October recap

October was a big month. I’ve finished my masters, set up a new library, enjoyed Men of Letters, and I’ve passed the 300 mark. I’ve also finally had my leave approved, so I can start organising all our flights between christmas and new year (3 flights in 7 days, oh the joy). We’ve come up with a tentative date for Zombicide (Nov 30^th) but haven’t heard back from everyone involved. On the up side I only have 52 books left to read.

Books read in October:

277. Tattoo by Jeffrey R Butler

278. Silently and very fast by Catherynne M. Valente

279. Cycle of the werewolf by Stephen King

280. The mist by Stephen King

281. The Colorado kid by Stephen King

282. A clockwork orange by Anthony Burgess

283. A face in the crowd by Stephen King

284. Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane

285. The prisoner of Snowflake Falls by John Lekich

286. Pyramids by Terry Pratchett

287. Berserk v24 by Kentaro Miura

288. Berserk v25 by Kentaro Miura

289. The keep by F Paul Wilson

290. The Tomb by F Paul Wilson

291. The touch by F Paul Wilson

292. Reborn by F Paul Wilson

293. Reprisal by F Paul Wilson

294. Night world by F Paul Wilson

295. Shaedes of Gray by Amanda Bonilla

296.  Blood before sunrise by Amanda Bonilla

297. The Umbrella conspiracy by S D Perry

298. Caliban Cove by S D Perry

299. City of the dead by S D Perry

300. Underworld by S D Perry

301. There's a bear in there (and he wants Swedish) by Merridy Eastman

302. The Icecreamists by Matt O'Connor

303. Royal mistresses of the house of Hanover-Windsor by Susanna de Vries

304. The mark of Athena by Rick Riordan

305. Nemesis by S D Perry

306. Code Veronica by S D Perry

307. Zero hour by S D Perry

308. Casino Royale by Ian Fleming

309. Live and let die by Ian Fleming

310. The queen of frost and darkness by Christine Pope

311. Castle in the air by Diana Wynne Jones

312. House of many ways by Diana Wynne Jones

Halfway peoples

Ok, I’ve been slack. Not just a little slack, but on an epic scale. Since semester finished I’ve been spending more and more time away from my laptop. Time that has been channelled into far more pleasurable activities, like seeing my friends and reading. Always reading. This slackness has meant that I didn’t print my reading list for May or June, something that I have now rectified.

With the countdown to my final semester I have started getting things into order. I’m in front for my reading, which is a good thing. Today being the 1^st of July, and day 183, I am quite pleased that I am currently reading book 187. It’s all downhill from here. I realise that in lots of way this challenge has taken over this blog. The last few posts have been little but my reading lists. It would be easy to think that it has taken over the rest of my life too. But it hasn’t really. 

I don’t go out any more or less than I would if I wasn’t reading. I can honestly say that I haven’t missed out on doing anything with friends, or going places with Miss R. I don’t entertain any less, or see fewer movies (though there hasn’t exactly been a wealth of stuff worth seeing). In fact the only thing I do less of is watch tv. Which, in the grand scheme of things, I can’t take that as a bad thing.

On the baking front I finally sourced chestnut flour for my wheat/gluten free baking. It’s first outing as part of a vegan chocolate pumpkin cake was a success. I plan on consuming the last of it with a bowl of warm custard after dinner.

I’m running a second photobooks class on Tuesday morning, and have managed to pick up a few extra shifts, so the bank a/c is slowly recovering from the chunk my rego took out of it. Work also paid for my first aid course. I expect my certificate in the mail any day now. 

The quest for full time work continues. There are possibilities with the opening of the new library in September, but council is still looking over the positions. In the end what they decide will come down to money. I don’t want to leave my library, but it’s hard to live on only 17.5 hrs a week.

Maybe Miss R and I should open that dessert home delivery business …

August in review

I know I said I'd blog more this month but I just haven't had the time. That means another bullet point post. Next month will be better. It has to get better.

• Four year anniversary. Miss R has been putting up with me for quite some time. In fact, this is now the longest relationship I've been in. Not always perfect, but we haven't killed each other in our sleep. Though she has been tempted to kill one or two others ...

• Spent 45 minutes explaining to a library patron why librarians study to do our job. I don't think she realised that she was being offensive, but telling a librarian that anyone could do their job is like waving a red flag at a bull.* I managed to make sure she was fully informed and she left in awe of librarians everywhere. She also came back to let me know about a better job going at different library. There was much rejoicing in the workroom too.

• Scared the girls at the blood bank by having an ectopic heartbeat. Every fourth beat was doing a twostep. I felt fine, but it made them nervous so I have a chat with my Doc. ECG says I’m fine, according to the technician. Was a moment where it looked like she was going to have to shave my chest to get the pads to stick, but we managed to part the fur.

