Weekly Wednesday #47

Weekly Link:
Media:The Arctic Ice caps are melting! We are doomed!
Scientists: Well, not really.. and hey, check out what's happening in Antarctica!
Media: The world is doomed to a watery grave!
Scientists: You didn't check it out, did you.
Media: Sure did! Booooring! DOOOM!

Weekly Photo:
Took me a while to figure out how this photo was taken... Mirage?

Weekly Kiernan and the Twins:
Kiernan has already taught the twins how to high five. The twins may or may not be using feet to do so.

Weekly Drum Song:
Kiernan's love of mommy's CD of Bollywood tunes has guided us to my collection of 90s Eurodance. He is especially impressed that I was in the crowd (somewhere) in this video:

Ottawa-is-a-small-place-anecdote: The singer with the long hair was a student I helped out three years ago while I was a teaching assistant. She revealed they lipsynched that night, gasp!

Weekly Wednesday #46

Weekly Weekend:
We shipped Kiernan off to my parent's cottage to run around with the cousins and spent two nights at the Gananoque Inn. It was very relaxing, and we even got to visit the casino. Of course, the casino website states that they only offer seven card stud, and I spent a few weeks beforehand brushing up my skills only to discover they don't offer it anymore and it was just limit hold'em... I was at the $2-5 table for over two hours and managed to get stuck $70 (one old man with a double-sided combover-to-the-middle kept getting full houses until he left for the $10-20 table which opened up) but managed to slowly claw my way back... Lara was VERY patient, but having won $15 at the slot machines (and being pregnant with twins) she indicated with a grimace from the rail it was time to leave. As I began to rack my chips to leave the dealer dealt me in anyway. It was free to play the hand, so of course it was Ace-Queen... and of course I flopped the Queen... but I managed to keep the betting to the minimum and the lady to my right rivered a straight. I cashed out only $32 short, which means if I'd folded the Ace-Queen I would have only lost $16...

Weekly Image:
That's him! That's the full-house magnet!


Weekly Kiernan:
Monday was Family Day, so with our day off we decided to start the move to the big boy bed at naptime. After an hour and a half later of storytelling, crying and no sleep, we feared the worst. At bedtime, we had to put a doorknob guard on his old room so he couldn't get in. Then, to our surprise, he went down with no more fuss than usual. And it has continued to be just as easy!

The best part is that there has been a separation in his mind between a crib and a bed. He knows how to get in and out of the bed just fine, grabbing a book to read from the bookshelf and bringing it back to read, but after being put in the bed for sleep, it's like an invisible barrier pops up to keep him in. I walked in on him throwing his toys out of the bed, as he did with the crib, but he was standing in his bed to toss things despite the lower bedrail. Lara and I both have gone in in the morning and had to tell him he could go and get a book himself. Actually, maybe it's best not to remind him of that...

Weekly Video:
Kiernan's potty training has also been going on lately, and lucky for him we don't have this:


Weekly Twins:
We have narrowed boys' names down to two, and both could be used as a middle name to the other... But then there's the interesting initials that could ensue: G.H. Wellman or H.G. Wellman... if only we had a time machine to see which would work out better...

Weekly Workplace:
I got asked if I was available for a 6 month extension on my contract... When I responded immediately I was asked whether I needed time to think about it. Um, no, I think I'm okay with that.

Weekly Wednesday #45

Weekly Images:
How to make pixel cookies

Weekly Video:
The Chaser's War on Everything grabbed my attention a few weeks ago... In this clip, Chas is challenged to appear in the background of shots on the Australian Television Awards twenty times...

Other funny videos from the series include their attempts to bring a Trojan Horse past security gates and for we Canadians familiar with Rick Mercer's Talking With Americans, The Chasers interview Americans about 9/11 facts (such as the date it happened)

Weekly Kiernan:
On Sunday while shopping, Lara told Kiernan "We're going to home and make nachos for lunch!"
Kiernan replied, "Not-sos? NOT-SOS? Not-so tasty!"

Of course with his eating habits being very green-eggs-and-ham lately, he refused to even try the nachos unless there was nothing at all on the chip.

