Christmas Day - Dezember 25

"I can't believe my eyes!". These words were our alarm clock at 6.30 this morning. Mads had awoken and spied the pile of presents Father Christmas had left her. And very well chosen presents they were too - just perfect for Mads.
We had a lovely day: cooked and ate and drank, unwrapped and walked then ate and drank some more. It was so nice to share the day with Hil in Hobart via Skype. Aint technology grand?
Great presents all round. Most surprising for me was a necklace from Matt which I had admired in a shop window when we were on our way to a coffee shop yesterday. There were several similar but he bought THE one. I couldn't believe my eyes!
Jim was equally touched by Matt's gift to him: a trilobite from the dinosaur museum

Germany is now closed. It closed at lunch time on Christmas Eve and won't re-open until Monday. I have never seen streets so quiet - not even on Grand Final Day in Melbourne

Dezember 21-22 Heidelberg



We all went to Heidelberg for an overnight stop. Our room in the hotel was at the very top and had a sloping roof with a skylight. Right Foot could not stand up in half of it. The hotel is connected to a university which offers courses in hospitality and is run by students. We were asked to overlook any 'mishaps'. We tried our best.





We took the funicular up to the top of Konigstuhl where we did all the traditional snowy stuff: snowmen, snowballs, apple streudel etc. Then half way down to the ruined schloss which had great atmosphere in the gloom and snow.





No crepes for dinner tonight: we went to a Chinese restaurant where Mads chummed up with the owner's 5 year-old daughter. They played happily despite language challenges.

It was a great day





Tuesday was much milder - in fact not cold at all and we could actually take our hats off for the first time in 2 weeks. I have tulip-shaped hair after all that time in a beanie. Because it's necessary to wear a coat, scarf and hat all the time, my photos give the impression that none of us has changed clothes for a fortnight.

We went to the museum where we saw, amongst other things, the jawbone of Heidelberg Man, our 600,000 year-old relative.
He still had most of his teeth. If his can last so long why do we have so much trouble keeping our teeth for 50 or 60 years?

White Christmas



We really are having a White Christmas. The snow is thick and heavy and right up to the front door. The trees are decorated with real snow not foam from an aerosol can. I have never seen snow falling before and never seen it in an urban area at all. Now I trudge around like Good King Wencelas in a white white world. It's an amazing experience.



We are off to Heidelberg tomorrow to check out the uni where Hamlet went to school

Strasbourg Day 3 - Samedi

We woke this morning to a snowy vista dotted with pretty Christmas trees. Who knew the view from a 2 star hotel could be so romantic? But did I want to go out in it? Mais non! Did I have to? Mais oui!
Oh well. Another crepe. Another museum. Followed by more adventures on the ICE train back to Frankfurt where it is minus 10 degrees.

Strasbourg Day 2 - Vendredi

Today we explored beautiful Petit France: the old city where the entire French army holed up in the Napoleonic wars. I bought some gorgeous Alsation lace Christmas decorations, tres chic. The street decorations are the classiest, most sophisticated and stylish I have ever seen.




Thankfully there are numerous excellent museums in Strasbourg where we could shelter from the cold. I would have agreed to anything, even a car museum or the Museum of Toenail Clippings

THREE DAYS IN ALSACE

Jeudi - Death Avoided By Chocolat

We took the Intercity to Strasbourg to check out the Alsations, the sausage (Stras, Fritz or Devon depending on which state of Australia you grew up in)and the famed Chistmas markets.

Because we are old buggers we got a 25% discount on our train fare which, according to our calculations, meant the price came down to 150 Euro. But no. The tickets cost 152.80. Turns out the last 2 stations are in France and the discount stops at the border.

Strasburg is very beautiful, historic and interesting but absolutely freezing. Big Jim bought another coat to wear on top of the one he already had and all the clothes beneath.

Dinner was crepes in the markets and to drink Vin Chaud followed by Chocolat Chaud which was a cupful of melted chocolate with coconut sprinkled on top. Rich and sickly, it tasted like a liquid lamington but warded off death by hyperthermia for a couple more hours.

It's sneeing, it's sneeing, it's sneeing! Not enough for an actual sneeman but definitely a sneefall. It's a few zillion degrees below zero and snowing. i've just been out walkng in it: through the Christmas markets, over the bridge and through the plaza to the Touristinformation. How brave was that? never call me a fraidy cat again!

