Musings

Welcome.
This is my pretty-much-permanent introduction post, geared towards those who are not habitual LiveJournal users -- family friends, relatives, ex-professors, people who get my mommy's Christmas letter etc. LJers please comment to this post, so I know who reads it!

( Click here to learn how this stuff works. )

...

If you have read more than three or four of my musings, I'd love it if you just posted a comment to this entry. Tell me a bit about yourself, if you like, especially if you think I might not be 100% sure who you are, or know you only online. Or tell me why you bothered to visit my LiveJournal. Or just say hi. Or post a silly picture or link. Or whatever. I'm interested in who reads this nonsense.

If you are here because someone told you about my writings about my stay in Karachi, you want to go to
http://www.livejournal.com/users/ayeshak/13832.html
to begin from the beginning. Which is a nice place to begin. From there, there's a little row of five icons above the writing; keep clicking on the right-hand one, the arrow, to go to the next chronological entry.

Much love,
Ayesha K.

Ayesha Khan

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__________________________________________________

I had the Scarlett-o'Hara-y-est of red off-the-shoulder ballgowns in my Halloween costume, along with fangs, red elbow-length gloves, and an awesome top hat.

I kissed a boy. He then requested I put the fangs back in before we kissed some more. That is kind of awesome. I also have kissed three girls this weekend. I believe the phrase 'I win' applies here.

A Viking costume's sheepskin cloak was added to my red dress and fangs, upon which I was told I looked "fucking METAL."  This made me happy, and I proceeded to demand that someone bring me the heads of my enemies - or failing that, Aslan's mane.

We are crunching a bit at work these days. It doesn't really feel like crunching to me, though, because I'm working little to no overtime. European work laws....

There is a possibility of meeting up with my darling sis in Amsterdam this spring. You in?

I am sooooo looking forward to being a bride's attendant at the wedding of two of my favorite people next year. And, for that matter, to attending another weddin' or two that are upcoming.

I've been in a really weird mood the last few days.

(cross-posted)

I am sitting on the balcony of my flat.
My feet, bare on the smooth ashy-coloured wood, will get cold at some point. Weather in the summer here is like an endless spring: capricious, moody, mostly chilly, interspersed with the rare blinding sunny afternoons when the lawn in a park looks inviting as an oasis.
I've had a nice long bath, very hot to soothe aching leg muscles. Bless the British and their baths. One of the greatest civilizing influences of our time. That and, of course, tea.

Note to all British readers: despite having lived in Boston lo these many etc, I will never threaten your tea with seawater. I am, however, a fan of parties, up to and including Tea Parties.

The sunset has me holding my breath as though awaiting the climax in an action sequence, all cool purples and pinks with orange limning. It feels like surely, fireworks and cheering are about to burst out for a grand finale. The soundtrack is essential: gulls, of course (more on that later); traffic, from a fairly sizeable road, nearby but across the water - less, however, far less than back home for how close to a city-center area it is. Occasionally a snatch of voice; whisper, laugh, exclamation. A car alarm. Footsteps. Like all sunsets, though, its exit is silent and orderly, gradual as a tide.

It's a small city, Dundee. Fourth largest in Scotland, I think, with a population of around... a quarter of Boston's, maybe? Not sure. Most city amenities, a rep theatre, that sort of thing, plethora of bars-pubs-clubs-etc due to university student population. I know I've only just scratched the surface of places to go. I've made some friends here, good peeps all. I am relentlessly mocked for my Americanisms, and relentlessly mock all my Aussie, Irish and otherwise expatriot friends, and we all (mostly) refrain from relentlessly mocking the Scots because we are aware of our guest status here. :-) I keep far too many late nights. I have found people who like to go dancing, and in my book, that says a great deal about your quality of life. Some people at work and I started a band; we have now met a grand total of twice and I am feeling very positive. I sing karaoke when I can get to it and get bribed with drinks to sing, which is very flattering and only rarely awkward.

...
Mmmm, deliciousness. Pardon me, that was a small break to assemble dinner. Sauteed halloumi and shiitake mushroom saute on toasted wheat, with prosciutto. As I said in an IM earlier tonight, "basically bread meat and cheese, which I figure has been good enough for the human race for thousands of years and is still delicious!"

