i've found the source of the ticking ...
as i type, my university campus is undergoing *massive renovations. one of the main roads that cuts through the heart of campus has been closed to traffic since the early spring, with backhoes, jackhammers, and folks in yellow hard hats running around tearing up concrete, digging giant holes, erecting safety fencing, moving safety fencing around and kicking up a whole lotta dust.
working in the campus library has become a test of patience. during the fall and winter terms, crowded as it is with undergraduate students, it's often difficult to find a desk at which to work if one is looking for a brief respite from one's office. the summer, however, is different. or at least it's supposed to be. this year it's *anything but peaceful. i was down in the basement the other day, where the microfiche lives, doing some research, when all of a sudden the stillness was broken by a massive, rumbling bang and the screen in front of me began to vibrate in a very alarming fashion. i literally white-knuckled the desk and looked around the room. the librarian sitting behind the information desk was cool and collected. she saw the wild look of terror on my face and smiled,
"oh, that's only the blasting they're doing across the road. we can't hear the warning sirens they set off, so when the dynamite blows, it's a little bit of a surprise."
dynamite?
DYNAMITE?
call me old fashioned, or even just plain spoiled (my last three weeks have been spent doing in research in places that academics dream about when they go to sleep at night: the radcliffe camera, the old bodleian ...) but somehow, libraries and explosives just don't seem to go together.
my earth shattering experience the other day did remind me of this video, however. library? not quite. explosively funny, most definitely.
working in the campus library has become a test of patience. during the fall and winter terms, crowded as it is with undergraduate students, it's often difficult to find a desk at which to work if one is looking for a brief respite from one's office. the summer, however, is different. or at least it's supposed to be. this year it's *anything but peaceful. i was down in the basement the other day, where the microfiche lives, doing some research, when all of a sudden the stillness was broken by a massive, rumbling bang and the screen in front of me began to vibrate in a very alarming fashion. i literally white-knuckled the desk and looked around the room. the librarian sitting behind the information desk was cool and collected. she saw the wild look of terror on my face and smiled,
"oh, that's only the blasting they're doing across the road. we can't hear the warning sirens they set off, so when the dynamite blows, it's a little bit of a surprise."
dynamite?
DYNAMITE?
call me old fashioned, or even just plain spoiled (my last three weeks have been spent doing in research in places that academics dream about when they go to sleep at night: the radcliffe camera, the old bodleian ...) but somehow, libraries and explosives just don't seem to go together.
my earth shattering experience the other day did remind me of this video, however. library? not quite. explosively funny, most definitely.
posted by Amanda Bonner at 8:36 a.m.
2 Comments:
Dynamite near a library? That seems soooo wrong.
Thank you for the postcards! Now call me already and fill me in on the details of your fantastic trip! ;)
but have you found the great secret of the help desks in the middle of the library? Sorry I missed your ring last night!
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