Pointless photo of the day:

Kinda busy at the moment, so this'll be it for today.

Didn't really have anything anyway, so that works out well.





For me, anyway.

Bread

Pointless photo? Not bread. For those new to the program, the photos are called pointless for a reason.

Also not bread: today's tea. Considering the chai-style fancy mixes that I usually drink, it may surprise you to hear that today I had Darjeeling. Just Darjeeling. Well, with a little agave syrup, yes, but nothing more than that. Yeeesss, water too. Shut up already.

Even with all the specialty teas I've had -- and loved -- Darjeeling's still my favourite basic tea. Second flush Darjeeling, though. It has a more distinct flavour. First flush is good, of course, but it can be so similar to green tea that I just can't feel good about paying the big bucks for it.

Incidentally, considering the doomsday supply I thought I had of teas, I'm actually running low on a couple of them. I had, at one time, 17 (17!!!) different types of tea in my house. All looseleaf. Now, some of that was due to an unexpected Christmas bounty (and thanks, by the way), but even before that I had a lot of tea. Now? Very proud to say that I'm down to eleven, and will soon be in the single digits. And why does that make me proud? It makes me feel less freakish, for one thing. And it means that in a month or two I'll be able to allow myself, in good faith, to buy more tea.

Anyway. Bread.

Why does white bread continue to exist? I have to admit, I don't really get white bread. First off, other than hamburger and hot dog buns it was never in my house when I was growing up, so you can't tell me that kids need to eat white bread. We ate 60% whole wheat. Not exactly hardcore breadism, no, but it's proof enough for me that kids don't need completely tasteless bread.

Ok, full disclosure: I wouldn't go anywhere near 60% whole wheat these days. It's kind of lame, and I think that I probably got sick of it as a child.

I have to admit that I'm a fan of interesting breads. When I moved out on my own... no, wait. The first time I was on my own it was a year of university res, so that doesn't count because my food (such as it was) was made for me. Let's say instead when I first started having to cook for myself, I of course started out with familiar foods because I knew what to do with them. Bread and cheese were two of the first things that I got experimental with. Or as experimental as a person could get back in the late eighties, anyway. I found out that there wasn't just bread... there were breads. Many, many breads.

I think that I tried most of them. Pretty stupid thing to do on a student budget, but there are worse habits than bread. Bread was my entry drug to new foods, though. Plenty of other discoveries (well, they were discoveries to a small town Alberta girl brought up on a very WASPy diet) followed bread, but bread was familiar enough to be new with.

Read it again. It'll make sense.

I'm still a fan of breads that have something going on. Not necessarily the ones that have more seeds than actual dough, but I do like my multigrains. And flax. And harvest bread and alpine bread and rye bread and... ok, yeah, the occasional white (sigh) French loaf when it's on sale.

That's different from Wonder(if it's)bread, however. Yes it is too.

The sad thing about living alone and liking interesting breads is keeping it. I like fresh bread, just like most people do. I don't use up bread fast enough for it to stay fresh, though. So, unfortunately, when I buy a loaf it stays on the counter a day or two and then... hits the fridge. Yeah, it doesn't make me happy to have to refrigerate decent bread, but at least then I get to use more of it. It's more likely to become toast than to be used as is, but you do what you have to.

Have I ever mentioned that I've never owned a toaster? I'll do it now then. I've never owned a toaster.

Most of the bread I buy, by the way, isn't from the big companies. I'm lucky enough to have a small neighbourhood grocery store (yes, a few of them do still exist) that has an absolutely tiny bakery, and they make a surprising selection of breads. If you're in the area, give their Canadian Harvest a try. It's my general go-to.



Anyway, having now officially written a post about tea  and bread illustrated with poplar branches, I need to finish up the work day. See you Monday or Tuesday or whenever I get around to it. Happy weekend.

Pointless photo of the day:

Even if the shot's not great, it's still the first butterfly of the season.

This'll have to be it for the day, though. I've been out in the wind too much and I definitely have wind brain at the moment.

Later, then.

Fashion sense

Gotta love STARS bandage and pearls. This look brought to you by Left-Handedness.

