Warm Hearts and Cold Hands in Niagara

The word of the week is friendship - obviously. Three years in BC as of Nov. 1st.

Oct 25 -Travel Forth

Today started off early – really early: my cell rang at 4:48am. It was a friend from ON jumping the gun, wanting to find out how my day was shaping up to see if we could connect. I wasn’t upset, as I would have been up in a couple of hours anyway... after a few minutes chat, I went back to bed. A few hours after that, we left for the airport, where I found out at the Westjet counter that my standby reservation had been improperly booked – naturally. No problem really, as I simply had to have my boarding pass printed at the Calgary counter – whew! I made my flight with plenty of time to spare, landed in Calgary a little after 4pm local time and met my sister about half an hour after that. We had an hour’s visit, which was lovely – I hadn’t seen her for over 4 months; she’s a busy, busy girl and quite happy in Calgary. My plane left the city a little late at 6:15pm, climbing into the darkening skies and right into a whole lot of cloud cover. I snapped a picture of the post-sunset sky when we moved about that, then set about enjoying the flight with some TV and chatting up my seatmate Dave, who was travelling with his young family. Turns out we’ve both not been on a plane for a year, as well as having similar travel experiences, so it was a pleasant few hours passed in the hum of the darkened plane cabin.

My arrival in Hamilton was low-key but wonderfully warming despite the chilly air: Brian was there to greet me! He looked great and we were happily chatting on the road by 1am, heading back to Niagara. I arrived at Simon’s place before 2am, to tumble into the spare room’s bed... my OWN bed, as it happens. When I moved to BC, Simon was pleased to have my old bed for his spare room, so whenever I have visited it literally is like coming home. How many people can say that they sleep in their own bed when they travel? I’m a lucky man in many ways, and I try to count even the small ones whenever I can...

Oct 26 -Rental Oopsie

A bit of a hiccup this morning: I was at Enterprise car rentals by 9am, but apparently their internal policies aren’t all in sync. When I reserved over the phone from BC, I was told no deposit was necessary... but guess what they wanted when I arrived? Yeah – didn’t budget that, but I did have a reserve set aside for just such silliness... so I had to wait until Wed for that to show on my credit card. So I they dropped me back Simon’s where I unpacked and then walked on down to the A&W on Lake St for a late breakfast – the place was packed with nothing but seniors; I think the grey hair in my goatee let me blend in fairly well. More walking over to the Fairview Mall- the weather was quite warm, so much so that I was sweating after only a short time.

Where else could my first evening back in ON be but @ the Kilt? Lucas picked me up from the Fairview Mall and we were there in a flash for beers and dinner – it was just as cozy as I remembered. Especially as I missed the ambiance for over a year; there’s no place like it... no TV’s blazing sports scores in your face, just good people talking to one another with alcohol and good eats close at hand. Josh and Rene came by, as did others... stellar to see them all so soon! I was back at Simon’s after 9 though, as I was tired and the beers were doing their work.

Oct 27 –Honest Frankie

Ah, breakfast with friends – this time it was at Frego’s on Lake St, with Josh and Rene. The place is new to me, as it’s changed hands quite a few times – is there an app or a website for that? A ‘Google Time Machine’ that lets you pop in an address and see all the places that have ever been situated there? If not, there probably will be one day soon. I had a great time chatting with Josh and Renee over bacon and eggs – the breakfast menu at Frego’s is both large and varied, with tasty dishes to tempt tongues! After breakfast I puttered a bit, then went down to the Falls to visit my good friend Ray at the dealership he runs – I’ve known him since my 21^st birthday and still have the ‘I Am 21!’ pin he and his wife gave me that day. I spent a happy few hours out in the afternoon sun, watching leaves swirl around the cars and trying in vain to spot a cloud in the perfect blue sky. It was a blessed way to spend time with a friend.

The evening saw me at The Kilt for 8, where a ton of people showed up – amazing! It was Honest Frankie’s night to play, which I didn’t want to miss for the world, despite my usual flubbing in asking for songs... though I DID manage to get the request for ‘The Scotsman’ correct! Lucas, Katie, Brian, Mike, Dan, Shawna, Nigel, Rene and Josh all came... and if I’m forgetting anyone, please let me know! It was as if I’d never left – the songs, the people and the warm laughter all went straight to my heart as if to tweak it a little, reminding me of what I had left behind, by choice... hard as it was. The beers did nothing to my head either, for which I was grateful indeed; I’d been afraid that my total teetotaler lifestyle in the past year would rebound on me this week, but my head remained in perfect peak condition. It was well after midnight when I headed out, well-sated with the smiles and shared stories of friends.

Oct 28 -Steebs and Co-Worker Catchup

After an A&W breakfast( coupons! )the early afternoon saw me ensconced at Starbuck’s on Lake St. with Dan and later the redoubtable Mike. The place is new, being much larger and less busy-people-packed than the Fairview Mall. Large tables and tons of power outlets make for laptop-friendly latte sipping, as does the free WiFi. Now, you should ALWAYS have your WiFi network secured, that’s common sense – C|Net just had a GREAT article about all the horrible things that might happen if you don’t lock the wireless door. Scary stuff, people. Same goes for FireSheep, which makes sitting at a Starbuck’s( like today! )a far more creepy experience and NOT in a good way. That someone could hijack my web browsing session so easily on an unsecured public network like Starbuck’s makes me think that the pendulum is going to swing the other way again towards people paying for secure logins on public places, just to be sure their data is kept private.

Dinner was at Patrick Sheehan’s with Jen, Rose and Jackie all of MMart fame – only one of them still works for the company. I was thrilled that they were all able to come out for a few hours, which we spent blissfully catching up. Again I was struck by how fortunate I’ve been to work with so many wonderful people, that we could remain in touch despite the years and distance between us. I was happy to hear that all of them were doing well, pursuing their interests and living life generally as they wanted to – not everyone I know can say that. The best news was that one of them was expecting in about 5 months, so perhaps by the time of my next visit there will be one more reason to gather!

Oct 29 -Friday Friends

Breakfast was at the Sunrise Cafe with Matt L2K; the place was as busy as I remember but we snagged a table fairly quickly. I simply had the Sunrise Special, as I was eating fairly soon again. We talked for a bit about life and work and how the two can really get tangled up sometimes... but he’s got his head on right with some recent changes he’s made – I’m a little jealous. Damned good to see him though! I was visiting relatives for the afternoon, first at a face spot of mine on Martindale Rd for lunch, then off to Grimsby and then Hamilton for a visit with my aunt and uncle. It was stellar; he’s having some age-related issues but we all spent a happy few hours visiting together, remembering shared family memories and talking about their last visit to Victoria. It was worth the trip back to ON just for that.


In the evening, I went to the Kilt with Josh and Rene( thanks for taking the time from night shifts, guys! )to sit in the Video Booth – it has a video picture frame loaded with images of Kilt Days Gone By, including a disproportionate number of de-kilting events. Our most animated discourse was over the D&D campaign I ran for four years back in university, which saw Josh’s character Zartan miraculously survive all the way through – the only one with the unique distinction, I should add. I still have copious notes from the campaign, all dated, so I really should get back to putting them into story form. I’ve tried several times to try to get the narrative POV correct, but only written about 40,000 words before it goes all squidgy. I’m certain there’s an entire novel in those pages, so given the joy I saw in their faces as we recalled magical moments from the campaign, I will have to give writing it another shot as soon as I can.

Aside: I should mention that the jet lag I’ve been expecting hasn’t surfaced, as one of the great things about coming back to ON is that my body clock is 3 hours ahead of the game. So I’ve got that working for me... and as I’ve already said, the relatively large number of beers this week have done nothing at all to my head, something for which I’ll have to thank the Beer Gods for when I get back to BC. Same goes for the Weather Gods, as the first two days in Niagara were both warm AND sunny. Later in the week things clouded over and went rather chilly, as though snow was moving in... but no major rainstorms or snowfall showed up and by the end of the weekend the sun was again brilliant in a lovely blue sky. Strangely, my hands have been cold all week, so I'm glad I brought my gloves along.

