Brain Fart's from a Mundane Dragon

Done

2006-12-23T11:36:00.000-08:00

Hussah, I'm done. Went out last night and the hardest part of the remaining gifts was done. A quick lightning-trip this morning, 15 minutes in and out, and that's it. Three trips, though it's more like 2 1/2.

Now comes the wrapping .....

Here Comes Christmas

2006-12-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

I just got back from my first Christmas shopping foray. This, of course, puts me into the "last minute" camp of Christmas shopping. Though with 2 days to go it's not technically "last minute".

While I don't find shopping a drag it's not at the top of my list, either. I tend to put it off. This has advantages. One tends to be far more focused. At least, I am. And I tend to do less second guessing.

The radio said this is typically the busiest shopping day of the year. I didn't find it bad at all. A couple tricks I've learned that makes it a bit easier:

Whine like hell for a list. If you don't get one and the recipient doesn't get what they want, well, who's fault is that?

Plan for 2 to 3 shopping forays. If you're done in one, bonus.

Go first thing when stores open or late evening, definitely quieter.

Have some kind of idea of what you're looking for, this usually involves a list.

Never wander around aimlessly looking for inspiration. The chances of randomly spotting the perfect present are little to none. Better to grab a coffee and free associate for ideas than wander aimlessly.

If you start getting cranky, think forward to Christmas day (or backwards to past Christmases) and remember the goal. This is a labour of love. If it isn't, buy chocolates, booze, or a Hickory Farms gift basket and save yourself the stress

If all else fails and you haven't found anything: Chocolates, booze, or a Hickory Farms gift basket. Yah, it's the same thing you buy for the people who aren't worth the shopping stress, only you've done it after you've put in the mall stress time so your karma is still ok. And hey, if the recipients don't know where they stand without the gift, you have other problems.

For myself, so far, so good. All done except for 2 gifts. I can't think of a time when it hasn't taken a least 2 forays in the shopping jungle, so right on track. With the stores open late, I might even pop out again this evening.

The two remaining gifts are for my niece and nephew. This could be tough. I'm seriously thinking of giving them an IOU.

I've asked a few women I know about ideas for my niece. When they heard she's 16ish, to a person their eyes rolled and their face got this "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" look. Then they snap out of it and say, "Abandon Hope, for better shoppers than thou hath failed. Get thee to a gift certificate counter". Ah, gift certificates. That's a whole other blog. I did get a very abbreviated list from my niece, so I'm still trying.

My nephew? I'm free associating over a coffee.

First things first, or something

2006-10-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

I was expecting a bit of déjà vu in this, my second layoff. Instead, I'm experiencing the weirdness of my first thing in the morning being 8am instead of 4pm. Nothing is really open and breakfast won't involve a burger, sushi or kabob.

And I'm exhausted. This has been the week of "go-go-go I'll sleep later I want to do it all"! It started with a mini-flip to day hours for Thanksgiving last weekend, continued over the week with 4 hour sleeps and strategic naps so I could work nights and attend daytime events, and culminated with our work farewell party. I slept like the dead last night.

So here I am this morning sitting on the couch waking up instead of falling asleep, nursing a headache, looking out the window to the quiet of morning not the hustle and bustle of the afternoon, and wondering what to do next.

First things first. Tylenol for the headache. Then coffee. We'll see where things go from there.

Counting down

2006-10-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

8 working days and counting till I'm officially unemployed. I'm so looking forward to getting off the treadmill for a while. I'm hoping it isn't hubris but the job market seems good enough right now that I'm not freaked out about getting another job. I have some focused self-learning I want to do before starting the job hunt, and the severance package should cover this. In the meantime, Thanksgiving is coming up and I'm looking forward to seeing the family.

On a side note, one can definitely tell that the Canadian Thanksgiving isn't the sacred "home for the holiday" event it is down South. Locally there's both a convention and a conference competing for this long weekend time period. If only I could be in 3 places at once.

Hang on to your hat

2006-07-29T05:43:00.000-07:00

Watching August walk up to the front door can only mean that rat bastard July is leaving with at least 10 ten days of my life I didn't get to live. July is just like all the rest of his roommates: A liar and a thief.

August is going to be very busy. I'm scheduled for two workshops and a friend and his wife are coming up for a visit from down south. Then there's projects I'm trying to get done and, not to be forgotten, job hunting.

Perhaps I should be finalizing my resume instead of writing this ......

In the Twisted Parodies Department

2006-07-14T16:39:00.000-07:00

Cruising around the blog-o-sphere I encountered a parody of the old Davey and Goliath series. The series briefly came back into the public eye when it was parodied in a Mountain Dew commercial ("We're hosed, Davey"). This version is just wrong, but I'm compelled to post it :-)

http://videosift.com/story.php?id=5039

Blog TLC

2006-07-10T07:19:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend I caught shit for being blogger AWOL.

Yes, my energies have been focused else where. Sadly, I have a small, finite amount of that.

In my defense, you'll find there are two other domains where the content is starting to flow. Here's a hint, I have email addresses at both of them.

April

2006-04-30T07:44:00.000-07:00

Where the hell did April go?

Spring Cleaning

2006-04-14T05:16:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've done the BIG CLEAN. Although I do prefer clean to unkempt there always something more useful to do ... until company is coming.

In my defense, I value my health so there are a number of things that stay sanitary. A buried kitchen table doesn't rank among those things. Neither do dishes washed but not put away. Or cardboard boxes waiting to go to recycling. Anyway, though I can easily live with this kind of mess, I'm not keen to subjecting others to it.

So thank God company does come every now and then. Nothing like a hard deadline for motivation. The apartment is back to relatively tidy in the main spaces. This in conjunction with the stuff I manage to get to leaves an over all nice effect.

Time to invite a bunch of people over before entropy exerts itself.

Caffeine Nap

2006-02-11T10:07:00.000-08:00

As seen on digg, this is too cool: How to Take A Caffeine Nap

Am definitely going to have a chance to try this out real soon!

Home Stretch

2006-02-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

It's the last day of my conference series and my last regular day before going back to nights. I'm tired. I'm looking forward to the presentations today, and I'm looking forward to this being over!

I want to get started on the projects I'm planning and I'm ready to go but for the lack of available time. And energy. I feel asleep on the couch last night reading background material. I also have a nagging fear that the 2 or 3 days of jet-lag on my day-to-night transition will kill my forward momentum.

And crap, I just remembered I forgot to set the VCR for Battlestar Galactica. One more casualty of the conference.

Conferences: 2, Exercise: 1

2006-02-10T11:25:00.000-08:00

My whole healthy lifestyle thing is smashed all to hell this week. Conferences will do that all by themselves, I have the added extra of my night to day transition.

The night to day transition isn't especially hard, but it leaves me jet-lagged as my circadian rhythm plays catch up with my new sleep patterns. It's a big motivation killer, and I need all the motivation I can get!

Then there's the conference; it not only tends to eat up most of the available time but it means lots of restaurant food. I don't want to complain too much about the time thing. It means it's a good conference. Trying to fit in a bit of exercise is tough, though.

It's not all bleak.

There's a lot of walking, both at the conference and getting to and from the conference. Because of the night to day transition I don't have an established day schedule so it's been much easier getting up at 6am than it would have been, otherwise.

One of the conference organizers has been pointing out the good places to eat. I might be eating more calories than I should but it tastes good and hasn't been totally unhealthy. A nice change from some conferences where all I could find is fast food.

In an fit of pure serendipity, Tuesday night when I got home I pretty much went straight to bed and the next morning I couldn't sleep past 5am. Amazingly, I fast talked myself into a run. It was a tough sell. The bed was warm and outside wasn't. I'm still a bit surprise I actually did it.

And there's another really big side bonus, it's finally stopped raining!!!!

With OS CMS Summit finished yesterday, it's on to Northern Voice Moose Camp today. More filling my head with ideas; my tummy with americanos and panini's; and my face with sunshine!

OS CMS Summit

2006-02-09T17:43:00.000-08:00

I've taken this week off work so I could attend the Open Source Content Management System (OS CMS) Summit and the Northern Voice blogger conference. OS CMS Summit just finished and the last 3 days have been very cool. Sadly, I'm not a good enough writer to describe why, so I don't think I'm even going to try. Suffice to say I'm in a cafe with wireless enjoying a very tasty cafe americano felling very content.

The Exercise Component

2006-01-27T23:35:00.000-08:00

Exercise. Right now it's that running thing.

I don't have a passion for running, but I don't hate it. What does that mean? I wouldn't do it for enjoyment, but I'm ok with doing it. It has the advantage of being doable nearly anywhere at anytime at a moments notice. Big advantages, all.

I've done running off and on - more off than on - for the last 20 years. The longest I've stuck at it is around 3 or 4 months, I think. I don't like running in the cold or the rain. This rules out large blocks of time in Vancouver! The problem was that all I owned were cotton track pants. Not fun to run in wet and in the cold the air rushed right through them.

After some advise from my brother-in-law I invested in a pair of "loose tights". I had always ruled out running tights. Picturing myself in tights was not pretty. Then I found out that all tights are not tight. Um, ok. A trip to Mountain Equipment Co-op and I now have a pair of cycling "tights" that are perfect for running in, and have a small pocket for my keys. Not only don't they chaff, they keep the rain and wind out and they breath.

For Christmas I got a sleeveless running vest kind of thing with reflective elements. This solves the top half of the wet and wind problem. Over top of a sweat shirt it keeps the wind and water off and makes me more visible in the dark.

Finishing off the clothing technology is pair of light foul weather gloves I bought for sailing. They aren't insulating but do provide a bit of protection from the wind and cold. The tips of the index finger and thumb are removed making it easier to work zippers and stop watch buttons.

Top it off, quite literally, with a ball cap, or my Tilly hat when it's really pissing, and I'm good to go.

