Heat, Hummingbirds and Humdrum

This was a tiring week, but the blog was busy: we passed 2000 hits on June 8th! Updated the blog Monday - nice to have that as a day off.

June 8 - Wokking Work

Some good news today while I was at work: my dad called to say that he had been instantly hired by an airport shuttle service when they interviewed him today, full time! Wonderful, especially in light of the fact that the current company he's been working for has been light on work, as well as common sense - this will be a welcome change for him in terms of stability and I hope, less stress.

To celebrate after work, we went to the Wok Box which was only a few doors down from where I work in the Millstream Plaza. We had the Chinese Feast, whose portions were very generous - so much so that we ended up taking home more than we had eaten! I especially enjoyed the almond chicken, which was just the right level of spicy. I really enjoyed the meal, as did my parents, and I will definitely be back - especially as it is so conveniently only steps away from my workplace!

The future may have more Chinese in it too: news has arrived that Blade Runner is getting a new web series, called Purefold. While original director Ridley Scott won't be taking a personal hand in it, he IS allowing the series to come out under the Creative Commons license, which I believe is a first for any A-list Hollywood director - a good sign that there may be more good things to come.

I hope that in the future, they still have Bacon In A Can. I just can't see myself eating Instant Bacon... unless it's from a Trek-style replicator, then I might just.

June 9 - Heat Kills

We had a nasty example of how deadly the heat can be outside today on the deck. While I was outside, sitting in the shade, a calliope hummingbird flew under the overhead skylights and became trapped, unable to find its way out. In the time it took for me to race to grab a nearby stepstool and reach up to rescue it( less than 30 seconds )the poor thing expired from the heat under the glass. It was heartbreaking, and the only consolation was that I was able to have a close look at the jewel-like feathers of the tiny bird, scintillating emerald-green and shimmering browns. Strangely, we've also had a Great Blue Heron take a nap on the dock today - so that's Canada's largest bird AND its smallest bird, both in our backyard on the same day... good thing the heron didn't want to hop onto the deck.

Also hot: For a while now, I've been following the news about Microsoft's Surface technology - basically, a touch-sensitive screen the size of a coffee table that has been touted as the Next Big Thing in personal computing. Well, some people don't or won't believe the hype... to the point where they've taken one of Microsoft's Surface promo videos and done their own version of it - hilarious, and it has some good points about putting the cart before the horse. I myself derided laptops for years as expensive alternatives to the much more configurable home PC... but now that laptops are mainstream, netbooks are the cutting edge and home PC's can be had for less than $400.00 if you assemble your own, I have to give a nod to market pressure and the march of mass production. My wallet thanks you.

Relaxation was the key today: I just don't have the energy to do much activity-wise. My right leg( thigh, point of fact )has been intermittently numb for the last week. I'm going to make sure to ask the doc about it at my upcoming appointment, to ensure it's not related in any way to the operation. It's a weird sensation - like it's asleep, but I still have full functionality yet when I poke it with a pen, it's not 'fully' sensitive. *sigh* Just one more thing to add to my daily List of Oddities.

June 10 - Bender Rides Again!

Great news today - Comedy Central announced that it has approved production of 26 new episodes of Futurama, after amazing sales of the DVD series that was canceled in 2003. The new episodes will air in 2010 - I can hardly wait!

It was Oven Time at work today; the guy from the restoration services company was here in the morning( before my shift )and discovered the walls were not close to being dry... thanks to his forgetting to turn OFF the A/C. So not only did he do that, he cranked up the heat - to the point where I worked the entire shift with the branch interior at over 90 degrees. Can you say: sauna? Thankfully, like a sauna it was a dry heat... but man, that really sapped my energy and concentration. I was glad that it was a slow day( as many have been of late, unfortunately )so that I didn't have to move too quickly.

