... the IT man in LibraryLand
As we continue on with our investigation we find ourselves coming to one of those regular seasonal events that seem to occur naturally whenever the season is right.
The Branch Xmas drinks
This years occurrence was located at a different establishment than is the usual case for events such as this.
We gathered in a drinking house recently converted from being an automotive repair business - one presumes that easily hosed concrete floors are an exciting thing for those who earn their livelyhood from the alcohol imbibing industry.
Anyhoo, in attendance were: Mr Prada, Days of our Libraries, Kiwichick, The Pragmatist, Fifi, and even Supervisor Grand Chief K put in an appearance after fixating on my costume accessories for the next evening's party - in particular the handcuffs which just happened to be a part of the pack - and showed a shocking amount of ignorance of who the character I was going as actually was.
Much fun and frivel was had by all. The evening finished relatively early which was fine as the rest of my evening could be spent storing up energy for the next big event.
The 40th
The very next evening was the 40th birthday affair for BestFriendSincePrep. As is his want he had made the whole thing slightly more annoying as it was a costumed ball and therefore costumes had to be prepared. I do suspect though, that it was done purely so that he could wear a wig and experience a warm head all night.
Legion2 and the Brotherstealer where there as were Gavman, StumpyRudolph, MrRogers, MatrixMan, Vengeful Vic and Couch Killer.
My choice of costume - the legendary Snake Plissken - revealed some shocking statistics.
95% of women at the party had no idea who Snake was (one guessed the actor)
20% of men had no idea either - and that's allowing Gavman's guess of Jack Russell in Little China to stand as a success.
This country is obviously in need of a strong education campaign in the area of B-grade sci-fi movies from the early eighties.
I'm not even going to talk about the horrendous sub-100% recognition rate for Legion2's Han Solo costume.
But aside from all that the brilliance of BFSP in having a slushie machine was just one of the many masterstrokes in the nibbles department. All in all a good night and perfect preperation for the next days adventure.
up next: in which our hero traipses from one end of town to the other
.
The Missing Weeks. Part the Second
Continuing on in my attempt to document what happened to me in those missing weeks we come now to the biggest event in the library social calendar:
The Library Xmas Party
This year the extravaganza was held at The Administrator's demesne with many of the usual party planning committee being involved in the orchestration of yet another gastronomic triumph.
The theme of the night was apparently "unfinished renovations" as we all had to carefully tread across a floor replete with stiletto catching drill holes and marvel at the true to life renovation look of the party setting.
It was really my kind of party. There was plenty of home carved Days of our Libraries pizza to start and just when you thought you were full out came not one, not two but three kinds of lasagne courtesy of Days, Sonja Roster Queen and others!
And then to top it all of there was a dazzlingly table-collapsing number of deserts whose claim to fame could well be "not even Phill could sample us all".
To top it all off in it's perfection there was a decided lack of librarian karaoke antics throughout the night.
The Knee Update
up next: drinks and a 40th
.
The Library Xmas Party
This year the extravaganza was held at The Administrator's demesne with many of the usual party planning committee being involved in the orchestration of yet another gastronomic triumph.
The theme of the night was apparently "unfinished renovations" as we all had to carefully tread across a floor replete with stiletto catching drill holes and marvel at the true to life renovation look of the party setting.
It was really my kind of party. There was plenty of home carved Days of our Libraries pizza to start and just when you thought you were full out came not one, not two but three kinds of lasagne courtesy of Days, Sonja Roster Queen and others!
And then to top it all of there was a dazzlingly table-collapsing number of deserts whose claim to fame could well be "not even Phill could sample us all".
To top it all off in it's perfection there was a decided lack of librarian karaoke antics throughout the night.
The Knee Update
When the Monday after the party finally arrived it was time for the three week check-up on my knee. According to the specialist all is well.
Below are some pictures taken by the camera that they forced into my knee.
Top right is the before shot where we can see a lovely blossom of cartilage material floating freely around the joint just waiting to catch in the worky bits and cause problems.
Middle right is the after shot with the clean smooth surfaces just waiting to get back into unrestricted moving.
And finally in the bottom two we can see the shadowy lines of future arthritic troubles for our hero in decades to come.
Below are some pictures taken by the camera that they forced into my knee.
Top right is the before shot where we can see a lovely blossom of cartilage material floating freely around the joint just waiting to catch in the worky bits and cause problems.
Middle right is the after shot with the clean smooth surfaces just waiting to get back into unrestricted moving.
And finally in the bottom two we can see the shadowy lines of future arthritic troubles for our hero in decades to come.
up next: drinks and a 40th
.
The Missing Weeks. Part the First
Well I've been out of communication for weeks now.
I could claim that it's some sort of arty project to have this December be a reverse of the previous one and it's 25 blogs of Xmas.
But methinks that's all a tad too much to believe - even of The Tales.
Instead you shall just have to believe that I have been exceedingly busy with stuff. The following list should convince you of my extreme busyness quotient until such time as I have you all caught up on the myriads of interesting events that befell your correspondent in that intriguingly un-blogged time.
SPUN XMAS Meeting
We begin with the annual SPUN Xmas meeting which, true to tradition, I attended without the assistance of the esteemed Mr Prada who once again perplexingly had better things to do than attend a free feed.
I was suffering some trepidation going into this meeting as I feared I may be elected into some official capacity for the coming year. There was also the fear about returning to the ground upon which I had received my recent dose of Wine Poisoning.
I was lucky enough to escape this time with only a mild case - despite the best efforts of Dubrovnik Hater and The Puppies.
The Viking-Hatted Bucks Night
After a brief return home for rest I was off again that night for the next stop in my social itinerary. This was the much anticipated bucks night for The Viking Hat GM. The anticipation came from the fact that The Mad Magyar was responsible for the organisation and I was expecting to get a giant insight into the Eastern European buck's night traditions - I imagined something along the lines of the groom having to win several knife-fights or possibly wrestle a wild animal into submission whilst under the influence of several litres of petrol-grade alcohol.
Apparently though, the way they do it in the old country involves go-carting, rounds of drinks, walking aimlessly through the city not wanting to pay $10 cover charges, and eventually going home when the buck refuses to enter any further establishments.
Hmm, it's a small world after all.
In the end I made it home thanks to the grace of Exploding Ninja Pony who detoured to drop me on my doorstep despite his obvious gut-clenching fear that The Viking Hat GM was only a hair's breadth away from engaging in that wonderful Australian custom of the auto-interior technicolour yawn.
Up next: what happens when you gather 40 librarians in a room with food and drink?
.
I could claim that it's some sort of arty project to have this December be a reverse of the previous one and it's 25 blogs of Xmas.
But methinks that's all a tad too much to believe - even of The Tales.
Instead you shall just have to believe that I have been exceedingly busy with stuff. The following list should convince you of my extreme busyness quotient until such time as I have you all caught up on the myriads of interesting events that befell your correspondent in that intriguingly un-blogged time.
SPUN XMAS Meeting
We begin with the annual SPUN Xmas meeting which, true to tradition, I attended without the assistance of the esteemed Mr Prada who once again perplexingly had better things to do than attend a free feed.
I was suffering some trepidation going into this meeting as I feared I may be elected into some official capacity for the coming year. There was also the fear about returning to the ground upon which I had received my recent dose of Wine Poisoning.
I was lucky enough to escape this time with only a mild case - despite the best efforts of Dubrovnik Hater and The Puppies.
The Viking-Hatted Bucks Night
After a brief return home for rest I was off again that night for the next stop in my social itinerary. This was the much anticipated bucks night for The Viking Hat GM. The anticipation came from the fact that The Mad Magyar was responsible for the organisation and I was expecting to get a giant insight into the Eastern European buck's night traditions - I imagined something along the lines of the groom having to win several knife-fights or possibly wrestle a wild animal into submission whilst under the influence of several litres of petrol-grade alcohol.
Apparently though, the way they do it in the old country involves go-carting, rounds of drinks, walking aimlessly through the city not wanting to pay $10 cover charges, and eventually going home when the buck refuses to enter any further establishments.
Hmm, it's a small world after all.
In the end I made it home thanks to the grace of Exploding Ninja Pony who detoured to drop me on my doorstep despite his obvious gut-clenching fear that The Viking Hat GM was only a hair's breadth away from engaging in that wonderful Australian custom of the auto-interior technicolour yawn.
Up next: what happens when you gather 40 librarians in a room with food and drink?
.
The Return to Normalcy
So Wednesday was the scheduled day for my triumphant return to LibraryLand and the usual hum-drum of the day to day workday. True to my amazing recuperative powers I was all ready to keep my scheduled return date and was even looking forward to having some human company as The Tiger seemed completely oblivious to my need for careful nursing over the previous week.
So Tuesday night was when a major server decided to "fall over", as we say in the high jargon IT world, just so that many things would have trouble first thing in the morning. Did I mention my plan to take it easy on my first day by arriving around eleven?
So anyway, there I was, up early to do my knee-ish physio exercises - least The Viking Hat GM come around and knee-cap me for being one of those people that don't do the recovery exercises and then whine that the operation didn't fix anything - and lo and behold the phone begins to ring.
So of course it was Sister Serials with some query, only she would be callous enough to value her record as my chief tormentor over my health and call so early on my day of return.
Alas she was not the only call that morning. They followed in quick succession and before long I was busily trying to fix things remotely from home.
So eventually I was able to make it in at about 1pm - just in time for my lunch break.
So that evening there was normalcy at the regular game hosted by The Viking Hat GM as he once again made us face a deadly enemy - luckily we were too good for his shenanigans.
So Thursday there was even more normalcy as I had to struggle through roadworks and Punt Rd traffic to get to a regular morning meeting.
Refreshingly I was subject of some very abnormal behaviour as a chorus of workmates greeted me joyfully as I walked late into the meeting. We even had a post meeting lunch in honour of The Administrator having a birthday that day. Honestly, what some people will do to steal my limelight!
So while we're on the subject of limelight stealing let's not forget the dinner I attended that night in honour of Comrade Treasurer's change of job. You can guess which recently operated upon IT man was not the centre of attention there as well.
So, sigh, only a week after being operated upon and the universe had already run out of sympathy for me.
So such is the normalcy under which I live my life.
(So I've found out with this post that you can start any paragraph with so. Amazing isn't it?)
.
So Tuesday night was when a major server decided to "fall over", as we say in the high jargon IT world, just so that many things would have trouble first thing in the morning. Did I mention my plan to take it easy on my first day by arriving around eleven?
So anyway, there I was, up early to do my knee-ish physio exercises - least The Viking Hat GM come around and knee-cap me for being one of those people that don't do the recovery exercises and then whine that the operation didn't fix anything - and lo and behold the phone begins to ring.
So of course it was Sister Serials with some query, only she would be callous enough to value her record as my chief tormentor over my health and call so early on my day of return.
Alas she was not the only call that morning. They followed in quick succession and before long I was busily trying to fix things remotely from home.
So eventually I was able to make it in at about 1pm - just in time for my lunch break.
So that evening there was normalcy at the regular game hosted by The Viking Hat GM as he once again made us face a deadly enemy - luckily we were too good for his shenanigans.
So Thursday there was even more normalcy as I had to struggle through roadworks and Punt Rd traffic to get to a regular morning meeting.
Refreshingly I was subject of some very abnormal behaviour as a chorus of workmates greeted me joyfully as I walked late into the meeting. We even had a post meeting lunch in honour of The Administrator having a birthday that day. Honestly, what some people will do to steal my limelight!
So while we're on the subject of limelight stealing let's not forget the dinner I attended that night in honour of Comrade Treasurer's change of job. You can guess which recently operated upon IT man was not the centre of attention there as well.
So, sigh, only a week after being operated upon and the universe had already run out of sympathy for me.
So such is the normalcy under which I live my life.
(So I've found out with this post that you can start any paragraph with so. Amazing isn't it?)
.
The Knee Op and the Recovery
The big day of my knee fixing operation finally arrived last Thursday.
Despite the surgeon putting it down as routine afterwards I think it was anything but, as the list below should prove.
It all begins the day before when I receive the confirmation call from the hospital at 5pm. In amongst the machine-gun fast list of information passed on to me was this little doozy - "shave your knee before you come in".
My "excuse me? Did you just say I have to shave myself?" was met with a confirmation and the information that I could get hair remover cream at any chemist.
Taking it in my stride after the brief call finished I immediately enquired as to whether any of the immaculately presented librarians happened to have an emergency stash of said cream.
Unluckily there was not a depilatory to be had anywhere in the library so I had to venture to the supermarket and buy a huge basket of assorted groceries in which to hide my girly hair removal product.
At this point I must point out how disappointed I am with private medical care. For my last operation - under the public system - I was shaved by nurses, and you can't really ask for more then that (well except maybe for them to not sedate you before the shaving happens, but, you know, it's the thought that counts).
So in any case I was up extra early to take care of my knee smoothening. I have to say that I found it a simple process although my newly deforested knee did feel like a strangers knee - possibly something one could become used to...
ahem, but I digress.
The next "routine" thing that happened was for half a sky's worth of rain to fall in the morning and consequently my train to be delayed three stations from destination due to signal faults up the line. This was no measly delay, oh no. It was stated to be of 20 to 30 minutes duration. This delay would eat up all of my careful planning to be two trains early so a delay would not cause me any trouble. I guess Connex showed me in their final days.
So I finally arrived a mere 25 minutes late to bump into an old friend from high school who quickly informed me she was working as a nurse in recovery and would see me later.
Still stunned from the unusual and unexpected meeting I failed to take in that reception was not at all concerned about my lateness and seemed to have built it into their schedule - it's as if they knew all about me.
Much waiting around ensued, interspersed with physio instruction , paperwork and preliminary physical examination. During the physical I was informed that, although it is not stated on the literature about the operation they had given me, the patient (me) needs to be under supervision for 24 hours afterwards. "Humph", I mused. "Well luckily Handy Dad and Freeloading Mum should be accommodating for the evening".
