Another trip to Illinois

C and I will travel to Pontiac this weekend to clear out the remainder of Dad's house. This means working on the kitchen, basement, and garage. The house will then be ready for the new owner, who is a good friend of Dad.

New library position

We are in the process of hiring a part-circ/part computer lab person to work at our branch. Actually, this guy is a student at SLIM and states that when he grows up, he wants to be a cataloger. (Hopefully, we can snap him out of this delusion dream.)
This new position will prove to be a challenge to me as I will have to balance the new guy's hours with the hours already established for my three associates.
Ah, the joys of being a supervisor.......

Is this a library or the military?

After I worked the public area Thursday morning, I noticed fellow employees cleaning the inside and outside of their respective cubicles. Apparently, the library director did like the way we had some things cluttered in our office area and asked the branch manager to pass on the word to make things more immaculate. I spent two hours deciding to file papers or to throw them away and also straightening up my office space.

King's Singers Concert

I went to the KS concert last night. Unfortunately, AN could not come because of obligations. So I went by myself. The audience consisted of people of all ages, some season ticket holders through the William Jewell Fine Arts concert series, and some people younger than me.
And of course, the King's Singers were brilliant in the combination of tight harmony and improvisation. The first part of the concert proved their historical knowledge of choral music. Their latter part of the concert was more contemporary. The sang songs like the Beatle's "Penny Lane," their own rendition of the Rossini's "Barber of Seville," a song from the movie "O Brother, Where Art Thou," and a couple songs that their predecessor's in the group sang twenty to twenty-five years ago. I enjoyed it immensely, but I wish AN was with me.

Awaiting info about the Mazda

I'm still awaiting news about the damaged Mazda. I took it to the Northland dealership for repairs this past Tuesday and I have not received any phone calls about the car. I am planning to donate the Mazda to the Salvation Army or public radio (NPR).

New set of wheels

I'll be heading over to Enterprise rent a car this morning to return the Dodge Neon I rented over the weekend. Afterwards, I'll request that they take me to the Saturn dealership at the Tiffany Springs Auto Mall where I'll pick up my new Saturn Vue. As I was typing this entry, I just got a phone call from the Saturn sales associate telling me that he will get my new car ready when I go there. Saturn really strives to take care of their customers.

Anyway, I will spend this afternoon updating my insurance, paying property tax, paying registration fees, and getting my new tags. Hopefully, I will also hear news of my Protege and what condition it is in.

Long productive Friday

I'm tired. I'm bushed.

My Friday started off with the towing of the Mazda to the Northtowne Mazda so that repairs could commence. It was interesting to see the tow truck guy actually load my Protege on a flatbed truck using a winch and some strategically positioned chains. He followed me to the dealership where I authorized the work to be done on the car.
After I gave my "John Hancock," I commenced to do some new car shopping. Here are the order of the dealerships that I visited: Saturn, Ford in Liberty, Ford along Barry Road, Toyota, Honda, and a return trip to Saturn. I test drove a car from each of this places and decided to make a second stop at the Saturn lot. I was very impressed with the Saturn Vue, a small SUV with acceptable gas mileage ratings.
I drove two different Vue's and decided that this would be the car for me for the next five or six years. I decided I needed a change of motor vehicle make. After all, I've been driving the Mazda Protege for the past 15 years.
I'll pickup the new car next Tuesday.

The adjustor's assessment

A rep from State Farm came to my house this afternoon to take a look at the damage to my car. Apparently, the car is not totaled as I thought. But the right front wheel is broken and has to be repaired.

In spite of this good news, I will be looking for a new mode of transportation.

Taxes are done for 2004

I got my taxes done for 2004. Total balance: I owe about a hundred bucks when refunds and tax liabilities are balanced.

Buud

My thoughts go out to MS/PS/and DrB. Their 17 year old daschund had to be put to sleep today.

1999 Mazda Protege---RIP

We had a snow storm today. As a result, the library closed down at 6:30 tonight. I was sent home at 4:30.

Unfortunately, I had an accident with my green Protege. I left work without incident but I got to 99th and Parallel and noticed cars spun out at the top of the hill. I made the decision to turn right on 99th and take the Leavenworth Road entrance onto I-435. About a mile later, my car began to slide right on the ice. I hit the brakes and the car continued to slide. My car hit right curb near the sewer.

Instantaneously, I made the decision to continue driving home. I based this decision knowing that the KC police were probably busy handling all sorts of traffic accidents and I would be stuck in the cold and dark waiting for them. After the accident, I noticed that my steering was wobbly and the front right wheel was rubbing against the wheel well. Not good.

I managed to get onto 435 and took it about ten miles an hour. My arms were tense as I tried to make sure the car would go straight. I managed to cross the Missouri River without further incident and decided to pull the car over to rest my arms. During the break, I phoned C on the cell to let her know what had happened and to let her know that I was going to attempt to drive to my house.

I continued to drive and eventually made my house forty five minutes later. There were a lot of vehicles in the median or off the road. I consider getting home safely nothing short of a miracle. The front frame of the car is broken and thus the car is totaled. I will be looking for a new car immediately. I was uninjured.

Thoughts about having parents

I got into a discussion today with MS and his father-in-law. DrB is 77 and suffers from both Parkinson's and Alsheimer's. DrB still lives with MS and PS. And I imagine the caretaking of DrB is wearing thin on MS and PS.
Now, neither of my parents went through these two challenging conditions. But I think it may be time for MS and PS to allow a nursing home facility to look after him. MS made the comment to me that he's grown weary of constantly looking after DrB while at home.
I guess the question is how much of his/her quality of life does the child have to sacrifice to take care of a parent? I know this question has always been around as long as there has been parents and children. My quality of life never really suffered as I went through the loss of my parents, but I know there are people out there who put there lives on hold.
I wish MS and PS the best as they address future issues with DrB.

Shelving is up

It took MS and I about two and half hours to get the shelving up in my basement. Thanks MS, especially for providing some of the tools that I don't have. Now I have a place for my Toby mugs.

Speaking of Tobies, I bought my first one to add to the collection that Dad had. I went to the Platte City antique store and scoured each display and found one which had a sales tag that read $175. I bargained the price down to $145 and the antique store gave me a ten percent discount So I ended up paying about $135 plus sales tax.

I think I've found another hobby...collecting Toby mugs.

Moving furniture in basement

I spent last night moving furniture in my basement. I did this so that I can install wall shelves to host my new collection of Toby mugs. Originally, I wanted to put Tobies against the outside basement wall, but I discovered the studs there would not be able to support the weight of the ledge shelving. So, I decided to put the shelving where the studs could solidly hold the shelving.
Next step, install the shelving over the weekend.

Web Page committee

We've formed a web page committee at work in order to finally update our antiquated web page. I chaired our meeting today and delegated or suggested responsibilities. JG and I will begin work on the home page tomorrow and Princess Anaconda (nickname) will be taking pictures over the course of the web site's assembly. I hope our new design gets accepted by the library's assistant director, who must approve all web work.