Back and Forth

The tables have turned. I've been scolded.

J reprimanded me a few weeks ago. "Mom, you need to go back to blogging."

What?

This is the guy who incessantly mocked my blogging. Who mercilessly teased me about all the stories I shared. And constantly reminded me how small my following was.

I found him in the living room one afternoon, my printed blog books wide open on his lap as he poured over them, laughing and holding them up as he remembered something.

"I forget all the stuff that happens. These are good. They remind me of all the things we've done."

Which is just what I wanted when I started blogging.

"What happened to your fish?," said the {very} young lady that was standing in front of the fish tank in the library a few days ago.

"His fin is gone. And his tail. What's wrong with him?" she inquired.

I looked up from what I was doing. "Well, I think he has ickythemus or something," I said, totally making up a word that I hoped sounded like fish-tail-and-fin-eating syndrome.

She looked skeptical. "Well, when he turns to the side, he don't look so good." But then she perked up and said, "At least he can still steer and swim!" And skipped off with her mother leaving me looking at the fish with no fin or tail. I didn't even know he was missing body parts.

FYI - I looked up the word I was trying to think of and it was "ichthyosis" which is some sort of scaly skin disease on humans. Not fish.

I'm a superstar librarian. Yup.

~~~~~~~~~~

I head downstairs after my stint in the Children's department. There's a couple of heating contractors looking for my co-worker and I. They wanted to let us know they had to turn the power off in the building to test the new generator.

What? In the middle of the morning? What are we supposed to do with all the people in the building using computers?

"Well, it's only goin' tah be out for oh, about twelve seconds," says the first guy with a slight Southern accent. "We's got to turn it off tah see if it will switch the power over tah the generator. And then a few minutes aftuh that, we'll have tah switch it back."

My co-worker and I just stare at him. We know what this means. All the computers are going to have their power supply interrupted twice. 

Interrupted power supplies = computers going down = unhappy patrons. Capisce?

The service contractor mistook our silence for stupidity so he tried explaining again, using hand gestures this time.

"Well, ya see, we's got to shut the power off tah see if it will flip between the regulah power and the generator. We's got tah flip it between the two, back an' forth. Back an' forth. Back. An'. Forth," punctuating each "back" and "forth" with the appropriate gesture - arms wide open, slapping one arm on top of the other every time he said "back" or "forth".

My co-worker looks at me and I know what she's thinking. I nod at her. "What happens if the power doesn't switch? And stays on in both the regular power and the generator at the same time?" she asks.

You know, in case something doesn't work.

The contractors look at her, two sets of eyes flying wide open. "Why, things blow up then!"

I love my job.