Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.


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Bits and pieces of library work

library-020 Poetry lady wanted to see work of contemporary poets…”someone who’s not dead yet!” I thought of a friend of mine who writes poetry and wished she was near. She’d be able to list off several “not dead yet” poets. Me? Not so much. So I found the lady the poetry section of our library and together we spent some fun minutes looking for authors we recognized, asking each other if we thought they were still living. We shared some smiles, a few (hushed, after all it IS the library!) laughs, and she left with a stack of books almost too big for her to handle.

Resume guy was updating his resume and couldn’t get the bullet points to line up. He had messed around so much his resume looked like a connect the dots picture in a coloring book. He came looking for help wondering if we knew anything about Word. Maybe. A couple of clicks and I had it looking worse. He said maybe it was OK the way he had it, and I said, in my most librarianish voice..”Certainly not, this is your RESUME! It has to be perfect!” And a couple more clicks and it was. He was grateful. So was I. I had no idea what I had done to correct his bullet points. I told him to hurry up and save it before we messed it up again. More hushed laughter.

Communist Manifesto girl needed a copy of it, the manifesto, for a paper. Of course our copy was checked out. Aren’t they all? When is the paper due? Oh not till “sometime this summer”, so I had time to pull another copy in from a neighboring branch. “Don’t think I’m weird” she said. “The prof just wants a paper on someone’s thought process, so I chose this.” I don’t think she’s weird, I think she’s more interesting than the average student.

A mother calls, wants a book whose title she’s unsure of. Doesn’t know the author. Might be a picture book. Maybe not. Probably about trains. Thomas the train? No, she doesn’t think so. But maybe. Daughter needs it for a presentation at a local college tomorrow. But we don’t know what the title is. Daughter apparently is too busy to make this call herself. Unsatisfied patron. Sigh. Might need some more hushed laughter now.

Do we have the local paper on microfilm? Yes we do. Can I get a copy of the February 23rd paper from 1918? Well, no. We only go back to 1931. Sigh.

Lots of new patrons signing up for cards this morning. Everyone wants a card to use the internet. Mostly to print resumes, look for work. Scary. I’m thinking we need some loud belly laughs now. All of us. Even if we ARE in a library.

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It's Saturday…must be I'm at the library

library-022 Seems most Saturdays find me working at the library. Not that you can really consider it work, at least not compared to my previous life. Though sometimes I wish I didn’t have to go to work, most of the time I enjoy the people watching that comes with the job. For instance here’s a small smattering of things I noticed while working today:

A small boy, maybe 4 or 5 sitting in a big overstuffed chair. His feet don’t reach the floor. In fact they barely reach the edge of the chair seat. He has a big picture book in his lap and he’s studiously reading to himself. Around him is chaos, other people in the library talking loudly, joking with each other, comparing notes about movies they’ve seen. This little boy just continues to read, lost in thought. Later I was close enough to hear him read out loud and his words in no way resemble the story as it’s written.  He’s making up the story as he goes, describing the pictures. He’s going to be a wonderful father someday, reading aloud to his own kids.

A young girl checks out a book about why women and girls don’t like their own bodies. I hope she picks up some pointers about learning to like herself. I wonder what made her get that book; I know there must be issues to be resolved.

A middle aged guy is writing a paper and preparing for a college group presentation on high blood pressure. He’s having trouble getting the articles he’s found on the Mayo website to print. I can’t get them to print either. It’s this kind of trouble that makes middle aged students (and I can relate to this!) think they are too old to be in school, what with all the technological changes that have occurred since we went to school the first time. But it wasn’t him, it was the website. Hopefully he gets that and doesn’t become discouraged. Sometimes it’s hard not to think you’re just too old to try something so new.

Another middle aged man is working on his resume, checking out job websites. It’s discouraging for the unemployed middle aged patron as well.   A young woman plays games on the computer, killing time until she has to go see her doctor.  Just a checkup she says, but you see the questions in her eyes.   I wish I could make it all better for all of them.

A grandmother comes in with one of her grandchildren. She wants a book on aerobics. A book? Why not a DVD? No, just a book. I can’t find one specifically on aerobics, but I find one on walking, and one on Yoga and she seems happy. I’d think chasing after grandchildren would be aerobic enough!

Another older college student, this one needs stuff on anatomy and physiology. I’m working in a small branch today, not much on our shelves, but lots of stuff in our reference section. He’s happy with that.

