From a KC Librarian

Just an average guy trying to make sense of his life in the library and beyond.....

Thursday, September 30, 2004

Our first house in Kansas

My sister and I have been exchanging emails tonight about our first house in Kansas. We moved to Topeka, KS in 1972. CH was 10, I was 7.

CH drove by the house today and noticed that the windows were boarded up and there were char marks all over the house signifying perhaps a fire. I don't know if the house is salvageable. Since I grew up in Topeka and have driven by the house periodically for the past 32 years, the house has declined in condition. I mean, from a kid's perspective the house seemed like a sound structure. It's just darn disappointing that the successive owners of the house could not maintain the structural integrity and beauty of the house. Thanks for the memories 1216.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

First Experience with dinner theater

I am exploring the possibility of taking a date out to one of Kansas City's dinner theaters. I have been to KC's Starlight Theater as well as Johnson County's Theater in the Park; however, I have yet to attend a show at a dinner theater.

Right now, "Driving Miss Daisy" is playing at the dt in Overland Park. It stars Michael Learned who played the mother on "The Waltons."

Monday, September 20, 2004

Waiting on library funding

The fiscal year started on July 1 and some of us are still waiting for ILDP monies to be released. ILDP is important to me because that's the budget from which I order the computer books as well as some of the 600s. My guess is that the purchasers have not finished spending the prior year's allotment. Hurry up tech services. I have three electronic carts waiting to be transferred to you.

Roofer's phone number

MS called and left a message on my machine this morning with the phone number of a professional roofer who may be able to fix the leak in my roof as well as the broken turban on top of the roof. Here's hoping the repair costs will be cheap.

Sunday, September 19, 2004

SIRSI Upgrade this weekend

Computer Services began work on the SIRSI upgrade Saturday. This meant that nobody who came into the library on Sunday was able to check on their library records, place holds, check-out or check-in library materials. My question is: Why were we open? My guess is the library manager did not have the boldness to request to the power-that-be that we close for one Sunday. No reference questions, no circulation, no AV or books to be checked-out. Come on, CP!!!.

Friday, September 17, 2004

Unsummer-like weather continues

While watching Mystic River in its entirety, a thunderstorm doused the Northland with more rain. Once again, water leaked through the roof. I contacted my friend Mark who knows a professional roofer and I am hoping he can fix the problem.

Surprise Thursday Night Phone Call

On Thursday night, I was in the middle of watching "Mystic River" on dvd when around 8:30 the phone rang. It was AN, a good friend from my KU days. She invited me out to drinks in Overland Park. AN is one of those friends where I would be willing drop what I was doing in order to be spend time with. Anyway, I quickly changed out of my shorts and T-shirt, put on a dress shirt and slacks, and made the nearly-40 mile Trek to Overland Park. AN was staying at the Sheraton Hotel attending a conference related to her career.
I met her at the hotel lobby and eventually a small group of us decided to go out dancing at Touche, a quaint little dance bar on Metcalf. The four of us danced until the bar closed and then went to Denny's for breakfast. I made home around 4:00--two hours before I wake up for my usual work day. I managed to get to work on time and I was lucid enough to answer most of the reference questions that were tossed my way.
AN is recently divorced and, like all of us, is addressing her options for her emotional well-being and her options for her two beautiful children. I hope one day we can have a heart-to-heart and talk about life and how we both have handled the situations that arise from it.
I hope I hear from AN soon.

Monday, September 13, 2004

Saturday in Lawrence

I spent Saturday in Lawrence attending my nephew's soccer lesson as well as the KU Band Day Parade. The Topeka High Mighty Trojan Band marched in the parade. Once again, I saw my high school band director who suggested that I grab a sousaphone and march with the band.

Sunday was spent reading the newspaper and watching NFL football on HDTV. The Chiefs lost Sunday night.

Training the senior citizens

I taught my Intro to Microsoft Excel class today. I had 7 people attend. Among them was an elderly lady who was given a computer from her grand children. She's approaching 90 years old. This is the third time she has taken the class and I feel that she is not making progress. She always has difficulty handling the mouse and when I lecture and show by example on my projector screen, she always manages to get lost on her computer (for example, accidentally shutting down her computer when I have the class open a program through the Start menu).
She's a good soul. But at what point do I tell her that I can do longer teach her. Her mistakes interrupt the progress of the class and I sense that the younger students become impatient with her whenever problems come.

Do I need to organize a special class for the elderly at the public library?

Thursday, September 09, 2004

Gmail opportunity

A buddy from work set me up with a Google email account, or gmail, for short. I have spent most of this evening giving this email service a test run. And to be truthful......I LOVE IT!!! Thanks, DF of Computer Services.

Monday, September 06, 2004

Other Reunion notes

KM also showed up at the reunion. At present, he's a lawyer. But he's looking for a career change. He's interested in sports even to the extent that he participated in ESPN's reality show "Dream Job." He went very far in the competition but had some tough luck during trivia portion and was thus voted off by the panel.

It was also nice to see CR, our homecoming queen. It was nice to hear that she is a new anchor for a FOX affiliate in North Carolina. We go back to Lowman Hill grade school.

High School Reunion Summary

Well, I attended my 20th High School Reunion this past weekend. It was fun to see some friends and to see what has happened to them over the course of twenty years. It was nice to see my friend JW. I hadn't seen him since 1990. He is working for Vitesse as an engineer. It was also nice to bump into JS. He was the photographer for the high school newspaper and yearbook. He's working for Payless Shoe Source and living in Topeka. It was especially nice to see FG, a friend that goes all the way back to my junior high school days at Boswell. He lives in Lansing, KS but commutes to work in Overland Park where he works for the city as an IT consultant. Also from Boswell were LW, TN, JW and DC. LW was the smartest girl in the class. She lives in Lawrence working as a grade school teacher and is married to JP who I sang with in high school choir. TN lives in Lawrence, is married, and has a ten year old son.

I had an especially nice conversation with JW. Ironically enough, she now lives in Overbrook, KS with her husband. I used to live near Overbrook with I was 15-16 years old. DC lives in Wichita, is married, and has a nice job associated with the airplane industry.

Ah memories........

We had our pick of events to attend. I decided to attend the get-together at the downtown Topeka bar Friday night, the tour of the high school on Saturday morning, and the dinner/mixer at the Kansas State Museum on Saturday night. During the tour, I had the opportunity to see my old high school band room. Lo' and behold, my old band director was in his office supervising the rehearsal of his marching band drum corp. SH has not changed much with the exception that it looks like he got the Lasik surgery because he no longer wears the distinctive glasses. We also had the opportunity to climb up the THS tower which goes about 125 above the third floor of the building. I overcame my acrophobia and managed to climb to the top just in time for the tower to chime the quarter hour.