• Realising that the bug I spent half the day tracking is not so much a bug as the debug build itself

Highlights of my day:

• Fresh doughnut holes
• A nice, warm shower
• Toodly-Poo

Now, don’t get me wrong; I still enjoy playing games like Assassin’s Creed (stabbing roof-top guards in the throat is very cathartic), Gears of War (who could go wrong with a gun with a chainsaw bayonet?), Guitar Hero (rock out!), and, er, Super Mario Galaxy. OK, they’re not all loud or violent.

Pokemon Diamond/Pearl is, much to my surprise, quite a deep and addictive game. The turn-based style and pace of gameplay makes it relaxing, and especially easy to play with others. You can pause at hold conversations with people while playing, so it really is social gaming at it’s best.

This infection appears to be spreading. I have it; Ely has it; my brothers both have it. In fact, we spent three of four hours of Saturday battling (I believe quite loudly) together. Romilly also enjoys “playing” (barracking for the cutest pokemon to win), but can’t quite manage all the reading on her own. I’m sure it won’t be too long, though (for now, Mario Kart shall remain her poison of choice).

Hello, my name is Lionfire; it has been 10 minutes since I last checked on my berries.

Yes, I work from home now. No, it wasn’t really my decision. Yes, it’s permanent. No, I’m not going to say anything further, as I have no desire to get myself dooced.

I have, however, been keeping some notes on what it’s been like working at home for the last few weeks. I thought I’d post them here for others to consider. Or for me to consider.

Advantages:

• No more peak hour traffic.
• Thanks to no traffic, I can sleep in until 9:30 and still finish work in time for dinner.
• I get to wear whatever I want all day.
• When I want to, I get to listen to the loudest, most obnoxious music at full volume.
• When I want to, I get absolute quiet.
• I can stop in the middle of the afternoon to take a nice, warm shower.
• My environment is less stressful.
• I get to spend more time with my family.

Disadvantages:

• School holidays are just a little loud.
• My toes, unused to the cold floor, got chilblains.
• The dog barks a lot (though that’s hard to hear over the school-holiday noise).
• Did I mention that school holidays are loud?
• Er… that’s it.

The really sad part is that in a few days, when the school holidays are over, my disadvantages list is going to be pretty empty. That’s not to say it’s perfect here, but with the addition of some nice warm socks, I’m finding that working from home is a bit of a break; a holiday without having to stop working.

I never click on ads, and neither does Carolyn, so I believe this makes the click-through rate for my household 100% cat induced. Someone, somewhere paid for my grumpy cat to sit on this keyboard. Someone, somewhere just received a share of payment that they did not truly deserve (as I do not believe that Arwen bears any true interest in a degree from the University of Phoenix).

Does Google take this number into account? Is this something they have researched? Or have I perhaps stumbled on the cats’ sinister plans to bring about the downfall of our corrupt and heathen (non cat-worshipping) society?

But none of the stores here have it! (Wha?)

Because the delivery truck is stuck somewhere in South Australia! (OMG!)

So there will be no long-weekend Mario Kart party! (*sigh*)

Just Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero. (Yay!)

PS: Contrary to my concern, I did not overflow. (but there appear to be minor side-effects)

I’m hoping I don’t overflow.

This year Ely came along with us. While she is possibly more of a chilli eater than Carolyn, she discovered the hard way why you shouldn’t just dive into the hottest chilli for tasting. After much arm waving, tongue dousing, and general jumping up and down, she recovered enough to make the most of the huge range of things to scoff. I mean taste. Yes, taste. We were all consummate professionals.

Lessons learned today:

• Almost no one is polite or well-mannered these days. Please, thank you, or just a friendly smile is far too difficult for most.
• People will smoke at a smoke-free event. Sitting in the dry leaf litter.
• The majority of parents don’t seem very concerned about their toddlers falling into large bodies of water.
• Some chilli really is just too hot. But it’s fun to burn your sinuses clean once in a while.

Also, the made-at-home-this-evening chilli ice cream (ice cream topped with caramel nutty chilli crunchy things) was excellent. Take that, people who refuse to sell me proper chilli ice cream.

This plan has been thwarted, though in the best of ways.

I’m about half-way through my holiday and, so far, it has meant a whole lot of doing absolutely nothing. This is, of course, my definition of the perfect holiday. It has been over 10 years since I’ve taken a real break from work. The last time I can remember having this much time to myself was during my undergraduate years.

I’ve been just hanging out at home, relaxing, tinkering with things, playing Nintendo Wii (a family Christmas present) with the kids, playing PC games until far too late at night, and sleeping in (oh, how I will miss sleeping in). Carolyn and I even managed to have a real, actual date, just like grown ups! Not only was it almost two years to the day since we met, but I believe it was the first time we’ve actually had a “romantic” night out.

So if you’re wonder where all the blogging is, it’s not here. It’s on holiday, doing as little as possible.

…

That joke still isn’t funny, is it?