Now when I run in the cold and wet I'm quite comfortable. I no longer dread the thought of heading out because I'll freeze my ass off.

So every second or third day for the last three weeks I've been out running. Well, getting aerobic. It's an interval training run/walk deal. If I work at it long enough, it will be totally running.

Next step, aside from keeping it going, is to work in resistance training. But one thing at a time.

That healthy lifestyle thing

2006-01-26T09:47:00.000-08:00

I've been picking away at the healthy eating/exercise thing for a very long time. At various times I've been better and worse about it. I've never gone "on a diet." I know enough about myself to know any gains would be temporary. Whatever I do, has to be a life style change.

Easier said than done.

The last 4 years have seen some serious forays into cooking. It turns out it's easy to make food that I like to eat and that's healthy. The catch for me is getting organized on the supply side. Damn logistics. As of mid last year I had the lunch thing fairly well locked in. Dinner, not so much.

You'll notice I haven't mentioned exercise. Sadly, nothing to talk about.

Starting late November/early December I decided to make a serious attempt of getting it all together. Christmas caused a suspension of activities, but I got back on track in the New Year. Maybe track isn't the right term, from a personal perspective it's trail blazing. What ever it is, as I round January's final bend I'm still moving forward.

Hi Mom

2006-01-15T20:07:00.000-08:00

Hi Mom, love you.

Belated Happy New New Year Everyone

2006-01-15T20:06:00.000-08:00

Like the title says.

Coffee Good - Coffee Bad - Coffee Good - Meh

2005-12-06T20:51:00.000-08:00

I've become somewhat disinterested over sciences opinion of my coffee drinking habit. There have been studies that coffee is good for you. There have been studies that coffee is bad for you. I read in a history of coffee that when coffee was first introduced to Europe the society of day said it was evil and people should stick to beer. I don't know if that's true, but it's fun to believe it is.

Most recently the last couple of studies to hit the media have said it's good. Here's the most recent: Study Suggests Caffeine Can Help Liver.

At this point there isn't much that's going to make me change my drinking habits. Everything in moderation, including moderation.

I do hope they discover how our human eco system really works, though. Fasinating beast, and I have quite the vested interest in the answer.

Panty Protocol

2005-12-04T20:16:00.000-08:00

There's a pair of panties lying in the hall of my apartment building. I assume they feel out of a laundry basket, would hate to think I missed something more interesting happening more or less outside the door.

If this were a set of keys or a wallet I'd know what to do. In the case? Do I pick them up and put a sign in lobby: Found, pair of panties, call to claim? Start knocking on doors: are these yours or your wife's/girlfriend's/daughter's? Might be interesting ... or it might get me hurt.

I just left them there, I'm sure the owner will be along.

Aeon Flux

2005-12-03T23:20:00.000-08:00

Saw Aeon Flux tonight. Everyone was predicting it was a dog because they didn't hold any screenings for critics, but it wasn't bad. It wasn't great, but I enjoyed it. I never watched the MTV cartoon, so didn't come into it with baggage.

The story is straight forward and mostly plot driven. There is some character advancement. Though the story doesn't have a lot of depth it's there and the stunt work and effects are a lot of fun.

The Reduction of Friction

2005-11-29T08:20:00.000-08:00

So it began snowing over night while I was at work. Not a surprise, they've been predicting it for at least a day. Last winter this would be the cause of some concern. This winter it's a chance to try out my snow rated all seasons.

They did just fine.

Except for the UBC micro-climate, where it seems to snow much harder than anywhere else (quite ironic how this mimics the institution), the snow wasn't too bad. Never the less the tires were nice and solid. I did see some other cars slip around a bit, so I'm pleased I didn't. Didn't get a real test, like starting on a hill. I happened to hit the lights just right.

So far so good. And if I don't get a chance to try them out any further, that's ok by me. Snow in Vancouver is just wrong.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

2005-11-28T08:51:00.000-08:00

Saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire last Saturday. I'd call it the best movie of the four so far but it's like the Empire Strikes Back. Empire is, in my opinion, the best movie of the Star Wars series but the ending still leaves me cold. Han Solo is trapped on carbonite and Luke is seriously messed up. So it is with this story in the Harry Potter series. The good guys fight to a draw and the bad guys are ascending. I had a similar reaction to the book.

Penguin Batting Cage

2005-11-26T22:26:00.000-08:00

Received this from my brother. It's a little bent but it's compelling.

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

I've made it 272 feet, which doesn't match my brothers 298.

Walk the Line

2005-11-22T11:01:00.000-08:00

Walk the Line is the new Johnny Cash biography. Actually, it's more the love story between Johnny Cash and June Carter told from Cash's perspective. If you've read any of the press, just about everything they're saying about it is true.

"Walk the Line" is well done from a cinematic point of view. I loved the opening sequence (If I described it to you I'd destroy part of the magic). Other moments in the film provide a wonderful foreshadowing of and visual links to what is to come. Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon do their own singing and its good (I'm afraid I like Witherspoon's voice better than June Carter Cash's).

The acting in the film is great but there were moments where I found myself looking at Reese Witherspoon, not June Carter. Maybe that's just me, but Witherspoon's face was a bit too angular. She needed more weight.

This is a long movie, and they still missed many details. From a non-fan perspective, they brought together the right details for a good story. I suspect real fans will be disappointed at something that wasn't included. I was sad "A Boy Named Sue" wasn't included. I loved that song as a kid.

My only complaint is the story drags somewhere in the last third. It lost some momentum and I was ready for them to wrap it up.

If you're at all interested in seeing this movie, go. If you're at all a fan of Johnny Cash, don't miss it.

Awesome Light Display

2005-11-22T10:25:00.000-08:00

Rocketboom is ... eclectic. One is never sure what the next day will bring.

In Monday's case, it's freakin awsome:
http://www.rocketboom.com/video/extra/unknown/house_lightsx.mov

rocketboom yea

PostSecret

2005-11-21T03:26:00.000-08:00

How do you tell everyone your secret without giving it away?

Sent it to PostSecret.

Once a week the PostSecret website displays a selection of anonymous postcards containing peoples secrets. Sometimes they resonate, sometimes they're sad, sometimes they're naughty in a fun way, sometimes they're banal, and occasionally they're vile.

No, I haven't sent one in. And there's no way for you to know if I'm lying.

Zathura

2005-11-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

If the trailers from Zathura reminded you of Jumanji, there's a reason. They both came from books by the same author and both have the same plot device to drive the story forward. Kids with problems find game, game puts them in a life and death situation together they have to deal with, you know the rest.

If you're wondering, Zathura isn't as good as Jumanji. However, it isn't an exact clone either, dealing with two brothers not getting along not a bother and sister alienated after the loss of their parents.

Zathura is a straight forward story with some genuinely fun moments. The story doesn't have layering (like Spy Kids or Jumanji) so don't expect an adult story in the kids story. The story arc actually reminds me of a Brady Bunch episode. The way the two brothers get along together, or rather don't get along together, is well done. There's an older sister, but she's mostly a foil for comic relief. The story moves along quite well and has a twist that isn't screamingly obvious.

I think Zathura is a good family movie for the young boys of the house. It may be a bit long for the adults. I got a kick out of it and didn't mind seeing it in the theatres, but would say wait for family night rental or TV unless you need a night out and Harry Potter is sold out.

Blue Ball Machine

2005-11-19T04:28:00.000-08:00

The Blue Ball Machine was recently featured on Rocketboom. It brought a smile to my face. Then there's the Blue Ball Tragedy. Make sure you have your sound turned on.

Zesty Mexican Soup

2005-11-19T04:08:00.000-08:00

In my quest for easy, healthy recipes I found "The World's Healthiest Foods" website: http://www.whfoods.com. I've tried a couple of recipes from the site, the Zesty Mexican Soup is a keeper.

My version doesn't include the corn or collard greens. I don't think I've ever seen collard greens locally and who the hell puts corn in soup? In spite of my very strongly held conviction that zucchini is a weed I did include it. Chopped very small.

This soup has all the hallmarks of a great recipe. Tons of flavour, made in a single pot, and straight forward. It's also hearty, so it'll last you a while.

Meh

2005-11-18T23:47:00.000-08:00

The last, oh, whole bunch of months I haven't felt very ambitious. I've still been a functional adult and have kept myself entertained with the mindless stuff. I've been avoiding anything that requires an excessive amount of thinking or remotely resembles a household chore.

This seems to be changing a little. Witness the blog entry, among a bunch of other little stuff. I've actually cooked myself dinner a couple of nights this week instead of hitting a restaurant, AND did the dishes afterwards.

Still a struggle, though.

Schneier: Katrina and Security

2005-09-12T02:09:00.000-07:00

Bruce Schneier is a "security technologist and author". He's also a very clear writer and even if you disagree with him his stuff is worth reading. Not that I disagree with him often.

I happen to think what he discusses in this op-ed piece is bang on:

Schneier: Katrina and Security

Our [the American] government's ineptitude in the aftermath of Katrina demonstrates how little we're getting for all our security spending. It's unconscionable that we're wasting our money fingerprinting foreigners, profiling airline passengers, and invading foreign countries while emergency response at home goes underfunded.

More Game Good Byes

2005-09-12T02:06:00.000-07:00

A timely visit by my sister and her family a bunch of weeks ago lead to the "big bag 'o games" being carted off by my nephew. I'm not sure whether or not I will incure the wrath of my sister over this, but time will tell...

Saying Goodbye to Some Great Games

2005-08-14T04:57:00.000-07:00

There were some great games under MS-DOS and Windows 95, and I saved them! Titles like King's Quest and Wing Commander. Classic. Some how, I just couldn't bring myself to throw them out.

A couple weeks ago my when my sister and family were over to visit my nephew tried installing a couple of not so old Windows 95/98 games like Shogun: Total War. The experience wasn't encouraging. The games didn't run so well under XP.

