... the IT man in LibraryLand
So it's been more than a week since the sad occasion of saying one's goodbyes to Groovy Spirits.
She of the spirits had shown great spirit in her year long fight and it is a bit of a shock to hear that she - who was so full of life and energy at one's combination farewell and Library Xmas party - had not prevailed.
One made the trip south with Hulk for emotional support to partake in the farewell along with her family and other friends/workmates. Upon arrival we joined those numbering beyond the 20 officially allowed inside during these times of plague, and lurked at the outskirts of the foyer. Luckily there was an external speaker system so we were able to hear both the eulogy and the poignant speech made by Big J - both of which touched on the fun and foibles of life and friendship with Groovy Spirits.
Afterwards - well, after some hours worth of Hulk-led traipsing through the grounds - there was attendance at a further gathering at the library to commemorate further. A sadness-tinged catch up with old workmates occurred before we were homeward bound again.
--
Oh Spirits, the distance of first your long leave and then one's disenfranchisement of employment had lead to a distance and lack of news making it easy to assume everything was going okay.
I was already missing our work hours spent talking footy, and our work hours spent talking books, and our work ours spent talking shows - and we never did get to compare opinions on the ending to Game of Thrones - and now I just have the memory of those many, many, many hours.
(Poor Roysgirl had to bear the full load of One's biological need to talk footy for the last season, and has suffered greatly for it as I'm sure you'd understand.)
For those snippets of work we'd fit in between the talking, I missed having your apostrophe hunting skills available for One's project documentation, and I shall kind-of miss those times when we butted heads about things, but most missed will be the exuberant energy that filled the workroom when you were there.
I'm sure I'll slip up and text you during an exciting part of a footy game in the coming years and then wait in vain for one of your "sorry I was too drunk to watch the last quarter" replies.
Vale Ursula.
Far too soon does not describe things nearly well enough.
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Showing posts with label Groovy Spirits. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Groovy Spirits. Show all posts
Take Hulk to Work Day
(Settle down Zombie Monkey, this isn't a superhero-related post!)
So, two days ago one undertook an expedition with Hulk to the furthest reaches of the city in a long planned visit to one's locations of daily toil, various.
The plan may sound grand but rest assured I had Salsa Girl's full support in leaving her Hulk-less for most of the day.
Leaving at the bright and early, finally fully dressed and everything packed, stroke of half ten we played "Daddy why is that car next to us?" for our hour long journey.
Upon arrival we were beset by besotted librarians all cooing and oohing at the level of cuteness on display. Hulk received her fair share of compliments too.
Once the likes of Bomber Babe, Lord of the Small Fries, Big J, The Administrator, Groovy Spirits, and sundry others had received critical exposure levels we moved on to the next branch.
This was a more relaxed experience with Country Girl, Sidekick, and of course Days of our Libraries, all being wowed.
After a short long-rambling-walk to a nearby park and back, we were off again to our final destination.
This vastly underpopulated building saw us dazzle The Beaumaris Ballerina with advanced toddler-ness before Hulk decided we needed to take much of the library furniture home with us.
Disentangling from that situation I thought I was home free for jumping into the car and zooming home until a nearby playground hove into view and proceeded to engage us in a short half hour play digression.
Eventually we made our way back north to safety - and one of us was even able to sleep for most of the journey home.
All in all about the same amount of work was completed as any given work day.
.
So, two days ago one undertook an expedition with Hulk to the furthest reaches of the city in a long planned visit to one's locations of daily toil, various.
The plan may sound grand but rest assured I had Salsa Girl's full support in leaving her Hulk-less for most of the day.
Leaving at the bright and early, finally fully dressed and everything packed, stroke of half ten we played "Daddy why is that car next to us?" for our hour long journey.
Upon arrival we were beset by besotted librarians all cooing and oohing at the level of cuteness on display. Hulk received her fair share of compliments too.
Once the likes of Bomber Babe, Lord of the Small Fries, Big J, The Administrator, Groovy Spirits, and sundry others had received critical exposure levels we moved on to the next branch.
This was a more relaxed experience with Country Girl, Sidekick, and of course Days of our Libraries, all being wowed.
After a short long-rambling-walk to a nearby park and back, we were off again to our final destination.
This vastly underpopulated building saw us dazzle The Beaumaris Ballerina with advanced toddler-ness before Hulk decided we needed to take much of the library furniture home with us.
Disentangling from that situation I thought I was home free for jumping into the car and zooming home until a nearby playground hove into view and proceeded to engage us in a short half hour play digression.
Eventually we made our way back north to safety - and one of us was even able to sleep for most of the journey home.
All in all about the same amount of work was completed as any given work day.
.
The Sad Tales of Neglect
So - without doing any fact checking as one is too lazy for that - it has been one's longest break from the tales.
What started out as a short break for Easter gradually accumulated extra breaks for illnesses long and short, a patch of settling struggles with Hulk, long work project nights, late footy nights with The Great Sandro and Legion2, new bed buying, finally starting to late night watch Groovy Spirits's Spartacus TV Series DVDs, applying oneself to application writing for a promising opportunity, Handy Dad's seventy fifth milestone, and finally one becoming well-deserved Rummy night champion over Salsa Girl - ending her run of every night we've played up until now.
