I was interviewing a brand new uni graduate for a job on my team. I asked her how she though social media such as Facebook might be used in a corporate environment.
She responded, “Well, whoever the guy is that thought that up is so smart. I mean, he targeted it right. I don’t think any adults use it.”
Friday night, Sue came by for dinner and a garden consultation. We have agreement on colours (no yellow) and shapes and I may end up with borders coming up the sidewalk. I think it was good it was a low-key affair, since a service for a co-worker of ours was held on Thursday. Woman battled cancer 4 times, and lost a leg in the process before she passed away. Anyway, Sue was a close friend of hers.
Saturday got off to an early start. Andrew and I joined the throngs of people at the mall to pick up another water barrel (his third and my second). The region runs a great program whereby you can get a water barrel for $30 once a year. Normally they are $80 or so. We were there a full hour before they were to start handing them out, and the line-up was already around the perimeter of the lot. Of course, enviro-friendly semi-free stuff and Waterloo yuppies go very well together :) People-watching was kind of fun, too. Most everyone had not showered and were wearing the best of designer active-wear. Looked a bit like a line at the loo in a campground really.
They had strategically placed garbage bags to collect all of the non-recyclable Timmies cups from the crowd…
Got home from that and then went over to Guelph in the afternoon to visit Kate & Ted & friends and to try my hand at German board games. Since I was the newbie, we played a relatively simple one about trains. I managed to forget to collect my points from time to time, and I tried to cheat only once.
Definitely a different experience to play a game sober, though. My experience with board games to this point in my life is overwhelmingly tied to inebriation and nudity. Hmmm. Maybe that explains the problem with keeping track of my points.
The room was full of post-grad English lit types, and the conversation was thick with allusions and book recommendations. I was happy to hear that all of us still like a good mystery, though. Takes the airs off.
Today I spent more time doing some trip research. Montpellier Airport, btw, has only 2 runways :) One hotel we’re staying at – I think it’s the one in Narbonne – is on this lovely little winding street of stone houses. And the one in Carcassonne is on a narrow thruway by the river. Aren’t you jealous? You should be. I’ll be sure to share the pictures.
I woke up this morning and my lower back was all knotted up. I never have back problems. Back problems are things that old people and stubborn guys who don’t stretch after hockey have.
And here’s the thing: the extent of my physical activity last night? A walk to the library. Sitting on my couch, and reading. Then sleep. So I hurt my back WALKING, LAYING DOWN, or SLEEPING.
I’ll accept crotchety. But I’m not accepting old.
And speaking of crotchety. I think the latest Monistat commercials are hilarious. I’ve searched online for copies of them, but no luck yet. In my favourite one, a woman is coming home and her hoo-haw is swearing and muttering in cartoon baloons. She whips out the Monistat, then it’s cooing as she walks out the door a little later.
I think what is so awesome about the whole thing is that I think there’s a lot of hoo-haws that swear like sailors for other reason than that’s the way they like to talk…
First: 24 degrees here in K-W today. Sweet!
In honour of the day, I figured it was time to take out the shrubbery. My front garden consisted of some fungus-infested crawling shrubs and a few overgrown junipers and some boxwood that were threatening to take over the sidewalk.
I hacked away at the branches and managed to dig out the roots of three of the shrubs with nothing more than a shovel, a wood saw and some snippers before neighbour P came over to see what I was doing.
And, as happens with old men who like to be helpful, next thing I know he’s got the sawsall out and was hacking merrily away. But you can always do better. Neighbour J on the other side of P came out and the two men thought of something funner! That being tie a chain around a bush, tie the other end to the 4×4, and pull it out!
I must say, I had the remaining bushes out in no time. My Dad is gonna be pissed that he missed all of the action.