It did make me face up to the fact that I would never get to play these games again in their current form. With a slight tear, I threw the DOS games into the dumpster and the Windows games into a bag for charity.

At work I made off hand comment I'd hoped they weren't worth any money, ha ha. My colleague trying to be ever helpful proceeded to look some of the games up on E-Bay (Gee thanks, after I throw them out). The good news, the highest price found was US $5, which isn't even a million Canadian any more.

Phew.

19 Inch Goodness

2005-08-13T04:47:00.000-07:00

This is a title that could only be used with a blog. I can't imagine a spam filter in the world that would let that subject through.

The "19 inches" I'm referring to is my new monitor. Yeah!!! After too many years of promising myself I was going to buy a new monitor I finally did it.

My PC has a dual monitor setup so I haven't gotten rid of the old 15 inch monitor. But I should. The picture quality side-by-side with the new one is shite.

The next monitor will be LCD.

EvE Online

2005-08-13T04:33:00.000-07:00

I've gotten back into a multiplayer online game named EvE Online. Can't really say why. It just happened.

I tried EvE about 2 years ago and didn't stick with it. Part of the reason was I didn't get how to play the game over the long term. When the fun learning wore off, I was bored. This time around, with experience from Dark Age of Camelot, I have a slightly different perspective.

Since I've only started around the beginning of August it's early days. I'll last longer than I did last time, but I don't know if this will be a long term thing for me. Right now it's fun.

If anything kills this game for me, it will be the travel time. This time around, I have dual monitors and a much more powerful PC. This lets me browse the Internet and listen to podcasts while in transit. I've started a blog for my game character. The idea is to try to write it "in character". Might help stretch my writing a little.

Ladies and Gentlemen: The Journals of Cosigan

Dances with Cows

2005-08-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

Over the August long weekend one of my cousins had a family get together in Enderby. They have a dairy farm right on the Shuswap river. It's beautify down there. They have eagles, heron, ducks and a small Bison Frise they have to keep safe from the eagles.

The night of the big bar-b-que - beef of course - a dozen cows decided to make a break for it. My cousin, myself, another relative distant enough I've forgotten her name and the Bison Frise hoped into the Yukon like a later day cow border patrol. Shades of Wallace & Grommet.

The cows, having won their freedom by discovering the electric fence was no longer electric, had made a run for it ... across the road. Well, more a dirt lane, really. The 200 square meter patch of grass there was presumably greener. Or maybe it was just ladies night out (they were hefers).

Amazingly, my cousin walked to where they were supposed to be, called out "ladies", and 3/4 of them wandered back. Three troublemakers started walking in the other direction, which was my queue to stand in the way and say "hep" in a very loud voice. The look of their face clearly demonstrated they weren't afraid of me, I can only assume they walked in the opposite direction to get away from the idiot making funny noises.

It was around this time they decided to start casually wandering down the lane. I started moving sideways to cut them off. They were troublemakers, the lot of them, and I didn't want to take my eyes off them. It was then I realized it had been a long time since I'd danced with cows on uneven ground.

Hello gravity.

The skinned knee and hands were impressive, if I do say so myself. While the scrape involved a large area, there wasn't a lot of depth. Road rash, plain and simple. But the cows didn't get away!

My cousin, bless her heart, described the event as me heroically diving in front of the herd to prevent them from getting away. One of my second or third cousins shared some drugs, prescription antibiotic cream, with me. And the children pointed to my knee, looked me in the eye, and said, "ouwy?".

And the ring leader's name? That would be Pansy.

Books:
The Gates to Witch World - Andre Norton

Movies:
Wedding Crashers
The Great Raid

Chili-Dog Panino

2005-07-24T04:42:00.000-07:00

Though I'm always thinking about my health, I'm not always doing something about it. Along with the running I've been doing more cooking at home. I've managed to swing my lunches from bought to made, dinner is more of a challenge.

I'm not sure my home cooking is a large improvement over restaurants. It's hard to cook a single portion and if what I've cooked is any good at all I tend to end more than I should. I also have some dishes I quite enjoy that I wouldn't want to eat too often.

Case in point, I have a veg chili recipe I quite like that makes around 4 large servings. It's enough to make a person sick of chili unless .... combine with a bun, sausage or smokie, raw onions, cheese, bell peppers and a grill and c'est voila: the chili-dog panino. Home cooking like uncle Pepi Guido Maxmillian von Dragon used to do it.

Confluence of Events

2005-07-23T11:47:00.000-07:00

It's quite the confluence of events this weekend. The sister is here from the Okanagan so my nephew can play in some baseball games, some friends are here from Ottawa, and a group I belong read in the Summer Dream Reading Festival at Robson Square. If ever there was a time to skimp on the sleep and be awake in the day, this is it.

My reaction to minimal sleep is always a little unpredictable. Happily, zombie boy stayed home so I've done pretty well on 3 1/2 hours. Conversation has been more sophisticated than "um, yah", minimal cursing and loss of temper, especially at other drivers, and I didn't feel like puking my guts out when I got up.

The only thing I didn't do that I wanted was the Illuminares lantern festival at Trout Lake. Still, a Reading Festival, baseball game, dinner with friends and visiting with relatives isn't a bad day.

The only thing left is the price I'll pay tomorrow . . .

It ends with Mr. Sandman

2005-07-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

The answer is in. The meta-physical day ends with bed, and sleep, regardless of the day/night cycle. Thursday afternoon was much better than Wednesday night/Thursday morning.

The temperature didn't get hot enough to keep me awake and Thursday night at work was much calmer in spite of the "situation" still in progress. I even had some fun joking with a UK customer while we tried to figure out why her spam filter was unhappy.

Where does it begin or end?

2005-07-21T08:52:00.000-07:00

I'm home from work an hour and half later than normal, another set of bombings in London, and James Doohan (Scotty from Star Trek) has passed away.

Ok, so I'm just going to bed. Does that mean I putting this day behind me, or I can look forward to getting up at 5pm to a really sucky day.

Oh wait, they're testing the fire alarm today and the temperature is going to hit 30. Silly me thinking I'll sleep.

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

2005-07-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I watched this documentary on the fall of Enron named: Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room.

The total lack of ethics and hubris was breath-taking, even after adjusting for journalistic spin. If I was from California, I'd be pissed about my power bill all over again.

Movies Seen:
Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

Books Read:
The Last Canadian - William C. Heine

Running Again

2005-07-14T20:28:00.000-07:00

I started running again about a week ago. Well, mostly walking with a bit of running. It's that walk/run interval training method and I'm at 1 minutes of running to 4 minutes of walking. The first run felt like a joke. It felt like I could keep it up forever. A week later and the joke isn't as funny.

I envy the people who find really active pursuits they can stick with. They're either dumb as an ox, phenomenally dedicated, or getting a lot of joy out of it. I haven't found an active activity, so to speak, that's stuck in my "top 5" list of things I like doing. Reading, watching movies and programming just don't burn that many calories and eating and drinking have somewhat the opposite affect.

Then there's that "not stiff, but your legs have done work" feeling. It's not an unpleasant feeling, but it doesn't even come close to a good itch scratching.

So right now, I'm making the best of the "honey moon" phase. The weather is nice for running even at 2 in the morning, it's still easy, and I haven't done it so much there's a repetition issue. The real test will be whether I'm running in the rain in spite of feeling like crap in about 2 months from now

Book/Movie Catch Up

2005-07-12T07:44:00.000-07:00

It's convention to mention the books I've read since the last blog entry, so here goes.

Books read:
Good Omens - Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman
Extremes - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Buried Deep - Kristine Kathryn Rusch
March Upcountry - David Weber & John Ringo
March to the Sea - David Weber & John Ringo
March to the Stars - David Weber & John Ringo
Transcendence - Charles Sheffield
Resurgence - Charles Sheffield
The Cyborg from Earth - Charles Sheffield
Between the Strokes of Night - Charles Sheffield
Crown of Slaves - David Weber & Eric Flint
Komar (A Miles Vorkosigan Adventure) - Lois McMaster Bujold
Civil Campaign (A Miles Vorkosigan Adventure) - Lois McMaster Bujold
Reckoning Infinity - John E. Stith
Paladin of Souls - Lois McMaster Bujold
The Curse of Chalion - Lois McMaster Bujold

Sadly, not as many movies:
Star Wars III - Revenge of the Sith
Mr. & Mrs. Smith
Batman Begins
Gunner Palace
Howl's Moving Castle
Mr & Mrs Smith
Fantastic Four

Back

2005-07-12T07:41:00.000-07:00

I have another entry that was started in Quesnel, but I just couldn't bring myself to finish it. Weird, but that's why I haven't posted for a while. Ok, dumb.

Regardless, I'm back.

Things I Learned From The Family Dog

2005-04-30T23:56:00.000-07:00

When I grew up in Quesnel our family dog was a part breed beagle. He didn't have papers, but he looked like a beagle. His name was Barney, as in Barney the beagle. It's a semi-famous name, but I don't know from where.

Barney was a chow hound of the first order. If you wanted something from him, there had better be some food in your hand; and we loved him. I'm not as loveable as our family dog was, but I work for food. So it is that I'm seated in front my Dad's computer typing this blog on my notebook while check disk identifies bad clusters on his computer hard drive.

This is actually the second problem I've worked on. The first was before I was feed, but it involved enlightened self interest. My Dad couldn't get his new wireless router to work. Getting the router to work means Internet access on my notebook. Gotta have wireless.

Hmmm, check disk is done, so it's time to see if this has fixed the computer lock up problem. Another thing I learned from our dog. Making lots of noise might scare it away. If you hear someone howling and barking at Microsoft, that's me.

Interior View

2005-04-29T05:40:00.000-07:00

Last Easter while kibitzing with my folks at my sisters place I realized I hadn't been to visit them in Quesnel for a very long time. I used to come up for Christmas almost very year. There was the odd summer visit thrown in, but most years Christmas constituted the annual visit. Christmas moved to Vernon a while back and I haven't been back since.

