Dating, Dancing and Duty

Another week, another delayed blog update; Monday was a wash, and you can find out why in next week's blog as to the reason for this week's delay.

Nov 24 - The Right Words

Last year at this time I was fighting off a cold, as well as trying to settle into the New Ways of Doing Things here at MMart in BC. The combination was not fun, I can assure you, though I am happy that this year I seem to be cold-free( so far ).

On the note of Doing Things The Right Way, searching that phrase on Google turned up a lot of irrelevant results - moreso than usual. A lot of Right-Wing political sites as well as etiquette hits dominated the results - a far cry from searching for "French Military Victories" as I have mentioned before.

I learned a little bit more about the book industry today, after perusing some of the various industry magazines I have been collecting over the years. Apparently the 'average' novel size on today's market ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 words, which is great news, as it puts my own Novel Project within my grasp - my blog accounts for almost as many words per year as a novel, so my practice with that will bear fruit in creating a novel... in that I have to keep at it, week to week, and write a decent amount of copy so I can trim it down viciously and start building it back up again.

Which is exciting. :-)

Nov 25 - Demise of Dating

Life is full of odd coincidences. Take for example, dating sites. I have tried various sites on and off over the years, with no real results save for their taking my membership money while danging the carrot of the Ultimate Relationship Match in front of the salivating singles crowd.

What I find amusing is that twice now, on the very day I canceled my memberships at one of these sites, people have contacted me... damned odd, as it might be months in between messages or matches. What is the old saying? Once is happenstance, twice is coincidence, three times is enemy action... which means I might as well start updating my Nemester.com account with these people - you never know what devious forms Evil will take; what better a supposedly beautiful single on a dating site? Hmmm... I think there is a story in there somewhere, have to work on that one.

Myself, I find online dating amusing in many ways... as apparently these folks here do. Have a look, as it seems even the living impaired have their own dating website; brings new meaning to the phrase 'internet zombies' ya know. I wonder if there is a dating site for aliens living on earth...?

Nov 26 - Senior Chill

Today was Pension Day, and a markedly quiet one at that. At the larger branches, it was fairly steady from what I hear, but at my branch things dropped off noticeably once the sun went down - every other person was talking about "how cold it was" outside. Which made me smile, as temps approaching zero are chilly, but not cold to my minus-teens memories of Niagara. Which are nothing compared to the arctic blasts that sock in Ottawa at times - I remember being damned cold inside Aaron's old place during a visit far too many years ago, as I felt full force how cold our nation's capitol can be. Now that I am here, in a provincial capitol, I just smile to hear people proving how flexible their definition of cold can be.

In my own case, my Cheapo Window Insulation Kit seems to be working well, keeping temps inside my place cool but not chilly. I may not even need to turn on the heat this winter, which will be most gratifying to my wallet - having sweated during the summer heat, I think I can do with tossing on a few sweaters( oh, the irony ). I'm hoping that my preparations will see me through the cool winter months here, as I'd rather save money than sweat in comfort. If I could design an inexpensive in-home solar heat retention kit, I'm sure I'd make a killing - these Kiwis seem to have hit on a similar idea.

Nov 27 - Bored Games

One thing I miss about my high-school days is the board game. I have a few favourites still collecting dust on my shelves, ones that I could not bear to part with though I never did pick up a Monopoly board. While some people I know have( or had? )dozens of games, I enjoyed quite a few sessions of Axis & Allies despite the fact that Aaron always managed to win or come close in the time we had.

This blog has a fascinating list of old board games, going back 500 years - amazing to see what was considering fun and entertaining centuries ago. Even older games have been found in Persia dating back three thousand years... even before the time when the first d20 was invented by the Romans, according to some legends.

Decades ago, electronic board games seemed to be poised to bridge the gap between the old and new, for computers to take their place and 'enhance' the games of old. Yet after a flurry of early electronic attempts, the trend seems to have tapered off, perhaps due to the added expense and unnecessary complication of already simple game design. There is a great Classic Electronic Game List here, which has quite a few games that I wanted back in the day... but again, due to the expense, never managed to pick up.

I'm quite happy that my parents were not the type to discourage me from my gaming habits when I was younger, especially RPG's - sites like this one are obviously a patient response to the other type of parent who just "doesn't get" certain types of games their kids play. I won't get into the usual stupidity of the old D&D Debate, which thankfully seems to have died out thanks in large to the internet and now turned simply into another facet of 'g33k' cultural stigma.

Nov 28 - Black Friday

Today is Black Friday in the USA, the day after their Thanksgiving that traditionally kicks off the holiday shopping season, to use a football image - again, quite appropriate to an American holiday image.

The Canadian Guide to Black Friday Ads is always useful for those who are looking to snag some pre-Christmas deals. Not that it is a great idea to be cross-border shopping now, given the swing that the dollar has made towards favouring the US, but sometimes there are things you simply cannot get in Canada, like TiVo - the real TiVo, not the watered-down version releasted here in early 2008.

Given the current economic uncertainty, days like Black Friday can provide an inkling for retailers and economists in general as to the shape of the upcoming holiday season. According to this article from the New York Times, today showed a spike in sales as shoppers flocked to find deals... but the doom-and-gloom feeling seems to be hovering over the whole world. Not a good time for many, right now, especially given the housing slump in the US.

More in this in an upcoming blog.

Nov 29 - Birthday Belly Dancing

Out for lunch today at John's Place downtown, to celebrate my Dad's birthday. I love quirky, unique restaurants for their ambiance almost as much as for their tasty menu, and John's has both. As previously mentioned, the place is always packed - so much so that they will only take reservations for tables of four or more people! The staff are fast, friendly and efficient, moving tables fast to get folks waiting by the door seated and served. Did I mention the food? I ordered a 3-stack of pancakes, a nice simple breakfast served all-day on weekends here... and couldn't down more than two pancakes, they were so gigantic! Perfectly cooked too, not crumbly or soggy inside - just fantastic! Love this place.

Later in the evening I was out again, this time for a trek downtown. It's been a while since I was down there on a Saturday night, not that I missed all the loudly-singing folks, or the strange sights and smells... well, maybe a little, but that soon passed. A little time was spent in Chapters looking for new books in a few series I read showed that the Holiday Rush is in full swing - small swarms of book lovers buzzed around the shelves hunting for gifts and good reads. The Starbuck's upstairs wasn't crowded though; perhaps the news of the massive store closings in the States had people scared?

I had dinner with a friend at Periklis, a Greek restaurant that is MUCH larger on the inside than it appears! Much like Al's House was, it is a multi-level dimly-lit whitewashed hidden gem of the city. I stuck to my usual chicken slouvlaki and hummus, both of which were served fast and fresh - geez, I'm starting to sound like a food critic, something for which I am eminently unqualified.

The highlight of the evening was live belly dancing... better than dead, which tonight's crowd was. The dancer gave it her best though, smiling and energetic throughout the half-hour she spent under coloured lights with her bells, as well as among the tables. The poor guy whose birthday happened to be tonight got a lot of attention; guess he should have paid more mind to the 'Live Belly Dancing on Saturdays!' sign before he sat down to dinner here. Too bad I was spoiled by Moira The Black back in my SCA days; she had the energy of ten dancers and did backflips around the campfire - amazing, I've never seen the like before or since. This YouTube video is a pale imitation, but serves to illustrate my point - I think I'd pop a gut if I tried to move like those well-trained folks.

Nov 30 - Duty Calls Silently

Ah, back to the Sunday Slog... which isn't so bad of late really while waiting for the holiday rush to commence. Today was actually a steady day, indicative of things to come perhaps, but everyone who came in was quite pleasant despite their hurry to be somewhere else. Given that it was a somber, rainy weekend, I think that some folk welcome the bright, if crowded, malls all bedecked for the season.

It looks like I won't be playing Xbox online with some of my friends for the next while, as they have all jumped ship, so to speak, to the next Big Game... Call of Duty 5: World At War. While I am a fan of WWII sims as well as the COD series, I hate buying a new game every year and watching the old one sit on the shelf gathering dust. This may be the way things are, but I still miss older multiplayer games like Battlefield 1942 and its ilk. Unplayable now that I have been 'spoiled' by the new control methods and slick graphics of newer games; like trying to fit into an old short two sizes too small, it's just uncomfortable for very long.

We'll see how this coming year shapes up in terms of free time for me; I plan on being busy on various projects which I hope will start to turn a profit, in some manner, for me after some hard work. Which means time will be an issue, and as always something has to give... if that means I lose out on playing games with my friends a few weekends a month, well, that stinks. But I can't do good work when I am tired, and losing sleep to further projects is itself a losing project, so we'll see how I can manage to balance things depending on what presents itself in the near future.


