Groo, Games and Grand Openings

This week's word: enervated. It's not what you think.

Oct 12 - Searchables

Ah'm feeling rather beat this week, hence the lack of "This is what I did" info here... to be honest, what I wanted to do most days was take a nap when the day was only half-done. I'm glad I picked up a nice 'sunlamp' before I moved out here, as I think the lack of sunshine is putting me to sleep of late.

While I missed seeing the new Star Trek on the IMAX, I did come across this gag reel from the film... and not a tribble in sight. That's about it; thoughts of Tribble Bacon danced through my head...

Here's a test of your internet search skills: try to find out the name of the brunette model from the latest Special K commercials. With the internet being what it is these days, I'm sure we'll be seeing more of here. Candy commercials gave a big boost to the TicTac girl's career, whose name turned out to be Kate Kelton - though I haven't seen her anywhere around lately, but she does have a nice website. Things have come a long way since 1993, when the Osbourne Complete Internet Reference was selling like hotcakes - now it's available for a penny on Amazon.com. Who knew my copy would be so worthless now?

Oct 13 - Zombie TV

While I was off today, I spent a few hours in Victoria looking around a few places for some bargains... I managed to pick up a small portable B&W TV for $4.99 at the Value Village downtown. It was lacking a power supply, but handily I had a universal one squirreled away for just such occasions. Powered up, it will serve as a 'monitor' for when I'm recording shows while using the big flatscreen for other purposes... because most TV's these day's don't come with Picture in Picture. I miss that feature... so handy, but cost-savings mean that TV's are cheaper to make without it by a few dollars.

What do you get when you combine Lego and Zombies? Why, Zombie Apocafest of course! Check out the massive amounts of work and creativity that has gone into this display of plastic and the living dead. Or, if cakes are your thing, this picture gallery has a ton of great creative cakes, a lot of them are sci-fi!

Tonight I sent around my 6-month update for my NWN Project, which was both upbeat and truthful about the current state of the whole thing. I am hopeful that we will have a working system running by the new year, but with everyone so busy it's going to be a task to keep things on track.

Oct 14 - Sandman

Today I read Neil Gaiman's first Sandman comic Preludes and Nocturnes( collecting issues 1-8 )and it was stellar - of course! Odd as it may seem, I never got around to reading them when they first came out back in early 1989. I'll be checking out the whole series from the local library as time permits; they have a great selection of sci-fi and fantasy there, quite impressive and not too far away - most days. Not as close as the Port Dalhousie branch library was ,but nothing's perfect.

A long while ago, a few of my good friends put together a site for me, called Ctrl-Alt-Pete. It was meant to accompany my articles I was writing at the time for Cyberwalker.com, but that didn't pan out. Neither did Ctrl-Alt-Pete, though I still have hopes of reviving it in the near future. Ironically, C|net.com just posted an article about Five Great Tech sites... popping the thought into my head "Hey, mine could have been on there..." Something to think about, on top of all the other stuff.

New tech still catches my eye, especially if it adds value to some tech I already have. Such seems to be the case with this item, which lets you copy files to and from your Xbox360 drive a lot more easily than you might think. For those folk who use their Xbox360 as their main media player, it makes sense to have all their media files on it, especially as Microsoft doesn't make it too easy to hook up any old drive as a storage device - 'Plug and Pray' all over again.

Oct 15 - Lucky Windows

One week from now and Windows 7 will hit the streets. Considering that the majority of computers out there running windows are still using XP and Vista was a sales flop, there's high hopes that W7 will be a hit. As always, there are misunderstandings when something new for Windows hits the market, and in W7's case one of these is a thing called virtualization - a really neat thing, too. Remember I mentioned XP a moment ago? Well, Windows 7 Business Edition has a feature that allows it to run a perfect copy of XP inside itself, to allow older programs to run flawlessly. All the while, your new laptop / PC / whatever is running Windows 7 on the outside - WinXP is just another program within it. The confusing part? Quite a lot of CPU's, even new ones, don't support virtualization. Fortunately, my laptop is upgradable, and the X9000 CPU that's on my Xmas wishlist does support virtualization, according to this handy site. So that's made me a happy guy today.

On the way home from work I stopped in at Future Shop( as it's just across the street along with an EB Games - how tempting each day! )for my usual game of "What's on sale that I don't need?" Today I found something: a networkable external hard drive case that someone had returned, so it was 1/2 price. I'd seen it before, but didn't spring as the price was more than I thought it was worth. For 50% off though, I decided it was time. I was amazed that the setup went as easily as it did, as my experience with networkable drives is that they generally just... don't... work. For whatever reason, it liked my network layout, and I soon had it copying files willy-nilly - great to have an easy way to back things up without tripping over wires from the laptop. Falling's bad for tech, in general.

More good news today for Star Wars fans: the Tauntaun Sleeping Bag is one step closer to reality! Soon... and hopefully there are both small and adult sizes in the works.

Oct 16 - I'm moving... later.

I got a call at work today with some startling news: the house we're in has been sold. So that means that the not-so-nice landlord is out, and the unknown landlords are taking over by the end of November. This doesn't affect us due to our lease until early 2011, but it also means that my days in this lakeside house are numbered. I have one more summer to take my ease by its gentle shores, then I'll have to pack things up... again. I'm rather tired of moving, and I hope that when the time comes next year I'll be able to find the energy again that got me through the last 2 moves.

Homes as one's castle: I haven't seen more than one episode of Castle, which stars Nathan Fillion of Serenity fame, but from the little I've seen it's quite good. As it's getting rave reviews, I've put it on my 'See Later' list... and not just for the fact that they keep doing cool things like this. Anyone out there have any good shows they're watching right now?

On the topic of space, I'm still debating on buying a beta copy of Gratuitous Space Battles... which would give the developer more cash to finish the game. Seeing as there's just the one guy coding it, I think I may treat myself next paycheque. We'll see if I can find... space... in my budget.

Oct 17 - Mulch!

