Weekend Roundup
The fun began on Thursday, with dinner with my fellow game designers followed by a company bowling night. This social event felt particularly apropos because the next day promised to be my last full day at the office.
I bowled a respectable 120 in the first game and followed up with a much more usual 70 in the second. The only thing worse than my bowling (well, aside from die-rolling), is my pool playing, which I demonstrated in a team game with Pete, Gael and Derek.
Oof! Bad stuff!
The social events at work are always fun. Our team is lively and really lets their hair down when it�s time to party. I enjoyed myself, but I found myself missing Dina and Ben. As always.
Friday was my last full day at the office. Some people were surprised by the news, but all were happy. I spent most of the day putting the finishing touches on a large project, and then packing up my desk decorations. Deflating the Hulk punching bag was certainly the most awkward, but it didn�t require as nearly as embarrassing a posture as when I inflated it!
I arrived home to see my Dad for the first time since Ben was born. It�s been too long. We spent the rest of the evening playing with Ben.
Ben has learned to clap his hands when he�s happy. He�s happy an awful lot. It�s very cute.
On Saturday, Dad and I drove around for groceries and propane, and then, after lunch, watched Ben while Mom and Dina went over to the mall for shopping.
Later than evening, we watched Love, Actually and laughed and sighed. The movie�s more skilfully constructed than I remember from the cinema.
Sunday, we piled into both cars and drove down to Highwater to visit Dina�s folks. The weather was warm, breezy and sunny. Too bad we were in the car!
We had a great day. Ben was thrilled to have all his grandparents in the same room and, for their part, the grandparents shared Ben around equally. I took care of grilling far more food than the six of us could possibly eat, and then we settled in for a delicious meal.
After a round of naps, Dina and I did some light yardwork and, sooner than any of us would have liked, we drove home.
Today has been pretty good: Dina�s at work, Mom�s visiting a friend in St. Bruno, Ben�s napping, Dad�s planning our afternoon trip to the hardware store, and I�ve spent most of the morning working on that project that was supposed to be finished on Friday.
Deadlines are like that!
12 Monkeys: Fifth Monkey
As part of Blork and Martine�s 12 Monkeys project, here�s my list of times I wasn�t myself.
That�s a weird little monkey � and those times when I feel as if I�m not being myself, I�m actually just being part of myself that I don�t recognize. If I say, �I�m not the kind of person who would do X,� and then do just that, well, then obviously I am that kind of person! I just never knew it at the time.
Sometimes this kind of discovery works for the best – I never thought I�d have an office romance (but I did!) – and sometimes it�s an unpleasant surprise � I never thought I�d get impatient and angry over trivia (but I do!). But it�s always just me, like it or not.
Of course, I�ve taken other people but surprise�but that�s part of the fun.
You Can’t Leave The Three of Us Alone!
The doorknob to the balcony door just broke. Dad opened the door, stepped out on the balcony, closed the door shut, and found himself stuck.
The latch simply refused to retract. At all.
So, under Ben’s supervision, I grabbed a screwdriver and a pair of pliers and took the doorknob off and removed the locking mechanism.
Looks like we have a trip to the hardware store to make this afternoon!
Working From Home: Day 1
Ben’s having a nap, and I’m working from home.
Life is good!
570 Days
That’s how long I’ve worked as a full-time game designer for Hexacto Games/JAMDAT Mobile.
Starting Monday, I’ll be a full-time Dad and a part-time game designer. I’ll be working from home when Ben is napping or asleep for the night.
Still, I’m going to miss the good folk at the office. This was a great working environment. I’ll miss the teamwork and the group effort…
…but I’ll enjoy greeting Ben after his naps even more.
On to new things!
Weekend Roundup
This was a good weekend for shopping, small chores, yard work and head trauma.
Friday was a quiet evening. Dina made up a batch of food for Ben, and we watched Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, which was cute, but needed to be a little quirkier. Not too much, but just a bit. As it stood, it’s very much like Sweet Home Alabama.
We went shopping at IKEA on Saturday to pick up a nightlight for Ben’s room, and some sundries for the apartment. Our coffee maker lid broke last week, so we picked up a French press, and we bought a couple of packages of curtain rings so we could hang curtains in the bedroom.