Oct 30 -Wonton Soup

A bit of a lazy morning, with another Grey Power Breakfast at the A&W... then a lovely lunch at The Feathery with Jason and Ruth-Ann, whose wedding I was at two years ago in Niagara( see the blog on that! ). We enjoyed some fine food there, in a setting reminiscent of an old English pub... but with more windows and less squishy bits underfoot. Jay showed me his very swish Samsung Galaxy tablet... well, the Chinese-knockoff version anyway, which doesn’t have a phone but does do WiFi. In essence it’s a larger-than-an-iPhone image viewer / web browser that’s smaller than an iPad and costs 20% as much. Cool stuff, and it let me get a handle on the size /weight of the much more expensive( and still to be released )Samsung tablet. It was a fine few hours of lunch well-spent, especially given that by Christmas, Ruth-Ann will be welcoming a new addition to the family – I’m so very, very happy for them both!

In mid-afternoon I was at The Kilt again, gathered with Lucas, Brian, Pierre, Mike and Trevor T( whom I’d met only once ). It wasn’t at all crowded so we stayed on for dinner – I had a 7oz NY steak for the first time in years, with no trouble at all thanks to some extra enzymes. And beer. Tom was also there; it was his birthday, so it was great to chat with him a bit since I so rarely see him – even after all the years of knowing Lucas. Later on, Mike, Brian Lucas and I went over to the Lake St. Starbuck’s to chill for a bit... and Sarah was working! That was an unexpected bonus, as she’s one of the happiest people I know – being able to see her smile of surprise when she saw me really made my day! A lot of catching up again, along with the usual taunting, as nothing makes it easier to take teasing digs than comfy leather chairs, a cheese tray and some good coffee.

After 10, Lucas and I headed down to the Falls for a low-key party at Ryan’s – Angie, Nancy, Kara, Bill, Paulino, Wang, Lucas, and Brian were all there. I had a capful of Screech for the first time, which made my ears spin and my brain swirl lazily around inside my head like a shaken snowglobe – yowza! Hard liquor and I are going to keep our respectful distance, thanks very much! Some very pleasant hours later, a group of us went out for “some of the best wanton soup ever” – at 2 in the morning. Downtown Niagara Falls sits a small donut shop that somehow also serves wonton soup, so six of us sat down to some steaming bowls... only to immediately become embroiled in a potential fight with two idiots at a nearby table. After some minutes of chest-puffing banter, followed by some not-very-well-received calming banter, the idiots left – sans soup. The people next to the now-vanished idiots told us that the pair had come in looking for a fight... and almost found it. I was not impressed that I nearly ended my trip on a sour note, and won’t be going out for soup to that place again at that hour – not worth it, especially when I net 4 hours of sleep towards the end of my trip atop a really stressful nightcap.

Oct 31 -Sunday Dinner

Breakfast at The Duck was just like old times with Rene, Dave and Lucas – except that the food took almost an hour to arrive. The pancakes proved to be perfect, being light and fluffy and worth the wait / light-headedness from hunger pangs. I zipped back to Simon’s to carve a single eye from my pumpkin, then zipped to the Falls to have lunch at my aunt’s, along with my cousin whom I’d not seen in years. We then went up to Grimsby to visit at my other aunt’s place as they were bringing my uncle back home for a few hours – the first time they’d done so in a year. So it was a very special afternoon spent in the company of my relatives, reminiscing and trading updates on the extended family.

The busy week came to a slow idle in the evening, as I went over to a friend's for dinner with Lucas as well. The turkey dinner they put on was splendid, and I was thrilled that they had invited me to share it with them. I was able to visit for many hours as their new daughter played happily( and cutely-possessively! )with a pumpkin and her toys whilst the doorbell rang with the occasional trick-or-treater – it was a slow night. I was also educated in the breathability of wines after mistaking a decanter for an oddly shaped bottle... well, a vase, really. Lucas presented me with a bottle of award-winning red wine as well to take back with me to BC, and I was really touched by the gesture. All in all it was a grand evening spent so well with friends – the perfect end to a week of highlights for me.

Nov 1 -Back In The Air

Up before 8 and off to Frego’s for a farewell breakfast with Rene – the apple cinnamon pancakes were VERY filling and very tasty! I was on the road to Hamilton by 10am, amused to be following an outdated GPS map to the rental drop-off there – it was MUCH easier during the day, as everything is open! It was a cheap quick cab ride to the airport that saw me seated before noon in the empty lounge area to relax and work on my blog... like I planned it, eh? Apart from the distracting TV blasting ‘The View’ it was great, but once the WestJet wickets opened up I was registered and through security like a flash to get away from the babble.  While waiting I received a call from my parents, the gist of which made me want to caper in joy – it looks like the remainder of 2010 won’t be the usual struggle for us this year, which made MY year when I heard it. Some planning to do, of course, but it means I’ll probably be able to visit Niagara again in early 2011, if I play my cards right – something that I’d have thought impossible yesterday!

Here’s the perfect travel anecdote for modern airport travel, so laugh if you wish. In Calgary, I had about 20 mins before the boarding began for the second leg of the flight, so I thought I’d use that time to, er, inspect the facilities instead of using the ones on board the plane. All was well until it came time for the business to end... then the horror began. Modern airport facilities use IR sensors to detect when you are... finished and moving upwards, so things flush. Apparently someone thought if water pressure equals clean, then dialing things up to ten times normal water pressure means really clean. Meaning the entire stall gets sprayed with... used facility water. So there I am, using copious amounts of TP to keep dry as I move madly around the stall to avoid the evil black eye of the IR sensor, thinking “I’m going to be soaked sitting on the plane, oh crap, the plane is boarding now!” and so forth. I made it to the gate on time and dry overall, even with a flash-stop for a Subway sandwich for the trip. Crazy Calgary... strange thing is, I took this EXACT same flight three years ago today out to Victoria - same schedule, same stop, same Subway sandwich. It was like deja-vu all over again...

Needless to say, I took a shower as soon as I got home. :-)

There’s a bird inside the Hamilton Terminal, flying around and looking for dropped scraps. It’s not a large terminal by any stretch of the mind, so I hope it finds its way out soon. It’s a boring place to be trapped... but it's not forever. I'm happy I could make it out to ON and see as many people as I did... as Mike said, it's like I never left...

TV, Tron and Tickets - yay!

The word of the week is modicum. Because it got me noticed.

Oct 18- Life Episodes

Things are going better lately: I’ve been holding on with both hands to my sanity and my wallet, so my grip’s loosened on the one and held firm on the other as things have improved. I’ll be able to travel to Niagara on more than a shoestring budget this time, which will be great as I really want to get out and see as many people as I can while I’m back next week. Assuming that my tickets show up on time... they’re standby tickets, so once they arrive I’ll make a call to secure my flight reservations.

Monday nights, when I can, I try to catch the latest episode of Castle, with Nathan Fillon. It’s smart, funny and well-written, with great characters who can surprise you sometimes with wise nuggets. Like tonight, when Castle’s partner Beckett is asked “How do you know when you’re in love?” She thinks for just a moment, then says “All the songs make sense.” Succinct! Especially compared to Castle’s own long-winded fumbling trying to answer the same question a minute prior, made all the more amusing by the fact he’s a writer. Shouldn’t he know these things?

Oct 19 – Lost Girl and Riese

A few weeks after the fact, I finally managed to watch the first episode of Lost Girl, starring Anna Silk. I’d downloaded it weeks ago from iTunes to my iPod Nano( nice little gadget! )and it sat there unwatched until today. It was fairly polished, plodded slightly in places, but got the job done in introducing the characters, setting and story in general. It’s got supernatural elements, a few cool fight scenes, mysterious backstories and more – I gave in and bought the first season this week, quite a bargain at $20.99 CDN. Here’s hoping!