The arbutus trees in the backyard have shed most of their bark, which has left them looking oddly bare, with a soft olive colour that's in stark contrast to the dark bronze colour that the old bark had. All in all, I like the effect - it's as though Mama Nature decided to go all designer-style with the Arbutus, and I heartily approve.

Ah, Groo. The tales of the Bumbling Barbarian are the antithesis of his peer Conan, whom the character was created to mock. I found the first issue of Groo at an Avondale store( now a drycleaner )on Geneva St. back in May of 1985... I was hooked. For those of you unfamiliar with Groo and his world, have a browse through his Wiki entry here. Groo appeals to me for many reasons: aside from the humour, he knows where his skills are( his swords ), he is honest, has a good heart and he has interesting things happen to him. Crazy, zany, laugh-out-loud things. If you can find a copy of Groo The Wanderer at your local comic shop, pick it up - it's work the read!

It was busy, busy day at work: the sun was fleeting, but it seemed that anytime it stayed out for more than a few minutes, people scrambled to get things done. After I closed up, I had more than a dozen people pull at the door before I left myself - far more than usual, which I attribute to the sun. Strange, but that's people for you.

Oct 18 - Lineups

Up and out the door in the mid-morning today to line up at the local Best Buy for day three of their Grand Opening celebrations, for which the weather co-operated for a pleasantly sunny experience. Once I was in the door, I was disappointed to find out that the two Xbox360 games I had lined up for had sold out... yesterday. Apparently they were one of the items that they didn't 'limit daily quantities' on. Ah well, money saved and only my free time was spent.

News close to home: a ship full of potential refugees sailed into local waters early today. It was escorted into a Victoria berth while the 76 men aboard were offloaded for processing and possible refugee status. Things like that never happen on the Great Lakes back east, eh?

While playing COD4 today, I was impressed all over again by the LG TV I purchased almost 2 years ago now. It's performed almost flawlessly for nearly 24 months straight of daily use. For an LCD TV, it's gone the distance and more... though it and its rival plasma have a new contender on the market now: LED TV's. There's a nice guide on C|net called 10 Things You Need to Know about LED TV's which is worth reading, as the new tech will inevitably show up in stores very soon. Unlike the oft-promised but rarely seen OLED TV, the new LED TV's are cheaper to make and so easier on the wallet - plus they'll be in stores sooner rather than later.

In case anyone's noticed, I try to put at least 3 things in each day's entry. So that's 21 things a week that I come up with that are interesting to me... and hopefully to you. Until next entry then...

Comments, Cable and Cars

As you may guess, it's not easy coming up with New Stuff every week... kind of like when your favourite TV show comes up with a 'Clip Episode' that reuses a ton of stuff from the past season to make up for the fact that they've either run out of money or ideas, or both. So far in this blog, neither seems likely... heck, I'd LOVE to be paid for writing this. Some Ideas have already been forwarded... any more?


Feb 2nd - The Day After Groundhogs

I like Groundhog Day, both the event and the film starring Bill Murray. There's just something about the film that speaks to me, about an imperfect guy who gets the chance( once he recognizes it )to become the person he's always wanted to be, through simple trial and error. Though there are no consequences to his actions, as he repeats his day over and over, he doesn't turn to violence but instead turns outward to help others, as well as inward to better himself. A lovely thought, and too rare... this site gets into some great detail about the messages of the film. Though I wonder if Bill Murray's other film with groundhog cousins in it may illustrate that most folk don't know there's a difference between the little furballs.

Each year around this time, I try to re-watch the film, but this year it will have to wait until later in the week - just too busy and too tired with the move. There's always something to unpack, move around or put on a list to purchase when its discovered that we're out or simply don't have it, like phone cords or the like.

This has to do with the whole darkness / winter thing that people go through every year: Seasonal Affective Disorder, or SAD for short. Unless you're a Gremlin, bright lights usually help keep folk from feeling down. I'm lucky in that my workplace faces towards the west, so I get light all day long and even a peek at sunset through the masses of windows that enclose my corner-built branch. Sunshine! Not the film either, which I just bought this week - who wouldn't want to get within hugging distance of a star?

Feb 3rd - Russian Empire

The Death Star - who wouldn't want to have the keys to this Ultimate Weapon, floating in orbit just waiting to blast a planet or two into dust? Uninhabited planets, of course! I've always wondered just how much it would cost to construct. Now, someone has come up with a dollar figure, based on the materials contained in the moon-sized battlestation - can you guess how many times the current U.S. National Debt the figure is?

On a related note: Darth Vader helmets... as re-imagined by top artists, on display at the Warhol Museum.

The Russians know a thing or two about breakfast, as well as how to build really big things - maybe someone should have suggested a Death Star to them in the 70's ? The gigantic construction in the photos is known as the Woodpecker, an early-warning radar system developed during the Cold War that could see missiles over the horizon. It got its name from the tapping sound it made on radio sets all over the world at certain frequencies. Thankfully, it was shut down and abandoned decades ago... leaving the giant metal skeletons to rust slowly in obscurity.

Feb 4th - Car Confidence

My parents had been looking at perhaps getting a new vehicle this week, a Mazda 5, as my mother has been having trouble getting out of our Mazda 3 lately, due to several medical reasons. They had been dealing with Pacific Mazda in Victoria, the same ones that they had purchased their current car from. Sadly, even given the current economic climate, the salesfolk at Pacific did not proceed with my parent's best interests in mind... which I deduced from what they had told me up to this point. So, I went in today in the morning to sit in on their appointment, and was rather annoyed with the indifference and vagueness of the sales pitch - it was as though the staff expected to spout off a few numbers and then watch as my parents signed on the dotted line, dazzled by the opportunity they were being given to throw their money at the dealer in large wads.