But don't worry, content has begun again now.
At least information of import has.
Well, okay then, information of self-import?
.
What started out as a short break for Easter gradually accumulated extra breaks for illnesses long and short, a patch of settling struggles with Hulk, long work project nights, late footy nights with The Great Sandro and Legion2, new bed buying, finally starting to late night watch Groovy Spirits's Spartacus TV Series DVDs, applying oneself to application writing for a promising opportunity, Handy Dad's seventy fifth milestone, and finally one becoming well-deserved Rummy night champion over Salsa Girl - ending her run of every night we've played up until now.
But don't worry, content has begun again now.
At least information of import has.
Well, okay then, information of self-import?
.
A Very Important Party
It seems to me that a very important party is quite the fitting topic as one stumbles into one's 450th post to The Tales.
Several weeks ago Salsa Girl, Hulk and oneself made the rather long Southwards journey to partake of the Libraries celebration of Xmas. After some initial trepidation Hulk decided to cut loose on the dance floor with Groovy Spirits and indulge in much important running backwards and forwards.
We partook of some yummy food and headed home at a decent hour and definitely well before the karaoke was begun.
But that was not the very important party.
Last week was the User group Xmas lunch. It was preceded by a meeting but that is not one's focus for the day. There was once again an abundance of food available and I feel that the library was well represented by oneself, Sidekick and Supervisor Grand Chief K as together we made Bayside the clear leader in the consumption stakes.
One also took the opportunity to give Young Jim a telling off for his non-attendance at gaming this past half year. He muttered a promise of 110% attendance in the new year and I let him off easy due to some excellent wine.
In the end a large part of the afternoon was spent in important networking activities until the wine ran out and we ambled on home.
But that was not the very important party.
On the weekend past - or so - Salsa Girl, Hulk and oneself made our way to one's ancestral home for the important event of Freeloading Mum's 70th birthday celebrations. Of course all of Legion was in attendance as well as Handy Dad and many friends of the family.
Unfortunately young Hulk was feeling a little crowd-shy so we had minimal time to circulate, although one did manage to fit in an impromptu speech and several rounds of cake.
The party was, of course followed up in subsequent days with the gifting of Freeloading Mum's asked for electronic device and the resultant tech support from yours truly to get said device into a workable state.
All in all this time of year does seem to through up many a laudable reason for having a very important party.
.
Several weeks ago Salsa Girl, Hulk and oneself made the rather long Southwards journey to partake of the Libraries celebration of Xmas. After some initial trepidation Hulk decided to cut loose on the dance floor with Groovy Spirits and indulge in much important running backwards and forwards.
We partook of some yummy food and headed home at a decent hour and definitely well before the karaoke was begun.
But that was not the very important party.
Last week was the User group Xmas lunch. It was preceded by a meeting but that is not one's focus for the day. There was once again an abundance of food available and I feel that the library was well represented by oneself, Sidekick and Supervisor Grand Chief K as together we made Bayside the clear leader in the consumption stakes.
One also took the opportunity to give Young Jim a telling off for his non-attendance at gaming this past half year. He muttered a promise of 110% attendance in the new year and I let him off easy due to some excellent wine.
In the end a large part of the afternoon was spent in important networking activities until the wine ran out and we ambled on home.
But that was not the very important party.
On the weekend past - or so - Salsa Girl, Hulk and oneself made our way to one's ancestral home for the important event of Freeloading Mum's 70th birthday celebrations. Of course all of Legion was in attendance as well as Handy Dad and many friends of the family.
Unfortunately young Hulk was feeling a little crowd-shy so we had minimal time to circulate, although one did manage to fit in an impromptu speech and several rounds of cake.
The party was, of course followed up in subsequent days with the gifting of Freeloading Mum's asked for electronic device and the resultant tech support from yours truly to get said device into a workable state.
All in all this time of year does seem to through up many a laudable reason for having a very important party.
.
Hulk Buba and the Forty Aunties
So the other day Salsa Girl and I packed up Hulk and her travelling requirements into the faithful vehicle and made the long trek southwards to visit one's workplace for the requisite showing off of cute new child.
Having listened to the tales her father had been spinning during her short life so far Hulk made sure to delay our departure - with feeding requirements and nappy changes - until there was no chance of encountering mean Auntie Supervisor Grand Chief K who makes daddy do all that hard work for no reason at all.
The downside of our delay was that our entry changed somewhat from the carefully orchestrated small group then meeting group to more of an everyone at once the moment we come through the door kind of thing. I'm told that the mass cooing could be heard suburbs away.
Young Hulk was quite blasé about being handed around from Auntie to Auntie, enjoying stays in the arms of the likes of: Auntie The Administrator, Auntie Big J, Auntie Lord of the Small Fries, Auntie Nurse Janet, Auntie Shirl, Auntie Alltogether Heather, Auntie Miss Amanda, Auntie Groovy Spirits, and sundry others in the parade of Aunties. I'm pretty confident from the empirical evidence before my very eyes that Hulk out-cuted Auntie Bomber Babe's recently acquired grand daughter.
