Zoomcloud

Scroll down a bit and look to the right...my Zoomcloud has been posted. Hooray for SuprGlu!

Unfortunately, I did not find success with my Bloglines agitation...

In regards to school, this week is going to be brutal. At least I was able to kick back a smidge during the weekend. The Scottish games were fun, and I did get my haggis and a wee dram. And the caber toss, as always, was immensely entertaining. I took photos, but lack the time to upload them. I'll get there one of these days.

But for now, back to reality...

Google Co-Op

Here's my Ultimate U2 search engine. Search away...albums, tours, band members. It's all covered!

Headache

Am more than a bit frustrated with the Bloglines/Scopus assignment. I saved my search feed into Bloglines, and created the folder. Now I can't for the life of me figure out how to make it shareable or public...

Techno-Aggravation

I am one of the folks who have not been able to access the VPN through Firefox, only by installing Internet Explorer. Some have found success after deleting Java, then reinstalling Java. I'm going to give it a whirl today, and pray that it works. Life would be so much easier if I could access the library through Firefox.

In the meantime, I am finally giving the new White Stripes album, Icky Thump, a listen. The White Stripes are one of my favorite bands, and I've been looking forward to this release for months now. Thus far, I'm digging every minute of it...

Goal For The Week:

Get as much schoolwork done as humanly possible! Last week was so busy, and now it's time to play catch up again. However, it won't be all work and no play. The goal is to get a lot done so I can enjoy myself for a little while this weekend without stressing about what needs to be done...

Friday I'll be setting a few hours aside to meet up with a good friend, and Saturday I'll be at the Ohio Scottish Games. Mmm...haggis.

The Day In Photos

Despite the fact that my day wasn't too exciting, I thought it would be fun to put together a photo blog entry for today.

The day started with coffee:



Then it was time to check email, blackboard, etc. (my news and celebrity gossip - ha):



I did schoolwork for a while, then took a ride to the park for an easy 2 1/2 mile walk on the Ohio & Erie Canal towpath trail with Cosmo:



Along the way, I stopped to take a picture of Cos:



A few other photos from the walk:






At home, there was more schoolwork to get to. Since this was a day off, school was the focus of my day:



When I'm not reading, I keep my iTunes on shuffle. Got to have my music!



I still have more work to do, but in an hour or so, I think I'll kick back with one of these:




It's a shame that we can't get Yuengling in Ohio. Drew and I brought some back with us after a camping trip in Cook Forest a week before this semester began.
We've been savoring them ever since.

Back to work...

Print vs. Electronic

There seems to be a bit of a debate over print vs. electronic resources. I happen to like both, but for lengthier readings, I prefer print. As someone in my class pointed out, it is much easier to curl up with a book than say, a laptop. Also, constant use of computers can lead to repetitive strain injuries, including carpal tunnel syndrome.

While I've never been diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome (perhaps that has something to do with a lack of medical insurance...hmm), I've had some major problems with my right wrist due to computer usage. It began in college, during my English major days when I was constantly writing papers for class. The symptoms became worse during my junior year when our reserve room at the campus library where I worked went digital. Scanning pages and cropping them for hours put me in agony. The constant work involved with the mouse lead to pain and numbness. I worked through it though, and after graduation the symptoms went away.

A year and a half later the symptoms came back when I started a job at a small public library. Working at the circ desk, I had to lock and unlock hundreds of dvds a day. The locking and unlocking put a huge strain on my wrist, and once again found me in constant pain. During a slow day, I would try to unlock with my left hand, but despite working in a small public library, we were hopping most of the time and my left hand is a bit too gawky and slow to deal with the rush times. Using the Internet at home, I would also try to use the mouse and type with my left hand to compensate for the overuse of the right, but still, it wasn't enough.

Today, I deal with this problem by wearing a magnetic bracelet everyday (it works!), and by wearing a wrist brace at night while I sleep. I still have pain (I do right now), but it's much more manageable. And back to the main point, this is why I still am a big fan of print resources.

On the other hand, electronic resources can be wonderful, fast, and easy to search. I also love being able to use links to gain access to other information. If I am reading about something that interests me and there is a link, I will generally click on it to learn more. After all, I do enjoy learning and digging around for research. Guess that's just the librarian in me. However, links can lead to huge time-suckage (as I call it). Sometimes I'll be poking around reading something, and get lost. An hour or two later, I will emerge wondering where the time went...

Overwhelmed

Life has been crazy since school started. Family gatherings, family illnesses, a baby shower, a good friend in from California who I haven't seen in almost three years, helping out the boyfriend after he threw his back out, trying to keep this house presentable and the dog exercised, leaving one job and beginning another. Oh yeah, then there's schoolwork and trying to deal with financial aid issues. I hate feeling like I am so behind already....

Just needed to vent.

And breathe.

Appreciation

For years I've gotten by without much knowledge of the world of computers. I've been internet proficient for years, and I've been blogging since 2004. My grandparents all seem to think that I'm very techno-savvy because of this, but I'm not. My overall knowledge of computers is pathetic.

Despite this, I am lucky to live with a techno-geek who helps me out. Sometimes he gets exasperated by how little I know, but generally, he's a good sport. I'll speak for both of us when I mention how much I am appreciating LIS2600. For years, I've been too lazy to read up on computers, even though I know I should. There's just too many good books to read to give up my valuable reading time. But being in this class forces me to read and learn more of what I need to know. And for this, I am appreciative.