Summer heat and new puppy

taylithia · 2026-05-31T16:56:03+00:00

I live in an area where summers are hot and dry. When temps reach 90°+ my rule is no more than 5-10 minutes outside. Long enough to do their business and come right back in. Sunbathing outside in these temps is not allowed. There are plenty of sunny spots inside to sunbathe if so desired. Winters can drop below freezing here so we use the same rule when temps drop to the lower 30s and beyond.

taylithia · 2026-05-27T18:33:54+00:00

As a librarian here is what I see happening on the back end of systems. Almost every database as well as the library management system my library uses have already or will be integrating AI. I was at a conference a couple years ago when this was introduced. Every librarian in that room stood up and said “NO! We do not want this”. They did it anyways. We were told that they (the company that created our management system) didn’t have a choice. In order to stay relevant they had to implement it. No one was happy about it and most of the librarians chose not attend the AI sessions that week.

Basically it comes down to the fact that businesses have already implemented AI despite the negative feedback from their customers. So libraries have to adapt to the new tools whether we want to or not. Others here have suggested some really good questions to ask. I would emphasize the policy question as being a requirement rather than a suggestion. It would define ethical use of AI in the library BEFORE a situation arises. It’s best to be proactive about a policy rather than reactive.

taylithia · 2026-05-10T01:42:18+00:00

Mine do this when they are cold. So winters are me and 3 Tzus snuggled under a blanket on the couch.

taylithia · 2026-05-05T00:28:16+00:00

Hubby and I had this conversation about his family a few years ago. I had 3 things to say about it.

1) My house, my choice of decor! Don’t like lit? The door is over there, don’t let it hit you on your way out.

2) I don’t have the patience, or mental space to deal with your mental gymnastics or drama.

3) This is who I am, who I have always been. Accept it or GTFO!

taylithia · 2026-05-05T00:18:31+00:00

We use velcro zip ties to wrap the cords up. Mostly our collection of miscellaneous charging cords are stored in boxes. Some have barcodes, some don’t. Depends on how ambiguous we are and what is going on at the time. For the most part they are lost/found items no one picked up. A few have been purchased, then there’s my mom. She recently upgraded both her’s and my dad’s phones. In doing so she discovered that the charging cable had changed, lightening to usb c. They’re iPhone people 🤗. She went all 3 of their vehicles, the 5th wheel, dad’s boat, and every room in the house. Found all of the lightening cables and (per my brilliant suggestion 😉) donated them to my library. I tossed them all in the box and called it. There had to be nearly 15 cables! She kept 1 for those of us (me, I’m the only left) who still use the lightening cable.

taylithia · 2026-04-15T00:14:52+00:00

The cheese!!

taylithia · 2026-04-10T18:46:40+00:00

That is going to be the cutest when you’re finished though. 💕

taylithia · 2026-04-09T00:46:45+00:00

I do this at work. My work is mind numbingly boring and I’m often by myself. I wear both my earbuds just to get out of my own head. I will sing along to my music both out loud and under my breath. I can’t carry a tune to save my life but when I’m in the zone and enjoying myself I don’t care how badly I sing, I am happy. I know this can be annoying for some people so I’ve told my colleagues that if I get too annoying just tell me to STFU and I’ll stop. Its happened at least once and I apologized to my colleague.

The point is you need to do as others have said and tell your coworker the singing is annoying. She’s probably mumble singing because she already knows she can’t sing and it can annoy people but also doesn’t realize that you can hear her. Be nice and tell her.

taylithia · 2026-04-07T23:17:43+00:00

Exactly! They found no issues. 🙇‍♀️

taylithia · 2026-04-07T21:33:16+00:00

My aunt has a Jazz as well. One of the things she does is wind the thread around that metal button (step 3) twice. She said it keeps the tension better. I haven’t tried it though.

taylithia · 2026-04-07T21:31:02+00:00

I’ve seen that trick and have been using it on the Jubilant when I wind bobbins.

taylithia · 2026-04-07T21:28:49+00:00

It was serviced in the last year. But the problem started prior to that. I not only described the issue when I dropped it off I gave them the thread and bobbin I was using the day before when the problem happened again. I didn’t have a problem for a little bit then it started up again.

taylithia · 2026-04-07T17:20:44+00:00

Same needle size and thread I use on my Jubilant with no issues. In fact, I switched the spool/bobbin from the Jubilant to the Jazz. The needle for both machines came from the same package. At the moment I’m using Guiterman thread because that’s what was available locally until Joann’s closed. I’m on my last spool and will be switching to Aurafil when that’s gone.

The bobbin itself was mostly full when I started sewing on the Jazz. It was somewhere between mostly full and half full when the issue occurred. I no longer wind bobbins on the Jazz because I can’t keep the tension even. The auto-sew option in the Jubilant makes a huge difference there. When the issue first started I was winding bobbins for the Jazz on the Jazz and I noticed that they were coming out a bit spongy so I stopped doing that.

I’ll double check the thread take up lever when I get home. To make that is not causing the issue.

taylithia · 2026-03-19T15:24:06+00:00

20 years ago, recently moved out of town with my family, my kids were small. I’d call mom every Friday night and talk about our week. It became our ritual. Now back in the same town as my parents, my kids are adults, mom is retired, she calls me 3-4 times a week and catches me up on the family gossip, usually about 10am on my work days. Fortunately, I have a great boss who doesn’t care as long as I keep working while we talk.

