The Squirrel Project: Problem Solving Abilities of Squirrels

The goal of this project is to provide an informative and humorous look at how squirrels solve increasingly difficult obstacles in my backyard. The Squirrel Project was inspired by a BBC television show entitled "Daylight Robbery" and its more originally titled sequel "Daylight Robbery II” - Comments Welcome!!!

Friday, April 22, 2005

Super Fun Lunch - Movie

Click here -> le Squirrel the Movie
Windows Media Audio/Video file - 1.22 MB
This one is a mind blower!!!

Super Fun Lunch

At the clinic/treatment center that I work at I host something called the “Super Fun Lunch”. The idea is simple; coworkers bring in food to share with others for lunch – that’s it. Because we have such a diverse staff, the types of food we eat range from excellent peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to Indian curries - people also buy stuff to bring in which is fine (this one guy always buys spicy Thai fried rice - Me)

Food is really not the point, it just the vehicle to help the newer people get together with the older people and have a “recess” from work. F, if lawyers can have a recess so should doctors, nurses, janitors, kitchen staff, maintenance, orderlies, and day care teachers (well they do have recess) but my point is physiologically you need a mental break so one can develop a more positive outlook on their work.

The lunch was created for a purely selfish reason. Late last year I was battling a strange squirrel related illness. There was a woman, who was the wife of a co-worker (later she joined the staff) who I was introduced to when I was in the hospital. She brought me yellow flowers (I still have some of dried). I thought it was the worst first impression I could give to someone. She had no idea who this guy was and yet she came to visit me and give me flowers – I would have stayed home if I was her.

When I came back to work she was temporally helping us out with a research project and I wanted to in some way pay her back…for causing her some awkwardness and perhaps sadness when she met me that day. So I create the Super Fun Lunch. The “Super Fun Lunch” name was actually joke when I started it, but after the first few lunches, people started to refer to the event by that name.


As time went on I noticed some strange observations, some people would:


  • Not bring in food
  • Get mad when people did not bring in food
  • Have a good time
  • Bring food but then not eat with the rest us
  • Bring food just for them
  • Feel ready to get back to the problem that they were working on
  • Judge what other people brought in
  • Have some internal ego struggle of who would eat all of “my” food first
  • Get upset when all of their food was not eaten
  • Know each others name for the first time
  • Get upset when all of their food was eaten before they could have any
  • Go overboard with trying to be gourmet
  • Feel guilty if they did not bring in anything
  • Share stuff that obviously was not really meant to be shared
  • Forget when the event was even though they were reminded by phone, email and face to
  • face the day before
  • The people that were at the Super Fun Lunch were seen as a “group”
  • Mock the event yet deep down felt a sense of jealousy that they were not a part of the “group”

The Baby


My wife and I play a game where you try to put this little plactic baby in strange places.