Anyway after a reasonable stay there - and finding a disappointingly low snack level in the workroom we decided to head on to my spiritual home branch for a much less crowded meet and greet.
Upon arrival it was Auntie Days of our Libraries who monopolised the holding - so much in fact that Uncle Mr Prada didn't even have a chance for a hold of his own and had to stoically insist that he didn't need to prise Hulk from Auntie Days' arms as he wasn't affected by Hulk's overwhelming cuteness.
After that visit was over we had ourselves some cafe lunch and then made the long journey home to spend most of the evening trying to calm an inexplicably overstimulated Hulk.
.
Having listened to the tales her father had been spinning during her short life so far Hulk made sure to delay our departure - with feeding requirements and nappy changes - until there was no chance of encountering mean Auntie Supervisor Grand Chief K who makes daddy do all that hard work for no reason at all.
The downside of our delay was that our entry changed somewhat from the carefully orchestrated small group then meeting group to more of an everyone at once the moment we come through the door kind of thing. I'm told that the mass cooing could be heard suburbs away.
Young Hulk was quite blasé about being handed around from Auntie to Auntie, enjoying stays in the arms of the likes of: Auntie The Administrator, Auntie Big J, Auntie Lord of the Small Fries, Auntie Nurse Janet, Auntie Shirl, Auntie Alltogether Heather, Auntie Miss Amanda, Auntie Groovy Spirits, and sundry others in the parade of Aunties. I'm pretty confident from the empirical evidence before my very eyes that Hulk out-cuted Auntie Bomber Babe's recently acquired grand daughter.
Anyway after a reasonable stay there - and finding a disappointingly low snack level in the workroom we decided to head on to my spiritual home branch for a much less crowded meet and greet.
Upon arrival it was Auntie Days of our Libraries who monopolised the holding - so much in fact that Uncle Mr Prada didn't even have a chance for a hold of his own and had to stoically insist that he didn't need to prise Hulk from Auntie Days' arms as he wasn't affected by Hulk's overwhelming cuteness.
After that visit was over we had ourselves some cafe lunch and then made the long journey home to spend most of the evening trying to calm an inexplicably overstimulated Hulk.
.
The Strain and The Fall
No the title of this post is not referring to any unfortunate results of the festivities of one's just-passed birthday week.
Instead it relates to the last two books that one recently finished reading - The Strain and The Fall are two books by famed moving picture director Guillermo del Toro. They are the first two parts of his vampire trilogy as recommended to me by Groovy Spirits via Mr Prada. I found them to be a quick and entertaining read that was reminiscent of the very cinematic oeuvre of Matthew Reilly. I await my reserved copy of the final instalment to arrive from the library.
Speaking of the birthday week it has gone rather well - despite Legion2 stealing most of the glory with his 40th.
As it turns out when turning 42 the meaning of life is friends - or rather Facebook Friends as one received bountiful birthday wishes on the actual day. I was also pleased to see that one's birthday twin CC celebrated hard enough for both of us.
The birthday week produced many wishes and a pile of chocolate as cake substitute from Days of our Libraries rightfully shamed for her culinary oversight.
Finally a day of presents arrived on Friday, although one did have to gift many of them to oneself - those being the latest supplements in one's favourite gaming line, the Commands and Colors(sic) series.
Further gifts awaited one's return home with the arrival of an overseas order of gaming cards and the special gifts from Salsa Girl.
Early Saturday morning BestFriendSincePrep did his part in making one's birthday special by thrashing me soundly in Memoir'44 Online all the way from Denver - and whilst preparing dinner.
The birthday week was topped off with drinks and nibbles at a local establishment attended by the likes of Salsa Girl, Freeloading Mum, Handy Dad, Legion2, and Badger.
All in all a good birthday week - although a little light on the feasting side, which one shall correct in only another 51 weeks.
.
Instead it relates to the last two books that one recently finished reading - The Strain and The Fall are two books by famed moving picture director Guillermo del Toro. They are the first two parts of his vampire trilogy as recommended to me by Groovy Spirits via Mr Prada. I found them to be a quick and entertaining read that was reminiscent of the very cinematic oeuvre of Matthew Reilly. I await my reserved copy of the final instalment to arrive from the library.
Speaking of the birthday week it has gone rather well - despite Legion2 stealing most of the glory with his 40th.
As it turns out when turning 42 the meaning of life is friends - or rather Facebook Friends as one received bountiful birthday wishes on the actual day. I was also pleased to see that one's birthday twin CC celebrated hard enough for both of us.
The birthday week produced many wishes and a pile of chocolate as cake substitute from Days of our Libraries rightfully shamed for her culinary oversight.
Finally a day of presents arrived on Friday, although one did have to gift many of them to oneself - those being the latest supplements in one's favourite gaming line, the Commands and Colors(sic) series.
Further gifts awaited one's return home with the arrival of an overseas order of gaming cards and the special gifts from Salsa Girl.
