A Bug's Life

If you don't read it already, I should like to point you at this week's cleanskies' Weekly Strip. It is a very fine webcomic, and this one is much better than anything I could say about it. And has bonus stripy birds! Heed the birds, they speak well.

(Previous favourites have included 'Buy Gerbil!' for the obvious reason)

I had my induction at work today. I've been there two months, but this was quite speedy in my experience. I knew most of the information already - fire exits, sign-out sheet, photocopiers - but they have to go through and tick it off. "Health and Safety - that's where I don't do anything stupid and you don't make me do anything dangerous, yes?" As we turned the corner a man collapsed and started vomiting. I saw the 'Where's the First Aider' reaction kick in, but it wasn't needed as he'd run out of a meeting of 14 doctors and some of them came to help. Induction was postponed, as inductor was summoned for ambulance-phoning and such. "Are you some sort of jinx?" she said later - "Um, well, yes actually, I am."

Yesterday was great in the evening; I tried this carving-out-time-for-me lark, and put the whole evening aside for Spanish class, playing viola, and reading a book. Every time I thought of something else I 'needed' to do, no matter how small, it went on the Tuesday list. It has ended up with 36 things on (most of them small, many of them fun), so I'd best get on!

You know you've spent too long at work when - you're reading a book, put it down, and your fingers reflexively spring into ctrl-alt-del configuration ready to lock your screen while you leave it. Gah!

I'm still reading The Gold Bug Variations (Richard Powers), it's very thick and flavoury and is taking a while to finish.

In the mean time, I've seen four films already this year (Slumdog Millionaire, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, The Fountain (on DVD)), I have tickets for The Dark Knight at IMAX on Saturday, a Guillarmo del Toro double bill on Sunday, and I'll spend Friday night watching something Spanish with lots of rewinding and replaying trying to copy the accents. Maybe I should do a 50 Film Challenge instead.