Octopocky's Garden

Odd Tales from a WISP (Wireless Internet Service Provider)

Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:19:27 GMT

I got a call one day saying that the internet was out. I checked the Access Point, and sure enough, her name didn't show up. It was a client I had never heard of before. That usually means that they are new and that I haven't received the paper work yet. However this woman kept insisting that she had been using our service for several months. It didn't make sense. I know our paperwork is slow some times, but it usually arrives within a couple of weeks at the latest.

She was asking for the password for our access point so she could connect. I informed her that I never, ever gave out that information to anyone. No one connects to our network directly from their laptop. They all go through a subscriber unit which has the password programmed into it. It wasn't the first time I'd had to give this explanation, so I didn't think more of it.

I asked her to reboot her subscriber unit. "What's that?". I asked if she had a router. "What's a router?" I'm use to people not knowing much about their networks. Frequently it's the tech savvy person in the family who sets things up and everyone else is clueless. Since she was basically alone, I said I'd pop over to see what was going on.

The first thing I like to do when I arrive is check the subscriber unit, to make sure it's operating properly. So after ringing the doorbell, and explaining what I would do, I went around to the shore-side of the house to find the subscriber unit. I couldn't find one. I went back to the door but was told not to worry, as the internet was working fine again. I asked to see her computer.

It was a standard laptop running Windows XP. I saw that it was connected to a wireless network named "dlink". I went back outside to the shoreline and looked left and right. Sure enough, there was a subscriber unit next door. I knocked on the door there. "Do you have a DLink router?" I asked. "Yes." "You've left it unsecured and your neighbour is stealing service from you."

Bugs, bugs, and more bugs!

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 02:42:56 GMT

It's been a bad year for black flies. That's what everyone around here is telling me. They're also saying the mosquitoes are bad but mosquitoes have never bothered me much. But the black flies have been drawing large amounts of blood and making me sick. It's been like that.

And just to make matters worse, the new radios I built from scratch, don't work quite properly yet. There's some kind of flaw in the software and I don't know where it is yet. Another bug and very frustrating.

And then there's the house. We moved in January and we're still no where near unpacked. The dining room is a mass of boxes. I don't know where half my summer clothes are. And the house needs minor repairs here and there, and alterations, and paint, and ... It's really bugging me. The witch isn't able to help much because of her physical condition, which places an inordinate amount of responsibility on my shoulders. There's too much that needs doing and too much which needs doing soon and no one else to do it. That bugs me too.

At least the central air conditioning works.

Still alive

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 04:43:49 GMT

Yep.

I'm still alive.

We've moved out to rural Ontario. I'm now a full time net-admin.

A major wind storm in the area knocked out power and phone lines to our network. They came back up yesterday, but some people's dishes were also knocked out of alignment. It's keeping me busy while I try to get over this cold or flu or whatever.

Anyone need a slightly used Embedded Software Developper?

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 04:08:59 GMT

The WISP I run is no longer suffering the major problems it has been. This doesn't mean I won't get complaints from people saying their internet isn't working because a tree fell on their dish, but at least they aren't going to be saying it's not working because Mike (remember the guy who baked the DSL modem into modern art?) set things up in a badly ignorant manner. We've had to spend the entire summer deMikeing the network. But now that's done.

Now I need a paycheck. The WISP isn't paying enough right now and because of the delays and problems, likely won't until spring. That means, I need gainful employment.

So if anyone out there knows of someone looking for a slightly used embedded systems software developer, please let me know.

Migrant Workers on Roller Coasters

Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:05:48 GMT

On Monday, one of my co-workers commented that working in high-tech is like being a highly paid migrant worker. I commented that I have long said that working in high-tech is like living on a roller coaster.
This conversation occurred after I was informed that my contract was being terminated. One week short of a year.

I'm not worried. We have enough money to see us through to the end of September. I'm going to take the rest of June off and try to get some stuff done that I've really been meaning to do.

Time and Energy

Sun, 17 Feb 2008 05:56:57 GMT

When we are born, we are given a most valuable of commodities, LIFE. It consists of time and energy. We each receive one lifetime's worth of time (how ever long that is). Each day, we are given an allotment of energy and 24 hours in which to eat, sleep, and work to obtain what we need to survive. Any energy and time left over, is a rare and precious commodity.