Needless to say, the sale didn't happen, and after work today I went into detail with my parents about how a lot of the car sales industry works, relating it to the techniques and information presented by Pacific to them this past week. My favourite was the 'Flow Chart', a vague collection of scribbled half-numbers in circles joined by lines criss-crossing the page - supposedly outlining the value of their trade-in, package options and 'discounts' being offered. My parents won't be going back to Pacific except for service, as they are the only Mazda dealer for fifty km in any direction, which likely explains their 'Only Game In Town' attitude they took with their sales pitch. I know it's a game, and that the rules are subtle... but neither side should ever assume the other are ignorant of ANY common sense.

Feb 5th - The Cable Returns.. or re-runs?

Moving on towards the end of the week... I will be SO glad to get a day off work, at home...

The cable guy was at out new place this week, and gave us good news: the signal into the house is plenty strong enough to support all the TV's in the place, plus a few more if needed. This can be an issue depending on the quality of the signal in your neighbourhood, as happened to us in Fonthill, where an extra line( at no charge )had to be run in to ensure a stable signal for all the outlets in use. This bodes well for fast internet speeds, assuming things stay working, which they haven't so far.

Now that I have cable again, I find myself reluctant to watch TV - odd, but I consider it mostly a waste of my time now. Considering I am out of the house for at least ten hours a day now, my time is becoming even more valuable, especially as work is getting busier with tax season and the ton of daily details that being a manager entails.

Still, there are a few shows I want to catch up on: BSG, which is in its final season & final episodes right now, plus The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which continues to surprise me with the quality of its writing as well as production values. The Terminator franchise, which is releasing Terminator: Salvation this summer, has often made me wonder about the intricacies of time travel. Someone has helpfully looked into how Skynet could make better use of its resources in killing John Connor than sending back machines shotgun-style to be mangled in various desperately-contrived ways. So, assuming that Skynet is listening, we're all doomed....

Feb 6th - Smiling... ack! Zombies!

The evening piled on, with a nice ending: my last customer of the night, a regular, gushed at how she loved coming to my branch because I was so efficient, friendly and professional. When I joked she should tell others, she surprised me by grabbing a comment card and stating firmly that she would send it in Monday with glowing comments. Needless to say, after having had several other customers( bad apples all )send in not-so-great cards, this response left me with a happy grin until I left for the night.

Apparently other people wanted to leave people with a smile a few weeks ago in Texas: hackers altered a few road signs to produce amusing messages. Go have a look. Makes me long for the days when things were hacked for the fun and the challenge, and not in order to make money, cause disruptions for millions of people or to plain old cause damage.

Feb 7th - Books I've never read

An interesting place to visit is Privacyworld.com. They have a ton of useful info about keeping YOUR info safe, as well as educating yourself. Though I am very well-versed on keeping my info private( it took someone ten years recently to find me again! )there were things I didn't know there. Worth a look!

Tonight, I looked through my collection for that rare bird: a book I've never read yet owned forever. The result? The Hero and The Crown by Robin McKinley, which won the Newberry Award in 1985. Apparently I've had the book since around that time but never got around to reading it, which amazes me - looking over my collection, I can recount at a glance when I've last read almost every one of them. Still, there are still a few that I haven't read, or finished reading.

Makes me wonder where the nearest library is around here...

Feb 8th - Day off? Work 8 hrs at home!

I managed to sleep in today, and it felt great. Though this house is not perched in a sunny spot, it has two huge skylights in the roof, one of which is in the main bathroom. Sunshine splashing, soon enough....

After spending all day in my living room, I had all both the couches and the chair cleared off, and all the electronics working properly. The TV is hooked up, the DVD players work, and the surround system sounds great. After long experience organizing masses of wires, I have it down to a fine, if slow, art - now that it's all in place, I can use any piece of media and have it displayed on the TV, with the option of the sound going to the surround or just headphones. Once I have the rest of the room to rights, I'll be able to enjoy the room for any form of entertainment... even relaxing, by gosh!

The only thing that gave me trouble today was configuring the wireless internet connections. This is always a tricky business, and for the entire week I have had trouble with things interfering with each other. There are a total of four routers now sitting on top of my shelves, and after today they're finally programmed to play nice with each other - one for the downstairs tenant, one for my parents, a faster 'N' version for me, and a non-wireless one for my VOIP Vonage phone. Not for the faint of heart, that.

Good news about my own cable modem too: it's not dead, just not programmed for the new place. Whew!

Looking around as I write this blog late Sunday night, I have to say I am pleased with my setup, moreso than at my May St address. Here, I have room for my entire 3-pc couch set, surrounded by shelves at a good distance without crowding, plus a nice see-through wood burning fireplace. The room is sunken, and paneled on the ceiling with wood, with large windows at the front. It is a calm, relaxing room and I am looking forward to spending a lot of quality 'me time' in it... I don't get enough of that.


Comments, we had comments last week - yay! Well, one was more of a personals ad / sticky note, but the others were good - Trevor, I will email you, and Anonymous: The story proceeds... slowly. Thanks for asking!

Moving, Movies and May St

Tuesdays... what happened to updating these things Sunday nights? Well, maybe next week... I have a few more things to add to the blog, which I will do tonight - I wanted to get it posted today, so here you are:

Jan 25 - Tensity

I've been trying something different at work, to see if I can change my daily stress levels around. I've made the effort to smile and make small talk with every customer who comes in, moreso than usual, to see if the level of Friendly can be raised - for the most part, it seems to be working. This is different from the false cheer that I can't stand when I deal with some in the customer service industry, that gets turned on and off like a spigot - I'm making the honest effort to be nice and jovial despite being tired, cranky and stressed for the last few weeks. So far, it seems to be working, as I've enjoyed my time at work a lot more than I thought, even though I work alone every day.

Not that there's a lot wrong with that, really. I suppose if I was a slob, I could leave the place a mess out of sight of the customers, or not wear deodorant, or do a ton of other things that would annoy co-workers, if I had any right now. Instead, I enjoy the freedom of keeping tabs only on myself, not having to put up with other's habits, and allowing the occasional gaseous expulsion to waft free. Which has been happening far more often of late, thanks to one of these before every meal. Digestively snap.

