Week in the library life…

Disclaimer: I am currently on light duties as I am rehabbing a fractured shoulder. As such I have to adhere to a return to work plan developed by my employers return to work officer in conjunction with my physiotherapist and doctor.

DAY 1.

8am – Arrive at work, coffee in hand. Switch on lights, computers, fill display racks, check the info diary to see if anything happened at the weekend that i need to follow up on. Check info desk email & print off expired reserves list.

8.45. – 9.30. work my way through the rfid ‘problems box. (from our recent rfid project there are a few items with tags that don’t read, or need uploading, etc.) . This is something I can do left handed (it’s my right arm that is weak). I do it quite slowly, taking one book out of the problem box at a time.  This task naturally breaks into non repetitive actions so is ok as a rehab task.

9.30-10. Checked my email and looked at my to do list to see what my priorities are for the day.

10-10.20. Banking.

Noticed that the window cleaners were in at the weekend and that the venetian blinds usually on the window by my desk are now lying in a forlorn heap on the window sill.  The light coming in & reflecting off the screen was giving me a headache so I moved to an empty desk in the upstairs workroom and worked there for the rest of the morning.

10.30-11. Requests. Patrons can suggest items to be added to the collections. Part of my role is to check the bibliographic details on these requests & then allocate them to the appropriate librarian.

11-11.20. I have to take a 20 minute break after every 30 minutes of keyboarding.  I do my shoulder exercises, grab a cup of tea, check my emails etc.

11.20 – 11.50. Back to the requests.

11.50- 12.30. Do some planning for the  National Year of reading.

12.30-1. Info desk time. Helping the public with enquiries.

1-1.30 lunch.

1.30-2 More requests

2-2.30. professional reading.

2.30- 2.45 helped a patron with eaudio downloading

2.45-3. helped out on info desk. (gorgeous little boy named james asked if we had any star wars books and then thanked me beautifully when i found him some)

3 – 3.15. Tidied my desk and got everything ready for tomorrow.

3.15. Home time. (Because i’m only working 30 hours a week at the moment)

See you tomorrow.

 

The one in which my shoulder returns to work

So the shoulder has returned to work (albeit part-time and on modified duties).

The work itself is not too bad (or pain inducing) but the preparation for work each morning – that is an ordeal…

Everything takes soooo much longer than it used to.

Having only one usable arm slows everything down. Showering, dressing, breakfasting, etc; (no such thing as a quick shower at the moment.) Not to mention I have to start each day with painkillers to facilitate the getting ready for work process.

Then I need to rest for 30-45 minutes before continuing on.

Mind you I have reduced my tshirt donning record from 45 minutes down to under 10 minutes (we take our victories where we can, however small)

Once I get to work i’m exhausted (and sore) from the getting ready, the work itself is ok, at this stage it’s more about managing the pain, and not overdoing things (and finding out what I can do) rather than anything else.

I’m also finding that the combination of painkillers and 8 weeks off work has meant i currently have the concentration span of a carrot (or a 2 year old).

So baby steps in everything I do.

I have a range of exercises that I do many times every day.

* 3 or 4 variations on the pendulum swinging of the arm (to get the shoulder joint moving),

* a couple of exercises using a cane (think an arthritic fred astaire sans top hat),

* a pulley system (sailing rope and a hook in the neighbour’s carport)

Sounds weird I know; hopefully they will help the shoulder regain it’s former pristine level of fitness (the exercises along with the determined effort of my physio to rip my arm from its socket twice a week)

we shall see how it all goes…

piccies

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fiona vs tree – week 3 update

The week that was:

MONDAY

So back to fracture clinic.

Added an orthopaedic resident to my orthopaedic team.

Turns out my orthopaedic registrar showed my xrays & scan to three orthopaedic surgeons and was outvoted 3-1 in the ‘put a royal doulton plate in fiona’s shoulder’ poll.

Off work for a further 4 weeks.

WEDNESDAY

visited work for return-to-work meeting.

we have a plan for mid september.

it seems so far away.

otherwise it was walk, painkillers, sleep,

RE: RE: The thursday fiona update….