Wahoo! More good TV! A week today on Oct. 26^th, SyFy.com will be streaming the webseries Riese to the world – finally! Riese is a steampunk-themed series that follows a female heroine through her journeys as she tries to discover a way to save her dying world. Perfect for me, as I love most things steampunk and apocalyptic ... can’t wait for that one. *grins*

Oct 20 – Watch Tron!

Death and cyberspace: is there a way to live on, in some way, electronically after one’s gone? I’m not talking about some weird low-code avatar of yourself reading from your journal( though that would be creepy if they programmed it to answer questions )but rather what would your silicon remains be? I’d like to think that should I pass on suddenly, that some greater or lesser part of what I was would be available to people for the future, whether they knew me or not. Digital archaeology may just be a viable job in the near future, depending on what one is looking for... Wired magazine posited that thought a little while ago. Fascinating.

I don’t wear watches, as I’ve said before... but this one may make me change my mind: The Tron Watch. It’s simple, elegant stylish and functional – everything I need in a watch, and nothing more. To go from the extreme of loving the calculator watch in its day to this minimalist ideal is, well, liberating. I hope, I hope, that the design will make it from prototype concept to production – I’d wear it proudly!

Oct 21 – Can There Be Too Much Good TV?

There’s a ton of shows out there that I try vainly to keep up with – Fringe, Sanctuary, Stargate Universe... and now The Big Bang Theory. It’s a smart sitcom about two brilliant physicist roomies who learn to deal with life outside of quarks and string theory. Renee introduced me to the show and I love it – especially as she also likes to talk about string theory on occasion. Anyone for a game of Cat’s Cradle with the universe? Anyone?

Yes, more cars with guns – well, armour at least, this time. Plus: it’s made in Toronto! Let me introduce you to the Knight XV, the toughest non-military vehicle you can buy. For a cool $310,000 USD, one of the only 100 being made can be yours, thanks to Conquest Vehicle Inc’s limited production run. Options run the range from FLIR night vision to flat-screen TV’s to a cigar humidor – why not have the best in your rolling armoured cocoon? Pretty cool to have a Canadian flag on this one, even if it does fly in the face of all sanity when it comes to cost and fuel efficiency. Then again, if you have to ask...         

Oct 22 – Tickets! Dating! TGIF!

Apart from my plane tickets FINALLY arriving today( WHEW! )the final day of work for the week kinda dragged – there were a few last-minute errors of the kind that usually pop up when closing that delayed my heading home. Other than those, it was a decent day – my staff are really pulling together into a solid, confident team. So much so that they insisted several times today that I turn OFF my manager’s phone for the duration of my vacation... which I found both endearing and amusing. I can’t turn it off completely, as I have to be available in case of a serious emergency... but I won’t be checking it more than once a day. And I refuse to push email to it – no way!

After work, I met up with Renee to try and find a good pub to hang out at for the evening... much harder than it looks, in Langford. We tried The Loghouse... then Station House, then The Waterwheel Pub. All three were blasting tunes so loud inside that you couldn’t hear anyone across the table from you talk – are you serious? So we headed into town over to Esquimalt, where we had a lovely time chatting over white wine – a great way to spend your evening, even though I know very, very little about wine.

Oct 23 - Passages

Erk... I woke up early today, despite my admonition to sleep in on the first day of my vacation. Five hours sleep is just too little to enjoy a morning, but I tried anyway – there’s nothing good on Saturday Morning Television these days, not even a Ninja Turtle or two to distract one during breakfast. I puttered about a bit, then headed over to The Mountain Bean for some hours in the afternoon to relax while surfing my favourite sites. Vanilla tea and peanut butter cookies go a long, long way to relaxing me.

When I was a kid, I loved secret passages and rooms. A few of the houses my relatives lived in had hidden rooms or tucked-away storage areas that I liked to pretend were undiscovered areas of the home. Even a side-split place across the street on Westgate Park Drive had a set of shelves cleverly designed to hide the half-height storage area in the basement – that was so cool! Looking for things along that topic today, I came across Hiddenpassageway.com, where they make all the things you need to create access to such spaces in your own home. There was apparently a TV special on earlier today called ‘Secret Spaces’ that I’ll have to try to catch again another day; it had the Munster’s house in it!

Oct 24 – DVR Zombies

Now that I have a little time, I’ve taken over the DVR in the other room and am skimming through the many, many shows I’ve set it to record these past few months... and not had the time to watch. I have a ton of Batman: The Animated Series, as well as quite a few Castle and Stargate: Universe episodes I want to see – but I’m leaving on Monday and will be away from the DVR. One solution would be to get a Slingbox, but really: what kind of fool would I be to travel thousands of km’s across the country just to spend most of my time in a Starbuck’s to watch streaming television during my vacation? No thanks.

One week from today, AMC will premiere the new zombie TV series The Walking Dead, based on the acclaimed comic book series. You can catch the latest trailer here at AVClub.com, which hints at the broad scope and character development that the series promises to reveal to us. Quite cool that it’s going to premiere on Halloween, though it may be a challenge to find it streaming online soon after.

Ah... s’been a great weekend, just relaxing, catching up on some TV and not thinking about work. I’ll be arriving late, late Monday night Oct 25^th and picking up my rental car Tues AM. I’ll be staying at Simon’s place, and have no set plans for the week – suggestions, please! *grin* My flight out leaves Nov. 1^st at 4pm, so between now and then, let’s get together and catch up! I’ll have my BC cell with me, my laptop available and my local Niagara number handy( see my FBook page )so call me!

People, Places and Pyjamas

The word of the week is defenestration - it’s windows-related.

Oct 11 – Highway Messages

Was there Life Before Facebook? Oh wait, it was called MySpace.com, that’s right – but nobody goes there any more. Back in the day, answering machines had remote message access, so you could check them from work. Some of you may recall when for a time I changed my answering machine message daily to reflect what I was up to that day – which was really precursor to people’s Facebook Status Updates of today. Somehow I was far ahead of my time in that regard... but never got any credit for it, as it was pre-internet. Dang.

There was a distinct lack of traffic on the highway today, due to the holiday – normally the entire route is a parking lot from 6:30-9:30am ( read the comments! )or thereabouts. There’s been a lot of talk over the last few years about how to solve this Monday-to-Friday weekly problem, ranging from dedicated transit lanes and light-rail links to car pooling( my pick for least-costly ). Finding a solution to the ‘Colwood Crawl’ is something that needs doing soon – I live outside of Greater Victoria, and don’t travel in as much as I could simply because there’s no transit to where I live. Even if there was, I would have to ensure that if I had a 9-5 job in the city I would leave around 6am to get there on time... and that’s just not right, in my mind.

Oct 12 – Beans And Bones

This week I’ve been varying my visits to The Mountain Bean, as my usual time( twice a week or so )has me there in later afternoon before closing. It’s the best time for thinking, writing, relaxing and surfing, as there’s usually nobody there. Mornings are nice, but unfortunately they also tend to fill up with young mothers and young children – nothing wrong with them enjoying themselves, be it ever so... loud. Just goes to show that I was raised to be TOO quiet a kid, I think, as I seem to expect stellar behaviour from stranger’s kids... and when it doesn’t happen within a few minutes, I tend to leave them to their boisterous enjoyment which they are fully entitled to and head for more quiet climes with my tea to go.

Oooooh.... WAY too cool news for Wolverine fans: titanium bones are a reality! A new substance called ‘titanium foam’ has been developed that can be used to bond with bone and make it stronger. An article over at NewScientist.com has all the details, though for now it looks to be useful only for bone grafts and long-gap replacement situations. No word yet on making it into an injectable liquid... stay tuned!

Oct 13 – Hump Day Sucks

What a crappy day – I was called in on my day off to let an employee go today, which really stinks, as we’re not so large a company that you don’t get to know people well. In this particular person’s case, I’d tried all I could think of and more to bring them up to speed at work, as well as listening to their other problems from outside of work. Unfortunately, the personal issues proved too much, and were affecting their work to the point where my DM made the decision to let them go. I honestly feel this was the best thing for the employee, as they need to figure out what direction their life needs to take and to get things sorted out in their head. It’s going to be a stinky week for the rest of us, as we all worked closely  and wanted things to work so badly... but it was obvious at this point that improvements had to come from inside. Still sucks big-time; it was too gorgeous a day out for things to work out like they did.

