September 03, 2007

Out Having Fun?

(Photo courtesy of The Smitten Image)

Crabby hopes you're Out and About, if you live somewhere this particular holiday is celebrated. And if you're at work, try to have some fun anyway! You could start a water fight at the company water cooler! Er, maybe not.

Do people actually hang out at the "Water Cooler" anymore and discuss things? This seems unlikely. Crabby has not worked at an Office Job in a long time.

(All she remembers about Water Coolers was that it was a huge pain in the ass to put the new bottle on. Naturally everyone kept avoiding it, and so thirsty Crabby would often be the one to take it upon herself to do it. She'd open the huge water jug, hoist all 150lbs of it (well it seemed that big) into the air, and then tip it upside down, madly circling the tiny hole of the dispenser trying to center the jug as gallons and gallons of water were spilling all over the break room. Why did they make the jugs so big, the cooler so high, the hole so small? For their own amusement? Crabby hopes water dispensing technology has improved a lot since those days).

Anyway, for those of you at work who want to pretend you're taking a nice walk through the park and appreciating the natural beauty and diversity of your community, our good friend Hilary can take you on a virtual photo tour. (Hers is the picture above). She has a great accompanying essay too and lots more pictures!

And is anyone off traveling in foreign countries? Of course you couldn't wait to get back home to read Cranky Fitness so you're probably huddled at an internet cafe right now. (OK, perhaps not. In fact if you are Cut it Out and Go outside!) Anyway, anyone who's had a recent lousy Passport Photo taken will appreciate this amusing post over at Gadling. And who's that woman brave enough to display her own less-than-optimal results? Why it's our friend Martha! (If you click on her name you'll discover Martha is actually a hottie, so we won't feel too sorry for her).

So that's it for the holiday and Crabby will be back tomorrow. If you have any thoughts about your weekend, the End of Summer, Water Fights, Passports, or Anything At All, feel free to share!

12 comments:

  1. My first passport photo was back in 1982 and done by a friend and fellow journalism school grad. In photo class we learned that relaxing is key for a good b&w photo. So we thought a few drinks would be the best way to go. In fact, as I think about it, I almost think that we were told a few drinks was a good idea. But of course that can't be right...
    And being b&w, we knew I'd need a bit of extra makeup on. Tip: do the makeup first.
    It was a fun night and it really is one of the best photos of me ever, but I glow a wee bit more than is natural.
    It's a moment frozen in time that'll never come back. I rarely drink and I no longer wear makeup. Subsequent passport pics, done by pros in shops that specialize in same, simply make me look dour.

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  2. I don't know about the US but here in Canada, our passport photo rules are ridiculous. No smiling. Yup, can't see any teeth. Can't wear your glasses. Even though you may have worn glasses since you were in first grade and now you're retired - no glasses. No facial expression, no shadows. Oh well, now I know what I look like in the dead of night when no-one can see me, unless they happen to pick up my passport photo...

    It's a beautiful weekend here but it is busy work weekend for me. The perils of being self employed is I feel the need to work big time before my vacation in two weeks. I did get out a bit yesterday and Saturday, and hope to again today though. Can't let this beautiful weather go to waste totally.

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  3. I used to work for a company that sold face recognition software. The software had trouble recognizing faces if the people were wearing glasses, had their face tilted to one side, or were grinning broadly.
    Mind you, the software had trouble recognizing faces anyway. I got to test it out once on a video that was running in the computer lab. The software did pick out faces... for example, it zeroed in on a cliff face. (That counts, doesn't it?)

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  4. Aww Crabby, you are too sweet :) I don't know if 'hottie' is accurate but I am flattered.

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  5. Martha, you ARE to a hottie.

    As for my activities today, I told my kids Labor Day means they're-working-for-mom day. So we've been doing chores all morning. I know, not everyone's ideal day of fun. But I love when they pitch in.

    I'm not too tyrannical though, we'll be BBQing later. :)

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  6. Crabby,

    I am not dealing well with this whole passport photo thing. My passport expires next summer. Given how slowly new applications and renewals are being processed, a week or so ago, I picked up an application at the post office so that I could file for my renewal now. I just yesterday started checking the phonebook for passport photo places and you hit me with this!

    Like Martha the hottie, (Yes, you are!) I have a passport picture I like because a) I am smiling and b) I was ten years younger when it was taken.

