Names at the Old Gym (Mostly people in their 20s – 30s)
From summer 2005 to the start of 2009, I was a member at a gym located a ten-minute walk away from home. The crowd is made up mostly of people in their 20s and 30s, presumably students, singles and the “yummy mummy” crowd, with students and homemakers making the lion’s share of attendees during business hours.
Here are the ways I was addressed at that gym:
Joey
Mr. deVilla
Jose
“Joe-zay” (an attempt to pronounce “Jose”)
Accordion Guy
Dude
Dogg
Yo
Sir
Names at the Current Gym (“Newly wed or nearly dead”)
I switched to the new gym not because there was anything wrong with the old gym, but because:
It’s only a block away from home, making it more likely that I’d go more often, especially when the weather’s bad. So far, it’s worked; on average, I’m there every other day.
It has a swimming pool.
Before and after business hours, the crowd is made up of people from their 20s through 40s. During business hours, it’s the retiree crowd.
Here are the ways in which I’ve been addressed or referred to by my fellow gym members:
Joey
Jerry
Jimmy
Johnny
Young Man
Young Feller
That Microsoft Guy
The Computer Guy
The Accordion Player
Young Chinese Fella
“That young guy who’s always here in the middle of the day…why doesn’t he have a job?”
Amos wasn’t my dog – he belonged to my friend Chandra – but I’ve spent many a fine evening hanging out or running in the park with this big, good-natured yellow dog. I am but one of many who’ll miss him. R.I.P., Amos. Good boy.
Today is all about virtual meetings; I’m spending most of it sitting at the home office with a headset microphone clamped to my head, bouncing from one online meeting to another, magically transporting my presence over great distances. My co-worker John Bristowe is in the same boat and quipped on Twitter: “I feel like I’m playing Live MeetingPortal”.
With that remark, and since it’s a Friday, I can’t help but post this amusing cat photo featuring Portal:
…is that sometimes, what with all the things that need to be done, all the learning that goes along with them and the pace at which they need to be done, it feels like this:
I’m boarding a Porter flight bound for Montreal, where I’ll be attending CUSEC (Canadian University Software Engineering Conference). I’ll be there from today through Saturday afternoon, watching technical presentation, flying the Microsoft banner, hosting DemoCamp and having a beer (or twelve) with my fellow conference-goers. I’ll be posting notes and photos from the presentations and other goings-on, so watch this space!
Microsoft was a sponsor of CUSEC last year – that’s Canadian University Software Engineering Conference, the premier conference on building software aimed specifically at students. One of the perks of sponsorship was a “corporate speaker” slot, and it was decided that the presentation should be given it to the then-new guy…namely, me.
At the time I got slotted in as the speaker, I’d barely been a Microsoft employee for two months and was still feeling my way around both the company and its technology. By the time I would stand on the podium, I would have just passed my three-month probationary period. If I was going give a talk for forty-five minutes, it would have to be something other than “what it’s like to work at The Empire”.
The presentation was scheduled for the end of Day 2 (it’s a three-day conference), which is a challenge. The audience would be tired and being students, they were likely to be more focused on the big drinkfest that would take place that evening. I decided to go for “offbeat” and built my presentation around the abstract I gave to them, which was:
You’ll spend anywhere from a third to half (or more) of your waking life at work, so why not enjoy it? That’s the philosophy of Microsoft Developer Evangelist Joey deVilla, who’s had fun while paying the rent. He’ll talk about his career path, which includes coding in cafes, getting hired through your blog, learning Python at Burning Man, messy office romances, go-go dancing, leading an office coup against his manager, interviewing at a porn company and using his accordion to make a Microsoft Vice President run away in fear. There will be stories, career advice and yes, a rock and roll accordion number or two.
They recorded my session and unleashed it on the world yesterday. I share it with you below:
If you watched the video, you’ll note that I skipped a couple of stories, namely “learning Python at Burning Man”, “messy office romances”, “go-go dancing” and making a Microsoft Vice President run away in fear. I’ll save those for another presentation. (By the bye, the guy I made run away is a President now.)
I had a blast doing this presentation, and the general consensus of the attendees was that it was one of the highlights of the conference. I’m honoured that I was invited back to host DemoCamp, and look forward to chatting with everyone. See you in Montreal!
Located on Laird just south of Eglinton, across the street from a number of big-box stores, Marvellous Edibles has been quietly but expertly serving delicious and surprisingly cheap meals for years. The dinner menu typically features at least a dozen mains provided in ample quantity along with perfect sides, from basics like a great steak-frites and roast chicken to slightly more exotic meats like chevon and elk. Many of the ingredients used in the dishes came from local farms, sometimes even theirs. The prices were always surprisingly cheap, considering what you got, with prices ranging from CAD$14 to $28. I’ve eaten at places that have charged double that haven’t made food half as well as Marvellous Edibles.
No visit to Marvellous Edibles was complete without dessert. There were always at least a dozen desserts to choose from in the display case near the back of the restaurant’s front room, and they were always good. I’m a fan of the coconut-banana cream pie with shortbread-like crust, which they often drizzled with chocolate sauce. The Ginger Ninja loves the lemon-caramel-meringue cake and their macaroons.
We went for our last visit last week, where we enjoyed a poutine with veal and mushrooms for starters and I had a lamb chop with lamb rollbraten (rolled-up stomach, which was delicious); I forget what The Missus had, but she enjoyed her dinner as well.
Despite the fact that getting there for us involved driving about two-thirds of the way across town, we went reasonably often and were always glad to do so. Going there was a bit of a treat for us, and we’ve never been disappointed. I wish Jens and Ayse the best in all their plans for the future, look forward to seeing them at farmers markets, where they plan to continue selling produce from their farm, and would like to thank them for all the delicious meals I’ve had there. I salute them with a filet mignon on a flaming sword!
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Microsoft was a sponsor of 