Buggery

No, not that. I got your attention though, didn't I? And I'll be curious to see what kind of attention that it'll bring from random search engines.

I get an unreasonable kick from that sort of thing, I'll admit. I do check to see what weird search terms have brought people to my blogs. It's one of the few things I miss from the old Blogger banner ads these blogs all used to have, too. It used to amuse the heck out of me to see what random terms the Google ad engine would choose for its "targeted" ads. Don't even ask me how I ended up with an ad for Mein Kampf showing up for a week...

Incidentally, I hope you've noticed that I don't miss the targeted ads enough to sign up for Adsense or anything like that. Although it might fit, considering that ads on this blog would be well and truly pointless.

Um, anyway. That's not why you came.

The reason for the misleading title is that we're dealing with a few bugs at work today. Not of the variety featured in today's pointless photo (which is, after all, a beetle rather than a bug), but of the technological type.

We just got a new phone system.

Fuuun, right?

Figuring out the new system should be ok, once we have all the programming down. Should be ok, I hope. We have a lot of volunteers that run the front desk, though, and since they're each here just once a week that equals a full week's worth of trying to train people on a new system. And there are, of course, a few programming glitches as well. I called my father and asked him to call me back just to see if the Call Display worked properly. Well... after watching the line number light up, then the front desk line light up, then a momentary green light on my line (with no ring) that changed to red before I could pick it up and sent him straight to the voice mail box that I hadn't had a chance to set up yet, I can officially tell you that my voice mail light works.

The rest of the system apparently needs a bit of tweaking.

Ah well, if you occasionally try to get me at work and I seem to be non-existent, bear with us. We'll get it figured out.



Stay tuned to find out how they screw up our wifi...

Yeah, that weird thing

... is on the wall of the gallery here at work.

It's our annual staff show.

I did a painting.

Or I guess three paintings.

I might not have hung them this spread out, but it works so I don't mind.

My mind minds that it's on the wall at all, but you've been hearing about that already. If you want to hear more for some reason, check the other blog. It's linked on the sidebar. I talked (or typed, I guess) too much over there already and I need to get back to work, so check there for more angst.

I'm such a neurotic freak.

Well, that was odd

I just did something that I don't think I've ever done before in my life.

I ordered a couple of new sketchbooks.

I can't express to you how weird that is.

All my adult life I've started sketchbooks, got a page or two in, and that was that. And here I am reordering, all of a sudden? Weird.

I should explain a bit, I guess. When I say all my adult life, I'm only talking about two or three sketchbooks. I've never been very good at sketchbooks. Oh, I start out with the best of intentions -- you know, trying to keep things loose, not caring if things are exactly what I'd hoped, reminding myself that I'm doing this for practice and not for show -- but it never seems to take long before my OLF self gets dissatisfied and starts to get all perfectionist. That's never a good thing with sketchbooks, because if you start wanting to make the sketchbook perfect and it isn't you soon find yourself not wanting to open the sketchbook at all.

There's also the problem of paper. I've mentioned this before, but I'm a very tactile person when it comes to playing with art stuff, and for me one of the worst sins a sketchbook can commit is having boring paper. Case in point? My field sketchbook, which is currently being cannibalised bit by bit for other projects. I was full of enthusiasm when I started because I'd never really done much field sketching, and to be fair I did end up doing a little. The paper in the book, though, was sooo boooring that I found myself doodling on anything BUT the sketchbook when I went outside on the trails.

So, yeah. Between perfectionism and boredom, sketchbooks have never gone all that well for me. So can anybody explain to me, then, why I only have one page left in my watercolour sketchbook and three in my pocket sketchbook? What, exactly, changed?

I suppose pocket sketchbook might be a clue. It's small. It's always in my purse, along with a set of Prismacolor pigment pens. It's no pressure to fill a page while I'm sitting around waiting for something. Plus (and this may be a big insight into my warped brain, I don't know), the first thing I did when I got it was doodle all over the inside covers to make sure that it wasn't pristine. There, weirdo. Just try to make this perfect. It's already not perfect, and you can't change that. Pressure's off.

Yeah, yeah, I know. But you do what you have to, I guess.