Early Saturday morning BestFriendSincePrep did his part in making one's birthday special by thrashing me soundly in Memoir'44 Online all the way from Denver - and whilst preparing dinner.
The birthday week was topped off with drinks and nibbles at a local establishment attended by the likes of Salsa Girl, Freeloading Mum, Handy Dad, Legion2, and Badger.
All in all a good birthday week - although a little light on the feasting side, which one shall correct in only another 51 weeks.
.
A Gastronomic Week
It seems that, for a change, this week past has been all about gastronomy.
It began slowly with the regular Sunday gaming day at which we sampled ElfBoy's strange snack foods and played the annual Pirate Dave's birthday game of Talisman. This event attracted The Valkyrie as usual and apparently the aim of the game is now to play until my character dies in the game and then declare everyone else the winner.
The evening portion involved sampling varied pizzeria delights from one of our usual providers.
The next stop of the tour was, once again, gaming where we took advantage of the non-appearance of several of our usual coterie to sample further heretofore unknown pizzeria delights from one of our usual providers.
The main gastro event (I have to come up with a better shortening for gastronomical!) was the biennial Clean Up Your Desk Day. In the previous instalment I had only managed to clean the shelves beside my desk but this time I launched straight into snacking from the abundant table of food that everyone had brought in to help turn the morning into a celebration rather than a chore.
Suitably sated my attention turned to my desk proper and, amidst the sounds of consumption of yummy food, I managed to excavate my way down to the desk surface and I am now the proud owner of "enough space to work in". Next time we have one of these clean up days I shall have to delve into my desk draws and sort through the detritus of four years (six by then) worth of hard work at the library. I shall also endeavour to sample everything that is on the table of bountiful food - a task I fell short on this time.
Having completed enough cleaning I zoomed off to join the birthday lunch celebrations of Groovy Spirits before returning to an afternoons languid work.
That evening I suffered a mysterious stomach bloating as if I were about to burst from the inside. I could not for the life of me think what may have caused it. Even the application of a spaghetti dish supplied by Days of our Libraries in full Strega Nona form, was unable to make it abate.
My next few days were light on for gastronomy - particularly as one has to conceal one's healthy appetite when in the presence of Candidates as they may not yet have come to appreciate it for the great thing it is.
It remains to be seen whether the coming week shall be a further gastronomic one - astute readers of The Tales should have a fair idea of the chances of that though.
.
It began slowly with the regular Sunday gaming day at which we sampled ElfBoy's strange snack foods and played the annual Pirate Dave's birthday game of Talisman. This event attracted The Valkyrie as usual and apparently the aim of the game is now to play until my character dies in the game and then declare everyone else the winner.
The evening portion involved sampling varied pizzeria delights from one of our usual providers.
The next stop of the tour was, once again, gaming where we took advantage of the non-appearance of several of our usual coterie to sample further heretofore unknown pizzeria delights from one of our usual providers.
The main gastro event (I have to come up with a better shortening for gastronomical!) was the biennial Clean Up Your Desk Day. In the previous instalment I had only managed to clean the shelves beside my desk but this time I launched straight into snacking from the abundant table of food that everyone had brought in to help turn the morning into a celebration rather than a chore.
Suitably sated my attention turned to my desk proper and, amidst the sounds of consumption of yummy food, I managed to excavate my way down to the desk surface and I am now the proud owner of "enough space to work in". Next time we have one of these clean up days I shall have to delve into my desk draws and sort through the detritus of four years (six by then) worth of hard work at the library. I shall also endeavour to sample everything that is on the table of bountiful food - a task I fell short on this time.
Having completed enough cleaning I zoomed off to join the birthday lunch celebrations of Groovy Spirits before returning to an afternoons languid work.
That evening I suffered a mysterious stomach bloating as if I were about to burst from the inside. I could not for the life of me think what may have caused it. Even the application of a spaghetti dish supplied by Days of our Libraries in full Strega Nona form, was unable to make it abate.
My next few days were light on for gastronomy - particularly as one has to conceal one's healthy appetite when in the presence of Candidates as they may not yet have come to appreciate it for the great thing it is.
It remains to be seen whether the coming week shall be a further gastronomic one - astute readers of The Tales should have a fair idea of the chances of that though.
.
... A Very Library Xmas
Well the big event of yesterday was the library staff Xmas Party.
Sonja Roster Queen had foolishly offered her residence as the venue. It was a miserable day with constant downpouring rain but I was determined to get my free complimentary drink and dinner. So I made my way across town through the monsoon rains to eventually arrive on the doorstep only mildly bedraggled.
I had barely swigged my first Cointreau Kiss and started on the dips before Supervisor Grand Chief K, making a brief cameo, officially opened proceedings with a big thank you for the years work to all staff and especially the IT Man who had been working tirelessly all year.
Food was very good and a strangely cowboy hat festooned Kiwichick was quick to claim credit although I suspect food that good can only be the work of Days of our Libraries.
There are not too many crazy goings-on to report - the usual karaoke accompanied by The Administrator's fine air-guitar work featured for many hours, with a bonus Mr Prada and Days of our Libraries Bonnie Tyler duet this year. There was also the yelling contest that is the kris kringle ceremony. This years unexpected fall was Devil's Advocate's collapsing chair mime-routine, complete with unspilled champagne glass.
