Michael's Mind - What Thoughts I Think

Update coming soon

2012-01-15T06:31:00.001-08:00

Hi all,

I'm planning an update and regular posts coming soon.

Due to health issues, a 32% increase in rent in just the past 2 yrs (23% just last yr) and years of pay cuts, I'm moving again. Once things settle down, hopefully in late Feb, I'll give a band update, etc. update.

Hope everyone else out there is well.

Michael

A Day in the Life of a Librarian

2011-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

Sorry it's been such a long time between posts. I'm getting back into the blogging groove now. I won't go into what's been happening in this post because I'm doing this one as a special "return to the blogosphere". This blog post is being made for the Library Day in the Life Project.

"The Library Day in the Life Project is a semi-annual event coordinated by Bobbi Newman of Librarian by Day. Twice a year librarians, library staff and library students from all over the globe share a day (or week) in their life through blog posts, photos, video and Twitter updates. "

Yours truly is #221 (out of, currently, 248)

So without further ado, here is a day in my life at the library for Tuesday, July 26 2011.

Today began with taking some photos for a project.

So, after I returned to the Mustang branch (my new location; more about that later) I had a little time before my cashier shift so I got caught up on emails (37 new ones since the day before) and began tracking down the Arizona Library connection for legislation. This is important information as I am on the Legislative Committee for YALSA and I'm trying to get the word out about our upcoming District Days events (more on that later as well).

After leaving a message for the contact person I found I went off to do my cashier shift. This was a standard day in the cashier box. It's great to see so many people finding books in the library shop as the money we make from there goes to help pay for our programming and other things.

After my cashier shift I had another "off pod" hour so I returned to my desk and did some more work on my new space science program youth services will be doing this Fall. The PowerPoint and game board I am creating for this one is "The Sun".

After some time on the PowerPoint as well as refilling our handout/freebie/swag racks, checking in periodicals and newspapers, it was time again for some pod shifts. I spent an hour on Pod 2 and an hour on Pod 1. I answered various reference and readers' advisory questions and went on a quest for a missing DVD. Then it was off the pod and back at my desk. I read some current day's emails., went to help people with the public copier/printer and then planned the new library display. The August display is "Cowboys and Aliens." All this took up the last hour of my day and then it was home to work on the game board for the sun program and decompress before my next day at the library.

So that was my Tuesday in a real-world public library.

Have fun all! See you soon!

Michael

Book review - Interworld by Neil Gaiman and Michael Reaves

2011-04-01T08:56:00.000-07:00

Interworld is the story of Joey Harker, a young man with no sense of direction yet can walk through the myriad of worlds that make up the altiverse. Every time a major decision is made a new version of the universe is created, one where the decision was made continues on and another with the path not taken. Best guess is that there are trillions of alternate universes. Each Joey Harker in those universes, whether boy, girl, or cybernetic adaptation has the ability to "walk" the In-Between and travel from universe to universe. Some of these alternate universes are low on the technological end and have a form of magic (HEX) and some are high on the scale and excel in science complete with lasers and liquid metal type suits (BINARY). Each is trying to conquer the other and take over the entire altiverse. The one group standing in their was is a group of various Joey Harkers.

Don't worry. It's not as complicated as it sounds. It was actually a really fun read by two great and creative minds.

New home for my lap-band blog posts and info

2011-01-26T07:20:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone,

If you came here to read Michael's Mind: What Thoughts I Think, don't worry. This site is not going away. I wanted to make a special place to post all of my lap-band information so I have moved it to my new Banded Librarian blog.

I also have my new book blog -- Michael's Book Shelf: What I read and Write.

I also still have my YouTube channel -- LibrarianMichael/The Banded Librarian.

I know that's a lot to take in however, if you subscribe to my YouTube channel and "follow" my blogs, you'll know every time there is a new video or blog posted. It's easier for you and good for me. The stats would really help!

Thanks and see you all in the internet!

Michael

Michael's video blog #14 - lap-band and life update

2011-01-23T21:47:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Well, the big push is on to both get published and try to make some extra money. I've submitted a book and poem to publishers and had both rejected. I'm a real author now! :)

I currently have my first picture book submitted to a literary agency and hope to hear back soon. I've also signed up with a couple of online sites (eLance and ChaCha) to try to earn some extra money. These of course are just supplemental sources. I may need to find a second regular job soon as well.

So, anyway, here is my new video blog. Please remember to subscribe/follow this blog so I know you're out there.

Bye for now!

Michael

Video Blog #13 - lap-band update, new weight-tracking spreadsheet, etc.

2011-01-16T15:30:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Here is video blog #13.

In this video I talk about my weight loss progress after the lap-band surgery, show you the new weight loss tracking Excel file I created (link below), and give some feedback on a couple of websites I've been using for support pre-surgery.

So, enjoy the video and feel free to download and use the weight-loss tracker spreadsheet.

Please comment or email me if you have any suggestions or would like me to personalize the spreadsheet for you or would just like to chat.

Michael

Link to spreadsheet on Google Docs ---> Weight loss tracking spreadsheet

Video blog # 12 - Lapband update

2011-01-10T07:49:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Enjoy this new video blog! I welcome all comments!

Michael

Video blog #11 - 11 days post-surgery

2011-01-02T20:20:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Well, I'm now 11 days post-surgery. I actually started the lap-band diet a few weeks before surgery so I was able to lose about 8 lbs for I went in and have lost about 5 more lbs since my surgery 11 days ago.

Current weight - 248.2
Goal weight - 180

Video blog #10 - Surgery day!

2010-12-21T05:40:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Well, today is the big day; lap-band surgery day! Currently I weigh in at 252.8 lbs with a BMI of 38.1.

See you all later.

Michael

Video blog #9: Lap-band surgery next week!

2010-12-13T08:04:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

Here is video blog #9. The time for surgery is almost here.

Eight days and counting.

Surgery Approved!

2010-12-02T07:56:00.000-08:00

Hi all,

I just got the call that insurance has approved my surgery! My surgery date should be December 22nd, 2010.

I'll have a new video blog coming soon.

Michael

The "how and why" lap-band post

2010-11-23T19:46:00.000-08:00

The lap-band is not the end-all solution to weight loss however; it is a tool that will help you get to your goal of a healthier and longer life.

How does it work? The lap-band is surgically inserted around the opening to the stomach. It will act as a funnel and sends a signal to the brain telling you that you are full. This means that you will not be hungry for about four to five hours after eating. If you feel hungry before then, it is not “real” hunger; you are more likely feeling a desire for food.

In most cases, the band is inserted laproscopically, with several small incisions. Most people can return to work 3-5 days after surgery. For people who live alone or do not have someone to stay with them the day of surgery, patients will stay overnight in the hospital for observation.

Even though the lap-band is safer than other surgeries such as gastric bypass, there are risks involved. The risks include band slippage, blockage and absorption into the stomach lining.

The post surgery diet consists of liquids for a week or two, then soft foods and finally solids. It is important to follow the plan and move on to solids. If there is ever a feeling of something being stuck, make an appointment right away. If, after a fill, the water does not stay down, return to the office immediately.

Fills and un-fills are done through a port under the skin, where a saline solution is added or removed from the band.

Most solid meals after the band will consist of 3-4 ounces or protein and 6 ounces of vegetables (always eat the protein first). Do not drink anything until at least one half hour after eating. If food is moist, drinking during the meal will not be needed. Meat should be moist; nothing microwaved.

After the band I expect to feel a better sense of healthiness. I expect to feel and look better. This will improve my overall outlook on life. Financially, when I use the band correctly, my food and medication expenses should decrease. Of course, this will not happen unless I use the lap-band, my weight loss “tool” correctly.

Essentially, after surgery, the ball is in my court. It’s up to me to follow through with the band. Food passes through in about one minute. Eating slowly and in small portions as well as chewing thoroughly is very important. To help me on my journey is Southwest Weight Loss’s after care program. The after-care program consists of support group meeting, podcasts, recipes, etc. Most of these are hosted or created by Dr. Simpson. In addition to the after-care I will make monthly visits in the first year for fills/un-fills as needed along with follow-ups with my primary care doctor.

These people give me the tools and support I need, the rest is up to me.

Video blog #8 - lap band update

2010-11-19T07:10:00.000-08:00

Hi all!

Here it is.... Video #8. I have jumped through the final hoop for insurance. My weight is over and I expect to be having the surgery the 3rd week of December. Enjoy the video.

Michael

Video blog #7 - 10/29/10

2010-10-29T21:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all. Sorry it's been a while. I was sort of demoralized after my September lap-band surgeon consult. It's partially my own fault since I didn't try hard enough to continue losing weight. I just thought "I'm having surgery, I might as well eat all the stuff I won't be able to eat after surgery." Wrong. I put on a couple pounds and got in trouble for it. However, this month I really tried and lost 11 pounds so things are back on track.

Enjoy video blog #7.

