Jeremy Dieterich A Chronicle of My Life

Sitting in the grass.

'Special' Delivery.

This picture was funny because the FedEx door tag was completely blank except to note that a package was left at our front door. Good thing the tag was there or I might have totally missed the package... 3 feet below it.

Hiding in laundry.

Let's cook!

Back when Mark and I worked together, we had to fly to a software training in Chicago aboard ATA Airlines.  At the time, Chris had joked that maybe the ATA stood for "Almost There Airlines", which I did not exactly appreciate while in the air.  They've since gone out of business, probably in no part because of their name, but it was still good for a laugh.

I bring this up because yesterday, on my way to pick up a $5 footlong, I saw another company name that tickled my funny bone:

For those who don't know, DNR in the medical profession means "Do Not Resuscitate".  I'm sure that's someone's initials, but it doesn't seem like imagery they'd want associated with their service. 

I couldn't help but go immediately into bad-pun mode:

• DNR Catering: Pulling the plug on high prices.
• DNR Catering: Our selection will leave you breathless!
• DNR Catering: You'll never be hungry again.
• DNR Catering: You'll keep coming back... or will you?

"Well, it's rather brutal here. Right now we're advising all our clients to put everything they've got into canned food and shotguns."

I was copying files from my RAZR to a higher-capacity SD card, and found these pictures:

This is Puzzleboy.  He's a... I don't know... a semi-articulated guy made out of wood.  Here at work, he's something of a trophy.  Being problem-solving geeks like we are, our project manager would hold puzzle contests for our department - word puzzles, visual puzzles, logic stuff.  The winner receives ownership of Puzzleboy, along with bragging rights, such as they are.  Since I joined over a year ago, I have continuously retained control of Puzzleboy.   Yes, I am in fact that awesome ("awesome" is being used today in place of "dorky").  Actually, after a few months, our project manager got promoted out of our department and stopped holding the contests.

After many months of having Puzzleboy just standing on my desk, I started getting creative.  He sat on the edge of my pencil cup for a while, I tried to have him do a handstand or push-ups, stuff like that.  Then I started getting little trinkets to decorate him with.

Puzzleboy on April Fools' Day.

Puzzleboy at Easter.

Puzzleboy on July 4th.

One day, I had a magical combination of fear that I would someday lose control of Puzzleboy, along with a healthy dose of boredom, and topped with having a box of Pixelblocks in my desk that Marci had given to me, and this was the result:

Puzzleboy and Pixelboy - the Dynamic Duo.

This is Pixelboy.  He's my stand-in in case I ever lose a puzzle contest, and a memento to my year-long reign as puzzle champion.

When I came in to work last Friday, I noticed that Puzzleboy had gone missing!  Our new admin assistant in our department has decided to re-establish our regular puzzle contests.  I must now defend my reign or risk no longer having a bunch of wooden blocks held together by an elastic cord.  The situation is dire indeed.  Wish me luck!