Occasional musings from a Left-coast Canadian ExPat in Oxford.
www.bulletjournal.com – I’ve now been taking work notes with this system for an entire year. Unprecidented! I don’t incorporate any personal notes in this book (I use phone reminders & lists for that), but it’s made it amazingly easy to keep track of the various meetings, events, projects, task lists, etc. that I’m juggling at … Continue reading Three Fab Things: Roundup
Moving house can often lead you to see your possessions in a new light. Especially when you have packed in a hurry, without making much effort to thin your piles of stuff before beginning. And are then distanced from that stuff for half a year. Because who the hell brings tea (from the new world, … Continue reading Tea-mendous
I never realized how much I look to Thanksgiving as a passage into Autumn. A time to start reconnecting with family & friends after the frantic, flighty summer. And while it might be Decorative Gourd Season all over the Northern Hemisphere, England doesn’t have Thanksgiving. Photo by Reclamation Revolution on Flickr We’ve started down the … Continue reading Thanks
Quite a few people have been asking what it’s been like to have relocated, and I feel like I don’t have a great answer. Because currently, it doesn’t feel like, well, much of anything. I feel like I should have a better answer. Something like going to museums, sitting up in late night philosopher’s cafes, … Continue reading What it’s Like
Fun kid thing of late: At some point, Neil started reacting to Isaac’s more… impressive… diapers by exclaiming “Wow!” in the midst of changing him. I’m not sure when it really caught on, but now, Isaac exclaims “Wow!” every time his pants come off. Kid, I wish you a life where someone always says “Wow!” … Continue reading WOW!
I have been tempting the fates with my Timmy’s purchases, since it’s the most convenient coffee stop on the way to work. BUT NO MORE! Not until the damn Roll-Up contest is done. So far I haven’t won anything in this year’s campaign. But the other day, Neil’s cup won a donut. And look what … Continue reading The Curse of the Roll-up
What were you doing a year ago? Thanks to Timehop, if you asked me, I could probably tell you. Timehop isn’t particularly complicated. It’s a simple little web service you hook up to your social accounts, and every day it emails you a log of the things you posted a year ago on that date. … Continue reading Splendid Thing: Timehop
Are the clever ideas I’ve had lately, and the inclination to do anything about them. Somewhere… Continue reading Somewhere, Out There
One of my favourite bloggers, Laurie, recently wrote about being first, rather than being right. Her post reminded me that I get so caught up in trying to say the right thing, or trying to say something the right way, that I often miss saying anything at all. (Yes, this is totally one of those … Continue reading Not All Right
Apparently this guy REALLY doesn’t want to get some of our work emails. And yet can’t find the unsubscribe button: Subject: SPAM EMAILS REMOVE ME FROM YOUR FUCKING SPAM EMAILS! STOP SENDING ME THIS SHIT! [redacted], LUTCF [redacted] and Associates www.[redacted].com 317-[XXX-XXXX] 317-[XXX-XXXX] fax Faith, Hope and Charity. Yah, read that last line of his … Continue reading Faith, Hope and Charity
Few things delight me as much as when an employee makes an effort to give a little extra when I’m dealing with a company. Something small and unexpected. Even if it’s company policy, these little extras are so rare. Which makes it even nicer when they happen. We ordered some baby furniture online, and the … Continue reading Brown Note
My sister-in-law had an unfortunate accident over new year’s. Thankfully, she’s going to be fine, but it was a bit scary for a few days there. As I was reflecting on the frailty of life and health (as we do when things like this happen to our loved ones) it occurred to me that I … Continue reading Common Thread
From: Miss Freya [mailto:[random.address]@gmail.com] Sent: Monday, December 06, 2010 10:53 PM To: Jennifer Watkiss Subject: Dear Internet User DEAR RECEIVER, You have just received a Taliban virus. Since we are not so technologicaly advanced in Afghanistan, this is a MANUAL virus. Please delete all the files on your hard disk yourself and send this mail … Continue reading Best Spam Ever
Highly excellent cat video. What can I say, it’s been a long day. It was either this, or a whiney re-hash of my shitty flight home earlier. You’re welcome. Continue reading Out of Paper