Pointless photo of the day:

Taken right outside the workplace just a little while ago, even.

By the way... WE HAVE ENOUGH SNOW NOW. And more on the way.

Sigh.

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I don't really have much on the brain at the moment and I just finished blogging for work, so I think that rather than come up with a blather I'll just leave you with one last Today's Tea (last night's was Alpine Punch, for those keeping track. And if you are... why?) for the year if that's ok. Well, come down to it, my house, my rules so if it's ok with me then that automatically means that it's ok with the blog. So... Today's Tea: Choconut Oolong. Good. But I slightly broke my rule this time and added a little sweetness to it. After I tasted it, though, so I guess technically I'm still good. For anyone who reads the product link, I'd like to say that this is tea, not breakfast. Anyone who has only tea for breakfast is just a bit stupid, as far as I can tell.

Anyway, that'll be it for me for this year. See you in a couple of days, when no doubt there will be more pointless photos.

Of snow.

Sigh.

The new lens is kind of fun, at least.

I think that it's trying to tell me something

No, not the sad iron. Unless maybe it's dust more often.

December keeps trying to commit suicide on my desk. The calendar, I mean. The one I bought out of desperation last January, because no one seemed to have any calendars that I liked. It's pretty much just generic scenes of the Rockies, so it was very much a this'll do purchase. I never was exactly in love with it.

The problem at the moment is that we're to the end of the year, the calendar's paper is very thick, and the push-pin that's supposed to be holding it to the wall has apparently given up the ghost. Today was the second time that I found the thing on the desk, and the second time it took out one of my speakers in the process. The first time it also attacked my Galileo thermometer, but having had one lucky, non-broken-glass-filled escape I very smartly moved the thermometer to the other side of the desk. And a good thing, too. Looks like the calendar came down hard this time.

See? December's trying to kill itself.

Next year's calendar is a lot lighter, so any suicidal months will have to work that much harder, I suppose.

That's about all that I have today, sadly. I'm not operating on much sleep, and I can't even tell you what today's tea is because I haven't had it yet. When I go home, probably. I had three different ones yesterday, though, and before anyone blames the lack of sleep on the overliness of tea I'd just like to say that they were all non-caffeinated. So there. Sleigh Ride, which is a fruit thing that I have no idea what sleighs have to do with, Spiced Fig, and... um... just a second. Oh yeah, White Chocolate Frost. And I'm even being a good girl and trying them without sweetening them, just to see if it's the tea or the honey that I like better.

Yeah, occasionally I can act like an adult. Only for short periods of time, though. And speaking of the whole adult thing, I should get back to work.

Tradition

I was sort of joking about traditions on my Christmas post, but here's on that's a real thing. These little felt mitts -- homemade and supported by a hair clip -- always have to go on the tree. Always. It and a bird (which Dad didn't put on the tree this year. It's probably pretty ratty by now, though) were, according to my mother, the first decorations she and Dad had on their first tree. The mitts have gone up every year since, with the exception of one Christmas that we spent in Hawaii.

That's a tradition that's headed rapidly to its 50th year. Wow, now that I say that it really does count as a tradition, doesn't it?

And don't you dare stop to figure out how old that must make me. You kids get off of my lawn.

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I'll be headed back to my place today (and back to work tomorrow. Weekend work is what I end up with when Christmas and New Years fall so stupidly mid-week), with a stop on the way to see if the licensing office is open so that I can get my 2014 tag before my plate expires. Yes, somebody left her renewal until the last minute again. I guess I like standing in line with all the other idiots who don't take advantage of the months (literal months) in advance that they send out the notices. I haven't decided yet whether I'll stop on my way out of town or stop once I'm back in the city. The advantage of stopping on my way is that it'd be done while it's in my head, but the disadvantage is that the local office only takes cash.

That's right, cash. There are still some businesses out there in this day and age that  (gasp!) don't have debit machines. It's a real pain in the behind, and I'm not sure how they've managed it for so long. Yeah, there's a third-party cash machine in the building, but seeing as I'm too cheap to pay the charges it'll mean a trek down to my much-beloved bank if I stop there.

Um, don't get me started on how much I hate my bank. I'd like to save that topic for another day.

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And now, the return of Today's Tea!

Well, not today's, to be honest. I haven't had any tea yet today. The past two days' teas, though, have been from the David's Tea (sorry, DAVIDsTEA) Christmas collection, and I can't give you a direct link to it because it's no longer Christmas and I've noticed that they're very, very quick to remove their seasonal collections from the website. Anyway, I've tried the Gingerbread and Santa's Secret, which is a black tea with peppermint leaves. Both very nice even without sweetener, which is saying something coming from a habitual honey user. I don't think either of them needed it, though. Coming up? Well, I think I'll leave you on tenterhooks because I know you like a little suspense.

Everybody's feeling the suspense, not knowing what tea I'll be drinking next, right?





You people are no fun. Type at you later.

