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What did you do this week?
As part of a weekly series, these topics are a place for users to casually discuss the things they did — or didn't do — during their week. Did you accomplish any goals? Suffer a failure? Do nothing at all? Tell us about it!
This was my last week at the library job, so I mostly cleaned up everything there and said goodbye. They threw me a little surprise going away party so that was really great. I'm excited to start a new venture but I really liked my library job.
I know a few librarians and they all seem to love their job. They generally seem to be nice places to to work.
It was, it just didn't pay enough. And we didn't have as much institutional support as we deserved to be honest. All my coworkers were great though, and driven, and cared so much.
If you don't mind sharing, what led you to working at a library? What sort of qualifications were they looking for? I've always been interested in working at a library (and soon will be in the market for a job), and would be very interested to hear how you came to work at one.
Hey! I don't mind sharing at all. I started at the library because I love
books and because it paid more than I was currently making, to be honest. I
got really lucky to live in an area where the library is dope as hell and I got
to work in the Outreach Department, meaning that I drove a bookmobile around
and read books to preschoolers. I loved it. After a few years I moved up to
another branch where I helped people with their resumes and cover letters,
which was also fulfilling but not quite as fun.
At my library, they require a bachelor's degree for pretty much any position.
It doesn't matter which degree, just /a/ degree. I don't really agree with it
-- my job could've /definitely/ been done by a non-degree-holder, but it is
what it is. I ended up leaving because there weren't many chances for
advancement past where I was without a Masters of Library Science, which I'm
not very interested in -- I already have a Masters degree and I don't want to
spend the time or the money on another one. However, that's local to my area
(I've heard) so I definitely recommend going on your library's website and
looking around for if they have a careers page. They might hire through the
city (mine does) so check that site too.
I hope that helps! Working at the library was really fulfilling and great, but
also kind of thankless. Your mileage may vary, though!
I'm living with my girlfriend and my dog, Ketchup, came with me. He never had the opportunity to socialize with other dogs much. My girlfriend has two dogs of her own, and it's so funny to see him learning how to set boundaries, build relationships and goof around with the others. The first encounters where rough, but they solved their differences somehow. I think Ketchup is really happy. Dogs are great.
The only major issue now is that Ketchup is barking a lot more here. We used to live in an apartment so there was less stimuli. That's an issue late at night cause I don't wanna wake up the neighbors. So I bought an electric collar that wistles when he barks too loud (it doesn't electrocute the dog or anything like that). I still haven't used it, but in one test it proved effective. It's fireworks season in Brazil, too.
I would love to hear more about the collar you are using when you get around to training with it. My Aussie is a barker, always has been, and I’m always looking for force-free ways to curb it.
I will get back to you once I use it more.
My first impression was that it was crazy effective, the beep alone was enough to make Ketchup squirm. It must be some frequency that unsettles dogs more than humans. Granted, my dog is a drama queen. I made the mistake of testing it in front of my mother (the collar was sent to her house), and she looked at me like I was a dog torturer. My girlfriend is not a fan either. I love my dogs, but I only take anthropomorphism so far...
I favor positive reinforcenment myself, but I'm not entirely against some localized negative reinforcenment for things that are hard to correct otherwise. The way I see it, the dog will suffer momentarily every once in a while, but I don't expect to use this on the day-to-day. My expectation is that a few shortish periods will be enough to nudge him in the right direction, and then I will never use the collar again.
Typically a whistle from me gets my dog to stop barking, but I’m not always able to be there to whistle at him (in the shower while he’s outside in the morning), so that’s why the noise/vibration seems like it would work especially well on him. He’s not a “soft” dog by any means, likely because I’ve only ever used force-free techniques on him.
I hope your dog is able to pick it up quickly!
So I used the collar on my dog today. Neighbors where being loud and there were lots of fireworks. The collar actually does more than whistle, it can optionally apply a very weak electric shock. I tested it on myself and it only provoked minor discomfort, so I decided to leave it on.
The collar has five settings of sensitivity to sound, from 1 to 5. I set it to 3. The results were outstanding. When the fireworks exploded, the dog tried to bark and was immediately interrupted by the collar, showing no signs of distress. After 3 or 4 activations, he simply "chose" to remain calm by my side. I call that a success. I later reduced the sensitivity because I want my dog to be calmer, not mute. My only concern for now is that this might be too efficient, so I'll make sure to only turn it on when I'm able to supervise him.
Thanks for the update! I actually went out and bought one after I read your comment. It’s been working wonders for my very vocal Aussie. I ended up with the Barkwise Complete which doesn’t use shock, but uses sound and vibration. The latter seems to work especially well to interrupt him, which is really all he needs to settle. :)
Awesome. I'm pretty sure the sound alone is enough for my dog too, I'll probably disable the electric shock. He really hates that beep. I'm now in charge of a 3 dogs pack and my dog is the one that riles everyone up, so making him more silent makes the entire house more livable. I was going crazy over here. Fireworks season in northeast Brazil is no joke. We're not quiet as a group :P
Hah! We have three as well. The Aussie is almost always the instigator, and he tends to take the longest to chill out. The other two don’t typically bark on their own.
Was hired and started work on a new Helpdesk, part time, but low volume, and since I lost my previous job after the March Covid Bill was passed, I get my Cobra payments re-imbursed, and that's nice. I am replacing a sys-admin who pinch hit for the Helpdesk, and while there is an IT head employed, she's been here a year and he's leaving for a new position, so I have the distinct feeling I'm going to be holding someone's bag by the end of it.
I moved a couple big projects to the next phase, getting them off of my desk and to the printer / production facilities. I met my exercise goals for the week, hurray! I also tested out some equipment for a new approach to my YouTube channel that should get me back to wanting to make videos again.