Library card

You probably have to be a total library geek like me to be excited about this like I am but I got a library card for the New York Public Library today! I found out last week that all residents of New York State and students of New York State are allowed to get a free NYPL library card (otherwise, anyone can pay $100 for one) so I wasted no time in applying and I got it already. That was so fast! There are some databases accessible to NYPL patrons that I have no experience with so I'm hoping to bulk up my resume.

Word of the day: pecuniary

adj 1: consisting of or measured in money
2: of or relating to money

My sentence using pecuniary: Although I'm currently enrolled in class for the fall semester, I may have to drop out due to pecuniary concerns.

Happenings of the last few days...

I was really bummed this weekend as I was unable to access my email for all of Sunday and all of Monday. It seemed to be a systemwide syr.edu problem because I could not access any syr.edu Web pages at all, including WebCT, which houses online classes. And, yes, the first day of class was Monday. At times like that, it makes me realize that I depend too much on my email system for not only did that limit my ability to communicate with others but, since I put all the jobs I want to apply for in an email folder and since I put all the Web sites that I use to check for jobs on WebCT, I could not access that stuff either. When I was at school and relying heavily on computer labs, it was just super convenient to put information where it is always accessible no matter what computer I'm using. Maybe now that I'm basically using only one computer, I should save stuff to a more static location.

I am currently registered for two classes for this semester but I only need one to count towards the Certificate program I'm pursuing. I am leaning towards dropping out of both, though, just because my current transient situation is so less than ideal for learning. For gosh sakes, my computer is located on a TV tray!! The one class I'm in - Human Interaction with Computers - seems pretty easy, though, so I may stick with it. Is that a horrible reason to stay in a class?

My email situation was a perfect excuse not to apply for jobs, though, and that is what I did - took a couple days off from that fruitless activity. Ironically, that doesn't stop the rejection letters from coming. I got one yesterday and another one today, neither place wanting to even waste their time interviewing me. How wonderful it is to be loved!

Make a Web site work-friendly

I'm not sure where I came across this site but it's pretty cool. It's called "Work Friendly" and all you need to do is type in a Web site's URL and it gets turned into what looks like a page of MS Word. Therefore, when your boss comes up behind you it looks like you are reading a Word document rather than reading a Web site. Ingenious!

Victoria's Secret

Approximately a month ago, I posted about the free stuff I'd been getting lately. Well, duh, I forgot a major thing: free Victoria's Secret panties. My mom or dad received a coupon in the mail for a pair of free panties and then there were two coupons in two different magazines I read recently - all in all, I got three free pairs of panties from Victoria's Secret in the last month. No purchase required. It's a pretty sweet deal, considering an individual pair of panties there is valued at $7.50.

Today, however, as I was picking up my third free pair, the salesgirl conned me into trying one of their scents. I figured I would do it since 1.) I really don't have any preferred perfume that I wear so you never know and 2.) I was getting over $22 of free merchandise from the store so the least I could do is try some lotion. She gave me some Heavenly lotion, which apparently is the #1 fragrance in America (seriously? why does that make me skeptical?). She pumped some lotion onto my hands. THEN, and this is where it got good, she pumped a DIFFERENT lotion, a thicker lotion, onto my hands over the first lotion (I assume it is the luxe lotion that is advertised on that site) - which she says sets the other lotion in place!! As if spending $20 for a bottle of lotion isn't enough, now she's telling me that I need to spend $29 extra to make sure that lotion stays in place? How crazy is that? I was totally amused. These retailers, always thinking up ways to get us to buy crap!

Word of the day: climacteric

n 1: a major turning point or critical stage
2a: menopause b: a period in the life of a male corresponding to female menopause

My sentence using climacteric: When I finally become employed as a librarian, it will be climacteric since I will actually have a profession instead of just a job.

Good idea for a blog

I was thinking that it would have probably been a good idea to have kept track of all the dozens of jobs I applied for on a blog. I could have posted the job description maybe but, at the very least, it would have been good to have posted something along the lines of "Today I applied for a job as a medical librarian at Wake Forest University." (Actually, that was last week, not today!) That way, when (if) I finally get a job, I would have a good record of all I did to get one!

