... the IT man in LibraryLand
So I have ended up spending quite a large amount of my time last night and today awaiting the arrival of young miss Hulk.
It has been a bit of a strain on Salsa Girl and myself but we have been coping.
After a enough walking to make Kiwichick proud we retired to our rooms various to await further - well any really - movement from Hulk. My belove'd Salsa Girl in the living room and myself in the study/man-cave/change-room.
Still one shouldn't be too concerned as she is one's progeny and the scheduled arrival day is tomorrow, so if the genetic traits run true she is liable to be a tad late for the event.
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Showing posts with label Kiwichick. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kiwichick. Show all posts
Cramping my Style
So one has yet again undertaken to take part in the Global Corporate Challenge and step ones way around the virtual world.
However after only a few days I have found myself beset with the most painful of injuries - calf cramp.
After achieving my personal best (on day 3) I found myself in great agony all down my right leg that not even the careful ministrations of nurse Salsa Girl could alleviate.
I have come out of it alive this morning but will have to take it easy for a few days -much to the chagrin of team captain Kiwichick (I should still be able to outpace The Beaumaris Ballerina's paltry efforts though).
Having such an injury gives one the perfect excuse for not visiting the tales these past weeks to tell you all about the wonderful happenings such as: interstate wedding excursions; gaming day extravaganzas; proto-spawn medical sessions; several biblio finishings; paternal birthdays; niecal hide and seek play times; and, of course, metric scads of hard working days in the library.
Now that one has a bona-fide reason to rest with one's leg up one shall easily be able to keep up with one's regular blog posting commitment.
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However after only a few days I have found myself beset with the most painful of injuries - calf cramp.
After achieving my personal best (on day 3) I found myself in great agony all down my right leg that not even the careful ministrations of nurse Salsa Girl could alleviate.
I have come out of it alive this morning but will have to take it easy for a few days -much to the chagrin of team captain Kiwichick (I should still be able to outpace The Beaumaris Ballerina's paltry efforts though).
Having such an injury gives one the perfect excuse for not visiting the tales these past weeks to tell you all about the wonderful happenings such as: interstate wedding excursions; gaming day extravaganzas; proto-spawn medical sessions; several biblio finishings; paternal birthdays; niecal hide and seek play times; and, of course, metric scads of hard working days in the library.
Now that one has a bona-fide reason to rest with one's leg up one shall easily be able to keep up with one's regular blog posting commitment.
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Xmas Parties, Various
One has spent the past several days getting well and truly into the Xmas spirit - well the feasting side of it at least, the rest shall have to come later.
It all began on Friday with the very important end of year Xmas lunch for the user group at our suppliers headquarters. Once again the user group insisted on holding a meeting beforehand, but finally after several hours drawn-out with productivity we were treated in the manner to which we have become accustomed over the years. Many were in attendance - Supervisor Grand Chief K even put in an appearance to make sure that I received my just desserts.
After waddling home I was soon off to another evening of food and cards at the Double Jays with Salsa Girl by my side. The feasting was not too excessive there as I had an unexpected feeling of fullness part-way through the meal. Sigh, there's always next time I guess.
Saturday was the big event. The Library Xmas Party.
This years soiree was being hosted by Kiwichick (who's husband lucked out on not being able to use the get out of party card he earned by attending last years event). The catering was done by many with Days of our Libraries having many a hand in the comestibles.
The night did include a rather embarrassing tribute to the recent Facebook relationship-status change of the good Salsa Girl and oneself, replete with gifts unasked for but appreciated greatly - especially by The Tiger who commenced sleeping on our new serving dish the moment it was revealed to her.
The latest Xmas partying occurred when Salsa Girl and I made the trek to the family demesne to celebrate Freeloading Mum's birthday. There was a dash of Xmas thrown in due to known Xmas day absences. A magnificent feast was on offer, including 5 desserts (which only count as 3 as one mixed several into the same bowl).
There was rather a lot of post feast tiredness to be dealt with on return home before getting the evening meal squared away.
