Weather Break: A View from my window

The radio just played "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" and is now playing "Who Says You Can't Go Home?" ... huh, who says D.J.'s don't have a sense of humor?

After fighting my way through the frozen tundra and arriving at work on time this morning, classes were cancelled fifteen minutes later. This announcement was followed by notification of campus offices closing (a message received 30 minutes after the closing was an accomplished fact). Alas, we remain open with a skeleton crew.

The picture above is the main street outside the library. Yes, there is a road there; it's behind the second row of trees, before the white house. I am hoping someone clears it in the next few hours before I clean off my car and fight my way home again. I love winter.

Let the sun shine

Day two of the weekend snow event featured sunshine; after springing ahead I was awakened by the tell-tale sound of the back alley being plowed. The sun and noise were both welcome. It was became obvious I would have to locate my shiny new snow shovel, remove the snow pushed against the garage door holding my car hostage, and find the front sidewalk.

The alley and garage? Not so bad. For the first time since moving in, my neighbor had garaged his vehicle (I'm not bitter) and with little effort I was able to happily toss the snow into the alley to melt in the sunlight. As you can see by the first photo, the front sidewalk was another matter altogether; a foot of snow awaited. With the bright morning sun keeping me company, I shoveled out my door and down to my neighbors house. My other neighbor has a small dog, a shih tzu, that closely resembles my sister's first dog. Every morning at 5:30 am she sends it out to the back patio to "go potty." My back patio was a foot deep in snow and all I could think of was that poor thing sitting in the house with crossed legs. Praise be the snow was deep, but light.

I finished in time to see the opening play of NBC's hockey game of the week, the NHL on NBC, featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals. This was the second NBC game to feature the Pens (the first on New Year's Day). Next Sunday the Pens play the Philadelphia Flyers.

The second photo? Looking out one of my upstairs bedroom windows between the first and second period of said hockey game I noticed someone had not only shoveled their sidewalk, but had also a path to, and around, the front yard tree! Now that's ingenuity.


Let the sun shine!

Spring break ... let it snow?

More lovely snow accumulations today were accompanied by cold temperatures (it's 7 degrees right now), poor visibility, and blizzard conditions. Since I have that family gene, I took a plethora of photographs - including one outside of my garage with a bright yellow ruler - that have already been loaded to my computer.

After talking with many members of my family today, two in Ohio and two in Pennsylvania, I seem to be the only looking out the front window at snow. The PA family branch members have less than an inch. The Ohio relatives, one south near Marietta and one actually more a Michigan relative (near Toledo), were reporting the same.

I told them to call me back when they had some snow. Please.

With level two and level three snow emergencies surrounding the area, tomorrow is destined to be a day for digging out. Out of state travel and driving plans are still on hold; tentatively scheduled for Monday morning after rush hour. A few minutes ago I actually heard cars on the front street. So either the snow emergency has been lifted or the county/city is actually getting to the street.

I really should take some time and read a few of the books I brought back from Midwinter ...

A view of Spring Break

Today students were gleefully departing campus for points unknown, probably somewhere south to beaches, warm water, and places that serve pretty drinks with umbrellas, to celebrate spring break. This is the sight in their rear-view mirrors; one more snow storm bashing the area with predictions of a foot of snow before it is finished tomorrow evening.



My own plans, though no less important, are much less exotic. A week of vacation time for a quick trip home will begin later than planned due to the outside festivities. Luckily I have plenty of food staples at home and will not need to fight for milk, bread, or toilet paper at the local market. Midwest weather is a funny thing in late February, early March. We have had more snow in the last three weeks than throughout most of the winter.

About now I wouldn't mind a tart green salt-rimmed beverage of my own.

Lunchtime snow blogging

When I left work last evening my student workers had snow day, or at least cancelled class, visions dancing in their fevered minds. Unwilling to blithely dash their hopes, I simply mentioned the library rarely closes and I would contact them should hours be affected by the forecasted snow storm. Not helping matters is year anniversary of last February’s snow storm that did indeed close campus on Valentines Day looms.

Today, unwilling to brave the elements, I brought lunch and enjoyed a Mexican Weight Watcher's entree and Valentine's Day Hershey hugs/kisses at my desk while composing this post. Two or three inches of snow are on the ground, nothing spectacular, but snarky comments are abound following web postings of several branch campuses cancelling evening classes. Winter storm warnings issued predict three to five additional inches this evening mixed with freezing rain and sleet. Tomorrow is another day fraught with shining possibilities of a day off.

