... the IT man in LibraryLand
Well, except one of them was a gaming event - but I am not one to let facts stand in the way of a blog entry.
And in any case, said gaming event did involve more drinking than one of the parties!
The celebrating kicked off on an unknown day with a Grand Final watching extravaganza. The event was hosted by The Wiggs and was only a short drive from work - and therefore long drive from home.
The day involved no less than three costume changes from yours truly as beginning the party in one's Collingwood jumper was against the rules of MrRogers and The Electric Tiger; and then one's lesser-of-two-evils coloured attire seemed rather pointless after, oh, 10 minutes or so of footy.
Lack of exciting footy action did allow one to have a catchup talk with Mrs BestFriendSincePrep and also indulge ones fondness for snacks.
The very next day saw another long drive to the vicinity of work. This one was in order to attend a milestone soirée for Supervisor Grand Chief K.
The event marked Hulk's introduction to high society as she, and Salsa Girl, fit perfectly into the Spring Racing garden party theme - oneself also fit perfectly into the sub-theme of car park.
Along the way to being shown the finer points of Croquet by Hulk - just hitting the nearest ball is apparently how one does it properly - one was able to pass pleasantries with the likes of Devil's Advocate (or should that be Devils ), The Administrator and Sonja Roster Queen.
One's third party was the regular all staff training day of which all I can bear to bring myself to mention is the provision of merely adequate amounts of food. Oh Mr Prada why to you torture me so!
Gaming Sunday, being the final of the parties, began with Hulk's first board game - The Little Mole Who Knew it was none of his Business - big thanks My Guitarist for the poo-themed book, game, and plush mole bundle.
Gaming partying continued with a plethora of games and attendees - Legion2, Pirate Dave, Amoeba, and Miasmakat finally putting in an appearance after 15 years on the invite list - all of us dosed with lashings of the finest whiskey.
All in all a grand series of good times - and a jolly good reason for not posting anything for a month or more.
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Showing posts with label Devil's Advocate. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Devil's Advocate. Show all posts
A Great Footy Night In
With The Great Sandro on an overseas jaunt, it fell on Pirate Dave and Legion2 to fulfil the role of ones company for the comfortable at home watching of the Collingwood v Carlton game last night.
It was a great night of sporting with our team - the magpies - far out-sporting the other teams players with some magnificent sports activities.
Ones only regret is that ElfBoy was not present for the required stirring of the losers.
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ps And here are all the apostrophes removed from the above for fear of placing them errantly - Devils Advocate and other apostrophe people please add them back in as appropriate.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
It was a great night of sporting with our team - the magpies - far out-sporting the other teams players with some magnificent sports activities.
Ones only regret is that ElfBoy was not present for the required stirring of the losers.
.
ps And here are all the apostrophes removed from the above for fear of placing them errantly - Devils Advocate and other apostrophe people please add them back in as appropriate.
' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '
When the Girl's're Away ...
... one obviously starts to have a problem with the proper commission of the apostrophe.
(apologies to Devil's Advocate & LittleBigGirl for the pain the title caused)
In any case, with Salsa Girl and Hulk off north visiting Grandma J it is time for one to cut loose.
Yes that's right, it's time for a three day frenzy of sans-pants partying, mad gaming madness, and other general hullabaloo!
The Tiger shall be hiding in the furthest reaches of the household to escape the non-stop party action engulfing the household.
Wooo! Yeah! PAARRTTTEEEEEEEE!
Although... perhaps one might instead just indulge in one's first sleep-in for nigh on two years.
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(apologies to Devil's Advocate & LittleBigGirl for the pain the title caused)
In any case, with Salsa Girl and Hulk off north visiting Grandma J it is time for one to cut loose.
Yes that's right, it's time for a three day frenzy of sans-pants partying, mad gaming madness, and other general hullabaloo!
The Tiger shall be hiding in the furthest reaches of the household to escape the non-stop party action engulfing the household.
Wooo! Yeah! PAARRTTTEEEEEEEE!
Although... perhaps one might instead just indulge in one's first sleep-in for nigh on two years.
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The Sidekick Search
Those who have known me for a while will be aware of my alter ego spawned during the heady days of Malaclypse III in the company of the likes of FridgePower, Judge Mingus, My Guitarist, Tuck, and other assorted musos - Testosterone Man - possibly related to fervent pounding of drums and other rugged and manly pursuits.
In any case the lack of a sidekick has held me/him back in all endeavours for many a decade.
