I’ve worked for 2 weeks and now get 3 weeks off for Christmas break. I’m thinking that’s an ideal schedule and I’m a little worried that come the third week in January, I’m going to be hurting for another recovery break. Wait, I don’t get another week’s worth of leisure after successfully completing 50 hours? I might have to rethink this working thing . . .
But so far work has been enjoyable. I think the bigger strain has been that I’ve been working AND keeping up with our holiday schedule. On Wednesday I came home and put on my PJs at 6 and declared that I could not do One. More. Thing. and that the rest of the family was welcome to go to the International Carol service at church without me. (Something I really wanted to attend, but I couldn’t bear to leave the house one more time.) They all decided I had the right idea and joined me on the couch for an evening of nothing.
So what do I do at work? Well, a few kids in this world still read so there’s a little bit of looking up books, checking them out and shelving them, but most of my day is occupied with technology management. Every student from 6th grade on is required to have a Mac laptop. We have technology equipment in the library to support and reflect that emphasis. All these supplemental items are loaned out for a single day so I have checkouts and returns throughout my shift.
I give chargers to the kids who need a bit more juice to make it to the end of the day and there’s a non-stop run on headphones and phone charging cables. We even have 20 MacBooks that are loaned to kids who either forgot or have a broken computer. And God bless them, there are kids that make my absent minded crew look like I’m raising a bunch of Einsteins. Carter may have lost his camera for a month, but there are 3 other kids just like him. And kids who forget to bring back chargers for weeks, even with emails and texts to remind them, and then lose their borrowing privileges so we have to trade collateral for equipment. We usually accept phones or watches, but the most creative solution goes to the kid who didn’t have a phone so he traded a shoe for a power cord. He left it by my desk, returned to class, and we exchanged items at the end of the hour. He didn’t run out of power and the charger was returned. Win. Win.
What else do I do? I manage the cameras — 2 large cabinets of cameras of all types. Both video cameras and the big Canons and Nikons with zoom lenses. GoPro style sports cameras, tripods, etc. And they all get used. Kids film themselves for class assignments, teachers film foreign language oral exams, recording of holiday performances — the past 2 weeks the cameras have been in high demand. 25-30 have been in heavy rotation which means lots of work for me as I have to receive them, clear all the SD cards, and charge the batteries before sending them back out again. At first I felt like I was all thumbs, trying to figure out how to work each different kind of camera, but it’s quickly becoming familiar.
There’s also work related to the new school security system and ID badges with microchips and programming cards so that they work with the system. I can kind of do that, but will get a lot of practice in January when they roll out cards to the 9th and 10th graders. (Right now it’s just for Staff/Parents/Juniors and Seniors)
Nothing that I’m doing is rocket science or exciting to talk about (and why this post is such a snooze), but it’s good variety and I’m getting to meet lots of the teachers and students that my kids spend all day with. Seeing my boys (and giving them treats of chocolate for coming to visit me) is fun even if they also need lunch money or paperwork to be signed. I’ll take what I can get.
Talking about my job is much less interesting than doing my job (thankfully). After all this writing work, I’m feeling like it’s time for my afternoon Judge Judy nap. (Volume on, eyes closed and drift off to sleep to the sounds of my hero telling people what’s what.) Merry Christmas to me!