Life, thus far

[Count Duckula]

Hi everybody! ^_^

I cop an attitude and I get several "welcome back!" messages. Glad to know I was missed, and it feels even better to be back.

Going by college time (it ain't the next day till you've slept or seen the sun rise), I've spent 65 days in Florida. I'm in Bradenton, about an hour south of Tampa, and fifteen minutes away from the beach. Number of times I've been to the beach: 1.

I hate this place.

Bradenton, according to everyone I've met, was recently discovered by retirees and others flocking to the climate during the winter months. Those flockers, affectionately called snowbirds, get kinda pissy when somebody slows down their relaxing vacation time. Plus, they clog the roads.

I attend the University of South Florida for my MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science, not to be confused with the business-oriented Library and Information Technology) and I hate that too. I came from one of the tiniest schools in the nation and graduated from a close-knit department. The LIS program has just as much people as Hollins had English majors, but we're not well-connected at all. I take one course in Sarasota (a 20-minute drive every week), one course in Tampa (an hour drive each way every two weeks), and an online course, and they're not in any of my other classes. Plus, the workload is intense. Graduate-level work is more difficult than undergraduate-level work, I know, but a library chronology due a week after classes start? Come on!

I also got a job at a big box bookstore. The only thing I like about my job is my employee discount. Their scheduling isn't flexible around my classes and studying. They hired me to be the salesbook specialist--inventory the merchandise, display it properly, etc.--without informing the current salesbook specialist that I'd be taking her place. And the number of employees that aren't jerks don't quite balance the number that are. So I'm hating my job too.

I live with my boyfriend, my best friend, and four cats in a two-bedroom apartment in something closely resembling the ghetto but not quite. We have mentally deranged Russians as next-door neighbors. The cops come around the complex at least once a week. The teenagers have nothing better to do than hang around the parking lot. And it's turning into condos, so we have to find a new place in July. All for a little under $800 a month. Thanks to my employer's assistance that I work weekends, I don't get to relax with my friends that much, or even sleep in.

I got a cell phone. Kas and my parents are also on Verizon, so I can call the important people for free. Since I'm in class and in libraries so often, it's on perma-silent. (Doc would be happy.) Never when driving, never in stores. (The only time I've wished murder was legal was when I got yelled at by a customer one night on the register because I wanted to finish the transaction while she was on her cell phone and the register noises broke her I'm-at-the-bowling-alley alibi.)

And there've been problems like carpooling to save gas, emergency vet visits for new cat owners, tapeworms and booster shots, doing homework on time, getting the Internet to work, getting the network to work, networking Kas' super-duper printer to the rest of the house, stuff like that. I'm surviving.

Kas and I visited Anna Maria Island on a date a couple weeks ago, and sat on the sand and listened to the drummers and watched the sun go down. Wasn't too much of a lightshow, but it was peaceful. I came to Florida for the beach, and to be with Kas. Once everything settles down, things will be great. Until then, I'm comin' through as best I can.

Here's hoping the 'net connection lasts. Yours in Wonderland,

[Tal]

I attend the University of South Florida for my MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science, not to be confused with the business-oriented Library and Information Technology) and I hate that too. I came from one of the tiniest schools in the nation and graduated from a close-knit department. The LIS program has just as much people as Hollins had English majors, but we're not well-connected at all. I take one course in Sarasota (a 20-minute drive every week), one course in Tampa (an hour drive each way every two weeks), and an online course, and they're not in any of my other classes. Plus, the workload is intense. Graduate-level work is more difficult than undergraduate-level work, I know, but a library chronology due a week after classes start? Come on![right][snapback]91089[/snapback][/right]

Hi Count Duckula - what are you planning on doing with your MLS? Public, College or Private Libraries? At present I work in a public library and find it the most fun of any of the libraries I've worked for. Mostly this is because I never know what a patron is going to ask me or what is going to happen next. The downside of this is that frequently we have patrons ask completely off the wall questions that are impossible to answer. Or they bring their personal problems off the street. I like to joke that I got outta police work because of the social issues I had to deal with. Today I am still dealing with those same social issues without benefit of body armor OR sidearm. :blink:

I also got a job at a big box bookstore. The only thing I like about my job is my employee discount. Their scheduling isn't flexible around my classes and studying. They hired me to be the salesbook specialist--inventory the merchandise, display it properly, etc.--without informing the current salesbook specialist that I'd be taking her place. And the number of employees that aren't jerks don't quite balance the number that are. So I'm hating my job too.

