A Preview of Things to Come

So it’s been a month since I’ve last posted and while I have had every intention of adding an entry it just never seemed to happen.  I guess this comes with the territory of being a new parent.  So, I decided rather than write a full on post, I would simply preview what I want to write about, thereby committing myself to write about them soon.

The first is an update on Caleb.  He’s three months old now and growing every day.  I feel like I should get some of my early thoughts down about him.  But, I don’t want this to become a “parenting blog”.  Those things can be really annoying.  I don’t exactly know what it is that irks me but it has something to do with parents being completely self-absorbed and really enjoying all of the “attention” they’re getting;  they really believe that when everyone they know asks them, “how’s the baby?” that they aren’t just asking to be polite but really want to know.  I know that they don’t want to know the minute details about my new child as much as I don’t want to hear them say the same old cliche about how “things aren’t the way they used to be, you just can’t pick up and go!”  I’ve heard that so many times, and while I am sadly finding out that it IS true, I don’t really care to hear it over and over.  Having said all that, I will write a few things down, and maybe post a few pictures.

The second update is on the progress I’m making in the garage.  It’s a “2-car” garage, tandem style.  But since I would never dream of actually storing 2 cars in a tandem garage, it’s really just a long garage where I can put a car in the front and still have plenty of room in the back.  When we first moved into the house I had grand plans for making a workshop, and even fancied myself some sort of carpenter.  I’ve made a few things, including some shelves (never going to do that again, its much easier and cheaper to just buy some storage shelves) and a picnic table.  Both of these projects were more difficult than they should have been because I was missing one key component of a workshop, a workbench/worktable.  I don’t want to delve too far along about this though because more will be posted in the actual post on the workbench, once it’s done.  But I just want to say that it’s coming along nicely and should be a thing of beauty when it’s done.  I’m hoping to have it done by this coming weekend.

So that’s it for now, but I’ve written something and have committed myself to writing about two specific topics in the near future.

My Thirtieth Birthday

To be thirty years old…  I feel as if I should have something more to say about it.  As though I’ve reached such a monumental age that I might be able to offer some wisdom or insights that I’ve gained in the last thirty years.  But perhaps true wisdom is knowing the wisdom that I have is not really worth all that much.

So for now, I’ll stick with the details of my actual thirtieth birthday.  I was born on August 28, 1981 at 8:28 in the morning.  This year, the 28th fell on a Sunday so I decided I would like to celebrate my birthday on Saturday, the last day that I will still by a “twenty-something”.

I’m usually not one to celebrate my birthday in excess.  In truth, it’s just another day.  So, I usually end up going out to eat and maybe somewhere after that.  This year would be like years before except that, with our new little addition in the family, being able to go out with Kelli is an even more special occasion.

Kelli’s parents came over around 5:00 and we got ready to head out.  Kelli was starting to freak out a little bit, saying that we had to hurry up.  I had no idea at the time why she felt like we needed to hurry.  We were, after all, just going to get something to eat and then head down to Sawyer Point for a “Brew Haha” event.

When we got in the car, she said she wanted to drive because we had to make a stop on the way to pick up my birthday present.  But I was now in a hurry so I thought it would be better if I drove and suggested that she just tell me which way to go.

As we began to drive I asked if she could give me a general location for me to drive toward, so I would know which way to go.  She told me to head toward 471.  For those of us in Cincinnati this usually means that you’re going to Newport.  What she could have in store for me in Newport was beyond me.  My one friend Gary has a skateshop in Newport so I thought maybe we were going to pick something up from there.  So we drove on.

As we made it into Newport, Kelli told me where to turn right and where to turn left, and it soon became clear that we were not going to the skateshop.  I was completely in the dark as to what this surprise was until we turned right and I saw a sign with an arrow on it pointing the direction for helicopter tours.  I couldn’t believe it!  Kelli had set up a reservation for a ten minute helicopter tour over downtown Cincinnati.