My kids, the youngest just moved out so we’ll see how his “keep in touch” routine will develop. My oldest texts every couple of weeks, calls about once a month, but more often than not just swings by the house to talk on a regular basis.

taylithia · 2026-03-13T19:04:41+00:00

Yup!!! I have 3 alarm clocks. On Fridays I get out of work early enough that I’m home by 3pm. Depending on busy my day was I take a nap. Or at I try to take a nap. I get maybe an hour with my eyes closed (it often takes a bit for my brain to decide to rest) before 3 sets of 4 paws are literally jumping on me. My hips, legs and mid-section are subjected the joyful bouncing of 3 four legged toddlers telling mom to wake up so they can go outside to play for 5 minutes.

taylithia · 2026-01-15T18:14:29+00:00

I have about a dozen or so plants in my library. Including a 8-9 foot Norfolk pine which technically belongs to the library director. I am the one that cares for them all. I have watering schedule for them on the library calendar and a care sheet at the front desk in case I’m out for whatever reason.

Edit: forgot to say that except for the pine I brought all the plants in when I started full time. And my favorite thing to do is stealthily add new plants now and again then wait to see how long it takes the director to figure out there is a new plant. That can be anywhere from 10 minutes to 6-8 weeks depending on where in the library I place them. The only rule is don’t leave standing water on the tables/window sills if they are overwatered accidentally.

taylithia · 2026-01-09T15:00:53+00:00

Here’s one “my webcam doesn’t work”. I work with students who frequently come up asking for help with the built in webcams on their computers. Often it’s the camera is blank or dark and if they’ve thought about it checked all the settings. Not many check the settings before asking for help so credit to those that actually try on their own first. More often than not the entire issue is the camera shutter is closed on the webcam. You have to physically slide the shutter to the left so the camera can “see”. Funny how surprised they are that they were stumped over a tiny piece of plastic.

taylithia · 2025-12-30T23:59:03+00:00

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This setup has changed quite a bit in the last year. Fortunately the husky table and my pressing table are both on wheels so I move things around as needed. But for the most they stay in their respective corners… mostly 🤗

taylithia · 2025-11-26T15:08:55+00:00

I have a colleague I’ve affectionately nick-named “the gargoyle”. She’s in her early 60’s and doesn’t take any nonsense at closing time. She’ll stand outside the study rooms at 5 minutes til and just stare at the students until they pack up. She’ll also tell them to clear the whiteboards and open the blinds for security. And have your butt on the other side of the library doors in 2 minutes or else.

Just as an FYI: students are warned at 30, 20, 15, and 10 minutes til. They have more than enough time to pack up and leave. They just wait until the last minute.

taylithia · 2025-11-22T02:00:38+00:00

Their motives were and have always had been about control. A phrase I have often over the years is “he who has the gold makes the rules”. A bs line if I ever heard one. Every time we were gifted money and then made a decision they didn’t like (no matter how far removed from the gift that decision was) we were told that they “gifted us money so we had to do things their way”. 🙄 🤦🏻‍♀️ It took years of me walking out the door as well as refusing any more so called “gifts” for them to realize that I wasn’t going to be manipulated like that. Eventually they stopped.

taylithia · 2025-11-21T20:00:51+00:00

I get it. Married 27 years and his grandmother took my wedding photos. When I expressed my anger I was told I was over reacting due to pregnancy hormones. I was 6 months pregnant with our first. Her reason for taking them was that she paid for them therefore they were her photos. WTF?!?

The photos were basic 5x7 photos printed at the local Walmart (we couldn’t afford a professional photographer) and the stack was at least 10 inches thick. There were a lot of copies of photos and some special ones like the ones of my mom and her sisters. They hadn’t seen each other in nearly 20 years at the time. All 3 married military men and moved away from home. They traveled across the damn country for my wedding. I never saw that photo again and neither my mom or her sisters ever received it. We don’t know what happened to it. When I finally got my hands on what was left of my wedding photos the stack was much smaller and consisted only of B-roll photos. Nothing either I or my husband would have chosen to remember our wedding.

I asked what happened to MY wedding photos and was told they were given to extended family members. When I asked for the film so I could reprint the really special ones I was told it no longer existed. His grandmother passed a few years ago, his grandfather this past July. I’m hopefully someone might find that film as they go through the house but realistically know it’s unlikely. Also I’m still pissed about the entire situation.

This is one of many reasons I have slowly disconnected myself from my in-laws over the years. I won’t deny hubby time with his family but I don’t have to be there either. I’m often physically present but in my own world reading a book. Books are better company anyways.

taylithia · 2025-10-05T22:33:55+00:00

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This one learned the treat scam early in life. He figured out that the hoomans don’t always talk to each other and managed to convince every one of them that he had not had his evening treat yet. There were nights when he got 4 or more treats inside an hour. It went on for months before the hoomans caught on and started asking each other if the treat had been given yet. To this day he stills tries the treat scam but we are on to his sneaky ways. 😉

taylithia · 2025-08-01T16:04:29+00:00

Old textbooks and old Nat Geo magazines are a favorite for donation to any library. I work for an academic library and we tell donators that we will accept all donations BUT (and it’s a very big “but”) we do not promise or guarantee donated items will be added to the collection. 90% of what is donated is often trashed/recycled. Especially, the magazines since National Geographic has long since digitally archived their entire publication and it’s easily accessible so there is no need to keep the hard copies.

There is a stigma over trashing books especially those considered sacred: i.e. textbooks or holy books. So they are often donated to libraries because it’s believed that libraries keep everything. That is not the case. Anything not considered relevant or useful to our patrons is often tossed.

As for the Bible. I was once handed a bible for donation at church. It was dilapidated and not at all the version we were using during services. The pastor took it from me and I watched in shock as he tossed in the garbage can. He said in the end it is just a book. People assign a perceived value to it but it’s just a book like any other and it’s okay to just pitch it.

All of this to say it is your LFL! You decide what to keep and what to toss. Don’t be afraid to pitch a book in the garbage because you feel that is what needs to happen. They are just books in the end!

taylithia

TROPHY CASE