Jan 26 - Snopes, you say?

Bacon: now for dessert... on chocolate chip cookies! Why hasn't anyone thought of this before?

Speaking about fattening... well, not really, but I couldn't quickly think of a way to transition from bacon to internet scams; did I mention I am tired? Anyway, everyone receives emails, often daily, about things that sound too good to be true: scams, offers, spam, and urban legends all clog up email inboxes, not to mention those annoying chain letter emails... If you tire of these things, just go have a look at Snopes.com to see if what you suspect is true, that the sender( if a stranger )is trying to scam you or a friend( if they are known to you )is passing along something they really shouldn't. Every known spam or scam on the 'net is on Snopes, which makes it a GREAT resource to tell Aunt Bertha about next time she fowards you a 'warning' about gangs tossing shoes onto telephone lines in YOUR area... :-)

Jan 27 - Green

Green is the way to go these days in all things... which is great, as it also happens to be my favourite colour. Nowadays, David Suzuki is feeling like he's part of the mainstream, as the rest of the world is finally waking up to the message he's been preaching for the last few decades. Looking around the globe, there are some fine examples of green architecture out there, quite aside from the R2000 home program started in the 1980's and current market trends towards ultra-green residential housing. Though what a hand-crafted wooden iPod housing really has to do with green homes is anybody's guess.

It also occurred to me that there's an opportunity for a major spokesperson for environmental causes to step forth and take up the flag. One whose very appearance both speaks for the difficult task of protecting the planet, and the consequences of not doing so. I am speaking of a fictional character, one who has a long history in the comic industry, as well as other mediums:

The Hulk. He's literally green, and gets angry...with polluters. Perfect fit, no?

Jan 28 - Comics and Tigers

Calvin and Hobbes. Who among us DIDN'T read this fantastic comic strip in its heyday, and mourn it's sudden demise by Bill Watterson's decision to just stop? Well, for all of us out there who still wish for some Wit of Calvin's, I present to you: 25 Great Calvin and Hobbes Strips - not perhaps THE Greatest Strips, but certainly some of the very best. You decide.

Which leads me back to The Far Side... did the general public really understand that comic? It was so far out there in terms of funny for its time that it made Peanuts look like the scribblings of children... though considering it WAS a comic, maybe that's a compliment. I do know the Far Side Halloween TV Special was WAY out there, but it was great to see those out-there comic panels come to life... creepy, distorted, surrealistic-in-some-way life at that. Gary Larson, we miss you and Bill Waterson both.

Of Fumes and Final Thoughts: Unfortunately, I had to go back to the old apartment tonight to finish cleaning the oven, which was the only thing that had to be done again - I'm not one for using Easy Off due to the fumes, but in this case the landlord insisted. At least he sprayed it in the morning so it had all day to work, as well as for the fumes to( mostly )clear.

Jan 29 - More on Moving

The unpacking goes well, coming along apace. I do some in the mornings, then more as I find the energy after work. My mom, though she is limited in mobility and has other major health issues, has been great as she plugs away steadily at the work - most of the rest of the house is already put to rights.

I suppose I should talk a little about the place: it's on the shore of Langford Lake, about ten minutes north of Victoria. Langford itself is a bustling place, with a lot of new construction and a ton of things going for it, with all the amenities including a huge 'power center' for shopping in addition to a vibrant downtown.

The house itself is a large backsplit, nestled down away from the road tucked between neighbouring properties and so sheltered from noise and weather both. The lower level is given over to another apartment, whose occupants we've met - friendly, quiet and accommodating folks. The upper level is more than spacious, with a giant kitchen flanked by a living room and dining room. The front has a sunken living room for my use, that has to be seen to be believed - pictures coming soon. There are two bedrooms, plus a master bedroom, two bathrooms( one of which with a massive skylight )main floor laundry, double garage... and a hot tub on the rear deck that faces the lake - what a view! All of this means plenty of space for my stuff, as well as privacy.

Jan 30 - Boxes Are Evil

Now that most of the boxes are either emptied or relegated to the Toss In Storage Pile, the place is looking mostly livable... except for my den / living room. I just haven't had the energy to get all the books onto the shelves, or do more than hook up the TV and the 'net routers to the cable connection. Which is odd in itself - the cable, that is. When I first attached MY cable modem earlier in the week, the blasted thing didn't work and still doesn't - naturally it's the one I bought, whose 1-year warranty expired two weeks ago. The one from my parent's place works fine, thankfully... and it's the one they're still renting, 'natch. *sigh* I swear electronics come with Warranty Suicide Chips.

While I am not exactly in the business of Evil Lair Decorating, there is something to be said for Evil on a Budget... which also segues into setting up a great Evil Lair. Yet what use would be an Evil Lair without superheroes to defend it against? Here is a list of the most popular superpowers that wannabe-heroes of today are wishing for. Strangely, being bulletproof is not high on most people's lists...?

And if you want to see something truly evil, have a look at this - "Roxanne" by the Police as sung to the tune generated by Microsoft's Songsmith program. Ouch, my bleeding ears! The horror!

Jan 31 - End of the Old

The month wrapped up in a blur today, which was even busier than yesterday. Again, I find it odd that I can go an hour without any customers, then five show up all within five minutes. There is no common thread I can discern, as they don't do it at lunch hour, or all get off the same bus, or show up just after picking up the kids from school... damned odd, but it keeps me on my toes.

Do you ever get the feeling that things are being recycled in Hollywood? Or in the entertainment world in general, mining old hits for new viewer ratings? While I usually deride such mediocre efforts, sometimes a few of these reworkings work out, like BSG and (hopefully) the upcoming The Prisoner too.

There are a few movies I am looking forward to seeing in the next few months: Coraline, of course - it's Neil Gaiman, why would you NOT see it?? Also the Transformers sequel, plus one I'd not heard of before this week with a catchy title: Monsters Vs Aliens - no word on a cameo by a Predator though.

