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!