These are a few of my favorite things...

(Think of it like an `overheard in’, but from my perspective and a lot more sad at times. :)

(Overheard in transportation engineering):

Lead engineer 1: I don’t want anyone on my team who’s smarter than me! In order to lead a team, you need to be the smartest guy there!

(Bridge and dam group):

Random engineer: Hey, I need permissions to install a new piece of software on my computer.
Helpdesk: Uhh, what software is it?
Random engineer: It’s this really cool calculator I found online, some college kid posted it on his webpage. He wrote it in school.
Helpdesk: You’re going to use this… For work?
Random engineer: Sure, why not?
Helpdesk: Because.. it was written by a college kid? You have no idea if it actually calculates correctly, or if it works properly??! Isn’t that kind of dangerous?
Random engineer: Oh, yeah. That’s a good point.

(Water modeling group):

Water engineer: Hey, I’ve got a quick network question.
Mous: Sure, go ahead.
Water engineer: So we bought this huge piece of software that does sewer modeling…
Mous: Ok…
Water engineer: And.. Uhhh. Well, we don’t know how to use it.
Mous: Wait.. What?
Water engineer: Yeah. We can’t figure it out.
Mous: What contract are you working on?
Water engineer: Why?
Mous: BECAUSE I NEVER WANT TO USE THE BATHROOM WITHIN 5 MILES OF WHERE YOU’RE WORKING ON.

Sigh. Too true.

(I’m walking down the hallway, heading to the kitchen to get a coffee refill, when an accounting employee, `Beth’ stops me in the hallway. Beth has a tendency to get.. well.. worked up about things, for no reason. `Overly dramatic’ would be an understatement.)

Beth: “What.. What.. What happened to BOB???!!!”

(Bob is a co-worker of mine, recently they switched everyone’s cubes around and Bob is now about 4 cubes south of where he was before.)

Mous: “Uhhh… What DID happen to Bob?”
Beth: “What happened to him??!!”
Mous: “I ahhh.. Have no idea, what are you talking about?”
Beth: “Bob! What happened to Bob! Bob!”
Mous: “ZOMG! Is.. Is he hurt? Is Bob INJURED??! Is he BLEEDING??!!”
Beth: “What?”
Mous: “Come on girl!! You can do it, come on girl! Tell me where Bob is! Is he hurt? Tell us, girl! Did Bob fall down the old well? Does Bob need help? Come on girl, you can do it!”

(Beth fails to lock onto the `Lassie’ joke, completely encapsulated in her bubble of overly dramatic reaction to change)

Beth: “Bob.. He’s.. He’s… HE’S GONE!”
Mous: “Oh my god!!! We have to find Bob. The nation might depend on it. DAMMIT, WE ONLY HAVE 24 HOURS TO FIND BOB!”

(At this point, she’s starting to clue in on the fact that I’m poking some fun at her, probably because I’m exagerating my eyebrow movements up and down and waving my arms like a madman.)

Beth: “Was Bob… Was he.. Let go?”
Mous: “No, he’s about 4 cubes down. Everybody just moved.”
Beth: “But.. but.. WHY??!!”
Mous: “I dunno. Everybody just decided to move around. It happens. People move. It’s all good.”
Beth: “But Bob, he’s NOT WHERE HE USED TO BE! BOB IS NOT THERE!”
Mous: “Dude, seriously. He’s 4 cubes down. Change, it’s a good thing, contrary to popular belief.”
Beth: “I need to find Bob and ask him why this happened!

(I seriously think that Beth is quite possibly heavily medicated.)

I leave you with a typing-kat, which is much funnier if you see it as the animated gif that it is. But you can’t see that, so nyeaahh.

(I’ve probably posted about this before, and if I have, oh well. Enjoy. Again.)

Caribou – Melody Day (Four Tet Remix) Featuring Luke LaLonde, Adem & One Little Plane

Thank you, Lifehacker article

Funny, and yet horrible and personal all at the same time. :)

(On irc in particular.)

Jackal: So I went over to my hippie neighbor’s house and asked for a pot holder, he went inside and came out with a sandwich bag…... note to self new best friend.

Original credit due here

The Arcade Fire covering the 1930’s song, “Brazil”. Like, the theme song from the movie.

Here it is.

(User is standing in front of the helpdesk, railing at one of our poor HE’ies.)

User: I want to know why I was promised a Sprint aircard and I’m getting a Verizon one instead!
Helpdesk: Because you submitted the request so late and we only had a few days, you kinda got what we could give you.
User: But how do I know that the Verizon card will work where I’m going???
Mous (breaking into the conversation): Where are you going?
User: I’m going to Travis AFB.
Helpdesk: I’m sure it’ll work out there, probably better than Sprint.
User: But you don’t know where I’m going?
Mous: You’re going to Travis AFB?
Helpdesk: (stifles a giggle.)
Mous: It’s California, you’ll probably be fine, they’ve got more coverage than most Asian countries.
User: Well how will I know??!! I’ve had things not work in California before, like external USB harddrives and hairdriers at hotels!
Helpdesk: ...?
Mous: ...?
User: Well, it just better work then! (storms off.)
Mous: Did that conversation actually just take place?
Helpdesk: Yep.

Woohoo!

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group has picked up distribution rights on animated film “The Sky Crawlers” for the U.S., Canada, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand

I’m a big fan of film, (good film) and well written and produced anime. From what I’ve read, this looks like it’s got the promise to be a REALLY good movie.