Further dispatches from the land of the recently-moved
Updates updates updates!
In the midst of moving, I got a job! I’m now the new Reference and Instruction Intern at the Swarthmore College Library. I just started, and am liking it a lot so far. And the commute’s actually quite pleasant: a brisk 15-minute walk to Suburban Station (or, in bad weather, a faster bus ride), and then a half-hour train ride. People complain about SEPTA, but compared to what passed for mass transit in Charlottesville (where Amtrak sucked, the buses didn’t run at all on Sundays, and forget about cheap transit to the airport), it’s awesome.
It looks like I’ll be contributing to the trico libraries news and notes blog from time to time. Huzzah for libraries having a blog presence!
I’m taking Info 503 and Info 510 (Introduction to Information Systems Analysis and Information Resources & Services 1, respectively) this upcoming quarter. Classes don’t start until later in September, so I’m taking the time to get acclimated to work first; I plan on fitting a lot of schoolwork into my train commute. I’d forgotten how staggeringly expensive brand-new textbooks are. Yikes. Reminds me of taking calculus as an undergrad.
Home internet access is still up in the air. Comcast or Verizon? High prices and annoying package deals where you pay more if you don’t buy cable, or using a company that’s been accused of handing over people’s phone records to the NSA? I’m at the point where I throw my hands in the air and say "I don’t care." Hence the sporadic blogging. (And sporadic blog-reading. I want to comment on the ongoing biblioblogosphere discussion about sexism, but I’d rather do so at length, and that may have to wait until the home ‘net access has been established.)
I have, however, gotten a library card at the Free Library of Philadelphia, and between work, school, and living within walking distance of the Free Library’s main branch, I aim to have borrowing privileges at as many libraries in and around Philly as possible.
And in cultural news, the Philly Fringe Festival is coming up. I’m very keen to see Amnesia Curiosa after reading the write-up it got in the City Paper. Also possibly the twilight reading of Edgar Lee Masters’ Spoon River Anthology at Laurel Hill Cemetery, because how often does one get to go to a poetry reading like that?
We use Verizon’s FIOS and love it! It’s the cheapest high speed internet out there. For what it’s worth….
I like SEPTA, too. We’re an easy 4 min walk from our regional rail station, and it’s so nice to know that center city is so accessible.
Wow, that was snappy work!
Sounds grand.
Congratulations!
I always liked public transportation in Philly. And I’m glad to hear that you have already begun to enjoy the Phila. Free Library. Such a wonderful building.
Have you taken the side tour of the Rodin Museum yet?
Hey! Welcome to Swarthmore. Treat you to a coffee soon?
Congrats!
Timothy — yes, absolutely! Betsy — not yet, but it’s on my list.