The Divorce of Harmony Lake

There is a chance that winding up the music box on my mantelpiece was not the wisest idea I have ever had.

Supposedly, you wind it up, open the lid and it plays a very nice tune. Then, when you close the lid, it stops playing the music, and you can return to your life unencumbered by the sounds of the Swiss Alps (or at least I think that is what the tune is supposed to represent – I don’t actually recognise it, and I think that – when it isn’t playing – I am mixing it up with a tune that comes from a musical fruit bowl that my grandmother had before she died).

However, in reality, there is something wrong with the mechanics. The lid closes and pushes down the metal arm. However, the assembly that generates the music (and so interacts with this arm) has come loose from the base of the music box, and so when the arm is pressed down, it shoves the entire arrangement to the right and – most importantly – doesn’t actually shut the music off.

Having messed with it a little, I can get it to temporarily stop playing the music, but every so often it will start up again for no apparent reason. And while the music is nice to listen to, having it burst in to life during the climax of The Departed is not something you want to happen more than once in your life.

Earlier tonight, I set up the treadmill again, but this time – instead of running the headphone cable from the TV and attaching it to the treadmill stand, I have set it up opposite a set of speakers I bought for my iPod when I was doing a lot more travelling at work than I do nowadays.

And, as those of you who have read some of my previous entries will know, I have a large number of videos downloaded to the iPod, ranging from The Princess Bride to Dr Horrible’s Sing A Long Blog, and so I can walk and watch and not risk running in to any metal poles that will hurt my nose and make me look like a bit of a doof.

There is possibly going to be some chaos at work, because Jessie (the head of our department) wants me to work on a proof of concept application for the second hand bookshop, but we are coming up to the next release of the DRM and so it will be all hands on deck. 

Truth be told, I don’t know which I would prefer to be working on. Testing the DRM is kind of fun and a bit of a challenge, but it involves working in a development encironment that I really am not all that fond of. However, while the proof of concept application is in an environment I like, it is something entirely new and so something I am not entirely confident about being able to finish in time for the next review meeting. In addition, it is only a proof of concept application and it might end up not being used at all, so any time I spent on it will possibly be a waste.

There is a meeting of the Triumvirate next week, where both sides will make their cases, and I guess I will learn about my future some time after that.

People die every day – sometimes people you know, sometimes people you care about – even love.

And sometimes their deaths can be a catalyst for change, for the next step in the evolution of society, or even a revolution that changes society completely.

But only if you act with good intentions and with love for your fellow man. If you try to use their deaths as justification for revenge, for hate, for inspiring fear and terror, then you are headed down the wrong path, and while the exact outcome might not be predictable, the world will be left a sorrier place than when you began your crusade for vengeance cloaked as a quest for justice.