I was also informed that I would absolutely need crutches so I dutifully hired myself a pair. In the very least I should be able to milk some LibraryLand sympathy with them.
Eventually I was called in to change into the exciting hospital robes and then, after sitting around in the cold for a while, loaded onto a bed and wheeled off for sedation.
The anaesthetist greeted me by my middle name, having taken a brief glance at my chart, and then proceeded to not find the vein for several minutes. He was muttering something about tough young manly vein walls so I forgive him - plus I have this cool looking bruise all over the back of my hand.
Once I had the thingamy in my hand he was called away before sedating me because a current operation had a patients "BP dropped to 68" or some such ER sounding thing.
This left me alone for a surreal moment with one of the theatre nurses who had the exact demeanour of Miss Amanda. Right down to the same turns of phrase - "ah yes, it's always soccer or football. My stupid husband had his knee done twice because of football." and so on.
I am fairly certain that there weren't any mind altering substances in my system causing me to hallucinate familiar faces in the hospital as I was next wheeled into the theatre and slid onto the table before the anaesthetist came rushing in and quickly had to knock me out before the knife men went to work.
I came to several hours later in recovery and had a nice little chat with my high school nurse before being okayed and sent back to the ward for some sandwiches and juice.
I recovered quite quickly and was waiting around for Handy Dad when the day's stormy weather caused an alarming power flicker - I thought that hospitals would have uninterruptable power supplies?
I was soon whisked away by Handy Dad and spent most of the evening at the ancestral abode enjoying a free dinner and supervisory company before being dropped home for the comfort of my own surroundings.
My last few days have been a whirlwind of recovery.
I've been cooped up inside going all Rear Window until this afternoon when I took myself for a short stroll.
I have been going slowly mad doing repetitive exercises, some of which have confusing instructions - how exactly is one to interpret "...hold for 6 seconds, do sets of 10. Increase number of sets as pain permits. 2-3 minutes, 3-4 times per day."
In any case I have watched TV and movies galore, read many books and magazines, and pontificated many a gaming quandary. I've also grappled with some mild afternoon nausea and some annoyingly planned road-works outside my flat for the whole day.
However most importantly I've discovered that The Tiger, and most probably all other cats, make for lousy nurses.
You know, I'm almost on the verge of being ready to return to work... almost.
.
Despite the surgeon putting it down as routine afterwards I think it was anything but, as the list below should prove.
It all begins the day before when I receive the confirmation call from the hospital at 5pm. In amongst the machine-gun fast list of information passed on to me was this little doozy - "shave your knee before you come in".
My "excuse me? Did you just say I have to shave myself?" was met with a confirmation and the information that I could get hair remover cream at any chemist.
Taking it in my stride after the brief call finished I immediately enquired as to whether any of the immaculately presented librarians happened to have an emergency stash of said cream.
Unluckily there was not a depilatory to be had anywhere in the library so I had to venture to the supermarket and buy a huge basket of assorted groceries in which to hide my girly hair removal product.
At this point I must point out how disappointed I am with private medical care. For my last operation - under the public system - I was shaved by nurses, and you can't really ask for more then that (well except maybe for them to not sedate you before the shaving happens, but, you know, it's the thought that counts).
So in any case I was up extra early to take care of my knee smoothening. I have to say that I found it a simple process although my newly deforested knee did feel like a strangers knee - possibly something one could become used to...
ahem, but I digress.
The next "routine" thing that happened was for half a sky's worth of rain to fall in the morning and consequently my train to be delayed three stations from destination due to signal faults up the line. This was no measly delay, oh no. It was stated to be of 20 to 30 minutes duration. This delay would eat up all of my careful planning to be two trains early so a delay would not cause me any trouble. I guess Connex showed me in their final days.
So I finally arrived a mere 25 minutes late to bump into an old friend from high school who quickly informed me she was working as a nurse in recovery and would see me later.
Still stunned from the unusual and unexpected meeting I failed to take in that reception was not at all concerned about my lateness and seemed to have built it into their schedule - it's as if they knew all about me.
Much waiting around ensued, interspersed with physio instruction , paperwork and preliminary physical examination. During the physical I was informed that, although it is not stated on the literature about the operation they had given me, the patient (me) needs to be under supervision for 24 hours afterwards. "Humph", I mused. "Well luckily Handy Dad and Freeloading Mum should be accommodating for the evening".
I was also informed that I would absolutely need crutches so I dutifully hired myself a pair. In the very least I should be able to milk some LibraryLand sympathy with them.
Eventually I was called in to change into the exciting hospital robes and then, after sitting around in the cold for a while, loaded onto a bed and wheeled off for sedation.
The anaesthetist greeted me by my middle name, having taken a brief glance at my chart, and then proceeded to not find the vein for several minutes. He was muttering something about tough young manly vein walls so I forgive him - plus I have this cool looking bruise all over the back of my hand.
Once I had the thingamy in my hand he was called away before sedating me because a current operation had a patients "BP dropped to 68" or some such ER sounding thing.
This left me alone for a surreal moment with one of the theatre nurses who had the exact demeanour of Miss Amanda. Right down to the same turns of phrase - "ah yes, it's always soccer or football. My stupid husband had his knee done twice because of football." and so on.
I am fairly certain that there weren't any mind altering substances in my system causing me to hallucinate familiar faces in the hospital as I was next wheeled into the theatre and slid onto the table before the anaesthetist came rushing in and quickly had to knock me out before the knife men went to work.
I came to several hours later in recovery and had a nice little chat with my high school nurse before being okayed and sent back to the ward for some sandwiches and juice.
I recovered quite quickly and was waiting around for Handy Dad when the day's stormy weather caused an alarming power flicker - I thought that hospitals would have uninterruptable power supplies?
I was soon whisked away by Handy Dad and spent most of the evening at the ancestral abode enjoying a free dinner and supervisory company before being dropped home for the comfort of my own surroundings.
My last few days have been a whirlwind of recovery.
I've been cooped up inside going all Rear Window until this afternoon when I took myself for a short stroll.
I have been going slowly mad doing repetitive exercises, some of which have confusing instructions - how exactly is one to interpret "...hold for 6 seconds, do sets of 10. Increase number of sets as pain permits. 2-3 minutes, 3-4 times per day."
In any case I have watched TV and movies galore, read many books and magazines, and pontificated many a gaming quandary. I've also grappled with some mild afternoon nausea and some annoyingly planned road-works outside my flat for the whole day.
However most importantly I've discovered that The Tiger, and most probably all other cats, make for lousy nurses.
You know, I'm almost on the verge of being ready to return to work... almost.
.
The Ball Boy and the Baby's Birthday
My weekend just past was highlighted by the first non-virtual catching up I've had for a very long time with FridgePower and Judge Mingus.
Much of the visit time was taken up with the nigh-unstoppable antics of Ball Boy who began my visit as a shy, retiring youngster for a good long twenty seconds or so until I made the possibly fatal mistake of inquiring about his impressive collection of balls. (note that this must be some foreshadowing of the impending maturity looming in my future as I am, for unfathomable reasons, avoiding making the obvious - and hilarious - smutty turn of phrase)
This innocent enquiry lead to a cataloguing of every ball in the collection for my edification - "this is a soccer ball, this is a football, this is a basket ball, this is a small soccer ball, this is a flat beach ball" and so on.
After my spherical knowledge had been increased tenfold we moved on to creating things with wooden blocks and running marbles through our creations once or twice until we decided to demolish our creations and start again - many times over.
Thankfully the rest of my visit time involved quite a hearty midday repast which set all things right with the world again - although it is spooky that FridgePower and Judge Mingus knew which particular foods to serve up that just happened to be several of those amongst my thousands of culinary weaknesses.
After lunch had settled somewhat I made my tactical withdrawal from overexcited toddler tantrum territory and headed to the next appointment of my busy afternoon.
I managed to arrive fashionably late for Couch Killer's 1st birthday celebration, magnificently hosted by Vengeful Vic and MatrixMan. (I am a tad dubious about the fashionability of my arrival since I did swan through the door at the same time as Pirate Dave.)
With nobody the wiser to my previous events activities I was able to claim that I was starving and commenced to bring my stuffed level right up "to the gills" as they say.
Fantomas and ElfBoy were also in attendance along with various other party goers of all ages. Much fun and possibly too much ice cream cake was had by all - and it all still managed to last longer than any 70th birthday event I've attended - thereby proving that the young do indeed have more fun.
After all the excitement I headed home to privately suffer through some mysterious stomach-bloating-without-cause and a sugar-rush crash that hit me hard and for some reason left me seeing Neapolitan rainbows
.
Much of the visit time was taken up with the nigh-unstoppable antics of Ball Boy who began my visit as a shy, retiring youngster for a good long twenty seconds or so until I made the possibly fatal mistake of inquiring about his impressive collection of balls. (note that this must be some foreshadowing of the impending maturity looming in my future as I am, for unfathomable reasons, avoiding making the obvious - and hilarious - smutty turn of phrase)
This innocent enquiry lead to a cataloguing of every ball in the collection for my edification - "this is a soccer ball, this is a football, this is a basket ball, this is a small soccer ball, this is a flat beach ball" and so on.
After my spherical knowledge had been increased tenfold we moved on to creating things with wooden blocks and running marbles through our creations once or twice until we decided to demolish our creations and start again - many times over.
Thankfully the rest of my visit time involved quite a hearty midday repast which set all things right with the world again - although it is spooky that FridgePower and Judge Mingus knew which particular foods to serve up that just happened to be several of those amongst my thousands of culinary weaknesses.
After lunch had settled somewhat I made my tactical withdrawal from overexcited toddler tantrum territory and headed to the next appointment of my busy afternoon.
I managed to arrive fashionably late for Couch Killer's 1st birthday celebration, magnificently hosted by Vengeful Vic and MatrixMan. (I am a tad dubious about the fashionability of my arrival since I did swan through the door at the same time as Pirate Dave.)
With nobody the wiser to my previous events activities I was able to claim that I was starving and commenced to bring my stuffed level right up "to the gills" as they say.
Fantomas and ElfBoy were also in attendance along with various other party goers of all ages. Much fun and possibly too much ice cream cake was had by all - and it all still managed to last longer than any 70th birthday event I've attended - thereby proving that the young do indeed have more fun.
After all the excitement I headed home to privately suffer through some mysterious stomach-bloating-without-cause and a sugar-rush crash that hit me hard and for some reason left me seeing Neapolitan rainbows
.
The Lessons of Don Juan: Journey to Ixtlan
I finally read this interesting novel by Carlos Castaneda.
It, and a couple of others in the series, were handed to me by Shirl when they were withdrawn(1) from the library just prior to my winter visit to Svetlanaland - which shows that I am only two years behind on following up on reading recommended to me.
It was a reasonably well written exploration of a shamanistic apprenticeship in the desert. It reminded me somewhat of parts of the Illuminatus trilogy and/or the books about the writing of the Illuminatus trilogy and also the classic Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Like those it explores heightened states of awareness that allow the truly open minded to see the other worlds all around us.
One of the amusing things about the Castaneda books is that he presented them as anthropological study and was apparently awarded his degree based upon his first couple of books (this one is the third) despite contradictions between them.
Some have even gone as far as checking his library book stack requests and found that at the time he claims he was undergoing peyote experiences he had in fact requested a book about peyote experiences by someone else and was reading it in the comfort of the university library.
So there you go the library is not only a great place to research, it can also be an accomplice to your religious/philosophy based fraud.
All things to all people indeed.
.
It, and a couple of others in the series, were handed to me by Shirl when they were withdrawn(1) from the library just prior to my winter visit to Svetlanaland - which shows that I am only two years behind on following up on reading recommended to me.
It was a reasonably well written exploration of a shamanistic apprenticeship in the desert. It reminded me somewhat of parts of the Illuminatus trilogy and/or the books about the writing of the Illuminatus trilogy and also the classic Jonathan Livingston Seagull. Like those it explores heightened states of awareness that allow the truly open minded to see the other worlds all around us.
One of the amusing things about the Castaneda books is that he presented them as anthropological study and was apparently awarded his degree based upon his first couple of books (this one is the third) despite contradictions between them.
Some have even gone as far as checking his library book stack requests and found that at the time he claims he was undergoing peyote experiences he had in fact requested a book about peyote experiences by someone else and was reading it in the comfort of the university library.
So there you go the library is not only a great place to research, it can also be an accomplice to your religious/philosophy based fraud.
All things to all people indeed.
(1) amusingly I made a typo of sithdrawn for withdrawn when I initially hammered out this sentence. It conjures up wonderful images of Darth Vader prowling the library shelves selecting unused books to be removed by slashing out with his lightsaber. (if you don't get it then read about the Sith)
.
... The Long Awaited Conference Report
Well enough time has passed since the conference that I will now be able to report upon it with my trademark professional objectivity.
It all began for me early in the week when I had to sacrifice two evenings on the altar of having my presentation complete and ready to go for a Thursday afternoon session.
My sacrifice was made even more poignant and grandiose as one of the sacrificed evenings was a gaming evening - the only one untouched by formal conference activities.
Day One: Training and Busing
The Official Day one began with myself and Comrade Treasurer registering conference goers before the start of the morning training session.
The end of training was marked with a sumptuous lunch feast. Unfortunately I had to leave the buffet after only half an hour of feasting as one of my responsibilities involved organising the bus tour for the afternoon.
Said tour went rather well with the attendees: gaping at the technology at Skeptic L's library; having a wry laugh about the porn perusing patrons sullying the newness of Comrade Treasurer's rejuvenated branch; and flocking paparazzi-like around the simple digital photo frame display at my own branch. It was a trifle amusing to see working technology and new desks overlooked for a pragmatic and functional little device.