Anyone who knows me knows I work two jobs and that my darling wife, Whirlwitch, has fibromyalgia. We do not have much extra time and even less extra energy. Still, we try to use it wisely, trying to brighten the hearts of our friends and to make the world, at least some small corner of it, a slightly better place, even if only for a little while.

Recently, we gave a friend and her daughter, each a valentine day's card and some chocolate. This was the same friend who's partner blew up at us last summer. She has repeatedly told us that she doesn't like us, that she doesn't want to even try to be friends with us, and to go away and leave her alone. That seems to be how she deals with everyone. Needless to say, I and the Witch, have much better things to do than waste our rather minuscule amounts of so-called "free time" on our friend's partner. Of course, this has made maintaining our relationship with our friend somewhat difficult, but not impossible.

Despite the difficulties, we have continued to repeatedly give this friend, open-ended offers of drives to the grocery stores and laundromats, the use of our own washing machine and dryer, and even free food. We knew that she could certainly use the help. Never did she take us up on our offers.

But since our friend's partner wanted us to leave her alone and we're not inclined to waste our time and energy on her, we did not get her a card nor any gift. What we got in return was silence from our so-called friend, and a rather nasty email from her partner. Last year, this same friend called to say "Thank you".

Neither I nor the Witch are under any obligation to put up with this kind of abuse, and I personally now feel that my small amounts of extra time and energy would be better expended elsewhere. Sadly, this means that so-called friend loses out, and her partner wins.

All the names (except the writer's name) have been changed to their LJ names to protect everyone's privacy.

The misspelling of my name was done to reflect that the writer misspelled my real name in the original, even though my name is a common name in her culture, and she had been informed numerous times of the proper spelling.

Whirlwitch and Octopockie,

Your views of Valentine's day is obviously different from ours, as well as about 98% of adults.Valentine's Day is celebration for couples only. So typically, adults don't send each other Valentine's Day cards/gifts. That's fine/acceptable when you're in Elementary school. And as you know, none of us is still in Elementary School.The gifts are for Abby and E* so they decide if they're going to accept them or return them. Abby never rejects gifts but she doesn't return the favour unless she feels it's appropriate, which, in this case, it is not. I, on the other hand, would of returned your gifts because they aren't, in my beliefs, appropriate. But since none where for me, none will be returned. And E* hasn't gotten hers yet.

The little lady bug/ love bug, you gave Abby today, says "...and to say I care". But we haven't seen in either one of your actions that you do care. Your actions tells us that I don't even exist. I know your not too fond of me. But Abby needs support and she's not getting any from either one of you. Whirlwitch you use to ask her how she was. You don't do that anymore. Now's the time to do so. Instead you seem too preoccupied with yourself to even bother asking how things are over here. That's not showing you care. That tells me your selfish and uncaring of others. I don't think,you have any idea how difficult life is here now that we know that I have cancer. I don't think your even interested in it frankly. Or your actions would should it. And they don't. If you did, you'd help us out by doing something concrete like helping us get groceries home from the store or get laundry to and from the laundry mat. Or even, simpler, just listening when Abby needs to talk about things.
Octopockie, I thought you'd be more concern about us than Whirlwitch but we haven't heard a peep out of you yet.

We are both not impressed by either of you. You, both say your Abby's friend but you sure have weird, unhelpful, irrelevant ways to show that. Abby's been to chicken to tell you 2 this, but I'm not obviously. How much do we mean to you? Do you want to keep Abby and E* in your lives? How much are you willing to act like real friends do? Your future actions will determine those. It's all up to you.

By the way Abby knows I've written this and agrees with it. If you want to talk about anything in this letter, it is me you need to talk to. Not Abby.

Tania

The return of ... the Movie meme

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 06:33:38 GMT

Here's how it works.
1. Pick 15 of your favourite movies.
2. Go to IMDb and find a quote from each movie.
3. Post them here for everyone to guess.
4. Strike it out when someone guesses correctly, and put who guessed it and the movie.
5. NO GOOGLING/using IMDb search or other search functions.

Because so many people had so much difficulty with it the first time around, I've kept the original quotes but added a second pair. Some time in March, I'll reveal any movies remaining.

