It's not Sue-Sue

The Partner gave me a Tom-Tom GPS navigation system for Christmas. This is a great gift for me because it resolves my "always getting lost" problem and also tickles the geek in me.

When setting it up and selecting options, I decide I want it to have an Australian accent because that is the hottest accent on the planet.

The Tom-Tom came equipped with maps and satellite imagery for the "US and Canada", and "Guam". I had to think about this for a bit. I could understand if it came with "and Mexico", but Guam? To confirm my understanding that Guam is an island in the Pacific (and not reachable via ferry from Cape Cod), I consult with Google Earth (which rocks). I confirm my understanding of Guam and I decide to uninstall the maps for Guam, as I will rarely be driving there. I mean, even if I fly there, take the Tom-Tom and rent a car, it is a pretty small island. I also do not really see myself going there.

Anyway, enough of Guam. My Australian navigation assistant (Ken) has a real attitude. If I opt to go out of the predetermined path he selects, he gets all in my face - "what are you doing, mate - turn around! you're going the wrong way!" This was amusing the first few times. Now I am annoyed. I am wondering if the British accent voice is the same way (Todd). I expect such behavior of the American accent voice (Rich).

So far I have only used it to find an LL Bean outlet store near me and it worked perfectly. Other than that I have just been playing around with it and getting it mad at me or watching me on the map moving around Boston (it has a pretty cool 3D display).

Remember, it's not Sue-Sue, its Tom-Tom.

Remember Herbie the Dentist "Elf"?

I was watching "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer" last night and had to make the following observations:

Herbie the "Elf" makes a new friend (or does he...?)

• Has anyone else noticed that the "elf" Herbie is the only "elf" that does not have pointy ears ? He is also the only one who has hair (very gay blond hair too). The other elves all have beady eyes, no hair and pointed ears. Kind of like Vulcans, and Celine Dion. The other interesting thing is his lack of interest in toy making, which we know is an elf's true calling. I am thinking that Herbie must be the bastard son of Santa, planted in the Elf community of Christmastown in order to hide him from Mrs. Claus. That is the most logical explanation.
• Santa should be ashamed of himself, and not just because of his bastard son Herbie. After Rudolph's nose cover pops off and his deception is discovered during the Reindeer Games, Santa is horrified, and tells Rudolph's father (Donner, as in from "Donner and Blitzen") that he should be "ashamed of himself". I was shocked. I told Rick the Bird that the real Santa would never behave in such a manner.
• By the way, Donner and Blitzen are my favorite reindeers. After all, their names mean "Thunder and Lightning" in German and that is, well, awesome.

Happy Holidays!!

Some good news!

David's cancer is in remission! We got the news today from the results of his latest CT scan. As David said, "I got what I wanted for Christmas this year". That means at least three months he does not have to deal with any chemo - excellent. Now we can really just enjoy the holidays without that hanging over our heads.

Funny work story

So if any of you actually read this blog, you know that I work in IT. I am also sure that most of you have heard some of the many "funny user computer support" stories, some fake, some real, that are floating around out there. So maybe you won't think this story is so funny - but I did (and it really happened to me).

I am walking down the hall when one of my co-workers jumps out of her cube (we have a massive cube farm) and calls out to me saying she is having a "terrible problem". Now this user is actually pretty computer savvy and is not prone to dramatics so I immediately assume there is a real problem. I also like this co-worker a lot, so I want to help her right away (I actually like all of my co-workers, for real, but this one is extra cool). She tells me her scanner is scanning everything into blank documents. Somewhat relieved (as this is hardly work stopping type problem, and I have other scanners I can set up), I run the scan and indeed, it gives a blank document.

As scanning documents is fairly important in her job, I decide to quickly remove the scanner and replace it. As I start, I open it up to remove her document to give back to her and discover there is no document in the scanner. I turned and asked her if she had removed the document already. She was totally red faced and said she must have never actually put it on the scanner "platen glass" (for some reason I love the term "platen glass"). Just in case, I take her document and try to scan it. Sure enough, it scans normally.

We both start laughing loudly and, as a result, cube farm "prairie dogging" ensues.

Why?

Why do large, chain supermarkets and department stores install sometimes up to 20 registers for checkout, but never have more than say 6 open at any time?

Just curious, that's all.

Air America

I returned to Boston from DC today on the US Air shuttle. I got to the airport early and asked to get on an earlier shuttle flight. They were able to do it but mistakenly issued me a first class ticket. After a moment of hesitation, the ticket agent said, "it's my mistake, take it and enjoy the flight". So I was very excited that I would now be upgraded to "potato chips" from "pretzels" on this flight.

The flight was already boarding so I rushed to it and got to my seat. Lo and behold, who is sitting in the row in front of me? Sandra Day O'Connor! Yep - her, the Supreme Court Justice - my god. So I sit down behind her and can't believe it.

THEN who walks on? Kerry Healy! Soon to be former Lt. Governor of MA, recently defeated by Deval Patrick for the Governorship. Then they close the door, and start the whole airplane safety video when suddenly the video stops, and the door of the plane is re-opened to allow one more passenger. And who was that? Karl Rove! Yes, THAT Karl Rove! I still cannot believe it. He sat down diagonally in front of me across the aisle. I could not look away, right behind Kerry Healy. It might as well have been the republican convention. I was thinking, this Rove guy gets to fly on Air Force One - what is he doing on this US Air Shuttle?

Other than Kerry Healy, I have no idea what brought the others to Boston.

True Story.