Throughout this tour my powers of counting were sorely tested as various individuals joined and left the bus at each stopover but I remain confident that no librarians have been left stranded in Melbourne's suburbs for the past month.
Libraryland Cocktails and Beyond
The first evening involved a wonderfully Spring Racing Carnival themed "cocktail" reception.
Of course Supervisor Grand Chief K was in attendance and up to her usual tricks as The Enabler of all things to excess. She might try to blame the constantly refilled wine glasses but I'm sure she was one of the big reasons the night went on afterwards long after all good conference attendees should have been to bed.
Anyway, I did manage to use the occasion to perform some work-related duties, cornering The Beer Drinking Machine and coming up with the solution to our long running RFID problems.
After the official event we reluctantly embarked upon a little expedition at the behest of Dubrovnik Hater who I suspect was working as an accomplice to SGCK - especially as she plied me with a ridiculous cocktail at our first destination.
Luckily my incredible willpower held out and I was able to abstain for the remainder of the night and headed home to a well earned rest after just one more venue.
Day Two: An Unexpected Case of Wine Poisoning
You can imagine my shock when I awoke at around five am to find my body at war with me.
I struggled through much of the morning with only some water and half a carrot for sustenance, messaging my situation reports through to Comrade Treasurer. It was quite a while before I had things under control enough to head in to conference central without fear of yet another stomach emptying episode (and why are there always carrots?). I made my way be train as feeble as a new born stopping for some simple recovery tools along the way.
Finally shuffling in to the break room I was met by a steady succession of attendees popping out of the morning session for various reasons and all of them passed comment on my health. Clearly Skeptic L had informed the whole world of my disposition!
Of interest was the advice that I received independently from two of the Librarians for a northern Melbourne Library service concerning recovery from cases of wine poisoning such as mine . I think I shall have to see about attending their staff Xmas party if they need to know such information so thoroughly.
Thinking it was all behind me I had to face the most horrific part of the whole ordeal as a magnificent lunch was served and I didn't have the stomach to partake of it at all.
Oh the humanity!
In the afternoon I bravely presented my part of the session I had promised to be a part of - albeit a little less lively than I had planned to be.
I then sat back and furthered my recovery with a few sessions of very little movement.
It all worked a treat and I was able to partake fully in the evening conference dinner and even had my wits about me enough to escape from Dubrovnik Hater's clutches as she gathered people about her for another night on the town (although she claims it was all The Ex-President's idea).
Day Three: In Which Nothing Untoward Happened
The final day of the conference went almost completely to plan with sessions ticking over, lunch being eaten and my reign as Mr Secretary coming to a close after two eventful years.
I was even able to tackle a drink or two at the farewell event at the end of the day.
So there you have it the month-late report on my conference experience.
Hmmm, not really worth the wait was it?
.
It all began for me early in the week when I had to sacrifice two evenings on the altar of having my presentation complete and ready to go for a Thursday afternoon session.
My sacrifice was made even more poignant and grandiose as one of the sacrificed evenings was a gaming evening - the only one untouched by formal conference activities.
Day One: Training and Busing
The Official Day one began with myself and Comrade Treasurer registering conference goers before the start of the morning training session.
The end of training was marked with a sumptuous lunch feast. Unfortunately I had to leave the buffet after only half an hour of feasting as one of my responsibilities involved organising the bus tour for the afternoon.
Said tour went rather well with the attendees: gaping at the technology at Skeptic L's library; having a wry laugh about the porn perusing patrons sullying the newness of Comrade Treasurer's rejuvenated branch; and flocking paparazzi-like around the simple digital photo frame display at my own branch. It was a trifle amusing to see working technology and new desks overlooked for a pragmatic and functional little device.
Throughout this tour my powers of counting were sorely tested as various individuals joined and left the bus at each stopover but I remain confident that no librarians have been left stranded in Melbourne's suburbs for the past month.
Libraryland Cocktails and Beyond
The first evening involved a wonderfully Spring Racing Carnival themed "cocktail" reception.
Of course Supervisor Grand Chief K was in attendance and up to her usual tricks as The Enabler of all things to excess. She might try to blame the constantly refilled wine glasses but I'm sure she was one of the big reasons the night went on afterwards long after all good conference attendees should have been to bed.
Anyway, I did manage to use the occasion to perform some work-related duties, cornering The Beer Drinking Machine and coming up with the solution to our long running RFID problems.
After the official event we reluctantly embarked upon a little expedition at the behest of Dubrovnik Hater who I suspect was working as an accomplice to SGCK - especially as she plied me with a ridiculous cocktail at our first destination.
Luckily my incredible willpower held out and I was able to abstain for the remainder of the night and headed home to a well earned rest after just one more venue.
Day Two: An Unexpected Case of Wine Poisoning
You can imagine my shock when I awoke at around five am to find my body at war with me.
I struggled through much of the morning with only some water and half a carrot for sustenance, messaging my situation reports through to Comrade Treasurer. It was quite a while before I had things under control enough to head in to conference central without fear of yet another stomach emptying episode (and why are there always carrots?). I made my way be train as feeble as a new born stopping for some simple recovery tools along the way.
Finally shuffling in to the break room I was met by a steady succession of attendees popping out of the morning session for various reasons and all of them passed comment on my health. Clearly Skeptic L had informed the whole world of my disposition!
Of interest was the advice that I received independently from two of the Librarians for a northern Melbourne Library service concerning recovery from cases of wine poisoning such as mine . I think I shall have to see about attending their staff Xmas party if they need to know such information so thoroughly.
Thinking it was all behind me I had to face the most horrific part of the whole ordeal as a magnificent lunch was served and I didn't have the stomach to partake of it at all.
Oh the humanity!
In the afternoon I bravely presented my part of the session I had promised to be a part of - albeit a little less lively than I had planned to be.
I then sat back and furthered my recovery with a few sessions of very little movement.
It all worked a treat and I was able to partake fully in the evening conference dinner and even had my wits about me enough to escape from Dubrovnik Hater's clutches as she gathered people about her for another night on the town (although she claims it was all The Ex-President's idea).
Day Three: In Which Nothing Untoward Happened
The final day of the conference went almost completely to plan with sessions ticking over, lunch being eaten and my reign as Mr Secretary coming to a close after two eventful years.
I was even able to tackle a drink or two at the farewell event at the end of the day.
So there you have it the month-late report on my conference experience.
Hmmm, not really worth the wait was it?
.
... The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold
Many other things are happening whilst I chip away behind the scenes composing my much anticipated conference report.
My finishing of this novel this morning for instance. It was such a wonderful read that I am ready to pronounce it my book of the year.
The Curse of Chalion has been the most enjoyable of the scant 19 or so books I have managed to read this nigh-overwhelmingly busy year.
It is a wonderfully written tale with great depth to the characters and world. I found that it's tale resonated with me as it used many of the themes that I enjoy immensely. I highly recommend it unless you have some unnatural aversion to books of the Fantasy genre (and even then you should know that the fantastical is minimal and it is much more a novel of medieval-esque society)
A big thank you to Vengeful Vic for persisting to recommend it until I got the hint and finally borrowed the book.
Speaking of curses I attended a bountiful BBQ feast at The Viking Hat GM's yesterday wherat I was plied with food and good company until the early evening, reminiscing over gaming times past with The Mad Magyar and The Blithe Bogan.
Eventually taking my leave - supplied with a goodly portion of leftovers as is the Viking custom - I then traversed this great city we live in to attend the birthday drinks of Legion4. Along with Legion2, Jamo and Tone we talked the night away while Legion4 sadly recreated his state of inebriation of last Xmas. Some sort of intervention will probably be in order in the near future.
Today has been a sublime day of not much to do other than bask in the joy of finishing a great book and catch up on all the domestic things that have to be done in order to keep one's demesne functioning to it's full capacity.
.
My finishing of this novel this morning for instance. It was such a wonderful read that I am ready to pronounce it my book of the year.
The Curse of Chalion has been the most enjoyable of the scant 19 or so books I have managed to read this nigh-overwhelmingly busy year.
It is a wonderfully written tale with great depth to the characters and world. I found that it's tale resonated with me as it used many of the themes that I enjoy immensely. I highly recommend it unless you have some unnatural aversion to books of the Fantasy genre (and even then you should know that the fantastical is minimal and it is much more a novel of medieval-esque society)
A big thank you to Vengeful Vic for persisting to recommend it until I got the hint and finally borrowed the book.
Speaking of curses I attended a bountiful BBQ feast at The Viking Hat GM's yesterday wherat I was plied with food and good company until the early evening, reminiscing over gaming times past with The Mad Magyar and The Blithe Bogan.
Eventually taking my leave - supplied with a goodly portion of leftovers as is the Viking custom - I then traversed this great city we live in to attend the birthday drinks of Legion4. Along with Legion2, Jamo and Tone we talked the night away while Legion4 sadly recreated his state of inebriation of last Xmas. Some sort of intervention will probably be in order in the near future.
Today has been a sublime day of not much to do other than bask in the joy of finishing a great book and catch up on all the domestic things that have to be done in order to keep one's demesne functioning to it's full capacity.
.
... The Knee News
The Conference Report shall have to wait a while longer as the pressing news at hand is about the state of my horrendous knee injury.
After a refreshing sleep-in this morning I headed to my appointment with the strange specialist.
This time he seemed much less alien and even on the verge of being human.
He jumped straight into the explanations of the MRI results.
It transpires that despite my preparing for a knee-reconstruction-surgery imposed holiday I am going to be out of luck and should be able to regain joint stability with a mere arthroscopy.
Supervisor Grand Chief K will jump with joy to hear that, not only will my knee "issues" be over, it shall require only a weeks absence from work - although knowing her I shall be forced to work from home for the duration of my convalescence.
My disappointment at not being the tragic medical case I was expecting to be caused me to require the remainder of the day as emotional leave so that I can show a brave face at work whenever I next deign to attend.
.
After a refreshing sleep-in this morning I headed to my appointment with the strange specialist.
This time he seemed much less alien and even on the verge of being human.
He jumped straight into the explanations of the MRI results.
It transpires that despite my preparing for a knee-reconstruction-surgery imposed holiday I am going to be out of luck and should be able to regain joint stability with a mere arthroscopy.
Supervisor Grand Chief K will jump with joy to hear that, not only will my knee "issues" be over, it shall require only a weeks absence from work - although knowing her I shall be forced to work from home for the duration of my convalescence.
My disappointment at not being the tragic medical case I was expecting to be caused me to require the remainder of the day as emotional leave so that I can show a brave face at work whenever I next deign to attend.
.
... The Missing Conference Report
Those of you astute enough to realise I was at a conference for much of last week may be pondering upon the whereabouts of my usual delightfully written report of the proceedings.
Well, with the requirements of the necessary post-conference recovery and my return to the usual mountains of work, I have found myself unable to devote the time to the post that you, my loyal readers, deserve.
Stay alert though as I am sure that I shall find the requisite time in my schedule over the upcoming weekend.
.
Well, with the requirements of the necessary post-conference recovery and my return to the usual mountains of work, I have found myself unable to devote the time to the post that you, my loyal readers, deserve.
Stay alert though as I am sure that I shall find the requisite time in my schedule over the upcoming weekend.
.
... The Long, Long, Long, Long, Long Week
So one of our branches was undergoing a re-carpeting and installation of a new circulation desk this week.
You would think that there would be no need for an IT Man to be on site at the beginning of such an enterprise - let alone for a 6am start.
But you would be wrong.
You would also be wrong if you thought that the first day would be the only day where such an esteemed personage would be required extra early as the second day also required such supervision.
And if you also thought that early starts would entail early finishes, thereby maintaining some sort of balance then you would be wrong once more.
You would be at your wrongest if you thought the three day quote which became four and then stretched into five once the job began would not impact on the time and opportunity to restore one branch-ful of IT equipment to it's correct places and in perfect working order.
There were, however, some good things about this week that lasted forever.
In other news I have had my flowing locks pared back as part of the tarting up one must do before partaking in a Libraryland conference such as the one I shall be attending next week.
It also allows me to look my best when I am off away down South tomorrow with Redneck Ben on a drive of over an hour to attend the christening of My Guitarist's spawn.
You would be wrong if you thought this event would happen at an acceptable hour rather than 8.30am on a Sunday.
.
You would think that there would be no need for an IT Man to be on site at the beginning of such an enterprise - let alone for a 6am start.
But you would be wrong.
You would also be wrong if you thought that the first day would be the only day where such an esteemed personage would be required extra early as the second day also required such supervision.
And if you also thought that early starts would entail early finishes, thereby maintaining some sort of balance then you would be wrong once more.
You would be at your wrongest if you thought the three day quote which became four and then stretched into five once the job began would not impact on the time and opportunity to restore one branch-ful of IT equipment to it's correct places and in perfect working order.
There were, however, some good things about this week that lasted forever.
- I had fellow sufferers in the form of Sonja Roster Queen and Big J.
- I was able to muscle in on many a morning tea and cakes and the final pizza lunch. All under the pretence that I'd been working all that time that I'd been present at the library.
- I received an immense amount of help from Ms Magpie in the last afternoon which helped shave hours off the time I had to stay behind with naught but cleaners for company. Without her contribution I'm sure I would have seen midnight and beyond.
- I was far too tired at Wednesday night roleplaying to notice the maliciousness with which The Viking Hat GM disposed of my character (ironically a Viking) in his latest game. Instead I attributed it to fatigue marring my judgement.
- I had the perfect excuse for a long, long, long, long, long sleep-in this morning
In other news I have had my flowing locks pared back as part of the tarting up one must do before partaking in a Libraryland conference such as the one I shall be attending next week.
It also allows me to look my best when I am off away down South tomorrow with Redneck Ben on a drive of over an hour to attend the christening of My Guitarist's spawn.
