27 September 2015
Island Life: 27 September 2015
27/09/15 07:40
Imoto has been weird this week. It started last weekend, Sunday actually. It was a normal lazy Sunday. Margaret was reading, (more about that later), I was playing video games, Marsha was laying on the couch, and Imoto the cat was sleeping on the couch next to Marsha. Time passed and then Imoto woke up just enough to yawn, stretch, and roll over. Unfortunately, sleepy Imoto did not realize that her back was on the edge of the couch. With a strangled “mew” she dropped like a stone and landed on the floor with an audible thump. The rest of us tried to stifle our laughter while a very obviously embarrassed Imoto slinked out of sight. We later found her sleeping in the sun on the floor. As many a college kid has found, you can’t fall off of the floor.
And speaking of college kids, later in the week Imoto was playing with her catnip fish. She played with it long enough that when I moved and she looked up she had this unsteady, glassy eyed look of a cat that’s imbibed over enthusiastically. I looked at her and in an accusatory tone asked “Imoto, are you on drugs?” I swear she gave me the same “If I play it cool they won’t know I’m stoned,” look I saw many a time in college. She kind of mumbled a meow and then walked unsteadily to her room while trying not to make eye contact,.
Not that I ever did anything like that. No, in college, I didn’t smoke that stuff or anything, nor did I drink. I discovered just before I graduated that a number of people I knew in the Geology department at the U of Oregon thought I was Mormon. Just because I didn’t party with the rest of them. I found that very funny.
The BBC just discovered Oregon. Here’s a nice article about the Oregon coast.
http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20150922-the-wild-spirit-of-oregons-coast
This has been a busy week at work. You see it’s the end of the fiscal year. We’re trying to get as much completed and shipped as we can. Plus a bunch of stuff came back from trade shows and had to be tested. On top of that we had some VIPs from a big Asian company coming through on Thursday. We cleaned the place till it shined. Well, shined at much as a workshop can. Then we set up a bunch of equipment to demo for them. Everything was perfect. They arrived just after noon and they went to some meetings upstairs. Then, just before they were to take the tour of the place. IT happened. What was IT? IT started when the company in the building next door called in a company to install a security fence. At a little after 1:30 the company boring holes for the fenceposts ran into a large gas line serving the whole area. We and all the other companies had to evacuate and flee to a parking lot a block away. There we stood, Engineers, and Accountants, Sales Staff, and Production Techs, Programmers, and the VIPs all stood in the rain until 3:00 when we got the all clear. Really a great way to impress visiting brass from overseas.
But on the good side, a few weeks ago a group from the Discovery Channel in Canada were here. They took a bunch of video of our systems in the lab and in use. Alan, the guy I work with, was featured in the video. Well, this week the bit was broadcast on the national technology and science show Daily Planet. The next day they sent us a link to the footage and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEkTW7nRY_o&feature=youtu.be I would suggest you watch it twice. Once with the sound on, then turn the sound off and hit the CC button n for Closed Captioning. It appears that Discovery Channel, or possibly Google, used the same software to do the Closed Captioning as most phones use for autocorrect. It’s really hilarious.
Oh and about Marsha’s sister Margaret. She came back with Marsha and is staying with us for a few weeks. It’s been really nice, She’s decided to do the cooking, which is a nice step up from the fried paste and SPAM I usually make. She works for the same company Marsha does so she’s also been doing some training and work while she’s here. It must be a great company to work for. She’s been here one week and they’re taking two days off to go to Tofino.
Nice.
Doug & Marsha
PIX: Seen just offshore in Lantzville: A weird yellow orb floating, apparently moored in place. We have no idea what it was or where it came from. Oh and some cool driftwood.
