Four months on.

I just looked up from my work and noticed the date. Four months ago today, my Mum passed away.

She’s The Doctor

So, I've had some time to think about the announcement of the new doctor.

Giving up?

So I've had this goal in my life for my entire adulthood. It's something my Mother excelled at, that other people do all the time and seem to find easy, and logically it is, but I've just never been able to do it. I've struggled with it for years. I've tried to take it in baby steps, I've tried to go all in and immerse myself, I've tried scheduling it, and nothing works. I think I'm making progress, and then I just collapse and it was all for nothing.

Transit dreams

My dreams lastnight were all about transit - buses and subway

At one point Lisa Gerrard was giving a little free acapella concert on one side of the street at the westbound bus stop while Brendan Perry sat on a bench across the street at the eastbound stop talking about why they were there and what her songs meant.

At another point I got on a subway car as everyone else got off - it had been super packed, it must have been a changeover station - but the car had tables as well as seats, and two women got off and forgot their purses, but I couldn't get to them because a swarm of people got on.

Not sure what that all means.

Edith Investigates

Edward sat in his usual chair, the high-backed leather one near the fireplace. He wore his slippers, and on the occasional table at his elbow sat a steaming cup of tea. A biscuit, not yet dunked, occupied a small plate beside it. He held the evening’s paper, engrossed in the front-page story.

“Edith, they’re at it again,” he proclaimed to his wife, who sat opposite him in a smaller brocade chair, working on a cross-stitched sampler by the light of a small lamp. “That lot around the corner on Paternoster Row, mixed up in that business.”

“Heavens,” said Edith distractedly, as she chose another thread from her sewing box, “what did they do this time?”

I owe what now?

My internet/phone/cable bill is not due for another 10 days but I thought I'd pay it now. Just went into it and they've charged me an extra $90 for going over my data limit by 60GB between Oct 21-Nov 20! I never got a warning - up to now, I always have got a warning when I was at 80% of my limit and another at 100% of my limit, but nothing!

First time reporting someone to HR

In the elevator on the way up to the office just now, I mentioned to one of the assistants in the elevator with me 'can you believe it's almost Christmas?' and she said 'yes' which kind of threw me, so I said 'it just seems like the fall went by so fast' and she said 'the years go faster when you're older' not even joking, like I'm ancient or something. Whatever.

Sad return

Finally home from vacation.

Opened my door to the disaster area I left from whirlwind packing, plus the furniture all still pulled out from the walls from when the roof leaked and the ceiling fell in mid-August, plus all the buckets and towels I'd left in case it all happened again in my absence (where it's all been for over two more months while the building management apparently fixes the roof), plus the stained ceiling tiles that have not yet been replaced, plus all the kitchen cupboard contents still stacked on the floor in the dining room from the inspection access from the week before vacation, plus another notice that my unit would need to be accessed YET AGAIN - tomorrow - for phone line upgrades throughout the building... and just started to cry.

How is it possible to have spent such a glorious 11 days and come back to this?

Jawbone lack-of-customer-support

Left today on Jawbone's site:

July 28 I contacted Jawbone as my UP2 had developed a crack. I crazy-glued it together while waiting for a response.

Outside In Boldly Goes!

Hey guys, I'm an author again!

Just in time for the 50th anniversary of Star Trek, there's a book! And I'm in it!

OUTSIDE IN BOLDLY GOES: 117 New Perspectives on 117 Classic Star Trek Stories by 117 Writers

Pre-order now! It's got some perfectly swell authors in it, including me. My second book inclusion, hooray!

From the back cover:

Put ten Star Trek fans in a room and you’ll wind up with eleven opinions, fourteen heated debates about Starfleet uniforms and somebody cosplaying Spock in a teleporter accident with a Gorn. That’s because Star Trek fans are gloriously weird, uniquely different and sometimes entirely outlandish. And so is this book.

