i do not <3 the library of congress anymore. while i appreciate all that it offers the nation (and, since my office is just down the street, all it offers me), i went through an ordeal trying to figure out how to make the system work for me last night.

after work, i went over to the adams building (since the website said jefferson closes at 5:30 on mondays) and presented my printout sheets for the three books i wanted. the very nice gentleman working the book request desk informed me that all of the ones i wanted were in jefferson, which (contrary to the website) closes at 9:30. so i filled out the requests and he called them over for me so they'd start looking for the books while i walked over to the other building (keep in mind that i'm from vermont. walking through the tunnel from one library building to another boggles my mind). i got to the reading room in jefferson (which is absolutely GORGEOUS) and walked up to the desk to say i was waiting for my books. the people at the desk vaguely gestured to the opposite side of the desk, murmuring something about how my books would be there when they were found.

while i waited, i was roped into conversation with an older guy who wound up talking about the bullshit of the red tape that comes with so much of washington bureaucratic systems and how it all comes down to race. needless to say, i did not want to particpate in this discussion, but there was no where else i could really wait for my books, so i listened with half an ear and, when the time came, found a way to escape.

walking up to the desk again, i asked the people to explain how the system works--how long i can take out the books and whatnot. and then i find out about the stupid system they have. i had to wait for the books to arrive so i could fill out another request slip for each book, place slip in book and put the books on a shelve, where they would be processed the next morning, at which point i could take them out of the reading room. since i was there at 6:30, an hour and a half past the limit for same-day requests, i had to wait. so i had to wait until 7:10 for them to find my books, then fill out three slips of paper, shelve the books again, and leave empty-handed. and i get to walk back to the l.o.c. during my lunch hour so i can actually pick up the books and bring them home.

it's a good thing this library has almost anything i could want, because otherwise, i'd be a whole lot more angry than i was last night. it was the perfect end to a perfectly long, frustrating day--filled with phones ringing off the hooks and tension. when i got home, i went running (which my body did not want to do, but i convinced myself--and was partially right--that running would clear my head and remove some of the tension in my body. true enough, i was exhausted after a mile and a half) and then came home to make dinner and confirm flight info with my father for my trip home for thanksgiving. while making dinner, i managed to lightly cut my finger. this is not a problem normally. however when one is cutting a slice of lemon (read: citric acid), this is not fun.

but i digress. today is shaping up decently enough, i suppose--it's really starting to feel like fall, so i'm happy about that. i'm sitting here in a sweater, shivering--but that's a combination of this building being cold (a lot of marble and high ceilings makes for drafty hallways) and the fact that my mother's probably right about my having an iron deficiency. i finally had to go outside and stand in the sunshine for a few minutes because when i looked down at my hands, the fingertips, besides feeling like icicles, were bone white. i don't think that's a really good thing--time to start taking the vitamins again.

in other news...one of my roommates got her first byline in the national journal today! she is certainly deserving of a revel...revelrevel...