While walking up to the helicopter Kelli switched in to “bachelorette” mode and told me how she has arraigned for us to go on a “romantic helicopter tour”.  Haha, when they asked if we would like to sit in the back together, I opted for the front seat for visibility.  What? we’ve been married four years!

So we got in to the helicopter and took off.  We were on a ten minute tour that took us over the Great American Ballpark, Paul Brown Stadium, up the western side of downtown Cincinnati by the Union Terminal and over Clifton.  Then back over downtown Cincinnati and Fountain Square, and then up by Eden Park.  The ten minutes was over so quickly.

After the tour, we headed up to Arthur’s for dinner.  It’s always a nice place for casual dining and their outdoor eating in the back is very enjoyable.  Then we headed down to Brew Haha for the rest of the evening.  The comedians were funny and all but after a while we were done listening to them and opted to walk around the park and along the river.  Overall, a very enjoyable time.

The next day, Sunday, was my actual birthday and we went to Skyline after church with my mom and Bekah and Antoine and their kids.  After eating we went home and Kelli started on my birthday cake.  This year, having no idea that she was going to take me on a helicopter tour, I requested a German Chocolate cake from scratch.  She still went ahead and made it, and it was delicious!

Caleb (and the rest of us) meets Jonas

Caleb had just turned 3 weeks old when he was no longer the newest edition in our extended family.  At 3:24am on Thursday morning his younger cousin Jonas Allen was born, weighing 7 pounds, 8 ounces.  I don’t recall knowing what his middle name would be.  Allen is a tribute to our late Grandma Allen.

Kelli and I were of course sleeping at the time but we received a picture text message letting us know the news.  As parents, both Jonas’ parents and Kelli and I hope that these two boys born just three weeks apart might become friends some day.  That would be nice.

We had hoped to go up and visit them all at the hospital on Thursday evening but were a little leery of exposing Caleb to anything while transporting him, “unnecessarily”, through the hospital.  Truth be told, this is not something that I would have even thought of but Kelli had been cautioned by her mother and had made some calls to our pediatric nurses.  In the end, this actually ended up working out probably for the better.  On Friday morning my Mom dropped of Jonas older siblings for Kelli to watch all day, while his parents were still in the hospital.  And so after work on Friday, and when Jonas and parents finally made it back home, we were able to bring their older kids home and pay a visit.  Naturally, I took a few pictures of this “historic” event.

Caleb was a little fussy, and the lighting was poor, so it was a little difficult to get some good photos.  However, we did get one that we all immediately thought was a classic:

Today, on Saturday, Kelli, Caleb, and I have been hanging out.  Because of the very high temperatures we are really limited to indoor activities.  So, to get out of the house, we went up to the Kenwood Towne Centre (why they can’t just call it what it is, Kenwood Mall or at least just spell it right is beyond me).  We were making jokes about all the Townes people out and about.  It was packed there because I guess most other had the same idea.

Here’s a new photo of Caleb, fresh from today:

 

Caleb’s Birth Story

Editor’s Note:  It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to make a proper posting.  But unlike previous delays this one has good reason.  Our son has been born and we have been, understandably, been busy with all things related to this event.  Having said that, the following is an account of Caleb’s birth, written at the hospital the two or three days immediately after he was born.

While his original due date wasn’t until July 2nd, we had a feeling that our little baby would arrive early.  Tuesday, June 28th was a beautiful day out and after I got off work Kelli and I decided to go for a mini-hike at Mt. Airy Park.  Normally we wouldn’t have been able to do that but since Kelli had been given a comp-day from work she was well rested.  It’s hard to say whether things got started because of the hike or if it was simply time for the baby to arrive.  Though I do think the walk was a little more exertion than we anticipated.

Later that night, at around 1:00 in the morning, Kelli woke up to use the restroom (something which occurs quite frequently in the later stages of pregnancy).  After coming back to bed she noticed a gush of fluid and thought that her water had broken.  But with this being her first baby we really didn’t know what was going on.  However, she called the doctor’s line and I guess it’s pretty standard that if the patient says that she thinks her water broke, they have to say she should come in.  Because, what would happen if it really did and they didn’t?