Celebrating 50 years of Star Trek, Outside In Boldly Goes is a collection of 117 reviews, one for every story of the original series, the animated series, the Kirk movies and a few bonus extras. Well, we say “reviews”, but we mean that loosely: within these pages, you’ll find scripts, Starfleet communiqués, DVD commentaries, fill-in-the-blank games, log entries, restaurant reviews, poems and a trading card set.

Provocative, engrossing, hilarious and utterly gonzo. These aren’t your father’s reviews.

Preorder today!

Cottage report: Friday

Don't you hate having to get up to an alarm when you're on vacation? It's especially hard when the tradition is to stay up to stupid o'clock in the morning and just sleep until you feel like getting up. I mean, I'm still up before noon, usually around 9:30 or 10, but on Wednesday we needed to be up and about and decent by 8am because workers were coming to do a few fixes on the cottage - ceiling repairs in the bathroom, wood fixes on the front face, that sort of thing. And T had to go into town to get them. So no bikini basking that day! They did good work though, nice guys.

Cottage report: Tuesday

Our Killarney trip this year certainly has been a great one so far!

Our trip in was a bit different than usual though, we blew right past Parry Sound, where we usually stop for lunch. Didn't think about the fact that we usually visited a restroom while there as well - by the time we turned off the highway we were both in a bit of a desperate situation. Good news is we now know where there are public restrooms along that 45-minute drive!

Ghostbusters, revisited

(some spoilers ahead, be warned!)

Lastnight T and I got out of the oppressive heat the city has been enduring and went to see the new Ghostbusters reboot. I had initially been a little leery of it, being a huge fan of the original and its sequel (notice I didn’t have a meltdown over it – internet trolls take note!), but I love the entire cast so I thought at worst I would be seeing a bad movie with a bunch of people I adore, so what’s the harm?

Proud police?

I was thinking about this on the way in today. I'm not sure why the BLM protesters demanded police not be allowed to participate in the Pride parade going forward, I can only think it's due to recent and historical altercations (Global mentions disproportionate carding and the shooting deaths of Andrew Loku and Jermaine Carby, which are obvious points of concern).

Racism lives

When we read about the terribly racist, misogynistic, violent things happening we wonder how it's possible, we don't know anyone who thinks like that.

We forget that we surround ourselves naturally with people who share many of our own ideals, and social media like Facebook helps us to filter our 'news' this way, until the only views we see are ones we tend to agree with.

Don't be fooled, there are a LOT of racist, misogynistic, violent people out there. Be prepared.

No spoilers damnit

About a month or so ago, while the show was still airing, I was talking to a lady at work who I'd never had a conversation with before and discovered we share a love of Doctor Who and of Blacklist. Was telling her how I don't like spoilers and try to completely avoid them - not directors or things like that but major plot points. She agreed. Then, within two minutes, she casually spoiled something that was coming up on Blacklist, after I'd told her I hadn't seen the new episode yet.

Haven't spoken to her since.

Outta my spot

Much as I love people named Jennifer, one I don't know has parked in my spot. They've been ticketed, and will be towed if they're still there in the morning. Gone are the days of letting strangers park in my spot for three days.

Just had to share this

via Just Cute Animals

Wow, it’s Friday! I’m going out of town this weekend to meet with some people I’ll be travelling with in the Autumn. I don’t really have a lot to say I haven’t already said this week.

Winter?

So this winter was weird, right? I mean it’s not officially over yet, but it doesn’t seem to have even begun. Christmas Eve I went for a walk with my Dad along the canal and there was NO SNOW. We didn’t need our coats. I don’t know how people who live where it doesn’t snow at Christmas get into the spirit, we had a really hard time with it.

You snooze, you lose.

via Leeds List

So a while back I got a notification that the awesome and otherworldly King of Crimps Noel Fielding is coming to town, playing at the Danforth Music Hall next Wednesday. I got pretty excited, because I loved him on The Mighty Boosh and IT Crowd, and every time I see him on any of the millions of quiz shows in the UK he frequents he’s the highlight.