Headboards and Headlines
Sorry this post is later than usual. I’ve been down a couple of rabbit holes already this morning. The overhead of life never stops.
And sadly there isn’t much news to share.
Much of my time was spent going through the onboarding process for my new job at the college. “Onboarding” is corporate newspeak for all the stuff you have to do and the forms you have to fill out when you become a new employee somewhere.
It turns out that just over a year ago the college began using a new, cloud-based software package to automate their HR systems, and it’s something of a challenge. Of course my job and background are far from normal, and what they have in place was not created with me in mind. To further complicate matters, it’s all done remotely. There is no one sitting across a desk looking at my confused expression and responding “Oh, that? You don’t have to worry about that. Just tick ‘waived.’ We can revisit that if you get a full time job later.” Getting that support via email from people working from home takes extra time. I’m not done yet but I am plowing through it. I doubt I will actually do any work this term, but that’s OK as it gives me all the time needed to get through the paperwork.
On the project front, I made more progress on the headboard:
Sorry about the angle. It’s hard to photograph something of that size and aspect ratio while it is laying on top of a table saw.
Three quarters of it is basically primed and ready for the final coat of paint. And since that photo was taken the upper left quadrant has had a round of nail patching applied to it.
Lots still to do before it gets installed, though. The nail hole patching has to be sanded flat, that last quadrant primed, and then I reassess to see if there is anything else I want to do while it’s on a table rather than mounted in the bedroom. Final patching and painting can only happen once it is installed, so even if I miss things now I will catch them in the end.
Each quadrant has a different pattern, as you can see, and I like that. The patterns are subtle once painted, and you have to look carefully to note the differences. The upper right quadrant is particularly complex, using many small pieces of MDF. It took a long time to get those all cut, fitted, and their corners rounded over.
I’ll be working on this more in the coming week. I expect to have it mounted, patched, and primed by then, but the universe has many ways of preventing progress. We’ll see.
The only other thing this time is an oddity. I’ve noted a pattern in certain headlines present in my newsfeed. Here’s an example:
What you see are two links to the same story. The top one — Ontario Premier Doug Ford to make announcement this afternoon — was the first headline that CTV Toronto used for the article. Then, after the press conference in question, the headline was revised to Ontario releases list of pharmacies where COVID-19 vaccine will be available. I suspect the actual content of the article was revised as well, but I cannot confirm that. Either that or the original article was redirected to the second one.
Why does this bug me?
Because it’s only around Doug Ford that I see this pattern. I don’t see headlines saying Justin Trudeau to make an announcement. Nor do I see headlines like that about our Premier here in BC, John Horgan. Instead, for everyone else I see a single headline about whatever they announced.
The case around Doug Ford strikes me as odd. It makes it look like the press covering him have absolutely no idea what he is going to announce but they have to write an article about it anyway. Or perhaps they think everyone needs to be reminded to watch his announcements live. Or maybe Ford has some unusual grip on the press and gets them to do this for him. I honestly don’t know. It feels a bit off to me; a bit like something Kim Jong-un would make happen.
And it’s distracting. I’ve seen so many “Doug Ford to make announcement” headlines at this point — basically word for word — that the pattern got stuck in my brain. The case above is the first time I figured out what the press is actually doing: create the first headline and then replace it with the second, possibly while rewriting the entire article as well.
Anyway, I think it is strange and wonder if anyone else has seen something like this about Doug Ford or anyone else. Please let me know. I am genuinely curious. Maybe it’s just me.
And that’s that. Sorry it’s a short post this week, but there’s just not that much news this time around. In some ways that’s good.
Keep safe out there!