You would be wrong if you thought this event would happen at an acceptable hour rather than 8.30am on a Sunday.
.
... The Week with Extra Mr Prada
Nobody can say I don't listen to my legions of fans.
Due to overwhelming request today's post will have the first MR PRADA content for a while. Quite a while I see after doing the research and noting his last appearance was back in June. He must have been doing something wrong, or right, to not warrant any mentions in The Tales in all that time.
And so to business.
The Early Week
I was lucky enough to spend the early part of the week back at my desk and luxuriating in the company of MR PRADA and others at my home branch. It was an unusual experience after the last few months however, sure enough, I was soon dragged back to the other branches.
The Fresh Starts
The rest of the big things of note this week seem to be gaming related - there was some big statistics things but that is more boring than hearing MR PRADA prattle on about mapleland's superiority.
We had another great session on Tuesday with the evening seeming like a fresh new game - said freshness having nothing to do with the absence of Gavman or Pirate Dave and all to do with lower numbers making for a more free flowing game, plus without Pirate Dave punning me or Gavman stunning me with his gaming non sequiturs every 30 seconds I was much better able to run the game.
On Wednesday I suffered once more at the hands of The Viking Hat GM as he forced me to partake in another of his games and play a foppish noble yet again, although he will surely claim "the dice did it!".
Thursday gaming did an abrupt about face as we (well Fantomas and I) decided to switch from space to fantasy in order to help our newest gamer adjust to what it's all about and ensure that the gaming addiction would take properly.
I look forward to rolling out a long brewing fantasy of mine involving all present even as I mourn the loss of the space adventures.
The Maple Maverick Returns
This week did see the return of The Maple Maverick however my only real interaction with him was to bamboozle him with a new backup tape system - much like the way MR PRADA bamboozles us lesser fashionistas with his dazzling array of finery.
Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly
Along the way this week I finished reading the latest, for me, book from Mr Reilly.
I was immediately struck by how much the story read like a parody of himself - similiar to the way in which MR PRADA's recent freakouts have become just a parody of the earlier installments. It was vaguely reminiscent of several of Legion4's boyhood stories of spydom almost verbatim in some cases - "some bad guys came running so I pulled out a grenade and threw it at them" - would not have looked out of place in this story.
It was also full of obvious repetition of plot elements and ridiculous cliffhanger endings to paragraphs that were contradicted at the beginnings of the paragraphs immediately following.
Oh well Mr Reilly not your finest hour and somewhat tarnishing my memories of those of your older books I did enjoy.
Skyping the Svets again
I spent a raging Friday night on the internet phone to Svetlana much to her amusement that I had no partying to go to. One can't believe that she is blind to the obvious sacrifice I made of my rich social life to spend time talking to her. It's like MR PRADA and I were saying the other day in the library over a metaphorical beverage, "chix man, who can understand them?".
Speaking of my rich social life I must be off to attend Legion3's Half 70 party. I shall return bearing tales aplenty methinks.
.
Due to overwhelming request today's post will have the first MR PRADA content for a while. Quite a while I see after doing the research and noting his last appearance was back in June. He must have been doing something wrong, or right, to not warrant any mentions in The Tales in all that time.
And so to business.
The Early Week
I was lucky enough to spend the early part of the week back at my desk and luxuriating in the company of MR PRADA and others at my home branch. It was an unusual experience after the last few months however, sure enough, I was soon dragged back to the other branches.
The Fresh Starts
The rest of the big things of note this week seem to be gaming related - there was some big statistics things but that is more boring than hearing MR PRADA prattle on about mapleland's superiority.
We had another great session on Tuesday with the evening seeming like a fresh new game - said freshness having nothing to do with the absence of Gavman or Pirate Dave and all to do with lower numbers making for a more free flowing game, plus without Pirate Dave punning me or Gavman stunning me with his gaming non sequiturs every 30 seconds I was much better able to run the game.
On Wednesday I suffered once more at the hands of The Viking Hat GM as he forced me to partake in another of his games and play a foppish noble yet again, although he will surely claim "the dice did it!".
Thursday gaming did an abrupt about face as we (well Fantomas and I) decided to switch from space to fantasy in order to help our newest gamer adjust to what it's all about and ensure that the gaming addiction would take properly.
I look forward to rolling out a long brewing fantasy of mine involving all present even as I mourn the loss of the space adventures.
The Maple Maverick Returns
This week did see the return of The Maple Maverick however my only real interaction with him was to bamboozle him with a new backup tape system - much like the way MR PRADA bamboozles us lesser fashionistas with his dazzling array of finery.
Seven Ancient Wonders by Matthew Reilly
Along the way this week I finished reading the latest, for me, book from Mr Reilly.
I was immediately struck by how much the story read like a parody of himself - similiar to the way in which MR PRADA's recent freakouts have become just a parody of the earlier installments. It was vaguely reminiscent of several of Legion4's boyhood stories of spydom almost verbatim in some cases - "some bad guys came running so I pulled out a grenade and threw it at them" - would not have looked out of place in this story.
It was also full of obvious repetition of plot elements and ridiculous cliffhanger endings to paragraphs that were contradicted at the beginnings of the paragraphs immediately following.
e.g. they fired at him with a rocket launcher that couldn't miss in the enclosed space...
Which missed by an inch as he ducked underneath the rocket.
Oh well Mr Reilly not your finest hour and somewhat tarnishing my memories of those of your older books I did enjoy.
Skyping the Svets again
I spent a raging Friday night on the internet phone to Svetlana much to her amusement that I had no partying to go to. One can't believe that she is blind to the obvious sacrifice I made of my rich social life to spend time talking to her. It's like MR PRADA and I were saying the other day in the library over a metaphorical beverage, "chix man, who can understand them?".
Speaking of my rich social life I must be off to attend Legion3's Half 70 party. I shall return bearing tales aplenty methinks.
.
... The Regular Round-Up
Well my bountiful social activities have once again left me unable to write for the past week.
My roller-coaster week began last Sunday with my hosting of the regular Sunday gaming day.
Despite many regulars being in attendance it ended uncharacteristically prior to midnight leaving me at somewhat of a loss about what to do until my usual Sunday Gaming bedtime of 2am.
The Brownlow
Monday night was spent watching my first Brownlow medal telecast for many a year. The nigh unbearable mixture of cheesiness and tedium was made more bearable by my sharing the evening with The Great Sandro although I doubt I'll make a regular event of it as I can now recall why it is that I've not often brought myself to watch it in the past.
The Return of Supervisor S
Tuesday brought the return of Supervisor S after a two year parental absence. The omens are not good as her return was heralded by a great flooding of the library - although this happening a scant fortnight before new carpet was laid and also not affecting any IT equipment at all may actually make it a good omen.
The Umpteenth Geektogether
With the dramatic end of the game at The Viking Hat GM's last week, this Wednesday saw a gathering at the now usual Southgate watering hole. Numbers were low so it was mostly an enjoyable post-mortom of the events of the previous week in which TVHGM pointed out all our failings as players and we, in turn, his as GM. Fun all round I think.
The Free Food Day
Thursday was a day of morning tea, catered lunch, and afternoon cakes, all punctuated with moments of meeting. If only such events were held on a weekly basis.
The Sad Farewell
All of Friday's hectic workday events were overshadowed by the fact that it was the final day of Devil's Advocate's stint at HQ. There were goodbye hugs and tearful mutterings aplenty as well as much bubbly (thanks to the expedition organising skills of Big J).
I was so overwhelmed by the emotion of the event that I had to stay on into the evening until enough emotion was out of my system that I could legally drive home.
The Grand Final
Saturday dawned bright and, well, stormy. Amidst a day of hail and torrential rain I made good on my much awaited promise to The Great Sandro that we would be able to watch a Grand Final together.
So together we made the great journey out to BestFriendSincePrep's and, along with the likes of StumpyRudolph, The Electric Tiger, and MrRogers, made a great day of watching a game in which neither of our teams was participating.
We made a complete day of it and stayed into the evening as I had to once again wait for the emotion to leave my system before chauffeuring him safely home.
The Aimless Day
And so we come to today.
After a luxuriant albeit feline interrupted sleep-in I have found my first real free day to have far too easily evaporated away leaving me with little to show in terms of results other than relaxation.
Hopefully that shall see me through the coming week in good stead.
.
My roller-coaster week began last Sunday with my hosting of the regular Sunday gaming day.
Despite many regulars being in attendance it ended uncharacteristically prior to midnight leaving me at somewhat of a loss about what to do until my usual Sunday Gaming bedtime of 2am.
The Brownlow
Monday night was spent watching my first Brownlow medal telecast for many a year. The nigh unbearable mixture of cheesiness and tedium was made more bearable by my sharing the evening with The Great Sandro although I doubt I'll make a regular event of it as I can now recall why it is that I've not often brought myself to watch it in the past.
The Return of Supervisor S
Tuesday brought the return of Supervisor S after a two year parental absence. The omens are not good as her return was heralded by a great flooding of the library - although this happening a scant fortnight before new carpet was laid and also not affecting any IT equipment at all may actually make it a good omen.
The Umpteenth Geektogether
With the dramatic end of the game at The Viking Hat GM's last week, this Wednesday saw a gathering at the now usual Southgate watering hole. Numbers were low so it was mostly an enjoyable post-mortom of the events of the previous week in which TVHGM pointed out all our failings as players and we, in turn, his as GM. Fun all round I think.
The Free Food Day
Thursday was a day of morning tea, catered lunch, and afternoon cakes, all punctuated with moments of meeting. If only such events were held on a weekly basis.
The Sad Farewell
All of Friday's hectic workday events were overshadowed by the fact that it was the final day of Devil's Advocate's stint at HQ. There were goodbye hugs and tearful mutterings aplenty as well as much bubbly (thanks to the expedition organising skills of Big J).
I was so overwhelmed by the emotion of the event that I had to stay on into the evening until enough emotion was out of my system that I could legally drive home.
The Grand Final
Saturday dawned bright and, well, stormy. Amidst a day of hail and torrential rain I made good on my much awaited promise to The Great Sandro that we would be able to watch a Grand Final together.
So together we made the great journey out to BestFriendSincePrep's and, along with the likes of StumpyRudolph, The Electric Tiger, and MrRogers, made a great day of watching a game in which neither of our teams was participating.
We made a complete day of it and stayed into the evening as I had to once again wait for the emotion to leave my system before chauffeuring him safely home.
The Aimless Day
And so we come to today.
After a luxuriant albeit feline interrupted sleep-in I have found my first real free day to have far too easily evaporated away leaving me with little to show in terms of results other than relaxation.
Hopefully that shall see me through the coming week in good stead.
.
... The Dinner with The Lords
After a hectic Friday which included:
Upon arrival, after negotiating acceptance from the hounds, I was delighted to meet Mr Lord and also discover that the evening was to include free beer as well.
So good was the meal and company that I stayed all evening enjoying conversation, a truly impressive media centre, opportunities to be a hound pillow, and free beer.
Of course the universe cannot allow everything to go smoothly so my post-midnight return home was cursed with red traffic lights at every intersection and trains at every crossing.
Still, all in all, a fine way to finish of the week.
.
- enduring a two hour meeting about carpet
- enduring a stuff lunch celebrating various things to do with Devil's Advocate, Lord of the Small Fries, and Oz at which nobody but yours truly wished to stay beyond the appointed duration
- having to leave the after lunch cake to rush off and fix problems at another branch
- spending hours tracking down a faulty piece of equipment and getting everything back working
- staying late to run some regular upgrades
Upon arrival, after negotiating acceptance from the hounds, I was delighted to meet Mr Lord and also discover that the evening was to include free beer as well.
So good was the meal and company that I stayed all evening enjoying conversation, a truly impressive media centre, opportunities to be a hound pillow, and free beer.
Of course the universe cannot allow everything to go smoothly so my post-midnight return home was cursed with red traffic lights at every intersection and trains at every crossing.
Still, all in all, a fine way to finish of the week.
.
... The LittleBigGirl Catchup
Most of my Sunday was spent languishing in an inner city pub catching up with LittleBigGirl.
She and BigBen were over from the mother country for a short visit and LittleBigGirl had the brilliant idea of sitting all day in a pub and having the hordes come to them - although I must say that BigBen took to the pub part of the idea with relish.
I myself arrived mid afternoon and forced myself to suffer through several beers, a largish pub lunch, and some quite interesting gaming conversation with BigBen himself - such are the sacrifices I make for the sake of friendship.
Eventually I had to return to my demesne and face the further trials and tribulations of a gaming night at my place with ample attendees and the expected level of fun.
.
She and BigBen were over from the mother country for a short visit and LittleBigGirl had the brilliant idea of sitting all day in a pub and having the hordes come to them - although I must say that BigBen took to the pub part of the idea with relish.
I myself arrived mid afternoon and forced myself to suffer through several beers, a largish pub lunch, and some quite interesting gaming conversation with BigBen himself - such are the sacrifices I make for the sake of friendship.
Eventually I had to return to my demesne and face the further trials and tribulations of a gaming night at my place with ample attendees and the expected level of fun.
.
... The Small Victories
This week so far has been one of small victories.
It began when I finally wrestled correct function out of our receipt slip printers as they'd been limping along with minor annoyances since our recent upgrade.
In the process I have become a master of xmlst programming - or more correctly a master of "I'll just change this and see what happens... woohoo nothing broke let's try another one... two hours later we have success". Still as long as my staff don't see the toil they'll continue to think of me as an IT Wizard extraordinaire.
My next small victory was in getting our training room DVD player to work through the overhead projector before Sister Serials eviscerated me for not having it working in time for her special book club meeting where they watch a movie... yeah I don't get it either.
In any case the problem seems to be that some hyper-efficient IT Man in LibraryLand had plugged one to many cables back in to the projector after changing the globe earlier in the year and one was blocking the DVD signal. Some quick unplug this, unplug that and viola it's all working again.
