Gremlin’s Fireside Chat

Ireland is one of those places that goes nutty over christmas – not that we get much snow here which is a pity. When I went out to lunch and I saw the following snowman on the move.

Made me laugh out loud – something good on a miserable day like today.

Got a bit of a fright yesterday when at 14:30 my daughters creche telephoned my and asked me to pick Maeve up because she is ill – repeated Diarrhea and the creche has a “three loose craps and your out” policy. I got the call because my wife (who works by the creche) is away in Germany for a course. I was surprised when I turned up at 15:30 (I work a fair bit away from the creche) Maeve was all happy and smiley – did not look sick at all. But sick she is.

Its been a tiring afternoon and evening: The development group I am a member of has a software drop this evening – which usually involves staying to 8 or 9 in the evening depending on the issues. But I had to combine remote working (thanks guys) with changing nappies every 30 minutes since whatever Maeve easts passes straight though her, and keep an eye on my impish daughters exploits. Fortunately my wife comes home tonight.

Obviously Maeve has appreciated my stress and my help because I looked up late in the evening and saw my my daughter walking over from the door to the kitchen carrying a nice cold beer of the brand (as apposed to her moms) I like in her out-streched arms. Clever and strong girl for 16 months.

Now to get a lock for the fridge….

Took these two photos when Maeve was three months old – I can see that she is a “natural” software developer…
Looking intently at a bug on screen, trying to figure out why things are going wrong…

And then all those late nights coding catch up with you….

I really enjoy being a Dad.

On the train in this morning I came across a little article which blew my mind away – the very odd story (listed in many places) about an American woman who has sat on a toilet seat for two years!!! so long in reality that her skin had melded with the toilet seat. In the end they had to use a crow-bar to remove the seat and cart the lot off to the hospital where they managed to eventually separate woman from toilet. Bizzare or what!!!
Why did not the boyfriend do anything sooner rather than just leaving her to sit on the loo – not feeding her I would have thought would have helped her leave the safety of the bathroom. Anyway its nice to know that life definitely has it whacky side.

I was down grocery shopping at my local mega-store “Tesco’s” yesterday where I came across a very odd sight in the “Cheese” and “Yougurt” section… There was a middle age lady, shopping basket half-full flurtively looking around to make sure she was not being watched and then using a Digital Camera to photograph a shelve of Yogurt; she then repeated this in the cheese section and other places. Very Very Odd I thought. It is amazing what some people do for a hobby. You can just imagine the lady showing her extensive collection of snap-shots to her close friends (well you would not want anyone you work with seeing them otherwise they would consider you a candidate for the local psychiatric hospital) and say “here is a strawberry surprise collectors edition yogurt I photographed at Tesco’s in Dublin last September – lovely carton isn’t it”.

The world is a strange, strange place – would be rather dull if we were all the same.