I ended up walking home today for the first time, due to various reasons - one of which is that neither the BC Transit buses nor Langford Trolley run in-town after around 6pm. Which means that I'll likely just be biking to and from work, like I had figured on doing anyway for the summer - which is free, as well as far more convenient than waiting around for transit. Though I like the idea of the trolley, it only seems practical for travel on my days off - since it's usually empty when I see it drive by, most people must think it's easier to get around by car.

June 11 - Lifestyle Thoughts

Car washes: I loved those as a kid! I remember going through them, listening to the tumbling roar of the water pounding against the glass and seeing the rotary brushes shimmy along the windows as the car inched through the car wash. It was cheap entertainment to be sure, but I just loved it - like being in the bowels of a monster only to emerge into sunshine and drying trails of water on the other side. Nowadays, car washes are touchless, so the brushes are almost all gone. Some people just don't get it though.

One thing that's changed in my lifestyle is a lack of pub-time. Since moving out to B.C. I've spent less and less time in pubs, mainly I believe due to the fact that I simply don't know as many people here. I consulted Foodpages.ca and came up with a list of local eateries, which was topped by the Country Rose Pub - a straight run a few km away.

Moving out to Langford has again illustrated the point most succinctly: while I DO know a fair number of people here, I don't spend much time with them on a regular basis. In point of fact, I talk to some of my online friends far more often than I do those here on Vancouver Island. Still, we do keep in contact, though again it's not like I'm used to - usually an email, text or call is just a prelude to meeting at Steebs or The Kilt.

I miss that.

June 12 - Uphill Accents

I watched an episode of BSG this morning "The Hand of God" which had some terrific CGI battle sequences in it. Afterwards, on a whim, I searched for some technical specs on things Galactica, and came up with a few surprising sites - Wolf's Shipyard also has B5 images, as does Starship Schematics. Again, I really like cut-away designs of SF ships, like this one of the Enterprise-D, though that particular one is signed by the artists - a little pricer than what I paid for mine. I wonder what it would cost to have Patrick Stewart autograph mine...?

Which reminds me: I love English accents, and apparently the rest of the world does too - anything sounds cool if it's said in an English Accent. I'll even take a Kiwi accent in an English one isn't available - you can even train yourself online to speak with an English Accent. How's that for making use of the internet?

Riding home from work was manageable; I walked the bike uphill for about 1/2 a km, past FutureShop, Staples and Costco, until I reach the crest and can coast down again into a nice backwoods community area away from all the traffic. It's really amazing to go from super-urban shopping zone to windy-road deep-forest semi-suburb in the space of just a few minutes, by bike no less. A quick trip across the highway( imagine traffic lights on the QEW, no overpasses! )and then it's a level jaunt for five minutes to get home through a quiet neighbourhood. Very relaxing, and eventually I'll be a able to cycle up those hills again.

June 13 - Transforming Business

Off in the morning to do some meet-and-greet in Victoria - talking to local businesses to let them know what services my work offers. I handed out a fair number of my own business cards, and chatted up a few folks; all in all, I think it was a successful day, if somewhat tiring to trek around in casual business attire. No way I was going to overdo it in a suit on a sunny Saturday!

When I got home, I tuned into the Transformers Marathon on Teletoon Retro, broadcasting 24 hours of G1-goodness - 48 episodes total. I had it on all day as I worked on various things, napped, and generally tried to relax in between doing minor things around the house. No yardwork yet though - I just don't feel up to it, and I don't have any mulch left to spread over the front areas anyway.

The second Transformers movie arrives on June 24th( inspiringly entitled Transformers2: Revenge of the Fallen )which I am looking forward to, especially as it again stars Megan Fox. Though from this collection of her quotes, she may be best known as just a pretty face, considering what she manages to get quoted for. Then again, most of the fanboys probably don't care if she has the power of speech anyway...

From old to new: I've had my Xbox360 for 1.5 years now, and I'm fairly pleased with it, especially as I only now just picked up a Chatpad for it( on sale this week at F.Schlock )which will make typing msgs SO much easier. Yet despite the Xbox360 having built-in voice chat, people seem to prefer text - weird. Which got me to thinking about upcoming video game consoles... and led me to stumble across this 'promo' video for the PS9 - 7 generations in the future; very cool concept.

