The word of the week is unfamiliar, not hideous - though I like that one too.
Dec 27 – On Relaxation
I enjoyed some time over at the Bean today, including a chipotle roast chicken sandwich that was just the right level of spice. It was good to have a day off, especially after working as much as I did for the last few weeks – I have some vacation time scheduled in January and need to schedule some more soon after that, as I really need the downtime. I won't be going anywhere, as I think a staycation would do me some good to let me get some projects done here at home... as well as sleeping in and getting out a little bit to explore my surroundings and relieve 'cabin fever' – if you want to call it that. Mountain fever?
Dec 28 - Bear Breakfast
Not so bad a day: working early means home early and more time to do things... plus a breakfast at A&W always helps start the day right( they issue coupons every few months that make it cheaper! ). It's very convenient that there are not one but two A&W's on my way to work, though I prefer the one nearer to my home as they're a much more professional crew. The one by my workplace seems to have motivation and efficiency issues on a regular basis, which turns simple orders into waiting games. Teamwork has always been something I've been proud of wherever I work, presuming that you can get along decently with the other people you work with. There's always the chance of a personality clash, but given my own personality traits it's always been the other person who's moved on – if you're not able to work with people, then don't be in a job where that's a necessity of employment. Duh.
Dec 29 –eBooks
Of all the apps I've installed on my iPhone 3G, the one I've been enjoying the most is the Kindle eBook reader from Amazon. I've downloaded a few books in the last few weeks, ones I've been meaning to read for some time but never found for a decent price( eBooks are much cheaper too! ). Now I've read The Windup Girl and am halfway through the latest Wheel of Time book The Gathering Storm, which I'm enjoying immensely. Though it's a tragedy that Robert Jordan died before he could complete his epic series, I think it's in good hands with Brandon Sanderson who is finishing things off. With thousands of characters and dozens of intricate plotlines, it's a huge job and I can't wait to see how everything gets tidied up in the end. Reading it as an eBook( and having as many other books as I want to buy with me wherever I go )is just the icing on the cake. It'd be better on a 7” tablet though; soon, soon...
Dec 30 - Sacred Drives
Having downloaded Sacred2 last week, I've played it on and off with a couple friends and found it fairly enjoyable. Sure, it has the standard Fetch This or Kill That quests, but those are more fun with friends than alone... it's not really like grinding. I've known this for years, having played NWN for as long as I have, so it's a change to do it on the Xbox. Unfortunately I'm still having lag issues, which I now believe to be intrinsic to the game code itself, as everything with my router, XboxLive and internet service all check out fine after days of testing( including other games ). Frustrating as that is, it's a fun game when it works and a good subtitute for NWN until my new drive from Seagate arrives. Did I mention that I called Seagate yesterday for an express Warranty replacement to be sent to me? That's the thing about cutting edge technology: sometimes you get cut, and you end up bleeding more money.
Dec 31 - New Year's Chilling
Dang, it was busy at work today... but at least there were two of us to handle the busy; good to have help. It was a trial getting home afterwards though; I'd given the car to my dad to get him to work, and as his was a late shift he wouldn't be back until 1am. I was finished much earlier around dinnertime and took a bus to the base of Bear Mountain; they ran free tonight after 6pm. That leg took me over an hour( about the same time as walking )as the connector is once hourly; waiting in the cold with no bus shelter wasn't fun. Neither was trying to get a cab up the mountain; I gave up after 30 mins of busy signals and being told elsewher the wait was 2 hours... at dinnertime? What's with that, even on New Year's Eve? I finally gave up and walked up the mountain, which took another 45 minutes, putting me home a little after 9pm, 3 hours after I'd finished work. Such are the trials of being off the transit grid. I was rather tired after all that and channel-surfed myself to sleep... about as boring a New Year's as I've had in a while.
Jan 1 -2011 Visitations
We had some company over today, distant cousins who moved from Niagara many years ago and we've reconnected with since moving to BC. Life's like that: wherever you go, there you are, and as like there's someone who knows someone you knew. Or family, in this case – nice folks. By the time they left, I'd obliquely introduced them to the wonders of Ubuntu 10.10, showing them how they could take an install CD-ROM( I gave them one )and run it alongside WinXP to breathe new life into their tired old PC. They brought the topic up, not me, in case you were wondering, as they asked why my laptop looked 'odd' – I explained that since I was waiting for a replacement drive to install Win7, I'd popped in an old drive and was using Ubuntu to surf the web and do other generalized tasks. They were intrigued.
Jan 2 – Ice on the Mountain
The hardest part about today wasn't that it was insanely busy at work and I was by myself – I've done that before many times and though it's tiring, I can handle it. No, the hardest part was getting to work and back safely: since the temperature here dropped below zero, ice formed on the road( the only road )down from the mountain. It's made more dangerous due to the winding and sloping nature of the road and by the fact that the shadow of the hillsides allows the ice to remain for most of the day; a very dangerous combo even without snow. There have been several crashes in the last 24 hours taking out a light pole and a utility box respectively, with only some minor injuries fortunately. Riding roughshod with our snow chains may be slow and loud, but it's better than sliding off the edge of a steep hill – they don't believe in crash barriers here in BC like they have everywhere in southern ON. Crazy.