If I had a billion dollars... would I build the world’s largest personal residence with it? Maybe, or maybe not – that’s a lot to spend to put a roof over your head. Yet an Indian tycoon has just completed his massive home’s construction in Mumbai – as you can see, it has 5 heliports, a staff of 600 and is over five hundred feet high. Makes you wonder about his electrical bill....

Oct 14 – Miners and Bandwidth

The last of the 33 trapped Chilean miners reached the surface today, ending a months-long ordeal that has been followed by billions as it unfolded. Seeing things come to a happy end honestly surprised me, as there was no real way to know if the miners could be reached in time in their shelter before time ran out on their supplies. I’m sure there will be movies made about this epic survival story, and one has to wonder how much the lives of those 33 miners are going to change... even 20 years from now, they will likely still be famous in some way, even if it’s just in Chile. The world has a short memory for these things... but we do like to be reminded when it comes to happy endings for people enduring fate’s touch.

Uh oh... as I mentioned above, we have traffic jams on a regular basis here in Victoria, but news today that there’s soon going to be the same thing on the wireless cell phone networks? An article in the local Victoria Times Colonist states that the spectrum used by smartphones is 10 times that of a normal phone, and if you’re on a laptop( with a wireless cell fob )then you use up to 1,300 times the bandwidth – ouch! Mind you, people are paying through the nose for massive data plans( which I think is wrong )but the bandwidth has to come from somewhere. Having an always-connected device on you can also be bad for your health, as we just don’t know enough about the long-term effects of radio waves on the human body at close range. So don’t sleep with your phone under your pillow until we know more.

Oct 15 – Half as much stress is good!

I’m filling in at the Millstream branch all this week, covering the shifts that were left vacant when my employee was let go on Wed. It looks like things are going to be settled there by next week, so I’ll be taking my leave of running both branches and focusing simply on Colwood. It’s a relief to me, as I’ve been quite exhausted trying to keep my head above the paperwork tide in addition to keeping abreast of the day-to-day operations. Being in charge of just a single branch is exactly what I need to keep my energy levels stable and my mind less packed with too much needing done now. By this time next week, my worries will be solely confined to Colwood, but I have a solid staff there too that I’m very proud of to assist me in keeping the place running in top form.

Some good financial news arrived in the mail yesterday for my parents, so that’s taken a fair deal of pressure off us for the remainder of the year. I actually slept well last night for the first time in many, many months, despite the stresses from Wednesday’s situation. Strange how things tend to fall into place when you’re not looking( huzzah! )as yesterday was a good example. While in town for a doctor’s appointment, we looked in the window of the pharmacy next door and beheld a new personal walker on sale for a LOT less than we’ve seen anywhere else( after looking for a year! ). Thanks to the good news, we were able to snap it up immediately for my mother, whose non-replaced knee has worsened recently and made mobility hard for her. So within 24 hours we went from trying to budget for the walker somehow to simply being able to buy one at a fantastic price, and she’s incredibly happy.

Oct 16 - Shapes

Architecture fascinates me... not that I’ve done much in the way of designing, but I’ve come to appreciate the new design ideas that one comes across when surfing the wide world ‘net. One such design is Above Below which is featured at Trendhunter.net – it’s described as an ‘underground skyscraper’ which seems like an oxymoron until you get a look at it. There’s also a ton of other unique designs showcased on the same page at Trendhunter.net, which I happily spent a while browsing through – I especially like underground houses for their efficiency, though not as much for their views...

Hokay, I’ll be the first to admit I could be in better shape... though I’ve lost 30 lbs since I arrived in Victoria, I haven’t converted the rest into sculpted-muscle studliness – yet. Now word comes down that in the interim while my fitness routine ramps up, I can always digitally edit my image in real time via MovieReshape – how’s that??? Go have a look and you won’t believe your eyes – you can literally move a slider and watch yourself changed from blob to buff on the fly. So you can retroactively edit those not-so-flattering videos of your latest vacation to match your currently-buff bod... and ask yourself why you didn’t get into shape back then before you tried on those really unflattering swimsuits.

Oct 17 - Pyjamas

Yeah, I worry about a lot of things... not as many lately as I have in the past, but many of the same recurring themes. One of those is what happens if my laptop is stolen... which is why I resurrected my old clunker to carry around with me and that has no personal information on it. I could always encrypt my data to keep it safe, but it’d slow things down even more. What I worry more about is if someone breaks into my home – just imagine all the personal information you have laying about, unguarded, as well as the easy access to your home computer. You DO have a password on yours, right? What about your personal data, like tax forms, bank account info and yes, even lists of passwords? Have a look at what one guy learned about losing his laptop and how to protect your info from thieves – worthwhile.

I spent only half a shift at work today, with some hours free in the afternoon that I’d hoped to spend with Renee – she and I had coffee for a few hours yesterday. However, I ended up going out to The Station House pub for dinner with some friends from work, and their friends, which was great as I haven’t been getting out much lately at all. We all spent a good few hours enjoying each other’s company and I left a few of them there still, talking about a drunken pyjama party... unfortunately, not something I could really attend in the capacity as their boss, despite their entreaties. I also don’t own any pyjamas, come to think of it... ah well. Still a great time.

No news on the dating front this week due to a cold – maybe this week, when I might have ticket news about me heading back to Niagara as of Oct. 25^th!!!

Scores, Sandman and Starship Sofa

The word of the week is prescient. Are you?

Oct 4 – That’s a lot of Texting...

Have you seen the Cigar Guy internet Meme yet? If not, go have a look – it involves Tiger Woods, in a peripheral way, and may serve to boost his career... again. I find it fascinating that we live in an age of such instant communication that a simple picture can launch a thousand tributes... or a song can launch a career, such as with Justin Bieber. Given the choice, I’d take Cigar Guy on the TV any day of the week.

Text messages are becoming my bane; Renee prefers them as a method of communication. Sadly, my LG Shine phone from a few years ago is great in many ways, but does not have a QUERTY keyboard. I’m considering an upgrade to a new phone soon anyway as my contract expires in a month( I despise phone contracts!!! )so I’m looking at low-cost models with a full keyboard for texting . I don’t really want to splurge on a ‘super smartphone’ right now, as my instinct tells me that there will be a MUCH better offering on the market by this time next year, so I’m looking for suggestions / deals with Telus phones. No iPhones either, though a used one may be just the ticket... but it’d have a virtual keyboard. Can’t win with that.

Oct 5 – Long Day, Creeping By

A long day today; one of the girls from the Millstream store had trouble opening the safe this morning, so I trucked on down there to help... in the process witnessing a fender-bender at a stop right in front of me. A new driver failed to wait for a truck turning left in front of her and rammed it, fortunately not at any great speed – the sound of metal boxes slamming together is quite distinct but fortunately nobody was hurt. I left my name and number as a witness and scooted to work, where I then took 2 hours off due to demands on the car and spent the time at the local library – I read Neil Gaiman’s The Kindly Ones, a Sandman graphic novel. Spectacular. The rest of the day slid by solidly until I closed the store.

Most of you out there know that I am very, very careful about what personal information I put up online – FB is a good example, as I don’t use my real last name, just my pen name. It’s just too easy to put bits and pieces together from sources all over the ‘net that as a whole can be damaging in various ways. I was reminded of this today, as a co-worker asked if I had ‘creeped’ anyone online via FB or Google yet – the thought hadn’t occurred to me, but apparently that’s what everyone does nowadays...?  I can see the merits in it, as you might get lucky and find out a bit of info, but on the other hand, what if you find out something that you don’t like? Tough choices.

Oct 6 – Starship Sofa Super-ness!