June 14 - Sunday Sorting

Most of today was spent digging through cupboards and storage boxes to find, rearrange and toss things as necessary. Lots of little bits, pieces of tech and forgotten toy parts were spread all over as I sorted through things while watching episodes of Robotech Remastered: The Macross Saga - which held up fairly well to my memories of it. The updated DVD release has cleaned-up video and remastered( hence the name )5.1 audio, which sounds great. There are still a few hiccups with it, and the animation looks dated compared to today's Flash-based masterpieces( Stoked, people - go watch it June 25th on Teletoon! )but it's all about nostalgia, really.

And what the hell? io9.com also posted this nugget of flaming fecal fluff: a writer for Torchwood complaining that Babylon 5 has ruined SF by introducing continuous story arcs? How the heck can you say that going from the idea of completely unlinked one-shot episodes to a story arc that rewards viewers who tune in every week is a bad thing??? I wonder if JMS knows about this...

I attended a meeting near my workplace tonight, with about a dozen of the tenants of the complex who all want to share ideas on how to improve business at the plaza. We tossed ideas around for a few hours, all in a positive light - I came away from the meeting quite heartened that others in the plaza are committed to bringing in business through co-operation with their neighbours. Time well spent, with a very friendly and intelligent bunch of workplace neighbours.


Today, June 15th, also marks the beginning of the 10 Days of Deals at Dell.ca, something they do only a few times a year. For those of you with some spare cash and a hankering for tech at a discount, you may want to keep an eye on their site. As for me, I'm going to wait until next year... my stuff's too new, though that 42" Sanyo plasma TV for $649.00 really makes me itch.

Stories, Swedes and Snow

Well, l'm not sure what to make of Brian hijacking my blog... my thoughts are akin to watching a chihuahua try to chew my leg off: good luck, little nipper. Though it'd be cute to watch him try, with those beady little eyes and that yappy noise he makes. Oh, the chihuahua, not Brian. Really.

Dec 8 - Butchart and Goldstream

Off today, but busy nonetheless; left in the late AM to travel north to Goldstream park. The stench of dead salmon was still strong despite the cool air; you could smell it from the road just as the trees began to close in from the park proper. But I was not there to see the dead dish, no - I was there to see eagles. Not just ANY eagles either: bald eagles. Yes, you heard correctly... this is the time of year when the bald eagles flock to cleanup duty, when the streams disgorge their cargo of dead fish into the estuaries and the eagles feast.

We ended up at the far end of Goldstream park, which was mercifully free of crowds, being a weekday and after the Salmon Run died off weeks ago... literally. The weather was great, illuminating the trees and their mossy coverings. We stood outside the Nature Lodge and watched at least a dozen bald eagles, both the parents and the young, in trees across the expanse of the 'Quiet Zone' which is an area where humans are forbidden to trespass or make noise - this has brought larger numbers of eagles back every year for years since its institution at this end of the park. Once I knew what to look for, the bald eagles were easy to spot( hi Brian! )as their heads looked like white golf balls against the green trees. Really - they looked just like that. Only, well, eagle-ish. Having a pair of good binoculars helped bring things close, and they were amazing to watch - there are live cameras accessible through this site here, which has cams for other wildlife parks in the area too.

On to lunch at the Waddling Dog, a bar with a great name, good food and mediocre service. Apparently, the bar is named after a mascot dachshund, whose bigger-than-life-sized image stands ready by the far entrance. They're up to John the 6th apparently, who spends most of his time sleeping under the counter by the main entrance - we didn't see him, as we arrived around 2pm and didn't want to bother the sodden crowd gathered around the sports scores at the main bar. The food was good, in decent portions, but the whole time we were given the feeling that the waitress would rather be anywhere else... she was easily the most inattentive and least personable waitress we've had in years. Not rude... just indifferent in large doses. Ah well... that's what tips are for, or in this case, lacking thereof.

