Hi all,
I originally just wanted to post a few pictures so people who are in them can actually see them. Then this grew into a blog. Blogging feels a bit like karaoke, once you get on stage, you don’t want to stop singing. In any case I should be getting busy with school soon so this should be it for a while. But will it be? Come back next week when I ponder on whether Steven Harper will make it into Prime Ministry!
Anyway, enjoy the photos, comment your harts out. Yay!
Boj
I always considered myself to be pretty gung-ho about being a girl. As a kid I did not shy away from competing with the guys. I regularly got into fights, I intentionally developed bad handwriting, I refused to accept obedience as a way of life that my all girls catholic high school elders attempted to impart on me, I am an engineer for crying out loud.
But as is the case with feminism, there is a crack in everything. My co-worker Julia was shocked at me when I said that I am waiting for Chris to fix the windowsill shelf for my potted plants. Julia is a handiwoman feminist. She owns power tools, she does all the handiwork around her house and she gets annoyed when male friends and neighbours offer to help.
It is not that I can’t do handy work, but I have no issues with letting other people do this. Last week when I was setting up my station I got technicians to forklift the heavy equipment, connect the power cables, even install smaller pieces of equipment. When I first started at my job I used to do all of this myself, I carried heavy equipment, I not only connected the power cables, but also built the power cables by stripping and crimping wire. While it was great that I did this, it took longer and it was not as efficient then letting people who can do it better than me to take care of it.
Does this make me a failed feminist? I don’t really think so. In my opinion feminism covers any theory on women’s status and work that is even mildly pro-women. I always get a good vibe whenever i see women doing things that in Victorian times would have been thought inappropriate. It is cool to see women being mechanics, glass blowers, hockey players etc… It is also cool to see women in politics, academia and medicine. For now I think I’ll stick to being and Engineering Princess and throw a hissy fit whenever I need something fork lifted. At least I have bad handwriting.
Earlier this week Michele from my work lunch group asked me whether troubleshooting (setting up equipment, fixing network connections, finding the right tools…) was part of my job. I grudgingly admitted that it was when Heather said that she rather likes it. This made me rethink al the tasks that are part of my job and decide how much I value each. It never occurred to me that someone else might enjoy a task that I dread. Conversely it must be true that the others avoid like the plaque the tasks that I absolutely love. This convinced me to draw up a list of tasks and order them according to how much I enjoy doing them.
Designing and implementing solutions
Verification
Infrastructure projects
Team activities that do not involve sports
Training technicians
Meetings about general topics (department meetings, updates from the high-ups)
Running production tests
Troubleshooting lab and production set-ups
Team activities that involve sports
Well, there you go. I would just like to point out that I like my job. I just like some facets of it more than others, that’s all.
Chris bought “Girl Versions” a few months ago after he heard a song on CKCU or CBC or both. Basically it is a live CD where Emm plays piano and sings rock anthems. Fugazi, Ozzy Osbourne, The Clash, Def Leppard, Thrush Hermit and Blur are mercilessly attacked by a sweet girl. Yay!
Oh, and here’s Emm’s web page.
I’ll skip my usual griping about Commercial Radio Stations only playing 40 songs 20 of which should have been dropped from the play list two months after they were first played in late 70s. There are so many other artists, completely and utterly suitable for radio play that should be given some airtime.
I will also skip my usual griping about Community Radio Stations that play ridiculous amount and variety of all kinds of excellent (and not so excellent) music but only during the time I can’t listen (between 10AM and 4PM on weekdays and after 2AM at night).
I should have heard Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in high school. If this music had been played on radio, I never would have stopped listening to CHOM. But this was not the case and it took me this long to actually hear this band.
We bought two CDs, Henry’s Dream and The Boatman’s call. Henry’s Dream is solid and haunting. We were listening to it while driving through desert at night in Southern California and it was the perfect atmosphere. Each song is like a small horror film. I can’t decide which of the two CDs I like better. Boatman’s Call is more romantic or post-romantic if you whish. Again the moods are set and executed perfectly. My only gripes about the Boatman?s Call are the last few songs. The album disintegrates into drunken rambling. It sounds like the recording technician accidentally left the mike on after the last call and no one wanted to go home yet.
Here is the band’s web page. Also, I thought these reviews were quite good.
School started last week so the summer is officially over. Here are a few photos to commemorate it.
Fantasia:
Vanessa and Paul
Gene and Benoit
Boj
Nick and Chantal
Nick and Luisa and Chantal
Sergei and Boj
Vanessa
Biking in and around Ottawa:
Yay! Biking!
Cow is mad at Chris
Chris and the bikes
Dragonfly at Beaverpond
Sailor Mercury
Chris the Funny Guy
Just to show that Lorelai is wrong, a guy using an anvil!
Biking Day in Ottawa:
Eric and Nick getting geared up
Nick
At the Black Thorn
At the Black Thorn
At the Black Thorn
Nature Motif
Paul
Luisa, Boj and Paul
In the bike line
Ducks!
Paul and Luisa at the experimental farm
There are more Bike day pictures at Nick’s Blog.
Speaking of Bike Day, anyone interested in “Bike Day – the Fall Foliage” version let me know. There is a nifty path through the Gatineau Park Chris and I discovered few weeks ago. It takes about 2 hours to bike, but it is quite challenging (hills and curves and what not). There are other paths too, longer, more or less challenging, etc. In any case, if anyone is interested, let me know and I’ll organise something.
Back to summer:
Chris, Steve, Victoria, Elizabeth and I built a lovely deck in our back yard
Finally there are some pictures of our exciting trip to Southern California over at Chris’ blog.