WAIT WAIT WAIT. One last thing, as I see by the open tab. I meant to share this link, which is one of those things that talks about how Canadian vocabulary is different from other English-speaking nations' vocabularies. I find them interesting, if a little well, duh at times. Different countries, different histories, different vocabs. Anyway, I'm posting it here because for a change I've used every single one of the words listed (yes, even the alcohol ones). Often these lists are so regional that even I'm stumped by a lot of them. This time, though... if any of my two fans that aren't from here find these words odd then you honestly might have a little trouble understanding me at times. Funny.

And hooped, by the way, is a very useful word. It needs to become universal. You know, like toque.

Going for real this time. Byyye.

So I was sitting out on the patio...

Ok, maybe I wasn't.

There's a bit of snow, you see.

Seriously, though. That's a lot of snow. I know I've been complaining about it, but since I finally got around to taking a few pictures of it the other day I thought maybe now you'd believe me.

For anyone not familiar with Alberta in the winter, we're not exactly known for having lots of snow. Some snow, yeah, and it does get cold (I'm sure you've heard about that part. Everyone seems to), but we don't usually get piled on like this. It's been pretty much unbelievable. And it's not even January yet. Almost, but it's not. To have this much snow right now? Well, I have childhood pictures of a couple of years when we really got dumped on, but it hasn't happened for a long time.

I mean, look at this. What you might not notice right away is that the hedge is so weighted down that it toppled right into the pathway. Dad went out and knocked some of the snow off after I took this photo, but it wouldn't surprise me if we find out that it's permanently bent in the spring.

The snow's up to the deers' bellies when they leave the path and try to wade through towards the dogwood.

Um, big hint, by the way. If you're in this area and you have deer around, don't plant dogwood if you don't want them in your yard. It's one of their favourite winter browses.

I actually saw deer yesterday. Two whitetails, and then later about five or six mulies. It's not all that uncommon to see the mulies, but we hardly ever see the whitetails in the yard. They're too skittish to stay around for very long. I suppose that it might seem a little odd to some of you that we have deer herds just wandering around the neighbourhood, but Dad's place is fairly close to the outskirts of town and there are a couple of wooded lots in the area, so there are plenty of places for deer to hang out.

Um, anyway. You didn't come here to read about deer and snow, I suppose. I'm not sure why you did come here, though. Maybe you want to hear about...

CHRISTMAS PRESENTS?

Yeah, I did pretty well as usual. I got a gift card that I very much look forward to using, and you'll be hearing lots more about tea (lucky you. I'm sure my two fans are really looking forward to it. Toughies, though. I like tea), but the one that's going to affect the blog the most is the fact that I got a new lens.

Did you hear? I got a new lens.

It's my first prime lens for this camera, and it's been years since I've used a prime lens at all so I'm looking forward to it. It's a 50mm f/1.8... oh, hang on. I'll just link for the nerds out there. Gimme a sec.

Here it is.

Now, bear in mind that I'm a neophyte when it comes to all the specs, but what all that stuff means to me and my style of pointless photography is that even though it's a wide angle rather than a macro (or micro, as Nikon calls them) I should be able to get some decent close-ups while still using it for more general portraits and things like that. The reviews are good, it should work well in low light, the bokeh's supposed to be great, and the little bit of playing around the house I did yesterday makes me happy.

Let the search for even weirder pointless photography begin.



You're ready for this, right? It's gonna mean more spiders come spring...





Yay spiders.

Christmas: a photoessay

We have some traditions here at our house, as pretty much everybody does. Since we haven't had dinner yet and there's still a couple of things to do, I thought I'd just give you a few slightly less pointless photos than usual rather than a lot of words. Ready? Let's begin.

 

I take a picture of the tree every year.

 

I celebrate my Christmas feet.

And of course we grill the turkey...

 

 

Um. I guess we won't be grilling the turkey. Actually, as I mention every time we do a turkey, around here it's done on the rotisserie. So much better than roasting that you wouldn't believe it. I can already smell it even down here in the basement. And for those new to the program, I'm not in the basement as a punishment. It's just where the computer is. I'll be going back up as soon as I'm done with this.

Merry Christmas or whatever you're celebrating to everyone out there in blogland. Be good to each other. If anyone wondered what our tree really looks like, here's a last shot for the day:

Stay tuned in the new year. I got a present that pretty much guarantees that weirdness (even more weirdness, yes) will be happening on the blog. Yay weirdness.

Something something something

Something daylily something.

Yeah, I have no idea what to write about. I could mention that there were three moose browsing the shrubs right outside our office window the other day, and a few days later a bunch of whitetails did the same thing, and that it can be neat having a wildlife sanctuary as your back yard.

What would I say after that, though? It'd be an awfully short post.

I could bring up the fact that my father still doesn't have a Christmas present because I have no idea what to get him. That's pretty depressing, though, considering that it means I'll likely be shopping this weekend. Either that or hellooo gift card. Which is all right, really. I don't object to gift cards in the slightest. Better to let someone choose his present than to buy something totally lame that won't ever be used.

That's kind of a short post too.

I could talk about snow.