There's no Christmas rush in Germany. Apparently everyone's been organised for months. No hustle, bustle or frenzy. Just orderly, controlled shopping.

All around the streets in Frankfurt there are trees adorned with brilliant and delicate decorations. None have been vandalised or even affected by the weather. I can't imagine they would remain in this state in Melbourne. Some passing yobboes would have destroyed them for the fun of it.

We are becoming accustomed to piling on layers everytime we venture out. As Melbournians we know about layering but not like this - I have more skins than an onion at the moment and look rather like one too. The need for hats means that I am in a constant state of helmet hair and am becoming quite dextrous at doing things with my gloves on.

We had good news from Hil today - all looking good at the 20 week scan but she declined the opportunity to know the gender - dang!

Chilli in Bangkok and chilly in Frankfurt too

Twenty-eight muggy hours in Bangkok viewing temples, swimming in a rooftop pool and storing up vitamins D and C is now being followed by bone-numbing cold and all that fearful food (I was right to be afraid - this morning I have seen foot-long, python-thick 'wursts' of every description being cooked in huge outdoor braziers and hungrily consumed} I couldn't decide which was the least worst wurst so had a cup of coffee instead.



Our flight from Bangkok was overbooked and we were offered 600 Euro and other benefits to relinguish our seats but the thought of disappointing Mads made acceptance impossible. Mere and Maddles were at the airport for our 5.30 a.m. arrival - Maddles in her Sam-Sam outsuit - and we have had a wonderful morning but are beginning to wilt a little now. Never mind! Mere is promising gluwein later on and the famous Christmas markets at night. And there is bok choy in the house! And Aussie wine! And a veritable mountain of jars of vegemite.

So I've learnt a lot in a couple of days. I can distinguish between a Buddha subduing the seas and one subduing the relatives. Also one subduing mara which I take to mean the world in general. Buddhas are very good at subduing.

we are getting about 8 hours of daylight and it's now clear why I have this fair skin. It's perfect for absorbing the few skerricks of vitamin D available. Only thing is I'm not sure I'm tall enough to compete with the locals for my share.

Festive in Frankfurt

Tomorrow,Right Foot and I head off to Germany to spend Christmas with Mere, Matt and Mads. We have already had Christmas with Hil, Rob, the Unborn (aka Bisleri Fruitelle) and Rob's mum so this will be our second dip.

I've heard so much about the wonderful Christmas markets in Germany and at last get to see them. Mere says they are a bit cheesey but I'm up for a bit of kaese, kein problem. I've been making a late run on learning a bit of Deutsch. For some reason the phrase 'Wan es fruhstuck' (When is breakfast) has stuck in my brain. I'm not sure why it has such importance: I've had the same breakfast (vegemite toast and tea) for fifty years and don't expect that will change because of 5 weeks in Germany. I notice that they have not one but two words that mean dog's breakfast and another one for donkey's breakfast (I think I'd prefer that - there may be some vegetable matter involved). I'm a bit worried about the German food, all blood sausage and chocolate tortes. Hwmm. I wonder how you say bok choy in German? And tofu? And 'Lose the salt for Pete's sake!!'

A few more pics of Madeleine's holiday in Melbourne

The Mummy Car

The Heiress named it the mummy car because it was usually Mummy who drove her around in it. The mummy car made many a trip between Collingwood and South Melbourne in the peak-our traffic, with Grumpy Girl desperately trying to keep The Heiress amused by singing, playing word games and telling stories.

I bought the mummy car when Grump and Matt took The Heiress to Germany seven weeks ago but, owing to what Kinsley Amis called a “Bum Recital” (AAMI bum, roadworthy bum, VicRoads bum, City of Port Phillip bum, man-across-the-road-bum …) I only drove it for the first time today and will have to drive it home (in the dark) tonight.

For 40 years I have driven a manual car: the mummy car is automatic. There doesn’t seem to be enough for me to do. What have I forgotten? Gears? Clutch? Hardest of all is the leap of faith required to believe the car won’t roll back when I take my foot off the brake. Can it be true? I have done my last handbrake start? Corner of Toorak and Tooronga – bring it on!



I was very nervous this morning, grimly clutching the steering wheel and not daring to put the radio on (that’ll soon change – can’t get home without Francis and Ox). Then I tuned in to the good vibes left behind by Grumpy and The Heiress and knew I was safe. The wheels on the car would go round and round, round and round and the person in the car would be protected by familiar mitochondrial DNA, notwithstanding the driver behind going toot, toot, toot! Toot, toot, toot! All the way to town.

Endless weekend

Our third weekend without The Heiress and definitely the worst. The first one was spent cleaning up the aftermath of 3 extra bodies and their stuff in our small apartment and the second one was Easter with its distractions. But yesterday the Great Nothingness descended. What did we do on weekends in the olden days before Mads was born?

We began the day at Camby Market which Dr Shed loves and I tolerate once per decade. We left there with a supply of rusty washboards, useless tools and fresh colds.
From there it was off to DFO for some el cheapo tees, whose relative newness was the only thing distinguishing them from the dejected-looking clothing at Camby.
This was followed by a walk around Albert Park Lake throwing thawing cake at the ducks. (I had at last found time to clean out the freezer).

The afternoon loomed ominously ahead. Half an hour on Skype talking to Grumpy Girl made me feel both better and worse. It’s fab technology but there’s no bod to bod. Grandparents need cuddles.

The Heiress has gone. To live in Germany. So have her mum, Grumpy Girl and dad, Matthew. Dr Shed and I have lost our first born daughter and our only grandchild. It is very very depressing. What’ll we do on weekends now? No more play parks, babychinos, Hooble Dooble DVDs, bath toys or playdough. No more singing nursery rhymes in the car, no more tram rides along St Kilda Rd pointing out the floral clock, the Arts Centre spire and Mummy’s old school (VCA). No more lying on the floor of the Great Hall, choosing our favourite colour leadlight in the ceiling.

No more chirping little girl voice, no more warm bod to bod cuddles, no more kissing the cheek of a sleeping angel.

Grumpy Girl has now sold 400,000 copies of her 17 books. Here is a picture of her and her little family on the night of the launch of her 18th. Note The Heiress in her Madeline outsuit (as she calls it)

Parking Schmarking

Because Dr. Shed has the garage stuffed with a wild variety of objects, useful, not useful, bizarre, unidentifiable and just a bloody nuisance, we cannot get either of our cars in there. We have to find two parking spots in the street and when we nab ones close to home we become extremely reluctant to move our cars at all, preferring to walk, catch a tram or a taxi or simply stay home.
We try hard to avoid moving both cars at once and if one of us leaves the other lines up behind and zips into the spot quickly so that no passing random grabs it.
The trickiest time is after work. There is a window of opportunity between 5 and 6 when the St. Kilda Road office workers head back to the ‘burbs, and the neighbours arrive home. I never get home before 6 and often have to park illegally. We then spend the evening competing for any spot that opens up. We have a slight advantage over most of our rivals. From our apartment we can see empty places out the window and can hear car doors slam and ignitions start. We react like Pavlov’s dogs: leaping to our feet, grabbing our keys, running down two flights of stairs and dashing across the road, often to be gazumped by a neighbour who lives on the lower floor. When this happens we act nonchalant and pretend we were just going out to collect something from our car so that we don’t look as foolish as we feel.
Some nights we are feeling quite satisfied with the spots we have until one of us makes the mistake of glancing out the window. A spot closer to home represents an irresistible Upgrade Opportunity and we are compelled to dash down again to secure it.
On the weekends the problem is different. The Blow-ins from Baysie arrive to enjoy some of St Kilda’s sophistication which, unfortunately, never seems to rub off on them. It’s maddening to lose a spot to a Bayswater bogan. I much prefer the classier visitors to the Indonesian embassy a couple of doors down. They are very sedate and always go home early and sober.
Then there’s the Grand Prix, the Million Paws Walk and the extraordinary intrusion of the Melbourne Marathon. Don’t get me started.

Limerick for a departing campus nurse

Oh, how we will miss our Nurse Trout!
She keeps us from growing too stout
She checks out the fannies
Of girls, mums and grannies
And tells them they’re all up the spout!

Pools

There are four swimming pools in my life: the ‘Fred’, the ‘Harry’, the ‘Jock’ and the ‘Albert’ each with its own unique ambience.