And of course the movies. Movies being checked in and checked back out just as fast. Seemed like hundreds of movies, might have been. With the occassional book thrown in, just to make me happy.

Libraries. Here’s hoping we never have to live without them.

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Katie has multiple pee-mail addresses

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Reilly the Cowspot Dog has requested that we search out and record our regular “pee-mail” locations from our walks.  So Katie and I set out to her favorite park to check the mail.  So to speak.  We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day.  The park hasn’t been mowed yet this season, so we had fields and fields of beautiful yellow dandilions!  What a photo opportunity!

But wait…I digress..we were here to find all the pee-mail that had been left for Katie’s enjoyment.  So we checked out her favorites:

katie-1521 First there is the ever popular garbage can.  It’s hard to say if she was looking for messages from her doggie friends, or snacks left over from the little kids who play softball here.  But it’s a must to always check out these garbage cans.

Then of course another really good place to investigate is under the bleachers.  You just never know what you’ll find under there…could be a whole sandwich for heavens sake!   katie-1519

And of course it’s imperitive to check out all the trees.  Those almost always have a message from a friendly dog or two.  katie-1512

And these flowers look promising…  katie-1538

But the most reliable for doggie pee-mail reception is this big rock that we have to stop at every trip to the park.  There is ALWAYS something very important left there.  A girl can’t ignore the message on this rock, it’s so very obvious!  katie-1542

All in all, a pretty successful sniffing adventure…at our local softball park!

Please Mom, can we come again?  Huh? Huh?  Please?!!!

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StopBiggerTrucks.org

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The gist of my statement at last Monday’s press conference was to ask for people to go to our new website: http://www.StopBiggerTrucks.org and sign a petition to continue the freeze initiated in 1991 on the size and weight of semi trucks. If you’re interested in this issue, please go to that website, look around, and if you can, sign the petition. Below are some of the comments I made Monday morning to the press:

Good morning.  My name is Dawn King and I am here today along with my siblings to honor my father, William H. Badger, who was 75 years young when he was killed two days before Christmas 2004.  He was stopped in traffic when a tractor-trailer driver fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into his car.

My dad was a husband, a father, a brother, a friend and a colleague.  He was a world traveler and life long learner, he was interested in everything, and shared the things he knew and the stories he lived with us all.  He was everyone’s handyman, comfort and support; everyone was his friend.  And his friends called him Bill.

Since my family’s tragic loss I have joined CRASH — Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways.  I am now on it’s Board of Directors and I have been part of our First Response team to assist other grieving truck crash victims.

The American public needs to know that the American Trucking Association is once again pushing Congress to increase the weight and size limits of trucks on our highways and bridges.  If the ATA gets its way, the current 80,000 pound limit will increase to 97,000 pounds.  That’s a 21% increase.  They won’t tell you that history has repeatedly shown that truck size and weight increases do not result in fewer trucks on our highways.  They also won’t tell you that the engines needed in these heavier and more dangerous trucks produce more pollution than today’s standard tractor-trailers.

Between 2003 and 2007 alone, 535 people were killed in truck crashes in Michigan.  To our elected officials who we entrust with our lives we say, you can change our laws, but you can’t change the laws of physics.  We know that bigger and heavier trucks will result in more damage to our roads and bridges and more deaths and devastating injuries to people who attempt to share the roads with these big rigs.

Let’s not forget the I-35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis in 2007 that killed 13 unsuspecting people, injured an additional 145 people, and horrified our entire nation.

Today, an estimated 162,000 of the nation’s 600,000 bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.  As Congress makes a decision on the next federal surface transportation act, they should consider this:  Will giving into the truck lobby cause more or less damage to our nation’s network of highways and bridges that we as taxpayers pay to repair?  Will bigger trucks mean more or less death and disabling injury?

We all know the answers to these questions.  That is why I am here to stand with other daughters, sons, sisters, brothers, mothers and fathers who are turning their sorrow to strength to make sure that decisions made by our lawmakers in Washington this year are truly in the public’s interest.

Please visit StopBiggerTrucks.org to sign the petition in support of the Safe Highways and Infrastructure Protection Act – known as SHIPA, to freeze truck size and weight limits at the current level.  The SHIPA legislation is endorsed by the truck drivers of the Owner-Operators Independent Drivers Association and the Teamsters, by environment groups like Environment America, and by safety organizations like CRASH, Parents Against Tired Truckers and the Truck Safety Coalition.

