Thursday, July 10, 2008

I spent the first part of my morning answering email, checking on staff, noting progress in the preservation area in the basement. Then I packed a ton of stuff – rags, buckets, tubs, face masks, plastic, tape, garbage bags, scissors, lab jacket, anything I could think of that might be assistance out at Oakdale.  Basically I raided our disaster and disaster workshop supplies. Headed out to Oakdale around 10AM. Once there discovered that I had forgotten the roll of newsprint I had set out. Forgetfulness is increasing and just confirms that I need to work at home tomorrow and try to clear my head.

Before going off to the Oakdale storage site, I checked in with Tim Barrett. We’re still trying to solve the smell problem. We’re all in agreement that we should add a carbon filter to the airconditioner unit and increase air circulation using his venting that he already has. Filter was ordered for delivery the next day.

Once at the Oakdale storage site, I suited up in one of the lovely Tyvek suits plus face mask and gloves and went to work assisting Kristin, Beth, and Caitlin. The room doesn’t smell thank goodness. However, as we opened items up, we did release some lovely odors. This is the first time we’ve had time to actually sort through the stuff. We discovered that most of the items wrapped in bubble wrap were not really dry as most people thought but had enough dampness to foster mold. Yuck! Salvaging all over again. In hind sight the items wrapped in bubble wrapped should have been wrapped in paper first and then in bubble wrap for travel and then unwrapped as soon as the items arrived at storage. A no-brainer really but during a disaster brains are stretched to the limit. And the disaster is not over.

We’re dealing with flood related stuff every day, constantly. Plus we’re now trying to pick up where we left off. It’s like we now have two full time jobs – flood recovery and regular. Just have to keep reminding ourselves to leave any feelings of guilt on overlooked items at the door.

Beth, Caitlin, and I left Kristin vacuuming mold off a basket, as we cleared out several bags of garbage and headed back to the Paper Facility to prepare for a videotaping by the Cedar Rapids Gazette on how to save your stuff that was damaged in the flood. A little late for this type of message since most items are probably already discarded but it’s always good to get that education out there.

Shortly before reporter and videographer are due to arrive I receive a phone call from the videographer. The reporter got called to another story so he’s coming by himself; he’ll be late and no, the reporter did not share her notes with him and no we’re not going to do what I had arranged with the reporter. Yikes! I’m tired of being flexible.

We did the videotaping on books and documents instead of LPs and books because we can’t mix the item type. Maybe we’ll do LPs and CDs next week? Argh. When the video is posted on the CR Gazette site, I’ll post to this blog and try not to cringe at how messy we look. After the taping, I stopped by the preservation department. Discovered that the binding/marking supervisor became a grandmother again early morning and that great progress has been made in getting the room back in shape.

Finished my day with a visit to my chiropractor and a lovely wine and pork chop meal with my family.