On to my consistent updates regarding the new web site; I have determined using Google calendar feeds to create a non-Google widget is relatively useless. Instead, yesterday I flirted with the unthinkable. Why not just use Google Calendar as our library calendar? I can link to the calendar from the library web page, or use the Google calendar widget and embed a large version on the library web page (allowing for the templates). The only problem with this proposition is design related specific to entering events on the Google Calendar. After selecting a date, the event box asks "what" the event is and which calendar it belongs on before creating the event. Great in theory, and making quite a bit of sense, this is marred by the fact that if you enter anything in the "what" box even remotely resembling time, it sets your event to start at that time, last an hour, and displays the time next to the event. Great, but if you are entering hours into the "what" box a duplicate of the opening time displays. For example, the image displayed here shows the event box and hours posted below; it says 7:45 7:45 am to Midnight.

Since having hours of operation displayed on every day of the week was desired, this creates a conundrum. Do we ignore the display (NO!) or look further to make it better even if it means the hours are not visible (YES)? I decided to name the event "Library Hours" and set it as an all day event. Then, the "when" displays as the date and I was able to add a time element to the event description (see second image). It is still interactive; patrons can click on any given day and see the hours. Furthermore, we can now add different elements to the calendar; specific reference instruction classes, resource center tours, and library events are all possibilities. This option makes it easy for anyone (with permission) to add an event and expands the aforementioned possibilities into circulation information like electronic reserves due dates. I now have two different uses of the calendar to present to the group and have both of them posted.

The library 2.0 stuff is great, but there definitely comes a time when a decision needs to be made; just because we can add interactive components to the web site does not mean we should not pick and choose what best suits our library needs. In other words, less is more if it means clarification and usability.

Lunch is over.
The snow has stopped.
It's still bloody cold.

A Happy New Year complete with snow and hockey

Winter weather warnings, advisories, and suggestions of snow accumulation upwards of six inches possibly enhancing my holiday return trip resulted in a quick exit from the home front late this morning. Driving through rain, snow, fog, and mist was a joyous way to begin the New Year, but I was able to arrive here in time to see most of Hockey's Winter classic played this afternoon featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo, New York. Both teams wore “retro” team jerseys, the Pen’s donned baby blue ones I had never actually seen worn in a game before today (I’m a Lemieux era fan). The game itself was vastly entertaining; especially ending in a shoot-out. I, for one, was just happy to see the Pen’s play hockey!

• Crosby has outdoor experience
• Pens win winter classic in a shootout
• A reader’s guide to the Winter Classic
• Sidney’s star shines bright in Buffalo
• Penguins beat Sabres 2-1
• 2007 Winter Classic Photo Journal

I have one day of vacation remaining that will allow me to unpack at my leisure and relax tomorrow ... and shovel snow if necessary. If the forecasted snow is not realized, I will be highly irritated (okay, pissed) at missing prime shopping opportunities (with coupons), a nice lunch of requisite sauerkraut and kielbasa (pork for New Years), and an undoubtedly wonderful nap. Happy New Year!

Tags: NHL Winter Classic, Pittsburgh Penguins, NHL

HP5, dog food, & ice cream

Tuesday after work I rushed out to buy Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix; one for me (regular wide-screen) and one for my dad (2 DVD set) for Christmas. After dinner that evening I relaxed watching HP5 and was transported back to Hogwarts for year five. I have enjoyed each of the preceding HP movies, first in the theater then on DVD, and all have had a different "something" about them. However, HP5 is the first one that after leaving the theater I remarked to my dad that had I not read the book, it would have been confusing.

Like the book, the movie becomes not only a bridge between the beginning and end of the series, but also between HP as young boy and HP as a young man. It becomes obvious adults in the wizarding world while opting to protect the young, are in many ways inhibiting their growth. I spent time again this evening watching the end of the movie, attempting to catch some dialogue that was difficult to hear over the music accompanying the scenes; Ron really needs to speak up and Luna, though effectively childlike and wize, has a voice that could cut glass. Casting remains consistently on-target; the actress who plays Dolores Umbridge is a complex mixture of perky kindergarten teacher and evil personified ("I really hate children, you know") and Lucius Malfoy, my favorite bad guy, is the epitome of arrogant.

Though, I must admit Snapes has one of the best quotes (aside from Hermonie telling Ron he has the emotional depth of a teaspoon) in the movie, delivered in his customary droll tone: "However, if you do intend to poison Potter, I assure that I have the greatest sympathy."

After adjusting the audio (emphasis on less bass for the music) on my television, I watched the last hour of the movie (choosing scenes is much simpler than fast forward) a short while ago taking a break from baking and weather forecasts of gloom, doom, and blizzards. I still am unable to understand what Ron says to Harry and Hermoine when explaining how they escaped from Umbridge's office, but have learned the first wave of snow has passed through Northeastern Ohio and we are now bracing for the second batch of weather containing the ultimate "mixed bag" of precipitation. Approximately four inches of snow is laying on the ground and it sounds as if we have entered the freezing rain portion of the evening (it's pinging off of the existing snow).

