Russophilia

As mentioned in this comment, I didn't go to the casino yesterday. It was raining, and I didn't feel like driving to Vicksburg.¹

I had noticed that Sochi, Russia was awarded the 2014 Winter Olympic Games yesterday. My college has a relationship with a college located in Sochi. Faculty and administrators from my college have gone over there. We've also been visited by our Russian counterparts.

I've gotten to know a faculty member from the Russian institution. He's taught over here on occasion.²

I'll admit to being a bit of a Russophile. I took a couple of classes in Russian history when I was an undergrad at MSU, and I've always been fascinated with Russian culture. I'd love to go there someday.

Another thing I can't stand about midweek holidays: Today feels like it's a Sunday.

I woke up this morning at my usual time for a weekday-- shortly before the alarm went off. I turned it off and rested my eyes for what was supposed to be a few moments. Two hours later, I woke up.

I left a message on my supervisor's voice mail and made it to the library at 10 this morning. I worked longer on interlibrary loan projects than I had intended. There were a couple of requests that took a little bit longer than anticipated.

I also had an email from an instructor regarding access to a database. I had to be sure that it was working properly, which turned into a brief email conversation.

This afternoon after lunch, another instructor dropped by wanting to see if he could get some journal articles. I checked a couple of databases and took care of most of his requests. One thing he wanted that I couldn't immediately fill it looked like that a nearby college where he was taking a class subscribed to the periodical in question. I told him if he couldn't get the article from the college to let me know, and I would send out a request for a copy of the article.

One good thing about it being quiet today: I was able to get some work done on a project. I still have some work to do, but it's good to work on it while I have the opportunity.

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¹So I went to Applebee's where I celebrated Independence Day eating a hamburger and mozzarella sticks along with drinking two gin and tonics. And yes, that's very likely more pathetic than going solo to the casino. But it was raining! And I'm sticking to that excuse.

²He'd also requested materials via interlibrary loan, and there aren't that many libraries around in the United States possessing Russian language materials. Fortunately, we were able to help him.