No spiders in this week's blog( sorry Lucas )yet there is always hope of an arachnid making an appearance in these storied pages... we'll see. Faith, good readers, is something to cling to when something else is clinging to your face in the middle of the night...

Entertainment, Economics and Existence

This week finds me dragging a little, as some small foibles start to add up to become bothersome interludes. Still. If you didn't see last week's photo slideshow( Nov. 16th entry ) about Fall here in Victoria, go have a look.

Nov 17th - The Business of Existing

The phrase "There's never enough time in a day" seems to mean many different things to many different people, to use another well-worn cliche.

For some, getting through each day is a small miracle, a wonder that they made it through to another sunset and live in hope of seeing another sunrise, that their illness or poverty or other problems will relent for another day, giving them some peace from their personal burdens.

Choice is there too: choosing to live as you will, the decisions adding up over years to dig your path through the dark woods of the unknown future. Some choose family, marrying their first sweethearts and defining their lives by the creation and rearing of new ones, hopefully in ways that turn children into stable, wonderful people that are a credit to their parents. Others choose careers, perhaps with family as a stable influence on their never-ending climb to the top of their profession. Still more, many more, deal with life as it comes, often getting lost in the blizzard of bills, commitments, accidents, joys and sorrows that fly at us from all directions as we try to make sense of it all.

Daily life, all the little things that pass us by, large and small, are the ticks of the clock. Ever-forward, with fond glances back at what was, things remembered with a golden glow seen through the ever-more opague window of the past.

Yet what does it all mean?

Bhuddist monks spend their lives contemplating existence. Military personnel give their lives in the performance of their duty. Politicians spend their lives getting others to believe what they say, for good or ill. Doctors heal wounds physical, while lawyers bandage other wounds with words and money. All professions, all choices made, even the choice of not resisting what life pushes in front of you.

Meaning is what we bring to our lives, the interpretations we put on what we experience. As the expression goes, sometimes the glass is half-full, other times half-empty... and sometimes the glass breaks. How you deal with your own interpretations gives meaning to them, and shows your mettle to others... for some, this is important, but for other people, what other people think is the last thing they care about, sometimes for unselfish and purely personal reasons.

What you do, how you exist, how you find your place in the puzzle of life, is your business. Judging others by your own standards may help you find your place, but you should always keep in mind that your standards often cannot apply to others - they have their own path to make through the woods.

This brings me back to my own situation, far away from my other existence in Niagara. It is startlingly similar in some ways though, as I have come to realize. The loss of friends, of family, of places, of pets and jobs and things all tumble one around in life, nudging or tossing you in new directions. The same applies to new jobs, new friends, new places... the old fades and the new glides into the empty space of loss. Friends who are no longer in touch, old loves lost, old jobs remembered for the funny and not the frustration of the day to day grind. People who have changed, grown distant with time and other commitments, taking us away from each other though we try, failingly, to stay in touch.

I suppose that is what bothers me, that things cannot stay the same, no matter how much we want them to. When friends become aquiantances, then just names on cards sent at christmas or birthdays... that saddens me sometimes. To know that our choices have separated us after long years together, for good or bad, and that to see each other again is to see in their eyes the distance that those choices have put between us. A distance bridged, for a time, with shared stories and laughter, to bring with us when we must part once more to return to the separate lives that our choices have become.

Nov 18th - Sleepless Near Seattle

I was awake tonight, far into the morning, for no reason I could disern. The quiet hours ticked on, while I lay sleepless, the red glow of the clock shouting silently that I should be dreaming.

It was as through I was a spectator to my own thoughts, watching them chase each other around the room in the dark but unable to see them clearly. My subconscious mind was obviously in high gear, but my conscious mind would not just shut it out and sleep. Damned annoying, to know that there are things bothering me on some level, but that I cannot bring to the fore... and so lose sleep over them.

Plus, it didn't help that the garbage truck made its usual early arrival at 7:10am... or that an hour before that, I received yet another "Uknown Call" to my 935-Niagara line. Which is frustrating, since you'd think that with all of today's modern CID tech, you could trace most every call... but when it shows up as all 0000's there is little anyone can do, especially on a VOIP line. Apart from trying to initiate a police trace, I cannot think of anything I can do to find out who's trying to sell me shoes at 6am PST... likely from a 9am autodialer in Ontario, or somewhere out east. Since I am on the National DoNotCall list, and the jerks don't leave a msg, I am just going to have to wait and see... and lose
sleep.

Ah well. At times like these, I think about how cool it would be to have a TARDIS... here's a look at the 45 Coolest Moments in Doctor Who history.

Nov 19th - Snappy TV

A long, long day... I ended up working 10 hours, due to two last-minute customers with large, complicated transactions. I really hate the part of human nature that makes people wait until just the last moment to really screw up someone else's day - combined with the other after-closing tasks that I had to get done, I was really tired by the time I cycled home in the cool mist.

Safely at home once more, I watched S:AAB ep 'Hostile Visit' which had a moment in it. On the eve of a suicide mission, one of the characters mentions the date... November 19th, today! I guess it's a 1 in 365 chance, or similar odds, but it still snapped me to hear it. The character talked about how she had fallen in love with Autumn, all the romance of the slight chill in the air, and how she would never see it again.

I was reading some of the SG: Atlantis production blogs, which are rather interesting for the insight( if slight )they give into the world of TV production. All the more interesting for that it takes place in Vancouver, which is not as far away as it was from Niagara - day-trip distant, in fact. Again, too bad both series are now over with, although SG: Universe is in the works, showing that the franchise has life left in it yet.

Nov 20th - Um, your hat...!

A promised windstorm never materialized today, despite some nasty-looking dark clouds that swooped in from the west. The rain was heavy, on an off, in that peculiar passing way that happens here in Victoria: pours for ten minutes, then light sprinkles for the same, then repeat. Nothing like the hours-long soakings I am used to from Niagara, or even the brief deluges that soaked me in Florida. I still remember a vast, dark cloud crossing the sky when I was living in Fonthill, a black wedge that reminded me of nothing other than a Star Destroyer moving against the lighter clouds around it. Yeesh.

One of the last customers of the day provided some entertainment: a solid construction worker, he came in shaking the rain from his jacket... and trailing smoke from his hat! I waited a beat, then said with a straight face a phrase I never thought I would utter: "Umm... you know your hat is on fire, right?" He said something colourful and then reached up to swat at his right ear... dislodging a still-burning cigarette and crushing down his briefly-smouldering ballcap. Apparently he had not quite pinched-out his cigarette before tucking it behind his ear and entering the store, so it had started to burn his hat! Luckily only a few seconds had passed, and his hat was wet from the rain... otherwise, he might have had a really bad evening. I'd not want to be the first person in MMart history to lose a customer due to a flaming hat...

Nov 21st - Economics

Mulling over the current economic downturn, I was perusing the 'net for opinions, articles and general thoughts about how things are going to go for the next six months. With the downturn affecting consumer spending, retailers are holding their breath for the next thirty days to see if wallets will open.

DollarStretcher.com recently posted an article about how the market downturn is affecting people's retirement plans. The article is interesting as it looks at various life stages of investors, from people just starting out fresh from university, to middle-career folk, to those already retired and watching their plans being jumbled by the economic uncertainty. Though it is not nearly as bad as the Great Depression( what was so great about it, anyway? )... from the people I have talked to who lived through it, the gist is that if you haven't lost everything and need to stand in line for days to apply for a job, then things aren't as bad as they were back then. At least every guy wore a decent hat and shoes.

Myself, I have migrated to a low-key holiday season... the days of ripping open presents under a tree are long past for me, save reminiscing over old and faded photos. I enjoy the holidays now more for their good cheer than anything else, though that's hard to muster when shoulder-to-shoulder with crowds in a shopping mall - hence my plan to avoid most such places evenings and weekends in December. I might enjoy the holiday music piped in as well, with less exposure to it; one can only hear "Jingle Bells" so many times before it becomes grating on the ear with false cheer.

Nov 22 - Overtime Saturday

The morning dawn'd bright and clear, though clouds lurking on the horizon shook their fists at the sun as they blurred across that firey disk from time to time. Much better than a gray, flat ceiling of clouds, glowing in one spot as the sun tries to burn its way through to smile on the earth below. Yep.

I worked an extra shift today at our Colwood store, which brought back some memories of Welland Ave in Niagara, where most every store, including Welland Ave, had a Timmy's nearby. In matter of fact, Colwood has the best setup I have seen: literally steps from the door, there is a Tim Horton's, and a few steps the other way is a Wendy's. Not that I eat out all that much anymore, but it pained me, almost literally, to see that the Bacon Mushroom Melt was back at Wendy's after a two-year absence... must be that time of year again - loved that sandwich. Though my coworkers back at Office Place asked me NOT to have it for lunch when I was working, as it tended to... disagree... with my digestion. But it tasted so GOOD. *sigh* Now that I have the gallbladder issues, beef has been off the menu for some years now, so I have made do with Chicken Grills, as well as enjoying soups from Timmy's such as Potato Bacon: now THAT is a satisfying meal.

