congratulate me

i heard back from the temp agency. i start my next contract on March 21. woo hoo!

information and the ethics thereof

Google the term Christian Trejbal, roanoke, va and te first thing that pops up is the article Mr. Trejbal wrote in the Roanoke Times this week. Some of his other articles come up as well, and responses to the article he wrote. Curtis Stone published a response:

This is a public service announcement for all criminals in the Roanoke Virginia area:

In keeping with federal OSHA standards which guarantee a Safe and Healthful work environment, the following information is provided:

Mr. Christian J. Trejbal, currently employed by the Roanoke Times, who resides at 675 School Lane, Christiansburg, VA 24073, does not condone the owning of firearms for self defense.

In light of the fact that he holds gun ownership in contempt and does not regard firearms as a valid tool for self-defense, it is logical to conclude that his home is firearm free and, therefore, will provide a Safe and Healthful work environment for criminals in the Roanoke, VA area.

This concludes this public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.emphasis added

Mr. Trejbal's publication of the list of members of the commonwealth who have permits to carry concealed handguns was ostensibly done (and received the approval of the ROanoke Times) in approval of open governement and the freedom of information. We can only conclude that Mr. Trjbal is as stuanch an opponent of the Patriot Act as he is of the issue of owning firearms.

A conservative Ohio blogger made Mr. Trejbal's home number public: 540-381-1645. He suggests we call both the paper and the home phone and be polite.

A search on property tax records for Mr. Trejbal revealed that Mr. Trejbal's home in Christiansburg was purchased in July of 2006, has 6 rooms, 3 bedrooms and one bathroom. We regret to report that it was purchased for nearly $20,000 more than the assessed value. Other information is listed below. All this information was found on the iGIS portion of the Montgomery County web site.


Parcel ID 008764
Tax Map ID 497- 15 27,28
Owner 1 TREJBAL CHRISTIAN J
Owner 2
Site Address 675 SCHOOL LN
Community CHRISTIANSBURG
Mailing Address 675 SCHOOL LN
Postal Community CHRISTIANSBURG VA 24073
Deeded Acres 0.465
Legal Description SPRADLIN ADD
Legal Description LOTS 27,28
Subdivision Name SPRADLIN ADDITION
Subdivision Lot 27,28
Subdivision Block
Plat Book/page 0859-0225
Deed Book 2006
Deed page 008321
Current Land Value $25500
Current Bldg Value $64200
Current Total Value $89700
Land Use value $0
Assessment District CS
Zoning R3
Assessment Neighborhd CR060400
Recent Sale Date 13-JUL-06
Recent Sale Price $116000
# Stories 1.5
Year Built 1948
# Rooms 6
# Bedrooms 3
# Full Baths 1
# Half Baths
Main Ground Floor Area 812
Total Living Area 1314
Commercial Year Built
Business Name

random

bunches has been going on in my world. but completely unrelated, as i was getting a cup of coffee just now, one of those weird combo words hit me: egadfly: someone who is constantly, indeed to the point of irritation, pointing out things which are horrible or ghastly, using generic outrage as a cover for the inability to make real conversation. we've all known this sort of energy vampire.

also, the house is for sale. i am breaking my lease in New Castle as well, so who knows where i will land.

can this be true?

no lie, there i was, talking with David about wanting to plant flowers, visions of windowboxes dancing in my head. And i had to admit how much i am enjoying the extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day.

did i mention i have a purse now, too? a real one, not the shruken backpack i have been carrying for a bit. [kn0w1 said perhaps i shouldn't be putting my backpacks in the dryer anymore. sheesh!] honestly, a purse. and it's lime green.

what next -- a manicure??

libraries and shelter

i loved working in a library. i truly did. and when i worked there (it was an academic one), i worked with Nancy Collins, research librarian, and paragon of all things wonderful, in my humble opinion. It is because of her that i wanted to go into library science, that i began really to delve into the issues of information provisership, librarianship, and what it means to be a library.

From Jaime:
For the past two weeks, the library has been in the front page news almost every day. Last night, the Library Commission met and agreed to hire a security guard for the downtown Central branch, something many large urban libraries have done.

i was talking with Nancy Collins at the Salem library (where she now works and where i use the net quite a bit while looking for a job, checking email, working on the thesis, etc.). she said that the influx of teenagers from 2:30 until closing has made her bitter and "ruined" her life. i'm not kidding. and she said that the friends she has at the downtown library in roanoke get threated with knives or to be shot "at least once a day." most of the folks are mentally ill, and she said that the real degree for working in the library was teen counseling and mental health. in her opinion the majority of the users are those folks so marginalized by society that they can't afford or don't otherwise have access to standard avenues of information.

Frankly, with the bleak job market and the equally bleak mood i've been in lately, i feel as though i fit right in.

just the other day when i came in, the computers were all full (there are 16 of them) and while i was waiting my turn i helped a woman my age fill out an online application for food stamps -- she had just gotten custody of her granddaughter, who turned five in january. it boggles my mind. i wonder if this is what benjamin franklin had in mind when he formed a public lending library?

one ringy dingy

what a weird day. for starters, i had a whole bunch of phone tag come in yesterday. i began to wonder if there was something weird brewing in the astrological weather. a lot of the messages were confusing or seemed to be out of touch with my reality, a sure avoidance factor for me. but instead of avoiding everything, i dutifully copied the numbers down for the VEC, the guidance counselor at school, and the contact at the temp agency. i don't like phones, i don't like answering machines, and i don't like people talking indistictly or rudely to me. it's my way.

First i called the woman at the VEC, who is still not answering her phone (i left a message at 8, then at 9, then another at 9:30. i plan to call each half hour until i get her, as it seemed a matter of some importance and timliness from her message -- how do people without phones or long distance service do this?)

then i called the guidance counselor, who was snippy on the answering machine about not having heard from me yet. He's not available (again) until 11:30. [how it is my fault that i can't call when it suits him is beyond me. but no matter, i'll keep trying. do other people take the day off from work to deal with stuff like this?]

honest, i'm trying to be a responsible citizen.

the good news is that phillip and i seem to be starting talks about the wednesday visitation routine, which has several kinks in it from eveyone's point of view. finding a better solution should be less than horrible, since there hardly seems to be a worse one imaginable. even when we both told the judge last week that we would prefer earlier times, there was no formal change. good to know that we are doing it ourselves.

$20, same as in town

When i was getting lunch at the coffee shop across the street, i asked how much the pop tarts were. "Two dollars, same as at school." O, ok, i. . . . uh. Wait a minute.

Now, i know i'm not totally wrinkled or anything, but this is starting to get out of hand. Michael thought i was "seriously not that old," a compliment coming from someone who can't legally buy beer yet. When David and I were in the grocery store, buying plenty of food including a bottle of wine, the cashier asked to see his identification, and then asked if we were married. I made a dead-pan, sacrastic answer that we giggled about later in the truck. But then he pointed out that the kid really did think i was underage.

Come on. This is beyond the pale. A bit flattering, perhaps, but it does tempt me to say "should i just send in my son to buy it?"

Aunt Barbara mentioned that i didn't look "nearly old enough" to have the level of education that i do. It was difficult not to point out that I took the decidely scenic route on the educational path. There comes a point where it goes beyond nice or flattering, and i start to wonder if people are questioning my maturity (such as it is) or my competance.

Anyway, here's to youthful vitality. May it serve me well in my interview tomorrow.

Worm Moon, but where? -- March 3

Tomorrow's full moon is known as the Worm Moon, but the big news is what you won't see: the total Lunar eclipse will be visible throughout the continental U.S.