Why are so many people wearing berets?

It's an interesting fashion statement to say the least. A beret on the head identifies you as either an artist with a healthy ego, a little old lady who crochets a lot, or a mime. And there are dozens of berets being worn in Vancouver right now. (I'm hoping they are mostly artists... the mime idea kind of scares me.)

But why is this fashion statement being made? These hats are not water-proof. Most of them will look awful if they get water stains on them. Many of them are crochet hats with lots of holes - the parts that are not holes are very absorbent wool that will stay wet for hours.

The Vancouver Writer's and Readers Festival - that I volunteered at again this year - was crowded with many beret covered heads. A large portion of the audience are want-to-be writers, so it wasn't that odd to see - that was the artists with healthy egos.

But I've seen many more people wearing berets out on the street after the festival wrapped up last weekend. In the rain. Yes, the rain is back in Vancouver. We expect it to stop in April - or March if we're lucky - until then we expect rain most every day. The only beret that will keep your head dry in this rain is a shower cap. I'm gonna look closer at these hats....

Does anyone have a pen?

My spouse and I attended a few of the events at the Vancouver International Writer's and Reader's Festival this year. It was great to watch a few authors read from their books - and then have on-stage discussions afterwards or answer audience questions.

We even purchased a couple of books and had the authors sign them. Ooh, my first signed book, I was quite thrilled!

So the authors had pens to sign their books... but the audience members were given surveys to fill out, and do you think anyone in the audience had a pen? The audience is made up of mostly wanna-be writers, but no pen was in sight. Going to a writers festival without a pen is quite ironic.

It seems odd to think about it now, but with computers taking over the planet, why would anyone cary a pen? It's about as anachronistic as wearing a watch, rather than using your cell phone as a time keeping device. It's odd how the everyday of a decade ago is a foreign concept now.

Is using a clock as a calculator odd?

This week my volunteer work helping in the offices of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival included the task of adding up hours. This is because all volunteers can request a free ticket, and these tickets are given out in a lottery of all tickets available, but the volunteer must work at least 12 hours to be eligible to request a ticket.

So the festival needs to know who is working enough time to get a ticket. So I was adding up everyone's scheduled hours. I was using a clock and a piece of paper to scribble on to do the math. The next volunteer who came in for the afternoon shift thought that was very odd. She said there was a calculator in the desk drawer. I find those annoying when adding up time.

So is it odd to use the clock as a calculator? As a visual key it's very useful to count the hours from 9:15 to 11:30 on the clock face (2 1/4), and count 6:30 to 9:45 on the clock face (3 1/4). It's kind of like an abacus. It doesn't really help with the fraction math, and I admit it's been years since I've added 3/4 + 3/4 + 1/2 and the like, but it was a good mental work out.

I admit it's close to using your fingers to do addition, but I find it very useful.

I wondered if other people do the same as I do. So I did some googling. There are abacus and clock combination apparatus that you can buy. Actually, many of them. So I think this is a valid and popular way to add up time. I guess it's not that odd. Google is a very comforting tool for making life make sense.

Why is shredding paper so enjoyable?

I'm volunteering once a week to help in the offices of the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival and I have to admit my favourite job is shredding paper.

There is something therapeutic about taking small sheets of dead tree with colourful squiggles on them, putting them into a machine that shreds them into smaller pieces of dead tree and then taking them over to the recycle bin and adding them to other pieces of dead trees. It's destructive, and yet, it's going into recycling, so it's not as bad as if it was going to landfill. A not-so guilty pleasure.

The other fun job today was rolling up huge - bigger than me - posters for bus shelter advertisements. You don't realize how big one of those things are until you try to roll them up!

Other than that, not much happened - I didn't even have to take a phone call. Not very exciting, but it may pick up as we get closer to the event.

Why is transferring a call so difficult?

Every office has a different phone system, and every phone system is different, but no matter where you are, transferring a call is always fraught with peril.

This time I think I've run into the ultimate in silliness. Transferring a call with this phone system means you need to hit transfer, 3 numbers, # and 6... and the extension you want to transfer the call to! Er, well, that's a probably... I don't think I've mastered that yet, I may have sent someone off into oblivion! Why do the designers of phone systems make it so difficult?

This morning I started this year's round of volunteering with the Vancouver International Writers and Readers Festival. I'm working in the office doing reception on Thursdays. There's not much to do just yet, the festival happens October 21-26 and tickets go on sale to the public next Monday, so they're still warming up.

So far I've done some envelope addressing and stuffing, some shredding, and some alphabetization... and I've handled one call... badly. Most calls go directly to the right people, but if the caller doesn't know the extension, I need to pick up the call and transfer it. I so wish another call had come in so I could have redeemed myself! Everyone in the office says they have problems with the phone system too, so I shouldn't feel bad, but it is annoying.

Next Thursday I will need to study those instructions again! I am always amazed at the ability of receptionists to handle transferring phone calls - maybe the designers of the phone systems are receptionists who like amazing others with their skill and calm management of phone calls. I'll bet that's why it's so difficult, it's a badge of honour if you can figure it out!