Papillon
Monday, April 30, 2012
Administrative Assistants' Day
Last week was Administrative Assistants Day. Or perhaps Administrative Professionals' Day. In any case, I got a lovely arrangement of lilies from my boss. (Sorry, boss, I didn't get a photo of it!)
I also got a very cute potted plant called a Godetia from other coworkers. I had never heard of it before, but it's currently sitting on my front porch and is blooming like crazy. I do have a photo of that.
Papillon
Papillon
Friday, April 6, 2012
Easter Week Ups & Downs
Earlier this week, we had snow. SNOW!
A front went through on Monday. It brought in clouds and the possibility of rain. Hooray! We're still in a drought and any moisture is welcome.
Tuesday morning I got up and looked out the window. It was snowing. Say what? I'd say I got about 1/2 to 1 inch at my house. Heavy, wet snow. I was hoping that work would allow us to come in on a delayed basis. No such luck.
Fortunately the snow ended around mid-morning. By afternoon, the temperature had warmed up enough that most of the snow had melted by the time I got home.
On Wednesday the temperature warmed up a bit more and the rest of the snow melted. Things have continued to warm up since then and it's been rather lovely. Not too hot, not too cold.
This morning (Good Friday) I saw my own Easter bunny (sort of - a Good Friday bunny?). No eggs. No candy. But the cutest little bunny hopped into my yard. He (she?) didn't look full-grown. More of a teenage bunny. (Unfortunately, my camera was in the car and there was no way that rabbit was going to let me get my camera and take his/her photo.) It did allow me to watch while it gave its face a morning wash. Cute as can be. After a while, it hopped off to who knows where. A fun way to start the morning.
Papillon
A front went through on Monday. It brought in clouds and the possibility of rain. Hooray! We're still in a drought and any moisture is welcome.
Tuesday morning I got up and looked out the window. It was snowing. Say what? I'd say I got about 1/2 to 1 inch at my house. Heavy, wet snow. I was hoping that work would allow us to come in on a delayed basis. No such luck.
Fortunately the snow ended around mid-morning. By afternoon, the temperature had warmed up enough that most of the snow had melted by the time I got home.
On Wednesday the temperature warmed up a bit more and the rest of the snow melted. Things have continued to warm up since then and it's been rather lovely. Not too hot, not too cold.
This morning (Good Friday) I saw my own Easter bunny (sort of - a Good Friday bunny?). No eggs. No candy. But the cutest little bunny hopped into my yard. He (she?) didn't look full-grown. More of a teenage bunny. (Unfortunately, my camera was in the car and there was no way that rabbit was going to let me get my camera and take his/her photo.) It did allow me to watch while it gave its face a morning wash. Cute as can be. After a while, it hopped off to who knows where. A fun way to start the morning.
Papillon
Sunday, March 18, 2012
Disparate Weather
Yesterday it was lovely. Warm with a light breeze. Partly sunny.
As we all know, yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. For as long as I've lived in the Albuquerque metro area, some unknown person(s) have painted a large shamrock in the middle of the intersection of Southern & Sara in Rio Rancho. Here's a not-so-good photo showing it.
Today is not nearly as pleasant. For starters the wind has been blowing like nobody's business. Because of the wind there's a ton of dust in the air.
Those aren't just possible rain clouds off to the west, that's a whole lot of dust in them thar clouds.
Around mid-afternoon the sun came out and the winds have died down slightly, but not a lot.
Glad I went to the Botanic Garden yesterday and had planned to stay at home for this afternoon.
Papillon
As we all know, yesterday was St. Patrick's Day. For as long as I've lived in the Albuquerque metro area, some unknown person(s) have painted a large shamrock in the middle of the intersection of Southern & Sara in Rio Rancho. Here's a not-so-good photo showing it.
Today is not nearly as pleasant. For starters the wind has been blowing like nobody's business. Because of the wind there's a ton of dust in the air.
Those aren't just possible rain clouds off to the west, that's a whole lot of dust in them thar clouds.
Around mid-afternoon the sun came out and the winds have died down slightly, but not a lot.
Glad I went to the Botanic Garden yesterday and had planned to stay at home for this afternoon.
Papillon
Sunday, March 4, 2012
A Sunny Day
I hadn't realized it has been a month since my last entry!
After a series of days that have been cold/chilly or windy or both chilly and windy, today was lovely. It was cool but sunny with very little wind. I had seen a notice in the paper that the Botanic Garden at the Albuquerque BioPark was going to have an exhibit of blooming bulbs. I thought, how fun and decided to go. When I got to the Botanic Garden, they had notices up that the Blooming Bulb display has been postponed. Since I was already there, I decided to go on in anyway.