Michael

Video Blog #6 - lap-band update, car woes and Library life

2010-08-23T19:59:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Here is video blog #6.

No book reviews this time but there will be another update later in the week after my Lap-band surgery consultation.

Enjoy!

Michael

Video Blog #5: Lap-band surgery update and book reviews

2010-08-01T16:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I finally have some new on the lap-bad surgery. I don't have financing yet but, I was starting get depressed and procrastinate so I have decided to move forward. My consultation with Dr. Terry Simpson is on 8/26.

In this video blog I also review the books, "Eclipse", "Breaking Dawn", "Pilgrims of Rayne", "Brains: A Zombie Memoir" and the UK TV series "Life on Mars".

As always, comments are welcome.

Enjoy,

Michael

Video Blog 4a

2010-07-20T22:03:00.000-07:00

Hello all,
This blog post (4a) is basically the same as the one from yesterday (blog post 4). One of the reasons I'm doing these video blogs is so that I can see myself talk and learn from my mistakes. By "mistakes" I mean, talking too fast, rambling, etc. I usually don't edit myself because I feel that takes away from the fun and spontaneity of the video blog, however, I'm doing this for the Leadership Academy so that I can show the before and after as I see it.

I was able to shave the video down from 5min30sec to 2min55sec just by focusing myself and reduce the repetition and not going off on tangents. I even talked slower and was still able to give the same basic info in about half the time.

Thanks.
Michael

Video Blog #4

2010-07-19T21:43:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Here is video blog #4:

Enjoy!

Michael

Video blog #3 - 7/13/10

2010-07-13T07:29:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

Here is another video blog for your enjoyment. I'm lonely. Please comment :)

video blog #2, part 3 of 3

2010-05-17T20:52:00.001-07:00

Here's the last part! Video blog 2, part 3 or 3. I'll have to watch the timer next time :)

Video blog #2, part 2 of 3

2010-05-17T20:51:00.000-07:00

Video blog #2, part 2 of 3.

Video Blog #2, part 1 of 3

2010-05-17T20:49:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Since the carpal tunnel is getting a bit worse in my main writing/typing hand, I think I'll start importing video blogs, reviews, etc except for my running list posts (DVDs, books and facts) which all need updating.

Here is video blog #2, part 1 of 3.

Enjoy!

Video blogging

2010-05-04T19:20:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

I picked up a cheap (really cheap) webcam the other day and started doing my video blogs. I'll actually be getting a Flip UltraHD 120 min video camera soon. I have several Amazon gift certificates I haven't used so those combine with Amazon's discount will get me the video cam for practically nothing. It also means I'll be able to blog without dragging a computer around with me. Seeing as how my left shoulder is still in a lot of pain (most likely a bone spur) and my right is still suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome the video cam will make life as well as lap band blogging a lot easier. So, without further ado; here is my first video blog/review:

Remember me? Well, I'm back and have big news.

2010-04-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I've been gone for a while. I've been having some health issues; shoulder, knees, back, breathing, etc., but most significantly with my writing hand an carpal tunnel syndrome. I've been able to keep it together during the work days but after that my hand goes into the brace which doesn't allow for much typing. I'm trying to re-learn lefty typing but it's going slow.

The other issue I've been dealing with is the weight. For years now I've been avoiding a particular option. I've been determined to try other things first, however, after years of trying diets (not all fads, some real ones too) and exercise I am barely holding my own and not losing anything. I've got too much extra poundage and other health conditions, primarily the diabetes, has pushed me to this decision and it's not one I take lightly. Surgery is definitely NOT the easy way out. This is a major life changing event and it will be a long and difficult road. As the body gets older it becomes more difficult to recover from any procedure. With my underlying conditions, it's even more difficult. So, it's now or never (never meaning I'll probably be gone in a few years). I also feel I'm setting a bad example for the kids. This is just me and my feelings, not a judgement on other overweight people who work with children.

I have decided to go with the Lap Band Surgery. This is the least invasive of the procedures and has the least amount of complications as well as being reversible if need be. As I said, it's a major life changing event; not just the reduced amount and type of food I eat but also financially. In order to get this covered I will need to switch to my employer's most expensive health insurance plan; that will cost an additional $75/month. Plus there is a $500 deductible and they cover 90% which leaves me with 10% out of pocket just for the surgery. Add in followup appointments with the specialist for fills and unfills on the band and Primary Care doctor check-ins, new clothes as needed, etc. I'm looking at year one costs of approximately $5,175. That doesn't include interest on the credit card I'll need to charge this to. Since I am currently only about $60 ahead of my bills every month this is going to be tricky.

My time to have this done is early August (after the Library's Summer Reading Program but before Fall programming begins).

I've begun taking step to come up with some creative financing. You'll notice my blog has an Amazon.com link now. I am part of their Affiliates program. If you begin your Amazon.com search from my blog it will take you directly to the Amazon website. You will not notice any difference. It's the same website you have always used in the past. Also, I don't have any tracking info so I have no idea who is buying the item. The difference for me is that, for the referral, I will get 4% if the sale. 4 cents on the dollar is a lot, neither is 40 cents for every $10 but, hopefully it will add up in the long run. I also have several links on the sides of my blog that relate to what I'm blogging about. These are links to other sites with related info (I don't get to choose them) and I get a few cents for each click.

I'm working out some other creative financing ideas now and keep you all up to date on how things are going. Also, as I get closer to the main surgery dates, I will begin to Vlog (video blog) about the experience both before and after the surgery.

Well, my wrist is really hurting now so I'm going to leave it here. Please post comments or questions I'll get back to you ASAP. I also plan, later in the week, to update my lists of 2010 movies, books and facts. I have a lot of additions.

Until then faithful readers, [insert quippy farewell line here].

Michael

ugh

2010-02-22T09:18:00.001-08:00

Sorry I've been quiet for the last several days. I've been out sick with a bad cold and allergies. I'll post something int eh next day or so. In the meantime, I've updated my "books" and "dvd' posts with what I've been doing while I've been trapped at home under the covers. Hope everyone out there is doing well.

Books, Books, where are the books?

2010-02-14T20:41:00.000-08:00

So, I went with a friends to the VNSA books sale in Phoenix today. Sunday is 1/2 price day which it much easier on the wallet and in the past we've found some good deals. Even though the stock on Sunday this year was much less than usual we were stil able to find a few gems. I'm not sure if there were fewer donations or if more dealers were there on Saturday but the place was pretty much picked clean. I was hoping to get a few items to sell in my new eBay store which will be launching soon an I did. Not many but I did get a really nice (and large) book on Da Vinci and his drawings for myself. All in all, not a complete waste of a day. I did get some good exercise.

Speaking of which, tomorrow is the Renaissance Festival. Going to attend along with some others from the Library system. That'll be a lot of good exercise too. Glad the temps are back in the mid 70's. It's also nice to have a couple of days off from the unpacking. Still lots to do but I've got to take a break. As much as I love the Library I need to take a break for a couple days from that also. I learned in my past job that down time is critical, even if there is still work to be done.

Oh well, better hit the sack. Lots of walking to do tomorrow.

The Dangers of the Hokey Pokey (also comments on the symbolic frame of organizations)

2010-02-07T03:31:00.000-08:00

If you have a bad shoulder, be careful how you put right right hand in. I did it a bit too quickly and gave it too much of a shake and pulled a muscle. Yes, I actually did injure myself doing the Hokey Pokey during storytime. It's not a bad injury, and I've done this several times in the past. It was such a fun storytime though, that it was worth it. It's already starting to feel better. This group also had a great time putting their backsides in and shaking them about. It's the simple things in life that make it all worthwhile.

Anyway, onto more adult matters. I've been reading my next assignment for the Leadership Academy in "Reframing Organizations" by Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal. This next one coming up is the symbolic frame of organization; the corporate culture and style that identifies an organization. It goes beyond golden arches, geckos, clydesdales and the bulls-eye. This goes deeper into the myth, vision, values and rituals of the internal workings of the organization.

Many organizations think they have positively "branded" themselves, showing people that this is how we do things and that's why we're wonderful. Unfortunately, my miss the mark. It's not just the outward appearance that creates your brand, it's also how you treat the staff, the policies you create, the rules you lay down, and the attitude you show everyone both internal and external. In order to have a truly great brand you must also consider the culture internally. The "do as I say, not as I do" attitude many organizations have completely destroys any brand you want to portray to the external customer. When any organization says ""we want to be number one with our customers", "the customer is always right", "we go the extra mile", etc. and then creates internal "hands-off" policies or publicly praising an action and at the same time privately reprimanding employee the you're just creating a false image. You can't force people to create a positive brand. You've got to fully embrace your brand image 100%, internally, externally, sideways, up, down, diagonally.... you get the picture.