[right][snapback]91089[/snapback][/right]

I don't know if you have explored the option (I'm betting you have) but if at all possible get a job in a library of some sort. When it comes time to move on to your chosen profession it carries a great deal more weight than working in a bookstore. :)

Good luck in your studies and I wish things were going smoother for you. :)

[Doc]

You are doing fine. The pressure will wear you down and refine you. You will either find that you, like a piece of coal compressed in to a diamond, are made of finer stuff or you will crack. I strongly suspect that you will find strength that you didn't know you had. That is what this process is. A lot of people can't cut the mustard. You can, and you will.

Sounds like you have it pretty good. To compare, at about this stage in my life, I was living in a van, working more than one job, losing my marbles. You have an apartment, somebody that you love, kitties, and all kinds of creature comforts.

It is GOOD that you hate your job. Develop a strong undisguised loathing for it. Hate it with every fibre in your being. What you hate is mediocrity. If you do not follow through with your education, that is what you have to look forward to for the rest of your life. You obviously want something better, SO GO OUT AND TAKE IT FOR YOUR SELF.

You know what? It will probably get worse. A lot worse. Expect it. Be prepared for it. And know in your mind that good things are only achieved through pain, suffering, and sacrifice, and anything worth having is worth suffering for. Adversity is a refinement process that makes us better human beings. With out discomfort, with out pain, with out that unpleasant feeling that life often brings, we would never be motivated to get off of our butts and do something better.

Don't get distracted by all those snares along the way, and do not be discouraged.

I'm rooting for you.

[Count Duckula]

Hi Count Duckula - what are you planning on doing with your MLS? Public, College or Private Libraries?

I really want to work at a public library. I worked summers and holidays for four years at this library and I really want to go back there. My mother works there (but in a different department) and this is the library I've known all my life.

At present I work in a public library and find it the most fun of any of the libraries I've worked for. Mostly this is because I never know what a patron is going to ask me or what is going to happen next. The downside of this is that frequently we have patrons ask completely off the wall questions that are impossible to answer.

My favorite part of working at my big box bookstore is Customer Service. I like finding exactly what a patron's looking for. Though we do get the "I can't remember the title or author, but the cover was blue" type of questions.

Here's a tip for all you Lurkers: If you ever find yourself in a bookstore and wanting a book you can't find, describe it to the CSRs the best you can. Genre, plot, what you think the title or author may be, that information helps. Our search engine doesn't handle cover colors. As for embarrassing us, we have to "fluid rescue" books found in the bathroom as well as plunge toilets--nothing makes us blush, 'cept your bad parenting skills!

Or they bring their personal problems off the street. I like to joke that I got outta police work because of the social issues I had to deal with. Today I am still dealing with those same social issues without benefit of body armor OR sidearm.  :blink:

Speaking of bad parenting skills, we get a lot of loonies. Unlike the library, we can get our loonies arrested.

(One of the cats is throwing up in the hall, hold on.)

I don't know if you have explored the option (I'm betting you have) but if at all possible get a job in a library of some sort. When it comes time to move on to your chosen profession it carries a great deal more weight than working in a bookstore. :)

I've applied at local libraries, but I'm after Tech Services or reference librarian, and those are the two that really need a degree. At this point, I can't afford to step down my pay to work for a library. Maybe when I've got another year of school on me, I can try applying.

[Count Duckula]

You know what? It will probably get worse. A lot worse. Expect it. Be prepared for it.
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You speak great wisdom, Doc, but this is the wisest of all. Because I know it will get worse. When my best friend moves to Kansas City in November and takes her paycheck and last tangible vestige of home with her. When the Christmas sales and finals mash together. First Hanukkah away from home. Keeping my head above water with schoolwork--and without the Turkey Day cushion I've had for the past 14 years.

:(

I have to get through it, so I will, but knowing it's gonna suck doesn't make it any better.

[Guest]

edited. Ghostiger will no longer be participating in this thread. I suggest we all help him out by not trying to bring him into it.


Thanks.