I have tried many avenues to protégée procurement:
However recently the stars seem to have aligned. Not only have I managed to finally rid the library of the scourge of marketing for once and all, but the resulting employment gap has been deigned to be filled with an IT Sidekick!
Supervisor Grand Chief K did, however, make sure it was not all puppies and roses for me as she dropped the responsibility for the "Recruitment Process" into my lap. Hence I have been up to my neck in SeekSpam and resume reading for weeks now. Culminating in a day of interviews in which I had to suffer through Devil's Advocate always offering the other point of view, and other various moments of me not getting my whim. Honestly I don't know what I was thinking putting together that interview panel.
Still we are very close now and it shouldn't be long before I can strut out at work with a sidekick by my side (and slightly behind).
Of course we are local government so not long is probably next Autumn.
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In any case the lack of a sidekick has held me/him back in all endeavours for many a decade.
I have tried many avenues to protégée procurement:
- trials of Rhythm Section equals - Judge Mingus did not last long before soloing off on his own
- grow your own - knocked on the head by Salsa Girl as Hulk is apparently too young to be cruising the streets fighting crime
- recruitment - alas, while an awesome gaming addition, Young Jim, has proven rather reluctant on the whole smashing things to bits front. (and what's more he has a tendency to betrayal as evidenced by a 3 nil thrashing he once handed out to me while in league with Badger)
- pleading with Supervisor Grand Chief K for the necessary help in getting all my work demons defeated - repeatedly scoffed at and uncomprehendingly disbelieved about the amount of effort required to make librarians happy on the IT front
However recently the stars seem to have aligned. Not only have I managed to finally rid the library of the scourge of marketing for once and all, but the resulting employment gap has been deigned to be filled with an IT Sidekick!
Supervisor Grand Chief K did, however, make sure it was not all puppies and roses for me as she dropped the responsibility for the "Recruitment Process" into my lap. Hence I have been up to my neck in SeekSpam and resume reading for weeks now. Culminating in a day of interviews in which I had to suffer through Devil's Advocate always offering the other point of view, and other various moments of me not getting my whim. Honestly I don't know what I was thinking putting together that interview panel.
Still we are very close now and it shouldn't be long before I can strut out at work with a sidekick by my side (and slightly behind).
Of course we are local government so not long is probably next Autumn.
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My Week of Cake
This year my birthday week has been focused on baked goods - specifically cake.
I started the dessert theme myself, as one often has to, by concealing subtle hints within my weekly update to my library staff concerning my projected whereabouts for the remainder of the week.
Here is an example of the level cunning subtleness I employed:
At first it appeared not to have worked as I went a whole day without cake. However my Wednesday arrival at BEA branch was greeted with not one but two cakes - joy!
It seems that Devil's Advocate had supplied a largish piece of Emergency Cake in case there was a critical lack of cake in my system.
So having polished off the Emergency Cake I moved on to tackling the larger, yet just as delightfully chocolaty, cake supplied by The Beaumaris Ballerina. Some time after that I started fixing computers and other things IT in a state of cake-induced fugue.
Thursday was such a blur of meetings and schnitzel lunches and crazy weather that I failed to notice the lack of any cake-ish things.
This serious lapse from my compatriots was rectified on Friday morning when I stepped out of a morning meeting into a cake wonderland - complete with the second present (no wait Pirate Dave gave me some Dolphin Clips Thursday night - let your imagination run wild about what exactly a Dolphin Clip is...) I mean Third present.
See how happy I am with my giant RFID tag cake courtesy of Days of our Libraries
(couriered in secretly by Bomber Babe).
My cake euphoria carried me through the remainder of the day and into the evening where I caught up with birthday twin CC having drinks to celebrate her attaining a measly total age on the morrow.
I stayed only long enough to down a couple of drinks and treated the whole exercise as a training run for this evenings main event.
Now I'd best be off to gussy myself up for my time in the limelight tonight. After all there is such an awful lot of gussying to be done.
I'll end with a caution for you oh good readers of mine: with what BestFriendSincePrep has planned for this evening, and knowing his track record, I fear that this missive may very well be the last time you hear from me alive...
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I started the dessert theme myself, as one often has to, by concealing subtle hints within my weekly update to my library staff concerning my projected whereabouts for the remainder of the week.
Here is an example of the level cunning subtleness I employed:
Tuesday Feb 2: At SAN library all day fixing computers and possibly getting surprise birthday cake.
At first it appeared not to have worked as I went a whole day without cake. However my Wednesday arrival at BEA branch was greeted with not one but two cakes - joy!