So at 1:00 in the morning, we packed all our stuff up.  I wasn’t entirely convinced that this was it but it would be silly not to bring everything that we needed with us if it was.  Of course, none of our stuff was quite ready, though Kelli did have a “hospital bag” of clothes and such ready to go.  When we arrived down there, we were seen in triage to determine if Kelli really had gone in to labor.  They hooked her up to the monitors which let you know the baby’s heart rate and when the contractions were occurring.  This was when actual contractions started happening, some of them quite intense.

After hours of checks and whatnot, it was determined that Kelli was not in labor and though she was having contractions at 10 minutes apart they couldn’t tell whether these would continue or taper off.  So we headed back home at around 5:00 in the morning.  On the face it looks like this visit was a waste of time but it did allow Kelli to know for sure what her contractions should feel like and if we hadn’t gone down she would have been freaking out at home when they started up and had wanted to go in anyway.

When we got home around 5:30 I knew that I wouldn’t be able to work a full day having been up all night.  But there was some things that I wanted to take care of before the actual delivery so I headed in to work early with the intent of putting in a half day before coming home and passing out.  Kelli and I decided that she would call me if she had contractions at 5 minutes apart for at least an hour or if she had 3 contractions in 10 minutes.

At work, while I got most of my issues taken care of, I wasn’t good for much else.  And though I planned to stay until 11:00, by 9:00 I was feeling rough and planned to head home at 9:30.  That’s when Kelli called me to update me on her contractions which were getting frequent and painful.  So, I headed home at 9:30.  Kelli was worried because she didn’t want to be sent home again.  But I assured her that with contractions this close, around 4 minutes apart, she was going into labor and they would not be sending her home.

As quickly as we could, we packed the car up again, and headed down to University Hospital.  We pulled up and walked in to the admittance lobby.  It was clear that Kelli was struggling with walking so I had her sit down and tracked down a wheelchair for her.  When we made it to triage they found that she was 7cm dilated, 100% effaced, and that it was going to happen soon.  I started sending out text message to family members letting them know that the delivery was beginning.  This was it!

They next moved us into the delivery room and we waited there for the different doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and assistants.  Everyone was very friendly and helpful.  I really liked how one of the nurses took the time to talk quietly and assuredly to Kelli while others were busy getting things ready.  I don’t know exactly what she said but I could tell it was words of encouragement and assurance.

At this point, Kelli was fully dilated and it was just a matter of time.  Kelli did want the epidural and they were busy getting that in while telling Kelli to try not to push just yet.  With some difficulty they were able to get the epidural in and the pain from the contractions eased.  Since Kelli’s water had still not broken, they decided they would break the water for her, so as to hasten the delivery.

Once the water was broken they coached Kelli through a series of pushes.  I was right in there on the action, holding one of Kelli’s legs with my left hand and holding her head up with my right hand.  Automatically, I was taking and holding breaths right along with her.  I don’t know why this happened, perhaps it was a way of letting her know that I was right there with her, or at least, as much as I could be.

After several attempts and progress we decided to take a break.  We covered Kelli up and dimmed the lights for about half an hour.  Then, the doctor came back in and asked how we were doing, we said fine.  Kelli was able to ride through her contractions without pushing and so we would wait a little bit more before resuming.  But the second he closed the door, she started having the urge to push immediately!  I ran out the door but he was already gone!  So I came back in the room and we called them back in using the call button.

Those few minutes were stressful because I really thought that Kelli was going to push that baby out any second and the doctor was somewhere else.  The nurse made it back in and decided she would stay with us and call the doctor once the delivery was imminent.  When the time came, she called him on the his phone to let him know he should come.  He said he knew because he “could hear her screaming down the hall.”  At that point they had also called in the anesthesiologist to increase the dosage.

