Calvinball 2019 Official Thread

[Steve O]

Siber Hobbes and his friend are very sad and lonely
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[ChristoB50]

I brought Giraffey into the building, and because he was so impressed with the view at NSF the other day, I decided to show him our rooftop view first. He could see in the distance the Washington Monument, the dome of the Capitol, the dome of the Library of Congress, and the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. Just like my nephew, he loves planes and trains, so seeing airplanes landing almost right next to us, and trains going by below was really exciting for him!

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I reminded him we are National Industries for the Blind, and while we work to create employment around the country for people who are blind (in manufacturing jobs, office jobs, call centers, etc.) we also have a couple dozen legally blind people working in the building with me in difference capacities and jobs, and that some of them bring their service dogs to work every day — he was happy to hear he wouldn’t be the only animal in the building! And he’s really eager to meet one of those dogs! Up on the rooftop, I showed him our special dog-relief-area that employees who are blind can use, when their service dog needs a break. Astroturf and a sink make cleanup easy, so the employee doesn’t have to go downstairs, outside, across traffic and find a patch of grass. Giraffey eyed the relief area with a look that suggested he might in fact have to pay a visit later…

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We then headed down for breakfast. There is a fierce rivalry at the office between Army fans and Navy fans, and the annual game is always a really big deal here. Team spirit remains in the stairwells all year as subtle goading from each fan base.

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Giraffey absolutely loved the staff’s break room wallpaper! Said it made his tummy rumble. He wasn’t interested in my yogurt, but his sharp eyes noticed my coffee mug had yet more photos of the cathedral!

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[ChristoB50]

Right after breakfast, Giraffey met Jerome in the break room. Jerome works in our I.T. department, staffing the Help Desk to route all incoming I.T. tickets or walk-ups reporting issues.
Giraffey immediately wondered where Jerome’s dog was, so I explained to him that not every person who is blind always chooses to get a guide dog. Jerome has the traditional long white cane, and he uses that to navigate everywhere he goes.

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We headed off to my desk for some work. He was happy to see my niece’s drawing of a chicken at my desk. And he again spotted my cathedral-related stuff; he said I must really love that place, and he again hoped that a biking buddy will be able to bring him to the cathedral tour with the group-ride on March 9!
{Shameless plug, again: http://bikearlingtonforum.com/showthread.php?14227-BAFS-National-Cathedral-group-ride-private-tour&p=187795#post187795 }

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One of my meetings ran short, and the next one was canceled — so I had free time to take Giraffey around the building. First we went down to the spiffy new Conference Facility that occupies our entire second floor. In the future, we anticipate this space could be rented out periodically by organizations hosting their own meetings, day-conferences, events, etc. Right now, it is still getting all the finishing touches applied, and waiting for new furniture to arrive. One thing Giraffey really liked was the funny white bubble lights along one wall. I explained that he didn’t know it, but by looking at those lights, he was looking at another form of communication. The arrangement of the white circles is a visual layout of the Braille letters “N I B” for our corporate acronym.

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Finally… Finally! Giraffey had been so patient, I took him up to meet Kathy, our director of learning and education. Kathy has a guide dog, named Ivory, who was eager to meet Giraffey — though Giraffey was suddenly squeamish that Ivory might want to chew on him like, well, a mere toy. So we compromised and Giraffey sat on a recycling bin for a selfie. Not that he had anything to worry about… when a guide dog is “on duty,” they are all business. No playtime; I can’t even pet Ivory when she’s on duty.
Giraffey was totally amazed when Kathy mentioned that she also likes to bicycle, and will begin her new riding season in April. I could tell he couldn’t quite imagine how that would work for her, so we quickly explained that Kathy regularly rides on a tandem bike with a sighted captain up front.

