Not exactly blown away...but close

As most people have heard the Seattle area got hammered by a nasty winter wind storm on Thursday (12/14). My partner and I lost our power at about 10:45pm and got it back on today (12/18) at some wee hour of the morning. During the 3 days of darkness we camped out with my extremely generous sister-in-law who had thankfully kept her power through the storm. I had to work 2 of the 3 powerless days at the library, which was thankfully warm and bright and full of people escaping the cold.

Growing up we always lived in the middle of nowhere and my parents were meticulous about keeping emergency supplies. We also had gas appliances so we were able to stay warm and eat. Living in the city has contributed to a state of unpreparedness that I don't feel comfortable with anymore. We had a flashlight, and candles but you can't warm your house with a candle unless you want to burn it down (which certainly would be warm). No alternate forms of heat, non-perishable food, bottled water, battery operated radio, or even a good set of warm clothes were available to us in our house. Our poor dogs and cats had to suffer in the cold (with lots of blankets and food of course) but we had to leave.

Now that we're warm we are starting to see the wisdom of getting prepared, of having the right supplies so we can be warm, fed and comfortable for an extended period if we need it. This time it was just a power outage, but Seattle is certainly due for a good shaking as well. Next time, I don't want to worry, I want to be warm.

Until the next storm hits...
Sarah

Behavioral interview questions

Following up on my last post, I learned a bit more about why I failed this interview process. First of all, the questions I was asked are apparently an example of Behavioral interview questions. What? Or at least that's the thought that went through my head. How does one know when an interview will be behavioral? What ever happened to, do you have the skills for this job?

It's been 6 years since I had an interview for a professional position, am I out of date? Anyhow, interviewee be warned, this is apparently not uncommon in the greater Seattle area. The libraries use these questions to determine if you can handle the job, not to assess if you're skilled enough to do it.

Whatever...

Here's some samples for those of you who also never heard of such a thing.
(http://www.quintcareers.com/sample_behavioral.html)

Oh, and as far as reapplying, I have to wait, 6 months.

Grrr
Sarah

Rejection!

So, I'm just a few weeks from graduation, and I've started looking for a job. I've had 2 student jobs for awhile, one for 2 years and one for 10 months. I feel pretty qualified to work as a librarian, since I've been doing it for over 2 years now, so I felt pretty confident about my recent interview. After about 2 weeks I touched base with the library and they told me I had not been selected...which, I realize, you don't get every job you apply for...but, I already work at this library, as a librarian.

So I feel pretty confused, hurt, etc. The good news is, I could reapply and interview again; the bad news is that I have to keep working there through the end of the year knowing they don't want me; which makes me sad. Obviously I'm a professional and I don't buy into that whole "screw them" attitude that I've seen in others, and I will do my job proudly regardless. I just hope that this isn't a sign of things to come.

Hopefully one of the other jobs I applied for will pan out, I was hoping to be working in January full time, but I guess I have to wait and see what comes.

I hope everyone is staying warm and cozy as we head into December.
~Sarah

Wench?

Some people would say wench is a derogatory term, but I beg to differ. I happen to like the word wench. I'd take issue with some of it's synonyms, such as matron, shrew, dame, etc.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary (http://www.oed.com) wench has been used to refer to "A girl, maid, young woman"; "a female child"; "a girl of the rustic or working class"; "a wanton woman; a mistress"; and "a female servant, maidservant, serving-maid." I feel comfortable embracing all of those terms except perhaps the wanton woman part. I'm pretty sure I'm not 'wanting' for anything these days, except maybe a few more hours of sleep.

I love answering reference questions, and I do take an 'at your service' approach. I'm here for my patrons and whatever obscure question they want me to try and answer (within all the legal limits, etc.)

If you're reading this, tell me, what does wench mean to you? Do you have any wenches in your life?

Books, books, and more books...

I am so enjoying my summer off from classes, basically all I've done is read. I've got a few small projects, and picked up a 3rd job (yeah, I know that's crazy) but most of my free time is being spent reading. I thought I'd list what I've been reading here, I'll add some more information about the individual books later...mostly I need to make a list before I forget what I read.

To simplify the rating process of my likes/dislikes a * means I liked it enough that I'd tell other people to read it. the lack of a * does not mean I don't like the book, it just means I would be cautious telling other people to read it...like it requires a disclaimer or something. Thankfully, I have liked all the books I've read for the most part.

So here's the list (in no particular order):
*The Well of Lost Plots , by Jasper Fforde
*Something Rotten, by Jasper Fforde
*Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston
Gilead, by Marilynn Robinson
The Big Over Easy, by Jasper Fforde
*Couldn't Keep It to Myself: Wally Lamb and the Women of York Correctional Institution (Testimonies from our Imprisoned Sisters), by Wally Lamb
*Reading Lolita in Tehran, by Azar Nafisi
*My Year of Meats, by Ruth Ozeki
Ummm.....I think I'm forgetting some, I'll have to get back to you.

I'm currently reading Library an Unquiet History, by Matthew Battles

*Note: it would seem I couldn't finish Library an Unquiet History, I plan to come back to it, but for now, it was too dense for my muddied gray matter.

Summer at last...

Learning from past foolishness, I am not taking summer classes this year. And why should I? I've only got 7 credits left and then I'll be a full fledged librarian.

This has been the craziest 2 years of my life, to say the least. The lack of Blog posts should be evidence of that, I think. So this summer I'm working on my portfolio for graduation, spending some time reading books (instead of dry academic writing) and thinking about what comes next.

This summer we're likely doing a lot of hanging around town, we've got a short trip planned to Victoria and maybe some camping, but that's about it. Next summer I hope I'll be making enough money that we can take a real vacation.

Quitting my job 2 years ago was crazy, being really broke sucks, but when this is all over, I think it'll be worth it.

Until I have something more exciting to say...
Sarah

What year is this?

Yeah, I think I may have been under a rock. No, that's not it, that's right I'm in grad school, I don't have time to ramble on I've got papers to write.

Seriously though, I had great intentions here like many of the projects I'm involved with, I just ran out of steam. At least I'm trying, right?

So here I am, heading into the home stretch. I never thought I'd see 2006, I figured last quarter was gonna kill me, but I lived just like ever quarter before that, and now there's just a few more quarters to go and I can go out and get a job like a grown-up.

So here's the last 6 months quickly:

June: End of Spring quarter and the start of the summer of hell
July: Sell condo, start to fall behind in summer classes
August: New apartment, second summer class starts, what was I thinking?
September: Go to Canada, get hitched, take an incomplete in that second summer class
October: Finish summer class just in time to start fall classes, have big 'ole family party
November: Huh? Oh right, November, study lots, eat turkey
December: ACK what happened to November? Study too much, get 3 weeks off, spend one bailing water out of living room (HO HO HO)
January: Hey, that's now! Just started another quarter, doing an internship and taking a light course load, maybe I am learning something....

See you in February, I hope...
Sarah