It seems that Devil's Advocate had supplied a largish piece of Emergency Cake in case there was a critical lack of cake in my system.
So having polished off the Emergency Cake I moved on to tackling the larger, yet just as delightfully chocolaty, cake supplied by The Beaumaris Ballerina. Some time after that I started fixing computers and other things IT in a state of cake-induced fugue.
Thursday was such a blur of meetings and schnitzel lunches and crazy weather that I failed to notice the lack of any cake-ish things.
This serious lapse from my compatriots was rectified on Friday morning when I stepped out of a morning meeting into a cake wonderland - complete with the second present (no wait Pirate Dave gave me some Dolphin Clips Thursday night - let your imagination run wild about what exactly a Dolphin Clip is...) I mean Third present.
See how happy I am with my giant RFID tag cake courtesy of Days of our Libraries(couriered in secretly by Bomber Babe).
My cake euphoria carried me through the remainder of the day and into the evening where I caught up with birthday twin CC having drinks to celebrate her attaining a measly total age on the morrow.
I stayed only long enough to down a couple of drinks and treated the whole exercise as a training run for this evenings main event.
Now I'd best be off to gussy myself up for my time in the limelight tonight. After all there is such an awful lot of gussying to be done.
I'll end with a caution for you oh good readers of mine: with what BestFriendSincePrep has planned for this evening, and knowing his track record, I fear that this missive may very well be the last time you hear from me alive...
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... The Regular Round-Up
Well my bountiful social activities have once again left me unable to write for the past week.
My roller-coaster week began last Sunday with my hosting of the regular Sunday gaming day.
Despite many regulars being in attendance it ended uncharacteristically prior to midnight leaving me at somewhat of a loss about what to do until my usual Sunday Gaming bedtime of 2am.
The Brownlow
Monday night was spent watching my first Brownlow medal telecast for many a year. The nigh unbearable mixture of cheesiness and tedium was made more bearable by my sharing the evening with The Great Sandro although I doubt I'll make a regular event of it as I can now recall why it is that I've not often brought myself to watch it in the past.
The Return of Supervisor S
Tuesday brought the return of Supervisor S after a two year parental absence. The omens are not good as her return was heralded by a great flooding of the library - although this happening a scant fortnight before new carpet was laid and also not affecting any IT equipment at all may actually make it a good omen.
The Umpteenth Geektogether
With the dramatic end of the game at The Viking Hat GM's last week, this Wednesday saw a gathering at the now usual Southgate watering hole. Numbers were low so it was mostly an enjoyable post-mortom of the events of the previous week in which TVHGM pointed out all our failings as players and we, in turn, his as GM. Fun all round I think.
The Free Food Day
Thursday was a day of morning tea, catered lunch, and afternoon cakes, all punctuated with moments of meeting. If only such events were held on a weekly basis.
The Sad Farewell
All of Friday's hectic workday events were overshadowed by the fact that it was the final day of Devil's Advocate's stint at HQ. There were goodbye hugs and tearful mutterings aplenty as well as much bubbly (thanks to the expedition organising skills of Big J).
I was so overwhelmed by the emotion of the event that I had to stay on into the evening until enough emotion was out of my system that I could legally drive home.
The Grand Final
Saturday dawned bright and, well, stormy. Amidst a day of hail and torrential rain I made good on my much awaited promise to The Great Sandro that we would be able to watch a Grand Final together.
So together we made the great journey out to BestFriendSincePrep's and, along with the likes of StumpyRudolph, The Electric Tiger, and MrRogers, made a great day of watching a game in which neither of our teams was participating.
We made a complete day of it and stayed into the evening as I had to once again wait for the emotion to leave my system before chauffeuring him safely home.
The Aimless Day
And so we come to today.
After a luxuriant albeit feline interrupted sleep-in I have found my first real free day to have far too easily evaporated away leaving me with little to show in terms of results other than relaxation.
Hopefully that shall see me through the coming week in good stead.
.
My roller-coaster week began last Sunday with my hosting of the regular Sunday gaming day.
Despite many regulars being in attendance it ended uncharacteristically prior to midnight leaving me at somewhat of a loss about what to do until my usual Sunday Gaming bedtime of 2am.
The Brownlow
Monday night was spent watching my first Brownlow medal telecast for many a year. The nigh unbearable mixture of cheesiness and tedium was made more bearable by my sharing the evening with The Great Sandro although I doubt I'll make a regular event of it as I can now recall why it is that I've not often brought myself to watch it in the past.
