Today's Babbling

It's grey. It's snowy. And IT'S FRIDAY!!! It's time to unwind and get ready for the weekend. OK. So I don't really have a whole lot planned yet. But it's still early! If it snows a lot this weekend, then maybe it's an opportune time to get some skiing in! :) On the other hand, if it's too nasty for that, then maybe take in a movie (been wanting to catch Harry Potter) or do a little shopping (need a new winter jacket).

Some jackets I have been looking
at: Women's Varius Guide Jacket and Men's Flight Jacket

I know. One's a woman's jacket and the other is a men's. I find that sometimes the men's jackets fit better on me. I think it's because my shoulders are a bit broader, so a boxier cut is preferable.

Apparently on Sunday, there will be a tree lighting event in my neighborhood. I guess they've decided to put up a big tree in the new market square. It's it's not too bad out on Sunday, I might go check it out. It's a nice community thing to do. Maybe go
ski around the golf course (conditions permitting) before the tree lighting.

Holiday Stuff

I don't know about you, but I have not really done much in the way of Christmas shopping yet. I really don't know what to get anyway. At least my brother and I have agreed not to get each other anything this year. Since I won't be able to visit my folks this holiday season I'm not obliged to get them anything. ;-) But I'm sure I'll make up for it at a later date (like at Chinese New Year or something). We will, however, be visiting my boyfriend's parents for a few days. But at least there we have agreed on a certain budget. This way no one will be
breaking the bank. But what to get for my boyfriend? Hmmmm....

Anyway......

Today
What can I say? It's relatively sunny right now with a few clouds. Would that constitute "mostly sunny"? Anyway....

Today was the day of the big parade for the Montreal Alouettes. I'm not much of a football fan, but I still think it's great that they won the Grey Cup. I believe that the last time they won the Grey Cup was back in 1977. So, as the parade was set for noontime, I figure I'd check it out via one of the webcams found at Montreal Cam. And lo and behold there was that sea of people waiting along St.Catherine Street. Eventually around 12:38PM, the convoy with the players came by. Right behind the last vehicle was a sea of people following them to the end of the parade (St.Catherine and McGill College). Afterwards, I decided to check in on the penguins at the Biodome. :)

Blergh!
I think I might be coming down with something. I've had a bit of a headache since last night and it doesn't seem to want to go away. Also, right after lunch I wanted to sleep so badly. I must be exhausted or something. And I really do hope I am not coming down with a cold! :-p They're forecasting some snow for this weekend and it would be crappy if I got sick and go out and play in the snow. :-p

Maybe I'll just get some more tea and settle in for the night when I get home...

Today's Rant
If you drive, then this is a rant for you!

Have you ever noticed that the more expensive the vehicle the bigger the jerk that's behind the wheel? I have noticed that whenever there are jerks making bonehead manoeuvres on the road (i.e., passing on the right on a residential street and blowing stop signs), they almost always seem to be driving some luxury car like a BMW or a Mercedes-Benz. Now why is that? Is it because they can afford such a car that it gives them the license to drive however they want? What I don't think they realize is that doing 80km/hr and blowing every stop sign on a residential street will one day come back to haunt them!

In a discussion on this subject, a colleague made note of another *sshole on his street who just HAD to get somewhere fast. So, in order to do so he sped up and passed a school bus just as it was about to stop for a pick up. And guess what kind of car he drove? Yup! You guessed it. A BMW.

Now, don't get me wrong here. I don't want to say that ALL luxury car drivers are jerks. It's just that so far the ones that I have seen tend to be the more obnoxious drivers. I won't say that I'm a perfect driver, but I certainly won't drive in a way that might endanger others!

In other news
There's not a whole lot else to comment at this point. I could get onto the subject of the problems in the Middle East, but then that would lead into a discussion on politics and religion. And, well, I'm just not in the mood for that right now. It's a bit heavy for aTuesday night.

Shopping
I read an article in today's Gazette about the Christmas shopping season. It made note of the largest mall in the region (Carrefour Laval). It talked about the shoppers and the shopkeepers. It discussed how crazy some shoppers are when it came to finding parking spaces and shopping within the mall in general. I've been to Carrefour Laval before they recently expanded. And even before they expanded, I found it to be a very busy and crowded place. It's a bit too busy and crowded for my tastes. I think that this season, whatever shopping I need to do for this Christmas I will try to get done either downtown or on-line! :)

Indigo.ca
Future Shop

Anyhoo, I don't think I have a whole lot to shop for this season as I do not plan on visiting my folks this year. I've gone down there about 4 times this year, I think they can handle not seeing me this Xmas. On the other hand, it looks like I will be heading in the other direction and visiting the folks of my significant other. I don't think we plan on making it a very expensive Xmas, so shopping shouldn't be that difficult.