For managers, those on the top rungs of the ladder and in these difficult economic times it may mean sacrificing. I don't mean cutting more frontline staff or lowering the wages of frontline, part-time (or full-time) workers who are already feeling underpaid, unappreciated, overworked, etc. What were those rules that from business class years ago? Twenty percent of the people do eighty percent of the work. It's also likely that the twenty percent are getting eighty percent of the pay. It's not all about money, but how about thanking the frontline staff for keeping the organization running on a daily basis. Throw a little day-long party (so all shifts get to participate), give them a gift card (a $10 gift card to Target or Wal-Mart can go a long way). You can't tell me that between a dozen or so (and in some smaller organizations maybe three or four) managers you can't scrape together a few hundred dollars to thank the people who have provided you the ability to earn the higher pay.

Until management begins to treat their employees exactly the same (or in many cases better) than they expect to their customers to be treated, they won't have that truly great brand.

relaxing weekend

2010-01-31T20:06:00.000-08:00

Well, I took advantage of the cool, dry weather and stayed inside most of the weekend reading and watching movies. Anyone out there play the video game "Postal" or "Postal 2"? Well, they made a movie out of it. You really need to be a fan of the games to enjoy the humor that was in the movie. There were also a lot of "name" actors in it you don't expect to see in this type of film.

I saw "Thirst" which is a Korean vampire movie. Normally, I don't watch subtitled movies anymore because it's too hard to see the words, but this was pretty good. It was more like "True Blood" than "Twilight"; which is good, not that I despise "Twilight" or anything. It's just not as light. It's a bit more "grown up" like True Blood.

I also spent some time catching up on my 2nd/3rd grade chapter books. After "World War Z", which was a great book, I needed something light.

BTW, the preview for the new movie "Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief" looks really good.

State of the Union

2010-01-27T20:04:00.000-08:00

What can I say? I support Obama. I hope he can do what he says he will try to do. I definitely trust and believe in him a lot more then the past several presidents. Now it has been a whole year but remember that he came in to office with a huge disaster on his hands; a disaster that was
partially created directly by the previous administration.

I still like many of his ideas and hope that the politicians can put the politics aside and do what's right for the people....all the people not just the ones with deep pockets.

Huh? What?

2010-01-26T21:16:00.000-08:00

So, tonight I have blogger's block brought about by sleep deprivation. During the day I'm able to summon forth the energy to be a good Librarian and, of course, drive but nights are tough. I'm on my fourth night of 2 hr or less sleep. Let's hope tonight I can get a bit more sleep. There is lots of work to do.

So much to do and so little time

2010-01-25T21:49:00.000-08:00

One of the reasons I try to NOT take an entire week off is the resulting overload of emails, interoffice mail and various other 'to-do" items that accumulate. On top of all that, there are texts to read to for multiple classes, meetings to prepare for follow-up calls to make, programs to prepare and breakdowns to have. I need a vacation just to recover from my vacation.

It's a good thing I finally have a job I love.

Unpacking is progressing slowly. My arm is out of the sling again so that's helping things move along. made some good progress today and knocked out four more boxes. Only about 75 more to go.

I received an email from the Friends of the Phoenix Public Library asking people to contact their city council and let them know you want to continue using the Phoenix Libraries (if you're using them). Right now, they are faced with closures and cuts in hours for those that remain. Fortunately my Library system isn't nearly that bad off. Phoenix isn't my area but I hate to see Library closures anywhere. This is a time when many people need and depend on Libraries for assistance and access. There must be other things to cut out of the budget besides Libraries. If anyone working for the city has a company car, stop it. It's a luxury the citizens can't afford. No more trips around the country or going from location to location. Conferencing technologies have come a long way. Anyone city employee making a six figure salary (or shudder to think, a seven figure salary); c'mon. You're supposed to be a public servant. City jobs shouldn't be way to get rich; and yes, I freely admit that I currently don't and never will make even close to a six figure salary. In fact, I live day to day. I didn't become a "public servant" to get rich. I did it to help and serve the public. You want to get rich, go to the private sector. There are plenty of other people out there who would be more than willing to work with and for the public for a fair wage that won't bankrupt the city (or state).

On a happier note, I'm proud to say that I won the "nerd of the month" award at my branch. I got a cool, decorated pocket protector as my award. See, there are low/no cost ways to make the workplace fun. And hey, I am a nerd. It's a lifestyle I have chosen and am proud to embrace.

So, while I'm in a Peter Griffin "You know what grinds my gears" mood, I gotta say that all these recall emails are really making me both nervous and mad. No, these aren't political recalls. These are emails I get from USDA and CPSC. Food and product recalls. Where's the sense of right and wrong? Is getting more money really worth people's lives. I mean, seriously. For the past year or so I've been getting on average 5 recall emails every single day.

Is there no sense of honor left in this world?

Well, it's 11:11 pm. Time to make a wish and go to bed.
Night all.

Michael

Sling typing

2010-01-24T18:24:00.000-08:00

No, it's not some kind of sport or the name of a new rock or metal band. I pulled my shoulder again Saturday afternoon and I've been icing it and currently have it in a sling. When I first tore the rotator cuff and bicep in my writing/main typing arm it took a while to do things lefty. It's not too bad now, but still a bit slow and awkward.

Unfortunately, it's also slowed the unpacking progress which is already well behind schedule.

Since I need to let it heal, I took today off and saw a couple of movies. Both pretty good in their own ways, however a bit of an odd double feature; Outlander and Fanboys. See my "movie" post for ratings.

Today was also the first day in a week without any rain. Sure would have liked to finish unloading the car. Oh well. Maybe next week.

So, is anyone out there reading this blog? Give a shout-out/leave a comment if you're out there.
Want to hear my observations or theories on anything in particular? Let's get a dialog going.

I'm back ..... and dry

2010-01-22T20:54:00.002-08:00

Hi all,

Sorry I was gone for a couple of days. We had some major, "storm of the century" type activity here in central AZ and that's never a good time to have the computer running for very long. We even had a tornado warning (watch got upgraded last night).

I hope everyone came through it OK.

To get you caught up, we had our first "Big Picture" presentation for the Leadership Academy. This was for our study of the political frame of organizational leadership. Ken Bennett, AZ Secretary of State was the keynote speaker. A very nice and likable guy. Didn't seem quite like your average politician you see on the news a lot.... I mean that in a good way. He had some interesting insights into politics, both governmental politics and office politics.

The day continued with some after lunch discussions between ourselves and several Library Directors from around the state, some learning/team building/networking activities and then after the day long event a few of us spent a few hours at the Spaghetti Factory in Phoenix for some food and more discussion. BTW, they no longer offer eggplant parmesan even though it is on the menu. Waiter said all eggplant items have been cancelled and will no longer be offered. Bummer. I had the chicken parmesan instead. Not even close. to eggplant parmesan or chicken parmesan at a lot of other places. Very disappointing. At least there was good conversation.

Until tomorrow. (I'm still trying to think up a new catch-phrase)

The Political Frame

2010-01-19T21:22:00.000-08:00

No, I'm not talking about the race for government office, I'm talking about the political frame as it relates to office politics. Personally, I'd like to be able to do my job the best they can and for people to do the same. However, this is not some goody-goody, Utopian society so it's not going to happen.

As I'm reading about the topic I've realized that as much as I despise "playing the game" that's exactly what's going on; at least subconsciously. I can honestly say that I have not done any lying or cheating and have been faithful to myself, my ethics and my sense of honor. That relieves me.

I'm not a "yes man" and I'm not great at the office politics game but I suppose if I want to get a full time position and implement some of the great ideas I have I need to learn to form alliances, network out of my comfort zone and learn to "swim with the sharks." That's just how the world works these days.

Of course, I have no intention of compromising my sense of honor so if I never get ahead, I will at last have that. Honor is very important. It's who I am and that's not going to change.

That's one thing you can always count on as you read these posts and something I promise will never change. For better or worse, I will always be the real me.

School's back in session

2010-01-18T21:08:00.000-08:00

Yup, back to school.....again. Now it's the State Library's "Library Leadership Academy" which is a great opportunity. It also means I won't have time to get a second job so it's back to Ramen Noodles, mustard sandwiches, and lightly flavored tap water again. I'm sure it'll be worth it in the end and I'll have several opportunities for networking.

I also need to kick into high gear the work on my Basic Indexing class. This is a graduate level course on indexing (back of the book and online/web-based indexing techniques). I've only got four months left on my extension and a long way to go. At least a year's worth of work to do in four months. Yikes.

On that note, got to hit the books for a bit before I can hit the sack.

Night all.

What's up with 2012?

2010-01-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

You may have heard some of the theories; doomsday, solar flare, polar shift, block hole alignment, Planet X (Nibiru) collision, geomagnetic reversal, etc. Whether you believe or not, it's best to have a good idea WHY you believe. Just because someone, no matter who, tells you something will or will not happen does not mean they are right. They might have faulty info as well. Why not find out for yourself? Many local libraries have access to all kinds of databases and other resources to help you. A little leg work can also be fun. Think of all the new, interesting facts you may uncover.

