Hanner Cymraes practically did the online equivalent of taking off her gloves and slapping me across the face with them (and challenging me to the welsh language at 25 paces).
I responded with that most useful of welsh phrases - my hovercraft is full of eels (do you know how many times I've needed to say that in Wales?)
I think HC may have mis-translated slightly - she didn't realise I had a helicopter (my helicopter is full of eels - that just doesn't make sense!)
We have now exhausted my welsh knowledge of above-surface transport (and, for that matter, eels) so we will move on to 'what is the welsh for I almost locked a child in the library last night?'
At 5.55 pm I wandered (strode purposefully) round the library warning people that we were closing in 5 minutes, and did they need any help (before I picked them up and threw them out the front door). Young AC (annoying child) was playing games on pc 4.
At 6 pm I once again strode purposefully round the library reminding people that we were now closed. AC was no longer at the internets and the last couple of people were heading out the door. I made sure everyone was out, locked all the doors, and started on the post closing library rituals.
At 6.10 pm I heard watson say loudly 'the library is closed' I looked up and there was AC heading for the internets. Now I'm not sure where he'd been hiding when I made the 'make sure everybody is out of the library' tour - I did try to ask him but he just looked at me.
The sad thing is I suspect he would have been perfectly happy to be locked in the library all night so long as the internet was working.
From now on I think I shall escort him out the door at closing to make sure he actually leaves.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
One of our (older) borrowers came into the library this morning. The terrible fires raging in Victoria had reminded him of a childhood memory and he'd decided to get back in touch with some cousins that he hadn't seen, or heard from, in almost 70 years.
In January 1939 he was staying with his cousins, on their property on the outskirts of Melbourne as the Black Friday fires raged around them. He was little more than a baby and the cousins wrapped him in wet blankets and kept him in the bathtub until the last possible moment. When they were forced to evacuate they put him, still wrapped in the wet blankets, in a culvert on the side of the road.
The fire destroyed the house and property but the family were unharmed. They decided not to rebuild and moved to Tasmania.
Our borrower hadn't had any contact with them since.
It was so long ago, and he was so young, that although he remembered their surname he wasn't sure how to spell it.
Luckily they'd moved to a smallish settlement in Tas, and luckily the surname wasn't that common, so using whitepages.com.au we were able to get a phone number. He was rapt and headed off home to ring them and renew old acquaintances.
He has attended a couple of our internet demos and uses google to look up the answers to the Age crossword that stump him. He didn't realise that he could look up a phone number online.
In January 1939 he was staying with his cousins, on their property on the outskirts of Melbourne as the Black Friday fires raged around them. He was little more than a baby and the cousins wrapped him in wet blankets and kept him in the bathtub until the last possible moment. When they were forced to evacuate they put him, still wrapped in the wet blankets, in a culvert on the side of the road.
The fire destroyed the house and property but the family were unharmed. They decided not to rebuild and moved to Tasmania.
Our borrower hadn't had any contact with them since.
It was so long ago, and he was so young, that although he remembered their surname he wasn't sure how to spell it.
Luckily they'd moved to a smallish settlement in Tas, and luckily the surname wasn't that common, so using whitepages.com.au we were able to get a phone number. He was rapt and headed off home to ring them and renew old acquaintances.
He has attended a couple of our internet demos and uses google to look up the answers to the Age crossword that stump him. He didn't realise that he could look up a phone number online.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Calling all word nerds
Bibliophile Bullpen tipped me off to what is quickly becoming my favourite website.
Save the words.
Sponsored by Oxford University Press this site is dedicated to saving underused English words and keeping them in the dictionary (the OED).
The way coolest bit is after you've registered for the site you can adopt underused words - and they email you a certificate of adoption.
Just click on the word you're thinking of adopting and a window pops up telling you the word, the part of speech (noun, verb, adj. etc) and it's use in a sentence.
And once you've adopted the word - well you'll just have to try it yourself...
So far I've adopted 2 words -
Tortiloquy - a noun meaning dishonest or immoral speech.
Sam the mosquito was already a blood sucking parasite. All he needed was a well-rehearsed tortiloquy to begin his legal career.
Ingordigious - adjective meaning greedy.
His ingordigious girlfriend wasn't satisified with the 7 carat engagement ring, so he's back working nightshift for another year.
This is so much fun...
Wanders off to adopt more words...
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