Beyond the Infinite

1482 - Fool Me Once... (to Hell and Back)

2007-06-21T17:42:00.000-07:00

This entry is dedicated to a single event, which took place Saturday June 16th. I debated as to whether I'd write about it, but it's worth getting the events of that day down "on paper" for future reference.

The story parallels that of the Crystal Crescent debacle, but on a much larger scale. It starts innocently enough with a visit to a hiking trail straight inland from Martinique beach - one I've been to before. JP and I arrived around six-thirty in the evening, and we decided to do the Gibraltar Loop, a short two-kilometre trail adjacent to a parking lot.

The trail is extremely steep at first, and the hiker is quickly rewarded with a magnificent view of the hills and forests below (the fog somewhat clouded our view, unfortunately).

At approximately 7:15, we came to a crossroads. There were two options: either complete the Gibraltar Loop and go home, or attempt a much larger section of trail, ultimately leading back to some railroad tracks that parallel the highway leading to the area. As you might have guessed, we decided to "go for it."

We did explore the possibility of getting lost, something we neglected to do at Crystal Crescent. Looking at the map, we estimated there to be eight to ten kilometres of trail to complete (editor's note: this was the first mistake. One's fingers are not the most accurate measuring device. We later found the distance to be somewhere between twelve and fifteen kilometres). JP runs about twenty kilometres twice a week, and we used that knowledge to determine an estimated hiking time. We felt that we could get back to the car in two to two and a half hours. While this put us a bit past dark, we felt the risk was minimal, as we wouldn't need light once we got to the tracks (which represented about a third of the total distance).

Comfortable in our decision, we proceeded along the longer trail. The trail weaved back and forth in the forest, with massive elevation changes at every bend - it was slow going (editor's note: this was the second mistake. A good speed simply can't be kept on a trail that weaves back and forth, up and down over rough terrain.). It wasn't too long before we were both tired and thirsty. We were also hungry, as we'd decided to get food after the hike.

We enjoyed the first hour and a half of the walk, but the hills wore us down and we began to curse the terrain. We knew we were behind time, but we felt that the railway section of the trail toward the end would be our saving grace.

It began to get dark, and we started to joke about potential Crystal Crescent scenarios. We were unable to pick up our pace due to fatigue (our legs burned from the effort of climbing hills), and later due to darkness. I lead the way nearly the entire time, and I began to go off of the trail, as I wasn't able to see well enough to keep on it.

One final twist in the trail turned us in the proper direction, and we descended to a crossroads, that we took to be the one shown on the map of the area, as we hadn't encountered any others. We were excited by the fact that we were nearly done. However, darkness slowed our pace further.

Finally, the path lead to a grassy field next to a small river. We were excited, as it was getting dark, and we didn't have much time left. We patted ourselves on the backs for getting out of trouble once again, in the nick of time. Unfortunately, however, the path in the grass quickly disappeared, and as we got closer to the river, the ground got swampier. Our shoes got soaked, but we didn't care - we were almost there (editor's note: here we observe the third mistake. As soon as you realize you're no longer on a trail, the best thing to do is to go back to the last known part of the trail).

We quickly realized that there was no bridge crossing the stream nearby - in fact, none could be seen at all. It was here that we made our biggest error in judgment. All logic was out the window, courtesy of a burning desire to get back to the car. We blindly made the assumption that the stream indeed was the stream that parallels the highway, and therefore, we blindly assumed that the road would be on the other side.

Despite the fact that we both agreed that the road was likely on the other side, I pushed for us to return to the trail. I didn't believe that swimming across the stream was the right move. JP felt otherwise - she felt that it was too dark to attempt to re-find the trail, and she felt that following the riverbank, looking for a bridge, would take too long. We wasted precious moments making our decision, but in the end, I sided with her. I did so because I was convinced that we'd be spending the night in the woods otherwise. I was completely irrational at this point, a state surely driven by our situation. Looking back at those moments at the riverside, I find myself unable to comprehend now what might've gone through my mind. YES, WE JUMPED IN THE RIVER AND SWAM ACROSS. It was about six feet deep, and thirty feet across (editor's note: this was the fifth, and biggest mistake. NEVER get wet when you're lost in the woods. Warmth is critical if you are to survive a night in the woods.).

On the other side of the river, we crossed more swamp, pushed through shrubs, and then started up a fairly steep hill. It was getting extremely dark, and we were barely making any progress, as we stopped at every step to check for solid ground one step ahead. We got a ways up the hill, but decided to head back down to the river due to darkness - the plan was to follow the river to the road at that point. We stumbled down the hill, falling into small holes, and surviving many close calls (editor's note: here we observe the sixth mistake. When it gets too dark to see, stay put!). The close calls would catch up with us, as things took a fairly serious turn for the worse.

We were progressing slowly, being quite careful. I lead, with JP close behind, so that we wouldn't lose each other. One instant, we were making some progress, the next, I was taking a step onto thin air, next to a large boulder. I fell immediately, totally unaware of the void on the far side of the boulder, and I landed sitting on the backs of my legs. My mind raced, trying to determine whether my body was injured. I could feel soft moss underneath me, and the only pain I could feel came from the back of my right calf. Fortunately, it turned out to be a sort of charly horse, and it went away quickly. I stood back up, uninjured, to find the boulder towering over my head, with JP on top looking down.

I am infinitely grateful that I didn't injure myself falling off that rock. There might've been more boulders, a fallen tree or shrubs. The fall might've been eighty feet instead of eight. I could've easily died, or at least gotten badly injured. We were far from any path, and I might've bled to death right there. Instead, I fell eight feet onto a bed of soft moss, and I was completely fine. So, we kept going :)

Five minutes later, we found a smallish boulder sunk into the ground. We sat down on it for a minute, and discussed our situation. We decided that it was too dangerous to continue, and so we layed down on the rock, huddling for warmth.

At eleven, we called 911. The call taker wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer, and it took fifteen minutes of cell phone power to convey to her that we were not at Martinique Beach. After twenty-five minutes, she'd finally located the trail complex we'd been hiking. I don't believe she ever got a good idea of where we actually were. She dispatched an RCMP officer, then told me to turn my cell off - she'd call me back in twenty-five minutes.

An hour after turning my cell back on, I called 911 again. The woman told me to wait for a call from the RCMP officer. Fifteen minutes later, he called. He'd found the my car and was parked beside it. He tried putting his siren on, but we couldn't hear it. I asked him to drive down the road about eight kilometers, and try blaring his siren there. We hung up, and I turned my phone off, believing that he was going to do that.

An hour later, we'd still heard nothing. We were getting cold, and we got up to move around and warm up. JP held out hope that we'd be found during the night, but I believed that to be impossible, given that we were so far off any trail.

We didn't make contact with anyone until about four-thirty in the morning. We passed the time by chatting about how we'd got ourselves into the situation, about all the crazy things that had happened so far, about what the RCMP officer was doing and why we didn't hear his siren, and about what we were going to do come morning. We tried to figure out the direction to move in, relative to the sunrise.

As the night wore on, we got colder and colder. I zipped up my wet sweatshirt-like jacket around both of us and we lay on the rock, shivering. I had shorts on, and my legs were paining from the many cuts I'd gotten pushing through the dense forests.

It began to get noticably lighter around four. We pointed out to each other each new object we were able to distinguish in the darkness. We were determined not to move until it was safe to do so.

I called 911 again, and they told us to stay put. They told me I'd get a call from the leader of the rescue team. Paying close attention to our instructions, we started walking. We wanted to get to the top of the hill to get a look at things. Fifteen minutes later, the rescue leader called. He said teams were being dispatched to the area, and to call him if we heard a whistle in the next two hours.

At the top of the hill, we could see nothing but fog and trees. Despite this, we headed down the hill over very rough terrain. We had to climb over fallen trees, crawl over boulders and push our way though thick shrubs. At the bottom of the hill, we entered a flat area, and got our first taste of possible rescue. A car could be heard in the distance! It didn't sound too close, but it was a direction to go in. We walked for about forty minutes, before hearing our second car. This time, the sound came from directly behind us. It sounded closer, so we decided to turn around and go in that direction. We did not encounter the hill again, so clearly our paths weren't straight. The third car sound again came from directly behind.

At this point, we were getting very irritated, especially JP. We were colder than ever, courtesy of the cold water that rained down upon us as we pushed through the trees (we later found that it had gone down to 7 degrees overnight). We were tired and thirsty, and we were moving in circles. The ground was swampy, and our shoes filled with water with every step. Whenever we stopped for a break, the mosquitos swarmed around us. The cuts on my legs were agonizing, as they got whipped and re-cut. Something had to be done. So, instead of attempting to walk in a straight line, I began picking trees, several at a time, forming a straight line ahead of us. We would get to the first tree, then pick a new tree further in the distance to maintain the line.

We then heard a car that seemed very close. We walked about 100 feet toward the sound, then waited for the next car to come. It was closer, and again, we walked 100 feet and waited. After doing this four or five times, I saw a clearing! We hoped it was grass next to the highway, but it was almost as good. It was the train tracks that parallel the highway! We were excited to say the least! We jumped up and down, and hugged each other. We turned left, and proceeded down the tracks, shivering and happy.

Ten minutes into our walk, we came to a sign warning that the path was obstructed ahead, so we turned around. By now, the cold was really getting to us, as we were no longer sheltered from the wind by the forest. We didn't care much about turning around - we were too happy about making it out of the woods.

I decided to call the leader of the rescue team, and he told me that there was a jeep patrolling the railroad tracks, and that we'd probably see it soon. At that point, my phone finally ran out of batteries - what would we have done without it?! Not a minute after the call, the jeep came around the far corner, moving agonizingly slowly toward us.

Four local members of the rescue team greeted us and joked about whether we could use a lift. They put us in the back seat, gave us chocolate bars, water and blankets to warm us up. I'm experiencing a rush of excitement now, as I relive those moments. There were times in the swamp that I thought we might not make it out, after getting turned completely around twice. We were both cold and discouraged for several hours before making it out. The jeep turned around, and we headed back to the parking lot around seven-thirty.

I shivered the entire time in the jeep. The ride was slow, as the tracks weren't meant for vehicles - we never went faster than 20 km/h. It didn't help that perhaps the oldest member of the rescue team was behind the wheel. It was agonizing. We apologized to the men in the jeep, but they would not let us in any way blame ourselves. They told us that it happens, and that many people get lost in the same area as we did. In fact, they generally go out on a rescue twice a week.

On the way back to the parking lot, we passed two more teams of four, on foot. They told us that the chopper hadn't yet taken off, due to fog. THE CHOPPER! The idea of a helicopter looking for us seemed ridiculous. It sort of drove home just our serious our predicament was. They gave us water and chocolate bars to rehydrate/re-energize us.

Back at the parking lot, the site of my car was beautiful. They wanted to drive us down to the search headquarters, but I convinced them to let me drive my car there. I finally got out of my wet sweatshirt and put my raincoat on instead. As we drove to the headquarters, we relished the feeling of being safe inside the car. This was also our first chance to talk about what had happened.

At the rescue headquarters (a bus, with generators and satellite dishes), an RCMP officer was waiting. He asked us a couple of questions, such as how we'd gotten lost, as well as for personal information.

Also on the bus was the rescue coordinator, his assistant, a college student working a laptop computer attached to a printer and a satellite dish, and two older ladies whose job it was to prepare food. They made us oatmeal (it was delicious, the first time I've said that about plain oatmeal), chicken soup and hot chocolate. Only after we'd finished our meals would the rescue people question us for future reference.

They asked how we'd gotten lost, and where we'd gotten lost. We looked at a map, and it turned out that the path we'd taken after finding the crossroads wasn't marked - it was not the path we meant to take. We realized that the path we had taken simply was a dead end path, ending at a marshy, watery area, which explains why we lost it. As suspected, we never crossed the real river, but rather a small stream in a marshy area leading to the river. We'd walked about two kilometres through dense forest and marsh. They offered us a copy of the map, but instead I managed to obtain a copy with a cross hairs marking our position, labeled "persons found."

We said our thank-yous and goodbyes, and were on our way. We joked about going back to the parking lot for another hike. Instead, we went home and completely crashed, exhausted. JP escaped with relatively minor injuries, but my legs were severely scratched and cut, and are still healing almost a month later.

I bought a GPS receiver the next day.

1480 - The Darker Side of Crystal Crescent

2007-06-10T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm not even sure whether this is week 1480... it might be 1481. That's what I get for deciding to do these things irregularly. The past week has been adventurous, to say the least, so here I am writing about it!

Last week I finally bought a car. I'd taken a day to go look at used cars (I picked the hottest, sunniest day we've had in a LONG time), and I became quickly disgusted by the dishonest, greasy salesmen, and the overpriced, problem-prone cars. I made my last stop of the day the Volkswagen dealership, not really expecting much. I looked at their used cars, and found Jettas that were four years old, with no warranty left, for $14,000. I also saw a beautiful Audi A4 - I wanted it the instant I saw it. Unfortunately it had 120,000 kms on it, and it still cost $23,000.

I went over to take a look at the new cars, and I decided to take the City Jetta out for a spin. It wasn't as powerful a car as I wanted, but I was blown away by the quality of the car. It rode nicely, and everything looked great inside. It immediately supplanted the now cheap and ugly Pontiac G5 as my new car of choice. I finished the test drive and left the lot, determined to make a decision quickly.

That night, I decided to go with the City Jetta, if I could get what I perceived to be a "good deal." The next day, I went back to the dealership, only to find the salesman who'd helped me the previous day sick. I talked numbers with another salesman, and finally nailed down a fairly firm price. Then, I left to go over to the Dartmouth dealership to compare prices.

In Dartmouth, most of the cars had side airbags, whereas the ones in Halifax hadn't. I was able to get them to match Halifax's price including the side airbags, and so I signed off! I was nervous and excited - nervous because I couldn't help but feel like I was being ripped off, but more because it was a big step in my life. I was excited because I knew I liked the car, and I was looking forward to driving it. We got through all the paperwork, and I headed home.

The next day, I arranged insurance, then went to pick the car up after work, with my parents. We did some more paper work (financing), then went over literally every feature of the car (including every button in the dash), and finally I was allowed to drive away.

Dad and I stopped at home, where Mum was waiting for us to return (she'd brought the other car back home). They took pictures of me and the car... they kept saying "wow - your very first car!" I felt like I was sixteen years old. Glad to have gotten through the process, I took the car out for a bit of test driving before heading home.

I've gotten better at driving it the past couple of weeks - I can handle fairly steep inclines now. Still, the car shakes a lot when I change gears because I don't have it quite right. It's a good exercise for me to drive it around town in difficult situations, because it's embarassing to stall it.

Last Thursday, I went on my first date since JW and I broke up. It was a good first date, as far as they go. We chatted over coffees for a while, then went for a walk on the boardwalk, then went to Eastside Mario's for dinner. I had a spicy sausage pasta, that tasted the same as a spicy bowtie pasta I'd had my last time there.

The following Sunday, I went golfing with TA at Fox Hollow. The course was difficult, and my driving wasn't good. I narrowly escaped several disasters, often driving the ball so far off line as to avoid the rough and wind up in the next fairway over. I settled down and strung together several excellent holes - it was the first time this year I've felt good about my game. Later in the round, I experienced a bit of fatigue, and I got sloppy on a few shots. I paid dearly for them, nearly ruining the round in the process. In the end, I managed a pretty good score, and I came away happy.

Once home, I called JP and we went out on our second date (both my parents were away that night, so I had no dinner to go to). We walked from her place to the Athens, where we both had Souvlaki (I think). It was delicious - mine came with lamb, a pita, rice and a greek salad, with some sort of dipping sauce that I can't even come close to spelling (tah-zee-kee). Afterward, we tried to go for a coffee at Starbucks, but it was a full house, so we went back to her place for a little while. We watched a U2 concert DVD - she has a great TV and great speakers (and no neighbour worries, I guess), so it was pretty good.

Tuesday, we hung out for the third time, this time deciding to go to Crystal Crescent beach for a hike. It had rained a bit, and we fully expected that we'd get there, take a quick look, then leave. By the time we arrived, the rain had stopped, and it was fairly dry, but very foggy.

We walked along the trails, quite far out, until we came to what we think was Pennant Point - the furthest part of the trail system, according to the map. The waves were amazing - perhaps as big as they'd been at Lawerencetown beach because of a hurricane last fall. They crashed into the rocks and shook the ground. We stopped for a few minutes to watch them, then continued on along a shotty path, that became shottier with each step. We eventually pushed our way through some forest, and came to an open, swampy field. We decided that we'd better get back to the trail that goes around the entire outer perimeter of the penninsula, but we were unable to find it. Instead, we continued along the coast, as the conditions continued to deteriorate.

Again, we pushed through the woods to get a look at the interior. We thought we could hear water on both sides of us, and I'm quite sure at this point we did nearly a complete circle, before returning to the shore again. Now, we were determined to stick to the shore the rest of the way, to avoid getting lost.

The conditions along the shore got worse quickly. We found ourselves walking over much smaller, much slipperier rocks, and our pace slowed greatly. It was beginning to get dark, and we had no idea where we were. Finally, we decided to go up the bank to see what we could see. Luckily, we found a path. Going up the bank was the first decision that we made that saved us from spending the night, lost.

On the newfound path, we ran through the relative darkness, slipping on rocks and roots. At any time, one of us might've twisted an ankle, or poked an eye out on an unseen tree limb. We eventually came to a fork in the path. As JP started to take the left fork, I saw a sign. I ran over to take a look. It said, "short way back to parking lot and C.C. beach!" Spotting the makeshift sign, and deciding to check it, was the second thing that saved us from a night in the woods, as we would not have made it going the long way.

We continued to run, hopping over fallen trees and slipping in the mud. We came out of the forest and into a clearing, which gave us some more light. Still, it was so dark, I found it difficult to follow the path. A half hour later, we came to a gravel path with a large boulder at the intersection of three paths. I thought I recognized it, which gave us a boost. We followed one of the paths, and we're able to make it back to the boardwalk by the second beach! We were overjoyed, and we took a moment to celebrate - both of us really believed for a time that we were not going to find our way out.

We walked through the near pitch black to the parking lot, then out to the road, where I'd parked, finally arriving at 9:40pm on a foggy night. We smelled like sweat and trees - like we'd lived in the woods for months. We proceeded to drive to a Subway for supper, where a large crowd was driven away by our odor :)

We ate our subs at JP's place, after which I headed home. In the end, it makes for a good story, and we've laughed about it a lot since. But at the time, it was a very serious situation, and we really we lucky to get out. Had we been just ten minutes later getting out, we'd have been feeling our way along pitch black forest paths - definitely not my favourite thing to do.

We made a pact that night that we'd never go hiking again without a GPS. If we'd had one, we'd never have gotten into the mess we did.

On Wednesday I went to yoga as usual. The previous week was a good class, but this week casted doubts on whether I'd be able to attend classes long-term. The instructor often tells us about her personal life, and how she uses yoga to deal with it. She talked about breathing in negative energy and bad feelings, and breathing out peace and love. She talked about sharing the peace and love with other people. She had us meditate for a few minutes, where we were supposed to think of someone we disliked, and to breathe in the things we disliked about them, and breathe out compassion and understanding for them.

The whole thing was a little too wishy-washy for me, and I've noticed that as I've gotten more into it, the wishy-washy bits of yoga are becoming more prevalent. I like the physical part of yoga - the stretches, the balancing - working on core muscles. I always feel good physically when I leave. However, I'm not as committed as I need to be to it. I don't live it, like you're *supposed* to - it's not a way of life for me.

I've been thinking for a while that I'll take the summer term (July & August) off to re-evaluate what I need to be doing. AD and TA want to start a training gym at AD's house, which I think would be exciting, at least for a little while. The idea is that we're training to eventually be fit enough to take a real class in, for example, martial arts. This is also one of the long term goals I've been hoping yoga will help me achieve.

Wednesday at work, B-AC quit. It was sudden, but not unexpected. He quit for many good reasons, but one of the major reasons B-PM, an arrogant, demeaning, belittling IT manager. Word around the office is that he might not be the last, if B-PM keeps up his current behaviour. It's definitely going to be an interesting summer!

Thursday after work, AN, B-CC B-AC and I met at Grandview for a round of golf. More importantly, we discussed the reasoning for B-AC quitting, and the state of things at work in general. It was a sort of going away party, despite the fact that we've decided to keep playing together every week, if we can.

Our rounds were pretty good, given that we were eaten alive by flies. It was the worst I've ever seen it - putting was particularly difficult, given that at any one time you could feel several flies walking along your body. It's a nice course, and we would've gone back, except that they decided to raise the price of nine holes from $21 to $33 THAT VERY DAY. Thanks for telling us, guys.

On Friday, AD, RD, AB, AN, TA, JP (RD's sister, not the one I've been dating), A? and I went to Yuk Yuk's to take in some stand up comedy. It was only the second time I've ever done that, and I expected the show to be mediocre. I was horrified to find that our seats were in the FRONT row. We sat about three feet from the comedian's stool.

The show started, and the host immediately began picking on us. He asked me if I was having a good time, but I guess I wasn't very convincing when I said "yes." He made asked my name, then made a joke about me being straight faced like one of those "computer guys." He then asked me what I really did for a living, and I said "you got it, man." That line got one of the biggest laughs of the night :) He then picked on TA about being Italian, and then asked both of us if JP and her friend were our dates. When he found they weren't, he asked us what was wrong with us and how we should be all over the "two beautiful ladies."

There were three actual acts, in addition to the host's, and they were all pretty good. Two of them avoided interacting with the crowd, but the last one again interacted with all eight of us. He particularly got AD for looking relaxed and tired, as if he were on drugs. Then, he ended the act by literally wetting himself - we're still not sure whether it was part of the act or not! It seemed very sudden - it happened mid-joke, and it didn't get much of a laugh. Even out in the corridor, after the show, he maintained that it had been an accident! It was an interesting evening, and it was nice to do something different for a change.

On Saturday I went out with JP for the fourth time. We were considering going to Keji, but the bug report was awful, and neither of us wanted to put ourselves through that. Instead, we went to the Keji Seaside Adjunct, an inviting name that descibes a part of Keji along the ocean that is not attached to the rest of the park. It supposedly had a good hiking trail.

We left around noon, not arriving at the park until about four. We tried to stop in Bridgewater for something to eat, but we wound up eating in Lunenburg. There, we asked directions to the park, but the waitress didn't know where it was, so she called out a man who worked in the kitchen to help us. He insisted that the seaside adjunct didn't exist, and that Keji was inland. He said that there was no saltwater at Keji, unless something had happened overnight or there was some sort of tidal wave. I insisted that it did exist, but he refused to listen, and eventually I gave up. Then he spent five minutes telling us about other places we could go, as we tried desperately to get him to leave. He even said the water was so cold, that we'd freeze by the time we got up to "here" (he indicated "where" by touching JP's leg).

We eventually escaped the restaurant, and headed south, toward where the park was supposed to be. We looked at a map the restaurant had given us, and of course, the seaside adjunct was clearly marked :) It took us about 25 minutes to get there, and we began our hike.

It was a nice hike, but it really wasn't worth the drive. The path is gravel and boardwalk, so it's definitely good for the casual hiker, and it's quite long - it took nearly two hours to complete it. There are some nice rocks to sit on near the furthest points of the hike, though it was cold, windy and foggy that far out. The waves were pretty good, but nothing like Crystal Crescent a few days before. There were also stations equipped with binoculars, though we couldn't quite figure out what one might use them for. We warmed up on the way back inland, and got to the car, fairly disappointed.

It was still fairly early, so we decided to stop by a beach we'd seen on the way to Keji. I'm not sure of the name, but it was a beautiful beach, and it was far enough inland as to escape the fog. It's quite long, quite wide, and very sandy. It reminded me a lot of a smaller, less-private Martinique. We tested the waters, but couldn't get beyond ankle-deep (it was still warmer than I'd been expecting). Then, we laid on the beach in the sun, and it was actually warm enough not to freeze.

We eventually got up, cleaned the sand off of us, and went to a restaurant one end of the beach. It was called the Quarterdeck, and it was extremely nice, and quite pricey. It sat very close to the water, so that you could clearly hear the waves. The seafood was amazing. JP got a caesar salad with shrimp, lobster and huge scallops on it. I got the far less-impressive seafood crepes, but they were still delicious. We split some coconut shrimp to start. They also served jalapeno scones, which surprised me given the rather aged clientelle.

After the restaurant, we listened to music for the hour and a half ride back home.

So yes, it's been a fun couple of weeks! I really feel like summer is here now, and I'm looking forward to hopefully taking part in some more summertime activities.

I’m currently listening to: nothing - I guess I forgot to turn the music on!

Movies watched since last entry: none :(

1476 - For the World is Hollow, and I Have Touched the Sky

2007-05-16T17:20:00.000-07:00

As you (and I'm not sure I'm addressing anyone other than myself) might have noticed, I didn't write a 1475 log entry. That's because JW and I have ended our relationship. It happened Tuesday May 8th, 2007. It's an ending, but also a beginning. I'm excited by the prospects of beginning anew, relationship-wise (though my limited efforts to date have yielded nothing), but also sad that I'm not able to see JW. We've decided to be friends down the road; unfortunately any emotional ties must first be broken.

There isn't much to write about, because I found that I had a terrible time getting myself motivated to do almost anything right after the break-up. I'm getting better, but I've still not read anything (and I mean anything); I haven't watched any TV or movies (save golf and a few episodes of The Simpsons); I haven't gone out to do anything other than yoga; I haven't eaten out, save wings; I haven't played any video games or downloaded anything off of the Internet. Pretty much the only thing I've done is look for a car.

Buying a car is a big decision, especially in this environmental era. I've been looking forward my entire life to one day having my own car. I could've gotten one years ago, but I've been biding my time, waiting until I could afford something with a bit of pep - something that will make driving a pleasure. Now that I've gotten there (here), I find myself completely determined to get a fuel-efficient, low-pollution car. Really, I'm trying to find both.

I've looked at the Honda Civic, the Toyota Corolla, the Nissan Sentra, the Hyundai Elantra, the Hyundai Tiburon, the Pontiac G5 and the Ford Focus. The Toyota Corolla is the greenest of the bunch, but also the least exciting. Its looks are bland and uninspired - I've read that no one steals them, because no one can see them. They have poor performance. The Hyundai Tiburon is the only real sports car in the bunch, but I simply can't fit in it - the roof is too low. It's also the most expensive, and the least green. The Nissan Sentra and Honda Civic are both nicer-looking, slightly more-powerful, slightly less green, and slightly more expensive versions of the Corolla. In the end, they are common cars that get you from A to B, but they leave little room for personality. You're one of the masses if you buy them.

The Ford Focus is cheaper than most, but also smaller and less powerful. It's also less green. The Hyundai Elantra is worse in all ways than the Sentra or Civic, so I quickly crossed it off my list. It's also very tight - I barely fit, and it wasn't comfortable.

The last car I saw was the Pontiac G5. I was immediately impressed. It's not Japanese, so it won't hold it's value well. That's the only bad news. It's mileage is not far from that of the Corolla. It's the cheapest car of the lot, but also the most powerful. It's fairly roomy, with a huge trunk. It has a sporty look to it - not as bland as the others - not beautiful, but not too bad. Even better, the top of the line model, which comes with air conditioning, ABS brakes, a good sound system, audio controls on the steering wheel, a sports package, and more power (in fact, power close to that of the Tiburon), is no more expensive than the entry level Corolla I looked at. This is in large part due to the fact that my father knows one of the salesmen, but the car really is quite cheap. They also have a student discount. It's four thousand dollars cheaper than the Civic, for MUCH more car. So, at the moment, it's the frontrunner if I am to go new.

If I'm to go used, it'll likely be my Aunt's four year old Saturn Ion. It's comparable to a Civic or Corolla. I could get it for about eight thousand. It would be a little over a third the cost of the G5, but it will undoubtedly cost more to maintain. Still, a used car will definitely be cheaper. However, I would take no pride in driving it. I feel like I'm in my prime driving years - soon (I hope), I will have a family, and I'll probably be forced to buy a large car or van. I'll have more bills - I might have to go used at that time. Now might be the right time to spend a bit of money on myself for the sake of happiness. The problem is, I'm stuck with the decision I make for five years, if I buy. Leasing is another option, but I've worked it out, and I come out worse off at the end.

So, yeah, there's not much else to write about - I haven't really done anything else. Work is it's usual variable self. I've worked a bit of overtime, but not too much.

The only thing left to talk about is the break-up. The Friday before the break-up was my first indication that things were headed for another downward turn. I'd been riding high, happy and satisfied with the relationship for several weeks, following another negative period. Perhaps I was riding too high, as I neglected to properly plan the week with JW. I have a tendancy to plan events that must occur on certain days before events that can occur on any day, and I foolishly planned our hang-out day for Friday, not realizing that she might be busy (or tired). We argued on the phone about seeing each other - I was defensive at first because I was often bothered by the fact that she never liked to plan things in advance. I felt "I told you so"-ish - this is what happens when you don't plan. In the end, I felt bad about it, because I realized that I had "dictated terms" to her that week. We didn't hang out on Friday - JW went to see her parents.

On Saturday, we saw each other in the afternoon, to get groceries and eat dinner at the Chinese place on Quinpool. Unbeknownst to us, it would be our last "happy" day together. After dinner, we want back to JW's place and waited for her friend, BE to come over. We had a nice hug and kiss before I left, and things seemed good.

Sunday, I headed over to her place after lunch. The say started off well, with JW telling me about all the fun she'd had at an art/music event the prior evening. Then, I told her about my evening - five of us drinking at TA's, acting like total children - it's something I'd rather forget. Discussing my evening got us talking about our relationship and it very quickly changed the mood of the afternoon. I still feel guilty about bringing it up, and I question whether bringing it up served any constructive purpose at all. I feel guilty that I messed up what turned out to be our last chance to have a nice day together - something that I most likely never will have a chance to rectify. It wasn't a good last day.

We tried to watch The Departed, but it stressed JW out and she didn't feel well (I think she was nervous about us as well). I was stressed out by the conversation we'd had. After an awkward few minutes of cuddling, I left for dinner at my parents'.

It was quite late on Monday by the time I talked to JW. I got from her tone that things were not good, and I feared an end to our relationship the next day. She said she potentially had something to do at the school Thursday evening, which I took as further evidence to support my case. I also found out that she planned on going away to her cottage for the long weekend with her parents, as camp had been cancelled (we were going to go to camp together). This disappointed me further because I felt like I'd been robbed of an exiting event I was very much looking forward to, only to be told that I wouldn't be seeing JW at all instead - quite a swing.

All of this led me to prepare for the worst Tuesday evening. JW got home early, and I went over early, but I didn't take that to mean anything. I was happy I was going to be able to see her for more than a couple of hours. I hadn't slept at her place in a week, so I was optimistically excited as I arrived.

The second clue I didn't get came in the form of a chat in the living room. JW talked about her day, as did I, and things seemed normal enough. Then she dropped the bomb, "I think we need to stop seeing each other for a while." I didn't react strongly - I'd sort of expected it, I was sort of in shock, and I was waiting to hear what she meant by "for a while." "For a while" means that we're going to be dating other people, and if somehow our paths cross again down the road, so be it. Neither of us think it terribly likely, but the possibility exists.

Following the "bomb," I think I went deeper into shock, as we calmly sat and listed reasons why it was a good idea (to make us feel better about it, I guess). I took the chance to say everything I hadn't said, and it turned out that many of the things that bothered me also bothered her. She said that the events of Saturday evening hadn't precipitated the break-up, but I found it hard to believe they hadn't played a role, and so I felt directly responsible for causing the break-up (though I realize that it would've happened anyway).

We'd both been on the fence about breaking up with one another for quite some time. A month earlier, I'd seriously considered it, but at that time, I decided to reward myself with the summer before making the call. I felt that the summer, with JW off work, would've been good for really taking a close look at our relationship. With weddings to go to, a potential long trip and our first experiences together as a couple during the summer months, I felt that it would aid significantly in making a decision. We'd done none of these things before, and they are things that real couples do. I also eagerly looked forward to celebrating her birthday, as we were between relationships for it last year.

So, it's easy to see that I was initially disappointed by JW's timing. I still am. I felt like I'd struggled through the winter months, only to have my summer robbed of me, just as it approached. However, I came to realize that there were advantages to the timing. It's spring - so I'm naturally happy that summer is approaching (though less happy than usual). The leaves are just coming out, the days are very long, and the days after the break-up were the first hot ones of the year. Breaking up in the fall would've been much worse - with dark evenings and winter approaching.

After our long chat, I solemnly packed my things up in my bag. I looked at my clothes in the bag - they reminded me of the excitement I'd felt for spending the night at JW's. I packed up my pillow and several books I'd leant her. Then, I took a look at her place - the bathroom, the stairs, the living room and her room. I very much wanted not to forget it. I was sad I wouldn't be again smelling the piss in the stairwell or her cat's litter box. I was sad I wouldn't again be taking a shower in her God-forsaken old-fashioned tub. I was sad I wouldn't again be seeing her messy room. Maybe I will see these things again, but it won't be for a very long time (an ex-boyfriend coming over his ex-girlfriend's house isn't a good idea, for the first little while). I took time to hold her nassak, which I'd hated then later come to love - it defined her. I looked at her shoes, the old, beaten-up ones she wouldn't stop wearing. I took a couple of pictures and asked her to send them to me.

Finally, I decided enough was enough, and I headed down the stairs. She followed me down, and we hugged and kissed one last time in her entryway. Emotions finally ran high - we hugged for quite a while. Then, I turned and went outside, a complete mess, and took my bike down to the sidewalk. I turned around one last time, to see her peering through the door - it was absolutely terrible.

I managed to get home on the bike, but just barely. The evening was very bad - I hardly slept.

The following morning was just as bad. I was angry, not at her, but at the fact that it was over. I was angry I couldn't just go over and give her a hug. I repeatedly thought about our final moments, all the things we had planned, and her. Everything reminded me of her - I simply couldn't escape - yogurt, a hair found in the washroom, my copies of the Coast on the floor, my shampoo, songs on my MP3 player, pictures and drawings in my room, the outdoors (in particular, trees - why do I live in the city of trees? :)).

Over the next week and a half, the anger went away, and only occasional sadness now remains. I've done a lot of analyzing, and I realize new things about our relationship every day. It's much clearer now than it ever was while it was going on. I believe we've done the right thing. I feel no negative feelings toward JW. She seems to think that she's somehow "damaged" me, but I don't think that's the case at all.

I made a list of the things that had bothered me about her, and it was quite extensive, though very few were major issues. I feel free of the uncertainty these issues caused - something I've dealt with for months. I'm excited by the prospect of building a new relationship with someone else (mostly because change is sometimes exciting, not because I know it will be better - I really won't know that until the time comes).

I've spent a few days scanning the dating sites. I'm finding that there is a serious lack of quality out there. JW is a wonderful person, and I find that comparing her to the "candidates" online leaves me disappointed. Physically, I really, really liked her, so I'm initially looking for women of a similar physical build. This is difficult, because there aren't that many women out there as tall as she (I've only come across a handful).

Well, to come to yet another end, I'm thankful for the time I got to spend with JW. I think we could've built a long-term relationship together, had we really worked at it, but that probably wouldn't have been in our best interest. We're still fairly young - we have time to spare to look for that "perfect" match - there's no need to settle. This is of course assuming that this "perfect" match exists :) Still, I feel old, and I feel like I should be having children now - I believe I am ready. I'm discouraged by the fact that it will take me at least a year to build another serious relationship, and in all likelihood, it will be longer than that.

OK, what else has happened recently? Well, my first golf round at Airlane was a disaster. My swing was all out of whack - I constantly pulled the ball way left - and I mean WAY left. I think I yelled "fore" five times! I wound up tying my worst score of all time on the course. Fortunately, my next round at Indian Lake was much better. I found a flaw in my swing, that, once corrected, yielded straighter shots. I made a few costly errors, but wound up with an acceptable score. I made a birdie each of my first two rounds!

I don't know when my next entry will be - I've decided I'm going to move to a more ad-lib approach. Stay tuned for further adventures in the life of LW.

Oh, by the way, there is meaning to the title of this entry. It's the title of an old Star Trek episode, where a civilization is discovered living inside a hollow asteroid. "The creators," who built the asteroid, made the inner surface of the outer shell of the asteroid look like a sky, complete with moving sun. They also created a religion for the people to follow, and one of the rules is that they're not allowed to climb the mountains (or do anything else that might allow them to discover their situation).

Well, an old man does climb a mountain, and when he quite literally touches the sky, he discovers the true nature of his world. He is killed by the creators for his disobedience, but the discovery leads to his people learning a great deal about themselves, just as I have done over the past fifteen months.

I’m currently listening to: Someone Great, from Sound of Silver by LCD Soundsystem. This song is about breaking up, and though the lyrics are cheesy, I very much identify with what is said. It ends with, "when someone great is gone...." I think it will be my theme song for breaking up with JW (just like Orbital's Transient (from The Blue Album) is the theme for my grandfather's death).

Movies watched since last entry: none.

1474 - Who Want's a Ticket?

2007-04-29T09:20:00.000-07:00

I've been late writing my entries the last two weeks, but this time it seems that the gods (in this case, the public school system) have granted me some extra free time. I should be out golfing, or at least going to the driving range, but it's cold and wet out, after a week of sun and warm.

The work week was probably one of the busiest and most frantic I've had at my current job. Monday, I dealt with the aftermath of the data import I'd performed over the weekend. I'd received a list of "problems" discovered via the import (none were my fault), so I worked at correcting them. I didn't get a lot done, because I'd been bitten by the perfectionist bug. I spent part of the day unnecessarily reorganizing things that didn't need reorganizing, for my own pleasure.

I got off work at five and headed straight for yoga. It was a level 1/2 class that I was taking as a make up for my weeks in Seattle. It was packed - I think the instructor avoided moves requiring us to raise our arms out at our sides, because we wouldn't have been able to. The students in the class *looked* more advanced. They sat with better posture; they appeared to be practising yoga moves before the class started. They looked like the wishy-washy sort of folk that you might expect at a yoga class. I was one of only three men in a class of roughly twenty.

The class started with a series of quick, simple moves. I had trouble keeping up, especially where you're supposed to be breathing at specific times, while moving into and out of certain positions. Fortunately, the quick move portion ended quickly, and we moved into a series of positions that we held for quite some time. The teacher gave the class the opportunity to request positions, and some did, using names I'd not heard before. The positions were difficult, but I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge they presented. I imagined myself being really good at them, and that made me happy.

