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My car is in the shop again (although it's been over four months). The last time was when my old mechanic needed to replace the shocks. They were under warranty and had been replaced the previous November. Max (my volvo) has been running great since then but its 3,000 mile oil change was coming up and I suspected he had a few oil and coolant leaks. As well I discovered that the air conditioning wasn't working - again. I got fed up with having to pay $50 for freon every spring so I figured something more was wrong. Of course no other mechanics would have checked the problem out further besided just topping up freon (which shouldn't have to be done every year! Turns out I need a new a/c evaporator which will cost $1,900. Other leaks and repairs will bump up the cost considerably so I'm rather depressed about that. But the a/c has to be done. It would be like living in Edmonton in winter and not having heat in your car. So I won't have Max for a few days but at least I was able to work out the logistics of commuting. I took the car in yesterday to the VShop - a neat sounding name. They're very close to our apartment and the people there were friendly. They even gave me a ride home - unprecedented for any mechanic I've seen. I had the day off and Darcy will take me to work the next two days. Luckily I work close to home and it is almost on her way to work. So I will likely set a record today by spending almost thirteen hours at work!

On my day off (yesterday) I worked out and began consolidating my photo albums. I have several photos that my Mom got developed from slides that I need to integrate into my albums. I'd need to take at leasat a few days off to get that done. There are a few slides that I need to get converted into photos and I can get that done this summer in Edmonton. Then I can organize all my photos chronologically and revise my life story. It's been fun looking at photos from the 1970s - it's strange to think how much time has passed and get lost about reflecting events from the past. I'm older now than my parents were in that decade.

But I don't feel that old - I guess it's because I'm not a parent and I'm still stumbling around trying to figure out what I want to accomplish in my career. For that matter what do I want to do for a career. Darcy and I disillusioned, her even more so than me, over the profession of librarianship and what is offers and doesn't offer. It's lost so many web based initiatives to the private sector and it has negatively affected how people conduct research and perceive libraries. There are many bright individuals in the profession and some interesting projects done in collaboration with other agencies but the profession still seems to be led by bureacrats stuck in the antiquated 1970s and 80s mindset.

Both our libraries are indicative of this and it's frustrating - getting stuck in mundane daily routines and putting out fires. For myself I don’t have time to read my profession’s literature and see what’s going on in technology developments and research. I don’t feel like looking for another job and would almost rather go back to school. I shouldn't feel burnt out and Darcy shouldn't feel bored and disillusioned after barely five years as a librarian! Maybe this is normal and our parents and grandparents went through the same motions but they stuck it out. I guess Gen Xers aren’ t going to take it anymore (sounds like a song from Twisted Sister!) Damn – I only have an hour left before my work day officially begins and I have more personal stuff to do – until next time…
posted by Michael at 12:06 AM