I cannot possibly

put into words how absolutely thrilled I am to be about to be in a library position again. While I've never truly stopped being a librarian (I have a master's degree I can hang on the wall, of course, if all else fails, and you just can't take the training out of the librarian and call it over and done), to be working in the field again is beyond exciting. Ten more days and a bit!!!!!!

I am so excited!

So yesterday I went to my soon-to-be workplace, had my drug test, and filled out paperwork for my background check. Apparently, the Personnel Cabinet does one (which I passed), and then Corrections does a more intensive one as well that includes things like running me through FBI databases and other criminal databases to make sure I have not committed crimes involving domestic violence or sexual assault. So that should not be a problem.

Everything went smoother this time. The guard at the gate kept my ID and issued me a visitor's pass. The prison building is originally from the late 19th century. They were part of a juvenile correctional facility for a very long time. The administration building has lots of little rooms with rooms inside of rooms, as one did back then. Definitely not open plan. I did have the bright idea to leave my purse in the car to make things simpler, so I just had my keys with me, and then realised I'd left my reading glasses in my purse, which was stupid, as I was filling out paperwork, but I managed with a little squinting.

They think my drug test should be back before my start date. I did ask about hours. The current librarian works 8 AM-4 PM. I may have the option to work 7 AM-3 PM or 7:30 AM-3:30 PM instead, as either will align with the patrons' library hours. They aren't available from 12-1 PM either. I haven't decided what to ask for. Knowing my tendency to have issues waking up, 8 AM-4 PM makes more sense, but 7:30 AM-3:30 PM would be ideal in many ways because 1) I could open the library before the patrons came in and then close after everyone left, but not a whole hour after, and 2) I'd get home by 4 or 4:30, depending on traffic, but might actually be able to do late appointments in town, too. It's funny, no matter what time I enter on Google Maps for the drive from home to Blackburn while avoiding highways, it gives me 23-55 mins. This time I approached from Georgetown Road, so I turned onto Spurr Road from a different direction than when I came from Leestown Road last time, and let me tell you, that road is winding and hilly and a perfect country road where you don't want to meet a tractor. I'm not sure if there are farms out there. It looks like they're building houses, but some of it looked like farmland. The prison itself has a 100-acre rehabilitative horse farm. There's also the WUKY radio station nearby, apparently, as well as the RISE STEM Academy for Girls. Otherwise, there's not much else. It's a winding two-lane road. I was trying to imagine it in snow and ice.

Also, I found out the current librarian isn't so much leaving as she has a new position within the system, so not only will she be available to train me, but she can also answer questions after I take over. That's definitely a plus. So often it's sink or swim in a new position. This will help immensely.

I did ask about what I couldn't bring with me. All bags have to be clear. I ordered a clear backpack and lunch bag, and they're on their way. I can't bring glass dishes, and my lunch containers are glass, so I'm going to try to get a plastic Bento box-type thing to go in the bag.

Electronics, of course. I can't have my phone or smartwatch on me. They can stay in the car. I didn't wear my watch yesterday until I came home. I did use the phone for GPS, so I had to leave it in the car, and it was crazy hot, so I hated that. But usually that's what the staff do. I ordered a cheap watch that tells time and has unobtrusive alarms I can set for reminders. I mainly need one for my afternoon medication: one medicine plus iron and vitamin C. But I don't want to be lugging my morning meds in, so I'm going to try to make time to take those before I leave.

Which means I need to get up earlier and go to bed earlier. I got up early yesterday, before I knew they were going to ask to move my appointment from 10 AM to noon, to see how long it took me to get ready, and with everything--and not a mad dash, but deliberately doing everything to get ready- it was about two hours. Add an hour for driving. I'd have to get up at about 5 AM or a little earlier to really do well, or shower the night before maybe. I may make a list out every morning to make sure I don't forget, too. I have an electronic one where I can just erase the checkmarks each night to make sure I did everything. If I want to get 7 hours sleep, I'll need to go to bed by 10 PM. This will be very hard for me. I'm a 12:30 AM-1 AM bedtime sort of gal. But I'm going to try hard to do it. Thursday I did at 11 PM. Yesterday was different--I picked a friend up at 11 PM; I went to bed at 1:30 AM. Considering I got up at 5:45 AM today, that was not enough. My plan is to get on a better sleep schedule between now and the 16th.