Right. So. Gulls.
An encounter today was utterly typical of my interaction with a percentage of Dundonian seagulls.
Gull,  strutting across sidewalk right in front of me: You lookin' at me?
Me: I am twenty times your size.
Gull: What. WHAT, mofo? You want some of this?
Me, eyeing it warily: ...No.

These things have become the primary scavenger in the area. The pigeons live in fear. They kill other birds. As a base M.O., I do not fuck with several types of Dundonian: a certain kind of drunk pubgoing male and/or chav on the prowl, a Scottish pal looking for a drinking competition, and the local gulls.
Gull: Seriously! I'll cut you!
Me: *scuttles around its personal space*

It's a perfectly nice apartment I'm in, but I'm moving this weekend to another place.

Side note to Dundonian readers: combined housewarming at my new flat -- Realtime Worlders have taken over entire 5th floor, ping me if you're free for a BBQ this Saturday (1st Aug) from 5 pm on. You know you want to.

I'm moving to another place because current flat does not allow cats. Mine are joining me in December (waah, soooo lonnnng, rassen frassen quarantine laws for UK, at least they aren't in a kennel) from the States. It's a whole process getting them here. Also, privacy is good.  At least packing only involves a few suitcases' worth of stuff.

Work's going well. Settling in there, too.

Tell me one thing that has surprised you in the last, oh, three or so weeks.
If you have more than a Tweet's worth of characters, tell me something you don't think I've heard of.
Heck, if you have a minute, sit down, dear, tell me about your day.

Tea?

AKNN (Ayesha K News Network), Thursday, May 28th 2009

Studio: First reports just coming in from the front. We now go live to Khan, on the scene in her new Dundee apartment. Khan?

Field: Thanks so much, Ayesha. Well, it's a cold day here in Dundee -- but then again, it's cold the vast majority of the year. The garrulous driver who got me from Edinburgh airport to my new flat told me that when the wind changes, it's apparently coming right the fuck from the Siberian plains via Scandinavia, and is, and I paraphrase here, colder than a brass monkey's balls in a blizzard.

Studio: That's very cold indeed, Khan.

Field: Yes it is. I had to wear gloves this morning and evening, though it was nearly T-shirt weather around lunchtime. In other news, the flat is a two-bedroom, and very unexpectedly came with a roomie -- a red-headed Texan Ass-Prod --

Studio: I'm sorry, that must have gotten garbled. Did you say ass prod?

Field: Yes, Ayesha; that's what we in the industry call an Assistant or Associate Producer. Anyway, she arrived last weekend and was also very surprised to find out she was going to have a housemate. However, the view from the flat's balcony is quite nice, and it's less than a thirty-minute walk from work.

Studio: Which is a good thing, as you're unlikely to get a car, yes?

Field: Damn straight, Ayesha.

Studio: And how are you finding Dundee so far?

Field: Full of history, of course, but this is Europe, where it comes from, as Mr. Izzard says. The oldest British man-o'-war still afloat, the Frigate Unicorn, is moored literally down the street from where I am. I can see it from my balcony, and it's very impressive-looking. A few shopping centers, that could be from anywhere in the world. Lots of pubs, but few that serve any food after eight p.m., which feels strange. Also, all the shops close by five-thirty or so.

Studio: The question arises of when the hell they think anyone has time to go shopping.

Field: Rather what I was asking myself. The flat comes with a television, but the quaint British basic package only includes four channels, and at any one time three seem to be playing news or talk shows discussing Parliamentary scandals.

Studio: And are you familiar with the issues being discussed therein?

Field: Less familiar than a scorpion with a bathing costume, Ayesha.

Studio: With a?

Field: Swimsuit, in Limey. Do you realize this entire country contains only five million people?

Studio: Holy crap, Khan.

Field: Exactly. Reporting from Dundee, this is Khan, in search of emotional and intellectual stimulation, and hopefully a good-looking if probably orthodontically-challenged Scots boy or three to take home and corrupt. Not all at once, of course. And now, back to the studio. Ayesha?

Studio: Thank you very much for joining us, and good night.

_______________

AKNN Saturday morning, 30 May 2009

Studio: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen! We have a scheduled call with our field reporter in Dundee, where it's still this morning -- let's see how Khan is doing.

Field: ohmygodShhhhhhhhhhh

Studio: ....Khan?

Field:  Kill meeeeee

Studio:  ....Er. Perhaps we should try to catch up with our field reporter, um.... another time.