Finally, we got to Butchart Gardens, arriving in time for me to actually get some pictures in daylight this time. Now that the winter is here, the flowers are in short supply, but there is still a lot of green everywhere; the lawns are full and lush despite the low temperatures, which surprised me. We took a walk through once while the daylight was waning, then set out again more slowly to capture the Christmas lights in all their glory - they go all-out here, with tens of thousands of lights strung all throughout the Gardens. They had the Twelve Days of Christmas done to the nines at various points in the park, like the Five Golden Rings here and here, seen after dark. You can see some other folk's pictures here, along with the IEOA Lighted Truck Parade that took place last week, which I missed due to work - again. Ah well... they have it every year, so I'll see it eventually.

Dec 9 - Frankly G33k Decorating

I spent a good part of the day moving my Blue Frankenstein from one side of my apartment to the other, which involved a lot of wire untangling and general cursing. It really made the place look bigger and less cluttered though, now that it is ensconced next to my couch and no longer a hulking, glowing focal point for the room. Quieter too, with fan noise being muffled by proximity to the fabric and not stuck out in the open to reflect off surfaces, like hardwood floors. A technical challenge though, to get the HDMI signal across the room to the TV, which a long cable solved... sort of. Once I had everything hooked up and turned it on, the video flickered, went red, and then went to static. A problem...

Which is the kind of thing I enjoy solving. After some head-scratching and cursing, I surmised that the signal being output by my video card simply wasn't strong enough to wend its way through twenty-five feet of cable and arrive all fresh and happy at the TV... hence the odd colour-then-static failure. So I grabbed a few extra cables and ran the signal through a handy HDMI splitter I'd purchased for other reasons... lo and behold: a perfectly strong boosted signal. Stick THAT in your tech support, ATI! I am bitter about ATI's total inability to solve my antiquated All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro video card issues, despite several years of emails... but since Microsoft can't solve my Xbox360 HDMI issues either, I have to make do with what I come up with.

Dec 10 - Swedish Shelves

After moving things around yesterday, I got down to the business of bookshelf-building today, as the final shelf has sat in a box in my bedroom for almost 11 months now awaiting space to be cleared. It took but an hour to put things together and set it up under my TV next to the fireplace, and I must say the room has a completed look to it now that the pile of PC cables and gear never gave it. Perhaps this is what things are moving towards: hiding the home computer out of sight so that only the interface, like wireless keyboards and a TV display, are visible. Aside from the PC modder community, I think this is how things will be for most folk, as nobody likes to see this taking up space in their living room or den. What with having a laptop now, the old PC has taken a back seat, mainly existing to heat my place in the winter while processing the latest BOINC files, as well as gather my email and serve media to the TV... not a bad life, as retired computers go; things could be much worse. Especially since in the ten years since this article on computer recycling was published, not much has changed - the only province in Canada to charge an environmental levy on electronic purchases is B.C. - how ironic! I love the fact that you can go to this RCBC website and look up available recycling methods for almost any product... lack of knowledge often results in things being landfilled that could otherwise be recycled.

On a completely unrelated note, the Swedish Chef has been on my mind of late. Nothing got me laughing faster while watching TV than an episode of The Muppets with the Chef on it. The way things always progressed from simple cooking to bizarre disaster was always creative and uproariously funny as well as being a new twist every time, guest stars aside. As befits a scion of St. Catharines, one of my favourite clips is the Chef showing us how to make a donut.

There is even a Swedish Chef Translator, which apparently has been around in one form or another for over a decade... who knew? Go ahead, use the Borkifier and see what happens!

Then there is the related Theory of Swedish Meatballs...

Dec 11 - Short Stories

Does anyone remember "The Storyteller" ? It was a great series designed to present fairy tales to modern audiences, created by who else but Jim Henson. It starred John Hurt, and was a great show to curl up in front of the fire with, so to speak. Other shows along the same lines were Amazing Stories, The Twilight Zone and the live-action show Dinosaurs, again by Brian Henson.

