herbiehancock

I woke up at 6:00 this morning, the usual time for me on a work day.  Knowing that coverage of the Royal Wedding was supposed to have started at 4:00 am on the television, I turned it on to see how far along the ceremony was.  As it turned out, the procession was just then starting up the aisle at the church, so apparently I didn't miss too much.  It wasn't worth missing any sleep over. My husband watched some of it with me providing his own running commentary to accompany the ceremony "Mystery Science Theater 3000" style.  For example, as the bride was coming down the aisle, Prince Harry turned and said something to Prince William.  Husband chimed in with, "You can still back out if you run now!" When the camera panned across the faces, husband said, "Oh look, there's the Queen--oh no, wait--that's Elton John."   Young son joined in too.  Noticing the long train on the bride's dress, he contributed, "Don't step on her dress!  ...

Today after work, we had a fun Easter bonnet party at the library for the library staff.  The party included a fondue potluck meal, some fun and games, door prizes, and lots and lots of hats.   We brought in or made or decorated Easter bonnets to wear during the day while working at the library and for the party tonight.  It was funny to see some of the looks we got from our patrons about our hats.  Some were brave enough to ask us about why we were wearing them.  Others were not.  It was an amusing way to spend the day at work. This is the hat that I brought.  There wasn't much to it, really.  I wrapped a scarf around a straw hat and stuck some flowers on one side and a little plastic bunny and egg on the other.   Some of my coworkers, though, really went all out with their Easter bonnets and even brought along other accessories such as gloves, sunglasses, purses, handkerchiefs, and so forth to go with their hats. There was also an Easter di...

I'm not sure when it happened, but I think good phone manners have gone by the wayside. At least, that is the way it seems to me when I answer the phone and make calls from the library. In the past week, especially, I have encountered an abundance of rudeness over the phone. Lately, I have felt like saying "How rude!" to some of the patrons I have talked with on the phone. Stephanie Tanner from the old TV show, "Full House" comes to mind. Recently, one patron requested over thirty books through our inter-library loan system. Although some would consider that a large number of books to request, I really had no problem with it. Requesting books from other libraries is one of the services that we offer. It is just part of our job. I would like to explain something though. We belong to a network consortium of libraries called the SEO (Serving Every Ohioan) Library Center. The consortium is made up of "75 library systems at 166 physical locations thro...

I worked at the library all day today as I do every Saturday. It was for the most part a usual day there, but I did have one particularly memorable library patron visit. An older gentleman brought a couple books up to the desk to check out. I got his card and his items scanned for him and handed him back the books and the date due slip. As he took the books from me, he leaned over the desk and suddenly and unexpectedly gave me a very awkward bear hug across the counter. Mind you, I know this man's name but only because it pops up when I scan his library card. I did recognize him because he does come to the library occasionally although not as frequently as many of our patrons do. I don't know him personally. I certainly wasn't expecting him to suddenly give me a hug. Noticing my reaction, he laughed and said, "I always told myself when I was a young man that I wanted to get shot by a jealous husband before I turned the age of 80. Well, I've only got two year...