Friday, January 30, 2004

I wonder . . .
What will living with a Victrola be like? Will it have Resonance? Will it be a Prescence? Will it affect me? For that matter, will it effect me? Hmmm . . . .

Oh boy oh boy oh boy
I'm leaving work at three this afternoon and heading up to DC. Sunday morning we're showing up at DC Phono-Guy's place and fetching the Victrola.
And tomorrow I'll see the Library of Congress for the first time.

Thursday, January 29, 2004

AAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!
On Monday the Department of Education told me they faxed a default clearance letter to the uni where I'm enrolled in library science classes so I can get financial aid.
Today the uni's financial aid office told me they never got it.
The Department of Education told they have confirmation that it was received.
I'm on the verge of using many, many bad words.

Wednesday, January 28, 2004

Advice
When I told my advisor in the library science program that I wanted to go into old/rare book & manuscript library work, he simply said, "Well, we don't have anything like that."
So I contacted the head of special collections at this uni and asked him if I could meet with him and get some information and advice. He said sure.
That meeting was this morning. It was a little discouraging. After I explained that I wanted to go into the above with a leaning toward classical studies, he said that the demand for that sort of thing was extremely limited. He said most special collection libraries amass modern stuff (and I assume he was using the term "modern" in the broad sense, i.e., after the beginning of the Renaissance). Special collections here has an endowment to collect Greek post-classical manuscripts and they don't even use it because interest is so limited. The papyri colllection isn't even maintained by library staff; it's tended by faculty from the classics department.
He said that a member of special collection staff with a knowledge of classical langauges would be a benefit but a job that specialised in it would be rare as hen's teeth, basically.
I guess a part of me knew it was a long shot. I can adapt. I've done it before.
Another thing he said that I didn't really like hearing is that he said it would behoove me to take archive classes in the public history department at State. That place thinks I owe them $143 from around 1988. I don't - I remember paying it but can't find proof. I know if I try to take classes there again they'll raise a stink about it.
Bother.

Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Snow Day!
Well, sort of. The university's policy on snow days is that staff can stay late and make it up later, or use vacation time. I don't like either option, and I don't have to drive to get here, so I've been coming in. There's hardly anyone else here in the way of staff, so it's just been chillin'.