Horsy novels

I have started to read some horsy novels. There are lots of them for the younger crowd but I am finding some quite good ones for adults.

So the Ottawa Public Library has redesigned their catalogue and web site. Now you can make lists for yourself or to share with others. I started one for Horse novels. I added several older items that are on my shelves.

I also found a few lists to help get me started. I will consult them as I pursue this interest in reading and horses.

Groups of...

I was looking for names of groups of animals and more specifically bears and bunnies.

- Sloth or Sleuth of Bears.

- Bury, Colony, Circle, Nest, Herd, Litter, Trace of Rabbits.

Just for fun there was a second page to this website - some funny suggestions for groupings.

- A Cardigan of librarians
- A Catalog of librarians
- A Shelf of librarians
- A Stack of librarians

Here is the site - quite fun.
http://www.hintsandthings.co.uk/kennel/collectives.htm

35 years ago this month

I received a letter in the mail from where I had worked the previous year as a summer student. There was a job for me. I accepted the offer very quickly.

I spent a few days staying with a friend whom I had met in Toronto whose family lived in Ottawa. I looked for an apartment downtown close to where I was going to be going to church. I found one easily.

I moved to Ottawa in early May and I started my work career as a librarian soon after. The building where I first worked is no longer there. It was a temporary building built during WWII but still around in the 1970s.

Walking the picket line

Unfortunately for some folks in Ottawa, OC Transpo has gone on strike. Being retired and getting around mostly by car and not needing to be in the downtown area too much, I can manage quite well. I do notice too that there are a lot more cars on the road and driving around can be a slow process. It did not help that there was a major snow event in Ottawa this week.

I have been using the bus to go downtown and then walking to and from various transit stations. I do not have an appointment downtown until early January and hopefully by then, the two sides will have got their differences sorted out.

When I was working there was a transit strike that lasted quite a few weeks. Some of us living close by got together and shared in a car pool. There was parking available quite cheaply at one of the municipal arenas. It worked out alright but it was an inconvenience.

*****

I did work in a unionized environment and the union decided a couple of times to go on strike. Some of my colleagues did walk on the picket line but I was not inclined to do so.

*****

The other strike that affected me at work was a postal strike. At that time the library had many printed magazines and books being sent in the mail. It was more of an issue when the strike was over because we were deluged with very large piles of mail.

I wonder now that the library is more virtual with electronic resources that a postal strike would not have such a major impact.

*****

I was involved somewhat in labour relations. I went to work for the Department of Labour (later Labour Canada and the Labour Program) in November of 1976. Of passing interest to those working in the library, the first Minister of Labour was Mackenzie King and he started the library in the department. I think if you looked hard enough in some of the hidden corners of the library, you might still find a few books from his era.

Bookmobiles

This is one of the 2 bookmobiles that the Ottawa Public Library has. I see them parked at the branch where I often go to return my library books.





Have you ever used a bookmobile? They have to be well organized to use all the space and have special shelves so that the books do not slide around.

When I was growing up in Lachute, an enterprising member of the community arranged for the McGill McLennan Travelling Library to stop in the town. This bookmobile served areas of rural Quebec. The local library facilities in English were fairly limited but I do not think the French language facilities were much better.

I remember getting large piles of children's books. I have enjoyed reading for a very long time.

Summer reading

Since I have been retired and I can easily retire to my basement, I have been reading more than one book at once. Fiction is usually on the menu as well so that makes 3 books - at least.

Nouwen, Henri - The inner voice of love. These are short reflections written during a very difficult time in the author's life. How to find love when feeling rejected.

Chittister, Joan - The Gift of Years: Growing Older Gracefully. These are also short reflections onm different aspects of aging. It is not as spiritual and reflective as I first thought but the author still has good things to say.

Fiction reading. I would like to get back to some churchy mystery series that I know about. I like series that develop the characters over time. My public library is a great resource for reading all of a series and reading them in the order published.