The Return of Supervisor S
Tuesday brought the return of Supervisor S after a two year parental absence. The omens are not good as her return was heralded by a great flooding of the library - although this happening a scant fortnight before new carpet was laid and also not affecting any IT equipment at all may actually make it a good omen.
The Umpteenth Geektogether
With the dramatic end of the game at The Viking Hat GM's last week, this Wednesday saw a gathering at the now usual Southgate watering hole. Numbers were low so it was mostly an enjoyable post-mortom of the events of the previous week in which TVHGM pointed out all our failings as players and we, in turn, his as GM. Fun all round I think.
The Free Food Day
Thursday was a day of morning tea, catered lunch, and afternoon cakes, all punctuated with moments of meeting. If only such events were held on a weekly basis.
The Sad Farewell
All of Friday's hectic workday events were overshadowed by the fact that it was the final day of Devil's Advocate's stint at HQ. There were goodbye hugs and tearful mutterings aplenty as well as much bubbly (thanks to the expedition organising skills of Big J).
I was so overwhelmed by the emotion of the event that I had to stay on into the evening until enough emotion was out of my system that I could legally drive home.
The Grand Final
Saturday dawned bright and, well, stormy. Amidst a day of hail and torrential rain I made good on my much awaited promise to The Great Sandro that we would be able to watch a Grand Final together.
So together we made the great journey out to BestFriendSincePrep's and, along with the likes of StumpyRudolph, The Electric Tiger, and MrRogers, made a great day of watching a game in which neither of our teams was participating.
We made a complete day of it and stayed into the evening as I had to once again wait for the emotion to leave my system before chauffeuring him safely home.
The Aimless Day
And so we come to today.
After a luxuriant albeit feline interrupted sleep-in I have found my first real free day to have far too easily evaporated away leaving me with little to show in terms of results other than relaxation.
Hopefully that shall see me through the coming week in good stead.
.
... The Dinner with The Lords
After a hectic Friday which included:
Upon arrival, after negotiating acceptance from the hounds, I was delighted to meet Mr Lord and also discover that the evening was to include free beer as well.
So good was the meal and company that I stayed all evening enjoying conversation, a truly impressive media centre, opportunities to be a hound pillow, and free beer.
Of course the universe cannot allow everything to go smoothly so my post-midnight return home was cursed with red traffic lights at every intersection and trains at every crossing.
Still, all in all, a fine way to finish of the week.
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- enduring a two hour meeting about carpet
- enduring a stuff lunch celebrating various things to do with Devil's Advocate, Lord of the Small Fries, and Oz at which nobody but yours truly wished to stay beyond the appointed duration
- having to leave the after lunch cake to rush off and fix problems at another branch
- spending hours tracking down a faulty piece of equipment and getting everything back working
- staying late to run some regular upgrades
Upon arrival, after negotiating acceptance from the hounds, I was delighted to meet Mr Lord and also discover that the evening was to include free beer as well.
So good was the meal and company that I stayed all evening enjoying conversation, a truly impressive media centre, opportunities to be a hound pillow, and free beer.
Of course the universe cannot allow everything to go smoothly so my post-midnight return home was cursed with red traffic lights at every intersection and trains at every crossing.
Still, all in all, a fine way to finish of the week.
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... The Free Food Frenzy
So I spent most of the last week in training sessions in the heart of our beloved city.
Many and varied was my company including: Devil's Advocate, Sister Serials, Sonja Roster Queen and Miss Amanda for the majority of the time and special guest appearances by Mr Prada, Days of our Libraries, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, and The Pragmatist.
All of these exciting training companions were overshadowed by the fact that this particular round of training was accompanied by an incredible four days of free lunches!!!
I don't believe I have ever had it so good. I didn't even mind heading out for a girly shopping expedition on behalf of Svetlana.
On top of this bounty of brunches came the Friday farewell party for a libraryland associate of years past - complete with free drinks and circulating snacks!
However, as with all good things, the universe had to right the cosmic karma imbalance and, during my Saturday attendance at the footy with Legion2 and The Great Sandro, my hunger got the better of me forcing the purchase of sustenance in the form of one $20 pie.
Things did swing slightly back in the other direction today when I was able to take advantage of a free trip to NSW care of BestFriendSincePrep.
I was recruited for my excellent company on the long drive and possibly to put my strength into lifting the package we had headed North to collect. Many hours of great conversation and camaraderie was had before we returned to his abode and he 'remembered' an IT issue he had that required urgent proffessional attending to.
