Number of fire drills at work so far this week: 2
Percentage of which were legitimately planned exercises or started by actual fires: 0%

Fire alarms echoing in hallway covered in hard, echoing surfaces = DEAFENING.

Strobe light flashing above my desk incessantly for 10 minutes afterwards = seizure inducing.

Why do I do these things?

ALSO. I am an idiot. It's official.

I was waiting for the elevator and there was a man waiting as well who turned to me and said "I don't believe we've met, I'm [so and so]", and we went through the introduction thing.

He asked me where I work. I told him.

Then I said "and what do you do, [so and so]? I know I've seen your name on emails, but I can't remember off the top of my head."

His response? "I'm the director of the library".

Cue elevator door and my ashamed retreat.

Idiot.

(I really should have known, but in my defense there are so many levels of management and I've just never had reason to interact with him. But still. Idiot.)

UPDATED: Also, I just browsed the org chart (we have this really cool interactive one on the intranet) and realized that he's not over the whole library, he's director of a division that's basically parallel to mine. That alleviates some of my shame.

Adventures in reference

Also. Today I did my shift on the reference desk. A man came looking for an item- he said he just wanted to see if it was in the open stacks. It's not- we only have one copy and it's in the secure stacks. Then he told me he had written the book and wanted to know why it wasn't in the open stacks, because he saw lots of books on the same topic and they were, in his words, "corny".

So I gave him a bunch of reasons, but mainly just said that if we only have one copy, it stays in the secure stacks. He was unsatisfied, so I directed him to the "real" reference librarian sitting at the other computer. She chatted with him and he left looking happy with his answer, so I asked her what she had told him.

And guess what? She told him the exact same thing I did. Do I not seem trustworthy or something?

Things I've loved looking at today.

This dress.

I just discovered the Synagogue-a-Day tumblr feed. Images shared come from the William A. Rosenthall Judaica Collection at the College of Charleston Special Collections. An interesting mix of buildings from all over the world.

Listen to this Storycorps segment.

Like I really need another obsession...

So, maybe I haven't talked to you about it yet, but I am utterly obsessed with Pinterest. It's weird how something so simple can be so absorbing.

If you haven't ever used it, Pinterest is like a virtual pinboard. You can "pin", categorize, rearrange, and gawk at links and pictures you like. If you'd like an invite, let me know! I love seeing what friends are saving and sharing things that I love. It's like Facebook for the visually oriented. Or something.

Did I mention that I love it? Because I do. You can look at my boards and things that I've pinned, by clicking the red button at the top of the blog that says "follow me on Pinterest".

DO IT.