Another small victory was being able to leave work early, well, on time - which is early for the last few months.
And the most recent small victory was getting gmail chat to work despite lashings of sarcasm hurled in my direction by both Svetlana and The Viking Hat GM as I struggled to undo my all-to-good hiding of the chat functionality.
Anyway I must be off to accumulate further small victories.
.
It began when I finally wrestled correct function out of our receipt slip printers as they'd been limping along with minor annoyances since our recent upgrade.
In the process I have become a master of xmlst programming - or more correctly a master of "I'll just change this and see what happens... woohoo nothing broke let's try another one... two hours later we have success". Still as long as my staff don't see the toil they'll continue to think of me as an IT Wizard extraordinaire.
My next small victory was in getting our training room DVD player to work through the overhead projector before Sister Serials eviscerated me for not having it working in time for her special book club meeting where they watch a movie... yeah I don't get it either.
In any case the problem seems to be that some hyper-efficient IT Man in LibraryLand had plugged one to many cables back in to the projector after changing the globe earlier in the year and one was blocking the DVD signal. Some quick unplug this, unplug that and viola it's all working again.
Another small victory was being able to leave work early, well, on time - which is early for the last few months.
And the most recent small victory was getting gmail chat to work despite lashings of sarcasm hurled in my direction by both Svetlana and The Viking Hat GM as I struggled to undo my all-to-good hiding of the chat functionality.
Anyway I must be off to accumulate further small victories.
.
... The Aimee Mann Show
Last night I went to my first rock concert in years.
I like to use the term rock concert as it carries a lot of connotations of testosterone-charged masculinity which is much better for upholding my rugged and manly reputation than informing people that I went to see a female rock/folk singer performing a nigh-unplugged show for which the only standing up I did was to leave at the end.
So Legion2 and I made our way to the venue and our seats to see a fine performance to which I could sing along to - albeit quietly since the sound levels were quite a ways short of eardrum shattering. In fact the gentleman seated adjacent to me may have moved because of his inability to cope with my vocal accompaniment - which I'm sure was pitch perfect - being audible to those in the stalls around me.
All in all it was a great to finally have a chance to see Aimee live since she has been a constant in my life for the past fifteen odd years through all the highs and lows with her ability to encapsulate all those frailties that plague the domain of human relations.
(Oh, and as an aside, the fact that it was a nigh-unplugged performance with no sign of a full drum kit made for the crushing of my dream of having to fill in on stage after the drummer suffered some sort of Spinal Tap-esque accident. Sigh, I never get what I want.)
.
I like to use the term rock concert as it carries a lot of connotations of testosterone-charged masculinity which is much better for upholding my rugged and manly reputation than informing people that I went to see a female rock/folk singer performing a nigh-unplugged show for which the only standing up I did was to leave at the end.
So Legion2 and I made our way to the venue and our seats to see a fine performance to which I could sing along to - albeit quietly since the sound levels were quite a ways short of eardrum shattering. In fact the gentleman seated adjacent to me may have moved because of his inability to cope with my vocal accompaniment - which I'm sure was pitch perfect - being audible to those in the stalls around me.
All in all it was a great to finally have a chance to see Aimee live since she has been a constant in my life for the past fifteen odd years through all the highs and lows with her ability to encapsulate all those frailties that plague the domain of human relations.
(Oh, and as an aside, the fact that it was a nigh-unplugged performance with no sign of a full drum kit made for the crushing of my dream of having to fill in on stage after the drummer suffered some sort of Spinal Tap-esque accident. Sigh, I never get what I want.)
.
... The New Laptop and the Spelling Mistale
I'm currently in raptures as I am an IT Man with a new toy in the form of my new work laptop.
The only drawback with it is the fact that it is an itty-bitty "book" type laptop and after last weeks extensive and accurate testing at the hands of The Viking Hat GM I am now aware that my eyesight is 20/200. I am also aware that 20/200 means that at 20 metres I see as well as a perfect vision person sees at 200 metres. But really not allowing the test to be performed with glasses on and calculating a corrected character value is just another example of TVHGM running roughshod over the PLAYERS IN HIS TYPICAL DICTATORIAL STYLE!!!
But I digress.
Suffice to say that the little screen probably means a lot more IT hunching over the computer just to make sure I don't make any embarrassing typing nistales.
Speaking of mistakes, Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick took great pleasure at an insignificantly minor spelling error in my previous post despite the ease with which said typo could have been interpreted as yet another clever play on words within this magnificent oeuvre that is The Tales.
I mean really, next thing you'll know I'll find myself being severely berated by LittleBigGirl for perceived misuse of apostrophe's!
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The only drawback with it is the fact that it is an itty-bitty "book" type laptop and after last weeks extensive and accurate testing at the hands of The Viking Hat GM I am now aware that my eyesight is 20/200. I am also aware that 20/200 means that at 20 metres I see as well as a perfect vision person sees at 200 metres. But really not allowing the test to be performed with glasses on and calculating a corrected character value is just another example of TVHGM running roughshod over the PLAYERS IN HIS TYPICAL DICTATORIAL STYLE!!!
But I digress.
Suffice to say that the little screen probably means a lot more IT hunching over the computer just to make sure I don't make any embarrassing typing nistales.
Speaking of mistakes, Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick took great pleasure at an insignificantly minor spelling error in my previous post despite the ease with which said typo could have been interpreted as yet another clever play on words within this magnificent oeuvre that is The Tales.
I mean really, next thing you'll know I'll find myself being severely berated by LittleBigGirl for perceived misuse of apostrophe's!
.
... The Tough Tests and Twighlight
There's nothing as confusing and puzzling as awakening in the morning with aching muscles, wondering why and - after a few moments careful pondering - realising "oh yes it's because I had gaming last night".
You see The Viking Hat GM had cunningly decided that we would use our inappropriately named rest-week, not for board games or their ilk, but for testing ourselves and rating the results in game terms.
So a series of push-pull-and-balance-ups ensued. Combined with jumping (from which my bad knee saved me) breath-holding and various other sundry tests. I for one was disappointed that there was no eating test when we were calculating our Endurance statistic (although I do suspect that Age of Fable may have outscored me on that one).
The surveys of worldly experience to determine our mental stats were a little easier although I believe I may have strained one of my lobes.
All in all an interesting exercise and I still have to complete an IQ test to achieve more than the average rating.
Interestingly the tests were created by TVHGM and The Mad Magyar and contained many areas specifically tailored to their particular strengths - I mean really, scoring bonus points for sadistic treatment of players in a game. Still, never being one to complain, I just sucked it up and accepted the bias inherent in the testing procedure.
The MRI
My second test, which technically (and actually) occurred before the gaming one, was an MRI of my dodgy knee. It had been conveniently scheduled for 8pm on a gaming night - further proof that they are out to get me.
As it was merely my knee that was being scanned I was only slid up to my waist into the giant magnet and so had no concerns at all with claustrophobic issues raising their ugly heads.
The process itself was akin to being waist deep in a giant clanking washing machine for twenty minutes with metallic hammering occurring all about my knee.
No results yet but the specialist should be giving me a buzz in the next week to arrange the inordinately expensive consultation in which I am informed of the true state of my knee injury.
Twilight
This was the third of my tests and I managed to just pass, making it to the end with some few tiny threads of my interest remaining.
Having seen the movie I knew everything that was going to happen (not that there's a lot to remember in any case) so the only extras in the book where the angsty "I haven't seen him for five minutes and I'm going to die of depression" internal monologues of a weak-willed teenage girl.
Still the prose flows well and it is your typical totally romantic novel of a 90 year old seducing a 17 year old with his overpowering presence and worldly experience.
Although why he'd choose the one person whose thoughts he couldn't read over being able to know what his girlfriend was thinking has this correspondent as confused as a geek waking up with sore muscles after gaming.
.
You see The Viking Hat GM had cunningly decided that we would use our inappropriately named rest-week, not for board games or their ilk, but for testing ourselves and rating the results in game terms.
So a series of push-pull-and-balance-ups ensued. Combined with jumping (from which my bad knee saved me) breath-holding and various other sundry tests. I for one was disappointed that there was no eating test when we were calculating our Endurance statistic (although I do suspect that Age of Fable may have outscored me on that one).
The surveys of worldly experience to determine our mental stats were a little easier although I believe I may have strained one of my lobes.
All in all an interesting exercise and I still have to complete an IQ test to achieve more than the average rating.
Interestingly the tests were created by TVHGM and The Mad Magyar and contained many areas specifically tailored to their particular strengths - I mean really, scoring bonus points for sadistic treatment of players in a game. Still, never being one to complain, I just sucked it up and accepted the bias inherent in the testing procedure.
The MRI
My second test, which technically (and actually) occurred before the gaming one, was an MRI of my dodgy knee. It had been conveniently scheduled for 8pm on a gaming night - further proof that they are out to get me.
As it was merely my knee that was being scanned I was only slid up to my waist into the giant magnet and so had no concerns at all with claustrophobic issues raising their ugly heads.
The process itself was akin to being waist deep in a giant clanking washing machine for twenty minutes with metallic hammering occurring all about my knee.
No results yet but the specialist should be giving me a buzz in the next week to arrange the inordinately expensive consultation in which I am informed of the true state of my knee injury.
Twilight
This was the third of my tests and I managed to just pass, making it to the end with some few tiny threads of my interest remaining.
Having seen the movie I knew everything that was going to happen (not that there's a lot to remember in any case) so the only extras in the book where the angsty "I haven't seen him for five minutes and I'm going to die of depression" internal monologues of a weak-willed teenage girl.
Still the prose flows well and it is your typical totally romantic novel of a 90 year old seducing a 17 year old with his overpowering presence and worldly experience.
Although why he'd choose the one person whose thoughts he couldn't read over being able to know what his girlfriend was thinking has this correspondent as confused as a geek waking up with sore muscles after gaming.
.
... The Traditional Disappointment
Those of you who have been following The Tales these past two years - or indeed any recountings of my bountifully exciting life - should be aware of the annual pilgrimage to all things blokey from the previous occasions I have informed you of my attendance at the event.
This years event was staged under conditions unlike any seen in the previous 20 odd years. The biggest break with tradition was the move of our location to one of the 20 hectares on the property of StumpyRudolph. This change was necessitated by our traditional camping ground having been in the path of the Black Saturday fires earlier this year.
Those in attendance this year - yours truly, Legion2, StumpyRudolph, Gavman, and BestFriendSincePrep - gathered at the crack of midday and set out on a visit to our old campsite to pay our respects. Upon arrival it was a stark reminder of the horrors that the fires had wrought to the area. Despite the green growth sprouting from many of the surviving eucalypts it was remeniscent of photographs I had seen of the battlefields of the Somme - trees jutting skyward, dirt and mud with no undergrowth and a sense of barreness and destruction.
After a short side trip to stock up on the much needed supplies such as bread, chips, chocolate, and drinks. We finally arrived with all our belongings at the chosen camping spot at the base of the hill.
The evening proceeded in a more-or-pess expected fashion with much merriment, lots of firewood gathering expeditions, 4 to a tent crowded sleeping conditions, and various other hijinks of which we are forbidden to tell lest we lose our membership in the cabal that is our brotherhood of attendees. Suffice to say that amongst all those goings-on I managed to make one of those rare visits to the magical 10,000 steps in a day and also received several small cinder-burns in unusual places.
The other major break with tradition was several brief visits by StumpyRudolph's spawn - a fact that we let him off the hook about for now but shall call him to account about later on when it suits the furtherance of our collective agendas.
As is also typical I have returned home this afternoon to while away my time in sleep deprived meanderings about the house merely counting the hours until I could once more fall into a proper bed for a good night's rest.
.
This years event was staged under conditions unlike any seen in the previous 20 odd years. The biggest break with tradition was the move of our location to one of the 20 hectares on the property of StumpyRudolph. This change was necessitated by our traditional camping ground having been in the path of the Black Saturday fires earlier this year.
Those in attendance this year - yours truly, Legion2, StumpyRudolph, Gavman, and BestFriendSincePrep - gathered at the crack of midday and set out on a visit to our old campsite to pay our respects. Upon arrival it was a stark reminder of the horrors that the fires had wrought to the area. Despite the green growth sprouting from many of the surviving eucalypts it was remeniscent of photographs I had seen of the battlefields of the Somme - trees jutting skyward, dirt and mud with no undergrowth and a sense of barreness and destruction.
After a short side trip to stock up on the much needed supplies such as bread, chips, chocolate, and drinks. We finally arrived with all our belongings at the chosen camping spot at the base of the hill.
The evening proceeded in a more-or-pess expected fashion with much merriment, lots of firewood gathering expeditions, 4 to a tent crowded sleeping conditions, and various other hijinks of which we are forbidden to tell lest we lose our membership in the cabal that is our brotherhood of attendees. Suffice to say that amongst all those goings-on I managed to make one of those rare visits to the magical 10,000 steps in a day and also received several small cinder-burns in unusual places.
The other major break with tradition was several brief visits by StumpyRudolph's spawn - a fact that we let him off the hook about for now but shall call him to account about later on when it suits the furtherance of our collective agendas.
As is also typical I have returned home this afternoon to while away my time in sleep deprived meanderings about the house merely counting the hours until I could once more fall into a proper bed for a good night's rest.
.
... The Demise of The Evil Plant
The small dearth of things of which to scribe about this week, coupled with short attention span issues, leads me to write this missive about a small happening today.
After many years of fierce rivalry I have finally outlasted The Evil Plant.
The killer blow to it's flora-ic ways was actually the week of 40 degree days back in summer. That wonderful week left it flattened out and weakened enough for me to get the better of it in our contest of wills as it's immense pride did not allow it to accept any amount of help from me to assist in it's revival.