Sigh.
It seems I can never escape IT on my weekends.
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Many and varied was my company including: Devil's Advocate, Sister Serials, Sonja Roster Queen and Miss Amanda for the majority of the time and special guest appearances by Mr Prada, Days of our Libraries, Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum, and The Pragmatist.
All of these exciting training companions were overshadowed by the fact that this particular round of training was accompanied by an incredible four days of free lunches!!!
I don't believe I have ever had it so good. I didn't even mind heading out for a girly shopping expedition on behalf of Svetlana.
On top of this bounty of brunches came the Friday farewell party for a libraryland associate of years past - complete with free drinks and circulating snacks!
However, as with all good things, the universe had to right the cosmic karma imbalance and, during my Saturday attendance at the footy with Legion2 and The Great Sandro, my hunger got the better of me forcing the purchase of sustenance in the form of one $20 pie.
Things did swing slightly back in the other direction today when I was able to take advantage of a free trip to NSW care of BestFriendSincePrep.
I was recruited for my excellent company on the long drive and possibly to put my strength into lifting the package we had headed North to collect. Many hours of great conversation and camaraderie was had before we returned to his abode and he 'remembered' an IT issue he had that required urgent proffessional attending to.
Sigh.
It seems I can never escape IT on my weekends.
.
... The Ends of the Earth
(Skye actually)
Yesterday Redneck Ben and I saddled up and made the great journey down south to visit My Guitarist and partner to marvel at her enormous baby bump.
My initial concerns were alleviated when our late afternoon arrival was still in time for lunch (one of the reasons we arrived late was my attendance at a BBQ lunch at MatrixMan's which also included ElfBoy and various spawn of those attending).
Luckily the shock of my annual visit didn't trigger any early labour so we were able to have a comfortable chat and far too much dinner before zooming home at a late hour.
It was a good way to top off the shortened post-Easter working week - even though I felt like I had achieved quite a lot in those scant four days, partly thanks to Devil's Advocate ordering everyone else to ignore me so I could finish things off (I will have to try that again sometime as it was blessedly peaceful and conducive to productivity).
.
Yesterday Redneck Ben and I saddled up and made the great journey down south to visit My Guitarist and partner to marvel at her enormous baby bump.
My initial concerns were alleviated when our late afternoon arrival was still in time for lunch (one of the reasons we arrived late was my attendance at a BBQ lunch at MatrixMan's which also included ElfBoy and various spawn of those attending).
Luckily the shock of my annual visit didn't trigger any early labour so we were able to have a comfortable chat and far too much dinner before zooming home at a late hour.
It was a good way to top off the shortened post-Easter working week - even though I felt like I had achieved quite a lot in those scant four days, partly thanks to Devil's Advocate ordering everyone else to ignore me so I could finish things off (I will have to try that again sometime as it was blessedly peaceful and conducive to productivity).
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... Train Works and Tiger Bites
Last night's quiet night in was frequently punctuated by The Tiger insisting on, at first, food and then all that attention she deserved by birthright.
In her catty way she demanded that I stand beside her as she ate - either that or she has some sort of feline dementia and forgets that there is food in the bowl until I follow her eager escort to the kitchen and lo and behold I have miraculously half filled her bowl and she can now chow down.
In either case it came to the "give me attention" point of the evening and then all of a sudden rubbing against Phill's hand became nipping which became digging the teeth in as the hand was pulled away.
Later, after application of a bandaid and much scolding, I retired for the evening only to be awakened a scant few hours later by the glorious sounds of workers enthusiastically getting back to the nearby overnight railway line work after their Xmas break.
I'm not certain but I do believe they were employing cranes to swing the new rails against each other and create that far-carrying and penetrating ringing sound of metal on metal - they were quite good at it too, carrying on for almost an hour.
Of course all of that night-time hullabaloo left me a tad tired today and, combined with the mind-numbingness of stats work, meant that I slipped up at Devil's Advocate's birthday lunch and didn't think to follow up on the Turkish bread component of my meal when it failed to show up for it's imminent consumption.
I did, however, recover enough in the afternoon to make copious use of the thank you chocolates given to library staff and left unprotected in the staff room.
.
In her catty way she demanded that I stand beside her as she ate - either that or she has some sort of feline dementia and forgets that there is food in the bowl until I follow her eager escort to the kitchen and lo and behold I have miraculously half filled her bowl and she can now chow down.
