Glad to be back.

Big props to the LJ crew for their hard work. I've been thinking of subscribing for a while, and this was the kick-in-the-pants I needed to do it.

Yesterday I finally got around to finishing the seat and back of the rocking chair that d. got for Christmas from his parents. I'll try and put up pics sometime this week. Looks pretty good. And it's comfey, too. Next I get to put mine together, yay.

Today, we were in Toronto, ostensibly to buy snow-shoes, which we've been saving the money for, since last christmas, but we've STILL not gotten around to buying... Alas, Mountain Equipment Co-Op (a canadian REI) didn't have them in-stock at the store we visited, and by that point we were cold from wandering the downtown, so we came back without them. Again. Sigh. They are sold locally, but more expensively. Sigh.

But we did pick out d's christmas present to me, a necktie that we both could stand (which was sort of fun). And I scored a VU Meter from a surplus electronics store on Queen Street, which I'm gonna turn into a geeky project (which I'll blog about if it works).

We had an Aha moment. So, to start with, Canadians seem to obey Don't Walk signs considerably better than Americans do, even in cities like Toronto. I've always wondered how this happens- do Canadian parents just do a better job drilling it into their kids, just like politeness (*)? Turns out that at least in part, the answer is: public ridicule. We crossed a street against a light (being the only people doing so) and this young girl (about 8) said loudly, "but how come THEY can cross and you said we can't?" Her mom's response was equally loud (and, I think, humourously exaggerated; at least I hope so) "Because they're bad people honey." We were laughing for a few blocks afterward...

(*) This difference isn't small. Since moving here, I've noticed that kids in Canada will ask before they start petting our dog, while when we're in the US, they've just started petting her. Also, there is an expectation of "please" and "thank you" that seems to work much better than in the US, too.

On welcome employment

So after my first two weeks at the new job, I feel I can now say something more interesting than "I'm here, I'm busy."

I'm working at the same University as d., in a position I'd describe as "Tech Support Plus Plus". I'm supposed to be the Debian expert for the IT staff attached to the Computer Science department. Usually, my work will be "things that improve the infrastructure of the CS department" such as simplifying printing from Unix, and making users' X11 environments more friendly. I'm also responsible for the undergraduate CS Graphics Lab, which has associated professors and TAs who I'll fix problems for.

I spent a chunk of the first two weeks getting my office arranged (soon to be re-arranged, as we're all moving into a renovated, nicer space in a neighbouring building).

As I first arrived, my co-worker Phil won my everlasting esteem for finding me a disinfectant spray bottle and towels, even before I asked. My predecessor left the office in... a somewhat titchy state. (That discovery set the general tone for looking into my predecessor's work as well.)

The work so far? It hasn't been particularly challenging, as it's mostly been garden-variety system administration tasks to go with the start of the new term, but there are signs that this will change soon. There are at least four larger projects my boss wants to see me accomplish by December, and he's encouraged me to find additional useful work of my own choice. Yay.

The environment? Collegial, I suppose. I'm finding it surprisingly nice to have people stop by my office to engage me in technical conversations. This surprise probably sounds wacky to my friends besides mynatt (who, like me, has worked from home the last few years)... But it's a welcome change to me. I'm a more social creature than I've been letting myself believe.