Furniture Update!

I just sat down in the lounge of the library, and have discovered a new large grey boxy chair and two footstools, as well as a random table/desk in the lounge! Seems peculiar, since I would assume the new library would be getting all new furniture anyway, but I suppose this library has to have new furniture when the new library opens as well . . .

Also odd colour choice, given the beige/taupe colour palette of the current decor ...

The Bathroom Cricket

Yesterday, I went to the bathroom. This is something I tend to do on a daily basis--go figure. However, this was no ordinary bathroom experience. Before you start forming your own idea in your mind, I better get to the point of this story quickly.

There was a cricket in the bathroom. Yes, a cricket in the women's bathroom by the large cafeteria. I walked through the bathroom doors (which I think have been painted recently - a nice fuchsia pink colour), searched out a relatively clean stall with a flushed toilet, latched the door, and heard the unmistakable "chirp chirp" of a cricket. Initially, I thought I was hearing things. Classes can make you go a little stir crazy, as can sitting for hours in the library doing readings or studying; so, of course, I thought I was hearing noises or maybe regressing to a childhood mental state which hopefully would not end catatonically (this would be very inconvenient and embarrassing to have happen whilst using the facilities - I'm sure you can imagine why). But no, the noise was definitely real.

My next theory was that someone had an interesting ringtone and was receiving many texts in the stall next to me. I have heard frog ringtones, so I assume there are cricket ones as well. I thought said person must miss summer and was living vicariously through her ringtone. Each time she received a text she was transported away from the -37 weather and back to her favourite summer evening, sitting in a rainforest in the Amazon, surrounded by the soothing chirp of thousands of crickets - or something similar anyway. But no. My stall neighbour left and the noise continued. I then saw the cricket. She (it WAS a women's bathroom) was sitting in the corner of my stall, contently chirping away.

I think the washrooms should have nature CDs playing when we enter. It would make my cricket friend feel more at home during these winter months and create a more soothing atmosphere; a trip to the washroom could feel like a mini vacation!

Dear Eddies,

I say "dear" on purpose. I can say this, because I have Eddie friends. Despite the fact that we like to complain about how much space you take when you move in hoards as sections through the hallways; that you fill the entire small caf or library for hours at a time; make the line in the small caf an unprecedented 30 minute wait to buy a simple bottle of apple juice (true story, happened to me yesterday); fill the Owl's Nest (when it isn't already taken over by random offices); make loud noises during your transitions from class to class during our honours seminars; get confused for the Concurrent Education students (do not make the mistake of confusing the two. It could prove socially fatal in a friendship); and talk excessively loudly about the student in your kindergarten class who eats his own snot, we do still have some form of affection for you.

Sometimes the stories you tell about your placements can be quite humorous to hear at random in the hallways; the bright bulletin boards you get to make as part of your assignment are incredibly creative and brighten our days; you're always laughing and happy when you travel in your packs; you get REALLY enthusiastic about things you are interested in; and, finally, you've been known to give me free baked goods at random.

Just know that you are an outlet for us to vent our frustrations and stress.

Sincerely,

Me.

It's getting hot in here ...

Where you ask? The library. But please don't take off all your clothes. I just wanted to point out the rapidly changing temperatures in the library the past few days. Being the big nerd that I am, I have been in the library every day this week, and the temperature has been radically different each time. In order to adapt to these changing temperatures, I have become entirely reliant on layers. It works for outside as well, as it can change from cold with snow to warm with sun, or warm and friendly to cold and slushy within minutes lately. Tank tops, tshirts, jersey shirts, sweaters, vests, jackets, coats, scarves and mittens can all be crucial to this survival process. So even if it is cold outside and ridiculously hot in the library, it's all a matter of natural selection -- and wearing 11 layers means you will survive the next stage "of the evolutionary rung" (Mohindar, Heroes, Season 1, Episode 1), or your next day spent in the library at least ... I thought I would share this tip with my fellow Nipissingites, so we can all be the fittest for survival, and Nipissing graduates can slowly take over the world!

Next step: adapting to the smelly lake during shad fly season ...

"North Bay, Home of the Shad Fly" - yes, it is a legit slogan for the city. I saw it on tshirts the other day, no joke.