The next day Lara used the rest of the salsa to make herself more nachos. Kiernan demanded to eat them, declaring it "yummy pizza".

Weekly Workplace:
Today marks the one year anniversary of my walking in on my first day and being told the lady I was replacing for her maternity leave had been put on bedrest the week before and wouldn't be there to show me the ropes for the next six weeks.

Weekly Twins:
As with the first time around, boy names are hard to agree on. Hopefully Kiernan will not think his baby brother is named "The boy baby."

Weekly WTF:
An uncomfortable wife leads to late night reading for her. That's fine, I can usually fall asleep with the light on if I'm tired enough. But if I'm awoken while the light is still on, I have trouble getting back to dreamland. Which leads me to researching book lamps and finding the following helpful suggestion from Amazon:

Hey look, I get a discount if I purchase filament lightbulb replacements for an LED lamp! (apparently 5% of people who bought the light went on to buy the bulbs, but that's frequently enough for Amazon!)

Weekly Wednesday #44

Weekly Link:
Japan sewage yields more gold than top mines

Weekly Kiernan:
We find ourselves reverting back to tactics used months ago to get him to eat... Each spoonful is a different animal who wants to be eaten, or each forkfull is alternated with applesauce or fruit... the other night the random animals had to request a taste of each piece of peach which had just been swallowed.

Weekly Twins:
I've finally felt a kick, but don't ask me whose it was.

Weekly Workplace:
Anyone who has worked for a non-profit can probably tell you two things about the computers they had to use: They are slow and they are out-of-date. Whether my contract here is renewed or not, I will be forever remembered as the one who brought speed to the masses due to a mass memory upgrade from an average 256MB to a whopping 1gb of memory. Some people were actually sitting there amazed and giggling at how fast Outlook closed and then re-opened. I apologized for all the thumb-twiddling people would be missing out on in the future.

Of course, there's one lady who works here one or two days a week, and in another location the other days -- when she heard about the upcoming upgrade she was quick to point out that both her computers would need upgrading, so we had to make sure to include the off-location workstation in the inventory.

As I handed over the memory stick and told her if she needed help installing it she should contact IS, she said "I don't understand what this will do, my computer is very old."
She's actually a techie, so really she should know, but I said "This stick was specifically ordered for that computer, and it's going to speed things up. Check out the speed on your computer here and see, there really is a difference."
"Okay, but as I understood it would be a complete upgrade of the computers, not just memory."
"No, it was just memory." She knew this because I have emails of her talking about the memory she needed. "We are waiting on a report of all software versions on all workstations, so we'll be upgrading everyone that way..."
"I just don't understand the point." she muttered as she walked away.

I wonder if she'll understand when it doesn't take 8 minutes for her computer to boot up...

Weekly Wednesday #43

Weekly Link:
Create your own Star Trek (TOS) plot with this handy flowchart!

Weekly Twins:
Ultrasounds with twins are obviously much longer and more complex - often one body is blocking the other. We got to see both babies' faces, the ultrasound technician printed three photos, and they all ended up being of the boy.

Weekly Drum Song:
Every so often, when Kiernan is asking to watch Youtube videos and I don't really feel like watching yet another Wiggles playlist, I'll seek out some indie rock grrl videos. I tend to sneak this one in almost every time, but there's no real reaction from K ...

So I'd been delaying actually playing the CD for him, in case he hated Sleater Kinney and hurt my feelings. I finally popped All Hands on the Bad one into the car when we went to the museum on Saturday and he loved it. When the above song came on he went "OHHH! That's daddy's drum song!"

Weekly Wednesday #42

Weekly Image:
Often while driving, traffic grinds to a halt and Lara (even in non-pregnancy rage mode) freaks out when it is discovered that absolutely nothing caused the slowdown. I theorized that someone tapping their brakes could cause a ripple effect of slowdowns all the way along the highway... turns out I was right!

Weekly Workplace:
An external company creating a Flash module for us. I have Flash experience. I reported a problem with the module and they fixed it using a bandaid solution instead of taking the time required to fix their mistake.

