He's published!

The book, Online Gaming Law, that Marty wrote with Professor I. Nelson Rose has finally been published by Mary Ann Liebert. We received copies yesterday in the mail. They've been working on it for about 2 years - one writing it, and the next revising it with the Liebert editor. Hard to explain the feeling that holding the final product in your hands brings!

Finally did it! We tossed the big papa chair and replaced it with a clean and light-looking La-Z-Boy rocker-recliner in light blue. Since it occupies much less space than the monolith it replaced, our living room looks much bigger now!!

Well, last night, the dashboard "charge" light came on again right after I filled the gas tank. I cancelled my night out with the "girls" because I didn't fancy being caught in that part of town after dark. Today, Marty took the car back to the service station and they replaced the new generator with a new new generator. No charge - to our pocketbook, that is.

Some of the library employees plan to meet once a month to knit or do other needle arts the the Fox and Goose pub. We used to meet at the library, but somehow the pub has a better cachet - something about that justaposition of knitting and beer... Guess I'll have to wait till next month.

Well, I'm almost finished getting signed, sealed, and delivered to the Los Rios Community College district. I went yesterday to Kaiser for my TB test, then to the bank to retrieve my Social Security card, and finally to the Police Dept. for my "live scan" fingerprinting session. Tomorrow I get my TB test read and deliver all the paperwork to the Human Resources Department, thereby officially becoming an adjunct faculty member, entitled to be paid for work I do in the community college libraries. Let the adventure begin!

Today was a trying day. It started when we got off the Freeway at I-5 and J St. Crews are digging up the streets in that area, installing sewers and electrical lines for the light rail. It didn't look like we would be able to turn into the library's driveway, so we drove around the block and Marty let me out at the corner of 8th and I. I was balancing my way along the curb so as to avoid stepping into the mud when my shoe slipped and I fell on my hands and knees on the edge of the sidewalk - one muddy knee, but no injury, thank goodness.

Driving home, the electrical system in the car failed and it stalled about halfway home. Luckily, Marty was able to coast to an off-ramp, but had to walk about 1/2 mile to the nearest phone to call AAA. By the time he got back to the car, AAA had been and gone, leaving a note on the windshield, "we came, but you weren't here. You're supposed to stay with the car." So Marty walked all the way back to the phone and called again - tried to convince the dispatcher that he needed help, that he was not at the car, that he needed 10 minutes to walk back to the car, and that the tow truck needed to wait for him to walk back there. The second tow truck operator did connect with Marty, and towed the car to the service station. The alternator was replaced, and now all is well again.

Did my first shift at Cosumnes River College last night, and found that it was mostly like working in a public library with the addition of some college-related housekeeping. We need to be able to locate books put on reserve by the instructors, find information about the students' records, and show them how to load their student access card with funds so they can retrieve their print jobs.

At home, the hummingbirds have finally discovered the feeder we put up last fall - this morning we took it down to change the syrup, and a distinctly annoyed hummingbird buzzed up and down the glass door looking for it. Up close, they are fearless, and from 4 feet away they sound like BIG cockroaches!

We've also noticed a plethora of other birds around our apartment: a woodpecker looking for bugs on the redwood outside the front windows, an owl hooting and hunting at night, geese flying and honking, and scrub jays flashing blue up and down the shrubs and trees.

Super-squirrel found the chestnuts we placed on the shed roof, and I notice he's been digging in my potted plants on the patio!!