Daniel's Realm

 The last two weeks have been very rough, the Fiscal Officer/Assistant Director that worked with me at Wauseon Public Library passed away after a battle with bone cancer, besides being my boss when the Library Director was gone, she was also a friend and I will miss her dearly she was so much fun to work with, she could always make you laugh, she was a wonderful person I feel so blessed that I got to work with her the last six years--now the library is looking for a part-time Fiscal Officer. With the passing of our Fiscal Officer/Assistant Director, another change was made, the board eliminated the Assistant Director Position and those duties were transferred to me under my new Job Title that I was given in October of 2022 as Head Librarian, with the added duties my pay was increased--yes I am pleased with the pay increase (my pay was increased once I accepted the Head Librarian Position), but the circumstances for the added duties and pay increase came at the loss of losing our Fi...

February has arrived, unfortunately the groundhog saw his shadow so we will have 6 more weeks of winter, let's hope those 6 weeks come quickly! I am going to try something new for this blog post, a couple of prompts to get us thinking, you can choose 1 or answer both. The first prompt: What is a skill you love that you have? The second prompt: Write about a happy moment you think of fondly.     I am going to answer this prompt, there are several happy moments that I think of fondly, but I will write about just one: the moment I think of fondly is when my mom came home with this little ball of fur that some friends of ours gave her--it was a torty kitten, we named her Jasmine--she looked at me and practically jumped out of my mom's hand to come to me--we have had her for almost 14 years, she had been a joy to have. Like I said there are other happy moments I think of fondly. Please do answer these prompts, I look forward to reading them.

  An Amazing Book! I normally do not read nonfiction, unless it really peaks my interest . . . I came across this Autobiography "Beyond the Wand" by Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter films, I thought to myself "I have got to read this because it is Tom Felton and I loved the Harry Potter films". I decided to check it out and read it.  This book is amazing . . . as you are reading this book, you feel like Tom is setting right beside you answering your questions, to me this book is personal to the fans and I really enjoyed this book, it is one of those books, I am going to purchase for my own collection. Wauseon Public Library has hardcover copy of the book and the audiobook. You Harry Potter franchise fans, I know you are out there--this one is a good one is a great read rather you liked Draco Malfoy or not--it is Tom Felton who made that character and they chose the right actor to play Draco in Tom. If anyone reads this book, feel free to share...

The above picture was taken during our staff Christmas Breakfast/Gift Exchange on December 16, 2022. In the back is Connie Fry (who retired 11/30/202), Sue Yarbro, our Inter-Library Loan Librarian, the middle row is Amber McWatters, our new Adult Services Librarian, Saul Gallardo, Page/Shelving, Me--Daniel Baldwin, Head Librarian, Lisa Zuver, Assistant Director/Fiscal Officer, Front row is Samantha Sorge, Genealogy and local history, MacKenzie Keene our New Children's Librarian, and finally Keri Black our new Director.  Here we are, 2022 coming to an end, and what a year 2022 has been! For me personally, 2022 has been a pretty good year, there have been ups and downs, but overall it has been a pretty good year, I will see what 2023 brings to the table for me personally. For me professionally, wow! There were staff changes at the Wauseon Public Library, we hired a new Children's Librarian in September! She is a blast to work with. My friend, my partner in crime, Connie, whom I w...

     We are in November--Thanksgiving, 2022 is about two weeks away. What a year of changes at the Wauseon Public Library. Our Children's Librarian retired on July 22, 2022, a new Children's Librarian was hired, and she started on September 6, 2022--Her name is Kenzie. Our director announced she was retiring--her last day was August 31, 2022--a search began for a replacement. I applied for the position and was interviewed for the position, but I did not get selected. Our board created a new position for me entitled "Head Librarian' this new position was presented to me at the end of October 2022, I accepted the position. This position is the board's appreciation to me for my years of employment to the library and the praise the board members have received out in public about me. I am so excited about this new chapter in my library career--our new director starts on November 21, 2022, I am looking forward to working with her and this wonderful new opportunit...

