Today marks 13 years since I started at Regina Public Library on September 8, 2008 (and I got to celebrate by taking a rare opportunity to exercise some front-line librarian muscles by reading a couple stories to a grade 3/4 class that visited our branch today!)
If I had a traditional 30-year career, I’d be nearing the halfway point of that tenure.
But because I took five years to complete my four year degree then spent nearly a decade in the non-profit sector plus a couple years in a regional system before being hired by RPL, I’m actually closer to the end of my career than the halfway point.
I turned 48 this summer which means I’m eligible for early retirement in seven short years when I turn 55.
It’s hard to say how long I’ll work – until I’m 55? 60? 65? (which is the only way I would end up having a traditional 30 year career – even as a relative latecomer to libraryland.)
I don’t know how long I might work but I do know what I want for my retirement party!
Some may have photos of memorable moments or tributes from former coworkers or a cake party with the presentation of a retirement gift.
Whatever combination of the above I may have, I’ve decided one thing I absolutely want is a Powerpoint presentation playing in the background of my retirement party with the titles of various Incident Reports I’ve been involved with! 🙂
How many of these things did you learn about in library school???
“Kid tries to start library on fire”
“Passed out man wakes up swearing”
“Two patrons scream at each other at the photocopier.”
“Report of someone smoking marijuana in washroom.”
“Child asks for bandaid for wasp sting.”
“Stolen Bike.”
“Stolen iPhone.”
“Stolen purse”
“Stolen iPhone”
“Stolen sunglasses.”
“Stolen iPhone”
“Altercation in parking lot”
“Empty liquor bottle found in toilet.”
“Man throws brick at window.”
“Woman screams obscenities at boyfriend.”
“Poop found in children’s area.”
“Baby left in library at closing by new dad” (this is a legendary story at RPL that occurred before I worked there so I’m claiming it!) 😉
Between Shea and I, we camped a personal record of 62 nights this summer from May to September including two 2-week stretches, every weekend, every long weekend and probably a few extra nights we managed to squeeze in here and there.
Here’s some highlights from the month we just wrapped up…
1. Cornhole Tournament
My father-in-law was busy this winter making us both a ladder golf and a cornhole game. We played a few times through the summer but the highlight was the eight-person tournament we had when my parents came to camp with us for a few nights. After some early drama about whether she even wanted to play, Sasha ended up beating out the field to take the championship match over her brother! 2. Rasslin’
I missed their return in July when we spent the day at a family funeral (damn priorities!) but I made sure to take Pace and his cousin when Canadian Wrestling Elite returned to Weyburn in August and it was a blast, totally reminding me of going to wrestling shows with my own dad when I was that age!
3. Boating
We’re pretty fortunate that my father-in-law has a pontoon boat so we got out quite a few times over the summer. It was a hot summer and I’m not sure if there’s anything better than floating in a tube just off from the boat, listening to tunes from the speaker on the boat and sipping a cold beverage (soda pop only, of course!)
4. Grid Road Drive To Oungre
We had one rainy day forecast so decided to head south to Oungre Regional Park which we knew has a very nice heated indoor pool. The whole day was great but I particularly enjoyed my decision to avoid the highway on the way down and have a leisurely drive on the grid roads, checking crops and watching the activity in the oil patch.
5. Halloween in the Park Lots of other parks do this but this year was the first year ours did “Halloween in the Park” where they have a Halloween-themed night with decorating contests, trick or treating at participating campsites, and a spooky movie double-header with the first targeted at kids and the second one for adults.
I’ll post the 10 words I picked below and my results but would encourage you click that link before looking at my answers so you’re going in fresh and unbiased.
Back to school was a bit different this year as the kids were going in two different directions at two different times.
Pace heads to his first year of high school (which also means an earlier start time – 8:30am) while Sasha is on to grade three (with the usual start time of 8:53am for elementary school.).
After 18 months of basically being feral, I was amazed both kids were up, cheerful and eager to get out the door (Sasha was even mad her brother got to go early – not just because of an early start time but because he was walking with friends.)
Here’s hoping to a safe and successful year for both of them!
An Angus Reid poll showed that 75 per cent of Canadians agreed with the statement “I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people who chose not to be vaccinated and then got COVID-19.” In B.C., 53 per cent favoured making vaccines mandatory in public places to make life harder for unvaccinated people, while another 22 per cent favoured using a combination of regulation and incentives.
