Blankshield

Twas the afternoon before New Years,
And all through the plant
Not a creature was stirring

- because there's no one here.

I'm going home.

I anticipate much Settlers of Catan being played at the Wake. Barring obligatory breaks for twister and pizza, I may not do anything else...

James
(obsess obsess obsess)

Settlers of Catan is an evil, evil game. Wanna play?

Holidays are cool. Normally by this point in a stretch of not-working, I'm resigning myself to the fact that I will be working in the morning, and anything that needs doing (laundry, cleaning, whatever) needs to happen today, or I will go to work unshaven and naked - a good recipe for getting fired if I ever heard one.

Instead, here I leisurely sit at my computer, doing really not much of anything, with another two days of not-work to look forward to. It is perhaps a reflection of how stressful work has been lately that I, normally an obsessive-compulsive holiday cheer and seasonal goodwill kinda guy am mostly thinking "Yay, I'm not at work!"

However, even such weightly issues as this diminish into obscurity compared with:

I got Settlers of Catan for Christmas! Woo!

:)

James

Well, today was less stressful than yesterday, fortunately. The prospect of overtime on Christmas Eve is no longer looming quite so nastily, and if we don't get any new calls I will hopefully actually get to go home early, just like a normal year.

I only had 4 new calls today, and by mid-afternoon was actually caught up, and could start clearing off some of paperwork and 'outstanding issues' on my desk. I got parts out the door, and was able to (for the first time in literally weeks) take an hour or two to review my calls one by one and make sure that they didn't need action - or if action was needed that it got took.(1) For the first time since, oh, about mid-November I feel like I'm actually on top of my workload. I've got 3 calls scheduled for tomorrow, and the other 24 open calls I've got are all on a holding pattern, either scheduled for later, or waiting on parts, or that sort of thing.

However, I recognize that it's a precarious balance up here, and that as soon as business picks up again after the holidays, I'll be doing two jobs worth of work again. I'm not looking forward to it, and I strongly suspect that if something doesn't change by the end of January, something will snap, and it just might be me.

(And yes, I did say "the other 24 open calls" up there. A typical workload shouldn't see more than about 10 outstanding calls on average.)


James


1:Yes, I know that's bad grammer. Tough. Just be glad I didn't say tooked.

Busy day. Busy few days, actually. Much cleaning and thinging has been accomplished. Go team. Rah.

Tired now, bed good.

James

Allrighty. In my last post, I refered to sticky buns, but have since been corrected. They are actually SysAdmin buns. I didn't want to call them SysAdmin buns because I forgot the cinnamon. (how, pray tell, one can forget cinnamon in cinnamon buns I'm not sure, but I managed it) However, Raven correctly pointed out to me that they are still SysAdmin buns, just SysAdmin buns for the cinnamon intolerant. I've also had several people want the recipe; at least one more person asks every time I make them. So without further ado, in the tradition of Open Source Cola:

Open Source SysAdmin Buns

This recipe for SysAdmin buns is governed by a Copyleft. Please review the concept of Copyleft, and if you agree to abide by the spirit of Copyleft with regards to this recipe, continue reading.

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking power
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup vegtable shortening
1 cup milk

Combine the above ingredients in a mixing bowl with a mixer very briefly; until the milk is all absorbed by something and the shortening is mostly not one big lump. Then take it out of the bowl and continue to knead it by hand - be warned, this results in very sticky hands for a while. It also can result in a "dear god, this can't really become food can it?" reaction. Continue to knead it until it is no longer sticking to your hands or the counter, and the color is uniform - no white specks or lumps of flour left.

Roll it out onto the counter into a rough rectangle, roughly a foot and a half long and half that high. Spread 1/3 cup of soft butter evenly across it (I never measure this), then 1/2 cup of brown sugar (I never measure this either), and finally sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon on it. (which, you've probably guessed, I also never measure. I also probably use too much.)

