You Know You Want to Sing Her Name

Spotted on Facebook.

There is, of course, only one possible suspect:

Simon Bar Sinister, Controlling the Weather Since 1965

Simon Bar Sinister, of course, way back in 1965, becomes the one to not only control the weather but also control it from the Moon so he doesn't become hoist by his own soggy petard.

Frankly, we could use this kind of flood-purge in the capital (and the Capitol) today. Bad guys, it seems, are never around when you really need them.

The Butterfly Haven, A Wonderful Surprise in Pingree, Idaho

So we went to this place called The Butterfly Haven out in Pingree today.

We've been to places like this in cities like Vancouver and Omaha and such, so I didn't expect to find much here in Idaho.

I was, however, surprised. Maybe the environment was a little drier than I'd hoped, but The Butterfly Haven was a wonderful surprise to find in this neck of the woods.

We went there to help one of Michelle's Cope and Climbing staffers to finish the Environmental Science merit badge. That's one of the many things I appreciate about Michelle -- she's always looking to help other people, particularly those she's close to.

 

With FREE Bird Poop!

Major find at the Deseret Industries thrift store today.

We had a Tonka dump truck like this when I was a kid, but as I recall it was all metal, while this one has a plastic cab.

Not that it matters. The only thing that matters is that it was only $5 and it's on the kitchen table right now, complete with original dust, dirt, and dried bird poop.

I bought this for fun; I'm not a collector or anything. But a cursory look on the Internet tells me these are selling for around $50 on Ebay and such.

It's going to have a place of honor in my cubicle at work, I think. That's a good place for it. I did go to the DI with the silent intent to find some tchotchkes to put in my cubicle so it doesn't look too empty.

Back to the Cubicles, A Week Later

So here I am at the tail end of the first week back to the cubicles.

I'm a lot more tired than when I worked from home. I'm up earlier. I can't set an alarm and sleep for my half hour lunch if I need to. And that drive home -- even though it's only about 23 minutes on a good day, a far cry from the hour and a half bus ride I could be doing if I were back out in the desert -- is tiring.

But if a meeting is called, I'm there. Don't have to drive in. We had a morale lunch today. Had I been working from home, I would have preserved my morale by *not* going in for lunch. So maybe it's a good thing? The potato salad was good.

Next week more of the same, of course, but tied in with four half-days of training to become certified with the Procedure Professionals Association in technical writing. I don't really know what that'll do for me that a masters degree in technical communication won't do, but I'll never say no to education.

Their logo may need a little work. They seem anxious to sell the training, but not necessarily explain its benefits. I guess there's this, but we're already doing what they outline here. I'll go into it with an open mind, however. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth and all those cliches.

But I will be able to summon the vast power of certification.

The Last Eagle

Honored to attend Abi Lerum's Eagle court of honor tonight.

Abi is the last of the founding members of Troop 1010, which we founded with our daughter Lexi in 2019, to receive her eagle award.

2019 seems like a lifetime ago, but it's only been a blink in time. It was fun to see her get the awards she worked so hard to get.

Sometimes I get frustrated with Scouting and the immense time sink it is, or can be. But then there are evenings like this, where it's a celebration and you get to pause for just a moment and remember the "good* part of Scouting.

Fridge Verdict: Clean Bill of Health

So, according to my son, who was home when the fridge man came:

So who knows what happened?

I mean, I'm glad it's working. Glad it passed the tests. Not so glad about the $75 service call, but the guy is trustworthy and did things I was not able or knowledgeable enough to do.

And I owe my son $75, which could be problematic:

Hope the fix sticks.

In all, I guess it *is* better than shelling out $1,500 for a new one.

My wife is equally skeptical, yet also relieved.

Again with Raising Steam

I freely admit I'm struggling to read Terry Pratchett's "Raising Steam," his last novel before The Embuggerance claimed him.

But I got to this little scene starting on page 185 of the copy I have and thought, "Ah, finally something Pratchettesque.

"There is something vaguely worrying about the word reckon that leaves the ear, for many hard to understand reasons, wishing it was something else a little more certain and a little less frightening. And as bad luck would have it, some twenty minutes later an ear was exactly what spiraled down out of the settling steaming fog and through mangled trees that looked as if they had been scythed by dragons, and the birds that were coming down cooked . . ."

I can keep reading this.

Good to Know

On a thread where the unsung contributions of Ernest P. Worrell were discussed, I discover that Facebook now takes it upon itself to translate from Hick:

And while I'm sure neither potater nor tomater are plural, I have to congratulate Facebook on its translation moxie.

Back to the Cubicles . . .

I've got my bag packed for work like some idiot schoolboy.

The bag contains the essentials: My ID card and lanyard, a collection of sticky notes with semi-important information on them, two cans of Diet Pepsi, a few reuseable plastic cups for said Pepsi, some file folders I swiped from work when work from home started 5 1/2 years ago, a few pens, the picture of Dad and his 1948 Ford that I had in my cubicle out at RMWC, and a ceramic container that my brother bought for me at a thrift store becaus he thought it looked like me. And he's not wrong:

What I really want to do is go in my first day wearing my pajamas, but I don't think they'd let me get away with that, and I really need this job, so jeans and some kind of shirt will be the order of the day.

I may bring more tchotchkes out there, as I don't want my cubicle to be completely sterile. Maybe some books to put on the shelves and such. Or a LEGO set or two. We'll see about those. I'd bring my plastic rat, but he's now living inside the wall where the house water shutoff valve is, and I'm pretty sure he likes it there.

The whole thing is giving off this kind of vibe: