Big story

It is my hope that I post this story in its entirety as fact and not opinion, to convey what has gone down. If it is my opinion, I will state it as so. Names have been changed to further avoid conflicts. Please remember that this is all my personal point of view and is therefore swayed by my opinion, as much as I try to leave my opinion out. If anyone has any problems with me or what I wrote, please e-mail me directly, do not comment anonymously mean things or the comment will be deleted. Thank you.

"Our new boss, “Chris”, arrived in early november having moved from out of state. He was very talkative. We were told to hold off programs until January in which we hoped he would settle in and be more comfortable with procedure.
For the first month or two he spent most of his time suing a used car salesman, using the library's phones for personal use, as well as the computers. He even went to another library and used the reference computer for his own personal use. He was very distractable and very forgetful. Often when sitting at the desk he would forget to pay attention to the patrons, instead looking things up on the computer or talking to one of us, who would ultimately help the patron while trying not to be rude to the boss.
He did try to be helpful when he was dealing with patrons, though he tended to disbelieve some while completely believing others. One of our best patrons, always ordering things, returned two DVDs. I wasn't there that day, but “Chris” handled the situation which was not that hard to deal with. That saturday our patron came back in and wanted to know why he was getting called about a fine. “Chris” was at the desk at the time and at first didn't remember the patron. (I don't know if it makes a difference, but this patron is black) He then checked the card and didn't seem to listen to the patron when the patron stated he had in fact returned the movies, instead wanting to know where the movies were.
I happened to see the titles of the DVDs and remembered seeing them on the hold shelf. Sure enough, they were on the hold shelf and they hadn't been checked in. So I picked them up and tried to show the boss, who ignored me for the first two times I said, "These are the DVDs." Then he was surprised. I told him he should just back date them, so he clicked on the return items button, which won't let you back date. You have to go to bookdrop for that. I had gone back to sorting books at this time and I heard him say that it wasn't working, that it wasn't letting him back date. He checked one dvd back in, which resulted in the fine still being on the patron's card. So I went back over and told him he had to use the book drop for that. So he clicked on the book drop and put in the date, but then he scanned the barcode into the date box. It came up with an error saying it was the incorrect date. He tried the same thing twice after that and wondered why it wasn't working. I told him that he had to pick the date again and then he scanned the barcode in again. We finally got it straightened out and our patron had his fines cleared.

Lincoln's birthday was a school holiday but not a county holiday. This was also before I got keys to the library. I was scheduled to come into work by 2, but I got there at 1:30. There was no one there. I waited until 2 and called the regional manager who told me that “Chris” had been in a meeting with him until 1:30 and that I should wait until 2:30. If he was still not there at 2:30, call the regional manager again. I had tried calling “Chris”' cell number but no one had answered. I had also forgotten which numbers were my coworkers (which one was supposed to come in at 3) so I couldn't call them.
So at 2:30 I called the regional again and he said that he would try to find out where “Chris” was and to give him 20 minutes. 20 minutes later, he calls back and says that “Chris” is on his way. 5 minutes to opening “Chris” pulls up and opens the library, all the while ranting about how it wasn't his fault. How was he supposed to know it was a school holiday? Nobody told him. Except that I had and so had the school librarians. Besides that, it isn't the school's responsibility to open the public library so that just doesn't cut it. He was also griping about the fact that he got in trouble with his boss and how it wasn't my fault (but I found out later he did indeed blame me). He never actually told anyone how he felt about them. He would say one thing to one person and then turn around and talk bad about them behind their back.
He talked crap about the regional manager, calling him evil and malicious. I don't know about any of you, but I've known the regional for a lot longer than I've known anyone at my library and I have never had any problem with him. He is a really nice guy even when he's chewing you out or firing you. He doesn't raise his voice and he shows that he actually cares about how you feel. So to hear “Chris” talking crap about him just made me really not like “Chris”. I hadn't even known who they were talking about until they said his name and it kind of shocked me. I know he's not perfect, no one is, but he's twenty million times better than “Chris” will ever be.
For those of you who don't know, the regional manager was only recently promoted to that position. He's the branch manager at my mom's library and that library is getting ready to move into their newly built huge library. There are three other libraries that he has to pay attention to now, including mine, so that's four libraries he's regional to and one he's branch manager to. So he has double his share of meetings to go to and three times and many people to deal with. And so he had to deal with “Chris” in the middle of all this.
“Chris” on the other hand was bad mouthing him and saying how he was out to can him (as if he had some sort of ten year unjustified grudge against “Chris”) and making it sound like you should pity “Chris” for having to deal with such a tyrant. To me he sounded like a baby. He sounded like a highschooler who just didn't want to grow up and take responsibility for his actions. Nothing was ever his fault. Out of all that time spent at our library he learned seemingly nothing about SERSI and continually screwed up patron's files.