Think we're having a lot more major quakes than any time in the past? Not really. We're pretty much on average. Here's a link to to some stats at the USGS (United States Geological Survey) which has been tracking quakes since the 30's: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eqarchives/year/eqstats.php

As for storms; sure climate change is messing everything up but, in my opinion it's something we'll need to get used to pretty quickly. The people with the money and power to make a significant impact on climate change won't do anything because it would most likely diminish their money and power. Sure, the average Joe like you and I can do our little part, but unless several billion of us little Joe's all do something it won't be enough. It's the "big people", governments and corporations (not all mind you) that can have the most impact. But honestly, do you really think they're going to dig into their own pockets out of the goodness of their hearts and make a significant change for the better? I wish I were wrong. I hope I'm wrong. Somebody please prove to me that I'm wrong.

Feel free to argue about climate change, apocalypse theories, corporate and government greed and corruption, etc. but also please supply links to evidence or facts to back it up.

That's the end of my crotchety diatribe. I'm sick and I'm going to bed.

Back in the saddle

2010-01-16T20:08:00.000-08:00

Well, today was my first Family Storytime and Shake, Rattle and Roll in a very long time. We didn't do very many programs the first couple of months the library was starting in January we started offering our schedule. We've got some pretty good size crowds considering this is still our first month. It was nice to see some familiar faces from Arabian as well as some new faces. I think it's harder for children's librarians to move branches because from what I've seen and experienced we get more attached to the little customers than the adults.

It seems many hadn't experienced SRR before, at least not in the style I perform it so it was a real hoot. Good thing the paneled wall is pretty sound proof.

For FST I tried out a couple of new books; "Sally and the Purple Socks" and "Whose Nose and Toes". They both went over really well as did one of my regular books "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?". I saw on our shelves that we have some new dinosaur books. I'm going to have to unpack the six foot inflatable dinosaur and get him patched up so I can have another dino themed storytime. The dino is about twice as tall as my tallest kids in the past so it's great for taking pictures (that's him behind me in my profile pic).

BTW, I list all of the books I'm reading this year, including Storytime/Picture books in my blog post "2010 - Books".

2010 - New facts/words/terms

2010-01-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

This is a list of new facts, words and terms I have learned this year. One of my New Year's resolutions is to learn at least one new thing every day starting 1/1/2010. If you KNOW that I have any of my facts wrong, please let me know which one and where to find the correct info. Thanks.

1/1/10 - The Incas thought of space and time as a single unified concept named "pacha" a very long time before European scientists did.

1/2/10 - Emperor Honorius ended the official/legal gladiatorial games in 404 CE after a monk jumped into the arena to separate two gladiators and was stoned to death.

1/3/10 -The Alpine Munia is a species of finch found in tropical and subtropical grasslands such as Papua New Guinea.

1/4/10 - Fairy tale author Jacob Grimm was born on this day (1/4) in 1785.

1/5/10 - On this day in 1967, a gallon of gas was only 28 cents.

1/6/10 - In 1926, women were banned from competing in marathons because it was believed it caused infertility.

1/7/10 - Zero was invented in India by Indian mathematicians dating as early as 5th century.

1/8/10 - The East Japan Railway Company (JR-East), as part of research aimed at developing more environmentally friendly train stations, is testing an experimental system that produces electricity as people pass through ticket gates.

1/9/10 - In 1987, American Airlines eliminated one olive from every salad they served in the first class section. It saved the company about $40,000 that year.

1/10/10 - Emery Molyneux was a maker of globes and mathematical instruments. His globes were first published in 1592 and were the first to be made by an Englishman; in fact, they were the first to be made in England.

1/11/10 - Saying "I'm going to unpack and go through at least one entire box full of papers a day until I'm completely unpacked" is much more difficult than actually doing it.

1/12/10 - A "labyrinthine projection" is one continuous, non-intersecting line (hand drawn) tht creates a photo-realistic image. The term was coined by an American artist names J. eric Morales in 2000.

1/13/10 - We live in dangerous, yet interesting times.

1/14/10 - Planck's constant is the physical constant used to desrcibe the sizes of the quanta in quantum mechanics.

1/15/10 - It's much easier to just type these facts in every day rather than making a list on sticky notes for a week or two and then transcribing them.

1/16/10 - Wrap rage is the name given for the anger and frustration people feel from the difficulty and sometimes inability to open those hard to remove/anti-theft blister pack and clamshell packaged items.

1/17/10 - In 1982, Peters and Waterman brought for the idea of "management by wandering around" which in short means management by getting out of the office and spending time with workers and customers.

1/18/10 - A "frame" as it pertains to the four frames of organizational leadership, is a set of ideas that forms a prism, or a lens, that enables the leader to not only see but understand much more clearly what goes on from day-to-day within the organization.

1/19/10 - Whether you want to believe it or not, caffeine is addictive. Just try to go without it for a couple weeks or months. Not just coffee, also chocolate, soda, etc. Not easy, but it can be done.

1/20/10 - The Library is a great place to hang out or just relax. If you haven't been to your local branch in a while give it a try.

1/21/10 - When someone says "that will never happen here" don't believe them. We do have the occasional tornado in central AZ.

1/22/10 - It's a good idea to have a back up disaster plan. A small closet with some non0-perishable food and water and other survival supplies is a good idea especially if you live on the top floor and have no basement or lower level to retreat to.

1/23/10 - All work and no play makes Michael a dull boy.

1/24/10 - If the apocalypse 2012 doesn't occur, don't fret. There is a 1 in 3,030 (approx.) chance that Earth will be hit by an Asteroid around June 3rd-9th, 2048.

1/25/10 - Fact: When searching for information on the internet, you should check multiple sources for the same information. You can never tell if the person posting something actually knows what they're talking about. If you find a site with the exact same wording, check another site.

1/26/10 - The Atakapa is an extinct Indian tribe that was located along the coast from Louisiana to Texas (from Vermillion Bay to Trinity Bay) in the 1600's.

1/27/10 - The Tonkawa were a nomadic Indian tribe comprised mainly of hunters who roamed parts of Texas and Oklahoma in the late 1600's.

1/28/10 - in 1675 Newton delivered his discourse on "light and color" to the Royal Society.

1/29/10 - In 1695 Nehemiah Grew successfully separated magnesium sulfate (Epsom salt) from spring water. (Mr. Grew, my feet thank you for that.)

1/30/10 - In 1748 Jean Nollet, a clergyman and physisist, discovered a form of osmosis.

1/31/10 - Peter Henlein built the first pocket watch ever made in 1502.

2/1/10 - Raw sugar was first refined in 1503.

2/2/10 - In 1933, Ernst Ruska built the first electron microscope. It had a 12,000 power magnification. We now have electron microscopes that give 1,000,000 power magnification.

2/3/10 - The Palio is a horse race held in Sienna, Italy, where jockeys attack each other with whips. It's brutal and has been going on for over 800 years.

2/4/10 - In 1947, Dennis Gabor developed 3D holography. (1947!!! That was 63 years ago. Where's my 3D TV/movie??)

2/5/10 - Amelia Earhart disappeared in 1937 (I knew that). Her co-pilot's name was Fred Noonan (didn't know that).

2/6/10 - The first world map showing "America" was created in 1507.

2/7/10 - In 1960, the first argon ion laser is built.

2/8/10 - An Inkstone is a stone used to mix dry ink with water for Chinese calligraphy and painting.

2/9/10 - Bioinfotmatics is the use of computers, mathematics and information theory to model and analyze biological systems. It is used quite a bit in genetic research.

2/10/10 - Soil liquefaction occurs during earthquakes when the water saturated ground loses its strength and turns from a solid to a liquid.

2/11/10 - The Bianchini Crater is on the northwestern part of the moon just north of the Jura Mountains.

2/12/10 - Many birds do not have gall bladders.

2/13/10 - The Javan Rhinoceros is one of the most critically endangered species on the planet.

