1465 - It Was a Very Good Year

Today is my one-year dating anniversary with JW! Do they still call it an anniversary if you're not married? Anyway, we're going to get dressed up and go out to eat at a nice restaurant. And by "we're going to", I mean that's the plan at the moment - who knows what will really happen! I'm excited to see her, as it's been four days since we've hung out. Even without her, I somehow managed to have a busy week - probably because my friend JC was back in town.

Work was uneventful until Thursday, so I won't bother mentioning it until then. Monday night was cleaning night - I swept and vacuumed the entire upstairs floor of my place. I also cooked up a stir fry - with REAL, UNFROZEN veggies. Yes, I actually cut my own vegetables, and it didn't even take that long. I was trying to duplicate the stir fry JW and I had made at her place a week earlier, but it turned out that I was missing hoisen sauce. It turned out well, but it wasn't quite as good as I'd hoped.

Tuesday evening I went to the Lion's Head for wings with AN, AD, RD and PL. The wings were again excellent, and they were also five cents cheaper than the previous week! I stayed for an hour, then walked over to JW's. Everyone else stayed another half hour, waiting for the waitress to process AN's credit card. It was late by the time I got to JW's, so we just relaxed for a while before going to sleep.

Wednesday morning, JW and I went for a walk on the way to work. She was starting a daily ritual of more activity. We walked around, up and over Citadel Hill, which was nice early in the morning. The view of the city was great, and it was nice to have the sun in our faces. She continued on to work, as did I. I passed the gum-chewing, arrogant Colleen Jones getting ready to do the national weather on CBC.

Wednesday evening was pool night. I met TA, AD and JC there. We played pool for a few hours, at nachos and pepperoni and had a few drinks. They had a room set up with a Nintendo Wii, so we tried that toward the end of the evening. I was disappointed by how limited the controller was for some of the sports games, and by how easily you could cheat it into thinking you were doing something the right way. For example, I could throw a baseball pitch by flicking my wrist. It was just as fast and curving as it was when I actually made a real throwing motion. The golf game was a little better - it seemed to be able to detect whether you were swinging straight. So yeah it was neat for sure, but there's lots of room for improvement! I may pick a Wii up sometime if find myself in a certain mood the next time I see one for sale :)

Thursday's lunch at work took the form of a meeting with B-PM, our lead developer. The purpose of the lunch was to find out where I'd like to head in the company, though it seemed more like a chance for him to gloat about his accomplishments and future plans. I did manage to get a few sentences in, between B-PM stabbing needles in his gut for his diabetes (he did not stop talking while this happened), and spilling food on his shirt. He talked about a new programming paradigm he's working on that will allow people with disabilities to program. It will be visual, taking advantage of virtual reality headsets, and auditory. You will be able to use your hands to move around virtual objects and construct programs. He's got the whole thing planned out, and he thinks it'll take him two years to finish it. He's calling the new paradigm "Fish." He talked about how it's going to be open source (meaning he will give the technology away for free, as he must in order to ensure penetration), but that he'll make his money off Fish books and book signing/lecture tours around the world. He did point out that all of this may sound unrealistic, but he genuinely thinks he can pull it off. He said that Fish will be his gift back to the community that has given him so very much. After Fish, he will retire from the world of computers, to focus on writing twenty-four novels that he's already outlined! One of the novels is a five-part series.

I did manage to get a few words in between all of this. I told him that I wanted to push myself w.r.t. my shyness, so a strictly programming future might not be the best for me. However, he seemed to think that my head-down aggressive work attitude would fit perfectly in a "skunk" team he's going to form within our company to pump out high quality products. I also voiced my concerns over the rapid change the company is going through, and how nothing is guaranteed. Finally, I pointed out to him that I'm not big on travel, which is one reason why he thinks I'd be good for the skunk team - there will be little to no travel involved.

Thursday evening saw a return to wings. This time, TA, AN, JC and I went to Peel Pub. We got a huge pitcher of the piss that is Canadian beer, then joked about JC's Upper Canada roots (which he took offense to, as he's trying to get out of Upper Canada as quickly as possible!). The wings were smaller, less tasty and twice as expensive as the ones at the Lion's Head. By then, I was beginning to feel the effects of several consecutive days of unhealthy food.

I was going to take it easy Friday. I was not feeling well, and I was very tired. I went to see my grandmother - we watched the ATV news and chatted about recent events. After that, it took an hour of convincing by TA to get me to drive him up to AD's for various activities. No one else came to AN's, so we sat around watching seven consecutive episodes of Chappelle's Show with RD. They were good, but I was too tired to enjoy them as much as I might've.