This solution caused the rest of the module to fail horribly. I told them exactly what it looks like they'd done, mentioned that I've had this same experience and research has concluded that you're not supposed to do it that way. I sent screen shots of the product (taken from Firefox, but said "It does this in IE as well."). I pointed out the exact HTML file where the problem was located and said "The previous version doesn't have this code, and I can see the problem is exactly here."

The project manager told me that this was unfortunately the ONLY solution possible. We has a brief phone conversation with her boss, in which I was able to use the technical terms the PM didn't seem to understand, and boss-man said he would take care of it. Soon he sent back a message saying they were working on fixing the problem - the team told him the issue was that I was using Firefox and everything worked as it should in IE. I forwarded him the email in which I'd stated that IE had the same problem.

There was silence for hours. Finally, they fired over the final version for review, the bandaid (and unfortunately the ONLY) solution was gone, they had gone in and done all the manual work they could have done in the first place. Bottom line - when you are a Project manager, don't give the bullshit lines to someone who knows the technology. It may work for non techies, but it was pretty damn obvious I knew what I was talking about.

Weekly Kiernan:
While stopped at a traffic light, Kiernan exclaimed "Daddy! It's a circle!"
As he's been up to speed on all his shapes for at least a year, this was just another random exclamation. I couldn't tell where he was looking.
"Another circle daddy!"
"TWO circles?" I gasped dramatically.
"Ya, TWO CIRCLES!" there was a beat, "OH!!!!!!"
"Another circle?"
"No! Two hands! TWO HANDS JUST LIKE ME!"
The circles, I realized, were the two red lights...


Later on, as we'd dropped off the guy I've been commuting with in during the bus strike, Kiernan asked "What's Ron doing?"
"He's giving you thumbs up!"
"I'm doing thumbs up too!" - indeed, Kiernan's mitten thumbs were up, but whether his thumbs were actually in it was unknown.
"We can go home and give mommy two thumbs up and say 'Good job mommy!'"
"Okay. I wanna do two fingers up too!"
"Well, I suppose that depends on the fingers."

Weekly Wednesday #41

Weekly Link:
I've heard (pun intended) of The Bloop before, but never realized there were other Strange and Mysterious Sounds from the Earth out there...

Weekly Video:
Maybe someday I'll be reborn as an adrenaline junkie... hopefully not due to jumping off of Norwegian cliffs and then actually flying (falling with style?) in a wingsuit... Best viewed in full screen.. and just imagine it on an IMAX screen...


Weekly Kiernan:
Since I've been AWOL the past two weeks, here are two amusing incidents, although technically that doesn't catch me up at all:

We were sitting on the glider reading a story before bedtime when my stomach grumbled.
Kiernan said "Oh! Are you pooping, Daddy?" to which I replied "No, that was just my tummy making a noise."
"Do you need to go to the potty?"
"Maybe later."

Kiernan has had a cough the past few nights, which has had him waking up randomly through the night. The first night, we started the vapourizer, rubbed on some vapo-rub, and gave him a spoonful of honey. The next day Kiernan noticed the bear-shaped honey jar.
"Oh! A bear!"
"That's the bottle that hold the honey, it's shaped like a bear."
"I had honey and my cough went away. GOOD JOB, DADDY!"

Weekly Drum Song:
The only Christmas song I can tolerate (and listen to any time of the year, actually) is from the soundtrack to the movie Elf starring Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel. Zooey sings "Baby it's Cold Outside" with Leon Redbone, and since hearing her singing voice I occasionally google around to read up on the hundreds of people demanding a full album from her.
Finally, the CD entitled Volume One by She & Him, a collaberation of Deschanel and M Ward has come into my possession (I bought it, gasp!) and I enjoy its old-timey-sounding songs thoroughly, even though it can get alt-country at times... Kiernan demands song with more drums, however, so the CD is not played in the car.


Weekly Twins:
I told Lara she needs to hold those babies in until at least May 21st so they can be born under the Gemini zodiac sign. I'm not a follower of astrology, I just find that amusing. The look given to me was decidedly less amused by this prospect.

Weekly Wednesday #40

Weekly Link:
You can tell by the comments that no one realized "37% of Americans Unable to Locate America on Map of America" was a satirical article. This is likely why the Editor's Note at the top of this article was tacked on since I first read it on Monday. I'm sure people will ignore the note and 37% of readers will continue to think it's true.