Feb 1 - A New Month, a New Place

Sunday found me crawling around the new place, puttering and poking into odd boxes to find things. While I kept a numbered list of box contents, there are still quite a few things stuffed into various odd boxes and other places to try and find. I found myself in dire need of relaxation today, as the week has been simply exhausting with the move and the very very busy month-end at work. Fourteen hour days are no fun for a week, especially when time not spent earning a wage is spent hefting boxes around and cleaning. When was this even fun, I wonder? I know I enjoyed moving to Port Dalhousie, but after that things just became a chore... good thing I was able to do a lot more under my own power back then.

I went to my delayed company Christmas party this year, which was a subdued affair - since we had our budget cut in half, only two stores( plus me )were able to get together, compared to last year, when everyone met for dinner... darn economic crunch. We all met at Nautical Nellies, which is a steak and seafood place downtown which bills itself as "the Best restaurant in Victoria BC." The food was very good in decent portions, if a big pricey - similar to the Keg, which sits on a corner as well just a block down the road. It was nice, in a way, to just sit at a large table and talk with people, as I don't see much of any of them while working on my ownsome. I left after only a few hours, heading home in the rain as I was rather tired.

For those who like moving reading, I suggest Ebon Musings, where the author digs deep into the Bible for his own amusement much akin to the spirit of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. If God is watching, I don't think He would be amused... but I know He WOULD want a word with His editor about doing a Revised Bible. Or maybe a Coles Notes version?


All for now - next update Sunday night, since I have Sundays off. For now.

Packing, Parks, and People

I'm dead tired from the move as I write this, so I'll keep it brief. With links. Still no comments though? I'm mostly prepared... last year around this time, we saw a few.


Jan 19 - Good, Bad, Not Paying Attention

Copasetic - an odd word. Look it up.

I could write a lot of things here, but today I choose to simply say I am ambivalent. I've had a lot to think about lately, and it's left my mind feeling rather wrung-out. Coming to a lot of realizations about Life, The Universe and Everything has not been fun some days. One thing that has bothered me has been what I term 'Life Withdrawal' where someone finds too many thing are causing them emotional distress, so they stop getting emotional... at all. While this works fine for stress reduction when your car drops its transmission, it really muffs you up when the time comes to find yourself caring about other people's life joys, or even being social. Most people are quite able to tell when you are going through the motions, pretending to be interested in what they are saying... especially when you can't recall anything about WHAT they were saying later on - can't be bothered, you know.

So that's it for today.

Jan 20 - Packing Green

I took time today to visit the park at the end of my street, the one that I've never managed to climb around in. Yes, that's right: climb. The park is a series of rock outcroppings of various sizes and levels, covered in scrub and trees with paths in between. It faces south, so that those who work their way to the top of the cliff are rewarded with a stunning view of Fairfield and the Olympic Mountains beyond. Being a beautiful sunny day, it was just amazing... the rocks, the green of the trees and grass( in winter! )and the misty cloud layer that the mountains rose above like the homes of the gods.

Too bad I'm moving out of the area.

While packing, I've found a few things that I didn't know I still had, forgotten about, or that I just haven't used - the usual. Take for instance, the Milton Bradley Gamesmaster series - lovely games that came out in the 80's, the most popular of which was Axis & Allies. While I still have the games with me, I have no-one to play them with any more... devoting an entire evening to a game session just isn't in the cards for folks in my social bracket / age category. A shame, as they're great games.

I just don't want to find myself talking about duplicate Bridge with someone anytime soon.

Jan 21 - What, me evil?

If you are an Evil Genius, you may find yourself too busy to take care of the smaller things... hence, hiring the Henchmen, those poor underworked slobs who are cannon fodder for the villain's plans. Thankfully there is help for these minimum-wage, high-mortality fellows: the Henchman's Helper.

Plus, if the Evil Genius boss decides to leave you hanging in the wind when the heroes come calling guns-a-blazing, good news: cloaking devices may soon be in the local Henchman Depot.

In the meantime, while you wait for your personal invisibility hoodie, you can look over the original handbook for wannabe Evil Geniuses: How to Win Friends and Influence People. Lots of laughs.

Next week: Evil Lair Decorating - without a single doomsday device in sight!

Jan 22 - So I told the Jedi I didn't want any lightsaber insurance...

Someone told me today I look like George Lucas, and not for the first time. Though I am not sure it's a compliment, as Mister Star Wars has totally gray hair and is not exactly slim and trim anymore.

Better than resembling Rush Limbaugh, I guess.

As you may have noticed, this week I am running rather short on sentences. For those of you that brevity appeals to, I offer you One Sentence - stories told in a single sentence. Go see.

Jan 23 - Countdown

Another busy day at work, but at least it was jerk-free. The sun was out most of the day, so people were in a cheerful mood. It also helps that I am now quite familiar with most of the regular customers at the branch, as I am there almost every day the place is open, being the only staff member. So that helps with keeping things smooth, as I know the names of 9 out of 10 people who walk in the door immediately. We do a lot of Western Union sends, especially to the Philippines, so I imagine if I ever attended a local Filipino cultural event, half the people there would know who I am... strange but true.

After work, I helped my parents pack some final items at their place, large or awkward things that they couldn't do themselves. Which twigged me to a realization that perhaps older people stay in the same residence for decades because it is just too much effort to pack things for a move... not to mention expensive if you're on a limited pension. Lifting TV's around, even smaller or flat ones, is not easy for those no longer in their prime. Even wall mirrors become heavy, awkward things that are best left in place rather than risk a shattering drop if they prove too much to handily.

Jan 24 - Tick... Tick... Move

Up early to do some final packing. My parents are moving today, so they're up too in order to, well, get things in order. Not me though; I have to work today.

I kept in touch with them to ensure all went smoothly, as we were using the same movers as last time, A to B Moving - they impressed me with their speed, careful handling of our possessions, and their reasonable rates. They were done moving my parents after only 4 hours all told, from packing the truck to unloading, with nary a dropped box in the lot. Very low stress, and I will be adding glowing reviews of them to a few websites as soon as I get the chance.