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[ChristoB50]

Well, the afternoon fell apart on me, but thankfully, Giraffey took a nice long nap all this time.
I haven’t yet told him that we must part ways this evening; but he’s a plucky thing and I know he will be looking forward to his next adventure.
To send him off with memories of the day at work, I’ve tucked some SKILCRAFT swag into his bag (that’s the brand name of products made by the blind labor of our non-profit program, which falls under the AbilityOne designation.)
And in case it is a long cold night, a healthy snack. And because he was so interested in the cathedral, a little cathedral-related souvenir.

I’m pretty sure I’ll leave him not far from where he had his fun bird sightings this morning… along the banks of 4 Mile Run — but probably on the Alexandria side for a change…
I’ll post again with final confirmation details and photos… I expect him to be in place around 5:30pm tonight.

[SarahBee]

@Steve O 187928 wrote:

Siber Hobbes and his friend are very sad and lonely
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Wait- where are Siberhobbes and Hobbes? Have they been found yet?

[ChristoB50]

You’ll find Giraffey hanging out waiting for a trail bridge yet to be built on the Alexandria side / 4 Mile Run Park… where he learned more about birds by reading the little nature signs along the grassy edge of the trail…
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[Judd]

@SarahBee 187963 wrote:

Wait- where are Siberhobbes and Hobbes? Have they been found yet?

No. Steve took Siberhobbes to a coffee shop that’s too hard for most people to recognize.

[SarahBee]

@Judd 187965 wrote:

No. Steve took Siberhobbes to a coffee shop that’s too hard for most people to recognize.

Wait!!! I know where this is

[sszibler]

@reji 187904 wrote:

Reji gave me a back rub and then I fell asleep.
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Reji told me she was going to drop me off somewhere on her way home; I hope someone really nice picks me up. I wonder where my next journey will take me …..

Haha! I missed the pencil and massage thingy the first time I looked at this!

[Emm]

@Judd 187965 wrote:

No. Steve took Siberhobbes to a coffee shop that’s too hard for most people to recognize.

It’s near Bikenetic, and rhymes with “Mafe Mindred”

(oddly enough I only recognized it from the parking garage photos, not from the inside pictures…)

[Thor]

@ChristoB50 187964 wrote:

You’ll find Giraffey hanging out waiting for a trail bridge yet to be built on the Alexandria side / 4 Mile Run Park… where he learned more about birds by reading the little nature signs along the grassy edge of the trail…
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Giraffey has found a warm home for the night!

[josh]

@Emm 187968 wrote:

It’s near Bikenetic, and rhymes with “Mafe Mindred”

(oddly enough I only recognized it from the parking garage photos, not from the inside pictures…)

Forgot to post this earlier: if you find SiberHobbes and bring him to the next Tuesday morning hills, or do Tuesday morning hills and retrieve him after, there will be a point bonus involved (once I get around to tabulating scores again).

[ChristoB50]

@Thor 187970 wrote:

Giraffey has found a warm home for the night!

Excellent! I’ll sleep easy knowing he’s not going to roll down the hill into the water, or be picked up by a dog on a walk!

[Thor]

@ChristoB50 187973 wrote:

Excellent! I’ll sleep easy knowing he’s not going to roll down the hill into the water, or be picked up by a dog on a walk!

Ironically, from a distance as I approached the spot I saw a guy already there and assumed that Giraffey had just been collected, but it turned out to be a guy walking his dog, and they ended up helping me find the Giraffey bag!

[ChristoB50]

@Thor 187979 wrote:

Ironically, from a distance as I approached the spot I saw a guy already there and assumed that Giraffey had just been collected, but it turned out to be a guy walking his dog, and they ended up helping me find the Giraffey bag!

When I went to place it, I was sure nobody was around or in sight… As I was typing up the Forum posting having just hidden it, suddenly this guy appeared out of nowhere, on a walk. I slowed my typing and stayed put — he watched the water awhile as I typed, then finally he left… I was worried he’d perhaps seen me leaving a mystery parcel, and that he’d head back to investigate. Glad you got there to find it intact!

[Author]

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