Cool illusion

K, this is kinda cool... check it out:

http://www.patmedia.net/marklevinson/cool/cool_illusion.html

Bragging rights

Ok, so most of my posts are about me (not quite "me me me", but close)... today I'm going to post a bit and brag a lot about my husband. About 5 years ago Aaron applied and was successful at achieving his AE (Associate Ergonomist) certification, the first of 2 steps toward being fully certified in the area of ergonomics. The next step, or the CCCPE (Canadian College for the Certification of Professional Ergonomists) - Professional Certification takes at least 2 more years to get, more education, mentoring, training, work experience, you get the gist.

This past summer, Aaron sweated and fretted (if you know Aaron, you know what I mean) and worked his butt off during the application for this second step in the certification process. Of course, if you know Aaron, he also second-guessed parts of the application after he submitted it, wondered if the organization got it in the mail, etc, etc. And the application isn't like a one-pager, heck, it's not even as simple as Med School (trust me, I've applied). The application package is a binder of work products (materials) - all summarized, tabled, and tabbed according to the ACE (Association of Canadian Ergonomists) criteria. The criteria is tough, but I think anyone who is worthy of the CCPE designation should have extensive education, training, and work experiences. There are only 110 CCPE's in Canada and only 17 in BC.

And now Aaron is one of them. :)

I found out the other night when Aaron called from the ACE conference in Banff. I don't know whether it had sunk in yet, but I was certainly excited! All of that hard work, not only in the last 5 years, but also in putting the package together had been rewarded. He can now change his email signature, cards, etc to read:

Aaron Miller, CCPE

Kinda has a cool ring to it, doesn't it? I'm such a proud girl. :)

Nerd? Geek? Dork?

So I took this test online today (thanks to Tony for the tip to the website...) and here's my "nerd/geek/dork" results. I was:

JOE NORMAL
43 % Nerd, 13% Geek, 26% Dork

For The Record:
A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.

You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal. This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of me--we all do. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast.

Take the Nerd/Geek/Dork Test!

And here I thought I was a Nerd... :(

My Cubicle

This one is for all of you out there who work in offices but don't actually have an office. Yes, the dreaded cubicle. At my office, we have lots. And if you are unfortunately enough to sit near someone that is a 'loud talker' (although not as bad as the horrible 'close talker' mind you), you probably do what I do - pull out the ipod from your desk and let the music surround you. Enjoy this one! :)

Isn't technology grand?

Ok, so this is cool. Check out this video... it's over 4 min long, but I sat here in awe for most of it! Wouldn't it be great to have had that doohicky around during Physics 101! :)

PS: On another technological note, does anyone know how to directly post the videos right into this blog post? I can only link right now, and figuring that out was a challenge... well, maybe not, but I impressed myself by learning how.

Lovin' Long Weekends

So I'm not doing so hot with this blog posting stuff... basically 2 weeks since my last, but then again, there's not much to tell from those weeks except that I worked my arse off! Super stressful last month or so - mainly due to the fact that I'm currently the only Research Facilitator in the office. Leslie (the woman I took over for) is on mat leave until the end of the month and Lisa (the other RF) went on medical leave in the middle of August. I handled the workload for about a month fine... now, well, I just need a break...

Which brings me to this lovely, wonderful, super-relaxing long weekend we're about to have. Aaron and I are heading to the Coast tomorrow to spend a couple nights up in Whistler. Thanks to the Vanzella's for the use of their condo, I am so looking forward to some R&R. We're taking the Duthie Lake route from Kelowna which goes up through Pemberton and then down south to Whistler. I've never driven that route before, so it'll be fun to see some new beautiful BC landscape. I'll post pics later (hopefully not 2 weeks later!). Thanksgiving is in Squamish this year too, which works out well for us. We're also planning to make a stop in the Lower Mainland on Monday morning - not sure where, but if you're interested in getting together for a coffee, we can figure out a meeting place for everyone.

Oh, one last thing before I finish this up... I guess the biggest news from this side is that Aaron and I will be having a house guest starting next week - My Sister! Jess will be arriving sometime next weekend, driving out to start a new job here in K-town at the TD Bank. I'm sure there'll be some stories to tell from our living arrangements in the future, so stay tuned! Talk to you soon!