I guess I could start it now but considering I've been applying to tons of jobs for the last 8-10 months (I applied for like two in November; that was the start), it would be starting pretty late in the game. And while I could probably recreate some of it, I know it wouldn't be complete. Anyway, I'm just thinking out loud, so to speak.

Treasure Hunters finale

This show that's been airing on NBC this summer, Treasure Hunters, is mostly pretty bad (I'd estimate I have seen 66% of the show anyway, however) but the finale is tonight and I caught the tail end of last week's episode and their clue told them they would be going to the Library of Congress next so yeah, way to suck a girl in. I'll definitely be watching tonight and trying to see if I recognize anyone or any place NOT because I enjoy the show or care about who wins. If they run around the Library at all, especially to places that are not normally accessible to the general public, I'm going to get a little weepy. It's been exactly a year since my internship there ended.

Ikea!

The new Ikea catalog is available online. Yay!

No power, no nothing

Our power went out around 3pm today (which, sadly to say, is pretty close to the start of my day thanks to my current sleep patterns). It didn't come back on until nearly 9pm, leaving me unable to get anything accomplished today. I wanted to do some laundry and write some cover letters and send out resumes. Well, I was kind of in the midst of narrowing the jobs I wanted to apply for when the power suddenly went out and then I just couldn't work on them without the job descriptions in front of me! Yes, I considered going to the library to work on them and I have done that before but I find it such a nuisance because they only let you use the computers for one hour and I get totally caught up constantly checking how much time I have left. Duh - I suppose I could have taken my dad's laptop to the library and used their free wi-fi (I assume they have free wi-fi, but I don't even know)... but his computer has no word processing software on it.

Anyway, I was so frustrated with it all. Plus, I was waiting for a phone call and without electricity we also have no answering machine. And for the one hour I did go out, I was certain I was going to miss the call and probably did.

I hate being dependent on electricity like that. I did finish the book I was reading and got in a 45-minute walk, though, so all was not lost. AND, it was the first day I've done any walking since my injury where I didn't come back feeling some pain. Phew, finally healed. Although that toe still doesn't bend...

Word of the day: embonpoint

n : plumpness of person : stoutness

My sentence for embonpoint: I think the Cheri Stuffed Chair from Kmart (see today's other entry) would be quite comfortable for most people; however, those with excessive embonpoint might find it lacking in support.

What's the chair stuffed with?

Kmart has a 'Cheri Stuffed Chair' for sale. Yes, I'm tempted to buy it just so I can tell everyone what it's called even though they don't ask.

Things I like, part 3: AllaboutSP.com

This Web site is awesome! While graphically it is a bit busy and the framing is enough to drive someone to drink, the content is pretty sweet for any fan of South Park. It seems pretty thorough although honestly I'm not too interested in participating in South Park forums or reading the pseudo-bios of the characters (if you can even read Kenny or Kyle's over the walllpaper). The exciting part of it all is that it features ALL episodes of South Park for streaming viewing! Not just the episodes, but also the South Park movie, early pre-show cartoons featuring the South Park guys and other rare media, like Robin Williams performing "Blame Canada" at the 2000 Oscars. Although nothing is downloadable, it all seems to be commercial-free and in pretty good shape. It's really pretty great and was a big help when I decided I wanted to catch up a bit on the show I hadn't watched since like 2002. It even has that controversial episode about Scientology that caused Isaac Hayes to leave the show. Like I said, pretty sweet.

P.S. The site is in the process of moving to an easier-to-remember URL - the one in the title of my post, AllaboutSP.com.

Things I like, part 2: Free stuff!

Who doesn't love free stuff, though? I feel like I've gotten more free stuff in the last six or seven weeks since I've been back living with my parents than I'd gotten in the last six or seven years - and I'm not even talking about the fantastic things like free room and board and a free vacation.