It seemed like time to check it out. So I took some days off and here I am in Quesnel.

AM/PM = +/- 6 cents

2005-04-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

Gas: 7am - $1.05/litre; 7pm - $.97/$.98/$.99/litre

For pretty much the last week or two.

What's up with that? The morning shift is cranky so let's raise the price?

Something different with something familiar

2005-04-18T21:53:00.000-07:00

Caught this on RocketBoom, it's just a lot of fun:

A Cappella Nintendo Medley

Movies Seen:
Sahara

Books Read:
Market Forces - Richard Morgan
E.Godz - Robert Asprin & Esther Friesner

Daylight Savings Time

2005-04-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

In Europe they call it Summer Time, as in British Summer Time, BST, or Central Europe Summer Time, CEST. They "spring ahead" a week earlier than we do in North America. Much of Africa is in much the same time zone as Europe, GMT + 1, but South Africa does not observe daylight savings time. These are things you learn doing International Support, or reading the blog of someone who does!

Daylight savings time is a great idea, and we should never leave it. While I understand placing noon at that point in the day where the sun is highest is practical, who ever thought that day light should be equally divided between morning and evening was on crack or a morning person, which is basically the same thing. Inside workers should have as much light as possible after work when we're outside or near a window to enjoy it. It's just wasted in the morning.

All this to say, I LOVE DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME! Give me light when I can enjoy it.

Books Read:
Stardust - Neil Gaiman
Miles, Mystery & Mayhem - Lois McMaster Bujold

2005 Hugo Award Nominees

2005-04-07T02:15:00.000-07:00

The nominees for the 2005 Hugo Awards were announced at the end of March. Surprisingly, or maybe not, I've seen all of the nominees in the "Best Dramatic Presentation - Long Form":
o Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
o Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
o The Incredibles
o Sky Captain and The World of Tomorrow
o Spider-Man 2

My vote goes to Eternal Sunshine.

Harry Potter and Sky Captain are non-starters. Sky Captain was visually noteworthy and did a great job capturing the old pulp magazine geist, but in the end the story was weak and Gweneth Paltrow nauseating. Harry Potter was a fun watch but pedestrian.

The Incredibles was awesome fun but lacking in the layered complexity a great drama should provide. More an action/adventure really, and a damn entertaining one!

For me, it's between Spider Man 2 and Eternal Sunshine, and Eternal Sunshine takes it. Spider Man 2 handled the story's themes brilliantly, but Eternal Sunshine asked a "what if" question that goes to the root of what defines us.

In spite of this ringing endorsement for Eternal Sunshine, I've watched it precisely once and probably won't buy the DVD. I've already bought The Incredibles DVD and watched it multiple times, with more viewings to come.

Maybe I should switch my vote? Naw. They should add a "Best Kick-Ass Fun Presentation - Long Form", category!

Easter Book Hunt

2005-04-06T19:40:00.000-07:00

Easter in Vernon means many things, among them the Easter ~~egg~~ book hunt! To be honest, any visit to Vernon involves a book hunt. They have a couple of very good used books stores. This particular Easter it was a father/son activity.

Up until a few years ago I never thought of my Dad as a book kind of guy. His big passions are hunting, fishing and competing in Black Powder Rendezvous'. When I was a kid my Dad would take me hunting with him. He'd have the "big game" rifle and I'd have the 22 should we come across a grouse destined for the dinner table.

It wasn't until we started swapping Honor Herrington novels that it fully dawned on me he liked a good fiction novel. The clues were there, of course, but how much do we really pay attention where our parents are concerned. My Dad's taste in Science Fiction is limited, as are mine in the Westerns and African Adventures. That our tastes don't entirely overlap is good; we can happily co-exist in a used book store!

So this Easter weekend we were hunting together once again, each stalking our own game. The hunting was good, I bagged a couple Neil Gaimans and Dad brought home a large brace of Louis L' Amours.

Movies Seen:
Robots
Sin City

Books Read:
Myth Alliances - Robert Asprin & Jody Lynn Nye
Neverwhere - Neil Gaiman

DVDs Bought:
Finding Neverland
The Incredibles
Top Secret

Annual Easter Road Trip

2005-03-24T07:09:00.000-08:00

The time has come for the Easter road trip to my sister's place. I'm looking forward to this. Road trips always have a beneficial impact on the old mood. The trick is making it last after I'm back!

There's other benefits, too. I work best to a deadline, which is a kind way of saying I procrastinate. Yesterday was a whirl wind of car maintenance and new tires. New tires have been on the list for months ... now it's reality.

Deadlines good. Easter road trip good.

Winter Mood

2005-03-24T07:04:00.000-08:00

Not sure why, but I'm bummed. Little of the usual toys and distractions have interested me. All I've doing the last couple of weeks is read and an occasional get together with a friend. Books and friends, little pockets of spring in the barren winter that is my mood.

Books:
The Paths of the Dead - Steven Brust
The Lord of Castle Black - Steven Brust
Sethra Lavode - Steven Brust
The Excaliber Alternative - David Weber

Halozzzzz

2005-03-16T07:12:00.000-08:00

This morning's lesson boys and girls: Never fall asleep mid-game with a voice activited microphone.

Halo 2 Vid

Warning: Some explosions, profanity and cheap fun.

Movies:
Be Cool

Storyteller - Amy Thomson

2005-03-13T05:49:00.000-08:00

Writing book reviews isn't my thing, so this isn't a book review so much as it's a rave. Storyteller by Amy Thomson is amazing!!! I loved this book. It reminded me of stories by Sherri Tepper and Ursula Le Guin, though Thomson's voice and style are her own.

Thomson uses the life of a storyteller to explore the power of storytelling, community and how our knowledge, memory and experience define us. This is science fiction, so there's also telepathic communication with whale-like creatures called harsels and an interesting mixture of high and low technology. The story is simply told without the science fiction or overly descriptive prose hijacking it.

Thomson has three other books published. I've enjoyed all of them, but with Storyteller she's reached a new level in her writing.

Black Hawk Down - The DVD Box Set

2005-03-13T04:48:00.000-08:00

My boss loaned me the Black Hawk Down "Deluxe Edition" DVD box set. It includes a lot of extra material. So far I've listened to the commentary track with 4 of the soldiers actually involved in the fighting and another with the screenwriter and book author. These commentaries are awesome.

I was riveted as the military guys described their experiences as related to the film and the situation in Mogadishu. I always expect a liberal dose of fantasy so was surprised at how many places they said a portrayal was accurate. The film wasn't 100% accurate, but you'll be surprised where it is and isn't. My only complaint was how they broke their arms patting each other's backs.

If you're interested in how a story is told on film don't miss the commentary by book author Mark Bowden and screen writer Ken Nolan. It was equally as fascinating in a completely different way learning the thought processes and realities of compressing the book into a movie. There's also some interesting trivia, like how the helicopter force assembled for shooting eclipsed the armed forces of the country they were filming in!

The DVD box set also includes the History Channel documentary, The True Story of Black Hawk Down. I saw this on TV just after seeing the movie and thought it would make an excellent companion to the movie. Obviously I wasn't alone. The interviews with the soldiers are fascinating stuff not often heard.

In general I find it a little scary when movies are made from real events. There's a risk the movie will warp reality. The way Black Hawk Down was handled sets an excellent standard for how to do it right. It's not perfect, but compared to Oliver Stone's handling of the Kennedy assassination, it's a gold standard. It's definitely time to get a copy of my own.

Books:
Sky of Swords, A Tale of the King's Blades - Dave Duncan
In Enemy Hands - David Weber
Storyteller - Amy Thomson

Just Say No to IT Asshats

2005-03-08T18:59:00.000-08:00

Why do we, as a society, put up with asshats who take short cuts and produce situations like this?:

'Good guys' show just how easy it is to steal ID
Teams of hackers surfed the Web at Seattle University yesterday, harvesting Social Security and credit card numbers like a farmer cutting wheat. In less than an hour, they found millions of names, birth dates and numbers -- cyberburglar tools for the crime of identity theft -- using just one, familiar Internet search engine: Google.
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER REPORTER

Or this:

High Profile, Low Security
Big companies stumble with high profile security breaches that make your local WiFi coffee shop look secure.
By Matthew Tanase, SecurityFocus

I recommend taking the IDs of the application developers and their bosses up the line and selling them to the bad guys. Letting them deal with the consequences seems like a fitting punishment.

The Power of the English Language

2005-03-08T17:58:00.000-08:00

I don't know what the orginal source is, I received this by email from a friend. It's worth sharing:

A linguistics professor was lecturing to his class one day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. In some languages though, such as Russian, a double negative is still a negative.

However," he pointed out, "there is no language wherein a double positive can form a negative."

A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah. Right."

Books:
Monstrous Regiment - Terry Pratchett

More Vernor Vinge Books - Hooray!

2005-03-03T08:17:00.000-08:00

Continuing on the Sci-Fi topic:

Vinge Signs New Book Deal
SF author Vernor Vinge told SCI FI Wire that SF publisher Tor has signed him to a multi-book deal. Vinge will write three new novels, and several of his out-of-print books will be re-issued, starting with Marooned in Realtime, Vinge said in an interview. It was nominated for a Hugo Award after Bluejay originally published it in 1986.

This is awesome news. Vernor Vinge is the best "hard" science fiction author I've read. His vision of future tech is at once revolutionary and obvious ... and he tells a good story!

If you like hard SF, check him out. And 'ware the net of a thousand lies.

---
Books:
Ascent - Williams, Sean & Dix, Shane

Movies:
The Pacifier

White Dwarf Books

2005-02-25T23:31:00.000-08:00

The book stack was down to zero so it was time for a book fix. This means a trip to White Dwarf books. White Dwarf is the best source of ~~crack~~ Science Fiction and Fantasy books in Vancouver. Hands down. No argument.