2/14/10 -

2010 - Movies/TV on DVD

2010-01-02T09:20:00.001-08:00

This is a list of movies/TV shows on DVD I have seen beginning 1/1/2010:

The International (2 out of 5)
Blood: The Last Vampire (3 out of 5)
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2.5 out of 5)
Mercury Man (1 out of 5)
Dark Matter (2 out of 5)
Reefer Madness: The movie Musical (3.5 out of 5)
Drag Me To Hell (3 out of 5)
Pushing Daisies: Season 2 (5 out of 5)
Dead Space: Downfall (4 out of 5)
Alex Rider: Operation Stormbreaker (3.5 out of 5)
Terminator: Salvation (3 out of 5)
Azumi 2 (3.5 out of 5)
Last House on the Left: Unrated (0 out of 5)
Outlander (3.5 out of 5)
Fanboys (4 out of 5)
The Weatherman (1.5 out of 5)
Thirst (3 out of 5)
Postal (3.5 out of 5)
Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control (2 out of 5)
Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (3.5 out of 5)
The Office: Season 1 - UK version (3 out f 5)
Vampire Killers (2 out of 5)
Dexter: Season 1 (4.5 out of 5)
Chrysalis (1 out of 5)
Julie and Julie (4 out of 5)
Brick (1 out of 5)

2010 - Books

2010-01-02T09:17:00.001-08:00

This is a list of books I have read beginning 1/1/2010:

Lost City of Farr - Pendragon Series Bk 2 - D.J. MacHale (4 out of 5)
Miss Holly is Too Jolly - Dan Gutman (2.5 out of 5)
Sea of Monsters: Percy Jackson, book 2 - Rick Riordan (4 out of 5)
Miss Daisy is Crazy - Dan Gutman (3 out of 5)
Chicken Cheeks - Michael Ian Black (4.5 out of 5)
Sally and the Purple Socks - Lisze Bechtold (5 out of 5)
Whose Nose and Toes - John Butler (5 out of 5)
Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See? (3.5 out of 5)
Mr. Klutz is Nuts - Dan Gutman (3 out of 5)
World War Z - Max Brooks (5 out of 5)
This Little Piggy's Book of Manners - Kathryn Madelin Allen (4 out of 5)
Too Many Cooks - Margaret McNamara (4 out of 5)
Crocs! - David T. Greenberg (3 out of 5)
Pete and Pickles - Berkeley Breathed (3.5 out of 5)
The Elephant Wish - Lou Berger (2.5 out of 5)
Previously - Allan Ahlberg (4.5 out of 5)
I'm Not Cute - Jonathan Allen (5 out of 5)
Roar! - Margaret Mayo (4.5 out of 5)
Hippos Go Berserk! - Sandra Boynton (5 out of 5)
The Never War: Pendragon Series Book 3 (4 out of 5)

Time Warp trio: Viking it and liking it (currently reading)
Reframing Organizations, 4th Ed. - Lee Bolman and Terrence Deal (currently reading)

Free Kindle Book Alert!

2009-01-08T23:36:00.000-08:00

Here are some new Freebies (and Cheapies) available for the Kindle:

Until Feb 28, 2009 you can get the following Random House titles free for the Kindle:

Prague by Arthur Phillips

Caught Stealing by Charlie Huston

Six Bad Things by Charlie Huston

Murder List by Julie Garwood

The Foreign Correspondent by Alan Furst

The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death by Laurie Notaro

Free-Range Chickens by Simon Rich

The Whiskey Rebels by David Liss

A Dangerous Man by Charlie Huston

Also, Orbit is making one of their titles a month available for only $1.00.
January's book is "The Way of the Shadows" by Brent Weeks.
688 pages for a buck??? I'll give it a try.

All of these titles are available from Amazon.

Happy Reading.

Michael

Civic Center no more

2009-01-08T05:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I've been transferred from the Civic Center library to the Arabian branch up north. I won't be a completely unfamiliar face, though. I've spent the past 30 years or so (mostly as a customer) at Civic Center and I don't plan to let a little thing like a transfer stop me from visiting (that plus I only live a mile away). I love Civic Center. It has the most unique children's room I've seen anywhere in the country. If you haven't been there, you must go. Even if you don't have kids. We have people come from all over the world taking pictures. Here are just a couple teasers. On YouTube there are a couple videos that people have taken.

If transferring around the system is what it takes to get a full time librarian job in Scottsdale then I'll play along....... but only for a little while. As gas prices rise again (just went up 6 cents a gallon yesterday) it's going to be more and more difficult to afford to work so far north on a part time wage. It's a matter of economics. It would be irresponsible of me to let it go on for much longer. I'm glad to have a job in a library, don't get me wrong. Some don't even have that. But I also have a responsibility to pay my creditors. I just left 10+ years of a 50-70 hour a week job a couple years ago and have no intention right now to take a second full time job and kill myself again.

I passed on a couple full time possibilities after graduation because I wanted to start my career in the library where I grew up, so I knew I was making a sacrifice; I just wasn't fully aware of the difficulty people have in moving one step higher to full time librarian. Oh well; live and learn.

But, on another note. The Arabian library (my current home for the past couple of days) is nice too. I work with a great bunch of people and the design of the building is unique. Working in a branch is different than the "home office". I'll post some pictures next time.

Well, I'm off to the city awards ceremony now.

Michael

C'mon people, times wasting!

2008-09-05T14:15:00.000-07:00

Only 1567 days until the end of the world. We still need to find all 13 crystal skulls and the appropriate global locations in which to place them before the end arrives on December 21, 2012.

We've got 4 skulls so far. Still lots of work to do.

Hurry hurry hurry!

Michael

oh, one more thing

2008-09-04T13:00:00.000-07:00

The Kindle does allow graphics. Of course using the eInk technology, they're greyscale but there are still easy to see and not nearly as grainy as I thought they would be. I look forward to new developments in technology that will allow color images (although that may be several years down the road).

Amazon Kindle - First Impressions

2008-09-04T12:53:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been playing with my Kindle for about 2 hrs now and I gotta say; I love it!

I've already gotten my self updated on both of the blogs I subscribed to, read through the articles in the New York Times that I found interesting and read the first chapter in the book I downloaded. I can increase the font large enough so that I no longer need to strain my eyes to read.

I even, set up my 14 day free trial to the NYT and did a little web browsing. Wikipedia on the Kindle; cool. Having the current edition of the Oxford Dictionary installed and being able to selected a line of text and instantly look up a word; totally awesome.

As you can see, I'm having a good time. Tonight I will transfer all of the free content I downloaded from other publisher websites to my Kindle and I'm even going to try a couple MP3's, audiobooks, Word and PDF files.

Until Later.

Michael

Anxiously awaiting to kindle a new relationship

2008-09-04T07:00:00.000-07:00

With my new Amazon Kindle that it is :)

Due to some blurry vision, I've been unable to do much reading so after reviewing several different ebook readers I settled on the Amazon Kindle. The main selling point was that the font size can be increased up to a 25pt. My eyes aren't that bad, but it's nice to know that it's possible to get it that large. The other really cool thing is WhisperNet. My Kindle is still on the delivery truck but with WhisperNet the content I purchased (one book and a couple blog subscriptions) was already downloaded to my Kindle while in transit.

Don't get me wrong, I'll never give up my paper books. I still use the non-fic like crazy, but for just plain pleasure reading or when I'm having a lot of trouble with my vision, this'll be nice to have, cause I just plain cannot stand not being able to read. Another good selling point is all the free content available. You don't have to purchase one of Amazon's 160,000 Kindle format titles even at the price of 1/2 to 1/3 of cover price. You can download for free lots of books from Project Gutenberg, Harper Collins and Baen Publishing. The Kindle also has some web accessibility so you can read blogs online and even do some shopping. Plus whatever you purchase for the Kindle is downloaded automatically in seconds.

So, I'll post again after I've played with it for a few days. If it lives up to it's description and hype, I'll be doing the Snoopy happy dance very soon.

Later.

Michael

MY TRIP TO COMIC-CON 2008……. AND TWO HOSPITALS

2008-08-23T08:55:00.001-07:00

OK, as promised, here is the tale of my Comic-con trip. I wrote this a couple weeks ago (and forgot about it). I'd like to thank all the people I work with for covering my shifts while I was in recovery mode. I missed the library a lot and can't wait to get back.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

MY TRIP TO COMIC-CON 2008……. AND TWO HOSPITALS

The trip started out well enough. We left about 6am and made good time all the way to San Diego. At about 12:30 we got to the hotel (thanks awesome Manchester Grand Hyatt Security staff for brining the oxygen so quickly….more about that in a bit). We met up with the other two people who were sharing the room. We were now three teachers and a librarian ready for the first day of our fun-filled Con experience. As always Comic-Con did a great job moving the badge line and in less than 5 minutes we had our badges and first bag of “swag” aka freebies.

Our first stop was about 15min in the dealer room then off to the “Red Sonja” panel with Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan. It was a real hoot. Robert and Rose were great… and funny. Funniest was when an 11 yr old girl came up to the mic to ask a question. It was about The GrindHouse movie she saw in the theater with her parents. Rose had to clarify, “so your parents took you to see GrindHouse when you were what, 9?” Many in the audience were thinking the same thing. But a great panel. Go Sonja! Go Machete!

The next panel had some of the great comics men of the silver and golden age. This is where it started to go bad. Good panel but, I had to leave towards the end because I started t get dizzy and nauseous. I thought it was just low blood sugar. I skipped lunch; I’m a naughty diabetic. Got a pretzel and OJ from a vending cart (only $7.75!!) and sat down to munch. Feeling slightly better I went to my third and final panel of the convention. It was how to pitch ideas to different venues (publishers, TV, movies, etc.). There were quite a few useful tidbits in this one. Usually it contains people who did their pitch work in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. Not a whole lot of use today. This panel however had people who currently pitched and sold or are in the process of contracting their ideas. There was also an agent, publisher and lawyer on the panel. Big change; and a welcome one. Hopefully, my friend will send me his notes since I was having a bit of trouble concentrating. This is one of the big ones I came to see too.

