A list of 'whiteboard things' from May 2015

We agreed we should probably make a public record of 'stuff' that is on our whiteboard currently, because it's getting pretty chockers and that means it's going to be wiped clean sometime soon!

Ironically there isn't really anything work related, though I guess this one is a little bit related to some of the work we do:

Summotes!

Mostly though, it's things like:

Micro-working

-The absolute minimum of work that can be done

before it's seen as "not working"

"May the junk food fairy be with you"

- Trisha, 2014

The tedium of a tedious task is tediousness

.... tediously ....

MEGA - SLIVER

- a really small piece of a really big cake

* STUPIDUS MAXIMUS *

There's more where that came from, but I

want a piece of mud cake with whipped

cream and a San Churro's hot chocolate

drizzled over it all. And I can't have one.

So here ends the blog post!

It's been a long time between rants

Hello everyone who isn't reading this!

I wanted to post something at least in 2014, so that this blog could have some TLC at least once a year. I have just added our latest word to the Facetious Fesaurus: "tawse". Go to the fesaurus to find out what this fascinating word means!

I have to admit to one of our favourite pastimes of late - looking up funny and ridiculous personalised numberplates on this site. I also keep a collection of personalised numberplates spotted out on the roads, which I update in a secure location where only friends can see. And I have a lot of people who help in that they report their own sightings of numberplates.

The latest report was of a number plate reading XTRAHOT.

Some of the worst ones are just too naughty to write in public, so I won't write them here. But they really do make a person wonder ... what are some people thinking?!

Electronic calculating-machines

Source: tumblr

Today I want to draw attention to a very special (dusty and possibly moldy) old book we have in our collection, a book about electronic calculating-machines. Yep, that hyphen is meant to be there.

Electronic computers : fundamentals, systems, and applications / with the cooperation of Hans W. Gschwind, Martin G. Jaenke, and Robert G. Tantzen. Vienna : Springer ; Englewood Cliffs, N.J. : Prentice-Hall, 1961.

This book is apparently 235 pages long, has illustrations and diagrams, and has a spine length of 23 cm. It also includes bibliographies. Most importantly, though, it has a subject heading of "electronic calculating-machines". Totally avec hyphen.

I looked up this subject heading on Library of Congress Authorities and found that, unsurprisingly, it's been superseded by a brand spankin' new authority heading:

C o m p u t e r s

A new year...a new office space...and a new whiteboard!

It's that time again - the time when we clear off our wondrous whiteboard full of groovy things and start afresh. Fitting, really, since we're now in our new office space after spending endless weeks in what we called "library camp". The ants are gone, we have running water and we're seated within sight of a window... Yes, fresh air is the name of our game, and if it wasn't ridiculously stinkin' hot (I hate summer) we'd actually be enjoying some of it.

Anyway, the white board needs cleaning off, but some things will remain, for e.g. our time-map for each day:

• 8am - 9am - Breakfast
• 9am - 10am - Brorning Tea
• 10am - 11am - Morning Tea
• 11am - 12pm - Munch
• 12pm - 2pm - Lunch
• 2pm - 5pm - Postmunchitis

Possibly everything else will go, though we might actually keep the lists of items of work we're meant to be doing... I dunno.

Did I mention that Mo-faux Monday occurs every Monday?

I'm looking for slow cooker recipes that take almost zero effort to prepare...

...and one such recipe makes reference to tomatillos! I was like, "What the hell is a tomatillo? A tiny tomato?" and my esteemed colleague said "Tiny armadillos that look like tomatoes?" So now, here is the real question:

Where the hell do I find tiny little armadillos that look like tomatoes to put in my slow cooker?

Edward Joseph Doherty...or "Eddie" to his mates

Image from Amazon.com

I came across this author in the library catalogue today, and thought nothing much of him till Library of Congress Authority Headings informed me his name should be written as "Doherty, Eddie, 1890-1975" instead of "Doherty, Edward Joseph, 1890-1975." Funny how a little bit of informality can change one's perception of a guy. But I still didn't get really intrigued until I checked out his books on our catalogue and found:

1. Splendor of sorrow : for sinners only (1943)
2. Psalms of a sinner (1976)
3. Lambs in wolfskins : the conquering march of don John Bosco (1953)
   
   and my personal favourite:


4. A hermit without a permit (1977)

Seems as if half his books were published posthumously. Seems also like the guy led an interesting life. But really, I just wanna know more about the hermit who has no permit! Especially after I just looked at the Amazon.com product description:

"Meditations fun and frolicsome, by an elderly Irish hermit!"

There's more, too, like what may be chapter titles: "God is a Pushover", "The Most Unmortified Christian Mystic" and "Beware the Divine Pickpocket!"

Sounds to me like this Eddie guy lived a life of great vivacity!

Are you a floor crumber or a bin crumber?

A matter has arisen in the library today - actually, in the library lunch room, to be specific - about people who are floor crumbers (they'll just sweep their crumbs straight onto the floor with blatant disregard for the folks who have to clean it up at 4am or whatever time the cleaners come here each morning ;)) vs. people who are just a little more thoughtful than that. In this particular office we have one Floor Crumber, one Bin Crumber and one person whose crumbing inclinations are currently unknown (we haven't asked her yet).

What kind of crumber are you?