issues in public libraries teacher has only posted the first week’s assignments.  I’d really like it if she posted more than that so that I could plan my time better.  As we all know, though, each teacher has a different style.

My boss laughed the other day.  She said “You’re taking a class on interpersonal communication?  With all the issues we deal with here, you could probably teach it!”  Too funny.  I figure the class will be a good refresher of the information from some of the County run communication/management trainings I’ve taken.  And with this one, I get class credit!

My hunny has also signed up for classes this Fall at Ohlone.  He’s taking a couple of courses on Cisco stuff.  I know he’s really nervous – he and formal education do not get along.  He’ll be trying anyway.  His reason is that the school offers a Cisco equipment lab that he can use.  It’ll save us about $1000 since we shouldn’t have to buy any equipment to build a home lab.  Let’s hope he succeeds with these classes.

He’s also finishing up his Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer thingie (sorry, I’m not technical).  One test to go.  He was trying to schedule the test last night, but the website was all weird.  I hope he schedules and passes it soon.

That’s all on the education front for now…

Last weekend was Hayward’s annual Zucchini Festival at Kennedy Park.  Residents and visitors alike pay their admission fee and then wander around looking at booths, eating zucchini, and drinking beer.  One of the booths there was Madame Davis, who offered tarot card or palm readings for $10.  I wanted one of each, but only had $10 left so I chose a palm reading.

Madame Davis herself didn’t do my reading.  Instead my palms were read by a young, soft spoken lady.  It was a bit weird – she spent a lot of time staring at my hands before opening her mouth.  Some of the things she said were eerily specific.  If you know me, you know which ones they are:

1. You come from good parents.  Your mother loves you a lot, even if she doesn’t always remember
2. Don’t ask your brother or sister for anything; they will never help you
3. Your lifeline is strong; you will have a long life
4. You are hot tempered.  You have quick flashes of anger, but you are very good at pretending you’re not mad.  It goes away quickly and you forgive easily.
5. You don’t expect a lot from other people.  You just want them to be good and do what needs to be done.
6. You don’t ask for help very often. Experience has taught you that people won’t help you.
7. In 3 months you will take a trip over the mountains.  In 1 year you will take a trip over the water.
8. You sometimes doubt the love of the man in your life.  Don’t paint him with your father’s brush.  He loves you very much and will do anything for you.
9. I don’t see you having children.
10. By the end of the year you will move into your own home.
11. Within 1 year, you will have a job change.  It will be good.  You will get a promotion.
12. Within 1 year, good news will come in the mail.
13. Family from far away will visit you soon.

I made turkey burgers with the leftover turkey meat from last night.  They were …  eh… not so good.  Kinda boring.  My hunny tried to spice his up with jalapenos from our garden and onions from a friend’s garden.  That didn’t work so well either.  Oh well.  Ya win some, ya lose some.