Well, after making it through that entire one, we hooked up with our other friends and proceeded to Joe’s Crab Shack for some “real” food. It was quite tasty and for a little while (about and hour) I felt somewhat better. Then about 8pm in the room, discussing our 9:30pm trek to the convention center (only 1.5 blocks away but, by this time, it seemed in my head more like 1.5 miles) I had my first attack. As I said, we were in the room hanging out when my left hand started to shake uncontrollably. This was followed by my right, then my legs and finally my jaw as I started to have a difficult time getting my breathing to slow down. Not, convulsions mind you, just really, really shaking. Finally one of the teachers who had some training got me to sloe down my breathing and the episode stopped. I was completely wiped. I checked my temp and it was 102.8.

I thought I was having a reaction to dinner as, over the last several years, I’m finding that I have started to develop and allergy to some seafood I’ve always eaten in the past. I didn’t have any of that at dinner. I decided to hang in the room and rest.

At 6am I awoke suddenly, had my first, as George Carlin called it “involuntary personal protein spill” (I’ll call them IPPS from here) and proceeded to have another of the “shake attacks”. Somehow I was able to take my temp without the thermometer going through the back of my neck in the process and it read 103.8. By this time my friends were awake and I said “hospital”. As one friend tries in vain to get me to calm down my breathing the Security people mentioned earlier show up with an oxygen tank and to let me know an ambulance is on the way. Now I gotta say, they were really cool. They even gave us a cab voucher so we would have a free ride back from the hospital. So, the ambulance shows up in about 7 minutes and it takes about 15 minutes to get to the hospital a few miles away. This may seem like a long time however, with Comic-Con’s 120,000+ visitors traffic, even at 6am, sucks; as do drivers who do not get the hell out of the way. Fortunately, it wasn’t in the later morning or afternoon because I was told it can sometimes take almost half an hour to get an ambulance and another half hour to get to a hospital. The paramedics, also totally awesome, are very friendly…. even the one who shaved the three patches out of my chest hair so it now looks like aliens made some crop circles there.

The emergency room was not yet bustling and after answering the same line of medical questioning to the paramedics, nurse and doctor (with the high fever, 104.7, I was also confused and delirious) I got treated for a food allergy. The ER nurse said she didn’t think it was an allergy and was more like an infection. She was right.

I got back to the room about noon-ish and sent the friend who came with me off to the con. I didn’t want my friends to miss any of their experience because I was sick. There was nothing they could do anyway, two of them had never been to Comic-con before and we all paid a crap load of money to be there. The hospital gave me some instructions to keep cool (temperature) and it will pass. Wrongo. At about 4:30pm my friends came back from “lunch” at Dick’s Last Resort. One of the best restaurants ever created. People have real attitudes there. If you want napkins they will literally throw a huge handful at you. The floor is littered with them. The “rude tude”, part of the act, it what gives it that uniqueness. Don’t complain or be stupid or there may be an announcement over the loud speaker and/or you will be required to wear one of the paper hats they will make for you with whatever comment that want.

Anyway, back to my story. Another attack of IPPS, shakes, delirium and friend helping me get my breathing under control and that ended my Con-Friday. Con-Saturday was pretty much the same; two episodes of IPPS’s, shakes, delirium, breath calming and temps ranging from 102-104 degrees. Unfortunately, two of our party (the couple) had an emergency of their own and had to leave Sat afternoon. They got to see most of the con, though so I’m glad they made it. Plus, my friend was able to sleep in a bed the final night instead of on the floor which supposed to be my place.

So, through the night I shivered (had to stay in shorts and t-shirt with room set to 65 degrees just to keep my temp in the 101-102 range). Fortunately, during the night and that morning there were no more attacks. Since I was still weak aching and feverish, we decided it would be best to skip the panels and final look at the dealer room and just head back. Now begins the next “ordeal”.

We left for AZ at around 6am. Everything was going smoothly, I had my IPPS bag in my lap “just in case” and my friend agreed to keep the radio off so I could concentrate on my breathing and hopefully prevent another attack. Several hours in and 30 miles outside Yuma (aka middle of nowhere) there is this huge bump and we thought the tire blew or we hit something. It turns out the entire tread came off one of my tires, ripped up a bunch of plastic covering from the undercarriage and dented the fender and door. Damn! Damn! Damn! I paid over $900 in repairs on the car the week before and had them specifically check that tire since it had just gotten 2 nails pulled out of it. So, we slapped on the crappy donut spares because many cars don’t come with full size ones anymore and proceeded to the little town about 10 miles away at about 50mph. It turns out, there are no garages or tire stores open on Sunday. They direct us back to Yuma, now 40 miles away, which may have a place open. Even though the donut is apparently mostly flat and the car is loaded down I’m getting worse again, so we proceed at 60mph for our 45min drive in back to Yuma (going in the opposite direction of Phoenix) and with AAA’s help we eventually find a Wal-Mart Super Store with an open garage and after $75 more, another 30min to get the tire changed and the hanging plastic removed, one IPPS and a dose of nausea medication later we’re back on the road. We eventually make it home after a total drive time of San Diego to Phoenix in just under 10 ½ hours. My friend helps me with my bags and then has to leave to go home to his wife up north.

Thus ends Comic-Con Sunday, my 6^th annual trip to the con and the reason I have no pictures of the event to post. However, this doesn’t end my sad little tale.

On long, sleepless night later and after four days I’m still running a high fever so, On Monday, I head to my Doctor’s office, where he looks at me, does a bit of poking and tells me to get my butt to the ER down the street. He thinks it’s either Appendicitis or Diverticulitis. After a short while in the ER with a couple chest x-rays and a cat scan they decide on Diverticulitis. Now, this is a fairly common affliction that occurs in about 50% of adults who mostly only suffer mild symptoms and needs only some antibiotics. That’s not dramatic enough for me though. I need a “full on” case which can lead to a ruptured colon, but mine didn’t progress that far. One more day and it may have. If the San Diego ER had caught it, it may not have been any way near as bad and I may have gotten a few hours of con time in. Don’t know if there’s a fault in their system. I’ll have to look into it later. Anyway, the ER promptly admits me to the hospital and begins with the IV antibiotic treatments as well as ones to fix my dehydration. Of course since I didn’t go all the way and perforate the colon I had to do something else to worsen it so, while they did an ultrasound, they found what is either a cyst or a tumor on my kidney; we’re not sure about that yet and some fatty tissue around the liver. Neither is life threatening unless untreated and had this not happened neither may have caught.

So, 3 days later I’m out of the hospital (Scottsdale Shea is great) have my flower arrangement the people at my Library dept sent me while I was there (really brightened the room and my mood) and I’m home recovering. Of course I’m totally wiped out but, I’m anxious to get back to the Library on Monday. I really miss it. I have four follow-up Dr appointments and two tests (I hope they turn out well). But just to add to the suck factor just a bit more, I had a vacation scheduled in Las Vegas for late August that I can no longer go on due to follow-ups. Of course because I got some good deals, neither the hotel nor airfare is refundable.

So ends my sad little story of the past week. Another brush with the grim reaper. I’m tired and need to rest. I am on the mends though.

Talk to you all later.

Michael (2.1)

It sure has been a long time

2008-08-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I blogged. Lots of things have been happening. I passed my one year anniversary at the Library. Woo hoo! It's still going great! I'm always excited to go into work because it fun (usually) and at the end of the day I really feel like I've accomplished something and made a positive contribution to the community. Most of the kids, teens and adults are great.

We've got new furniture in the youth room; tables, chairs, computer corrals, Early Literacy devices. I still miss the old chess set. I may have to visit the Horizon Teen Center soon to visit it.

Last month was supposed to be my 6th annual road trip to the San Diego Comic-Con. We actually did make it, but things didn't go as planned. My next blog post will contain the whole story. Suffice it to say, I've been out sick for most of the last three weeks and can't wait to get back to work this Sunday.

Well, back to resting. More later.

Michael

Second Life

2008-02-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Well, this is my first but definitely not my last post regarding the virtual world Second Life.
I've spending quite a lot of time there lately (thank you insomnia) and I now have a Virtual Reality Room all set up, I'm on the Stargate network and have had many visitors from other "worlds" and just finished decorating my new home!

In fact, my Virtual Reality Room caught the attention of Dulcie Mills, a staff reporter for the Metaverse Manager (SL's weekly magazine). The story, in which I have been quoted, is in the January 29, 2008 edition on page 12. The article is titled "Free Virtual Rooms for SL educators and non-profits". The current edition can be found here: http://www.metaversemessenger.com/pdf/2008/01/MM20080129.pdf

If you happen to be in the neighborhood send me an IM or friend request. My SL name is Corwyn Dryke.

