WotD: do laundry

1. Wäsche waschen
2. de was doen
3. lavar la ropa
4. fer bugada, rentar la roba
5. faire la lessive, laver le linge
6. golchi dillad, gwneud y golch(i)
7. an níochán a dhéanamh
8. (z)robić pranie
9. 세탁하다 (洗濯하다), 빨래를 하다
10. 洗衣服 xǐ yīfu, 洗燙衣物 xǐtàng yīwu

Revolving

When you work in a library, you're not used to a lot of churn. Yesterday afternoon, for instance, I went to the retirement party for a colleague who's been here over thirty years, and he was not the longest-serving employee in the room. Even the student workers tend to be stable. One of my first hires was an incoming freshman when I gave him his break, and worked like a dog for me until he graduated four years later.

So it's rare that I've had the experience of a student hire leaving before the end of the term and even rarer that I've had to get rid of anyone. Today was my second firing, and it was only the student's second shift. At the end of our time together on Tuesday, she dropped the bomb that she would only be able to work 80% of the hours required. I accepted as a compromise that she would work longer hours in August. An hour after arriving today, she revealed that she wouldn't be able to do that after all and, in fact, even the schedule she had just submitted to me was iffy. Moreover, she'd known this for some time but wasn't sure how to tell me.

Furious, I assigned her some books to pull from the stacks. Then I fumed. When she came back, I asked her to collect her things and escorted her from the department.

The first time I had to let someone go, I agonised about the decision. This time, I felt like it was absolutely the right thing to do. She had misrepresented herself in order to secure the job. She lied to me. I had no faith in her, no basis for a healthy working relationship. Fortunately, my second choice is still available; with any luck, once the dust settles, I will only have lost a week. It's awkward that he will likely be starting while I'm away, but my second-in-command is eager to have the experience of training him, so it's all good.

All better

I have to hand it to Chicago, she's doing her level best to keep me here now. It's like she's making up for yesterday's tempest by showing just how stunningly gorgeous she can really be when she wants to. I got off the shuttle this morning with nearly half an hour before my new hire was due to arrive and a page left in my chapter, so I took a seat on a bench and finished it. As the cool air caressed me beneath a cloudless sky, I told myself If only it would stay like this all day, it would be perfect.

After my new hire became my new fire, I couldn't concentrate on a damn thing besides obsessively checking my e-mail to see if any candidates had responded. So I hied myself downtown for breakfast. To my surprised, the weather had hardly changed, and I found myself sitting in front of Dixie Kitchen wolfing the French toast brought to me by a hot bear waiter and hoping it never would. On the way back, I ran into Jay and his son buying neon green cardstock for a new sign and we chatted warmly. I returned to my desk with a sack of used books and peace in my soul to find the other final candidate was eager to come in and sign the papers.

I wasn't really hungry for lunch, but I thought I'd better have a nibble at least. I took my wrap to the garden. There were a handful of clouds dotting the limitless blue and it was a touch warmer than earlier, but there was still a cool breeze off the Lake that made sitting in the shade ridiculously comfortable. Oh, you handsome devil!