Our trip to the store was oddly focused for us, meaning we only spent an hour facing Swedish temptations instead of the usual two or three hours. Ben was fed up of sitting in his stroller, but he perked right up when I started carrying him around. So much to see!
On our way home from the store, we stopped off at a hobby shop next to the Spheretech cinema. I’ve been trying to see the inside of that store for the past year, but every time we go to that Spheretech, the store is closed (holidays, late hours, what have you). Well, we finally had a chance, and we made the most of it.
Not to great effect, mind you. The store is well-stocked with military miniatures and models, but it doesn’t have anything that I couldn’t get anywhere else.
Still, Ben enjoyed looking at the kites hanging from the ceiling.
After lunch, I assembled and installed two curtains in the bedroom, finally allowing me to remove the classy black garbage bags we’d been using to block out the morning sun. I feel so grown-up!
After dinner, we went back to our old apartment for Chris and Fannie’s housewarming party. Of course, we brought Ben. I wonder if he recognized the old place?
It was a good visit.
On Sunday, we drove up to the Townships to help out Dina’s folks with more yard work and sundry chores. I took the Ford, because it needed a tune-up from Lou’s favourite mechanic and a new set of tires. The solo drive was pretty dull, except for my gas tank paranoia.
The gas gauge in the Ford doesn’t work. Sometimes full means half-full, and sometimes half-full means full�or empty. Add in the fact that the gas tank itself is at such a quirky angle that the gas pump nozzle shuts of halfway through, and you have gas tank paranoia. Do I trust the gauge, or the mileage? And am I willing to risk running out of gas on a country highway?
The paranoia seized me at the 60-mile mark, so I pulled off at the gas stop for a quick refuel. But when I stopped the car at the lights, the car stalled dead. That’s right � dead. And I couldn’t restart it for a couple of minutes, during which time I was sure that I was out of gas and thanking my paranoia for being so insistent.
Finally, the car started and I was able to fill up the tank, but only halfway. Guess I wasn’t running on empty after all. But I did have another story for the mechanic.
Despite the delay, I was only about ten minutes behind Dina which was encouraging.
We had a good visit with Lou and Tilly. After lunch, we moved the storm doors and windows, took down the outdoor Christmas lights, changed the tires on the Ford, and then washed both the Ford and the station wagon.
Sounds simple, right? Well, I managed to hit my head on every available surface: drainage pipes, door frames, car trunks…you named it, I bonked my head against it.
On the upside, I saw many cartoon birds that day.
After a short rest, Dina drove home with Ben, and I took the wagon. The wagon has its own version of gas tank paranoia (when I make right-hand turns when the tank is less than a quarter-full, sometimes the gas doesn’t reach the engine, which means no acceleration until I right myself. Not fun.) but this trip was uneventful.
Victoria Day was a holiday, and we fully intended to take advantage of the extra day to get more things done around the house. However, it was also a grey drizzly day, so our motivation went right out the window.
After a listless morning, we went over to Maggie and Andrew’s for an afternoon visit. I showed Colin how to play Rush Hour Jr., which he took to right away, and Andrew had fun playing with Ben. Then, Colin and Robert took turns playing with Ben’s toys, which I found tremendously amusing. You’re never too young to have toy nostalgia, apparently.
We spent a quiet evening of watching TV and playing games while we tried to get Ben to fall asleep. When he finally did, we put him down in his crib for his first night’s sleep in his own room. Dina and I turned on the baby monitor and listened for sounds of any disturbance�we listened so intently that we pretty much forgot to sleep on our own.
This was just like Ben’s first night in the co-sleeper, when he stopped falling asleep on my chest.
Our little man is growing up so quickly!
Go Flames!
Take heart, Canadian hockey fans: Tampa Bay is doomed. No team that knocked the Habs out of the playoffs has ever gone on to win Lord Stanley’s Cup.
Go Flames! Keep the streak alive!
Gregory Treasury #2
Gregory’s story ends just as it starts to run out of gas. The vignettes are the strongest, from Magic Pants to Gregory Vision, but the long-form story �Fat Kid� doesn�t work, despite suggesting that Gregory is terrified most foodstuffs. Hempel�s signature forehead scrunch from later works is previewed here.
Speak Volumes
Here’s my first tentative steps into the world of forum building and management:
Let’s talk about books!
Ben Bonding
That’s my boy!