My DVD copy of the Robotech Protoculture Collection arrived from Amazon.ca today, a used copy that was mailed to me all the way from England. Considering that a new copy is currently running around $150.00 CAN plus shipping, I got quite a sweet deal. Now I can erase all 80 or so episodes I recorded on my DVR last spring, which will clear a LOT of space, I tell you. Though since I don't use it to record much TV of late, the extra space isn't really necessary... again with the irony.

Dec 12 - Silly people, locks are for hicks!

I thought today would start out horribly, as I had no sooner arrived at work and locked the door behind me than Crazy Lady showed up wanting in. A too-long mime session later, she got the point that no, we were NOT open, that she could come back at 11am, and that the hours posted on the door DID actually apply to her as well as everyone else. Amazingly, she went away and only came back once to rattle the door at 10:50 am, ever so briefly, before coming back at 11:10 to act totally normal when dealing with me... not even a peep of derision for not opening the store immediately when she arrived. Perhaps she was discovering that Canada did not run to her schedule of needs, and that she might actually need to consult a bus schedule or read posted business hours once in a while?

Nah. She's crazy. That's all I have to say about today, as the rest was pretty normal.

Dec 13 - Snow. Yes, it is exciting. For some.

Late in the evening, well after I arrived home, it began to snow. Now, this is no big thing back in Niagara, but this is the first snow of the year for Victoria. For the last week, talk on the radio, among customers in the lobby, passers-by and total strangers can all be summed up with the question: "When do you think it will start snowing?" - again, it felt odd to me, but people here get excited. Not to mention silly, for a few simple cm of gently falling powder makes people cower inside their homes.

Which are not all that warm, with single-glazed windows and an almost total lack of insulation. Again I am astounded at the difference my insulation efforts have made to my apartment, as I have yet to turn on the heat despite the mercury dropping to a few notches below zero. Comfy inside? You betcha!

Here's a poem I wrote to keep up the spirits of one of my co-workers, as the heat failed in their branch today and they were wrapped up like an Eskimo in a meat locker:

Cold days should be warm, filled with happy thought,
Of hearth-warmth and the smiles it has brought.

Kettle's whistle brings cocoa in hand-warming mugs,
Curled up by the fire, stocking feet tucked in snug.

Snow flutters outside, silent piles of white,
As friends share stories on cold winter's night.

For the critical among my readers, I invite you to see this link on the world's greatest poet. The choice may surprise you. Or not. I know this poor guy would love to have been considered for the title above.

Dec 14 - Rocks Fall... no, not asteroids!

Well, the roads are covered in snow finally, but the stoic acceptance that is so Canadian meant most people simply piled on a few more layers and sauntered out into the weather. I was amused to see how some of my neighbours cleared snow from their yard: she with a shovel, he with... a garden hoe. Hoe, Hoe, Hoe, as the holiday Santas say.

Work was very quiet, and nobody bothered to come by in the last hours after the sun went down and things really started to chill. Though again some folks had different opinions on what 'cold' meant: the girl from Alberta, wearing only a blazer jacket, was used to -40C temps, and the guy from Saudi Arabia went on about how nice it was out compared to the sunstroke-inducing temps of his native country.

I was reading through an extremely funny online comic take on the Lord of The Rings saga, which looks at things as though the whole story was being played as an adventure by a group of gamers. Feel free to skip it if you've never played an RPG before, as you won't get most of the jokes. It's funny, trust me.

Erm, back to the point: one phrase mentioned in one of the comics is 'Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies.' Now, this is a phrase that any old-school RPG gamer has heard at one time or another... but nobody seems to be able to put an origin to. Along of the lines of such phrases as 'Cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey', the Rocks phrase seems to have sprung into being at the beginning of RPG lore. Funny as well too, as it is basically a cop-out, where the person running the game is tired of his player's whining and simply kills them off by saying the phrase. The look of shock on the players faces is usually worth it, but the whining almost never stops after that point. Speaking of which, did I have a point here somewhere...? Ah yes: obscure origins of phrases are endlessly fascinating. Well, to some, they are... and thanks to the 'net, there is now the Slang Dictionary - go read it before I break your crayons. Or something.