________________

 

AKNN Monday, 1 June 2009

Studio: We have a dispatch from field reporter Khan, to share with you today while she's at work:

( CLOSE-UP OF DISPATCH )

People I have learned never to try to keep up with when drinking heavily:

Aussies
Midwestern and Northwestern farm-raised boys
Older Pakistani upper-class businessmen
That dude Dave from the Burren
The British -- SWEET BABY G THE BRITISH ESPECIALLY THE SCOTCH WHAT DO THEY FEED THESE FUCKERS

Studio: Um... Thank you, and good night.
_________



In related news: I miss you all.

Scary!
Very scary. And exciting. But also scary.

I leave on Monday, arrive Tuesday, and on Thursday I start my new job at RealTime Worlds, in Dundee, Scotland. Whoo! Also eek.

Selling car, paying last-minute bills and dealing with paperwork, and leaving cats with parental units for now (importing domestic pets to the UK is *MURDER*.)


You know that really really high dive that looked twenty times as tall when you were a kid?

The last few months have felt as though my whole world was paused, in between jobs; wanting to dive. Just waiting in that endless line, up ladders, clutching the railings, smell of drying swimsuits and anticipation...

Just now, I feel like I've finally just jumped off that high dive, a moment ago, and am in that stage of the seemingly neverending gasp of air, arms flailing, grin on my face, wide-eyed, with the water looming closer and closer and quicker and quicker, blue and cool and finally happening, all excitement and terror.

Splashdown this week.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Phone screen today went well, I thought; by the end of 3/4 of an hour my voice was pretty dry and cracked tho.

Another one for a different company on Wednesday.

Any good karma you'd care to send would be welcome.

Also, distraction. Please. Tell me what's going on in your life.

Bardic Pub Night was a great deal of fun. Poetry, music, good drink and good conversation; I can think of few ways I'd rather spend a Saturday.

The ridiculously talented Finnbar (sp?), an honest-to-gods bard, brought several instruments, upon which he regaled us with songs and stories, serious and not. Some sort of pipes that predate bagpipes; a little piccolo-sounding flutey thing, a guitar, a harp (borrowed, I understand), and someone had a bodhran to accompany... Two flautists, Zip's brother *waves at Father Joval* ;) and the lovely and talented JJ, played some lovely duets... I sang Code Monkey and LOL Together, among other songs...
Mickle mirth and merriment was, in other words, had by all!


Ooof, have so many things to do today... Eeeek!

Also, all my peeps in San Francisco, hollah! I'm trying to make it down to the GDC.

You Are Rain Boots

You are a very playful and fun loving person. Nothing can slow you down. You are dreamy, and you can find the romance in anything. The littlest things make you smile. You are outgoing and friendly. You always find yourself talking to strangers. You are optimistic about the world. Even when it's raining out, the sun is shining in your heart.

You Are 64% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care. Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

Dis heer is some shite I want to do before I die.

• Live alone in Paris for a while
• Publish a well-received novel
• Throw a 47th birthday party with an NRA theme (AK-47, gettit), complete with sexy bikini-clad girls wielding submachine guns
• Fall in love -- real, wonderful, terrifying and uncontrolled forever kind of love
• Go to Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, Martinique, St Lucia, the Antilles, Bali, and Thailand (among others), and be a beach bum in all of them
• Skydive, because it scares me
• Be introduced at a party and have the introducee say something like "ah yes, I have heard of you..."
• Be covered neck-to-knee in squirmy kittens yay
• Write a humor column and/or advice column.  Huh. I didn't even know I wanted to do that until just now when I wrote it down.
• Have a flirty, intelligent conversation with Eddie Izzard
• Not have regrets on my deathbed
• While wearing a long red dress, sing torch songs to a well-heeled crowd, accompanied by a tuxedoed man playing a baby grand
• Hook up with Boomer from BSG  ;-P because dayum.

What's yours?

Not yet dead.

Haven't been reading peoples' LJs, regarding which I feel rather bad.

Two keys have now fallen off my laptop. PageDown and the right arrow. Not good.

Also, lappie in horrifying need of a professional clean. Have had a note on my desktop saying as much since I came back from Karachi. So one might indeed say it's a little overdue.

Adjusting to the single life. Still seeking employment outside Boston area.

