Where Have I Been?

As my reader may have noticed, last March my posts dwindled. Some months I posted nothing. Absolutely nothing!

Where have I been? At work, at home, visited my Mom in September. So, WTF Booktender?

I have not been twittering. Yeah, I've been wasting a lot of time on Facebook. I seem to be addicted to Yoville. God help me.

But Yoville has simply been self-medication. I am a champion at avoidance. I have had a lot to avoid. I do want to make this very clear: I do not play Yoville at work. OK? Got it? Good.

Basically, the past year has been whack. I mean it. WHACK.

LATE MARCH THROUGH APRIL

Rather not talk about it much. I was hit in the face with a frying pan that triggered some kind of bizarre PTSD thingy. Like a light switch it was from trigger to panic. Wowza. Under control now.

THE CAR

Sometime in June my car seemed to have been hit from below by an IED. Probably in the shape of a rock in the road that made the entire car shudder and pierced something important underneath. Repairs were not worth it. New car. 2 weeks later, a red-light runner hit my new car. Uninsured, of course. In July, my car was returned good as new. No injuries.

In August, something went whack with the electronics in the car. Not a recall thing. It's a Honda. Just a weird thingy. 3 weeks to repair.

In February, another red light runner hit me. WITH MY MOTHER IN THE CAR! Fortunately, this time the perpetrator had insurance. Still, another 2 weeks without my car. The repair dudes are excellent. It was returned good as new. No injuries. Nothing has happened to the car lately, so cross your fingers.

WORK

I am a public librarian. My city is in deep do-do financially. We knew in October people were going to be let go. This is not a layoff, it's let go. A billion city hearings must be held when the budget must be cut so much that this many people are let go. Even Fire and Police were hit in the original plan. My job was secure. There are only 7 librarians with more seniority. But the wait was excruciating. Those who were leaving would not know until March.

In November, I was assigned to the most confusing, byzantine system-wide project I have ever seen in 22 years of service. It lasted until April 30. Kafkaesque. Or it could have just been me. I dunno. I was so confused I didn't know if I was coming or going.

In March, my department absorbed another department and rounds and rounds and rounds of training took place and continue. Frankly, this absorption should have happened years ago. Still, what a trip. It is now a huge size. Too big to fail, too small to be its own country. Home of the monster potluck.

Late in March, remodeling began on two of the floors I cover. Carpet glue, dust, noise. And things kept shifting around. Where the hell did the reference career books go? The public review documents? For some days we did not have access to vehicle repair or law. This makes for a crabby customer, I can assure you.

In April, I gave up and got my first, and hopefully only, round of prednisone for the year. Thanks remodeling!

CAT

As I you can tell from an earlier post, my beloved Mr. Trout passed away. I realize now that he was suffering from kidney problems probably since kitten-hood. Other than a couple of shredded chairs, he was a good kitty. Mostly a paperweight, but he simply loved being present. He seemed to ponder things a lot. He was an observer. And if there's something I need, it's observation. He was 9

Miss Birdie, while accepting the loss well, has been a tad bored ever since. And I see her aging. She's fine. She'll be 10 this July.

Looking Forward

In July, we know the budget for the city will be cut again. We'll know whether branches will close, how many people will be let go, etc. late in September.

So can you blame me? I like blogging. I hope to be back to my regular blogging self real soon. And thus ends my tale of woe.