Pleeeeeease, can I go play outside?

Yeap, I think it might be time to move them outside... Yah think?

Let it rain, oh let it rain

It's been raining for four days, and I'm loving every second of it!

I've missed the sound of rain on the roof, the raging torrential downpours, and the softness of rain caressing my skin... and pictures like this.

Abdomen riot!

"My uterus just punched my kidneys with her fallopian tubes"

...

"Now she's throwing eggs at them"

Because it's obviously not French...

The inquiring mind of my friend's daughter wants to know...

A1: "Mom, how come after they make an announcement in English they make it again in American?"

Mom: *closes eyes and smiles* "That's not American sweetie, that's Spanish..."

Announcing experimental Watson weekends!

That's right, food around here is about to get a whole lot crazier!

I have been invited to take part in beta testing for Chef Watson, Iamsoridiculouslyexcitedaboutthisyoujusthavenoidea!!!!

No 'nuggles for you!

Our theatre room air mattress decided to stretch the other night... and burst a seam.

I would like to submit this as a new product line: The double bed featuring "The great wall of Riguedell"

Useful for keeping children and others you're sharing with, on their own side.

*self safisfied grin*

Countless attempts and an unknown number of years since I got this for Christmas, and I finally *got* it!

I can't seem to put the damn thing back together, but then that isn't the point now is it?

Moment of inspiration

Sometimes you have to take time to make time for emergency arts and crafts...

Everything is better now!

After almost a month of working from a jet pack and worrying about going over our usage limit, fighting with various providers, and other ridiculousness... you have no idea how happy this makes me *relieved sigh*
 

One of those days...

Yep, I probably shouldn't admit to it... but I just did this...

Its not as hot as it feels

I think it feels hotter just *knowing* that we are going to have working air conditioning soon.

Arrrrrrchiving paper I might need later

Slowly getting things into some semblance of order here... Order and chaos, the eternal balance.

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 ;)

The power of imagination

I'm afraid I don't have a picture for you, so we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way.  You're going to have to use your imagination.

Picture this... one of those old dark blue milk crates, securely fastened to the front of the handlebars on my "new" BMX bike, which is juuuuuust about the right size for a chihuahua.

Are you with me so far? No? Hmmmm...

Think back, waaaay back, remember E.T.? Yeah that's right *head nod* you got it, that's how awesome it looks in my head too *grins*

Anyways we went for a little bike ride today, and despite ending up on the wrong side of the road for like 30 seconds, during which we were passed by the Sheriffs police cruiser?!? *gulp* we managed not to get pulled over...

We did however garner many well deserved double-takes and other such looks... ranging from "Awwww" through "OMG there's a DOG in that basket!!!" and "WTF?!?" to the *huge reminiscent smiles* of "That. is. awesome." which totally made it all worth it.

I think today we did Kermit proud, and made people smile.

To tell if dinner is too hot for your mouth...

Test it with one of these!

Yep, it's still too hot.

--

The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com

Samantha Vincent about.me/samantha.vincent

Not to alarm anyone...

But my chai latte has a hint of hot-dog flavor... It is mildly disconcerting, however it did not prevent me from finishing said latte.

I think it's going to be a weird day...

Greening my thumbs and blackening my nails...

No, I didn't miss with the hammer... I'm attempting to grow things in my apartment window!

I got basil seeds for Easter, and they all sprouted :D and I got this poor plumeria as a house warming gift that has been sitting in plastic wrap for faaaar too long... and I finally got soil and planted/repotted them today!

Pardon me sir, but do you have a bucket for my brains?

I made it to the bike store, mostly before it closed the other day...

I was casually chatting with the guy working in the store and offhandedly commented that it was great they were open till 7, when he said "No it's not. It's 7:20!" and proceeded to show me.

Boy did I feel silly, I'm really not sure where that time went... sheepishly I stopped thinking about it and just bought the damn helmet.

guy: "You riding that little BMX bike out there?"

me: "Yes, I think it's a little small for me, but I got a good deal on it at the swap meet!"

He gives me a semi-non believing inquisitive look...

me: "$35"

guy: "Damn girl! No wonder you ridin' BMX, I would be too!"

While paying for my purchase we continued to chit-chat and hearing a story about a girl who had recently been hit and cracked her skull without a helmet, which likely would have been a much less severe concussion with a helmet, re-affirmed the necessity of protecting my own bwains.

I am now the proud owner of helmet that costs almost as much as my bike... but that's not really important, because the contents it will be protecting are priceless.

Hmmm overshot the bike shop?

So I decided to venture out and attempt to obtain a brain bucket... and somewhere in the chaos of shoulder checking, and successfully navigating intersections without getting forcibly ejected into the future I realized that it felt like I'd gone a lot further than I thought I should have to...

Then I started thinking that looking at things on Google maps can be deceiving because when you aren't zoomed in all the way it still only shows the major streets... so maybe it's the *next* the major intersection...

A couple intersections later, I decided I'd like to call a friend.

me: "Hello?" *intersection noise*

friend: "Dude, where are you?"

me: "Out... Are you uh, anywhere near a computer?"

friend: "My phone is *like* a computer, why?"

me: "Would you go to Google maps and tell me if Magliocco is before or *after* Hamilton if you're going *up* Winchester?"

friend: "Are you lost?"

me: "No, I know how to get home... I'm just not sure where the bike shop is!"

