not OK computer

!@#$%^&*!

My hard drive at work just kicked the bucket and the IT people had to wipe it and reload Windows (have I mentioned I can't stand Windows XP?). Thank goodness I usually save everything to my network drive, which I can access from anywhere. Of course at the end of the day before my stupid computer bit it, I cleaned up my e-mail and saved some files on the desktop, intending to save them on my network drive when I came in the next morning. The one time I do this and it turns out to be Death Day Eve for my computer. Sigh.

Oh well! I'm nearly done for the day and my holidays and professional development start Monday. So I'll be putting my holiday settings on my e-mail and an extended absence greeting on my phone, and then I will happily bid adieu to my office for two months! Yay!

Then We Came to the End

I'm halfway through Joshua Ferris' Then We Came to the End and so far I am really enjoying it. I think it's the only book I've ever read that employed the plural first person ("we"), and while it takes a little getting used to, it works quite well with the subject matter (office life). There is one section that is in the third person, and although this could have been clunky, I found it entirely appropriate.

It's hard to explain what the novel is about; mostly it's about the intricacies of office relationships--friendships, rivalries, romances, personal traumas. On the surface it can read as quite fluffy and inconsequential, but the author does actually address surprisingly big issues like mortality, loneliness, what makes for a meaningful life, bullying and groupthink.

I'd recommend it for anyone looking for a pretty easy summer read that is just unusual enough not to feel like brain candy.

welcome Baby J

Introducing my new nephew, Baby J:



He weighs 7 pounds, 14 ounces and he and his mom are doing well. My brother is finding new things to worry and obsess about on a minute-by-minute basis, but other than having New Dad Syndrome, he is doing well too.

Welcome baby!

already much adored and hasn't been born yet

So my brother and his wife are expecting their first child (first grandchild on both sides, my first nephew) any time now, and because I happened to be in town for work, the families scheduled the baby shower for them yesterday so I could be there too. I met my sister-in-law's family for the first time and it was great. She is very sweet and easygoing, and now I see where she gets it from. It was a laid-back, fun get-together with food and cake and pictures and non-lame games. [The last baby shower I went to before this was pretty stressful: my friend's mother-in-law is a bit of a drill sergeant and she had us all doing a different activity every 2 minutes, and there was a bit of a YOU WILL HAVE FUN air about the whole thing, so it was nice to be at one that was so different.]

Oh and presents. Well, as my SIL's grandma commented, this kid is going to have the biggest wardrobe ever. Ever since I found out I'm going to be an auntie, I have been possessed with the urge to knit cute baby clothes on overdrive and buy adorable accessories. I didn't even bring ALL the baby items I have gotten to the baby shower because there are so many. I am normally not like this so I surmise that being an auntie has addled my brain.

tried to make me go to rehab and I said oink, oink, oink