I got some nice photos and had fun doing so. When you first walk into the Garden area, there's a large structure that's covered in vines. During the spring and summer months, it's a lovely green spot. Even now, at the end of winter, it's still fun to look at - to see the bare bones of the vines and the supporting structure.
They still had some leftover flowers from a flower display shown in January and February. Here are some of those.
After a series of days that have been cold/chilly or windy or both chilly and windy, today was lovely. It was cool but sunny with very little wind. I had seen a notice in the paper that the Botanic Garden at the Albuquerque BioPark was going to have an exhibit of blooming bulbs. I thought, how fun and decided to go. When I got to the Botanic Garden, they had notices up that the Blooming Bulb display has been postponed. Since I was already there, I decided to go on in anyway.
I got some nice photos and had fun doing so. When you first walk into the Garden area, there's a large structure that's covered in vines. During the spring and summer months, it's a lovely green spot. Even now, at the end of winter, it's still fun to look at - to see the bare bones of the vines and the supporting structure.
They still had some leftover flowers from a flower display shown in January and February. Here are some of those.
The above are both cyclamens.
I have NO idea what this next flower is but it sure looks nifty.
Next up is a male wood duck chasing away another duck who was wanting in on some bread dispensed by some other attendees at the park.
Here's another duck going bottoms up to feed.
And here are a couple of ducks doing a nice circular pas de deux (web de deux?).
I hope you've had a nice day where you are.
Papillon
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Halfway through Winter
According to whom you read, either Thursday, February 2nd or Friday, February 3rd was the halfway point through winter. Of course, knowing that, I shouldn't have been surprised.
When I checked the forecast midday on Thursday, it said that we should expect a 20% chance of showers during the day and a 10% chance of showers overnight. I didn't think much about it.
I got up Friday morning and looked out the kitchen window. At first, it looked normal. For no particular reason, a few minutes later, I looked out the window again. Flipped the curtain back into place. Then stopped and looked again. I thought, the bushes don't look normal, so I took a closer look and discovered they didn't look normal because they were covered in snow.
I looked out the front door and sure enough, we'd gotten about half an inch of snow overnight.
When I checked the forecast midday on Thursday, it said that we should expect a 20% chance of showers during the day and a 10% chance of showers overnight. I didn't think much about it.
I got up Friday morning and looked out the kitchen window. At first, it looked normal. For no particular reason, a few minutes later, I looked out the window again. Flipped the curtain back into place. Then stopped and looked again. I thought, the bushes don't look normal, so I took a closer look and discovered they didn't look normal because they were covered in snow.
I looked out the front door and sure enough, we'd gotten about half an inch of snow overnight.
Fortunately, although it wasn't a light, dry snow, it wasn't wet and heavy either. Fairly easy to clear off my sidewalk, car and driveway. The roads out of the subdivision were slushy but not icy. Hooray!
It was actually rather picturesque. I do like picturesque, especially when it doesn't interfere with my getting to work in a timely fashion.
It was warm enough that the snow was 99.9% melted when I got home. So, other than the brief cleanup in the morning, I didn't have to do any really hard work to get rid of it. I love when a plan comes together.
Papillon
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Problem Solving
Over the years I've noticed that people at work can generally be divided into three groups when it comes to solving maintenance problems at work.
Group One - People who consciously or unconsciously never actually notice a problem. I can't prove whether the cluelessness is deliberate or not. But if you point out the problem to these people, they will say - wow, yes, there is a problem, but I did not notice it.
Group Two - People who notice the problem but choose to do absolutely nothing. Sometimes it's because of ignorance - yes, there's a problem, but I don't know who to contact about it. Sometimes, I attribute it to laziness - why should they do anything? If they ignore it long enough someone else will take care of it.
Group Three - People who see a problem and actually take action to correct said problem.
Me, I tend to fall into Group Three. It may not be my property, but there's no reason to let things deteriorate. If I let something get to a point that it takes a LOT of money to fix, the company may decide to pay the money to fix it and then cut back in another area which could possibly cause me some annoyance. Why chance it?
Example: one day I'm walking to the break room shortly after getting to work to put something in the refrigerator. No problems. After lunch I walk to the break room to get my item out of the fridge. On my way there, I have to walk by the soft drink machine. On the first trip, no problems. Second trip, there's a big damp spot in front of said vending machine. Not good. I get a piece of paper and a pen and write down the number of the company that owns the vending machine. I give them a call. They immediately know what is causing the damp spot. They come out promptly, fix the problem and use a water-extracting machine on the carpet.
Note: when I called the vending machine company, they reacted as though I was the first person to call. It was never mentioned - oh, yes, that has already been reported. Nope.
