He's Walking.

And surely, no one needs to ask "who?"

This video was captured about 4 days ago on the live Pandacam:

And...

For the two or three of you on the entire planet who haven't seen this one yet:

I Am Speechless.

His Chubbiness Has A Name Now.

At 104 days old, The Chubster today received his official name, chosen from thousands of suggestions submitted from all over the world.

He is Yun Zi, which means "son of cloud." Quite appropriate, since his mother's name, Bai Yun, means "white cloud."

Steve Wozniak On A Segway.

No, that's not the newest curse.

I just saw it. On the sidewalk in front of Walgreen's. No, really. Honest.

That Was Fun.

I hadn't been to a bonfire on Carmel Beach in YEARS.

Which, of course, means I had forgotten a few things. Such as, to bring a flashlight, because it's DARK down there. Fortunately, Naomi had one, and she lit my way back to the stairs, and up to the street. I took it from there.

Another reminder to self, for next time. Shish-kebab skewers do not make very good marshmallow or hot dog roasters. They're too short.

And vegetarian hot dogs (nice thought anyway, Rebecca) do not roast well. They just kind of turn black on the outside while still staying cool on the inside. They also have a disconcerting tendency to tear, and thus fall right off the skewers into the fire. Next time, it's the real thing, and some bent-out wire coat hangers. Or even a toasting fork.

But the smores were GREAT. I had two of them and decided if I ate any more, it'd be a sugar coma for sure. Right there on the beach.

And a big thank-you to Liz, who couldn't come, but provided the firewood anyway. And the guys at the next bonfire over, who enthusiastically shared their lighter fluid. (I think pyromania is a natural by-product of the Y chromosome.)

And it must be a function of people older than me, to NOT like their toasted marshmallows well-burnt. That's the best part--catching them on fire.

It's Hard Work Being Cute

This must be why His Chubbiness sleeps so much....

(He gets his real official name next Tuesday.)

Look, Ma, Got Teeth!

You really need to go watch the video to get the full effect.

During his weekly veterinary exam, he actually barked at the staff, and then tried to crawl right off the table.

Now, honestly, is there anything at all cuter on the face of this earth?

No Traction.

The poor lil' guy is trying desperately to locomote, but his little back feet just keep slipping out from under.

I reckon if I were trying to crawl on shredded bamboo, I might keep going splat too.





He's trying so hard he's practically standing on his head.

Writers, Start Your Engines.

Yes, it's National Novel Writing Month again already.

Fire up those laptops, and get thee to a local write-in!

Now This Is Just Toooo Funny.

Kind of like FAIL blog for engineering geeks. It's called There, I fixed it, and features photos of epic kludges and jury rigs.

To whet your appetite... here's just one sample:



Hat tip: Lois McMaster Bujold, one of my all-time favorite authors, who did not pay me to link to her site.

A Gift That Just Keeps On Giving.

I can't tell you how many times I've watched it, and it still cracks me up every time.

Somebody has even put it into slow and slower motion. It's even funnier this way. And in the slowest version, that baby has turned into a bass-baritone. Enjoy! Again and again!

Meet The New Boss, Same As The Old Boss

She just can't stay away from us.

A few months back, my supervisor made a lateral move in the company and we had a new supervisor. She only lasted about a month, and then resigned altogether, to spend more time with her family at home. So the original supervisor was back.

About a month ago, she turned us over to somebody else, so she could concentrate on some other projects.

As of yesterday, we're back with her again.

I'm getting a headache.

But I am glad to be back with my original supervisor, and based on all the cheering on yesterday's team conference call, so is everybody else.

Just another day in the life.

Look What I Just Found. Again.

A blogger known only as JPolson kept a rather short-lived blog called True Confessions of an Ex-Human. He hasn't posted anything in nearly 5 years, but the blog is still there.

I am going to quote this post in its entirety, just in case it ever vanishes. It's even more timely today than it was when first posted.

Fantasy Healthcare - Dungeons and Surgeons

The following story isn't really a political statement or anything like that. It's just something I came up with after a bizarre dream that I thought would be entertaining. Enjoy.

Ariella continued tracing arcane symbols over the gaping wound in Jake's thigh where the orc arrow had struck him. Frustrated, she stopped, muttering curses. A cool night breeze moaned softly in the mouth of the cave where they were resting. "Nothing I try is working, Jake. I just don't know why my healing spells won't work," she said.

The lithe warrior grunted softly, the poison from the arrow-tip already draining his strength. "It's okay, Ariella, I know you tried. I don't understand it either."

Ariella softly clutched his hand in hers as her brow furrowed in thought. She had to figure this out. Devlin would return soon from scouting and the orcs might have regrouped and be in pursuit. Then, a thought struck her. "Jake, do you have healthcare insurance?" she asked.

There's more! Click here to read the rest!

Well, There's A Fine How-Do-You-Do.

A certain (alleged) professional bulletin board that I have frequented has banned me.

Why? Because I tried to help a fellow poster with a technical issue by referring them to (gasp) another board. One that deals strictly with technical issues. The board I was banned from has very little technical content.

So let me get this straight. The person who told me to kiss my lizard stayed put, while I was banned. All because of some silly rule about not mentioning other boards. Not even non-competing boards with completely different content.

I e-mailed the moderator with a well-reasoned suggestion that in this case, she make an exception to the non-mention rule, and why. I was told in reply that I know the rules, and if I choose to break them, I therefore choose not to post, have a nice day.

Oh, excuse me. My bad. I thought I was dealing with somebody who has at least a modicum of common sense. I won't make that mistake again.

I won't mention the name of the board here, but it rhymes with "empty scars."

And for those of you who are reading this who might also be frustrated with the arbitrariness over at "that place," have a look at the "Medical Transcription Links" blogroll in the sidebar. Then c'mon over and join us.

YouTube Only Has About A Gazillion Copies Of This.

Many of them come looped with overdubbed, um, extra sound effects. I chose not to post one of those.



(No, that is not the current baby panda in San Diego. This one might be in Japan, but I'm not sure about that.)

Monday Morning. Yep.

The home computer decided today would be a good day to die. So it's going to be admitted to the 'pooter hospital as soon as they open, in about 15 minutes.

A couple of weeks ago the work computer took its turn, and for no apparent reason completely expunged me, my login and my password, from its innards. That time, I was up half the night trying to un-expunge myself, and was moderately successful. The only thing I can't do that I could do before is get into the network server where the sample reports are stored. Oh well. Most of them were pretty useless anyway. We don't need no stinkin' samples... right?

Off and running for today's ration of Fun, Fun, Fun.

How Cats Pray

Warning! Swallow all beverage mouthfuls before watching, unless you enjoy cleaning spewed liquids from your monitor and keyboard.



Hat tip: Good friend V (remember her?) via Facebook.

Geekery Sublime.

The Sci-Fi Squad (sounds like my kind of people, what hey?) counts down The Top Five Hunk of Junk Spaceships.



Serenity, that most shiny hunk of junk (the one with the high pilot turnover rate, as they say) comes in at number three.

Look, Ma, No Teeth.

Yet.