I was dead tired after work today, so much so that I kept falling asleep while typing up the blog after a late dinner. Perhaps the week just caught up to me, or I was just feeling warm and cozy curled up with the laptop tossing out heat like a hot brick - seriously, this thing can melt ice cubes in less than a minute. Which is not all that useful, but if you have nothing better to do you could look at this site, which compiles the Top 10 Time-Wasting Sites on the internet today. I wonder how much time it took to compile that list...?

Thanks to all those who sent their well-wishes during my last few weeks of illness... oh wait, nobody did. Well, thanks to those who might have thought about it, then forgot; after all, especially at this time of year, its the thought that counts. And chicken soup doesn't keep hot long during shipping... too bad.

Birthdays, Wisdom and Words

If you're reading this, it means you're too close to your screen...

July 14th - Cutting Cable

Once the cable is gone, it will be just the internet for a while, and all the shows I can find there( YouTube? )as well as what I have in my DVD collection. Interestingly, I heard today that NetFlix is partnering with Xbox Live! to offer 10,000 of their 100,000 titles initially to download and watch - coincidence perhaps? I know I will be converting most of my DVD collection to smaller PDA-sized files so I can watch shows in bits here and there, wherever I wish to. Speaking of which, I have been writing a majority of the last few months of blogs on my PDA, where and when I can, just to get a different perspective on things. Cafe's, park benches, on the grass at a park or on slow days at work - each has their own merits, though some make it harder to balance a folding keyboard( with fidgety keys ). Getting the mirror positioned is a pain though.

The short trip to and from work is always a lovely, almost tranquil time for me. I cannot( as yet )convey in words the beauty of the lanes I cycle through to and fro each day. The simple lines of low stone walls, draped by lush green vines and o'er-towered by tall trees by the dozens, in all their many shapes and varieties. The clean scent of honeysuckle bushes, of gardens bursting with colour and smell in every yard I pass. The deep serene lawns of the heritage homes, guarded by silent old trees and gardens that seem wild in their careful tending. Everywhere the eye rests easy on beauty natural, on pleasant views unmarred by stark plain lawns, too-few too-new trees or cookie-cutter homes different only in their owner's choice of siding colour. Here, there is a riot of difference, a glorious jumble of harmonious uniqueness that makes stopping to smell the roses an all-day activity... as it should be.

July 15th - Amazing Grace arrives!

Great news this morning – my good friend Katie & her husband Darcy had their first child at 3am this morning, Annabelle Grace. Fantastic news, and they’re all doing well. My best to you! *GRIN*

Being restless at night is not a good thing - I was up late for some reason, tossing and turning. Most likely some issue or another I've not been able to resolve, some stress that my subconscious hasn't dealt with. Like anyone else, I have more than enough to keep my Id busy for years - hopefully whatever it is, I'll be able to get some sleep tonight.

After work today I went to my friend Carol's place for a small BBQ, my neighbour Laurel being there too. I grilled up some 'Tofurkey Polish Sausages' which I have had before - the spices really make it tasty with a little char from the 'barby. The sun was out, it wasn't stinking hot like too many Niagara summers I can recall, and I enjoyed the quiet peace of the backyard.

Until the squirrels arrived. Well, one actually. Apparently this particular squirrel has been using Carol’s many potted plants to pot peanuts in, pretty often. The discussion turned to non-lethal and / or humorous ways to deal with the problem, from which squirt guns, zip lines and thigh-holsters-ala-Lara-Croft all came to mind. Amazing what a tree rat on the lawn can cause the conversation to shift to.

I suggested a website name, such as www.squirtthesquirrel.com to go along with The Nut-Buster Brigade… incidentally, did I mention that all the members were women? )and the evening took a delightful turn into the bizarre and punny from there. Still got it, though others don’t often get it… or wish they hadn’t.