Nov 23 - Cow Bay

Took a road trip today up to Cowichan Bay to celebrate my dad's upcoming birthday, he's turning sixty one... glad to see he has been retired for ten years already, and not the other way around, to be still waiting for retirement.

It was a scenic ride, as the weather cooperated and the clouds stayed away. We traveled up the Malahat Drive, hugging the mountainsides and taking in the great views across the Saanich Inlet - there are a few scenic outlooks along the way that are simply breathtaking; mere words cannot describe the sweep of the forested hills, the deep blue of the waters or the pearlescent snow-topped glow of Mt. Baker far to the east. The smell of dead fish when we passed Goldstream park was very strong, even with the vents off... I am not sure when that will end; hopefully after Christmas.

We had lunch at the Oceanfront Grand Resort & Marina, which is renowned on the island for its amazing Sunday buffet. It reminded me in a way of the Beacon Harbourside Hotel in Jordan, which my family used to head to on occasion for their Sunday buffet... which I recall as being rather limited, but they had lots of pancakes. We used to travel all over to check out new places for Sunday buffets, even up to Hamilton a few times, though most of the restaurants we went to are long since gone - anyone remember the old Julio's on Ontario St., where Jack Astor's is now?

The evening vanished in the usual blur of catch-up, as I juggled laundry loads with cleaning, to get things done so I can enjoy my total day-off tomorrow. Supposed to be bright and sunny, albeit chilly, so I may decide to take a walk around the block or to Cook St. Village, though doing so by myself really stinks sometimes... I can think just as well at home here, where it is warmer and less likely to rain on me indoors. MUCH less likely. Not that I mind the rain, when it could be snow... *smiles*


No spiders this week; the closed windows and scattered chestnuts around the apartment seem to have put paid to their nocturnal ramblings. Which is nice, as they don't pay any portion of the rent, the sods.

Memories, Movies and Morals

Last year at this time, I was incredibly busy with settling into our temporary home over on Douglas St. So much so, that I had to catch up the blog some weeks later, based on my notes and what I could recall. How useful then, that the first thing I set up was my PC, to record such things... *grin* As it is, we broke 500 hits this week for the blog... wowsa!

Nov 10 - Spam and Urban Legends

All of us dislike spam email, and I daresay most of us dislike chain-letter emails. Myself, I find those various warnings 'passed on to your friends' to be VERY annoying, as I have often received the same warning year after year after year... about the same fictional topic, like Bill Gates giving away free money. One way to cut down on this waste of 'net bandwidth is to check with places like Snopes.com first, before forwarding something onwards... a common theme among these Urban Legend emails is to tug at emotional heartstrings or religious beliefs, like the 'Professor and the Dropped Chalk' legend. Which is why I like Snopes; it debunks a LOT of common urban legends, along the lines of the great Mythbusters show... one of the few things I miss about cable TV of late.

Bonus: What YOU can do to help Kill Spam Dead.

Nov 11 - Remember



Ninety years.

Nine decades since the end of the First World War, called the Great War, the War to End All Wars.

Yet it was followed only twenty years later by the Second World War. Did we learn anything?

Both wars saw horrific loss of life. Great evil was performed by mankind, in ways that still shock in the telling today.

The Veteran's Affairs website has simple, touching information about all the reasons we should never forget the sacrifices of the few, for the many. How the world came to be the way it is today, when ordinary men and women stood against tyrrany, often giving their lives so that we future generations could live in peace and never know the horrors of gobal war.

Here you can read about an American woman's visit to Belgium during the war, in 1916, with photos.

Perhaps this is why I am so fascinated with post-apocolyptic themes; I see the world as it could have been if history had taken a different turn... as it could have at any point in both wars, or before.

I am pleased to see television taking a less-glorious view of war in the last few decades; shows like Tour of Duty and even Space: Above and Beyond pulled no punches when it came to looking at the moral and visual horrors war brings to the human condition.

Never forget.

Nov 12 - Watch the Movies

Though it has been some time since I last saw a movie, I sill enjoy looking at what is coming out soon. Plus, there are some things that all of us can relate to when it comes to movies. For example, movie endings. Some movies end in ways that leave a lot of questions unanswered, or in a way that the viewer thinks is odd compared to the rest of the film. One place that looks at how movies SHOULD have ended is, well.. How It Should Have Ended.com - check out how Lord of the Rings and the original Star Wars should have ended.

Speaking of Star Wars... being the cultural icon that it is, for the last thirty years, much has been made about it, by many people. Some of it funny, some of it bad... some of it just silly. For your viewing pleasure: Darth Vader does the Muppet's Mahanamahana song. And here is the original too. Heck, if you remember Cops from the early Fox Network days, then you'll love... Star Wars Cops!

As for movies coming up... check out The Watchmen, based on the famous graphical novel of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons some twenty years ago. Amazing stuff... as is the new Terminator movie concept art.

Nov 13 - Who is Harlan?

I have a lot of books on the shelves here, too many according to some people - I try not to listen to those folks. Other than living in an actual library, I cannot imagine any home of mine without a few shelves full of books. I remember reading an article a few years back about illiteracy in America, written by a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman who wrote that in 9 out of 10 homes he went to, the most 'literary' thing he saw in terms of reading materials were a few scattered magazines, in all the homes he was invited into over the years. He said it amazed him how few books he saw, in homes from all walks of life, which disturbed me, especially when he said that the TV was always in a prominent spot.

In a roundabout way then, this brings me to one of my favourite authors: Harlan Ellison. Famous not only for his works but also his acerbic attitude, I recently stumbled across a piece about Harlan's creative process. This article talks about how Harlan and a Polish surrealist artist combined their talents in a unique book; have a look at the article, as the paintings are incredible in their detail. Incidentally, he was the technical consultant on Babylon 5... another feather in that show's cap, in my opinion. Damn good writing.

Nov 14 - Wasted Tech

Ahem: GeekSpeak warning for those of you who avoid such... skip the below paragraph, and instead bemuse yourself with: CrazyThoughts.com - lots there to cogitate on!

Before I left Ontario, I had to divest myself of many old pieces of electronic and computer hardware that I had kept for various reasons. Mostly, I wanted to see if I could save or recycle moot of it instead of consigning it to the dump for the simple crime of being obsolete. In fact, I managed to salvage three PC systems which I gave to friends, after reformatting them with Ubuntu, a simple form of Linux that makes even old PC's run like new again... at least as basic email, media and web terminals. Thanks to Arthur for putting me onto Ubuntu; he was( and likely still is )a big Debian Linux fan. I like Linux for its flexibility and low overhead, but it still does not like to play with Windows...

Back to the old tech: a recent C|Net article tells how 60Minutes examines the awful human suffering that is behind a lot of the current efforts to recycle high-tech garbage, a lot of it going on in China. While some North American programs are in place, they are small and find it hard to turn any sort of profit with the current tech sector slump - not good news for my tech career aspirations for that matter either.

Nov 15 - My company is doing what?

A busy day at work, which is good; no customers means hours get cut, and too much of that would mean serious consideration put towards closing the branch. Not that it is anywhere close to that, but traffic this month has been light, given the economic downturn and the pre-holiday lull.

Along the lines of last week's cubicle blogging, anyone who has worked for a large company knows of the inevitable charts, graphs and other organizational clutter that evolves as management from many levels try to justify their salaries. A thought-provoking website, City of Work, looks at this with unique charts of their own, like this Productivity chart that makes sense to me in a very cynical way.

A somewhat dated Report on the 14 most Evil Corporations is an educating read. I remember hearing about some of this back in my first year of university, when I attended a world conference on corporate crimes held at McMaster University, as a reporter for The Brock Press. For me, it was eye-opening to learn about all the evil things that were being done by companies on a global scale, those same companies who sold their products in Canada with a squeaky-clean image that is blissfully unattached to their other activities.

Nov 16 - Fall Leaving

Yet another Sunday spent working, earning a wage instead of idling playing XboxLive games with my friends. Hardly fair, really, but I suppose we all cannot have every Sunday off... being the Day of Rest and all that. At least today was less busy than yesterday, so I had rest of a sort... and as an added plus, Crazy Lady was absent all week - something I was heartily grateful for. My last day of six in a row is tomorrow, a Monday( of course ); working all week by myself has been educational, in some ways. I've realized I work well on my own, don't need all that much company, and I don't have to close the door to the washroom when I feel the nature call. The last bit is nice, but unnecessary.