And, um, don't ask about the pearls for work at a nature centre. I was in a mood last night.

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I'm going to have to make this a short one today because I'm currently puppysitting and the dog (whose name is Arthur, although he'll probably remain The Puppy for the purposes of the blog) and I just got back from a quick walk. Number one rule of puppy in office: puppy wakes up from nap, puppy goes outside right away = far less pee spots. He's sitting under my desk right now, which is kind of cool.

It's meant that blog time got away from me, though, and I have to get back to work. I know you probably would have rather had a picture of the puppy than my arm, but hey. The place is called pointless for a reason.

Look! Look! Look!

I took this photo yesterday. Yes, yesterday. And it's not even plastic...

Gives me a slight flicker of hope that maybe at some point before October we might even see a little bit of spring.

Maybe.

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And in other news, my father's monitor screen is very dirty, and it's kind of driving me nuts. I've done the best I can to clean it a bit, but his container of electronic equipment wipes has nearly dried out so it isn't the easiest job in the world.

I'd imagine that it's just another manifestation of my life as an olf, but dirty screens really annoy me. There's no reason for a screen to be actively dirty, as opposed to dusty. And -- and pay attention here -- there is NO REASON for you to have your fingers on a screen if it's not a touch screen. Absolutely no reason.

Especially if it's my screen.

Um, get a feeling that it's a bit of an issue with me? Well, it's not. It's a lot of an issue with me.

If you want to get a nasty stare from me at work, go ahead and touch my screen while we're discussing something. I will get out the wipes, even if it means going to another room to find them. And why is this such a problem? Well, first of all I hate scrolling down a page and seeing things that aren't moving. It's very distracting. Kind of like having a bug crawling around the screen while you're trying to set out a document. Second, since I know how much I hate a dirty screen, if my screen's dirty I know someone else has had a hand in it. Not that I'm overly protective of my equipment and space; far from it. People are more than welcome to use my workspace when I'm not there, especially since I'm only part-time and the space is empty a fair bit. Just please don't touch my screen, ok?

I guess I just don't understand why people do that. If we're talking about something that's on the screen, isn't it enough to point towards the screen? It's enough for me. My eyes are going to be directed to where you're pointing even if your finger isn't physically distorting the surface of the flatscreen. Really, I'll see where you mean without the fingerprints.

All well, everyone has their things. I just seem to have one or two too many some days.



That'll be it for now. I suppose since I'm feeling somewhat better today I really should do my taxes. And no, I'm not late. For any of my two fans who are American, tax deadline in Canada is the 30th, not the 15th. And because of the recent computer shenanigans, it's been extended to the... 5th, I think, this year. So maybe I don't have to do my taxes right this moment...





Nah, that's too easy an argument. Just do them and get them done, Dee.

And don't touch your father's screen.

So that sucks

First, I will try to get a few newer photos this afternoon. It's kind of breezy out there at the moment, though, so I hope everyone likes fuzzy.

And now I suppose I should explain the post title, right? Well, I'll try not to be too moany but it hasn't been the best few days. Nothing major, don't worry about that. I'm just in moany  mood.

First off, do you know when it's not a good time to have a plumbing issue in an apartment whose management company is notorious for putting off repairs (as in, I once spent three months -- MONTHS -- with a broken light switch in my bathroom)? How about the day before a four-day weekend? Yep. Wednesday night I noticed distinct dripping from the valve handle of my toilet. Turns out it was dripping alllll the way down the intake line. Fan-effing-tastic. Immediate change in my weekend plans, because I was figuring on having to spend my time bailing my bathroom until Tuesday. Still, ever hopeful, I made the call to the caretaker first thing Thursday. Got the answering machine, of course. Waited all day for a phone call back. Nothing. Got home from work expecting my bucket to be full... and died of shock.

Ok, so not quite died. But still. To see a dry bucket and a new line and valve connected up? I wondered if I was still living in the same place.

Weekend saved, right?