In unrelated news, one's past month of increased exercise regime appears to be having no effect at all.
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It all began on Friday with the very important end of year Xmas lunch for the user group at our suppliers headquarters. Once again the user group insisted on holding a meeting beforehand, but finally after several hours drawn-out with productivity we were treated in the manner to which we have become accustomed over the years. Many were in attendance - Supervisor Grand Chief K even put in an appearance to make sure that I received my just desserts.
After waddling home I was soon off to another evening of food and cards at the Double Jays with Salsa Girl by my side. The feasting was not too excessive there as I had an unexpected feeling of fullness part-way through the meal. Sigh, there's always next time I guess.
Saturday was the big event. The Library Xmas Party.
This years soiree was being hosted by Kiwichick (who's husband lucked out on not being able to use the get out of party card he earned by attending last years event). The catering was done by many with Days of our Libraries having many a hand in the comestibles.
The night did include a rather embarrassing tribute to the recent Facebook relationship-status change of the good Salsa Girl and oneself, replete with gifts unasked for but appreciated greatly - especially by The Tiger who commenced sleeping on our new serving dish the moment it was revealed to her.
The latest Xmas partying occurred when Salsa Girl and I made the trek to the family demesne to celebrate Freeloading Mum's birthday. There was a dash of Xmas thrown in due to known Xmas day absences. A magnificent feast was on offer, including 5 desserts (which only count as 3 as one mixed several into the same bowl).
There was rather a lot of post feast tiredness to be dealt with on return home before getting the evening meal squared away.
In unrelated news, one's past month of increased exercise regime appears to be having no effect at all.
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Back to the Grind
Well yesterday marked one's return to work after the extended Summer holiday.
One found it to be much the same as one had left it - scads of emails to be answered, mysterious equipment failures, looming deadlines, jovial work companions, etc.
A noticeable difference from business as usual was the quite apparent lack of any sort of "Welcome Back" cake or even small pastry. It seems that while I have been away tragedy has struck and Days of our Libraries has lost her cooking mojo. Kiwichick's kind gift of a thorny IT problem to sink my teeth into did little to alleviate my suffering.
Anyway, I seemed to have gotten my email under control and achieved not much else yesterday. Perhaps I shall return to work today?
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One found it to be much the same as one had left it - scads of emails to be answered, mysterious equipment failures, looming deadlines, jovial work companions, etc.
A noticeable difference from business as usual was the quite apparent lack of any sort of "Welcome Back" cake or even small pastry. It seems that while I have been away tragedy has struck and Days of our Libraries has lost her cooking mojo. Kiwichick's kind gift of a thorny IT problem to sink my teeth into did little to alleviate my suffering.
Anyway, I seemed to have gotten my email under control and achieved not much else yesterday. Perhaps I shall return to work today?
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Tales of Xmas Survival
This busy Xmas period has seen several examples of great courage, willpower and general mental fortitude in the face of nigh-overwhelming adversity.
The first such example was the attendance of Salsa Girl at the annual Library Xmas party. It all really began in the afternoon when, after arriving early at my place of work in order to feel more relaxed about the looming party, Salsa Girl was pounced upon by the inquisitive Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick. Unfortunately one was busy rescuing some forlorn computers so who knows of what was spoken between them whilst I was out of earshot.
After such shaky beginnings we were soon making our way to The Administrator's abode for the event proper. All in all it went well and Salsa Girl held up under the pressure of several dozen inquisitive librarians.
One did wonder if one had made a mistake when conversation with The Beaumaris Ballerina turned to the subject of the non-attendance of her beau. Her statement - "oh, I would never expose him to this" - did give me pause for thought as to what I was putting my good lady through.
In the end though we managed to get out unscathed before the karaoke - which I think is a big win on our parts.
The second celebration of survival involves my trekking north for an Xmas day feast with the maternal branch of Salsa Girl's family.
After braving locust swarms of biblical proportions - well a smallish bible anyway - we arrived in time to relax before attending to afternoon tea which soon became Xmas Eve dinner.