Cut it into ~1 to 1 1/2 inch strips and roll these up. Place them into greased muffin tins and bake at 425f for 15-18 minutes - I have a new stove and find 15 minutes is about perfect. My mom had an older stove and found that timing was utterly unpredictable. The recipe should make between 12 and 18 SysAdmin buns, although I've had as low as 9 and as high as 20.

Enjoy(1).

-----------------

I suppose I ought to mention that they are called SysAdmin buns because that's what my 2 year old (at the time) daughter called them. "Kalen, would you like a cinnamon bun?" "Yes! Kalen wants a sys admin bun!" After Raven and I got off the floor laughing, we explained that she should be asking for a sys admin bun, please. They have been Sys Admin buns ever since. Although, daughters being contrary creatures, Kalen is now calling them cinnamon buns. Too late dear, the damage is done.

James

1: In the spirit of open source, and copyleft, I've borrowed a bit of recipe code from Ravenblack, and included the exhortation to enjoy as part of the recipe. This way, if you fail to enjoy it, that's because you didn't follow the recipe.

Return of the King was good. I'm a bit disappointed in Jackson's version of the men of Gondor, excepting the sons of Denethor, who were excellently done. Overall though, his men of Gondor felt.. wishy-washy. Part of that might be lack of screen time, but it felt like they just sort of sat there and went "whoa" like a bunch of Keanu Reeves in armor. Gandalf storms by. "Whoa" Denethor goes loopy. "Whoa!" Gandalf storms by. "Whoa." Nazgul swoop. "Whoa!" Gandalf storms by. "Whoa."

His Denethor, sorry to say it, sucked. He was a weak fool that could have been listed in the credits as "Gandalf's bitch" and no one would have blinked. In the book, Denethor was a powerful man, still capable of commanding the hearts and minds of men, and even though he saw no hope, he still mustered the armies of Gondor. He was a figure that Faramir could want the respect of, instead of a sort of black humour comic relief nutbar.

Rohan, on the other hand - wow. I say turn not to Gondor to look for strength in men, but find it on the open wold, in the free running Riders of Rohan. I had doubts when I read the book that Rohan's war chant of "Death!" could inspire men and cause orcs to quail, but Jackson did a beautiful job of that speech and that scene. The CGI of the wave of riders hitting the army was also awe-inspiring. Yes Virginia, 6000 cavalry can make a difference.

I also loved the lighting of the beacons, even if it did happen in the wrong place. The sequence was overdone, but it was beautifully over-done, with great cinematography and drama. It actually moved me to tears, which few scenes in these movies have done.

In other news, I managed to get my grubby little paws on a copy of the new Battlestar Galactica series. Mmmm, good. I want to finish watching it a second time before I put up much more than that (and still might not post all that much, because it hasn't aired up here in Canuckland yet), but I like it. True to the spirit of the first while managing to ditch pretty much all of the campy bits, and be good science fiction.

In other other news, I made a bunch of sticky buns on Tuesday, and melted chocolate, but haven't started candy proper. I'll probably make fondant tonight, and try to at least start candy. We'll see. Saturday is the other day I'll be making candy, and to be perfectly honest, probably into next week as well. Anyone who reads my blog and knows where I live is welcome to come out and help... is in fact, welcome to just come and hang out pretty much any evening between now and Christmas - I like company over the holidays. Just call first to make sure I'm home; I should be (except for this Friday - compnay X-mas party) but you never know with this time of year.

James

This coming Tuesday I will be doing the majority of my Christmas candy making and watching sappy Christmas movies and generally being Christmas-y. Anyone who wants to join me is welcome to do so. Even Kalen (I want to WATCH!).

James

Well, I heard an audio clip on the news this morning, from that great purveyor of wisdom, US Secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld. Regretably, I can't seem to find it online, but I'll keep looking, if only to see if there is context I missed, or I somehow misheard (which I doubt; he's a good public speaker, and his screwups are rarely the result of a garbled quote). Without further ado, the words of Mr. Rumsfeld on how Saddam will be treated:

"There is no need to fear Saddam will be treated humanely."