Saturday (yesterday, as I’ve just continued writing after a day’s break) was a fun day - my anniversary! I slept in a bit (as I’d not gotten to bed until one), then got up and headed out to Shopper’s to develop photos for JW’s card. I also got my groceries, though I didn’t need much, so I was in and out. It was only when I returned home that I found that the photos prominently featured a large zit on my face, and there was a piece of food caught in my teeth just to add insult to injury. Fortunately, my mouth was closed for all but one of the pictures.

In the afternoon, I ripped a few CDs I’ve bought recently, while making a new mix CD for the car. Then I worked on my “new” song again, which really isn’t new at all anymore. I’ve spent four or five times longer on it than any other song. I’m not sure it’s all that much better, but hopefully I’m just too close to it to notice. I’m hoping that I’m getting better with time!

I went over to JW’s at four. We headed right back out to the mall, where she consulted (assaulted) an Aliant rep about a cell phone plan. I swear the prices get worse every year – since I bought my phone a year ago, they’ve increased the system access fee, increased the price of caller ID and voice mail, and changed the definition of “evening” to mean after 9pm (!!!). The total cost for the cheapest reasonable plan is $50. When I got my first cell phone, I paid $25 a month and an “evening” started at 6pm. Also in the mall, I traded in my old Eastlink Internet modem for a new one, which is supposedly going to solve my ongoing connection issues.

After the mall, JW and I went up to Chapters so that JW could buy some books for her school. We also stopped by Staples – which reminds me, I need to test my webcam’s microphone to see if I can use it without the webcam – then I can call people without using my cell phone.

We’d previously decided to dress up for dinner on our anniversary. So, I wore some black pants and a dressy shirt, and JW wore a beautiful black dress. She’d shaved her legs, straightened her hair, burned off some facial hair and put on make-up, all for me. These are things (some of them) she doesn’t do often, and for good reason, but I liked that she’d gone through it for me – not to say I want her to go through it a lot, but once in a while is certainly nice. She was absolutely gorgeous – I wish I could go back in time and see her that way again. I think it was the dress that had the biggest impact on me – I loved it!

We went to Il Mercado for dinner – something we’d talked about doing for months. I was a bit skeptical, as Italian is not high on my list of favourite foods. The place was really nice inside, and we got a good table. We were kind of like deer caught in headlights, as we didn’t know what half the words on the menu meant, we didn’t order the usual appetizers, wine, desserts and coffee that “normal” people waste their money on, and we were in and out pretty quickly. I lucked into a delicious pasta topped with black olive sauce and goat cheese – the sauce and the cheese were amazing. JW wasn’t so lucky, but she still enjoyed her meal, even though she couldn’t taste the cheese that was supposedly in it (she’d even checked with the waiter to make sure the dish had cheese in it!).

After a very brief stroll downtown, we got back in the car and headed back to her place. We lit some candles and had a very nice evening. We even danced a little to some music, a moment that was very special to me. I understood instantly why people like to dance slowly. It will be a long time before I forget the feeling I had that night.

Sunday morning was a beautiful, sunny morning. We got up and enjoyed sourdough bread with havarti cheese – a combination that I find irresistible. Then we went out into the light for a walk – we walked to Needham Park and sat in a tree we’ve sat in many times before. It was fun to be outside doing something that reminded me of summer.

Back at JW’s place, we decided to watch Elizabethtown. It was a funny “romantic comedy” (if you will) about a man who costs his company a billion dollars by designing a shoe that completely flops on the market. His father dying interrupts his suicide attempt, and he travels to Kentucky to take care of the arrangements with his hick family. In the meantime, he meets an airline stewardess who helps him through the tough times. She arranges a road trip home for him, complete with stops at many historical and/or fun sites – with accompanying music all the way. Unbeknownst to him, she arranges for them to meet along the way, after he was convinced he’d never see her again. The movie had interesting characters (especially Chuck) and was well done overall.

I’m looking to make it three great weeks in a row this coming week. Nothing in particular is planned, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m actually enthusiastic about work – we’ll see how long that lasts – and I’m looking forward to seeing JW and my friends throughout the week.

I’m currently listening to: Man-Machine (which makes me laugh at the moment), from Man-Machine by Kraftwerk.

Movies watched this week: Elizabethtown