Category: Uncategorized

It’s magic!

As soon as I had a new mic the old one turned up.  Once again, my memory is not as good as it used to be and recent events have proven the operation of my memory to be fitful, truculent and subject to stammering great lashings of wishful interpolation.

I have a funny anecdote from work.  It’s clean, nobody gets hurt, I omit the names.  I am sitting by myself at lunch and the senior HR staffer on site comes and sits down next to me.  She is a warm, funny, intelligent & hardworking woman who is obviously very tolerant.  So I’m thinking this will be an interesting convo (she’s an interesting person), and then my grandboss sits down. Hardworking, degrees in two different fields, hilarious, listens attentively, he is cheerfully resistant to bullshit and cant in all forms and not interested in dispensing any… well, that’s my experience of him.  Other people’s mileage undoubtedly varies.

Next to sit down is the facilities manager, who has a number of buildings to manage, and his son, who has come on board on contract in a completely different department, where I can say from personal experience that he’s doing fairly well in a stressful assignment. In sum I like and respect them all.

The convo drifts over to a building issue; the facilities manager reports that a certain contractor for a certain city is not responding to requests for signoff on a job.  I pipe up with “Well tell him to answer your bloody phone calls or he’ll face the wrath of Allegra.”  I then offer, since I often wake up at. like, 3 in the morning, to drive over to the contractor’s house with my mandolin to serenade him.  We all, with varying degrees of hilarity, agree that this will surely put the fear of swift and awful retribution into him, and head back to our desks.  (The salmon was the best thing I ever ate in the cafeteria, which greatly enhanced what was a convivial meal).

About fifteen minutes later the facilities manager reports (he couldn’t keep a straight face) that even the MENTION of my NAME has triggered a panic in the contractor, who has now agreed to do what he’s s’posedta.  Ohhhh, the wrath of Allegra.  C’est magique, c’est fromidable!  And of course it’s completely coincidental in all possible ways, but of such coincidences are legends born.  (Fromidable by the way IS the correct spelling.  It’s a marketing word taken from a Cheez Whiz jar.  I think it translates as “powerfully cheesy”.)

And now, a brief peruse of the intarwebs for cute animal pics, or possibly ugly animal pics, and a shower, and back to the challenge and joy of paid employment.

Nope, gotta do the order of service first.

More goodbyes

Driving around Vancouver in the rain in February – how evocative! How jam packed with pathetic fallacy, derp. I said goodbye to Wreck Beach and the Museum of Anthropology; goodbye to the Botanical Gardens and the Nitobe Gardens. I drove by friends’ houses and dropped off stuff I’ve borrowed; said bye to John’s Jukes and Big Purple and various eating establishments and drinking holes. I said goodbye to the Cambie Bridge and then drove across the Burrard Bridge to say goodbye to it too.

The friend who got me to see the psychologist two Mondays hence called. He tells me I’m not seeing straight, but I remember what somebody said. When you’re smart, it’s easier to see the future, and if it looks like this. Except not so funny.

Daughter Katie will turn up shortly and we’ll eat junk food and kvetch about things.

wrote this on the way back from Conflikt

Here they come (Left 4 Dead in Zombieland)

Here they come
by the threes and fours
Here they come
got my shotgun, my ammo
Here they come
better clear the doors
Here they come
reloading, reloading, reloading
Here they come

Before this I was a weak sister
before this I had never fired a gun
before this I cried at a blister
before this I’d never killed anyone

Chorus

Before this I had the reputation
of not really being all that exciting
before this I never would have wagered
I would soon say “I’m going down fighting!”

Chorus

Before this I didn’t even know ya
Now side by side we blast em all ta hell
Isn’t it strange and it just goes to show ya
Who will survive? nobody can tell

Chorus

Now I have drained the cup of human sorrow
But I’ll fight on though I feel so bereft
I may not have today, let alone tomorrow
(Spoken: Nice shot!) There’s two more on the left

Chorus and fade

Arrived safely at Seatac Holiday Inn

I’m registered under Rivett if anybody cares.

Ziva performed like a champ, and purred as she clicked over 300000k.

I am very happy to be here.  Now I’m going to have a bath and soak my poor aching back and select what tracks I’m going to attend.  Woot !  I am here!  People recognize me! I’ve worked out the chords for Blues for Dumuzi (Nancy Freeman song) since I got here.  All my clothes are put away and the music stand is up….

sundry oddments

Jeff is laughing at Margot who is playing with plastic bags he’s brandishing as he does the garbage.

Nominating committee meeting last night.  Things gelled and we got stuff done and I thank them all for forgiving me. I was wandering off getting daughter Katie her money for rent (I was thinking of what a stupid thing this is to say publicly but I had a reason for being late for a meeting I was hosting!).

Work continues to be interesting, challenging, stimulating and that little bit shy of flat out overwhelming.  My boss dragged me into an interview yesterday, but don’t worry, he didn’t have to damage the carpet, I love interviews.  I probably wouldn’t if I had to do more of them, but I want to head crap off at the pass and being present at interviews is one of the fastest and cheapest ways of doing it.

I am not at all well prepared for Conflikt and I’m being all anxious about the border crossing.  It’s LUDICROUS.  Really I should just prepare for sitting at the border for a while.

So I’ll pack in the morning and get there about check in time.  Hope Ziva behaves.