Cycling to work in the fall weather here is a change from what I am used to as well. There are tons of leaves on the roadside, literally piles and piles of them. What with all the trees around here, I am surprised that we are not knee-deep in leaves by now - rakes must be as common as dirt here to keep the piles in check. Which makes cycling around corners a little tricky in spots, as the windblown leaves tend to get smeared in a slippery layer sometimes. Yet the visuals here are spectacular... and me without my camera to get my own pictures, of course.



Fall in Victoria, B.C.

Coming home today, I could really smell the sea's salt tang in the air, as a light fog had rolled in. Just enough to flavour the air and give a tiny halo to each passing light, as well as bring out the rich, damp smell of the masses of leaves piled all along the roads... the smell brought back memories of times from my youth, when I would adventure in the ravine that ran along behind Westgate Park Drive in St. Catharines. The rich, damp earth and tall trees still echo with me today, in my love of forests and wild places... but not so much with the unpleasant aspects of camping and hiking. More of an abstract, wanna-hug-a-tree but don't want the mess of the bark, or the long trek to get there...


Damn, it's hot in here - ten degrees outside at 11pmPST, and twenty-five inside with the heat off. Great for the gas bill, though TerasenGas must hate me. Until next week folks, take care...

Weekdays, Words and Wonders

In my previous blog, it seems like people are fighting over who induced me to leave ON in the first place... truth be told guys, I made up my mind years ago, on my own. So there.... but I still wonder every week what my friends are up to back in ON, now that I am not around to bear witness. *grin*

Nov 3 - Square Starts

It's a Monday, and it's been a while since I've written about, well... Mondays. Seems that most anyone you ask has an opinion on the subject of Monday; it seems to elicit a very strong response in most people when asked. One can imagine why ... though I try not to get the image of a cubicle dweller trudging into a corporate office on a rainy monday for another day of dull meetings and bad coffee. This video seems to sum things up for such folk quite nicely.

This fellow seems to love mondays though: HappyJoblessGuy.com, whose article was written around the same time I arrived in Victoria last year. Since I already had a job waiting for me here on arrival, I was less worried than most about raiding my savings until I managed to land a job.

I wonder what Mondays are like in Second Life, that virtual world where you can design and be anything you want, from a talking fire hydrant to a sentient stapler. I would hope that there is not a single cubicle farm to be found in the whole place, save as dungeons to be navigated by the very brave...

Nov 4 - Flu for Me, Flu for You!

I went to the doctor's office just down the road today and got a free Flu shot, as I both work with the public( ick )and have Thalessemia Minor, so the more help I give my immune system, the better. Now, I have heard several detractors argue that it iss better not to get the Flu shot, to 'build up your defences naturally' or 'It doesn't work, I got sick anyway' or just plain old "I don't want to.' Well, I have to say that these folks are fools. The WHO gets together every year after tracking influenza strains from Asia, to devise countermeasures for this upcoming cold season. Why is it we HAVE a cold and flue season anyway? Two words: world travel. You have a look here for some useful common answers to flu season questions, as well as looking here for the whole reason we HAVE flu shots: The Spanish Flu that killed close to 100 million people( est. )from 1918-1920. Back then, a flu shot would have saved millions of lives, and people would have paid fortunes for a shot, wheras today it's free or cheap.

Continuing the thoughts from yesterday, I had a great conversation with some folks in the doctor's lobby after I had had my flu shot. The one gentleman was in his 80's, and was curious as to 'my generation's' habits towards savings, considering he had lived through the Great Depression where a penny saved WAS a penny earned. I replied that today, most people are living well beyond their means, depending on credit to extend their purchasing power far beyond their actual paycheques. As an example, I mentioned all those gas-guzzling trucks sitting by the roadside 'For Sale by Owner Cheap!' that have been seen in recent months as the gas prices climbed - I bet their former owners are feeling a bit put out now that gas has fallen again, but still, the point remains: they thought the best thing was to sell, rather than try to come up with 50% more operating costs per month.

That's the thing: Monthly Income. I'd wager that most people know exactly what net dollars they pull in, on average, every month. So they juggle, cajole and tweak their budgets to allow food, shelter, transport and such other necessities... then spend all of the rest on cableTV, entertainment and new clothes. Or whatever. Saving part of every paychque seems to be an alien thought to most, though some see the advantage of socking away RRSP's for the far future as well as more immediate tax gains. Happily, I can report that just recently it was revealed that Victoria has the lowest jobless rate in Canada... which is odd, seeing as we also have a very high number of homeless here too, many of which are embroiled in fights over camping in public parks. It's a strange world we live in.

Nov 5 - Woden's Day and Magic Pans

Continuing my thoughts on Days of the Week, we have today: Wednesday, also known popularly as 'Hump Day' ... the middle of the week, and a day nobody really looks forward to at all. Well, I used to, when it was Kilt Day, also Cheap Wings At The Kilt Day, $2.50 Pints Day, and even Cheap Mussels Day.... all of the previous being eat-cheap nights at the Kilt & Clover in Port Dalhousie. Ah, those were the days, all behind me now though I do not regret the undercooked mussels or wings, some of those nights.

Back to the Days of the Week though. This modern calendar we have is rather interesting, in that the names of the days are all descended from various special observances by past cultures. My favourite is Saturday, most obviously because it comes after Friday, and also for the fact that it is named for the Roman god Saturn, and not one of the Anglo-Saxon deities such as Thor, like Thursday / Thor's Day. Those reasons, plus all those great Saturday morning cartoons from my youth... ah, wasted TV time.

Speaking of my youth, does anyone else remember going to a restaurant called The Magic Pan? They had quite a few outlets in the 80's in Hamilton and Toronto, byut had vanished well before the end of the decade. After much searching, I located this great bit of Magic Pan info, by a professor no less. I really loved those Monte Cristo sandwiches from the M.Pan in Sherway Gardens, they were so tasty! Only much later did I come to discover they were not named afer the famous story of the same name.

Nov 6 - What was that word?

Still working nine-hour shifts this month, and to be honest I enjoy them. No need to swap things over to someone else starting their shift at all; just open the store, do the day thing, close the store and go home. Nice and simple, and far less stressful in some ways. Again, I do not have a problem with working alone, which doevetails nicely with my being able to live on my own, in a new city, with only a few contacts after a year on this strange soil. Still Canada though, so that's something... I cannot imagine uprooting myself to a country where English was not the major language, or where I could not find a reasonable fascimile of a Tim Horton's or a Canadian Tire... heck, even a Walmart would do, evil as they are.

Today I discovered this great blog about some one else who has been writing about their experiences in Victoria, and best of all... they have LOTS of pictures! Seeing as I am still working on my own photo projects( that never get too far, of late )then in the interim: I urge you to go have a look!

I also found UnWord.com, a place that I did not know I have been searching for all these years. Now I can finally find a home for all the words I have made up in my head over the years, like Splink, or Tworp( already there, darn it! )and even Guzooloo... me so hapy! Damn... now I'm reegressiinng. Have to breaktake now...

Nov 7 - Focus, people!

I was very disappointed today in my new laptop, more specifically it's 64-bit Vista OS. After enduring a massive 2gb download and a long install procedure to get a program working, a little box popped up with 'Sorry, this product is not designed for a 64-bit operating system' - argh! I was trying to get my rather expensive copy of Dragon Naturally Speaking v9 to work on my laptop, so I can increase my typing speed as well as spare my fingers from my odd typing style.

At the moment, I am foundering a bit for my tech writing, as Cyberwalker has shut down new articles for the forseeable future. Nothing but good news for Andy Walker, but not so good for getting any of my articles out to the public... so understandably, I am a little adrift on that front. I had a great time working with the team though, and hope that I can be on the inside for any future projects they create.

Which just means I have more time to focus my efforts elsewhere, like voice acting and writing novels. Heck, the old 'lemons make lemonade' slogan comes to mind, though of late I have switched to iced tea... which is still too acidic for my poor cola-crippled stomach to handle. Root beer for now, folks.

Nov 8 - Butchart Gardens

The time change has me getting up earlier, for some reason, so I have put the 'extra' time to good use, like today: early laundry! One surefire way to get an empty laundry room is to get there BEFORE anyone else, so I spent the morning running loads of clothes up and down the stairs. Seems folk are reluctant to trade quality weekend sleep-in time for convenice, which worked out well for me.