Congrats to Brian for his ramping up of his uber-involvement as Art Director for StarshipSofa beginning this month! Way To Go Buddy!  Brian’s been with S.Sofa for some time now, and put me onto listening to his Hugo-Award-Winning audio magazine... my iPod Nano’s full of episodes that I listen to whenever I can; there’s always a good story in there and the host Tony C. Smith does an amazing job every show. I highly recommend a listen!

Hmmm... having Wednesdays off worked out this week – the weather was perfect! Of course, life couldn’t let me have perfection, as when I walked over to The Mountain Bean a little after lunch for a few hours relaxing outside... they were closed, with an apologetic note in the window. So I brewed up some tea and settled for my balcony instead, complete with peanut butter cookies. Earl Grey with Vanilla is spectacular, by the way – very smooth and definitely a different taste.

Oct 7 – No Niagara News, Just Local TV

Still no word about the plane tickets to Niagara, and my vacation at the end of October is fast approaching. I’m hoping that they will arrive this week, so I can let everyone know that I’m heading down – right now, it’s still up in the air. *ba-da-boom* I’ll send out an email ASAP once they arrive!

This doesn’t happen every day: my mom was on local television today, being interviewed. She’d written a letter into the station about the lack of transit( of any kind )here on Bear Mountain... and today they sent out a reporter to record an interview with her on the subject of interest! Have a look below( sorry about the audio, Blogger.com seems to have converted the video w/o it. Working on it! ):

Oct 8 – Writings and Workingz

Does anybody out there keep a journal? A diary? A mini-blog? A private stash of letters to themselves that nobody will ever read? I’m curious; as I’ve been writing this blog for almost 3 years solid, I’m wondering if anyone else out there does anything similar. I know there are some obsessive cases of people documenting their entire lives, but as I’ve said before in this blog, mine’s not interesting enough to put down that much detail day to day. Maybe some future sociologist will revel in collecting the textual detritus of blogs into a comprehensive picture of our current Cultural Age, but I doubt any of my entries will be there. Who can say how long Blogger.com will stay online? A decade? A century? Will it be archived for posterity in deep underground Google Vaults? We’ll have to see what the future brings.

Fridays at work are much better than they’ve been, with four people scheduled for the day. It makes things so much easier when the lobby fills up, and the customers are happier that they have less time spent waiting in line. It also helps that I have a fine crew, who keep improving their skills day to day and get along famously with each other – no prima donnas or woe-is-me types at all. Makes me smile!

Oct 9 – Savings and Scrubbed Dates

I know I keep throwing them out there, but I do find a lot of interesting and useful sites for your edification: SparkSavings.com is no exception. You can register to use its free financial tools, which are great for budgets, calculating spending habits and learning from other people’s experiences with finance – for free! I’m all about the free, as I’ve said before... with the ‘net at your fingertips, you can find tons of great advice. You just have to learn which bits to take, and which to ignore. Simple, right?

This evening was a bit of a wash, so I spent it in - talking on the phone, mostly, for the later part of the evening right up until midnight. Not a date night, though the weather was rather calm and balmy, for all that.

Oct 10 – Super Score... 42?

Seeing as I worked today, there was little chance of my catching a few games online with my friends on Xbox, as we usually do on Sundays. But, to my surprise, Dave was still online when I logged in after 8pm, and we jumped into a solid few hours of Battlefield: Bad Company 2. The last game of the night was a long drag-out fight with tiny 4-man teams that took the better part of 45 mins – I had the highest score I’ve ever dreamed of from it! 29,743 in total, with 26 pins that included a TON of long-term experience earnings... I was flabbergasted, really, and will be hard-put to ever equal that again. So I mention it here and now – huzzah!

What an auspicious date today: 10/10/10 – the perfect score in many an Olympic sport or contest, and just plain lucky to boot. Today is also ’42 Day’ in celebration of that legendary number from The Hitchiker’s Guide To The Galaxy – rather an awkward name for a day, really, but it gets the point across. Seeing as I recently missed Talk Like A Pirate Day, I’ll be sure to mark this one on the calendar... and check it every 42 days, give or take. Thanks for the heads-up on this one, Brian... I’ll send you a nice towel as a thank-you. Oh, and it’s today’s date as 101010 in binary that turns out to be the number 42. Cool, eh?

And... that’s all for now except for: Newt And John! Have you checked it out this week yet? Stop reading this blog and go now! It’s the Silent Treatment!

Starships, Shadows and Surprises

The word of the week is facetious, as its use surprised and thrilled me during a film this week.

Sept 27 – Niagara In October? Really???

Really, really exciting news, folks: a friend of my sister’s has come forward to return a big favour that she was able to help him with... and he works for WestJet. So you can see where this is going: I might just be getting tickets to let me visit Niagara- just in time for my vacation at the end of THIS MONTH!  More on this breaking news story as it develops... I’ve scheduled myself off from Oct. 23^rd to Nov 1^st, so I’ll likely be going from the 25^th to the 1^st inclusive – I’m so excited I can hardly stand it! So I sat down to write this.

Some things are too good to last, darn it. Such is the case with Xmarks, a free service that syncs bookmarks across ALL browsers on ALL the computers that you use – until you use it, you can’t imagine how great it is. Being able to pop open any browser( Chrome, FireFox, IE, Opera )and have access to the same bookmarks, even ones you’ve just updated, is very liberating. Until the news comes down that Xmarks is closing up shop soon due to a declining business model – read the sad story here, and lament its impending loss in 2011.

Sept 28 – Minecraft starships?

Jeepers, something I’ve thought about doing( briefly and without much aforethought ): building up a spaceship in a 3D modelling program for my own amusement. Well, someone’s done that one better plus a million - he built a 1:1 scale model of the Enterprise-D inside a game called Minecraft, which makes it easy to make things out of meter-square polygon blocks. Check out the video below, and the comments section on the link( if you click it ) – it’s stunning to ponder how much time this must have taken!

For all those with some spare time who are aspiring writers out there, of all walks and words, here’s something I ran across:  How To Write A Book. It’s technical in parts, but it has some excellent advice, including the bits that every writer should know, like patience and perseverance. Oh, and have something good to talk about – nobody wants to read a book about socks, unless you really, really know socks. Write what you know, right?

Sept 29 – Finances and Family Thoughts

What do you think about parenthood, those of you who are parents? I’ve had a thought jogging around in my head for years, that’s had no solid answer – it’s about liscencing. We teach people to drive and certify them with a liscence; we issue a liscences for fishing, for firearms and for medical practice. Why, then, don’t we liscence people to have kids? Now, before your brain clamps down on that thought, think about it: we all know people who would make lousy parents, as well as people who make great ones. Who’s to say that basic courses in parenting might not make the world a better place? After all, kids take similar courses in high school; why not make things official with a Bureau of Parenting? Any thoughts?

Every so often I throw this back into the blog, as I think it’s vitally important that people take the time each week to think about their finances. Not planning ahead, even a little, can easily lead to a fiscal stumble when you least want or need it. Free Financial Advice.net is a great place to add to your fiscal toolbox, even if it’s just to perk up your basic budgeting tips. Sadly, most people would rather book a dental drilling appointment than make a budget... which would tell them they can’t afford a dentist. Ironic, no?

Sept 30 – Date Numero Duex

Being in a rush is not a great way to start a second date, but tonight timing( as always )was everything. Rush straight from work to clean off the car, rush home to freshen up, rush out to grab a bite to eat on the way to the movie theatre... in plenty of time to meet the lovely Renee to see Inception. She had already seen it twice before but was eager to see it again, due to the high level of complexity to the plot – it’s enough to warrant its own visual Inception infographic, based as it is on multiple levels of dreams. We had a great time talking about the film, especially the concept of limbo and dreams, and we definitely want to see each other again. Now it’s just a question of when, and where. Hangliding, maybe? Maybe not; not a lot of opportunity to talk, there. We shall just have to see!

Yes! News today that the 2003 game Beyond Good & Evil is being re-released for the Xbox in 2011! If you’ve never played the original, you’ve missed out as it’s a fantastic game – and I’ve missed out too, as the darn thing never wanted to get past the first chapter on any of the systems I’ve installed it on. Good ol’ defective discs, but at last I’ll be able to enjoy it in HD-quality when it comes out next year. The voice acting in the game was stellar, so that will be a highlight to experience again in 5.1-ish sound – I’ve packed away my Logitech stereo while I am in my current place, so headphones will have to suffice. For now.