I suspect that I may also have had some additional help in the form of feline nibbling however the triumph was all mine as I deposited the remains - tub, dirt, and all - into the communal refuse holders for my block of flats. So there's another caution for you - don't mess with Phill for my dominance shall out in the end.
Even now, several hours later, I am cackling away in my success. On a completely unrelated note I have managed to have the weekend at home on my own. Two complete days with naught for company but myself and no mental side effects at all.
.
After many years of fierce rivalry I have finally outlasted The Evil Plant.
The killer blow to it's flora-ic ways was actually the week of 40 degree days back in summer. That wonderful week left it flattened out and weakened enough for me to get the better of it in our contest of wills as it's immense pride did not allow it to accept any amount of help from me to assist in it's revival.
I suspect that I may also have had some additional help in the form of feline nibbling however the triumph was all mine as I deposited the remains - tub, dirt, and all - into the communal refuse holders for my block of flats. So there's another caution for you - don't mess with Phill for my dominance shall out in the end.
Even now, several hours later, I am cackling away in my success. On a completely unrelated note I have managed to have the weekend at home on my own. Two complete days with naught for company but myself and no mental side effects at all.
.
... The Nuptuals of Sir Clive
The big event this week was my attendance at the wedding of Sir Clive Pitbull. There was also some upgrade stuffgoing on as well but I wasn't paying much attention to that as my focus was on the free feed of the Saturday evening event.
I was once again designated Legion driver and packed Legion's 2, 3, Madmog and BrotherStealer into my transportation device for the leisurely drive down to sunny Williamstown.
Upon arrival my suspicions were confirmed - we were at the same venue that had hosted Doom and The Doctor's engagement soiree - so much for expanding my resume of Williamstown venue attendance.
So, while I struggled through my 'nam-like flashbacks of events in the venue, the ceremony and mixed finger-food reception continued forthwith. I could tell I was off my game as I repeatedly failed to be at the serving table as new dishes were brought forth for consumption. I even suffered several attacks of politeness and allowed others to serve themselves before I had taken as much as I could.
Still my condition was nothing as compared to Sir Clive's. His reputation as a fanatical purveyor of all musical things punk, noise and experimental was dealt severe blow after blow as
first: a karaoke machine was wheeled out without nary a whine from him, and
second: pop song after pop song played on throughout the evening.
The ultimate proof of his new status of "you've changed man" was when he took a place as a link in the conga line for Peter Allen's When My Baby Smiles at Me.
Departing at a reasonable hour I was only subject to a mild level of in-car shenanigans from Legion's 2 and 3 who had consumed a reasonable but unspecified number of beverages which still proved to be below the "too many" level.
All were soon home and warm and cosy after a good night out celebrating.
.
I was once again designated Legion driver and packed Legion's 2, 3, Madmog and BrotherStealer into my transportation device for the leisurely drive down to sunny Williamstown.
Upon arrival my suspicions were confirmed - we were at the same venue that had hosted Doom and The Doctor's engagement soiree - so much for expanding my resume of Williamstown venue attendance.
So, while I struggled through my 'nam-like flashbacks of events in the venue, the ceremony and mixed finger-food reception continued forthwith. I could tell I was off my game as I repeatedly failed to be at the serving table as new dishes were brought forth for consumption. I even suffered several attacks of politeness and allowed others to serve themselves before I had taken as much as I could.
Still my condition was nothing as compared to Sir Clive's. His reputation as a fanatical purveyor of all musical things punk, noise and experimental was dealt severe blow after blow as
first: a karaoke machine was wheeled out without nary a whine from him, and
second: pop song after pop song played on throughout the evening.
The ultimate proof of his new status of "you've changed man" was when he took a place as a link in the conga line for Peter Allen's When My Baby Smiles at Me.
Departing at a reasonable hour I was only subject to a mild level of in-car shenanigans from Legion's 2 and 3 who had consumed a reasonable but unspecified number of beverages which still proved to be below the "too many" level.
All were soon home and warm and cosy after a good night out celebrating.
.
... The Upgrade Week
Since last we spoke the bulk of my time has been taken up with a library system upgrade which has, unfortunately, involved scads of work from yours truly despite my every effort to have it fix itself.
Of course this hasn't stopped a multitude of other events occurring in my tumultuous life. Amongst them are:
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Of course this hasn't stopped a multitude of other events occurring in my tumultuous life. Amongst them are:
- Corporate get-togethers replete with morning tea and lunch
- a footy trip with The Great Sandro including a magnificent 40 minute wait at our usual meeting point as he thought I may just still be home at our scheduled meeting time. This caused me to skip dinner in order to get into the game ASAP. Of course there was then a 10 minute delay on entry - missing us the beginning of the match. Further insult was added at half time when only every second nourishment dispensing station was open causing 30 metre queues and late our return to our seats.
- a gaming Sunday which helped me to relax somewhat in preparation for the onslaught of the upgrade week ahead (The Tiger hissing like a cobra at the presence of MatrixMan's offspring was a little counter to stress relief though)
- a visit to a knee specialist with an oddly detached and alien manner - and not the cool hunt you down one by one type of alien. Anyway it looks like the ACL may have been the culprit all along and reconstruction may be the only option for improvement. An MRI is in the works to get a better idea of what's happening in front of my knee-pit.
- a tortuous desk shift serving the public
- a tortuous return to gaming with The Viking Hat GM and Co.
- a mad dash home to find that I had inadvertently avenged myself upon The Great Sandro by leaving him waiting on my stoop, only to have him pull the master-stroke and demand pre-game doughnuts. Said doughnuts caused us to be 2 people from the front of the queue when the match sold-out and the window closed. Needless to say one disgruntled doughnut-eating train trip later we were ensconced in my warm comfortable lounge room watching the pies performance on the tele-o-vision instead of being crushed into the icy arena as we'd intended.
- some sedate buck's night drinks for the benefit of Sir Clive Pitbull
- an irrefusable invite to an afternoon birthday drink for Amoeba at which the suns warmth had me down to a t-shirt on a winters afternoon wasting away time I could have spent on upgrade preparation
- a long, lonely afternoon and evening of preparing the libraries for this weeks days of reduced catalogue access - with only my overtime to keep me warm
- a day of near-perfect "not much to do" without the main computer "stuff" accessible - although I was forced to get some other work done
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... The Ten Thousand Dollar Woman
No this post is not about me having forsaken romance and decided to purchase myself an Internet mail-order bride - surely you know I would go for the $12,000 deluxe model with the extra safety features?
The title for this post actually refers to the second of two unusual events that occurred last Tuesday whilst I was making a short visit to the local banking establishment.
The first happened as I joined the queue and the two people in front of me both took mobile phone calls in quick succession. My first thought was "it only needs my phone to go off to complete the picture of the entire queue being on their mobiles". Lo and behold, my phone rang that very second with an urgent request from Ms Magpie - the embarrassment level at joining my queue-mates was almost the equal of being forced to exclaim into one's phone "I'm on the train" whilst travelling on said public transport.
The second incident was when the woman just before me stepped up to the counter. She stated that she wanted to pay 10,000 dollars off from her credit card. She then opened her purse, pulled out a wad of notes, counted ten 100's out, returned those to her purse and plonked the remainding brick of 100 dollar notes onto the counter. Unfortunately I was called up to make my transactions by the other teller before I could observe the conclusion of her transaction.
The unusual banking activities almost put me off the completion of my reading of Genesis by Bernard Becket. This was another teen-read recommendation from The Hellenic Hoofer. And by recommendation I mean thrust into my hands during one of my infrequent visits to his home branch. It was quite an interesting examination of what it means to be conscious and if it's possible for a robot to be a conscious being.
Rounding out my mid-week hijinks was another nerd gathering organised by The Viking Hat GM as a way of trapping new players for his latest game. The Mad Magyar and others had fallen for it but I was there merely for the drink and conversation and there is absolutely no chance that I will be involved in their game next week, honest.
.
The title for this post actually refers to the second of two unusual events that occurred last Tuesday whilst I was making a short visit to the local banking establishment.
The first happened as I joined the queue and the two people in front of me both took mobile phone calls in quick succession. My first thought was "it only needs my phone to go off to complete the picture of the entire queue being on their mobiles". Lo and behold, my phone rang that very second with an urgent request from Ms Magpie - the embarrassment level at joining my queue-mates was almost the equal of being forced to exclaim into one's phone "I'm on the train" whilst travelling on said public transport.
The second incident was when the woman just before me stepped up to the counter. She stated that she wanted to pay 10,000 dollars off from her credit card. She then opened her purse, pulled out a wad of notes, counted ten 100's out, returned those to her purse and plonked the remainding brick of 100 dollar notes onto the counter. Unfortunately I was called up to make my transactions by the other teller before I could observe the conclusion of her transaction.
The unusual banking activities almost put me off the completion of my reading of Genesis by Bernard Becket. This was another teen-read recommendation from The Hellenic Hoofer. And by recommendation I mean thrust into my hands during one of my infrequent visits to his home branch. It was quite an interesting examination of what it means to be conscious and if it's possible for a robot to be a conscious being.
Rounding out my mid-week hijinks was another nerd gathering organised by The Viking Hat GM as a way of trapping new players for his latest game. The Mad Magyar and others had fallen for it but I was there merely for the drink and conversation and there is absolutely no chance that I will be involved in their game next week, honest.
.
... The Ahnold Afternoon
My day began with a quickish coffee catch-up with Rugrat Twin - newly ensconced across the other side of town. Much chat was had in the limited time available before the two of us had to go our separate ways for the remains of the day.
Upon returning home I soon found out - through the miracle of the internet - that a proposed afternoon of Arnie film watching was indeed on the cards.
Organised by The Viking Hat GM as a form of welcome back event for The Mad Magyar who has only recently returned from the old country. Also in attendance was Exploding Ninja Pony which made the whole thing have a feeling of "getting the band back together". Suitably armed with snacks and a cynical attitude we commenced our cinematic endeavour.
Our first film was the classic masterpiece Predator. I think it was still thoroughly enjoyed all around for it's over the top macho characters in an exciting action movie that moves along at a reasonable pace. Still holds up well after 20 years.
Our second film was chosen because Exploding Ninja Pony had never seen it before.
It was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
The plot itself suffers from a little coincidence overload as everyone happens to just run into each other a few times too many however our running commentary on the flaws and "what the" moments of the film made it quite an enjoyable experience. Plus finishing up on the set of Beneath the Planet of the Apes earns it many many bonus points in this reviewers opinion.
With many other Arnie movies to explore within our particular group dynamic I suspect that there may well be several further Ahnold Afternoon in the offing.
.
Upon returning home I soon found out - through the miracle of the internet - that a proposed afternoon of Arnie film watching was indeed on the cards.
Organised by The Viking Hat GM as a form of welcome back event for The Mad Magyar who has only recently returned from the old country. Also in attendance was Exploding Ninja Pony which made the whole thing have a feeling of "getting the band back together". Suitably armed with snacks and a cynical attitude we commenced our cinematic endeavour.
Our first film was the classic masterpiece Predator. I think it was still thoroughly enjoyed all around for it's over the top macho characters in an exciting action movie that moves along at a reasonable pace. Still holds up well after 20 years.
Our second film was chosen because Exploding Ninja Pony had never seen it before.
It was Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.
The plot itself suffers from a little coincidence overload as everyone happens to just run into each other a few times too many however our running commentary on the flaws and "what the" moments of the film made it quite an enjoyable experience. Plus finishing up on the set of Beneath the Planet of the Apes earns it many many bonus points in this reviewers opinion.
With many other Arnie movies to explore within our particular group dynamic I suspect that there may well be several further Ahnold Afternoon in the offing.
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... The Dresden Files 1: Storm Front by Jim Butcher
After hearing about these books for a while - as both books and also an upcoming roleplaying game - I finally borrowed a copy a few months back and eventually got around to reading it over the past few weeks in between bouts of stressful systems upgrade syndrome.
I found it to be a great little detective noir story with the downtrodden magician private-eye carrying the story with his attitude and narration. Harry Dresden reminded me a little of Burke from the Burke novels by Andrew Vachss.
All in all I recommend it and I'm sure I'll read more of the series just as soon as I clear my pile of "to be read" books.
.
I found it to be a great little detective noir story with the downtrodden magician private-eye carrying the story with his attitude and narration. Harry Dresden reminded me a little of Burke from the Burke novels by Andrew Vachss.
All in all I recommend it and I'm sure I'll read more of the series just as soon as I clear my pile of "to be read" books.
.
... The Amulet of Samurkand by Jonathan Stroud
Here's one I knocked of more than a week ago after the training allowed me copious reading time on the train.
While it is a junior book it is quite a good read and the glimpses into the modern world with magicians running things was quite intriguing. I enjoyed it and The Hellenic Hoofer was quite right to recommend it on the basis of the character of the narky djinni Bartimaeus.
Phill says: If you're only going to read one 'young wizard' book make it The Amulet of Samurkand.
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While it is a junior book it is quite a good read and the glimpses into the modern world with magicians running things was quite intriguing. I enjoyed it and The Hellenic Hoofer was quite right to recommend it on the basis of the character of the narky djinni Bartimaeus.
Phill says: If you're only going to read one 'young wizard' book make it The Amulet of Samurkand.
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... The Bemusing Blood-pressure
So I had an appointment this morning to further the cause of knee repair and whilst I was there the doctor decided that, given the four year gap between my medicals, it was best to have a go at my blood pressure.
The result was some strange sounding fraction that was actually quite good - and also almost identical to the one from my previous test of the aforementioned four years ago.
I find it very hard to believe that the past four years of extreme libraryland stress have had no effect on my blood pressure so I'm thinking of suing for malpractice.
