Slightly Off KIlter

Normal is overrated

  • Rich and Vicki’s Great Adventure, part 3

    When we left Rich and Vicki  on Sept 30, they had ordered PODs delivery… (previous post) On Oct 1, the home inspector came. We continued to declutter, pare down, dismantle, and pack. We disassembled the kitchen chairs. We disassembled the poof (2020-10-03 18.25.29.jpg ) Our realtor dropped off a packet of Disclosure papers (We looked… Continue reading

  • Rich and Vicki’s Great Adventure, part 2

    So, I'm sitting here in an AirBnB apartment in Seattle, WA… (previous post) When we left Rich and Vicki on Monday evening, Sept 21, they were staring at email from a local (San Bruno) realtor: "You wouldn’t even have to do any work, just move!". On Sept 23, our San Bruno realtor brought a couple… Continue reading

  • Rich and Vicki’s Great Adventure, part 1

    So, I'm sitting here in an AirBnB apartment in Seattle, WA (https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/35813335). If you missed some of my posts back in Sept/Oct, I'll fill you in. The Saga began in Sept. Since January, we had been talking about getting some money out of our house in San Bruno. We'd gotten some info on Reverse Mortgage… Continue reading

  • My First Cross-stitch Project

    A long time ago… In my first semester of grad school, I went to a Greek (food & music) Festival where I discovered two things: 1) Gyros (yum!) -from a food tent! and 2) counted cross stitch – from a woman sitting on the lawn stitching I had been doing needlepoint and crewel embroidery since… Continue reading

  • Speaking of interviews…

    I think many engineers ask the wrong questions in interviews. Instead of asking me to "name the four basic inbuilt data structures in Python" (translated: "have you memorized that standard question / sentence from chapter 1 of the book"), ask me: what would you use a dictionary for? How is the data stored in a… Continue reading

  • Well, that interview went downhill fast.

    That feeling when one of the interviewers just does not click. Me: "I like what a former co-worker used to say. If you're going to do something more than once, write a script… and you're always going to do it more than once." Interviewer: "Do you know about the shell 'history' command?" Me, (thinking, I've… Continue reading

  • An’ It Harm None

    One of the things I'm realizing about the current crisis is that one's philosophical motto makes a big difference.   "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you" — isn't helpful when you want things o "go back to normal" so you shout "Open the economy! Go back to work!" "  … Continue reading

  • Tea

    I love tea. I discovered tea when I was 10 or 12 years old and my grandmother gifted me a sampler set of Twining loose leaf teas: Earl Gray, Darjeeling, Pince of Wales, and English Breakfast – for my birthday. Before that, I'd drunk plenty of Liptons.  We were a family that went through gallons of… Continue reading

  • I don’t do phone calls

    Our phone doesn't ring unless the number is in a (very short) list of known contacts. Basically, Spouse or Self (if out of the house calling in from cell phone), my sister, his brother, my Mom…   Sometimes, when I send a note to customer service for some company, they write back to say "We… Continue reading

  • Do Not Ask the Fae for Favors

    My thought exactly.   The original post has this added:   Ummm…. Okay, does ANYBODY else see this as a really bad idea? It's the fae equivalent of the white panel van with "FrEE CanDy" written on the side in spray paint! Do ya want Changlings? 'Cause that's how ya get Changlings. Dammit, muggles…   Continue reading