Black market Henckels anyone?

So the doctors in Britain want to ban pointy knives because they contribute to many nasty assaults each year. Apparently, they don't think that they're necessary in a household kitchen. How do you carve a turkey with a bread knife? I guess I could always use a pointed stick.....

Be prepared.....

There is so much wrong with this.

Updates

Kuan and Ryan came up from NJ last week. Kuan's looking fabulous for a 7-month pregnant lady, and Ryan's becoming such a big boy. He and Ben wandered around the house playing near each other with only a couple of minor skirmishes.
Steve's folks came in for a visit, which allowed us to see Hitchhikers and the last Star Wars. Movies are great! HGTTG wasn't hilarious, but it was well cast and the Vogons are by far the best thing about it. I thought that the Arthur-Trillion romance plot wasn't necessary, especially because it only seems to be there to appeal to people who never read the books, and everyone I know who's seen the movie without reading the books thought that the movie was terrible and made no sense. The Star Wars was fantastic - lots of action broken up with occasional bouts of bad acting. I was especially impressed with the effort they put into trying to find actors who could be younger versions of the characters in the original (episode 4). Very pleased with this movie I was.
Ben ate chicken for the first time since he's started feeding himself. It may be because it was shredded, or because it was from Chalet BBQ. I don't care. Hooray for carnivores!
The sun has been out all day today, we were all beginning to suspect that the summer was going to be grey and 12C.
In other Ben firsts, today at playgroup he took part in making a craft instead of just eating the one that Steve makes for him. He sat in a chair and put stickers on a piece of paper - that's huge!
My latest doctor's appointment was a success. We listened to the heartbeat and all my blood tests came back with honours. At least my blood is smart.
I've started feeling a bit of baby movement which is pretty exciting.

Name game

So I was a little bit pissed off after reading this article in the paper this morning. This economist is predicting popular names for babies in 2015, and not only is the name of our first-born there, but also the two names that we've been considering for our next little bundle. What people name their kids in 2015 doesn't matter to me, what does matter is that pregnant people are reading that article today and may think that one of my names, which I thought were kind of special, are perfect. We have the only Bennett born in Quebec in 2003, and I kind of wanted to keep that less-than-common streak going. I didn't know anyone with my name until I hit university, and it was nice to not be the fifth "Rachel" in my class, or whatever the popular name was when I was a kid. Now I feel like I'm just following a trend, which is sucky. Fortunately, in Quebec those names will not be very popular because French names rule, but what about when my little XX or XY goes outside the province? Will he or she be awash in a sea of Norberts or Berthas (real names withheld)? Time to send that economist a big bag of thhhbtttt!

Climbing out of the crevice

I am now at the tail end of a cold that completely knocked me on my behind. I can't remember the last time I was that sick, never before have I missed an entire week of work because I couldn't get out of bed. Of course, if I could have taken cold medication, I might have stood a chance. Ah well, it's only a head/sinus thingie now, so it's back to work!
I found this Chris Harding animation on Drawn, it's funny, go and look.

New Project

Hi All,
Due to the overwhelming success of Version 1.0. We
have decided to embark on Version 2.0, project code
name: Pumpkin.
Launch date is a tentative October 31.

Pumpkin had his/her screen debut yesterday, and amazed
the doctor with tons of kicking and waving and
swimming. There were a few deductions during the
swimsuit competition. According to my doctor, I've
been de-aged to a 24 year old being pregnant. Hoorah!

holy (white) smoke!

New popey! Benedict is not a bad name, but I was really pulling for Kenneth. Doesn't Pope Kenneth sound like the name of a pope you can trust?

The curse of the loaner

Loaner cars suck. Correction, my loaner cars suck. I have no idea what I did in my last life, but any time that I need a loaner when my car is in the shop, I get the single-most disgusting car that I have ever seen - until the next time I get a loaner. In the past I have been given the keys to everything from compact cars without working heaters and windshield wipers, to station wagons with flat tires and no engine coolant. Well, the garage didn't finish the repairs on my car yesterday, so I got the keys to a rusty chevrolet corsica with half the console and door buttons broken off and a driver's seat that can't be adjusted and looks like it was eaten by a bear. Oh, and they smoke in it and seem to use everything, including the cupholder, as an ashtray. I didn't even bother to lock the damn thing this morning. Please say a small prayer to the parts gods to send those blessed bushings to the garage today.

It's amazing how cute small children look in yellow raincoats and rubber boots.

I haven't been doing much beyond working, going home and playing with Ben, and sleeping. We did get up to the Townies for my dad's birthday last Sunday which was a beautiful day. On Saturday we bought a new vacuum cleaner, it does a killer job on the livingroom rug and carpet in Ben's room, but it's not doing a good job on our hardwood floors, so back it goes this weekend. We are also going to get a new BBQ this weekend. I have been dying for grilled meat since spring began, so I cannot wait! Steve already has the fridge stocked with steak and hotdogs. Our old one had the biscuit last year, there's no shame for it. I'm starting to look forward to the end of the month, Steve got me tickets for the new Cirque de Soleil show for Christmas. A nice perk of living in Montreal is seeing the new shows before the rest of the world. I went to one a few years ago and was blown away.
Besides The Amazing Race, we're now also glued to the set every Tuesday night for Dr. Who. I was a big fan of the old series (I started watching them when Tom Baker was the Dr) and was pleasantly surprised that the new version has retained that no-frills attitude towards special effects and just concentrates on having some reasonable dialogue and decent stories. I think that they've captured the essence of the original. It started a while back in the UK, but we've only seen two shows so far in Canada. I was a bit surprised when it was announced that Christopher Eccleston was leaving the show after a year, but I'm sure they'll find another good actor to replace him. The other thing that's caught my attention recently was a photo in the paper of the new fabricated 'popera' group Il Divo. It's not my style of music, but man are those guys pretty or what? All the ladies in the department are drooling over them.

Home again, home again

Well, we survived and the trip was actually pretty good, aside from the fact that I am now even more tired than I was before I left. I have now reached the level of tired floppiness that requires large paint scrapers to get me up off the sofa. I did sleep quite a bit last night, so hopefully I will catch up in a few days. Ben discovered the moving sidewalks at the airport, which are apparently the best ever, and elevators, which are equally exciting. Luckily the airport wasn't very crowded, so he ran to his heart's content. The plane rides were short, which was nice, but the last leg was on a small Dash 8 which I really don't care for. You always feel like your teeth are going to shake out of your head. I did get some nice shots of Ben at the airport on the way home, the light was too good to resist.

Yesterday at the office was a bit of a disaster. I should have just put a sign on my door saying "Brain out today, ask tomorrow". Ben's getting back into his routine. He was so happy to get home on Monday, he kept running around and touching things and grinning like a madman. The weather's really springy and gorgeous today, I should go outside for a wander around the block. See ya!

Attack of the zombie lady

I am fatigue girl. For the past two weeks, Ben has woken up at 3 most nights and stayed awake until 5. He's not unhappy, he's babbling and singing and whooping it up and it gets louder and louder until we go and get him and bring him in for some milk and cuddles. When we put him back in his crib, he continues the partying. Steve falls back to sleep quite quickly, but I stay awake and usually fall back to sleep sometime just before I have to get up. I've become one of those walking zombie people, the kind that I curse when I'm trying to get somewhere and they're sitting in their cars at green lights not moving. It's a hazy existence, somewhat unreal. All I really need is a long weekend like the one coming to rest and recharge. Oh wait, who else is navigating through aviation hell this weekend taking a toddler on two planes and a stopover at a large airport? Raise your hands? Crap, I thought there would be more of us. The last time we took Ben on planes, he was crawling and cruising, not exactly the running man he's become today. You put him down anywhere now and he bolts. He loves running at full tilt through open spaces, without a thought to where he's going or if we're following. This is fine at home and the park, but in a crowded airport, the thought makes my heart do running leaps at my throat. My only hope is that we can anchor him to something heavy, that will at least slow his progress. If you see me on Tuesday with my head on my drool-covered desk, cover me with a blanket and let me sleep for a week, preferably with pay.