Look for another post coming soon in which I review the various virtual worlds that are available.

Thanks for reading.

Michael

Phoenix Cactus Comicon

2008-02-01T14:07:00.000-08:00

What a treat this convention was! Thanks to Candace for coveringmy shift so I could attend. I met some cool people Noel Neill (the original Lois Lane), Jon Lewis and Derek Benz (creators of the Grey Griffins Series - thanks for the sketches guys; can't wait for the card game), James Owen (author of Here There Be Dragons) Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett), PJ Haarsma (author of The Softwire), Mike Bullock (author/artist Lions, Tigers and Bears) and many, many more.

The turnout was huge. It seems like attendance doubles almost every year. The convention center was bursting at the seams. As much as I would dislike driving further to attend, I think a new venue location might be on the horizon.

I also attended a couple of good writing/creativity panel and a fun voice actors panel. The voice panels are fun because the real faces never look like you thought they would.

Good job again guys and gals for putting on a great convention.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #23

2008-01-06T21:20:00.000-08:00

I had a lot of fun in the program (although I may be a bit biased).

There was quite a bit I had experienced previously in my MLS classes (podcasts, wikis, blogs, etc.) but there were some items I hadn't tried before. I think a couple if my favorites were the trading card maker and Facebook which reuinted me, at least electronically, with relatives in Canada, Boston and Seattle.

I plan to continue to play with some of the items I didn't have a chance to try and look forward to continuing this blog.

I hope everyone has as much fun as I did and learns some new things.

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #22

2008-01-06T20:46:00.000-08:00

Well, it took a while but I finally found a book I wanted to download. Actually, I found several I would have liked to listen to but there were only one or two copies available.

I also could not find a way (at least not yet) to have the overdrive software installed on both my home PC and flash drive.

All things considered, this is a nice alternative for those who cannot get out to the library or are looking for some other options to Braille, etc. The fact that you can burn some of the downloads to CD also make it a good option for travellers.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #21

2008-01-06T20:36:00.000-08:00

I like bloglines because I can keep all of my feeds in one place. Before RSS feeds I had to constantly go through several differnent sites and wade through all the material to find something I thought was interesting. Now I just subscribe and go to one site (bloglines) and read what I want from all my different locations.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #20

2008-01-06T20:24:00.000-08:00

Personally, I think YouTube is great. The people who created it took on a huge responsibility that includes monitoring for content and rights violations.

Here's one of my favorites. It's a library clip from Mr Bean:

Learning 2.0 - Thing #19

2008-01-06T20:14:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I IM'd. I used to do this a lot as community leader for AOL but since most of my buds migrated away from there we've lost touch. Some use AIM, some use Yahoo Messenger. I thought I'd give Meebo a try since I've begun to see it more often on various web pages sucha as MySpace.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #18

2008-01-06T19:51:00.000-08:00

Google Docs is nice. It's a good alternative to passing around multiple Word docs for updating and/or collaboration. This makes it similar to wikis.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #17

2008-01-02T18:03:00.000-08:00

PBwiki is a great tool.

I used this quite a bit while in school for collaborating on research papers with other members of my project group. Many of us were in very distant cities and some in other states. Sending a Word document from person to person can be dangerous and someone may edit the wrong version of the paper resulting in hours of work fixing the mistake. Using a Wiki, the paper can be updated in real-time, there is usually only one version (as long as the group agrees on this) and the final paper can easily be copied to a Word document when it's time to submit.

Any time collaboration at a distance is required, this can be an invaluable tool.

The best part; you can use PBwiki for free!!!

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #16

2007-12-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

I like Wikis.

In school, when my study groups were all in different states, wikis made it much easier to collaborate on papers and presentations. When used correctly, we didn't run into the problems that always occur when email a Word file back and forth. We were all able to edit the same document from where ever we were located and, for the most part, there was only one version.

Libraries can find many useful purposes for wikis. Policies, phone lists, etc. can all be updated in one file. No more sending out copy after copy of lists and/or list corrections. The file is always in the same place and can be updated quickly and efficiently.

I give wikis two thumbs up!

Michael

Intermission #2 - My AZLA 2007 Adventure: Part 2

2007-11-19T02:47:00.000-08:00

AZLA (Arizona Library Association) 2007 Annual conference
Theme - "Sharing Common Values"
Wednesday 11/15/07 (Day 2)

Day 2 was a mixed experience. There were good points and bad ones.

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Hip Hip Hooray! It's Family Literacy Day!
Roni Capin Rivera-Ashford

This didn't really seem to have much information on Family Literacy. It seemed to mostly be a plug for the author's books (kid looking non-fiction picture book of home remedies). There were some shared stories about audience member's experiences with home remedies and memories that can be invoked by different smells and sounds.

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KIDS Interest Group
Chris Gall

This was an author session where he regaled us with the tale of how he went from childhood writer (7th grade) to illustrator (covers for Atlantic Monthly, US News and Terry Pratchett book covers) to artist and then to the present where he is a writer/artist/illustrator.

****A bit of trivia: His grandmother wrote the song "America the Beautiful"*****

This was an interesting and fun speaker.

The steps Chris takes when creating his books:

1. Think of a title (some of his unpublished ones are pretty funny)
2. Create the cover
3. Write the story
4. Send the manuscript to the editor (and re-write when it comes back -- Trust your editor)
5. Create storyboards
6. Research what will be illustrated (What is it really like on Mars or at the bottom of the
ocean, etc.)
7. Sketch the illustrations
8. Create engravings from the illustrations
9. Scan the artwork into Adobe Illustrator
10. Add color in the software program (yup. no more had drawing/coloring)

His works can be found at www.chrisgall.com

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A "Ruff" Guide to Storytime
Bill Landau

"Mr. Bill" presented his method for doing storytimes using movements and his guitar.

The key is to make children want to read and learn. Freshen up the sessions with new books, songs, etc. Be sure to say please, thank you and you're welcome. This teaches the children good habits. A librarian (at least a childrens' one) needs to many different hats; nurtuing, teacher, role model, psychologist, referee, discipline and loving.

There were some tips on grants (whereever to get them, remember to thank the people who give them to you).

Create your own characters for storytimes, celebrate special days (Dr Seuss bday, your bday, first day of spring, etc).

Sometimes you have to learn to say "no". Don't try to do too much and overwhelm yourself.

Many childrens songs only require the guitar chords C, F and G <--- this is important for people like me who are just now learning to play the guitar.

This was a fun session where we got up, sang a couple songs and learned about storytimes from another person's perspective and experience.

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The Wild, The Wacky, The "Funderful" - Creative ways to make books matter to kids
Corey Green and Terri Fields

This one started out pretty good with the teacher/author (Corey) giving some good examples and tips on how to inspire young readers. I had some issues with part of the five finger rules:

* Thumb - Microphone (telling the story)
* Index finger - Points to the main characters
* Middle finger - this can only lead to conflict
* Ring finger - People remember the setting
* Pinky finger - Least important is the plot (I disagree with this one writing for old children)

She also gave a tip on forming book clubs. Kids read the same book. Set aside some space at a certain time for them to just sit and read together (to themselves or out loud).

The second speaker (Terri) was a bit out there. She likes to be very animated when we read stories to children we should do the same. I agree with this, although she seemed a bit extreme.

She gave us an example as she read from one of the books she wrote. This one was about a mother who has two small boys who like to fight and wrestle with each other. One day mom stops a the gas station and purposely leaves the keys in the ignition while she goes in to pay (it gets worse). The kids are wrestling around and stop when they realize it isn't mom who got back in the guy but some man they don't know. There is then a car jacking (keep in mind, she's fully animating the kids here to show us how to read to children). She ends her example when the carjacker points a gun at the face of one of the children.

In my opinon bad parenting and carjackings are not appropriate topics for childrens books. Also, even though I was in the fifth row with a buffer of four full rows of people between us, her characterizations were scaring the bajeezus out of me.

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Overall Conference Impressions

All in all, I did learn some interesting things at AZLA 2007. Met with some vendors (always important when they come to town), saw some of the new books that we'll hopfully be getting soon (including "Mythology" the lastest in the "ology" series (Egyptology, Dragonology, Pirateology, Wizardology). I learned some new things I can add in to my storytimes and inspired me to even add some flannel board components to Shake Rattle and Roll.

The downside was an obvious lack of programming. There were one and two hour periods between sessions and some time periods has empty rooms with no programming at all. This was a first for me based on any other conference/convention I've been to int he last several years. The exhibit hall was unusually small. Maybe 2/3 the number of vendors that usually are there. At any given time it seemed that the poster session hallway was half empty. Also, the food vendor/kitchen apparently decided not to be open for the conference forcing people to either grab vending machine food or go outside to grab some grub.

