Work and other interruptions.

Have I mentioned that work has been crazy busy of late? One of the digitization projects that has been coasting for ... well a long while ... has been bumped up to top priority, and with the stepped up timeline come a whole lot of staff who need to be trained to do (part of) what I do.

Last night, we went out to see Jann Arden in concert. I enjoyed the music (especially the songs off her new album, even if I don't think that "Free" was the best choice for a title) but really, truly wanted to take the teeny folding chairs we perched on and launch them into the sun.

This evening, as the wind and rain rattles the house -- enough of a worry that I brought out the candles and lanterns "just in case" -- I have been getting stuff done that got snugged in between the stuff I was supposed to be doing this month. Sigh. I was also watching CBS detective dramas (Criminal Minds and CSI NY) that were distractingly entertaining this week.

Speaking of distractingly entertaining....

Interesting week

... and it's not over yet.

So far I have attended a bunch of meetings --including some last minute scheduled meetings -- a Norman Foote performance with Kiddo, and an impromptu preview Webinar for tomorrow's free Flash Basics course. I've also done some historical sleuthing (to determine the age of a map I'd scanned) -- I had to admit it was fun wearing my History hat, even for a brief period -- updated websites a-plenty, and tilted at a few windmills.

Tomorrow, I have the Flash course plus two trucks full of books to deal with. Also, at some point, I have to address the mountain of paper on my desk. Seriously, I think it ate my coffee mug. I have to clear my desk so that I can prepare to relocate -- the dominoes are finally starting to fall and it looks like by sometime in late May/early June I will have a slightly different viewpoint when I stand to look over the cubicle walls.

Outside of work, the weather has been super-random -- lots of wind and rain, so I had Hubby pick me and the bike up on Tuesday and I took the bus today. Of course, taking the bus is now the annoying option because to get to work by 8 I have to leave the house at 7:10 -- if I bike, I leave at 7:25; if I drive, 7:35 (but that cuts it close). So as long as it isn't too beastly in the morning I'll be back on the bike.

Am I missing something?

I'm watching the news tonight and there is a long story about the weather and its effect on the homeless. The city is reluctant to enact the extreme-weather protocol which opens more beds, not because the beds aren't available but because there is a staffing crunch.

Why can't they hire some of the homeless who are presumably also jobless?

Just a thought.

Good day to stay inside

It's a stormy day here in Victoria, the wind has been blowing all night and this morning we woke to heavy rain beating against the windows. Power is out in several areas of the city but so far, we've been spared. It's a good day to be indoors.

Thankfully, our only concrete plans today involved vacuuming the house and that can be done any time. Meanwhile, we watched some episodes of The Office (bought at Kiddo's request, oddly enough) followed by Bruce Almighty and are otherwise relaxing.

Hubby just ordered one of the One Laptop Per Child XO Laptops through the Give One Get One promotion that starts today. Since the XO is designed for kids, we will probably let Kiddo use it most of the time but since it is also durable, it may be our default travel laptop.

I think today I will focus on some crafting... I want to get 50 rows done on the Doctor Who scarf (I've finished over 400 rows so far... only about 150 more 'til it's finished)...

Pre-Christmas Madness

Between the storms (which closed school for kiddo), hubby being sick and being stupidly busy trying to track down a hacker on the server at work, last minute shopping, and the usual insanity that increases tenfold at this time of year, it's been a busy week. So... here's the highlights.

Storms -- wow. I have never seen so many trees down after a storm. I feel a bit bad for the BC Hydro crews who haven't had much time to rest all week with three windstorms in a row. Tens of thousands of households and businesses in the region were without power for at least part of the week. We managed to escape that fate (::knock wood::) though we had candles and flashlights at the ready. As I mentioned though, kiddo's school lost power twice. Once on Monday for just a couple of hours and on Friday -- no sooner had she been dropped off when hubby got a call to pick her up again due to having no heat. When we drove out to the Westshore yesterday, the whole area smelled like a Christmas Tree lot!!

Speaking of trees... Christmas Tree -- we had decided to get a cut tree this year, as we gave away our artificial one last year. I had spotted a little lot close to home, run by the Kiwanis Club, that had some nice, natural looking BC trees. We ran some other errands Friday evening, thinking we had plenty of time, then arrived at the lot around 6:30 only to find it closed!! I was soooooo frustrated. It meant we had to come back on Saturday without kiddo to get the tree, grrr, but I did find a nice, albeit wonky, tree. It's pretty much backless which means we can snug it up against the bookcase. However, it needs more than the 300 lights we put on there, so I have to go out this afternoon to get another 50 or so.

Errands -- yesterday, despite hubby being sick (very sick... I felt bad) he decided he wanted out of the house... so we headed out to the Westshore to run a number of errands: (1) Glenwood Meats -- about 20 lbs of meat (various forms of sausage, chicken, beef, and bacon) for $55. We have been totally spoiled by the quality and value of the meat from Glenwood, and we buy very little meat elsewhere any more. (2) Island Ink Jet -- drop off our printer cartridge for refil. They had some trouble because the blue tank had all but dried out. So they took a looooooong time. But they did eventually get it going again. (3) The Evil Retailer (yeah, they're all evil, but I hate even admitting I shop at the place with the Smiley logo) -- for a bunch of basic consumables which had run low -- paper products, kitchen wraps, bathroom personal stuff... you know. (4) The tree (see above) which we got on our way back home, along with fast-food lunch that disagreed with me terribly (urrrrrr).

And what would the holidays be without a rant? ... I've been annoyed by a host of little silly things... but this item really got me wanting to rant. Care of the Shopping Network, they suggest as a last minute gift, the Creative Kids Basket. I assure you there is NOTHING creative about this basket -- in fact, it isn't even pictured as a basket! It is a BAG full of CANDY. And not even good candy, just crappy sugary junk. To add insult to injury, the price is $36.49 PLUS $10 shipping!! There's no way the contents cost more than $15, and the bag maybe $2 -- in fact the whole thing could be pulled together from stock in any dollar store. Bah.

OK.. off to run more errands (We're out of coffee!! Oh the HORROR!).