Dear aunt, let's set so double the killer delete select all.

The nonsense phrase in the title of this post currently has no hits on Google. By Monday, I bet it has thousands. Find out why.

1977 Briarglen Dodgers

1977 Briarglen Dodgers
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

See if you can figure out which one is me before you go to the Flickr page and find out ... Laurel couldn't. Well, to be fair, I had a hard time, and I'm not 100% sure I'm right. My Dad is on the far left, I know that. And I'm pretty sure that's our backyard.

Holy Moly!!!

AMZN: -7.02 (-20.90%) Oh ... man. At least Amazon stock is exciting.

Another photo for sale

Check this out ... with the new ImageKind service, you can buy my Seattle Skyline Panorama, nicely framed, for only $200 ;-)

Ouchie

MSFT reported lower-than-expected earnings. However, they are up in after-hours trading, quite a bit, in fact (probably because of a $20 billlion stock buy-back). I thought this line in the "forward-looking statements" that could affect results in the future was very interesting: -- our ability to attract and retain talented employees;

Go, Mopeds!

We're so trendy.

I am here, now

I am here, now
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I'm now in a new office at Amazon, still on the 2nd floor but now facing south, in a large office ... the window still opens and the satellite radio still works!

West Fest

View blocker
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

This weekend features both the West Seattle Street Festival and the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival (at the West Seattle High School). Add the fact that it is a nice summer weekend (therefore attracting folks to Alki), and the whole town is practically on the west side! (But mostly just hippies and such).

Laurel gets (a better) one

Laurel gets (a better) one
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Laurel waited a whole two days to one-up me on the Vespa, with a fuel-injected GT250.

Captcha

"Captcha" is the word for those silly anti-spam words you have to type in to prove you aren't a robot. Sadly, it is very easy for a computer to read these. You can even do it in Perl. Anyway, here's the one I just got tonight on IMDB:

Not the most upbeat way to start my membership.

Fun at the park

sadieslide
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Coder

Coder
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

Proof that I have pretty much always sat at my computer in my underpants. Actually, I'm pretty sure those are 80's-style shorts, as I didn't wear boxers back then, anyway. And I'd NEVER think about wearing a watch that thin these days!

I am heterosexual

Vespa Dave
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

But it's kind of difficult to tell when I'm on a plum-colored Vespa. See the photoset.

My new ride

After sitting between two of Seattle's smelliest (and insane) residents on the bus the other day, I figured it was time to get serious about my commute options. Given that Amazon is only 15 minutes away by car, but 45 minutes away by bus, I'm also wasting an hour a day, round trip.

But we only have one car! So I decided to get this (in Plum and Tan, pictures to come later) and I must say, it's a sweet ride! Laurel is jealous. The end.

I can't believe I'm addicted to this show

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on FX didn't seem like the kind of show I'd like, but I love it. It's always FUNNY in Philadelphia, ha! Zinger! No, really, it's a good show, and you can get it on iTunes. And it is uncensored, even on the air on FX!

Reprieve

My first day is postponed until later in the week. The group's admin is OOF and the requisition hasn't been opened yet. I love it when I get credit for having a job, yet can't actually work :)

Conan's first show

It was a flop, but man, it sure does have some funny bits. Check it out.

Tat's a lot of money

Tat's a lot of money
Originally uploaded by Seattle Dave.

I offered Tilly the entire contents of my wallet ($52) if she would "touch tattoos" with the girl who works at the cupcake shop. She did it. Never bet against Tilly!

I forgot the best part!

The last time I was hired for a job was back in 1999 when I got my Microsoft FTE gig. That means that was the last time I needed my Social Security card (as opposed to just the number) for anything. So of course when it came time to go into Volt and do my paperwork, my card was nowhere to be found. That was no big deal, I could bring my birth certificate in to prove I'm legal to work in the US. However, THEN I got to go get my card replaced.

You know how scary the Department of Licensing can be? Well, multiply that by 10 and you have the Social Security Administration. I think I was the only person there who wasn't:

a. trying to collect benefits for someone else without an ID.
b. trying to have a card sent to me despite having NO ADDRESS to which to send it.
c. trying to get a card for a child without any proof of the existence of said child.


Lesson learned. Don't lose your card. After waiting 90 minutes for my number to be called (there were 4 people ahead of me) it took all of 30 seconds to help me and get me on my way. It's kind of like when you queue up at the ATM and the person in front of you is trying to refinance his house through it.

Superman is not the only one returning this month

Posted by Laurel:

July 10 is the day. The day I drive (or bus) across Lake Washington and begin my life of being gainfully employed again. Yes, folks, I have long dreamed of fulfilling my destiny of being an STE 2* and Monday I get to live the dream. :)

Actually I'm strangely and surprisingly happy to be rejoining the work force. The job itself may be another story. But it is the kind of job you get when you call up your old group at Microsoft and say "hey, give me a temp job." And after 2 years of not working, it's probably best to ease back into the software thing.

*As a matter of pride, I have to mention that that job title is based on the nature of the job and not on my own abilities. While Dave gets all the props around here for his technical abilities, I can hold my own with a whiteboard, thankyouverymuch.

Why contract at Microsoft?
1) Well, it's doing what I know how to do.
2) Even though I haven't worked there in 2 years, I've kept up with stuff. I am cautiously optimistic that MSFT may be turning a corner HR-wise. It's not ALL because of towels, but the idea that maybe MSFT would be better off not pissing off its "greatest resource" seems to have occurred to at least a few people in a position to do something about it.
3) After hearing stories and talking to some people, I realized that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't the most unfortunate, put-upon girl to ever roam the halls of Building 117. After all, I actually was promoted fairly regularly and while I always felt I was constantly one level below where I should be there's no doubt that I was consistently near the top of my compa-ratio (thanks to whoever leaked that to the PI!).

So it's time to get out the books and start reviewing my C#.

Things in the Superman movie harder to believe than that Superman can fly or that no one can tell he's Clark Kent

I mean, come on, they have the same mole above the eye! Anyway, assuming you suspend disbelief enough to allow a man to fly, there are still several unbelieveable things about Superman Returns:

• A newspaper reporter and an assistant editor are able to afford a 5000-sq-ft beachfront house with a seaplane dock???
• A kid with a cameraphone can take two perfectly framed, 8x10, high-resolution, black-and-white, perfectly exposed pictures -- at night from 100 feet away???
• Superman drinks Budweiser???
• Superman (or should I say Creepy Stalker Man) uses his powers mostly to eavesdrop on private conversations and even to break into private homes???
• I sat through this???

Well, at least it was free and in IMAX 3D (although the 3D was wasted in every scene except the airplane/space shuttle one). And that airplane scene is well worth the cost of the movie, even if you do have to pay. Fortunately, it is within the first 30 minutes, so you can just see that, enjoy it, and leave.

120 blades

I just won an ebay auction for 120 blades for the Fusion razor ... I never thought ebay would be the place to go for my shaving needs, but this is the second time I've been able to buy blades in bulk for a substantial savings!