Only Protect the Ones You Want!

Many thanks to Bonnie Tollefson, Director of the Levy County Public Library System for this post. Bonnie is the second of our member libraries to take me up on the offer to post information about their library here on the Blah Blah Blah Blog.

The other day I visited the dentist. (keep reading it gets better) I am not a conscientious flosser so I expected to be yelled at. When I mentioned my expectations to the dental hygienist, she looked at me and quietly said “Only floss the ones you want to keep.

Bang! Right between the eyes!

I’ve been thinking about that philosophy and trying it out on other aspects of my life. Only buy the food you want to eat. Only bank the money you want to save. Only watch the TV you really care about. Somehow none of them work quite as well or have the same punch.

Then, the Levy County Public Library System Headquarters’ power pole got hit by lightning. It caused a “loose neutral.” As I understand it, when the wire was in the right place everything was fine. When it was in the wrong place, WAY too much power came over the line. We had to pull the main switch on the building for 2 days until Progress Energy could repair the pole.

It took weeks to identify everything we lost but some things were evident immediately. The microwave died, as did the transformers for two phones, the alarm system and the speakers on my computer. We lost 5 surge protectors, and 3 UPS units. Every light bulb in the building had to be replaced as did one light fixture. After a few weeks of struggling, the switch for our computer network gave up the ghost as well.

Did you notice one thing that was not on that list? We did not lose a single computer. The surge protectors and UPS units did their job and the little varistors gave their lives for the computers they had sworn to protect.

So here are my words of wisdom in terms that my dental hygienist would understand and respect. “Only protect the computers you can’t afford to replace."

If you would like to see your library featured in the Member Highlight, contact Stephanie (904-278-5620)