 December 23, 2021--Christmas Eve Eve Oh my has it been awhile since my last post--I will have to do updates a little at a time. Here we are Christmas 2021 . . . What a past year it has been, are we going to get back to Normal? I sure hope so! This year marked my 16th anniversary at the Wauseon Public Library, time sure flies it is hard to believe I have been there that long, which by the way, the renovation project on the library was finished by April of 2017--we moved back into the library building the last two weeks of April--2017--Here is a photo of the outside of the library: There are some interior pictures of the renovations, I will have to see if I can find them. For now, let us see what 2022 brings. Have a Wonderful and Safe Holiday Season! 

It has been a very long time since my last post. So much has happened since my last blog post. Earlier this year, Wauseon Public Library, my employer, finally got the go ahead with the renovation project that has been in the planning for about 2 years. The library's foundation is crumbling and if it would not be fixed--within the next 3-5 years the building would be unsafe to be in. With that in mind, since the foundation is being touched, everything else in the building has to be brought up to code for 2016-2017 and also be ADA compliant by today's standards. As a result, the old elevator is not ADA compliant and will be moved to the front of the building--the front entrance is going to be redone and the front steps to the main floor will be relocated. Work began on our beloved Carnegie Building in late August--the Board of Trustees went with a contractor out of Perrysburg, Ohio. There is also an Architecture Firm out of Toledo that has gotten this process started. ...

It has been a year since my last entry to this blog--I have thought about it and thought about and I still am not sure where I want to go with the blog or if I am going to keep it going--I will take it one day at a time that is all I can do for now. Summer 2015 has came and went--it was a summer that will be remember as cool and wet--we had more rain this past summer than I have seen in a very long time and we did not have hardly any 90 degree+ days, a few, but not like we have had in the past. We moved again--this time it was a short move, we are still in Toledo, we just moved across the driveway from the other house we were in--this house we are in now is a better house, it looks small on the outside, but there is more room in here than it looks from the outside--it is a nice place, I am happy with it. This year marked my 10th Anniversary at the Wauseon Public Library and this year I asked if I could step in and become the Teen/YA Librarian for the library--we have not had anyo...

It has been an interesting summer to say the least . . . It was here and is just about gone already--time sure flies. Took a trip the the National Museum of the Great Lakes that is here in Toledo--near the Veteran's Memorial Skyway Bridge--that was an interesting day trip--we toured the museum and the cargo ship that is docked there. Here is my mom and I setting at the sign in front of the National Museum of the Great Lakes. The museum has many artifacts from the Great Lakes it is so interesting to walk through there looking at all the displays of the various artifacts pertaining all to the Great Lakes--there is even a display from the wreck of the Fitzgerald. Another display shows each of the great lakes (a view of them on a scale model without the water, which has the depths of each of the great lakes). There is a lighthouse display of the lighthouses along the great lakes--it was a very interesting trip, I did not know as much as I thought I did about our Great Lakes--I...

Memorial Day 2014 has came and gone already--soon this year will be half over. It has been a little while since I last posted on the blog--busy, busy. The family and I did not really do a whole lot for Memorial Day--we went to Raker cemetery and visited my Grandfather Baldwin's grave and popped into Fulton Manor and visited with Grandma Baldwin--she was glad to see us.  No big cookout, nothing planned. My boss got a wonderful idea at a meeting she attended the Wednesday after Memorial Day--we are creating an Adult Reading lounge at the library on the main floor--we have moved our Mystery Books and Large Print books into this created reading lounge for the summer--we have moved furniture around and it is coming together--the YA Books and our Cafe Tables have been moved over by the Public Computers--the teens sit at the computers and that move has went over pretty good with the teens--maybe we will see more of our YA books going out. Those of you who are in the Wauseon Area, stop...

