boxes full of books stacked in the tunnel, and turn it into this:
nice and neatly organized and findable materials (which are sent here because few people are looking for them, but that's beside the point, the point is that we can find them -- and that they're stored in the most space-saving way possible).To get the loaded trays of books (some of which weigh 75 pounds) to their final resting place (M does insist on calling this place the book cemetery), I have to take them on this long journey:
Whenever I take a full cart of trays off to be shelved, I am put in mind of the final scene of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" where the carton containing the ark is being wheeled off into some warehouse deep below the capital (at least that's where I always pictured it being).And yes, those shelves you see in the distance are over 10 feet tall. And many of the trays weigh over 50 pounds. And yes, I have grown muscles in places I didn't know girls could have muscles since I started working here. And I have been happier working here than I have been at work in a long time.
Okay, lest you think the work is all heavy lifting and ladder-climbing, there's a whole lot of magic with the computer between the chaos and the order (the important part that makes the books findable in the end). It is particular and picky, and while basically easy for anyone with any tech services experience, it is complex at the same time.
Believe me, I just had to write the manual for it so that my replacement can be trained by someone who's never done the job after I leave. [The wheels of academe, they do grind painfully slowly, especially in the summer -- two month's notice was not enough to have my replacement here before I leave.]
Next up -- finished socks. I promise!
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