After work, I went back to my condo to finish packing a few final boxes, around a dozen all told. The piles of cardboard are man-high in most places, and have the added benefit of really retaining the heat despite the very low temperatures outside. I finally left around 11pm, tired but confident of a successful move tomorrow.


And... more on the move next week. No mention about the visitor from Jan 15th, though I will get the pictures posted... once I find them.

DVD's, Dinner and Decisions

I'd ask Thought Police to actually read the blog entire, before commenting, as it only shows them to be foolish by leaving comments that ignore the blog's content.. but why bother? I'll bet they just skim, and don't actually read - keywording at work, folks. Hey, my first intro-comment link! Whoop.


Dec 15 - Scams

Low energy...

Turns out the phone calls I have been getting are from an 'Imperial Cruise Lines' ... important to note the name, as they are NOT the same company as 'Imperial Cruise LINE' - the distinction will be important later. Seems that this less-than-reputable bunch( nee scammers )use autodialers to call numbers and so determine the times of day when people there pick up. They then pass that info on to call center staff to peruse, based on data from their 'automated survey' call, which basically tells them if the mark is likely to have money to spend( nee be bilked of )on a vacation cruise. Apparently lots of people have been getting these types of calls, which often result in large sums vanishing from one's credit cards, if you are foolish enough to give such info away. Given that these scammers are taking full advantage of internet-based IP phones, which are difficult to trace and have no CallerID, it makes the National Do Not Call Lists rather impotent. Law enforcement is slow to follow up on complaints, which then means that the numbers that DO show up are already out of service a few weeks later. Reading some of the information that former employees talk about is eye-opening as well, and makes me wonder HOW this kind of company can stay in business legally? The world is not what it once was.

I watched Transformers in the evening, which was in the now-defunct HD-DVD format. Say what you will, I stick by my guns that it IS the better format - Blu-Ray has far fewer features, but had the backing of all the major studios, likely because it was cheaper to produce. Ah well. Transformers looked amazing on the HDTV, as the detail of the robots was mind-boggling. Too bad the video game stank... they should take a page from Good Old Games, which is a company dedicated to bringing the best of the older video games into today's age, making them run under Vista and the like. Oddworld!!

Dec 16 - Concepts and Movies

With the expression "Work is good for what ails ya" in mind, I set out today, my second day off, to make myself feel a little better... by organizing my place. I went through all my books, papers and sundry stuff to comb out all that which was no longer relevant to my life, which was surprisingly little. The papers took the longest, as old bills and other whatnot had to be examined to see if they were still worth keeping - the papers, not the bills. I progressed steadily through the day, cleaning, dusting, moving, tossing and the rest, until by dinnertime I was satisfied - my place finally looked like I wanted it to. All the extra was tossed or tucked away, I'd found a few things I thought lost, and in general I liked the neatness... the old saw of 'settled surroundings, settled mind' was definitely at work here.

I Stumbled across a website that is a mecca for people posting concept art; one fellow actually had his art go from concept to full-sized spaceship, built for a theme park in Germany, in only three months! Sing the praises!

Speaking of concepts, while waiting for Watchmen to come out, I came across a trailer for X-Men: Origins - Wolverine, with Hugh Jackman reprising his successful clawful role as the badass mutant. Nice that Wolvey keeps gaining popularity as the years go by.

I finished off the evening watching Iron Man, which was a great comic book movie. All the elements were there: cool superhero suit, lots of action, and even a redheaded Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts, assistant to Robert Downey Jr's Tony Stark. I've always liked Iron Man, though regrettably I've not kept any of the few issues I had from years ago. Apparently the newer issues have incredible writing in them, so I'll have to try and scout eBay for a few issues in the new year. Cool suit, did I mention that?

Dec 17 - What is that white stuff?

It snowed all day today, which in itself is nothing I am not used to from decades in Niagara. However, there is not even a tenth as snow removal or salting equipment here in Victoria, due to the much milder temperatures. Which means that when it keeps on snowing with low temperatures, things literally pile up faster than can be dealt with.

Tonight was a case in point. After I finished work in a flurry( hah! )of activity, I raced to the nearby bus stop, thinking I was a few minutes early for the scheduled bus. So I waited confidently, snugly tucked into my winter gear. And waited. And waited. After a half-hour, I was rather put out, moreso as I had spotted a bus in the far distance pulled over with its hazard lights on. After trying to call the bus schedule number futilely, it being busy constantly, I trekked over to the bus in the distance. The driver told me that due to the slippery roads, ALL transit buses had been told to wait until the roads were re-evaluated and the salters/sanders had had a chance to get around the main routes. So he took my ticket, gave me a transfer slip and I waited with a few others another ten minutes until we were finally given the go-ahead to proceed. I then waited with a large crowd downtown in the main foyer to Chapters, keeping warm for another hour almost until the bus I needed straggled in. Annoyingly, the driver told everyone that by that point, the ride was free due to the delay... but I had already paid on the other bus. Ah well, at least it got me most of the way home... albeit two hours late. Which was about the average wait for a cab that night, due to the virtual shutdown of transit. Thanks, snowfall.

Dec 18 - Bacon and Wall-E

A little late now to order in time for Christmas, but as a companion to my earlier blog entry I present: bacon ornaments! That's right... now you can hang your fave food on your tree for the holidays! And, in case you didn't already know about it, ILoveBacon.com is up and running for all your bacon needs!

Speaking of greasy, I made it home from work in the usual half hour, as the buses were running on time today, for a wonder. Seems it just takes them a day to get used to snowfall, which according to the locals has not been this heavy since the Blizzard of 1996, the year when Victoria held the record for all of Canada for the most snow accumulation in 24 hours... ouch. Not as much snow as the White Death, when Niagara and Western New York State got buried in snow in 1977. The sledding was good that year. Shades of The Day After Tomorrow, really, but without the bad acting. Or the wolves.