Not quite. I realised I had work to do on Saturday, so I gave Dad a call to let him know that I wouldn't be in until Saturday before supper. No problem. Turkey (we don't generally do our big meal on the actual holiday day) should be ready about six. Ok then.

Except that I felt kind of blah on Friday. And then I felt more than blah on Saturday. Did a little work at home, but never made it to the centre. It took me until after four to convince myself to drive into town, and it wasn't a pleasant experience even then. And supper? Oh yeah, that was a fantastic idea. Got through about half a plate before I just couldn't do more, and then spent the rest of the evening wondering if things would even stay down.

They did, in case anyone wondered. But again, not a pleasant experience.

Today? I'm pretty tired because I didn't sleep worth crap, but what food I've tried has sat better. Twenty-four hour bug, I'm guessing, but such fantastic timing. Once I'm done with this I'll see if I can finish last night's dinner (which went into the fridge plate and all yesterday. Couldn't even be bothered to put it in a container) and then we'll see how we go from there.

And this is way more than you needed to hear about anything. At least it's words, though. I'm sure you noticed the lack of them this week. No real reason except laziness and moaniness.



Is too a word, spell check. Or at least it is for the moment. Later, all.

Lobes

Pointless photo? Not of lobes. Sorry, but I've got to work with what I have. And besides, I kind of like this picture, pointless as it is. I really can't wait for more actual green things to come out now so that I can really try out this lens properly.

You know, by taking shots of spiders on flowers.

Aaanyway, lobes. And what kind of lobes? Oh, let's go with earlobes, since I'm rather aware of mine at the moment.

Yes, it's another pointless blather about jewellery. Considering that I'm not exactly jewellery-obsessed, I sure talk about it a lot on this blog. And today? Earrings.

Because I don't wear necklaces in my lobes, right?

Did I say anyway already? Oh yeah, I did. Let's continue, then.

Today I'm rather aware of my lobes because I'm wearing a pair of slightly dangly earrings with french wires and rose quartz beads. Slightly dangly only, because I'm at work and it looks weird to wear over-the-top earrings with my uniform t-shirt. I've had these particular earrings since university, and I got them from a beading place that used to be in HUB Mall (sigh. Sad that the shooting still comes up so quickly in a search. And wow. I just looked up the directory and way more of the places that I used to go to than I expected are still there. Not the beading place, though). It was mostly diy there, as beading places generally are, but they had a few done-up pieces and that's what I've got on. Pretty simple: wire, silver spacer, quartz bead, silver spacer. As I said, not too dangly, and I used to wear them all the time because they didn't interfere much in my labs.

They're sort of driving me a little mad right now.

I hadn't realised how much I'm not used to having weight on my lobes anymore. I wear earrings almost every day, yes, and I do have two piercings in each lobe (story here, for those who don't know it), but these days I just wear fairly light earrings. My default is two gold studs joined by a chain, because that way I don't have to pick two pairs of earrings in the morning. Occasionally I'll theme up if I'm programming for little kids, but even then those earrings are featherweights compared to these.

It wasn't always that way, however. I was a teenager in the eighties, and like anyone else who was a teenager in the eighties I wore some weirdass stuff. Big, dangly, neon, mismatched, cuffs joined by crystal chains to studs... yeah, judging by what I still have around I was the weird earring queen, and judging by the tamer earrings I'm wearing right now weight never used to distract me.

I can't say I'm sorry about that. When I look at some of the stretched piercings I see on women who wear heavy earrings every day I'm not exactly envious. Even less so when I see people who can't wear earrings at all anymore because if they do that last bit of skin left to them after a lifetime of stretching will tear through. My earlobes still look like earlobes, and that's fine by me.

Incidentally, for those of you doing the ear tunnel thing, I'm going to sound all old fogey here but I really don't get it. I mean, I don't get extreme piercing period, but at least with narrow holes they become fairly invisible if you decide to remove your jewellery and let them contract. Tunnels, though? All that stretching means that you're stuck with it even if you change your mind later in life.

I feel the same way about neck tattoos, actually. I'm fine with tattoos in general -- I'd even have one or two myself by now if I wasn't so cheap -- but anything neck and above just strikes me as such a bad life choice. You're automatically limiting your opportunities later on with one of those things.