July 16th - Happy B-day to Moi

My friends Mike, Pierre and Brian gave me a GREAT gift today. More on that in a moment.

I'm 35 today, 1/3 of the way along and 2/3's from the end of the beginning. Some folk may have a midlife crisis at this age; the old show Thirtysomething comes to mind. Myself, I wonder that 40 is now closer than is comfortable, and that I could have been doing the same job since I was 20, which would make for 20 years at the same job... Yeesh.

Who am I? What do I want?

Well, I've learned that I am comfortable looking in the mirror each morning. I've tried to separate the person from the 'career' and I find that who I am these days is someone I'm mostly proud to be - thanks to some good parenting, good friends and good luck. Though I may not be famous, or rich, or admirably good at one thing, I am what I am - that's good enough to let me sleep at night and get me out of bed in the morning. I don't feel the need to rush through life feeling as though I am late for an appointment, to acquire riches for their own sake, or to prove myself to my peers or friends. I've been down in the gutter, so to speak, been places where some will thankfully never have to go, and come through many trials to still be here to tell you about it today - all of which shaped me, tempered if you will, into a more flexible mettle.

I mentioned last week the concept of balance in life; as important is not to be brittle, to 'not sweat the small stuff'. If you hold yourself too rigid, define yourself by standards too tight and unrealistic, then you can be shattered by blows that would only injure or even just roll off other folk who know how to better deal with life's little foibles.

It depends on how you define success. I know for me, that definition is more personal and less professional. I'd rather be who I am, where I am, than be writing this in an expensive home office of a home I may own in another 25 years, with my hair grey from stress and my nights filled with personal regrets for what I had to give up to get there. No, I can look in the mirror a long, long time with a steady gaze, despite a lack of the 'essentials' that some folk expect from life: a wife, kids, a long-term career... All of which would mean nothing if I could not meet the eyes of the man in the mirror.

So… what was the gift that my Three Amigos gave me? A website. An amazing website, they have obviously worked hard on for some time… all in aid of me furthering my career in the Tech Journalism field. With this website, which I will be working on in the coming months( details to follow soon )my articles will be collected in on place, easily readable by a (hopefully) adoring public… or just the guy down the street who needs his computer fixed. What comes, will.

Dinner with my parents was a quiet affair, no singing or cakes or carryings-on. We went to the Ross Bay Pub. Where I course I had a Guinness with my meal… semi-traditional. After that, I finished watching Spiderman… love that film. Heck, the character’s always resonated with me, for that matter. Thanks Stan.

July 17th - Condo Signs

From wisdom to street signs - amazing how a little thing can throw you off. Here, there are no single posts with signs. Rather, there are TWO posts at every street-meet: one, a stop sign, on which is the secondary street name. On the opposite side of the street, the MAIN street name is on a separate sign. This system makes sense, in that drivers always know where to look for a street name, and it uses the same number of poles( two )as every stop sign doubles as a street pole.

Another day off – two in a row! Part of it was spent entertaining my parents: seems that their building is undergoing extensive renovations. Well, the owners of various units are fixing a LOT of things that they shouldn’t have to. To date, 66 owners have had to change their floors due to shoddy workmanship, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg – ironic, given that the place looks like a cruise ship. I’m glad( and so are my parents )that they didn’t buy a unit there; the old adage “Look before you leap” has proven most apt, as I am sure many of the $500,000-plus unit owners are finding out now. It always amazes me that people will pay such huge sums of money for homes or condos, with no real guarantee that what they’re buying is TOP quality… but it can LOOK like it is. I’ve searched, and there is just NO guarantee out there in Canada that what you buy IS top quality. Sure, there are New Homeowner’s Warranties in various Canadian provinces, but sometimes serious problems take a few years to show up. Even when building a home back in the mid-80’s in Port Dalhousie, we ended up being present EVERY DAY to keep an eye on the project, and usually we found at LEAST one thing wrong EVERY visit we made. Gah!