Alas Winter 2013-2014 has came and went--I am not sorry to see it go, we surpassed the snowfall from the Blizzard of 1977-78--ended up with 85 inches of snow for the Toledo, Ohio area . . . Wow! I have not seen that much snow in my life time, I was little when the Blizzard of 1977-78 went through, don't remember too much about it.  I am glad Spring has arrived, even though Old Man Winter does not want to let go yet! It will warm up later this week and I hope it continues to warm up . . . wonder what type of summer we are going to have?  I guess we will have to wait and see. I have watched a few movies since my last post to the blog.  The first one I seen was "Hunger Games: Catching Fire" that was a really good movie it is as good as the first one, but I am going to re-watch the first one so I can remember what happened. I also watched "Pacific Rim" that was different, but it was good, there is likely going to be another part to that one. I also watched "F...

Here we are January 31, 2014. What a January we have had! We started 2014 like a lion and I believe January is going to go out like a whole pride of lions. We have gotten the snow and cold . . . pardon me, Sub-Zero Arctic Temps this month in most of the US--this has not happened in decades!  Already the snow fall for the month of January has surpassed the snow amount that fell during the Blizzard of 1978--31 inches of snow fell all at once during the blizzard of 78. We have now gotten over 40 inches of snow in the metro-Toledo area! Let's not forget about the Sub-Zero Arctic Temperatures that came with the storms the first part of January and this last storm that rolled through this past week giving us more Sub-Zero Temps!  We were colder that Alaska a few times this month--that is something for the history books! Those temperatures can stay way up North, thank you very much! I will be glad when spring and summer weather comes in and it stays warm for awhile. But, this is ...

I must say 2014 sure came in like a lion weather-wise--we had 11.2 inches of snow twice this month (January) the first storm was on January 2, 2014 and the second round of snow came in January 5-6, 2014. The second round of snow brought blowing and drifting plus Arctic Temperatures that we have not seen around here in decades.  Caused Level 3 Snow Emergencies the first part of the week and caused school closures.  My employer was closed Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday (January 6-8, 2014). It has warmed up and this snow is melting--til the next round--hopefully not for a little while yet, we will see. Today--January 11, 2014 is my Grandmother's 86th Birthday. We went to Fulton Manor to visit with her and take her birthday gift to her. She really liked her birthday cards from us and her other set of PJs we picked out and got for her. The other set (left side of the picture--the purple set) was exchanged and gotten in her size--a Christmas Gift she was given. the mint ...

Here we are December 30, 2013--tomorrow is New Year's Eve and we will ring in another new year, 2014! 2013 has been quite the year for me that is for sure . . . it started out pretty good. I was looking forward to the new year. I then ended up getting sick in February--my doctor called it the "crud" and that exactly what it was--I felt like crud. I was put on an antibiotic and it cleared the "crud" up within a week. Then as I posted earlier this year, my grandmother ended up getting sick and spent a week at Fulton County Health Center in March then she was moved over to Fulton Manor Nursing Home where she will remain, her doctor says she is too weak to ever be on her own again--we almost lost her three times when she came down sick--twice at Fulton County Health Center and once at Fulton Manor. We did find out after much testing that she had a stroke at some point, that cold not be pinpointed, but we know it happened and we could tell there was something dif...

Oh my goodness, Christmas has came and went for another year--hard to believe it is over, it just went fast, soon 2013 will be a distant memory and 2014 will come in. We went to Fulton Manor this evening to take my Grandmother her gift from the four of us--my mom, my dad, and my brother, Mark.  She loved her gift, she was tickled when she took it out of the bag and Mark unfolded it so she could see it. Got her a plush kitten lap blanket that she can throw over herself if she gets chilled.  We knew she would love it when we seen it and the day it was delivered to the house--we were right she loved it, her eyes lit up when she saw it. I hope everyone has had a wonderful Christmas Season and I hope everyone has a Happy New Year! Let us look back on 2013 and reflect on the year, the good times and the bad times and hope 2014 will be a better year for everyone.