Weekly Drum Song:
The mix CD we created as wedding favours found its way into the CD player, and Kiernan seems to want to only rotate through between three songs: "Iloveyou Iloveyou song!", "Anudder wide dash song!", and "Boom Boom Boom song!". I can convince him to listen to this song only when he specifically requests the "Trumpet song":


Weekly Twins:
When Kiernan was in the womb, occasionally Lara would pause in mid-sentence and say "I think the baby just moved." This time we have a more accurate measure of movement when she instantly arches her back, yelps in surprise, and almost falls off the couch. This from two babies 4.5 inches long so far - can't wait until they're bigger!

Weekly Wednesday #39

Weekly Link:
Amazon.com needs to work on their giftwrapping logic...

Weekly Image:
When we get a bigger house I definitely want one of these...(from Book Patrol)

Weekly Drum Song:
I haven't had the time to rifle through my CDs for a new selection, but when "Virtual Insanity" by Jamiroquai came on the radio Kiernan announced "OHHHHHHHH! I LIKE DIS SONG DADDY!" ... Between Lara and I, I don't think this falls into either of our tastes in music.

Weekly Workplace:
We got a gift basket from a partner company this week - between the time the email was posted announcing the treats in the kitchen and the time I moseyed up there (about 5 minutes) all of the Jack Daniels filled chocolates were gone. It was not that a small bag.

Also in the basket was flavoured coffee, which was brewed this morning... I poured some into my cup and added some cream and thought "I usually put cream in my cup first, so I can't remember -- Cream rises to the top, sure, but does it usually just sit there like that?" Have I mentioned I'm a coffee drinker amongst tea drinkers? I guess someone didn't realize coffee was supposed to be so... thick.... It even took a while going down the drain after I took a taste.

Weekly WTF:
On the radio this morning there was an addendum to the traffic news: "... and we just got a call regarding an accident on Lawn at Ancaster." Okay, hold up, what? Where?

You see, that's the neighbourhood I grew up in, near where my parents still live. The intersection in question is a residential area, removed from major roads by at least two sidestreets. Did someone involved call it in? Did someone look out their front window and say "Gee, I'd better let the radio stations know about this so people can plan alternate routes!"
Thanks to you, intrepid listener, I'm sure traffic-paralyzing gridlock was avoided entirely, and you got to tell everyone "My accident report made it on the radio!"

Weekly Wednesday #38

Weekly Link:
10 Jobs You Didn’t Hear About On Career Day - Some people have been inferring my job must be #4, but they should read the description to see the differences.

Weekly Image:
You know the scene in Princess Bride, where Fezzik is climbing the cliffs of insanity with a harness designed to carry three people around his body? I'm going to need one of those.

"1 giant dude to carry babies around for us." has been added to my xmas list.

Weekly Kiernan:
Last week I stopped to get a haircut before going to Grammie's where Kiernan was spending the day. I entered the house and heard Kiernan excitedly go "Who's that?"
My mother replied "Go see!"
Before coming around the corner, Kiernan yelled "Daddydaddydaddy!" and upon seeing me, his eyes went wide: "Who's that?!?" He did the best double-take ever and then realized, "Daddy!"
This evening, I walked in the same door and he ran up and yelled "Where's daddy's hair go?!"

Weekly 'Nother Drum Song:
Mommy tried introducing alternatives to drum songs in the car. First she went Celtic with "fiddle songs" by Leahy. Then she put in random unlabeled CD #17, which turned out to be a collection of songs from Gilbert and Sullivan musicals. The latter CD was amusing to me only because Kiernan seemed to enjoy it, but Lara got sick of each song about a minute in and hit fast-forward. After a weekend of such music, I had to counter with my ultimate in driving music, (which Kiernan enjoyed thoroughly): theSTART.


Weekly Twins:
Because there aren't twins in either side of our family, the term for our situation is "spontaneous twins". It's almost like I had nothing to do with it.

Weekly Wednesday #37

Weekly Link
Nanotech clothing that doesn't get wet. It's the future of self-cleaning clothes! Which is awesome, really, because "it didn't survive an everyday washing machine cycle."