1a. "And in addition to the darkness there was also me. And I moved upon the face of the darkness. And I saw that I was alone. Let there be light."
1b. "Don't give me any of that intelligent life crap, just give me something I can blow up."
Dark Star

2a. "You gotta be fucking kidding."
2b. "Nah. If we've got any surprises for each other, I don't think either one of us is in much shape to do anything about it."
John Carpenter's The Thing

3a. ~~"You can't do this to me, I'm an AMERICAN."~~
3b. ~~"I always knew some day you'd come walking back through my door. I never doubted that. Something made it inevitable. So, what are you doing here in Nepal?"~~
whirlwitch: Raiders of the Lost Ark

4a. ~~"Frightened? Child, you're talking to a man who's laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe... I was petrified."~~
4b. ~~"First they took my legs off and they threw them over there! Then they took my chest out and they threw it over there!"~~
whirlwitch: The Wizard of Oz

5a. "Apparently your generation doesn't want to see vampire killers anymore, nor vampires either. All they want to see are slashers running around in ski masks, hacking up young virgins."
5b. "You have to have faith for this to work on me!"
Fright Night

6. ~~"Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, You don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for your selves! You're ALL individuals!"~~
popelaksmi: Life of Brian

7. ~~"That's not it! Where did she get that rubbish? It doesn't even start with "I wish!" "~~
popelaksmi: Labyrinth

8a. "The farmers have won. We have lost."
8b. "You embarrass me. You're overestimating me. Listen, I'm not a man with any special skill, but I've had plenty of experience in battles; losing battles, all of them. In short, that's all I am. Drop such an idea for your own good."
The Seven Samurai

9a. "When we meet in Hell, let us drink as friends."
9b. "A pirate must live a pirate's life, and this is the way of life we have chosen."
Arcadia of my Youth aka "The Captain Harlock movie"

A. ~~"Is there anyone here who speaks English? Or maybe even ancient Greek?"~~
popelaksmi: Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade

Ba. ~~"This is the part where you run away."~~
Bb. ~~"Some of you may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make."~~
whirlwitch: Shrek

Ca. ~~"Kids these days. They just don't get scared like they used to."~~
Cb. ~~"I-I just got us into a little place called, um... Harryhausen's."~~
whirlwitch: Monsters, Inc.

D. ~~"I wasn't nervous. Maybe I was a little bit "concerned" but that's not the same thing."~~
popelaksmi: The Princess Bride

Ea. "Listen, kid, we're all in it together."
Eb. "Why? I came into this game for the action, the excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in, get out, wherever there's trouble, a man alone. Now they got the whole country sectioned off, you can't make a move without a form."
Brazil [Both quotes by Harry Tuttle, the outlaw HVAC repairman]

Fa. "Aye, I'd better see to him. The bounce has gone from his bungee."
Fb. "I suppose you'll have to skip the country, now. A fugitive, ay? You'll be hunted down like... well, a dog."
Wallace and Grommit in A Close Shave

Octopocky through the alphabet

Sun, 10 Feb 2008 03:43:22 GMT

[A is for age:] 101011

[B is for beer of choice:] Yeach! Can't stand the stuff.

[C is for career:] Embedded system software developer and network architect.

[D is for favorite Drink:] The Witch's cranberry lemonade.

[E is for essential item you use everyday:] USB Hard drive

[F is for favorite song at the moment:] Everybody Have Fun Tonight - Wang Chung

[G is for favorite game:] Stick the shell on the mermaid.

[H is for hometown:] Born in Burlington ON, then the Mystic Sofa, then Ottawa, then Montreal, then back to Ottawa, and finally, soon, Killaloe.

[I is for instruments you play:] Saxophone and flute but neither any more.

[J is for favorite juice?:] carbonated blackberry

[K is for kids?:] Someday soon I hope.

[L is for Laguna Beach:] Not in this life time.

[M is for marriage:] To the most wonderful Witch and very happily. [What can I say? She's reading this as I write.]

[N is for name :] Octopocky (What else?)

[O is for overnight hospital stays:] Tonsils.

[P is for phobias:] CROWDS!

[Q is for quote:] "What's the point of being grown up if you can't act childish?" Doctor Who

[R is for biggest regret:] I try not to keep those.

[S is for self confidence:] Fairly good.

[T is for time you wake up:] Too early.

[U is for underwear:] French cut panties

[V is for vegetable you love:] Cauliflower

[W is for worst habit:] talking too LOUD!

[X is for x-rays you've had:] teeth, head, elbow, chest.

[Y is for yummy food you make:] Grilled cheese sandwiches. Roast turkey with all-beef sausage stuffing.

[Z is for zodiac sign:] Capricorn or Aquarius depending on who you ask.

Contract renewed!

Tue, 04 Dec 2007 05:13:05 GMT

As it turns out, instead of my contract ending, it has been renewed until the end of February.

Snow Tires!

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:29:31 GMT

Getting my new snow tires has been a bit of an ordeal.

First, I had to wait a month because I bought new glasses instead of the tires I wanted.

Last Saturday, I went to the nearest Canadian Tire to buy the new wheels (tires and rims). They had the tires, but not the rims. A bit of checking by computer and we found a store with tires and rims not too far away. So away I went.

No problem ordering the tires. Except, the earliest they could get the tires onto the rims would be Monday morning. So I ordered the tires.

Monday evening, it was snowing. After arriving at the Canadian Tire store, I found they had misplaced the tires and had to spend half an hour looking for them. It turned out, they were right beside where I was standing. However, the earliest I'd be able to get them mounted onto the car would be Wednesday.

So I put the wheels into the back of the car and headed to the first Canadian Tire. They said they'd be able to do it if I brought the car in early in the morning.

Tuesday, I was a little late getting up so I took the bus to work.

So today, I got up early and went to Canadian Tire. It was very cold. After work, I picked up the car, new tires installed. (Installation was included in the price of the tire.) I noticed the difference right away.

And yes, they put the hubcaps back on. (And I would have too if it had been me. After all, what else am I suppose to do with them?) Now all I need to do is to get the "all-season radials" out of the back of the car and to replace the spare "donut" with one of them. Driving around the back roads, I want a real tire, not one of those next to useless emergency spares.

Interesting!

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 00:23:17 GMT

You Are The Magician

You are powerful and wise - beyond what anyone can see.
Deeply complex, you have the resources to connect to the spiritual and material world.
You posses the knowledge to manipulate your life and the lives around you.
You also have a great healing power, should you choose to use it.

Your fortune:

You have unhidden powers that you have yet to tap into.
Soon, you will better understand how to use your intellect and intuition.
Believe it or now, you will discover how you can manipulate yourself and others for good.
You are at the beginning of a path of spiritual enlightenment.

What Tarot Card Are You?

Waitting for the Axe

Wed, 14 Nov 2007 00:50:53 GMT

When I'm not volunteering at the Wireless Internet Service Provider, I work to pay the bills as an Embedded System Software Development Contractor. This means that I program computers on a contractual basis.

My current contract ends on December 14, and I was very much hoping for a renewal. The place has been a wonderful place to work.

However, the company just laid off a large number of their permanent staff. Of the 14 members of the team, 2 were transferred to other departments and 5 were let go. We're all still in shock.

Not fried but seriously baked!

Sun, 11 Nov 2007 02:28:11 GMT

I volunteer for a not-for-profit wireless internet service provider in a rural area. Much of our equipment is on towers, but at the bottom of these towers, we have little plastic boxes to hold equipment such as routers. Unfortunately, these boxes are not insulated, heated or cooled.

The winters up here can get frightfully cold (-40 and lower) and most equipment isn't rated to work below freezing. After all, who in the right mind would put an office-style router in a plastic box out in below-freezing temperatures? More than just us, I can assure you.

A little trick developed by a radio station a number of years ago was to take an old no longer working fridge, and put the equipment in there. Fridges are well insulated and if the equipment doesn't keep itself warm enough, a single low wattage light bulb usually does the trick.

So we got ourselves a small no longer working bar fridge and equipped it with a couple of power outlets inside and a couple of light sockets. Now to my mind, a pair of 15-25W bulbs should have been plenty. However, one of my co-workers was worried it wasn't enough. To his mind, a 150W and a 200W would be sufficient since that's what he put in. Here's the result:

All rights reserved

Amazingly it still works!

The only reason the service actually stopped despite the inner guts of the fridge looking like a pile of ooze was that a hydro pole fell over (no fault of ours) leaving us (thankfully) without power for a day or so.

Happy (belated) Samhain everyone!

