Work in progress

I thought maybe this morning I would save a little time and add my cream *before* the coffee maker poured me my cup...

Clearly I use my eyes more than I thought, this coffee is a little anemic even for me ;)

Time zone trials and tribulations

That point part way through your morning routine when you realize you only shaved one leg

*sigh*

Spaceman Sam

It's been a long day, it started at 7:00am when I got up and went until 9:00pm when I made it back to my hotel room... but it hasn't been long in the way I expected.

Instead of feeling drained, I'm invigorated and refreshed and... excited!

I have done so many cool things in my life, far more in my few years than some people will do in a lifetime... but I have always been searching for something, like there was something I hadn't found yet that I was supposed to do. I think that is part of why I've tried so many things, just incase I didn't recognize it unless I was *doing* it...

I could describe it, but even in that I couldn't put my finger on it... its *just* that thing you do that motivates you to do more, to grow more... to be more.

I've heard that the things you do when you're supposed to be doing something else... are probably the things you *should* be doing... and this evening I experienced an hour long parking lot conversation bouncing around just such a project. I was almost giddy with the excitement of new ideas and spontaneous inpspirations.

I feel like I'm in University again, only this time I know I've got a lot to learn... but with all that practice I got at University, I also know I can do it.

The possibilies are endless, and I'm excited all over again to learn about everything I don't know.

As a kid I thought I wanted to be an astronaut.

Someone described the next phase of this project as "riding an even bigger rocket ship" than the last big thing that they did... which aptly fits into my life right now.

I haven't fallen off the face of the Earth, I'm strapped to a rocket ship like a mechanical bull rider... I *think* means I'm gonna need some lucky rocketship underpants!

How I unmake my bed, is the way I lie in it

I like the look of a freshly made bed, but I simultaneously hate when they undo all my hard work of untucking the covers just right and I have to do it all over again.

It's enough to tire a person out...

Delta, I have a sack for you...

No, it isn't for a potato sack race... you put it the other way. Over your head.

Running out of sandwiches on a 5+ hour flight that spans both lunch and dinner due to a delayed start is not cool... Seriously though, how do you run out of food that people are willing to pay handsomely for?!?

Following on the heels of recent memory where the last time I flew with you I almost missed my flight due to an errant notification about a non-existent delay.

Which was immediately followed by, the complaint I submitted to customer service rather than ranting about here, being answered in overly polite verbage agreeing with everything I said.

I was too disgusted to respond further.

I'm not impressed.

Update: A day after posting this I received an invitation to a customer satisfaction survey... Coincidence? I think not... I would rather they just read this post though.

Thanks Dad...

I ran past this sink hole of sorts above a culvert and thought to myself "they have a problem..."

It then occurred to me that this is not something a normal person would think. This is something that only engineers and their unintentionally educated offspring would think.

I stopped, chuckled, and took a picture for you Dad.

One of the things that has been dredged to the surface of my conciousness is that the way we see the world is shaped by our past experiences... for better or for worse ;)

Step 1 - Place foot in front of other foot... Step 2 - Repeat

After a prolonged unintentional hiatus it would appear my muse is back,  I fully comprehend the influence of inspiration on a writer, in a way I hope never to experience again.

I would like to sincerely apologize to anyone who still checks back here from time to time (Mom and Candy I'm mostly talking to you ;) I will try to fill in stories and photos from the blank depths of the abyss that swallowed the last couple years of this blog.

On that note,  let's dive right in shall we?

So I'm staying in the results of a one
night stand between a dorm room and a hotel.

It's small,  but the bed is comfy... and not a bunk,  and there's a terry bathrobe for me to lounge around in, as well as a hot shower, coffee and room service.

I'm at the first day of orientation for my new career with IBM.

It's funny, they make people who are transferring departments,  or coming back after an extended absence take this orientation session which is a bit of a joke for them... but what they don't realize is how great it is as a brand new employee to interact with someone who already embodies the culture.

A number of people that I've met today have worked here for more years than I have been working, some longer than I have been alive,  and we're finally at a point where that is actually quite impressive! A few are coming back from extended periods away which I think is really cool, one lady retired,  did something else and then came back... Time and time again I've heard IBMers say that it sounds like a long time 10, 20, 30 years but that it just flew by because they were doing something fun,  or interesting or something nobody had done before,  or something nobody even knew if it was possible or not...

There are so many things that IBM has done that have changed the world. Things you probably don't even remember as working any other way,  or things you had no idea they were even involved in... how cool is that?!?

In 10 years I want to be able to look back and say I learned a lot,  had a lot of fun, met some great people and that something I did changed the world. Sounds kind of crazy, but then sometimes it isn't so important what you can and can't do, as what you *believe* you can or can't do.

They say the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step, and I'm excited to see where this step will lead.

Work in progress

I think it is entirely obvious to anyone paying any attention that I don't do this very often...

I just stood up to get dessert and managed to drop my napkin (which to be honest I forgot was protecting my pants from me) and my purse on the floor *sigh*

Also, I didn't notice until I got back. Clearly I haven't mastered "business casual" yet.

Drunken hercules helicopters

Giant drunken miniature airborn tanks.

You can *hear* them coming... a large droning buzz like electricity through power lines before a lightning storm.

They fly lazily, like it's their first day with their new wings... huge slow loops and turns, so slow it doesn't look like they should stay aloft.

Once I finished freaking out about getting "buzzed" by what looked like an enormous black bumble bee on steroids... I ventured close enough to get a couple pictures, and look they're beautiful!

And, after quenching his thirst on the finest of nectars he unsteadily lifted off, flew into the wall twice, and then almost a *third* time before barely clearing the garage roof and staggering out of sight.