-Griselda

[Tal]

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[Tal]

I've applied at local libraries, but I'm after Tech Services or reference librarian, and those are the two that really need a degree. At this point, I can't afford to step down my pay to work for a library. Maybe when I've got another year of school on me, I can try applying.
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Most places hereabouts will allow you to work on the Information/Reference Desk with a Bachelors. Might be worthwhile to explore. :)

[Guest]

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[Jeunemaitre]

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[Jeunemaitre]

I have to get through it, so I will, but knowing it's gonna suck doesn't make it any better.
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The other side of the coin also hold true: if things get worse before they get better, that does mean they get better. Remember that the new year is a chance for all of us to start over, and a day of atonement gives us all a chance to do it from a good place. I had been wondering about your jewelry start-up, but it seems like other things have gotten your attention for the time being. Best of luck to you, and may things be manageable.

[Guest]

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[Count Duckula]

I had been wondering about your jewelry start-up, but it seems like other things have gotten your attention for the time being.
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It's sitting in a box in my closet, kinda like the Ark of the Covenant in Raiders of the Lost Ark. :shuriken: No sales, so no taxes, but I still fill out the paperwork like the dutiful little girl I am.

I've picked a point in the future and I'm working toward that point to start everything again.

[Doc]

Long term goals fuel long term motivation.

I have laid plans that have taken decades to pan out. The satisfaction of seeing it come to bloom is most satisfying.

Also builds patience.

Just keep your eyes on the prize and don't be bothered to much by the brambles and briars along the way. They are at best, temporary interuptions.

[jahcs]

Remember Ducky, every cloud has a silver lining. Remember the good customers and make fun of the bad ones. :P

Take a break every once in a while so you don't get burned out.

[Occhidiangela]

Hi everybody! ^_^

I cop an attitude and I get several "welcome back!" messages. Glad to know I was missed, and it feels even better to be back.

I hate this place.

Like athlete's foot, "the place" may grow on you. :P As I reminded some of my more depressed colleagues in the desert last year:

It's not where you are, it's who you are with. With Kas there, who give a flying fruitbat where you are? ;)

I attend the University of South Florida for my MLIS (Master of Library and Information Science, not to be confused with the business-oriented Library and Information Technology) and I hate that too. I came from one of the tiniest schools in the nation and graduated from a close-knit department.

USF is now in the Big East, and have apparently arrived, football wise, by waxing U of Louisville. I imagine that does not cheer you up in the least, Hollins not being known for football prowess. :D I lost 10 bucks by not covering USF to upset Louisville, so a "nyah nyah" to me is in order. My aunt died in St Petersburg back in 2002, so the area where you live has bittersweet memories for me. I caught a catfish there once . . . so it wasn't all bad.

So I'm hating my job too.

Join 90% of America. It pays the bills, and Doc's other advice seems to have been well received.

We have mentally deranged Russians as next-door neighbors.

You say that like it's a bad thing.

I'm surviving.

That which does not kill you can still irritate the hell out of you. F&^% Nietzche, beer is around for a good reason: stress.

I came to Florida for the beach, and to be with Kas. Once everything settles down, things will be great. Until then, I'm comin' through as best I can.

[right][snapback]91089[/snapback][/right]

Your best friend and the beach: sounds like a good deal to me.

Hang in there Ducky, some of us are pulling for you. (Uh, I don't mean that in the sicko way, really! :blink: )

Occhi

[Doc]

I hope everyone here at the Lounge gets a good night's sleep tonight (even you, Doc ;) ) and wakes up full of vim and vigor on the 'morrow.  I don't like it when the Lounge dwells in negativity all day. :(
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Sleep is for the weak.

That said, I wish I could. I got a full four hours several cycles ago.

[Roland]

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[whyBish]

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How many posts have been edited by Griselda here???

Is everybody trying to get her to quit being a Mod? :angry:

[Doc]

How many posts have been edited by Griselda here???

Is everybody trying to get her to quit being a Mod?  :angry:
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I probably owe Gris a bunch of flowers and a box of expensive chocolates for all the times she has had to come and clean up my messes. Poor gal, she gets treated like a mother or a wife. Her work is never done. No thanks. No gratitude. Just endless piles of smelly socks, skidmarked underpants, dirty dishes, and other messes left by slovenly forum members.