I was off to Butchart Gardens at 1pm today, in the company of my parents, who have already been to this garden wonderland several times. Never having been before, I envisioned something like a larger version of Niagara's Botanical Gardens - boy, was I wrong! You can see in this video what an amazing place it is, built initially on an old quarry and owned by the same family for over 100 years, it is obvious that generations of hard work have gone into every inch of the grounds. The sun cooperated today too, giving us fair illumination through some cloud cover for most of the day - my first view of the Quarry Garden was in full sunlight, and I have to say it was simply... spectacular.

Yet it was the Japanese gardens that stopped me in my tracks, though for a reason not likely to snap other people out of their reality. The entrance to the gardens was flanked by giant Japanese cedar trees, whose leaves were being gently blown by a light breeze. They were floating to the ground in perfect clusters, filling the air with fluttering continuous motion - tree snow, as I called it. What made me blink was that this was the SAME image that my favourite game, Neverwinter, uses in some of its most perfect animations. I had a sense of deja-vu in seeing those leaves fall, as I experienced the same sense of perfect peace then as I did onscreen - damned strange, and damned delightful, all at once.

Sadly, I have no pictures of the Gardens, as my parents forgot to bring our camera today even with my reminder of the day before. Just goes to show I need one of my own if I am to document my trips!

Nov 9 - The Salmon Run

Just after Rene called me today, I was on the road today again at 11am and heading north and west to Goldstream Park, where the annual Salmon Run was underway. No, it wasn't a marathon( hi Lucas! )but is instead the annual spawning of the pacific salmon, in their many thousands. I drove along the Malahat Highway for a ways, deep under the incredibly tall green trees perched on the sheer cliffs all around. Getting close to the park, we noticed hordes of people doing the same thing - well, maybe not hordes, but quite a few folk were out today. We managed to secure a parking spot fairly quickly at a point well along from the park entrance; the walk was lovely in the absence of rain and a semi-cloudy / semi-sunny noon-hour.

The first thing I noticed was the smell: anyone who has visited a fishery or been down to the docks when the fishing fleet is in would have recognized this distinct stink: dead fish. We took up a viewing spot on the single bridge across the stream, and took in the sight of hundreds of salmon trying to make their way upstream. Dozens of rotting carcasses dotting the stream sides attested to the difficulty of the task, and the shrieks of the many gulls looking for freshly-expired salmon added to the charm. Once we got used to the stink however, we could more easily appreciate the efforts of the fish to make their way through the very shallow water, only inches deep across most parts of the stream.

I would have posted a few nice pictures, but yet again the high-res camera was left behind by my parents, despite my reminders this morning; I was very annoyed for a good part of the day. Even so, the dark mottled colouring of the salmon meant that they were very hard to see against the rocks of the streambed, so the light and angle had to be just right for anyone to get a nice composition.

We had lunch afterwards at the Malahat Mountain Inn, whose spectacular view was very limited initially by the vast cloud bank that had rolled into the area. Fortunately it cleared somewhat after lunch, and we were treated to a misty view of the Finlayson Arm branching northwards.

After an afternoon of reading, chores and video games, I was sitting here at 8:30 when I realized I had spent well over an hour crafting this blog - it's great! Setting down my thoughts like this is far better than a journal, in that I am not trying to document washing socks or what I had for breakfast. Instead, I can let out some of my many interests, as well as filling in folk on the Great Things that I am discovering out here in Victoria every day...

So, do you like... socks? Until next week!


Jen, are you still out there? In all the ninjas, spiders and scheming school chums, your voice was the lone spotlight of reason in an insane Commentary... come back and spin your wondrous words! Aw hell.. now I'm spouting spider-rhetoric! Argh!

One Year in BC This Week

It seems the only Comments on this Blog come from spiders... isn't that odd?

Oct 27 - I wanna be ...

As you may have guessed, when I was a wee lad I wanted, like many boys, to be an astronaut... and a cowboy, but at that age I wasn't sure how I'd be able to balance two such involving careers. Now that I have been in the workforce for nigh unto twenty years, no time of which has been spent as either an astronaut or cowboy, I've gained a little perspective. Hard, hard work folks, that's what it takes to get into space, or to mend hundred-mile fences in Wyoming, for that matter. Still, just recently Sir Richard Garriott made a trip into space, which although still a very expensive trip is not entirely beyond the realm of rich civilians... which means that Space Trips for the Common Man are not all that far away, as this concept illustrates.

Oct 28 - Art thou?

I'm always fascinated by new art forms, though some tend to take things to extremes simply for the controversy they generate: remember the meat dress way back in 1987? In any case, I stumbled across this new( is it? )method of illustrating... with water. The way the image appears in moments with an application of ink is stunning, like some kind of CGI effect. I have made a note to pick up a copy of the graphic novel that this technique debuted in, Alan's War. Apparently it is quite a good read!

Not all art is created equal though. Oftentimes, when boredom and office supplies combine, you get this as a result. Somehow, I don't see it resulting in a gallery show, but I have to give credit to the creator of this site, for combining his love of Trek and ASCII... both somewhat dead forms of art, in their way.

Oct 29 - Bacon!

Are you ready for it?

Really ready?

May I present the ultimate sandwich spread: Baconnaise!

Yes. It's true! You can now have the smoky goodness of bacon on ANY sandwich, without the short shelf life and messy preparation that REAL bacon demands! Simply slice and spread, then enjoy... it reminds me of a product I absolutely loved in my teen years: Goober. Yes, it was peanut butter and jelly combined in ONE jar, with alternating stripes of jelly goodness and peanut butter crunch. Only the folks at Smucker's could have thought of such a thing - some of their other products are equally as unique, and delicious too!

Which leads to Unique Foods, a lovely Canadian website that has some great products - my fave is Stewart's Root Beer, which my local Thrifty's carries., along with a few of the many other Stewart's flavours. For which I am quite grateful, though the stuff is as much per bottle as a 2L container of A&W Root Beer. I'm not sure why I like root beer so much; the taste is something that I just don't get tired up. I've tried to like Doctor Pepper, Pepsi, Coca-Cola... well, I was a Coke fiend in high school, drinking a 2L of Coke every few days, but I had to stop when the acid levels started making my stomach react. Now, I can't even touch the stuff; it burns like real acid when I drink it. Not that I mind having root beer as a fave; root beer floats are just so much better than anything else. Dang; I have to go pour myself a glass after writing this!

Oct 30 - Acting Up

Perfect roles. These are what happens when an actor and a character combine to create a role that defines that character forevermore, and oftentimes typecasts the actor as JUST that role for the rest of their career. Examples that spring to mind are Leonard Nimoy and Spock, Carrie Fisher and Princess Leia, and Tom Baker as Doctor Who - read his fascinating bio. Of the many perfect roles out there, my secret fave is Tom Baker... he slipped into the role of The Doctor so perfectly that it was hard for me to imagine anyone else ever playing the character, despite the fact that there have been no less than seven different actors, the latest of whom was Christopher Eccleston. The manic grin, the long knit scarf and the mass of crazy hair all made Baker's Doctor a delight to watch on-screen, despite the low-budget special effects of the time and the oftentimes swiss-cheezy excuses for plots.

Or you could just get Uwe Boll to make another film, which is like asking the Star Wars Kid to be the next Luke Skywalker... it hurts even thinking about it.

Oct 31 - Spook Time!

I love halloween. There is just something about being able to dress up as something or someone OTHER than yourself, and go out into the world for one night when nobody looks twice at a ghoul, ghost goblin or other sight walking brazenly down the street. Well, no more than three looks, anyway.

Costumes are what it is all about, so every year I have a look for the latest, greatest and simply stunning costumes that people come up with. Many are from the worldwife Cosplay community, which draws inspiration from video games, anime and many other types of media, where people dress up like their favourite characters. Some are truly inspired, while others are... less so. Still, when you have fans who come up with almost perfect replicas of characters like Iron Man( here is the movie suit prop ) or Master Chief from Halo, one must recognize the incredible talent, time and hard work that goes into such creations. Too bad you can't really wear them out anywhere other than on Halloween or to conventions... but you could also see real exoskeletal suits sooner than you think!

Pumpkins are a traditional favourite for Halloween, and there are many amazing examples of the pumpkincarver's art online.

As for my day: I worked the evening shift... in costume. Seeing as nobody out here had seen my barbarian outfit( with goatee! )yet, I recycled it again for this year and it proved to be a hit! Many people asked me where I had "bought" it ... they couldn't believe that it was a cobbled-together outfit from different materials I had done myself. So that was nice to hear; makes me wonder what I can put together for next year? After work, I went for a walk with some of my pirate-themed neighbours around the neighbourhood here in Fairfield, which was damned quiet after 10pm; apparently the downtown is quite the zoo, and there are lots of parties all over town, but that wasn't my thing this year. It was enough to check out all the great Halloween decorations on many houses - see this and this as examples of the fine work people put into decorating this year.

