Easter Break Begins

Yay! Easter break!

What you don't know what that means? Well, here in the UK they separate terms into trimesters, which sounds like what CNM does, but not really. Salford has a Fall, Spring, and Summer term. Technically I just finished the Spring term, so naturally once school is out, Manchester celebrates with a bit of snow for three days straight. Oh goody.

The snow would have been enough to keep me from going out and partying like crazy (because that is so high on my list of things to do anyway) BUT a more important reason is that I have a temp job for over the Easter break. I'm working at the University of Salford's library. My responsibilities including finding books, pulling books, moving books, reshelving books, and data entry. Picture it.

The alarm is set for 7:15. I look at the clock. It's 6:50. Close enough, I get out of bed get dressed. It's 7:10. Hmmm, I play Sudoku until it is time to leave for the bus...7:45. I walk outside.
I go back inside. It's really, really cold. I grab my scarf and hat, take a deep breath and go outside again. I walk quickly but that doesn't make the busses arrive faster. The first one arrives quickly. When I hop off to catch the 50, that one takes a while. I worry a bit about being late but I left myself time to get lost or take the wrong bus. I've been to the library before, I pass the school once a week, but you don't want to be late on your first day.

I arrive at the library twenty minutes early. Cool. I take a seat and spend that time regaining feeling in my fingers...and play Sudoku. I wonder if I'm addicted. I play another puzzle.

It's 9:00 AM! I find my bosses, tucked away in the staff room. We say hi, they introduce me to a fellow temp. We say hi. My boss gives us the grand tour of the library. Today we are going to be going through a list, finding journals on the list and moving them downstairs to storage shelves for a company they've hired to then move to another building across the street. Sounds simple enough. Before we are set loose we are given a safety lesson in how to safely pick things up. There was a term for it, but I've forgotten it.

Basics : Don't reach, grab a stool.
Hold things close to your center of gravity (your waist).
Don't twist your back when moving objects.
Lift with your KNEES, not with your back.

Now you too can safely help your library send books and journals to storage! ;) Provided they want you to....

Training is done at about 10. We take a long break then dive in.

Pulling.
Carting.
Reshelving.
Pulling.
Carting.
Reshelving.
Pulling, hey they have journals on that?
Carting.
Reshelving.

And so the day went.

I enjoyed my first official lunch break in a very long time. I bought a sandwich at the café and a coke. I watched youtube videos of the piano guys...and yes, I played another Sudoku puzzle. I don't have a problem.

End of the day, I was tired but happy. I had cool bosses, nice coworkers, and I spent the whole day surrounded by books! This job is perfect. I will be working two days a week through Easter break. If they like me maybe they will let me know next time they need some temp help, or they'd give me a good reference so I could do part time work at a public library. I really do love books. This was my first day :D

This is all I have to say this week. Now you know I'm still alive. Talk to you next week, but I may update it late since it's Easter and all....ttyl!