I headed over to my neighbour's place, in the next apartment on the same floor, for dinner and a movie. This was the first movie night we'd had since springtime earlier in the year, so I was excited... my social calendar here in Victoria has had few outings of this type at all, to my regret. We watched Wall-E, the Pixar CG-animated movie... it was fantastic! The graphics, as expected, were top-notch, and I was impressed that the producers did not try to go for a 'true-human' look as Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within did( mostly successfully )back in 2001. What impressed me the most though was the personality that the animators managed to imbue into the robotic characters, mainly done without dialogue. Watching their antics on the screen, I was reminded of the silent pictures of the early film era, where gesture, expression and body language had to convey the totality of expression in the absence of words. Charlie Chaplin, we miss you.

Dec 19 - Fuzzy Friday

Listening to the radio at work always helps the day go faster, or at least not suck as much. The station I have tuned in here, 100.3 'The Q' seems tailor-made to my tastes: lots of oldies, classic rock and the odd indie song tossed in, without any rap, dance, techno, metal or other related... stuff. I am almost always pleased with their selections, even the esoteric ones I've never heard of - rare is the time when I flick off the radio in the back when I can't stand the choice of song. So that's a good thing here.

After a long day, I was feeling rather woozy - dizzy even, at points. I've been taking digestive enzymes on my doctor's recommendation, to see if they might assist with bringing my plumbing back to normal... but no results as yet. So, I packed my bags and spent the night visiting my parents, who put me up in their spare room. I slept very well, and our cat Tristan was delighted to see me for such a long stretch, so much so that he barely left my side all evening. I didn't eat much, as usual, apart from a slice of pizza and a buttered bun - I have been using liquid meal replacements at work for the last few weeks, as they avoid the nausea that has inevitably followed eating solid food. That cannot continue forever though, as I need to find the reason for this problem and not just continue to treat the symptoms.

Dec 20 - Decision

I woke up to the toot of a train horn somewhat after seven AM, just one of the lovely things that living in Esquimalt forces you to get used to. At least the stench of diesel over the entire Inner Harbour is much less on the weekend, as there are fewer commuter flights leaving. Also, this is the off-season for tour buses, who show up three or four at a time during the summer to loudly proclaim over the views.

But, enough about that. I was still feeling burned out, as I have been for the last many weeks, due to whatever is causing my illness. Part of the symptoms is that I do not feel hunger, even after not eating for 12 hours or longer - I just don't. So I have to remind myself to eat, and watch that I don't eat too much at once... I've taken to having four or five smaller meals a day, as that seems to work around the nausea I get an hour after a regular-sized meal. Taking digestive enzymes helps, and I am still able to function fairly normally, despite a few dizzy or nauseous episodes a day, which only happen after a meal... for the most part. So that's only three times a day, really, when you think about it. Every day.

Which is why today I had to make a choice: to continue on my own, or make plans for my near future.

Plans, you say? Yes. I have to consider that I will not quickly figure out what is going on internally with my plumbing, nor that my doctor will find a simple solution - he hasn't yet, and I am going to be getting a few more specialist's opinions in the new year. So with that in mind, I have decided to hedge my bets in case I am unable to continue working or functioning on my own in the coming year.

Discussing things with my parents for the last few months, we have co-ordinated our searches for an alternate residence, and today we went to see a house in Langford that hit all the checkboxes. It is about a fifteen minute drive from Victoria, on a good day, is located on a lake with a view, close to many amenities and has plenty of room for everyone and our 'stuff' too.

We loved it, and immediately sent off an email to the owner that we would take it.

Which meant that I also contacted my own landlord and gave notice today, which broke my heart... because I love my current apartment. I've rhapsodized about it many times in my blog, so let me just say this: as I look around while composing today's entry, I am again struck by how comfortable and perfectly suited this place is to me, in so many ways: the size, the location, the neighbours, the way the sun lights the whole place all day long... that I can write in peace here, with my independence and all that I need at hand. It is everything I wanted in a place of my own.

Now I have to leave it, by my own choice albeit forced by circumstance. Which means that I will be moved out of this location by Feb 1st, 2009. Bitter is that taste, to have found a place that is all that you wanted and be forced to leave it by your body's betrayal. Bitter, bitter a taste indeed.

Dec 21 - Sunday Slush

The splash effect of slush on semi-cleared roads should not be understated, especially where temperatures have not solidly frozen roadside accumulations. I watched several people eat flying slush as cars zoomed past on the somewhat cleared main roads today, waiting for the bus on Fairfield Rd. I passed quite a few folks out on their Sunday morning to clear their walks; there must have been easily a dozen people flailing away with shovels, not to mention those who had already cleared their walks and the sidewalks in front of their homes too. I am sure that many an enterprising youngster will make a good few dollars today with no more than a sturdy shovel and a penchant for ringing doorbells all day.

Which made for a slow day at work. I've brought in a humidifier, as the air here hovers around 35%( or less )humidity, which is uncomfortable to work in. Cracked skin on one's hands and the occasional nosebleed are things I try to avoid adding to my list of winter enjoyments, so the added moisture, although not substantial, helps to keep these minor scourges at bay during my work day. Not to mention that the lobby is at least 15-20 degrees cooler than the heavy-glass-insulated teller area, so whenever the heating system comes on, cold air is displaced from the lobby and blasts into the teller zone... can you say, "My hands are frozen?" I knew that you could. Now thaw 'em out and count change.

I watched the DVD extras for Iron Man after getting home from work - amazingly easy on a Sunday night, as the bus goes directly from my branch to the stop outside my front door. Maybe a hundred steps total from work to home... and I won't be doing that ever again, in little more than a month. Though I will likely still be working every Sunday... I'm tempted to get religion, just for the day off.

Ahem. DVD extras... there are a LOT of them with Iron Man, all top-notch and informative. Must be the hundreds of geeks involved in the creative process... they know what sorts of things they would like to see on these things. Great gobs of CGI graphics, diagrams and interviews - when I was finished watching I felt like I had been on the crew for most of the production. I'll have to pick this one up.