I don't want to talk about snow.

So...

Um...

sigh

There are chickadees outside the window right now cracking sunflower seeds open on the branches. I love chickadees. They're always around when you need something to talk about on a nature walk. You can train them to take seed from your hand as well, if you're into that sort of thing. I'm not, personally, because I worry a little about introducing inappropriate behaviours, but the birds are at least smart enough to fly away pretty quickly if they sense that something's not right.

Ok, that last was veering a little too close to what I do for a living, and this isn't the work blog. Speaking of work, though, I've now wasted enough time not having anything to talk about that I should probably stop typing. I hope you enjoyed this non-post. See you in a couple of days or so.

Guess what?

It's snowing. And cold.

Thus, flowers.

And grumpiness.

We were flying my helicopter at lunch hour, though, so I suppose that helps a bit. What also helps (and also is not very good at all, when you think about it) is that this place is covered in Christmas food at the moment. Some is dropped off by volunteers and customers, some of it comes from Christmas parties, and some comes from the staff. And, as is usual and predictable, I've had altogether too much of it. And no doubt will continue to have altogether too much of it.

Tis the season, and all that.

Anyway, this will have to be short (again), but blame the helicopter this time. I certainly do.

I continue to suck at the helicopter, by the way, but at least it's fun sucking.





Wait... that didn't sound right at all...

Pointless non-snow photo of the day:

Look! It's an apple. From when there were apples.

And not snow.

I'm tired of snow, in case you wondered.




And I also have nothing to blather today, which is sad considering how often I don't blog these days.


Ah well. At least there's an apple.

Yeah, yeah, I'm still around

I was around yesterday, too, but it was a busy day so no blog for you.

You'll noticed that I'm still refusing to post winter pictures. Well, not so much refusing as that I don't have any on my nerdstick, to be honest. I took some yesterday, but they're for the work blog. You'll see them there in a bit, after I've edited them and actually written the post.

We have a bit of snow at the moment (as in, roughly four times the amount of snow we usually have at this time of year), and for a change my apartment building's management company has decided to clear the parking lots not once but three times so far this season. That's big, you know. I've lived there for about twenty years, and in that time the managers have become notorious for clearing the lots maybe once all winter no matter how much snow we have. It leads to all of us having mini lakes in our spots come spring melt, and that's about as pleasant as it sounds.

Apparently not this year, though. Today's clearing number three, which meant that I had to have my car out of the lot by eight. Which means, in turn, that I go for fast food breakfast to waste time for an hour before going to work.

Yippee.

As a rule I don't really do restaurant breakfasts. I get a craving for a certain outfit's breakfast sandwich maybe once a year, yes, but when I've had it I'm done with the craving for the year. Problem is, I've now had my third one in two months. I DEFINITELY DON'T HAVE THE CRAVING ANYMORE.

If this snow (and shocking regular snow removal) continues, I'm really going to need to find a new routine. Any suggestions for a place to hang out at eight in the morning, anyone?

By the way, we're all told to have our cars out of the lot from eight to five on pain of towage. I wonder, though, was the removal company penalised for the fact that they didn't get done until after seven the last time they did this? Those of us trying to find a place to park after coming home from work certainly were.

Anyway, off to the work blog for me. I'll let you know when it's time to have my next regrettable breakfast sandwich...

Rainbow!

This is the last one of these, I promise.

Until I take more.

Pointless photo of the day:

This is why I love digital photography. I can do completely stupid things and all I'm wasting is a little energy.

Pointless photo of the day:

It's a double rainbow! Just a very short one...

And no, the picture's not reversed. The clock's supposed to look like that.

It's left-handed.

Forget about frightful

The weather outside is effing nuts. We've got more snow than we had by January last winter, and it's COLD. Cold enough that my car is still buried from Monday's blizzard and will probably stay buried for a while yet.

Yep, it's been cabs to work these past couple of days, because I've had evening programs and I can't exactly ask one of my coworkers to come pick me up.

Let me tell you, I don't know how people manage with cabs. Most of the drivers are nice, but the waiting. And the not having control of when you leave or arrive anywhere. And the cost, of course, but that should go without saying.

So, since I need to get back to work for a while before I go set up for tonight's performance of me pretending that I know anything about stars, I think we'll just have a mourning rose (mourning this weather, of course) for your pointless pleasure today and then I'll schedule a couple more weird photos so you don't miss me too much while I'm housebound.

Again.

This is really getting ridiculous, you know.

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Anyone who's on twitter at the moment has a feed full of RIP Nelson Mandela, but I'll add my two cents. I don't think younger adults out there can truly understand what an important figure he was. The world is a different place now because of people like him.

Pointless bored photo from last month of the day:

Wheee...

And, erm, my apologies for having TLC on while I was doing this. I should have switched to Discovery or the Food Network or something. Especially since that's more usually what's on...

Pointless bored photo from last month of the day:

And then she decided to start moving the camera...

Pointless bored photo from last month of the day:

Nothing like a hand-held double image during a snowstorm, right?