White Dwarf Books is an independent bookstore in Kitsilano. Run by a husband and wife team, it's been a fixture in Vancouver since 1978. When I first started going to White Dwarf, Science Fiction/Fantasy was underserved in mainstream bookstores. The local Coles and W.H. Smith of the day had maybe two racks and stocked authors I wasn't interested in. White Dwarf books literally had everything. It was manna.

These days Chapters/Indigo have a far greater selection, but it still doesn't match White Dwarf and their staff don't begin to compare to Jill and her extensive knowledge. Not only does she follow who's releasing what and when, but she actually reads the genre! There's also the pleasure of meeting the store's basset hound mascot. And like any well run small business, regular customers get remembered.

If you read Science Fiction and Fantasy, do yourself a favour and visit White Dwarf. Like Google, just the goods without the bumf.

Movies:
Sideways

A Day at the Races?

2005-02-24T18:01:00.000-08:00

This has nothing to do with dragons or brains. It may have a link to farts, depending on what you eat or drink before the race:

Cheese Racing

Given the quality of your average process cheese slice, this might be a better use than eating them.

Goofin' Around

2005-02-23T20:15:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year and Gung Hey Fat Choi. It's been a while since the last post.

Attended the Northern Voice blogging conference last Saturday. Most excellent. After the conference it seemed like time to make a new post. :-)

The Northern Voice website has some great links to people who've posted conference notes, pictures and other content. If you're at all interested in blogging, it's worth a look.

It's been a long time since I checked out the features at Blogger/Blogspot, so I've been playing around. Was getting tired of the old format, this is better.

Books:
Pattern Recognition - William Gibson

Movies:
Constantine

Day Walker No More

2004-11-29T02:31:00.000-08:00

After the Whitehorse trip came training. For a month. 9am to 5pm. For 30 days I walked the lighted hours. Except for the dark, dreary, rainy days. Those were pretty much a wash with the night - photonically speaking. So maybe it was like 15 or 20 days I walked the lighted hours.

Now it's lunch break on my first night shift. I wasn't looking forward to this (Work that is. Lunch I'm looking forward too). Not so much because of the time change, but because after 2 weeks of holiday and a month of training it sucks actually having to work again. The pending time change doesn't seem so bad. As I was driving in looking at the clear, night sky highlighted with dots of light the thought in my head was: "Hello, old friend".

Whitehorse

2004-11-06T17:21:00.000-08:00

Vacation Time + Friend In Whitehorse + Mutual Availability = Trip North

My knowledge of Whitehorse was based more on stereotype than reality. My friend spoke well of it, but I wasn't sure what to expect. As my flight descended into the airport I knew she hadn't exaggerated - the land is beautiful! Whitehorse is a small city nestled in a river valley surrounded by forest and mountains. There's even an extinct volcano for some variety.

Whitehorse isn't big as cities go, but it isn't lacking for franchised stores and restaurants. The partial list includes Tim Horton's, Boston Pizza, McDonalds, Super Store, Walmart and Rogers Video. Driving through some parts of the city you might be anywhere in North America. Fortunately the city has less generic parts.

Downtown has a unique look. Though the streets are car centric the downtown is pedestrian friendly in spite of itself. It just isn't that big. Within a ten minute walk of Main Street are no less than four great places for lunch and coffee. Yup, I checked them all out. The Midnight Sun is the local coffee roaster and provides fair trade coffee and good food. Their coffee is featured on Air North, a regional air carrier, but if you drink it on the plane don't let that throw you off. It's much better at their cafe. In addition to good food there's an independent book seller with a first class choice of books and magazines, a great second hand book store, a large organic super market and nice independent deli/meat store.

But I've put the added extras before the main event: the country. Whitehorse has got to be the dream location for outdoor activities. Right next to town is Schwatka lake with a network of hiking, mountain biking and cross country ski trails. A ten minute drive in any direction and you're out of town. Canoeing and kayaking opportunities are also in abundance. The clear sky means you can see the Milky Way at the edge of the city, and the Northern Lights are there to put on a free show . . . when they feel like it. I missed seeing the Northern Lights but was treated to an excellent view of a lunar eclipse. Oh, and it wasn't that cold. During my visit the temperatures were comparable to Edmonton, Prince George and Saskatoon.

The "Great White North" is changing, at least in the Southern Yukon. Whitehorse may have been the boonies 20 years ago, it's much less so now. While not Vancouver's Commercial Drive there's a thriving cafe culture and with the franchise outlets most consumer thirsts can be satisfied. Add to this the natural surroundings and Whitehorse has my vote for first class outdoor get away.

And my visit? My friend and her significant other gave me the royal treatment, we drank way too much coffee, and we talked our heads off. Awesome.

End of the Month Grab Bag

2004-08-31T08:05:00.000-07:00

There's been a lot of things I've wanted to blog on, but time has been at a premium. So to tune of "Flight of the Bumblebee":

The Keener Pill a.k.a.
Be Careful What You Ask For

For years I've wished I could extract the keenness from my more energetic friends and incorporate it into a pill. Looks like it's been done:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/08/11/procrastinating.monkeys.reut/

Does this mean if my ass gets fired for laziness I can claim medical disability?

The Visit

The sister and family were over for a visit. 5 of us in my apartment worked way better than I thought. Once again, notebook with wireless helped. When they were sleeping I was doing what I normally do late, late Friday and Saturday night, only from the comfort of my bedroom instead of the comfort of my living room couch or comfort of my dining room table. I really like visiting family or having them over. I feel connected afterwards. It's also good motivation for getting the place clean.

The Promotion

*sigh*, I've been promoted. It nice to be thought of this way, but it wasn't the kind of promotion I was looking for. Someday I'll find the thing I'm really good at so I'm promoted from my technical excellence. As far as the management track goes, been there, thanks.

Health & Welfare

Started running 3 weeks ago. Week 4 and I'm still at it. The workout is a run/walk interval program. You start out at 30 seconds of running every 5 minutes. Every week 30 seconds of walking is converted to running. There was only one day where I had to motivate myself out the door. After a lot of walking, running is such a nature progression. My body simply wants to go faster than walking will allow. I've really noticed an improvement in my sleep. My resting heart rate, measured when I wake up, has dropped, too.

Writing

I continue to write, though it's slowed down a bit because of other things. If I'd been in this state when I was laid off at my last job I might actually be a free lance writer now.

Broken Heat Wave

The weather has gotten cooler, hussah! Don't get me wrong, I like summer as much as anyone. I just like it a lot better when my bedroom isn't 80 degrees at 4am. Oddly, it was around the same temperature during the day, too. It didn't have to rain on my account, though I'll gladly take a bit of moisture in exchange for a good nights sleep and not running fans 24x7.

Books:
The Wolf King - Alice Borchardt
Worlds of Honor #4: The Service of the Sword - Various
On Writing Well - William Zinsser
The Teeth of the Tiger - Tom Clancey

Movies:
The Manchurian Candidate
Hero

Things Forgotten, then Remembered, or is it Re-Learned?

2004-08-03T20:52:00.000-07:00

After thinking about it for a long time I finally moved my ass and started doing more exercise. It's still only walking, but it's got a big hill component and I'm pushing myself. I actually come back soaked in sweat. No surprise, I've been sleeping and feeling better. I've been here before. I knew this. What the hell didn't I remember it?

The impetus, as silly as it sounds, was the free pedometer you get in Special K cereal. I shit you not. Who can resist a gadget for almost free. Ok, I have a box of Special K to eat, but I don't mind Special K. These things are great for giving you an idea of activity level. I have a hard time bullshitting myself out of going out when I look at the pedometer and see I've barely walked 1000 steps. Actually, that's low. A typical work day is more like 2500 to 3500 steps. A 40 to 50 minute walk adds around 5000 more steps. Throw in a serious hill for half of that and I figure I'm doing ok. My sleep tells me I am.

Walking at 3 in the morning can be interesting, sometimes. As I was walking down the street the other night my eye was drawn to an apartment balcony light flashing off and on. A faulty bulb perhaps, but it almost looked like Morse code and I know Morse code, so I started to decode it. I'm not sure, it was either sending "a, e, i, o, u and sometimes y", or "you are such a geek".

July saw an unprecedented burst of writing. That's probably related to the exercise, too. An easier to update website and a notebook computer don't hurt, either. I can't believe how much writing I've done in the last month or so.

July also saw another writing first. I did my first interview of people I didn't know. It's for a newsletter article. Damn, this couple was interesting! I only hope I do the interview justice in the article, which does add a bit of pressure. I have a quote stuck to my computer for just these occasions, "Dare to be bad!". It's like "No guts, no glory" but you know you'll suck before you excel. I like it because of the irony, it makes me laugh and I remember to take things a little less seriously.

Now, if I could just remember if I've forgotten any cool time management stuff I learned.

Movies:
The Chronicles of Riddick - Pitch Black II
I, Robot
The Bourne Supremacy
Thunderbirds

Books:
Something M.Y.T.H. INC. - Robert Asprin

Sun Rise

2004-07-23T09:28:00.000-07:00

I left an hour early today after covering for a colleague yesterday. At 5am in the pre-dawn light I thought to hell with going home and went in search of pictures.

I'm currently looking for cityscapes and thought sunrise at Burnaby mountain park. I got there just before 6am, and was totally alone. The sun hadn't risen yet, but it was quite light. My god, the feeling of warm and serenity in that magic light just before sun rise. I've experienced this before, but had forgotten. How could I forget?

Watching the sun come up was glorious. As the line of the sun walked across the face of the city, buildings came out of a muted back drop into highlight. Mountains cast shadows that created a geometric waltz of light and dark as the sun moved to it's cosmic rhythm.

This is exactly why the graveyard shift has it benefits. I would have never thought to get out of bed for this. Shame on me.