He was enthusiastic about the YA and Children's programs and he did a program (yeah he pretty much took my job there, oh well) for the teens on guessing famous to not so famous anime characters. We had about 28 teens come for that. He also helped the children's librarian with story time and crafts.

The last saturday he worked, I think he knew he was going to get canned and I could tell in my opinion anyway, that he blamed me. He was certainly bitter about something that day and he took it out in his own way on me, verbally being politely abusive? Saying things such as, "Kudos to you for figuring out something yourself. It really helps." In a tone that makes you feel as if you have never done anything. That line and the way he said it ticked me off.
Perhaps not as much as when we were alone at the desk together and he was whining about how he was probably going to get canned and he told me that I was his last hope, his only hope and could I paint a nice picture to the regional for him? He told me, "You know I gave you a good review" and told me how he gave me all E's... insinuating what? Trying to guilt me into saying something nice or just trying to get pity? What about that last saturday when he told me, quite emotionally, that he just let this couple use his card to get onto a computer because that's just the kind of guy he is. That he likes to do nice things like that. And he was bragging about it in a whiny high school emo way.
I'm just still a little incredulous. He called me the other day (apparently an accident) and then proceeded to tell me that he was going to sue the library for $15,000 for traveling expense and that he had talked to some lawyers and they thought it would work...

I know this should be chronological, but the way I type it usually flows together preventing me from editing things in. Oh and I'm being lazy because this has taken so long to type.
Before he had met mom, I thought I had told him about her, but either I hadn't or he'd forgotten. Anyway, she had come over for one reason or another and it was busy, so we ended up getting called away from the desk leaving mom there to work it. “Chris” didn't even question this strange woman working the desk. He later told her, "I figured you knew something about libraries." As if that made it all better. He never seemed to care about the rules, as if they never applied to him.
Oh and he never could do our schedules correctly. I went in one saturday and foudn that the schedule was a complete opposite what he had told me the previous day. I had thought I had monday off, but then I found I didn't and no one had told me. Mom and I had started planning to go to the beach that monday and if I had called in sick saturday, I wouldn't have known that I was supposed to work monday, which would have screwed SO many things up!

And so that's pretty much it. I may delete this post later, as it wouldn't even be up had I not gotten so many requests.

Rachel

Sunscreen in the eyes

There was nothing to indicate getting spray on sunscreen in the eyes would cause so much trouble, but my son decided to be the exception to the rule. All over online it says to flush with water and you'll be fine in a couple days at worst. To not worry. 

Wednesday, June 22, we had family over, and someone left the spray on sunscreen either on a chair or on the floor. Canaan, my 3 year old, picked it up. I was at the table, not far, and I told him to put it down, but instead he immediately sprayed it directly into his eyes, point blank. He screamed the loudest, shrillest scream of pain I have ever heard from him and I rushed him to the bathtub as soon as possible to rinse his eyes out. I saw it coming out, it was a bit foamy and white, and my dad came in to help hold his eye open so we could rinse it completely.

Canaan couldn't handle the light so we put a blanket over his face while he cried because the pain was so bad and waited for the ibuprofen to kick in. We even tried eye drops. He faded in and out of sleep, waking up just to cry and scream in pain. I researched everything I could online, but nothing said anything about this type of reaction. Everything I read said rinsing with water would be fine, and eye drops would help, but it didn't seem to be doing anything. His left eye was swollen shut and his right eye was pink.

I eventually called the advice nurse, who transferred me to poison control, who suggested I go to the emergency department. My best friend was still awake and was able to watch Simon, my 5 year old, while I took Canaan down to emergency. When we got to emergency, they checked us in and brought us back immediately. They washed his eye out, gave him numbing eye drops and a double dose of benadryl, saying it looked like an adverse reaction to the sunscreen. They listed it as chemical conjunctivitis. They prescribed an antibiotic ointment to use four times a day and told me to use benadryl and ibuprofen as well before discharging us. They said there wasn't much we can do for this sort of thing except rinsing with water.

So we got home Thursday morning at 6, and crashed. Canaan seemed to be doing better later that day, the swelling seemed to be going down, but he was still miserable. By Saturday, I wasn't sure he was getting better and got him in to see a pediatrician, who said there wasn't much we could do, he just seemed to be having an adverse reaction, but if he was still looking bad by the next Wednesday, that they would have him see a specialist. By Tuesday, he still hadn't improved and in fact seemed to be even more sensitive to the light. He couldn't stand to see any light, and every morning he would wake up screaming in pain that his room was too bright, even though the blinds were drawn. He's since been sleeping in my room, though he complains about the tiny sliver of light coming from a corner of my blackout curtains...