The negatives It won't stop me from going next year though as it is still a useful tool for local librarians.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #15

2007-11-19T02:43:00.000-08:00

I thought there were a lot of good ideas presented in the five perspectives. It's a little scary to think that people are now exploring Library 4.0 and we've just begun Library 2.0. We definitely have some catching up to do if we're going to stay up on the trends that will help our customers do what they need to do or retrieve the information they need quickly and efficiently.

Learning 2.0 - Thing #14

2007-11-19T02:29:00.000-08:00

Technorati is a pretty good way to search for blogs of interest. I found that many of the "top searches" had zero results and the "featured bloggers" seemed mostly political in nature. I'm not sure how one becomes a "featured" blogger.

I was able to search for things like "Library 2.0" (remember to put the phrase in quotes or you'll get way more results than you want/need).

Learning 2.0 - Thing #13

2007-11-19T02:25:00.000-08:00

This "thing" was absolutely delicious :)

I can see where it could be useful. Many people have books marks on their computer for sites of interest but what happens if you're out of town at a conference and you need some information from one of the sites. Chances are you didn't book mark it on both your desk PC and your laptop. So you must re-research the topic to once again find the information. Depending on what you're looking for you could come up with hundreds of thousands or millions of hits. If you bookmark through Del.icio.us then your bookmarks travel with you.

Plus you can see what others have bookmarked which could save time on future knowledge quests.

Intermission #1 - My AZLA 2007 Adventure: Part 1

2007-11-15T05:21:00.000-08:00

AZLA (Arizona Library Association) 2007 Annual conference
Theme - "Sharing Common Values"
Wednesday 11/14/07 (Day 1)

I kicked off the conference with a Snickers bar and a coke. Breakfast of champions. After beating myself up over this I went to the Keynote address.

** Note: Our very own Kathy Coster and Yvonne Murphy won the AZLA President's Program Award for their presentation "Design for Change and Change by Design" (read further for a program description). The award is given to a program that best embodies the theme of the conference. Congrats to Kathy and Yvonne!!

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Keynote Topic - "Understanding Culture and Building Community"
Keynote Speaker - Dr. Matthew Whitaker

Dr. Whitaker was an energetic and entertaining speaker. He spoke eloquently about the how truly important it is to recognize and understand the diverse groups of people out there not just when making policy but also when just going about our daily lives. It's especially important to acknowledge all races, genders, classes, etc. when looking towards the common goals in the institution.

Some things you can do to fight sterotypes --
* Have an open mind
* Expand your comfort zones
* Value both official and unofficial education
* Share your experienced; both good and bad
* Be humble
* Take action through organization
* Commitment

I hope I will have the opportunity to hear Dr. Whitaker speak again in the future.

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Division meeting - Grand Canyon Reader Award, National Board Certification, and Advocacy Updates

2007 Grand Canyon Reader Award for Non-Fiction Book: "Georgia Fleas" by Joan Holub

2007 Grand Canyon Reader Award for Intermediate Book: (tie) "Dragon Rider" by Cornelia Funke and "Molly Moon and the Incredible Book of Hypnotism" by Georgia Byng

2007 Grand Canyon Reader Award for Teen Book: "Son of the Mob" by Gordon Korman

2007 Grand Canyon Reader Award for Picture Book: "Pinduli" by Janelle Cannon

Also discussed and encouraged was calling our government representatives to stop just voicing their support for H.R. 2864 "Skills Act" and actually sign on it. So far the only AZ rep to do so is Rep. Raul Grijalva [D-AZ]who introduced it back in June 2007.
Information on the bill can be found here: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2864

On a Learning 2.0 note, there is an RSS feed to track the progress of the bill.

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Beyond the Basics: Making the Most of your Library Website
Marylaine BLock

This was an interesting session. The speaker gave quite a few good tips on making the library more useful to the customers. It seems many people are having trouble with IS departments and getting permission to access some of the Library 2.0/Web 2.0 tools that are needed by staff.

Here are some of the tips and insights:

* The middle third of the webpage is "prime real estate". The most important items should
go here.
* Offer a virtual tour of the library
* Offer tutorials on how to use library services
* Offer links for voter and community issues
* Post stategic plans and annual reports
* Have a recorded video or sound byte greeting from the Library director
* Offering a blog gives the library a more "human" face. It allows for interaction between
the library and its customer (the ones who do come to the library as well as those who
don't or can't).
* Offer a sick kids kit. Downloadable stories, coloring pages, etc.

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Design for Change, Change by Design
Kathy Coster and Yvonne Murphy

This presentation (AZLA President's Award) gave details on the new Customer model concept being tested at the newly built Arabian library.

Thinking outside the box starting with a building hat is not shaped like a box.

Much of the space is adaptable and many of the shelves are mobile.

Many of the concepts are taken from the "bookstore" model.

There were many good questions from the audience and I think this new concept will be watched closely.

Learning 2.0 - Thing # 12

2007-11-12T14:54:00.000-08:00

I really like both MySpace and Facebook. MySpace seems more customizable and fun. It appears authors, performers, musical groups, organizations and younger people are the prime users. Facebook seems more for older/grown-up and serious crowd.

My relatives are on Facebook and use it for genealogy and brief life event updates.

Here is link to my MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/corwyndriscol)

Learning 2.0 - Thing #11

2007-11-05T06:39:00.000-08:00

LibraryThing seems to be a great resource not just for organizing my own books but, also to see what others are reading.

Here is a link to my library (first 5 books):

http://www.librarything.com/catalog/Mikeschor

Learning 2.0 - Thing #10

2007-11-05T05:09:00.001-08:00

Me Simpsonized
Originally uploaded by mikeschor

So this is what I would look like as a character on the Simpsons?

I uploaded a pic (headshot) to http://www.comicstripgenerator.com/dvd/anime-character-generator.htm

And Viola! An animated version of myself.

Enjoy!

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #9

2007-11-05T04:46:00.000-08:00

I think what I found to be the easiest way of finding feeds is to simply go to the sites I visit on a regular basis. Many of them have the RSS icon and allowed me to add the feed.

Now, with bloglines, instead of going back to each individual site I can see the news all in one place.

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #8

2007-11-05T04:41:00.000-08:00

I love bloglines and RSS feeds because most of the info and news I receive now are things that I feel are important to me.

Using the RSS feeds I can stay on top of new technologies and trends that affect my work and life. Using a site like Bloglines brings all my different feeds together.

Here is the link to my feeds:
http://www.bloglines.com/public/MikeSchor

Until next time,

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #7

2007-11-05T04:30:00.000-08:00

Blog about anything technology related? Wow, that covers a lot.

How about the Internet in general? I can remember a day when there was no such thing (at least not available to the public). Think back to how life was before the Internet. No online searches, databases, or electronic information accessibility of any kind. No email either. I remember the days of $50 phone bills.

Now with email, I save about $20 per month. Doesn't sound like much? Look at it this way:
$20 x 12 = $240 per year.
$240 x approx 15 yrs = $3600.

That a pretty good chunk of change. Now add in all the stamp money, saving on late charges for those times when you couldn't get your bills to their destination on time (now that online payments are available), those heavy packages of family photos which can now be sent electronically, etc.

Wowzers!

It boggles the mind (or is that bloggles?)

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #6

2007-11-05T04:26:00.001-08:00

Michael_trading_card
Originally uploaded by mikeschor

This was really cool! I used the trading card making program (http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/deck.php) to make a trading card with one of my photos. I also created a set of cards for my brother and his wife of their dog's last four Halloween costumes ("http://flickr.com/photos/mikeschor/sets/72157602917092176/).

Enjoy!

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #5

2007-11-05T04:21:00.001-08:00

P6290841
Originally uploaded by mikeschor

This is an overhead shot of the castle in Civic Center childrens' room. If you look really close, you can see a cow on top of the tower. Maybe they're waiting for Arthur, King of the Britains, to attack (remember Monty Python and the Holy Grail?).

Flickr is very easy to use and seems very popular. You can also have a lot of fun with the pictures.

Michael

Learning 2.0 - Thing #3

2007-11-05T04:05:00.000-08:00

Of the 7 1/2 habits of lifelong learning I find the easiest to be #2; "Accept responsibility for your own learning." In other words, whether or not I learn any new skills is completely in my hands. If I follow this course I will progress and have a better understanding of what I am exploring. If I decide to just sit on the sidelines and let the world pass me by, that is my choice also.

As a personal preference I like to continue learning. It doesn't matter what I study; technology, science, history, etc. If I'm not learning something, I'm not living up to my potential.

The habit that is hardest is #7 1/2; "Play". This comes from far too many years as a work-a-holic in a high pressure atmosphere. People can change, however. That is what I am striving to do. I plan to stop every now and then and "smell the roses". I will make time for play.

Michael

Hello world!

2007-11-05T04:02:00.001-08:00

I know it's cheesy but, whenever I begin to learn a new programming language, the first lesson always seems to start with writing code that displays the message "Hello World".

So, now that I've begun the Learning 2.0 program I decided to start my posts with that very clear introduction.

Hello World!

Michael