In either case it came to the "give me attention" point of the evening and then all of a sudden rubbing against Phill's hand became nipping which became digging the teeth in as the hand was pulled away.
Later, after application of a bandaid and much scolding, I retired for the evening only to be awakened a scant few hours later by the glorious sounds of workers enthusiastically getting back to the nearby overnight railway line work after their Xmas break.
I'm not certain but I do believe they were employing cranes to swing the new rails against each other and create that far-carrying and penetrating ringing sound of metal on metal - they were quite good at it too, carrying on for almost an hour.
Of course all of that night-time hullabaloo left me a tad tired today and, combined with the mind-numbingness of stats work, meant that I slipped up at Devil's Advocate's birthday lunch and didn't think to follow up on the Turkish bread component of my meal when it failed to show up for it's imminent consumption.
I did, however, recover enough in the afternoon to make copious use of the thank you chocolates given to library staff and left unprotected in the staff room.
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... A Proper Level of Service
Finally it was here, the day I'd been waiting all year for, Xmas Eve, which also happened to be a much more important date this year - the day of the free Xmas lunch courtesy of the council!
After disentangling myself from the perfidious RFID machines at Beaumaris I made my way to the Corporate Castle to partake in the feasting.
Upon arrival I was informed that due to my slightly late arrival I had missed out on the turkey.
As disastrous as this was I was able to keep it together and hold out my plate for the ham, potatoes, and salads that remained. It was all made better by this years twist to procedures that had the Senior Management Team serving us and one of the seniors was Supervisor Grand Chief K herself. I took a moment to revel in receiving the kind of service I should be receiving all the time.
After fetching myself a nice glass of red I found the library table joining The Administrator, AntagonisticAl, and Devil's Advocate as they finished off their repast. In an unnerving repeat of several weekends ago the dessert was whisked away from our table before I could partake.
Strangely consoling myself with work I went to harass SoccerBuddy about network issues. After growing tired of that I decided to head back and try my luck with obtaining dessert. Luckily there was another library table in the second sitting and I seamlessly joined them and had some wonderful hedgehog and conversation.
After the excitement of lunch there was not much left to the day and I wrapped up my day with a quick trip home and a quiet night in.
.
After disentangling myself from the perfidious RFID machines at Beaumaris I made my way to the Corporate Castle to partake in the feasting.
Upon arrival I was informed that due to my slightly late arrival I had missed out on the turkey.
As disastrous as this was I was able to keep it together and hold out my plate for the ham, potatoes, and salads that remained. It was all made better by this years twist to procedures that had the Senior Management Team serving us and one of the seniors was Supervisor Grand Chief K herself. I took a moment to revel in receiving the kind of service I should be receiving all the time.
After fetching myself a nice glass of red I found the library table joining The Administrator, AntagonisticAl, and Devil's Advocate as they finished off their repast. In an unnerving repeat of several weekends ago the dessert was whisked away from our table before I could partake.
Strangely consoling myself with work I went to harass SoccerBuddy about network issues. After growing tired of that I decided to head back and try my luck with obtaining dessert. Luckily there was another library table in the second sitting and I seamlessly joined them and had some wonderful hedgehog and conversation.
After the excitement of lunch there was not much left to the day and I wrapped up my day with a quick trip home and a quiet night in.
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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.
.
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.
.
... A Lazy Weekend
I've been enjoying my first lazy weekend for ages after surving the tail-end of my anniversary week.
I do think that I have to point out that box cake might come from a box but it is still stirred (by hand I might add) and bunged into my oven. I want to squash those rumours of my bringing cake straight from the shop, as we all know that shop-cake means reputation death in the library staff room.
Anyway, thanks to random computer and borrower failure, I was only able to have one piece of the cake as it was naught but crumbs by the time I got back to it at the end of the day. Oh well, I can just say that it's a part of my renewed fitness program.
Friday started off well with an invigorating pre-work walk/jog. Things soon took a turn for the worse when I arrived at Brighton to find that Sister Serials and I had "worn the same dress to the ball". It turns out that when Svetlana gives you a green polka-dot shirt it's part of some cosmic joke and SS will be there in her red twin of your shirt the moment you enter the building and you'll have to put up with Xmas themed humour at your expense all day.
In any case I soldiered on and, with the help the disturbingly Miami Vice like collarless Mr Prada, proceeded to run yet another 2.0 remedial class. Sonja Roster Queen, Sister Serials, Nurse Janet, Devil's Advocate and a new casual were the victims of the day. From some points of view it was successful as yet more staff finished their 23 things before there IT Man.