It was a warm day, and I left the class tired and soaked in sweat. I got on my bike and headed home, where I frittered away the rest of my time on the net, and reading magazines and books.

Tuesday, I worked until six, then headed home. TA came over around seven, and we watched Kenny Vs Spenny and Jeopardy. After that, we went to Lion's Head for wings. The place was packed when we arrived around quarter past eight. We got our wings, had a drink or two, and were on our way. I headed over to JW's to spent the fleeting moments of the evening with her.

Wednesday, I again worked until six, after which I went to my regular yoga class. We had a substitute again, and again the stretches were very helpful. My back went from being very sore to feeling fine, and it hasn't been sore since. It was a fun class, because we only had six students, a far cry from the class on Monday. It was the last class of the "term," so I'm not sure if I'll see any of my fellow beginner students again.

Wednesday was a day filled with exercise. I walked/biked to work, went for a half hour walk at lunch, biked to yoga after work, did the yoga, biked to pool, and finally biked home. Pool was... interesting. TA, AD and one of AD's friends showed up late, but they brought me a double cheeseburger. TA was drunk, but AD was drunker. Neither were driving, and it wasn't long before TA and I had two beers a piece, and AD had a quadruple scotch. The pool was good, except for the constant interruptions by AD. He made an ass of himself, and I'm sure lots of people at the pool hall would've kicked the shit out of him had they not been in public.

Thursday after work, I got a call from AN. Apparently the Seattle folks needed another import run. I worked until eight, doing what I could before heading over to JW's. I had no intention of sacrificing my evening on such short (no) notice.

Friday morning, I discovered that the import had failed, so I started it again. I learned that I'd been asked to start the import the previous night, only to give the Seattle people more time they didn't need to do their part. For some reason, the tool ran slowly, and by the end of the day, it wasn't done. I went over to AN's to continue the import, while he worked on upgrades for the auction software we were going to be using the next day. The import didn't finish until three in the morning, so needless to say, I'm taking some time off ASAP.

We did watch Rocky Balboa toward the end of the import. It wasn't great, but it was entertaining. It's more about following your heart and positive thinking than anything else - Rocky loses a close fight in the end, but that isn't important to him because he so much enjoyed the chance to fight again. The fight also helped cure him of his fixation with the past.

I slept in Saturday, naturally. In doing so, I slept through both of the remaining two yoga classes I might have attended to make up for the second class I missed in Seattle. I decided instead to go out in search of a haircut, or rather hair trim. I tried to go to the mall, where I'd last gone in December, but the salon was full of women and more were waiting. Another hair place downstairs was less crowded, but they had no appointments available. The trip to the mall wasn't a waste, though - I picked up a large wok (larger than the one I'd bought the previous week) for only $13.

On the way back from the mall, I happened to see the sign for Gunther's hair salon. TA, PL, sometimes GK and I used to carpool by the place every day, and we used to find the name "Gunther" funny for some reason. I went around the block and parked, then went into the tiny room that is Gunther's Hair Salon. Gunther is an older, eastern-European man. His wife/assistant/employee was busy doing someone else's hair, so he offered to do mine. I told him very specifically that I wanted mine left long - I just wanted a little trim on the back. He said he thought it could stand to be thinned out a little.

The cut itself went seemingly well. He didn't wet down my hair, so I wasn't really able to tell just how much he was cutting, but it didn't look like much. He trimmed the back and the sides a lot, but it wasn't until I got home to survey the damage that I found out just how much he'd cut. I like the back being nice and short, but the short sides give me a bit of a mushroom head, and I now find it to look a bit feminine at times (ugh).

I went to JW's right after the cut, and she was devastated. It wasn't long before I was feeling really badly about it, too, but as time passes I realize that things aren't as bad as perhaps they seemed. It's still pretty long - I've lost maybe an inch in places, and it won't take more than a couple of months to grow that back. Plus, I'll be able to grow it longer without the sides and back being so unacceptable to certain relatives. TA's party last week was a bit of a turning point as far as my view of my hair is concerned - I got lots of positive comments, and I liked it in the photos that were taken. Oh well, it'll be back soon.

After several moments of silence, JW and I went to the grocery store. Afterward, we went to Staples for a few things. AN then called, and I met him close to JW's, leaving the car at her place.

We both had our suits on, and were ready for our third run as volunteers at the local Progress Club's auction. We're responsible for working with the software program that keeps track of such auction necessities as bid sheets, winning bidders, invoicing and reporting.

Our dreams of a technically-flawless evening were crushed almost immediately. Though AN had tested the wireless signal strength of the auction's network throughout its entire space, the patron registration laptops had greater and greater difficulty staying connected as the evening wore on. We think it might have been related to the people themselves - more people means more physical objects interferring with the wireless signal. In the end, we took names, ticket numbers and phone numbers down on scraps of paper, which really looked professional. At least most people had pre-registered online - a fact that averted a disaster of biblical proportions.

The rest of the auction went smoothly, apart from the warring egos of the Progress members, and a slight lack of adherence to the agreed-upon procedures. The auction raised approximately $100,000 for local (provincial) charity - a nice take, even given the wealthy audience.

AN and I could've had a table at the auction for our efforts, but having no one in mind to fill it, we teamed with our company. They got the table, and an advertisement in the auction programme. They squandered a potentially-valuable PR opportunity by not attending, en masse. In the end, only one of our employees attended (with a friend), and another's parents attended. Our table had four people at it, six less than any other (they're tables of ten). It was both sad and embarassing. Next year, if we do the auction again, we've agreed to invite our friends to the event.

JW picked us up from the auction, thanks to an open bar and Progress folk generosity. Several hours later, we got back to JW's, having dropped AN off.

Sunday morning, I had breakfast with JW then headed home, leaving her to be alone with her mountain of work. I again took a stab at re-doing my web site, but I only succeeded in wasting another hour of my time. I played Civilization for a few minutes, then looked at cars online for a couple of hours.

I went home for dinner, but I didn't stay long. Dad was away, so Mum and I had dinner and watched a bit of golf before she drove me down to TA's. I only ate vegetables, as TA and I thought we might go out for wings. I was kind of excited by the prospect of doing something fun Sunday night - sometimes I get tired of going to my parents' EVERY Sunday. The main thing keeping me going every week is golf - I don't have cable, so I can't watch it at home.

At TA's, we watched the Trailer Park Boys movie again, played some Mario Golf, then watched some South Park. We also listened to some odd music that TA had picked up at IF and RD's party the day before. The first album was a mix of rap and Adult Swim cartoon sound clips. The second album was a mixed combination of The Beatles' White Album and Jay-Z's The Black Album, appropriately entitled, "The Grey Album." This all took place in the company of a few drinks and yet another Donnini's pizza - this time we tried a chicken, pepperoni, hot pepper and green olive pizza. It was hot and intense - almost too intense. I couldn't even taste the pepperoni, its taste dominated completely by the other ingredients (the chicken is spicy). Next time, I think I'd substitute the pepperoni for pineapple.

I missed the bus at midnight, then wound up taking a cab home. The cabby said a lot of strange things, but I forget what they were now. I find that being friendly and responsive to a cabby often breeds this type of behaviour.

Nine Inch Nails released a new album this week, which I purchased on Thursday. It was a total surprise - I'm used to waiting at least four years for a new album, but this one came after only two years. I looked up the review on Allmusic.com, and I was blown away by both the sheer length of the review, and the overwhelming support of it. It's actually quite an interesting read. I'm never quite sure what to think of new music the first listen; I was lukewarm at first. Since then, I've come to think of it as an excellent album - I'm constantly listening to it. I used to like it when this sort of thing happened more often.

I’m currently listening to: The Beginning of the End from Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails.

Movies watched this week: The Trailer Park Boys Movie, Rocky Balboa.

1473 - Young, Embarassed and Climbing

2007-04-23T16:36:00.000-07:00

Last week was a wild week, at least the Thursday through Saturday stretch. It was so wild, I was a week late finishing my previous entry. I'd decided to be a bit more casual with my writing, as I seem to have lots of free time during the week. This time, I didn't.

It was a decent work week, until Friday. I got lots done, and I wasn't interrupted much by the Seattle guys. I really focused on making life easier once these inevitable interruptions make their unheralded return.

Monday after work, I tried to finish off my taxes, but I wasn't able to log into the tax site. The "email me my password" thing didn't work. I tried dozens of usernames and passwords, but I had to give up. I was too pissed off to enter all my information again. I watched the first of what would be a string of Kenny Vs Spenny episodes, a show that has quickly become one of my favourites. It pits the bizzare, unscrupulous, and intelligent Kenny versus the paranoid, honest, and irritable Spenny. Each episode, they pick an activity at which they compete. The winner of the activity gets to choose a "humiliation" that the loser must suffer. The show is Canadian, taped on the streets of Toronto - I'm glad that we came up with such a brilliant concept! The two conflicting personalities could not be more perfect.

I cooked Monday night. I made perhaps my best stirfry to date - for the first time, I didn't overcook the meat (chicken) OR the vegetables. I put in a can of coconut milk, and it really absorbed nicely into the chicken. As always, I made it pretty spicy.

Though the cooking experience went smoothly, I was angered enough by my small wok to head to the stores in search of a larger one. I also made a list of the other things that had been bothering me. I looked for a nice, heavy blanket for my bed - ideally one that is heavy yet not particularly warm. I like the weight of lots of blankets, but I don't like being too hot (certain exceptions noted). I also looked for a large pot (for chili/chowder making); a larger cutlery tray (why are there never enough spaces for two sizes of both forks AND spoons? COME ON!); and a large, wooden cutting board (so I can cut more than one bloody carrot at a time). I am such an old man.

I returned with a cutting board, an overpriced cutlery tray, and deflated enthusiasm. Tuesday night, Dad and I went out for round two. We hit store after store, but the puny woks available did nothing but insult us. The Paderno store had one large wok, like JW's, but with handles that were extremely loose. The clerk recommended I not buy one, so I left empty-handed. At Zellers, our sixth store, I finally broke down and bought a wok. It's only slightly larger than my old one, and now I think I'll return it and keep looking. I did get a nice pot at Price Club.

Okay, I'm just sitting down to continue this entry. It's after one in the morning, and I'm running imports in the name of Seattle. I need to do something to pass the time. Anyway, enough about that - I can't be talking about the future in the present context!

Wednesday night, I went to yoga and had a great class. We had a guest instructor, and though she lacked the superior intellectual skills of our usual instructor, I liked her literally hands-on approach. She helped each person stretch beyond what was achievable alone. She physically helped you get into the proper positions - sometimes verbal instructions just aren't enough. It get's confusing when they say something like (and this has happened), "reach as high as you can, but keep your shoulders low and relaxed... now turn your shoulders into your armpits...." The stretches were amazing, and I definitely came out of there with an added bounce in my step. I needed it, too, because I wound up walking all the way home - I still beat the bus there.

I think Wednesday was AN's birthday. Thursday evening, we celebrated at his place. TA and I bought him a quart of Johnny Green, which he wasted little time in opening. AN and AB bought him some knives and some snacks; they also bought him a cake. We tried to convince AB to let us have the word "cracker" written on the cake, but she would have none of it. After all, last year, we got AD a cake with "Happy Birthday Dorris" (yes, TWO r's) written on it, and he still thinks we got a deal on a cake someone didn't want.

The evening was spent eating snacks and drinking blender drinks courtesy of AD. He now has an extensive liquor cabinet, and he seems to take great pleasure in taking orders from his guests, knowing he'll have the ingredients available to make the beverage. I'd decided I wasn't going to drink that night, sometime that morning. By go time, I'd alloted myself two Strongbows, a reasonable amount. In the end, I had two grasshoppers, two pina coladas, a Strongbow and a shot of Johnny Green. AN tried to get me to do a shot of tequila on the way out, but that's exactly what I didn't need. He poured it back into the bottle.

The five of us wound up back together again the very next night, once again at AD's. This time, we played Risk and then poker. I won the Risk game, while we listened to 103.5 and drank wine, whiskey, beer and blender drinks. I didn't have all that much, but I had enough. RD had a lot - she smashed her favourite crystal wine glass, spilled a drink on the Risk board (separate incidents), and rolled a die across the board, knocking the men all over the place. She spent the latter part of the evening passed out on the couch. We had a good time that night - everyone was in a good mood, and we laughed constantly the entire evening.

Saturday, Toni had yet another "big" party at his appartment. It's thunder was largely stolen by Friday night's activities at AD's - a night we all knew would be difficult to top. Earlier on Saturday, I re-did my taxes, this time completing the process by submitting them to the government. I'm not really convinced I got all of my tax documents this year, but I decided to go ahead and submit anyway - I'll take my chances.

Mid-afternoon, I went to JW's. It was a nice day, so we sat out on the front steps while she did the remainder of her work. Once outside the house, I noticed that the door had locked behind us - we quickly realized that we were locked out, with a laptop computer and no warm clothes. JW's roommates had just gone out, so waiting around was not an option.

The ensuing examination of the building for potential entry points proved fruitless. JW lives on the second floor of her building, so a simple (but effective) smash-the-window-and-hop-through-the-hole approach wasn't in the cards. I decided that our only hope was to get up onto the deck coming off of JW's roommates' room. It looked fairly simple - climb onto the fence surrounding the deck of the first floor unit, grab onto the bottom of the second-floor deck, and pull yourself up.

It wasn't quite that simple, for two reasons. Firstly, the step I planned on using to get from the lower deck to the upper deck was far underneath the upper deck, making it difficult to stand on while getting a grip on the upper deck. Secondly, the boards making up the fence of the upper deck were incredibly smooth - getting a good grip would be fiddicult (I was going to correct that typo, but it's kind of funny).

I got JW to come around to the back of the house to witness my death. I climbed up onto the top of the lower deck's fence. I tried to find a good place along the upper deck, but I gave up and circled around to the front, so that I would land on flat ground if I fell. I got up on the step underneath the upper deck, while holding onto the slippery boards. I collected myself, then let go with my weaker left hand and quickly reached up for the top of the railing, not really sure if I'd be able to hold my weight with only my right hand. I was able to hold it long enough to reach the top of the railing with my left hand. Once I'd got ahold of it, I knew I was in the clear. I pulled my body up, and easily hopped over the railing. Luckily, the door to the deck was open, and I was able to get back inside. It's a good thing, too, because I wouldn't have been able to get back down, at least the way I came up.

We went to get our groceries as usual, then went to Economy Shoe Shop for dinner. We split a club wrap and some sort of Thai dish (the only one on the menu), both of which were delicious as usual. Next to us sat a couple of younger guys who'd obviously put back a few. One of them was the boyfriend of our waitress, and she would go over to their table every few minutes to chat or grab a nacho. There was a magician going round to all the children, and he got roped into a rather lively chat with the two guys. The conversation ended when one of them said something like, "catch ya later, brother." On our way out of the restaurant, I said to one of the guys, "have a good one, man" and we punched fists (or whatever it's called) before heading out. It was an interesting meal.

Next up was another one of TA's famous parties. There's not much to say - a bunch of us sat around, people marvelled over my flowing locks, we looked at pictures, and had a few beer. It was a fun party, but yet again, it was poorly attended. It's kind of sad, but it seems that TA's coworkers have stopped coming to his parties (with two unfortunate exceptions).

Sunday morning, JW and I went to a nearby Jamaican restaurant for breakfast. We both had the simple eggs/bacon/taters breakfasts, with toast. I was a bit disappointed that I had to eat eight slices of toast with only raspberry jam for spread. I'm going to have to start carrying mini cheese whiz packets around with me.

After breakfast, we took a walk around the neighbourhood - we stopped at a shop in the Italian market, where I bought another cast-iron (or similar) figure for my house. It's a frog, and it hangs on the wall (I know, good description). After that, we continued on to Needham Park for a couple of nice sits in the sun.

At supper that night, the golf was pretty uninteresting. A couple of nobodies duked it out for first place, and this is rare: I can't even remember the name of the winner. The runner up's name was Ken Duke, appropriately. After supper, I went to visit my grandmother for an hour - we talked about the usual things - events that have happened in our lives, my hair (an endless source of banter for her) what we'd eaten for dinner.

I went back to my parents', then got driven home, where I watched a bit of television before hitting the sack in my new queen-sized bed. Apparently I forgot to write earlier that I bought a bed at Price Club. Yeah, I did. It's good.

I’m currently listening to: 103.5 - The Beat of Halifax (Again - is this the death of the CD? There's some Beyonce song on right now - it's a duet, of course, because we expect it. Stars make things good. Like the Simpsons.)

Movies watched this week: none (so sad).

1472 - Military Barbie

2007-04-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

I’m writing a bit late this week because I decided that I don’t like writing entries Sunday, especially Sunday evening. I’ve found recently that I have more time during the week, so I’m going to try writing then instead. The unfortunate downside to all of this is that I’m that much more removed from the events of last week, and so I’m likely to miss some of the boorish, drab details of my life that are the very essence of this work. They are the anchors that keep my many readers seated in front of their screens, reading and re-reading my entries, laughing and crying, until they lie their radiated heads down upon the keyboard and go to sleep (editor’s note: he’s really trying, huh?)..

Well, the first four days of last week were boring, or so I recalled on the equally-dull fifth. I’m having trouble recalling why I thought they were so boring, because I’m beginning to remember a bit of excitement (editor’s note: the author’s definition of excitement is the raising of one’s heart beat by one beat per minute – be warned!). Monday was an off day, to make up for my travels the week before. I got a lot done – taxes, reading, weight-lifting, cleaning (editor’s note: yet another questionable definition). After supper, I went to JW’s to watch a movie.

The movie of choice was Proof, and it followed the life of the daughter (Gwynneth Paltrow) of an ingenious mathematician (Anthony Hopkins – one of my favourite actors) who’d fallen mentally ill and died. She apparently shared his condition to an extent, as she often interacted him despite his condition (not alive). The movie focused on a new mathematical theorem and whom it was that proved it – the father, or the daughter. We ultimately learn that it is the daughter who’s done the work, though finding this out is made interesting by the fact that we do not always know whether we are flashing back to a scene when the father was alive, or a scene where he is being imagined by the daughter. I liked the movie overall.

On Tuesday, I didn’t do much of anything that I can remember. I probably surfed the net, checked and rechecked Facebook… I really don’t know what else. I think I read a couple of Coasts and a newspaper.

Wednesday was an interesting day at work. It had become obvious that I was not being moved over to product development (from professional services) anytime soon, as our Seattle friends like to make new friends AND keep the old (to say nothing of their metallic properties). However, a glimmer of hope was offered by B-JN, who discussed with me an important product development task that he saw me starting the following week. The task was both interesting and quite challenging (well, I saw it that way, regardless of how it actually might’ve turned out). He said he was going to have B-SM contact our Seattle friends and have me released from their paralyzing grip.

Well, I’m not one to keep you on the edge of your seat. The entire week passed without further mention of this task (to me). However, I did overhear B-PM discussing the task with another employee Friday morning. This other employee is neither a new nor an old friend of the Seattle folks. This week (skipping ahead a bit), I heard the task mentioned a few more times, but I’ve yet to have anyone actually tell me directly whether or not I’ll be working on the task. They could at least tell me that they tried, but couldn’t, pry me away from Seattle. To use one of my own catchphrases, “what a joke” (editor’s note: it is not unusual for one to say what one often says).

Wednesday evening, I went to yoga class, having missed two weeks away. I found the class difficult, and I had trouble keeping up, though I sensed I was not the only one. I also badly hurt the top of my left foot, though I think the bulk of the damage was done by a poorly-fitting sneaker. The class was very small, and only a few of the people I’d met the first two weeks were there. It was kind of sad – when I walked in the door, I wondered whether I’d come at the right time. The difficult class and the different people soured my experience a bit, but having just come from another class, I can say that the class was the exception, not the rule.

After class, I went over to JW’s. It was late, and by the time she got her work done and we talked a bit, it was bedtime.

Thursday evening, AN, AB, TA and I went to AD’s for what one might call a birthday party. We brought cheese, meat, cake and liquor (presents and otherwise). The evening was spent eating the various snacks while being fed blender drinks excitedly made by AD. He fancies his well-stocked bar, and he seems to nearly force drinks down our throats when we go over. It’s difficult to say no to tasty drinks such as grasshoppers and pina coladas, and I didn’t. I had two of each! We sang happy birthday, had some cake, and headed home around midnight.

Friday evening, I stayed at work until six waiting for the bloody train to get into the train station, with Dad on it. It’s always late, especially on Fridays, but especially when I’m picking him up on a Friday. I’d promised B-CC I’d play pool with him at seven, so I had Dad drop me off directly at the pool hall.

I’d forgotten to move my parking pass from Mum’s car to Dad’s when I took his car for a couple of days midweek. So, I had to take out my wallet to pay for parking on the way to the train station. I left the wallet in the coffee holder, where it stayed as I paraded into the pool hall.

Inside, I found B-CC at the golf simulator, hitting balls. We took turns hitting balls on a mock driving range. It was entertaining, though I found the censors hadn’t improved much since my grandfather and I played years ago. It still didn’t seem to accurately translate a swing into a believable trajectory. Anyway, it was fun to swing a club, as it’s been a few months.

After the simulator, we played pool. I had trouble focusing on the games, as I kept trying to watch the door for Dad and my wallet. Several times I expressed concern to B-CC that it hadn’t yet arrived, and I imagined that he might be thinking I was trying to skip out on the bill. It finally arrived, however, not too long before we decided to leave. I managed to win the majority of the games, despite my obvious lower skill level.

Saturday morning I got up and did a few weights. Dad called, wanting to go to the Shearwater Military Aviation Museum (that may or may not be its title – but it was a military museum with planes, located in Shearwater, so it’ll do). We headed over after lunch, and found it to be a big disappointment – there was some sort of collectors’ expo going on, and the museum was packed with doll-toting, model-building enthusiasts. They blocked views of the planes, and their tables and ropes blocked total access to others. We were definitely seeing a singular, definable segment of society – largely country and military folk (the latter makes sense), and largely older, retired men sometimes accompanied by their wives. Many people were there just to chat; others were there cashing in their pension cheques for overpriced, dusty models.

We got to see a few planes close up, but there was very little in the way of documentation, so you never really knew exactly what you were looking at. The most interesting parts were a mock war room with a large chart showing the positions of ships in the North Atlantic, and a tiny model train display. The model train display didn’t have a loop in the track, so we watched the owners drive the trains forward, then backward along the same track. They even had model houses, cars and people. Model train watching is definitely an activity suited to only the easiest of excitable people. Having said that, I’d love to build a model train room some day – they’re fun to put together. I still have some trains from when I was a child (including a G.I. Joe engine – those collectors would’ve drooled over it – military AND trains, together at last).

How did I wind up talking so much about that lousy museum? Maybe I enjoyed it on some subconscious level? Anyway, after the visit to the museum, Dad got his groceries, after which I dropped him off at home. I took went down to JW’s, and soon after we drove out to East Side Mario’s for dinner. We stopped by the house again to get some gift certificates from Dad, which is important because I forgot to use them. That’s 0 for my last 2 “gift certificate” meals.

We both had bowtie pasta meals. JW had some kind of boring white-sauced dish, while I had a firecracker shrimp dish – hot and tasty. I used to love the bread at East Side Mario’s, but I found it to be stale and not particularly tasty. I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve toned it down a bit to stop people eating bread and salad as a meal, and bringing their actual meals home in a doggy bag. We had lots of bread and salad, and we brought part of our meals home in a doggy bag (editor’s note: try a bit of mold, boys – definitely one example of pretty colours not being appreciated).

After the meal, we walked over to Chapter’s. I bought CA a couple of books for his birthday. Then, we went to Future Shop to buy a USB key for JW. I had a gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket, but I couldn’t find anything worthy of using it.

We walked next door from Future Shop and got our groceries at Superstore. After that, we headed back to JW’s place and watched Billy Elliott, set in a mining town in industrial Northern England. While I got a good kick out of the thick accents, I found it difficult to understand the words early on. The movie focused on a boy in the town who loved to dance. Much to his father’s eventual chagrin, he would head to boxing class, only to wind up attending ballet class instead. The father’s tension over the situation is heightened by the fact that he, among many others, is on strike from the local mine. In the end, the boy wins a scholarship to a famous dance school, and his father accepts his son’s lifestyle without assuming him a “poof.” I liked the movie – it was interesting to see a chapter of English history.

Sunday morning, we got up and went for a morning walk. We wound up eating breakfast at Cora’s again. This time, having not been satisfied with the fruit side salad my last visit, I ordered the large fruit platter, which comes with cheese and toast. It was huge, but unfortunately, it was a disappointment. There was little in the way of desirable fruit – perhaps because nothing is in season. There were no African gooseberries (though there were in the picture of the platter), no berries (other than rather unfresh strawberries) and no banana (!). There was sliced apple (two kinds), sliced pear, sliced plum (all of which were either over- or under-ripe), an abundance of various melons, one kiwi, pineapple (the best part) and semi-rotten grapes. I’ll order the platter again in August, I guess – I really wanted some blueberries, raspberries and blackberries.

After breakfast, we slowly walked back to JW’s. After a nap, I headed home, then to my parents’. I didn’t get to watch the golf because it was postponed by the high winds that would eventually strike us. Boo Weekly (yes, that’s his real name) won the tournament on Monday, which was nice because he’d broken under the pressure a month earlier, missing a short putt to win a tournament. Sometimes after that happens, the player is never quite the same, and their career is effectively over.

After dinner, I headed back home and played Civilization for the first time in quite a while. I enjoyed it, but I haven’t had a chance to get back to it yet. I also spent an hour deciding not to move ahead on yet another rebuild of my Web site. I kind of want to do it (mostly because I can purposely learn new programming methods along the way), but I’m put off by the mountain of work required. I just can’t get started – I can’t even seem to break it down into small parts, focusing on one part while ignoring the rest. All I can see is the finish line, and damn, it’s far away.

I’m now a week behind writing. I’ve already lived through another week that I have to write about – but not now. Somehow a lot has built up recently, and I’m still working through the backlog. “Right on to all those English girls named Cherise….”

I’m currently listening to: 103.5 - The Beat of Halifax (yes, the radio - amazing, isn't it? The song is Drinkin' in L.A. by Bran Van 3000.)

Movies watched this week: Proof, Billy Elliott

1471 - A Tale of Two Climates

2007-04-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

I left Seattle mid-week, and in doing so, I went from a warm, sunny, summer-like climate to a wintery one, courtesy of an April snowstorm. I don't mind April snow as much as I mind snow earlier in the year, because I know the end is near.

Monday morning, I hit rock-bottom. I was tired of being in Seattle, yet I still had the better part of a work week to get through. I'd scraped through Saturday and Sunday via the fact that it was the weekend, but I had no such reason to feel good Monday. Fortunately, work calmed down, and I had a fairly quiet day. By the end of the work day, my mood had improved significantly, because for the first time I felt like I could see the light (or the plane, in this case) at the end of the tunnel.

Our lunches hit rock-bottom Monday too, as we dined in a grocery store cafeteria. After work, we went to Canyon's again, where I had tasty ribs with spicy buffalo fries. Physically, I felt better Monday, having not eaten much Sunday. We didn't do much after dinner - at least that I remember.

Tuesday was another relatively light work day (light in Seattle means ten hours). It was hard to work, because we'd decided to go see the baseball game after work. We ate lunch at an authentic Mexican restaurant called Guaymas, where they welcomed us "amigos" at the door. They had free nachos with home made salsa - it was the best salsa I've ever had. We devoured three bowls of chips and salsa before our meals even arrived. We each ordered burritos, but these were no ordinary burritos - they were a full foot long, and much thicker than a fully-loaded Subway sub. Inside were veggies, rice and chicken (in my case). Guacamole and sour cream came on the side.

I was only able to get through half of my burrito, and I opted not to take the rest home in a doggy bag. I just wasn't willing to spend my afternoon passed out in the office.

We headed to the game right after work. We had walked to Safeco Field the previous Sunday, so we pretty much knew where to go with the car. We parked about ten minutes away, and walked to the gates to pick up our tickets, which we'd ordered online.

Inside, we found out it was military appreciation night. They were giving out yellow ribbons, though I didn't take one. The lady handing them out looked at me like I had two heads when I turned it down - I guess you're either with her or against her. I later found one left at a concession stand, so I grabbed it to give to JW as a joke later.

Despite having worn my warmest clothes, I nearly froze to death at the game. The days in Seattle were warm, but the nights were still cool. I had a sweater and a summer jacket on in five degree weather (celsius of course). After my dinner of a hot dog and popcorn (popcorn is not a good choice when it's cold outside), AN and I went back for $3.75 watery hot chocolates. They were worth every penny though, keeping us warm for about an hour.

The game was good - the Mariners won 8-4. A couple of foul balls came within twenty feet of us, one of them nearly mowing us down in the process. It was a hard-hit, low screamer that got to us very quickly.

Between innings, there were countless military tributes. There were six ceremonial first pitches, helicopters flying overhead, military personnel singing the anthem and God Bless America (the most heavily emphasized word of which was "foam"), a giant flag, and Mariners players praising the troops. The game was attended by four thousand military personnel, so it was pretty impressive when they were all asked to stand up and take a bow.

We all had a good laugh when they played the theme song of our trip, a rap song the subject of which is the fact that the rapper is getting rich by writing about nothing in his songs. Our favourite line is, "I make a mil sayin' nothin' on the track." The rest of the song belittles the listener for actually listening to such garbage - we got a good kick out of the fact that we kept listening to it.

The game was about three hours long, fortunately not longer. Outside the stadium, we all got collectible military coins, then headed for the car. We got slightly lost, but still managed to get back to the hotel quickly.

Wednesday morning, the last work day for AN and I, another bomb was dropped on us. We were to repeat our work of the Thursday and Friday previous, on a new code drop from engineering. It was stressful for two reasons: we had to wait for the new code to become available, and we didn't have the luxury of finishing our work the next day - it had to be done that day. We got the code early in the afternoon and began our data import. It went well - much better than the last time. Still, it took us until 8pm to finish. Even worse, we couldn't get a hold of a guy who'd written another data import tool that had to be run, so we were asked to do it for him. It took us an hour just to track down instructions on how to use his tool, but we finally did, and it didn't take long to run.

We left work shortly after 10:30pm, following a twenty minute chat with one of the VPs about "the girls in Halifax" and his life story. He seemed interested to know whether the girls are beautiful in Halifax. He told us that they are not beautiful in San Jose. Interesting.

For those interested, we ate at a cafe for lunch, and we had Arby's for dinner (I ran out quickly mid-evening). One of the Arby's employees pointed out that the store was understaffed because, and I quote, "no one goes to Arby's." That's employee spirit for you!

Thursday morning, I got up at 3:15am, beginning a long day of travel. I felt terrible, but I resisted the urge to stay in bed and miss my flight home. I had a quick shower, and an even quicker shave, then headed down to the front desk to check out. Using a phone to call an employee to the desk, I woke up a girl sleeping in the employee office. Apparently staying awake is not a job requirement at the particular hotel. She could barely function, but finally I got checked out. I told her not to go back to sleep until after AN checked out.

Normally, AN is the first one down to the desk. I have this terrible tendency to cut things to the last second - if you've read past entries, you know this. One manifestation of this problem is my tendency to miss busses. Anyway, I was surprised that I made it to the desk first. After throwing my bags in the car, I came back in to the hotel and went to AN's room. I wasn't sure it was his, so I nervously knocked on it. No one came to the door, so I went back down to the desk, presuming we'd missed each other. He wasn't there, so I had the sleepy girl at the desk phone his room. He didn't answer. I went back up and banged on the door a second time, this time confident I had the right door. He quickly opened the door as he got his stuff together. He had set his alarm for 3pm instead of 3am! Five minutes later, we were gassing up the car down the road before returning it.

We got to the airport about an hour and a half before our flight. It was surprisingly busy for 4:30am, and again we had trouble getting all of our boarding passes from the incompetent personnel. After sorting things out, we got to the proper gate, bought some snacks, and waited.

The first flight was uneventful. We got into Vancouver and went through customs. Again, I left a bottle of juice in my bag (I was supposed to drink it before customs). They took it, and when I asked if I could drink it on the spot, they just threw it away.

More snacks and another short wait later, we boarded our flight for Toronto. I hate to say "I knew something was going to go wrong," because I always feel that way about air travel, but it did. I was just way too happy about getting home in time to see JW that night for it to actually happen.

Somewhere over the Rockies, close to the BC-Alberta border, the pilots detected a leak in the emergency oxygen tank they use if the flight cabin depressurizes. We were forced to head to Calgary for repairs.

We sat, grounded, and unable to leave the plane, for over two hours, while repairs to the tank were made. Finally, after deicing, we took off. We landed in Toronto a little over three hours late. On the flight, I watched "Good Will Hunting" on my laptop. It's about a janitor at MIT who's a math genius (Matt Damon). He has his problems, and a MIT professor and his psychiatrist friend fight over Damon's direction. The professor pressures him to accept a job in mathematics right away, while the other tries to help him with his demons while he makes his own choice. In the end, Damon makes his own choice, having been mentally saved by the psychiatrist and his best friend (Ben Affleck). I especially liked the math aspect of the movie - the problems being solved by the professor were in the graph theory branch of math. I took a course in graph theory in school, so I could relate to the problems being worked on. It did take a bit of the realism out of the movie, but whatever.

AN and I were expecting bad things in Toronto - prehaps a day stranded there, or even worse, given the Easter weekend. Fortunately, they had moved us to a later flight to Halifax, and it left soon after we got to Toronto. We did have to wait for them to fix a couple of the seats before we could leave.

We got to Halifax around 11pm, though our bags (predictably) didn't arrive with us. After filling out the paperwork, we went home. I went straight to bed - I did not see JW, nor did I pass "GO" (that has absolutely no meaning, though having thought about it, I think some meaning might be read into it!).

Friday morning, I got up at a decent time. I unpacked what little I had with me, and basically killed time until my bags arrived at 12:30. After unpacking those, I finally went over to JW's. It was great to see her, after such a long time. We spent the bulk of the afternoon asleep - we were both tired. We had leftovers for dinner - pizza and scrambled eggs. We "blew" the eggs so that JW could paint them later - you basically poke holes at the top and bottom of the egg, then blow the insides out of one hole via the other. The hollow shell then dries, and it can later be painted (for Easter).

After supper, we watched Jesus Christ Superstar, an appropriate activity for Easter Friday. It had been my turn to pick a movie, but I yielded to the sense that JCS made. I really didn't know what to expect, as it was my first time seeing it. I was pleasantly surprised by the plethora of 70s music - the songs were really fun. I couldn't get past just how 70s the movie was - the King of Jews wore a head band and yellow-tinted sunglasses - awesome. I didn't like that the movie ended with Jesus' crucifixion - I wanted to see a bit more.

On Saturday, I suggested to JW that we go to Scott's Bay, close to Cape Split, where she gets the rocks that she tumbles/polishes. I like going there, because I also have an interest in rocks, though I never bring any home because I don't have any way of polishing them. I like the ocean even more, and the last time we were at Scott's Bay, the waves were big and fun. I love tides, so naturally, any visit to the Bay of Fundy is exciting for me. I would get a cottage along the bay in an instant if it weren't for two things: poor swimming conditions (cold water, dangerous tides, mucky/rocky beaches), and my ties to the north shore (where the swimming conditions are the best in Nova Scotia, but the tides aren't much fun). I still might. I feel lucky to be within driving distance of such a natural wonder.

JW was excited about going to Scott's Bay too. On the way there, we picked up her friend, BE, and we were off. The traffic was light, and we got to the beach in Scott's Bay pretty quickly. Along the way, we stopped at a lookoff close to the beach to take pictures. We also stopped to take pictures of a donkey and its guardian horse. As we approached, the horse kept between us and the donkey, not allowing us to get a good picture of it. It had a cold, icy stare, and a wild look in its eye - it would've killed the three of us had we gone any closer, shooting flames through its menacing nostrils to counterbalance the icy stare. The donkey resumed grazing, and as it moved, we got a few pictures of it. The horse remained motionless, staring holes through our heads. No human could've possibly defeated it in a staring contest.

At the beach, much to my delight, the conditions were similar to my last visit. There was a bit of wind, and the waves were a decent size. The tide was coming in, which of course is more exciting than a tide going out. I discovered this while washing clay off my hands - there are deposits of clay all over the beach. I could scarcely get my hands in the water before being forced to take a step back. I've never enjoyed washing my hands quite so much (numb hands included). The tide, already being about three-quarters of the way in, severely limited the size of the beach, and thus the rocks available, but there were still plenty to be found.

The three of us split up and staked claims to different parts of the beach. We slowly walked, heads down, examining the ground for potential winners. BE and I would occasionally walk over to JW with several candidates. Thinking we'd done well, we would have our hopes crushed time and time again - quite literally. JW would take a rock, declare it no good, then throw it to the ground. I'm learning, though - she accepted more of my rocks (editor's note: you're really asking for it) than she had the first time - I'm starting to learn which rocks will polish well. My favourite polisable rocks are the ones that you can see through, or into. I also like the ones with geodes in them, though I didn't personally find any this time around. I like some other unpolishable ones too, but I didn't bother keeping any of them.

A stream cutting down the middle of the beach was just narrow enough to get across, so I went over to the other side for a look, leaving the girls on the other side. Much to my delight, I found a large deposit of shells along the edge of the stream on that side - large snail shells (smooth), one large broken pointy snail shell, clam shells, and a very strange, flat shell that was circular, had a hole in the middle, and had spikes around the hole on one side.

Soon after the shell run, the girls decided it was time to go home. I was disappointed, not having had my fill of the beach yet. I just like being there, and I wanted to stay as long as possible. I wanted to watch the tide come all the way in, and I wanted to listen to the waves along the way. Ironically, nature called us away from the beach.

We drove to Wolfville to eat at Paddy's/Rosie's, just as JW and I had done last time. JW and I both had the sesame salad again, too. It's right up there with authentic Chinese food as far as making vegetables taste good goes. I very seldom love eating green pepper, but it actually tasted good in the salad. There was a live band to entertain us as we ate, and I watched the Masters on a TV reflected in a mirror behind the band.