This morning my boycat Mowgli decided to sleep draped across my head or face in as many positions as possible. I finally kicked him off.
MOWGLI: in king-of-jungle fashion, attempts to lie down regally on pillow next to me. Overbalances. Slapstick ensues.
ME:  snickers
MOWGLI:  haughtily offended look
ME: No, no, you meant to do that. I understand

Took him and his sister Amenti (Mennie for short) on walks today, to enjoy the weather. He led me a merry chase as usual, and he and the two tiny neighbor kids spent some time stalking each other. This mostly consisted of him warily getting closer and closer until the kids would shriek excitedly in Spanish and then try to feed him popcorn. He would politely sniff the puffy little white offerings on the ground, then go back to trying to decide if they were threats or playmates. This decision process seems to mostly consist of contortions of the ears.

Mennie was true to her namesake, an Egyptian goddess (funny, I'd had in my mind that she was Hindu, silly moi) by hiding under things, trying to climb bushes, eyeballing a few seagulls wheeling around the hospital next door, and being super fastidious about her coat.
 
As GFunk observed when she came by the other day, I am totally crazy-cat-lady-in-training.

Woke up today slightly hungover, due to not drinking enough water before bed. The walk cleared my head, though.

Tell me one thing that you were scared of as a child, preferably a fear you've since grown out of.

Ugh, I hate ending sentences with prepositions.

I need help.

In more than one way, yes, yes.

But yes. In this case, I need web design help.
I want to make a somewhat professional-looking website that doesn't look like I built it from a wizard kit. Which, with my muy basic HTML skillz, is what it'd look like even if I hand-coded it. I'm willing to pay for your time (or take you out?) if you're willing to help me, though I prolly can't afford professional rates.

Please let me know if you can help, or if you have a rec for an awesome kit or something...

Cheers!

For crying out loud.  When did the word "normalcy" start to creep in and replace "normality"?

Stupid people.  Stupid everything.

I have too much work to do in the next week and too little time in which to do it.

Me: *stares into vending machine with half-blank, half-pensive look, while singing under breath* Fish and chips and vinegar, vinegar, vinegar, fiiiiiish and chips and vinegarrrrr, pepper pepper pepper salt.
CC: Heya. How're you doing?
Me: *decides not to tell him I'm trying to figure out exactly how much junk food I can eat now and still have room to stuff myself with Korean barbeque tonight* Not bad. I have a silly song from Girl Scouts stuck in my head, though.
CC: ...It's not 'Baby Shark', is it?
Me, wide-eyed and astonished: No, but I TOtally KNOW that SONG. How, HOW do you know that song? *singing* Baby shark, doo doo, doo doo dedoo...
CC: *eyes downcast, resigned* I have a daughter.

It is SO COOL that the same stupid songs are getting taught to a new generation of Girl Scouts. Srsly. Freakin' cool.

It's easy to forget sometimes how much being a Girl Scout affected me, and helped make me who I am, for better and worse.

So, that was totally fun. A bit stressful, but a LOT of fun.

I left work very early on Friday to make it down to Providence in plenty of time, and ended up making it there early.

It's rather relaxing to sit down and have someone do your hair and makeup. The two women who did probably 40+ models' makeup and 'dos were awesome -- relentlessly calm and cheerful, and equipped with snappy senses of humor -- and they did their best with the frizzy mess that is my hair on a rainy day.

I modeled for two different designers, and I only knew what I would be wearing for one of them. The funny thing is, I was really nervous about that outfit until the second (and final) fitting the week of the show -- I didn't think either she or I could pull it off without me looking like a damn fool -- and I was rather looking forward to wearing the second designer's stuff, because the stuff on her website looked very sexy. But the first outfit all came together and totally worked. Apparently I got the most applause of the night when I walked in it, which means my ego is stoked for at least a little while. ;^) The second outfit, however, included a pretty but plain skirt and a leather corset that was WAY TOO BIG for me. And it takes a certain amount for a shirt to be too big for me. This thing was fastened as tight as it could go, and I could still plunge my own arm up to the elbow down the front of it. Weaksauce, as Tim would say.

The first outfit was pretty fabulous and strange, a sort of riff on a gypsy theme in the key of fetish. Flouncy skirt, short in front and long in back, a boned elastic middle, and a bronze bra thingy in the shape of cupping hands that fastened to the rest of it with chains and cloth ties. Quite funky.

