Last night en route to dinner at Jules, a lady stopped Juroo and I on the subway to ask us for directions.
Now, apparently there's a trick to asking for directions: you need to ask the Right Question.
She asked: "Is this the train that goes Southbound to King Station?"
Annnnd, since we were on the Eastbound platform, I immediately replied: "No, you have to go along that long corridor over there to get to the Southbo--" --by which time she had left with a hurried thank you. Meanwhile, we were left standing there, thinking, mulling over this response.
The truth was, we were also going Southbound. We just happened to be taking a different route.
Keep in mind that to transfer from North/South trains to East/West trains, there are two neighbouring TTC stations that do this: St. George Station (where you walk up or down a flight of stairs to transfer) and Spadina Station (where you walk more than 200 metres down a long scary corridor to transfer).
We were going to transfer trains at St. George, whereas we had just sent the woman off (going in the same direction as us) down that scary corridor.
So what happened? What was so funny?
Well, we got off at St. George Station to switch trains as planned. And we waited for the train to come... and waited... and yes, finally it came. We entered the car, we sat down... and lo and behold, There was the same woman, sitting by the doors, looking over at us incredulously.
She flashed us a hairy eyeball.
We had to move seats. (It became impossible to stop giggling.)
30 January 2007
26 January 2007
Po: Working Care = Caring Work?
'Po' is a word that Edward de Bono (the originator of 'lateral thinking') came up with more than 25 years ago. Po is to be used as a provocation word -- a word to provocate a thinking process -- but not necessarily create judgement.
For example...
Po: Employers provide day care facilities for their employees.
Read this as "Wouldn't it be great if..." & "What would happen if..." but all rolled into one thought.
The companies would save on time (and money) since less people would take sick leave or absences for emergencies or appointments. The money from contributing employees could be redistributed to fund the full-time staff looking after the children, thus reducing running costs. The reputation of the company would be fantastic in terms of benefits and generating the feeling that they're really taking care of their own. And -- perhaps most importantly -- it would provide a means for the typical working-parent(s)-with-child family to interact during the day, on a daily basis.
The employees would obviously save a lot of time and money usually spent getting to and from day care (since they're going to work anyway), or leaving early picking the children up, and organizing after-work activities would fit better in their schedules. They'd worry less, since they'd be closer in case of an emergency, and therefore have less on their minds -- which potentially increases productivity. They'd have a more flexible schedule to work with, again decreasing stress and increasing productivity. Interestingly, they could have lunch with the children, which not only gives the day care workers a bit of a break but more importantly they get to spend more time with their children...
The positives in this situation are too numerous to list.
Why hasn't this idea caught on more??
For example...
Po: Employers provide day care facilities for their employees.
Read this as "Wouldn't it be great if..." & "What would happen if..." but all rolled into one thought.
The companies would save on time (and money) since less people would take sick leave or absences for emergencies or appointments. The money from contributing employees could be redistributed to fund the full-time staff looking after the children, thus reducing running costs. The reputation of the company would be fantastic in terms of benefits and generating the feeling that they're really taking care of their own. And -- perhaps most importantly -- it would provide a means for the typical working-parent(s)-with-child family to interact during the day, on a daily basis.
The employees would obviously save a lot of time and money usually spent getting to and from day care (since they're going to work anyway), or leaving early picking the children up, and organizing after-work activities would fit better in their schedules. They'd worry less, since they'd be closer in case of an emergency, and therefore have less on their minds -- which potentially increases productivity. They'd have a more flexible schedule to work with, again decreasing stress and increasing productivity. Interestingly, they could have lunch with the children, which not only gives the day care workers a bit of a break but more importantly they get to spend more time with their children...
The positives in this situation are too numerous to list.
Why hasn't this idea caught on more??
24 January 2007
Monitor Switcheroo
Mr. CoWorker kindly drove me up the road to our local NerdMart yesterday at lunch so I could trip me a new TFT. Man, this LCD's got mad inches, a diggin' input and it's wided out, all for a sweet song. I was chillin'.
Old Anti-Glare CRT at home has been rubbing off on me for some years so it was high time I sought a new not-for-work monitor.
sigh. Yeah, so it turns out that Not-For-Work these days is fast becoming Much-Too-Fun... and Project-Dream-Time is not really considered Billable-Hour-Time by my employers, unfortunately. (Probably something I don't need to confirm with them.)
Sis says everyone does it. Maybe they just don't normally admit it.
Oh well, maybe the bossgods will take Old CRT in lieu and we can start afresh. That'd be a fun project, right? Uhh... guys...?
Old Anti-Glare CRT at home has been rubbing off on me for some years so it was high time I sought a new not-for-work monitor.
sigh. Yeah, so it turns out that Not-For-Work these days is fast becoming Much-Too-Fun... and Project-Dream-Time is not really considered Billable-Hour-Time by my employers, unfortunately. (Probably something I don't need to confirm with them.)
