Rudolph

What, you thought I'd be all "bah, humbug!", eh? Not at all. It's Christmas Eve, so naturally it's time to wear Rudolph, confirming that I'm more of a sentimental soul than I'd normally care to admit.

I'm not a religious person, but that's no impediment to appreciating the Christmas spirit, especially the "peace and goodwill to all men" stuff: what a pity there isn't more of that about. But one example of (temporarily) beating swords into ploughshares has endured.

For fifty years, NORAD has provided a Santa tracking service, so you can follow Santa around the globe as he delivers all those gifts. This year, there's even a 3D version based on the stunning Google Earth. And don't miss the Kids' Countdown, even though it's over - there's still fun stuff to explore there.

Christmas is also a time when I remember (all too painfully) those I've loved and lost, most especially my Mum. This was always a special time for her, and she always made it a special time for my brother and me. Whatever your beliefs, hug your nearest and dearest: hold them close, show them that you care. Do it now. And do it often.

Merry Christmas, everyone - and a Happy New Year.

Repeat: Ladybug Scatter Pin

I wore this Thomas Mann pin for luck, the last time. Today I wore it for productivity (the ladybird is an industrious little creature), as I continued to clear out old email, and all the other no-longer-useful digital stuff that accumulates over the year. Much as ladybirds clear out aphids, and other pests, I suppose.

On the home front, Christy has been baking cookies with welcome gusto (six sticks of butter went into yesterday's batch), although our two boys have been more than a match for the output. Few things inspire them to shared enthusiasm, but home-baked cookies are always a safe bet. Not that I'm shy about tucking in myself, of course...

Repeat: Dragonfly Branch

On its previous outing, I wore this pin because it's just a great pin. Today it seemed the best match for my prevailing mood, which can be summarised as "calm". I knew I didn't have a single meeting scheduled today, so I planned to clear out my email and hard drive folders of all the stuff I've been storing, but almost certainly don't need.

It's one of those largely mechanical activities that's time-consuming, because I had to review a lot of stuff, but it's not difficult, and the results (especially of deletion) are immediate and satisfying. It's not enough fun to get excited about, but it's not onerous enough to dread: hence "calm". And, unusually for me, I actually stuck my nose to the grindstone and got it done. Well, most of it anyway...

Fisherman (third time)

Looking at the two previous posts, I noticed I was wearing the same shirt both times. Hmm. Different shirt today though: it's a bit brass, so I'm wearing a turtleneck sweater rather than a T-shirt.

I wore the Fisherman on an impulse today, with no particular reason in mind. He's relatively big and bold in relation to most of my other pins, so he just sort of leapt into my hand. It turned out that I had a lot of written work to do, so he serendipitously served as a role model again, prompting a meandering consideration of the nature of cause and effect. I really must learn to focus. But not yet.

Repeat: Angry Fish

I'm shocked that I haven't worn this pin since August: it felt good to pull him out of the box. Rather than setting him on my co-workers, I'll be setting him on my fellow travellers tonight when I fly home. They'd better behave themselves is all I have to say.

The unusually cold weather will hopefully reduce the incidence of appalling velour suits, but will do nothing to eliminate the "Holiday" muzak which also sets my teeth on edge. Far from broadening the mind, travel now serves to narrow the eyes as I wince my way to the sanctuary of my velour- and muzak-free home.

Repeat: Determined Dog

Another day full of meetings, so I needed a pin that would help me get stuck in. And Determined Dog was just the right pin for that, as I've said before. Some meetings were productive, some less so, but none required gritted teeth, which I always count as a win.

In other cheery news, I received a sympathetic comment on yesterday's moan from a delightful Angie's List person. I'm already a Promoter for the service, and only wish other companies were willing to be so responsive to their customers.

The icing on today's cake was having a few beers with Dave, before he moves to a new job with Nokia, in Cambridge, MA. It sounds like everybody wins with this deal, and I wish him well. Despite his cheeky tweets impugning my character.

Bee (third time)

The Bee returns for another outing. Last time, it was all about the bumble: the time before that, it was all about appearances. This time, I was genuinely busy: up at the crack to catch my flight to work, then meeting after meeting until the day was done. Little or no bumbling, certainly no pretence, but it turned out that being busy was the silver lining...

The cloud (no pun intended) revealed itself when Christy emailed me to say that SoCal's heavy rain was pouring into our garage from the room above. We're not sure yet whether it's the roof or a window leaking, but either way it's grim: the garage ceiling is already disintegrating, so I have to assume we're in for an expensive repair. I should never have joined Angie's List - it was tantamount to saying "I laugh in the face of household repairs, because I know who the good contractors are". That'll teach me.