Oct 1 – No Clouds and Cars

What a gorgeous day it was today outside – I saw it well through the many windows at work! Seems that Summer decided to grace us with some stunning sunny weather outside; it went up to 23 degrees outside and hordes of people strode by just soaking it up. Since I worked a split shift, I took a few hours off and sat outside myself, enjoying some root beer at the nearby Colwood A&W while watching the world go by. As days go, it was about as mellow a start to the month as it gets – thanks, Mama Nature! You can see how kind she is to Victoria here – we get enough sunshine that we export it some years.

Those of you who know me well, know that I have a fascination with combining cars and guns( and rockets and minedroppers and... )inspired by the old Car Wars game system. So when I heard that there’s soon going to be a direct-to-DVD release of Death Race 2, I was rather jubilant. The fact that it stars Ving Rhames( Surrogates ), Danny Trejo( Machete )and Sean Bean( Lord Of The Rings )is just icing on the bullet-riddled napalm-soaked cake. Can’t wait for this one; pass the cheese!

Oct 2 – Warrior Clay and Characters

Oh, fer cryin’ out loud... I was looking forward to next year’s Chinese Terracotta Army exhibition at the Royal Museum of BC here in Victoria, but I found out today that China has decided to cancel the tour after it finishes this coming year in Montreal. This is very disappointing, as the Terracotta Soldiers are some of the most amazing artifacts discovered anywhere in the world this century. I recall several visits to the ROM in Toronto as a child, to see Egyptian mummies and dinosaur skeletons; those exhibits filled me with a wonder about the world that I still carry with me to this very day. Maybe I can plan on a trip to Montreal before next summer? Hmmm.

Tonight, I retired an online persona, one I’ve used for some years online in MSN and a character some of you may be familiar with in passing: Nichneven. It’s been a blast to use her as an avatar, but as the years piled on I felt it was unfair to my NWN friends to continue to use a facade instead of my ‘real’ persona, despite many aspects of Nichneven being my own – the offbeat sense of humour most of all. In the end, I simply folded Nich away like a well-loved set of clothes and put her away for a while to rest, with the help of a good friend in MSN. We’ll see when she comes out next, but for now I am happy to just be myself... moreso than I have been for a while.

Oct 3 – Shadows and Silliness

This morning I watched Man On The Moon with Jim Carey, which was quite different than I expected – Jim’s manic energy really came through on the screen in his depiction of comic genius Andy Kauffman. It was hard to tear my eyes away from the screen in parts; separating the joke from the reality was very difficult and the old “Never Cry Wolf” adage came to mind at the end, when his cancer was announced. Definitely not a date movie, that’s for sure – I’ve been compiling a short list of those of late. *grin*

Aha, found at last! As I was digging through what I thought was a bag of newspaper clippings, I stumbled across a whole pile of books and magazines from my childhood. Fondly remembered is the February 1983 issue of Epic Illustrated, for its mix of great tales and fanciful illustrations, along with... my cherished copy of Ambassador Of The Shadows! I’ve been searching for years for that book( even on eBay and elsewhere! )yet all this time it’s been residing safely quiet between stacks of old papers – I had the foresight back then to bag all my papers with desiccant paks, so there’s not a hint of must or mildew from their long storage. I’m settling in tonight to read through Ambassador, which was echoed a decade later in the storyline of Babylon 5 – strange how life works like that, sometimes. Go nostalgia!

Sometimes things startle you; this weekend I bought a few new pairs of jeans for the first time in a long while, as I’ve dropped down to a 32 waist this year. Amazing what stress and exercise combined can do to a person. Not that I’m thrilled with the reasons, but it’s nice to be trimmer than I’ve been for a bit.

Dates, Demises and Dr. Ned

The word of the week is sanguine. For various reasons.

Sept 20 – Planets and People

Just this week, I’ve finished watching the third season of The Guild, a web-based show that I like very much – not only because it’s writer / star Felicia Day is very engaging, but also because it has been made outside the traditional Hollywood system. Being financed almost on a by-the-episode basis for the first year, it’s engaging to watch knowing that it was created by a small group of people on a tiny budget, yet manages to make itself seem so much larger in scope. No cheesy CGI either, for that matter – heck, they even made a great music video:

Tonight was cool and clear, perfect for stargazing – planetgazing, in fact. It was perfect for a viewing of Jupiter, which made its closest pass to Earth since 1963, allowing people with simple telescopes a rare opportunity in the sky. With a little patience, we managed to zero in on the Planet of Storms – the sky was crisp enough that we could even see four of it’s moons as bright dots around the planet itself! Being able to see part of our solar system so easily, right from home, brought a connection that I found quite intriguing – knowing that people may visit the planet within my lifetime sent a shiver down my spine.

Sept 21 – Media Crossed

To tablet? To iPad? To iPhone? While I’ve been considering writing an article on why I don’t need any of these recent tech toys for my own life, for various reasons, another writer has written about his experience with the iPad over the last 5 months. He makes some interesting points about trends in accessing media, which seems to be the way things are going now – the Boxee is an excellent example of a device that lets you get at your media collection easily. Heck, even Netflix has arrived in Canada this month, so I’ll be checking that out soon enough, though I think I may have to up the bandwidth for my ‘net connection to make it really shine – the ‘light’ version I have isn’t really good enough for all we do here daily.

Ah do love a good cross-section: seeing a piece of technology rendered in a three-quarters view with all the internals displayed is just fantastic, I could look for hours through books of those kinds of drawings. Which I do, as I have a fair number of the Star Wars Cross-Sections books, as well as a cherished large matte posterboard of the Enterprise D – with some technical glitches included. So when I saw this article on io9.com about Robocop cross-sections, I clicked faster than I had in some time... and was entranced. ED-209!!

Sept 22 – First Date!

I had the day off today, which I feel I spent very well: I went on a date. For lunch, over at The Black Stilt cafe in Victoria – but I didn’t actually get to eat any lunch, as I was totally absorbed in conversation. Her name is Renee, and spent almost three hours seated at the window, chatting about all sorts of things. It was a really great first date, one that I felt only a little nervousness on. It ended far too soon, but she was definite about seeing each other again; she plays the flute! It was a lovely, charming day for me – and for her, from what I could tell.

I spent the evening at home, checking out a book I’d bought from Munroe Books across the road called Career Success Without A Real Job by Ernie J. Zelinski. It brings up some great points about working for a living, working for corporations and finding out that you don’t have to do both to be happy / successful. Since I’ve been considering the freelance writer’s life, as well as other non-regular paycheque income streams, it’s very interesting reading. Especially when I consider my lack of need for a ‘large’ income to support a big house / car / family / kids ... there’s some freedom there that can’t be overlooked by me. Sure looks like a better path than trying to get my head around the weird world of management...

Sept 23 – Energy and Zombies

Things have been on more of an even keel for me this week, moreso than in a long while - a new staffer has come online at work and is working out fantastically, so that helps a lot when trying to get work done. I’ve been adjusting my sleep schedule as well, waking up earlier and going to sleep well before midnight most days to try and stay on an even keel. I’ve even dragged out my sunlight-lamp( not a heat-lamp! )for those days where the clouds are thick and I need to keep myself feeling awake and energetic. So far, so good... we’ll see how the workplace pans out, as that’s where the vast majority of my stress arises from.

Further signs that zombies are going mainstream was spotted today on the roads of Victoria today: a Zombie Outbreak Response Team vehicle! I laughed out loud when I saw the Ford Aerostar van pass by, with one of the large logo signs plastered on the rear passenger windows. I think this sort of vehicular customization makes a lot more sense than those who spend thousands on vehicle add-ons that hold no resale value – plus it’s just a lot cooler-looking IMHO.

Sept 24 – Harlan???