I spent a large part of the evening cloistered under the veranda roof keeping out of the rain with the dirty-smokers as that was the place for contemplative conversation. It has been so long since I came home with the stench of smoke upon myself that I don't begrudge anyone for the remainder of the bad old night out side effects.
I completed my night with my usual taxi duties dropping Beeby and Groovy Spirits off in quick succession before taking The Maple Maverick on the long haul back to our neck of the woods.
Oh and AntagonisticAl did absolutely nothing to be ashamed of all night.
.
Sonja Roster Queen had foolishly offered her residence as the venue. It was a miserable day with constant downpouring rain but I was determined to get my free complimentary drink and dinner. So I made my way across town through the monsoon rains to eventually arrive on the doorstep only mildly bedraggled.
I had barely swigged my first Cointreau Kiss and started on the dips before Supervisor Grand Chief K, making a brief cameo, officially opened proceedings with a big thank you for the years work to all staff and especially the IT Man who had been working tirelessly all year.
Food was very good and a strangely cowboy hat festooned Kiwichick was quick to claim credit although I suspect food that good can only be the work of Days of our Libraries.
There are not too many crazy goings-on to report - the usual karaoke accompanied by The Administrator's fine air-guitar work featured for many hours, with a bonus Mr Prada and Days of our Libraries Bonnie Tyler duet this year. There was also the yelling contest that is the kris kringle ceremony. This years unexpected fall was Devil's Advocate's collapsing chair mime-routine, complete with unspilled champagne glass.
I spent a large part of the evening cloistered under the veranda roof keeping out of the rain with the dirty-smokers as that was the place for contemplative conversation. It has been so long since I came home with the stench of smoke upon myself that I don't begrudge anyone for the remainder of the bad old night out side effects.
I completed my night with my usual taxi duties dropping Beeby and Groovy Spirits off in quick succession before taking The Maple Maverick on the long haul back to our neck of the woods.
Oh and AntagonisticAl did absolutely nothing to be ashamed of all night.
.
... Lunch and the Single Launch
This morning was the annual Xmas meeting and free lunch at the LMS suppliers in the city.
Comrade Treasurer and Skeptic L where heavily involved in running the meeting and after a couple of hours of blah, blah, blah - including something like 100 site reports instead of the usual dozen since they come out of the woodwork for a free lunch - it was finally time for the lunch.
It was quite adequate and even though mingling kept getting in the way of my grazing there was always plenty there for me to keep nibbling on.
Of course Supervisor Grand Chief K showed up after the meeting for only the lunch part of the event - showing her years of experience in LibraryLand functions - something I'll have to try next year "Sorry I'm late everyone, my train was delayed. Let's eat!"
A highlight of the lunch was being waited on by Dubrovnik Hater who, having gone over to the dark side and now working for the LMS supplier, found that an overlooked clause in her contract required her to take on the waiting staff role for the Xmas lunch. She did quite well bringing the food to me and topping up my wine glass although at one point she did approach with a platter of fruit...
Sadly I had to cut short the lunch after only a couple of hours in order to head back to work in order to make it to the RFID launch for Beaumaris branch.
One drowsy train journey later I was back in time to catch a lift down with Big J and Groovy Spirits.
The launch itself was well attended - by staff and we were even allowed to partake of the cakes before the official launch spiel from Supervisor Grand Chief K (I did make the mistake of having one of AntagonisticAl's yummy lemon-blob topped bickies without checking for poison first - have to be more careful in future).
We did have to wait until after to hoe into Days of Our Libraries usual delightful cake but Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum took the cake, so to speak, with her creation that included Playmobil borrowers using little RFID kiosks.
.
Comrade Treasurer and Skeptic L where heavily involved in running the meeting and after a couple of hours of blah, blah, blah - including something like 100 site reports instead of the usual dozen since they come out of the woodwork for a free lunch - it was finally time for the lunch.
It was quite adequate and even though mingling kept getting in the way of my grazing there was always plenty there for me to keep nibbling on.
Of course Supervisor Grand Chief K showed up after the meeting for only the lunch part of the event - showing her years of experience in LibraryLand functions - something I'll have to try next year "Sorry I'm late everyone, my train was delayed. Let's eat!"
A highlight of the lunch was being waited on by Dubrovnik Hater who, having gone over to the dark side and now working for the LMS supplier, found that an overlooked clause in her contract required her to take on the waiting staff role for the Xmas lunch. She did quite well bringing the food to me and topping up my wine glass although at one point she did approach with a platter of fruit...
Sadly I had to cut short the lunch after only a couple of hours in order to head back to work in order to make it to the RFID launch for Beaumaris branch.
One drowsy train journey later I was back in time to catch a lift down with Big J and Groovy Spirits.
The launch itself was well attended - by staff and we were even allowed to partake of the cakes before the official launch spiel from Supervisor Grand Chief K (I did make the mistake of having one of AntagonisticAl's yummy lemon-blob topped bickies without checking for poison first - have to be more careful in future).