After our meal, we headed back into town. It snowed most of the way, and by the time we got to Lower Sackville, it had covered the ground. It made for a beautiful, though potentially dangerous, drive. We dropped BE off, then continued back to JW's. We stopped for groceries/Easter cards/birthday cards along the way.

I dropped off JW, then headed home. It was UFC night, and I'd promised TA that I'd come out to the event. I went over to TA's, and found AD already there. We stayed for a little while, watching golf. After the golf, we headed downtown to the Oasis to catch the action. We arrived at 8:45, with the action starting at 11 - and wings ending at 9. So yes, we had a feast of wings and some beer, while watching a hockey game. It was the Canadiens versus the Leafs, and playoff spots were on the line for both - a loss by either team meant elimination. I'm a Canadiens "fan", in the laziest sense of the word. At least I was able to watch one game this year - it was a good one, but they lost. I don't like the Leafs, and I was happy to hear the next day that they too had been eliminated from playoff contention.

The UFC event itself wasn't particularly entertaining - I slept through a lot of it. Too many wings and too much beer I guess. The main event was supremely disappointing. It was for the welterweight championship, and it pitted the Canadian champion Georges St Pierre against the winner of the UFC TV reality series, Matt Serra. There wasn't much hype for the match, because it was widely believed that Matt Serra had no chance. I'll give you one guess as to what happened.

I wound up walking all the way home, tired and disappointed. It was windy and still snowing as I stumbled along snow covered sidewalks. I sort of enjoyed it though - being outside experiencing all of nature's fury. It took me an hour to get home, finally getting in the door around 2:30am.

My alarm woke me up at 10:20am Sunday. I rushed to get dressed, then headed to my parents'. I got quite a verbal lashing when Mum saw my pants - they were slightly wrinkled, and apparently they had grease stains making it look like I'd shit myself. We picked up my grandmother, then stopped by my place for a fresh pair of pants.

We met my Aunt and cousin at 44 North for Easter brunch. It's a buffet, one that I've been to several times. I found the food quality to be worse than I remembered, but it might just be that I've got higher standards these days. The desserts were excellent, at least. I had a few plates of food before calling it quits, not wanting to eat myself into further discomfort. I had a nasty headache the entire day from the night before.

While at the buffet, LS opened his cards and presents, while I recounted Seattle stories to the relatives. I was surprised to see that LS had grown a beard - he carried it well.

After the lengthy meal, I wound up on my parents' couch watching five solid hours of golf. It was the Masters, the year's first major, and the biggest tournament of the year in my opinion. Many years, I miss out on Easter activities because I'm too busy watching it, but this year it worked out perfectly. We had snacks in front of the TV at six, in place of dinner. I did regret having to turn down an invitation to Easter dinner at JW's parents' - I would've liked to have gone. However, if I had gone, I would've either spent the entire time in front of the tube, or sat there fretting about missing it. It's so important to me, that if I had to choose to watch just one television event (sports, a movie, a TV show) a year, I'd choose the final round of the Masters. I've taken days off work in the past just to watch the early Thursday and Friday rounds, let alone the final Sunday round!

My second favourite event of the year is the British Open (known to the rest of the world as THE Open), played in July. My third favourite is the US Open, played in June, and I suppose my fourth is The Player's Championship, played in May this year.

Zack Johnson won this year. It was only his second win, which is unusual for the Masters - the pressure generally crushes all but the most seasoned veterans. I've watched him play for a couple of years, and I always liked his style - I figured he'd win something big, but I didn't think it would be this soon.

Well, next week should be a bit quieter, for a change. It'll be nice to see the office again, and the four-day week will ease me back into "regular" life. I've got nothing big planned, but I'm sure something exciting will happen - hopefully Spring.

I’m currently listening to: Waiting, from Rotten Apples by The Smashing Pumpkins (whom I hear are back together!).

Movies watched this week: Good Will Hunting

1470 - The Freyed Ends of Seattle

2007-04-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

What a week. I've discovered that putting four guys together for a week leads to some pretty self-destructive activity. I'm kind of glad I didn't ever live in residence - if this is a taste of living in residence, I'm sure I never would've survived it! The week saw us (AN, B-CC, B-AC and myself) go from mild amusement and hesitation, to elation and excitement, to a feeling of total chaos, and finally, to feelings of fatigue and boredom toward the end of the week.

The problem with business travel is that it's too easy to just go out and eat. Every meal is free, so why would you go to the grocery store to buy healthy things, then come back to the hotel and cook them (we have kitchens in our rooms)? It's difficult to find healthy food around, and when you do find it, the portions are huge. You eat until the food is gone, only afterward realizing that you probably didn't need that much. And, of course, you have a couple of beers, because you're out enjoying yourself after a hard day's work. There is also the peer pressure factor - if your buddy is having a big, tasty steak, you tend not to order the cheap salad. If your buddy orders another beer, you're not going to want to sit around and watch him drink it for a half-hour - you get one for yourself.

Monday, AN and I got up at seven and met for breakfast at half-past. Breakfast is the one semi-healthy meal that we have. We could go to Denny's for a huge, unhealthy meal (think Smitty's times two for the same price), but instead we have cold cereal or a bagel, some yogurt and maybe an orange (if they're there) - continental breakfast at the hotel. Breakfast being free also allows us to have nicer dinners in the evenings.

We worked Monday from eight until about six, so it wasn't too bad. We ate lunch at Arby's - I had a market frssh sandwich with curly fries. After work, AN and I went to Canyon's to wait for B-CC and B-AC to arrive from Vancouver - they'd flown in there and driven over the boarder because B-CC doesn't have a passport. It's actually a good story that I shouldn't tell here - the border crossing took two hours because they failed to lie about the purpose of their visit to the US - work. In the end, our CEO worked things out on B-CC's cell phone with the border agent. They basically let the two into the country not knowing who to believe!

They arrived around nine, and we had dinner and several drinks. I had a Thai wrap with rice, peanut sauce and various veggies - it also came with pineapple! The conversation was reserved, as we didn't know each other that well, but it wasn't long before we were taking turns badmouthing those coworkers deserving it. We also badmouthed the company travel policies (or lack thereof).

Tuesday morning, we all headed into work together. Again, we worked from eight until about six, this time taking lunch at D-Thai. I had the Panang Curry, which is coconutty and has various peppers in it (red, green and hotter ones). I went with "level four spicy", and I got through it okay.

After work, we hung out in B-AC's room and had a few beers before heading to Outback Steakhouse. I had the king crab leg dinner - one and a half pounds of crab - it was absolutely delicious - one of the better meals I've had in a long time. We asked the waitress about nearby pool halls, and were told the nearest one was a half hour away. She told us to go to the Silver Dollar Casino or Thrasher's Bar. The Silver Dollar Casino didn't have their tables open, and we wound up checking out a place across the street called Pounders - a name that we've laughed about many times since. The place was a total dive - peanuts on the floors, dirt-cheap tables that looked like they were made of plywood, slutty, aging waitresses and the typical bar flies that accompany such places.

They had one pool table - it was a pay table, and the felt wasn't in great shape. It didn't even return all of the balls every time. By this time, we'd grown accustomed to each other, and we (well, AN and I at least) were totally being ourselves - laughing a lot and saying a lot of "crazy" things. We played for a little over an hour, and I'm proud to say that I won every game I played. I played pretty well, but B-CC was clearly the best player. He later mentioned that he always chokes when he plays new people - and this case was no exception. Both times I played him, he got off to a good lead. Later, he'd miss a shot or two on the eight ball, and I'd capitalize and run a few balls off the table to finish.

We were all tired, and so we took our leave of the hospitality of Pounders around eleven.

Wednesday was to be our last day of relative calm. We worked a regular day again, eating lunch at Qdoba - a mexican fast food joint. I had a tasty burrito with black beans, veggies, spicy sauce and rice.

For dinner, we went to McMiniman's, a local micro-brewery. By now, we were all feeling the effects of bad eating (except B-CC - he claims that you just get used to it after a while). AN ordered a veggie tray, and I had a few hot wings. We were going to share our dinners, but in the end I wound up eating only the wings. I didn't have many, and they were completely unappetizing. B-AC had to finish them off for me. I did manage to have a couple of beers - after all, we were at a micro-brewery.

Thursday, all hell broke loose. Our supervisor in Seattle informed us that he'd "dropped the ball" and not told us about a need for a database drop by Friday morning. AN and I spent the day furiously attempting to whip something together, suffering many setbacks as we went. It was a frustrating day - we couldn't get answers to our questions, and we were angry that we had to work so hard for no good reason. We worked from eight in the morning until about midnight, taking a few hours in the middle to go to Jack-in-the-Box for lunch (I only had a chicken sandwich, as I had veggies waiting back at work), and Bonefish Grill for supper. The grill is a nice restaurant that AN and I went to on my birthday. By now the four of us were giddy all the time, laughing at anything and everything. We especially laughed about how terrible we all felt from the bad food and several days of beer. We felt like we were spending a bit too much on ourselves at our company's expense (well, actually at the company in Seattle's expense), but Thursday we justified overspending based on how we'd been jerked around at work.

We all had appetizers - I had a spicy shrimp platter. Then, we all had filet mignons, which came with mashed potatoes (that I could almost drink) and candied carrots (a bizarre flavour). We were all totally full, and we weren't going to have dessert, but then B-CC decided to have a brownie dessert, and so we all joined in the fun. I also had the brownie dessert - it had raspberry sauce, vanilla ice cream and cream, and the chocolate in the brownie was REALLY good. Of course, we all had a few beverages.

Friday was another hard day. The deadline for our data had moved to sometime Saturday, and we worked on a few changes handed to us by our boss. For lunch, we went to Arby's again. I had a sandwich, plus a banana and oranges back at work. We left work at six to go catch a SuperSonics basketball game, knowing we had to come back after the game to finish up some work.

The game was fun, only in that it's still a relatively new experience for us. I had a cardboard, unsalted pretzel (I swear it was cardboard) and a five-dollar hot dog that wasn't very big. The game was a blowout, with the home team winning by a large amount. We got our tickets from a scalper, and they were the worst seats in the building. Though they appeared to be together on paper, they were divided in pairs of two by a steel beam support - yes, our seats were in the very top row of the building. Fortunately, the game wasn't well attended, so we all sat on one side of the beam. Our bad seats also meant we had no chance of catching free tickets being dropped by a blimp, t-shirts thrown by the SuperSonics girls, or more shirts dropped from the rafters of the building. We were above the rafters.

After the game, B-CC and B-AC went up the Space Needle, while AN and I wondered aimlessly around the area. We came across a line of pot-smoking, pillow-carrying teenagers waiting to be let into a planetarium. We also crossed paths with a few of the many mentally-deranged bums in the city.

After the needle, we headed back to work. Fortunately, we didn't stay long, though, as I would later find out, AN worked through most of the night.

Saturday was supposed to be fun. It was the weekend after all. Instead, it was pretty sad. We were all tired of food - the thought of a burger, coffee, or a drink of beer made us sick to our stomachs. We were tired of each other's company, having been constantly together for nearly five days. Our car rides together were quiet, and our meals were even quieter. AN was in particularly rough shape having not slept much.

AN and I went into work in the morning. We fixed up a few problems, then met up with the other guys early afternoon. We decided to head out to the Boeing facility just outside of town - they had tours of their massive campus. B-CC really wanted to go, as he's interested in planes, cars and machines of all types. We found the place after a few wrong turns - we tried unsuccessfully to get into the corporate offce, we think. There was a small model of a plane inside the office, which we could see through the glass, so I pointed out that at least we'd seen something.

At the real tour, we found the next tour sold out, so we signed up for the three o'clock one. To pass the time, we went to a nearby Taco Bell, the only real restaurant we could find nearby. Our insanity deepend when B-CC bought some superballs, which we then bounced all over the restaurant. I had nachos supreme plus a supreme taco, and a raspberry iced tea. The iced tea story in Seattle is kind of interesting - it never has sugar added - you have to add it yourself. We've been unable to find a single restaurant offering sweetened iced tea.

Back at Boeing, we looked around a rather boring museum display before the tour. The best part was an old cockpit - we had to fight the kids off to get into it. I took the co-pilot seat, and then was continuously hit in the groin by the controls controlled by a five-year-old in the pilot's seat. The kid must've been an airplane whiz, because he took to telling what all the controls did - he knew a lot more than I did!

The tour itself was excellent - the tour guide was really funny and knowledgable. A bus took us past security and into the huge complex, complete with its own runway. We passed several new planes ready to be delivered to some client. Finally, we entered the hangar where they build some of their planes. It consisted of seven assembly lines, each a half-mile long, with doors the size of football fields. We went in via perhaps the longest corridor I'd ever seen. The view inside the building was even more grand - the wall furthest from us was so far away, I couldn't distinguish large objects from one another. Apparently, one time when the air conditioning broke down, clouds formed in the building. People walked around on the floor like dots, around the huge planes being built.

Many planes sat in various stages of assembly. Some were just hollow sections, others were complete other than the paint. We were astonished to hear that the planes are built in just six weeks. Imagine our amazement when we heard that a new moving assembly line being installed will allow them to build planes in FIVE DAYS! The tour was really interesting and fun for all four of us.

After the tour, we resisted the urge to head for the hills, instead opting to drive back to the office. AN and I did a bit of work, then we met up with the boys at the hotel. We decided to head out for sushi at Sushi Zen, a nicely-decorated sushi full of a wide mix of people. We over-ordered big time, thinking that sushi is small and not filling. We all had appetizers, then meals consisting of at least fifteen pieces of sushi. B-CC almost threw up when he tasted one piece of sushi. I also had it - we have no idea what it was, but it was like chewy wax - it was the first sushi I've ever had that I didn't like. B-CC didn't even come close to finishing his meal - he just couldn't get that waxy taste out of his mouth. I finished my meal, but just barely, while AN and B-AC didn't finish theirs. To top it off, we "enjoyed" (by which I mean got down) several pint-sized Japanese beers. We managed to turn an otherwise healthy experience into another food bonanza.

After sushi, we made our gallant return to Pounders. We fully expected the place to be overrun by a combination of drug dealers, ax murderers and country hicks, but we went in anyway. The pool table was occupied by two suspicious-looking characters - a young man dressed up like a rapper, and an older man who'd obviously had a rough life. He might as well have been wearing red leather pants to go with his NASCAR hat, dishonest moustache, and wrinkled skin.

B-CC went up to the pair to ask about their intentions, not noticing the large stack of quarters on the bar next to the table. The two were friendly enough, and they offered to play with us. The younger one took off for most of the night, so we wound up playing with the older one, while he bought us beer and told bad jokes. He also told us about his three ex-wives, and it soon became apparent why they were all "ex." B-AC asked him about peeler bars, and he started to give us directions to one all the way downtown, when we stopped him. He then pointed out that he gets whatever he wants when he cruises the streets downtown.

He played a few shots poorly to start, and we were all convinced that he was a hustler, giving us a few wins early to get us to bet on a game. He did mention betting later on, but we told him we weren't interested, and he claimed he was only joking. He actually still won all of his games, except for the two he played against me. I wasn't even playing well, but somehow I won. It became apparent that either he wasn't all that good, or that he was drunk... or both I suppose.

After a few more "interesting" stories, B-AC gave the guy his work number and suite number at the hotel in case he wanted to play pool again. The next day he pointed out that he probably shouldn't have done that. We keep expecting the guy to be in B-AC's room one day, sitting in the dark, tenting his fingers. He hasn't shown up yet.... :) *Jaws music*

Sunday morning, AN and I met up and went into work around ten. We came back at the hotel around twelve to collect the guys and head down to the underground tour downtown, but we couldn't find anyone. B-CC's car was gone, and B-AC didn't answer his door. We decided to go for a random cruise, during which we passed mansions, trailer parks, huge forests, huge fields, cows, chickens, wineries, Costcos, trucks, rocks and funny signs. After the cruise, we found B-CC, who'd stepped out for the morning to go to church. B-AC apparently was in his room, asleep I guess, but we got him up, and headed downtown.

We parked near the Space Needle, figuring we could find the underground tour. We did find it, but not before taking the monorail, then walking fifteen blocks along downtown streets filled with garbage and homeless people. Arriving at quarter to three, the three o'clock tour was sold out, so we bought tickets to the five o'clock one. We then set out in search of a restaurant that could kill two hours of our time. The only respectable place we could find was a Quizznos, so we went inside and had subs. It only took us a half hour to eat them, so we decided to go for a stroll.

We came across the home of the Seahawks (Football) - I forget the name of the stadium. Right behind it was Safeco Field, the home of the Mariners (baseball) - we internalized that information above the neck, as one of my old teachers would say. There was a comic book convention going on, and many people around the stadiums were wearing costumes. We tried to get into the convention for a peek, but it cost $12. Instead, we slowly walked back to the underground tour.

The tour itself was good and bad. The tour guide was an older, fast-talking, completely random lady who managed to make fun of nearly every segment of the population. She was particularly merciless when it came to Tacoma, a city located at the southern edge of Seattle. She was a bit inspiring to me, because her speaking was no better than mine, yet she's been a tour guide for 28 years. I don't think I'll ever be as bubbly in front of a dead crowd though - she hardly stopped laughing the entire time!

She told us the story of how the underground came to be - largely sanitary reasons. We explored the basements (well, now basements, but formerly first floors), and saw piles of rubble, wood, pipes, dust, dirt, cobwebs and flies. It really stunk too. A lot of the junk looked 'placed', and investigation on Wikipedia later verified this. We saw old businesses still largely intact (no furniture though). Otherwise, the tour was pretty uneventful, except for the guide's colourful storytelling, which saved the experience.

Okay, it's almost a week later, and I'm just getting back to this entry. I published it by accident last time, so I'm sure no one will ever read this part. Anyway, after the tour, we walked back to the monorail. On the way back, we heard this long scream across the street - it was some guy looking totally drugged out. Every block or so, he would stop, look around, grab the hair on the back of his head and yank, then scream loudly for as long as ten seconds. This happened probably fifteen times, until finally he turned up a street away from us. B-AC later chose this as his favourite moment of the trip.

The rest of the trip back was uneventful. We stopped into the office for a few minutes to check on our work, then went our separate ways for the remainder of the evening.

I don't think I mentioned the movie 1001 Maniacs - I forget exactly when we watched it, but it was a super-cheesy, super-gory and super-cheap slasher where a group of teens wonder into a southern hick town, populated by people that died during the American civil war. It was by far the worst movie I've ever seen, and we only watched it because it was so bad. In the end, all of the teens die - they are the dishes of honour at the town's annual feast.

I’m currently listening to: Choose Life by Humate.

Movies watched this week: Wallstreet, 1001 Maniacs

1469 - Three's a Charm

2007-03-31T11:58:00.000-07:00

I’m a bit late writing this week – I’ve been unexpectedly sent off to Seattle again, for no good reason. It’s now Wednesday, and I’m having trouble remembering last week given all that’s been going on this week. This week has been an adventure for sure, and I’m looking forward to writing about it whenever I get a chance!

Work last week was pretty normal – I continued on with some ordinary, ongoing tasks. On Monday, however, a gaping hole was opened at the end of the tunnel in the form of an offer to move over to internal development (from external development, for a lack of a better name). Internal development means no travel, and it also means interesting, challenging work that will see me develop significantly as a “software architect,” or whatever other similar term you wish to pin to me. It does, however, also mean working directly under B-PM, who can be difficult to work with. Even worse, the future plan for the company now includes a Florida office (in addition to the Boston one that recently opened), to which all external developers will be sent, leaving only us internal developers in Halifax, lead by B-PM.

I’m was looking forward to joining the fledgling internal development team April 1, but this has been pushed back due to my current trip. The ease with which the date was changed was a bit alarming, because B-SM had spent quite a bit of time driving it into our heads that internal development is of the utmost importance. In the end, I have to be content with the fact that anything can and will happen – I just have to decide whether I’m going to go along with it. I’m feeling positive right now.

Monday evening, I think I read. I don’t think I did much else. Tuesday evening, I picked up Dad at the train station, drove him home, then went down to meet JW at a Lebanese store for dinner. I had a samosa, two other completely different pastries, and tabouli.

After the meal, we decided to go to a talk being given at a nearby church on Christianity, Judaism, Helenistic (or Helenic – I’m not sure of the difference in the two) and Islamic religions and how they’ve influenced one another (I think). The talk focused quite a bit on architectural influences, and it included many tidbits of information that I found interesting. Perhaps the most interesting fact that I learned is that God was given no visual form at all until around the 12th century – before that, God was considered to be completely unfathomable. Nowadays, God is often portrayed as a grandfather figure, with the long beard, and so on. I kind of liked it the old way.

The talk was interesting in more than one way – sure, there were the topics themselves, but the entertainment value largely came from a distinct brand of physical comedy unintentionally delivered by the speaker. A rather large man, he had trouble navigating the spaces between the podium and the church pews. He constantly pounded on the pews while driving his points home; he leaned on them, causing them to bend, creak and crack; he spoke in a manner perfectly associated with a arts professor in a movie – short bursts of disjoined thoughts followed by stuttering silences. His demeanour was so outrageous and unexpected that I found myself unable to concentrate on the talk itself, at times – I missed entire sections of the talk expending all my energy trying not to burst out laughing. My inner right cheek is still recovering.

Wednesday evening was my second yoga class. I chatted with a few students outside the room waiting to go in. I was really feeling welcome, like part of the team, and I’m sad to be away now because I’m missing being a part of it. The regular teacher had returned, and she started off by bonding with each student – she asked each of us what yoga meant to us. The answers varied – one man said he felt a spiritual tie to it – which I later observed. One woman said she was giving it one last chance, having been discouraged with it in the past. Two others were suffering from various physical ailments, and they found that yoga both relieved (at times) and aggravated (at other times) their injuries. Another man (a former university calculus professor of mine) said that yoga had no effect on him – he felt no different before, during or after class. I said that I found it difficult, and that I liked it because I thought it would be useful for flexibility. I didn’t have a chance to mention that I liked the mental relaxation that it brought, as the teacher went off on a tangent about flexibility. The common theme was that the teacher always found some way to put a positive spin on the students’ comments, to a fault unfortunately. She seemed to refuse to admit that yoga is not for everyone, and that it’s okay for some of us to not take yoga.

The class was fast-paced and intense compared to the first one (my first). I found myself forgetting my breathing constantly, as I struggled to keep up with the verbal commands hurled at us. I didn’t do well on some moves – in fact, I had to take the easy way out on one (with a couple of other students). However, I was able to take up more advanced positions on others (compared to the other students).

After the class, I met two students, and we chatted about the class, and how each of us felt afterward. One older man identified with my inability to sit cross-legged, while another younger man had problems with his back. My back was a bit sore after class, and I think the class was directly related to a flare up later in the week.

It’s funny, because last week I joked about eating wings after class. Well, last week, that didn’t happen – I played pool instead. This time around, it did happen – in fact, TA, AD and I went for all-you-can-eat wings at Jungle Jim’s. I had about 30 wings, plus a drink. Afterward, we went to AD’s for grasshoppers and fuzzy navels.

On Thursday, I went to JW’s. Her brother came over for help with a toga costume for a toga party. While the two of them worked on the costume, I attempted to mend a hole in my jeans’ pocket. I took a patch, put it around the hole, and sewed around the outer part of the patch. I then asked JW whether I should go all the way around, and she said “yes,” so I continued around, thus cutting off a portion of the pocket from use. Now, I don’t think I did anything wrong. I can still use my pocket – the job got done. However, I was heckled incessantly by both JW and her brother about it – of course, I should’ve sewed the patch inside the pocket instead of through the entire thing. But that would’ve been tough, especially for someone not good at sewing – and I’m pretty happy with the way it turned out anyway – sure, it might break again, but if it does, I’ll just move on to another pair of jeans and give these ones to charity – I’m sure someone else will be able to fix them properly (how long can I make a sentence using hyphens?).

Friday at work, AN and I (as well as B-CC and B-AC) were asked to go to Seattle again by our client there. The CEO of the company decided that B-CC couldn’t go because he’d have to go across the border by car (no passport), and that would take too long. Then the reason turned into not taking a chance given the new border crossing rules (which clearly indicate that a passport is not required). Then the reason was simply that the CEO didn’t want it that way. Then the reason was that the purchase order only had room on it for two people anyway. Then there was enough reason for all four of us, but B-CC still couldn’t go. Then there was the fact that there was no real reason for me to go, but this client is so important that apparently they get what they want no matter what (what will happen when I am pulled off of their projects?). Finally, B-CC was given the go-ahead to cross the border, and that night, we all booked our flights. It was a total farce – we were told different things by different people. Excuses were made because no one wanted to deal with the CEO. Questions were sidestepped. Obvious solutions to problems were dismissed for no good reason. Ultimately, however, everything worked out.

AN and I booked our tickets, car rental and hotel at his place after work. AD and BD came over later on – we sat around talking and being tired.

Saturday morning, I packed my bags. For lunch, I went to my grandmother’s, where I had subs while watching the CBC news. After that, I went to visit my parents for a few minutes. While there, I sent off Dad’s annual maple syrup list – each year, his customers get real maple syrup from company land in Quebec. I think I still have bottles from the last two years, though it is really good (I just don’t like to have Eggos or pancakes for breakfast).

After that, I went home to finish packing and take a nap. JW called before I really got to sleep, and we headed toward Sambro, ultimately winding up at Peggy’s Cove, through no fault of our own. It was a sunny, bright day, and there were waves. It was great, and we had a blast walking around on the rocks. We had a nice sit in a sheltered area where it was warm – it felt almost like summer for the first time in a long time. The sound of the waves was awesome, and I’m kind of disappointed that I can’t imagine the exact sound now. I do remember clearly the bright sunlight on the water, and I remember the rock I stood on for a few moments while I listened to the ocean. It was funny, because we saw only a couple of people while sitting in our secluded spot – but when we stood up, we found that there were twenty people within thirty feet of us!

After Peggy’s Cove, we went grocery shopping. I tried to get a haircut, but the hair place was closed. So, instead, I tagged along while JW shopped. After the groceries, we went to King Wah’s for supper – we had a pasty version of what might have been called orange beef. We also had an almond vegetable mix that was tasty.

After dinner, we watched Brother Bear, one of the last hand-drawn animated Disney films. It was about the native people of Alaska and their spiritual beliefs, in particular its tie to nature. The main character inadvertently causes the death of his brother when he tries to go kill a bear who has stolen some fish. He hunts down and kills the bear shortly afterward. His brother, from the afterlife, turns him into a bear himself, so that he may live among bears and see that they are not the cold killers he’d considered them to be. More importantly, he comes across a baby bear, and we later learn that the baby is the child of the bear he’d killed. He reveals this terrible secret to the baby, but he is able to convince the baby that he is genuinely sorry, and he ultimately chooses to remain a bear to take care of the baby. Also featured throughout the movie are two bumbling moose played by Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis, as Bob and Doug MacKenzie. It was a good movie, in that I like the positive focus put on nature – I’ve always felt that we are no better than other animals, and I like the idea that we are all on the same level. The movie also succeeded in making me want to see the northern lights – I’m not worried about seeing them – I’ll get there soon enough. Finally, I liked that the movie portrayed the world as being more visually vivid through the eyes of animals, suggesting that they are more connected with it – whereas we see nature through a fog that is our detachment from it.

Sunday was travel day (I resume writing this the following Saturday – such is travel!). I left JW’s around seven in the morning to pick up AN, then swap cars and have Mum drive us to the airport. We got to the airport in plenty of time for our 8:45 flight. Instead of waiting in a huge line at Tim Horton’s, we got some weird juices and pastries at Starbucks.

The flight to Toronto left on time, was pretty smooth, and arrived on time. In Toronto, we had to rush to a nearby gate, only to find a small delay in departure time. We used the time wisely, scouring the airport for canned energy drinks, which have sort of been a theme of this trip so far, as unhealthy as they surely are. We gave up and bought iced teas instead, sweetened (unlike all iced tea in Seattle – remember this if you like iced tea and come!).

The flight to Vancouver left about twenty minutes late, but arrived ten minutes early. I spent the first part of the flight reading a weather book JW had given me. The first little bit was interesting, but the bulk of the book was not about weather, but rather things related to weather, such as clothing, housing, etc. It had many anecdotes from the author’s life – it was truly a book in the maritime style. Still, I did enjoy reading the parts that were about weather.

After the book, they showed “Casino Royale”, the latest Bond flick. I had a bit of trouble following the story, and I think a lot of people did – AN had seen the movie in the fall, and he said that many crucial scenes had been cut – the movie was exactly 120 minutes, after all. Probably the maximum for an airline movie or something.

A lot of the movie was “guy flick.” I couldn’t help but think about “Love Actually” throughout a ridiculous action scene that involved jumping from crane to crane on the tops of skyscrapers. It was really over the top. The movie took advantage of the popularity of Texas Hold ‘Em poker – there were endless scenes of poker action. No one could ever win a hand with a pair of queens or something… it ALWAYS had to be someone winning with a straight flush over a full house, for example. Again, totally ridiculous! Of course, Bond misjudges the bad guy, gets knocked out, then wins the whole thing when another player stakes him back in the game.

The Bond girl, whom we think is good, and whom Bond falls in love with, betrays him in doing a deed for the villain, in order to save the life of her real love (NOT Bond). Not everything is resolved, and the movie ends with Bond attempting to unravel that storyline. Overall, a mediocre movie with a few good moments. I stopped my torrent downloading it when I got to Seattle 

In Vancouver, we got some snacks and got on the flight to Seattle. The highlight of the flight was a hyperactive aging-male flight attendant. He licked his fingers before suavely motioning how to unbuckle your seatbelt. He wished those of us continuing on good luck, and then somehow twisted his words around to effectively say, “I hope your next flight is longer than this one” (our flight was thirty minutes) – implying that he hoped the plane didn’t crash. He went back and forth, handing out 95mL drinks and 40g snack packages until every person had had as much as they wanted (this is very unusual, and in fact it was the most food/drink we got on any flight).

We arrived in Seattle on time, got our bags rather easily, then drove straight to the hotel without making any mistakes (we’re getting to know the way now). After some unpacking, we went to Fred Meyer for beer and snacks, then to Canyon’s next to the hotel for dinner. This was to be the begin of my demise, health-wise. I had a “healthy” Thai wrap with rice, peanut sauce and various veggies. It was pretty good. I also had a couple of towering drinks.

After dinner, we were both tired, so we went back to the hotel and to bed at nine. I already know the next entry is going to be fun to write, because I’ve already lived all but one day of it, and surprisingly, I am still alive… barely!

I’m currently listening to: I Believe in Santa Claus by Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton.

Movies watched this week: Brother Bear, Casino Royale

1468 - The Demise of Caribou River

2007-03-18T10:25:00.000-07:00

I understand that people build retaining walls on oceanfront property to protect their investment, but is it not possible to build an attractive retaining wall? I was nearly sick to my stomach this week when I made my gallant return to the site of my aunt's old cottage in Caribou River. As JW and I drove, then walked, to the beach, memories of the beach as it had been flooded my mind. I remembered the beautiful sand, the rocky outcroppings, the "sea island" (a.k.a., reef) and the grassy path from the cottage to the beach. I really liked that path. On cold, windy (but sunny) days, I would lie on the hot sand in the grass to keep warm. I did a lot of imagining there, listening to the wind whipping through the grass and to the waves breaking along the shore.

The first wave of nausea hit when I saw a new cottage built between my aunt's cottage and the shore. It looks like a twisted box perched on eight feet of ugly concrete. It has an ugly deck, with a nice view. The second wave came when, down on the beach, I saw what had been done to the coastline. When I was last at the cottage, there was only one retaining wall, and it was just branches and sticks tied together. It didn't look that bad. Now, the entire shore in front of the cottages is wall. The grass I so loved is gone, replaced by concrete poured over a steel frame (that can be seen sticking out in places). It's cracked in places, and there are ugly steps molded into it in the middle.

To the left of this monstrosity are large boulders that replace a steep, grassy embankment. To the right, more rocks and boulders. There is no sign of the original shoreline. It is nothing like I remembered. My mental state wasn't helped by a completely frozen ocean, motionless and lifeless, covering most of the sand. The notable "Scott" rock is gone, the "dunebuggy fortress" is rubble, and there is a massive new cottage in the woods where LS and I used to go exploring.

Finally, on to my week! It really was a good week, despite this chilling dose of reality - honest. It began on a wild note. Feeling particularly bored Monday evening, I decided to take the bus to TA's to hang out. JT was there, and we had a few drinks, chatting late into the night. I didn't get to bed until three in the morning, and I paid the price the next day at work.

Tuesday evening, JW and I went to our favourite restaurant in Bedford for dinner. We got to see a nearby condo complex burn down on the way to the restaurant - the second big fire in the city in a week. The meal was delicious as always, perhaps more so (merely because the memory is more recent).

Back at JW's place, I showed her some books I'd purchased online that I knew would be of particular interest to her. They were books resulting from the Jesus Seminar - a gathering of great minds assigned the task of determining the truth as it pertains to the life of Jesus. Being a student of truth, I felt that the books would be of interest to me - I don't want to read about what someone thinks Jesus did - that kind of truth is too easily exaggerated, misinterpreted or biased (with malice of forethought or otherwise). I want to read about what he really did. As JW scanned through the sections of the bible evaluated by the seminar, it became quickly apparent that a great deal of it is not founded in truth. In fact, some very important bits of it are completely untrue (editor's note: I've been vacationing down south, but now I'm back. The phrase "completely untrue" is redundant - how can something be partially untrue?). I'm looking forward to a good read (the books have taken their places toward the front of the queue).

Wednesday evening I decided to finally go to a yoga class. My physical flexibility is poor, and my mental discipline sometimes wavers - two issues addressed by yoga. I showed up to the class without first registering - I had myself convinced that it would either be full, or that I'd be turned away for not registering (this serves as an example of why I'm going). I arrived ten minutes before class, so that I'd have time to register. After nearly bursting into a dark room full of people, I retreated to the stairway to await my fate. Two girls a bit older than myself soon appeared, and I questioned them a bit about the class. They told me that the class was small, relatively easy and pretty fun. Ever being the one feeling the need to justify my every decision, I told them that I'd skipped the first week due to the cold, then immediately regretted it. It was true, though (editor's note: there you go again).

I paid the instructor for the class and a yoga mat rental, which was mildly amusing because the instructor couldn't subtract $12.50 from $15. They could scarcely add $1 to $11.50. I got my mat, and two hard cushions made to look like stones, and took my place next to the instructor's mat at the front. To my left sat an older lady who warned me about getting too close due to her "limited control of her own body," flailing her limbs in my general direction indicitively.

The class itself was fun - the time passed quickly, and some of the moves were challenging. Yoga is as much focused on the mind as it is the body. Breathing is at its core - we were constantly reminded to focus on our breathing throughout the class. We were told when to breathe in, and when to breathe out. We tried to connect our minds to our bodies by concentrating on our breath and the precise movements of our bodies. I was pleasantly surprised in that I was able to do all of the moves; some were more painful than others, but I got through it.

The cooldown phase of the class was wonderful. We placed pillows under our backs and heads, and a roll under our knees. We laid back in the dark, listening to quiet music, trying to relax every muscle in our bodies. It worked, too, because I felt like I could've stayed there the entire night.

After the class, walking back to the car, I noticed that my body was feeling great. I was also mentally in a good place. I was loose in both senses. It was funny that I was going to TA's so that we could go out to eat unhealthy, fried chicken wings.

We wound up going to play pool instead. I ordered some mozza sticks, and later we went to Burger King for whoppers - the epitomy of health. We called it a night earlier than usual, as we were both tired.

I was excited all morning Thursday - it was difficult to do my work, especially where I'd stayed home to work. I was really looking forward to going away with JW for a couple of days - I hadn't been far out of the city since our trip to her parents' cottage in October. I did manage to exercise some self-restraint, and I got a lot done. I have this strange ability to focus intently on work moments before a big event. For example, before an after-work party at company A, I would get nothing done until moments before the party, and then I'd stay behind a few minutes, excitingly wrapping up my work. This time around, I unnecessarily worked a bit longer than I had to. When the time arrives to stop working, I think I automatically switch into a good mood - even though I continue to work, I feel like I've stopped and am doing something fun. It's strange. Anyway, I went to pick up JW just after two. I'd arranged to have Friday off completely - repayment for working the weekend my last time in Seattle.

Our destination was just outside of River John. We stopped at the Superstore in Elmsdale, and I clearly remember taking a moment to absorb the excitement of the moment - our little trip was just beginning. I look back on that moment now with jealousy, as my prospects the next few days aren't nearly as appealing. We got quite a bit of food, then continued on.

We arrived at the cottages just after five. The lady running the cottages was finishing up some barn work, and so we were invited to wait inside her house by one of her friends.

When she arrived, we chatted for a while about the area, JW's roots and the modifications she was making to her house. It was fun for the first twenty minutes, but the meticulous recount of her home renovation plan ultimately drove us out.

The cottage itself was much nicer than I'd expected - the bathroom towels were folded like paper fans, and the end of the toilet paper was folded into a triangular shape. There was a rocking chair on the second level with a view of the ocean through two large windows. The kitchen had everything except a dishwasher - it was great!

We cooked steaks in the oven after unpacking (the BBQ was non-operational - it looked like it had been left outside for five years without a cover). The steaks were cheap, and they didn't turn out well, but we got them down, along with random veggies from a veggie tray.

After the meal, we watched American Beauty, an excellent movie that only suffers from trying to be a bit too perfect. It features a man who decides to take control of his own life; his wife, a power-hungry person whose only focus is her career; his daughter, a social outsider who finds friendship (and more) with a new neighbour's son; his daughter's friend, with whom he nearly has a relationship; the new neighbour, an in-the-closet homosexual who comes to believe that his son is one via a series of "unfortunate" misunderstandings; and the neighbour's son, another social outsider, overwhelmed by the beauty he sees in the world, often finding beauty in unusual places. I was able to relate to the son a bit, except that I tend to disclude most human creations when I think of beauty.

The movie conveys a refreshing view of spirituality, probably as close to my own "view" (I use quotes because it is not completely defined yet, nor should it be) as any movie has yet come. I won't open that can of worms here, though.