We ended up wandering around the edges of the Ross Bay Cemetary, one of Canada's oldest and largest surviving Victorian-era cemetaries. We did not go in, as it was heavily patrolled by security tonight, for obvious reasons, plus they seemed rather heavy-handed and disinclined to allow anyone in at all. Still, it was fairly creepy, as any cemetary is a much different place in the dark and morseo on All Hallows Eve. Not being supersticious myself, I still felt a reluctance to wander amongst the dead on a night when all things supernatural are celebrated, in a tradition that has survived its origins from the Feast of Samhain started by the Celtic Druids over two milennia ago - more on that here.

Nov 1 - One Year in BC !!

Well, what to say? I've been here for a year, and I have to say this place now feels like home to me.

Some people would( and have )moved out here only to find shortly that they could not bear to be away from family, friends and familiar places. Several people I have worked with here in BC have done exactly that; unable to create a new life or reconcile it with their roots, they decided to return home and give up on trying to make something new here.

How am I finding it, my own experience here on the West Coast? Honestly, I would have to say that most days, I have no regrets. I knew moving out here would mean changes for me, in many ways, but I am surprised at how easy it was to settle in here, especially knowing that my parents were nearby enough to both keep an eye on and to help out as needed. Having a support network is vital, especially for one's mental balance; knowing that your nearest family is thousands of miles away would have been very hard on me, given that I have such a close relationship with my parents and sister - something I am extremely grateful for and try never to take for granted, knowing how rare such a thing is.

Personally, I have been pleased my my development outside of work, in that I have managed to well, manage my time better. As odd as it may sound, I am enjoying having more 'me' time to do with as I see fit - I had been annoyed back in ON that I never seemed to get the time I needed each day to get MY projects fully seen to. Indeed, I would not have been able to write this blog back in ON, I think, simply because I lacked both the time and the perspective to put the work INTO it. Having something NEW to say, every week, without retreading old topics, is a challenge I have enjoyed meeting this year.

Having my own place, unshared accommodations, is a change and a challenge as well. Not that I never had my own space, but the fact that I do not have to accommodate other's needs in my daily activities makes a difference in making the most of my time.

I think the hardest thing has been to be so far away from my friends. I've come to realize I have a LOT of friends, which is humbling when I really think about all the fantastic people I know and have known in my life. Listening to a few folk I have worked with and gone to school with, I now understand that most people tend to have a few good friends, some work/sports club/gaming associates, and those peripheral folk you run into in the mall once in a while and ask how their dog is doing. Since I make an ongoing effort never to categorize people as 'peripheral' and instead put everyone into 'friend' it has amazed me the number of fantastic folk I can include in my life. Well, included a little more often when I was back in ON, but you see my point. Not being a social butterfly, as well as being very able to spend quality time for hours with only myself as a conversationalist, I still find myself missing those weekly trips to the Kilt, or Steebs, or any of the innumerable fun things I did in Niagara.

Yet what did it add up to? I have to ask myself this, as I have perspective( yes, that word again )out here after a year now. The urban horror scenario of working at the same job, with no real room for advancement, doing the same things month after month, year after year... I am not sure if you can call it ambition, but perhaps better label it as a need for Change. Some years ago, quite a few in fact, I was struck by a sudden vision: a ten-year veteran of MMart, plugging away at night on a novel, hoping to be published, yet never feeling like I was accomplishing anything or getting any OTHER work or interests covered. Apart for the glow of friends and family support, one year would tend to seem like another.

So that was when I decided I needed a change. My parent's retirement was coming up, and considering all the incredible trials my family had been through up to that point, I was still unsure as to my own direction / habitation / general life plan. Thus, I dug in and started to seriously research places to live in Canada, with an eye towards new careers and / or affordability. After a lot of looking, I had settled on three places: Victoria, Edmonton or Calgary. The latter two were chosen for their rapid economic growth, and Edmonton as the location of BioWare, a game company I would have dearly loved to work for BEFORE they were bought by Electronic Arts - smart choice, not moving there after all!

Then the wheels were set in motion, slowly building up to my move date of Nov 1st 2007. And here I am, writing this blog a long, long way from where I grew up, in many senses of the phrase. Pleased, for all that, to be able to do so as I am.

Nov 2 - The Day After

Some thoughts brought on by another visit from the Crazy Lady... who astonishingly was NOT crazy today, though I thought I saw her head spin around once from the corner of my eye. Stressful? Yep.

After dealing with the public for as long as I have, I feel I have developed a decent understanding and cognant opinions of How People Tick. Apart from the need for food, shelter and emotional satsifaction, I find that many people can be( generally )categorized into either a) Nice people who CAN be nasty or b) Nasty people who can be nice. Nice people have their bad days, and a lot of people have thin skins, enough so that even a modicum of daily stress can make them snappish, rude and prone to bad decisions. Generally, dealing with Nice people is not a problem for me, as my skills are such that I can both improve their day AND get them what they need( maybe even want, too )without too much trouble.

It is the Nasty people that generate 90% of daily stress for others; they do it simply by being themselves. Selfishness is the root cause: what THEY want matters most, so any means justifies that end. In order to facilitate not getting their noses broken by everyone they meet, Nasty people usually hide behind a facade of Nice, just long enough to determine a situation's parameters. In customer service, they can come right out and Be Themselves, as the 'customer is always right' policy of most businesses these days means that Nasty people can walk all over staff within reason, dispensing with common courtesy in favour of Getting What They Want as quickly as possible, so they can move on and bother someone new. Unfortunately, most businesses NEED business to survive, and given that Nasty people spend money as freely as Nice people means that staff members have to grit their teeth and only imagine broken noses shocking some manners into the Nasty people they have to deal with. The fact that many companies make it very easy for Nasty people to file complaints about 'difficult' store staff is another stress factor for customer service employees: if a Nasty person doesn't Get What They Want, then they simply call a company head office, rant for a bit in their natural state, and cause grief for hard-working employees simply because they can... and for some Nasty people, this is a source of enjoyment, much as bullies enjoy being able to attack others with impunity, again and again.

In any case, I got through my day well enough, and the time change meant that I was headed home in the dark... but only for a few more months before winter begins its retreat. Now that our branch is open 11-7 most days, I can sleep in and get home in time for a decent dinner hour. 10pm dinners don't do it for me.


Okay, we have another week down... who knows what lies around the corner? We shall see - after all, Christmas is coming...

Steebs, Sun and Savings

Fall is here...

Oct 20 - Petty Thoughts

I happened to hear on the radio that today was Tom Petty's birthday, so he was 58 today, almost the same age as my parents. Well, not quite, but the same generation. I have not heard any of his more recent things, but some of his videos are just amazing, all the more so considering that they run fully-animated for the entire length of the song - not easy and not cheap to do. Watch 'em!

I may have mentioned it before, but the main radio station here in Victoria plays a LOT of the music I like. Quite a few classic rock oldies, plus groups like Barenaked Ladies, Matchbox20 and of course, a ton of Tom Petty. When I was listening to 104.5 or 99.9 FM in Niagara, I'd be lucky to hear one Petty song a week. Here, I hear at least one a DAY, if not more - fantastic! Plus I never DID manage to get a call through for the damn ChumFM Jet vacation contest...

Oct 21 - Series-ously, folks

As I am browsing through YouTube, I keep finding myself looking up old forgotten TV shows to see how many episodes have made it onto the site from people's private archives; VHS quality still looks OK at regular YouTube resolution, despite it being an analog recording.

One series I recall with fondness is 'V' - which was really an eight-part miniseries that evolved into a not-as-good followup series. Amazingly, despite the massive budget overruns of the original series, serious consideration was being given a few years ago to doing a new take on 'V' for TV. My favourite writer, J. Michael Straczynski, even wrote a pilot treatment for the new series, which is fantastic - you can read it in its entirety here. Alien lizards, giant spaceships hovering over cities, cool laser weapons... I loved 'V' for those things and more... as well as scratching my head over things like the 'Starchild' and other gaffes that can only be attributed to bad TV Exec interference in the series. Ah well, I was a kid then... TV politics and budget realties were well beyond my scope of the world.

Speaking of things I liked as a kid, I really, really wanted one of the Imperial AT-AT walkers from The Empire Strikes Back. I was given a choice at the time though: the Milennium Falcon( the COOL new, customizable and vastly improved 2008 model is here )or the AT-AT, as a one-off birthday gift. I chose the Falcon, and in hindsight I think it was the better choice, as I got a lot more play value out of it... despite its fragility. Still, the thought has crossed my mind over the years to pick up a cheap used AT-AT on eBay or somewhere... until I saw THIS. Guess I should have opted for more Lego instead, eh? Still, I JUST discovered that someone is selling models of the alien ships from V: The Series... I always wanted one of those, since they never officially released any sort of toy versions back in the 80's. I envy kids nowadays though, when they get toys like this- but I must admit that the majority of purchasers will be collectors, who are really just kids at heart.