Friday was finished off with a surprisingly dinner-free Sandringham Xmas dinner. Still it was good to be home again although it does sound like I'll have to give them an anniversary cake of their own. Hmm, I wonder if etiquette allows me to buy this one?
I was going to make a one sentence post saying that a lazy weekend leaves me with little to write home about but I seem to have blathered on and filled my quota.
And blather is what it is compared to some of the heartfelt blogging I've read recently from the likes of LittleBigGirl re her and BigBen's horrible health issues; and Tooticky's farewell to a monster I knew in passing; not to mention The Viking Hat GM's world/people saving efforts. Still, I am famous, judging by LittleBigGirl's blog, so I must be doing something right... right?
.
I do think that I have to point out that box cake might come from a box but it is still stirred (by hand I might add) and bunged into my oven. I want to squash those rumours of my bringing cake straight from the shop, as we all know that shop-cake means reputation death in the library staff room.
Anyway, thanks to random computer and borrower failure, I was only able to have one piece of the cake as it was naught but crumbs by the time I got back to it at the end of the day. Oh well, I can just say that it's a part of my renewed fitness program.
Friday started off well with an invigorating pre-work walk/jog. Things soon took a turn for the worse when I arrived at Brighton to find that Sister Serials and I had "worn the same dress to the ball". It turns out that when Svetlana gives you a green polka-dot shirt it's part of some cosmic joke and SS will be there in her red twin of your shirt the moment you enter the building and you'll have to put up with Xmas themed humour at your expense all day.
In any case I soldiered on and, with the help the disturbingly Miami Vice like collarless Mr Prada, proceeded to run yet another 2.0 remedial class. Sonja Roster Queen, Sister Serials, Nurse Janet, Devil's Advocate and a new casual were the victims of the day. From some points of view it was successful as yet more staff finished their 23 things before there IT Man.
Friday was finished off with a surprisingly dinner-free Sandringham Xmas dinner. Still it was good to be home again although it does sound like I'll have to give them an anniversary cake of their own. Hmm, I wonder if etiquette allows me to buy this one?
I was going to make a one sentence post saying that a lazy weekend leaves me with little to write home about but I seem to have blathered on and filled my quota.
And blather is what it is compared to some of the heartfelt blogging I've read recently from the likes of LittleBigGirl re her and BigBen's horrible health issues; and Tooticky's farewell to a monster I knew in passing; not to mention The Viking Hat GM's world/people saving efforts. Still, I am famous, judging by LittleBigGirl's blog, so I must be doing something right... right?
... 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.
... 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.
... The Guide Updated
Not a Lot has been happening so I am going to release the next chapter of The Guide to cover the fact that I have no content.
There was a Saturday night poker game with Legions2-3, Badger, BrotherStealer, Spare Legion and Legion3's better half. I was late because I found that I had a flat tyre when I went to drive over and instead had to be chauffeured in style by Spare Legion driving with no night vision and using his old glasses which give him a "what's that blob?" level of vision.
I managed to come second in both poker games but more importantly I came home late and then had The Tiger getting me up ridiculously early on Sunday morning.
Speaking of fun Sunday morning activities there's nothing like changing a flat tyre while you have a knee injury.
The afternoon didn't really get better as I headed off to the footy with Legion2, Elfboy, and The Great Sandro. I amusingly ran into Agent Smith outside the ground after we'd been on the phone that morning trying to arrange a time we could meet up.
Collingwood didn't really perform at all and we were subjected to an antarctic gulf stream at the top of the Ponsford stand, so there was not a lot to enjoy for the afternoon.
The evening was much better. After dropping The Great Sandro home I caught up with Rugrat Twin for a late dinner on Victoria Street and ended up getting my hands on the next few volumes of Fables as I had quite enjoyed the first one.
Monday was spent at Beaumaris branch working out their new printing arrangement with Devil's Advocate.
I was back again on Tuesday to teach yet another class with the classy Mr Prada. After escaping from educating the public I made a quick stop at Sandringham and I found that they'd given up all hope of ever seeing me again after I'd not been by in less than a week.
Alas before I could let them bask in my Phillness for very long I was summoned to Brighton to deal with even more printer issues.
Thankfully that evening I was able to get a little stress relief in at gaming when, during the Judge Dredd game, I was able to interrogate all the characters about their woeful behaviour as Judges - something that seems to be fairly common when ordinary people try to roleplay as future law enforcers.