Repeat: Man Through Door

I showed you the front of this pin in the original post, so I thought I'd show you the back (and the front of the man) this time. The pic isn't as detailed as the real thing, unfortunately, but hopefully you can get the idea.

This is my favourite pin to wear when thinking about new things, and I was doing a lot of that today, in relation to work (changes and new projects are afoot) and home (Christmas stuff going on, another heat/air contractor coming, etc).

As always, the Man is a useful, physical reminder to cross every threshold and embrace change, because it's accompanied by opportunity, not only uncertainty. This kind of business-speak can be recited when you're living in interesting times, and don't know what else to do. Alternatively (and my prescription), you can pour yourself a cocktail and settle in with Despair. I suspect the options are equally effective.

Repeat: Running House

I had a lot of meetings today, of various kinds, so I needed a do-it-all kind of pin that'd lift my spirits. And, just as before, the Running House was a perfect choice. Gotta love that Thomas Mann - his pins almost always hit the spot.

I'm actually posting this from San Jose Airport, while waiting to board my flight home: isn't technology marvelous? But not because it allows me to write my blog while hanging around. The marvelousness comes from being able to escape from a relentlessly friendly fellow traveller (who simply HAD to share his entire itinerary with me) by claiming I had work to do on my Mac.

Naturally he understood: how could he not? We're in Silicon Valley, after all, where work comes first. So I escaped without causing offence, saving myself from imminent and inevitable tales of divorce, death in the family, or other disasters which so quickly follow after the opening trivia of social discourse.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all in favour of strangers being friendly to each other, so long as appropriate boundaries are set. For him, that meant "this English guy is polite, and won't hurt me, so I'll vomit my travelling tales all over him. That'll make me feel good". For me, the boundaries are: "we don't know each other. We're headed in different directions, so we're not going to know each other. So let's be civil, considerate and not get in each other's way. Oh, and by the way: silence is golden". I've got my earphones ready for the plane...

Steampunk Butterfly

I'm surprised it's the first time I've worn this pin since I started the blog, because it's a particularly good pin. Still, here it is at last.

I wear the Steampunk Butterfly when I need to strike a balance of analysis and synthesis, which was certainly the case at work today. I knew it wouldn't be enough to identify problems: I'd have to solve the bloody things too, or at least appear to be trying. I did the best I could, of course, but it's hard to say whether that was good enough. Time will tell, as it so often (ruthlessly) does.

This pin isn't made from clock parts, like the Clock Cow or Clock Bird, although all three share a somewhat mechanical look and feel: and it's not as purely decorative as the Butterfly. It's amazingly detailed though.

The steel wingtips are taken from some kind of measuring instrument, while the bronze head, wings and tail are very finely detailed, and anatomically correct. The copper heart (thorax) is stamped with "X"s on one side and "O"s on the other, which is a nice touch: and the centre 'tower' seems to be made from different sizes of brass washers, all held together with a steel pin. Thoroughly delightful: and anonymous, alas - there's no signature.

Lego Reware

Yesterday's estimate for replacing our heating and air conditioning came in under five figures, which was a huge relief, so I pulled out the Lego Reware this morning. This pin is pure fun, so I hoped it'd influence my day accordingly. I got a lot of work done and nothing bad happened, neither of which equates to "fun"... But they're not to be sneezed at in these troubled times. Let's call it a fair to middling performance.

Emiko Oye designed the pin, bringing together salvaged materials to create a vivid, graphical statement. The six Lego bricks (yes, they're real Lego bricks) are overlaid with an engraved, sterling silver strip, which I think was cut from another piece of jewelry. The bottom brick is pierced by a silver stud (bottom right).

I'm afraid I disagree with Emiko's assertion that "...reware bestows upon the wearer a sense of uniqueness and self-assurdness [sic] in our fast-forward culture": but I admire her own uniqueness and self-assuredness in making it. My pins don't define me: I define my pins, as regular readers know.

Repeat: Sash Window

The last time I wore this pin, I wrote about my aversion to 'self baring', and how you can see only a little of me behind the net curtains - which is just how I like it. I'm wearing the Sash Window today from the other side, so to speak: it represents me looking through the window to the future, but I can't see enough to feel comfortable.

We're getting an estimate for replacing our heating and air conditioning today, which is bound to be in the five-figures realm of pain, and might entail a lot of disruption while the work's done. It'll take a couple of hours for the contractor to figure out what's needed, and to suggest what our options are: and we'll have to get three or four estimates before deciding which contractor to go with.

The system's 20+ years old, so we don't have much choice in this. But it's certainly one occasion when I wish the curtains were pulled back a little. Bugger it.