In a brief moment of clarity, I remembered to purchase a snow shovel this morning so I will not have to use my small garden shovel to clear the path to the alley behind my garage. I also learned something new; we always discuss how predictions of snow storms drive the populace to the grocery store for milk and toilet paper. Today the cashier at the grocery store set me straight, what people buy when a snow storm is forecasted is - wait for it - ice cream and dog food. Yes, ice cream and dog food. Seems they kept an informal record at the store one winter and those were the results. I hated to disappoint her as I had neither in my cart, but she gave me a pass since I did have toilet paper.

I am kind of wishing I had some ice cream.

View from my window ...

The last day of class and we are enjoying the second winter snowfall to hit in three days. It is really a lovely view of the snow covered campus from my office window, but scraping my car has already gotten old.

The End, Not a Box, and snow

After blithely (okay, it bordered on snarky) noting that I never get a "snow day" from work, yesterday was the first. Over a foot of snow fell in our fair metropolis and while I was prepared for a day of leisure reading, other things (like snow removal and a nap) took precedence. Today the sun is shining, the birds are singing, and we continue to dig out from under the flakes.

Because I have that "camera gene" from my father's side of the family, I naturally put a bright yellow ruler in my front yard and photographed the snow fall amount for posterity. That same gene compelled me to bring my camera to work today and take a few shots around campus. With the aforementioned sun shining, it really was quite beautiful. I found the "keep off grass" signs, surrounded by snow and already pelted with a snow ball, humorous.

A morning full of meetings put me behind, again, on my book reviews for the IRC blog. Promising myself I would do at the least one review a week has fallen by the wayside on more than one occasion. Today I picked up two of my current favorites. The End, by David LaRochelle, was first. I am not familiar with LaRochelle's work, but soon learned I had purchased several titles for the library including Absolutely Positively Not, The Best Pet of All, and Bookstore Valentine. What drew me to the book were the pictures; I am a fan of Caldecott winning illustrator Richard Egielski. To me, the art in this book is very Sendak-ish.

“Once upon a time a clever princess decided to make a big bowl of lemonade.” Or so the story ends? This charming fairy tale has a unique twist; it begins with the traditional happily ever after and ends once upon a time. Led through a series of surprising events with the princess are a brave knight, a fire breathing (yet artistic) dragon, an angry giant, and a kingdom of delightful characters who all contribute as each aspect of the story is revealed. Text on each page is hand lettered calligraphy on parchment colored banners, complimenting richly colored double page spreads. Illustrations are filled with artistically whimsical good humor, deftly highlighting each separate incident; the “enormous tomato” and laughing forest of trees will surely elicit laughter. A great addition to lessons on fairy tales or a classroom read-aloud, students will enjoy predicting what might come next, “because …”

The second book, Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, caught my attention when I picked it up; I am very tactile oriented (don't get me started on having to touch fabrics when shopping) and this book not only looks like a box, it feels like a cardboard box. Actually, it reminds me of middle school and high school when we covered our books with brown paper bags to protect them. If you remember that, you know what this books cover and end papers feel like. Luckily, the book lives up to it's textures and a visual level as well. After discussing the book with a student, remember I work with a lot of education students, she ordered it online while I was at lunch. Not a bad recommendation.

A rabbit and his plain brown cardboard box are featured in this witty story of childhood imagination. Readers are introduced to a rabbit, starkly drawn in black and placed on an uncluttered white page, which at first glance appears to be sitting in an empty cardboard box. Turn the page and learn it is not a box, but a race car, a robot, or a pirate ship! Pages featuring drawings of rabbit’s imagination are inked in red, perfectly juxtaposed over the original box drawing, and presented on a creamy yellow background. Simple text of questions and answers allow the wonderful imagination of rabbit to be the focus of this story. Children will enjoy answering the questions in their own words as they follow rabbit on his adventure. This book definitely answers the unending adult question, “Why are you sitting in a box?” Bring in various sized boxes to class and use this book as a culminating activity.

Tags: David LaRochelle, Richard Egielski, The End, Antoinette Portis, Not a Box, Juvenile fiction, Picture books

An now, the weather

A small break to complain about the cold and make note of a few human oddities:

Yesterday, I stopped at the local Drug Mart to purchase a small space heater for the living room. With negative degree's forcasted over much of northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania, it seemed like a good idea. I found a little ceramic space heater, reasonably priced (a relief), a very short distance away from the Easter candy display.

If the weather is below 0 degrees (it is a whopping -2 here) and the wind chill is -20, why do television stations force their meterologists to give the forcast from outside in the bitter weather?

Why did the same lovely weather people feel the need to tell us the temperature in Nome, Alaska was warmer than the current temperatures in central and northeastern Ohio? Was it to make us feel better? I think not.