Xmas day itself saw the arrival of a sumptuous trifle, along with Grandma, and then the unveiling of a grand feast. I survived the lunch and believe I made quite the good impression by restricting myself to a heaped plate of seconds rather than returning for thirds and appearing greedy.
Our third tale of survival involves the mad dash from the northern regions back to the surrounds of Melbourne for attendance at Xmas dinner at one's aunties residence.
With consummate timing Salsa Girl and I arrived just as the main course was being commenced. We quite easily slipped into line several times until we'd had our fill of mains and then patiently awaited the desserts. There were introductions, and conversations, and general laid back family Xmas type goings on.
Upon departing Salsa Girl seemed to have survived her first meeting with my larger family with no lasting trauma. Oneself did suffer from some inexplicable stomach pains. Still nothing one hasn't survived on many previous Xmases.
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The first such example was the attendance of Salsa Girl at the annual Library Xmas party. It all really began in the afternoon when, after arriving early at my place of work in order to feel more relaxed about the looming party, Salsa Girl was pounced upon by the inquisitive Days of our Libraries and Kiwichick. Unfortunately one was busy rescuing some forlorn computers so who knows of what was spoken between them whilst I was out of earshot.
After such shaky beginnings we were soon making our way to The Administrator's abode for the event proper. All in all it went well and Salsa Girl held up under the pressure of several dozen inquisitive librarians.
One did wonder if one had made a mistake when conversation with The Beaumaris Ballerina turned to the subject of the non-attendance of her beau. Her statement - "oh, I would never expose him to this" - did give me pause for thought as to what I was putting my good lady through.
In the end though we managed to get out unscathed before the karaoke - which I think is a big win on our parts.
The second celebration of survival involves my trekking north for an Xmas day feast with the maternal branch of Salsa Girl's family.
After braving locust swarms of biblical proportions - well a smallish bible anyway - we arrived in time to relax before attending to afternoon tea which soon became Xmas Eve dinner.
Xmas day itself saw the arrival of a sumptuous trifle, along with Grandma, and then the unveiling of a grand feast. I survived the lunch and believe I made quite the good impression by restricting myself to a heaped plate of seconds rather than returning for thirds and appearing greedy.
Our third tale of survival involves the mad dash from the northern regions back to the surrounds of Melbourne for attendance at Xmas dinner at one's aunties residence.
With consummate timing Salsa Girl and I arrived just as the main course was being commenced. We quite easily slipped into line several times until we'd had our fill of mains and then patiently awaited the desserts. There were introductions, and conversations, and general laid back family Xmas type goings on.
Upon departing Salsa Girl seemed to have survived her first meeting with my larger family with no lasting trauma. Oneself did suffer from some inexplicable stomach pains. Still nothing one hasn't survived on many previous Xmases.
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Going on the Market
With the lovely Svetlana extending her return to Svetlanaland indefinitely the time has come for yours truly to return to the status of eligible bachelor.
Well actually the time came several months back and a discussion was had with Svets about my ending the patient waiting and returning to dating. However the plethora of projects and other distractions has kept me from making much of a start on it in the intervening months.
So in true Tales style one of my many seduction plans is to go into online dating with a brutally honest profile that reveals both of my faults.
This should ensure that no Candidates are surprised by what they get and should, in fact, result in them self-omitting themselves from contention if for some unfathomable reason they don't find me suitable.
Amongst all of this preparation I have garnered another Caution for you.
Be careful about asking the girls at work for a little help to make sure you are on the right track. There is a high chance that the likes of Days of our Libraries, Kiwichick, AntagonisticAl, and Lord of the Small Fries, will usurp full editorial control and force a whole lot of help upon you. Including incentive-cake to get you to go-live months before your slow and steady pace would have had you do so.
Of course the good side of the help is that they are making sure I don't make bad choices by enforcing their rules such as "no crazies and definitely no gingers".