Shoot First, Ask Questions Later

2004-07-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

I've been coveting a really good digital camera for along time. Sadly, the features I wanted were more than I wanted to pay. The nice thing about technology is, for the most part, this kind of technology price curve problem is solved by time. For me, that time has come and I'm now the happy owner of a Canon S410.

The S410 wasn't exactly what I was looking for. The market didn't have exactly what I'm looking for. Smaller, a shorter shutter lag and quicker time to store a picture would have been better. But ...

Damn, it takes nice pictures!

It's small enough I've been carrying it around with me everywhere and snapping pictures. It's a joy to download them to my computer and see a clear, crisp image. The 3x zoom is especially nice. The reviews I read all stressed this was an important feature. They're absolutely right. It adds to the price but for me it's worth every penny. Also sweet was buying from a local owner operated camera store. This guy has been in the community for a long time and people have good things to say about him. His price was the same as everyone else's, so buying there was a no brainer!

The down side? The spending has only just started. I need a bigger compact flash card, spare battery, there's this filter thing I saw in a magazine ......

Books:
License Invoked - Robert Aspirin & Jody Lynn Nye
The Silver Wolf - Alice Borchardt

Mission Accomplished - Hacking Magic II

2004-07-10T06:20:00.000-07:00

It's time for the release party!!!

The front page article module is done and the release rolled out. Web Site Phase I is complete!

Time to switch gears and create some content.

Movies:
Fahrenheit 9/11
Super Size Me
Spiderman II
The Clearing

Books:
Six Moon Dance - Sheri S. Tepper
Singer from the Sea - Sheri S. Tepper

2004-06-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

Hacking Magic

Mundane dragons envy mystic dragons their magic. Well, this one does. Fortunately, a type of magic does exist in the mundane world. It's root isn't primeval power, crystals, or the blood of sacrifice. Well, maybe a little of the last one. It's root is creativity and imagination. When it happens, it's joyous!

This is the thrall I'm in now, for I have created magic. A minor magic, but wholly mine. My (other) web site is now dynamic! The data flow comes not from a static page but from a small program of my design.

I haven't updated my (other) web site in over a year. It's grown large enough that even relatively small changes are more work than they should be. During my two year work hiatus, when I would seemingly have the maximum amount of time for me, I worked on four other web sites leaving mine to languish. Something snapped, and it was time to look after the shoe maker's children.

As of this morning the web site now boasts both a link and menu bar management module. It doesn't look any different at this point, but that wasn't the point. Changes and updates will be much easier.

True to form, it took much longer than I anticipated. Creating the scripted pages was as easy as I thought, but I hadn't counted on the time creating the content management interface. That was easily 90% of the work.

I also feel privileged. The God of Demos honoured me with a visit when I was showing the interface to a friend. In spite of much previous playing and testing a bug revealed itself during the demo. Thus the work was bestowed the mantel of Legitimate Software Project.

Perhaps the best part is this has been better in many ways than taking a course. Using the 6 Java courses as a comparison, I can reasonably say I've learned as much as I would in one or two basic PHP courses. This is as it should be. After all, when was the last time you saw a Dragon attending class?

Movies:
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
Shrek 2

Books:
No Phule Like an Old Phule - Robert Aspirin with Peter J. Heck
Shadow Puppets - Orson Scott Card
Red Thunder - John Varley

2004-05-24T20:54:00.000-07:00

After the Mind Control

There was an excellent quote delivered by John Astin when he made guest appearances on an old Sit-Com named "Night Court": But I'm much better.

The extreme sleep problems are gone, I'm back to the regular sleep problems everyone deals with.

Movies:
Man on Fire

Books:
The Last Light of the Sun - Guy Gavriel Kay
The Jade Pheony - Wayson Choy
Flash Forward - Robert J. Sawyer
American Gods - Neil Gaiman

Keeping Out the Mind Control Rays

2004-04-10T02:03:00.000-07:00

I never realized how much I took sleep for granted. There were the occasional bouts of not being able to get to sleep, but once I was asleep I was asleep for the night. More than that, sleep was always the emergency exit. If I had a shitty day or I wasn't feeling well all I had to do was tough it out till bed time. A better day would arrive in the morning.

Until last month.

Suddenly I was waking up after 4 or 5 hours. I might get back to sleep for a few more hours, sometimes not. On the best nights all I could hope for was broken sleep. After 2 weeks of this I was getting some serious insight into what mental illness might be like. Reduced cognitive function is only the beginning. Besides being dazed and confused there's the sudden anger and general crankiness, the always being tired/live action "bobble-head" routine, and some times the purely irrational thoughts that start to make perfect sense.

Daylight was definitely a suspect factor (I work a graveyard shift), since the problem started with the sudden bright days that came with the recent good weather. I got so desperate I put tin-foil on my bedroom window to block out the mood altering rays of the sun! My landlord was so impressed they asked me to remove it. After explaining the situation, they bought me blackout curtains.

I wish I could say everything was back to normal. At this point I'm experiencing a definite improvement. I'm not back to sleeping my solid 8 hours, but the sleep I'm getting is better. Although I tend to tune it out I think the construction across the street is the culprit.

Interestingly enough, things are even better here in Vernon. Last night I got a solid 7 hours of sleep; something I haven't done for a month. It's enough to give me hope.

DVDs:
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Ferris Bueller's Day Off

Movies:
Walking Tall

2004-04-09T03:35:00.000-07:00

It Works!

Damn, I love it when a plan comes together! Or, should I say, when technology actually works as advertised.

I'm at The Sister's place for Easter, along with my parents. My sister has high speed internet but no Cable/DSL router or wireless. This trip I decided to drag along my wireless router in addition to the notebook. I just finished updating a web site I do volunteer work on while sitting on the bed in my sister's guestroom in Vernon. I didn't have to disturb my nephew temporarily relocated to sleeping in the living room where the family computer and network connection is. Sweet!

This network thing could really have a future. I hope I never have to be this connected for my day job.

Books:
Cold as Ice - Charles Sheffield

Movies:
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Hidalgo
Hellboy

2004-03-13T13:13:00.000-08:00

Sleep, damn it!

I should be sleeping right now, but I'm not. Went to bed a couple of hours early and immediately fell asleep. Waking up a corresponding couple hours early would be fine, but no, I wake up after 4 of my normal 8 hours of sleep. Damn it.

Rather than lie there and try to fall back to sleep, which is what I normally do, I decide to get up. Felt fine going into the shower but sleepy afterwards. Ok brain, make up your mind, damn it.

Tried to go back to bed and had once of those waking sleep experiences where it feels like you've been lying there for 10 minutes and haven't slept, but it's an hour later. Brain felt awake again so up I got. Don't feel like going back to sleep but I feel tired and no where near the top of my game. Guess I won't be doing any Nobel price research today. Damn it.

Still, if I can stay awake till my normal bed time I can't imagine this happening tomorrow. Ok, at least there's hope. This would be so much easier if I could store sleep like electricity in a battery. Then I'd know where I stood, damn it.

At least it's a nice day out there, which is some small compensation.

2004-03-12T07:58:00.000-08:00

Starbucks Karma

I like my Starbucks espresso drinks. A lot. And I think I've collected a lot of Starbucks karma in the cosmic bank (they've certainly collected a lot of my money in their bank).

For well over 10 years my work place has never been more than a 5 minute walk away from a Starbucks. A situation I took great advantage of. That all changed with my new job where the closest Starbucks clocked in at a 10 minute walk!

Starbucks Karma to the rescue.

After 7 months of exposure to my karmic caffeine distortion field the empty space across the street from work has morphed into a Starbucks. Walking distance, 2 minutes. 3 if I hold the door open for someone.

Now, if they were only open at 2 in the morning . . .

2004-03-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

I Like My Mac, But ...

I'm really enjoying my PowerBook. It isn't perfect, but if I had it to buy again I wouldn't hesitate. But you know . . . it's just a computer. Visually more elegant than a Wintel or Unix system, and far more secure than any Microsoft OS, but just a computer.

I simply can't relate to some of the "fans" that comprise a segment of Apple users. At Overclockers.com they joked about gutting a G5 Mac and replacing the insides with a PC and they got death threats! A new store just opened in San Francisco and you have a magnified version of the A&B Sound boxing day sale. Too bad someone from Overclockers didn't show up at the store opening offering conversion kits to the people in line. It's San Francisco, they could have called it performance art. Mac users are all about the art, right?

At work, where I support a web based course delivery product, a Mac user flamed us because of a bug (er, issue) that affected a small segment of our Mac users on specific versions of Safari, an unsupported browser. It wasn't like he couldn't use a supported browser. Never-the-less, we were "derelict" and he would push his Institution to move towards "one of the many alternatives." Ah, retrain an entire Institution's teaching and technical staff and endure the pain and cost of product turnover because less than 1% of their user base is having problems and are too inflexible to switch to a supported browser. To borrow a phrase from A Cute Toaster, "Jeebus". Turns out we'd issued a patch that fixed the problem 2 days previous.

I like my Mac, and hope Apple has a long future of providing their computing vision - perhaps even at a reasonable price - but it's just a computer.

Books:
Thief of Time - Terry Pratchett

2004-02-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Random Acts of Kindness

So. I get to BCIT for an appointment. A parking pass is waiting for me . . . behind the locked door of the Security Department. Good forbid campus cowboy clerks should be there later than 3:30. Parking is only 2 bucks, annoying but not a big deal. As I park it starts to rain and the parking pass ticket dispenser doesn't work. Schlepping across the parking lot I drop my toonie into another parking pass machine that produce a lot of noise but no pass. No more change, not that I really wanted to trek even further a field. Walking back to my car in a thoroughly foul mood a horn honks. What the hell does . . . oh . . . he's waving a parking pass. On his way out of the lot he proceeds to give it me.

Bad: 3 / Good: 10

Practice random acts of kindness, the person you help might be me.