I'll figure it out. I don't want to sleep-deprived a work, especially my first few days!

My second-favourite Dolly song

It is so lovely and uplifting...and of course, how could I not love it? Eilir means butterfly, after all. 🦋

Ugh...I cannot believe I blanked like that

I was filling out my paperwork for a doctor's appointment and when I went to fill out the part on surgical history I could remember the word 'tenodesis' but not 'biceps'. I had to Google 'arm tendon'. Yes, 20 years as a medical librarian, in orthopedics, no less.🤦🏼‍♀️Thank you, Doctor Google.

This made me happy

I found this bush outside of all things, a Taco Bell, but I love Crepe Myrtles, and the colour was lovely, so I took this photo. It's so vibrant. Sometimes you have to pause and look at the lovely things in your ordinary surroundings. They enrich your day.

Book #30

out of 24 for 2026 (125% of goal).

'Running the Books: the Adventures of an Accidental Prison Librarian' by Avi Steinberg

Most Kentucky thing ever

and yes, it isn't just a guy thing; I would do this, too, but I doubt they'd do it up North where some friends live in NYC.

I was taking someone over to UK, and no less than THREE men drove up next to me at various stoplights (one backed up) to be sure and let me know that my gas cap was off and the door was ajar. It's a 4.8-mile (12-minute) drive. 🤦‍♀️ As soon as I got him to his destination, I got out and secured both; you'd better believe it. Here it is, happily tucked back in.

Hmmm....

As someone who has been immensely helped by melatonin and takes it every night, this is a little concerning, even acknowledging the study's flaws.

Long-term melatonin use linked to 90% higher heart failure risk

UPDATE: I tried sleeping without it last night. I stayed up till 2:30 AM or so reading my book. Then I tried to go to bed. I couldn't sleep. I did not play on my phone or anything. I finally fell asleep about 4 AM. Since there is strong evidence of heart issues from chronic insomnia and disordered sleep, which I had in spades before I started taking melatonin, I'm in a sort of Catch-22. I think I should discuss this with my doctor. I don't currently have any heart problems except for such a minor murmur that only one doctor [my current PCP] has ever detected it by listening. I'd like to keep it that way. In the meantime, I'll keep taking it. I've tried the prescription drug trazodone and cannot take it; it makes my legs extremely restless, like I have pins and needles being poked in them. This works. I need an expert opinion. Maybe there's a reason melatonin is prescription-only in Britain.

UPDATE to the UPDATE: I have since spoken to a pharmacist and an APRN specialisin in sleep medicine and both agreed with my take that correlation does not equal causation and the studies have their flaws, and that, most importantly, the effects of insomnia and sleep disturbance on the heart are well-documented and detrimental, so if the melatonin is working, that is a good thing. The pharmacist did ask if I'd ever tried the lower dose, and I hadn't. She suggested I might give it a try and see if I had similar results. The sleep APRN agreed; they usually suggest doses of 3-20 mg of melatonin for women, but the lowest dose that works is the best. I found some 3 mg disintigrating cherry melatonin in a brand suggested by the pharmacist (since over the counter medications are not regulated by the FDA, there is a huge divide in how much melatonin is really in each product, and she said it was fairly good in testing), and I'll start a trial tonight. We'll see if it works. If not, I'll go back to what I have.

I GOT A JOB!!!!!!!!!

And I'm officially a librarian again, with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, serving an underserved population, and supervising workers. I start September 16th. I'm super excited!

I adore Schoolhouse Rock

 I loved it as a child. I can still recite the Preamble to the Constitution (as long as I sing it in my head). I have them on VHS, actually, and would like to get them on DVD. But this was really eye-opening.