Which again makes my glad that I’m not trying to climb the ‘Property Ladder’ as is so often mentioned in the HGTV show Location, Location, Location… with my luck, the thing will be missing most of its rungs and the wood rotting. No thanks.

July 18th - Walking, Writing, Gaming

I went on a walking tour today, of the Beacon Hill / Fairfield area around where I live. I was most impressed with Beacon Hill Park, as it is a vast greenspace the majority of which has been left in its natural state. Paths wend through the tall grasses, and many rocks poke through the ground cover among the groves of trees. The park is MUCH bigger than you think, even if you’ve been past it or through it via car – the speed of a vehicle gives lie to the SIZE of the space you’re passing. It’s worth getting out and walking around, as there’s many amazing views in the park: trees, small lakes, flowerbeds galore. All of this is in full green mode, bursting with growth.

The tour took a lot longer than I’d planned; I returned home after four hours, though that included a long lunch stop at the Beagle Pub( finally! )just around the corner in Cook St. Village. The place is a LOT bigger on the inside than at first glance, but I was on the patio so that didn’t matter much. The view was great; it’s the perfect people-watching spot on a summer’s day.

I did some work on a few articles and short stories in the evening, followed by some detour-time on NWN. The latest( and final )patch has come out for the game – amazing, considering Neverwinter Nights was released way, way back in 2002. It’s unheard of for a developer to support a game 6 years after its release, but here we are today in 2008. Thanks, Bioware…. even though you’ve sold out to EA, there’s still a soft spot in my heart for you. Especially since NWN runs so well on my 'ancient' 2004-era PC.

July 19th - Robotech Returns

No rain for a few weeks now, and none for another week. The sun has been lovely, and I'd rather have blue skies than gray any day, especially as the temperatures here are in no way sweltering given the abundant sunshine.

I’ve discovered that Space will be running the entire original Robotech TV series again starting today, with four episodes every Saturday – nice! I’ll be making good use of my cheap DVD recorder to get the entire three series on disc – more TV that I can watch at a later date. Of course, that means I’ll have to keep the cable for a while longer… *sigh* Decisions, decisions.

Interestingly, I was going through my notes from TorCon2003, and I ran across a quote that made me smile( though I don’t know who said it – missed that scribble I guess ). It says “Punsters and smartasses can quickly link diverse subjects or topics with humorous results” – exactly how I’ve always felt about puns. Despite a common misconception that “Puns are the lowest form of humour” it’s NOT easy to pun – you have to be quick of wit, familiar with a vast range of topics, and be able to pick through all that knowledge to snap a pun together in a few seconds to make a timely and humorous line. *sigh* Unappreciated in my own time… at least there's a Practical Guide to Puns available now I can browse through for solace. Apparently the Brits appreciate punsters, moreso than any other country...

July 20 - The Week Winds Down

A Sunday off - lovely! I spent part of the day outside to enjoy just relaxing, but that was in the morning. Turning on my Xbox360, I discovered that ALL the guys were online today! We flicked a few msgs around, and ended up gaming until 5pm on COD4. It was great; we haven’t done that for months and months, though towards the end I started to lose my edge… of course.

Somehow I developed a headache( well, hours of twitchy-eyed gameplay may have done it )so I took a break from the TV to rest my brain for a few hours with some housework – gah. After dinner I finished off a pair of articles for Cyberwalker.com, then updated the blog. All of this with the sun peering in around the sides of the blinds in my living room – not helping the headache. I think I’ll get a curtain set up this week, as every evening it’s the same story with me sitting on the couch, trying to dodge glaring ribbons of sunbeam while using the computer or the TV.

Still, it’s sunshine – glorious sun, not drab rain or grey winter skies. I’ll wear sunglasses. *grin*

Until next week, thanks for tuning in! I hope you enjoy all the links I plug into this blog - they're there to enhance your reading experience, to broaden the context of the things I mention here every week. So click on a few...!