Anyway. For real this time. Back to work for me, and if any of my two fans who for some reason care about my jewellery choices wondered, yes, the rolling ring is still worn daily and is an absolute dream for a habitual fidgetter like me.

I'm just glad that I don't have to wear it in my earlobe.

Annoying things and a dog

And a Christmas Cactus named Fred (yes, really) who doesn't know when Christmas is. Yep. He's blooming right now.

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First annoying thing:

We occasionally bringing in baking or snack foods (in varying degrees of healthiness) for the staff, and it all gets left on a certain shelf in the hallway that most of us walk past repeatedly during the day. Next to the shelf is a garbage can. Explain to me, then, why a person will almost always find empty containers left on the shelf on food days. There's a garbage can right there, fer Whomever's sake. Take that extra second and a half and move the garbage to the garbage can. Or even better, to the recycle bin if it's recyclable. It's not hard, people.

Or maybe it is, for some reason that I haven't been made aware of.

It was danishes today, in case anyone was wondering. Boss's treat.

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Puppy interlude:

For the past couple of days I've been sharing the office with a dog. No, I haven't exchanged Wheat; Wheat's family just has a brand new puppy. New as in nine weeks old, and not even a name yet (there will be as of tonight, I'm told). It's been entertaining as all heck, and considering how young he is and that they only got him a couple of days ago he's been doing very well. He'll be very well socialised around here too, which leads to my question...

Why do normally intelligent adults talk to puppies as though they're talking to mentally deficient babies? I've heard so many varieties of absolutely horrifying baby babble in the last two days that I'm wondering if someone put a Leave Brain at Door sign outside of our office. I've heard that baby talk is a natural (if unfortunate) response to human babies and may help with speech development (sigh) but how exactly is that supposed to help a dog?

It'll help a dog feel like people are idiots, as far as I can figure.



It's a cute puppy, though. And did I mention entertaining?

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Ok, last annoying thing, and I'll try to keep it short:

We're having a bit of a measles outbreak in Alberta, and there's an important protocol to be followed to prevent things from getting serious. For students, for example, any child who has been exposed whose parents can't provide up-to-date immunisation records must stay home from school for twenty-one days. Yes, it's a long period of time, but it's massively important to keep things from spreading. Now, here's the reason that this comes into my annoyance post. Those parents who for various stupid and/or misinformed reasons (and I'm not going to get into that whole argument, but I would like to suggest that you google the real science as opposed to the Jenny McCarthys of the world) haven't had their kids vaccinated -- and in one medium-sized school currently affected I hear that it's over eighty kids -- will have to find alternate ways to school their children for nearly a month.

And some of them are pissed.

And I? Have no sympathy. You've put your children at risk, you've put other children at risk by making easily preventable diseases more prevalent, and you've forfeited your right to complain by not looking for the whole story.

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There. I think I've had it out for now. Be prepared for future puppy stories, because did I mention entertaining as all heck?

Pointless melting thing of the day:

Aaand...

I don't really have anything to say about it. Other than it was a melting thing. Melting things are good after this stupid winter, except for two things:

1. Snow moulds
2. Poplar pollen

What with this late melt I foresee them both happening nearly simultaneously, which my two fans know will mean a lot of whinging from Yours Allergically. Ah well, you lot are used to that by now, and the MELT IS A GOOD THING. Whether I can breathe or not, I suppose.

Ah well. Again.

That's it for today. I'll try for a few more words tomorrow.

Words words words

There were a lot of words here yesterday.

Now there are a lot of words on the other blog.

Check the sidebar link if you'd like to read more words.

(I'll warn you, though -- they're mostly about poop.)

(Yes, seriously.)

On this blog?

Pictorial essay, of sorts. You see...

It's melting. It's finally melting.

They're predicting an entire week of above zero highs. Some in the double digits, even. I'll, of course, believe it when I see it, but still. There's hope, apparently. Oh, and this:

Yes! Fuzzy shot because it was fairly inaccessible without standing in a snowbank, but irrefutable proof that things are trying to spring. True, this is European crocus and some daffodils, which are early anyway, and it is very close to the dryer vent, but still. Green, growing things. Hope, my friends.