The watercolour book is a little harder to fathom, because I'm most emphatically not a painter. I don't have the foggiest clue what I'm doing when it comes to painting. Getting a watercolour book to begin with was a leap of... I was going to say faith, but stupidity might be a better word. How have I managed to finish a book? Plodding along, mostly. And it became a place to experiment. That's what it was supposed to be, really, but this is the first time that something like this has worked out that way for me. Not everything in the book is great (in fact, most of the book is pretty awful), but even I have to admit that there are a couple or three things that I'd save if I decided to take the book apart.

Ah, now there's a question. Will the finished books stay intact, or will I rip them to pieces? Honestly, I don't know. I've never finished one sketchbook before, let alone two. The pocket book will likely stay together (whether I keep it or chuck it is the question there) because I've drawn across the fold each time so it's pretty much impossible to remove those doodles. The watercolour book, though. Actually, there's at least one thing in there that I might consider framing.

Yes, framing a watercolour. Done by me. Told you this was odd.

Anyway. I've made my online order since it's cheaper to get what's apparently become my book of choice that way (and might I just say here, rather theatrically, DAAAMN YOU MOLESKINE! I so desperately wanted to not like the first moleskine I bought because they're comparatively expensive and I didn't want to get sucked in by the hype, but... sigh. Paper, did I mention? And it's amazing how important a simple piece of elastic can be), and in a little while I will actually be starting new sketchbooks because my old ones are finished.



I don't know who I am anymore.

Pointless photo - I forgot to blog version - of the day:

I really need to take some new photos. It's going to be a hard sell, though: my two fans know how much I love winter, and everything out there already looks like winter thanks to this week's snowfall. Ah well, it could be much, much, worse. To all those who are currently bracing themselves for Frankenstorm, I can't even imagine what you must be going through.

Got a late start to my day, for some reason. Oh, I was awake at the usual time (for those new to the program, that would be stupid o'clock in the morning), but after I got up and went to the bathroom I went back to bed and more or less just sat there until eight. That's weird for me, to just stay in bed doing nothing but thinking. I did service the cat at one point, of course (you can't stay in bed that long without having to service the cat), but other than that there was no reason to suddenly look at the clock and realise that on a normal Saturday I'd already have the laundry started by that time.

Ah well. No harm to it. And what was I thinking about? Lots of things (that's a lot of time to just be in the bed thinking), but nothing really worth blogging about.

So what's the topic of the day, then? Damned if I know. I suppose we could talk phones for a few minutes before my stomach decides that lunch has been delayed too long already.

I've been doing a bit of phone shopping this morning, believe it or not. I say believe it or not because most of you know by now that I'm still wandering around with the same five (or probably closer to six by now) year old cell phone while the smartphone world passes me by. There are a few reasons for this; number one being that I'm currently not on contract with my provider, and I want to make sure that I know what I want before I sign on with anyone else (or even the same provider, for that matter). Number two would be that my cell phone is my only phone, and my trusty old Motorola has been extremely dependable. I'm a little leery of giving that up for the world of flashy-but-how-often-will-I-break-it touchscreens. Still, I have to admit that with the way the world is working these days I miss having a phone that does more than phone, text, and take really crappy low-quality pictures.

At the same time, I'm a bit worried about the phone part of the phone. My current phone is a phone first. From what I've heard of the sound quality of calls from some of my smartphone-using friends, a lot of smartphones aren't. That would be a problem for someone without a land line, you know.

Well, we'll see. Maybe I'll do a bit of handset browsing at Compare Cellular later (handy site, that, by the way) to check the reviews. It'll help a bit. In the meantime, lunch really is beckoning. This counts as a post, right? I'm trying my best to ease back into the blather...

Oops

Had the work camera out for something else. Totally forgot to take a picture of Alan the pumpkin. Everything's put away again now. Sorry, Alan. Lost your chance to shine again.

I'm probably not going to be terribly blatherful today (what? Already? Oh, keep reading. There's an excuse). The fact is, I'm not feeling all that wonderful, and it's my fault. Or work's fault. Maybe we can split the difference?

I was outside on the trails for a bit this morning with the camera looking for blogworthy things to take photos of (which subset, apparently, doesn't include pumpkins on desks). We've been a little lax on blogging for work these days because twitter is so much faster, and I thought I'd better do something about that. The problem is, with the windchill it was about -10C or so out there while I was walking.