So having gone live with my profile yesterday it is now time to sit back and wait for the responses to begin. I expect it shall be much like waiting for popcorn - starting with a few odd pops but quickly becoming a deafening chorus.
In the meantime I shall be busy enjoying my incentive-cake.
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Well actually the time came several months back and a discussion was had with Svets about my ending the patient waiting and returning to dating. However the plethora of projects and other distractions has kept me from making much of a start on it in the intervening months.
So in true Tales style one of my many seduction plans is to go into online dating with a brutally honest profile that reveals both of my faults.
This should ensure that no Candidates are surprised by what they get and should, in fact, result in them self-omitting themselves from contention if for some unfathomable reason they don't find me suitable.
Amongst all of this preparation I have garnered another Caution for you.
Be careful about asking the girls at work for a little help to make sure you are on the right track. There is a high chance that the likes of Days of our Libraries, Kiwichick, AntagonisticAl, and Lord of the Small Fries, will usurp full editorial control and force a whole lot of help upon you. Including incentive-cake to get you to go-live months before your slow and steady pace would have had you do so.
Of course the good side of the help is that they are making sure I don't make bad choices by enforcing their rules such as "no crazies and definitely no gingers".
So having gone live with my profile yesterday it is now time to sit back and wait for the responses to begin. I expect it shall be much like waiting for popcorn - starting with a few odd pops but quickly becoming a deafening chorus.
In the meantime I shall be busy enjoying my incentive-cake.
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The Missing Weeks. Part the Third
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
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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
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... 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!
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... 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!
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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 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 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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... 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.
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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.
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... The Wiper Swiper
So you go to Legion2's place for the regular night of gaming. A good night is had by all and then at the tail end of the festivities you make your way to your car - parked just outside the front door in the driveway twenty metres from the road - and find the driver side mirror folded flat towards the front of the car.
You put it down to some weird joke as it does fit into the realm of things-Pirate Dave-would-do-on-his-way-out-the-door.
However, once you start driving you quickly realise that your driver side windscreen wiper is gone and on closer inspection so is half the arm that hold it in place.
It then takes you some time to fall asleep as you mind is awash with images of right-of-passage "go up the driveway and get the aerial off that car" kind of things which your cars short and stubby roof-mounted aerial thwarts leaving the wiper blade as the next best thing; or stranger bizarre revenge plots.
It all shifts from the weird to the mirk-some (mirked = mildly irked) when, after instructing another room full of 2.0ites, you find that the arm bits and rubber come with a $50 replacement cost (well $48 but I rounded up for dramatic effect.) - and they have to order the part in!
- -
Speaking of 2.0, while in the process of instructing Kiwichick and others it came to light that, despite my resolute proclamations to the contrary, I had already done del.icio.us.
Also present was AntagonisticAl, our latest marketing person. For some reason she was deeply suspicious of me and contemplating pre-emptive blog-based revenge. I suspect something about tormenting me must be in the handover notes from Torchwood or possibly inserted into the marketing position description by Supervisor Grand Chief K.
.
You put it down to some weird joke as it does fit into the realm of things-Pirate Dave-would-do-on-his-way-out-the-door.
However, once you start driving you quickly realise that your driver side windscreen wiper is gone and on closer inspection so is half the arm that hold it in place.
It then takes you some time to fall asleep as you mind is awash with images of right-of-passage "go up the driveway and get the aerial off that car" kind of things which your cars short and stubby roof-mounted aerial thwarts leaving the wiper blade as the next best thing; or stranger bizarre revenge plots.
It all shifts from the weird to the mirk-some (mirked = mildly irked) when, after instructing another room full of 2.0ites, you find that the arm bits and rubber come with a $50 replacement cost (well $48 but I rounded up for dramatic effect.) - and they have to order the part in!
- -
Speaking of 2.0, while in the process of instructing Kiwichick and others it came to light that, despite my resolute proclamations to the contrary, I had already done del.icio.us.
Also present was AntagonisticAl, our latest marketing person. For some reason she was deeply suspicious of me and contemplating pre-emptive blog-based revenge. I suspect something about tormenting me must be in the handover notes from Torchwood or possibly inserted into the marketing position description by Supervisor Grand Chief K.