Until the next blizzard.

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In other, quick news, I packaged up another doll for charity silent auction, and I threw in a couple of cheap ones for their regular sales tables. Sadly, not even a drop in the bucket, but hope (hey, more hope! This blog is very hopeful today) for less stuff in my life, slowly but surely.

OMG Pumpkin...

And what's up with that title, Dee?

Well, here's the thing. My two fans will know that I've said from day one (or almost day one) that if this blog comes to a point it will, in fact, turn into a pumpkin. And since I did actually get off my arse this morning and take a photo that has something to do with the topic, that's dangerously close to pumpkinhood.

I've done it on rare occasions before, though, so I think we might be safe.

Maybe.

Anyway, topic. Since I have one and all. Today is Tabletop Day, so it's time to get to a board game cafe or haul down the old game boxes and play an actual, physical game instead of plugging into a game system or staring at your phone. It was started by Wil Wheaton (yes, he of Star Trek TNG fame, and hero of the internet) and has been embraced by nerds -- and board game companies -- everywhere.

Me? Well, it's been years... and I didn't even know that there was such a thing as a board game cafe until a couple of days ago. I did once teach a friend how to play crib in a funky little coffee shop, though. Does that count?

When I was growing up, however, we were pretty big on board games.Yes, there were the endless games of Monopoly, but also a bunch of short-lived things that I'm sure hardly anyone's heard of now. Good thing I can't remember their names. Oh, and there were also The Game of Life, Sorry!, and Mousetrap. I'd forgotten about those. We hardly ever played Mousetrap as a game; just set up the Rube Goldberg machine and tried (and generally failed) to get it to work the whole way. And I kind of hated Sorry. As boring as Ludo, but with the obnoxious sooory you were supposed to say every time you knocked someone's piece back.

Not quite on the board game band wagon, but another thing that I really hated when I was a kid was any game that made loud sounds. To this day I'm very noise sensitive, but it was even more so back then. I'm probably the only kid out there who enjoyed putting the sticks into the Kerplunk cylinder more than playing the game. It wasn't the chance of getting all the marbles; it was the sound that they made when they came down. By far the worst for that was a game called Bang Box. I don't know whose idea it was to hide balloons under a box and then pound (plastic) nails into it until a balloon popped, but that game was an absolute nightmare for me.

But back to board games.

And now (drumroll please), the game in the pumpkiny picture above. I'd figured that there were tons of games still around this house, so it'd be no problem to grab one and take a quick shot. Um, no. First, I'd forgotten that Dad (on my suggestion, to be honest) had donated a bunch to a charity garage sale a while ago. Then I thought of taking a photo of the Trivial Pursuit stuff (the original, of which there's probably only two or three million around now) that we still have. Not sure why I didn't go with that. I loved Trivial Pursuit. It was right up my alley, being a trivia natural without trying to be. Comes with the short attention span, I guess. Anyway, then I realised that there were still games in the storeroom. Then I opened the storeroom door and realised that there was no way in hell that I was going to be able to get to them. So then I found the Pente board.

We've never played this.

In fact, I don't think this particular board has ever been used. According to the tags on the storage cylinder, it was bought on sale from a local drug store and then... put away? It certainly seems that way.

Just as well. It looks like the sort of game that I absolutely suck at. Scanning the rules, it seems very like a game I have as part of a set for the 3DS, and even on the easiest setting I generally win... oh, let's be generous and say maybe one out of three games. I just don't have the brain for strategy stuff, or may I don't have the patience to think that way. Whichever, if you want to frustrate me in a hurry just sit me down and make me play games like this.

I promise that I'll pout when I lose.

Some things about me and board games just don't change, I suppose.





Happy Tabletop Day, nerds (and I say that with affection) everywhere.

Pointless photo of the day:

And that's all you're getting, I'm afraid.

New pics this weekend, probably.

Maybe even of things melting.





Finally...