Next will be to get my friend Sue over for a garden consultation. I’m hoping for some pretty colour…
[youtube]mHXBL6bzAR4[/youtube]
Link from CO
Melle and I accompanied our friends Jean and Cathy to another “Jeans and Classics” event with the K-W Symphony. This time it was a tribute to Pink Floyd. First half consisted of songs that were contemporary to the main event – a play-through of Dark Side of the Moon straight through.
Really interesting mix and some amazing solos – including a 1970s keyboard kind of thing with toggles and knobs, and when Don Paulton played it, the bass vibrated my sternum. Excellent.
From the first half, I think I enjoyed Space Oddity the most. And then when they did the Dark Side part, some locals made a media projection to go with the music. Visuals were pretty good, except for this eye that was there for the whole Dark Side track. It was a big eye! And it didn’t blink the whole time and everyone in the audience was trying not to look at it and/or blinked a lot to try to get rid of the tears…
Sax guy was pretty awesome and made some great O-faces, as did the guest guitar soloist. I think the Led Zeppelin tribute was more interesting for the orchestra, but the rockers had a hell of a time last night.
And my fav tiger bassist was groovin’ in the back again. I didn’t get to see him that much cuz the back-up singers were blocking my view, but man, that guy makes me smile.
Audience was every generation: teens in mint Floyd t-shirts, cougars, dirties, and a Mr Skullet in the front throwin’ the horns and clapping along.
Good time had by all.
Craptastic Day! Was planning to work at home but VPN wasn’t cooperating and then a sequence of email and calls from frantic people behaving frantically about various IMPORTANT items, or maybe items that are very small but are somehow IMPORTANT because they say so.
Bleh.
Most awesome part was that I was sending a vent email to Melle, she was sending me a badday one on the way back. Seriously, I need to check out the moon tonight to see if there is some lunar whackiness going on that I don’t know about.
My restorative regime consists of jammies, a book, some scotch and a few cookies. Nectar, baby. Nectar.
In preparation for my upcoming trip to France, I decided to buy my very own travel backpack. In the past, I’ve borrowed a friend’s, but I figured it was time.
Took myself off to my local “Adventure” store. The clerks did not disappoint. Twenty-somethings with goatees and piercings that probably wish they were in Vancouver. Anyway, when I got upstairs to inspect the backpacks, one of the clerks was giving an info session on them to two young girls. I listened in and mentioned that I was interested in the same thing.
They were cute and giggly in the way that you are when you have never travelled. Had no idea about weight and top-load vs. side-load. One of them has never been on a plane. Wondered how they were ever going to fit enough shoes in there. Turns out they are headed to Central America to do a medical mission. They talked about how they weren’t sure they could afford the packs, but they could get birthday money and graduation money be August when they were leaving. And, with any luck, they’d be able to use them again to travel more when they get “older”. Good christ.
I pointed out some things on the various packs and got them to try them on. I was envious of their youth and exuberance and charitable nature. They were clearly thinking I was some world traveller, cuz I’ve been to Europe a couple of times.
Thanks to my short stature, I ended up having to purchase the smaller of the two options. The shoulder pads couldn’t adjust for me on the big one :) I walked out of there feeling a) happy that I didn’t have to agonize over buying this item, b) guilty for spending that much on a backpack, and c) feeling like I need to exuberate more often.
I hope they have the trip of a lifetime.
When I left my old house, I thought I was leaving the menagerie behind since the chipmunk was pretty attached to the shed and to the tree, the groundhog had already lined his hole with plastic from the neighbour’s, the bunnies were content with the park in behind and someone had run over the ducks.
But I got home today, and there were ducks. I have ducks! The pair were waddling around my driveway looking for a likely place to lay claim. As long as it’s not under the car, I’m good with that. I will scold them if they go anywhere near the road. And then there’s the squirrel who likes to eat my flowers, and bunnies who use my backyard as a launch zone for P’s garden. There is also a squirrel who seems to be burying nuts NOW, like, when it might be SPRING (ignoring the freakin’ snow that is supposed to arrive this weekend).
All to say that I am a critter magnet. The vermin? They love me.