9 more days…4 more ports…and then we hit the season-end turn-around in FLL. No matter how relieved you are when it arrives (and trust me, we all are, much as we all love the flagship, we’d be fools not to acknowledge how much she can take out of us), you’re never really prepared for it, it just kind of ends up on top of you – like an excited child on Christmas morning…
Suddenly you’re aware that there are both a million trillion things left to do and yet you can’t remember any of them when you sit down to do them.
Of course, all of those things that are so looming seem much larger than they are. In my case, it’s prep-work for the next cruise (I’m still here for one more month after this), which I managed to squeeze in last week. This is one of those times when I’m very grateful my position doesn’t require a lot of prep-time for a normal cruise (Grand Voyage is a different story, that takes months, but much of that is by choice). Now it’s just a matter of going through the loan lists and making sure the catalogue is mostly up to date. I’m debating whether or not to run a touch up inventory before I leave here in May, as I won’t be back to the flagship again until January and I want to make sure that she’s in good shape for my replacement – whomever she may be.
For me the only thing I’m concerned about next cruise is that as of April 28th I am truly on my own. For the GWV there are two librarians, two of us to share the slack and split the craziness, and much as me and my partner sometimes drive each other up the wall (we both acknowledge this to be true) we do rely on each other probably more than we realize just to take the day-to-day stress off when dealing with the nasty computer-gremlins.
The upcoming PanCan run will be my first foray into being on my own without an Internet Manager. I’ve had a LOT of help this season, and I do mean a lot, people who have taught me a ton about how to do a job I only had the slightest grip on when I arrived. Half the praise I’ve gotten about how well I deal with technology, how patient I am with people, how I can teach people the basics without making them feel ignorant…that all is a result of having a really amazing trainer…
Who is leaving…in 9 days.
*gulp*
Okay gremlins, we have a deal right? I don’t feed you after midnight, you don’t attack me at work…okay?