We did have to wait until after to hoe into Days of Our Libraries usual delightful cake but Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum took the cake, so to speak, with her creation that included Playmobil borrowers using little RFID kiosks.
.
... The Lunchless Launch
Now that a few days have passed I have had time to recover from the severe lack of lunch at Monday's RFID launch.
The day started badly with Sister Serials having snuck in over the weekend and processed a huge mound of new magazines which yours truly had to load onto the tagging machine so they could be put away before the launch event happened.
The launch itself went without a hitch which is surprising given technologies usual reluctance to work properly under pressure. I was surprised to learn from the assistant to the minister's copy boy (or something like that, the minister couldn't make it) that up until RFID we'd been tagging books with up to seven tags! But then I'm not a librarian so what would know.
Now to be fair to Supervisor Grand Chief K there were some nibbles and bubbles supplied but there also appeared to be some sort of conspiracy to keep me busy and away from the table as guest after guest was trotted out with questions for me to answer. In the end I did manage to wash down a few crumbs of cheese with the dregs of the last bottle of bubbles - all under the pressure of Devil's Advocate hovering around to reclaim my glass like I was some sort of thief. Suffice to say I wasn't able to complete my set of champagne flutes.
Also this week:
Monday night I once more foolishly subjected myself to The Viking Hat GM's torture disguised as game. Perhaps it the abundance of snacks that keeps me doing it?
Tuesday night I had eight blokes pretending to be cowboys as our latest game - a supernatural western - began with some crazy hijinks on a train.
Wednesday Sonja Roster Queen and I began blasting (or zapping if you're SGCK) the Brighton collection to activate the RFID tags. I don't think I will every tire of the "blasted books" joke.
As it turns out blasting is not nearly as exciting as it sounds. The process involes waving an antenna wand over the books until they are all done - it actually feels more like you're caressing their auras than blasting them.
On Thursday The Administrator and I tag-teamed to train the public for a day consuming couple of classes due to trainer illness.
My week ended on a high indulging in a small after-work tipple with Groovy Spirits, Shirl, and Nurse Janet after the days duties were done.
Once Home I watched the footy until I was joined by Pirate Dave dropping off some cards for the next tournament. We tried to puzzle out his new World of Warcraft boardgame until late in the evening. Eventually he left when he guessed I was tired from my subtle move of passing out from exhaustion.
The day started badly with Sister Serials having snuck in over the weekend and processed a huge mound of new magazines which yours truly had to load onto the tagging machine so they could be put away before the launch event happened.
The launch itself went without a hitch which is surprising given technologies usual reluctance to work properly under pressure. I was surprised to learn from the assistant to the minister's copy boy (or something like that, the minister couldn't make it) that up until RFID we'd been tagging books with up to seven tags! But then I'm not a librarian so what would know.
Now to be fair to Supervisor Grand Chief K there were some nibbles and bubbles supplied but there also appeared to be some sort of conspiracy to keep me busy and away from the table as guest after guest was trotted out with questions for me to answer. In the end I did manage to wash down a few crumbs of cheese with the dregs of the last bottle of bubbles - all under the pressure of Devil's Advocate hovering around to reclaim my glass like I was some sort of thief. Suffice to say I wasn't able to complete my set of champagne flutes.
Also this week:
Monday night I once more foolishly subjected myself to The Viking Hat GM's torture disguised as game. Perhaps it the abundance of snacks that keeps me doing it?
Tuesday night I had eight blokes pretending to be cowboys as our latest game - a supernatural western - began with some crazy hijinks on a train.
Wednesday Sonja Roster Queen and I began blasting (or zapping if you're SGCK) the Brighton collection to activate the RFID tags. I don't think I will every tire of the "blasted books" joke.
As it turns out blasting is not nearly as exciting as it sounds. The process involes waving an antenna wand over the books until they are all done - it actually feels more like you're caressing their auras than blasting them.
On Thursday The Administrator and I tag-teamed to train the public for a day consuming couple of classes due to trainer illness.
My week ended on a high indulging in a small after-work tipple with Groovy Spirits, Shirl, and Nurse Janet after the days duties were done.
Once Home I watched the footy until I was joined by Pirate Dave dropping off some cards for the next tournament. We tried to puzzle out his new World of Warcraft boardgame until late in the evening. Eventually he left when he guessed I was tired from my subtle move of passing out from exhaustion.
... My Guitarist's Anniversary
Saturday last I took a trip down Eastlink, aka sculpture lane, to visit My Guitarist and his wife to celebrate their upcoming 5 year anniversary and his impending aging.
I was the only non-family member so it was a little odd being there with their in-laws but they're all okay. In any case the free lunch was a delicious roast and My Guitarist provided copious hand carved beer.
On the long drive home I listened to the footy to hear the Pies beat the Swans and realise that my long-held dream of being able to wear my Collingwood jumper to work Monday morning and get a rise out of Big J was close to fruition.
Sunday was the first gaming Sunday for quite a while and the highlight was definitely ElfBoy coming along for some gaming with the three-week old Elflet strapped to his front.