Now, I do not know the exact number of people working in the building. But, between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM, I was NOT the only person to walk past that machine. Yet, nobody else called. The number of the vending company was prominently displayed on the front of the machine. Yet, nobody else called. Writing down the number, walking to my desk and calling the company took less than five minutes. Yet, nobody else made the effort.
Sheesh!
Papillon
Group One - People who consciously or unconsciously never actually notice a problem. I can't prove whether the cluelessness is deliberate or not. But if you point out the problem to these people, they will say - wow, yes, there is a problem, but I did not notice it.
Group Two - People who notice the problem but choose to do absolutely nothing. Sometimes it's because of ignorance - yes, there's a problem, but I don't know who to contact about it. Sometimes, I attribute it to laziness - why should they do anything? If they ignore it long enough someone else will take care of it.
Group Three - People who see a problem and actually take action to correct said problem.
Me, I tend to fall into Group Three. It may not be my property, but there's no reason to let things deteriorate. If I let something get to a point that it takes a LOT of money to fix, the company may decide to pay the money to fix it and then cut back in another area which could possibly cause me some annoyance. Why chance it?
Example: one day I'm walking to the break room shortly after getting to work to put something in the refrigerator. No problems. After lunch I walk to the break room to get my item out of the fridge. On my way there, I have to walk by the soft drink machine. On the first trip, no problems. Second trip, there's a big damp spot in front of said vending machine. Not good. I get a piece of paper and a pen and write down the number of the company that owns the vending machine. I give them a call. They immediately know what is causing the damp spot. They come out promptly, fix the problem and use a water-extracting machine on the carpet.
Note: when I called the vending machine company, they reacted as though I was the first person to call. It was never mentioned - oh, yes, that has already been reported. Nope.
Now, I do not know the exact number of people working in the building. But, between 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM, I was NOT the only person to walk past that machine. Yet, nobody else called. The number of the vending company was prominently displayed on the front of the machine. Yet, nobody else called. Writing down the number, walking to my desk and calling the company took less than five minutes. Yet, nobody else made the effort.
Sheesh!
Papillon
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Champagne on New Year's Eve
A bit of history (historical history, not my history): In 1772 Philippe Clicquot-Muiron founded the company that would eventually become Veuve Clicquot (pronounced vuv klee-KOH). In 1798, Philippe's son, Francois Clicquot, married Barb-Nicole Ponsardin. Francois died in 1805. His widow (veuve is French for widow) was left in control of a company that handled banking, wool trading and Champagne production. Barbe-Nicole decided to concentrate on the Champagne production. As part of that, she is credited with the breakthrough allowing for the mass production of wine. When Barbe-Nicole died in 1866, Veuve Clicquot was a substantial Champagne house and respected brand enjoyed by, among others, many of the royal houses of Europe, including Imperial Russia and England.
I had heard of Veuve Clicquot and had read a biography of Barbe-Nicole a couple of years ago. So, when I found Veuve Clicquot Champagne for sale at, of all places, Costco at a reasonable price, I bought a bottle planning on having it on New Year's Eve. Although it is a very pleasant wine to drink, sadly it did not blow me away. I was expecting WOW! Or even wow! Instead, I got an OK. Sigh.
Oh, well. I celebrated New Year's Eve as I like to - quietly and at home. I definitely don't like going to New Year's Eve parties. I went once (with friends) during grad school and hated it. I don't like crowds. I especially don't like noisy crowds. I even more especially don't like drunk, noisy crowds. So, staying home is just what I like. No noise. No crowds. No standing in line to use a public restroom.
I just wish the Champagne had lived up to my hopes and had blown my socks off. I guess if that's the worse thing that happens in 2012, I should have a pretty good year.
Bonne Annee,
Papillon
I had heard of Veuve Clicquot and had read a biography of Barbe-Nicole a couple of years ago. So, when I found Veuve Clicquot Champagne for sale at, of all places, Costco at a reasonable price, I bought a bottle planning on having it on New Year's Eve. Although it is a very pleasant wine to drink, sadly it did not blow me away. I was expecting WOW! Or even wow! Instead, I got an OK. Sigh.
Oh, well. I celebrated New Year's Eve as I like to - quietly and at home. I definitely don't like going to New Year's Eve parties. I went once (with friends) during grad school and hated it. I don't like crowds. I especially don't like noisy crowds. I even more especially don't like drunk, noisy crowds. So, staying home is just what I like. No noise. No crowds. No standing in line to use a public restroom.
I just wish the Champagne had lived up to my hopes and had blown my socks off. I guess if that's the worse thing that happens in 2012, I should have a pretty good year.
Bonne Annee,
Papillon
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