Now, I'm fairly certain that whoever wrote that speach for him intended a comma. But he sure didn't say it with one.

James, greatly amused.

Work to do? Check.

Time to do it? Check.

Tools needed? Check.

Motivation? ...

Motivation?

Hello?


James

Ah hah hah hah! I have corrupted people at work:

Me: "Can you go do that restage?"

Co-worker: "Give me one good Riesen."

Grar. I'm having a very hard time caring about work today.

This would be because I had a conversation with my boss this morning that went roughly:

"How would you feel about staying out at [the place I work at] for a little while longer"

Me: "..."

"Because we're having a hard time finding someone qualified to replace you."

Me: "..."

Grr. I can live with it, and it's not really that bad a thing, but I was *really* looking forward to kissing this place goodbye. They've gone through a whole load of resumes, and a small handful of interviews, and only had one guy who qualified, but he didn't want to be stuck out here. Go figure; I'm trying to get out...

Fox - convey my apologies to Boar-Ral for me; I didn't realize they were putting as much emphasis on printer skills as they are, else he'd almost certainly have gotten the job. Anyone out there know someone with several years experience repairing Lexmark and Hewlett-Packard printers who is at loose ends? I thought not... we're all working. So for the forseeable future, I'll continue to work two people's worth of calls while they keep looking for another me. Yeesh. If I realized I was so hard to come by, I'd've asked for more money...

Grr. Tis the season to fix printers fa la la la la la la la la.

James

Went out to BP's with Rick and Brian and Jason last night, as Brian's still in town for his aunt's funeral and related complications. I enjoyed it a lot; we fell right into old patterns and it was in many ways like the interveaning years weren't. I guess that's what knowing each other for such long stretches of time will do for you... As Brian pointed out, we've been friends for nearly a quarter century - some of us longer. Obligatory whinge about age: I'm old, blah blah, meh.

In other news, I'm making great strides in Project Pool Table. I'm sorting out the last of the sets now, which means I only have a few tubs worth of unsorted stuff from old projects to deal with. Well, that and the castle, but honestly the castle will be easy to sort out; just dumping grey parts right into their respective tubs as they come off the castle. I think having my pool table by Christmas is not only a viable goal, but likely to be reached.

Gack! Christmas! In two weeks! I haven't made my Christmas candy yet!!!!! Note to self: get off yo lazy ass.

James

Well, I've seen our new offices several times in several days now, but never for more than about 20 minutes at a time. This is because I'm running my tail off doing service calls. If I were to watch the evening news and see a story about a new cult operating in Edmonton that sneak into corporate offices and break their printers as a form of protest over the cruel and callous mis-use of plant fibers in ordinary office paper, I would simply nod and say to myself "Ah. That's why, then. Best I'd get on about fixing them."

James

Well, I saw our new offices today...

Wow.

They' re freakin' huuuuuge! I share a "cubicle" with two other techs (right now; it will someday be three). I say "cubicle" because while it is built out of the 'fuzzy walls and built-in desk' stuff that cubes are built with, it's roughly the size of my living room.

And we are but a small corner of the place. The help desk (another 3 guys with room for a fourth) gets the same amount of space. The sales team gets a row of 5 offices, with the VP in the corner office down there; the part-time accountant gets an office, el Presidente gets the other corner office, and our service manager is in the corner between the help desk and us bench jockeys.

On the other side of the cubical from me is a couple leather couches, a spare desk just in case, and a foosball table. (well, it's not there yet, but it will be.) On the other side of that is a kitchen that's larger than mine (though it lacks a stove - I think.) Then there is another 2500 sq foot area we can expand into if we ever decide we need the space.

Oh yeah, and the water wall. We're getting a water wall. Between our fancy front entrance/virtual reception and our print room. Which is just around the corner from our conference room. Sorry, that doesn't do it justice- I should have said "the glass-walled conference room with the projection TV, DVD player and surround sound."

And we've all got IP phones; how cool is that?

I am officially less jealous of Bioware and their break room with the video games.

James