2004-02-20T23:14:00.000-08:00

The Sister

My sister is in town for a "new" teachers conference. She's a year away, but they let her in anyway. We had coffee, just the two of us, no distractions.

I wish we could do it more often.

2004-02-19T20:39:00.000-08:00

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

There's a euphoric kick, a quintessential moment of "YES!", that happens when I get a "high degree of coolness" technology working. It doesn't happen as often as it should, but when it does it lasts a long time.

I promised myself a notebook computer when I got the new job and much to my surprise I didn't procrastinate. I envisioned a home network where my Windows, Linux and Macintosh menagerie would seamlessly interoperate . After a year and a half of Java courses, whoring every webmaster job coming my way and getting the new job doing technical work I was burned out of the whole technology gig. I haven't used my PowerBook for much more than surfing the web, watching DVDs and a bit of word processing.

That's changing.

A Java practicum project has appeared and I thought it would be nice if that home network vision was a reality. After a bit of work I now have SSH public/private key single sign on between my Macintosh and Windows clients and my Linux server. I have a CVS repository on my Linux server that I can access over SSH from CVS programs on both my client computers. I also have a GUI program on each client that can transfer files in a style similar to FTP.

Doesn't sound like a big deal, maybe. But every time I click a button and one computer accesses another in a completely secure way without asking me for a password … I'm grinning like a fool just thinking about it. George Peppard in one of his TV roles said it best: "I love it when a plan comes together."

Books:
The Time Machine - H. G. Wells
The Ayre Affair - Jasper Fforde
The Well of Lost Plots - Jasper Fforde
Lost in a Good Book - Jasper Fforde
Wings of Fire - Dale Brown
The Shiva Options - David Weber, Steven White

Movies:
Mystic River
Cheaper by the Dozen

2004-01-16T02:16:00.000-08:00

A January Grab Bag

Best of the New Year, everyone.

The Vancouver winter is being a bastard this year. Way too much rain, and this year it had the temerity to snow. Damn, the only reason I put up with the rain is because it isn't snow. In my opinion snow belongs on the mountains. Rain or snow, it's been way too gray.

I've been down the last couple of weeks and suspect it's the lack of sun light. Least wise, this little bit of sun we got today helped; and a really nice day tends to flip my mood to the good side. During the long, rainy stretches I do have small bursts of enthusiasm amongst the self-destructive procrastination, but I all I can say is: Blah!

Life continues, whinging or not.

Wireless networks and notebook computers are the manna of convenience. It doesn't have to be a Mac notebook (be quiet, Dolores!), though I'm really happy with mine. Being able to work from the couch, kitchen table, favorite chair or desk - sometimes one right after the other - is absolutely wonderful. I've started reading my "regular" web sites from the kitchen table with my morning coffee and, when I'm really organized, breakfast.

I'd go so far to say that if you're not playing serious games don't bother with a desktop computer. The only conundrum is this. If you're going to use a notebook at home as a desktop replacement, go for a big screen. If you're going to carry it around, go for a small screen. If you're going to do both, you have to decide between two different kinds of convenience. Life's a bitch.

I've been reading a very interesting blog, lately. It's written by an American soldier in Iraq. Even when I disagree with him - he seems to like Dubwa - it's a good read.

This is my last week of afternoon shift - yeah. Somehow it seems like I have more personal time on graveyards. I get my evenings back, too. Besides, with all the gray days we've had, it's not like there's a big difference between days and nights, anyway.

Books:
Paragon Lost - Dave Duncan
the telling - Ursula K. LeGuin
The Visitor - Sheri S. Tepper

Movies:
Calendar Girls

2003-12-25T00:00:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Welcome Christmas! Bring your cheer!
Cheer to all who's far and near!
Christmas Day is in our grasp!
So long as we have hands to clasp!
Christmas Day will always be!
Just as long as we have we!
Theodor Seuss Geisel

I hope you all have an excellent Christmas.

2003-12-22T22:14:00.000-08:00

Bring on the LIGHT, bring on the NIGHT

This is it folks, the shortest day of the year. From here on in we get more light. This is also the day I go back to my afternoon and night shifts. Interesting coincidence, but I'm not reading too much into it.

I'm pretty sure magical dragons never had to worry about shift work. Not having a job in the first place might have something to do with it. Mundane dragons aren't so lucky, though we don't have to worry about idiots in armor trying to make a name for themselves. A fair trade? I'll get back to you.

Though it's a mundane world, there is some magic to be found being awake in the night. Night time details are different from day time details. A world of silhouettes. The darkness surrounds everything like a soft, protective covering. Windows call attention to themselves like little beacons and reveal curious details never seen in the day. For the few places that are open, everyone knows everyone. A place that's a thronging mass of people in the day is a small community in the night.

It's still a little weird working night shift, but a part of me is looking forward to going back. I am, with my whole heart, looking forward to more sunlight.

Books:
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - J. K. Rowling

2003-12-17T23:57:00.000-08:00

Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Rocks.

2003-12-16T20:13:00.000-08:00

Grinchy Grinch

Woo-who, How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is on! This is a tradition of Christmas, along with the Alistair Sims version of Scrooge. My Dad made me a tape of The Grinch. It's an excellent backup but it isn't the same as catching it on TV.

Who Pizza's delivered, who coffee is on, Cindy-Lou Who's cooing, so time to be gone!

2003-12-14T23:56:00.000-08:00

Go, Coffee!

According to a bit I read in a health magazine:

Harvard researchers have replicated a Danish study that reached the conclusion heavy coffee drinkers seem to have a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes. Four or more cups a day is the magic number ... I need to drink more coffee!

No word on whether Juan Valdes or Starbucks funded the study.

Books:
War of Honor - David Weber

2003-12-08T23:23:00.000-08:00

Cutting the Cord

I finally did it. I found a wireless port-of-call for my Power Book. Yeah! Blog authoring is so much more civilized sitting on the couch with no wires attached. And such a deal, never would have thought I could do it for 50 bucks.

These broadband routers have come a long way. The first router I bought took a bit of fiddling to get running. This one worked right out of the box. Plugged it in and c’est voila, thar be packets. Of course, default means wireless ass hanging in the wind. I understand why so many wireless networks are left open, setting up the encryption is a bit of a pain. Actually, more so on the Power Book side than the router side. One of the few things that wasn’t drop dead straight forward on OS-X. Still, no where near as frustrating as having one mouse button ……

Which brings to mind feedback I received on my last blog. My mother was not impressed with one of the “colorful metaphors” used to describe Apple’s decision to omit the right mouse button. I think the last time my mother commented on my language was twenty years ago. Some cords just can’t be cut.

Movies:
The Last Samurai
Timeline
Master and Commander

Books:
Ender’s Shadow – Orson Scott Card
Shadow of the Hegemon – Orson Scott Card

2003-08-23T14:52:00.000-07:00

Work & Toys

Just finished my first 2 weeks of the graveyard shift, 10pm - 6am. It's not bad. It's the equivalent of interchanging work time with sleep time, leaving the evening in tact. Depending on one's constitution, it can be more flexible. Shave a little sleep and you're up during office hours. Me, I like getting my sleep in one go, not splitting it up or skimping. If there was any doubt my body had time shifted it disappeared last night when I couldn't get to sleep at 4am because it was 3 or 4 hours earlier than I usually go to bed!

Next week I'm on afternoons, 2pm to 10pm. This shift I'm not as keen on. When I was training, switching between a day and afternoon was ok because the sleep pattern was the same. I'm not sure about changing bed times between afternoon and graveyard on a 2 week / 1 week rotation.

Work is coming along. I'm familiar with about 80 - 90% of the features on our main product. User questions are snap. On the back end I'm dealing with most simple questions and solving medium hard problems on my own. Call volume is definitely picking up. One of our major clients started classes last week. Most other institutions are in major prep mode.

My Powerbook continues to be fun. Still haven't had much of a chance to really dig into it. A couple times I wound up close to work with a couple hours to kill. Not really enough time to go home and come back. Powerbook to the rescue! I keep reading about all these open wireless networks. This may be so, but there're never where I need them to be! I've also had it hooked up to my TV playing DVDs. Awesome portable DVD player.

I continue to have one complaint about my Powerbook. It has all of these really nice small touches. The charger jack has a small light ring that glows amber when it's charging and goes green when it's complete. There's a tiny light that tells you if it's in "sleep" mode. So far I've plugged in a Firewire video camera, TV, and USB mouse and the devices have just worked. But the god damn thing only has one fucking mouse button!!! What kind of asshat executive moron decided this? They have an Apple logo on the lid that glows when the unit is one but they only have one mouse button. Go figure.

In the long run it probably won't matter. The track pad sucks anyways. I've bought a USB mouse - hmm, you can't find one less than 2 buttons - and life is much better. I have my eyes on the wireless Bluetooth mice. I could care less about wire/wireless with my desktop, but for a notebook wireless is a definite plus. Though they're still a little pricey, that will change.

2003-08-09T00:20:00.000-07:00

So Very Vancouver?

Today's blog is coming to you from Westbank Beach on English Bay. How? I have a new toy, it's portable, and you can type on it. I promised myself when I got a new job I would buy a notebook and this week I delivered on my promise. Yay! Using it at the beach on a sunny afternoon within 24 hours of getting it ... well ... maybe I've been in Vancouver too long.

Or maybe not. I came from a nice little lunch with my niece, who was passing through Vancouver on her way home. The only fine dining available at the bus depot is McDonalds, but you work with what you got. Since my shift starts at 2pm, it wasn't worth going home. Hmmm, an hour to kill, a notebook purchased precisely so I can write anywhere, where would YOU go?! Of course, there are hazards one doesn't think of ahead of time. Every time a gull flies over I live in fear of wiping bird crap off my keyboard. There's something you'll never see in a notebook ad. Note to self, include handy-wipes in jump bag.