Unfortunately, the dosage was added just a little too late and for all intents and purposes Kelli delivered the baby close to naturally.  She was in intense pain and to the dismay of her mom and mother-in-law, was a screamer.  It was those moments that were the most emotionally challenging for me.  Here was the one I love tremendously in so much pain.  She managed heroically, always giving valiant pushes and in what seemed like no time, we saw the head start to pop out.  The next few minutes were intense and some of it is a little cloudy.  At one point, I guess after the head had come out but the shoulders were still within, a gush of amniotic fluid went flying through the room, and even though I was by Kelli’s side, I got a fair amount on me.  Shortly after that, the baby was completely out, and the doctor said, “It’s a boy!”

We already had the name picked out, so immediately I thought, “here is Caleb Patrick.”  In a second they called me over to cut the cord.  I was so nervous!  Then they placed him on Kelli’s chest and we began to acquaint ourselves.  He came out kicking and screaming and it took him a little while to calm down.  Then, I grabbed the camera and took the first post-partum picture of him.  Family time, and pictures, continued while the staff was taking care of Kelli’s lower half.  Caleb was born on June 29, 2011 at 2:20pm weighing 7 pounds 12 ounces.

About two and a half hours later we moved over to our room where we would be staying for the next two days.  It was in this room that many of Caleb’s relatives and family friends came to visit him.  First was his paternal grandmother, she came right away after work.  I had called her to let her know that we were ready for visitors and also asked her if she could pick up something for me to eat.  I was starving, the last I had to eat was at six in the morning and we were pushing six in the evening.  She came with some Skyline for me and immediately went to hold Caleb.

Soon after, Caleb’s maternal grandparents showed up.  They were very excited and this was their first grandchild.  Aunt Laura and great grandmother Sonnie came with them.

At 9 o’clock visiting hours were over and we were left with just the three of us.  Of course both of us were utterly exhausted.  We had both been up for almost twenty four hours.  It was definitely time to sleep.  The nursery wasn’t open so we had Caleb in the room with us but during the night our nurse was kind enough to take him out with her for a little bit so we could get some quality sleep.

The next morning, our friends Eric and Liz Reeves showed up to see the baby and all.  And then a little after them came Caleb’s uncle Eric and with him his girlfriend Liz.

Later on in the day, Uncle Ken showed up and then afterward Grandma McNamee and Aunt Bekah.

The second night was a little more stressful.  Caleb continually showed signs of being hungry but once he started feeding he would fall asleep right away.  We were unsure about giving him a pacifier but after Kelli staying up until at least 4 in the morning we had to do something in order to get some sleep.

On Friday, July 01, we were anxious to be discharged.  It took until about 2:30 in the afternoon to finally get out of there.  We took Caleb to his new home.

The first day it took a little time to transition from calling this baby “it”; I had been calling him that for the past 8 months.  Also, when I would look at him I would think, “Okay, this is Caleb”.  But gradually, yet quickly, he has made his presence known in our new little family.  And we are tremendously blessed to have him.  He is such a healthy baby and looks to be well aware of his surroundings.  I can’t wait to get to know him more each and every day for many years to come.

All We Need Now Is the Baby…

It is finally safe to say that our nursery is complete.  All we’re missing is the baby, which hopefully will be coming soon.  Right now, we’re down to just five days until the due date but who knows when it will really happen.

Here are some pictures of the nursery.  We weren’t really too keen on having a “theme” for the nursery.  Most of the themes we’ve heard of are just plain silly.  There are jungle themes and farm themes which might lend themselves to babies in which the parent’s don’t know the sex.  Then, of course there are a million themes for those that do know the sex, such as robot themes or princess themes or trucks themes.  Really, isn’t this all just a bit overboard?  I mean, what if you pimp out the nursery with stuff that the kid ends up not liking?  So, if our nursery had to have a theme, we went with “colors”.  Bright and bold colors were used as much as possible.  That way, everything matches (i.e., jungle, farm, robots, what have you) and you don’t have to really think about it.

I think it all came together quite nicely.  The wonderful thing is that most of the items were given to us, including the changing table, diaper geanie, and the crib, and all of the clothes and baby supplies.   The only “major” purchase we had to make was the rocking chair.  We really have been blessed by many wonder friends and family members on both sides.