What the heck? Brian emailed me today with the news that Harlan Ellison is dying! Damn, and here I thought the old axiom about only the good dying young was holding true for one of my favourite sci-fi authors. Interestingly, this week I picked up an anthology entitled Dangerous Vegetables by Keith Laumer... who was also friends with Harlan Ellison. In the foreward, Ben Bova writes “And, strangely, Keith and Harlan were friends with each other, but it was like the friendship between Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday, built on mutual respect and admiration for each other’s talents rather than on softer sentiments.” I hope it’s just Harlan being Harlan, and not a prelude to his actual passing. Damn.

All right, it’s been a while since I’ve had anything breakfast-themed on the blog, so here’s a return to awesome: Batter Blaster. Organic pancakes in sprayable form... and word is, there will be bacon-flavoured varieties soon! I love pancakes, especially ones made in a solidly-seasoned cast-iron pan – having had many a pancake in my time from many parts of this country and others, I can say that there is a wide margin for error... it’s all in the batter, and you can tweak it as you like. My fave? Adding applesauce and cinnamon! With bacon on the side, of course.

Sept 25 - Inspiration

If you ever need some inspiration, when life seems to be getting you down, look no further than the following two stories. First, there is Terry Fox, who is a household name among Canadians decades after his attempt to run across the country. Recently, his route was retraced by a runner, who wanted to find the stories attached to the legend – and find them he did. Another inspiring person is the lesser-known Frenchman Philippe Croizon, who at age 42 recently swam the English Channel – with no arms or legs. If they could do what they did, then there’s no excuse for the able-bodied not to try to do as well, really.

Work stinks sometimes, especially when it comes down to timing. Tonight I tried my damndest to finish early, but work being work, things came up that demanded I not finish before 8pm, despite my wanting to. Why finish early? Well, there’s an indie band festival here called Rifflandia( that I learned existed this week )that runs this weekend... and my date from Wednesday played tonight at 7:30. I also found out that tickets weren’t being sold for individual venues and that the passes for the weekend had sold out earlier today, so I couldn’t get one even if I wanted to. Had I known yesterday, things would have been different... but I didn’t find out until today, so there was little I could do. So it goes sometimes. *sigh*

Sept 26 – Borderlands, plus Newt and John!

Darn – I woke up with a headache today due to the heavy overcast weather, but I set it aside so I could play a few good hours of Borderlands with Lucas! We finished off the majority of the DLC The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned, which I’d played some portion of a few months ago but never finished – as usual. I have to say I love the visuals in the game, as well as the sense of humour that at times is very self-aware; it makes the game all that much more fun to play, on top of the excellent multiplayer experience it is already.

Holy episodes, Batman – Newt And John has reached their 40^th today! A milestone! If you haven’t already checked it out( and shame on you if not! )then click on over to the official website to start at the beginning, it’s just fantastic art. Mike Hogue does some stunning work with Flash, has worked on such projects as Stoked and Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets... it’s inspiring stuff. Scary too – those Shadow Puppets look too real to me! Go get ‘em Mike!

It’s strange sometimes writing this blog – it’s out there on the web for anyone to see, but only if I really tell people about it. Some folks on Facebook don’t know about it, and in general only some of my friends know about it... it’s got a lot about me in it, and at the least I don’t feel comfortable letting those I work with have access to it for various solid reasons. It helps me though, putting things down here – not in the sense of a diary, but more of a journal of where I am, and where I’m going... plus looking back at the blog shows me where I’ve been.

Tanks, Thundercats and Teh - Yes, Teh.

The word of the week is perseverance.

Sept 13 – Spider-Man

It’s been getting harder to deal with things hereabouts of late, as I’m so very tired and not on an even keel emotionally – it takes all my strength of will to keep myself level at work and perform as best I can. That leaves little in the way of niceties for after work, so my relationship with my parents has been a little strained as a result – those of you who know me well know that this isn’t intentional, but it’s still been happening a bit. We’ve managed thus far to avoid any problems, thanks to all of us being fairly well-adjusted people and the fact that we’ve been through a lot together over the years. Maybe I should write a book on the subject? I've got a fair amount of material here...

But enough of that: how about a smile? Have a look at Spiders On Drugs...

Sept 14 – Freelancing Flat TV’s

As I wandered around the ‘net today after work, I found two articles dealing with the pitfalls and joys of freelance writing. It’s something that I’ve considered on and off over the years, along with being a writer of other things... have a look, they’re quite good and involve face punching: Here, and here – enjoy.

It’s been almost 3 years since I purchased my LG TV, and it’s going quite strong... definitely a great choice. I see a lot of ‘slimmer’ sets are on the market now, including ones that have LED backlights that last longer, use less power and yadda yadda... some things just don’t justify buying a new TV when the old one works very well. Like 3D, or ‘quattron’ technology that adds a 4^th colour... I mean, really now – is that reason enough to buy a new, MUCH more expensive TV? I think not – I’ll keep my money for now and keep watching C|Net’s Tech Reviews every so often when they talk about the best TV’s... all of which are flat-panel, have streaming ‘net capabilities and still cost a fair sum. I wonder about the profit margins on them, too.

Sept 15 – Word Performance

A positive day today – it was my day off, but I spent most of the day at work delivering two positive performance reviews, which are rare in our company. Goes to show that the people I work with are really special, which makes me try to drag my own performance out of its funk all the more... At this point I wonder some days if I can get more right than wrong, and also wonder if EI would be a better thing for my sanity, if not my pocketbook. I’ve been running budgets on that, and no final word - so far.

Ever wonder about the word ‘teh’ at all? It’s creeping into our language, and you heard it here first – insidious, really. It’s replacing the word ‘to’ in common conversation, and my ears have cottoned onto it these last few months. The phrase “I go to work in the morning” has become “I go teh work in the morning” – not a big shift, but a shift nonetheless. Very much like noticing one model of car in the pack around you on the road, then seeing that car model stand out again and again, you may start noticing ‘teh’ more often, now that you’ve been told. See if you don’t.

Sept 16 – Top Gear Cadets

The popularity of the BBC TV show Top Gear continues to gather new fans, myself among them – what’s better than 3 car critics having a go at driving the latest cars, while also holding strange contests amongst themselves? With guest stars all vying for the fastest time around the track? Well, not much comes to mind car-wise – I did like that they really took a shine to the Mazda 6, which I’ve eyed for a bit as a vehicle, should I decide I really need one. Not that I’d do much ‘real’ driving, like they do on the show.

Erk! I pulled another 13-hour day today, give or take – I was at the Millstream branch for five hours, quite early, to do an audit. Then a brief break taken at A&W where I overheard to a naval cadet telling someone quite loudly on the phone about her money troubles – apparently they were bad enough that she had to fill in the entire restaurant at full volume, so I left after I couldn’t take it anymore. Work after that was a trial, but at least I didn’t have the problems the cadet had, which involved kneecaps and suchlike. Yikes!

Sept 17 – Tanks for Nothing!

Yes, another workday... but it was a short day today, only 6 hours. I’ve been warned that I’m pulling too much overtime and now have to seek permission ahead of time. Which makes me shrug, as there’s still going to be a pile of tasks for me to do no matter what, so it’s just another test in prioritizing and delegating, as I see it. Surprisingly I managed an hour at the Bean today for lunch, where I stared out at the misty forest-covered hills and wondered at the shapes concealed there. Pretty scenery. No deer.

‘Tanks’ for the memories! A former co-worker of mine found the following in her driveway: I think I would have a conniption if I were one of her two sons and found this parked in front of my house when we got home....!

Sept 18 – Flash and Ogres?

Flash games aren’t my usual cup of tea, but one was introduced to me by a NWN gaming friend of mine that I really like – FantasticContraption.com is a ton of fun. I like it for a few reasons, one of which is that you have to think when you play... which is always tops in my books. Give it a try... it’s available for the iPhone and iPad too, from what I see of the site.