It was so awesome we nearly died laughing!  The next one we saw performed similarly uncoordinated flying antics, which were even funnier!!

There's a hole in this cake!

Have you ever made Angel food cake before?

Sure! At least I think so... how hard could it be? I know you need a special pan,  and I'm pretty sure Betty Crocker knows how to do the rest of it ;)

But this cake has a hole in it!

That's okay,  I fixed it!

The progression of delicious awesomeness... One

Two...

Yum!

My little window ledge garden

Look! From the tiny little sprouts they started out as a month ago, they have grown up so nicely! The cool thing is, it really hasn't taken that much work... and now I have fresh basil at my fingertips!!

Such a great Easter gift :D

Under pressure thanks to network reset commands

For short periods of time I think I work better under pressure...

I just got my old laptop cleaned off, and connecting to the internet again *proud smile* it is chugging away installing the multitude of security patches and updates it missed while it was in timeout.

While I am not entirely sure what exactly fixed my problem *ticks off on fingers* multiple reboots, various malware scans in safe mode, cleaning of temp files, more reboots, eliciting the equivalent relief of a big dump by deleting and uninstalling various programs and files that I didn't need anymore... but I would like to give a shout out to this post I stumbled across which lists the commands for resetting the tcp/ip stack as well as winsock.

It's an older post, and you need to run the cmd window in administrator mode now, but I credit it with being nicely written and more importantly being the that which I most recently poked at and got my laptop connected.

On sleep patterns...

My friend said she didn't fall asleep until 4am this morning... I commented about her being on Tokyo time (remembering this C&H strip)

Her response made me giggle:

No, I’m on rebellious time!

When an alarm goes off I get tired... Maybe I should set my alarm to go off when I want to go to sleep!

~The Little Ninja

Blood, sweat and tears...

Check two out of three, and I'm pretty sure that constitutes quality bonding time with your bike.

You know what the first rule of flying is? Love. 

You can learn all the math in the 'verse, but you take a boat in the air you don't love, she'll shake you off just as sure as a turnin' of the worlds.

Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down, tells you she's hurtin' 'fore she keens.

Makes her a home.

~Captain Malcom Reynolds - Firefly

Well, after this afternoon, I'd say I'm feeling about a hundred 'n fifty percent more love for this bike than I did this morning. Nothing but love in fact! Alright, I'm not gonna lie... I'm feeling something, and it stings a bit.

Leave it to me wipe out in the middle of the damn city. I'm not even entirely sure what happened... somewhere between uneven sidewalk, bad weight distribution and alternating bright sun and dark shadows I confirmed that my body hasn't forgotten how to tuck and roll. Must be kind of like... riding a bike.

There's nothing like a little road rash to remind you that you aren't invincible, and nothing like a good backpack to take a little of the hurt off. Thanks MEC for making good gear, and thanks Dad for always making sure I had good gear :)

I guess since I haven't actually posted this yet... it isn't an update so much as a continuation. 

I was trying to figure out when I became such a wuss, I mean my hip was hurting like I'd shredded it up, but there wasn't even a scratch there... Then the bruise came in, I know why I'm stiff, and I don't feel so bad now that there's something to show for it ;)

Idle thoughts on the road

I thought it would be a bit of a demotion using a single speed bike after always have SO MANY GEARS TO CHOOSE FROM!!

Actually it's not so bad, in fact now that I have the right size cog on it's pretty awesome!

For the most part it's a pretty casual ride, it's pretty much flat between my place and work so there's no real reason that I *need* to be able to change gears, and if I want to go faster, I just do what I've always done regardless of my gearing options... stand up and pedal my little legs off!!!!

Boys will be boys will be boys...

Boys in the back of the classroom slapping each other with rulers. I walk up to them: "Is it my turn to smack with you with those rulers? *raised eyebrow*

Boys: Sure!

Big girl bike

I bought this bike from a co-worker of mine who got it because he figured no-one would want to steal it... (except me apparently) I can't even explain how so super excited I was to find out it was my *favorite* colour blue!

So, I rode to work the other day... all the way, all by myself! 

It took me 45 mins to get there... which isn't bad considering it's a single speed. The ride home though, felt like I was going WAY faster, and indeed I made it back in a mere 41 mins ;)

The best part of being down in the US though is that I biked 14.44 miles... not bad, but when you say it in Canadian... I biked 23.23 kilometers!! Doesn't it just sound way better that way!?!?!

-_-

I over-glucosinated my caffeinated beverage this morning... I'm pretty sure nothing good can come of this.

Breaking news

If there was every any doubt as to whether or not I have everything under control, this should confirm things once and for all...

I am the disruption.

Sitting in the corner cubical with the atomic hiccups, that can probably be heard by everyone on the floor, and felt by everyone in the building.

Don't worry though, I have successfully mitigated the situation by holding my breath and drinking a large volume of water.

Why this works, I have no idea... but there are some things you just shouldn't question.

Just let them work.

Judging your character by your actions... and the instrument you play

*sorting papers*

...and of course I'm missing the baritone saxophone piece...

me: Why, is that the one you need?

*disparaging sigh* No, that's just the one that's ALWAYS missing, because bari-saxophone players are bad kids, bad children, just BAD!

*pause*

...terrible, terrible children! They use their music, they never turn it back in, and because of them parts are always incomplete!

*mutters* bad bad children...

*more muttering* Alto saxophone players too, sometimes they don't turn in their music as well... and those percussionists.

*shuffles papers*

And that my friends, is why you should always turn your music back in when you're done with it... Lest you risk the wrath of a music teacher, taking your name in vain, along with everyone else who plays the same instrument ;)