It’s the Final Countdown…

Most events that come up in my life, I know they’re coming.  I like to plan ahead and count down to most anything.  Sometimes I believe this is even a fault since I end up spending many days floating through until the next big event comes.  When you’re talking about a baby being born, it’s another thing altogether, and we really don’t have a clue as to when exactly it will happen.

Last Tuesday one of the doctors told Kelli that he thought she might deliver in “about a week”.  This was all we needed to hear to step our anxiety up a couple of notches.  At this point, we’re still 15 days away from the original due date.  But more and more, I think about how it can be any minute that I might receive the phone call which lets me know that my whole world is about to change forever.

The other day when Kelli and I were driving down to Fernbank Park to enjoy the awesome weather and walk around a little bit, she commented how things will be different.  So often, most all the time, it’s us two hanging out.  The two of us heading to dinner, or heading to the park, or whatever.  And in just a couple of days it will no longer be “just the two of us”.  There will be a third person, and it will be the three of us heading to the park or whatever.  Interesting, and frightening, to think about.

Here’s an image taken at Fernbank Park.  I call it “The Final Countdown” but I think it’s interesting because the path ahead is where we are headed.  I can see it, there are no sidetracks, and  don’t have a clue where it leads but it will be Kelli, the baby, and me trekking it.

Got a New Video Camera

Since Kelli and I are going to be parents soon we thought that it was high time to go ahead and purchase a video camera.  After all, there are many “memories” to catch and preserve.  I didn’t want to spend too much, naturally, since the technology is always changing but I did want to make sure we at least got a “full” HD camera.

There was two front runners in which I was interested;  The Toshiba Camileo X100 HD and the JVC Everio GZHM300.  They were both in the price range I was comfortable with but they definitely had problems that I wasn’t comfortable with.  Apparently, the Toshiba modem is so cheap that you can’t even turn off the button sounds!  Also, the Toshiba model was so concerned with “ease of use” that it was extremely limited in any manual settings.  Both were said to have substantial issues with the auto-focus working quickly and correctly.

I definitely wasn’t for any of the Sony camcorders.. I just don’t like Sony too much and all of their cameras in the price range were “pseudo” HD, 720 pixels.  So, fortunately, I came across a slightly older (and cheaper) Canon VIXIA HF-R100.  This is very similar to the HF-R10 model except that it has no on-board memory for video storage.  That’s fine with me because I don’t plan to use that memory anyway, so why pay for it?  It’s a slightly older model but it has full HD and is a solid camera all around.  Best Buy advertised it online for $249.00 and even said that they had a few at my local store.  The weird thing was that when I got to the store, they didn’t have it on display!  I had to ask around and they pulled it out of one of the cabinets.  Why this is, I can only speculate.  Are they trying to only push the newest and most expensive models?

Anyway, I was able to pick it up and play around with it yesterday.  So far it seems pretty solid.  I was a little nervous about the quality of the picture but I don’t think I will be able to make a true judgement until I hook the camera up to my TV with an HDMI cable (so far I was only able to hook it up using component cables).

So, here’s a little video Kelli and I filmed last night.  Of course the quality is degraded for YouTube viewing.

The New Garden Bed

When our new patio was installed, we left a little spot between the new sidewalk and pre-existing stairs which would be filled in with some sort of greenery.  Yet, as always when working on projects around the house, there were several obstacles to overcome.

First, the sidewalk which would serve as the “front” of the bed was about 4 inches higher than the stairwell wall.  This difference had to be made up somehow.  At first we planned to go along with what the concreted contractor suggested, and build up the back wall using paver stones.  But, this seemed to be a great deal more work than we wanted.

Then, Kelli suggested that we simply slap up some 2x4s and call it a day!  Haha, while I admire her pragmaticalness I also believe that if you’re going to do something, it should be done “right”; especially when it involves installing something around the house.

