Odds and Ends

For some reason, iTunes randomly decided to delete the bulk of my music from my computer. And, silly me, instead of telling my ipod to restore it all (because why would I do that? The music wasn't deleted by me, so I wouldn't know it needed restored), I said no and now have to manually input it all. Sometimes, I curse Apple (because if I curse my computer, I run the fearful chance that my computer has issues I can't afford to fix. Whereas, cursing Apple means it's their fault, not mine, and I don't have to worry about it). I guess at least it kindly left all of my playlists intact.

I am ridiculously addicted to the library's 'treasure hunts' for the summer reading program. You basically go in, find clues in the catalog, and it's this nice little game. And I feel that at least I can pretend to be enhancing my library skills.

Which reminds me of the fun I've had at work doing mini-research projects. It may be totally nerdy, but I LOVE it when I stumble across the piece of information I'm looking for. And believe me, finding things in an archive is a different ballgame from Google. But ever so satisfying.

I went to a concert this week with my sister's family. In case you are wondering, 4-year olds don't dig Hadyn's Creation. But they do dig cool fountains, elevators, stairs, statues, and sticks. And bell buildings. And sometimes, the same is true for not-four-year-olds. Someone definitely needs to study the process of energy transfer between adult and child, because I swear, kids are sapping my energy. How else could one 4 year old (in truth, he's still 3, but one week and all of the maturity of a 4-year old, I say we round up) have SO MUCH ENERGY?!?!?! I envied him. Although, I was pretty amazed I was able to keep up, seeing as I have been bone-tired for a week and a half. Perhaps they give back a little of their absorbed energy...

In high school, it was ingrained in me that you always have an introduction and a conclusion. And I find it is still a huge challenge not to end with a satisfactory conclusion, which is unfortunate, because today I just don't have one. Other than, that's pretty much all I've got.

Here this post ends.

Do you manage a large mammal population?

Today at work I was doing some research on an organization and came across this little gem:

 (and I quote) "The ESGR deer herd has been the focus of many studies, including Dale McCullough's landmark book "The George Reserve deer herd: population ecology of a k-selected species."  This text continues to be a must-read for managers of large mammal populations."

Which is funny in and of itself, because it isn't exactly what I think of when I'm thinking gripping reading or bestseller. But then my co-worker said, "Do groups of people count as large mammal populations?" And, well, technically, yes they do. And that lends itself to a whole new audience for said book, including:

Teachers
University presidents
Athletic managers
Hospital managers
Traffic cops
CEOs 
Band/Orchestra/Choir directors
the Military
Whoever manages Congress (ha ha)
Dictators
perhaps the aliens controlling us?

Anyway, if you or someone you know manage a large mammal population, make sure to pick up this must-read text. I'm sure it will be a very valuable tool. 

Fire something

I know I should be oohing and aahing over the fireworks and there are some that I can actually see from the balcony of my apartment (not many but some). But really, I am just excited because there are fireflies. I haven't seen any this year and I was afraid I'd missed them and so I am really really excited to be seeing them.

Another Round of the Ordinaries

To the guy sitting on Liberty holding up a sign saying "Smile--It isn't raining!" I don't know if he had a home to go to, but he certainly wasn't wearing any power suits, for what that's worth. (Not much). That particular street tends to have a lot of people who are struggling to make ends meet, though, so he could be in that category or not. Either way, it's pretty awesome that he was going out of his way to cheer up the world. One person at a time (the most effective way).

To the bus driver on Monday. I got on the bus, and he was taking a small break (come on, can you imagine driving around town all day long without a break?), but usually on the bus, I close my eyes like I'm sleeping (usually I'm trying to). He noticed and asked if I was okay, and I just said I was tired. He asked what my stop was, so that I could sleep and he could make sure I didn't miss it. And he went out of his way for other people too. He was my Monday hero.

To the lady in the K-Mart parking lot today, who saw me and saw that I was looking down, and said, "It can't be that bad!" Which made me smile, and then she asked if I was okay. I'd never seen her before in my life, but she showed such compassion. And, because of that, I smiled at everyone I passed on my way home. That is changing the world.

To all the people I work with. Seriously, I have always been fortunate to work with good people, but usually there is someone that I have a hard time with. But these people--really, they are some of the best and most supportive people I have had the pleasure to work with. There isn't one of them that I don't like. And they have a knack for encouraging me in just the way I need to be encouraged at just the right moment. Telling me to trust the master plan when I'm doubting there is one, or supporting me when I make decisions that may not be logical but are right. They take a chance on me and teach me new things, and trust me with important things. And they really care about me. And I appreciate that.

So there are the ordinaries for the day. Now, go out and do something ordinary!