The daggy old Fred was originally called the Fred Dwerryhouse Swimming Pool but now has the far less interesting name, Ringwood Aquatic Centre. I swim here to avoid the peak-hour traffic on my long trip home. The Fred has truly bizarre showers - the water is on a timer and each cubicle is different. The most generous allows you a minute but the one I was in earlier this week gave me only 7 seconds.

Visiting the Harry, the ironically named Harold Holt Memorial Swim Centre (it turned out he couldn’t) is like taking a trip to Lourdes. There are lots of very elderly and infirm folk drifting along hoping for a miracle. The lanes aren’t labeled Fast, Medium and Slow but ‘Visible Signs of Life’, ‘Float Like a Lotus Blossom’ and ‘I’m Not Waving, I’m Drowning!’

The Jock is the pool at Melbourne High School and it’s for serious swimmers. You rarely have to share a lane here and can swim unimpeded. I occasionally get to swim beside budding young AFL players, usually from Richmond so I’m keeping a lookout for Ben Cousins. There are one or two things I’d like to say to him.

The Albert, aka Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, in Albert Park, in an unpredictable place. Ordinary mortals are regularly excluded because of competitions or even if Leisel, Libby or Eamon feel like training that day. But if I do get in I’m treated to a cacophony of sound and light, waves, water slides, fountains, music, aerobics and sometimes the hilarious sight of synchronized swimmers practicing their routine on the side of the pool. If you think it looks funny in the water, wait ‘til you see them doing it on dry land. Great entertainment.

Amazing! An insect read my blog and knew how to edit the banner. Many thanks whoever you are. Now I have to think of some witty slogan to replace it. Maybe the butterfly can help again.

Can anyone tell me how to edit the banner on this blog? That stuff about Sarawak is so out of date but I don't know how to get rid of it. I have millions of readers out there. One of youse must know

I’ve got half an hour or so to spare so it’s a good time to polish off the last of the 3 extra things.

Kartoo

Kartoo is rather fun but I did get some weird and wacky results looking for images to insert into a presentation I have coming up soon. Then, egotist that I am, I tried to find a picture of moi but it offered me August Strindberg instead. Hmm… must be because he wrote ‘Miss Julie’. Still, it’s good to try something other than Google Images.

Voyage RSS feed reader

I became rather wary of feed readers after the 23 things when I found them to be a distraction when I least needed it. On my first attempt at Voyage my screen froze, on my second I retrieved an article called ‘Spider forces family out of home’ which led me to a treasure trove of man bites dog stories. More distractions! Very entertaining though.

Semantic Web

I’ve been hearing about this for a while but the case studies linked to our Wiki helped make it clearer. The concept-based search is a great advantage especially when it can manage multiple languages. The diagrams illustrating the technology look horrendously complex so I am glad I’m an end-user rather than a developer in this instance.

Now I have done all my things. I hope there won’t be too many more encores. I just want to go to the cinema for free, thank-you.

23 things plus 5

I've just linkedin to 4 colleagues who I'm trusting to advance my illustrious career shortly. Get on with it gals! I've been looking at VuFind for quite a while as well as a couple of other similar products such as AquaBrowser http://www.aquabrowser.com

They make resources look attractive but obviously don't impact on the quality of what is retrieved.

23 Things - Gallop to the finish line

OK. It’s time to make a belated lurch to the finish line on the 23 things. I still have 4 to go officially although I’ve done 3 of them without realising they were on the list.

The countdown:-

Thing 18

The aspect of Library 2.0 that most interests me is user involvement in the creation and maintenance of products and services. Libraries are the natural habitat of technological innovation and the willingness to share ideas and applications discussed by Eric von Hippel in ‘Democratising innovation’ is part of our professional ethic. Library 2.0 is also progress towards really putting customers first that we talk a lot about but actually do in a fairly limited way.

Thing 20

I found two clips on Youtube when I searched for ‘Swinburne Library’ though one was recognizably set in ‘Mr Tulk’, the café around the corner from the State Library in LaTrobe Street. The other involved dressed-up library users racing up and down the aisles between the book stacks.

Next I watched 4 students wreaking havoc in the Monash University Library and spoofing a library tour at the same time. Then ontoanother group of students surreptitiously devouring Big Macs in the Matheson. Hmmm, time to find something more edifying but what search terms to use?

I attempted to watch a tour of the beautiful Library of Congress having been on one myself several years ago but unfortunately the camera operator had so many technical problems it was unwatchable.

