Mary had a little lambo
The Catmobile met a vaguely famous Lamborghini on the road this evening. Local residents will probably be aware of the GP's yellow lambo that was impounded for alleged speeding by the car's alleged mechanic. Can't be too many slick beatsies like that out there with the same vanity plates. Bit of a giveaway that last.
My first reaction on seeing its approach to my intersection was a "Hello Sailor!" tempered by slight disappointment (or possibly amusement) at its twitchy handling. This car is not designed for suburban roundabouts. I got to follow it very briefly onto the nearest 70km/h road. Very briefly because it quickly nipped up to at least 85kmh and disappeared. It didn't seem capable of going any slower, and I can't help but feel it would be more frustrating than anything else to drive on normal roads.
But it was very pretty :-)
While we're on the subject, The Catmobile seems much much happier in the cooler weather. I'm still going to investigate a new gearbox RSN, but I've got higher priorities for the time being.
Speaking of higher priorities, got to work again today for the third day this week. This was achieved with more caffeine assistance, however, so I'll be paying the price pretty soon. Even if I don't make it tomorrow for a fourth day, three solid sessions in a week is good news. So much better than two.
Today I asked awkward questions about the export of scheduled changes to supervisory positions, and queried the use of a negative tag value to indicate whether it was a primary or secondary position. Life is good. The code has quietly been changed. I also got to think of creative ways of determining whether an employee was expected to be on site at a particular date and time, and indeed whether they were or not. Mmmmm. Forensics.
In even better news I made it to the stables today, although there wasn't a lot for me to actually do. The Thursday afternoon lesson is for advanced students who do their own horse's grooming and tacking up, and the day helpers had done all the usual afternoon chores. I scritched a grumpy thoroughbred and received in return the smallest of nips on my leg. I choose to interpret it as a friendly co-operative grooming nip as it barely marked my trousers.
I did get to bring in big boy Guinness, which I'd hoped to do as a challenge because he's a relatively recent acquisition and still a bit feisty. I'm way rusty on estimating horse sizes, but I think he's about 16hh. He made only a half-hearted attempt to escape and then stood very patiently while I fumbled with his close-fitting halter. I've already lost some fragile new skills, but I'm looking forward to doing this weekly and building up the physical confidence. There's also a chance of attending a training day some time in the next months, which would be great.
I asked some questions about dealing with wet horses, it being likely that soon I would have to deal with them, and helped to brush down some saddle blankets, but that was about that. Looks like I'll get better training and be more helpful on Tuesdays or Wednesdays which is when I'd prefer to go anyway. If I feel up to it I'll try again tomorrow. I like the late afternoon shift, helping to set up the last lesson and putting things away. In truth today's short undemanding session was probably the best outcome.
While we're in general update land, Cally is really responding well to her medication. She's hunting, chasing and chewing anything she can find, so much so that we've had to lock up the camera (she chewed on the strap), some earbuds (monsters! attack!) and some keys to rescue them from her clutches. Husband found these keys in the prison so needs to return them! She's running up and down the hallways, moving quite freely, and grooming herself better. She doesn't have a lot of endurance, but it's good to see her so bright eyed and lively. The general cat atmosphere seems to have improved too, and there's been a bit less biffo.
I have made my first tentative moves into Twitter. More thoughts on that later, but does anyone else find it a bit like tuning a radio into different stations to catch snatches of different programs?
My first reaction on seeing its approach to my intersection was a "Hello Sailor!" tempered by slight disappointment (or possibly amusement) at its twitchy handling. This car is not designed for suburban roundabouts. I got to follow it very briefly onto the nearest 70km/h road. Very briefly because it quickly nipped up to at least 85kmh and disappeared. It didn't seem capable of going any slower, and I can't help but feel it would be more frustrating than anything else to drive on normal roads.
But it was very pretty :-)
While we're on the subject, The Catmobile seems much much happier in the cooler weather. I'm still going to investigate a new gearbox RSN, but I've got higher priorities for the time being.
Speaking of higher priorities, got to work again today for the third day this week. This was achieved with more caffeine assistance, however, so I'll be paying the price pretty soon. Even if I don't make it tomorrow for a fourth day, three solid sessions in a week is good news. So much better than two.
Today I asked awkward questions about the export of scheduled changes to supervisory positions, and queried the use of a negative tag value to indicate whether it was a primary or secondary position. Life is good. The code has quietly been changed. I also got to think of creative ways of determining whether an employee was expected to be on site at a particular date and time, and indeed whether they were or not. Mmmmm. Forensics.
In even better news I made it to the stables today, although there wasn't a lot for me to actually do. The Thursday afternoon lesson is for advanced students who do their own horse's grooming and tacking up, and the day helpers had done all the usual afternoon chores. I scritched a grumpy thoroughbred and received in return the smallest of nips on my leg. I choose to interpret it as a friendly co-operative grooming nip as it barely marked my trousers.
I did get to bring in big boy Guinness, which I'd hoped to do as a challenge because he's a relatively recent acquisition and still a bit feisty. I'm way rusty on estimating horse sizes, but I think he's about 16hh. He made only a half-hearted attempt to escape and then stood very patiently while I fumbled with his close-fitting halter. I've already lost some fragile new skills, but I'm looking forward to doing this weekly and building up the physical confidence. There's also a chance of attending a training day some time in the next months, which would be great.
I asked some questions about dealing with wet horses, it being likely that soon I would have to deal with them, and helped to brush down some saddle blankets, but that was about that. Looks like I'll get better training and be more helpful on Tuesdays or Wednesdays which is when I'd prefer to go anyway. If I feel up to it I'll try again tomorrow. I like the late afternoon shift, helping to set up the last lesson and putting things away. In truth today's short undemanding session was probably the best outcome.
While we're in general update land, Cally is really responding well to her medication. She's hunting, chasing and chewing anything she can find, so much so that we've had to lock up the camera (she chewed on the strap), some earbuds (monsters! attack!) and some keys to rescue them from her clutches. Husband found these keys in the prison so needs to return them! She's running up and down the hallways, moving quite freely, and grooming herself better. She doesn't have a lot of endurance, but it's good to see her so bright eyed and lively. The general cat atmosphere seems to have improved too, and there's been a bit less biffo.
I have made my first tentative moves into Twitter. More thoughts on that later, but does anyone else find it a bit like tuning a radio into different stations to catch snatches of different programs?