I mean really, cast your eyes over this list of stress triggers I have had to deal with and make your own mind up:
2.0, Adversary, Agent Smith, Alecto, Alltogether Heather, Amoeba, AntagonisticAl, ArchEnemy, Badger, beeb, Beeby, BestFriendSincePrep, Big J, BigBen, Blind Willie, Bomber Babe, Books Read, BrotherStealer, Camo Spice, Caution, CC, chanlib, Comrade Treasurer, Country Girl, Cousin Dave, Days of our Libraries, Devil's Advocate, Doom, Dubrovnik Hater, Easy Em, Easy-Going Em, ElfBoy, Evil Twin, excursion bag, Exploding Ninja Pony, Facebook, Fantomas, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, Fifi, footy, Freeloading Mum, FridgePower, Gaming, Gavman, Geisha Girl, Genealogy Jane, Groovy Spirits, Handy Dad, Hector the Nazi, Hemy, Illuminated G, Imposter Phil, Innocent Em, Judge Mingus, Juzzy J, Kiwi Nick, Kiwichick, Legion, Librarian Idol, LibraryThing, LittleBigGirl, Lord of the Small Fries, Madame President, Madmog, MAMILS, MatrixMan, Mechwarrior Wayne, Miss Amanda, Movies, Mr Magpie (no relation), Mr Prada, Mr Torchwood, MrRogers, Mrs Football, Ms Magpie, My Guitarist, Nurse Janet, Pirate Dave, Polish Chris, Redneck Ben, RFID, Rugrat Twin, Scary Adam, Scully, Seditious Sam, Sergeant PoodlenaThePoodle, Shirl, Simmone, Sir Clive Pitbull, Sister Serials, Skeptic L, Soccer, SoccerBuddy, Sonja Roster Queen, Spare Legion, SpawnOfBestFriendSincePrep, StumpyRudolph, Supervisor Grand Chief K, Supervisor S, Svetlana, Swing, The Administrator, The Bastard, The Beaumaris Ballerina, The Beer Drinking Machine, The Blithe Bogan, The Composer, The Doctor, The Electric Tiger, The Ex-President, The Flibberty Gibbet, The Fungi Lady, The Great Sandro, The Guide, The J Monster, The Mad Magyar, The Maple Maverick, The Marketing Marvel, The New IT Geek, The Polster, The Pragmatist, The Professor, The Puppies, The Real Greg Dean, The Tiger, The Valkyrie, The Viking Hat GM, The Warden, Tooticky, Torchwood, Training, Travel, TT, Tuck, Vikki, wireless, writing, Zombie Monkey
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The result was some strange sounding fraction that was actually quite good - and also almost identical to the one from my previous test of the aforementioned four years ago.
I find it very hard to believe that the past four years of extreme libraryland stress have had no effect on my blood pressure so I'm thinking of suing for malpractice.
I mean really, cast your eyes over this list of stress triggers I have had to deal with and make your own mind up:
2.0, Adversary, Agent Smith, Alecto, Alltogether Heather, Amoeba, AntagonisticAl, ArchEnemy, Badger, beeb, Beeby, BestFriendSincePrep, Big J, BigBen, Blind Willie, Bomber Babe, Books Read, BrotherStealer, Camo Spice, Caution, CC, chanlib, Comrade Treasurer, Country Girl, Cousin Dave, Days of our Libraries, Devil's Advocate, Doom, Dubrovnik Hater, Easy Em, Easy-Going Em, ElfBoy, Evil Twin, excursion bag, Exploding Ninja Pony, Facebook, Fantomas, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, Fifi, footy, Freeloading Mum, FridgePower, Gaming, Gavman, Geisha Girl, Genealogy Jane, Groovy Spirits, Handy Dad, Hector the Nazi, Hemy, Illuminated G, Imposter Phil, Innocent Em, Judge Mingus, Juzzy J, Kiwi Nick, Kiwichick, Legion, Librarian Idol, LibraryThing, LittleBigGirl, Lord of the Small Fries, Madame President, Madmog, MAMILS, MatrixMan, Mechwarrior Wayne, Miss Amanda, Movies, Mr Magpie (no relation), Mr Prada, Mr Torchwood, MrRogers, Mrs Football, Ms Magpie, My Guitarist, Nurse Janet, Pirate Dave, Polish Chris, Redneck Ben, RFID, Rugrat Twin, Scary Adam, Scully, Seditious Sam, Sergeant PoodlenaThePoodle, Shirl, Simmone, Sir Clive Pitbull, Sister Serials, Skeptic L, Soccer, SoccerBuddy, Sonja Roster Queen, Spare Legion, SpawnOfBestFriendSincePrep, StumpyRudolph, Supervisor Grand Chief K, Supervisor S, Svetlana, Swing, The Administrator, The Bastard, The Beaumaris Ballerina, The Beer Drinking Machine, The Blithe Bogan, The Composer, The Doctor, The Electric Tiger, The Ex-President, The Flibberty Gibbet, The Fungi Lady, The Great Sandro, The Guide, The J Monster, The Mad Magyar, The Maple Maverick, The Marketing Marvel, The New IT Geek, The Polster, The Pragmatist, The Professor, The Puppies, The Real Greg Dean, The Tiger, The Valkyrie, The Viking Hat GM, The Warden, Tooticky, Torchwood, Training, Travel, TT, Tuck, Vikki, wireless, writing, Zombie Monkey
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... The Maverik's Mad Mixer
After a long and tiring week catching up on all the work I so gleefully avoided whilst at my training last week I found myself finally able to relax at the farewell do for The Maple Maverick as he is about to forsake Libraryland for Mapleland.
I was a little late to the party and not for my usual fashionable grand entrance reasons. This time it was due to Sister Serials, ever a thorn in my side, discovering a slight flaw in my latest brilliant system tweak which made it impossible for her to complete her usual workflow. I fail to understand the issue as not having to do your job sounds like every workers dream to me. Nevertheless I soldiered on badgering away at the problem until eventually, with the call of the pub ringing in my ears I managed to decide to use the old IT standby "maybe it'll fix itself over the weekend".
Upon arrival at the venue I found out it was also yet another farewell for Adversary, who just won't stay away for good.
Anyway, The Maverick had gathered quite a mix of staff from across the branches and many tall tales and tall drinks were had before I tore myself away in order to rush home to catch the remains of the footy on tv - which, given how easily we dealt with Beeby's boys was quite the relaxing end to the week that I had been after all along.
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I was a little late to the party and not for my usual fashionable grand entrance reasons. This time it was due to Sister Serials, ever a thorn in my side, discovering a slight flaw in my latest brilliant system tweak which made it impossible for her to complete her usual workflow. I fail to understand the issue as not having to do your job sounds like every workers dream to me. Nevertheless I soldiered on badgering away at the problem until eventually, with the call of the pub ringing in my ears I managed to decide to use the old IT standby "maybe it'll fix itself over the weekend".
Upon arrival at the venue I found out it was also yet another farewell for Adversary, who just won't stay away for good.
Anyway, The Maverick had gathered quite a mix of staff from across the branches and many tall tales and tall drinks were had before I tore myself away in order to rush home to catch the remains of the footy on tv - which, given how easily we dealt with Beeby's boys was quite the relaxing end to the week that I had been after all along.
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... The Free Food Frenzy
So I spent most of the last week in training sessions in the heart of our beloved city.
Many and varied was my company including: Devil's Advocate, Sister Serials, Sonja Roster Queen and Miss Amanda for the majority of the time and special guest appearances by Mr Prada, Days of our Libraries, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, and The Pragmatist.
All of these exciting training companions were overshadowed by the fact that this particular round of training was accompanied by an incredible four days of free lunches!!!
I don't believe I have ever had it so good. I didn't even mind heading out for a girly shopping expedition on behalf of Svetlana.
On top of this bounty of brunches came the Friday farewell party for a libraryland associate of years past - complete with free drinks and circulating snacks!
However, as with all good things, the universe had to right the cosmic karma imbalance and, during my Saturday attendance at the footy with Legion2 and The Great Sandro, my hunger got the better of me forcing the purchase of sustenance in the form of one $20 pie.
Things did swing slightly back in the other direction today when I was able to take advantage of a free trip to NSW care of BestFriendSincePrep.
I was recruited for my excellent company on the long drive and possibly to put my strength into lifting the package we had headed North to collect. Many hours of great conversation and camaraderie was had before we returned to his abode and he 'remembered' an IT issue he had that required urgent proffessional attending to.
Sigh.
It seems I can never escape IT on my weekends.
.
Many and varied was my company including: Devil's Advocate, Sister Serials, Sonja Roster Queen and Miss Amanda for the majority of the time and special guest appearances by Mr Prada, Days of our Libraries, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, and The Pragmatist.
All of these exciting training companions were overshadowed by the fact that this particular round of training was accompanied by an incredible four days of free lunches!!!
I don't believe I have ever had it so good. I didn't even mind heading out for a girly shopping expedition on behalf of Svetlana.
On top of this bounty of brunches came the Friday farewell party for a libraryland associate of years past - complete with free drinks and circulating snacks!
However, as with all good things, the universe had to right the cosmic karma imbalance and, during my Saturday attendance at the footy with Legion2 and The Great Sandro, my hunger got the better of me forcing the purchase of sustenance in the form of one $20 pie.
Things did swing slightly back in the other direction today when I was able to take advantage of a free trip to NSW care of BestFriendSincePrep.
I was recruited for my excellent company on the long drive and possibly to put my strength into lifting the package we had headed North to collect. Many hours of great conversation and camaraderie was had before we returned to his abode and he 'remembered' an IT issue he had that required urgent proffessional attending to.
Sigh.
It seems I can never escape IT on my weekends.
.
... The So-called Weekend of Rest
Friday night was another branch drinks evening with Kiwichick up to her usual social coordinator antics and hustling a bunch of us including Fifi, Mrs Football and Easy-Going Em off for a post drinks dinner. Once ensconced at our table we discussed such enlightening topics as Mrs Football's best way to start a bender being with two bottles of wine and before you knew it the evening was over and we all trundled off home to sleep the sleep of the righteous - or is that inebriated, I always get those two mixed up.
Now one would think such a fun and frivolous evening would be the perfect way to start a weekend of rest, however one did not think to account for Sister Serials penchant for early morning "fix the computers please" telephone conversations. She was followed in quick succession by Kiwichick and others demanding that I make things work merely because it was my job and I was paid to do it - Supervisor Grand Chief K would be proud of her staff.
Suffice to say that most of a perfectly good Saturday was wasted trouble-shooting and then they were at it again today on the Sunday!
I tell you it's no wonder I'm so stressed and on edge all the time!
.
Now one would think such a fun and frivolous evening would be the perfect way to start a weekend of rest, however one did not think to account for Sister Serials penchant for early morning "fix the computers please" telephone conversations. She was followed in quick succession by Kiwichick and others demanding that I make things work merely because it was my job and I was paid to do it - Supervisor Grand Chief K would be proud of her staff.
Suffice to say that most of a perfectly good Saturday was wasted trouble-shooting and then they were at it again today on the Sunday!
I tell you it's no wonder I'm so stressed and on edge all the time!
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... The Weeks of Too Much Work
Computer upgrades and crashes and so on have been claiming all my time recently - not that Supervisor Grand Chief K will recognise my effort and reward it with the suitable level of tickertape parade - so don't expect much in the way of updates until the new financial year.
I did pop down to see My Guitarist's new addition on the weekend with Redneck Ben which did end up taking most of the day but provided a most welcome break from all things computery.
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I did pop down to see My Guitarist's new addition on the weekend with Redneck Ben which did end up taking most of the day but provided a most welcome break from all things computery.
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... The Abandoned Book
With a slight dearth of things of which to elaborate upon I am going back a week or so to inform you all of the last book I was reading.
I should say attempting to read - as my post title states I was forced to abandon my reading.
The book in question is The Iron Tree by Cecilia Dart-Thornton whose author bio paints her as a bit of a loon.
Being a fantasy novel it is book one of her second trilogy. You'd think that she must have done something right with her first trilogy but the eminently trustworthy Miss Amanda informs me that she failed to make it past page 60 of CDT's first opus. To further cement my belief in the correctness of my book abandoning MatrixMan agrees about the waffling nature of the first trilogy and the obviousness of the authors particular favourite subjects of interest.
Anyway on to the actual book at hand. It is a psuedo-celtic high fantasy of the farm boy with a destiny variety. The pseudo celtic includes mini essays on houshold spirits, folk tales, and assorted wights who, for all the word-count devoted to them, don't have very much to do with the story at all.
There are also many indepth discussions of the particular ways that various craftsmen create their wares - a simple stroll through a market at one point takes an unbelievable number of pages to complete because it is apparently necessary that we know how the potter came upon his clay to make the tiny pots that the protagonist affords only a passing glance.
In general each sentence has at least one to many scintilating effervescant adjectives and all of the characters talk in a prithee thee manner.
A gave up at the halfway point when the big secret about the heros past completely failed to excite me and I couldn't face the remaining half of the book.
My rating is one and a half stars.
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I should say attempting to read - as my post title states I was forced to abandon my reading.
The book in question is The Iron Tree by Cecilia Dart-Thornton whose author bio paints her as a bit of a loon.
Being a fantasy novel it is book one of her second trilogy. You'd think that she must have done something right with her first trilogy but the eminently trustworthy Miss Amanda informs me that she failed to make it past page 60 of CDT's first opus. To further cement my belief in the correctness of my book abandoning MatrixMan agrees about the waffling nature of the first trilogy and the obviousness of the authors particular favourite subjects of interest.
Anyway on to the actual book at hand. It is a psuedo-celtic high fantasy of the farm boy with a destiny variety. The pseudo celtic includes mini essays on houshold spirits, folk tales, and assorted wights who, for all the word-count devoted to them, don't have very much to do with the story at all.
There are also many indepth discussions of the particular ways that various craftsmen create their wares - a simple stroll through a market at one point takes an unbelievable number of pages to complete because it is apparently necessary that we know how the potter came upon his clay to make the tiny pots that the protagonist affords only a passing glance.