Thanksgiving Day 2013 has came and went for another year. There was just the four of us for Thanksgiving Day we had a roasting chicken, mashed potatoes, and peas. The meal was delicious like it always is.   I am thankful this year for my family . . . they are the most important people in my life, without them, I am nobody.  We are so very glad that Grandma has significantly improved health-wise--we can sit down and visit with her like we did before she got sick in March and we almost lost her about 3 times.  She lights up each and every time we go in to see her and is looking forward to our upcoming Christmas Gathering we are going to have with her in about two weeks.  We were able to have Grandma's Christmas Tree put up in her room at Fulton Manor--we are going to put that up tomorrow--Nov. 30, 2013 before we have our Thanksgiving meal with my cousin John and his wife Robin.  She was so glad to hear she could have her tree, she was proud of that tree whe...

Here is a picture of my Grandmother, Juanita; My Dad sitting at the table; My Uncle Dave (dad's brother) and Cousin John (mom's Nephew on her side of the family); My Cousin Heather's oldest daughter, Cassie (Grandma's Oldest Great-Granddaughter).  In the activities room @Fulton Manor Nursing Home in Wauseon, OH on Saturday, November 16, 2013 We had a Thanksgiving gathering at Fulton Manor Nursing Home in Wauseon this past Saturday, November 16, 2013.  What an awesome turnout!  We had about 22 people at the event.  We had fixed Hot Chicken for sandwiches, Made from Scratch Candied Sweet Potatoes, Made from Scratch Scalloped Potatoes and Ham, Corn, Celery and Carrots--my cousin Heather celebrated her son, Tier's birthday, his sister Abby baked his cake and decorated it for him--the cake was good--Abby done a good job.  The food was delicious and was a hit with everyone.  My grandmother told us on more than one occasion she felt like a queen. ...

Thanksgiving 2013 is fast approaching . . . this year I feel I have much to be thankful for: I am thankful for my family . . . they are first and foremost an important factor in my life and without them, I am a lost soul in the realm of the unknown. I am thankful that my grandmother has improved greatly since she was first admitted into Fulton Manor Nursing Home in Wauseon . . . nice to walk in and see her and she smiles and asks how I have been and I can set and visit with her like I did before she got sick--makes my day so much better.  She has gotten back into reading books again, so I make sure she has plenty to read when she is not involved with activities there at Fulton Manor.  I am Thankful I have a great job to go to each and every day and thankful I have a group of colleagues that make the day go by so much quicker and enjoyable--Thank you WPL Colleagues, you know who you are! I am Thankful for the friends I have in my life and I am so blessed to have ...

Thank you so very much, Sean for sending me the links on this wonderful story--I did as I said I would, I read it over and it is just an amazing story: You just have to read this story to see just how amazing this little boy is--even after being robbed and having his lemonade stand trashed by an 8, 10, and 13 year old--he went right back out there and still sold his leomonade to get his PS4 Game System--to think he done this all on his own and paid for his new game system all by himself and received a Young Entrepreneur Award--Simply Marvelous! Again, Sean thank yo so much for sharing this with me and I am glad I put this on my blog. The Tribune Democrat, Johnstown, PA August 21, 2013 Boy whose lemonade stand was robbed honored Patrick Buchnowski pbuchnowski@tribdem.com JOHNSTOWN — Ten-year-old Anthony Sanders has an entrepreneurial spirit. Anthony set up a lemonade stand in Moxham last month to raise money for a PlayStation when a 12-year-old boy pointed a BB gun and ...

I decided to embark on a new adventure and take a correspondence course in Medical Billing and Coding. I enrolled through Stratford Career Institute--it is all correspondence so I am doing this at home--they send me the materials and I pay about $35 a month.  I really wanted to take the coursework online at Stautzenberger College in Maumee, but I am at my Maximum for Financial Aid--I was informed of this by the Financial Aid Office at Stautzenberger and the Department of Education--my max for financial aid meant I cannot get anymore aid for classes--oh well, I will go this route. I received my first module of assignments and the textbook on September 9 and finished Module 1 by September 30.  I received Module 2 Assignments and the textbook with CD-ROM last week and have began going through those lessons and then taking the Exams.  My grade right now for the course is 99%, not bad for doing this all on my own--I can contact instructors with questions or concerns and I ...