I have been back at the office for almost two months. I think I can now say that I am used to the new commuting/work week routine. Everything has been a bit weird for the past weeks, but I'm glad that I found my footing again. Here's what has my attention at the moment. WORK
PERSONAL
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The premise of this novel looks really interesting.
When I cook dinner, 9 times out of 10, I use the same old, slotted wooden spoon. It has a thicker than usual handle with a rounder than usual head. I have no idea how or when I acquired this spoon. But, if you dare to take it from me, be prepared to be whacked on the wrist. The thickness of the handle makes it easier to hold. The shape of the head is great for scraping sides of pans. And, since it's wood, I don't have to worry about it scratching my non-stick pans. The slots make it great for stirring and taste testing all manner of food - be it in a skillet or a pasta boiling away. The larger shape means I can cover a whole jar or can and drain liquids away without needing to breakout a colander. I love this spoon. Sadly, I need to replace this spoon. I have a tendency to whack it on the side of my pans and the handle is starting to chip. We're not in breakage territory yet, but there is a definite dent in the handle. When I'm in a store that sells kitchen supplies, I always look at their wooden spoon selection. There has never been a replacement that meets my standards. The handles are all too thin or, weirdly, to long. The heads of the spoons are narrow or too flat. The one time I found the perfect shaped head but it wasn't slotted. So, my replacement quest continues. What is the favorite thing in your kitchen?
Our kiddo's daycare is closed today for professional development. They try to schedule these around long weekends in order to reduce the impact on parents. For that, I am grateful. Given that our kid now has a four day weekend, we took advantage of the extra time home and got her flu shot done today. This gives her a few days to get over any side effects. Here's what else was good this week:
Sometimes, when I'm working on a poser of a question or a difficult problem, I find myself staring at nothing over the top of my computer screen. I joke about my toddler doing her "reboots" where she stares off into the distance at nothing, but I do it to. I guess the brain sometimes just needs a moment to process everything. Here's everything that has my attention at the moment. WORK
PERSONAL
The Internet Librarian Conference was supposed to be in person this year, but delta changed everything. Upside - you can now attend virtually! Sign up here for live and/or recorded options.
I will be speaking on Thursday, October 18 at 3pm on friendly-face marketing. Library anxiety is real. While many people adore the library and their librarians, there are just as many patrons who approach the library with trepidation. Friendly-face marketing is a method of outreach which helps put your patrons at ease by creating a personalized and positive customer service experience. Watson discusses connecting with community in new ways such as spin selling. He shares how to do it, the likely outcomes, and the best techniques. Kowalski shares methods for conducting outreach research that will help you develop small and actionable friendly-face marketing campaigns. She shares friendly-face marketing techniques to help your staff engage with patrons and shows how these campaigns and actions can both ease library anxiety and speak to non-patrons to help increase your community outreach. Looking for ways to get our kiddo more involved in cooking in order to get her more interested in eating a variety of things.
If you want a den of hot takes, I recommend subscribing to a local neighborhood list-serv. I subscribe to one for our neighborhood and it's an endless source of entertainment and frustration. There's the usual batch of people selling things and looking for things, making recommendations, and sharing pictures of animals spotted in the wild. There's also a good chunk of debate about neighborhood issues that tend to revolve around NIMBY/YIMBY topics and transportation changes. Lately, there has been an ongoing debate about cashless businesses. A new restaurant opened on the main drive and they are cash-free. Going cashless is trending in cities these days and really took off during the pandemic. Some folks on the list-serv are NOT having it. Debate exploded about places being cash-free and "Why won't they accept my legal paper tender?" and "What is the world coming to?" and "It's a privacy violation to make me use a credit card!" and - legitimately - "What about the unbanked/unable to get credit cards?" The debate, on all sides, was vociferous and lengthy. Just as the emails on this topic were dying down, a 7-11 down the block from the new restaurant in question was robbed - in broad daylight - of $3,100 in cash. The list-serv was suspiciously quiet for about 24 hours and then everything set off again which much gnashing of teeth and pulling of hair. Again, on all sides. All of this is to say, if you want to stay informed and have a high tolerance for drama, sign up for you local list-serv. You learn a lot. What's your favorite way to stay in touch with where you live?
I like to set my Friday afternoons aside to get some professional reading down. For the past four months, I have not had a chance to sit down with a single journal, article, book, or catalog. Some project, event, or appointment always comes up and takes priority. Today, my luck may be changing! Fingers crossed my afternoon stays clear and I can start a book I've had set aside to read for over a year. Here's what else was good this week:
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