Sis says everyone does it. Maybe they just don't normally admit it.
Oh well, maybe the bossgods will take Old CRT in lieu and we can start afresh. That'd be a fun project, right? Uhh... guys...?
21 January 2007
Saga Sucker
Saga: not necessarily the medieval Norse life histories in prose naratives, but rather the chronicling of lives of a particular social group told in a long and leisurely narrative. Yes, I freely admit that I am a sucker for sagas. Now, you don't need to tell me, but I am perfectly aware that many people out there (especially enginerds) consider sagas to have a different sort of sucking action in terms of horribleness (ahem, "This sucks!" -- which is funny because you could also say, "This blows!" and mean the same thing). I am not one of these... well, they're kind of sheep, in a way, following what everyone else thinks and sadly not always seeing one for Themselves. Anyway, to put things into perspective: many, many television series are sagas by definition. Just think about the content and longevity of some of your favourites.
Okay okay, the thing is, I also happen to have a thing for historical romances.
gasp!
It's funny how when most people hear these two words together, you can just feel the collective recoil from the world. I find that the general assumption made right after this reaction (approximately 2.4 milliseconds later) is that the Liker must therefore be interested Only in this Taboo Genre. Ewwww! Now folks, please keep an open mind here because I'm going to tell you something that may free you from the anti-saga sheep of the world: I happen to like all sorts of other genres. (mini-gasp!) Action. Adventure. Comedy. Sci-Fi or Fantasy. Animated. Whatever! I may not be too picky overall but I am perfectly aware of what I like. So don't put ideas into your head.
Hmm, is it more geeky or girly to like these 19-century type novels or movies? Considering the fact that I am, in fact, a girl, it is perhaps not too inappropriate for me to appreciate a good piece of olde script. I am more inclined to think it's geeky because of this, but perhaps I'm a little biased.
Actually, it's kind of funny looking back on some of the movies I've watched with my parents over the years. My dad and I loved watching Schwartzenegger movies with lots of things blowing up and all the gadgets and whizzing around and the intrigue and the rrrraaaawwwrrrr...! But another night my mum and I would just as easily become engrossed in the latest Jane Austen fifteen-part mini-series and we'd be all weepy and saying "I can't believe that scoundrel!" about the character we've seen a hundred times in at least three other versions of the same story...
The funny thing is, neither of my parents can stand watching the other type of movie. I'm not sure where my tastes came from but I like to think I got the best of both worlds. (Again, I may be a little biased.)
Anyway, as a parting gift on these musings, here's a bit of a twist for the uninitiated (or disenthused), courtesy of an admirably open-minded guy I know: Yes, in the end, the girl always gets the guy and off they go into the sunset, yadda yadda yadda. Just keep in mind -- the guy always gets the girl.
Okay okay, the thing is, I also happen to have a thing for historical romances.
gasp!
It's funny how when most people hear these two words together, you can just feel the collective recoil from the world. I find that the general assumption made right after this reaction (approximately 2.4 milliseconds later) is that the Liker must therefore be interested Only in this Taboo Genre. Ewwww! Now folks, please keep an open mind here because I'm going to tell you something that may free you from the anti-saga sheep of the world: I happen to like all sorts of other genres. (mini-gasp!) Action. Adventure. Comedy. Sci-Fi or Fantasy. Animated. Whatever! I may not be too picky overall but I am perfectly aware of what I like. So don't put ideas into your head.
Hmm, is it more geeky or girly to like these 19-century type novels or movies? Considering the fact that I am, in fact, a girl, it is perhaps not too inappropriate for me to appreciate a good piece of olde script. I am more inclined to think it's geeky because of this, but perhaps I'm a little biased.
Actually, it's kind of funny looking back on some of the movies I've watched with my parents over the years. My dad and I loved watching Schwartzenegger movies with lots of things blowing up and all the gadgets and whizzing around and the intrigue and the rrrraaaawwwrrrr...! But another night my mum and I would just as easily become engrossed in the latest Jane Austen fifteen-part mini-series and we'd be all weepy and saying "I can't believe that scoundrel!" about the character we've seen a hundred times in at least three other versions of the same story...
The funny thing is, neither of my parents can stand watching the other type of movie. I'm not sure where my tastes came from but I like to think I got the best of both worlds. (Again, I may be a little biased.)
Anyway, as a parting gift on these musings, here's a bit of a twist for the uninitiated (or disenthused), courtesy of an admirably open-minded guy I know: Yes, in the end, the girl always gets the guy and off they go into the sunset, yadda yadda yadda. Just keep in mind -- the guy always gets the girl.