I gave up and went home sans helmet, with a five mile bike ride to show for it.  Of course this would be yet another reminder, as to why I normally put the name of the next "you've gone too far" street on my directions...

Time of death: 10:29am Friday May 9th, 2014...

Four years ago a wonderful friend of mine Shazam gave me a set of pens (red, green, blue and black) and a little black book with skulls all over it to document my sailing adventures with my father.

The green pen died today.

That's not to say that I didn't use the green pen as much as the other pens... it just lasted a really really REALLY long time... and somehow despite my trip and multiple moves since returning I managed not to lose it.

It's just a pen, but it's been there through a lot with me.

I've drawn and doodled with it, twirled it around my fingers, and kept it tucked close at hand for notes... but most importantly I've written about moments that changed my life, things I saw that touched me in some way.

Things I want to remember.

Thank you green pen, I hope you are content knowing you served your purpose to the utmost and will always be remembered fondly when I flip back through my own pages of memories.

This little piggy...

Just discovered that these seats on the bus recline... so not doing anything all the way home ;)

--
The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com
http://about.me/samantha.vincent

May the fourth be with you...

In honor of Star Wars day I bought a new t-shirt, and I'm rocking "the Luke" haircut... or lack thereof.

In fact I like my new shirt so much I wore it for "Revenge of the fifth" as well!

Pleasant surprise!

Since I was expecting a bill, this was so great to get in the mail.

Thanks California!

How hot was it today?

Stitch down! Stitch down!

The storm of the century!!!

At least that's what they were calling it. This post got a little lost, but it still makes me smile so I thought I would share it.

I mean seriously.

Yes, it's a decent storm... but if this is "The storm of the century", then we have at least one a year up in Canada *rolls eyes*

My favorite quote of the weekend was from the cashier at Target:

All friends online are all "Calm down California, it's just a little water..."

Yeeeeesss? Yessss!

The conversation went kind of like this...

So we're going to *grfmahrufle* (Fogo de Chao) are you interested?

me: Sure?

Have you never had Brazillian steakhouse grill before?

me: I don't think so...

It's a meat-fest.

me: I'm in.

What? Really?!? *laughs* You haven't even heard what it's about! 

me: No, but it's food, and I'll eat anything... so yeah, I'm still in.

Okay, I'll try to give you condensed rundown: So they have this really great salad bar, it's amazing, but don't eat *any* of that - it's filler, just a distraction.

Then, they give you this magic coaster. It's red on one side, and green on the other... my husband calls it (in a deep announcer voice) "The meat faucet".

When you flip it to green, guys come out of nowhere! They just appear and start putting meat on your plate! then you have to flip it to red to turn it off.

...

I can now verify first hand, that's exactly what it's like. In fact, I ate enough meat to turn cave man, followed by the full giggles I get after all you can eat sushi. 

It was fantastic.

Some days...

When I asked someone if he was having fun yet. He responded:

Well... it starts with “F. U.”… but it doesn’t end with “N!”

Bet you didn't know...

That this is what $650 worth of "Sign here" stickers looks like!

Ask me again after I've been audited, but currently I believe it's worth it. Especially considering the hours upon hours of tax treaties between Canada and the US I did not have to spend reading, across multiple revisions dating back to the early 80's, attempting to correctly interpret which category I fall into, and which rules apply to me... *inhales*

Now all that's left is the mailing of signed copies to the four corners of Rome ...and the blood of my first born *exhales* 

I think I've just about got this taken care of... *sigh* 

*mutters* stupid taxes.

--
The story of my life http://scubajunk.blogspot.com
http://about.me/samantha.vincent

Musical idea inspires retro clarinet lamp

Check out what we made!

My friend had this wicked awesome idea for a clarinet that would cost more to fix than is currently worth it... so after multiple trips to the hardware store, and taking it apart and putting it together more times than I can count... it's ready!

Ta DA!!!!

Note that in this version the clarinet has not been modified in any way, so if at anyone is so inclined it can be repaired and used again. In another version though I would like to make one that has the light switch be one of the keys.

If you're so inclined, the gory details of the learning process are included here for your entertainment:

We left the mouth piece, and the next top section off as this seemed to be a better height. The piece from the lamp kit fits nicely inside once you've whittled it down a fair amount.

Spray paint the gold pieces before you put it together three or four times...  We found that leaving the flat bit out let the whole fixture nestle nicely in the neck of the clarinet and just felt more sturdy than having it perched on top.

Drilling through the case... I stand corrected, the drill bit will try to roll in the cotton batting, like it's so excited it's never seen cotton batting before roll in it, and then it will eat it all up.

And finally, after you've taken it apart and put it together "a few" times, make sure the light bulb is snugged all the way in before you despair that you've broken it or mis-wired something.

Rainy day distractions

I had great intentions of doing work-related type stuff yesterday, but then I got distracted. This is the result. (You should be able to click to enlarge them Mom - most of them look better like that ;)

Only one with flash that sort of worked

Panoramic-esque

Sploosh!

Waterworks!

Slightly off kilter

This would look so awesome frozen!

Slightly b'jubbled

Crop option 1

Crop option 2 (shhh but I think I like this one better)

Kaplooey!