Monday night's gaming saw The Viking Hat GM get his way and the game was changed to the one he wanted to run. (Unlike every other gaming related post this one should excite Supervisor Grand Chief K no end as the new game is heavily influenced by Spooks.)
Yesterday provided some lovely cake courtesy of Groovy Spirits before an afternoon RFID meeting had me running late for the final session of my Tuesday Night Judge Dredd game.
Today was a day of niggling little job after niggling little help request and I am quite glad to see the back of it. Honestly I don't know why people turn to me for all their IT help...
I was the only non-family member so it was a little odd being there with their in-laws but they're all okay. In any case the free lunch was a delicious roast and My Guitarist provided copious hand carved beer.
On the long drive home I listened to the footy to hear the Pies beat the Swans and realise that my long-held dream of being able to wear my Collingwood jumper to work Monday morning and get a rise out of Big J was close to fruition.
Sunday was the first gaming Sunday for quite a while and the highlight was definitely ElfBoy coming along for some gaming with the three-week old Elflet strapped to his front.
Monday night's gaming saw The Viking Hat GM get his way and the game was changed to the one he wanted to run. (Unlike every other gaming related post this one should excite Supervisor Grand Chief K no end as the new game is heavily influenced by Spooks.)
Yesterday provided some lovely cake courtesy of Groovy Spirits before an afternoon RFID meeting had me running late for the final session of my Tuesday Night Judge Dredd game.
Today was a day of niggling little job after niggling little help request and I am quite glad to see the back of it. Honestly I don't know why people turn to me for all their IT help...
... RFID Tour Day
Yesterday was a day of visiting several westerly libraries to check out their RFID setup and workflows.
The first stop on the tour was a Sydenham library - a return for me after last years visit.
Wisely deciding to avoid Supervisor Grand Chief K's suspect driving I took the train to meet the group at Sydenham. It was quite a site seeing Mr Prada, Big J, Sonja Roster Queen, Groovy Spirits, Torchwood, Ms Magpie, and Devil's Advocate disembark from the bus and swarm into the library like a school of bibliographic piranhas.
After much investigation - and no morning tea - we took our lives into our own hands and boarded the bus to head on towards our next stop - Caroline Springs (or, in Torchwood parlance, Alice Springs. tsk tsk tsk oh the Welsh.)
Once there we once again swarmed through the library devouring their RFID and other IT set-ups and no morning tea - in a moment of desperation I had to buy myself a mocha at the library cafe.
It wasn't long before we were once again on the bus of death and heading for Sunshine library.
Along the way we made a short stop at this little local attraction.
Sunshine was more of the same but also included a rather unsettling moment of thinking the same thing as Torchwood when the locals replied that they hadn't done any yet to T's question about communicating with the borrowers about their new system which went live last week.
Anyway, after my eyebrows eventually came down again, Supervisor Grand Chief K announced that we were finally going for lunch. Oh, but what a cruel announcement that was. Picking a delightful little wine bar we discovered that lunch would be out of our own pocket!!
After lunch I made up a plausible reason to catch the train rather than spend any more time under the vehicle directing "skills" of SGCK.
I made my way straight home, pausing in the city only long enough for some gaming-related shopping - having the latest edition of Traveller being a requirement to put me back ahead of The Viking Hat GM in the collection stakes.
After some well-earned rest I headed out for the semi-annual soccer night out consisting of some lovely dinner and conversation at a pub along with free drinks from the match payment kitty.
The first stop on the tour was a Sydenham library - a return for me after last years visit.
Wisely deciding to avoid Supervisor Grand Chief K's suspect driving I took the train to meet the group at Sydenham. It was quite a site seeing Mr Prada, Big J, Sonja Roster Queen, Groovy Spirits, Torchwood, Ms Magpie, and Devil's Advocate disembark from the bus and swarm into the library like a school of bibliographic piranhas.
After much investigation - and no morning tea - we took our lives into our own hands and boarded the bus to head on towards our next stop - Caroline Springs (or, in Torchwood parlance, Alice Springs. tsk tsk tsk oh the Welsh.)
Once there we once again swarmed through the library devouring their RFID and other IT set-ups and no morning tea - in a moment of desperation I had to buy myself a mocha at the library cafe.
It wasn't long before we were once again on the bus of death and heading for Sunshine library.
Along the way we made a short stop at this little local attraction.
Sunshine was more of the same but also included a rather unsettling moment of thinking the same thing as Torchwood when the locals replied that they hadn't done any yet to T's question about communicating with the borrowers about their new system which went live last week.
Anyway, after my eyebrows eventually came down again, Supervisor Grand Chief K announced that we were finally going for lunch. Oh, but what a cruel announcement that was. Picking a delightful little wine bar we discovered that lunch would be out of our own pocket!!
After lunch I made up a plausible reason to catch the train rather than spend any more time under the vehicle directing "skills" of SGCK.
I made my way straight home, pausing in the city only long enough for some gaming-related shopping - having the latest edition of Traveller being a requirement to put me back ahead of The Viking Hat GM in the collection stakes.