And on to the Comments... if any. Will there be spiders?

Moving Day - Nov. 1st 2007

Well, here it is, the day I leave Niagara. Who knew it would arrive so quickly?


November 1st, 2007

Up early( of course )to go get the rental car and finish running around on various errands.

We had packed up our cat Tristan in his carrier and had him in the car with me, which turned out not to be a good idea. The vet had recommended that we use a herbal mixture to keep him calm instead of a sedative, so we'd been dosing him for about a week now in small amounts. Today was the larger dose, given him early so that he'd doze through the trip to B.C.

No such luck though. Somehow, he knew something was up, and started to really panic - so much so that he lost control of his bodily functions... in the carrier, which was in the rental car. Messy. At least we had fasted him the last 12 hours, so it was mostly solids... *sigh*

So, at 11:30am, we had to go BACK to the condo and clean Tristan up, as well as the carrier and the rental car. Thankfully, all three responded well to the cleaning supplies we had left for the new occupants of the place, and my parents were fairly efficient at this sort of thing from years of experience with both pets and small children years ago.

Once Tristan was tidy, we put him on a leash and sat him in my mother's arms so he could look out the window( and remain calmer )while we rushed to the vets: time for a sedative, with no choice in the matter. Once that was done, Tristan calmed down immediately with no harmful effects; he dozed in the carrier placidly for the rest of the trip, eliciting many a comment from people about that 'adorable cat' sleeping in the carrier.

We hit the road running at 12pm, taking the Q.E.W. straight to the Hamilton office of Enterprise Rental cars and transferring our luggage to a local taxi-van called for when we arrived. By renting the car just to take to Hamilton, and taking a taxi from there to the Hamilton International Airport, we saved almost $200.00 as compared to the other alternative, an 'exclusive' limo ride from Niagara Airbus; apparently they don't offer shuttle service to H.I., just Toronto or Buffalo. Jerks... but I still managed to save a TON of money despite them. Which is good, considering that for what this move cost, I could have bought a good used car twice over...

With check-in at H.I. done, we had a little time to relax, so we had lunch in the form of sandwiches from the newly-opened Tim Horton's in the main lobby / waiting area. Tristan was still dozing contentedly in his carrier; we kept checking him the whole trip to ensure he was okay. Oh, and it was also nice to find out that our massively-packed bags were under-weight, so no extra fees for additional pounds of passenger allowance for the flight - a nice bonus.

We boarded the flight on time, in blustery conditions that we were glad to leave behind. Taking off a little after 4pm EST, we soared above the cloud ceiling, revealing a majestic vista I still recall: a vast rolling plateau of white clouds, stretching from horizon to horizon, looking for all the world as though we were flying above a gigantic glacier of white ice. It was stunning, with the bright sun striking shadows among the clefts of the clouds; not a break to see anywhere in the expanse.

We all watched the new movie 'Ratatouille' and enjoyed it immensely, as it was far less sappy-feel-good than I had expected. The animation was excellent, as was the comic timing.

Coming in to land at the Calgary Airport, the view was again incredible. The vast sprawl of the city suburbs were dotted with thousands of tiny dark pine trees, giving the whole vista an odd look resembling someone who hadn't shaved in a few days, all stubbly in the evening light. But the real winner was the view of the mountains to the west: they floated in the distance, a line of ethereal monsters in the twilight, their feet in shadow and their tops lit like white ghosts by the setting sun behind them. Truly amazing, and impossible to get a picture of from an airplane.

After a brief layover in Calgary, barely enough time to grab a Subway 6" sub, we were off again. Fortunately, this was only a little over an hour's flight time, which was good... as we were blessed with a screaming child three rows up, the whole way. Did I mention he kept repeating the same phrase, in another language, over and over? Lovely... an hour's worth of that, and still the tyke didn't manage to tire himself out. At least this wasn't an international haul...

Did I mention that our pilot's name was Walker? MadMax3 fans, you'll get the reference... :)

Landing in Victoria was a relief, to get away from that noise. Too bad the view from the windows was simply of lights in the darkness; I would have liked to see my new home from the air, but perhaps another time I will get the chance. We picked up the rental car and were off from the airport in a flash, though some interesting signage caused us to loop back once before we got the hang of directions.

We traveled south along the main route, the PatBay Highway, which is a lovely 4-lane divided highway that heads straight into Victoria itself. It dips and curves through the landscape, which from what I could see in the dark was still quite rocky and heavily forested. There was not a lot of heavy development, just the usual highway offshoots, though again one difference was that the highway had quite a few stoplights on it, with warning flashers about 100 meters ahead to warn traffic to slow down. The speed limit was 90kph, posted, and surprisingly most traffic kept to that, or under - shocking to my Ontario driving senses. Well-behaved drivers on highways would be something the rest of the country could learn to imitate, in my opinion.

We arrived here just after 7pm PDT. The building was easy to find, though the entrance to the parking garage was a little cramped, as was the parking space( such are the way of things ). It is located near Beacon Hill Park, quite a sizable place in the heart of downtown Victoria. Getting into the condo itself was easy, as it is on the next floor up and there is an elevator too. Looking at the place, it will be nice enough to stay in for the next few months: it has a large kitchen, laundry, two bathrooms( both with shower tubs )and two large bedrooms.

Of course, we had to unpack after such an exhausting trip... family tradition. We all went to bed well after midnight, including Tristan, who lounged out of his carrier and settled in without a fuss in the new place, which we were glad to see. The less fuss, the better; he was still drowsy but was quite happy, as he kept asking for attention as we unpacked, again a good sign of no-stress.

I was very tired, but happy to have finally arrived. Hopefully the rest of our gear would be here within a week, so we could gather some of the essentials from it and begin our search for separate accommodations in Victoria; both my parents and I would each need a 2-bedroom place with laundry, hopefully within walking / fast bus-ride distance of the downtown area.

Now, to sleep in my new hometown, and to dream of the future.