Sailor Soldier of Love and Justice

Work left me close to screaming and crying yesterday. I spent all morning fighting with our marketing agency to get the complete art for a package we are mailing out. They finally sent it over in the afternoon and the first thing I noticed was that the packages were missing our state registration disclaimers. When I pointed that out to them, they responded, "Oh, that's going to print on the inside of the envelope."

Ok....What part of "Send me all of the art for the entire package" is so very confusing???

So by the time I left the office, I was completely infuriated. And still hadn't seen all the art.

The ride home was also infuriating. Everyone was in such a hurry. For example, as I walked onto the train at a normal pace, a man behind me started shouting "Move move move MOVE!" until he could push by me. I am baffled at what he was in such a hurry to get to since the train goes at its own schedule. And then when ben was driving me home, he flicked his left turn signal on in order to change lanes. The woman in that lane but behind ben sped up to try to block him. When that didn't work, she honked at him. People around here need to realize they have to share the roads.

I was tired and cranky and depressed by the time we got home. And then I had to make dinner. I made that sun dried tomato and artichoke pasta that ben likes. At least that way one of us was happy.

I grumbled around the house for a bit, then took a shower and went to bed. I woke up in the early morning to the terrifying sounds of shuffling and banging downstairs. I woke ben up, thinking we were being robbed. Only after a few more minutes did I figure out what was really happening. Ben had accidentally set roomba to clean at 5 AM instead of PM.

When I finally went downstairs around 6:30, I found roomba wedged and stuck under the dishwasher. Poor roomba. Once I set him free, he finished his job and returned to his charger. I gave his a little "Good job!" shout to make him feel better about the whole getting stuck deal.

Work this morning continued to be frustrating. As you can probably guess, once the regs and disclaimers were sent over, they were wrong. It's a good thing I had them checked. Our agency was pushing me super hard all morning to approve the art without a proper review. I explained that I would absolutely not do that. Ever.

Psycho boss mentioned that they are pushing to put an amendment into our contract that says if they make a print error or miss a mail date, we don't have to pay them. I am baffled as to why this was never in the contract from the start. Does anyone review these things???

On a complete side note, I have become a master at killing fruit flies. Psycho boss brought in a houseplant infested with them. I can now grab a fly one-handed and smash it down on the table.

Recently, ben and I adopted a roomba. I am enthralled by it. It reminds me every day of how awesome it is to live in the future.

Every friday afternoon, our little roomba scurries around the house, happily picking up dirt and dust. If a room is particularly messy, he'll make sure to stay in the area to get everything. And when he's done, he returns himself to his little charging post and sings a little song of triumph.

However, ben and I are starting to be affected by the same malady all roomba owners experience. For example, I will call it "he" at times. I called it "Roomba" like a name instead of "the roomba" like a product. In the morning before I leave for work on fridays, I walk around the house picking up dirt, shoes, and papers because I'm worried he'll choke on them. And as soon as I get home on friday evenings, the first thing I do is make sure roomba is ok.

Once time, we came home to roomba choking on a plastic bag. Ben wanted to tell roomba to go to his charging station and rest, but I stopped him saying, "If we let him slack off like this, he's never going to learn." So ben told roomba to finish cleaning before he could rest.

Yes. Tough love. For a robot.

So anyway, if you're ever curious how humans will interact with increasingly sophisticated household robots in the coming years, take a look at a roomba owner.

Meanwhile, ben and I are contemplating adopting another one for upstairs. My biggest worry? What will I name it?

RiT:P is proof that one should never judge a book by its cover.



I saw this book at a library book sale and had to have it. Robots! I thought to myself. And dinosaurs! There's no way this could be anything but awesome!

Oh how wrong I was.

I don't know how this writer was given permission to put a story in Asimov's universe, but he totally did not deserve it. After some research, I learned that it was published after his death. Probably the first draft of this book killed him. (I kid. It's not that bad.)

The book is written like a child's guide to robotics. And by that I mean they mention at least one of the three laws on each page, and make a point to explain what the law means. ON EACH PAGE.

In addition to childishly overstating the three laws, the characters in the book act like total grade-schoolers. Two of the characters, the paleontologist and the survival expert totally hate each other right from the start because one is a nerd and one is a jock. Seriously? These are grown men. Professionals! Does the author really expect me to believe two people like that would hate each other as first sight?

I was really disappointed that this book was so bad because it's actually the first in a series. And the next volume is about PIRATES. I have learned my lesson though. Awesome cover does not make an equally awesome book.