So, I went up to The Home Depot and took a look at what they had that might work for our situation.  And, I found some garden edging made out of cedar.  It seemed perfect for what we needed.  I then bought a couple of pressure-treated 2x4s to build the frame of the bed and then overlayed the frame with the cedar edging.  Once this was done, I stained the frame and overlay with a “chocolate” semi-transparent outdoor stain.  It sounds easy but these steps took about 3 days, countless sizing’s and measurements, and a couple of work-arounds.

Once we got it installed, the next part was adding the dirt.  It’s insane how much dirt is needed just to fill a little space.  All in all, I had to go on three separate trips to get enough topsoil, manure, and garden soil to fill this bed up.  After I filled it up with the first batch of dirt that I had bought, Kelli called me from Lowes.  She had stopped by there and they had their trees on a very heavy discount; 75% off!  I know it’s late in the season but I think if we get them in the ground as soon as we can, they should be fine.

It was quite a comical scene bringing the two maples home.  Since we don’t own a truck, we have often had to come up with creative ways to transport large objects in our cars.  I placed the two trees on the floor behind my front seats, and had the leaves sticking out the back windows.  It looked like a bunny rabbit car.  You can actually spot the trees in the picture, we had them on the deck to prevent them from falling over.

While picking up the trees from Lowes, I bought five more bags of soil, and still not enough!  So, even though it was pushing 9:00, I drove up to The Home Depot and bought eight more bags.  Six proved to be enough, and we got some flowers in the ground.

I must say, I think it turned out well.  Next up for the back yard is planting the two maples (should be able to get that done tonight), bringing in tons of dirt (figuratlivey speaking) to raise up certain parts of the yard next to the patio, seeding the lawn that is mostly dirt right now, and then begin digging holes for a new privacy fence along the South boarder of our back yard.

Aside from outdoor work around the house, we’ve also have been finishing up in the nursery.  I think that most everything is in place, maybe a few things to figure out.  So, an update about that should be happening soon.

Childbirth Classes at University Hospital

On Saturday, June 4, Kelli and I went to UC Hospital to attend a “childbirth” class.  This class covered the basics of what to expect during the delivery  and how to care for an infant baby.  Since neither Kelli or I have had a baby before, some of this information was new to us and should prove very useful.

The class lasted from 10:00 until almost 4:00 and it consisted of us, one other couple, and the teacher.  Though the class was interesting, must of it was spent watching videos.  Several times I thought, couldn’t was just watch this at home?  However, it was nice to have an experienced RN to ask various questions and the main benefit was being able to actually tour the maternity floor of the hospital.  This way, we now know exactly where we need to park, where to come in, and where we should be when the baby decides it’s time to come out.

We were both pleased with the maternity unit.  A few times we were met with hesitation when we told others that we planned to deliver the baby there.  However, the unit was very nice.  They have recently remodeled most of the rooms and they are  spacious, and clean.  None of the rooms in the maternity unit, whether it be the delivery room or one of the general room are double rooms; all of them are private single occupancy rooms.  This was a huge relief for us.

At one point, as we were getting ready to enter the maternity unit, I crossed paths with a young man about my age.  He was heading toward the rooms with a chocolate cake and a few other items.  I could just tell that he was the proud father of a newborn baby.  As he walked by and noticed Kelli being very pregnant, he and I exchanged brief knowing glances and salutational nods.  I like to think nothing, and yet everything, was said in that exchange.

I found myself being overwhelmed with thought and emotions.  As long as things go according to plan, here is where we’ll meet our firstborn.  In the moment, I felt ready.  Of course, that could be because we just completed a class designed to reassure us that everything would be fine.  This feeling of readiness isn’t always there, though.  Most of the time, I’m anxious and terrified.

Should the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County be buying MP3s for individuals?

First off, I’m a major fan of a public library.  It’s one of the few areas that I believe the government has a proper role in providing self-educational opportunities to the public.  This role may be changing as we progress along in this information and technological era, but what that role becomes or whether it even remains altogether is yet to be seen.