We also know that public opinion is on our side.  So, please go to StopBigger Trucks.org and let your voice be heard so that together we can draw a bold line in the pavement against bigger and heavier trucks.  Before it’s too late.

Thank you.

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Homeward bound

I leave in a few minutes, taking the metro to the airport. This year I feel better about my experiences at our “Sorrow to Strength” conference. Maybe it’s because we had a specific issue to fight for; freezing the size and weight of big rigs. Maybe it’s the Senate bean soup I had for lunch yesterday in the Senate basement cafe. I don’t know. I’ll think about it on the flight and let you know.


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Here in DC it's raining

It’s raining here in DC.  Outside and in our hearts.   We’ve attended two days of meetings with other grieving families. We’ve learned a lot about pending trucking legislation.   We’ve hugged a lot. We’ve cried a lot.

We’re headed off now to meetings on the Hill. I’m doing a press conference this morning which makes me nervous, but I remember Dad, and he makes me strong.

I’ll tell you all about it when I get back home. It’s sad, it’s empowering, it’s confusing, sometimes it’s overwhelming. Always Dad is in my heart.


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May, my favorite month

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Who can’t love the month of May?  The flower vendors are putting their flats of annuals out and you can still dream about the beautiful gardens you’ll have; the overflowing pots filled with beautiful colors, the luscious vegetables ripe for the picking, the roses bug free, the arborvite not yet consumed by the neighborhood deer.  There is just so much hope before the weeds begin to fill in the blanks, the rodents begin to dig up your bulbs, the rain ceases and the dust begins.  I love the optimisim of May.

I’m headed out very early tomorrow morning for D.C.  Wish us well!  I’ll tell you all about it when I get back.

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Squirrel alert!

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I’m Katie, the ever-vigilant squirrel hating dog.  I can never rest.  Now that it’s spring the squirrels are back!  They could be anywhere!  Just anywhere I tell you!  It’s madness!

What’s that you say?  Stop barking?  Get off the chair?  Are you crazy?  Don’t you know that if you let your guard down for ONE MINUTE those squirrels will be back?  And you just never know what they may do next!  Climb a tree!  Scamper across MY lawn!

Awww…OK, I’ll get down.  But it’s your risk if they get by me.   I’m telling you, it’s a bad decision to make me get off this chair.  They’re sneaky, those squirrels, could be anywhere.  Probably are eating MY birdfood right this minute.  They know when I’m around, yes siree they sure do.  Can’t be nearly as effective if you curtail my tools.  Silly humans.

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Can’t expect me to keep track of those guys when I can’t see out the window…..HEY! SQUIRREL ALERT!!!   Don’t worry guys, I’m still on the job!  SQUIRREL ALERT!  SQUIRREL ALERT!  MAYDAY MAYDAY!

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Can’t keep a good dog down.  No siree, always on the job, that’s me.  Hope they appreciate it.  Might be a biscuit in it for me if I do a really good barking job.  Hmmm…  gonna ask for a raise, yes I am.  This kind of work makes a girl hungry.  Should be getting more food at supper.

And another thing.  What’s up with no dessert for dogs?  Gotta check with my union rep.  Yep, sure do.  Oh no…there’s ANOTHER ONE!

Squirrel alert!  Squirrel alert!  Gather round guys, they’re out there.  They’re everywhere.  Stand guard!  I’ll take care of them, let me at em!

Sigh.  I know, I know…get off the chair.  Geeze.

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Holy springtime Batman!

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Wasn’t it just last week that we had snow?  OK, maybe two weeks ago tops?  And it’s been icky and cold and rainy since.  Then we got one or two days of warm weather and while I wasn’t paying attention spring appears to have sprung!

This morning Katie and I went on a little yard reconnaissance to see what we could see.  First off, out near the mailbox our creeping phlox has little pink buds!  Yesterday there were only small green nubs easing up out of the cold wet soil.  I’m sure of it.  And the peonies that were planted a couple of years ago?  A day or so ago there was no sign of them.  This morning?  Well, see for yourself:

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And my violets are blooming,  trees-9371 as is the bleeding heart that had only just sprouted out of the ground last time I checked.  Even the red bud tree is in bud!  trees-940

Everywhere we looked we saw signs of spring.  Katie had a wonderful time, such wonderful things to smell!  trees-933 I tried not to look at the dandelions flourishing in among the chosen plants.  trees-9421 Have to get cracking or I’ll be overrun again this summer!

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