.
... Triumph Over Torchwood
Although I new this was coming I sat on the news until now in case it was another one of her dastardly tricks - Torchwood has left the Library Building!
Yes notch up another Marketing officer to my tally - three now. After the fight Torchwood gave me I have really honed my skills and fear that the next one doesn't stand a chance so prepare to make it four.
In any case my triumph was celebrated in style on Friday night at the "farewell" for Torchwood- poor thing, she thought it was to say goodbye to her.
My one concern in all this is that I will be painted as the bad guy when it's obvious that what we see is the culmination of a long brewed plot from Supervisor Grand Chief K in retaliation for the Literary Festival Incident.
Only SGCK could have enough pull in the immigration department to mess with Mr Torchwood's VISA enough to force The Torchwood's to return home to Leekland.
Of course SGCK as been particularly clever in her machinations as Torchwood's unfounded antagonism towards me (which I was forced to return) will ensure that I bear the brunt of everyone's blame for this.
In any case the night went well with everyone gathering at the appointed venue and having plentiful drinks. I may have strained a voice muscle making a sarcastic farewell speech without microphone assistance in the noisy venue and, unfortunately, said noise robbed my witty barbs of their power.
Towards the middle of the evening Kiwichick showed her excellent sheep herding nous and gathered a group of us together to enjoy a meal at a delightful Thai place she frequents regularly. I think she will be unable to return now that the restaurant has experienced the behaviour of Librarians off the Leash. For the dinner we employed a special code to save me any difficult Svetlana questions about having dinner with a table full of women. So, when I report back to my beloved, I was dining with: Pauly, Ross, Steven, Ji, Jim, Ronnie, and possibly some others but who bothers to remember names when you're out with the blokes. Oh yeah and I was Suzanne - my girl name i.e. the name Freeloading Mum had picked out before I turned out to be overwhelmingly rugged and manly - I know it doesn't make any sense but at that time of night you don't mess with Kiwichick logic.
We returned to the original venue to enjoy more drinks until eventually I managed to escape from Torchwood's inebriated clutches with the old "last train" excuse.
Torchwood has managed to get in a parting shot however as today I had to haul myself out to Beaumaris to do her job for her and help set up a seminar for the borrowers.
Fingers crossed that she's not sitting there at her desk when I get in tomorrow to give me her old "HaHA you fell for it" routine.
Yes notch up another Marketing officer to my tally - three now. After the fight Torchwood gave me I have really honed my skills and fear that the next one doesn't stand a chance so prepare to make it four.
In any case my triumph was celebrated in style on Friday night at the "farewell" for Torchwood- poor thing, she thought it was to say goodbye to her.
My one concern in all this is that I will be painted as the bad guy when it's obvious that what we see is the culmination of a long brewed plot from Supervisor Grand Chief K in retaliation for the Literary Festival Incident.
Only SGCK could have enough pull in the immigration department to mess with Mr Torchwood's VISA enough to force The Torchwood's to return home to Leekland.
Of course SGCK as been particularly clever in her machinations as Torchwood's unfounded antagonism towards me (which I was forced to return) will ensure that I bear the brunt of everyone's blame for this.
In any case the night went well with everyone gathering at the appointed venue and having plentiful drinks. I may have strained a voice muscle making a sarcastic farewell speech without microphone assistance in the noisy venue and, unfortunately, said noise robbed my witty barbs of their power.
Towards the middle of the evening Kiwichick showed her excellent sheep herding nous and gathered a group of us together to enjoy a meal at a delightful Thai place she frequents regularly. I think she will be unable to return now that the restaurant has experienced the behaviour of Librarians off the Leash. For the dinner we employed a special code to save me any difficult Svetlana questions about having dinner with a table full of women. So, when I report back to my beloved, I was dining with: Pauly, Ross, Steven, Ji, Jim, Ronnie, and possibly some others but who bothers to remember names when you're out with the blokes. Oh yeah and I was Suzanne - my girl name i.e. the name Freeloading Mum had picked out before I turned out to be overwhelmingly rugged and manly - I know it doesn't make any sense but at that time of night you don't mess with Kiwichick logic.
