Also, I rescued orphans from a burning building

My day, in order:

I woke up just after 6am after a very busy and late-night weekend. I was in the library basement by about 7:45.

I dressed up today, because I would go straight from my research to our fundraiser auction. Because of that, plus the fact that I was sitting at the big microfilm scanner computer, and the microforms librarian was gone for the day, I was repeatedly mistaken for a librarian. I spent the whole day with people asking me for help loading their microfilm into the readers, or to find a specific roll of film.

Okay, and then I somewhat pretended to be the librarian to make a loud study group go away and actually use a group study room. (The library basement is a designated silent study area and it's full of grad student carrels, so I wasn't just being a jerk.)

But I still managed to read more than six months' worth of German newspapers. Brain doesn't function. Accidentally said "unpossible" because the German word is "unmöglich."

Made a copy of an article from 1931 because its headline was "Beer for Babies." (But in German.)

And then went straight to the auction, where our band raised $800! (The reserve price we were looking for was $300, and for $350 we would add in an encore; for this amount, we are now committed to playing at the conference itself and taking requests). It went well, and the World's Best Kid played egg shakers and did a crazy beatnik dance for us during the encore. Those of you who know me on Facebook should go and watch the videos. You'll also see me dressed as a librarian.

Today's been nuts, and I don't know why I'm still awake. Tomorrow will be here so quickly, because I need to now turn around and read at least eight months' worth of newspaper.

It turns out

...that while having an open mic at a wedding is a bad idea, it can be a really good thing at a funeral. It all started off when one of Alec's sons did the eulogy and said he looked forward to everyone's stories, because his father moved all the way out here and they didn't see him very often after that. Most of the program was for people to volunteer stories, and they did that: funny, sweet and sad. No one glossed over the fact that Alec was a quirky, strange man. There were tears, but there was also a lot of laughter and nods of recognition. The service late, but it didn't feel long.

We invited some of the younger types to come to our house for pizza and games. As we pulled up to our house, we realised that there was a big crowd at the end of our street. Then we saw a motorcade start to go by on the street that meets up with ours. Chris, my friend Rebecca and I got out of our cars just in time to see the runner with the Olympic Torch go by.*

What a good day. Alec would have been pleased, although troubled by how much everyone was talking about him.

* For all of my studying of the map, I had no idea it was going to be a block from our house.

Surreal kind of day

We've had the adventure of planning a funeral around an Olympic Torch relay. I had to put a warning into the announcement for the funeral, that the Olympic Torch would be going around the city that day, and that everyone traveling into town would want to plan to accommodate for heavy traffic.

I just read the news and, thanks to a delay that kept it from arriving last night, the Torch is now flying in to Victoria Airport about twelve minutes before Jen's parents do. In addition to going down the main highway into town, the relay will eventually do a circle around the hall where we're having the funeral. (Well, it's more that the hall is in the bottom right corner of the triangle that the relay map makes. It's only going to be a couple of blocks away!*) For some reason, having to make these sorts of plans is insanely hilarious to me; these sorts of weird details are so very Alec to me.

(He sort of looked and acted like the old man from Up. He lived on a remote island far from all family, and didn't have indoor plumbing but did have high speed internet and several computers running on LINUX. He was raising chickens and then ducks to work his way towards getting a permit for a composting toilet. Up until early this year, he climbed an extension ladder to bed every night, and tried very hard to put an elevator in his house, because he felt that the space was too narrow for stairs. He was having Chris do the math so that he could build a geodesic dome in his yard. Why shouldn't the Olympic Torch run a relay right around his funeral?)

We keep having to stop and remind ourselves: this is much better than having his funeral on Halloween.


* It looks like that leg of the relay will actually happen about half an hour after we have to be out of the hall.

Update at 10:00am: Jen's sister Laura texted her to say that they very literally followed the Olympic Torch into town.

So...tired...

Jen kept saying that this was a relaxing day. This is the difference in our energy levels: she was feeling relaxed, while I developed a twitch in my eye.

Here's what I did today:

• I put together my teaching CV and cover letter, converted it to .pdf, and applied by email for sessional teaching work;
• I worked with images of my research;
• We phoned roughly a kabillion people about tomorrow's funeral, booking a slide projector, organizing the food, and I can't even remember what else;
• We went through all of Jen's Grandpa's digital photos and put together a slide show (also editing the photos as we went);
• I coordinated with the family and organized all the music for the funeral. I then learned a few songs, figured out the right key, and then practised them all day long.
  
• I had one of the stranger phone calls of my life: I played the accompaniment on the keyboard as someone else practised his solo over the phone.
  
• I cooked several meals;
• We got together with all of Jen's aunts, reviewing photos and the slide show;
• I bought two coffee urns;
• Jen rented a hotel room for her parents, and then we coordinated rides to the funeral with her whole family;
• We watched The Italian Job.

And now we're making dessert for tomorrow. I don't know how we managed all that today, but I'm ready for bed.

Teatime of DOOOOOM

I apparently have gained a reputation for adding "of DOOOOOM" to mundane concepts. Styleygeek has even taken to quoting me (I think Anastasia has done it too).

And now, if you'll now excuse me, I have to go do some final work for next week's fundraiser auction... of DOOOOOM. I've totally been an Auction-Organising Superhero this week: I stood up to student government bullies who were using our auction as an opportunity to shake down our department's grad students for a whole lot of money (in exchange for "waiving our fees" for booking a room in their building, because "waiving our fees" by charging us more money makes sense). I then got that same student government to turn around and kick in some of their own money for food for the auction! All it took was a bunch of running back and forth between university buildings, camping out in a director's office, and calling some bluffs. (I spent a lot of Monday using the word "non-negotiable.")

(I need to stop resting on my laurels after that one success: I find I've been procrastinating more than usual because I feel so pleased with myself.)

I'm on a Schmap

Well, actually Chris is in a picture on Vancouver's Schmap, but my name is in a photo credit. (Look at the right side column, where there's a description of Science World and a photo.)

It wouldn't be our house if there weren't explosions

What kind of freaky, incandescent (non-power-saving) light bulb lasts for 3+ years (it was there when we moved in), and then suddenly explodes?

Seriously. There was a pop and a flash in the kitchen, and when we went to check, we found the lightbulb hanging by a single wire from the outlet (and from the base of the bulb!), with the cheap plastic shade still attached to the lightbulb. We shut off the switch, and then when Chris tried to take off the shade, the whole thing (shade and lightbulb) exploded in his hands! Plastic and glass everywhere!

(Chris is okay! But we're even going to have to replace the outlet!)