Weekly Image:
I never thought about it this way, but in retrospect it's kind of true...

(from Joe Loves Crappy Movies)

Weekly Kiernan:
Bundled up and strapped into his car seat, Kiernan called out "Daddy I'm a pirate!"
I glanced back to see he had pulled the ear flap of his winter hat over his eye. "Oh! Nice pirate!"
The next thing I heard was "Daddy I'm TWO pirates!" and sure enough, he now had each earpiece over an eye.

Weekly Drum Song:
Kiernan is okay with the first two Rilo Kiley CDs I own, but is entranced with the videos for songs from their third album, especially the following, for which he calls out the names of the animals the taxidermists are working on...



Weekly Workplace:
Conversations at lunch tend to begin asking how we're doing, pregnancy-wise, and soon morph into discussions of the TV show John and Kate Plus Eight...

Weekly Wednesday #36 continues...

Weekly Link:
More xmas gift ideas: Only $15K for an authentic 19th century vampire hunting kit. It really should include sunglasses for encountering Twilight Vampires during the day though...

Weekly Image: (updated)


Weekly Kiernan (aka Weekly New Drum Song):
I thought it would be too noisy for him, but Kiernan enjoyed the first few tracks off the now-defunct Toronto band, Controller Controller. Watch this video and imagine the guitar intro being echoed by hysterical giggling to get a sense of his reaction.

Weekly Workplace:
I walked into the Admin Coordinator's office to let her know I was back from the ultrasound appointment, and couldn't help blurting about the twins revelation. Then I was instructed to tell the receptionist, and the Committee Secretary, the latter of who is the "mom" of the entire office. No one was in the lunch room, of course, so I headed to the front desk. As I announced about it at reception, the news was overheard by one of the Research Associates (who was initially introduced to me with the nickname of "No Filter") who ran down the hall ahead of me, pushing into the boardroom where a Project Leads meeting was going on, yelled "Eric's having twins!", then ran into the offices next door yelling "Eric's having twins!". Luckily she missed one office (the one across from her own) so I was able to break the news myself to at least two people.

Weekly WTF:
What, another one? Well, it would be appropriate.

Weekly Wednesday #36

Weekly WTF:
Ultrasound Technician: "Congratulations, you're having twins!"

... :)

Weekly Wednesday #35

Weekly Link:
My wife wants a roomba vacuum for xmas... I think this would be much more useful.

Weekly Video:
I like finding obscure web series on youtube such as Life is Short. This three-part series is amusing, and also introduced me to the bizarre split-screen music videos of the tall blonde girl in the opening scene, Riki Lindholme, whose songs in the duo "Garfunkel and Oates" are HILARIOUS. Anyhoo, Life is short, also answering the question "Just what has Rory Gilmore been up to these days?":

Episode 2 is here
Episode 3 is here

Weekly Kiernan:
Insisting I sing along with Wiggles tunes is annoying, but what's worse is singing "Wiggle / and learn / dance to the rhythm of mu-u-sic" and being stopped by a temper-like screech of "NO DADDY! It's! AND! LOW!". And you know singing "and low" gets him going about how it's supposed to be "and learn." Ah, testing daddy's limits is fun...

Weekly Workplace:
In case you were wondering, in addition to the sunhat I received a pair of sunglasses, a beach bag and towel, and the CD "Enchanted Journey" from my coworkers. They were not waiting in my office first thing Monday morning as expected, but were instead brought downstairs by the entire staff, who hung around the door of my office about five minutes after I received notice that the latest edition of Ante Up Magazine was available for download, and about five minutes before I realized that Ante Up Magazine had finished downloading and popping up on my monitor sometime during the presentation of my "vacation gear".

Weekly WTF:
The average cellphone user (without a text messaging plan) pays 20 cents a message. The amount of data used to transfer such a message is the same, 160 characters, whether you fill the entire texting space or just send "ok". The cost of text messaging is about $1400 per megabyte. To put things into perspective, at that rate it would cost you just under $6000 to download a single MP3 to your phone.