After the movie, we relaxed a bit before going to bed. I mention this here merely because I want to point out that the word "relax" doesn't necessarily imply any particular activity :)

Friday morning, we were unable to get up early enough to go see the farm operated by the owners of the cottages. Instead, we got up and enjoyed sourdough bread (from Hydrostone) with havarti cheese - dangerously delicious, as always. We then headed out to my aunt's old cottage - I've already beaten the negative horse to death, so now I'll try beating the positive one. We parked next to the frog pond, though the frogs were entombed beneath many feet of ice at that moment. We walked down the road toward the cottages, crossing through B's property to get down to the beach. We walked to the left for a while, going beyond the first land reef. The ice covering the rocks surprisingly made the walking easier.

We turned around, and headed in the opposite direction, crossing in front of the cottages, in plain view of certain aforementioned structures. We climbed up to the wall to get a look at my aunt's cottage. I learned later that it had been moved forward, and I realize now that I was justified in feeling like it was closer to the beach. Further down the beach, we discovered a new mansion in the woods behind BL's. That part of the beach had been quite private. Further down, around the corner and past the second land reef in that direction, we found the "dunebuggy fortress." We stopped there for a moment, then headed back to the car.

We drove into Pictou, it being pretty close to the cottage. We took pictures of the Hector, enjoyed hot roll-up-the-rim (editor's note: NOT rrrrrrrim!) beverages, and took time to stop at the local dollar store, the first destination of any sane tourist. We took a brief drive around town, rediscovering the location of the golf course in the process, then headed back toward the cottage.

I was going to stop there, but I was enjoying the music and the open road, and JW was asleep, so I continued on to River John and then Tatamagouche. In Tatamagouche, I woke JW up and we went into a local bookstore, then an art/antiques store. We then headed back to the cottage for a nap.

For dinner, we had bacon and eggs with chocolate milk. Now that's a dinner, in my books! After dinner, we watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, a three-hour marathon, but a good one. I've seen it many times, so there's no need to describe it here for my future reference.

The next morning, we got up, finished off the sourdough bread and cheese, packed the car up, and headed to the farm to see the calves. We couldn't find anyone around, so we gave ourselves a brief tour. While exploring a barn full of baby calves, the farmer came in and began giving us a tour. He showed us an interesting feeding system that feeds the calves amounts of milk based on collars they wear around their necks. Then, we went to another barn to watch older cows feed, then finally to a sheep pen with a couple of dozen sheep. We gained a lot of insight into the farming industry, as he talked about its difficulties.

Some key information gleaned from the farmer is as follows: there's no money in sheep wool; we Canadians feed our sheep too much resulting in fatty meat; organic farming is not economically viable; and beef prices are set to plummet with the rise of ethanol as a fuel. Mix in talk specific to his farm, and you've got the makings of a forty-five minute conversation. We appreciated him taking the time to talk to us.

With much work to be done, the farmer jumped into his tractor while his wife continued the conversation. Much of it focused on her cats, and the mouse that her dog toyed with as we watched.

After our delightful visit, we got in the car and began our solemn trip back. It was sad to see our trip come to an end - I wished I'd had another day to just veg out. Anyway, we arrived at my parents' just after lunch to trade cars, then went down to JW's. We napped for a couple of hours, as we were both tired.

I left her place around four, arriving at TA's shortly after five to begin the St. Paddy's Day festivities. We sat around watching UFC fights, drinking beer, and watching groups of drunken teenagers parade around outside of his apartment. JT showed up around eight-thirty, which really didn't alter the course of the evening. Around ten, we took a cab to a party being thrown by one of TA's co-workers. I was too drunk, and I didn't mix well with a potentially-interesting crowd. I managed to win a game of darts, only missing the playing surface once (I must have good hand-eye co-ordination) against a seasoned player. By twelve, I was asleep on the couch in front of the living room television. I woke up and decided to go home. TA begged me to stay, as we'd planned to go to another party hosted by IF and RD, but I would have none of it in my state. By quarter past twelve, I was asleep in bed.

Sunday morning was not fun. I was dizzy and I felt quite sick, off and on, for a few hours. The symptoms didn't completely vanish until after dinner. I cleaned the house and wrote the first part of this entry, before going to see Mum for dinner (Dad was away). We watched Vijay Singh win the Arnold Palmer Invitational, then I headed home for more blog writing. I watched Family Guy before hitting the sack.

--End of Transmission--

I’m currently listening to: Haitian Fight Song, from Ken's Burns Jazz Series: Charles Mingus by Charles Mingus (this is an AWESOME song).

Movies watched this week: Ocean's 12, American Beauty, The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

1467 - HOTSHOTPETERPARKER

2007-03-11T08:49:00.000-07:00

I don't think I have an introductory paragraph in me this week. So, to take it's place, I'll talk about not having one for a while. Actually, I'm starting to feel one coming on... the week was a bit of a Harvey Dent, uneventful and directionless early on, exciting and action-packed toward the end. That's all I've got.

Halifax decided to withdraw its bid for the Commonwealth Games this week. Once again, we've made ourselves out to be the backwoods idiots that many people east of here already thought we were. It was awfully nice of us to force Hamilton out of the running before bailing out ourselves. Sorry, Hamilton - we didn't do it on purpose. We don't seem to do much of anything on purpose. We're twigs riding the mighty shoulders of a river that we cannot control. I don't wish we'd gotten the games, I just wish we hadn't bid on them in the first place. The whole thing is a fiasco, as pointless as any Wesley Willis song.

Anyway, back to plausible reality. I had a great work week this week. I was busy the entire week on one project, and the time really flew. I hardly listened to any music, because my concentration was such that I wasn't bothered by the noisy office. This week really highlighted perhaps the most damaging of my work-related flaws: perfectionism. I spent a lot of time keeping the code files organized - functions had to appear in a certain order, spacing had to be consistent, naming conventions adhered to... I would decide on a change for one file, and then have to go back over the five I'd already finished to bring them up-to-date. My justification for doing this, and rightly so in a scaled-back manner, is that it makes duplicating the code much easier - and this is something I'm going to have to do many times next week.

A couple of new guys started this week, and AN and I are responsible for bringing them up to speed, which has been difficult because we're so busy. We both delighted in assigning them a task - the first time either of us had ever done that. They took the task very seriously, despite it being monotonous, repetitive work.

On to the important part of life now - !work. (The exclamation point symbol is the "not" operator in my programming language of choice - it is normally applied to "boolean" data, or data that can have a value of either "true" or "false". So, if I have a variable (a named item that holds a value) called X of type boolean that is storing the value "true", and I evaluate the expression !X, I will get "false".)

Monday evening was a waste of time. I spent over an hour making pointless updates to a group I created on a certain networking Web site. I was bored, and somehow the updates brought joy to my life. I especially liked taking pictures, cropping them in paint, and posting them, thanks to a lack of scanners. I think I'll have to get mine back, as Dad doesn't use it. I spent the rest of the evening surfing music Web sites. I just didn't feel like doing anything constructive, I guess.

Tuesday evening was better. I watched most of Ocean's 11, an excellent movie about a group of eleven criminals, each with specific talents, coming together to rob a large casino, via an ingenius plan. The interesting bit of the movie is the plan itself - much of which is revealed before the heist. Of course, a few key moves are left out to provide suspense during the actual robbery. The characters were fun, but very predictable - they stayed well within the clearly-defined roles of "computer nerd", "cool guy", "new guy", "crazy guy", etc. But hey, they have to pander to the expectations of the audience. A cool computer nerd just isn't within the realm of possiblity. Anyway, I really liked the movie despite this. After the movie, I went to JW's to relax for a while before bed.

I finished Ocean's 11 on Wednesday, and then finished the relevant parts of the yellow book, a book I've perhaps mentioned before. Specifically, it's meant to treat depression, but generally it contains life lessons valuable to anyone. I also spent some time deciding whether I should once again re-implement my Web site. I lost the code last year during a computer upgrade, so I can't make changes to what's there. I can add new things sure, but I can do nothing about the slowness of the golf section, in particular. I toyed with the idea of using db4o, an object-oriented database (meaning it is good at storing data as objects, where an object is any concept, such as a car, a work shift for an employee, or in my case, a golf hole played. My current database is not object-oriented, but the information that I store in it is. This makes the golf parts of my site very slow. We're going to be using db4o at work, and I thought it might be useful to know. However, I'm tired of continuously re-implementing my site, and I kind of like it as it is. I'm still not sure what I'll do. I have better things to be spending my time on, but a lot of people at work seem to spend time at home learning new things. Maybe they just like their work more than I do.

Thursday evening was a fiasco almost as grand in scale as the one mentioned earlier. I had a simple wish: to eat tasty pizza. I ordered a pizza from Donnini's, my pizza of choice (think cheap and tasty). I was warned that the delivery time might be a half hour, which I thought was very reasonable. In the end, the delivery time was 100 minutes, and to top it all off (or not, in this case), they forgot the most critical ingredient: hot peppers. They also burned the Brothers' pepperoni, a deluxe topping. I didn't have time to eat the pizza, as I was heading over to JW's, so I packed the slices in plastic bags and headed out into the cold.

At JW's, we re-heated the pizza, and talked about how sad it looked. It didn't taste much better. I've learned two lessons: never get Donnini's to deliver, unless you know it's not busy; and, never get Brothers' pepperoni as a topping - just eat it as is - it can be found at your local grocery store. I'm going to try ordering a modified Greek pizza next time: feta cheese, onion, tomato and black olives. Word on the street is that they really pile on the feta!

By the time we ate the pizza, it was a bit late, so we relaxed until bed time. JW goes to bed super early these days so that she can get up and exercise in the morning. It makes perfect sense - I used to do it myself, but I don't these days because I worry about disturbing my neighbours. It just sucks having to go to bed so early, especially with her noisy roommates, who often chat loudly until midnight or so. I'm happy I didn't spend the night there this weekend, with her roomates away.

Friday evening was interesting. It started out innocently enough - I went up to my parents' to pick up the car. Before going home, Dad and I took a run up to Bayer's Lake to look for a mattress for me. My current bed is a double, and it's just too small. I also want to take preventative steps now to ensure physical health down the road.

We went to three stores, looking at the king beds. I had a king bed in a hotel room once, and it was great! I felt like a little kid, with all this room to play (though I was by myself then, so you can safely de-emphasize "play" a bit). A king would take up nearly my entire bedroom though, and recently I've been thinking a queen might be more reasonable. But, if I buy a queen, and then regret it, I'll be out of luck. The constant spectre that is "need" is also plaguing me. I only really mind my bed when JW is over - even then, it isn't that bad. She's very rarely over, and not likely to be more often in the near future, so how can I justify a new bed? Maybe I should just keep this one until I have reason to buy a new one. I don't know, and I usually don't do anything when I don't know. I have until March 21 to take advantage of a great deal on a top-quality bed at one of the stores.

Dad and I tried to go see "Wild Hogs" after the mattress hunt, but fortunately, it was sold out. I didn't really want to see it, but I was going to humour him, as I had no reason to think that anything better was going to happen that evening. It all worked out perfectly though, as JW called on our way back from the theatre to tell me about a CD release concert her friend was having. She told me about a picture of a robot featured with the ad for the concert, which was promising. It started late, so JW decided to take a nap for a couple of hours.

I went over to her place around ten-thirty, which is normally after her bedtime. She was still asleep, and ringing her doorbell did no good. I hope no one important to her dies, because the policeman going to the door won't do much good. I had to call her on the phone to wake her up, and she sounded terrible. She looked terrible too, like she'd been awake for a week straight, and I'd woken her up fifteen minutes into her overdue slumber.

After a bit of deciding, she still wanted to go to the concert, so she cleaned herself up (and looked quite beautiful to boot). She wore perhaps my favourite shirt of hers, and some high-heeled boots, so needless to say, I was going to have a good time regardless of whether the band was any good (or whether they even showed up).

We headed down to the bar after eleven, and had to wait until almost twelve before the first act hit the stage. They were called HOTSHOTROBOT, and they captured my attention less than a second into the first song. The lead singer started it off by playing a few notes on a small keyboard that reminded me of old Atari games. Then, the guitars cut in, with a fast, heavy sound. It was awesome. I don't know if I've ever heard such complicated basslines - the bassist's hands were moving as fast as the lead guitarist's. I liked the first few songs, but the songs were similar to one another, and by the end of the set, it got a bit tiresome.

I looked the band up online afterward, and it turns out that they have an EP out, so I think I'll try to find it, just for fun. I'd love to see them again. The second band, called "The Peter Parkers" was also good. I guess I'd have to classify them as metal, but they often strayed away from that label. The most memorable song of the evening was one of theirs - a very long, instrumental piece with alternating loud/quiet parts. I'd pay to see them again for sure.

Finally, Joyless Streets came on, the band releasing their CD. They were metal, and their vocals were of the screaming yelp variety (is one way of putting it, and another is...LW stumbles uncontrollably into the truth). It was very late, so JW and I left about fifteen minutes into the set. We could only take so much when it came to the vocals. The drumming was really good, on the plus side. Legally deaf, we headed back to the car, and home.

I didn't get up until one in the afternoon on Saturday. I only managed to have a shower and clean up a bit before heading over to JW's to go out for groceries. After the groceries, we went out to Sackville for a surprise party for JW's friend JT. The crowd was very similar to that of New Year's Eve, though I was not at all uncomfortable. I had a decent time: good food, fun with sparklers, games with pom-poms - the party had it all. I felt more comfortable this time - I talked to a few more people, and I felt noticed when I left.

I dropped JW off on the way back into town, then went home to await AD and AN. They arrived late with TA, and we proceeded to watch "When Good Animals GO BAD" on Spike. After more maulings than I care to count, we put on Porky's, a comedy that Dad's been raving about for years. AN was excited to see it - he said it was one of his favourites of all time.

It was about a group of sex-crazed teenaged boys in the 50s. They played practical jokes on one another, joked about their anatomies, looked through peeping holes at girls showering, while wreaking general havoc. The focus of the movie, though rarely present, was on Porky, the owner of a hick nightclub in the next county. The first trip to Porky's is a disaster: the boys pay Porky $100 for a half hour with three of his girls, only to be swindled out of their money (they find themselves in the swamp beneath the bar). The county sherrif is a friend of Porky's, and he smashes up the boys' car, so that he can charge them with crimes such as driving with a broken headlight. Porky and the sherrif let the boys go on the condition that they never come back. Of course, toward the end of the movie, the boys formulate a scheme to get their revenge. They saw out the supports under Porky's building, rig the bridges out of the parking lot with explosives, then confront Porky. They destroy the bar and blow out all but one of the bridges. Porky and the sherrif chase the boys into their county, where police officers (one of whom is a brother of one of the boys) are waiting for Porky and his men. The brother officer smashes out Porky's headlights and shoots his tires, telling him to get out of his jurisdiction. Everyone cheers and confetti is thrown into the air, on a road out on the woods. The movie ends. It was entertaining, and worth watching.

We made the terrible decision of then watching Porky's II: The Day After. The best part of the movie was the recap of the first movie at the beginning. I'm not sure why they included it, because the second movie had nothing to do with the first. It focused on an evangelical minister who teamed up with the evil gym teacher, and local residents, to halt production of the school's Shakespeare plays, which they deemed as inappropriate for general viewing (the minister cites several steamy scenes). There is a strange graveyard scene where pranksters themselves are double crossed, and a person in a zombie costume comes out of the ground to scare everyone away. It makes no sense. A lot of the movie was such scenes strung together. There is also a plot line about a father of one of the boys, running for public office, who promises to get rid of the minister, only to join forces with him to garner support. A girlfriend of one of the boys takes advantage of the father's liking of young women and arranges a date with him, where she humiliates him by being loud and obnoxious, vomiting in a pool in the restaurant, and revealing his motives.

Porky's II is a terrible movie, and no one should ever see it. It isn't the worst movie I've seen - it isn't even the worst sequel. That honour still belongs to Caddyshack II, made even more impressive because Caddyshack is better than Porky's. After the movie was over, we imagined what Porky's III might be like - I mean, how is it that it was even made? At least the Porky character is in Porky's III (he wasn't in Porky's II).

Well, it's been a fun week, I guess. At least it seems that way now. I'm looking forward to the upcoming week - JW is on March break, so perhaps she'll be slightly less busy than usual. I'm looking forward to not waking up at 5:30am. We're going on a mini-trip to parts unknown for a couple of days, followed immediately by St. Patrick's day. If it's anything like it was last year, look out!

I’m currently listening to: A Better Place, from Army of Anyone by Army of Anyone.

Movies watched this week: Ocean's 11, Porky's, Porky's II: The Next Day

1466 - Haircuts and Hippies

2007-03-02T14:32:00.000-08:00

I last had my hair cut (other than a trim) about seven months ago. The comments I've received about it vary as time goes on. There was a "it looks great" phase, about two months in. Then there was the "get that hair trimmed" phase, followed by the "you look like a hippy" phase, and finally now the "it looks terrible, and you can't go out in public looking like that" phase. Every time I speak to Mum, the first thing she says is, "did you get a haircut yet?" It's been more of a joke lately, but it's a joke that never seems to get old (to her). It's still relatively short (except when the wind whips it up into a loose afro), and I don't think I'm done my experiment just yet. I do need to find a new hairstyle though, as I've had no positive comments in about a month now (from anyone). I can't just keep slapping gel into it, hoping to avoid the problem another day. My goal is to get to the one-year mark (five more months) with only one or two more trims. I'll evaluate things again at that time. I just hope I get there without having a gun held to my head :)

Monday evening I cooked, cleaned then watched The Royal Tenenbaums. It was really funny - so funny that I had to keep stopping it to write down quotes! Gene Hackman played an irresponsible, self-serving father with some great lines. Gwyneth Paltrow was good in the movie, playing the sad wife of a brilliant man (Bill Murray). Hackman fakes having terminal stomach cancer to get a place to stay, after being booted out of a hotel he'd lived in for twenty years. He moves into his estranged wife's home to live out his "remaining days", and through various occurences, his grown children all wind up living in the home with him. The movie is largely about the interactions of this collection of very strange and different people, each perfectly contrived to interact humourously with the others. It reminded me a lot of Arrested Development (TV show), which I've seen twice, but would like to see a lot more!

I went over to JW's after work on Tuesday. We watched You and Me and Everyone We Know (or some ordering of those words). Like The Royal Tenenbaums, the movie relied heavily on the interactions of odd characters. It was less funny, but more odd than Tenenbaums. I liked the story, and I especially liked the character played by the person who wrote it. She reminded me a bit of myself the way she had trouble interacting with people due to shyness, though instead of walking away, she would somehow generate an incredibly-awkward situation with some really interesting dialog. The movie also featured an interesting concept defined by keyboard symbols:

( )( ) << >> ( )( )

I'll leave it at that :) I liked the movie a lot. I was totally drawn into it, not even noticing the time until 1:25 into it (which is very unusual). For some reason, I'm remembering myself as a twelve-year-old, standing on the front steps of my house, yelling as loudly as I could, for no good reason. I did a lot of strange things for no good reason as a child - that's an only child for you.

Wednesday evening finally saw me finish my "new song." It's not as good as I'd hoped, but I like it. I'd put it somewhere in the middle-front of the pack as far as my songs go. It is certainly more complex than most, and it has real vocals, a first for me (though they are spoken word). It has three distinct components, which is also a first for me. It also is in 6/4 time, and the tempo changes back and forth a bit, other firsts.

Thursday evening was wild! I went to Rogue's Roost to catch the final show for a member of a local band. The place was pretty empty at first, but by the time the band went on stage it was packed. It was kind of sad really, because of all the people in the bar, my group was probably the least friends with the band member, yet we sat the closest. Even worse, we sat there straight-faced, looking fairly bored a lot of the time (drunk). The band is called "The Plugs," though they were joined by the brother of one of my friends on the drums to form "The Wives," their other band. Apparently, the brother is going to take the place of the departing member.

I somehow managed to drink two pitchers of beer plus two other drinks. I was drunk - big time. AD drove and did not drink, but his car was already full, so I left the bar around 12:15 to catch the last bus, not really knowing when it came. Of course, I watched it pass by in front of me yet again (missing the bus has been my life's theme the past few weeks). I called the bus line, only to find that all buses were now out of service. I started on the long, cold walk home, only to be passed five minutes later by a bus that would've taken me most of the way home. Instead, I was forced to run/stumble all the way home. Once home, I forced down a glass of water and went to bed. It was a good night, and I got to see: AN, AB, AD, RD, JP, TA, AB, RD (another one), IF and D?.

Friday wasn't too bad, considering. I woke up early and drank more water before sleeping in a bit. I had a headache, and my muscles ached a bit. I literally just caught the bus, a surprising twist of fate. The guy getting on ahead of me even commented on how perfect my timing was. I listened to a woman talk about having children in high school.

After work, I picked up the car, got some groceries, and headed home as it started to snow. It was a bad storm - snow, ice and a lot of wind. Unable to leave the house, I watched Dodgeball, a movie about, strangely enough, Dodgeball. It starred Ben Stiller and Vince Vaughn. Stiller, the owner of a upclass gym, tries to buy a deeply-in-debt "Average Joe" gym across the street, owned by Vaughn. Vaughn gets a team of his members together to enter a Dodgeball tournament - of course, the Average Joe's are anything but. One of them acts like a pirate, another plays roughly the same oddball character as he did in Office Space (the guy who'd been fired years ago but hadn't been told, who winds up working in the basement of the office). The characters are bumbling, lovable idiots, so naturally, you root for them. The middle part of the movie is physical comedy at it's best - no one is spared. I love watching someone get hit in the face by a thrown wrench. The last third of the movie, and the worst third, follows the team in a Dodgeball tournament (put on by the American Dodgeball Association of America), where they pick up win after unbelievable win, ultimately winning the tournament, and enough money to save Vaughn's gym (and take over Stiller's in the process - props to Vegas).

Saturday was a day for gettings things done. I had perhaps my most productive day in many months. I cleaned the upstairs bathroom (and I mean CLEANED - I didn't just rub a dry cloth across the floor and declare victory). I got some exercise on my cross-trainer. I also re-organized my filing cabinet. Finally, I looked into yoga classes and into potential vacation spots for JW and I. Later on in the day, it got really nice - it was sunny and really warm - in stark contrast to the night before. Talk about instant gratification! I was getting really antsy to go outside when JW called - she'd been out dress-shopping for her friend's wedding. We went to the Dingle to soak up the last few rays of the day. JW was in an energetic mood, and it caught me totally by surprise. It was kind of fun actually, to have her jumping around like a frog, dancing along a retainer wall along the water.

After the Dingle, we drove further out toward Crystal Crescent, only to stop at a frozen lake, where the ice had been pushed up along the shore to form really awesome structures. The ice itself was made up of straight up-and-down fragments of ice - in some places, these fragments had somehow arranged themselves to look like ice flowers - it was really cool. We watched the sun set, then headed into town for a bite to eat.

We wound up at Taj Mahal, after being rejected by Talay Thai (or Thai Chin - I get the two mixed up). They serve Indian food, and I'd been meaning to try it again. The restaurant was darker than the streets outside, so we lit a few extra candles for ourselves. We ordered a lamb-in-sauce dish - the sauce was rated three peppers, and it was crazy hot - somewhere between hot and suicide wings at most places. The lamb tasted really good, but I often swallowed it quickly to spare myself unnecessary agony. We also ordered a limey chicken dish, supposely with a cashew paste. It was tangy and tasty. Rice and naan bread rounded out the meal. I love bread, and the naan was no exception.

After the meal, we went back to JW's and watched Crash, a movie about racism. It is a multi-plot movie that movies back and forth across five or so story lines. I was able to rule out the multi-plot mechanism as being the element of Love, Actually (I'm not going back and putting quotes around my movie titles) that I didn't like, because I really liked Crash. It was really tense - people were constantly getting into arguments laced with racial slurs. No one trusted anyone else. People were corrupt, though the end of the movie was used to largely highlight the personal growth most the characters underwent. The ending was eerily similar to Love, Actually, except without the romance. There was the music, the slow motion, the quicker scene changes, happy endings (there were some sad ones though), etc. I felt like I was being manipulated (big time), and I wasn't about to let the director get me that easily. I went from being totally engrossed in the movie to being on the outside looking in. The ending was just too much. But overall, I really liked the movie - maybe I'll stop it fifteen minutes from the end next time :)

Sunday morning, JW and I walked over to Cora's for brunch. It was my first visit there since I'd been there with my family (including my grandfather - the lone time he'd agreed to go somewhere other than Smitty's). The menu is amazing - so much delicious fruit. JW had sausages wrapped in glutin-free pastry with old-cheddar, plus an impressive side of fruit. I had some kind of hot cross bun/cinnamon bun/french toast hybrid that was pretty tasty, but it got upstaged by a few strips of common bacon. I also had a scrambled egg that I could've done without. Mine had fruit too, but it wasn't as good as JW's.

After Cora's, we walked over to Winchester's, a wedding/prom dress joint, where they thank you for removing your shoes before you've even done so. I enjoyed our visit - I got to see JW in several beautiful dresses - she looked great in them all, but there was one that I really liked in particular. I hope I get to see her in whatever dress she decides upon.

We walked back to JW's over Citadel Hill. It was wet and muddy, but nice and far from the traffic below.

I had a fun weekend - the weather was great (after Friday), and it felt like spring for the first time. I'm looking forward to golf - if lucky, I'll be playing in a month and a half. I dreampt about it last night, but the course I was playing had no greens (that I could find), and thus no holes. So it was kind of pointless. I also didn't like it when the old man that owned the course chased after me with a gun (the course wasn't open yet - apparently I'd snuck on).

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

I’m currently listening to: Accidents, from Watch Out! by Alexisonfire.

Movies watched this week: The Royal Tenenbaums, You and Me and Everyone We Know, Dodgeball, Crash

1465 - It Was a Very Good Year

2007-02-24T08:55:00.000-08:00

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

1464 - Panic of Dentist

2007-02-18T17:09:00.000-08:00

Finally, an eventful week! It all started at the dentist’s office Monday morning – at least that’s where it would’ve started had I remembered to go. Instead, I got a phone call at work fifteen minutes after the scheduled start of my appointment. I dodged the call at first, then quickly returned it after I realized that there was nothing that could be done. Fortunately, there was a slot that needed filling Tuesday morning, and so I filled it. They didn’t even charge me a fee for missing my appointment – I was told to think no more of it. The people there are really good – it seems like we’re having an ongoing conversation, ten minutes at a time, every six months. I don’t need to recap past events – they remember everything, as if we’d just talked the day before. The missed appointment taught me never to book appointments Monday morning. They’d called me to remind me on Friday, but of course the weekend erased any trace of the call. And the note I’d written for myself had been brushed under some jackets – I hadn’t seen it for days. I think a whiteboard by my door might be a good idea, as sad as that sounds.

The workday Monday was chaotic. I sat there listening to B-SM take calls from desperate clients looking for immediate help with their projects. We actually hired two people this week, but I didn’t meet them because they’ve been sent/are being sent to Seattle straight away – lucky them. It’s unnerving to sit there listening to your boss talk about you as if you were an object, to be shipped off to the highest bidder at any time. Fortunately, the uncertainty surrounding my current work has evaporated, and at the moment I feel like I’m firmly entrenched in a single project that could see me stay in Halifax for quite a while.

After work Monday, I spent the evening making JW’s Valentine’s Day card. I decided that it was high time I write a poem, so I combined that with a desire to relive many of the memories we’ve shared over the past year. Writing the poem succeeded in making me miserable about winter and the cold – we’ve had so many fun summer adventures. She’s been busy lately, and it’s been really cold for weeks, so adventures gone on we haven’t.

I also spent a part of Monday night looking up bus schedules to ensure a prompt arrival for Tuesday’s 9:50am appointment. I decided to catch the #17 bus, which I read as going by Kempt and Young at 9:17am. I walked to a stop just past Kempt and Young, arriving at 9:18am. I hadn’t seen the bus, so I figured I was okay. I waited five minutes. Then, out of the blue, I decided to actually look at the bus stop sign. Sure enough, the bus didn’t stop there! My head spun for a few minutes, as I imagined how embarrassing it would be if I missed two appointments on consecutive days. I literally ran back over to Robie, to see if the #17 stopped there. It didn’t. But the #42 did – in fact, I’d passed one sitting there on my way to catch the #17 – at the time, I decided not to chance it. Now I had to. The next bus came at 9:35am. It was early, and I was happy, until it stopped one stop away and waited for five minutes (while I froze to death). Finally, it came. As I’d hoped, it took me to Lacewood terminal, which is close to the dentist.

I walked through the doors at 9:48am. I joked with the secretaries about my bad memory – I told them about the note I’d lost, and about how appointments and Mondays don’t mix in my world. They either laughed with me, or at me – I’m not sure which.

The appointment itself went well – I was given a clean bill of health, followed by the bill. I left the office, and found my bus downtown ready and waiting – I was happy. I got on, and endured a forty-five minute ride, the object of which seemed to be to find the longest route downtown. I arrived at work at 11:00am. I still took lunch at noon.

On Tuesday evening, I wrapped JW’s presents – well, I put them in a gift bag anyway. I also changed the sheets on the bed, set up some candles and set the table. I bought a couple of t-bone steaks, some greens, and some onions and mushrooms. After my preparations for V-day were complete, I went to the Lion’s Head with AD and TA for wings and beer. The wings were delicious – the best I’ve had in a while.

I didn’t get much done at work on Wednesday – I was too excited. I left at four-thirty, went home and got JW’s presents, and headed to her place On the way there, I picked up her flowers, which itself was an ordeal. Apparently, I’d given them only my first name, and so when I asked for the flowers with my last name, a mad scramble ensured. Finally, they used my phone number to determine that I’d only given them my first name, and the flowers were quickly found.

I arrived at JW’s around five-thirty. I gave her the flowers, which unfortunately had been damaged a bit by the cold walk. She pruned off the damaged bits, cut their stems, and put them in vase on top of the mantle in her room. After that, we exchanged gifts. She gave me a Wired magazine, and I actually allowed myself to believe for a second that she’d gotten me a truly thoughtless gift. In reality, she’d got it for me because it featured a story about the things in the universe that we as a species don’t know. She also got me a book to help me deal with my shyness – let’s hope it helps! Finally, she got me a few delicious Lindor chocolates. Her card to me was another one of her home-made specials – it had the two of us in a heart on the front – it was really nice. Inside, it had a sexy picture of her, the butt of many jokes later in the week. I’m going to find that picture right now – just a sec. She’s adjusting her hair in the picture, head tilted slightly downward to emphasize her eyes. It actually fits inside the frame of the picture she gave me for Christmas – that’s where it’ll stay until I can find somewhere else to put it!

I gave her a book about trees, and a book about David Suzuki – definitely not mutually exclusive. I also gave her a cheese cutter and an orange peeler – two useful jokes. She liked the poem card I gave her, which showcased both my literary and artistic talents (not mutually exclusive). I drew a rigid, straight-line landscape that absolutely screamed ‘me’. The second page of the poem featured the same landscape at night. I tacked a third page on to the poem that made it into a card. It is attached by paperclip, for easy removal (read two staples is enough).

After the gift giving, we started out into the snowy cold toward my place. Once there, I put the steaks on, and she cooked the onions and mushrooms. She also put clementines on the greens to make salad. Unlike Valentine’s Day last year, I didn’t burn the steaks, and in fact they were juicy and tasty. We enjoyed the food, threw a log on the fire and relaxed, watching the flames dance. The evening continued on from there.

Thursday morning, JW was stressed out over the clothes she didn’t have for a work event that night. We looked outside, hoping to see snow, but instead we saw no snow, and cars racing by my window at 100 kph. After breakfast, I found that Mum had called. I called her back, and found that they’d closed schools across the province. She’d heard the news on BT, a local morning program that you either love or hate. JW and I decided to consult a reliable news source before buying into the closures. The news being confirmed, and JW not having to go to work, we decided to relax for a while – I had no great desire to go to work. And relax we did. I left for work just after 10:00am, proceeding immediately to miss the bus I’d intended to catch. JW had waited to see if I was going to catch my bus, and when I didn’t, we both decided to try to catch the #7. Unfortunately, it didn’t come for twenty-five minutes. I decided I’d try to catch another bus further down the road, and JW decided to just walk home on the icy sidewalks (which caused the school closures). I ran down the road, only to see the bus go by as I approached. I turned around and caught up with JW.

I dropped her off close to her house, and then continued on to try to catch a bus on North. Again, I saw a bus go by as I approached the street. I walked all the way down to the bridge, waited fifteen minutes, and finally caught a bus to work. I got in just after 11:00am – for the second time that week.

I stayed late that night, to make up for the morning. I got a lot done. After work, I found that I was out of bus tickets – five minutes before the bus was scheduled to arrive. I ran to Perks, got some tickets, then ran up to Barrington. Again, I was mere seconds too late – the bus literally passed me as I ran down the sidewalk. It was two minutes early – a discrepancy it made up for at the next stop while I watched. By now, I was fed up with waiting, so I crossed the street and caught a #7 bus going in the opposite direction of home. It loops around downtown and then heads toward home. The ride was about thirty minutes, instead of the ten-minute ride I could’ve had.

Friday was uneventful. Worked dragged on a bit, especially toward the end of the day. After work, I took the bus home to pick up the car – good riddens to buses! I went over to TA’s around nine for a few drinks and a bit of TV.

Saturday was fun. I went over to JW’s at high noon to watch her sew a patch for her pajamas. Her friend, BE, was there, and the three of us headed down to the Casino to take in a live radio taping. I forget the name of the show, but it’s on Saturday’s at 1pm on CBC. The portion of the show taped was the musical portion. It was hosted by a total tool who couldn’t even keep his lines straight. I think his problem was that he wasn’t living by the drum, as a tattoo on his arm suggested.

The musical (as opposed to talk) portions of the show were really good. The first performer (I’m going to guess Jen Black, but I’m not sure) was a red-headed girl who reminded me of BE – full of energy and easily excitable. She played a couple of songs that I really liked. In-Flight Safety followed with a great performance – I loved the smooth, flowing sounds that their songs had – ample tempo changes, good bass lines, and a nice, rich, full sound. Three of their five songs really struck a chord with me.

After the hour-long taping, we went to Economy Shoe Shop for a bite to eat. I was delighted to find that they had a brunch menu – I yielded to temptation and ordered the eggs benedict. The girls both had croissant clubhouse sandwiches – WITH NO CHEESE. The greedy chef probably stuffed it down his gullet.

After the meal, we went to a couple of used CD stores. JW and I both bought In-Flight Safety’s latest CD. I got a Bret Hart DVD I’d been looking for, and Old School, which I definitely didn’t own. I also got a Broken Social Scene CD.

We stopped back at JW’s for a second, then drove BE over to the Dartmouth bus terminal. Back in Halifax, JW and I got our groceries and headed back to her place. We coloured a bit, then went for teriyaki at the mall – that’s right, we went to a mall food court for dinner! Well, JW had a craving for it, and I didn’t much care where we went. We had our teriyaki, and I had a pretzel. JW didn’t buy a coat.

At 10:00pm, we went down to the Casino again to support one of JW’s friends, who was performing at a show featuring black music. The show was a series of twenty-minute acts. The first act was a gospel group. They played music best described as eighties funk – it was actually really good. People got up and danced – the crowd was really into it.

The next act was JW’s friend. She’s a young and inexperienced performer, and it showed on stage. She has a beautiful voice, but she didn’t do well with her dialogue between songs. She stumbled over her words and told the crowd to read the Book of Psalms. Her music didn’t have the energy of the previous act, and she quickly lost the crowd. People rudely chatted, drank and laughed while she tried to perform. JW pointed out that she’s not likely known by the crowd, as she’s not a part of the community they represented along with some other acts. She did manage to win the crowd over with a rap segment in her third song, and she got to perform two extra songs when the act following her failed to show.

The third act was a jazz act. They started off with a great jazz song – just what I was hoping to hear. I really liked it. The second song was a take on an old Miles Davis song – it featured an amazing solo by the pianist, whose fingers moved faster than I could see. The rest of the set was disappointing, and we left after it finished, tired and ready for bed.

On Sunday morning, we watched a movie. We’d decided after watching Once Upon a Time in the West that 13 Going on 30 was going to be the next movie of choice. It was my second foray into the realm of chick flicks, after Love Actually, which we’d watched in the fall. I liked it more than Love Actually, actually. It had a story, whereas Love Actually seemed more like a series of scenes. It seemed less forced, and less over the top. The only unbelievable element in the movie was the magic dust that sent the main character seventeen years into the future, and then back again. The movie was funny because we see a thirteen year old girl living the life of a thirty year old. Naturally, she is not prepared for the things that life throws at her.

I also watched Shanghai Noon this week, in bits and pieces. It’s really not a good movie – it’s terribly predictable, and the humour is about as stale as a loaf of bread left on the counter for a month. They really leave nothing to chance. However, it’s entertaining – the martial arts choreography is amazing, and the silly characters grow on you. I enjoyed the sheer, over-the-top madness.

Well, that’s it for another week. I hope the coming week is as eventful – minus the dentist and bus troubles.

I’m currently listening to: Boomerang, from Counterfeit by Cirrus.

Movies watched this week: Shanghai Noon, 13 Going on 30

1463 - The Freyed Ends of Sanity

2007-02-11T16:00:00.000-08:00

This past week has been interesting, at least on a personal level. For perhaps the first time in my life, I was slightly unstable (mentally) early in the week. It hampered my productivity at work, and it prevented me from getting anything done at all during the evenings.

The problem is my changing lifestyle - I have a lot of free time these days. I remember, as recently as the fall, looking forward to Monday evenings. Monday evening was the one time of the week I had to myself. Then, the golf season ended, my friends got busier, and JW got ongoing work. Suddenly, not only were my Monday evenings free, but also Wednesday evenings, Saturdays during the day, chunks of Tuesday, Thursday and Friday evenings, and a small chunk of Sunday. I had too much time and nothing to do - amusing activities had ceased to be so, and my procrastinative (I think I just invented a new word) tendencies soared to new extremes.

Fortunately, I remained in this "funk" for only two days. On Tuesday afternoon, for whatever reason, there was a sudden and dramatic *snap* - a change in feeling, nearly audible, that marked the end of the funk. I've been fine ever since, and I'm still not certain what caused it to end so abruptly. I recall at the time that I was thinking of nothing in particular. Fortunately, such a simple remedy is easy to remember in the event I might need to re-apply it in the future. In fact, the remedy need not be remembered to be followed.

