I have had exactly one experience with marijuana, and once was enough, sadly. A small touch of background. When I was 6, I had a cough so bad that they suspected pertussis. (whooping cough). The test for it was going to take several days to come back with results, so the doc gave my parents a prescription for a codeine… Read more →
Category: Essays
Workplace Wonderings : Coppers and Robbers, or, how I learned to love my commute
I used to do a LOT of commuting to work using the city bus. Sometimes at night, through areas of town that are… well, don’t go there at night alone. One thing about me that you should know. I am ALWAYS watching everything when I walk. I look up, I look to the sides, I do a quick owl impression… Read more →
Workplace wonderings : Stop giving them ideas
I have a long history of randomly musing out loud about things that are … illegal and or immoral, and other people overhearing and going, hey, THAT’S an idea! As I’ve explained often before, I could be a criminal mastermind. If it weren’t for executive dysfunction and a healthy fear of prison. Sometimes this is useful. When working at Chase,… Read more →
Workplace Wonderings : Best password ever? Or worst?
Passwords are… a thing. We all hate them. Personally, I like XKCD’s thought, make it 5 distinct words. Resetting passwords can be its own… fun. I worked for a company that had a windows application with a subscription service and where your password… had no requirements beyond 5 or more characters. Even better, that password? Was kept in a text… Read more →
The potential truth about Twilight
I’ve told the story here and there, and decided to write it up well to have in a central place. I will preface this by saying, this could all be an AMAZING coincidence. Could be. I doubt it is. But it COULD be. So… in 1999, I ran a Geocities (remember them?) website called The Leaking Pen. It was a… Read more →
Workplace Wonderings: USB is crashing my computer!
This one isn’t mine, exactly. It’s a coworkers. A comment on FB reminded me of this story. I used to work for a company that has a Garmin GPS unit that they sell that runs custom firmware in order to use it for golfing. We did tech support on the units and software to load courses into the unit. This… Read more →
Essay: Visibility
“Nice mask!” The phrase is delivered in what seems to be a genuine spirit. Which is nice, as I’ve often in the last few weeks heard the phrase delivered in scathing sarcasm and derision. I look at the person saying it today. They’re wearing a mask as well, a Vader Face mask, and they’re wearing a shirt with Darth Maul… Read more →
Happy Birthday Pluto! : Song Pluto’s always a planet to me
So, it’s the 90th anniversary of the discovery of our 9th planet, Pluto. Yes. It’s a planet. There are a LOT of reasons why the IAU decision is a steaming pile of manure. I put a couple of them into song! (To the tune of Billy Joel’s ‘She’s always a woman to me’.) It can push and can pull, where… Read more →
The man in the mirror…
Content warning : physical dysphoria About two years ago, I grew a beard. My wife asked me too! And I’ll humor her just about anything she asks, at least once. I was expecting a short experiment. I had grown a beard about 15 years ago, or at least, tried. I tried to do a goatee, and by the time it… Read more →
Peanut Butter Jelly Time! : Workplace memories
I was reminded today of one of the more interesting HR experiences I’ve had. At least, of the ones that I can actually talk about at work without getting sent to HR again… I was working at a call center that had a decent kitchen in the breakroom. Actual fridges, several toasters, an electric kettle. I had settled into a… Read more →