Apparently a US Senator has written the major US carriers asking why their rates have increased by 100% in the past few years. Not only have they increased, but the price structures have increased similarly in competing cell companies, implying collusion. That's even less reason for me to ever want to send another text message...

Weekly Wednesday #34

Weekly Link:
Dork or Coolest Kid Ever?
(Highlight for answer: Huuuuuuuuge Dork.)

Weekly Video:
The scene: Disney Production Offices for "Kids Incorporated", circa mid-80s.
Music Director: Okay boss, I have a list of songs for approval here and-
Producer: Forget those. I've got your answer right here.
Music Director: Uh, okay..
Producer: That wholesome Sandy girl in Grease. Came out with that exercising song on the MTV a few years back.
Music Director: Olivia Newton J- Uh, wait, that song's not really abo-
Producer: It'll be great - get the kids on stage doing jumping jacks, lifting weights, really get the viewers at home off the couch.
Music Director: But the lyrics aren't ab-
Producer: Done! Let's get it wrapped by Tuesday. (pushing a button on his desk) Lydia, send in my next appointment. I'm in a firing mood.


Weekly Kiernan:
"Go to the next door now?"



Weekly Worst Halloween Candy:
Family's Best Potato Chips. (not to be confused with Family's Best Organic Chips)
Really, these are the best you can do? Well good luck with that, Family.

Weekly Workplace:
I'm in training all of next week, but since it is virtual I'll just be learning through shared desktops and teleconferencing. To let my coworkers know I'm not to be bothered while in training, I sent a mass email stating "You may ask what luxurious locale the Centre is sending me to in order to learn the ins and outs of Java Web Server Programming, and the answer to that is definitely fabulous and sun-soaked: my office."

Mass replies came my way reminding me not to forget my sunscreen... and yesterday I caught someone suspiciously sneaking a large straw sunhat away from view as I came around the corner. I wish I could sneak a a deck chair and margarita maker in here in an attempt to out-funny them when they inevitably break into my office after I leave for the weekend.

Weekly Wednesday #33

Weekly Link:
http://www.maninthedark.com/ Try clicking to duplicate... then clicking while it's degenerating to create weirdness... or move it to the corner of the screen, click once, then double click fast in the opposite corner for even more weirdness... uh, yeah, I don't know either.

Weekly Video:


Weekly Kiernan:
Some days you can get Kiernan to eat everything on his plate by pretending each forkful is an animal or person. His favourites are giraffes, elephants, and kings.

Weekly Workplace:
Email from Information Services at the hospital, regarding the expansion of the wireless network and how to tell if it has been completed in :
"If you are wondering if expansion in your area has been completed, simply look at the ceiling in the main hallways. If you see a cable hanging out, it is not complete. If you see a white Star Wars like spaceship, it is complete."
You would think the IS team were geeks or something...

Weekly WTF:
The poker site I play on stopped running the turbo tournament cash cow that fit perfectly into my schedule. I could win around $100 in 75 minutes some days. Last night I snagged a first place victory of $100 and it took me TWO. AND A HALF. HOURS.

Weekly Wednesday #32

Weekly Image


Weekly Link:
The 5 reasons Luke Skywalker is a Complete Idiot

Weekly Video:
Kiernan, he of the 20 months of soy protein intolerance, had soy sauce on his rice tonight, and acted as if it were the richest tasting thing ever. "Rice for dessert!" he declared, then we watched this video.

He sang the chorus repeatedly while getting ready for his bath.

Weekly Word I Never Imagined Using Two Years Ago:
Stinkabum.

Weekly Wednesday #31

Weekly Useful Link
How to keep your fruits and veggies fresh so you don't have to throw spoiled food out all the time

Weekly Fun Link
Click your way around the Oval Office of the future of Palin as president... click some things more than once for different results...

Weekly Image... er... of text...

From foundmagazine.com

Weekly Video
Hey, I totally missed this last night because I was inside watching the election coverage... if you managed to see the giant UFO that the psychic lady predicted was coming could you email me pics? Cool, thanks.


