Moving ... Aaaack!

I'm going to be a nervous wreck by the time this move happens. I've been calling and emailing movers to get estimates. The movers I used last time are booked solid, so I'm going to have to go with some new company.

What did me in was stumbling across www.movingscam.com. Oh, the horrors! Now I'm so scared I'm either going to get hosed by movers who hold my stuff hostage while trying to extort more money out of me, or hosed by movers who take frequent smoke breaks, rest breaks, etc. trying to drive up the hourly charge, or my stuff is going to be nothing more than a pile of kindling when we arrive.

I started getting butterflies last night and I really don't see them subsiding until this is all over.

Women's Health Information Kit

This week is National Women's Health Week. As part of the education effort, the FDA has compiled information on women's health, including booklets on treating depression, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol and tips on food safety. It is available for free from the Federal Citizen Information Center at www.pueblo.gsa.gov.
Get one now!

P.S. The order form includes links to the publications online if you'd rather read them in electronic form.

Eeek!

I got the job! I'm excited and scared all at the same time.

I had a lot of thinking to do over the last week. After I had the talk with my supervisor on Friday, she came to my office on Tuesday and told me that she had some plans in the works. She asked the librarian who took my previous position if she'd like to move to serials and she agreed. Then she asked my assistant if she'd like to take some reference hours to cover for the librarian taking over serials and she agreed. It was incredibly flattering that N. would make these moves for me. And they were good moves. If I decided to stay, that would be exactly what I would want. So, like I said, I had a lot of thinking to do.

I was making a list of pros and cons in my head. I was talking to friends and family and getting advice/opinions. Ultimately I decided that the only thing that really made me want to stay was fear -- fear of the unknown. That's not to say that there aren't things I will miss, and miss terribly. But moving away will be a great opportunity for me.

So, the admin from TSU called Thursday, confirmed the salary she quoted last week, and asked me to let her know Monday what day I want to start. I'm hoping it will be June 11. That will give me 3 weeks at work to finish up and a week off to get settled.

And now the fun begins: packing and moving!

The fine print

Have you seen the commercial for the new chewable birth control pill?

The spokesperson goes on about how every day is different for her so she needs the flexibility of a chewable pill so she can take her pill at the same time everyday. They show her on the street, in an office, at the gym, and at some design center type place. They show her chewing the pill and going about her business.

This implies to me that she can just pop the pill out, chew it, and go. But then in the fine print it says "Followed by a full glass of liquid." What the hell? How does that add to anyone's flexibility? You still have to have water. I'm not seeing the benefit.

She can be on the street, in an office, at the gym, and at some design center type place with a REGULAR pill, and take it just like this new-fangled one. On a second viewing, I notice that in each of the shots she has liquid nearby, but they never show her drink anything. Sneaky!

At first I was thinking that she could chew the pill on the street then drink something later when she got to her destination, but no. The website says you have to follow it immediately with 8 oz. of liquid.

If they wanted to have some integrity, they should have marketed this for women who have trouble swallowing pills. This "flexibility" angle doesn't hold water (no pun intended).

The talk

I had the talk with my supervisor, N, yesterday morning, asking if it was okay if TSU contacted her for a reference.

She agreed of course, then went on to say that she would hate to lose me. She told me to think over the weekend of what duties I'd like to have, come up with a title for it, and she'd give me that position. That is extremely flattering. However, her idea was for me to work on the current cataloger's backlog and the reclassification project that she's been sitting on for at least 10 years (I'm not exaggerating). I told her that I wouldn't feel comfortable with that.

We had a long talk about how the current cataloger, L, is not performing and how the library as a whole has been making concessions for her. I said it would be different if L were genuinely overwhelmed and couldn't handle the workload, but she can do the work. She just doesn't. I don't want to do the work someone is being paid to do and choosing not to do. She spends time on her outside interests during work hours and N knows this! N went on and on during our talk about how she's displeased with L's work. It boggles my mind. When someone is not performing and her supervisor is unhappy with her work, the solution is not to get people to cover for her. That's not how the world works.

I asked her if she planned to address the cataloger's problems in any way. She told me that she has written her up once for insubordination. That was because whenever N confronts L about her work or the lack of organization in her office or the boxes of books that have piled up, L yells at her. Literally yells. At her boss. Where the whole office can hear.

One plan I came up with was to be the main cataloger and make L be something like "special projects cataloger." Then she could finally finish that project and work on her own backlog. At first I was thinking that could be my position and by the time I finished that, maybe L would be ready to retire. Then I thought, why not reverse it? And then when she finishes her own project (in 5 more years, lol), she can retire.

I will mention this to N, even though I've decided it's better for my career in the long run to go to TSU. Their support for professional development is really the clincher. If I were to stay here, it would be super easy for me, but I'd be stagnating. In 5 years I'd be so behind the times, it would be a tragedy. We're not doing anything with the emerging technologies and there's no money for education. I know I could really push and get N to fund me to go on a conference or two. But I also know myself. If I were going to do that, I would have done it by now. I need the challenge of the requirements in order to make myself do it. And I need the reward for my efforts that I'll get there. At this point, no one reviews us or recommends us for increases in rank.

I'm going to talk about all this with N next week. I have to craft it just right, because I don't want it to sound accusatory. I want her to know what a detriment L is to the library. Her poor performance affects other departments than her own and N should know that people are aggravated. I don't know if it will do any good because N does not believe in firing people, but maybe a demotion would be in order.

Unhatched chickens

I got a call from the administrative services librarian at TSU yesterday afternoon. She said they are recommending me for hire!!! YAY!

Of course, until HR gets done with their part it is only a tentative offer, so I have to keep that in mind. I don't want to count my chickens before they're hatched. (I'm on a roll with the catchy titles, huh?)

Hopefully the HR part is just a technicality. The admin librarian said she should be able to call me by mid-week with the formal offer. She was able to tell me the proposed salary and it's a little more than my minimum required, and $4618 more than I would be making after my (measly) 3% raise here. (For those who just tuned in, the 3% is measly because we haven't had any increase in 5 years.)

I'm not celebrating just yet, but at the end of the week ... watch out!

Variations on a Theme

I had my in person interview with TSU on Tuesday.

Sunday night I decided to write to the chair of the search committee to get an idea of what the interview would entail. Thank goodness I did, because the schedule he sent me had me meeting with people from 9 am until 4:30! I hurriedly called the travel arrangement person and asked if I could have an additional night's stay at the bed & breakfast where they were putting me up. There's no way I'd be able to drive home after answering questions for that long.

The interview day seemed to go very well. There was tons of repetition (hence the title of this post), everyone was very nice, and I was able to get a little free time. I had two scheduled breaks, but I was accompanied by staff on both of them, so I still had to be "on." Near the end of the day, the chair of the committee kind of pulled me aside and said, "You did very well. We'll be in contact with you as soon as we can," and gave me a kind of 'knowing' look. I'm hoping that was a big hint!

On the way home Wednesday, the department head called and asked if she could have my permission to contact my supervisor. I had initially said no because I wasn't ready to break the news that I'm looking elsewhere for work. I had to give permission, though, because they're required to speak to either my current supervisor or the one immediately prior. They're the same person. So, tomorrow or Monday, I'm going to have the talk. I'm sure she'll give me a good recommendation, the thought of telling her just makes me nervous. At any rate, the fact that they're checking references is a very good sign!