^_^

I briefly worked in the inventory department of a large, hi-tech company. I wrote this during that time, just before I got my current job, which is much better. I have had my share of less-than-optimal jobs; I've been a waitress in several restaurants, done mindless data entry, copy-edited the text of tiny-fonted newspaper advertisements, and worked retail at the mall during the Christmas season (UGH).
This one, however, was awful. The job involved taking inventory of all remotely valuable items throughout this company's large campus -- many buildings, a lot of arcane scientific equipment, and electronic devices of all kinds, all in various states of obsolescence. It involved scanning barcodes and double-checking them against lists of what equipment should be in that room, many of which were out of date, incomplete, or just plain wrong. To add to the fun, a lot of equipment was either in the wrong room, registered to the wrong person's name, in locked rooms, or buried in obscure filing cabinets, closets, or on high shelves.

( An essay on workin' inventory. )

Crossposted to MySpace and Blogspot.

Antsy

Cranky

Not hungry, thankfully

Want this week to be OVER

Kind of freakin' tired of working in QA

Surfin' stupid links to keep my brains occupied

Meh meh meh meh MEH

and Pleh.



...tell me something good.

Trust the UK to be far more sensible about the HPV vaccine than the US.
They're catching a whole generation at once -- admittedly only offering it to girls 12 or 13 years old, but that's still a whole lot better than most US states not even admitting that Gardasil is effective.

/rant

So. Updateyness! Nothing like a couple of vacations to make you appreciate spending quiet time at home. I intend to really take advantage of that in the next few weeks.

I'm going to go out and see my friends more -- after all, if I could commute 20 miles each way to work, how can doing the same to see people I love and enjoy spending time with be less of an acceptable time commitment?

I'm going to organize my room a bit more. I need to hang curtains and a mirror, and figure out how the dresser should act and what should be stored in it, and and and (girly stuff).

Need to go food shopping and plan how I'm going to feed myself healthily not only at home but also at work, where the devil vending machines lurk, full of EasyMac and Cheetos and ramen and M&Ms.

I had So, So, So Much Fun in Amsterdam, meeting somehedgehog and (briefly) waylay, which roxx0r3d my soxx0rz.

Tim & I then went to my cousin's wedding, in Santa Fe. It was a great wedding -- the ceremony was short (literally under 3 minutes long!!) and sweet, performed by our uncle J. The bride was lovely (and I got to do her hair! *girly squee*), the groom cleaned up gud, the family was all mellow and very happy for them. Le yay.

On the way back, we had to get up at 4:30 am on Monday morning (UGH) and drive an hour+ back to Albuquerque (sp??), find the rental car return place, find a gas station to return the car on Full -- not all that easy; I suspect all the car rental companies chased all the easy-to-find gas stations out of the area so that they could get away with charging people $6.70 per gallon (NO JOKE) if they returned the car w/o gas -- and finally take the shuttle to the airport.

Made our first flight just fine; then there was an hour layover in Minneapolis. Tim, however, forgot we were flying into Providence, not Boston Logan. Therefore, we were hanging out at the gate, me nonchalantly charging my laptop and him scouting for food; when we meandered up to the door, having waited for most other people to board, we were told that we were not only at the wrong gate but also the wrong terminal altogether and we should ZOMG RUN DON'T STOP TO GATE C13!

Followed a breathless quarter-mile (Tim's best guess) sprint, during which I had to stop and take off my shoes which kept trying to fly off. We got to the gate... and there was still a line to get on the plane. By the time we were seated, I started having an asthma attack (I only have exercise-induced asthma -- Xref: my girlish figure -- and hadn't had an attack in years, so wasn't carrying an inhaler) which lasted a good half-hour. During which... the plane didn't move. We were delayed on the tarmac for over an hour (my best guess) due to passing storms over the St Paul area. By the time we landed in RI, I had also discovered that I'd managed to strain not one, but both Achilles' tendons, and seem to have also stressed some tendon on my inner thigh.

I love going places.
I freakin' HATE travelling. Guh.

On the plus sides... I'm home. I'm icing and stretching the ankles and legs so that I can still go dancing on Friday with 'hedge and gaiaturtle and illuminari and others. I'm gonna go get yummy things with which to stock my fridge. I have Girl's Night Out tonight.

Things are lookin' up.

This is rather interesting.

Depending on whether you agree with my self-assessment, you can change the way my daemon looks -- as in, what animal form it takes. Kinda neat.

