April 23, 1992

I attend the SCLS annual meeting at the Monona Community Center after dropping off Andy and visiting the library.  The front doors didn't get locked last night.  The first session on ADA is informative, but the session on Inform Wisconsin is, for me, repetitive.  I skip lunch, wanting to get an Area Leaders meeting underway by 1:30.  Larry Martin and I drive to the Dells to attend a WAPL board meeting, which turns out to be a productive two hours.  As I leave the Holiday Inn to return home, I almost regret my decision not to stay overnight, but the romper-room country sounds emanating from the bar help me on my way.

April 21, 1992

What I didn't watch on this or any other night on TV

For the third week in a row, I don't have a free morning.  I drive to the SCLS office to attend a LINK cataloging subcommittee meeting, which lasts only an hour.  Nevertheless, it's still one by the time I get to the library, where I remain until after 10.  JoAnna gets sworn in as a new county board supervisor, but I feel a need to attend the council meeting, and what an inept circus it is.  The Gang of 5 is still smarting from their recent setback and refuse to endorse the mayor's slate of candidates for the various boards and commissions.  I fear not only for the library but for city services in general.

Wednesday, February 19, 1992

JoAnna's a bitch this morning, figuratively whipping a recalcitrant Andy in submission.   His dawdling while getting dressed is more than she can handle.  I spend the entire workday at Madison Public, reviewing the RFP with other system staff and consultant Hank Epstein, who 20 years ago would have been the perfect lead for "What Makes Sammy Run?"  I pick up the boys and fix their supper.  I get Andy to bed at 8:30 and then read Sara Paretsky's Guardian Angel.

February 28, 1991

Middleton hosts the South Central Library System's Summer Library Program workshop.  Approximately 120 attendees are squeezed into the basement meeting room.  Despite my fears, the day seems to go well.  Shortly before noon, I serve as a tour guide for a group of 25.  What do I hear when I ask for questions?  Do you have any job openings?  The library makes a strong, very positive impression.

Since Sharon is not feeling well, I volunteer to work the evening shift at the reference desk, which results in a 12-hour workday.  At first, I continue the gratifying progress  I made on the long-range plan revision during the afternoon.  Before leaving the library, I transcribe calendar notes, mostly from a few days before the wedding to July 1986.  What dramatic changes:  new lifestyle, new job, new home, new realizations.  

February 27, 1991

The Finance & Governance subcommittee meeting, scheduled for a full morning and afternoon of torture in Middleton's conference room, lasted less than 90 minutes, to everyone's surprise.  Some of us were expecting a contentious day with Peter Niemi, but since our last meeting, the Madison Public Library board has seen the light.  Suddenly, I have a freed-up day, but I'm not in the mood for work.

The library bandit was apprehended earlier in the day, just after midnight, to be exact.  Turns out to be just the person I would have fingered, Don's son-in-law, a surly, swaggering son of a bitch.  Considering I saw him only once, that's a pretty strong opinion.  I keep wondering if my feelings were based on latent racism or if I simply had an encounter with a walking, walking, make that mumbling, stereotype.

January 30, 1991

Since I have a meeting downtown, JoAnna leaves early, before Andy is out of bed.  He wants to take a box of Teddy Grahams to daycare, but I tell him, no, you can have some in a plastic bag. 

The Automation Forum meeting goes well.  Pete Hamon asks me to open the session. 

On the walk back to the ramp, I stop at the Sugar Shack to browse through the record bins.  I walk away with ten albums, including Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, the Jags, Shawn Phillips, Richard Torrance, Henry Gross, the Henry Paul Band, Danny O'Keefe -- 2 of his, I think -- and maybe that's it. 

I'm less than focused at work, and my return to the library is delayed by preparation time for a tuna noodle casserole.  Most of my energy is expended revising ETN notes. 

After picking up Andy, I use household chores as an excuse to delay dinner.  JoAnna returns from a meeting at 8:30.

January 23, 1991

Wake up to a new video.  Keep up as best I can but wonder when the movements will be seamless.  No matter what the push, most of the time I think I'm in pretty good shapes, even if I don't bicycle or cross-country ski anymore.

On my way to a SCLS Finance & Governance meeting, I stop at Scott's to buy treats -- splurging when I ask for two dozen donuts -- and make the extra effort to drive to Sentry for orange juice.  During the meeting, Madison Public Library Director Peter Niemi is not nearly as obstreperous as I would have predicted.  The group makes lot of progress, which doesn't mean it still can't be all for naught.

During the early afternoon, Peter Hamon, Julie Chase, and I discuss the specifics of the clearinghouse arrangement.  The more I think about this change in resource sharing, the less enamored I become of it.

To clear my head, I drive to Hilldale to purchase orange and green hi-liters at University Bookstore.  The nerd in me is ready to cream his jeans.

When I get home, JoAnna tells me we need milk.

January 18, 1991

I have more of an incentive to get it in gear this morning:  a 9:30 meeting at the South Central Library System administrative office.  Still, it does take a struggle.  JoAnna, looking as though she has seriously questioned the need to get out of bed, helps me out by getting Andy dressed.

The Resource Contract Committee is productive.  At the conclusion of the meeting, which extends past noon, we have identified all the necessary elements of what will be more than one contract.

On the way to Middleton, I stop on State Street for a recording that includes hard-to-find songs by Martha & the Vandellas and the Marvelettes:  "Come and Get These Memories, "Quicksand", "Playboy", "Beechwood 4-5789.  Nevertheless, I resume the Motown that evening, after a very enjoyable staff get-together at Sheila and Bruce's house.  The pot-luck arrangement results in an abundance of food, which I sample sparingly.