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Friday, June 29, 2007

The persistence of memory

[Duke: the Java Mascot] Duke with helmet © Sun Microsystems / BSD
Her
Do we have an extra USB mouse anywhere?
Me
(without looking up from keyboard) We have one with the open source Java mascot suspended inside it, that I got at ApacheCon 2003. It’s in the storage room behind the laundry room, in the blue infant bathtub on the floor in front of the filing cabinets.

… Scuffling ensues. She emerges triumphantly with a mouse and gives it to the kid.

Her
That’s incredible.
Me
Love me.
Kid
Look daddy, it has a penguin in it.
Me
It’s not a penguin. It’s a… mascot.
Kid
“Mas-cot.”
Me
His name is Duke.
Kid
“Duke.”
Me
He’s open source now.
Her
Hey, why is this blanket here?
Me
What blanket?
Her
This blanket. It’s supposed to be in his daycare. Did you take it to daycare?
Me
When?
Her
On Monday.
Me
I have no recollection whatsoever of events that transpired on Monday.
Her
You’re supposed to do it every Monday.
Me
First I’ve heard of it.
Her
This is your children’s welfare. You should pay more attention.
Me
First I’ve heard of it. But hey, if I can ever enhance my children’s welfare with a USB mouse, let me know.

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8 comments

  1. Your child probably mistook the duke mascot for a penguin since you have other penguins around the house no doubt and he knows the connection between computers and penguins. It is odd though, since he does not really resemble tux.

    Comment by Greg — Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 2:56 pm

  2. Is there a name for this condition? I just forwarded this to my girlfriend, because this exact conversation has happened to us countless times. Minus the kid.

    Comment by Bill Mill — Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 4:51 pm

  3. Yup. It’s called childri-spousal-memo-plosion. Happens to me all the time too. There’s a similar phenomena where your wife leaves you with the kids to go do some errands, and when she gets back and questions you about what happened while she was gone (did they eat anything? Who caused the big mess in the kitchen, why is there water all over the bathroom floor, etc.) and you have no memory of it. This is called episodic juveneural hypo-nesia.

    Comment by John — Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 5:41 pm

  4. > no doubt and he knows the connection between computers and penguins

    I’m pretty sure it’s because he watches “March of the Penguins” incessantly.

    Comment by Mark — Friday, June 29, 2007 @ 7:04 pm

  5. This is classic. I’ve had similar conversations myself.

    Comment by W^L+ — Saturday, June 30, 2007 @ 9:29 pm

  6. My kids call any penguin they see “Happy Feet.” I blame their maternal grandmother for taking them to that movie.

    Comment by Tony — Sunday, July 1, 2007 @ 1:43 am

  7. I’ve forwarded this to my wife in the hope that she’ll now understand that I am not alone. I can remember where I put that old hard disk I’ve been meaning to try and retrieve data from (in the loft, back left of the floored bit, second box from the bottom, duh!), but I swear she never asked me to change the cat litter five minutes ago!

    Comment by Graeme Mathieson — Thursday, July 5, 2007 @ 9:39 am

  8. As much as you write, I’m surprised you can’t touch type.

    Comment by Steven — Thursday, July 5, 2007 @ 8:39 pm

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