Para ti


_________________________________

When everything implodes explodes
There are treasures scattered throughout the debris.

When life has reached critical mass
There is beauty in the sharp edges of the pieces left over.

When I must weep or risk sulphurous meltdown
Gut-quivering, mucilaginous, unpretty
When I would wail, had I any breath left --
My tears can nevertheless make cacti bloom.

I have no choice but to see this loveliness
I have no gaze but that which turns lightward
I have no wish but to hide my face
I have no home but in your arms
I have no hatred into which I might retreat.

Ganked from stevie_stever, whose answers intrigued me.

5-Questions Meme. To review:

1) Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2) I respond by asking you five personal questions so I can get to know you better.
3) You will update your LJ with the answers to the questions.
4) You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the post.
5) When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

The questions stevie_stever asked me, and my answers:

How'd you get involved with your current band?

Craigslist! I posted an ad: "Female vocalist seeking band." I got a lot of sincerely weird responses ("I play experimental electronica on a jazz organ accompanied by a trombone! Will you whistle for us?"), and some that were attractive but too far away, or practiced more often than I could handle, or whatever. Stewd was the most sane and fun of the bands that answered the ad, so I've now been with them for a year.


What's your strongest memory from your time in Pakistan?

Besides ones involving roaches (arrgh arrgh arrgh), hmmm... I have many very strong ones. Maybe... well, one of the strongest was a beach party I was at towards the end of my stay -- or rather, four concurrent parties all happening within walking distance, at beach huts -- when I ended up with my cousin, both of us slightly buzzed, at 2 or 3 am, sitting on the sand and letting the Indian Ocean wash up on us in strong waves that sucked around our hips and pulled at our jeans, just sitting in the warm warm waves and letting them splash all the way up to our chests, fully dressed, and grinning stupidly at each other at how wonderful it felt and what a good night we were having.


What style of music do you like to sing the most?

Jazz. Torch songs. Sexah toonz. Stuff that I can imagine singing in a piano bar, wearing a long slinky dress, crooning... you get the idea.


How'd you fall into play testing?

It's all kintani's fault. He's all "hey, I work at this company... you need a job... didn't you take a Tolkien class? ...we're making LOTROnline..." And I was all, "beats tempin'." ^_~


What larps, if any, are you currently in and what are your characters in them?

I'm not really larping much recently. If anything, I technically only have one active, available PC at the moment: a gun-bunny Wujen Courtier in Radiant Dragon named Ohta Ryumi (Ohta being her family name). Ryumi is a Japanesque name I made up by combining Ryuu, "dragon", with the popular female name suffix -mi, "beauty". I'm rather chuffed about the name, actually. And I NPC Madrigal and Aralis 2 when I can get around to it.

Mea culpa for not having posted in so long.

I've been working 70+ hour weeks for the last few weeks, and this will be lasting for the next few weeks as well.

I get up, and the first thing I think is, "I'm exhausted." This is not a good sign, especially if I've actually managed to get my 8 hours of sleep.

I go to work. They feed us dinner.

I go home. I go to bed.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

This is not a complaint (or not much of one, anyway) -- just an explanation. I am not ignoring anyone, avoiding anyone, retreating unhealthily into my shell, cowering in fear or depression, nor have I moved out of the state or country. Promise. ^_^;

I do miss everyone, and towards the end of this month, when things are calming down, I will attempt to reconnect with people, post more, and generally be a human being, instead of the red-eyed, wild-haired, troll-cave-inhabiting, junk-food-consuming, sporadically-bathed, erratically-dressed ... game tester that I am currently impersonating.

...

Oh hey, something amusing happened today. We've got a few temps helping us, making the team pretty big by now. Big enough, apparently, to overload the circuits our rows of cubes is on. This afternoon, this caused smoke, horrible popping noises as peoples' power strips blew up, the stench of scorched metal, and that ominous beeeeee-yoop noise made by multiple computers losing power simultaneously.

So *that* was fun. We lost several hours of testing time, which is going to play merry Hob with my scheduling people for the rest of the week (oh yeah, did I mention? I have minions now! I've been put in charge of people!). But at least I got to play a game of pool and a few games of foosball. At which, by the way, I apparently totally rock.

So we are testing SO HARD that a fire extinguisher is now part of my row's standard equipment.