19 January 2007
Pistachio Nut Case
You know those hard-to-open shells you get sometimes in a bag of nuts? Well, here I am at work thinking, Great, how am I supposed to open this little guy? Gosh it's hard to open. (I'm paraphrasing.) Now, my desk may be strewn with electronics and papers everywhere but somehow I managed to find the perfect substitution for those absent nutcrackers: handy-dandy needle-nosed pliers. Crack!
Speaking of Nuts: en route to the gym yesterday, I stopped to photograph a store sign boasting it was the "Uptown Nut House" -- and in the window, they also said they gave away free foccacia. Now that's nutty.
Speaking of Nuts: en route to the gym yesterday, I stopped to photograph a store sign boasting it was the "Uptown Nut House" -- and in the window, they also said they gave away free foccacia. Now that's nutty.
18 January 2007
Adventures in Moving Apartments
The scenario was such that the two new occupants were both eyeing the Blue-East Bedroom over the Red-West Bedroom as her own personal sleeping abode.
The choice was clear: Blue-East perfectly frames the CN Tower between two other buildings, whereas poor Red-West does not even see the tower (nor does any other window in the apartment, unhappily). Other than this, the Apartment was a perfect choice: Shaden Manor.
But How were we to win Blue-East in a Fair and Enginerdly fashion?
Most people would flip a coin, or choose a number between 1 and 10, or roll a die for odd or even, or pick a card any card any card any card. Enginerds, on the other hand, count the number of resistors in the new apartment's smoke alarm.
The newly engineered Shaden Protocol proclaimed using the "Even-East-Karoo Rule" in such decisions, and since I was the resident expert on such a siren, the task was given to me to count away... And you know, I would have won too had I not bothered to look under the PCB -- for what else did I find there but one extra little resistor smiling back up at me? So close!
Two years later, we find ourselves with a newly replaced alarm (now evenly-numbered) and the blinds seem to be closed more often than not. Funny how little things turn out.
The choice was clear: Blue-East perfectly frames the CN Tower between two other buildings, whereas poor Red-West does not even see the tower (nor does any other window in the apartment, unhappily). Other than this, the Apartment was a perfect choice: Shaden Manor.
But How were we to win Blue-East in a Fair and Enginerdly fashion?
Most people would flip a coin, or choose a number between 1 and 10, or roll a die for odd or even, or pick a card any card any card any card. Enginerds, on the other hand, count the number of resistors in the new apartment's smoke alarm.
The newly engineered Shaden Protocol proclaimed using the "Even-East-Karoo Rule" in such decisions, and since I was the resident expert on such a siren, the task was given to me to count away... And you know, I would have won too had I not bothered to look under the PCB -- for what else did I find there but one extra little resistor smiling back up at me? So close!
Two years later, we find ourselves with a newly replaced alarm (now evenly-numbered) and the blinds seem to be closed more often than not. Funny how little things turn out.
17 January 2007
Scandalous Pussy
Delicious scandalaciousness was brewing up in the Alley last night. The rumour millers have been hard at work grinding out a certain swinging male leaving his young bun in the oven to go fire up a newer model. A pox on New Cow Syndrome, though it be fodder for my blogger.
Had this sexcapade occurred but ten years from now, or at a time when none of us could know them, who would really be aware of the meaty details? And scarier: who would care? After all -- after all that is bewitching in the idea of one's happiness depending entirely on one person...
Had this sexcapade occurred but ten years from now, or at a time when none of us could know them, who would really be aware of the meaty details? And scarier: who would care? After all -- after all that is bewitching in the idea of one's happiness depending entirely on one person...
16 January 2007
Swing Out
Welcome welcome, Random Reader, et Bienvenue!
Now, I had originally planned to post the typical introduction, the usual tour of events to be expected from this website... Usual. Hah. But alas, I will not provide this information at such a time. For you see, such a time is this! On this particular occasion, the eve of the creation of my very own spot-o'-blog, the day from which all future musings shall commence, what choice have I made but to skidaddle the premises in favour of visiting our local swing dancing operation with my bestest buddy, Juroo? Tuesday's at Alleycatz comes but once a week, my friend, and this week is no exception. I shall regroup with tall tales to tell tomorrow...
Now, I had originally planned to post the typical introduction, the usual tour of events to be expected from this website... Usual. Hah. But alas, I will not provide this information at such a time. For you see, such a time is this! On this particular occasion, the eve of the creation of my very own spot-o'-blog, the day from which all future musings shall commence, what choice have I made but to skidaddle the premises in favour of visiting our local swing dancing operation with my bestest buddy, Juroo? Tuesday's at Alleycatz comes but once a week, my friend, and this week is no exception. I shall regroup with tall tales to tell tomorrow...
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