So, a summary:
Monday: My Dad is rushed to Calgary Foothills when supposedly boring little medical problem escalates.
Also Monday: My uncle passes away from terminal cancer. I am the messenger between parents on cell phone in hospital and rest of grieving family. J is stuck working late and cannot rush right home for me, but does his best and gets home earlier than expected at least.
Tuesday: Spend day putting together computers - lots of computers since we just got new ones for library. Get a headache from all the fiddly little details that need to be set up on them all. Depressed mood does not help. Spend evening fielding questions from concerned family and family friends about Dad and Uncle. Learn that Dad will be in hospital for at least a week.
Wednesday: I get a phone call at 7am to find out that the interior motion detectors have gone off at my library. I meet the police there, but the building is secure. I go in at 8:30 for my regular shift and discover that we should have looked around more carefully - we missed the giant crack in the library ceiling that is rapidly dripping water and large pieces of the ceiling all over our IPAC computers (and set off the motion detectors). We lose two computers to water damage.
Later Wednesday: I call the radio to let them know that, due to repair and maintenance, the library will be closed until further notice. I explain that there is a large crack, water damage, and a small section of the roof has come down. I learn a life lesson when radio announces on the news that the library roof has collapsed. Spend rest of day and next day fielding phone calls from all over everywhere asking who was hurt, whether the collection was lost, etc. No, people, two computers, that's it.
Thursday: Library is still closed. Deal with cranky people who want to know when it will be open. Find out, thankfully, that repairs are going well and library can re-open tomorrow. Spend entire day troubleshooting setup problems on computers that were supposed to be quickly installed. Learn that Dad will be in the hospital probably through the weekend and make plans to try and get to Calgary to visit. I'm not going to blog about details of Dad's condition, but he is still there and likely to be for a few more days. He'll be fine, but it will take awhile.
The high points: reading to the seniors at the nursing home on Tuesday night. They were so sweet and cheerful. It made me feel so much better to chat and visit with them instead of miring myself in the gloom. Also, I get to go on my first big book buying expedition for the library tomorrow. Several hours in Chapters and A&B Sound, going on a giant library shopping spree. That should cheer me up.
Anyway, sorry no one has heard from me this week. It has been really draining. I'm off now to go to my rents' and feed the puppies and housesit for a bit.
TTYL
