Good old ingenuity:

Last Wednesday, I told you all, my faithful readers, about my crazy schedule. Today's excerpt is brought to you by the Rogers Memorial Library...(Product placement... gotta love it)

So there I was, performing my afternoon shift and I am posed with many dilemmas involving copy cards (which can be purchased at the Rogers Memorial Library in 2, 5, 10, and 20 dollar denominations). On a normal day I'd say, "Not a problem." but let's continue:

Dilemma #1: The Student

Of course we are at a college, so obviously there are students. In the words of Professor C. Branscombe, "A firm grasp of the obvious." Today's student in question happens to be an off campus, "mature" student. Great lady, seem very... grandmotherly. Apparently on another person's shift, she had purchased a copy card and forgot to pay the deposit ($2 deposit on every card). On a normal occasion, when she asked to purchase a card, I would have taken the old one and transferred that card's deposit on to this one. However, in this case, I was instructed to take her old, used card and charge her the full price for a new one... as I said before, "Not a problem." So I make the transfer of cash and cards to seeming perfection. That is, until she used it. "I don't understand. I paid for a $2 copy card, made 2 copies and have $4.80 left on it." Thank God for honest and integrity, it does pay off. So I bring the case before our proverbial King Solomon of the library... ( at this point I was hoping that Jane would draw a sword and make some comment about cutting it in half and giving us each a half of it... but I was wrong) ... who wisely instructs me, to pulled the card in question from the $2 pile, to give her a legitimate $2 card. Instead, the student insists on paying the difference and keeping her used card....

Dilemma #2: The Mutants

Dumbfounded by my discovery of mislabeled card, I return to the drawer and fumble. My mistake is found! You see, the drawer that we have is not sectioned at all and our system for keeping the cards together, quite crude. At that moment, the cards were held together in bunches of their like by elastics (for you American readers, an elastic is the same thing as a rubber band and yes, I am being assimilated for now until, who knows when, Canada is my home) and labeled with small sticky notes. In an attempt to organize, I find a pile of cards, both untied and unlabeled. As I check the stack of 10 cards, I find few normal cards. In such a pile of what was supposed to be $2 cards, I revealed the location of the $2.01, $2.02, $2:30 cards! Again, I bring the matter before the ever wise Jane Higle, who instructs me to keep the cards in the drawer, for "Some lucky student will be graced with extra copies."

Dilemma #3: The Handy Man's Corner:

As I was leaving the office, Jane asks if there is a better system to use for the copy cards. As stated twice before... "Not a problem". I gather together scraps of various sources and begin my task. Armed with three slabs of wood, an exact-o knife, 6 elastics, and an pair of scissors, I go to work. I managed to cut the slabs of wood down to a reasonable size and fit them into the box sideways. About this time is when I got the brilliant idea to use two elastics on either side of slabs not only to hold them into place, but also to help our poor, warped box stay together. Good old ingenuity strikes again.