Today work-wise, I split my time between the two branches, trying to catch up and actually somewhat succeeding – I managed to cover a few major loose ends, which was a good feeling. It didn’t last though, as I contemplated all the other tasks that still await me like ogres in the woods, eyes glittering as my last torch gutters and burns low, singing my fingers. Nice image, that. Except for the unwashed ogres. Blegh!

Sept 19 -  Oil Storms

Well, it does storm occasionally here, and this morning was proof – rain rattled hard on the windows at 7am today to wake me, which was fine as I had to work anyway... in a few hours. By noon the storm was gone and the sun was shining, which again is typical Victoria weather – wait an hour and it will change, which certainly adds variety to one’s day. Be sure to dress in layers and bring an umbrella, just in case.

Some late-breaking news to include: looks like BP has finally, finally plugged the massive oil-well leak in the Gulf of Mexico today. After such a huge environmental disaster, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the race towards non-petroleum-based forms of fuel accelerate... if you’ll pardon the pun. How about: oil’s well that ends well?

Hmm... I can’t think of anything pithy to say here. I’ll just post the blog and watch Thundercats before bed, then.

Performance, People and Phones

The word of the week is . Not tangerine, as you may have considered...

Sept 6 – Vacationing from your day job

How’s everyone doing this fall season? Anyone have any interesting plans? Going back to school? Plans for travel? Nobody else I know keeps a blog to mention these things in, so I thought I would ask... toss it out there, let us all know. I’m considering a vacation early in the new year, but as you all know I’ve yet to choose a destination – any suggestions?

It’s a dream that a lot of people want but don’t know how to fulfill: quitting their day job. But unless you win some money or otherwise find a shortcut, it’s almost always a matter of long panning and hard work. GetRichSlowly has a great piece that examines the ups and downs of quitting your job, as told by someone who has done just that. Good reading that makes for interesting choices.

Sept 7 – Princesses and Dinosaurs

Perhaps you’ve forgotten about a lovely web community based at DeviantArt.com? Not been there lately? Well, you should... when they have cool things like this: Disney Princesses as Superheroes. I like superheroes, and these are a little more than stick-figure napkin-sketches... plus there’s so MANY other cool things to search / surf for on DeviantArt. Crossovers, contests held on many topics, or just plain strange stuff that pops out of people’s heads and onto the digital page. Like these undead Disney character cosplay costumes, similar to the Twisted Princesses I posted a few months ago – cool!

Apparently there’s also a lot of love out there still for a certain low-IQ, big-on-smash Transformers character by the name of Grimlock – check out these great images that people have come up with over the last twenty years or so. I have to admit he’s a fave of mine as well: big, dumb, simple in his priorities but not vicious as you would expect from his appearance. No pushover though – who would want to tangle with a giant metal T-Rex, anyway?

Sept 8 - Performance

Strange how some things blindside you when you’re distracted... well, not so strange, when you’re distracted by about a thousand other things. While preparing for 3 employee reviews this week, I forgot it was time for MY review – and I had it sprung on me today. It took almost three hours... and it was excruciating to see myself deconstructed in terms that the company felt were important, or not. Nothing in there about being generous, friendly, kind, honest... all those things we value in our day-to-day lives are set aside for more corporate traits like accountability, leadership / inspirational traits and other things designed to maximize profitability and minimize expenses. By the end I felt as though I’d been taken apart and put back together again as a person I wasn’t familiar with, or sure I liked. Such is the way of the management world, when you are tasked with such that you cannot accomplish it all yourself no matter how hard you try... so you are told you will be judged on how well you have others get things done by delegation. If they fail, you fail, and you alone suffer the consequences, which will likely result in you no longer having a management job. Intense pressure, which I’m already under. Yay.

So I’ve been trying my damndest to come to grips that I’m no longer a CSR, that my job is a ‘challenge’ in so many ways to me now that it seems foreign to me. I’ve looked at a fair number of sites on Performance Management, and come to the conclusion that managers are all insane, as a whole, to do what they do for the rate of pay they get. I should have developed a single skill set( hopefully one not vulnerable to being outdated quickly )and become something like a plumber, or a carpenter. Or lawyer.... that’d have been a LOT less stressful, for sure. *shrugs* Hindsight won’t erase dark circles.

Sept 9 – Name Games

Of late, I haven’t played much of any of my collection of games, Xbox or PC – it just doesn’t appeal to me when my time is so limited and my energy levels so low. Still, I’m glad to see that PC games are still going strong – C|Net had a recent posting about how PC games may be going through a renaissance again, thanks to games like Starcraft II and gaming services like Steam. Seeing as I’m using a ‘newer’ laptop and CPU, I’m able to still play most games at decent speeds, albeit while the laptop’s plugged in. Getting a new PC desktop isn’t really on my radar, as I don’t feel the need to upgrade or to give up more space in my bedroom. What I do need is more time and less stress, neither of which you can buy anywhere. For example:

Here’s something I found to help me out when meeting new people: How To Remember People’s Names. It’s a great article, not too long and it may save you some embarrassment when you meet that person again for the second time... that’s all. Simple, eh?

Sept 10 – Call me about the weather?

Holy expensive hardware, Batman... have you seen the price of the latest smartphones? I’ve been considering one( sort of )lately, but looking at their cost when purchased outside of a contract with a phone provider is eye-opening – have a look at the cost of some of the most popular phones, priced to sell. Does anyone out there have one of these things? Are they really worth it? I know Canada has one of the worst levels of price-gouging when it comes to cell phone costs, and it bothers me to see how much people are paying for the ‘privilege’ of owning the latest phones. Hundreds a month? No thanks!

Yes, I’m an io9.com junkie, but there’s good reason, when they print really useful articles. Like this one about weather prediction, which they explain as related to barometric pressure. This has a direct interest for me, as I’m sensitive to changes in air pressure... just like the article mentions. As well as being sensitive thanks to the damage to my joints( via arthritis )so I get a double-helping of weather prediction most days. Useful, but painful – like a lot of things in life you don’t ask for but are given.

Sept 11 – Nine Years

Nine years since two iconic buildings fell and thousands lost their lives in several places across the United States in 2001. The horror of those two attacks still makes me shiver when I recall with perfect clarity where I was and what I was doing at the time. I made several phone calls immediately to our stores in the Falls, where staff didn’t seem to comprehend that the world had changed that day. I watched things unfold live on television for hours, unable to comprehend that I place I had visited years before as a tourist( as had millions of others )was now a pile of rubble. All at the behest of other humans – was this the same feeling that those who ordered Hiroshima and Nagasaki destroyed felt as they saw the results? There can be no going back; history will record as it always has, and the world will judge.

I managed to leave work somewhat early today, after the usual duties were done, including as always that the bi-weekly payroll was completely correct and submitted. The rest of the evening was spent simply decompressing from the week – television, some reading and a whole lot of NOT thinking about work; that’s the hard part of late. Work / life separation has been very, very tenuous for me lately.

Sept 12 –Newt and Numbers

Today, the folks in charge of the global banking system finalized their plans to stave off future financial crises of the like we faced this past year... led by Canada’s shining example, as our banking system was the rock in an otherwise turbulent global sea of economic chaos. Good news, that means a more stable world economy that is less prone to suffer ills on a massive scale should one sector or country falter. We’ve still no idea what will happen should some global disaster like an asteroid strike happens, or the sun hiccups, but for the most part we’re planning on minimizing the damage our own problems create.

Heck, I didn’t post a link last week, but here’s one now: Mike Hogue has put up some new cool downloadable stuff at Newt And John.com, along with the always-excellent weekly update for the comic! See how Two Roommates Take On The Universe – in colour, no less! Seeing as I spent a good portion of my day today playing Battlefield: Bad Company2 on the Xbox, I heartily recommend a good laugh after heavy gaming.

I’ve written most of this week’s blog while sipping tea over at The Mountain Bean, on a wet weekend here in BC. I can look out the window and see the nearby forested hills almost completely obscured by white mist, as the mountain weather sits quietly on the land around. It’s quiet, beautiful, and smells absolutely fabulous – so fresh and clean that you wonder there’s any civilization around at all nearby.