However, the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County has jumped on a recent library bandwagon which steps outside the fundamental role of a library.  The other day, I was intrigued to see on the front page of the Cincinnati Library website, an announcement of a new service they are offering, which allows you to “Download Music Now!”:

Initially, I thought that perhaps theses MP3s were equipped with some sort of DRM capabilities which limit the usage of the MP3, similar to their “e-book” which allow you to borrow them for a certain period of time.  But, surprisingly, these high quality MP3s are completely strings-free.  After you download it you can put it on as many devices as you want, and keep it forever; for all intents and purposes you basically own something that you did not own before.  And on top of that, the library paid anywhere from $1.00+ for that MP3!

This is definitely different than the usual role of a library.  Instead of a library buying a single book which is lent out to hundreds and possibly thousands of individuals over time, providing these MP3 is as if you went online to Amazon and picked out a book you would like to have and the library purchasing that book and shipping it to you.  That would never fly, right?

I’m certainly not the first to write about this “departure”.  I’ve come across a couple of articles which go in more detail over the company, Freegal, which sells these services to libraries for a hefty fee and other aspects of this shenanigan.  Some interesting ones are:

• The Freegal Gourmet (which links to the following two articles):
• The Debate Over Freegal: Does Innovative Free Music Service Represent the Downfall of the Library Lending Model?
• Just Say No to Freegal (written by a librarian)

What I would like to focus on, and perhaps find out more about, is how much this is costing taxpayers, and why in the hell did anyone think that this was a good use of taxpayer money??

Here’s a timeline:

• June 9, 2009:  Due to “diminishing state funding” the Cincinnati Library decides to ask for a tax levy.  If the voters did not approve of this levy, they were threatened with all kinds of certain calamities, including closing 15-20 of the 40 branches.  At the time, neither Cincinnati or Hamilton County residents provided any funding for the library.  As a matter of course, I vote NO on all taxes, whether it be an increase or a renewal.  However, I did feel that funding for a local library should come from the locals… I’m not certain but I think I voted for this increase.
• Cincinnati Library to ask for tax levy
• Cincinnati Library to seek operating levy
• November 3, 2009:  Apparently, most other residents agreed with me that funding for the library was important and they didn’t want to see their branch be one of the ones that was shutdown.
• From American Libraries Magazine:
  “Among the most dramatic victories was the passage with a 72% yes vote of the first-ever millage for the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County, whose state support has shrunk from $53 million in 2000 to some $38 million in 2009, according to ABC affiliate WCPO-TV, and where an opposition group actively campaigned to defeat the initiative. The 1.0 levy will generate $100 million over five years, costing owners of a $100,000 home about $30 annually and averting the need to close as many as 20 branches and lay off up to 250 staff members. “The Save Our Public Library campaign was overwhelmed by the outpouring of support from Library customers and staff, as well as area businesses and organizations,” the library website stated.”
• Some point here in the last couple of months:  The Library decides to enter a very costly (I have no idea but have heard it could be as much as $100,000) contract with Freegal where they buy MP3s for individuals (taxpayers and non-taxpayers alike).
• April 28, 2011:  Faced with potential further cuts from the State, the Library is again worried that they may have to close branches.
• State Cuts Could Force Big Changes for Libraries

So let me get this straight.  The library is forced to ask for local tax money because the State is making cuts back in 2009.  They get the approval for the money, which is even more money than the State cut in the first place, and decide to do what any good government program would do, SPEND IT any way they can!  And with the contracts signed and money spent, they have the audacity to release a little warning that we are faced with possibly branch closures because the State might make further cuts.

I suspect that the closures won’t be because of State funding cuts but because downright criminal waste of funds by the library!  In the last article, executive director Kim Fender is quoted as stating, “We just simply can’t absorb any more cuts without reducing hours, closing facilities or making other changes that will be noticeable to the public.”  Maybe it’s just me Kim, but you can start by cutting the free MP3 service, I’m sure that falls under the “other changes” you spoke of.

Having said all this, I am still taking full advantage of the 3 downloads per week until the service become unavailable…