My work week was as chaotic, but for reasons far more tangible. Our company is on the verge of a major growth phase - perhaps we are already in it. The company partners are getting starry-eyed, and there are new opportunities knocking almost every day. One's job description one day might be entirely different the next. Projects are getting shuffled around - I was pulled off one project on Thursday and told I'd be working on some exciting work for X days (yes, they actually said X). Then, Friday morning, I found that X = 0, as I'd been reassigned back to my old project again. It's really too bad, because the exciting work is just that - and it involves little travel. My current project (as of Wednesday and Friday) is likely going to require a bit of travel within the next month. It will have to wait a little while though, as mentally I'm not over the last trip just yet - it was long, hard, stressful work - and long, hard, stressful travel. I wish Seattle was closer to Halifax. If I was going to Boston, it would be a snap - I could drive to Boston faster than I can fly to Seattle, most days.

Outside of work, the week was fairly average. Monday and Tuesday evenings are a bit of a haze - I was still in my funk. I worked on my "new" song a bit more, I did some half-hearted cleaning, and I did a bit of reading. Later on Tuesday, I went to JWs, but it was late when I got there, so we just relaxed for a while before going to sleep. By relax, I mean JW hurriedly finishing up work tasks with me keeping out of the way. It's a bit stressful for me seeing her so busy, but it's even more stressful for her. Still, there is good in all of this, as she seems to be in excellent mental health - it's like she's grabbed on to all of this work, decided to damn well do her very best, and not let anything get in her way. She doesn't have time to think negatively - certainly not as much as she used to.

On Wednesday, JW got some great news about her job. It was great to hear the excitement in her voice - I love to hear her happy like that. I was a bit disappointed when she decided that she'd like to celebrate by taking the evening to herself, but she certainly deserved it - ten times over. I just really wanted to share in the excitement - it sounded fun. Fortunately, TA called in the nick of time with alternative entertainment. I went over to his place, and we watched reality television (great for clearing the overcrowded mind of thought), Jeopardy (great for populating the empty mind with good thought), and finally, South Park (so keenly humourous, that other thought is forced out of the head). In particular, we watched the Mormon episode, which describes the origins of the Mormon religion. I'd heard about it before, but I couldn't have imagined anything even approaching the actual story. It was ludicrous. Give me five minutes, and I'll write up a more compelling religion right now. It will not involve only me, nor will it involve gold plates. Finally, I will not loosely translate the gold plates twice - differently - because I'm not able to remember what I said the first time, the second time. No, wait, actually I will do all of that, because God just told me to. You believe me, right? Of course you do.

I saw JW again on Thursday, after some more half-hearted cleaning. We sat around exchanging stories about the war - at least that's what we would've done had we been to war. Instead, we relaxed, there again being no time to really do anything else.

On Friday, I went over to TA's. AN and AD arrived after the local hockey game. We sat around sipping Scotch and slurping beer. We watched Jeopardy and reality TV, then some miscellaneous garbage, and finally we just listened to music skip on TA's cheap sound system. At the end of the evening, we called two cabs, but only one showed up, so again, I was left to walk home, just as I'd done with JW the last time I'd called a cab from TA's. This time, the walk was much longer, and it was much colder. My legs were nearly frozen when I finally got inside. And what do you do at one-thirty in the morning, tired as sweet fuck, having hardly slept the night before? Why spend an hour on Facebook of course! I'm not sure why I did it, but I did. I finally got to bed at two-thirty.

I didn't get up until noon on Saturday. I really was tired. It felt good to sleep that much, but I was a bit angry that I'd pissed away the entire morning. I showered, shaved and worked on my song a bit, before heading over to JW's.

JW really needed to cook for her lunches for next week, so we went to the grocery store to buy the necessary ingredients. We cooked two different stir-fries, one with chicken and a Thai theme, the other with beef and a Chinese theme. Early on, it became apparent that the cook-off was going to be interesting. JW was stressed about work, and it really manifested itself in her cooking. I felt like I was in the way the entire time - she was rushing around trying to do everything, as she likes to do her cooking a specific way. Even the slightest change to her stressed her out - she even burnt her hands on hot water. It really wasn't safe for her to be cooking that night - she should've been at a massage parlour relaxing. But we made it through, and quite honestly, if it was the stress that made the stir-fry, I might even volunteer to go through the entire ordeal again. The Chinese dish was EXCELLENT - it may have been BETTER than some dishes I've had at restaurants. Supper was delicious and healthy, and I loved it. And what do you do after a healthy supper? You go out to drink and eat nachos.

It was JW's friend's (AC) birthday, and we were invited to Niche, a swanky joint in downtown Halifax. After the stir-fry madness, and a precious few minutes spent relaxing, we bused it down to Niche. Effectively, the place had Jazz music, brain damage, and jell-o pudding pops (don't even try to get that reference - it's taken from two sources, one of which is popular, but the other of which is a reference to a VHS-only golf comedy spoof video from the 80s). It really did have Jazz music. It really did have brain damage, in the form of a girl at the bar. And it really did have jell-o pudding pops, in the form of a solitary tea light that cheapened the birthday cake down to the likes of jell-o pudding.

(Editor's note: text censored) Don't buy a computer at Staples. Don't buy a computer at Staples. Don't put salt in your eyes. Don't put salt in your eyes. Don't put - put salt in your eyes. Put salt in your eyes.

The party was a good time. I had some good laughs, I interacted fairly well, despite being at a table with JW and a tight clique of four friends. The guy sitting next to me works for RIM, but he got drunk before I could ask him how he liked it. In fact, the more liquor he didn't drink, the more he got drunk. AC himself seemed absorbed in something, but occasionally he would burst into laughter. I was surprised to find that his sense of humour was quite low-brow, or at least in the presence of a drunken friend. If my existence had been a bit more pronounced, I think I might've really had some fun with them. Perhaps another time.

On Sunday morning, JW and I got up and had an omlette. We then went to Chapters to look for - you guessed it - frappacinos. Once found and ignored, we proceeded to the books. We spent over an hour breathing in dry air and getting very, very hot. Then, we went as we came, through the main door, bounty in hand. I got a massive book about Mythology for TA, that I'm now considering keeping for myself. I think I might actually find it interesting, as I'd had before the life was sucked out of it by a terrible professor my first year in university. I do like the discount section at Chapters.

After Chapters, I dropped JW off at home and went to my parents' for supper. It was the worst supper ever - dry, tasteless lasagna (we had quite a talk about how Dad says everything is "dry"), tastless garlic bread, and a very poor, Stuperstore-made trifle for dessert. Then, after my parents took turns attacking my hairstyle, we went downstairs to watch golf. I practically slept half of the time - but I stayed awake enough to follow most of what was going on. Phil Mickelson won the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by five shots.

Well, that's my week. I'm hoping it will warm up this week - maybe I'll get to go outside for a walk with JW - I've been craving the outdoors like her cat craves EVERY BLOODY MEAL.

I'm currently listening to: nothing, because I forgot to put some music on :(

Movies watched this week: most of Shanghai Nights, but I'm not finished yet.

1462 - The Last of the Mohitos

2007-02-04T17:58:00.000-08:00

Well, I’ve returned from Seattle again (I think I start writing with the word ‘well’ too often). It was a worthless trip – nearly all of the work I did turned out to be useless due to changing requirements combined with incompetent co-workers. I did learn a lot about the project I was sent to work on, though.

Monday began a string of long, hard, frustrating days where the only things AN and I did were work, eat (drink) and sleep. We went in every day at eight, and left between six-thirty and eight-thirty. We’d then eat dinner somewhere cheap or nice, have a beer or two, perhaps watch a movie, and go to bed.

Monday was one of the shorter days. We got lots of work done, and we were eager to do something fun. We went to a nearby Arby’s (everything was nearby – tons of fast-food joints, most of them Mexican; a lot of Teriaki restaurants; sushi places; sub places; Chinese and Thai places; and the usual American joints like Outback Steak House and Applebee’s) and loaded up on burgers and mozza sticks (there was a five for $5.95 deal going on). We then went a convenience store for water, beer and snacks for the week. We rushed back to the hotel and put Casino on while we ate. The movie was long – about three hours, but it was suspenseful and wonderfully-acted – Joe Pesci was especially good as a mobster tough guy (if you can believe that) who often let out his terrible rage by slapping faces, breaking hands with a hammer and squeezing heads with vices. The movie portrayed a mobster-ruled Las Vegas, where everyone lived solely to have sex, do drugs and make money. Everyone stole from everyone else – everyone tried to cheat everyone else. They were all in it for themselves. There were lots of holes dug in the desert, to put it bluntly. Good, solid entertainment for sure, despite the terrible picture painted of mankind.

On Tuesday, AN and I ran out of work – we seemed to be ahead of schedule. Since AN had been working on the project longer and knew it better, he continued on working while I rotted away. I sat for hours trying to think of something to do, but yet appear as though I was working hard. I did surf a few Web sites. I worked a bit on my own Web site. But the time passed slowly and I was incredibly bored. To make matters worse, we stayed a bit late. My only function was to be there in case anything came up that I might do. We got off work around six-thirty. As we’d done on Sunday, we went to the Canyon’s restaurant next to the hotel. I’d seen some tasty-looking nachos on Sunday, so I decided to try them out. I was feeling terrible, physically, so I wanted to get something nice and healthy to make me feel better. I was also tired of being over-full, and a heaping plate of nachos was just the thing to get my eating under control.

They weren’t even good. They had shredded chicken on them, and I found that the chicken severely moderated the other tastes – the effect of the jalapenos, olives, tomatoes, and especially the cheese, was considerably reduced. Even the ever-trustworthy sour cream couldn’t bring the nachos back from the bowels of mediocrity.

After the meal, AN and I waddled over to the hotel. Continuing our theme of watching movies that portray humanity at its worst, we watched Idiocracy. It took place on Earth five-hundred years in the future – a time by which survival of the least-fit had transformed the world into a planet of idiots, thus the title. The way this happened was quite reasonable, actually – the smartest or most important people in the world are often too focused on their careers or social causes, for example, to have children. People of lower intelligence, however, have children out of sheer stupidity. The movie is clearly about America though, as having many children is a positive thing in many cultures, where the rich and /or intelligent are the ones having the most children. Anyway, in the movie, the intelligent people in the world were ultimately filtered out, leaving a world full of idiots and assholes, where sex, money and violence rule supreme. The Academy Award-winning film of the year 2505 is entitled “Ass” – ninety minutes of a bare ass farting. You can get blowjobs at Starbucks, TV is dominated by sex and violence, and people will do anything for money. The world is ultimately saved, in a way, by two humans who were frozen for 499 years too long in a military experiment that was left unattended due to funding cuts. The two (Joe Average, the most average person alive in the year 2005, and a prostitute) are the most intelligent people on Earth, by far. They solve a food shortage by decreeing that all plants should be watered with WATER, instead of Gatorade – you know, water, like in a toilet. The two try to find a time machine that will take them back to their time, but at the end of the movie, it turns out to be an amusement park ride instead of a real time machine. Joe Average becomes President of the United States, and the prostitute becomes his assistant.

Wednesday was another long, boring day. We stayed at work for over twelve hours, yet I only did about two hours of work. At the end of the day, as fate would have it, the desired outcome shifted suddenly, and we formed an action plan for Thursday to attempt to get all of the new work done. My healthy eating trend continued unabated, as I had Doritos and a chocolate milkshake for lunch. After work, we went to McMiniman’s, a microbrewery chain, where each restaurant brews its own, unique beers. I had the royal sampler. All of the beers were quite bitter, except for the Hammerhead Red beer, which AN and I (and our boss at work) agreed was the best. After dinner, we went back to the hotel and pretty much straight to bed.

Thursday was my birthday. Happy Birthday me! And it was a living hell. We rushed all day to be ready for a pre-demo demo, and it didn’t go well. The product we were working with had bugs that needed to be fixed, and the two other teams of people were having trouble with their parts of the work. We also found that the outcome of our work had been inaccurately communicated, and so we would have to come in to work again on Friday, which was to be our fun day in Seattle. It was sunny and warm – definitely the nicest of my birthdays weather-wise. We also ate lunch at a tiny Thai restaurant – the food was inexpensive and excellent! I had a coconut red curry dish with lots of veggies and a good spiciness – I went with three out of five – I think I could’ve handled four, but five probably would’ve left me paralyzed. I was so happy to eat something both tasty and fairly healthy. I wondered then how I could ever think of eating unhealthy food when healthy food could taste so good. Lunch was a pleasant surprise, and it helped ease the pain I was feeling at work – it also prepared me for the afternoon, which was by far the worst part of the day.

The working day ended with a meeting to discuss what needed to be done. It went on forever, and we wasted a ton of time talking about NOTHING. There was a guy working in Texas on the conference call – the same guy who’d been the star at our training session in Seattle in December – who took his work way too seriously. Another guy, also clearly from the southern US, took it too lightly – his slow, southern drawl and his inelegant misuse of the English language made us wonder how he’d figured out how to get out of the womb.

Our bosses’ screensaver came on during the meeting – it was the one showing a map of the world, with radar-like circles emanating from various cities. Our boss from the last trip, who was also in the meeting, immediately, much to our delight, pounced on the opportunity for jokes by saying “Communist China to Agent Barrans… come in Agent Barrans… what is the status on the project” – it was pure extremest humour at it’s best. Everyone laughed, and the commentary continued until the joke was beat to death.

We ultimately got out of the meeting, and, as I’d done every night, I called JW to chat. This time I woke her up (with her approval), as the meeting had gone late. I was feeling pretty bad about the day at work – I was frustrated and angry about the way things were going. I also missed home. She made me feel better though – a good sendoff to a nice restaurant called Bonefish.

I had a Tom Collins and a disgusting Martini (which I ordered only because I couldn’t think of anything else). To eat, I had a salad to “start” (though I was quite full after finishing it) – a Cobb salad, which seemed to be common in Seattle. It had blue cheese on it, pine nuts, and mango, to name a few of the many ingredients. Then, I had a small steak topped with lobster chunks – it was delicious. After the meal, AN and I went back to the hotel and watched a bit of TV before going to sleep.

On Friday, we did some more work, but were having trouble getting our sample data into the system being worked on. It turned out that there was a problem with the system we hadn’t been told about. They’d stopped using some of the fields on one of the screens, so that modifying the fields in the database had no effect. We only learned of this later on in the day, setting the stage for a last-minute rush of work Monday morning back home.

After work, we headed straight for the airport and home. I was really excited to go home. I missed home terribly, especially JW. I was tired of eating crap, tired of frustrating days at work, tired of having no free time in the evenings, and tired of hanging out with AN. On the way to the airport, we took the Microsoft exit off the highway and did a quick loop around one of the blocks in the huge Microsoft campus. The buildings were beautiful, but not as beautiful as the gardens, stone walls and trees. It was really quite amazing. There were baseball diamonds and soccer fields for employee use.

We continued on to the airport afterward. It would turn out, to my delight, that my wish earlier in the week for just one trip without delays, was to be granted! AN and I had a beer at the Seattle airport, then sat down to watch Kenny Vs. Spenny on the computer. We were so into the show that we failed to notice the crowd by our gate disappear. We still almost didn’t head right over, thinking we had time to spare given the departure time. It was a good thing we did, as the plane pulled away from the gate eight minutes after we got on board. One hour and fifteen minutes later, we were standing in the airport in Vancouver.

Flying over Vancouver, I saw many small islands packed with buildings, joined by bridges and causeways. I took an immediate liking to the city – I got a good vibe from it, which isn’t something I often say. I’d like to go back there sometime and see it in the daylight. In the airport, AN and I had dinner (I had another delicious, healthy, Thai stir fry) and watched several more episodes of Kenny Vs. Spenny. Some of the episodes showed naked asses, and there was a ton of swearing, so we were a bit self conscious watching, but it was very entertaining, and the time waiting passed very quickly, unlike my trip to Seattle.

We boarded our second leg at eleven twenty, and flew for just over four hours to Montreal. We lost three hours due to time change, arriving in Montreal around seven. I got a bit of sleep, but not much – people were constantly getting up and down (gotta get up to get down). They talked in regular, loud voices. Movies were played on TVs that were too bright, and I felt squeezed in between AN and the woman sitting next to me. My back ached and my legs hurt.

In Montreal, we proceeded to a small part of the airport (that looked more like a bus terminal) that housed especially small planes. I saw a crowd of clearly Inuit people by one of the gates – it reminded me of JW, and from that point onward I was desperate to see her. I rudely stared at them, remembering the films I’d watched with JW, among other documentaries I’d seen. I got close enough to the gate to read their destination – a rather long name beginning with ‘Q’. For a moment I almost wished I was going on their flight – an adventure in the north seemed fun at the time (it still does, though maybe the spring, summer or fall are better times to visit). I’d rather go where they were going, than go back to boring old Seattle (well, the part I go to is boring).

We boarded our flight to Halifax within the hour, and the short flight home arrived fifteen minutes early. Mum, Dad, AN’s Dad and AB were waiting at the airport to greet us. B-KS was there as well, picking up his girlfriend who was on the same flight. Hugs were exchanged, our luggage appeared a moment later, and we were on our way home.

I was extremely tired, so I got Mum and Dad to take me straight to the house, where I picked up the car and headed home. It felt great to be home – I was lying down in bed five minutes later. I didn’t feel well though, and despite drinking very little, I used the washroom three times very quickly. I was worried I might be dehydrated, so I had some water. I slept perhaps an hour, between bathroom breaks and annoying telemarketer phone calls. The second time the telemarketer called, I almost threw the phone through the wall. I wanted to be rested up for my party!

I called JW around three. One of her roommates answered the phone with, “Hello, B speaking.” I’m sure she did it to get me about always calling and asking for JW right away, without acknowledging that I actually know the person answering the phone. This time I asked her how she was and then asked for JW. She’d gone to the bank, and I would have to wait until she got home. The next half hour was stressful – I was almost crazy with desire to see her. I prepared for the party, had a shower, and finally went over to her place shortly after she returned my call.

It was great to see her. It felt great to hug and kiss her. I would’ve been happy so have seen her through soundproof glass, so needless to say I was happy to have more than that. We relaxed a while before heading out for groceries for the coming week. After the groceries, we picked up a pizza from Donnini’s, then picked up TA and AD to bring them to my house for my birthday party.

The party was truly great. Everyone came, even people I didn’t expect. I saw both GK and SM for the first time in about a year. I got to talk to almost everyone, something I consciously tried to do, as I felt I was a bit drunk and isolated at parties past. The food was great, the music was great, and the crowd dynamic was great. My presents were fun and we laughed the whole night long. I got two home-made t-shirts from AD - one with a picture of Captain Pecard with the caption, "WTF is this shit" and the other with a Simpsons reference on it. I also got an unusual joke weapon from him. I got some Dave Chappel DVDs from CA, GK and SM. I got liquor from TA, and a deep fryer (perfect for my diet!) from AN. I also got two great movies (well, I know one is, and am told the other is) movies from JW (Shanghai Noon and A Scanner Darkly) plus an interesting Maratime weather book. Finally, I got golf balls from PL and JW... JW2 I'll have to call her I guess! It was sad when the party ended, but I was incredibly tired. So tired, in fact, that I fell asleep in the middle of a serious discussion with JW about our relationship – I’m not even sure how the topic came up.

The next morning, the conversation resumed, after JW reminded me that it had taken place. It was funny, because I didn’t remember the conversation ending – apparently JW had woken me up once, and just given up the second time I fell asleep! I was nervous during our conversation, without drunkenness as my blanket. However, it was good for us to be honest with one another, and it was probably time for a status update. At the conclusion of the discussion, we got up, showered, and went to a brand new Jamaican café close to JW’s for breakfast.

After breakfast, we were both feeling hung over, in our own ways, so we napped for a while at her place, until she had enough energy to get up and start doing a bit of work. I left, heading straight home for birthday dinner.

Mum had fallen on the ice earlier in the day, and her hand was in a makeshift cast. She was to go to emergency after dinner to have it x-rayed to check for fractures, so we ate quickly. I opened my presents quickly as well – I was very happy to get two gift certificates to JW and my favourite restaurant – Szechuan Restaurant (I know, great title!). Mum had made chili and home-made macaroni and cheese for dinner – it was delicious.

I dropped my grandmother off at home, then came home myself to tackle the party mess. It took an hour and a half, but I was able to clean everything up. After that, I sat down at the computer to write this entry.

I’m very tired, having slept a combined seven hours the past two nights. I may not be able to sleep, as going to bed last night late only re-enforced the Seattle time zone for my body. It’s only six in Seattle right now. Oh well, I’ll give it the old collegiate effort! So long!

I'm currently listening to: "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" from "Further Down the Sprial" by "Nine Inch Nails" (this song is fucking awesome)

Movies watched this week: Casino, Idiocracy

1461 - On the Road Again

2007-01-28T21:43:00.000-08:00

Okay, first of all, I need to say that I'm somewhat drunk at the moment. I just came from a restaurant near my hotel (yes, I'm away again).

On Monday, what the fuck did I do? It seems like so long ago. I'm pretty sure I did nothing, relative to things that actally have meaning. I think I worked on my new "song" (though how can it be considered "new" at this point?), and I might have done some reading. I did clean a bit of my bathroom as well (no, I wasn't up to cleaning the entire thing).

On Tuesday (oh yes, Monday to Thursday at work were very boring days - I worked on mindless, repetivive bugs the entire time) I worked some more on my "song" and then I went to JW's (I really am having a lot of trouble typing here - it's just my attention to detail that keeps me hitting backsapce to correct the errors - wow, this is really insane). It was already quite late, so we relaxed for a while before going to sleep.

On Wednesday, I went to my grandmother's after work to eat supper. I bought some McDonald's food for us, and we ate it while watching the ever-boring Live at Five. We also watched a bit of the equally-boring Six O'Clock News. Afterward, I picked up my glasses (which had twice broken under warranty in the past five months) and went to a few stores. I bought a couple of two-fours of beer for my birthday party, which was either going to be the Saturday or Sunday after my birthday.

Thursday definitely came as a bit of a surprise. I went into work as if it was a normal day, with little to do other than work on the bugs I'd been working on the past couple of weeks. However, at 2:32pm, that all changed. I was asked by B-SM to go to Seattle again to help out with a project that was horribly behind schedule. We'd (our company) promised three people, and we'd only delivered one. I couldn't turn down the trip, even though my birthday loomed, as I'd said already that short trips would be fine, so long as they weren't too frequent. At first, I was to leave on Sunday, returning Friday, but that eventually morphed into a Friday to Friday trip. I would be working over the weekend, but I'd be getting time off to compensate. I decided to accept, as a show of good faith, and because I was actually excited to travel, despite my negative experiences only a month earlier. Turning the trip down would only have been a supreme example of hipocracy, as I'd told my company that frequent, short trips were vastly superior to infrequent long ones. Truthfully, neither is good, because freqent short trips (fuck, that was like five typos in a row) have you dealing with travel a lot (delays, wasted time), whereas long trips avoid all of that, but leave you miserable because you miss the people you know and love.

Anyway, what day is this? What was I talking about? Oh yeah, me being sent on another trip. So yeah, I spent the remainder of Thursday booking flights and hotels, and installing necessary software on my laptop. After work, I was going to go to TA's to watch UFC, but I changed plans to go see JW instead as I'd be going a week without seeing her. A week without seeing TA would be just fine, but a week without JW would be pretty bad, so the decision was made.

The evening was unusual to say the least. I ate dinner with Dad at a tavern close to my place. We were slowed up by a large group of co-workers celebrating something - perhaps our agony. We ultimately got out alive, having eaten our club house sandwich/Montreal smoked meat sandwich (sorry, I have to go take a piss now). I then went over to JW's to spend the evening with her - or so I thought. She received phone calls from every person whose name she could remember, and her brother even stopped by to drop off some soup. He stayed for a while, chatting about movies, rocks and music. In the fullness of time, he left. It was bed time, and I'd only had a few minutes with JW - I was a bit angry, until I found that she wasn't hell-bent on going to sleep right away, as I'd suspected. There is a long story that I might tell here, but I won't, because I've already told it.

On Friday, I packed and installed software on my laptop. I visited Mum in the morning, as she was going to Toronto by train that day for a gift shop trade show. I slept a bit around lunch time, before packing and heading up to meet Dad. He drove me to the airport, and I got on a plane bound for Toronto. The security people confiscated my water.

It was snowing in Toronto, and after landing, we waited an hour and a half before pulling into our gate. I got off the plane, and headed to the baggage pickup. I was told there that my next plane was leaving in a few minutes, and that I'd better leave my bags behind and make a run for it. Fortunately, during the conversation, my bags arrived. I picked them up, and headed for my next flight. I arrived just in time, and I went through customs, again getting busted for carrying water (though this time, I got to keep it after drinking half of what I had in front of the guard). I cleared customs and made a run for my departure gate, only to find that my flight hadn't even been announced yet.

I went to grab a bite to eat - I had a roast beef sandwich and a huge Greek salad. I went back to the gate, and was horrifed to find everyone gone! Fortunately, they'd only changed the gates. So, I rushed over to the next gate to find both information screens labelled, "Closed/Ferme". I sat down and waited for a while, and eventually my flight showed up, albeit a half hour later than I'd been told at the last gate. The time was updated twice more before we finally boarded - each time, they waited long enough to ensure I couldn't begin doing something fun without missing the flight. Ultimately, we got on board, only to wait an hour and a half before take-off - it was snowing, and there were dozens of planes lined up waiting to be de-iced.

The flight to Seattle departed Toronto twenty-five minutes before it had been originally scheduled to land. It arrived in Seattle around 1:45am - surprisingly, AN was there to pick me up (he'd been in Seattle for a week already). I got my luggage (luckily) and we headed to the hotel. I got to bed around 3am - 25 hours after I'd gotten up the morning before. I was dead.

I only slept six hours, as I had to get up Saturday to go to work. AN and I had to get an extremely important project completed in order for our (the Seattle-based company we'd been sent to do work for) company to procure a large contract. The deadline was the following Thursday (the future, as I write). Okay, I'm going to stop here for now, as I'm really tired and I need to sleep. Hopefully I'll finish this soon. :S

Continuing on (I'm not so drunk this time, but still a little buzzed - hey, I'm on a working holiday!), we worked about eight hours on Saturday. Afterward, we decided to head downtown to grab some brews at a microbrewery suggested by our Seattle boss. We also wanted to stop by the theatre where Bill Cosby was giving a performance, just in case there were any scalper tickets to be had. The drive downtown was a nightmare - it took us well over an hour. We headed right for the theatre, there being no time left for a beer, and no sooner had we arrived than we'd bought tickets to the show! The scalper wanted $125 each for them, and we'd offered $80 (each). We got them for $90. Even after we agreed on the price, the scapler tried to get more money out of us - but we had none of that.

Once inside the theatre, we both had a feeling of "no way that just happened - no way we're actually in here." We'd thoroughly convinced ourselves that there was no way we were getting tickets. Inside, we each had a drink before proceeding to our seats - half-way back in the lower bowl - really good seats to be honest. Cosby came out, and we were close enough to recognize him without the fifty-foot big screen. He looked old and unhealthy, but he delivered a superb two-and-a-half hour routine, mixing old comedy with new. AN and I both appreciated every moment of the show, as Cosby is really as big as it gets in the world of comedy. The only negative to the evening was the seating - it was cramped to say the least. I was in terrible pain for the last hour of the show - my mind flirted with the idea of standing up mid-show just to stretch. There was no leg room, and the guy next to me (as well as AN) were infringing on my space. I had to hold my legs together. But it was worth it to see Cosby! AN and I both appreciated his extreme style of humour, which culminated with a story about a little brother and his imaginary friend. Cosby, the big brother, supposedly "strangled, broke the neck of, and killed" the imaginary friend - and of course, the little brother believed it!

After the show, there was no time to get beer because the parking garage was set to close at midnight. We drove back to the vicinity of our hotel, stopping at Denny's for dinner (the first chance we had!). We both had large, unhealthy, unsatisfying meals, and we both walked out feeling worse than we'd felt coming in. The staff was downright scary - an older woman with painted-on, red eyebrows and a growling raspy voice seated us, and a mobster latino served our food.

On Sunday, we got up and went to work again. We stayed a bit late, but there was still time to relax before going to bed, so we went to a restaurant close to the hotel. We weren't in the mood for wasting half our time driving downtown. We both had fish tacos recommended by many people at the company. The fish was barbequed, and it was coated in spices - very spicy and hot overall. It was topped with a coleslaw-like mixture, plus sour cream and guacamole if desired. It was good, but not great. We also had several large girly drinks - ten-dollar margaritas, mohitos (sp?) et al.

After the restaurant, I came back and drunkenly wrote the first part of this entry. If you think the author should go see the Microsoft Campus on Friday, go to entry 1462. If you think the author should go see Nintendo Headquarters, go to entry 1462. Sorry, folks - unfortunately, I can only choose one adventure.

I'm currently listening to: "Major Label Debut" from "To Be You and Me" by "Broken Social Scene" (this song is fucking awesome)

Movies watched this week: none (fuck me) (I TRIED to watch Casino)

1460 - The Search for Jaws and Several Other Stories

2007-01-21T17:57:00.000-08:00

I just realized that I've been leaving out the weather bit at the end of my entries lately. Well, what can I say? It's been done. I'm not going to care much down the road that it was cold or hot, rainy or sunny (editor's note: notice that the negative weather is listed first in both instances). It's not like these things aren't ever going to happen again... barring a catastrophic event within the next week. Thus, henceforth, the weather shall be stricken from this record.

The past week was fairly uneventful, as they often are during the dead of winter. The only positive thing about this time of year is that the days are getting longer. I noticed this for the first time today - I could actually see light outside at 5:40pm.

On Monday, I got up eleven hours earlier than 5:40pm. This is fortunate, because they like us to be at work by nine (editor's note: the author has a fondness for the anonymous usage of the word "they"). Describing Monday's work activities effectively describes the entire work week - dull. I fixed bugs, though they were no ordinary bugs - they were especially trivial and ESPECIALLY redundant. It took considerable self-discipline to keep on track - I was often tempted to surf the net or to leave early. In the end, I survived, and I didn't leave early. I didn't surf the net - much.

Monday evening was quiet as usual. TA wanted to play pool, but I let sleeping TA's lie and did not get a phone call about it after all. I think I wound up working a bit on my new "song". I also did some reading. The topic was self-motivation, though I dismissed much of the material as being not applicable to me. Toward the end of a chapter, the author pointed out a fact that I am very much aware of - action comes before motivation. Though there have been countless examples of this in my life - scenarios where taking action has resulted in motivation, particularly when I lost fifty pounds many moons ago - I still hadn't gotten myself onto my cross-trainer to lose some of the thirty-five pounds I'd since gained back. Reading the phrase "action comes before motivation" was a kick in the pants, even though I was wearing none at the time. I got right up, determined to at least get a little bit of exercise, and I wound up doing the full forty minutes, which is what I strive for regularly. I felt full of energy afterward - maybe it was more of a mental high than a physical one. I went to bed happy - I felt motivated, and I was anticipating my next session.

There was a snowstorm on Tuesday, and I drove home from work around quarter past three. Even then, the traffic was building toward the bridges, and it took me a while to get home. Once home, I connected to my computer at work to continue working. At four-thirty, the last of my work-related motivation eroded away, having been replaced by motivation to get my exercise. I jumped on the cross trainer and did another forty minutes. I watched most of an episode of Deadwood while exercising - making the experience even more enjoyable. Deadwood is not the western I'd hoped it would be. While it is set in the wild west, it is really a drama. There isn't much shooting, but the characters are really interesting and the acting is superb. The storylines are fun. I'm told that season one (I'm nearing the end of it now) can't hold a candle to the other two seasons, so I'm excited to get to them as well - and the way to do that is to get more exercise!

After my exercise, I went over to JW's to hang out. I was happy to see her, as I always am, but more so because I hadn't seen her much over the previous weekend. She did some marking, while I did some reading - it was a relaxing evening.

TA wanted to go to trivia on Wednesday evening, but Mother Nature put an end to that. The car had magically disappeared during the day, and I wasn't about to go outside in minus twenty-degree weather. I'd have sooner re-watched Caddyshack II than venture out into the cold. So I stayed in, and I got my exercise. I worked a bit on my song, though the end of the night saw a much more compact and simple version of it. I wrote vocals for a quiet part in the middle of the song that I liked, and I recorded them using a robotic voice effect to mask undesired inflection in my voice. I further processed the sad vocals to sound distant and hollow, with the final effect making them sound broken and spotty. I then had to cut the individual words apart, and drag them around to get the desired duration. I'm pretty happy with the words - I think they're well-written (for me) and I like the way they sound in the song. I think they're very applicable to a lot of people, though they're sung in the first person. The song is called "Earth B", with the title coming from an old copy of "The Weekly World News" (editor's note: subscribe to "The Weekly World News"). I've always loved that paper - I've often claimed that the writers of the articles must have the funnest jobs in the world. I think it's a job that I would be good at, because I like to think about ridiculous and funny things, and I like to think about what other people might think of them.

After work on Thursday, I did not do my exercise. I had a small window between work and play, but I wasted it chatting with AN and AD about the forthcoming play. We went to Peel Pub for wings and drinks. I didn't have any wings (well, actually I had one of AD's), but I did have a pitcher of Keith's Red very quickly. AD and AN dropped me off at JW's afterward, just in time for her to go to bed. I joined her and slept well.

After work on Friday, I took the bus up to my parents' to get the car. Actually, that's what I would've done had my Mum not come down to pick me up. It was raining hard, and I would've been soaked. I decided to call JW to see if she wanted a ride to the grocery store, as I knew she had to go. It would've been a rainy, windy nightmare for her to have gone on foot, so she accepted. Even better, we went out for some "quick" Chinese food before getting the groceries. The restaurant was packed despite the terrible weather. What were these people doing there? They should've been home eating in and watching movies. Instead they turned a quick meal into a long one, though it wasn't all bad. In fact, that's the only thing that was. The meal was excellent - Orange Beef and a spicy vegetable mixture. JW and I sat next to another table where university professors hashed out the details of their daily lives. They talked about the intelligence of mice (and how they had eluded capture), their leaky houses and their fire alarm malfunctions. While these might seem like boring dinner topics, the addition of a keen intellect can instantly transform a conversation about the most boring and common of topics into a mini comedy routine, via perfectionist description laced with colourful language. It's just fun to hear smart people talk about stupid things; fortunately, this is not at all uncommon (editor's note: the author serves to illustrate this).

After dinner, the mad dash for groceries was on. JW and I flew through Sobey's in record time, despite characteristically losing each other several times. I hurried her home, unloaded her groceries, and flew back over to my place, to await the arrival of JP, RD, AN, TA and AB. It was all for not - the group did not arrive for twenty minutes. I squeezed into JP's tiny car, and we were off. Though the speed bumps in my parking lot did not like JP's car, we survived the trip to her apartment in Clayton Park. The apartment reminded me of my old Clayton Park apartment, which I sometimes miss. It was small, but it backed on a large forest, and the only thing I could see from my fourth story balcony was trees. It was very quiet, in stark contrast to my current residence, where the view is quite opposite.

The evening consisted of drinks, an icy walk to KOD, and games. We played Dirty Minds, and another game that involved writing down words beginning with a certain letter given a set of ten clues. After the games, everyone sat around, and I proceeded to earn my reputation as the new SW. I couldn't stay awake no matter how hard I tried. My inability to sleep on anything even a degree off of horizontal seemed to be quickly vanishing, and my head snapped back and forth violently as I dosed off. Finally, everyone decided to go home, after an hour of making fun of my fatigue.

I slept in late on Saturday. I was tired of getting up early, and I decided to let myself sleep as long as I wanted. I finally got up at eleven-thirty, and my first act was to heat up a bowl of chili and spread extra old cheddar over it, to be eaten with nachos. I didn't feel well - I was hungover with a headache, and the huge meal didn't make me feel any better. I cleaned up a bit, I burned a CD for JW, and I had a shower. I went over to JW's around four, to find her feeling much worse. She was under attack from two sides, and she hadn't even gotten out of her pyjamas. We laid down for a while to warm up and rest, before ordering a pizza from Donnini's. We watched a bit of some radio musical movie. It was funny, but we decided not to watch the whole thing. Instead, after the pizza, we watched "Once Upon a Time in the West". JW didn't really like it - the acting wasn't great, and the script wasn't well-written. I fell into her way of thinking a bit, and that distracted me from enjoying the movie, until the climax. It reminded me of why I had thought the movie was great. The movie is deliberate, and it slowly builds events to a head. The visual shots are nothing short of excellent - they are very unique and they add greatly to the movie. The music is memorable, and it is well used throughout the film. The biggest weakness is the poor sound quality.

On Sunday, JW and I got up and finished off the pizza for breakfast. We then went out to search for Jaws. JW desperately needed it in the archaic VHS format for school purposes. We decided to hit up the local flea markets, as the rental joints don't rent many VHS' anymore. The first market was a bust. We then went to my place to see if I'd taped it off of TV, but it wasn't there either. Our last hope lay at the second flea market. There, we came to a table with several movies. JW quickly moved on, though I stayed to look at every movie just in case. A feeling swept over me as if I'd just won the lottery, as my eyes came to rest upon a double-VHS package labelled "Jaws". My first call to Janet was barely audible, but the second grabbed her attention. She excitedly hurried over to grab the movie, and seconds later she'd managed to pay three times the asking price for it! It didn't matter though - the find had made her weekend. She stuffed the movie into her bag and then descended into a DVD- and neclace-buying frenzy. The adventure was then made by a Chinese merchant who attempted to sell JW a neclace. He seemed nervous and inexperienced at selling - I could almost smell the shit running down his leg, as he tried to make twenty dollars. All I could think about was the stench of his breath as he spewed forth phrase after phrase of nonsensical sales speak. He used the word "like" more times than I care to count. He said the necklace cost "like $20". Well, how much did it really cost? We never found out, as each dollar amount was firmly prefaced by a "like". He tried to throw in a silk pouch to sweeten the deal, but JW wouldn't bite - I'd brought her some chocolate the day before. I spotted a necklace with a small turtle on it - after several seconds of debating as to whether I should point it out, I did, only to bring another flurry of "likes" and dollar amounts down upon us. I think I need a t-shirt with the word "LIKE" being the only thing on it. I need more good t-shirts like that - I've let my current selection get very narrow and boring.

