Cascading downwards

Well, this is the only way anyone is going to "hear" from me for a while, because my voice is almost completely gone. I sound worse than a 12-year-old boy. It's causing much amusement at work.

Edited to add: And evidently I laugh like Muttley.

Saturday I attended a birthday for my grandmother, who turned 90. We call her Magie. The whole family wants to be just like her when we're her age. Complete with the selective hearing. The only thing she doesn't do is drive (thank god! - that was scary). She gardens, she plays bridge, she volunteers at the museum ... she has a more active social life than I do.

I got dragooned into picking up my Aunt Jean in New Jersey so that she could attend, which more than doubled my driving time, but that's OK. Aunt Jean was complaining that she couldn't believe she had to be picked up, "as if I was an old lady. And I'm not!" (she's 88, Magie's sister. Good genes on that side!)

The party was great, lots of family stories about all the stuff my Dad and his siblings got up to when they were younger. Funny stuff. Especially when almost every story seemed to end with 'fessing up to a parent, and either Magie saying "don't tell your father" or Gramps saying "don't tell your mother." I guess when you have 6 kids, you don't really want to hear about every single incident.

And one more cousin announced she was pregnant, which makes me the oldest one who doesn't have kids. That will be oh so fun at the next family function. I'm going to deflect any pushiness to my brother, who is the oldest one who isn't married. And who is, incidentally, the only Fleming boy. Desperate times.

When a sign says there's a height limit, there really is a reason:

(he was 6 inches over the height limit)

(from the New York Times today)

A very succinct account of the stupid questions that I hear over, and over, and over again. The third one is particularly fun to explain to computer newbies.

And people wonder how working in a library can be stressful.

I'm not saying that everyone who calls customer service/tech support is stupid (lord knows I've had to call a few times), but sometimes it really does feel like this when you're on the other side:

YouTube - Medieval helpdesk

And I say this as a 3-year veteran of dot-com customer service. Not to mention almost 6 years of public libraries, which are actually worse.

I must be starved for laughter - I don't know why I've been giggling about this for 5 minutes.

A young boy just came into the library, marched straight to the info desk, and announced (in an oddly prideful tone) "I can't feel my ears!" with a big smile.

I don't know - it was something about the delivery. It just struck me as really funny.

Amusing news story of the day:

After splitting with Kevin Federline, Britney Spears is returning to a working relationship with Larry Rudolph, the entertainment lawyer who discovered her at age 13 and managed her into pop stardom. Spears fired Rudolph the day she married Federline, reportedly because Rudolph insisted she sign a prenup. (N.Y. Daily News)

I guess she realized he did have her best interests in mind.

Amusing sight for the day:

The maintenance staff at the branch I am at today is having a cookout behind the library (in the staff parking area). Gas grill and everything. Too bad they'll be packing up by the time my lunch starts.

I took the "what type of humor do you have quiz going around:

( Well, I think we all knew that. )

Sure, I'll get drunk in the name of law enforcement. Where do I sign up?

http://www.dailypress.com/news/local/dp-84369sy0mar21,0,4130868.story?coll=dp-news-local-final