We returned to the original venue to enjoy more drinks until eventually I managed to escape from Torchwood's inebriated clutches with the old "last train" excuse.
Torchwood has managed to get in a parting shot however as today I had to haul myself out to Beaumaris to do her job for her and help set up a seminar for the borrowers.
Fingers crossed that she's not sitting there at her desk when I get in tomorrow to give me her old "HaHA you fell for it" routine.
... The Fabulous Free 50th Feast
This Thursday past was Sandringham Library's 50th birthday and it had it's birthday party in the evening.
At first I thought there may have been some sort of conspiracy to keep me away from the food as I was in meetings at Brighton all morning and then there was a mix-up that had me hanging around waiting to make Beeby into "my young apprentice" - in the work sense since he's already well down the freeloading road all on his own.
Eventually I made it to Sandy but all the anxiety about missing out on the free feed led me to almost overdo the pre-feast eating - the nibbling and scrounging from the preparation table covered with the magnificent cake-work of Days of our Libraries and Country Girl, not to mention the many horses doovers and the dippyness of Mr Prada.
So heres another caution: pace yourself on a feast day as there's nothing worse than a wasted free dinner.
Luckily my years of training and robust constitution led to a quick recovery from that horrific "I ate too quickly and there's still so much more to eat" feeling and I was able to consume with the best of them by the time the main event rolled around - it will take the knuckle bruising from repeated "you can't eat that yet" rapping a bit longer to heal though.
The opening speech was given by Supervisor Grand Chief K with no sign of Torchwood. I can only hope that this means that SGCK has had the Torchwood problem taken care of permanently.
Other highlights include:
My suspicion about a food deprivation conspirary deepened at the end of the night when the leftovers were quickly hustled out the door to go to the other branches rather than stay at the one I'd be at the next day.
At first I thought there may have been some sort of conspiracy to keep me away from the food as I was in meetings at Brighton all morning and then there was a mix-up that had me hanging around waiting to make Beeby into "my young apprentice" - in the work sense since he's already well down the freeloading road all on his own.
Eventually I made it to Sandy but all the anxiety about missing out on the free feed led me to almost overdo the pre-feast eating - the nibbling and scrounging from the preparation table covered with the magnificent cake-work of Days of our Libraries and Country Girl, not to mention the many horses doovers and the dippyness of Mr Prada.
So heres another caution: pace yourself on a feast day as there's nothing worse than a wasted free dinner.
Luckily my years of training and robust constitution led to a quick recovery from that horrific "I ate too quickly and there's still so much more to eat" feeling and I was able to consume with the best of them by the time the main event rolled around - it will take the knuckle bruising from repeated "you can't eat that yet" rapping a bit longer to heal though.
The opening speech was given by Supervisor Grand Chief K with no sign of Torchwood. I can only hope that this means that SGCK has had the Torchwood problem taken care of permanently.
Other highlights include:
- a lot of mingling with the ghosts of Sandringham librarianship past
- Kiwichick, Days and The Pragmatist sporting wonderful 50's fashion
- the return of Chanlib and Vikki;
- a dozen library staff behind the desk when borrowers came up to be served;
My suspicion about a food deprivation conspirary deepened at the end of the night when the leftovers were quickly hustled out the door to go to the other branches rather than stay at the one I'd be at the next day.
... 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.
... A Year of The Tales
My how the time flies. Today marks the one year anniversary of the humble start of The Tales. Perhaps fittingly I have been far too busy to post this last week. In fact the idea of closing The Tales on the anniversary had crossed my mind - going out on a high and all that.
However I think I'm going to carry on and grind The Tales into the ground, shedding readers until I am once again typing only to myself - after all I can't let 113 posts go to waste.
So, on with the show...