Oct 22 - Sketchy Steebs

A lady today, who introduced herself as a sketch artist, came back to the branch after a first visit to cash a chq, and asked if she could take my picture. I was flattered, but had to refuse due to company policy about pictures being taken in the branch. She said that she had not seen my particular combination of curly dark hair and greying goatee before, which amused me. I spotted her later on in the week while I was out and smiled, but for some reason she didn't recognize me... which means I am not all that distinctive after all. Huh. Perhaps the TV / Film career I had planned might best be put on hold, despite my proximity to Vancouver... which is ironic, as I managed to move out here JUST as both SG-1 and SG: Atlantis got canceled, both of which filmed in Vancouver. D'oh!

Once I was home, I headed out again shortly afterwards to the Cook St. Starbuck's to try and take advantage of the sunshine. I managed to get in about an hour of decent, if chilly, patio time before the light waned enough to bring on the real chills, then moved indoors for the remainder of my two ours of free internet access. I had also set up a VPN connection with my home PC, which I tested while I was there - worked like a charm! I was able to securely access any shared folders from my home PC, negating the need to carry duplicate files around with me. Getting Mp3 files to stream fast enough eluded me though, so it is a work in progress but still nice to see work... for free!

While I was on the patio though, a bit of serendipitous luck happened. An older gentleman in line had commented on my Paul McCartney Steebs card, which he had only seen once before way out east. He struck up a conversation with me again while I was out on the patio with my laptop; turns out he is from a company that designs aviation software and who are looking for a technical writer to update / expand their manual. While not comitting to anything or overstating my own qualifications, I settled with getting in touch with him fairly soon to discuss the matter. Which also meant I had to update my Soronos.com site for the first time in... 5 years? Longer? Darn it, these things sneak up on you sometimes!

Oct 23 - Free Budgets

I have been looking at various ways to stretch my savings and lower my monthly budget pain, as you may have guessed from my decision to remove cable TV from my bills - for now. I have also discovered that my computers heat the place rather nicely without any additional help, given its relatively small size, as I mentioned in previous blog posts. Given that my electric bills have been rather low, and my gas bills correspondingly small, the plan seems to be working this far; with average temperatures at night here hovering around 6 degrees and interior temperatures at around 24, with no additional heat sources, I find things are balanced quite nicely.

Another place I came across with tons of great savings ideas is The Dollar Stretcher. This site is packed with great ideas to make one's budget stretch, and does not involve anything drastic such as growing your own vegetables in the bathtub or living by flashlight once the sun goes down.

One thing I have always found exorbitantly expensive is... MS Office. Even the Student Edition is far too expensive, though it HAS come down( a little )since my university days. A fantastic FREE atlernative is OpenOffice, affectionately known as 'OOo' on the 'net. This is an open-source, community-driven alternative to MS Office that does ALL the same things... for free. Better yet, it can read and save MORE formats than MS's product can, and is constantly being updated, again for free. So if you balk( like me )at spending money every few years for MS's bloatware, give Open Office a try... I've been using it for years and can attest it works as well as MS's products. Without the cost.

Oct 24 - Here's a tip

Someone left me a tip today at work, something that has very rarely happened in all the years with the company; they are officially discouraged for various reasons which I will not get into. Despite my protests though, a gentleman left me $20.00 when all was said and done, stating that he enjoys the fact that I am "Always friendly, efficient and well-spoken" when dealing with him. I thanked him and said that if he took a comment card with him to fill out to that effect, it would make my day. Hopefully it reaches head office, where it may offset the next insane person who walks in the door... more on that concept a few paragraphs down from here.

Again on the subject of cost savings, I am debating cancelling my Vonage line in Niagara... somewhat. It sees infrequent use, with few people to date using it to call me for free way, way out here in BC. I understand everyone's busy; so am I... but for now I am still on the fence about maintaining an easy link back east, unused as it is. Ah well.

Oct 25 - Lunch? Couch?

I had lunch today at The King & Thai( pun! )in Cook St. Village with a friend of a co-worker; the Thai restaurant is part of a mini-food court at the Village that will be expanding shortly. While the prices are not cheap, the portions are good, the place has two sunny patios AND best of all: it's good food! We ended up chatting about all sorts of tech topics over at Starbuck's until well into mid-afternoon, when the sun finally arced down enough to splash Steeb's patio with some warming rays. I have to admit, I am still adjusting to the concept of 'outdoor weather' here - people seemed perfectly content to sit outside in ten-degree weather, as long as the sun was shining, even if it was without much warmth. Dressing in layers and taking advantage of every decent weather day seems ingrained in folk around here, whereas I am used to holing up somewhere warm, or dashing from home to places with good heating and back again to a warm car.

In the evening, I worked on a few projects, including a little more on what I am tentatively titling "Half Lives" which is the story idea I had this past summer. I have several outlines plotted for it, and have been searching them for clichés on the 'net to avoid retreading ground others have written already. More on this as I develop the structure and get at least five chapters solidly written out... once I decide on WHICh chapters to write as a test, that is!

Late in the evening I nodded off for a while, which was nice as I did not know I was that tired: bonus nap! I haven't done that in a while, not since we sold off the extremly Comfy Couches that we had hauled around for years. Damn, I miss those couches... light, easy to move, and very nap-friendly.

Oct 26 - Sunny day, grumpy people

The fourth Sunday in a row I have worked so far has again turned typically beautiful outside, but since I was out for so long yesterday in decent weather I feel little longing to do the same today. Aside from the usual instinct to be anywhere BUT stuck at work, that is... but we all feel that way, most days.

Days like today tickle memories at the back of my head, of school days and crisp weather with winds tossing leaf piles to and fro across the ground. Bright sunshine and autumn colours always make me smile, for like Christmas, this time of year I find it easiest to summon memories I thought forgotten.

Yesterday was supposed to be when the old Daylight Savings Time for the fall season kicked in, but with the new DST brought into play back in 2007, it won't take effect until Nov. 2nd. Nice to see that we are keeping time with the USA so easily... good old Canadian sitck-up-for-itiveness. You can check your correct local time easily at TimeAndDate.com, which is detailed enough to take into account things like those few cities in BC that do NOT use DST - yes, there ARE places like that still around.

A bit of grim elderly humour today: I heard a faint rapping coming from the front area, yet the doorbell had not gone off. Going up front, I saw an elderly man standing at the front door with a walker, tapping his keys on the door. I motioned for him to come in... and spent the next 15 minutes trying to get him to use the unlocked front door. Apparently his strength, if you call it that, was not such that he could easily open our front door... a first, in my experience, for this location. Even writing large signs on scrap paper did not help, as it turns out he could barely see. Finally, after a few well-choreographed pantomimes of pulling hard on a door, I managed to get him into the branch... where he promptly complained that if I saw him having trouble, why had I not rushed out to help? I explained the concept of a secure area, but I think he was not really interested in any answer I was giving him. I hope that if I get that feeble in my years, that I will recognize my lack of strength and take steps to ensure I never spend time tapping at open doors, waiting to be let in... grumpily.

On that note, I headed home in the dark, eagerly awaiting NEXT Sunday, when I will be able to head home in something other than total darkness. Some NWN time, as well as listening to SG: Atlantis commentaries while typing up the blog... and here we are.


It seems we have a dearth of comments of late - I can see that people are reading the blog, which is GREAT... but few comments. Is it that I cover all the bases, or are people so stunned at the end that they forget to comment? I just can't tell.

Weirdos, Writing and Weather

No mention of spiders in this week's blog... though there IS a new entry in my Nemster list...

Oct 13 - Humans... and not.

Newt and John, a webcomic by my good friend Mike, reached their 20th episode milestone today. I've greatly enjoyed their adventures so far, as their antics capture the hilarity of two roomies dealing with bizarre adventures. I should also mention that I have a great custom image of Newt, John and myself in a spaceship, that Mike made as a going-away gift for me last year when I left for B.C. - it hangs proudly by my door, so I can get a grin every time I arrive or leave my home.

Along the same vein, I give you: The Basic Laws of Human Stupidity. Not to be confused with Human Idiocy, or even the silly things people do when they think No-One Is Watching. One VERY early internet List I love is the Evil Overlord List, which manages to combine villainy, cliches and stupidity remarkably well... if you don't laugh, then you haven't thought hard enough about how to take over the world. You should watch a few episodes of Pinky and the Brain, just to see how NOT to go about it... especially if you're two lab mice.