Chalk mug

Why didn't I think of this? It's so simple and combines my two favorite things: coffee and the need to doodle. Get two so that you can have conversations with a colleague during long meetings.
(via Gizmodo, via RedFerretJournal)

I'm a real employee!

My employer has finally relented and made me a permanent employee. Until now, I have been what they call a "temp", full-time, but on contract, with no contractor benefits or employee benefits (other than being able to receive EI if I got laid off). Temps at this company spawn from the hiring freeze instituted several years ago which has since been lifted, but they figured out that there was quite a bit of money to be saved by using temps. They owed this to me big time. I am pretty happy with this, especially because Steve just got laid off and we lost his benefits. I celebrated by getting goodies for the department and having a little party in my office.
When I start new jobs, I often think about what I expect to achieve and gain. My idea of what a job is has changed over the years. My first jobs were all part-time stints, summers, weekends, evenings after school. My first real job (also while at school) cured me of the "my job is my life" thing that everyone seems to go through. After that experience, I became much more mercenary. When I decided to pursue tech writing, I employed myself and found that very enjoyable until the market dropped. Then, I chose jobs that were very challenging, in companies that were fast-paced and I worked late and put a lot of effort into building my skills and proving myself. This last jump has been for my family. The company is stable and I am comfortable with the routine and the people and I don't work late or push myself. I look forward to going home and my son running into my arms for a well-earned hug. He's my primary and favorite job :-)

Tell a woman to proof her writing

Update: I called the folks at L'Oreal and sent an email with corrections (lots on the link page as well, including "Internationnal" on all their e-cards). This morning I noticed that everything was fixed. Good for them!

Neat thing

Turn your gmail account into storage space:
http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/GMail-Drive-shell-extension-Download-15944.html

What a weekend! Friday night we went with Bill to see Bride and Prejudice. What a fun movie! People walking down the street suddenly burst into a song and dance number. Some bits were kinda bad, and the American guy they cast was kinda the male Andy McDowell, but very entertaining. Saturday was Steve's party, in the afternoon, Steve's mom and I went out and I got my haircut and then we had lunch. We went to the Java U at Marche de l'Ouest and had yummy sandwiches and belgian french fries with flavored mayo - tasty! The party was great, lots of food and friends and laughs. On Sunday we were supposed to go out for breakfast, but we were way too tired, so we vegged and then went out and did some shopping in the afternoon. We found a new large skillet on sale.

It's all in the way you look at people

A couple of weeks ago, I was walking down the sidewalk running an errand. I was about to cross in front of a car that was pulling out of a grocery store parking lot, when the car didn't stop. He was almost at the street when he noticed me and braked. I gave him my patented look of death and continued down the sidewalk. A few minutes later, this guy comes running down the sidewalk at me. It was the guy from the attempted killer car. He ran down the street to apologize profusely for not stopping. When does that happen? Obviously my look of death has taken on new levels. I'm thinking that I should tone it down to a glance of damnation, or a squint of head trauma.

Happy Happy Birthday Steve

Happy happy Birthday Steve
Originally uploaded by dina the mundane and oblivious.

Love you lots and lots sweetie, have a great day!
Smooches!
(For some reason, Ben cries every time we sing happy birthday - he must be upset that daddy's getting old.)

Get out your boogie shoes-and wallets

They're selling John Travolta's famous floor! I defy you not to hum a Bee Gees tune right now.

Jack!

A big congrats to Lisa and Paul and Jasper on the birth of the newest Durbin, Jack!
All the best for a speedy recovery Lisa!