After the flea market, JW and I relaxed a bit more before I took my leave of her. I went home and did my forty minutes, after which I went to my parents' for dinner. We had a common dinner: a cheesy potato caserole, some pork and a spinach salad. The salad was the best part. We also had blueberry cheesecake - I was horrified to see Dad get the whip cream out of the fridge to "lighten" the taste. After dinner, we watched golf for what seemed like an eternity. Midway though, a call came to the house for me. I wondered briefly who it might be, before realizing who it had to be. It was SM calling from Toronto, and I couldn't dodge his call because he'd called my parents. He said he'd lost my number, but I wonder now whether that was a ruse to get ahold of me? We chatted for about a half hour - it had all of the requisite SM chat components. There was the story about some random woman trying to seduce him into violating his marriage; the recounting of our childhood adventures around the city; the usual talk about our advancing age, and how we'd once shuddered at the thought of being twenty; and finally, there were questions about all of my friends and family. The call ended with SM promising to visit on his way to the Middle East - he's supposedly going to move there soon, though no dates were given, and nothing is certain when it comes to him. I know for a fact that I'll plan something with someone else, and he'll burst into town with only one day to hang out, and it will be the same day. Maybe my company will send me away that week.

The golf was fairly interesting this week. Charley Hoffman, a relative unknown, won with some magnificient play on the last three holes. After the golf, I headed home. I watched most of Nature - it was about the lifecycle of the fig tree and the myriad creatures it supports.

Well, that's it for this week. I guess the week was more interesting than I thought. See you (editor's note: me) on the flip side.

I'm currently listening to: the sound of my heater keeping me warm.

Movies watched this week: two-thirds of some funny musical about a radio show, "Once Upon a Time in the West"

1459 - Bacon Cheddar Curly Fries

2007-01-14T06:20:00.000-08:00

Yes, as you might have guessed, the best part of the week was a trip to Arby's - well, not really, but it made for a decent title. I suppose I should start with the end of last week. Last Sunday evening, the family gathered for my grandmother's 85th birthday. We sat around sucking back appetizers and chatting, while she read Frank - as Mum pointed out, apparently it was more interesting than us. After the appetizers, we had Jessy's pizza - a rather medoicre pizza with the works, and a much better one Mediterranean style (with feta cheese). After that, my grandmother opened her cards and presents.

We left around 7:30, and I went home to watch the rest of the golf that week. It was the first tournament of the year, and Vijay Singh won quite easily. I also watched an episode of Nature during the golf. It discussed the plight of the lion - apparently they used to exist all over the world, but now they're limited mostly to Africa. There are only about twenty thousand left. About half of these are relatively safe within sanctuaries, but the rest are trapped in increasingly-isolated pockets surrounded by human developments. These lions are being killed off because they often kill livestock - I mean, why not? Who wouldn't grab a cooked turkey with all the trimmings sitting out in a field somewhere? It really is that easy for the lions. The problem is that the people can't afford to erect fences to keep the lions out, and when the lions kill their livestock, their children starve. I guess it's okay for us to choose what lives and dies on this planet.

On Monday I spent a lot of the day thinking about a comment my grandmother had made at her birthday party - that I'm beginning to go bald. This fact has been on and off my mind all week. I guess it's the first sign of age, and I'm not taking it all that well. I had been doing well in the hair department, and I thought I was going to be in for a good ride. I'm still doing fine in the front, it's just the crown that's thinning. I've been looking at other men's heads all week, trying to see if I'm going bald before most other people. I see people younger than me who are far more bald, but I also see people older than me showing no signs of balding. I also looked at women somewhat jealously this week, until I remembered that they have to go through menopause - which made going bald suddenly seem very unimportant.

After work on Monday I didn't do a whole lot. I did some reading, and I organized a my music collection, as it's getting too hard to find things in one massive list of songs. I also talked to JW that night about my day, which turned a bad day into a decent one.

On Tuesday work went much better - I got a lot done. After work, I did more reading and more organizing. Exciting!

On Wednesday, work again went well, though I was quite busy with several projects. After work, I took the bus up to my parents' house to pick up the car, then I went down to JW's to pick her up. I took her out to pick up some orthodics - which she desperately needed. I had fun wondering around Sunnyside mall - I very slowly walked from one end to the other, then I sat quietly in a bench for a half hour or so, letting my imagination run wild about what the people around me might be thinking. Finally, JW emerged and we decided to head over to Arby's for dinner! I foolishly got some sort of western sandwich - it had Arby's BBQ sauce on it, and the flavour of the sauce really masked the flavour of the delicious beef. I also had curly fries and chocolate milk - no holds barred.

After Arby's, we headed back to JW's to relax a while before going to sleep. Naturally she was tired, as she's been working very hard since being hired on long term (well, longer term than one day at a time, anyway). I feel a bit sorry for her, as it's stressful when you're working that hard. You feel like nothing outside of work is being accomplished. The times you have to yourself or with your friends feel like times during which you're merely catching your breath, only to be thrust back to work before fully catching it. I remember those times well - grade 12 in high school and several terms in university were really bad. I would work all day every weekday (except Friday night - my favourite time of the week, and the time I refuse to work most), all day Saturday (except the evening) then all day Sunday, including the evening. So I really only had about 10 hours of free time a week - during exams, even less.

Working that way is good for me, in a way. I'm motivated by results - when I do well at something, I'm motivated to do better. When I work hard at something, I'm motivated to work longer and harder. This thinking got me through those tough times. Life is the same way. When I go on a diet, actually finding that I've lost weight is the biggest motivator. A good day at work can even motivate me to want to work overtime. Thursday was such a day - I got a lot done during the day, and I had no problem staying late. We had to get a lot done for a deadline Friday, so B-KY had asked a few of us to stay late if we could. He even ordered Donnini's pizza for us, and I got a free cab ride home around 8:30. I was EXTREMELY tired, as I hadn't slept well the night before. I felt sick to my stomach a bit from the fatigue. The last hour at work was pretty funny - I was having trouble typing - I couldn't type in ordinary things, like my computer password, without making mistakes. I had to go really slowly to get anything done - my brain was just shot. I couldn't help but laugh at myself.

On Friday, after a good night's sleep, I got a lot done at work. We got everything done necessary for the deadline, and I got out of there around 5:30. I took the bus to my parents' to pick up the car again, and I headed back home soon after, as people were coming over at some point. I wound up watching golf for a while - they finally came around nine. AN, AD, RD, JP and eventually, TA, were there. We played poker - a single game of Texas Hold'Em that went on for four hours. We screwed around a lot - eating Donnini's pizza (again) and listening to music. It was a fun night, and I laughed more than I had in a while. Mostly I laughed at myself, which I like to do, as I was on fire that night. I also won the poker game, which is good because we can't have AN's head getting too big. As AN pointed out, it always comes down to the two of us in the end. Most of my friends are impatient, so they often do things they shouldn't to make the game more interesting. AN is probably the best player, so he always does well. I'm the most conservative player, so I can often wait for other players to knock each other out of the game. Of course, that's how you're supposed to play. You're supposed to be in on very few hands, especially with five people. It's just a little boring, and even I get tempted to go in on hands I shouldn't.

After everyone left, I went straight to bed. On Saturday morning, I cleaned the place up, then had breakfast and a shower. I finally decided to finish organizing my NES games to sell them, but I found it had been so long since I last worked on them that I'd forgotten what I was doing. I had to sort them all again from scratch, which took a couple of hours. I separated the boxes, manuals and carts out, alphabetizing all three. The implication here is that I now have to re-enter the games into the computer so I can list them on eBay. This is made much easier by them being in order though. After the game organizing, I decided to get a few minutes of music making in before heading over to JW's.

JW and I went to get our groceries. I desperately needed them - I even went so far as to have cereal with sour milk on Thursday. Okay, it wasn't that sour, but it tasted odd. I didn't get sick, though I won't be doing it again. We took my groceries home, then hers, and then we headed out to our favourite (Chinese or otherwise) restaurant in Bedford. We had Kun Pow Chicken and Almond Pork (which does not appear on the menu!), with lettuce wraps and hot and sour soups to start. It was all delicious - our only tiny complaint was that the two main dishes tasted too much alike - but that was our fault. The hot and sour soup was also a bit too hot, and it made everything else seem much hotter, including JW.

After dinner, we drove back to JW's place. After a bit of painful relaxing, we watched Aladdin. It was classic Disney. I absolutely loved the intro sequence for the Genie - lots of off-the-wall humour with brilliant music and animation. JW's roommates made a few token appearances, because two people clearly never want to be alone. The more the merrier, right? Am I right, or am I right? Or am I right? Or am I right? Or am I right? (Good old SM)

After the movie, we slept well, as I'd made sure to turn the heat down. Sunday morning, we ate breakfast and I drove her to church. I thought momentarily about joining her, as I hadn't really had my fill of her yet, but I didn't think I was going to get it by going to church with her. Plus, she wanted to see her friends, and I felt like she deserved to see them without having to modify her behaviour on my account - she deserved a reward after the long, hard week. Though the idea of doing something religiously positive was nice, I opted instead to come home and write this entry. I'll go with her to church again sometime - it would be interesting to actually try to get into what is going on my around me (instead of merely observing as I had last time), just to see what might happen, how I might feel. I expect nothing, but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. I have lots of weird ideas about things, so I can't trust that my thinking isn't distorted.

Anyway, I'm going to go work on my latest "song" now. The idea is for it to be more of a song than my other pieces of "work" - I normally find a catchy tune, then repeat it and modify it a bit, then I find another tune, play with it for a bit, then I merge the two for a grand finale - that's the LW method. I sometimes also find a neat technical trick that I play up. I'm hoping to do otherwise this time!

I'm currently listening to: "Rebellion (Lies)", from "White Session (Live)", by "Arcade Fire".

Movies watched this week: "Aladdin"

1458 - None of my Exes Live in Texas

2007-01-07T10:06:00.000-08:00

That statement doesn't really mean all that much on the surface, but underneath the surface it speaks to the turmoil I've been going through this week with regard to my job. Every week, I hear more travel-related comments that lead me to believe that travel may be the rule as opposed to the exception in the coming months. Just before I sat down to write this entry, I sent an email to two of my supervisors expressing my concerns over extensive travel. I told them I'd not been told travel would be extensive during the interview process. I heard it would be more on the order of a week a month, and that the trips would be short. Now I'm hearing that they may be both frequent and long. Only time will tell how they will react. I told them that if my current path is going to lead to a lot of travel, steps need to be taken to change my path. I also pointed out that my voicing my concerns now is meant to avoid future conflict. Finally, I said I liked the company and wanted to be a team player, but that my happiness has to come first. I walked a delicate line, as I'd let my silence do the talking when I was hired, as opposed to my words - I had to make sure I didn't contradict anything I'd said.

If they believe there are no contradictions, I think I'll come out of this fine. They'll probably alter my role in the company. I can see them giving me a pay cut if no other high ranking roles are available. But it doesn't matter - I'd gladly take the cut if it meant little or no travel. I sometimes wonder whether I should've accepted the other job I was offered when I took this one - certainly it would've been easier work with less stress and no travel. Then again, I need to be pushed outside of my comfort zone like I'm being pushed now. The only problem is that there's only so much I can take. Traveling all the time is way outside my comfort zone - it's not something I ever want to do, unless it's seeing the world with the important people in my life.

Anyway, I'll jump back to the beginning of the week. On Monday, JW and I got up after our interesting New Year's Eve. We had breakfast, and then I drove her out to her parents' house - she spent that night there so that she could get a ride out to see a teacher about the work she's doing, and to a long-overdue orthodics appointment. I went home after dropping her off, stayed for a minute, and then went to my parents' house for New Year's dinner with my grandmother. I likely seemed distant all through dinner, and I actually slept a bit while we all watched the news downstairs afterward. I was constantly thinking about New Year's Eve. After dinner, Dad drove my grandmother home first, then me. I spent the evening finishing off last week's entry, parts of which I later erased.

Tuesday was a bad day. I woke up feeling terrible, and I was angry that I had to go to work. At work, I found it very difficult to focus on anything. I was still thinking about New Year's Eve, and it really bothered me. Finally, after work, I talked with JW about the whole thing. She explained some things to me, and I confirmed that I had indeed been letting my mind run wild, dreaming up crazy explanations for ordinary occurences. I felt much better, and I haven't felt bad since. I spent a bit of time reading a book called "Feeling Good", which is about cognitive therapy. It is mainly aimed at the depressed, but I think it might help my shyness, plus it's humourously written and enjoyable to read.

On Wednesday, work was much better and I got a lot done. Apart from a idiotic client, the day went smoothly. That evening, I played pool with TA and AD for the first time in a while. We had a few drinks and played pretty badly overall, but it was fun.

On Thursday, I worked from eight in the morning until seven-thirty at night - it was a long day, due in full to the idiotic client, who'd changed their minds about something at the last minute. After work, I went straight to JW's - it seemed like forever since I'd seen her. She had a lot of work to do, so I was her company while she got it done.

On Friday, we released another build of our product at work without incident. I wrote a version of the travel email that I rewrote today. After work, I biked all the way to my parents' house in the dark - it was pretty bad. I couldn't see the cracks in the pavement, and there was a lot of traffic. I decided never to bike that far in the dark again, unless I can find a high-powered light that's easy on batteries (yeah right!). Dad and I went up to Price Club after I loaded the bike into the car. I got two MASSIVE (I mean like 10 lbs each) books on ancient history - one is about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and the other is about all of the ancient central american cultures. I was going to get only the Roman one, but at $18 a piece for 600-page, full colour, hard-covered books, I had to get them both. I also got some solomon gundy (tasty fish!) and shaved pastrami.

After Price Club, I went home to eat, after which AD picked me up and took me to TA's. We watched four episodes of MXC, followed by an episde of the Trailer Park Boys. Then, we sat OUTSIDE in our T-SHIRTS for a half hour - this is early January we're talking about! Finally, TA and I fell asleep watching AD play Zelda 2 (badly).

On Saturday, I got up at a decent time and cleaned up all the debris lying around my house. I also organized my music and movie files on the computer. I finally (with JW's help) figured out how to use photoshop to get rid of the red eye in the boxing day pictures taken at TA's. I put them up on my site, and then fixed the site as it hadn't worked for a while.

I went over to JW's around four. She finished up some work, and then we went to Staples for supplies, the drugstore for drugs, the mall for a present for JW's roommate (and mediocre New York Fries fries) and finally the grocery store for groceries. Following a bit of fun, we went to see "Children of Men" at the theatre. It was really good - very impressive as far as visual effects go, and very tense and suspenseful. I really enjoyed the theatre sound - the movie is set in the future, and so there were some interesting pieces of music played. The movie shows humans of the future unable to reproduce amidst a chaotic world on the brink of collapse. There is constant violence and terror. The movie tries to tell us to get off our asses and stop such a thing from happening - it even refers to the good old days when we ignored the future (today). Through all of the chaos, a young woman who has amazingly become pregnant manages to escape Britain to go to a facility where the infertility is studied, with the help of strangers. She is one of the few main characters to escape with her life. The movie ends rather suddenly - we do not find out whether the infertility is cured, nor do we learn anything about the facility (or group) the girl has traveled to.

After the movie, JW and I headed home and went to bed. On Sunday, we got up and finally got rid of her Christmas tree after breakfast. At lunchtime, I left to give her time to get her work done before a possible dinner at her roommate's parents' house. I'm now writing this entry :) and I'll be going to my grandmother's for her birthday dinner - pizza and angel food cake! It doesn't get any better than that - except that the closest pizza is my nemesis, Greco. I wish I could bring up some Donnini's... mmmm good! Mmmm Muffins! After that, I'm sure I'll be watching golf, as it's the first tournament of the year, and I actually get it here at home.

I'm currently listening to: "I Hope You Die", from "Hooray for Boobies!", by "The Bloodhound Gang".

Movies watched this week: "Children of Men"

1457 - Christmas Assumptions

2006-12-31T08:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas is over, and it's now New Year's Eve. I'm excited because I'm actually able to write on the proper day this time. I'm getting a bit tired of writing though, as my last entry was quite long - and this one may be too. Fortunately, the eventless, boorish month that is January will soon be here.

Monday was Christmas Day. I hadn't slept very well, so I was tired when I finally got up around ten. I'm not the getter-upper-at-six-and-open-all-my-presents type, so I wondered downstairs and went straight to the back door to see if Fluffy, my parents' cat, was there. He was, and he came inside for a few minutes before scurrying back to the door, eager to again sit outside in the cold and rain.

As usual, Mum rushed me into the living room to open my stocking. And, also as usual, it had overflowed into a Sobey's bag. I felt like telling her that we shouldn't be buying each other so much that the stockings overflow - I mean, these aren't small socks - they're hand-knit (by my grandmother) big-assed bags that are two feet long and about six inches wide. They make good sleeping bags for babies, and we once had one stolen by a stork. Dad got up and came downstairs shortly after I started opening my stocking.

The stocking had the requisite lottery tickets sticking out of the top. It had a bottle of soap, shampoo, TWO sticks of deodorant I really didn't need... do my parents think I'm a dirty person? At least there wern't gift certificates to a hair studio. It had chocolates (Ferrero Rocher, Quality Street, Toblerone and a huge slab of Superstore chocolate). I'm sure it had a few other things I really didn't need as well.

Dad opened his stocking and found many of the same useless items he gets every year. Mum had already opened hers, of course. It had the same useless items she gets every year too.

After the stocking, Mum rushed us into opening our presents so that we could be finished in time to go pick up my grandmother. We fired through them pretty quickly - again there was far too much. I felt bad for Mum, as her pile was half the size of either of mine or Dad's. She'd repeated for weeks that she didn't want anything for Christmas, and my Dad took that as gospel. I too felt broken by the pressure we're under year after year to find nice things for her when she gives us no clues. She did really like the deluxe tea candles I picked out for her - the only item Dad and I purchased for her on our one trip to find her presents this year. Otherwise there wasn't much exciting for her. Our Bosnian friends from Ottawa sent her pyjamas - the top was XXXL, and the three of us could've fit into it. The bottom would've been tight on my skinny-as-a-rake aunt. She did get TWO coats, but she'd picked them out herself and they were upstairs in a closet. And she got Il Divo tickets for herself and Dad (she'd woken me up one morning in November so I could order them).

Dad always does well for Christmas, as he's easy to buy for. He got the usual shirts, magazines, CDs, DVDs and some Elvis items (this year, chocolate and a trivia game). He has a habit of examining every item in detail, and this angers Mum as she wants to get everything opened so she can clean up the mess.

Finally, there was me. I got an awesome piece of metallic art portraying a deranged, vicious rabbit - it is hillarious! I felt bad about it though, because I'd robbed JW of the opportunity to get it for me. I'd thought that maybe it was too expensive for her, and I really wanted it. I even thought of buying it for myself, but instead my parents got it on a shopping trip for me. I also got a rice cooker that I'd asked for, as I'm FINALLY almost through a huge box of terrible minute rice (it's been years). Now I can go buy some real rice and cook it right - maybe that will take my famous stir-fries to the next level? I also got a golf club that I'd picked out on my own and put on reserve at Joe-Mac Golf. Dad had picked it up while I was in Seattle. I suppose there was some surprise in it, as he might've forgotten to pick it up.

I got the second of the two pictures I'd picked out at the Dalplex craft show in November (I bought the first myself). It's the one I liked the most, so I felt like it was best to keep it from myself until Christmas. That reminds me, I have to hang those up today, along with a *yuck* golf calendar (more on that later). I got three DVD sets, each of which I'd picked out, though I didn't really expect them all. They were: a Hulk Hogan DVD set, the Animated Star Trek series (been waiting for this for 20 years) and the fourth volume of the Looney Tunes sets (perhaps the most prized sets in my collection).

I got a sushi set. I love sushi, and it's cheap and easy to make, so why not? Yes, I asked for this as well. It came with two dishes, two soy sauce mini bowls, a few roll-out mats, seaweed, and chopsticks. I'm going to try to make some avacado sushi, to try to get JW into it. I'm not sure if she can even tolerate me eating fish sushi, but if she can, the avacado sushi may be a way for me to get her out for sushi so I can have a good feed.

I got a new, desperately-needed bathroom reader. And yes, I did get a few things I hadn't expected (not the sweater I'm currently wearing, though): a couple of different t-shirts from the Bosnians, a nice long-sleeved (it fits!) shirt, and some miscellaneous items for the house.

So yes, as you can see, Christmas is a bit retarded at my house. We get too many things for each other. Every year, we say we're going to cut back, but it never seems to be that way. I guess we have in a way, because no one really gets big ticket items like they used to. Also, there are rarely surprises, something JW has made me more conscious of this year. It was especially driven home in that I got even fewer surprises this year than usual. The gift-opening portion of Christmas was quite uninspired (sorry Sobey's). I suppose I should mention (since I'll have forgotten by the next time I read this) that Sobey's' slogan this season is "Have an inspired Christmas." I think they've just given up on slogans that have meaning.

After the gift-opening flurry, I left to pick up my grandmother. When we got back, we had lunch. As is traditional on Christmas Day, we had miscellaneous appetizers - cheeses, crackers, egg rolls, little burrito-like things, mini quiches (sp?) and of course rum-laden egg nog. Once again this year, I later found that my love of these snacky lunches had ruined my dinner (yes, dinner). After lunch, my grandmother opened her gifts. During the opening, JW called and we had a quick chat. Afterward, she sat down to dinner (yes, dinner), and I went back to continue watching my grandmother open her gifts.

JW called again after the eating, and I headed out to meet her at her parents' house, so we could exchange gifts. I must've been in a weird mood. I was excitied to see her, and I absolutely flew on the highway, averaging about 140. About half way there, I had a thought that her parents' house was located out along Cobequid Rd. I thought about it some more, and I decided that we'd (JW and I) only gone out that way in the past to visit a Frenchy's in the area. We had more often gone toward Beaverbank Rd, which is close to her church (including the ice cream hut where she used to work). I got a thought of her giving me directions to the ice cream hut mixed up with directions to her home, and so I got into the left lane heading toward Beaverbank Rd. This made me feel like I was going the right way. I knew she didn't live in Beaverbank, but I figured her area was just a little further out. Twenty minutes of driving at high speeds convinced me otherwise. I passed the Cat's Cradle, a type of cat hotel. I remembered JW and I having talked about it, so even at that point I thought I might've been going the right way. However, by the twenty minutes, I was quite sure that I'd gone much too far and that her road was not that far from Sackville Dr. I was absolutely furious. I had very little time before I needed to get back for my Christmas dinner, and I'd wasted a good chunk of it being stupid. By the time I'd turned around, it was dead obvious to me that her parents' house was out Cobequid Rd. I wondered how I could've mixed the two up. I found a road connecting Cobequid to Beaverbank, and I took it. I passed Sackville High School and in my madness assumed I'd now seen JW's high school. It is VERY close to her parents' house, but so is her actual high school, as I now recall that she showed me where it is (approximately) once.

Anyway, in the fullness of time, I found the house and went inside. My mind was racing and I couldn't hide my feelings. It is very rare for that to happen (not so much anymore, I guess), and I surprised myself a bit. I was short with JW and even shorter with her parents. They actually later said they thought I was scared to death of them, when in fact I actually felt quite comfortable, except for my racing mind and heart.

JW and I sat down on the couch in the living room, and her parents left us alone to open our presents (as they later pointed out), though they were certainly within earshot, so technically, they hadn't. I found it difficult to focus on the presents, though I gradually calmed down. We took turns opening. JW gave me another one of the metallic pieces of animal art - this time it was an equally-angry dog or wolf with wings. The two are now facing off on my downstairs mantle. She also gave me a Thai cookbook, though I'd been discouraged as of late due to the inavailability of fresh ingredients. I suppose I could try an Asian store! She gave me a Canadian quote book that I've already thoroughly enjoyed - I've even added a couple of the quotes to my Web site. It says on it that it is intended for the bathroom. I think my self-deprecating humour has come back to bite me, as I got three bathroom-related reading articles for Christmas in total. I've played up the fact that I have to have something to read in the bathroom, which has gotten me quite a few laughs. I've been known to read the backs of toothpaste tubes, receipts in my pockets, or even my own ID cards (in a pinch). So I guess I deserve it. I do like the subject matter in these books though, because it's always short and to the point. I don't have to invest a lot of time for my reward.

JW also got me some pot-holder thingys that even she admitted were an odd gift for me. I've stashed them away, likely never to be seen again ;) She also made me two excellent Christmas CDs, which I've been listening to pretty much since I got them. Finally, she gave the the dreaded golf calendar. For some reason, everyone thinks that because I love golf, I must love everything to do with golf. The truth is, golf merchandise is often tacky and unfunny. I don't derive much enjoyment from looking at a picture of a golf hole - I'd rather be playing it. Of course, I've never told JW this, so she couldn't know. The gift was thoughtful, and that's what counts. She does read these entries, and so now I've saved myself from such a fate in the future! I also HATE golf art. I hate golf jokes. I don't even like golf instructional books - you have to be taught by a person, in my opinion. My parents got me a golf joke calendar, and I read all the jokes in about one minute. Now it's as useless as the scrap paper in my recycling bin - perhaps more so. To me, the best type of calendar is an art calendar. If something is going to be on my wall for a whole month, I'm going to have to want to look at it. I don't really use calendars to schedule my life, because there is so little to schedule. So I need to have something to look at on it. Anyway, that's my calendar rant.

After we opened our presents, JW's parents flooded back into the room and I opened their present to me. It was a dip-keeper-colder. I don't know if I've ever served dip in my house before, but the day I do, I'm sure it will not be useful, because I'll be too lazy to fill it with ice. The mother's explanation was funny, though I didn't laugh of course, "We know you're health-conscious, so now you can leave dip out for a long time without it getting bad." I was thinking, "so yes, I can now just leave my dip out overnight, as I'm often tempted to do." It's not that difficult to put things back in the fridge, and if I don't, it's because the dip is gone. I like dip, right? People who know me know that such things do not go rotten :) Anyway, at least the mother TRIED to get me something different. And who knows, maybe it will be useful some day.

I gave the parents some chocolates, which they seemed excited about. At first I thought her father's reaction was, "these are going to make me sick", but I soon realized that it was more "these are dangerous to my diet!" JW and I went into the hallway and hugged a bit. She wasn't feeling well, unfortunately, so I tried to make her feel a bit better before I headed home.

I raced home and made it back in only eighteen minutes. A far cry from my forty-five minute trip out! I got home to find everyone there - my aunt, her boyfriend and son, and my cousin. After the obligatory questioning about JW from the boyfriend, I sat down before a sip of beer before being asked to help carve the turkey. I did so, and shortly after we sat down to dinner. As always, it was turkey, mashed potatoes, squash, peas, carrots and stuffing. There were cranberry sauce, beets and green onion chow as well. We all cracked our crackers and put on our hats. I got a key chain picture frame. JW later suggested that I put her picture in it, but I wouldn't want it soiling her image. What do you expect from a cracker though.

Oh yeah, there was also the appetizer course, which is a bowl of seafood salad - lobster, crab and a sauce. There is normally lettuce underneath, but Mum couldn't find the lettuce anywhere. It was delicious as always, as was dinner. I couldn't finish, as I was too full from lunch and pre-dinner snacks.

After dinner, the tea and dessert came. The dessert is always either rum cake or raspberry trifle, as always (or both!). My grandmother had forgotten the hard sauce for the rum cake, so we had to go with vanilla ice cream. The trifle has always been my favourite, and I might even like it more than cheesecake.

After dessert, everyone sat down in the living room and we played the Elvis trivia game. The boyfriend and Dad did most of the playing. I only knew one answer, but was too slow to come up with it. The game went over well - there was a lot of laughing and even some singing. I was again very tired, and I had trouble staying in the moment. I almost fell asleep a couple of times! It was terrible - I felt like my grandfather must've when he used to do the same.

After Elvis, everyone got ready to go home. I drove my grandmother home and came back to an empty house (except my parents). Mum went upstairs to relax, and Dad and I went downstairs. We watched police chases and car wrecks, and then Family Guy - the perfect choices to encourage Christmas cheer. I went to bed without staying up to watch the clock hit midnight for the first time in a long time.

I can't believe I just wrote that much for one day - good thing Christmas comes once a year I guess. That reminds me of a mug Mum showed me. I'd gotten it for her as a five-year-old. It said, "Santa comes but once a year... aren't you glad you're not Santa?" :) They said it took a lot of restraint at the time to keep from laughing in my face. There was no restraint this time around!

On Tuesday (Boxing Day), I sat around the house scratching lottery tickets, after a bacon-and-egg breakfast. After that, I packed a few things up and headed home. Dad came down shortly after, and we put up a new toilet paper holder in the bathroom, as the old one had broken. Dad left, and I believe I spent most of my free time writing in this accursed stimulator. I also put a few things away. I started getting calls from TA around four to come over and drink. HJ was already there. I finally broke down around six, and I headed over despite knowing that JW might like to come. I wasn't sure whether she'd even be back from her aunt's at a decent time, and I wasn't able to get ahold of her by phone. She called about an hour later, and I went over to her place to bring her to TA's.

The party was pretty good. ET and J were in town for the first time since last February, and it was good to see them. KOD were there, along with CD and one of Kim's friends. AN and AB were there, and later on CC showed up. One of DD's military friends was also there. So it was a good crowd, and the evening went pretty well. I hadn't eaten enough, and so I got drunk on very little liquor, and subsequently I've forgotten about many of the details. Fortunately, I put TA in charge of photography, so I have a visual record of the events, including a close up shot of CC's breasts and numerous shots of pretty much the only single girl there (KD's friend). There were even short videos (taken by accident) in which the poor girl accused TA of taking pictures of her breasts, to which he responded "You're not that good." Yes, TA, photgraphing a girl's breasts and then telling her "she's not that good" is always a good way to score points. "He died of shame."

ET and J and JW and I each called cabs at the end of the night, but neither of us was patient enough to wait for it to arrive. HJ also tried to bum a ride off JW and I, even though he was going in the opposite direction! JW and I decided to walk home, which was fun.

On Wednesday, we got up and lazed about for a bit before going to the mall. We exchanged a sweater I'd gotten JW for Christmas for one that fit. Then, we went up to Bayer's Lake *shudder* to look for a memory card for JW's camera. We got one at Radio Shack (NOT "The Source"), after failing to find one at Staples, Future Shop and Superstore. After that, we went for lunch at Dairy Queen, before going into Chapters. I went in for nothing, and came out with six books! I tried to make a wise crack when the cashier asked if I'd found everything I was looking for, but I guess the Boxing Day madness had already beat her soul out of her.

I got two hardcover books on Astronomy (which is good because there have been many updates since the last time I got one), a book on the Egyptians (for reading more about the things JW and I had learned about during our personal tour at the art museum), a Simpsons book for TA for Christmas, a Darwin's Award book for AN, and a book on acts of roguery for myself ;) I love the humour section at the bookstore - which is fortunate because I'm not too big on much else. I've always had a desire to buy lots of books, but I'm not sure where it comes from because I always rightly convince myself not to buy them, because I wouldn't read half of them.

JW bought a book (which is now in my possession) about dealing with depression. She thought it might help me with my shyness among other things. I read a few pages, and it seems to be written in a humourous fashion, so I'm looking forward to reading it. I have an interest in pyscology, but I've never really taken the time to explore it. Similarly, I think I have unexplored interest in philosophy as well. I should've taken one of those classes in school instead of Classics, that was taught in such a way as to remove any interest in the subject one might have had.

After Chapters, JW and I went back to her place. I proceeded to get my computer ready to be re-installed, while she did her own thing. Later on, we decided to order a pizza. I was out to prove that Donnini's pizza is excellent, while she was out to prove that it is crap. It turned out that we are both right. If you order an entire pizza from them, the toppings are plentiful and they go right to the edge. This is what we did. The prices are superb as well. However, if you want a slice, you basically get a piece of sparse desert (not dessert) that probably tastes as such.

After the pizza, we watched Better off Dead. It was a movie about a boy who continually tries to kill himself after his girlfriend leaves him for a better skiier. He eventually races the other skiier and beats him one one ski. The girlfriend comes running back, but he pushes her aside for another girl he has met who appreciates him. The movie only has a plot to hold together literally hundreds of jokes, puns and scenes of physical humour. The writers spared no jokes - it was like they put in every joke they could think of, figuring that everyone would appreciate at least a few of them and therefore like the movie. I did like it for just that reason - there were quite a few funny things about the movie. Some were REALLY funny. But at the same time, it had some of the worst comedy I've ever seen. Terrible one-liners, jokes that are revisited again and again (beat to death) and unfunny physical comedy (who'd've thunk it?) were common. I think it is a movie that I'd appreciate more if I were to see it again. It reminds me most of Team America. I thought Team America was VERY funny at first, but I later came to think that it was terrible (without seeing the movie again). I guess I'll have to see it to be sure.

On Thursday, we basically repeated what we'd done on Wednesday. This time, we went to the mall WITH JW's watch, and she got her watch strap. Then, we went downstairs in the mall where she bought a really nice long coat. She looked beautiful in it, especially with her scarf and long hair flowing down on it. I tried to limit my comments to her to avoid influencing her decision. She did buy it in the end - it was a great deal for a nice coat. Hopefully I'll get to see it soon... perhaps tonight?

After that, she mentioned that I might have to wear my suit New Year's Eve, so we went and bought a green dress shirt to go with my suit. One of the strangest meetings ever took place in the store. It turned out that we BOTH knew the cashier. I asked her a question, without realizing it. Then, as I realized it, I started to say that I recognized her from somewhere, when at the same time she and JW realized they knew each other from working at the theatre. Not realizing that she had started talking to JW, I cut in and said "But I know you from somewhere, too, right?" Then JW chimed in asking where we knew each other from, before talking with her a bit more. JW knew her better than I did, and I didn't say anything else to her.

After the mall, a terrible thing happened - we went to Winner's, so JW could spend a thirty-dollar gift card before it "expired." JW was there for about an hour an a half, picking through every piece of merchandise. I walked to The Bay to see if TA was there. I even got some groceries, but still she was there. Finally, it ended and we went back to her place.

I freshly installed everything on my computer, and she wrote in her blog and made some cards. I also watched the commentary for "Star Trek: Generations". It wasn't as good as it should've been. After that, we ate leftovers, before sitting down to watch "Dead Poet's Society". The movie was (not surprisingly) excellent. It was about a group of boys at a prestigious all-boys school. There were influenced by a free-thinking teacher who encouraged them to do the same. This encouragement, however, clashed with the strict environment of the school, and friction between the free-thinking and one of the boys' parents caused him to commit suicide. Of course, the teacher got blamed, and he was fired. However, the boys knew he'd done nothing wrong, and they supported him right to the end, acknowledging what he'd done for them. This is definitely a movie I'll see again at some point.

On Friday, I think JW'd had enough of me, and I wanted to get some things done at home, so after a late breakfast, I headed home. We were to have her friends over that evening anyway. At home, I put presents away and continued to work on last week's entry - isn't it terrible when writing the entry becomes the focus of my week? :)

I went back over to JW's around seven to find her in terrible shape. She'd assumed I wasn't going to have the car, and she needed to get to Upper Tantallon the next morning to meet with her teacher. She'd gotten a phone call during the week for a potential full-time position!!!! I was so happy for her. She was discouraged over how much work it would be, but she needs to do it. I can remember how terrible it felt to start working hard again from my university days - I'd work fifteen hour days, then suddenly be off for a month. Then, when classes started up again, I found even an hour's work to be daunting. I always got back into the swing of things after a while though. It's just that first hump. Anyway, JW called her brother for a ride to Upper Tantallon, and he chewed her out over always asking him for help. He told her she couldn't do anything on her own - that she was helpless. Of course, I was angry to hear this. I was angry that he'd made her feel bad, and I felt like he was overreacting. From what I'd heard over the months, she asks him for very little. I wanted to go over to his house and set him straight. Of course, I didn't. I figure that he's under a lot of pressure now, as he isn't going on a big field trip next summer due to money problems, and he's worrying about even feeding himself this term. He has a lot to deal with, and I think he just lashed out at JW from all the pressure. I don't think for a second he means what he said, and if he does, he has other problems to deal with.

JW was insistent that she deal with the problem herself, and she wouldn't even let me give her a hug (though she snuck one with her roommate). Maybe she doesn't like to feel vulnerable in front of me, because I help her out a lot. But I want to help her out and I don't feel like things are uneven at all - our realities are very different, financially, and she is my girlfriend. Still, it is good for her to deal with things on her own, and I understood why she didn't want me comforting her, though I was a bit angry at the time because I saw her as refusing the help she so much needed. In the end, things turned out alright, as I had the car and I was able to drive her.

Her friends (her best friend J and her husband) from Ottawa came over later on, and we had a good time. There were lots of treats, lots of stores and lots of laughs. Her friend seemed smart and quick. She seemed a little bit arrogant and American-ish (like she'd tell you when you're wrong about something), and she confirmed that a bit when she talked about how she can't tolerate stupid people. Stupid people seemed to be the dominant topic of the evening :) JW assured me afterward that she doesn't put people down. She used to play video games, and she likes Star Trek, so she is okay in my book. She's smart and funny. So I managed to avoid yet again chaffing with one of her friends. The husband was quite different - he seemed smart, but he had trouble focusing on the conversation, which he pointed out on numerous occasions. He danced around the room burning off excess energy. He seems fun though, and I didn't feel like I chaffed with him either. So, the evening was a success, and JW and I went to bed shortly after they left.

On Saturday, we got up and I drove JW to meet the teacher she is going to replace (at least for a while). I dropped her off, and went to Queensland beach. It was freezing, but the water wasn't frozen. I took some pictures with JW's camera, and I collected some beach glass, including the hard-to-find blue glass! After that, I explored a small island that I'd always wanted to find out about - turns out it is a single road with some houses on it. No beaches. Then, I explored the subdivision around the house of the teacher JW was visiting. Finally, I parked in front of the house to rest and wait.

When JW came out, I drove her to the grocery store where we both got a few things. I then dropped her off at home so she could get started on her work - she already had reading and marking to do! I felt bad for her losing a few days of her vacation, but then I remembered she'd had a few days extra at the beginning. I went home and became a master chef. I made broccoli salad, then a stir-fry for lunches next week, and then two huge vats of chili.

After that, I headed over to TA's. CA came over later on, as it was UFC night. We watched a bit of TV before heading down to the bar, where we had to STAND the entire evening. You have to get there really early to get a seat. I was extremely tired, but the standing helped me stay awake. Toward the very end, we got to sit down before finally leaving.