Mad March
My recent hecticity has been the beginning of what I am referring to as Mad March. Many projects are being embarked plus the social calendar has been busy and shonky electrics at two of the libraries have conspired to rob me of any chance of spare time blessing me with its presence.
The Prelude
The evening before the beginning of Mad March was a drinks and dinner evening for the staff of Sandringham and Hampton branches organised by Mr Prada.
Arriving late - I had to sample the free consumables being provided at the council social club happy hour - I discovered that apparently Supervisor Grand Chief K was now based at our branch. Even her renowned enabling skills couldn't get any more than a handful of staff to stay for the dinner segment of the evening - herself included.
The evening went pretty much as expected given that Sandringham has now now taken the title of smuttiest branch from Beaumaris thanks to the hard work of Mr Prada and Days of our Libraries. The ordering of the spatchcock by Kiwichick was greeted by the expected gales of laughter and Innocent Em's requests for a lift home from yours truly at the end of the evening lead to all sorts of wonderful innuendo based comedy. All in all not a bad evening as far as such self-funded events go.
A Little Geekery
My Saturday disappeared in quite quickly after I spontaneously decided to buy myself a cheap document scanner. It turns out that a combo scanner, printer, copier fit perfectly into my tight budget so I was busy unpacking and installing for most of the afternoon.
In the afternoon I tootled off to Alecto's for dinner with her and Rugrat Twin. After dinner we had Rugrat Twin and my first viewing of Shaun of the Dead. It was a good humorous addition to the Zombie genre - although if it were a book I think it would have a genre sticker a little like this:
A Bit More Geekery
Sunday began with the resumption of my watching of my Farscape season one DVDs which I have managed to guilt back out of Scully's hands since my return from Svetlanaland.
The afternoon and evening was the return of the monthly-esque Sunday afternoon gaming. There was a bumper turnout this time with Badger, Amoeba and Mechwarrior Wayne all putting in their first appearances ever.
However I think I'm going to carry on and grind The Tales into the ground, shedding readers until I am once again typing only to myself - after all I can't let 113 posts go to waste.
So, on with the show...
Mad March
My recent hecticity has been the beginning of what I am referring to as Mad March. Many projects are being embarked plus the social calendar has been busy and shonky electrics at two of the libraries have conspired to rob me of any chance of spare time blessing me with its presence.
The Prelude
The evening before the beginning of Mad March was a drinks and dinner evening for the staff of Sandringham and Hampton branches organised by Mr Prada.
Arriving late - I had to sample the free consumables being provided at the council social club happy hour - I discovered that apparently Supervisor Grand Chief K was now based at our branch. Even her renowned enabling skills couldn't get any more than a handful of staff to stay for the dinner segment of the evening - herself included.
The evening went pretty much as expected given that Sandringham has now now taken the title of smuttiest branch from Beaumaris thanks to the hard work of Mr Prada and Days of our Libraries. The ordering of the spatchcock by Kiwichick was greeted by the expected gales of laughter and Innocent Em's requests for a lift home from yours truly at the end of the evening lead to all sorts of wonderful innuendo based comedy. All in all not a bad evening as far as such self-funded events go.
A Little Geekery
My Saturday disappeared in quite quickly after I spontaneously decided to buy myself a cheap document scanner. It turns out that a combo scanner, printer, copier fit perfectly into my tight budget so I was busy unpacking and installing for most of the afternoon.
In the afternoon I tootled off to Alecto's for dinner with her and Rugrat Twin. After dinner we had Rugrat Twin and my first viewing of Shaun of the Dead. It was a good humorous addition to the Zombie genre - although if it were a book I think it would have a genre sticker a little like this:
A Bit More Geekery
Sunday began with the resumption of my watching of my Farscape season one DVDs which I have managed to guilt back out of Scully's hands since my return from Svetlanaland.
The afternoon and evening was the return of the monthly-esque Sunday afternoon gaming. There was a bumper turnout this time with Badger, Amoeba and Mechwarrior Wayne all putting in their first appearances ever.
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