The best thing I found was a video on a children’s interactive library which synergised with Thing 18 above. Nice!

Thing 21

Onto the Sirsi Dynix Institute to listen to a Podcast. This is a site I’ve used a bit with students so no worries here. Another Thing accomplished and the end’s in sight.

Thing 23

The Wash Up. Although the Things hung over my head like the Sword of Damocles for months I’m glad to have done them and am already using several to good effect. We librarians are guns at adopting and adapting new technology and proof positive that one is never too old too learn.

Will I keep blogging? Of course. Blogging is vanity publishing at its best. You can see your name in lights and no-one is obliged to read it if they don’t want to. What could be better than that? Finishing the 23 things that’s what.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Yesterday was the fifth and final celebration for my special birthday. Entering a new decade is a fearful experience and it’s good to have lots of people around to see you over the hump. We had lunch at “The Point” on Albert Park Lake – very pretty, very pleasant, great company and conversation and some amazing gifts. I feel very spoilt but I still want one more thing – a change of government on Saturday, topped off with a win in the seat of Bennelong. Then I can die happy.

Today is my birthday. It’s one of those Big Birthdays that end in zero and get you thinking about the meaning of life and the state of your superannuation fund.

A number of luminaries share my birthday:
1. The late great miss Veronica Lake who taught me that it was OK to have long lank straight hair;
2. The loathsome Prince Charles who gives me a focus for all my negative energy;
3. Condoleezza Rice – great to see a woman in power but some of her political ideas are a worry;
4. Senator Joseph McCarthy - now we’re in really dangerous territory; and
5. Claude Monet – any one of his paintings would be an acceptable gift should you be wondering.

Google Docs

Set up my Google docs and started sharing the writing of the ANZIIL report with Mary, Zarina and Sue, inviting Tom as a visitor so he’d know we were really doing it. But the next day some intruder with a Gmail address had joined the group and our document had disappeared! So it’s back to sharing on G drive I guess.

Hurray! At last I have my star for Week 4 and my cinema tickets are on the way. Bake up the popcorn! Freeze up the choc tops!

The original four family members (now we have seven) Left Foot, Right Foot, Grumpy Girl and Petite Soeur

Information Literacy and Mango Tarts

The ANZIIL symposium in Hobart last week was a great success judging by the comments on delegates’ evaluation sheets. This was good news for the organising committee as we had a few difficulties along the way, most notably our man on the spot moving from Tassie to Brisbane just before the symposium and our Chair also changing jobs and being unable to attend.

It appears though that the glory days of Information Literacy are over. The feeling is that there’s less support from senior management confronting issues of accountability and effectiveness. It’s difficult to demonstrate the lasting benefits of many of our interventions.

On the plus side, the lovely lovely unmatchable, unmissable CRIG information literacy forum is coming up soon. The forum is timed to coincide with the mango season and, apart from the presentations, the highlights of these gatherings has always been the socialising and networking over a mango tart. The mango tarts were legendary but I’ve been told that for the second year in a row there will be none.

It’s a portent of doom. The thin end of the wedge. How long before no mango tarts equals no information literacy? I fear the worst.

A quiet Friday arvo so I've knocked over a few more of the 23 things. I've used Google Booksearch many times but have had another look. There's still not many full books I want to read on it. I've set up an iGoogle homepage but found it did not transport from one computer to another. I've del.icio.used and posted photos of four late great pets.

There's lots of websites about Second Life and some articles in the databases too. It was reading one of these that alerted me to the existence of Web 3.0. And we're just coming to grips with Web 2.0! Enuff already!

I'm off to the ANZIIL symposium on Sunday so probably won't be blogging until the end of next week. See ya!

Star Quest

There is a black hole in the galaxy of stars alongside my blog. Week 4. I SWEAR TO GOD I have done all of the 23 things up to and a little beyond that point. So, Big Brother, I eagerly await the arrival of my Village cinema tickets any day now.

SWINBURNE LIVING LIBRARY TOURS THE ANCIENT WORLD

There's nothing like a night shift to get you romping through the 23 things. I've Flickrd and Googled and now have a few doz more passwords to remember. What have I learnt? According to Google Maps I could be getting home in one hour and 3 minutes instead of the hour and 20 it takes me now. I don't believe it.

I've sussed out Facebook and Myspace and know that they are not for me.