I slept well, and today I got up and had breakfast and a shower, before spending the entire afternoon writing this entry. Now I have to rush to get ready to go over to JW's. I still haven't shaved or ironed :S I guess I'll finish the last bit of this entry up tomorrow.

OK, it's tomorrow. Today. I met JW at her place. She wore a skirt, a nice shirt and a nice sweater. She put on her new coat and scarf. She looked beautiful, and I can't wait to see the pictures! Anyway, we headed over to Brewdebaker's for dinner, only a few minutes late. We got stuck at the end of a massive table, which wasn't the best for conversation. We both enjoyed our meals, and I had a couple of drinks. It was also E's birthday, and the cake made by JW's friend B was delicious.

After the meal, we all headed over to M & J's place. JW's old flame, C was there. They seemed to hit it off really well, and it scared me a bit at first, but it was just me being paranoid. I mellowed out a bit, and even felt like C might be a good guy. He reminds me very much of AB. JW seemed happy to see her friends, but as I later found out, she was having trouble having all of her friends, and some enemies, and me together under one roof. This made her seem distant, which of course bothered me. I purposely stayed away from her - I wanted her to have fun with her friends. When she left the room, I made sure not to leave right away. I tried to hang out with other people, and I'd rate my overall performance at "fair". The distance between us made it hard, but I got by.

Midnight eventually came, after some fun DVD games and good food. Everyone went outside to watch fireworks that the neighbours were setting off. Then we lit up our own far-less-impressive sparklers and had some fun twirling them around.

After coming inside, JW and I sat in the living room where a musical conversation broke out. I didn't contribute much, until we got to Radiohead, and I took the chance to gloat about having been to one of their concerts. I didn't know much about the other music they were playing, but I liked most of it. I think I need to download some Smashing Pumpkins, and perhaps some stuff done by the guitarist in Alexisonfire.

We left around 1:30, and JW drove us back to her place. On the way, we discussed her distance that evening. Ultimately, I came to understand it, and I no longer look on the evening in a negative light.

Happy New Year!

I'm currently listening to: "Gangbangin' 101", from "Tha Blue Carpet Treatment", by "Snoop Dogg".

Movies watched this week: "Better off Dead", "Dead Poet's Society", "Star Trek: Generations"

1456 - No Seattle Makes Good Seattle

2006-12-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

I've just been sitting around thinking of something to do for most of the afternoon. I just realized that I haven't yet written for last week, and I'm now two days late. Well, I suppose Christmas is as good an excuse as any :)

The Seattle trip was at times fun and at times annoying and stressful. It tended to be more fun the later in the trip it got, and it was annoying and stressful at both ends (due to travel). Monday was a bit scary, because AN and I went to our first day of training. We had no idea what to expect - it could've been anything from a class of thirty people listening to a lecturer, to the two of us sitting down with an ordinary worker being quizzed on things we didn't know. Fortunately, training turned out to be in a small classroom setting. There was a key person attending, and the training had been reorganized at the last minute to fit their schedule. AN and I, as well as a few others, were merely observers, while this person got what they needed. The day passed quite slowly, especially as the lecturer continually got stuck trying to complete simple programming tasks for the program he was demonstrating. He also was constantly interrupted by a loud-mouth ass in the back of the room (his boss) whenever the ass felt a comment was vague or incomplete. The ass proceeded to shout and make phone calls for much of the day. The end of the day was great, with three of the top dogs in the room pitted against each other in verbal combat. It was really quite entertaining, as they went around in circles, trying to convince each other of things the rest of the room had long since understood. Of course, AN and I had nothing to contribute.

AN and I were very tired Monday, as neither of us had slept very well after all the travel. After work, we ducked into a nearby Thai restaurant, ate huge, tasty meals (mine was a spicy coconut soup and salmon in rice with peanut/coconut sauce). We were later told that we'd eaten in the worst Thai restaurant in town. After the restaurant, we took a short drive up and down the main street next to the hotel - all we could find was strip mall after strip mall, each with the requisite tanning salon, hair/nail studio, pharmacy, pet store, grocery and ice cream hut. After the eighth such mall, we got discouraged and turned back. We said our goodnights, and I hit the sack around nine local time.

On Tuesday, the training continued, only it was even more focused on the key person. He asked dozens of questions, but with a new instructor that day, the answers seemed to make sense, and they came without undue effort. The day was extremely boring for AN and I, as we learned very little. The time dragged on for an eternity, and only occasional short chats with JW kept me from going completely insane. After work, C-GW (our supervisor in Seattle) asked us if we could entertain ourselves for the evening, to which AN and I did not reply, as we were already pulling out of the parking lot.

We drove straight downtown to do a bit of shopping. The ride downtown took about forty-five minutes, as our hotel was quite a bit north of the downtown core. The traffic was bad, and in fact it was bad right through the entire week. We arrived downtown and parked at the garage nearest the highway. I had looked up the area on the Internet, and I knew it had several large malls. We walked around aimlessly, neither of us really sure of what we were looking for. We managed to spend only seven minutes in a huge Macy's - we kept thinking we should go into such stores, but then we would realize that we wern't shopping for ourselves, so we'd leave. We tried to eat at one restaurant in the first mall, but in typical AN and LW style, we simply would not wait the twenty minutes necessary to get a table. We wondered to the next mall, where I bought several gifts. I bought JW a little drum made by the native people of the area, and an African percussion instrument at a nice African store. I also got miscellaneous t-shirts, shot glasses and mugs to say I'd been to Seattle. We left the second mall and walked toward a large neon sign that eventually said "Market". We got excited that it might have lots of potential gifts, but it had closed hours earlier. We turned around and walked back; there were poor and homeless people everywhere, and it was apparent that only a short distance separated them from the rich and well-to-do at the malls. We found ourselves starving and back at the second mall again. We went upstairs to the monorail that takes one to the Space Needle, near to where we had parked. Of course, the monorail had stopped running, so we broke down and bought ourselves lousy dinners at the food court nearby.

After the food, we meandered back to the car and headed back. Again, we both went to sleep pretty early. I had gotten a cold that day, and I was starting to feel pretty bad by the end of the day.

I'm going to stop here for now, as I have a party to get to. I'll try to write the rest soon. Party on.

It's two days later, and I'm back now. Where was I? Oh yeah, I'm on to Wednesday now. On Wednesday, AN and I finally felt like we were getting somewhere as our star pupil had departed, and the training refocused on us. We actually used our computers to do things - we installed the product we were being trained on and played around with it a bit. The slightly incompetent instructor had returned, and again there were many hold-ups and hang-ups, but we learned some. We had pizza at lunch and I talked to JW when I could. My cold was REALLY bad and it was making everything else seem worse. The passing of the midpoint of our trip made me feel a bit better.

After work, AN and I were again left to fend for ourselves. We decided to go catch a Supersonics basketball game. We drove straight downtown after work, and parked next to the Space Needle again. We decided to "get the needle over with", so we went up for fourteen dollars each. The top part of it was small and nicely decorated. I took several pictures, and I even took a video during which I walked around the entire circumference of the observation deck - it was kind of funny because I got stuck behind a slow kid, and it was tough to get around her while holding the camera. AN and I grabbed a six-dollar beer, and then we headed back down, after having only spent about a half our in the needle (there isn't much to see). There being no time for supper, we headed straight to the Key Arena, the home of the Supersonics, which wasn't far. Once inside, we found our seats and then headed to the concession stands. Beer was $3.50! We each got a beer, and I decided to try a lumberjack-style sandwich with dipping sauce and potato salad. It cost $10 and it was pretty mediocre. EVERY ONE of the concession employees looked like they'd done a bit of time at one point or another. I half expected my sandwich to be poisoned, and I haven't yet built tolerances up to the key ones.

We sat down to the game. It started quickly, with the Dallas Maverick's star player getting knocked out early and the Sonics building a huge lead. However, beyond the first quarter, the game was a veritible dud, with mediocre play and little entertainment value. We even found out that the beer prices were the half-price prices. We did enjoy watching a remote-controlled Bud Light blimp that would sail around dropping free tickets to future games, and the team mascot actually jumped something like 18 Pepsi trucks with a motorbike (a la Evel Knievel) - the gag was that they were toy trucks. Some world champion BMX bike riders put on a pretty good show. We also took great pleasure out of the video montages for pumping the crowd up - which featured the word "NOISE" being shaken about followed by increasingly quickly-cut videos of the star players clapping. We managed to stay awake to the end of the game, only to see the Sonics lose. After the game, we headed back to the hotel and hit the hay, as it was quite late. We did have a bit of fun not finding the car in the rain.

On Thursday, the good folks at our company decided that because there was no more organized training to do, it would be a good idea for AN and I to do some actual work. We spent the first three-quarters of the day getting AN's system installed to the point where we could actually start working (my system, having an old, non-updatable copy of Windows XP, was useless). We managed to get a bit of dummy data to show up on one screen, and we were done. We went back to the hotel to wait for C-GW, as we were to have dinner that evening at seven. He called and said he'd be by to pick us up at 6:15, but AN and I were still able to sneak in most of the Jackass 2 movie AN had downloaded. There isn't much to say about it - it's just about a bunch of guys who go around thinking of crazy and dangerous things they can do to themselves. Some of them got seriously hurt, and some were still hurt from the first movie.

We had dinner at an upscale Italian place up the street from our hotel. It had been recommended time after time by B-SM and others at B. The first thing C-GW did was order a drink neither of us had ever heard of before (apparently, he likes his liquor). AN and I ordered Italian beers, and we got quite a "what the fuck are you doing" stare from C-GW. I think we were supposed to order cognac, or some kind of wine from 1756. Anyway, we had a couple of drinks and chatted about numerous topics before ordering. C-GW seemed to be a typical American ass. He talked about getting the "Indians" out of his state (MA), and how the people of WA had failed to do so. He made some crack about lining them up so you could kill them with one bullet. He also talked about the problems with Canada (and with the US to be fair). Then he recounted his 9/11 story, as he had worked within a few hundred feet of the twin towers. AN and I talked about our pasts, most of which we'd shared through school, our student company, more school and work at A.

We finally ordered, and I wound up with a mediocre chicken dish. AN had what he described as a good steak, cooked to perfection. I forget what C-GW had, except that he had clams as a starter - we all shared them, and they were delicious. AN ordered calamari, and we all agreed that it was terrble. So overall, the appetizers were okay. We had a couple of more drinks before wrapping up. The bill came to $190, and C-GW's company picked up the tab. It was a fun night, more so than I'd expected because C-GW was a pretty animated talker, and he got going pretty good on a few occasions (one being the Indian rant).

We found out that day that the "boss" had given everyone at the company Friday off. We had been told on the way out the door that we should continue working on our assigned tasks - we could then let everyone know what we'd gotten done. Fortunately, C-GW told us to forget all that and just drive to Mt. Rainier. And drive there we did! Well, not that night.

We got up super early Friday morning in preparation for our return trip the next day (with a flight leaving at six in the morning). We had a quick breakfast and hit the road for Mt. Ranier. The clouds magically parted as we drew near, with the sky becoming almost perfectly clear at our nearest approach. The landscape changed rapidly from bustling city (in the midst of Christmas anarchy) to hick towns. The city was more bustling and the towns more hick than any in Nova Scotia. It was a dramatic change. We could see the mountain occasionally as we approached it. The trees were amazing - very tall and hanging over the road. There was no snow at first, but as we went up, there was more and more snow. It was very beautiful and we were very happy to have been there, except that we found that they'd closed the national park containing Rainier, so we had to turn back without getting close. We stopped on the way out at a lookoff point, and took some great pictures. The mountain was breathtaking, even from a distance.

We headed back into the city, blasing R&B and rap. It was funny, because we'd accidentally left an R&B radio station on while navigating early in the week, and it stuck. We started to enjoy the songs, especially their ludicrous lyrics and subject matter. They became a sort of theme to our adventures in Seattle. We couldn't change the station anymore - they were as much Seattle to us as anything else. We stopped at the "Super Mall" outside of Seattle. It really was super - it was massive , and it took us a long time just to walk it, only to buy nothing.

After the mall, we drove all the way to downtown Seattle (through traffic jams and accidents) to go to the Sci-Fi Museum, which, amusingly enough, is located at the base of the Space Needle. The museum was interesting, and it had quite a few items from Star Trek, including Captain Kirk's original chair, some uniforms, and many props. I took pictures of some of them even though pictures are not allowed. It's not as if they were enforcing anything, as we walked in without anyone even checking for our tickets. We'd beat the place to death after only forty-five minutes - a lot of it was devoted to literature and comics, for which we had little interest. Still, it was neat to see.

After the museum, we caught the monorail from the Space Needle to the mall we'd been to on Tuesday night. It was a fast and short ride, and I managed to lose my two-way ticket. We left the mall and walked down to the Market that had been closed on Tuesday - fortunately it was open - and it was amazing! There were hundreds of vendors, and it must've been miles long. There was every type of food you could imagine - and a lot more, I'm sure. There was art, crafts, building materials - EVERYTHING. The place was full of weird and wonderful people. It was very multicultural. We stopped into an old-looking tavern for dinner. The menu was six pages long, and all of the ingredients for the items came from market vendors. AN and I split a pitcher of local brew, and a large order of clams to start. AN had a salmon dish as his main course, and I had a spicy seafood/chicken/sausage paella. It was delicious.

After dinner, we walked back to the mall and caught the monorail back to the Space Needle. We walked back to the car and headed for Redmond, WA, the home of Microsoft. Unfortunately, we hadn't bothered to get directions any more specific than that. We took one of three Redmond exits, and drove along another highway before reaching the "downtown" area. There were no Microsoft signs and we had no idea where we were. We took a couple of turns and found ourselves going along a Bedford Highway-like road. About ten minutes in, and after we'd realized it was going to be a long way around the water, we decided to turn back. We did see a huge fenced in area surrounding several large buildings - I suppose that might have been Microsoft? AN later looked up the actual location, and, not surprisingly, we'd gotten pretty close.

After our random jaunt through Redmond, we headed for a liquor store close to our hotel. We got there just in time, and a rather sour employee warned us that we had to be out of the store (puchase paid for) in four minutes so she could go home. We checked out the rather high prices and decided to hold off until our trip home to get our liquor fix. Back to the hotel we went, liquorless. We agreed to meet the next morning at 3:30 AM in the lobby of the hotel. I went into my room and packed everything up so I'd be able to sleep in as late as possible. I was already preoccupied with getting to JW's Christmas party on time the next evening. I got to bed around nine, and slept until 3:18 AM the next morning.

At 3:27 AM, I'd gotten dressed and I headed downstairs with all my luggage. AN was there - he'd already checked out. I checked out, and we were on our way to the airport. AN had gotten directions, but we still managed to take a wrong turn, and it was five turns (and twenty minutes) later by the time we'd gotten back on track. We ditched the rental car and headed upstairs to check in. The line was huge, and we thought we were in trouble, but it turned out that we were in the wrong line because some other company was running our flight on a Continental plane - so the Continental lineup wasn't the right one. We tried to process our own tickets at the other company (Horizon I think), but again, as had happened on the trip to Seattle, the computer was unable to process our request. We waited for an eternity while the single ticket agent tried to solve another customer's problem. Finally, they were able to process us, and we headed to the security area. The line was again huge, and we were a little worried about catching our flight.

We passed all the ridiculous signs saying we couldn't have gels or sprays over three ounces - fortunately my nasal spray was only half an ounce! We also discovered toward the end that there was a much shorter line for people like us taking short flights to nearby destinations - Seattle to Portland in our case. Of course, the lack of proper signage, a constant barb in our respective backs, caused us to waste our time yet again. We went through the security area, and I put my shoes on top of my laptop, even though you're not supposed to (I learned this afterward). One of the guards called for a bag check on my bag. Another guard came over, after which they spent a few minutes trying to identify the bag they wanted to look at. They took it out of the machine a couple of times, ultimately putting it back in without even opening it.

Having cleared the security area, AN and I walked for about twenty minutes, without taking a wrong turn, to the proper gate, where we sat and waited. I blew my nose quite a bit, as I was still feeling fairly bad from my cold. As we boarded the plane, we presented our passes and got on. The funny part, as we later realized, is that we presented passes for the second leg of our flight - the Portland to Newark leg. I guess the Seattle airport personnel don't bother to look for the name "Seattle" when checking tickets, because it wasn't there :) They also didn't bother checking our passports. I'm now convinced that I could've gotten on that plane with an old ticket I'd saved, no problem. So much for increased security after 9/11!

The plane was very small - it actually had propellers on it, and it was the first time I'd been on such a plane. It was pretty loud, but otherwise it wasn't much different than the other planes I'd flown on. The flight was delayed by about thirty minutes, and we arrived in Portland twenty minutes late. AN and I both thought we had time to kill, but checking our passes soon had us racing through the airport to the next gate. We managed to take a wrong turn and walk about eight minutes in the wrong direction, before turning back. We ultimately got to the gate, where we didn't wait long for boarding. We used the same passes to board the flight we'd used to board the last flight, and we were off without too long a delay. I knew we had time to spare in Newark, so I wasn't overly concerned.

The second leg was very long - about five and a half hours in total. I didn't feel like I could waste it away trying to sleep as I'd done on the first leg, so I watched "Talladega Nights", as it was being shown (yes, I realize what I've just said - I didn't want to waste the time, but I did). The movie was mediocre and it had a few good laughs - it was enough to pass the time fairly quickly. It really seemed (to me anyway) to be poking fun at the American way of life. The plot was based on a line early in the film that went, "If you ain't first, you're last." The main character bases his entire life on this. He does everything he can to finish first. He treats other people like dirt when he becomes a superstar NASCAR driver. He wastes away his fortune on garbage he doesn't need. He is mean to other people, and he teaches his kids to be mean. When he crashes and loses his nerve, his wife leaves him because he isn't the best driver anymore. He does learn the folly of his ways at the end at least.

I can't seem to see the screen now, as I just stared at the sun to make sure it was still above the horizon :S I just checked again, and it's gone now. :( Oh well. I think my eyes have recovered enough. Anyway, after Talledega Nights, they showed a series of sitcoms. I decided to do a couple of sudokus, and I listened to some music. I wanted to do some reading, but I was too high strung and too excited about going home to focus. I was also pretty tired. The flight attendants served us a meal (an egg McMuffin like thing in a sealed package) and a couple of rounds of drinks to fill the rest of the time. The end of the flight was fun because I got to look at beautiful New York city over the insatiable bitch woman next to me. I saw the Statue of Liberty, and a hell of a lot of buildings, bridges, ball fields and water. The place is massive.

We landed, but this time we had about an hour and a half to kill before boarding our final leg. We foolishly (as it would turn out) decided that food was the first priority, so we scoured the airport, looking for a pub-like place with some meat. Having looked over the "entire" airport, we settled on a place that sort of fit the bill. We sat down at a table and waited for twenty minutes until the waitress didn't come. It turned out that the place was a serve-yourself type place, and we'd missed the counter. AN and I agreed that we didn't like the way the place was run (no table service), so we just left. We are very indecisive, and we do that sort of thing a lot. Even the smallest piss-off can make a decision for us. We wound up at a serve-yourself sub place (this time we were expecting it)! I had a pretty tasty soft taco-like thing, and a sub to boot. I also got a bag of chips and a mini loaf (that is now rotting on my microwave) for the trip home. I'd forgotten to save the receipts for a couple of meals, and so I felt like I should charge the company up, especially where this was going to be my only meal of the day.

We left the sub joint unsatisfied, but full. We wondered down to our waiting area, making sure we knew where it was, then went for a walk to kill time. As fate would have it, we discovered the other half of the airport! There were pub-like restuarants with meat galore, steakhouses aplenty. Each one made us sadder we'd eaten where we did than the last. We also found a duty free store, and decided it was time for liquor. The cruel hand of fate dealt us yet another blow, as we had arrived five minutes too late to get any alcohol. You have to get it one hour and fifteen minutes ahead of your departure time. As I would say, what a joke! AN and I, thoroughly defeated, lurched back to our departure gate, heads down - only to find a few minutes later that the flight had been delayed! Unfortunately, enough time had passed, and we wern't able to make it back to the store in time. Another forty-five minutes passed, and the flight got delayed again, and again there was not enough time to get our liquor! We were both furious. I was especially furious because I was starting to think that I would miss all of JW's party. I thought she would be sad if I didn't make it, and the thought of that was unbearable. I hadn't realized beforehand that, if the flight had been on time, I might've gotten in a fair bit of partying. I had thought that, regardless of how on time we were, I'd be arriving at the party fairly late. Chalk it up to a math error... a math error that made me very angry. I really wanted to make the party. I wanted to be a part of Christmas before it passed me by. I am not always a patient person, and the thought of wasting time away sitting in an airport had me stressed out worse than I'd been in years. My heart raced as I sat, waiting. The ticket agent made it worse by mistakenly announcing boarding for our flight, when he meant New Orleans. Then he did it again fifteen minutes later. People laughed. I told AN I thought he should be fired and then killed. I was too stressed out to realize the humour in the situation - to just relax and know that nothing really bad was going to happen if we were a bit late. Looking back on it, it seems silly that I'd gotten so wound up. I guess I was just really angry at my company for sending us, so close to Christmas, on a trip that was largely useless. I almost wanted us to be severely delayed, so that I could lay into them about how stupid they were when I got back. I wanted to tell them so.

I don't think I have the make-up of a good corporate citizen. I don't like talking business close to Christmas. I don't like it that people only get one or two days off for Christmas. I don't like it that people are expected to work overtime. I don't like it that people who don't buy into all of the corporate crap are left behind in the shuffle. I feel threatened by "eager beavers", willing to do whatever it takes to get ahead in the world - whatever it takes to get money. I don't want to do that. I just want to enjoy life. I want to experience life. I can't do that while I'm working. I want to have a wife and kids - I want to experience that. I want to travel around the world and experience life as other people experience it. I can't be afraid of breaking down communication barriers, afraid of what people might think of me. I think I need to do something that means something - something that I can take a step back from and say, "I've made a difference." I want to be proud to be me. I know I've gotten horribly sidetracked here, but the words are just coming out and there was no point in stopping!

Anyway, I'm going to continue on with the week's events despite a terribly strong desire to analyze my life! So yes, eventually the final leg of our flight, from Newark to Halifax, took off. I spent the bulk of it trying to watch a DVD commentary, but I couldn't get the volume up high enough to hear all the words. I guess my cheap headphones aren't any good with a laptop. I gave up and pretty much vegged out (stewed?) until we landed. Of course, AN and I were in the last row, and that made me furious. Then, being the last ones off, we wound up being last in the customs line, and that made me furious. My fury was tempered by fast moving lines, and the realization that I probably would catch part of JW's party. I was feeling better. We got through customs, only to find that our bags had been lost. Well, not lost, just removed from the plane for weight balance. I was so happy they'd picked our bags for that honour. Fortunately, there was an attendent right there to tell us this, so we didn't have to sit around waiting for an hour as I'd done the last time this happened (my last trip). We filled out some forms and met Dad in the airport. I wouldn't even let him go bring the car to the door to pick us up and save us getting wet in the rain. I insisted that we walk, and walk we did! My Dad offered to let me drive, and I gladly took the keys.

We raced back into town. I was unwilling to waste even a minute. I was determined to get to JW's at a decent time. We drove to my parents' house, transferred to Mum's car (AN and I), and I drove AN home. I then raced down to JW's. My arrival there cut the first slit into this massive balloon of stress inside my head (does that read badly, or what?). JW and I hugged for a while - it was great. I had really missed her. I think I sort of felt like I was being left behind when I was away - everyone's lives continued on, but mine seemed to be at a standstill. My focus all week was getting back, so that I could continue to live. I think I mellowed out a bit toward the end of the week, when AN and I did indeed live a little, and I think I'll be better on future trips. But I think I'll always have this feeling that I'm going to miss something in the lives of the people important to me. Then of course, I'd feel guilty that I wasn't there. Well, I was very happy that I'd made JW's party. I would've hated to have missed it. It was sad, though, that some of the guests had gone home, as it was past eleven. I had missed something, but seeing JW made me feel better.

The party was fun, while it lasted. There were some fun stories told, and some good laughs had. There was great food that JW and I would enjoy for several more days. The party ended just after twelve, and JW and I went to bed. We were both incredibly tired, but I couldn't sleep. I was still wired from my trip, and from the time change.

We woke up quite early, and neither of us could get back to sleep. It was Christmas Eve, and JW and I wasted our time in bed just being. Finally, she broke down and called her brother to come for her, as we both had big days ahead of us and we couldn't afford to be lazing about. In classic JW style, her period started at almost the precise moment she discovered she'd lost her father's cell phone. In a scene of comedic terror, she cried and shrieked while on the toilet trying to insert her Diva cup. She counted aloud the number of times the cup failed to go in properly - the entire neighbourhood was getting a lesson in numbers. Then, just as the last of her neighbours had fled to the bomb shelter, it went in. JW emerged from the washroom, victorious, before beginning again to look for her phone. I decided that the going was good, and so I took off, to leave JW in her brother's capable hands. There wasn't much I could do about her phone, except offer up my Dad's identical phone that he'd apparently trashed years ago (as I later discovered). Fortunately, she soon after discovered that the phone had fallen out of her pocket into her friend's car.

I left JW's and went home to effectively move some of my clothes from one suitcase to another - I always spend the evenings of the 24th and 25th at my parents' house. I got a call from the airline - my bag was to be delivered that afternoon. I wrapped presents and waited around for it to be delivered. When it came, I wrapped the presents within and finished packing my other suitcase. I left as soon as I was ready, arriving at my parents' house just in time to leave to pick up my grandmother. We brought her to my aunt's house, where we always go for Christmas Eve. We used to go to church beforehand, but that had ended when it became too difficult for my grandfather to get to the church. It didn't start up again after he died. My aunt still went to church later that evening, but no one else did.

The food on Christmas Eve seems to be the same every year, but it's good. We ate quite a bit, took some pictures, and had a drink. My aunt's boyfriend and his son arrived later. As usual, the boyfriend grilled me about my personal life, taking great interest in my answers (I generally throw a comedic light over everything when speaking with him, and he is always surprised to hear my candid, though sometimes exhaggerated answers). By half past seven, my grandmother was tired (I was probably more tired), so we packed up and headed out. As is traditional on Christmas Eve, we drove through Fairview to look at the lights. My parents spoke of a house in Fall River (I think) they used to go to see many years ago. They compared it to a house in Fairview well known for its lights. There were models everywhere, blow up orbs with snow in them, moving parts and of course literally thousands of lights. There are many houses in the area that are nicely decorated - it seems like they inspire each other to do more, as I've never seen a part of town with more lights.

After the show, my parents dropped my grandmother off at her place, and then me at ours. They continued on to another party put on by friends. I usually go, in part for the great food (the most seafoody seafood chowder in existence), but this year I was much too tired. I layed on the couch, watching some old golf event. I fell asleep on the couch, which is unheard of for me, waking up after the event had ended. There wasn't much else on TV, but I stayed up to say goodnight to my parents on Christmas Eve. I finally did get to bed around midnight, and again I couldn't sleep because of the time change, but also due to the windows blowing loudly in the wind. I finally got up and closed the windows, and angrily drifted off to sleep.

I'm currently listening to: "Triad", from "Lateralus", by "Tool".

Movies watched this week: "Jackass 2", "Talladega Nights"

1455 - It's a Wonderful Duck

2006-12-18T22:01:00.000-08:00

Well, I'm a day late writing about this past week. I'm also in Seattle now, so I'm finding it difficult to think about what happened, as so many things are going on. I don't think I did a whole lot on Monday, though I distincly remember being very busy every night of the week. I think actually I worked on some Christmas items for JW. On Tuesday I went to JW's to hang out. We watched a comedy entitled, "Wonder Boy", which was about a college English professor who in writing his second novel found himself off course and unable to finish it. It was also about one of his students, a literarary genius hanging onto the freyed ends of society. Unsurprisingly, the professor was saved when his novel blew away in a gust of wind, and the student had his first work published shortly after. The movie was quite funny, especially the language in use - I always find the language entertaining when literary types are involved. There was an interesting sequence in which several characters sit around coming up with a possible description of a stranger's life. It turns out later on that the professor's car is in fact owned by the stranger, and when he steals his car back, he also steals a jacket worn by Marilyn Monroe, which the professor goes to great lengths to get back. It's owner is his girlfriend, whose dog his student shoots early in the film. Anyway, JW and I enjoyed the movie and then each other's company before getting a few hours' sleep.

On Wednesday after work I went shopping with my father for my mother. Our morale was low, and we only found a few candles in an entire mall. I also got my first haircut in over four months, though it was only a little off the top. It was entertaining, especially after I could see my stylist getting annoyed with how quiet I was (until she pointed it out). Even better, there was an extremely old woman who could barely stand getting her hair done. The stylists had to yell at her as she was quite deaf, and they spoke (yelled) to her as if she was three years old. After the mall, I went home and got little more done.

On Thursday, JW and I repeated the events of Tuesday. This time, we watched another movie with the word "Boy" in the title, called "About a Boy", or "About a Duck" as JW likes to call it. This movie starred Hugh Grant as an incredibly shallow bachelor with no job and no long term girlfriends. While pursuing his latest challenge, he meets a woman who is friends with a depressed mother of a boy who is severely bullied at school because of the way he has been raised by his mother. The boy becomes attached to Grant, and they help each other solve their respective problems. The highlight of the movie is a scene where the boy gets tired of throwing bits of bread at ducks, and so he hucks the entire loaf into the pond, killing one of the ducks. When park security questions the boy about the dead duck, Grant explains that the boy was merely trying to "sink the body" as it was disturbing the baby of his mother's friend. It's much funnier to watch than it is to read about, especially when described by me. I found this to be the better of the two boy movies.

On Friday, I finished up several projects at work in preparation for my big trip to Seattle. After work, I went to TA's, where we put back a few brews while watching ultimate fighting. The evening was pretty much useless, and I went home fairly early very tired. On Saturday, I slept in quite late, then got up to visit my grandmother before leaving the next day. After that, I wrapped a few Christmas presents, and then I packed for the trip. I had just sat down to waste the time away watching TV, when JW called, having finished up her chores. I went over to her place, where we listened to Christmas music and decorated her tree. It was the widest, most misshapen tree I'd ever seen, and thousands of decorations barely covered its immense surface. It still looked sparse afterward. JW and I were not able to reach the far side of the tree, as we did not have the proper supplies available for such a long journey. It was fun to decorate the tree - it made me feel good that I was getting my Christmas fix, but also bad that I'd be missing much more of it because of my trip. I really like to be with my family and friends before and during Christmas, and I was being robbed of the entire week before Christmas. I would come back from my trip and be thrust into Christmas, and of course it would be over just two short days later. However, my employers agreed to give me the week between Christmas and New Year's off to compensate for the large amounts of travel and the timing of the trip. I'm sure that time will be great, but Christmas will be over.

JW and I went to Jack Astor's after the tree lighting ceremony. We both got a thai curry dish that we agreed was excellent, though the price had been raised to almost $15. We also had nachos that were pretty good - however, our main dishes arrived after we'd finished only a third of the nachos. The food was tasty, but the extremely high prices (completely unjustified) and the poor service will make me think twice before I go to bed. Apparently I'm tired, because I didn't mean to write that just now :) I meant to say "before I go back". Anyway, our trip to the business park also took us to a huge scrapbooking store - a great black hole of worthless items to be used in worthless pursuits. At least they say there is something interesting at the other end of a real black hole - no such luck in this case. After the business park, we headed back down to JW's, where our Christmas mood and abundance of time (what?) led us to watch the Christmas classic, "It's a Wonderful Life". We both had already seen the movie - in fact, it was one of the few movies ever to grab my attention during channel surfing and keep it for over two hours! I find something appealing about society in the earlier parts of the twentieth century - people were respectful of one another (always addressing one another by title, always willing to lend a helpful hand, always knowing others by name), respectful of their appearance (wearing suits and hats to work) and just plain good and pure. The feeling is kind of like the one I got at church last week. Of course, it's likely that there were far more things wrong with the world at that time than there are now.

On Sunday morning, JW and I lazed about before I headed off to the airport to begin what turned out to be a lengthy journey! I thought I might feel worse than I did about parting, but I got through it pretty well. I mean, it's only six days (well, seven if the airlines are airlines come Saturday), and I was excited about the trip in general (even though I wished I wasn't going). We left for the airport at 11:45am. The first leg of the flight took us to Toronto, where we had lunch/dinner before heading for Denver. Our flight to Denver was almost an hour late, and the final leg of our flight was due to depart as we were still taxi-ing (is that a real word?) into the terminal! AN and I began to get excited about the prospect of spending the night in Denver, as we hoped to punish our employers for booking flights so close together. I mean, they did book us on two flights only fifty minutes apart. Anyway, as luck would have it, the third leg was delayed by over two hours, and in fact we had plenty of time (and our bags). The Denver airport was massive, as it is apparently one of the biggest ones in the US given its central location. We could see a huge structure nearby with an odd white, pointy roof - clearly some important landmark we knew nothing about. We sat in a sports bar and had a local brew, after which we boarded the plane. Somehow, the pilots managed to cut down the flight time by almost a third - I guess they can just go faster if they need to? We left two and a half hours late, and arrived one and a half hours late.

I had brought quite a bit to do on the flights. A book (Catch 22), a book of Sudoku's, my mp3 player, and the computer. On the first leg, I did several easy sudokus before getting cocky and trying a "very hard" one, which I didn't come close to finishing. I also listened to a few tunes. I was already too tired to read. The second leg was aboard a newer plane, and they had a TV in the back of every seat. I watched The Illusionist first, despite being very tempted to watch A Scanner Darkly or Little Miss Sunshine (again). There were also several JW-like movies (ones I would watch with her) - African life movies, Lady in the Water and others. I settled on The Illusionist as I hadn't seen it and wasn't likely to see it with anyone else in the near future. It was pretty good. Set in Russia a hundred years ago give or take a bit, it featured a magician and Russia's crown prince. The magician had been a lover of the prince's bride to be in childhood, but they had been torn apart due to their societal classes (what else is new?). During a performance attended by the prince, the magician again meets his lover on stage. They meet in person afterward, and they immediately discover that their feelings still exist for one another. The girl tells the prince outright that she is leaving him for the magician (or illusionist), and the prince kills her shortly after. Then, the illusionist engages in a battle against the prince using his magic - he somehow creates illusions of the deceased on stage, and he soon has the commoners rallying behind him. When his "ghosts" begin to touch upon the fact that the prince had killed the girl (a fact hidden by the prince and his loyal chief of police), the audience begins to question whether the prince is innocent, and they begin move against the prince. The illusionist is motivated to have the prince removed from power because of the nature of this plans reveiled to him by the girl before her death. In his final act, the illusionist himself disappears from the stage. The chief of police then undergoes a revelation, as he pieces together all that he has seen and realizes that the crown prince had indeed committed the murder. He goes to confront the prince, which leads to the prince committing suicide as he realizes he cannot win. Then, the chief sees the illusionist on the street, but is unable to catch up to him. The movie ends with a series of flashbacks during which the chief realizes that everything the illusionist had done was in fact an illusion, including the illusions he had produced on stage. He had used his powers of illusion to have the prince removed from power, complete with the faking of the girl's death, the faking of spirits from beyond the grave and the planting of evidence.

I found the movie to be very unique and I enjoyed it. It starred Edward Norton, and I find that I have liked quite a few of his movies recently. He played the illusionist very well. After the movie, I watched about three-quarters of a documentary on heavy metal. It was Canadian made. It was enlightening, but not as good as I'd hoped. It focused on the history of metal, its impact on society, the devotion of its fans, and on some darker topics. There was a bit about the Norwegian (sp?) black metal bands, where it is believed that the members truly believe in their lyrics (whereas it was pointed out that most metal lyrics are written for shock value and to question society). Apparently a lead of one of the most popular groups murdered another band lead in addition to burning down a historic church. In jail, he was interviewed as saying that he regretted nothing, and that he is merely trying to loosen the grip that Christianity has on the throat of the world. Many of the artists interviewed referred to Christanity as the worst type of brainwashing, and the one that does the most damage to society. One interesting line that I still recall went something like this: "It is very difficult to know what is good in the world. With religion, we strive to determine what is good, what God is and what God wants. But no one really knows what is good - which is the right path to follow. However, every one of us knows what is bad. We know what we're not supposed to do." I guess there isn't really any context here - I just thought it was interesting on the surface. I hope to catch the end of the documentary on our trip from Newark to Halifax on Saturday, as we will be on another one of the jets with the TVs. Maybe AN can finish Little Miss Sunshine (poor him).

I tried to sleep on the third leg, but I couldn't. I kept opening my eyes to see whether drinks were being served, or garbage collected. Then I would look at some small town far below. After arriving in Seattle, AN and I rented a car, as the person we were going to meet had long gone due to our delay. We managed to get a really nice car for a not really nice car price. On the way to the hotel, we passed numerous trees blown down, cars abandoned on the side of the road, ice patches and power outages (impossible to read signs). Apparently there had been a huge windstorm only days before, and eight people had died. Power was going to be out in some parts of the city for another week. We got to the hotel at 5:00am our time, and I got to sleep around 6. Our total trip time was 17 hours and 15 minutes, and I was awake for 23 hours in the end.

Well, I'm really tired again today because we didn't have time for much sleep. I have no idea how this entry has turned out - hopefully it is tolerable! I'm still stuffed full of Thai coconut food too :)

It is clear and cool (in Seattle). I am currently listening nothing because I don't have my freakin' mp3s. There's some bad movie on TV.

Movies watched this week: "Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country", "Wonder Boy", "About a Boy", "It's a Wonderful Life", "The Illusionist"

1454 - Ice and Egypt: Together at Last

2006-12-10T15:48:00.000-08:00

Well, another week has come and gone, and Christmas has drawn one week nearer. It still doesn't feel like Christmas to me yet, but hopefully it will soon. I haven't put up any Christmas lights for anyone yet. I haven't put up any trees for anyone yet. I haven't even downloaded any Christmas music because some stupid Star Wars movie collection has been downloading for weeks. I did find a couple of heavy metal Christmas CDs to download, but of course they are not popular, and at this rate Charlton Heston will be cursing the Statue of Liberty before it finishes. I haven't put up a tree, and I may not be putting one up at all (read on).