    Now I find out that I not only have to replace it but I have to replace it with a non-smiling me.

    Noooooooooooooooooooo!

    Terrie

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  7. Checking in from Tel Aviv, so I'm obviously working on this Labor Day. We got to take a brand-spanking new, first flight ever with passengers, Boeing 777. It had that new plane smell, and most of the coffee makers wouldn't work. Go figure. It also has crew bunks for rest, which makes for very happy flight attendants.

    Anyways, my passport photo isn't that bad, but I think I look like I'm 12 years old in it. I've had the customs and immigration officer ask for a secondary id because I look nothing like that photo. It doesn't expire for another 4 years, so I have to live with it for a little while longer.

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  8. Happy Labor day, my crab-ish friend. Let me tell you, this is not a good day to go shopping (nor was any day this weekend). And I think it's unfair that our local mall closed at 6 and I knew nothing about such plans to do so... (But I got the coolest Stevie Nicks-esque style dress...)

    Those water jug things are crazy. I used to be friends with this girl who had a water cooler IN HER HOUSE. Now mind you, these were the days before bottled water was even really thought about, but who would want that in their home? I think they also had water purifying systems on their faucets.. so no real point there at all... But then they were a weird family, I guess...

    I have yet to need a passport though I might be going on a lovely troip to see the Pope this summer, if all goes well. Pictures required for anything (be they driver's licenses, college IDs, work IDs, etc) are always BAD. When they took my picture for my driver's license I thought it looked horrendous so they offered to take another one and it looked the same as the first. SO i swear the offered to take again and I said I didn't care and I gave up... ha ha. I was ticked that they sent my updated liccense with the same old ugly picture in it... I'd have seriously preferred to stand in line at the SOS forever and get a new one... But then I weighed about 50 pounds more when I did have that picture done... so I really do look a lot different... And another important lesson... make sure your shirt is a different color than the background they put you against. For my license pick I wore a blue polo and the background was almost the same shade... so I look like a floating (red) head.

    Anyway, enough ranting.... I have a paper to write... oh yes, labor day is fun...

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  9. I want summer to last forever. I used to love winter, but not so much any more. I am such an old man, lol.

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  10. I thought for sure you'd not work today. You know the magazine WIRED. They recently ran their annual How-To addition and it was great. It had a whole section of how-to at the office and one was, "How to change the water cooler bottle like a pro" anyhow you reminded me of it. They also had stuff like how to arrange your action figures in your cubicle. Anyhow, back to work. I'm doing this whole new go to bed at a decent hour thing. And it's thrown my schedule a bit -- likely for the better.

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  11. Leah, I love that story!

    Marijke, that no smiling things scares me--hope it's just a Canadian requirement. I look like a freak if I can't even smile a little!

    Mary--sounds like that software needed a bit of work! Unless perhaps you guys were filming Mt. Rushmore.

    Martha, hottie=totally accurate!

    Katieo,
    What a great definition of Labor Day, especially before the kids get wise! Hope it was a great barbecue.

    Hi Terrie, I know this no smiling thing sounds terrible! However, I note that martha, leah and marijke are all Canadian so perhaps it hasn't hit us yet? Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings if its true. (We're not called Cranky Fitness fer nothin').

    Noah, for a second there, describing the new plane, you actually make flying sound more appealing! But mention of the broken coffee makers brought me down to earth (so to speak) again. Hope you got to enjoy some of Tel Aviv before jetting off again.

    Hi Meg,
    That floating head thing totally cracked me up! And since I hate shopping, nothing on earth could get me to go do it on labor day. But glad you scored the Stevie Nicks Dress. (And I will now have "Landslide" going through my head the rest of the day--but I like it , so that's not a problem!)

    half man,
    well normally i'd agree with you but I've been summering where it's hot and humid, and I'm looking forward at least to fall if not winter. And your avatar moves! I didn't know they could do that! Now I want my claws to snap. I'll get my IT support team on it right away... oh wait. No support team.

    Jennifer--"how to" arrange your action figures at work? That's hilarious. And I'm glad to hear you're going to give this "sleep" thing a try. You may get to like it it's pretty cool. They have these things called "dreams..." :)

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  12. Chiming in with the other Canucks that the no smiling rule makes for a BAD photo.

    Thanks for the photo mention Crabby. :)

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