The new toy is an Apple Powerbook and it's pretty sweet. I picked it up last night on my way home from work. The screen is beautiful, and it play's DVDs. Long waits just got a lot more entertaining! A lot more playing around on the horizon but the main reason I bought it, something portable to type on, is working out just fine!

Now, if I only had a decent digital camera I could include a couple of photos ... maybe next month.

2003-08-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

It's Been a Month - Time Flies

More than a month, actually. The job is going well; stuff I volunteered to work on before I started the job not so well.

This is my first week of "late" shift, that's 2pm to 10pm. It alternates with a "night" shift, 10pm to 6am. Ok, that's afternoon and graveyard shifts anywhere else I've worked. Everything is pretty dead right now, so everyone hopes there's enough work to keep from getting bored. Things apparently pick up in September. Hope so, I can't imagine I'll be around very long after if they don't.

After only a day the "late" shift looks ok to work.

2003-06-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's off to work I go

No suspenseful build-up, I took the job. Started last week. I'm in the Technical Support group, we provide answers to peoples problems <grin>. Unlike past jobs where I supported internal clients (aka staff). in this job I'll be supporting external clients. This is quite a different situation and has a different set of good and bad points.

The really good news is it looks like a good crew. People like to laugh. The humour is dark, bastard operator from hell type humour, but it's humour and its good-natured. The place seems to run on its stomach, fun AND tasty.

I'll ultimately be doing an alternating afternoon/night shift. While I'm training I'll be on days. I'm actually curious to try out nights. I've read some stuff by people working nights and have known a few night denizens. They talk about it being a different world, I'm curious to see for myself.

In keeping with an inexorable law of nature that causes big events to happen in clusters, I drove down to Oregon the weekend before starting my new job to play at being Best Man in a wedding. My only disappointment was none of the ladies were interested in finding out if I really was the best man. Strongbad, I feel your pain.

2003-06-13T18:01:00.000-07:00

Today's Job Offer Brought To You By The Number 2

I wonder if there’s something special about the number 2. I’m considering my first job offer since being laid off on my 2 year out-of-work anniversary. Not that I’ve been scratching tick marks on the wall or have the day marked on my calendar. The first thing I did after being laid off was go to the Dragon Boat Festival. Today as I drove away from my new perspective employer, offer in hand, an ad on the radio informed me the festival is this weekend.

I haven’t looked at the details of the offer yet, that will have to wait. I’m currently sitting in a classroom waiting to be edified on the wonders of XML. The chances are very good I’ll accept, though.

Until then, I’m still unemployed. Those books, I-Books, DVD Players, 19” monitors and on-line games will have to wait. It ain’t over till it’s over. Not that I'm paranoid. I'm cautious. Yah, that's it.

2003-06-07T17:01:00.000-07:00

Slaying the Marks

It's official, last term went very well. Finally got the marks back on the design pattern course I took: 97%. I'm usually not sure how well I do - or don't do - on an exam, but that one had a good feeling. I got 89% on the database course. I so owned that term!

Of course, fate has a way of asking, "what have you done lately, my friend?" Got my XML course mid-term results back last night: 78%. On any other day of the week I'd be happy, but after seeing my last term marks … Then I discovered it was the highest mark in the class. Happier.

2003-06-01T21:43:00.000-07:00

This 30 Minute Meal Has 7 Days

Since I was young I've been fascinated by cooking. Not so much that I've ever wanted to become a chef, but I remember watching a lot of "The Galloping Gourmet" and developing the stupendous gastronomic repertoire of pizza and spaghetti with Catelli tomato sauce. I've had bursts of culinary enthusiasm ever since.

My latest infatuation is "30 Minute Meals" by Rachael Ray. Her mantra is great food fast - my kind of chef! Unfortunately, her recipes make enough for 4 to 6 people or 2 teenagers and in many cases are impossible to half. Since the invention of the microwave leftovers have generally been a good thing. But too much of a good thing is … you know … not.

This abundance has helped me to develop a new ratings system, though. If I'm still enjoying the dish by the time I get to the end, it's a keeper. On the other hand, if it's still in the fridge after seven days the rating is prorated by the amount left for the table scrap gods.

2003-04-25T18:12:00.000-07:00

Easter Escape

Had a wonderful Easter escape last week. Off to my sister's place at Vernon. It was very nice to get away. Between the lack of sun and a couple of other events it's been hard keeping motivated. One might say it's been down right depressing, but it’s not exactly that. It's not like I don't want to do ANYTHING, there's lots of stuff I'd like to do. I just can't get around to doing the stuff I SHOULD do. Maybe it's the weather I always get more done when it's sunny, and this month is setting a record for the opposite.

Near Miss

My luck hasn't totally run out. One the way to Vernon I usually stop in Abbotsford for cheap gas. It's always a little cheaper if not a lot cheaper. Looking at my gas tank, I knew what I had would be tight but I figured I could make it. Umm, I put 40.3 litres into a 40 litre tank. I have a friend who doesn't let her gas tank get below half and sometimes comments my gas needle is more south than by south by south west ... let's just not tell her.

In an act of cosmic symmetry the same thing happened to my sister when I was riding with her in Vernon. As we were driving to the gas station her poor van stuttered from starvation about 3 blocks from our destination. Fortunately, I didn’t have to push. This act of playing chicken with the gas doesn't run in the family. Her hubby was to blame in this case, or so she said.

The near misses got a little more serious. On the way to lunch Tuesday a traffic accident happened before my very bumper. As the car ahead of me was entering an intersection - the pedestrian crossing had just changed to green - a pickup oblivious to the laws of physics zoomed into the intersection proving two objects can't exist in the same space. If the timing had been a little different...

I sometimes wonder how many near misses happen that I never know about. Not something I’m going to dwell on.

2003-04-09T11:11:00.000-07:00

Averaging Out

Sadly, I did not survive the daylight savings transition unscathed. I set all my clocks forward Saturday night, ignoring the answering machine which never left daylight savings time - it's a pain to set and so is an hour off for half the year. I didn't give it a second thought. Then came Monday.

Ever Monday a friend and I get together at 11:00am … except for the time I inexplicable thought it was 10:00am and arrived an hour early. On the drive over this 1st Monday of daylight savings I looked at my car clock as I drove over and realized it was 9:40, not 10:40. The first thought in my head wasn’t I forgot to change my car clock, it was crap, I've done it again! This mistake was reinforced when I looked at my watch. Yup, changed all my clocks.

Soooo, I wandered to a few stores to kill some time because I wasn't going to show up on his doorstep an hour early again. As I was browsing, I looked at the store's clock and observed 10:45 (yup, it was wrong, too) and meandered to my friends place. Sure glad I noticed and avoided being embarrassed a second time.

"Hi", he said. "I wasn't sure if you were coming". Huh? Gears turn, neurons fire, pieces fall into place, and I suddenly realize: I'm an idiot.

One hour early, one hour late, it does averages out.

Not much of a break between classes. Finished the last final for the Winter term last week. Spring term starts this week and this Friday I start the last programming class needed for the Java Associate Certificate. I also need to do a practicum. Talking to a company about projects and hoping to nail something down in the next couple weeks.

Books:
Term Limits - Vince Flynn

Movies:
Spirited Away
Basic

2003-03-27T10:15:00.000-08:00

One Down, One to Go

Taking 2 computer courses has been great but it sure takes a bite out of time when assignments come due and final exams come around! March has just sort of evaporated. Good news is one course is done, done, done. Wrote the final exam Tuesday. There's a Catholic church between the school and the parkade. It has bells. They were ringing as I walked to my car after the exam. God congratulating me on being done! Felt good.

Books:
Ashes of Victory - David Weber

Movies:
- Tears of the Sun
- Agent Cody Banks
- Dare Devil
- Cradle 2 the Grave

2003-02-20T17:57:00.000-08:00

Waffle Boy

For some strange reason I'm on a waffle binge. A couple years ago my folks gave me the old waffle iron. Claimed I was the only one who had used it. I've used it occasionally since I got it, mostly for nostalgia. This thing is as old, or a titch older, than I am. One of my earliest memories is waffles, pancakes or bacon & eggs for breakfast. Waffles were a little special because they didn't happen all the time. That all changed a couple weeks ago. Suddenly I'm a waffle maniac and I've got the process down so I can have a serving up in 15 minutes.

Did you hear? Our very own BlogSpot is now owned by Google. This should be interesting.

Happy Birthday Eric!!!

Books:
The Making of the Atomic Bomb - Richard Rhodes

Movies:
City of God
Shanghai Knights
The Recruit

2003-01-30T11:20:00.000-08:00

Changing World

Well, you know the world is a changin' a little bit at a time when the case behind the cashier at London Drugs that used to hold cigarettes is now holding Pokemon cards. Then there's this article. The Navy has a style guide for tattoos! Guess those "be all you can be" ads don't include body art.

I think they're making a mistake. Letting the asshole who'd actually tattoo him/herself with something extremist is a type of public service. How often are you in the situation where a prick actually raises his hand and screams "I'm intolerant"!?

Movies:
- The Hours

2003-01-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful smell you've discovered ....

Don't you just hate it when a bug decides to make friends with your halogen lamp? Me too.

Movies:
- Two Weeks Notice

2003-01-16T15:11:00.000-08:00

HTML on the Brain

The last couple months I've done so much HTML it not only flows out of my finger tips I'm probably <perspiring> it. My web site just got a make-over. Finally fixed the navigation. It sucked very badly, before. Working on a web site for non-profit, too. Slowly starting to implement CSS, but I'm not ready to give up my <table>s!

Ok, for those of you who haven't asked (yet), I've been to Mickey D's once since my last posting. Made a big pot of vegi chilli from once of my Christmas cookbooks. It's lasting me days. Yesterday and today the menu was chilli dogs. A couple of days ago it was chilli fries. I'm having a craving for corn muffins......

Movies:
- Adaptation