Librarian's Rant

Due to technical difficulties (hosed server), The Rant has been down, but I'm back now. Thanks, big brother!

I just got back from my college reunion, where I had waaaay too much fun! I'm probably too old to dance until the wee hours, but I don't care!

While I get my brain back together, I offer you this amusing comic from Questionable Content, one of my top three favorite web comics.

Peace,
Louise

So you may have heard that the Midwest got SMACKED by a major storm this weekend. I was supposed to go to Chicago to see off a friend who is moving to Florida, so I was already bummed when the weekend began and I realized I couldn't go. But I figured I'd make the best of it. Hunker down, get some tasty provisions and some bottled water, watch some of the backload on my TiFaux (what I call my TiVo-like DVR from my satellite company) and play some Sims2 (what? I can't be useful all the time!).

Friday night I had an engagement, but Saturday morning I wake and turn on The Weather Channel to see if this thing was real (I still held out hope of going to the windy city). TWC is going nutty with some "Two Sided Storm" nonsense, trying to hype up this winter ickiness coming our way. Whatever sells, I guess. I decide to head out to the store to get the tasty provisions et al, which I do. It's sloppy, but mostly just rain mixed with a touch of ice. I can tell it's going to get nasty, though--I've lived in the Midwest most of my life, I know what a gray/purple/brown sky means in any season. So. Begin the hunker down.

I get home and put away my groceries, tell my house guest to pack a bag if she's going to see her friend south of here, cuz there's no way she's going to get home safely tonight. She does, and informs me that while I was out shopping, our power went out for a bit. Hmmm. Once she leaves, I throw in a load of laundry and head to my PC for some personal relaxation. Of which I get maybe an hour before, yes, our power goes out again. Okay. I wait a bit, it goes back on. I took advantage of one quite chilly interlude in the afternoon to take a nap under my eiderdown. Really, what else was I going to do? It was rather dark for daytime, and the first floor was too cold. The cats and I snuggled down and waited for enlightenment.

To shorten an already too long story, this goes on much of the day, with each successive outage getting longer and longer. I get a break in the evening, during which I catch up on some Battlestar Galactica (best show on TV!) and cook some hot food until, yes, the power goes out again at 10:30. Okay. But here's a new problem:

The power doesn't just go out. It goes out, flickers on, then goes out again. Which, as it turns out, causes my Littermaid (electronic self-cleaning cat box and gods' gift to cat owners) to run its track once, and then stop in the middle of the box. NOT acceptable. My eldest cat is both finicky and neurotic. But I had neglected to put the battery backup in (d'oh!). It required 8 "D" batteries. I had 6, if you counted the ones in my flashlights (one for each floor plus 2 spares--I wasn't completely unprepared, you see). Not good. Luckily my cats managed to weather the storm (pun not entirely intended) and hold it in for a bit.

My basic realization this weekend: I am entirely too dependent on electricity.

For my amusement, my heat (gas furnace, but electric blower), my cats poo needs and so much more. Did I read by candlelight? Well, yes. Or rather I tried out my new battery-powered booklight after a bit, cuz it turns out graphic novels are hard to read by candle light! You can't see the colors properly. Again, Too Dependent!!

Saturday night to Sunday had more power, but also much, much more snow. This was another annoyance, as I'm on my homeowners board and I had to wake twice in the night (each time the power went on or off, basically) to call and bug our snowplow company about coming to dig us out. They finally arrived at 10:30 on Sunday morning. NOT acceptable. They were already on our list, but this clinched it.

Clearly I was one of the lucky ones, however. I went over to my church Sunday night for an Oscar night bash and there was a power line and a TON of branches down over there. Very woody area. They clearly had no power for several blocks - it was very spooky coming out at 11:30 to dark streets and dark houses. Our church was fine, thankfully. Hard to watch the Oscars with no juice!

At least now I know I need to buy some more D batteries (for my flashlights AND the cat box!) and some better matches (I bought a bargain brand, and they're crap. Back to Ohio Blue Tip for me!).