After some well-earned rest I headed out for the semi-annual soccer night out consisting of some lovely dinner and conversation at a pub along with free drinks from the match payment kitty.
... Bowling with the Bayside Babes
note: this posting is sarcasm and nastiness reduced, as some people think that I never say anything nice.
This Friday last Mr Prada and I had the extreme luck to be out in in public ten-pin bowling with a bevy of the best Bayside has to offer. We were the envy of all around for the company we had while we lobbed spheres down the lanes.
It was all thanks to Torchwood's brilliant idea and excellent planning skills, and as a thank you for everyones work at the Literary festival. Of course, as I spent most of the festival at the corporate centre, I was just freeloading along for the night as was Sister Serials showing up only for the free drink.
There was much fun had by all with Big J's sparkling laughter a frequent backdrop, most participants striking at least once - which is important as Innocent Em said to me - "Scoring is what it's all about Phill!", Groovy Spirits, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, The Administrator, and Lord of the Small Fries all plugging away diligently on the aisles.
Of course I blitzed the field in the first game, despite re-injuring the knee last Thursday at soccer. My sense of honour prevailed in the second game and I stepped aside to allow others to claim the glory (there's a chance it may have been several drinks that prevailed actually now that I think about it).
We all played with a spirit of cooperation, encouragement and fair play. With the experts - Sonja Roster Queen, Days of Our Libraries and yours truly - imparting our bountiful bowling wisdom to all who asked and ensuring a much improved second game from both Big J and Kiwichick.
The food was good and Kiwichick came up with the fantastic idea of improving access to the sour cream for the wedges by smearing it all over the table.
All in all it was a grand night out and hopefully there will be many more occasions of it's ilk where I can spend an entire evening in the treasured company of those I work with.
This Friday last Mr Prada and I had the extreme luck to be out in in public ten-pin bowling with a bevy of the best Bayside has to offer. We were the envy of all around for the company we had while we lobbed spheres down the lanes.
It was all thanks to Torchwood's brilliant idea and excellent planning skills, and as a thank you for everyones work at the Literary festival. Of course, as I spent most of the festival at the corporate centre, I was just freeloading along for the night as was Sister Serials showing up only for the free drink.
There was much fun had by all with Big J's sparkling laughter a frequent backdrop, most participants striking at least once - which is important as Innocent Em said to me - "Scoring is what it's all about Phill!", Groovy Spirits, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, The Administrator, and Lord of the Small Fries all plugging away diligently on the aisles.
Of course I blitzed the field in the first game, despite re-injuring the knee last Thursday at soccer. My sense of honour prevailed in the second game and I stepped aside to allow others to claim the glory (there's a chance it may have been several drinks that prevailed actually now that I think about it).
We all played with a spirit of cooperation, encouragement and fair play. With the experts - Sonja Roster Queen, Days of Our Libraries and yours truly - imparting our bountiful bowling wisdom to all who asked and ensuring a much improved second game from both Big J and Kiwichick.
The food was good and Kiwichick came up with the fantastic idea of improving access to the sour cream for the wedges by smearing it all over the table.
All in all it was a grand night out and hopefully there will be many more occasions of it's ilk where I can spend an entire evening in the treasured company of those I work with.
... An RFID Afternoon Tea
Today, after the delivery of snazzy new printing equipment at all my branches, I headed off to an RFID demo by one of our tenderers.
The cakes for afternoon tea were particularly delicious, although Groovy Spirits did nab some of the chocolaty ones I'd earmarked for myself so I had to settle for lemony ones for thirds and fourths.
There were some inciteful questions asked by Miss Amanda and Sonja Roster Queen but I was too busy ruing the loss of all that hedgehogy goodness to take much in.
The session ended quite well with my being able to go home early.
The cakes for afternoon tea were particularly delicious, although Groovy Spirits did nab some of the chocolaty ones I'd earmarked for myself so I had to settle for lemony ones for thirds and fourths.
There were some inciteful questions asked by Miss Amanda and Sonja Roster Queen but I was too busy ruing the loss of all that hedgehogy goodness to take much in.
The session ended quite well with my being able to go home early.
... the RSS Feeds
(246 Alternate Title: Thing #8 Bloglines)
Well I just spent a lot of clicks subscribing to everyone's blogs in my Bloglines account.
Now, like Supervisor S, I can sneakily check up on what everyone is up to and know when they have made new posts - like Groovy Spirits making another post and teasing us like a LibraryLand conference with promises of cocktails that never seem to appear.
On the home front the floating floorboards were collected yesterday and hefted upstairs with Handy Dad and may have contributed to a horrible mother's day back-related headache. Mostly recovered now but still feeling a little feeble.
Well I just spent a lot of clicks subscribing to everyone's blogs in my Bloglines account.
Now, like Supervisor S, I can sneakily check up on what everyone is up to and know when they have made new posts - like Groovy Spirits making another post and teasing us like a LibraryLand conference with promises of cocktails that never seem to appear.
On the home front the floating floorboards were collected yesterday and hefted upstairs with Handy Dad and may have contributed to a horrible mother's day back-related headache. Mostly recovered now but still feeling a little feeble.
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