I got an email about a Follett Training workshop in Macau.  Since we just upgraded to Destiny 9.8 I thought I would ask my Boss if i could go.  Macau is only a 2 hour plane ride away and the conference registration is not that much.

She said yes.  And not only that, they don’t mind buying my plane ticket for me to go on Saturday, so I can spend the weekend before the workshops, but I have to cover the extra days lodgings.

So in November I get to spend 4 days in Macau.  I am pretty excited about it!

It was a simple task, really.  I just wanted to upgrade from Destiny 6.5 to 9.8.   So instead of doing the noncriminal upgrades, Follett said I could just install 9.8 and import my patron and MARC records.  Sure, I’d lose the transaction history, but with no Librarian there for the past year I wasn’t sure that data was accurate anyway.

However, when i put the CD in, it told me I needed to download some files before I could install it.  No problem!

So I go to windows to download them and realize Windows update hadn’t been running for at least a year.  So I downloaded and installed over 50 updates including Service Pack 2 and 3 for XP.  Yeah, you read that right.  And in doing this it also made sure I had a genuine copy of windows.

That’s when the brakes went on.

Now, I am not pointing fingers, and I am not making accusations.  I don’t know enough to say, but for whatever reason Microsoft flagged my copy of Windows as pirated.

This means no more downloading updates.  Which means no installing Destiny 9.8

So I spoke to the powers that be who assured my my copy was in fact genuine and not pirated.  They called a computer tech out to fix it.  So rather than reinstall Windows he desides to restore.  And restore it did.  To Vista.

Follett Destiny does not run on Vista.

So he decided to do what he was supossed to do in the first place.  Reinstall XP.  Except, now it wont let him.

Now, I have a new computer.  It has Windows XP with all the patches and drivers and files I needed.  It took over a week to fix from the first day.

I put the CD and began the install.  It went smoothly, no hiccups.  I imported my data.  And viola!  Less than 20 minutes from start to finish and I went from Destiny version 6.5 to 9.8.

Easy as pie!

Above the bookdrop slot next to my desk is a large glass window looking out onto the stairwell landing.  I told a co-worker that sometimes I feel like its a zoo or a prison where people can pass a food tray or what not.  He laughed and then the other day I found that another co worker had passed me a note through the book drop.  I found it funny.

What I further found funny was the fact that I had to wake up a kid from sleeping  the other day.  I told him you couldn’t sleep in the Library and he said “Really, we are not allowed to sleep?”  And I thought, No, you are supsosed to be studying Mr.-I-have-2-AP-classes-and-Honors-Chemistry.  It made me chuckle really.

I have really clamped down on drinks in the Library.  There is a tea shop across the street and seniors go there and bring back drinks for other classmates who can’t leave campus.  One girl had a tea and I told her it had to be taken outside the Library and left on the table.  She looked at me said “Ok” and then went back to typing and made no movement to do what I asked.  So I stood there and said “I meant now.”  She looked startled and said “Oh ok” and then complied.  In the future I guess I need to be explicit.

Another girl had a container with a snap top and I told her the same thing.  She said, “but its not tea, its water and its empty.  See?” and then she proceeded to turn it upside down.

It was not water, it was tea.

And it was not totally empty.

Needless to say she was embarrassed but got the point.

In other news I was given permission to order the spine labels I need from Demco but I have to go through their Taiwan supplier.  I was also given permission to order some other labels I need but found out they do not do wire transfers so I need to talk to the accountant at school and see if we can pay with a credit card or paypal.

Most of the elementary classes have come into the Library this week.  I explained to them the rules and let them look around.  Hopefully next week I’ll have enough books on the shelves for them to check out.  I have to stop processing books though cause I ran out of book tape and am waiting for that to arrive.  I should have checked the other day to see how many rolls of book tape we had, but I didn’t think about it.  Had I done that i would have realized we only had the 1 roll and i could have ordered more before I ran out.  So I ordered 4 rolls this time and will make sure that I don’t run out.