• After much consultation I decided to withdraw from one of my masters subjects. I’m just not getting enough out of it by doing it online, so I’ll do it face to face next semester. I’ve kept all the notes so I’ll be better prepared. My sanity is worth more, so if it takes an extra semester to finish so be it.

That’s about it for the time being. Slightly less uni work for now, but more time to put into the subject I’m still in. Off to the Melbourne Writers Festival next weekend. I’ve got tickets for a few events so it should be fun. I may even treat myself to dinner at The Chocolate Buddha. I’ll be the one in the corner watching the big screen. 

Tonight I’m off to dinner with Miss R and her family. Let’s see if I can get to the end of the meal without trying to kill myself with my chopsticks. **

*For the record, yes I know bulls are colour-blind, but the saying conveys a point rather than factual information. For more information on cows please take yourself to 636, or ask your librarian for assistance.

**Miss R’s family aren’t really that bad. Her father and I just have different politics. If he starts on about climate change and global warming being a myth again ...

interviews suck

Even when you think they went well, they still suck. Being the first interview of the day doesn't help either. Two of them liked me, but the third didn't seem to. To be fair I did correct him after he said my name wrong, but that's no reason to be unprofessional. Can't say I'm overly impressed by how they advertise the position salary. The starting rate on the ad is $6k above what it actually pays. Very sneaky that they include what they pay in super as part of the "salary." If I get the job it will mean a pay cut, but the extra hours will balance it out.

They'll be calling the refs in the next few days. I know the girls will say nice things about me.

Until then it's back to the assignments. Almost done.

They want me bad

Just had a call about a job I applied for around easter. Yes, that is some time ago, but when someone calls wanting you to come in for an interview you don’t make a big deal about the wait. In fact, you don’t mention it. Instead you focus on what’s important. I have an interview. That’s what’s important. Good thing I keep a record of everything I apply for. I’ve got under a week to get up to speed before the interview. Should bail up all my referees too. And get a haircut.

Busy, busy, busy. 

Good thing I’m on top of my assignments.

Think before you blog

Normally I’m very good and not blogging while I’m angry/upset/frustrated. I’ve had overnight to think about this and I’m still angry, so I need to get it out. I’m very pissed off at where I work right now. I am much calmer than I was, and I resisted the urge to post from my phone (which would go straight to twitter/facebook). I have work friends on facebook, so venting there is not in my best interest.

So why am I angry? There have been a few resignations over the last month or so, and senior staff (band 6) are going off on holidays. There should have been a bunch of opportunities for other staff to back fill a bunch of these rolls. This did happen for most of the senior staff, but not all. One role was split between three band 5 staff. Not an issue, until it came to filling their roles. Those roles were not put up for back fill. Instead they were given to staff that had been interested in the band 6 roles. 

Now I had no interest in the band 6 roles, so I didn’t apply. But the band 4 and 5 roles that have been filled without any EOI are both roles that I’m interested in. I don’t have any hard feelings towards the people who got these temporary positions. What I’m pissed at is that I didn’t have an opportunity to apply. They are roles that I’ve helped with before, and I’d have been thrilled to do. Even if it is only for 8 weeks (full time), it would have been worth it. Hell, even if they’d split it into 4 weeks each between the two of us, I’d have been happy.

I’m not saying that I would have got the job over the other person, and I’m certainly not suggesting that she shouldn’t have been given a chance. What I’m saying is that everyone should have had that chance. It really isn’t fair that they have picked people who were interested in other roles to fill new gaps, and penalised staff that didn’t apply for roles that didn’t interest them. And as far as I’m concerned trying to justify not going through and EOI process because “we would still be doing them in August” is not an excuse. It’s a fucking cop out.

So, that’s why I’m angry. If I am still angry at the end of the week I will have to consider my options. Until then I will consult with Miss R & Hot Rod Librarian. And of course all of you.

Talk to me.

coma slice

My biggest complaint with study is the homework. I love the learning, but the homework sucks. When I think that I've got another 12 months before I finish my Masters ... well, I try not to think about it. While everyone (mostly) was enjoying their break I was fighting with my archiving assignment. Going back to work on Wednesday it soon became apparent that I was the only one who hadn't spent the break in a sugar induced coma.

So to address this I decided to spend my Sunday correcting this. Thus the coma slice was born. I've put all the photos on flickr, so if you really want to know what went into it you can go there. I will put one pic up here. There are more on Facebook.

 

Don't ask me how much I've eaten. Most of it is gone now. I'm taking the last of it to work and the bloodbank. If you see your local librarian zooming around the library they may be running on coma slice. Just don't make any sudden moves. :)