I spent a lot of time on the phone trying to get him an appointment to see the specialist on Tuesday. At first they said they didn't have anything until August and told me they could put me on a waiting list to see if any cancellations might happen, and I told them that Canaan's eye might fall out by then. They then said they'd call the department and see if they could get anything sooner, but when they called back it wasn't good and I told them again that he needed to be seen asap. They then called the pediatric ophthalmologist directly and he made room in his schedule for that Thursday.

Canaan was no better by Thursday, and the ophthalmologist had a hard time looking in the eye, due to how swollen and how painful it was, but he was able to ascertain that there was something on the eye. He wasn't sure if it was just debris, or an infection. The doctor was amazing with Canaan, though, and he went right then and there said he could squeeze us into his surgery schedule the first thing next morning to get at the eye better, to remove the debris if it was that, or to get a biopsy if it was an infection.

So Friday morning, we left at 5 to get to surgery by 6, and they wheeled him in by 7:15. He'd been fine up until he had to leave me, and then he was sobbing for me. They let him bring his stuffed kitty, Phobos, in at least. It felt like a lot longer than 45 minutes waiting for the doctor to come to the waiting room, but he came and with a thing of antibiotic ointment, a different type this time, and told us what happened with Canaan's eye.

This waterproof spray on sunscreen had actually latched itself around his eye and eyelid, so despite our rinsing with water, it was there and wasn't going to come off. The doctor said he had to actually scrape Canaan's eye to get it off, but the good news is that Canaan's eye should be able to heal now and we pray there's no lasting damage to it. It's still swollen shut, and he's in so much pain still, and still cannot stand the light, but we're hoping in a few days he'll be feeling better.

There was nothing online about this. I couldn't find anything at all, except a very dramatic story Snopes deemed false in which a kid was blinded for 2 days by rubbing sunscreen in his eyes. This has been 9 days with Canaan. His vision should return to normal, but it worries me that there's no information about this. It was just the Target brand sports SPF 50 spray on sunscreen, nothing that seems like it could do that. I understand, and am thankful, that Canaan's experience is a rare one, but I wanted to let people know that it can happen, and what ends up possibly needing to be done. I have no idea what would have happened to his eye if we hadn't pushed for an earlier appointment, and we don't really know yet if everything will return to normal.

So please be careful with the spray on sunscreen, and please keep it away from kids, especially the little ones. I don't want anyone else to ever go through this, and even though I know it's rare, I don't want anyone else to be one of those rare cases.

Lineage ][ pics

Ok, I decided to post some pics of me playing Lineage ][, an MMORPG from Korea, except I play on a server from the UK. This is me kicking Butt!

This is me with my boyfriend, who has the demon sword Zariche

This is a pic of me with the demon sword Zariche!

This is a pic of me with one of my pets:

Scintillate Scintillate

Scintillate, scintillate globule aurific,
Fain would I fathom thy nature specific.
Loftily poised in the ether capacious,
Strongly resembling a gem carbonaceous.

When torrid Phoebus removeth his presence,
Ceasing to lamp us with fierce incandescense,
Then you illumine the regions supernal.
Scintillate, scintillate semper nocturnal

The traveller on lustreless perigrinations
Gratefully hails your minute coruscations!
He could not determine his journey's direction
Were it not for your scintillitative protection.

Does anyone else know this song? My mom used to sing it to me as a child
*hint* twinkle, twinkle...

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the trav'ller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark,
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.
..........................(then there are two more verses I don't know in geek speak)

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often thro' my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye,
Till the sun is in the sky.

'Tis your bright and tiny spark,
Lights the trav'ller in the dark:
Tho'I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.


and just for fun:
"Three rodents with defective visual perception,
Observe how they perambulate
They all perambulated after the agriculturist's spouse
Who severed their hind appendages with a kitchen utensil
Did you ever see such a spectacle in your existence as
Three rodents with defective visual perception"

Griffins

Hello! It's been a while since my last post, so I'm sorry. But I've been doing some work on griffins in class and I think you might enjoy seeing them. By the way, I don't know if this is what it will look like to you, but they come up as being blue on my screen. If you click on them to enlarge them, they look fine.


Hello! It's been a while since my last post, so I'm sorry. But I've been doing some work on griffins in class and I think you might enjoy seeing them.

The one that's standing on the hill I thnk I still need to work on, but the other one is coming along nicely.



This is my favorite, though. In a sense, I cheated because I traced the images in Illustrator from photographs of lions and eagles. This one's legs are from a Condor, while the other one is from a flying eagle. It wasn't too easy to find a decent picture of the legs.

Til next time, the new Library Assistant will sign off (oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I got a job!)