MLA Favorite

Of all the pictures that I took or were taken this past week at MLA, this short video is by far my favorite. This is a typical vacation or out of town experience for everyone. I thought stepping into the digital age would make things easier but it seems to have actually made it worse. Now we have added video capability to our cameras and who knows what you will get when you hand it over to someone. This is what I got when I handed my camera over to a perfectly capable and intelligent individual who was just not familiar with this piece of equipment. (In her defense, I have at least one of these videos from about every vacation since I have gotten this camera and several of them from my husband.) I will not reveal who she is to the general public, but for those of you who know her, her name has two Fs and Ns in it.

I'm off to see the wizard...

OK Maybe not the wizard, but I am off. I leave tomorrow for the Mississippi Library Association state conference in Natchez, MS. I don't know what to expect since this is my first time there. I hope it will be informative and fun. I feel like fun is where you make it, so I'm sure it will be fun. All I know is I leave tomorrow and I don't come home until Friday night. Room and board is paid for already, so there are no worries. Four days away from home anywhere is great to me. The laundry is done. There are casseroles in the freezer. The instruction sheet is on the fridge. I'm outta here!!! Maybe I'll be able to post some pictures along the way. We'll call it Librarians Gone Wild.

My new bag phone

Well, how many of you even remember what a bag phone is to get the joke? (Steve came up with that by the way.) Anyway, it has been a hard month for me and electronics. I am learning the rules on mixing motorcycles and mobile devices. Obviously, Sony doesn't make as tough of a product as Apple although I don't know how the iphone would withstand an impact at 50mph. I would be willing to do the testing for them though. I do know now what happens to a Walkman phone when you put it in your pocket and ride your bike though. I can't say that it is knowledge I wanted to have, but it is a lesson I won't soon forget. I am now using Steve's old flip phone that doesn't have bluetooth or cool rings or anything. It is humbling. Especially when I was subbing at the high school this week and even though I was hiding the phone in my pocket one of the kids loudly says "Miss, where's your slider? 'Cause that ain't your slider in your pocket!" It was fun to have a phone that impressed teenagers. I've never had one of those. I'm hoping that with a little super glue and duct tape Steve will be able to have it as good as new. If not, I may have to resort to ebay because I would have to sub four days to buy it new since I'm not due for an upgrade. Sucks to be me!

For Ranger Fans Everywhere

Honestly, I had a bit of a slower day at work today. No overdemanding patrons or reports due, so when I had a few minutes I decided to do a bit of research. Now I'm not talking about serious research on something like marketing the modern library, how to attract more teens to programs or even free and interesting programs for next year's summer reading. I recently read Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich and wanted to find out more about that Bulgari shower gel that Ranger uses that makes all the women swoon. Anyone who reads the Stephanie Plum books would agree that IS serious research. Well, the Bulgari shower gel does exist and the type he uses is Green Tea. So if you have been giving yourself an olfactory orgasm at Macy's and dreaming about which scent is his, you can narrow down the bottle that you embarrass yourself over now. I remember in junior high all the kids said that green meant you were horny (even though we had no idea what that meant), so in this case it may be true. At least if you are sniffing the green bottle and thinking about Ranger. I can say that I think I know something that Steve will be getting for his anniversary this year. Now he wants new pipes for his Harley and he may get them. I think he may have to get a little something for the ladies to go with them though. ;*)

WHAT!?!

I was heading into Wal-Mart today with my eco-friendly shopping bags and my shopping list. All of a sudden there it was in front of me. A used Q-tip. Now I have seen many things left in parking lots and probably left a few things myself, so I don't know why this bothered me so much. I found it so disturbing that I had to turn around and walk back to take a picture of it. (Trust me that got some looks.) I've seen many nauseating sights from dirty diapers to used condoms, but my brain could compute their purpose for being there even if I didn't really want to contemplate it. But who needs a Q-tip in a Wal-Mart parking lot and then just throws it on the ground? And it wasn't even the brand with the biodegradeable center. It was one of the cheap ones with the plastic center. It will be here in our Wal-Mart lot for years after the cotton ends have rotted away. So now I'm back to how it got there. Was someone trying to take care of some last minute personal hygiene? Trust me when I say that with some of the people I have run into at Wal-Mart or at work for that matter, it wasn't their ears I wish they had spent more time on. The other possibility is that it fell out of their car. So that leaves me to think about the condition of the car that is so filthy that when you open the doors dirty cotton swabs fall out. And why would they be in the car in the first place? I've ate, put on make-up, nursed a baby even scrapbooked (not all while driving of course) in a car, but I have NEVER cleaned my ears. There are many things I have grabbed at the last minute out the door on my way somewhere to do in the car, but I can honestly tell you that a Q-tip never entered my mind. So I guess for now the mystery of the parking lot cotton swab remains. I doubt the real story is nearly as interesting as all the possibilities I could come up with, but sometimes it's good to let your imagination run free rather than focus on the sorry state of the society that shows so little respect for one another.

I learned something today!

(This is the commercial break of my blog if you need to go to the bathroom or get a snack.) I learned today that Apple makes a very good product. Those little ipods are tough customers. The pictures show you what happens to an ipod that hits the asphalt from a motorcycle going about 50 mph. Four of us were heading to Meridian and I had my ipod clipped on my front pocket as I do on every trip of any distance at all. Well, today I moved my arm to check something and my hand bumped my ipod and knocked it right off my pocket. My first thought was "Oooh, I really wanted one of those new little nanos anyway." Then I thought I hope it didn't hit Greg or Dad's bike (which Greg was riding directly behind me). My mirror showed me that they were fine and then I saw the car behind him. I then thought, "I bet that car ran right over it and I can't afford a new ipod right now." There were a few "choice" words that passed through my mind and about a quarter mile from the mishap I found a place to turn around and see if I could find it. I returned to the scene of the accident and Greg had my back of course. I saw the ipod on the side of the road and then found another place to turn around, so I could go back and check it. I pulled over and picked it up. I plugged the earphones back in and it literally picked up right where it had paused because the earphones had been unplugged. I couldn't believe it. Now it does look at little worse for the wear and I did lose my plastic holder with the clip on it, but it works fine still. It just earned a little road rash. Doesn't look like I'll be shopping for a new nano yet, but you better believe when I'm ready to, I'll be looking at Apple products.

AAUGH!

I felt like Charlie Brown when I got to work today. You can picture him, can't you? All you can see is his wide open mouth, ears and nose. That was me. I brought my motorcycle to work and had a beautiful ride because the weather is just lovely. Perfect first day of fall! I gather my belongings with a happy sigh as I made my way to the door and there it is on the door to the library. A note. It says that they did the best they could but they left the wet vac for me if I want to do more. I know what that means. Water in the library again. AAUGH! Will it never end? Must I cringe every time it rains instead of being happy for the flora in my yard? It didn't get far this time, but I do worry about mold. I need a cup of coffee!