Weekly Kiernan
Sometimes Kiernan will babble out some random syllables and then repeat them as if it's a word.
Today in the car he announced matter-of-factly, "Appadee! Appadee daddy!"
"Appadee?"
"Ya, Appadee."
"Maybe you're thinking of apathy?"
"Appathee!"
"You just don't care about non-imaginary words?"
"Dat's right! My appafee, daddy."

Weekly Video Update
Boy, am I embarrassed - I didn't actually watch the Weekly video all the way through to see that the UFO mothership was appearing for three whole days. I guess I just don't look up into the sky anymore. I'll catch it tomorrow.

Weekly Workplace
Six or eight weeks of asking for web page approval resulted repeatedly in "I'll look at it today, I promise." and then having it fall off the bottom of my manager's to-do list. She's busy, I know, so I sent an email letting her know I could probably set up a workflow which would send an hourly email reminder about the web pages needing approval. I also let her know that I wouldn't be able to help her set up the mail filter which would automatically redirect the reminders to the trash. Five minutes later I got a phone call with approval and a thanks for the reminder. I'm so glad I work in a place whose employees have a sense of humour.

Weekly Wednesday #30

Weekly Link:
Swedish Furniture Name Generator - I am an ERYK chair, which is not so fun. Kiernan is a SKÄIRNANVIK twin bed. But it looks like you can re-enter your name to get different versions.

Weekly Video:
Take on Me (Literally)


Weekly Kiernan:
Standing on his change table, he made a move toward the picture on the wall embroidered by his aunt, which was embroidered when he was born. "Don't touch that!" we said, moving him away from arms-reach of it. "Don't touch!" he agreed. "Dat's DANgerous!"

Weekly Workplace:
When sitting in the audience at a media-covered event, be sure to sit to the right of all the ladies you work with, that way the camera coverage appearing on the news has you completely out of frame.

UPDATE: CBC's cameraman did not follow this rule, and there was a 3 second alternate camera angle with me filling the left 1/5th of the screen, mowing on gum like a cow chews cud.

Weekly Wednesday #29

Weekly Link:
Let's stop scaring our kids

Weekly Image:


Weekly Kiernan:
Sometimes when he eats his food turns into animals. The shape of a soggy hole-ridden waffle will remind him of a tiger.
A bite was taken from a chicken burger and suddenly "Oh! A dinosaur!"
I'm all "Really? What does the dinosaur say?"
But instead of the usual "ROAR!!!" he says "No, that's not a dinosaur."
"What is it then?"
"OH! It's mommy at the store!"
"Really."
He points to a little pointy piece that's sticking up out of the meat. "That's mommy dere."
He nods sagely, then takes a huge chomp, devouring the cash area, a couple of clothing racks, and sadly, mommy.

Weekly Music:
Regina Spektor (not the pop song you may hear on the radio)


Weekly Workplace:
Thursday:
IT Dept: "Hi, we're shutting down your backup server on Monday and your main server on Wednesday. Both times at 4am. So go ahead and power those down the night before. Or, for the backup server you can do that Friday and leave it off during the weekend."
Me: "Um, we kinda need those online, but apparently I have no choice. There are images on the servers that will be linked through our September e-bulletin, so I guess we'll have to send delay sending it until Monday."

Monday:
Me, walking in and seeing a group of ladies gathered: "Uh, good morning?"
Them: "Where's the Internet?"
IT Dept web page: "Yeah, uh, we lost the Internet connection. This means all your servers are down too. Bell will get back to us by 10am. You can send emails out, but cannot receive any responses, so that's good news, right?"

Monday 10am:
IT Dept web page: "Bell has escalated our case and will get back to us by 11am"

Monday 4pm:
IT Dept web page: "Bell has escalated our case and will get back to us by 11am"

Tuesday:
Me: Yay Internet! I hope IT took advantage of all that downtime yesterday so they don't have to do the Wednesday shutdown.
IT Dept: Whut?
Me: Also, the backup server you shut down Monday morning isn't responding, could you go check on that and call me back? Kinda need it.
IT Dept: ...

Wednesday:
Me: Yay for Internet despite shutting down our servers again. Now both servers are working, so e-bulletin subscribers can enjoy the September edition. On October 1st. It's like magazine subscriptions but in reverse, you see.