Let's see... first, I got a $10 coupon from Express for my birthday. While I know the idea behind the coupon is to get the person to go in the store and spend MORE than $10, I found a cute and comfy tank top for $9.99. Free tank, yay!

This week, I happened to be in the right place at the right time and got a free pass to see John Tucker Must Die, which wouldn't exactly have been my first choice of a movie to see right now but it wasn't bad. (I saw it last night.) At the movie, I picked up a free poster, too. Free movie, free poster, yay!

I filled out this online survey from Lucky magazine and they say I will get a free T-shirt, so yay! (Although, honestly, I will believe that when I see it.)

My mom had two $10 coupons to use from Kohl's and although technically she only got them after she spent $50 or more in purchases twice, she didn't want them and gave them to me. So they were free to me! And, just like Express, I'm sure they expect you to spend more than $10 each time you redeem one of them but, just like Express, I was able to find two items I wanted for less than $10 each! I got a nifty lunch bag for $9.99 (along the lines of this, although I like mine better) and a nice blouse to wear under my suits for $8.80 (should I ever have an interview!) so not only were they two free items, but they were two practical items as well. Yay!

Word of the day: desideratum

n : something desired as essential


My sentence for desideratum: A fair salary, health care and vacation days are all things I consider desideratum as I look for a job!

Things I like: Sizzlers

Not to profess my love for this new profession I've chosen, but, the county public library system where I'm living currently has these things called 'Sizzlers' which are basically new titles that are usually in heavy demand. To help patrons get these items more quickly rather than having to wait as 1,000 requests are filled (no joking, the newly released DVD Failure to Launch currently has 1280 hold requests outstanding), the library sets aside certain copies of these titles to let patrons get them by chance. There is no reserving these Sizzlers and they also need to be returned in a week. It's basically first come, first served.

Having book sizzlers is not new at all, and they're great, but now the library also has DVD and magazine sizzlers, depending on the branch. For instance, last week I was able to check out the current issues of Newsweek and Entertainment Weekly! Previously, the current issues could not be checked out at all. I'm pretty pleased by this since I love reading magazines but don't love paying money to read magazines. And with the DVDs, it's kind of a nice bonus for patrons who actually go into the library to look. I know a lot of people just request titles from their computers at home and only go to the library when they know their request has arrived. It's nice to know you might be able to catch something in just by showing up.

Word of the day: lacuna

n 1: a blank space or a missing part : gap
2: a small cavity, pit, or discontinuity in an anatomical structure

My sentence using lacuna: Cheri's blog is full of lacunas since she doesn't post every day.

Addicted

Here's hoping that admitting it is the first step...

I am addicted to Big Brother All-Stars. Like majorly addicted. It's bad enough that it's on television three nights a week but I've also realized that clips from the live feeds are constantly being added to YouTube. Like constantly. So I have literally spent hours watching these clips that wonderful, generous, just-as-addicted fans post on YouTube for the benefit of us cheapskates who do not want to pay the $40 to subscribe to the Live Feeds. I know I haven't done this in the last couple of years (especially last year when I barely even watched the show) but when I used to work in a cubicle all day, I would read written recaps of the action in the house. However, these YouTube clips are waybetter. Like way better.

So, yeah, I've been pretty good today and only watched like two clips but I'm kind of jonesing to watch more before I go to bed.

All I want

I saw this ad online earlier for a concert here with Toad the Wet Sprocket and Big Head Todd & the Monsters and I got a little excited. If I was a concertgoer and if I had $22.50 to spare (let along $35) and if I had actually read the entertainment section of a local newspaper and/or Web site recently enough to have known in advance about this concert, I might have gone! I still remember when Todd the Wet Sprocket performed outside the school cafeteria when I was an undergrad. AND, the Fear CD is the only CD that I stole from somebody when I was in college... although, technically, I didn't steal it because my roommate or a friend borrowed it and it ended up in my collection unbeknownst to me.

Word of the day: debouch

v 1: to cause to emerge : discharge
2: to march out into open ground : emerge, issue