So let's recap the last week, in reverse chronological order, shall we?

Today: The mayor just came in to be present for some event, possibly the unveiling or handing over of a snazzy big ol' Spanish book from Spain. It's been noted that getting thrown to the ground by the bodyguard for snickering at the mayor may not result in workman's comp.

Earlier this morning: Came to work and the building had already been evacuated due to clanging of fire alarm.

Weekend: Not at work, bought amazing croquet set, cheap bottles of Avery, and pretty much spent all my money at Trader Joe's, Quarters, Dollar General, and Big Lots.

Last Friday: Alarm in the middle of the day while on the desk. Glad I wasn't on firewatch.

Last Thursday: A second member of reference came in and announced her impending retirement. We're up to six retirements in something like 15 months. The killer is that NO new positions are being posted to replace these people.

Last Wednesday: Was 8 minutes late for firewatch and got ratted out by coworker. Still resentful of coworker.

Last Tuesday: Telecom cables were cut. Entire building lost internet access for almost two hours. Sat at my desk and read. Sat at the reference desk and apologized a lot.

Last Monday: Oh yeah, we sort of re-opened the building. "Sort of" means half of the first floor, particularly the Starbucks and special collections. Circulation is open and we in reference (who are having a wall knocked down to expand the public area while we're at it) have taken over the special collections exhibit area with computers and cell phones. (I'm not sure where the ref collection actually is at this point.) The circulating collection is being paged on demand. (Periodicals that weren't burned to ash are still out of state.) A few computers are available, sometimes with internet access. The reference department is all crammed into a miniscule space. (We've invaded the GID space. The irony is that I'm back at the desk I gave up two weeks before the fire.)

All in all, it's pretty exciting, working in a construction zone. I mean, they never said a thing about wearing a hard hat in library school...