Here's our scabious, sending up its first flower of the year on our patio. I took this picture with my phone and then blew it up and took a screen shot to get an expanded version -- I'm impressed with the detail considering it's "just" a phone camera.
And here's our pink geranium, also blooming its first. This plant needs something -- its lower leaves have yellowed and it's become very gangly. At the very least it needs a pruning, though I may have missed the window for that this year (unless I want to cut off the flowers). It probably needs repotting too. It still looks better than it did when I found it, all dried-out and potless, in the cemetery four years ago.
Yesterday, more inventory. I scanned the rest of non-fiction (not including biography), a total of 4,861 books. It took me hours, as you can imagine. That means this week I've scanned 13,513 books, and so far we're only missing 11, mostly graphic novels. Which is pretty good.
Fiction will be the true test, because that section gets the most traffic and those books are probably more likely to walk away. I may tackle that next week.
More of the same today, I'm sure -- I still have to do biographies and foreign language, among others.
Oh, my exciting life. How do I stand it?
What does the scanning involve? I don't understand what machine is used, how you do it, or anything. And how does it tell you what books are missing?
ReplyDeleteIt's just a hand-held bar code scanner. Each book has a bar code, and when I scan it, it registers the book as "seen" in the catalog. At the end of scanning a section I run a report that shows any unseen (missing) books.
ReplyDeleteGeraniums do like sunshine, if yours is "leggy" perhaps it is reaching for more sunshine? If it gets plenty, then trim it back once the flowers have finished or before and cut out any dead wood.
ReplyDeleteRiver is correct re geranium.
ReplyDeleteThat is impressive..only 11 missing so far
River, it is England. Sunshine is scarce.
ReplyDeleteGraphic novels sound interesting. It's a two edged sword really. It is good that students are still reading books, and perhaps that they think enough of a book that they neglect to return it or smuggle it out. They need to understand other people would also like share the same experience.
The geranium that seems so simple to grow is actually very problematic, I have been failing with them for several years now.
ReplyDelete"Oh, my exciting life. How do I stand it?" You are probably on some kind of heavy medication. It's funny how seemingly sane or "normal" people will often hide the fact that they take pills to affect their everyday behaviour.
ReplyDeleteWho knew scabies could be so beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI just caught up on your last five or so posts. Your encounters with students, especially the "sorry for the late reply" and the Mein Kampf book check out remind me of all of the years I taught. Teachers and Librarians don't make enough money! I think you were right in contacting the parents about checking out Hitler's autobiography.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking of a Seinfeld episode with the Library Cop. I think you need a badge!
ReplyDeleteSuch a lovely flower, such a nasty name! I don't think I could stand the scanning. I'm glad you're enjoying doing it, though. I think you like most of your job. I get a lot of value as a library user, so I'm grateful to the people who keep it running.
ReplyDeleteI pictured you hauling books to your desk to scan. But a hand held scanner! Ooo - I too would enjoy that task VERY MUCH.
ReplyDeleteSo is there a lot of kneeling and standing? There must be. Do your legs get tired?
ReplyDeleteBlue flowers in the garden are a bit rare and your flower is a real beauty. I love the geranium and have something similar. My plant grows like a ground cover and the flowers are almost identical. Your scanning project is moving along at a rapid pace.
ReplyDeleteYour exciting life starts after work when you walk around the territory and take interesting photos that no one else sees.
ReplyDeleteif the foliage is yellowing it may need some iron or maybe epson salt.
ReplyDeletescabious...what a weird name for a pretty flower.
Your get some super photos from your phone! The scanning sounds similar to how they do inventory at big box stores.
ReplyDeleteI missed your last post, up and out early to ride, and forgot to go back. Anyway, has your doctor mentioned testing for h.pilori?
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful, that scabious and a wonderful shot.
ReplyDeleteThis remind me that I need to get my geraniums ordered from the symphony fundraiser. They were the biggest plants I'd ever seen and remarkably inexpensive (and a good cause, too!)
I'm amazed you are only missing 11 books so far. Good luck with fiction!
That is a lot of scanning! You've been busy. I'm always impressed by the cell phone photos. I've been using mine more and more.
ReplyDeleteI cannot see that plant's name without thinking of scabies. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI usually take photos, then crop them to get my closeups. Someday I'll get a newer phone and be even more impressed with the camera!
I've never heard of a scabious--not the most attractive word for such a gorgeous bloom.
ReplyDeleteRiver: It's out on the patio, so it's in a pretty sunny place. But it probably suffers for lack of sun in the winter. Perhaps I'll trim it this summer.
ReplyDeleteGZ: Yeah, not a bad ratio, I'd say!
Andrew: Yeah, and conversely, when there aren't many (or any) books missing, does that mean kids aren't touching those volumes at all?
Yael: They can be surprisingly touchy! I would think they'd flourish in a place as sunny as I imagine Israel to be.
YP: No happy pills for me, I swear! (Not that there's anything wrong with them.)
Mitchell: Ha! I think the last time I posted scabious someone mentioned that they were used to treat scabies? There's some kind of connection in the name.
Michael: There's always some kid with some drama, that's for sure.
Bob: One of my favorite Seinfeld characters, unsurprisingly!
Boud: I do like my job, especially this organizational stuff.
Bug: Oh, if I had to bring them all to my desk that would be a NIGHTMARE. No, I go to the shelf with my laptop!
Ms Moon: They do! I also stress out the knees of my pants by kneeling on the floor.
Susan: Now, it's funny that you see that flower as blue. To me it's purple.
Red: Well, I find that exciting, but I'm not sure everyone else does. :)
Ellen: We do feed it with organic seaweed in the summers, but yeah, maybe it needs something more.
Wilma: Yeah, I'm sure inventory is the same everywhere, more or less, regardless of the "widgets" being inventoried!
Allison: Yes, I'm having that test too! I've tested for it in the past but always with a negative result.
Jeanie: Maybe they're inexpensive because they're so easy to propogate? Usually a cutting is all it takes!
Sharon: It's SO NICE to just use the phone. So much easier.
Kelly: I've found that I have to do it that way, because if you get the phone close enough to an object for a "macro" shot, the object is often blurry. The phone needs a little distance to focus.
Margaret: According to Wikipedia it was used as a folk remedy to treat scabies, hence the name.