Of quick updates
Kate Mc
Well, ladies and gents, I have still not received my official letter of offer regarding the new position. Bah. Humbug. I did, however, get an email today from my contact. The basic gist of the email conversation is as follows:

Contact X: "Hi, Kate. Your letter of offer will be sent out on June 9 - we have most of the details down."
Me: "Thanks, X! Any word on where I'll be going?"
Contact X: "No."

Argh!

Having said that, I work a compressed schedule these days - put in a little extra time each day and get some extra time off every few weeks, and yesterday was one of those days off. I went down to FEP (www.fortedmontonpark.ca) to wander around and visit - only ONE familiar face in costume on the entire site - a bit of a weird feeling. For more you can check out the last few of Delly Bean's posts.

But mostly I went because the fabulous Delly Bean has been helping me to build a corset. I started this thing back before I went to England (and before I had a decent digital camera) and was making OK progress on it, and then I went away, and the corset sort of ended up on hiatus. But yesterday, I sewed. By hand, 'cuz there were tricky bits, but I sewed.

And here, after nearly three years, is what the corset looks like to date...

Front:



Picture with better colouring so you can see what the fabric really looks like:



Detail of the front. Those little channels are filled with wire-filled candle-wicking to give them a bit of supportiveness:



Inside (will be lined in a royal-ish blue material). The bar in the middle is iron (it was easier to find a blacksmith than a carpenter to make it for me, ironically enough) and will go in a channel between layers of canvas and will sit straight up the breastbone and down onto the stomach:

2 comments | edit post
Of boredom
Kate Mc
Ladies and gentlemen, about a year and a chunk ago, I blogged about being bored at work.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Ok, seriously now...

When you've got nothing to do at work, what do you do?
I've got no students coming to whinge or ask stupid questions *knock wood*
I've got no paperwork to file (I'm dependent on my co-workers for that, anyway) or mail out.
The phones aren't ringing *knock wood*.
I've finished the project my boss set for me.
I've answered all my email.
My desk isn't very messy at the moment, so it doesn't need to be cleaned.
I've read just about every story on the BBC news website.
I've read the Residence handbook yet AGAIN in an effort to educate myself. I may go read the manual yet AGAIN.
I have to look/sound like I'm doing something. Don't get me wrong. In a month we'll be swamped with applications and I'll be whinging about being overworked - I know that's the case. But for the moment...
What would you do? Surf the 'net? Organize your desk yet again? Help!

Thursday, January 11, 2007

You know it's a slow day at work when...

You're looking forward to telling off the guy who hasn't paid when he comes in to complain about the lock change
You're disappointed when he comes in before the locks are actually changed
Your desk has never been neater, and new organizational supplies have been ordered (what would we do without Grand and Toy, really?)
You've read the emails in your inbox twice, just to make sure you haven't missed anything.
You watch your fellow employees file - only after you fought over who got to do the filing in the first place
You water the plant you've been neglecting for the last month
You haven't had to to say "around the corner, first door on the left" yet and you're two hours into your day
You haven't taken a single payment
You don't really need that free yoga they're offering to relieve stress, but you're damn well going anyway
You sign up for a free online HTML course because it's been two years since you built a website and you're feeling a little rusty. You also complete the first week's homework.
You seriously think about signing up for the free CSS course as well
You finally say "around the corner, first door on the left" 2.25 hours into your day
The only student that's had an actual housing question isn't even from our residence
And I'm sure I will think of more shortly, but this is it for the mo.

And then, miraculously, in September, I got the new job. It promised to be a job where no one was ever bored, because there were so many clients and so much work that we'd never run out of anything to do.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, they lied. The office has been the slowest it's been in... about ... 2.5 years. We're running out of work. I'm taking an online French grammar course. And 95% of the internet is blocked by our system's firewall.

I don't handle boredom well. All I can think right now is that I PRAY my new job sends me my formal letter of offer soon and I can get out of here into a job that's slightly more sane. And maybe even get my own desk again. That'd be cool...
Labels: , 2 comments | edit post
Of music Memes...
Kate Mc
As Magnolia has pointed out, Music Memes are super fun.

Name your top 10 most played bands on iTunes:

  1. Billie Holliday
  2. The Smashing Pumpkins
  3. Franz Ferdinand
  4. Jem
  5. Captain Tractor
  6. Coldplay
  7. The Feelers
  8. Hole
  9. The Killers
  10. Sam Cooke

What was the first song you ever heard by 6 (Coldplay)? "Bigger, Stronger". It's a very early-radiohead-esque b-side that one of my guy friends had on a mix cd that I borrowed one summer we were working together.
What is your favorite album of 2 (Smashing Pumpkins)? "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness". Classic.

What is your favorite lyric that 5 (Captain Tractor) has sung? "The words of that song/go 'round in my head/as I'm crawling along /well they might as well leave me for dead..."

How many times have you seen 4 (Jem) live? Can't say that I have. I really only like the one song, "They".

What is your favorite song by 7 (The Feelers)? "The Leaving."

What is a good memory you have involving the music of 10 (Sam Cooke)? Grade 6 musical, baby!

Is there a song of 3 (Franz Ferdinand) that makes you sad? Sometimes "Fade Together" will get me, but I have to be in a crappy mood to begin with.

What is your favorite lyric that 2 (Smashing Pumpkins) has sung? "Despite all my rage I am still just a rat in a cage".

How did you get into 3 (Franz Ferdinand)? I'd heard they were good. I'd heard "Do You Want To" and liked it. I bought the album. The end.

What is your favorite song by 4 (Jem)? "They". It's really the only song by her that I'm particularly into, but apparently it's one of my most-played.

Is there a song of 8 (Hole) that makes you sad? No. Much like Jem, I'm only a big fan of one song, really - "Celebrity Skin".

What is your favorite song of 1 (Billie Holiday)? "Me, Myself and I".

What is your favorite album of 1 (Billie Holiday)? None in particular. She's just fantastic.


0 comments | edit post
Of a fun couple of days.
Kate Mc
It's been a fun few days.

My birthday was on Tuesday.

We got carrot cake at work for no particular reason (one of the ladies I work with runs a cake business on the side...) on Wednesday

I've spoken to an NHL hockey player. That was awkward. You could tell he was trying not to let on what he did for a living, and I was trying not to let on that I knew what he did for a living...

I've spoken to a Canadian senator. Good times...

On the walk home this afternoon, I saw a cop blatantly use his lights and siren to run a red light when there was absolutely no reason for him to be doing so.

I also saw the most giant dog ever. Seriously. He must have come up to at least my elbow, if not somewhere between my elbow and my shoulder. I'm sure he was either a mastiff or a bullmastiff... anyway, he was huge. This in and of itself would have been mildly interesting, were it not for the fact that as I watched, two yuppie couples with their teensy little chihuahua-esque dogs were walking by. And the chihuahua-esque dogs were yapping away at the mastiff, straining their leashes, trying to have a go at it. The mastiff was pretty laid-back, so he ignored them for a while. But then, he slowly turns around, plodding on those massively huge paws of his, and makes a half-hearted lunge towards the yippy rats and gives a giant bark. For a moment, the yipping stops. Every pedestrian who can see what's going on has a massive grin on their faces... and then the yipping starts again. The mastiff was on a leash, but even the half-hearted lunge he'd made dragged his owner forwards a couple of feet. It was highly amusing for all of us watching, but maybe you just had to be there.

And that is all...
Labels: , , , 2 comments | edit post