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 06:32:37 GMT

Just finished rit and thought I send greetings out to everyone.

Artwork courtesy of Care2

Latest Pet

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:17:32 GMT

eric

B

Pet cat

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:11:13 GMT

adopt your own virtual pet!

Pet fish

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 23:10:07 GMT

adopt your own virtual pet!

Nothing is working!

Wed, 26 Sep 2007 23:34:41 GMT

Nothing but problems this week. Today at work, nothing worked. On my rural internet project, nothing is working. All in all, nothing is working.

The original song for those who are interested

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 23:14:12 GMT

New Pirate movie coming this winter

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 23:54:21 GMT

Get it out of my head, PLEASE!

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:31:16 GMT

A couple of days ago, my wife received a link to a YouTube video. Ever since then, that blasted song and video has been stuck in my head!

Fun and Phun!

Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:00:21 GMT

Yesterday, my darling wife and I, took her non-biological sister's daughter, our niece-in-law, to the Exhibition. We were not obligated to invite the niece-in-law along. The sister-in-law couldn't afford tickets and I could only afford one extra ticket instead of the 2 extra we had originally hoped for which would have allowed the sister-in-law to have joined us. So the witch and I thought it would be a really nice thing to do to to buy that one extra ticket and invite the 11 year old niece-in-law along. Besides, watching kids having fun at a midway is a whole lot of fun.

I had asked the sister-in-law when the niece-in-law needed to be home. We were told 10:00pm. Except, we were then told, that time is the niece-in-law's bedtime, so it had to be before then, with sufficient time for her to get ready for bed. It didn't seem like a hard and fast time had been set, so long as it was a reasonable time before her bedtime of 10:00pm.

So off to the Exhibition we went. And it was fun! We rode all the rides. We saw cows, pigs, rabbits, a couple of Labrador ponies (which are endangered), alpacas, a camel, some lemurs, goats, and chickens. The niece-in-law played a few games and managed to win a stuffed dinosaur. We shared a caramel-apple covered in mini M&Ms, and a chocolate fondue. We had a great time.

I don't wear a watch because no watch keeps proper time when it's strapped around my wrist, and my cell phone battery was dead. The witch's watch had died that morning and the niece-in-law wasn't carrying a watch. The sun had set, and so we asked the time. It was 9:00. The witch and I discussed it and felt that that meant we had just enough time for one more ride, one of the niece-in-law's choosing, and then away home it would need to be so she could be in bed on time.

We stepped into the sister-in-law's home shortly around 9:37 by the car's clock, about 7 minutes later than I would have liked, but not that unreasonable. The sister-in-law was worried. She had been expecting us back around 9:00. My mother had always said that it was her job to worry about me, and I do believe it's one of the things a parent is suppose to do, so I wasn't about to tell the sister-in-law not to worry. She had every right to be concerned. But the sister-in-law's partner had gone ballistic, throwing a temper tantrum! Rather than trying to resolve the issue, she seemed to prefer to just be angry, yelling and fighting with her partner, blaming others, wanting us to leave thus ensuring there would be no resolution and the loss of any kind of friendship. The sister-in-law finally told her partner to shut-it (Yeah sister-in-law!) and did so several times. With us standing at the bottom of the stairs of the duplex feeling most unwelcome, the sister-in-law at the top of the stairs trying to act as go-between, we discussed the matter. The sister-in-law, the one who had first told us 10:00, had figured there had been some break down in communications. Clearly, since none of the 3 fair goers had understood that the niece-in-law was expected home at 9:00, that seems to be exactly what had happened. For the sister-in-law and actual biological parent of the niece-in-law, the issue was resolved. For the partner, she chose to remain angry and hostile.

The sister-in-law is aware that her partner possesses the ability and temper to drive away all of the sister-in-law's friends. I felt it was important to accept the sister-in-law's offered hospitality at that time simply to re-assure the sister-in-law that she was not about to lose us. It's these little things, the thought given to others, that make friendships work.