In general each sentence has at least one to many scintilating effervescant adjectives and all of the characters talk in a prithee thee manner.
A gave up at the halfway point when the big secret about the heros past completely failed to excite me and I couldn't face the remaining half of the book.
My rating is one and a half stars.
.
... The Gavman's Party
Friday night I attended a do at Gavman's place. The event was staged while The J Monster was out of town lest our fun and frolics should disturb their pristine abode. Legion2, Badger and ElfBoy were also along for the fun and games.
The original movie watching idea was subverted by much playing of Rockband. Initially it was Gavman who had all the enthusiasm but by the end I think we all enjoyed it - my own vocal rendition of Judas Priest's Painkiller being the standout track.
We did eventually get our movie - The International. It was quite interesting although I did flag a little by the end - as several reviews have said, "how can you top the Guggenheim scene".
Continuing the party tradition, Sunday was a gaming day and the first sighting of The Viking Hat GM out of his native habitat. He seemed to enjoy it as can be evidenced from his review of the main event.
The evening was a nice intimate blood-sucking affair with Doom and The Doctor coming along to play pointy-fanged Gothic people with Legion2 and myself. The whole evening was well hydrated by this rather appropriate bottle of wine.
All in all, and all up, it was all rather a nice weekend of partying had by all.
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The original movie watching idea was subverted by much playing of Rockband. Initially it was Gavman who had all the enthusiasm but by the end I think we all enjoyed it - my own vocal rendition of Judas Priest's Painkiller being the standout track.
We did eventually get our movie - The International. It was quite interesting although I did flag a little by the end - as several reviews have said, "how can you top the Guggenheim scene".
Continuing the party tradition, Sunday was a gaming day and the first sighting of The Viking Hat GM out of his native habitat. He seemed to enjoy it as can be evidenced from his review of the main event.
The evening was a nice intimate blood-sucking affair with Doom and The Doctor coming along to play pointy-fanged Gothic people with Legion2 and myself. The whole evening was well hydrated by this rather appropriate bottle of wine.
All in all, and all up, it was all rather a nice weekend of partying had by all.
.
... The Old Man's Party
Sunday last I was in attendance at the rip-roaring affair that was Handy Dad's 70th birthday party.
Kicking off at midday this raging event included a delicious lunch. Unfortunately I only partook lightly of the lunch as I Freeloading Mum had asked me to make a speech and I was suffering through a mild case of the inevitable 'speech tummy'. I suspect keeping me from eating all the food may have been the primary motivation despite my legendary speechmaking skills.
The party finally wound up late in the early afternoon and we were all surprisingly on our own by 4.30.
With Handy Dad on good behaviour and Legion4 not making it due to a odontalgia disaster I'm afraid I have no tales to tell of the day.
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Kicking off at midday this raging event included a delicious lunch. Unfortunately I only partook lightly of the lunch as I Freeloading Mum had asked me to make a speech and I was suffering through a mild case of the inevitable 'speech tummy'. I suspect keeping me from eating all the food may have been the primary motivation despite my legendary speechmaking skills.
The party finally wound up late in the early afternoon and we were all surprisingly on our own by 4.30.
With Handy Dad on good behaviour and Legion4 not making it due to a odontalgia disaster I'm afraid I have no tales to tell of the day.
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... The Opening Night
Last night saw the opening of the second annual Bayside Literary Festival.
Unlike last years Festival this one was disappointingly Supervisor Grand Chief K injury free.
AntagonisticAl did a marvellous job of organisation with everything going off like clockwork - I particularly enjoyed the Mayor's surrealistic performance art piece made to look like a Basil Fawlty-esque bumbling mess, bravo!
One must wonder, however, if snacks and drinks do have to stop during the presentations - surely they could be circulated amongst the crowd to save valuable IT staff from wasting away?
Luckily there was ample cheese and decorative fruit at the staff after-party once the formalities were completed and disaster was averted.
Other highlights of the enchanting evening include:
On my way home I popped in for a quick wine-bar drink with Dubrovnik Hater - now with slightly less minions. Our waiter was amusingly snooty towards us until a rather inebriated fellow tried to enter the establishment and was turned away as he would disturb "these valued customers".
I was home at a reasonably late hour which enabled Sister Serials to give me a late morning wake up call this morning for some frivolous IT support matter.
Sigh! Life is so hard sometimes.
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Unlike last years Festival this one was disappointingly Supervisor Grand Chief K injury free.
AntagonisticAl did a marvellous job of organisation with everything going off like clockwork - I particularly enjoyed the Mayor's surrealistic performance art piece made to look like a Basil Fawlty-esque bumbling mess, bravo!
One must wonder, however, if snacks and drinks do have to stop during the presentations - surely they could be circulated amongst the crowd to save valuable IT staff from wasting away?
Luckily there was ample cheese and decorative fruit at the staff after-party once the formalities were completed and disaster was averted.
Other highlights of the enchanting evening include:
- Kiwichick and Days of our Libraries with coordinated hair styles
- Dubrovnik Hater attending with a flock of minions
- Beeby suffering from a lack of party-pie style foods
- staff all frocked up to the nines (except yours truly who decided to go with a laid-back "came straight from work" style in a masterstroke of fashion trend-setting)
- a complete lack of any IT support requirement in my attendance
On my way home I popped in for a quick wine-bar drink with Dubrovnik Hater - now with slightly less minions. Our waiter was amusingly snooty towards us until a rather inebriated fellow tried to enter the establishment and was turned away as he would disturb "these valued customers".
I was home at a reasonably late hour which enabled Sister Serials to give me a late morning wake up call this morning for some frivolous IT support matter.
Sigh! Life is so hard sometimes.
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... The Star Trek Review
So, along with Fantomas and Pirate Dave from my regular Thursday night gaming group, I decided to forsake the game tonight for the only thing geekier - the new Star Trek movie.
It was pretty good using many of the common tropes of the franchise to explain the reboot of the continuity and pave the way for not having to slavishly follow the previous series and films.
Highly recommended.
The geekiness of Star Trek has even managed to eclipse my other big geek event of the week - another Geektogether. The Viking Hat GM organised the first of these in almost a year to try and kick-start his flailing gaming career after the The Blithe Bogan abruptly put an end to its latest burst of activity a few weeks ago.
And in a contrasting non-geeky event I, along with Legions 2-3, BrotherStealer, and MadMog, attended the housewarming for Spare Legion this Saturday past. With Badger and Hector the Nazi also in attendence much drinking and fun and frivolity was had by all.
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It was pretty good using many of the common tropes of the franchise to explain the reboot of the continuity and pave the way for not having to slavishly follow the previous series and films.
Highly recommended.
The geekiness of Star Trek has even managed to eclipse my other big geek event of the week - another Geektogether. The Viking Hat GM organised the first of these in almost a year to try and kick-start his flailing gaming career after the The Blithe Bogan abruptly put an end to its latest burst of activity a few weeks ago.
And in a contrasting non-geeky event I, along with Legions 2-3, BrotherStealer, and MadMog, attended the housewarming for Spare Legion this Saturday past. With Badger and Hector the Nazi also in attendence much drinking and fun and frivolity was had by all.
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... The Life Brightonian
Contrary to all my planning I ended up spending most of last week anchored to Brighton branch.
This lead to my partaking in all facets of the Brighton lifestyle: the lunches, the perpetual snacks on the kitchen table, the crazy computer users, the nigh-constant hubbub of noise from the workroom, the late working nights trying to catch up on all the work that was missed due to unavoidable participation in said hubbub and snack ingesting.
Being so long at the one location gave me opportunity to scientifically test my hypothesis that my presence has a detrimental effect on individuals problem solving skills.
I was able to first hand see the problems I was asked to solve devolve from the beginning of the weeks fairly reasonable "Phill! my computer just exploded", through to the late week puzzlers along the lines of "Phill! How do I click my mouse again?"
Luckily I was able to make good my escape and spend my Friday luxuriating in the autonomous environment that is Sandy.
The only hardship being having to put up with Days of our Libraries claiming my latest knee injury was merely my latest attempt to get out of going down on bended knee before Svetlana no matter how much I assured her that, when I come to engage in such an endeavour, I shall do it in a thoroughly modern manner and send Svets an email.
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This lead to my partaking in all facets of the Brighton lifestyle: the lunches, the perpetual snacks on the kitchen table, the crazy computer users, the nigh-constant hubbub of noise from the workroom, the late working nights trying to catch up on all the work that was missed due to unavoidable participation in said hubbub and snack ingesting.
Being so long at the one location gave me opportunity to scientifically test my hypothesis that my presence has a detrimental effect on individuals problem solving skills.
I was able to first hand see the problems I was asked to solve devolve from the beginning of the weeks fairly reasonable "Phill! my computer just exploded", through to the late week puzzlers along the lines of "Phill! How do I click my mouse again?"
Luckily I was able to make good my escape and spend my Friday luxuriating in the autonomous environment that is Sandy.
The only hardship being having to put up with Days of our Libraries claiming my latest knee injury was merely my latest attempt to get out of going down on bended knee before Svetlana no matter how much I assured her that, when I come to engage in such an endeavour, I shall do it in a thoroughly modern manner and send Svets an email.
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... The Career-Ending Injury
No I'm not talking about some heinous injury to the two fingers I use for typing things into these infernal computing devices. Rther something more unfortunate has arisen.
In the dying minutes of last Thursday's soccer game my knee decided to half-pop for no reason other than my running full-tilt to beat another player to the ball.
It was a bit of a night for carnage as SoccerBuddy aggravated his hamstring and another player left early with an injured calf.
My knee gave only momentary pain and I was walking fine by the time I returned to my car with just a bit of a "twinged" feeling about the joint.
Alas my physio, however, had other ideas.
After some examination he pronounced it to be a most rugged and manly sporting injury - ruptured anterior cruciate.
Finally I am alongside the top athletes of our day.
Unfortunately I don't have the resources or time to devote my days to rapid recovery so I shall have to make do with almost no impact on day to day life and, should I return to soccer, being relegated to only goal keeping.
There will be an assessment in six weeks and we will see if any surgery will be necessary for general usage but the good doctor seemed quite the optimistic fellow.
As staying in goal lacks a lot of the running to position and playing the passing game that I enjoy this most likely means that I shall have more free time in the future.
This free time may well be time to write and I do have an idea for a fascinating first novel - completely made up of course.
This is the opening line. What do you think?
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In the dying minutes of last Thursday's soccer game my knee decided to half-pop for no reason other than my running full-tilt to beat another player to the ball.
It was a bit of a night for carnage as SoccerBuddy aggravated his hamstring and another player left early with an injured calf.
My knee gave only momentary pain and I was walking fine by the time I returned to my car with just a bit of a "twinged" feeling about the joint.
Alas my physio, however, had other ideas.
After some examination he pronounced it to be a most rugged and manly sporting injury - ruptured anterior cruciate.
Finally I am alongside the top athletes of our day.
Unfortunately I don't have the resources or time to devote my days to rapid recovery so I shall have to make do with almost no impact on day to day life and, should I return to soccer, being relegated to only goal keeping.
There will be an assessment in six weeks and we will see if any surgery will be necessary for general usage but the good doctor seemed quite the optimistic fellow.
As staying in goal lacks a lot of the running to position and playing the passing game that I enjoy this most likely means that I shall have more free time in the future.
This free time may well be time to write and I do have an idea for a fascinating first novel - completely made up of course.
This is the opening line. What do you think?
Bill, having suffered a terrible elbow injury playing badminton, decided to become a famous writer of novels.
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... The Skyping of Svetlana
So last Friday I bit the technological bullet and installed this thing called Skype onto my PC at Svetlana's insistence.
However lo and behold but when I cut short the soccer night out drinking to rush home and try giving the good lady a stupendous Skyping I get nothing. Ignored. Completely.
When I had finally gotten over my huff and contacted her tonight she came out with some sort of guff about May 1st being a holiday in Svetlanaland - May Day or some such - a likely story.
Anyway we made the connection and talked away for a quite a while. I never really knew about Skype but find it nigh mind-boggling that computer to computer calls are free. I guess they hope you'll get used to it and then start a paid account so you can call real phones from your computer.
The quality of our conversation was good (I mean sound quality the other sort was... well, you had to be there to appreciate it). There was no sense of lag at all and the only thing that stopped us going all night was my need for food after getting home late from trying to fix a Brand New Problem™ that Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick managed to unearth in their late shift. Those two need to be separated, especially now that Mr Prada is off in Mapleland and the whole place is falling apart.
Ahem. I seem to have wandered somewhat from my initial point. Suffice to say it works, I think I deserve some sort of IT hero award for getting it going, and I believe that there shall be much more conversation with Svetlana in the future - as long as my internet account can handle it anyway.
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However lo and behold but when I cut short the soccer night out drinking to rush home and try giving the good lady a stupendous Skyping I get nothing. Ignored. Completely.
When I had finally gotten over my huff and contacted her tonight she came out with some sort of guff about May 1st being a holiday in Svetlanaland - May Day or some such - a likely story.
Anyway we made the connection and talked away for a quite a while. I never really knew about Skype but find it nigh mind-boggling that computer to computer calls are free. I guess they hope you'll get used to it and then start a paid account so you can call real phones from your computer.
The quality of our conversation was good (I mean sound quality the other sort was... well, you had to be there to appreciate it). There was no sense of lag at all and the only thing that stopped us going all night was my need for food after getting home late from trying to fix a Brand New Problem™ that Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick managed to unearth in their late shift. Those two need to be separated, especially now that Mr Prada is off in Mapleland and the whole place is falling apart.
Ahem. I seem to have wandered somewhat from my initial point. Suffice to say it works, I think I deserve some sort of IT hero award for getting it going, and I believe that there shall be much more conversation with Svetlana in the future - as long as my internet account can handle it anyway.
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