And all the true Canadians out there are now saying So what.

And all the people with cold-induced urticaria out there are now saying Geez. Are you ok?

See, the problem with being allergic to the cold is that early season is tough. Your body's had no chance at all to acclimatise, and any reaction you have is going be sooner and more severe than it might be later on in the winter. So, yeah. By the time I got back I could tell I'd reacted, and by the time I got back into the office I was puffy. Um, I should say at this point that for me, anyway, the full rash doesn't come out until I start warming up. It wasn't horrible today, but it was enough that I currently have the lousy feeling I generally get when I'm coming off a reaction.

Yay bodily stupidity.

And yay stupid people who decide to go out for a walk when they know they really shouldn't.

Even if it was for work.





Yay work.
Yay cold.
Yay stop typing...

Ah, the perils of having time to blog

Yes, I know that I promised a picture of Alan the Pumpkin (who's now, apparently, Alan the Door Prize. Long story), but to be honest I'm not in the mood to get the camera out. Or, more to the point, to edit a photo of a pumpkin sitting on my desk. Maybe tomorrow.

----------

So. I've been either not blogging or saying that I don't have time to blog for well over a week now. I have time today.

So what do I blather about, then?

That amount of non-blather time can lead to an embarrassment of riches... or at least of things that I haven't told you about. The problem is, nothing's really leaping out and saying Me! Me! I want to be the subject of your first real blog post in aaages!

Figures, doesn't it?

All right, why don't I just start typing about random things from yesterday and see where it goes.

Yesterday = snow, first of all. Our first serious, sticking snowfall of the season (too fricking early, too). And that, as usual, means that half of the people in this city forget where they left their brains as soon as they hit the roads.

Man, people are stupid when it comes to winter driving; especially when you consider how much winter we generally get here. Case in point? A truck drove through the window of a local music store. He had no choice, though, because he'd been driving in the left lane when an idiot in the centre lane decided to turn left IN FRONT OF HIM. Dumb move in the best of conditions, but the streets were slick and there wasn't much else the truck driver could do but hit the store. He hit the idiot driver, too, but not as badly as he might have otherwise.

I think that they need to add IQ tests to driver's tests.

I had two personal examples of winter driving stupidity to contend with myself, and if you figured that number with the population of drivers in the city the amount of potential idiocracry is truly astounding. Hey, teacher at the school next to us. When the roads are slippery you don't barrel out of your parking lot, suddenly remember that other people use the road, slam on your brakes, and slide halfway into the street and nearly into the car (that'd be my car) that is coming. Hey, idiot pick-up driver (and we all know my feelings about idiots in trucks already). When I am finally trying to make a left turn as the light turns amber (after waiting several lights in the turn lane because the roads are too iffy for people to be able to sneak a turn into the usual space in traffic) and you're more than half a block away from the intersection, YOU STOP. You don't just merrily drive through and wave at me as you assume that I might -- might -- be able to stop my car so that I don't hit you. I wasn't doing you a favour by stopping mid-turn. I was trying not to be killed.

Gah.

They're both just lucky that I have decent tires and a car that knows what to do in winter. Um, well, the driver does too, of course, but let me tell you that I'm very much in danger of falling in love with traction control. This is the first car I've had it in, and I wouldn't have believed that it makes that much of a difference. Thanks, Huff.



Hmm. Me being po'd at winter drivers just turned into a post. Who'd'a thunk?

I guess that means that I should go back to work now, though. Oh, quick art update first. I finished my canvasses last night. They're... different. Now I just have to work up the courage to bring them in for the staff art show. That's going to take a bit of doing. They're different, did I mention? I'm not always that comfortable with different.

I bet my two fans hadn't noticed.

Pointless photo of the day:

Definitely not taken today, because if it was it would be of snow, not of a ladybird.

Sigh.

Ah well. Need to go set up for a program now. For any of my two fans who were wondering about the fate of Alan the Pumpkin (and I'm sure you were), it's currently sitting on my desk. Maybe he'll feature in tomorrow's pointless photo.

We'll see.





Bye now.