On Monday I stayed a bit late at work because there was a new build of one of our software projects going out the next day. This worked out well because there was a relatively mild snowstorm that somehow managed to cripple the city worse than any other event ever has. Cars were backed up outside of the office. It was AN's first day at work, and he had the pleasure of waiting for the bus for a half hour only to have the traffic move by one car length. He came back in the office, and after wrapping up a bit more work, we walked over to the pedway over one of the major bus routes. There were at least a hundred people there, waiting for any bus to come down the empty road (the traffic jam was further along). As I live within walking distance of home, I decided to make a run for it on my own. As it turned out, Adam would not get home for another two and a half hours (envision a bus with a hundred people on it, filled with smoke from tires burned off to get up slippery hills).

The walk home was easy, for me at least. The sidewalks were as clear as the roads were not. On the first hill I found several cars stuck, with lines of traffic maneuvering around them. People were having angry conversations on cell phones, burning off minutes in an attempt to stave off insanity for a few moments longer. Cars were even stuck on a piece of road that I considered to be flat. The plows hadn't gotten out before the snow, and the cars had compressed it into thick sheets of ice. I watched as pedestrians helped motorists get their vehicles moving again. There was a bit of the disaster mentality that I had witnessed during Hurricane Juan and "White Juan" - people not in cars seemed jovial and eager to help others.

Further along, I found that the power was still out near JW's (she had called me at work to see if we had power). The lines of traffic headed in that direction of course were therefore going without traffic lights as well. I decided to stop at JW's, figuring that if her power was out, mine would almost certainly be as well, as she is on an emergency grid. It turned out that JW had been doing laundry that was now waiting in the laundromat for power to return.

When the power came back on, we went over to the store (cutting through the lines of traffic) to put the laundry in the dryers. I ordered a donair, despite JW noting that the donair meat had been sitting in the cool store while the power was out. We took the donair back to her place, and I ate it while she ate East Side Mario's leftovers from two nights before. The donair was surprisingly good, and I didn't get sick or die, which was a nice plus.

After the donair, we went back over to the store to get the dried laundry, again cutting through lines of traffic five hours after they had formed. The roads were still ice covered. Emergency vehicles were not able to get to accidents because of the traffic. Police didn't respond to accidents until the next day. We took the laundry back to her place, and we relaxed until bedtime.

On Tuesday work went well, and the build was successfully delivered to the client. I made sure to leave at five o'clock sharp, after which I proceeded to waste the evening away chatting to JW online. Well, it wasn't a waste to chat with her, but it was a waste to not be doing anything else between responses.

On Wednesday I again worked a normal day. In the evening, I worked out the value of a bunch of games I had sold a friend. After that, I again chatted with JW for a while, though I think I did better at multitasking that night.

On Thursday I yet again left at five o'clock (I had been going in earlier though). I finally had an opportunity to take JW down to the ancient Egyptian display at a local art gallery. Firstly, however, we had to eat. We went to a quaint Lebanese store/cafe very close to her house. The food looked good despite the fact that it was unnamed and unpriced. There was a brownish, chunky liquid; some tabouli; a yellow broth-like substance; some liquids resembling lava; and other miscellaneous items equally mysterious. There were also samosas. In the fullness of time (and following much frustration on the part of the clerk), JW ordered a four item combo plate consisting of tabouli and three unknown substances, and a samosa. I ordered a wrap with lettuce fingers and a samosa. Her meal looked good, especially when I found that mine wasn't anything special. The samosa was really good, and the fingers were good, but the wrap was small and I couldn't taste the hummus that gave it its name. I wound up lathering it up with yet another mystery substance that came with it. The mytery substance was a white cream that was quite tangy. It saved the day, as did JW's leavings.

We left the cafe and headed to the bus stop, only to wait in the rain while the bus didn't come. We decided to walk to the art gallery, and it only took us about 25 minutes to get there. We talked about the human soul at length as I had come to several disturbing conclusions that morning. Fortunately there were a few possiblities I hadn't considered, and our chat re-affirmed to me that it was indeed possible for a soul to exist.

The ancient Egypt exhibit was almost completely void of life. A tour guide greeted us and informed us that we could take a tour if we liked. JW wanted to take the tour, and so did I, but I also wanted the poor girl to have the night off, especially given that she'd probably been expecting it (we got there a bit after the scheduled start time). Of course the tour guide insisted that it was okay for us have her give the tour, so we did. It turned out to be an excellent decision, and we learned much more than we would have otherwise.

The personal tour was both more extensive and more informative than most tours at the gallery. We were able to ask lots of questions, and there was a lot of interaction with the guide. She didn't seem to know everything about the exhibits, but she did a good job and I was impressed with the genuine interest that she seemed to show. She did not rush us along because there were only two of us. She didn't seem bothered by the fact that we (JW) asked many questions that we knew she couldn't answer. She didn't get upset when we rambled on about possible meanings for some of the pieces, when in fact were were almost certainly completely off track. We even caught her reading up on the subject after the tour! Needless to say, I was impressed with the service and I very much enjoyed the tour. It was amazing to see things that were literally thousands of years old. I tried to imagine the Egyptians making and wearing these items. I'm sad that so much of our ancient history has been lost. Hopefully history will not repeat itself, as an article I read this week suggested. I really liked the mummies, especially when I found out that there was likely preserved flesh inside them. To think that a body thousands of years old might still be intact is nothing short of amazing. One of my goals in life is to see the Great Pyramids in person, and obviously my visit to the exhibit reminded me of this.

We quickly bolted around other parts of the art gallery after taking our fill of the Egyptian exhibit. There was an interesting exhibit depicting ugly industrial scenes that caught my eye. I could almost feel the infectious bacteria building up in the back of my throat.

We milked the gallery for all it was worth and headed home at closing time (down the snakes and up the ladders). The snake was the number nine bus, and the ladder was the sidewalk leading up to JW's. We relaxed for a while and went to sleep.

On Friday, the office was almost completely empty. It was a very quiet, uneventful day until AN and I were literally walking out the door. B-SM stopped us and asked about a possible trip to Seattle on the 18th. We both thought he was asking which of us would like to go. We backpedalled, spewing out half finished sentences about the proximity to Christmas. In the end, we probably conveyed the idea that either of us could go. B-SM then clarified that it was a two-person trip to take MMC (MCM?) training. He said we'd be back on the 22nd or 23rd. Relieved, we left the office still knowing nothing about the trip. Would we be training on a development methodology, as AN thought? Or would we be training on an existing product that our company was going to modify in the coming months, as I thought? Would we be going for sure? B-SM said he was going to try to set it up.

I was briefly excited about the trip, but I was brought back down to Earth when I realized that it would make Christmas shopping difficult. It would also mean I would likely miss my parents putting up their tree. It would also make it meaningless for me to have a tree, as I would only be at home one night after the trip before going to my parents' for Christmas. My only hope now is that the company will be too cheap to pay our flights, as they will be expensive and hard to get this time of year, especially on such short notice. I'd have no problem going to Seattle in January, so hopefully that will be the case. There is no word to describe the anger I'd feel if I were to get stuck in some strange city over Christmas due to a flight cancellation.

Friday after work I went to pick up JW to go to AN's for his annual Christmas party. Everyone showed up despite a bit of snow. As usual, AN had his smoked salmon appetizers, along with many others. Everyone sat around chatting, eating and drinking. It was nice to see (and smell) a Christmas tree, and the gift exchange was, as usual, fun. I regretted not putting more effort into my gift(s) (I bought JW her's as well), as they did not change hands even once during the game. One at a time, people would select a gift, and then either open it or trade it with someone else's opened gift. That person would then do the same (though an opened gift could only change hands once during the round). I wound up with an old, framed picture of AD looking angry during his not-so-productive years. I also got a keychain with an LED light on it.

On Saturday JW and I got up after hours of lazing about and failed in our attempt to have a shower due to a broken nozzle at JW's. We walked to Piercey's to get a new one, and then to my place for a shower. It was nice to have JW at my place, as she so rarely is. Of course, each of us likes our own home (well, usually I guess) and I often miss my place as I am at JW's so much. After a nice shower, we went to Mary's for breakfast. It was delicious, and as JW pointed out it was another example of the many great places to eat in her part of town. Even though the place was tiny and dirty, the food was good and there were many items on the menu that I wanted to try.

After Mary's, we went to the mall yet again to shop. We were lucky this time to get a parking space straight away. JW had lectured me on giving thoughtful gifts earlier in the day, so I tried hard to find interesting items for gifts. I did find a couple of books for F-LS (the 'F' indicates family), and I managed to buy a CD for myself. I later remembered a couple of other items I was supposed to buy for myself (*grin*). I couldn't find anything for anyone else. The stores had the same tacky crafts they have every year, and I feel like I've beaten everything to death. Every year, my father and I go shopping for my mother. Every year, we feel more pressure because there aren't enough new items appearing in the stores. We've seen it all before, and each year we squeeze out what little oil there is left in the ground. Last year, we actually gave up because we just couldn't find anything suitable. We actually bought my mother the identical earrings we had bought her the year before. She doesn't want earrings this year.

I still need to find things for my mother, aunt, grandmother and of course JW. I just hope JW won't have to fake liking her presents too much.

After the mall on Saturday, JW and I went for groceries. I needed pretty much everything. We were both very tired, and the big meal at Mary's followed by the hot, dry mall had us almost dead on our feet at the grocery store. We barely managed to escape with our lives, and we actually had to lie down at my place while we were there to drop off groceries. We eventually got to her place, and there we decided to cancel our dinner plans we'd made the week before. Instead, we ordered in some mediocre Chinese food. It was expensive, and the servings were small and cold. After the meal, we had planned on watching a movie, but again we wound up lying down. We digested while listening to U2. JW shot up suddenly during one song, as she had just come to a very important realization about her life. She laughed and it became clear that she had experienced what she refers to as God (she had told me about the laughing). She thanked God repeatedly. The occurrence was quite surreal. She told me a lengthy story leading up to the realization, but at first I could find no indication of anything that God or anyone else had done. JW had pieced together a possible explanation for a part of her life based on a couple of U2 songs and some thinking. At first I thought that she had reached the conclusion, and that God had told her somehow "yes, that is it." Then I thought that it was more that she was thanking God for setting the events in motion that led her to the realization. Now I again think the former. Somehow the realization made her laugh - this is something that I cannot hope to understand at the present. Still, it was nice to see her happy, and I was happy that she'd found a good light to cast on a rather dark part of her life.

The next morning (today, Sunday), the cat woke us up early, so JW decided to go to a Sackville church she sometimes goes to. I had said not too long ago that I'd like to come along to church with her just to try to get a look into her life. So I went with her to church. The church is a Vineyard church, and so it is not like traditional churches. People don't dress up. They talk during the service. They dance around in the isles. They wave flags and beat drums. They raise their hands in the air. The service started with about a half hour of singing Christian rock songs. Of course I didn't sing. I didn't wave flags, or beat drums. I didn't dance in the isles. I did however, talk during the service. It was quite amusing to see people so into the music, even though the words were shallow and predictable (JW explained why this is later on). It did seem like a good atmosphere for kids, though I was shocked to see how brainwashed one family's kids were when they got up on stage to light an advent candle. JW said that this type of brainwashing is preferable to the brainwashing we receive from all types of media. Personally, I'd like a third option.

The second part of the service was announcements. They were as normal as one would expect. Following a break (during which a strange, softspoken man gave me a CD and a coupon for free ice cream for coming), there was a pray for the children bit, which seemed much stranger when JW had described it earlier. You basically find some kid and touch them while praying for them. The kids were then sent off to Sunday school, while us adults listened to a sermon/comedy routine by one of the pastors. It would've done me a lot of good to have had that kind of sermon in church when I was a kid - I might not have celebrated so much each week on the way out the door. I enjoyed phrases like "the enemy", "you've got to get the last jab" (with a picture of a boxer up on a big screen - a PowerPoint presentation accompanied the sermon) and "kick in the window to my car."

The final part of the service is meant to help people who are having trouble. Interestingly, the lead pastor came over and put his hand on my back and prayed for me. Apparently I have trouble. JW thinks he prayed that she had not corrupted my mind, but as she said he probably just wanted me to be a good Christian. The pastor said he didn't want to freak me out too much, but he had already done that before he even came over. He looked like an alcoholic wife beater who had sobered up just enough to get to church. He looked insecure and stressed out.

My first church experience in about 7 years was not a bad one. It was amusing to see people so into what was going on around them. It seemed like a breeding ground however for people with mental health issues, as many people appeared (at least to my brainwashed mind) to be quite insane. Then again there were "normal" people as well, such as JW's friends, and an old university professor I saw from across the room. The church had a bit of an evangelistic quality to it. I couldn't help wondering how many people believed in what was going on around them because they wanted to so very much. Perhaps problems in their lives had driven them to this - they needed an answer, and it didn't matter if it was the right one - they just needed it. The human mind is infinitely complex, and it is completely reasonable that the perceived experience of God is in fact an elaborate illusion generated by the mind. The fact that many people experience God differently supports this, because each person's mind is different and therefore the illusion is created differently. Unfortunately I have not had any personal indication to the contrary yet, though hopefully someday I will.

Are JW's experiences of God a creation of her mind? At this point I don't think so - it's difficult to explain why, but she has presented some convincing arguments. I can never rule anything out of course, I can only choose what I am going to believe. Even if I were to have a Godly experience, I'm not sure I'd be able to convince myself that it wasn't just a figment of my imagination. Hopefully the contrary will somehow be obvious. I do know that there are many conclusions that I might draw from the events of my life that I haven't considered - and a few of them might even be conveniently meaningful at a given time.

One final thing about the church - I really like the idea of going somewhere where everyone is honest, caring and friendly. It was nice to experience that feeling again.

Well, my eyes are burning and my wrists are sore - that's what I get for having an interesting week, I guess.

It is clear and cool. I am currently listening to "Almost Crimes" from "You Forgot it in People" by Broken Social Scene.

Movies watched this week: "Star Trek V: The Final Frontier"

1453 - TA and Needles

2006-12-03T17:40:00.000-08:00

Well, its December now. I had no idea Christmas was approaching until JW's last-minute, frenetic pursuit of an advent calendar. Sadly, we were only able to find hundreds of copies of some kind of princess-themed calendar that nobody wanted (including her). I like to have an advent calendar, but I hadn't even noticed that December 1st was approaching. It reminds me that Christmas is indeed coming, and I often need reminding as I tend to forget now that I am working in the real world. The past couple of Christmases have sprung up on me, as I've worked right up to midday on Christmas Eve (or the day before). I am thrust from the coporate world and my life in all its regularity to a very happy carefree time, full of smiles, laughter, egg nog, seafood chowder, Christmas trees and gift giving. Then it ends rather suddenly when I head out the morning of the 27th (26th this year?) to find a good deal on something I need. This year, I don't think there is anything I need - so maybe I will skip the boxing day sales. Fortunately, New Year's follows closely to rescue me from the sadness that follows the end of Christmas.

My favourite day of the year is probably Christmas day. As a child, it was the only day of the year that my grandparents came for a day-long (sometimes two-day) visit. We'd open our presents, eat lunch, then spend the afternoon lazing about solving brain teasers or the like. Then, my Mum would cook, and my grandfather would slice the turkey. We'd snap our crackers with one another, wear those silly paper hats and enjoy the meal. We'd all sit around talking with tea and both trifle and some kind of flaming pudding. Then everyone would leave, and my parents and I would sit downstairs and watch TV. Around this time I'd start checking my watch constantly (a habit I am still in), dreading 12am coming around. Finally it would happen, and I'd be sad that I'd have to wait an entire year for Christmas to come again.

Anyway, I can talk more about that in the coming weeks. This week was very busy work-wise. We have a deadline set for end of day Tuesday, and I spent the week fixing bugs in code written by other people. I stayed late most days. Nothing much happened on Monday, at least nothing I can remember. On Tuesday I got off work and went to JW's and did something else that I don't remember. Oh yeah, we went to see a movie about AIDS called "3 Needles". It was a special showing put on by a local group. The movie was divided into three parts portraying AIDS affecting people's lives in three different places in the world: Africa, China and Canada. Surprisingly, it was a pretty good movie and it was an eye opener regarding how AIDS is spread. We met one of JW's friends and her mate outside of the movie and spent the next half hour trying to avoid walking alongside them having already said goodbye. We met them again at the bus stop we had planned on waiting at, so we kept walking. Luckily, the #7 bus was late, and we caught it, avoiding a third meeting.

On Wednesday, it was TA's birthday. After work, I went over to his place, and we had a few beer before going down to the local trivia bar. Unfortunately, none of the usual crowd was there, and we were forced to form our own two-man team, with no hope of getting the obscure pop culture movie and music references so well known by our usual partners. We (TA) managed to score 14/20 on one round, but we did not threaten to win. We enjoyed a few beers, followed by a couple of double cheeseburgers at McD's before heading home.

On Thursday I had wanted to go see an Egyptian display at a local art gallery, but had to stay late at work. I went over to JW's after work, and we relaxed a little as it was already late. On Friday, I again stayed late and went over to JW's. We went grocery shopping and then watched "The Polar Express" to get us in the Christmas spirit. It was a children's movie about believing in Christmas. The main character has lost faith in Santa's existence, until he meets him in an elaborate dream. JW pointed out that the movie was talking about faith in a greater sense, which cheapened the experience a bit. The movie tended to focus on elaborate visual shots clearly intended to show off the computer animation in use, unfortunately.

On Saturday, JW and I lazed about a bit and then braved the crowds at a local mall having a tax free sale. It was a terrible mistake, as we spent about 20 minutes in the parking lot trying to get a space! It was dog eat dog, with people clearly signalling for a space having their spaces robbed by maniacs desperate to make a Christmas purchase. Inside, the mall was as crowded as it was outside, with long lines at most stores. It was nice to get out of the mall only two hours later, with at least a bit accomplished on JW's part. After the mall, we headed downtown for dinner, only to find Talay Thai closed and Taj Mahal too expensive - there was a $500 menu item! We walked all the way down to East Side Mario's, and like cheapest of skates, we proceeded to eat a ton of the free fresh bread whilst taking half of our dinners home in a box. The bread is really good though, and I could eat it as a meal. In fact I did that today.

Saturday night was TA's real birthday party. It was attended by AN, AD, AB, KB, PL, J?, C?, ??, KD and myself. The guys really took over. We watched a demolition race on a figure eight track for about an hour. Then we turned on "When Stunts Go Wrong 2", watching people break themselves in half to our delight. We joked about taping down the "listen" button for the intercom system at TAs apartment, or even better the "let some crazy person in" button, but instead we yielded to crowd pressure and played video games. We had a few rounds with the bongos, followed by some four player Goldeneye action (I didn't win any rounds), followed by Street Fighter 2 Turbo. We sat around chatting to end the evening.

On Sunday, I got up and went shopping again with my parents. The stores wern't nearly as busy, and we got a lot done. I find that I am becoming an old man, as I got two pairs of shoes very similar to my old ones, and I tried to find a watch that looked like my old one to no avail. It broke and cannot be fixed, otherwise I'd have it fixed. We saw a couple, but they were too expensive. Even though my parents insisted that it would be okay to spend a lot, I knew I could find what I was looking for at a reasonable price (as I had found my old one). I didn't. I'll try again next week, I guess. We also looked at some photos of real places all around Nova Scotia. The treatment of the photos made them look completely unreal - I hated that they were so perfect, and I had to disappoint my parents by not finding anything I wanted.

After the mall, I came home for supper, as my parents were going to a birthday dinner. I ate half a stick of sourdough bread with garden vegetable havarti cheese I had waited 15 minutes in line to buy. AFTER supper, I cooked for two hours. I made an extremely spicy Thai "stirfry" with coconut milk, peanut sauce and tons of spices. I also made a double batch of fudge that almost filled my large saucepan. It's cooling downstairs now as I type. I haven't made it in a long time because I can't resist it when its in my house. I think I will give a good chunk of it to JW, who wants to try it, sacrificing her health to save my own. I was really feeling healthy when I poured 6 cups of sugar into 2 1/3 cups of boiling margarine. Then it got better when I added 6 cups of mini marshmallows and 4 cups of chocolate chips. Yes, that fudge is nutrition central, with zero of my recommended daily vitamin/mineral values.

I'm not particularly looking forward to the upcoming week, though I suspect it will improve after Tuesday. Remember, you're always welcome in my kitchen.

It is clear and cold. I am currently listening to "Big Mouth" from "1992-2002" by Underworld.

Movies watched this week: "3 Needles", "The Polar Express"

1452 - Where's My Flashlight?

2006-11-26T12:18:00.000-08:00

This week was my third at work. I'm starting to feel pretty comfortable, but there are still a couple of things that are gnawing at me. Firstly, I'm not convinced that I'm the employee they think I am - I am waiting for the day that I crash and burn due to inexperience. I know I can get that experience given time - hopefully I can hold out unscathed until then. Secondly, B-SM (my supervisor, or "BOSS" - ooohh scary!) had a chat with an associate and it sounded like he was discussing which of his team members might be suited to a project that the associate had in mind. It seemed for a moment like we were just waiting around at the office for someone to call and order us off of a menu, to be flown in to the patron for as long as they need us, then flown back to await another call. Yes, I have a vivid imagination.

There is a presentation going on sometime Monday. We were all assigned "bugs", or problems, that exist in the software being presented. I assumed mine were due Monday, and I really worked long and hard on Thursday and Friday, only to realize that they were not in fact due until the following Monday. This is fortunate, because I might have spent a good chunk of my weekend behind a keyboard, instead of climbing a mountain.

I saw JW Monday evening. We did something so special and memorable that I don't have a clue what it might've been. I think I can safely assume that we had fun. I spent Tuesday evening home alone, and I do not recall what I did that night either. This is getting scary. Oh yeah, I remember now. I installed a new development tool on my computer so that I could get my new Web site started. This will be the third time developing it. I've had to re-do it twice now because (you guessed it) I keep accidentally erasing the code files. This time I want to write a Web site that can be maintained on either a Windows or Linux machine, just in case I decide to switch to Linux someday. I downloaded a new development platform called "Ruby on Rails". The programming language is called Ruby, and it runs on a framework called Rails. It shows a lot of promise (or so I'm told), but as B-PM says, it will never be commercially viable due to Microsoft's dominance. I still haven't really started, but I'm hoping to get started in the coming months (a testament to the procrastinator in me).

On Wednesday evening I biked over to TA's for no particular reason. I managed to avoid JW walking back from a class held in the vicinity of TA's, though I tried not to. We played a round of Mario Golf, then sat around for a little while. I decided not to go to trivia (a weekly event at a local bar); instead opting to bike home and go to bed.

Thursday was more eventful - I went to JW's, and it turned out that a number of bad things had happened to her that day. We were able to resolve three of them before the evening was out, and she felt much better. The fourth one was unresolvable to our knowledge - she will have to deal with it for several days more. First of all, the oil company let her tank run dry. Unfortunately, due to the other things that'd happened, JW was in no position to push the company to do anything for her. They basically showed up and filled her tank up, as if nothing had happened. They did not give her any free oil or any discount on account of their gross incompetence and the inconvenience that they created. Her house was freezing when I arrived.

Her second problem had to do with that most familiar of villians - taxes. As it turned out, the government had somehow misplaced a revised T4 slip, and so they decided that she owed $600 more in taxes. The final problem was a missing flashlight - it was more a problem because it was needed for going down and turning on the furnace after the oil tank had been filled.

On Friday, JW went with her parents to a local craft show. It featured many of the same artists that we'd seen mere days before at Pier 23. I met her at her place after her parents had gotten to a safe distance, and we watched Christmas Vacation. I watch the movie every year. I've even been known to watch it in the summertime. I was impressed when JW's roommate identified the movie after only hearing one line of dialog.

I spent the night at JW's, and on Saturday I got up to go meet my mother and my aunt at the very same craft show JW had attended the evening prior. I had seen some nice photographs the previous week, and I decided that I was interested in buying one or two afterward. JW emailed the exhibitor and determined that she would indeed be at the show. I arrived at the show and found my mother close to the exhibitor. I went through the photos, only to find that the photo I'd remembered the most was my second favourite. Both were of Keji, a national park not too far from home. It's a great park, but I did not buy the photos because I love the park - I bought them because they were simply breathtaking. Well, I bought one of them - the other is going under the tree as a surprise gift from my grandmother. One was a shot of a dense thicket of evergreen trees - the definition in the branches is spectactular. In front of the trees is a small river and some grass that is more impressive than it sounds. The second shot is across a large lake. There are trees on an island quite far off taking up a large part of the photo, with sunlight making the top three-quarters of the trees look bright orange. There are also tree branches in the extreme foreground, close to the picture taker, with no leaves (it is a winter shot). I am now busy planning my winter getaway to Keji! The exhibitor's work can be viewed here, if you're interested in viewing it. Her name is Marlien Suermondt.

I also bought some fudge for JW at the craft show, before returning to her place. The fudge was as expensive as it was untasty - it had the consistency of play-dough, when JW and I both agree it should be more crumbly. Fudge is one of the very few things that I can make, so I'll have to make some some day as I like it more than the "good" stuff.

JW and I decided to go to Smitty's for breakfast/lunch, to use up some gift certificates that had been taking up space on my bureau for almost a year. She had the colossal omlette, and I had the benedict omlette, with bacon on the side (of course). The place was packed - we waited 10 minutes to get in. It was an interesting mix of college kids and seniors. After the meal, we went to the Hydrostone Market for bread - but no ordinary bread. I bought a stick of sourdough bread that can stand on it's own, literally and figuratively - it has a hard shell, and no toppings are required. We then went back to her place to pick up the directions to Gibraltar Rock, a hiking trail up a small mountain covered with boulders. Of course, we forgot the only item we had stopped for, but we were able to easily find the trail nonetheless.

The trail was very steep and not well-travelled. There were markers on the trees to keep the inexperienced traveller (us) from wandering off. The area was heavily forested, with large granite boulders lying around, mostly covered in moss or grass. There were several streams, and one in particular cascaded down a number of rocks to form a nice waterfall. JW took some great pictures of the area - of course I had forgotten my camera, so I was unable to capture a video of it. The trail was nice because it was difficult enough to challenge us and make us feel like we had achieved something when we reached the top. At the top, we gave in to the children within us by yelling at the top of our lungs into the valley below. JW yelled "the birdies are sleeping" - it could be heard echoing many kilometres away, confounding even the most disciplined of minds. I followed her bout of insanity with, "Pigs in Space", referring of course to The Muppet Show. Much to our amusement, a tiny car on the road far below stopped in a clearing visible to us and beeped its horn. I was momentarily very aware that perhaps hundreds of people might have heard us, but I couldn't help but laugh. We made our way back down the hill (note that we met the waterfall on the way down, not on the way up) and to the car just as darkness fell.

On the way out of the woods, we stopped at a convenience store for refreshments. I paid $1.50 for fudge that would've made the craft show fudge envious of shit. We then drove back to JW's to hang out. I went over to TA's around 8:30 - definately an error in judgment. We sat around and played golf again, while he fell asleep and I chugged a 750mL Jolt cola to keep from doing the same. AD, RD and JP came by and took us to AN & AB's for "games and such". Within 20 minutes, RD and JP were asleep, and the rest of us participated in an extremely immature conversation about miscellaneous items brought to our attention by game cards from the board game Scruples. We had to beat every moment out of the evening; eventually I was driven home at a very early hour.

Today I got up and went golfing with TA. This is the latest in the year we have ever gone. I'm hoping to get out next week, and the weather forecast is fairly good, but I'm not holding my breath. I played quite well with one exception, especially given that I normally do not play well in the late fall or early spring due to the conditions. I hit the ball further than I have in many months, with a few 3-woods going about 250 yds. Unfortunately, my ball came to rest close to a young sapling, and my 3-iron skinned about a foot of bark off of it about half way up. At least I didn't tear it out of the ground, as our playing partner suggested. I felt bad about the tree, but I hit really a great shot. It wasn't too cold, and my hands were not numb as they often are in November - this worked to my advantage!

After golf, I picked up my NES games from Toni; he had been going through them to upgrade his collection before I sell what's left of mine. Then, after a rather deep conversation with JW on MSN, I went to my parents' for dinner. We had tomatoe'd beef AGAIN - apparently somebody in the family (there are three of us) likes it. I don't dislike it I suppose. I did like the mashed potatoes, and I especially liked the crackers and dip we had before dinner, more so because I am not allowing myself crackers at home anymore. We watched golf as always after dinner - Stephen Ames won The Skins Game over stalwart Fred Couples. The lack of real tournaments is already making me crave golf action in 2007. After dinner, we dropped Mum's car off for an inspection, oil change, and to find out why the engine light's been on for the past month. We suspect it might be the exhaust, as the car sounds noisier than normal from the outside.

It is cloudy and cool. I am currently listening to "The Man-Machine" from "The Man-Machine" by Kraftwerk.

Movies watched this week: "Christmas Vacation"

1451 - Company B

2006-11-19T10:15:00.000-08:00

I have just completed my first full week at Company B, after a five-week break following my abrupt (voluntary) departure from Company A. As you might have guessed, this is my second "real" job after university. I was quite literally thrown into the fire my first week, and I had serious reservations about whether I was cut out for the job. This week was much better, and I now believe that things will only continue to improve. I still felt like my productivity was low, but I am progressing. The projects at B are clearly larger, more complicated and more interesting than they were at A. They are also more clearly defined and documented, which is a nice change. I also feel like I am of more use at B, whereas my skills were largely going to waste at A. I do miss my friends at A, but I am hesitant to contact them because I suspect that the owner of A has badmouthed me as is the tradition there when an employee leaves. Still, I'm going to send an exploratory email to A-SH this week, if I can get her address from AN.

I suppose I should define a naming scheme so that you know a bit about who I'm talking about. I will use initials to describe my friends. A prefix of A- or B- (or others in the future) indicates a work friend from Company A, B, etc.

Anyway, apart from work, the week was fairly uneventful. I did go to JW's parents' house for dinner on Monday - it wasn't the first time but it was the first time in a while. JW's brother came, and it was like a family reunion, complete with the telling of many old stories and the incessant laughter. Of course, knowing nothing about these stories, all I could do was occasionally comment on them. The meal was perhaps the longest of my life - I believe we were at the dinner table for over three hours, between the eating, talking and waiting for JW's mother to get off the phone. I don't think dining room chairs are made for such extended use. Fortunately, I got to relax with JW in the outdoor hot tub after supper. It was really nice as I hadn't been in one in years. Her family is very nice - I don't dislike any of them (she will find that phrase amusing, for reasons not to be listed here). Her father is very quiet, at least around me. Perhaps he is uncomfortable that he is forced to wear clothes when I am around (an even longer story). Her mother is also nice, but a little verbose. She comes across as being very intelligent and she seems to be well read; she occasionally used words that I did not understand, and on at least one occasion I sensed that she was trying to gauge my understanding of the word (particularly after she learned that I am not well read). Fortunately it is not out of character for me to give short, vague answers, the purpose of which most often is to let the other person know that I do indeed exist - so I believe I escaped unscathed. Finally, her brother seems to be the most "normal" of the bunch (not to say that this is always a good thing, but in this case I think it is). He is friendly and funny, and he did most of the storytelling throughout the evening. He did not threaten my life over JW's happiness. The six-hour marathon that was a visit to JW's parents' finally ended at about 10:30, which gave us just enough time to go straight home to bed.

On Wednesday I played pool with AD, and then went over to JW's because she wasn't feeling well. On Thursday I went to JW's and we watched "Love Actually". She warned me that it was a "chick flick", but nothing could have prepared me for chaos that was to follow! The first half of the movie was actually alright - there were some mildly funny moments and the many intertwining stories moved along at a decent pace. Then, about eighty minutes into the movie, the ending began. Little did I know that the ending would take another fifty minutes! It was a relentless visual onslaught of literally hundreds of short scenes (none lasting more than a minute) as the movie quickly moved from one storyline to the next. It didn't seem like any scene was long enough to advance anything, except to remind us that the storyline existed. All of the endings (for all of the storylines) seemed to be dragged out much longer than was necessary to convey the humour and love that I thought the movie was trying to convey. I felt like the movie spun its wheels for about thirty minutes before the last twenty minutes finally brought some finality to the storylines. The thirty minutes spoiled my enjoyment of the movie, along with the sudden entrance of JW's roommates, who were completely engrossed the instant they entered the room.

Apparently I need to watch more "chick flicks", because I was completely blown away (and quite sickened) by how "perfect" the movie was, for a lack of a better way to describe it. Each scene was so perfectly romantic with such perfect comedic delivery where needed; the scenes were over the top and grandiose. At once I felt like the movie industry had set the idea of a relationship and of a man in general on such a high pedestal that no relationship or man could ever live up to the expectations of a woman buying into the movie. I was horrified to think that a woman might actually wish the world to be like the one portrayed.

I talked with JW after the movie and she was able to calm me down a bit. She compared the movie to the countless action movies that I have seen, pointing out that they are often as unrealistic. Looking back now, I think I was most concerned about the impact that the movie has on the viewer - after watching an action flick, I am not going to get in my car and go on a rampage through the city, running people down in the streets and other cars off the road. That does not seem realistic to me. However, I could completely see "Love Actually" affecting the way women approach relationships. I could see them wishing for a relationship that very few men could possibly provide. Then again, maybe women see it as being as fake as I see the average action movie being. Maybe they see it as an escape, after which they have no trouble returning to reality.

Anyway, I have decided that I need to watch a few more "chick flicks". I'm not sure if I've even seen another "real" one. I saw 50 First Dates (on a date, as it turns out), and I thought that it was good. Every woman seems to love "The Princess Bride", but so do I in that case. Maybe I accepted that movie because it is further removed from our current reality. I clearly know very little about the female psyche, so my negative response to "Love Actually" is probably completely unjustified. I suppose you can see now the strength of the response, as I have spent the bulk of my first real stimulator entry talking about it.

Okay, so on Friday JW and I went to eat at our favourite restaurant. It is an authentic Chinese restaurant and we both absolutely love the food there. We had one of our favourite dishes, along with the orange beef, which we both agreed was the best we'd ever had by far. It was a truly excellent meal, complete with our lettuce wrap staple and a bowl of hot and sour soup for me. We went to her place afterward to watch "The Wedding Crashers", which was far different than I had expected. I thought there would be more weddings crashed, and I thought a funnier movie could've been had out of that, but instead the movie was more a drama and it took a more serious tone at times as the wedding crashers fell into real relationships with real complications. It turned out to be good, but in an unexpected way. I think my false expectations were built on trailers I had seen on TV (AN shared my expectations).

On Saturday we got up and I rushed JW to a meeting about volunteering. I went home and tried to get some more sleep - I think I got fifteen minutes before JW's phone call woke me up again. I picked her up at home and we went down to an upscale craft/art show at Pier 23. There were some nice things there, but not much of interest to me. There were a few pictures that I really liked, but I am still not to a point in my life where I feel I can pay $125 for a photograph. The pictures were of nature scenes mainly. Overall, the show was quite boring - I would've had a terrible time except that I was with JW. After the show, she convinced me not to drive to Burnside to use a couple of gift certificates to get free submarine sandwiches; instead we went to the Economy Shoe Shop, which I used to resent because it seemed to be a hip place to go. Now I really like the place, especially the unique decorations and the many plants. JW also likes it, and we proceded to have our second excellent meal in as many days. We split the club wrap, which was really superb, and then dared to try a thai main course dish, that turned out to be very good. We drove back to her place to relax for a while after the meal, where we both agreed that we'd had a great day. I had been greatly anticipating hanging out with the guys later on in the evening, but JW somehow managed to quell that anticipation. I eventually tore myself away from her and walked over to TA's.

When I arrived, AN and AD were already there. We watched child molesters get busted by "Dateline" until CA arrived, and after a brief stint watching "Keeping Up Appearances", we returned to "Dateline". The plan for the evening was to watch the UFC pay-per-view at the Peel Pub. We left for the event around 10:00pm, only to find a large line at the Peel Pub. The Oasis had no line, but it seemed to be as crowded inside, and they were charging a $5 cover. So, we waited in line for about 30 minutes at the Peel Pub, eventually getting in on an error by one of the waitresses, who didn't have a table for us as it turned out. So we stood around waiting for a table to free up - luckily a large group got up across the bar, and Toni was able to worm his way through the crowd to secure a table.

The event was mediocre at first, but the last two matches were excellent (right after AN and AD left). The last match pitted a Canadian against a long-time American champion, and the crowd was clearly stoked. The match was fairly short, and it was dominated by the Canadian until he decisively won in the second round - the place went bananas, and even I yelled and cheered with delight, having been completely absorbed by the crowd. I was very proud to be a Canadian, as I often am, and it was a very special moment.

I didn't get home until 3am, and I didn't get up today until 11:40am. It's time to go to my parents' now - I have to pick up the car at JW's first. I don't feel particularly creative today, so I think that this entry will read rather drab - hopefully I'll do better in the future (for my own sake).

It is cloudy and cool. I am currently listening to "Conquistador Part 2" from "Labyrinth" by Juno Reactor.

Movies watched this week: "Love Actually", "The Wedding Crashers"

Introduction

2006-11-19T09:25:00.000-08:00

I don't like the word blog, so I have decided never to use it again (present use accepted, of course). Instead, I will refer to this collection of characters as a neural stimulator, as my brain seems to be rather lacking in that department (among others, though I do not attempt to address them here). Unfortunately, this stimulator is not retroactive, and therefore the first 1450 weeks of my life are left shrouded in darkness, entrusted forever to a flawed biological unit. I will attempt to connect current events to events past to try to shed some light on this darkness as time marches on. Notice that I used the word 'attempt'; I am now relieved of any actual obligation because you, the reader, cannot know whether I have genuinely tried. You might have also noted that I used the word 'marches' to describe the progress of time - I used it because I often look at the future in a rather negative manner. I sometimes feel like my best years are behind me (particularly the childhood years), and I certainly feel like the Earth's best years are behind it. As time goes on, I find the former to be less true (which justifies the existence of this stimulator) and the latter to be more true.

I am not particularly knowledgable when it comes to world events / social causes, so I will leave that eternal discussion to those more qualified. It would be rather like a goldfish commenting on Victorian architecture (which, not at all interestingly, I also know nothing about). This stimulator will focus solely on my life, and as a result, it will be of very little interest to viritually any other lifeform capable of understanding it. I would be interested to know if I am mistaken!

- Maltesehamster