The sister-in-law's partner and I had, until last night, been making good progress in developing our own friendship with each other. However, this makes it the third time she's needlessly blown up and been offensive to me. Shit happens. While I have certain patience, it's not unlimited. If the partner wants to keep what few friends she does have, she's going to need to learn some appropriate social behavior, starting with how to apologize. (People are frequently willing to forgive when offered the chance. [It's easier than staying angry.]) While you can't always choose your emotions, you do have the power to choose your behavior. It's been observed that while one can never make people like oneself, one can allow people to like oneself, or one can make people dislike oneself, and that all of this is governed by one's behavior. Right now, the partner is doing a very good job of making one person who was actually beginning to like her, to very definitely dislike her. This is very definitely not fun.

So yesterday was full of fun but it ended in phun (a 4-letter word)!

I hope everyone else had a nice weekend.

Mean, nasty, and grouchy.

Wed, 15 Aug 2007 23:29:41 GMT

That's how I'm feeling at the moment. Period! So instead of doing any more stupid things, I'm going to log out and stuff my face with chocolate.

[Edit...]

Face has been stuffed. I'm still feeling hostile. For anyone who might not have gotten the above hint, I'm having my period and being a real bitch because of it. Normally my periods are not like this. So if you've been a recent recipient of unexpected or undeserved PMS-induced hostility, please accept an apology.

The grass is greener on this side!

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 06:01:05 GMT

I had wanted to sleep in today but was disturbed by a phone call. It was the bylaw officer. Apparently, someone has complained that we have not cut our lawn at all this year, that it is overgrown and covered with weeds! I was speechless. Anyone who took part in our wonderful Wonderland Croquet game 9 weeks ago should understand why that would be. And for those who enjoyed our backyard during Abby's going-away party 3 weeks ago, it'll seem equally strange. This isn't the first time we've had complaints, but this year, such a complaint seems especially strange.

I won't say that our yards have pristine golf-course type lawns. They don't. They are far from perfect. But what I will say is that they have been getting something resembling regular maintenance both this year and last. They are now also mostly grass. The backyard gets no fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, or artificial watering. My lawn mowers are all set to their highest possible settings. Last year, sick and tired of failed experiments in lawn care that ended me up with knee high weeds and unusable yards, I developed a rule for my lawn. I have only the one rule. If it can survive under the lawnmower blades (and isn't prickly to step on), it's lawn. Otherwise, I let Mother Nature look after it. I really don't care what kind of grass it is. I don't even care if it is grass. Clover and black medic look nice too. As long as it lives below the lawnmower blades, it's lawn. I think that's reasonable.

This year, that rule seems to have paid off nicely. Grasses are what survive best so far under the blades, which is why we have mostly grass this year. However, these are not necessarily your typical cultivated lawn grasses. They look to be mostly their wild cousins. Even so, they still live very nicely below the blades. So now my backyard has a lawn that is a very rich and welcoming green. It was nice just sitting out there for a while. Come summer water rationing, I'm still expecting our lawn to be nicely green, even without any artificial watering. Nor am I worried about grubs or any of the other common pests which tend to lay waste to my neighbours' lawns. What I have is a good, hearty lawn, imperfect as it is, with very little maintenance.

Which brings us back to our complaint. It seems that one of my neighbours thinks that anything over 3/4" is overgrown, and that anything which isn't grass is a weed. We have a fairly good idea of who this neighbour is, but this time, I'd say they've gone too far. The bylaw officer even mentioned on the phone, if I had done no maintenance at all this year, as per the complaint, I'd have shoulder high vegetation. The bylaw officer said she'd drop by either Monday or Tuesday to see what our lawns look like. Given the on and off rain we've had all the past week, she understands that the lawn may be a little unruly. What she'll see is not only a cut lawn, but one which has obviously been being maintained. What she may also see is that my neighbour hasn't cut the lawn between their fence and the sidewalk in over a month, and that there is a mass of tall woody weeds with small white flowers covering one whole side of their front lawn.

The bylaw officer said she won't call me if she finds no basis in the complaint and just close this case entirely. This means I have no reason to expect to hear from her. If I do, I'm going to be very curious to know what she found. (Maybe she won't like my borders of bluebells. I think they look pretty. Or maybe she'll think the blackberry patch needs to go. Maybe there's a bylaw about home-built composters.) So we'll see how it goes.

I got the contract!

Tue, 12 Jun 2007 21:06:40 GMT

It's official now. I just signed all of the paperwork this morning. I already gave my notice at work on Friday and scheduled 1.5 weeks off of vacation to coincide with my last weeks of work.