And perhaps I need to think about how dependent I am on power generation to get through my day. I'll think about it soon. After I go home and watch some BSG on my TiFaux!

So I have a friend staying with me while her new apartment is prepped. Good thing, as it turns out, cuz when I called home to check on her (she's got a cold), she informed me that MY WATER WAS OFF! Huh? I pay my water bill automatically, so I know they got paid. Last month they were paid a day or so late because, and here's where the bureaucraZy begins, my credit union managed to NOT send any payments for like 6 days to ANYONE, but they chose to inform me by MAIL, so it was an extra couple of days before I knew. Luckily I have great credit and had no problems. The credit union offered to pay for any late fees. The only fee I got charged, in fact, was from Water Works. So spring ahead one month exactly to today.

I get up this morning, take my shower, leave the house shortly before 9am. There is a Water Works van parked across the street, but as I know a water conduit is under where he his, I think "maybe he's finally working on that stupid rusted cover we've been asking them about since last spring, but how dumb to do it in the winter!" and go on my merry way. So I call home this afternoon to check on my friend, and she tells me the water's been out since shortly after I left. Now, the guy could see me leave the unit he was shutting off this morning, but did he say anything? No. Understandable, I guess, as he probably assumed I knew I was being cut off. But of course they never told me, because I WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE CUT OFF. I suspect it was supposed to be the unit next to me, which is a rental and is empty. However, since it's the middle of a FREAKING COLD WINTER, turning off the water may or may not be the thing to do. Especially since all these units are somewhat connected. Dunno.

I called this afternoon right after hearing from my friend and raised (polite but firm) holy hell. At first they're trying to tell me that there are "no water main breaks in your area, so it must be a frozen pipe". Now, in the old days, I would have gone all girlie, believed them, hung up and probably spent a ton of money, and a lot of stress, calling out a plumber to tell me that the water company had cut me off and be out of water the whole weekend. But I've learned a thing or two. I firmly (but politely) insist that there was a frakking water works van across the driveway from my townhome this morning, could they at least tell me why he was there, in case it was related! I'm on hold for like 5 minutes while she checks with dispatch (why didn't she do this before? I do not know). She gets back on and sheepishly tells me that I was cut off accidentally, and they'll send someone out to reconnect me right away. Uh-huh. I'm heading home now to see. If I'm waterless and stinky all weekend, there will be frakking bureaucratic hell to pay!

What, what do I keep saying?! DON'T MESS WITH THE LIBRARIANS!

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has released its annual report on access to food. Basically, it shows the level of hunger in America. But in one of this administration's more Orwellian moves, hunger is now "very low food security".




Whatever. Hunger is hunger, and the United States has entirely too much of it for a nation as wealthy as ours.

Want to do something about it? Give to your local food bank (link is to Second Harvest's zip code directory).

...have you voted?

Have you?

I hope so. It really does matter. Especially to libraries.

Cuz this s**t makes me insane:

Clinics ask how O'Reilly got abortion records

TOPEKA, Kansas (AP) -- Two abortion clinics asked the state's highest court Monday to investigate Attorney General Phill Kline and Fox television's Bill O'Reilly over O'Reilly's statements that he had information from Kansas abortion records.

...Kline received edited versions of the records from a district judge on October 24 after arguing he wanted to review the records for evidence of possible crimes including rape and illegal abortions.

The attorneys asked the court to appoint a special prosecutor to determine if O'Reilly's information came from the records turned over to Kline.

O'Reilly said Friday on his show "The O'Reilly Factor" that an inside source gave him information that a doctor at one of the clinics, George Tiller, had performed late-term abortions because patients were depressed. O'Reilly deemed it "executing babies."

Kline spokeswoman Sherriene Jones has said the attorney general doesn't know how O'Reilly obtained the information.

Uh-huh. Right.

I found this interesting:

On Wednesday, former Attorney General Bob Stephan, a Republican like Kline, asked the state Governmental Ethics Commission to examine Kline's fundraising and activities involving churches.

