Work weak

All I’ve got to say about this week is that yesterday should have been Friday. I don’t know how I’m going to handle another two days of this.

 

 

Natural barriers

There’s a house on my morning walk route that’s evidently had some, er, problems with people walking their dogs. I mean, I’ve seen yard signs imploring pet owners to clean up after their dogs (well, I assume the signs are aimed at the humans, because it’s been my experience that dogs mostly do not read), but this one added a somewhat pathetic attempt at a barrier.

Look, that plastic streamer isn’t going to keep any dog out (it didn't even go around the entire perimeter of the lawn), and I presume that it’s not going to be any more persuasive to the dog owners than the sign by itself. But I suppose if your house is worth north of a million, you’ll try anything.

What’s interesting to me is that I have never, never seen any indication that any of these homeowners actually use their front yards, but I suppose it’s a clash of the me-me-me titans: dog owners vs homeowners.

 

 

 

Nature's mysteries 7

Welp, it’s time for another round of Name This Plant. One of my neighbors has this planted at the side of the house. I really like it and I have no earthly notion.

#IDme

 

 

Gratitude Monday: unexpected art

I love sidewalk art. And one of my neighbors is a really good chalk artist. A couple of weeks ago I started out on my morning hike and behold what I encountered:

It was washed away in a rainstorm, but I know that at some point I’ll be heading out and walk straight into a concrete canvas of whimsey and beauty.

And that’s my gratitude today.

 

 

 

Horsing around

Different companies in the cyber security industry use proprietary naming conventions when attributing activity to nation-state threat actors.

CrowdStrike uses animals that are purportedly related to the countries in question (“cat” or “kitten” for Iranian-linked groups; “panda” for China-based actors; “bear” for Russians); to distinguish within the nations there are modifiers: “Charming Kitten” and “Helix Kitten”, “Cozy Bear” and “Fancy Bear”, “Vixen Panda” and “Deep Panda”. Mandiant distinguishes confirmed groups with APT (Advanced Persistent Threat) plus a number. APT1 through APT27 are based in China; APT33 is Iranian; APT37 hangs in the DPRK; APT29 is Russian. Microsoft names them after metals on the Periodic Table. Hafnium and Platinum are Chinese; Nobelium and Yttrium are Russian; Thallium is North Korean.

Do not get me started on malware names.

Mind you—when you realize that APT41 = Barium = Wicked Panda = Sparklinggoblin (ESET) = Winnti Group (Kaspersky), well, it’s got to be confusing.

The other day I was reading a story about a China-based threat group referred to as “Mustang Panda” and I swear that ever since I have been singing this Wilson Pickett song (covered here by The Commitments), only substituting “panda” for “Sally”.

You’re welcome.

 

Jaws

Last week I came upon this aquatic critter on my morning walk.

No idea how or why it came to be there; "there" being adjacent to an apartment complex.

But then, later in the day, I went for another walk and discovered Baby Shark had traveled across the street and about 200 meters further, landing in the green in front of a townhome cluster.

It was rather breezy that day, so I don’t know whether he was blown on his travels or propelled by human intervention. I just report what I see.

STOP PRESS: As of this morning, Baby Shark is still lurking amongst the conifers. I don’t know whether this is reassuring or not.

 

 

 

 

Peril

It’s 15 September 2021, and we’re waiting to hear whether right-wing nutjobs are going to take over the governorship of the state with the seventh-largest economy in the world.

Also, we find out from advance summaries of a new book by Bob Woodward and WaPo journalist Bob Costa that Cadet Bonespurs went so barking off-the-rails after he lost the presidential election last year that the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff took substantial precautions to prevent the pre-emptive withdrawal of all troops from Afghanistan, the launching of missiles at anyone or the use of military force against US citizens.

Meanwhile, anti-vaxxers/maskers are adding the ingestion of Betadine (a topical disinfectant) to their ivermectin “proven cure” for the COVID, and filling up hospital ICUs in Red states.

Honestly, I do not think there’s enough alcohol or chocolate in the universe to get us through this.

 

 

 

Little house in the woods

Some people along one of my walking routes have a rather droll sense of humor, as witnessed by this “tree house”:

But it gets better, because it has lights:

 

 

Gratitude Monday: A friend's success

Two years ago, when I was in a job search that ended with me in my aspirational job with my aspirational company in my aspirational field (where I have been two years this week), one of my biggest supporters was my friend, CN. She’s the person who articulated what I needed to do: play to win, as opposed to playing not to lose. And that was my lodestar at every step of the search.

Well, last year, the company where she was working was acquired by another company, and she got laid off. Since then, we’ve met generally once a week (remotely) to talk through her search. My function was to keep her honest, to be that person who calls—in the nicest possibly way—shenanigans when she tried to talk herself into settling for something she didn’t really like.

It’s easy to do that, when you’re looking for work; you start applying for things you absolutely have zero interest in, just to get a job. I periodically reminded her that this sort of thing was playing not to lose, and that she needed to play to win.

Also, I reminded her that she is absolutely capable of winning.

I am happy to report that last week she got an excellent offer from a company that reframed the position they had after listening to her talk about what she can do for them. She starts in two weeks.

And that’s what I’m grateful for today: CN’s hard work, focus and persistence has paid off. #playingtowin

 

 

One last look behind

Tomorrow being the 20^th anniversary of 9/11, a lot of people may be thinking about those days, and how everything changed utterly. As I dodge in and out of reflecting on those events, here are some of the images that flash in my head.

Finding out about the first strike on the World Trade Center from the manager of the company canteen, where I was working in the UK. It was three work days after I’d been told that my company was breaking my ex-pat contract and I’d be sent home, probably to be laid off. Dot bomb, you know.

Watching a wall o’ TVs in the reception area of a spinoff company (long since folded) as the same videos ran over and over.

Driving home to London on the M4 and seeing the flags at GSK’s UK headquarters at half-staff and starting to sob.

Phone calls and texts from colleague-friends offering comfort and support. English, Welsh, German, Italian, Kiwi.

Taking a long-planned holiday to Florence and Siena on the 12^th; chaos at the airport; arriving long after midnight and no car to take me into town; a grotty hotel room in Florence and a long train ride to Siena.

Getting a snotogram from UK HR about when I was going to turn in my company car, mobile and laptop…because there was “concern” that I might somehow take them with me.

A miserable, chaotic flight on UAL when I was finally repatriated in late October, but being met at Dulles by a friend, who took me home for my first night back in the States.

Managing to buy a new car and get a loan just before my company laid me off, and making sure I turned in my company-paid rental car to Hertz with as empty a gas tank as I could manage.

Driving down Route 7 and listening to NPR’s Scott Simon interview Natalie Merchant; among other things, she sang “Motherland”, and I kept driving down the road until I got to Tower Records, where I bought the CD.

You know—people keep wanting to return to “normal”, and I get that. But whatever normal is planning on being, it won’t be what it was before COVID19. Just like it wasn’t like what we used to call normal before 9/11. It never is—you don’t ever step into the same river twice. We’re just accustomed to the shifts being slower and more subtle, not having commercial aircraft ploughing into buildings or an overnight global pandemic.

But that’s where we are now.

So, here’s Natalie Merchant, singing “Motherland”.