My England based brother responded thusly,

 

So what you’re saying is the police didn’t like some of your answers and man-handled you into a tree to get you to talk? I shudder to think what the customers would have done were you not able to answer their queries either….

RE: The thursday fiona update….

This is how a colleague responded to my previous post…. I like it!

So… after kicking in the doors as Balwyn in a drunken rage, you rushed the police and crashed into a tree. Disoriented, you thought that you were actually in the library and began helping bewildered patrons with reference. Upon taking you to rehab, it was noticed that you had a broken arm and need a lot of drugs!?!?!
Hehe…..
Hope you heal well Miss Fiona, we miss you too! xx

The thursday fiona update….

This is the email i sent work today to tell them how i’m going.

Hi balwyn,

First of all thank you for all the messages of concern & support. I appreciate it very much.

So what happened i hear you ask?

Well i was out the front of the library ‘helping the police with their enquiries’ when i stepped backwards, stumbled, and (according to the police) built up quite a bit of speed before crashing into a tree.

The police called an ambulance and while we waited for it to arrive i answered some reference enquiries (lest you think i just sat outside the library doing nothing!)

I got to ride in an ambulance (and as an aside i want one of their green pain whistles -they’re great)

So what have i done?

I have broken the surgical neck of my right humerus. (the joint at the very top of my right arm. ie my shoulder).

The break can’t be set (surgically or with plaster) so the ‘cure’ is to have the arm in a sling for 4-6 weeks and painkillers.

As i’m right handed i am extremely limited in what i can do (just ask my sister!)

The pain is manageable so long as i take the painkillers and don’t try to move too much (it hurts to walk even)

I have a stunning range of bruising on my upper right arm.

At this stage i am off work until at least the 15th august – and then rehab & modified duties after that.

I’m staying at my sister’s house for the time being.

Again thanks for all the well wishes and i miss you all already.

Fiona ((trending on twitter as #bravesirtapsister – for all you monty python fans)
xoxo

A week in the life…

So on saturday i came off second best in an altercation with a tree.

I had a bit of a run up but still could’t move it.

The tree broke not only my fall but also the surgical neck of my right humerus.

This meant a ride in an ambulance and 4 hours lying in the emergency dept trying to avoid sick people.

So i am now living in an armchair in my sister’s loungeroom while i keep the arm as still as possible (movement = pain)

Gilbert the gecko

so i was reading the local paper at work today (it’s ok i was on my lunchbreak) when I spotted this little gem in the positions vacant…

I rang the lovely Rita at our Hawthorn branch and told her I’d found a job I wanted ( I didn’t tell her what it was though) and would she be my referee.

I’d worked on Saturday with Rita and she’d been so wonderful and supportive and we’d talked eco the gecko antics…

I told her where in the paper to find the job ad and asked her to ring me back after she’d had a look at it and tell me what she thought.

Five minutes later she rang me back, giggling her head off.

We both agreed that very few applicants would be able to provide a recent portfolio of gecko performances.

Pandering to the masses?

I was weeding today (the book kind not the gardening kind) and had decided to weed the 800s.

Now like many libraries we shelve the australian literature (A 800 – 899) in a separate sequence to the ‘rank and file’ 800s.

Anyway as I was weeding away I got to thinking…. why do we still separate the aussie lit out?

Could we interfile?

We could still have the A on the spine label to indicate it’s australian but one sequence of 800s seems to make sense to me.

We already interfile junior non fiction and teenage non fiction with the adult non fiction so the A before the call number wouldn’t be a problem (we already use J or T)

I think that often the 2 sequences confuse borrowers.

If they are looking for 821 and find A 821 but not the book they wanted – do they ask a librarian (occasionally) or do they leave the library thinking computer says book on shelf but book not on shelf?

I say interfile – one sequence of 800s is the best way to go.

* might mention it at the meeting tomorrow and see if they go looking for the nearest tree to string me up or whether i can convince to listen to my idea…