Now that I've arrived at the rest week I'm going to indulge myself by blogging about Living Library's tour through the Ancient World. LL visited the Topaki Palace in Istanbul to interview Suleyman the Magnificent; Delphi to consult the oracle; Olympia to win gold for Australia; Pompeii to ask for a ‘please explain’ from the vulcanologist; Rome to ask Romulus and Remus about establishing an empire; etc.

Pictures and details are on Flickr at http://www.flickr.com/photos/15224574@N08/

Here’s a few to go on with.

OK, I've just polished off the Week 5 stuff, including subscribing to some feeds and blogs on health issues. I expect to be a complete hypochondriac within a week.

I've just done the Library Thing (23 things week 4) and now I know that 87 other people also enjoy the novels of Barbara Trapido. That'll come in handy.

After zillions of attempts and frustrations and much advice from peers, I have finally managed to Simpsonise myself. And it looks just like me!!!

23 Things

Just back from leave, I'm very late to the party on the 23 things. Have got as far as Flickr but have resisted putting up my holiday snaps. Didn't think you'd be interested.

Here are the 23 things I wish I were still doing:
munching a light and crispy pizza in Rome
savouring a chocolate gelati in Sorrento
browsing the market in Amalfi
sipping a limoncello
admiring the view from the ferry on the way to Capri
inspecting the ruins at Pompeii and running in to a former student)
visiting Santa's grave in Bari
touring the colosseum
sneaking into a bar in the Piazza Venezia for a free pee
dining right on the beach at Tolo with the waves lapping around my feet
consulting the oracle at Delphi
running down the track at Olympia
singing my heart out in the theatre at Epidaurus
having a picnic lunch in the grounds of the public library at Nafplion
baking in the Athens heat
climbing halfway to Heaven at Meteora
picking up the great vibe on the streets of Istanbul
admiring the homes of the rich and famous from the middle of the Bosphorus
rapping with Suleyman the Magnificent at the Topkapi Palace
shopping for cushions in the Grand Bazaar
steering clear of the Istanbul carpet salesmen
getting high on the aroma in the Spice Bazaar
choosing among a dozen different breads to have with my kebab.

Sigh!

In his book ‘Microtrends’ Mark J. Penn identifies 75 consumer groups which are growing in importance for marketers. I seem to belong to several of them: Wordy Women (gotta admit to this), Southpaws Unbound (militant lefthanders), Powerful Petites (women tired of buying their clothes in children’s boutiques) but most of all, I am an Extreme Commuter.

Driving from St Kilda to Lilydale every day I have tried most of the time-passing activities Penn discusses. I have decimated the audiobook collections of every library in the south-eastern suburbs and can claim to have read all sorts of weighty tomes I would never have struggled through if I’d had to read them myself instead of having a professional actor read them to me. Being stuck in the middle of the Glen Iris level crossing while some fruity-voiced actor reads Proust to you is a unique experience.

Language tapes are another option. Penn claims you can learn Spanish in 16 hours and get a job as a UN translator. I haven't achieved those dizzy heights but, on and off for 10 years I have practiced my parley vous and can now place an order at a restaurant or book a hotel in Paris while simultaneously negotiating my way around the number 6 tram at the corner of high Street and Glenferrie Road.

Penn is right about the marketing opportunities. Extreme Commuters are a captive audience eager for anything to make the drive more pleasant. Libraries should be targeting us. Just be careful with the relaxation tapes - ZZZZZ.

The Frontier Librarians, Left and Right are off to explore some very ancient frontiers in Turkey, Greece and Italy. I've got lots of questions ready for the Oracle at Delphi:
1. Will I ever have another grandchild?
2. Will Cee ever reach her goal weight? (She really wants to know)
3. Will I fall so far behind with my 23 things (this is only the 2nd) that Derek will let me off?
4. Will that beagle at Melbourne airport bail me up again?

I hope I'll be able to tell you the answer to some of these questions when I return. I'm not sure how many goes at the Oracle you're allowed to have.

Imagine this. The best information literacy session you've ever had. All the participants have chosen to be there and all seem eager to learn. They speak the lingo, they are all PLU, they are on your side. If you've had this experience you must be a teacher of library technicians too.

Clearly retrospective travel blogs are too boring even for those on the trip. Never mind, the frontier librarians have another adventure coming up soon. Stand by for the first installment