Which brings up movies. Now, I've already posted about how I MUCH prefer to watch movies at home nowadays, so I won't go into that. Here, I will instead briefly blog about Things That Only Happen in the Movies... like every car explodes in a fireball when it crashes, or how locks magically vanish from doors with a few quick shots from a pistol. A show that has done its fair share of debunking movie myths is the much-loved Mythbusters, who by and large have managed credible experiments to test the accuracy of many a Myth. If you visit their site, you can see the many myths they have discussed but NOT brought to the show to test, for various reasons. I guess testing to see if humans mutate into anger-driven giant berserkers after massive gamma-ray exposure would be one of those off-air theories... darn.

Oct 14 - Hard work and gadgets

I had an interesting thought in the shower today, and it was entirely unrelated to hygiene. It occurred to me that everyone who achieves success always includes the phrase "it was a lot of hard work" - we hear it so much but it makes little visual impact. I had the image of a chain hoist pop into my head, like the ones mechanics use to hoist engine blocks. The analogy almost writes itself: the huge, complicated engine needs lots of work and know-how to run, but the initial process of GETTING to it is the hardest work. Each long pull on the chain hoist raises the massive engine a tiny bit, so long minutes of hard work are needed to raise the final product fractionally until one reaches the point where the detail work can begin. It is an analogy I like, and I hope to employ at a future date.

As for the future: I love gadgets, and one of the places I loved to go to FIND gadgets years ago was The Sharper Image, which had a store at the Walden Galleria mall in Buffalo NY. You could wander in, and on every shelf or floor display was a gadget you had never before imagined, or knew you needed, until that moment. Looking back, it is easy to see how most of it was overpriced and usually fufilled only a single, quasi-time-saving. That and Smithbooks were the two main reasons I liked to visit the Walden Galleria... as well as the fact that most of the food there seemed damned cheap compared to Canadian restaurants at the time. Lower standards or higher volume consumption? You decide.

Oct 15 - Writing, yep!

I have been plugging away at various writing projects, but progress has been slow of late - low energy and higher stress levels do not bode well for the creative spark. Still, I have been trying to keep various bits of writing advice in mind, including 'use your mood' to find different aspects of character and story that one would not find if you are feeling happy, energetic and relaxed... none of which relate to grim stories, villains or dire plot threads. So, with that in mind, I have been plugging away at outlined plot points, as well as tossing together little 'pastiche' bits to try and capture the mood at various points in my Novel Story.

One amusing place I have come across is How To Write a Best-Selling Fantasy Novel. Go see it.

Among all the great advice given, one common thread seems to be "You won't likely get rich from writing," which is fine by me... Fame, Fortune and Respect do not always go hand in hand, with J.K Rowling as the glaring platinum Ideal of Writing Success that everyone else has to try to follow. I figure if I can say what I want to say, in a way that other people want to read, and that brings in a little income, then all for the good. Like the other writers state, everyone is full of great ideas, so it is the few who learn to use the TOOLS of writing to HONE their skill, that will bring those with Talent to the top of the heap... with a little luck. *grin*

So if you cannot tell your adjectives from your adverbs, or what narrative perspective to use, or even notice why your page-long paragraphs seem to be boring people... then perhaps writing is not in your cards. So go be a professional poker player instead - from what I hear, your odds of success are much higher!

Oct 16 - Triad Thursday of Stress

Well, today COULD have been the day from hell, but it worked out nicely when all was said and done, despite a lot of unavoidable stress. Right after I opened the store, who showed up but... a company auditor! We had been warned that this week was a likely time for an audit, which they do quarterly( or more often )so I was not as dismayed as I could have been. Still, it meant I spent most of my day worrying that we had forgotten some detail that would crash our overall score - not having a manager at the branch will make you thing like that.

Adding to the joy was a visit by the head honcho for all of BC for our company, attended by our district manager. He was nice, but I got the impression of laser eyes noting every tiny flaw in the branch, and likely an unconscious urge to slip on a pair of dapper white gloves to run along the counters for dust. Still, I was busy enough that everyone stayed in the background doing their thing and not underfoot or looking over my shoulder, which was nice...

Did I mention yet that Crazy Lady came in today TOO? Yes, she managed to add to the Stress Triad today by coming in for NO reason other than to ask the most inane question I've heard YET. Apparently her sister, which she sent the money transfer to last week, is not in the UK but Zimbabwe... so she wants ME to call Western Union to ensure the transfer is 'held' ... and ALSO she did NOT want ANY calls made to HER residence about it! Apparently she is doing this on the sly... which I do not care a whit about, only that she vacate the branch and stop bothering me. Especially with inane questions and demands that I have NO ability( or desire )to fulfill, even if I wanted to. Amusingly, the Head Man from Head Office( heh )tried to break into the conversation, but backed off quickly as the Insane Gaze rolled in his direction... kind of like seeing that normal-looking dog in the park turn around to reveal the foam dripping from its jaws. Yeah.

Anyway, she left, the rest of them left... and then I left, to sprawl at home in a daze before relaxing with a few episodes of Atlantis. The second season has a commentary for almost EVERY episode, which is amazing - some of the details and directorial chatter is simply fascinating, as it shows how MUCH thought goes into every episode, and how you never catch some of it as it goes by so fast on-screen.

Oct 17 - Is it Day-ta or Dah-ta?

The morning vanished quickly getting the usual household doings done, then it was off to work. Fortunately, it was another nice day out; I have yet to run into the chill combination of very cool weather and rain, so cross yer fingers, as biking in that is no fun at all.

I found out today that the branch hours will be changing again in November, which will be for the better in several ways. Not the least of which is that I can sleep in EVERY day now, and manage to get home early enough to catch an hour or so of daylight around dinner - nice in the winter!

I've been looking at some storage options for my data for some time now, as I always like to have backups handy in case of disaster. Up to this point, that has always meant storage on an external hard drive, or putting critical files like family photos on DVD; annoying given their 'small' capacity, which meant a few years ago after a PC went wonky that I used THIRTY DVD's to back up and then restore my data. Impossible today, as I have ten times the data stored now as I did back then.

One solution may be a FREE service called aDrive.com, which gives ANYONE free online storage - 50 gigabytes worth! Their business model is based on duplication; they predict that among their entire userbase, many users will have copies of the same file, so all that aDrive has to do is determine that yes, two files ARE the same, and store just ONE copy while allowing both users to access it. In this way, the 'actual' space used by files such as MP3's or YouTube videos is greatly reduced. Nice, and if it keeps the service FREE, then I am all for it!

Oct 18 - Leafing Sunny

Cold this morning, not TOO bad at 7 degrees C, cold enough to see your breath though. The leaves are falling in small drifts along the roadside, though many trees are still quite green and leafy. I did see the most massive Canadian maple leaf today - the thing was as large as my two spread hands together! Wow! It could almost serve as a plate of sorts, though being dead and slight decayed might put a person off.

The sun is blazing outside, albeit without a lot of warmth... and people are smiling! I've always been fascinated by how people's moods and the weather are related, so today goes a long way towards adding data to that file. Without exception, every single customer today has been smiling, even the usually dour regulars, and all of them are busily scurrying about Doing Things.

It's amusing to see how quickly we get busy when the sun comes out... and odd how busy we remain when it is raining - my theory is that people don't like being 'trapped' at home on rainy days, but instead want to get out and shop or socialize at a mall or coffee shop. Group social dynamics is a fascinating field, which has elements of psychology and statisical analysis that combine in interesting and unusual ways.

Oct 19 - Sunday Harry

The third of my Month of Sundays today, and it was Not Too Bad. Relaxing, actually, as it was steady enough a flow of customers to make the clock move nicely towards closing time. I still love the fact that I have such a great view - the branch is located near a major intersection, and I have previously mentioned that a bus transfer point is next to the plaza too. Lots of activity to watch, which is great - no view of the mountains mind you, but it beats hell out of the backside of a building.

My neighbours are HUGE fans of Harry Potter, so when I ran into one of them on the stairs today, of course the topic ran to old Harry. Seems the latest film has been delayed until spring 2009, which still gives us( my neighbours )time to 'catch up' on all the previous films in HD - thanks for the sale, Amazon! I still find it odd that so many HD-DVD's are still so pricey, even six months after the annoucement that Blu-Ray had won the DVD War in early 2008. Which annoys me still, as Blu-Ray is still quite feature-sparse compared to HD-DVD; being able to pop up a scene menu WHILE still watching a movie is immensely liberating, as were other features of HD-DVD. Again, the Market Has Spoken, not the techs... too bad. My experience has always been that people will buy whatever's cheapest, and learn to live with it - hello, Dollar Stores.

Notice how the links tapered off towards the end, and the last entry had NO links at all? Ta!