I got one of those "cheap software" spams. Why was it amusing? It purported to come from "Truman Capote".

Yes, that's right folks, Mr. Capote is alive and well and selling pirated software.

This keeps going through my head. As far as I know it's my own:

This country's going to Hell, and we're giving tax breaks to the handbasket manufacturers.

If it's not mine, let me know.

I've been unable to access my blog for several days, so my apologies for the lack of chatter

10 Mind-Numbingly Stupid Quotes About Hurricane Katrina And Its Aftermath

"I have not heard a report of thousands of people in the convention center who don't have food and water." –Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, on NPR's "All Things Considered," Sept. 1, 2005

I heard this one last week. I was flabbergasted. Not least because Robert Siegel, the reporter Chertoff was speaking to, had an NPR reporter on the other line, standing at the Convention Center. Idiots. Dangerous, terrifying idiots.

Thanks (I think!) to Chris Z.

This was posted on the Tulane University website today:

Current message from President Cowen:September 3, 1 p.m.

September 3, 2005, 1 p.m.

Dear Tulane colleagues,

First of all, I want you to know how much I admire and respect your courage during these difficult times. We have all been through a terrible ordeal and I realize that many of you have lost all of your personal possessions. My heartfelt sympathies to each and everyone of you.

It is now time to address the most immediate issues facing our 6,000 employees and they are numerous. We are doing our best to address them as quickly and correctly as we can. I do not have many answers for you today but promise that I will as we continue this process.

Our goal is to try and eliminate as much uncertainty as possible about the future operations of the university and to assist you in rebuilding your professional careers and personal lives.

It goes on to outline some basics for students and staff.

Again, Cornell U. has said it will work with Tulane students and faculty.

I'm delighted that folks are stepping up to donate to the American Red Cross efforts in the gulf states. I think many people are feeling helpless--natural in the face of disasters of this scope. There are other, more focused donations you can make, that may seem more specific to needs of interest to you:

Do you normally support the work of Planned Parenthood? If so, be aware that "Our health centers in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama stand in various states of disarray and disaster." Want to contribute? https://secure.ga3.org/02/pp_hurricane_katrina

Since last weekend, when they said the hurricane was likely to hit New Orleans, I kept thinking of the animals at the New Orleans zoo. I don't know why, but they were much on my mind. Watching the devastation that followed, I was reminded that they weren't the only animals to be affected. The ASPCA is taking donations for hurricane animal relief, to rebuild their shelters and care for animals (pets and otherwise). Not sure what they're doing? Here's their rescue diary. The ASPCA itself has pledged $1,000,000 to animals affected by Katrina.

UPDATE: You might also look at Noah's List, an organization solely for the purpose of rescuing animals during disasters.

Do you support a particular church? Do they have a relief fund set up? I gave to the UUA.

Do you belong to a local organization? Is your local Emergency Medical Services or similar taking donations? Some local stores will let you donate as little as $3 and they'll send a case of water.

Food for thought.

I'm reading the NY Times today, with the latest on Hurricane Katrina, and they mention, as NPR did Wednesday, that "has deployed 39 disaster medical assistance teams from around the country". Before I heard that Wednesday, all city employees in this suburb received an email from our Director of EMS saying he was a member of one of these teams, along with several other employees of the city, and would be leaving asap. Supposedly National Guard troops are going to be mobilized (what is left of them, of course) to head down there 'by the end of the week', which will likely pull a few more of our employees, mostly from the public safety sector.

These are all good things and I bless the work. I just have this nagging feeling that much of this death and devestation could have been avoided...or been better prepared for. A moot point, probably.

Okay, so several emails I've received today, as well as an article in the local rag, have mentioned Intelligent Design. Is this a sign?

No, but this is.

Liza just sent me a link which helps explain my Blog Depression.

Well, that and the fact that I haven't been home for more than two days at a time for WEEKS!