1 - 2

What I'm doing between questions: DDC22

* Word proc signup
* Pencil/paper
[I restock both]
* SAM registration
* Printer needs paper
* PC is frozen [I reboot--voila]
* South Beach Diet re-reserve (we got her the Cookbook instead) [she's already on the list]
* Proposal-writing for grants [where did our huge shelf of reference materials go??? There are only 3 books there now!]
* [phone] Battle Ready reserve
* "I need some help" with a thumb-jerk towards the Internet terminal
* SAM registration
[some confusion about who relieves me now--resolved]

10:30 - 12 noon

What I'm doing between questions: Last hurrah of filling in for the ILL person -- she's back today -- and the ever-present Dewey number checking. I'm up to 628.

10:30
* There is someone taking a test, so we have all her stuff and I'm to keep an eye out for her
* SAM registration
* Pencil
* Test is done [shoot, was I not supposed to sign as the proctor??]
* Scratch paper
11:00
* SAM not working for father & son; he argues with me about everything, says he's changed his address already, and also 10-year-old son should be allowed full access because he has it at home and school anyway [which isn't true; I know the school district has filters every which way from Sunday] sigh
* [phone] Investor's Business Daily calling to be sure we're getting the paper all right
[OY. Father and son cards are actually expired and I missed it. They are SO yanking my chain. They've also left already. Well, they can't use the internet anymore till they prove they live where he says. And the kid is back to filters. And I'm extremely annoyed. Even my Mountain Dew is annoyed: it just exploded when I unscrewed the top.]
[Librarian J is back from her vacation. Let the celebration commence!!]
[A very noisy, cutesy couple who doesn't 'get' library protocol, sitting at an Internet terminal which will be booting them in less than 3 minutes: hurrah.]
[How often are patron expected to open the books so the barcode is showing to speed up checkout? We used to do that when I was a kid, many moons ago (pre barcodes, in microfilm days). But here goes a woman with 12 books stacked up and open, and quite proud of herself for "helping." She has about 40 yards to walk; will the books stay stacked??]

9 - 10

This has been a crazy week; I have been at the Ref Desk numerous times, but it has been too busy with questions to keep track here at the time. Even writing down questions to input later hasn't been possible. I hope the entries today will get me back on track.

* Can we play games on the Internet now? [yep, summer's here, so games are now on]
* Word proc
* Undiscovered Self [there is a book group reading this!]
* [phone] "Any Victorian-era cemeteries in the vicinity?" Well, yeah quite a few [She needs to look at the stones to find artwork]
* [phone] ILL call--do we want Volume One only of a video series on bridge, or should she pass the request along to the next library in the queue? [patron seems to want the whole set, so pass along]
* Government Giveaways for Entrepreneurs IV [what he asked for was books by Matthew Lesko for businesses]
* Update card number in SAM
* Pencil/paper for the guy who NEVER TALKS and looks like a mass murderer [actually, he's not a bad guy; I've only heard him say thanks...twice...quietly]
* Pencil/paper for Mr. Ick
*

9 - 12

What I'm doing between questions: trying to figure out the ILL stuff, and doing the DDC22 dance.
{Hope today is quieter than yesterday morning!}
9:00
* "Can I help you?" needs to print a couple documents [looked terribly lost]
* Scratch paper
* Request to purchase Spitfire Grill on DVD
* [phone] Has Investor's Business Daily subscription started yet? [nope]
* Why isn't our car-repair website working? [dunno--he goes to use the old-fashioned books, I write a note for our tech]
* Guest Internet signup
10:00
[family member on phone]
* Car guy: "Any answers yet?" [Our tech won't be in till Friday. So, no.]
* Woman has logged onto SAM but can't figure out that she needs to click on the 'net icon to open Explorer
* Now she can't find the quote key; once I point it out to her, she asks if she has to use the shift key to get double quotes [we serve all levels here!]
11:00
* Today's issue of the local weekly paper
*[phone] Literacy publicity organization updating info for new directory; nothing's changed
* Local paper is returned
* How to use copier
* New Internet user signup
[Librarian K has shown up...early!]
[Librarian A also has arrived early!]
* Print job payment
* Word proc signup
MUCH QUIETER TODAY

9 - 12 {plus}

What I'm doing between questions: hah! Thank goodness I didn't really have urgent stuff to do!

9:00
* Librarian C is trying to show me how easy it is to print word proc signup sheets ... except we can't figure it out...

and the onslaught begins

* Furnace ratings
* Picture of forget me nots (thank you, Google Images)
[phone is ringing off the hook]
* Headphones checkout
* [phone] Promise You Won't Freak Out: A Teenager Tells Her Mother the Truth About Boys, Booze, Body Piercing, and Other Touchy Topics (And Mom Responds)
* Two guest Internet sign-ups
[phone is still ringing off the hook]
* How much canned cat food do I feed a cat? [1 oz. per pound per day, in case you were wondering]
* Headphones returned
* "Promise You Won't Freak Out" woman left message: nevermind I'll go get it at Border's
* More furnace stuff
[I figure out word proc signup sheets on my own--woo hoo!]
* Restroom is that way...
* Finally, something helpful on furnaces!
* "If I go home and get my email password, can I check my email here?" [?confusion--yessss....?]
* How to attach photos I've taken with my new digital camera to an email I'm sending to my daughter [she's pretty illiterate with computers]
10:00
* Red Pony, Spencer's Mountain, The Devil in the White City, and 125 Best Toaster Oven Recipes [Now THAT'S a well-rounded individual!]
* Pay for print jobs
* Restrooms are thataway
* [phone] "Can you check on Starz.com to see if I won?" [well, it's quiet enough, so yeah I guess--of course he didn't win]
[It's getting kind of loud in here--lots of people talking]
* Dream interpretation [same guy as last week], this time in English since the Spanish one wasn't what he wanted after all
* Stapler
* [phone] Cursed Children [no one owns, not in Amazon or BT...sigh...but I found it anyway]
* [phone] Ever After and HP/Goblet of Fire (CD) [one of two on the shelf--not bad!
[Sleek begins his attempt to unload all the garbage from the Ref terminals]
[I begin working on email reserves]
* Pay for print jobs
* Guest Internet signup
* Barcode lookup for Internet
11:00
* Guest Internet signup
* New Internet user
* Word proc ("for just one minute!")
* [phone] Therapy
* Patron needs Guest number looked up for Internet
[etymology of the word "stuff" as a noun: OED]
* City planning documents, city council packet for tonight's meeting, other assorted documents [This could be a fun meeting!]
[Sleek has finally fixed both PCs]
* Patron needs a book sent from the State Historical Society in Madison, WI [I love patrons like this!] and From Babel to Dragomans [which takes me forever to find!]
[I'm DONE WITH THE EMAIL RESERVES FINALLY!]
* City council packet for school board member ["sorry, it's in use now;" she'll come back]
* Other book by Bernard Lewis, for same patron
* Sunday's job ads
* Guest Internet user: "You're only allowed an hour?" [Yep, it's not long is it?]
12:00 [where's Librarian A?!?!]
* Pay for print jobs
[Librarian JK comes to tell me that I'm stuck here till A gets here, or 12:15, whichever comes first]
* Washrooms are right down there
* Local history on a family from the 1850s; she was sent here from the county courthouse who really had nothing much to help her
[Aha! A has arrived! woo hoo]