This morning I had the professionals repair the damage that a screw had done to my tyre before cruising in to Brighton to scavenge from their Staff Room Table of Bounteous Food and do a little work as well.
Okay maybe I lied - I guess a bit has been happening.
There was a Saturday night poker game with Legions2-3, Badger, BrotherStealer, Spare Legion and Legion3's better half. I was late because I found that I had a flat tyre when I went to drive over and instead had to be chauffeured in style by Spare Legion driving with no night vision and using his old glasses which give him a "what's that blob?" level of vision.
I managed to come second in both poker games but more importantly I came home late and then had The Tiger getting me up ridiculously early on Sunday morning.
Speaking of fun Sunday morning activities there's nothing like changing a flat tyre while you have a knee injury.
The afternoon didn't really get better as I headed off to the footy with Legion2, Elfboy, and The Great Sandro. I amusingly ran into Agent Smith outside the ground after we'd been on the phone that morning trying to arrange a time we could meet up.
Collingwood didn't really perform at all and we were subjected to an antarctic gulf stream at the top of the Ponsford stand, so there was not a lot to enjoy for the afternoon.
The evening was much better. After dropping The Great Sandro home I caught up with Rugrat Twin for a late dinner on Victoria Street and ended up getting my hands on the next few volumes of Fables as I had quite enjoyed the first one.
Monday was spent at Beaumaris branch working out their new printing arrangement with Devil's Advocate.
I was back again on Tuesday to teach yet another class with the classy Mr Prada. After escaping from educating the public I made a quick stop at Sandringham and I found that they'd given up all hope of ever seeing me again after I'd not been by in less than a week.
Alas before I could let them bask in my Phillness for very long I was summoned to Brighton to deal with even more printer issues.
Thankfully that evening I was able to get a little stress relief in at gaming when, during the Judge Dredd game, I was able to interrogate all the characters about their woeful behaviour as Judges - something that seems to be fairly common when ordinary people try to roleplay as future law enforcers.
This morning I had the professionals repair the damage that a screw had done to my tyre before cruising in to Brighton to scavenge from their Staff Room Table of Bounteous Food and do a little work as well.
Okay maybe I lied - I guess a bit has been happening.
... the Week of Free Lunches
What a long and busy week it's been.
I've spent most of it Training up on the new Library Management Software at our suppliers HQ in the city. Four days of catered lunches and far too many lollies from the bowls on each table! Supervisor S was with me all week and we had guest appearances from Mr Prada, Sonja Roster Queen, Miss Amanda, Genealogy Jane, chanlib, Vikki, Sister Serials, Ms Magpie, Devil's Advocate and a few others.
At the same time I was dealing with settlement on the current house and pre-settlement non-disclosure of upcoming costs on the new flat. It's going to be such a holiday when the property stuff is over and I can relax with the major system upgrade at work.
Thursday night's soccer was a wonderful flashback to my childhood career as the heavens opened up and we were lashed with rain for about half of the game.
The final day of training was topped of with a night of farewell drinks for Jemima from the IT Helpdesk. CC was there as was The Polster and another Canadian CC acquaintance with a J name, coincidentally drinking CC (Canadian Club). Many xx and cokes were consumed but I made it home fine and the ice in the drinks kept my hydration levels at a safe level.
In four days of Train Travel I managed to be affected by a Connex Train delay every day - the worst was 35 minutes sitting at one station on my way in to drinks last night.
I've spent most of it Training up on the new Library Management Software at our suppliers HQ in the city. Four days of catered lunches and far too many lollies from the bowls on each table! Supervisor S was with me all week and we had guest appearances from Mr Prada, Sonja Roster Queen, Miss Amanda, Genealogy Jane, chanlib, Vikki, Sister Serials, Ms Magpie, Devil's Advocate and a few others.
At the same time I was dealing with settlement on the current house and pre-settlement non-disclosure of upcoming costs on the new flat. It's going to be such a holiday when the property stuff is over and I can relax with the major system upgrade at work.
Thursday night's soccer was a wonderful flashback to my childhood career as the heavens opened up and we were lashed with rain for about half of the game.
The final day of training was topped of with a night of farewell drinks for Jemima from the IT Helpdesk. CC was there as was The Polster and another Canadian CC acquaintance with a J name, coincidentally drinking CC (Canadian Club). Many xx and cokes were consumed but I made it home fine and the ice in the drinks kept my hydration levels at a safe level.
In four days of Train Travel I managed to be affected by a Connex Train delay every day - the worst was 35 minutes sitting at one station on my way in to drinks last night.
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