New Year's Celebrations
Received some propaganda in the mail today for the development I live in. It's just a small collection of flyers put together by the development. One is a letter wishing us all a happy holiday season. It also mentions the cross-country skiing that is being offered on the golf course and what the "rules" are (basically, check the hours and no night skiing). There's also mention of a skating rink near the clubhouse. Also, there is supposed to be an official lighting of the Christmas tree at the marketplace this coming Sunday. If I don't have anything better to do, maybe I will check it out.

Also in the envelope is a flyer advertising a New Year's Eve party. $150 per person will get you an open bar, dinner and champagne to ring in the New Year. I think that's a bit steep for me. I think I will just go out and get my own bottle of champagne and celebrate the New Year in the comforts of my home and with my loved ones. :)

Cheers!

Fonts Galore
Let's try another font for a change. I need to exercise a bit of creativity here instead of just settling for defaults. :)

I came across an interesting weblog of an American currently living in Japan. I found it while doing a Google search on this lovely japanese breakfast food called natto. There's also some non-Japanese related tidbits at this site.

Anyone want to buy a splicer? Please make a really good bid on it! Good stuff is hard to come by these days! :D

Other babblings
It seems that as we grow older time seems to be going by that much faster. Why is that? (Rhetorical question)

Ya know.. since I am writing this blog on the cheap, I have no idea how many people have visited my blog. Therefore, it would be nice to know who (if there is a who) out there has viewed this. A simple blank email will suffice. Or, if you really want, you can say hi or something. :D I know my writings may not be the most exciting in the world, but hey, you never know when one day I will be so inspired that I might actually end up writing some masterpiece!

Uhm.. yeah. Right. ;-)

Wacky, wacky Weather
First it snows (Monday). Then it rains (today). Next, it's suppose to snow again. Has Mother Nature gone schitzophrenic on us? But then again, I suppose that this is typical autumn/pre-winter weather. I guess I just got so used to the nice summer weather this year that I am still in some sort of sub-conscious denial. But, whatcha gonna do?

Other stuff
Thanksgiving in the US is next week. I don't even remember the last time I have gone home for Thanksgiving. Maybe next year. We'll see. I mean, there is Thanksgiving here in Canada, but it's just not quite the same here, especially in Quebec. Sure, we get a day off, but it's on a Monday. Sure, we can have turkey with all the trimmings, but the weather outside is still a bit balmy.

Oh the weather out there is frightful... And so are the drivers!

Current Rant
OK, so several topics have been running around my head this past week so I will just pick one: Right on Red.

This is a subject that has been debated upon for some time now here in Quebec. Earlier this year they decided to trial this in some parts of Quebec (except for the major urban areas like Montreal). In general, everything seems OK. There doesn't seem to be a significant change in number of accidents. So now it seems that they will make it legal to turn right on red in the province. HOWEVER, in Montreal, it would be up to the local government here to decide if they want to institute the right-on-red policy. So far, there have been hearings and discussions about it. It seems that the general consensus here is NO. No right-on-red on the island of Montreal. If you think about it, it's probably for the best. I have been here long enough to see just how bad the drivers are around here. Hell, I was a victim of it last year!

Story
Last year around this time, I had just had my winters put on and my car waxed and buffed and ready for winter. So there I was heading into work as usual. I came to light at an intersection close to work. The light was red. When the light turned green, I started to enter the intersection. Then all of a sudden, I see this white car bearing down on me from the other street! *CRUNCH* He nails me on the front passenger side. I was in shock. I managed to get out of the car. I tried to remain calm and collected. I asked the guy what the hell he was doing! Do you know what his response was??? "The light was yellow, so I sped up." WHAT THE #$*(&*????? What the hell do you mean you sped up??? Were you a whole fricking block away when you sped up???? I was just absolutely flabbergasted! (BTW, I did not use those expletives at the time, but the comments were running around my head). Anyway, I went ahead and took out the form we would need to fill out for insurance purposes. I dont think this guy has ever seen one of these forms, so he was clueless and I had to tell him what he needed to fill out. Afterwards, I managed to drive the car into the garage at work. Then I called my insurance company to tell them about the accident and faxed them the form. Next, I took the car to a body shop nearby that was recommended by my dealer (it was only a block or so away from work). As my insurance covers for loss of use, I set up for a rental. I ended up with a gold-colored Toyota Echo (ick!).

Later on, I hear back from my insurance guy about when the estimate was going to be done. Also, he checked with the other guy's insurance company and it seems that he never filed his copy of the report. I guess that means he didnt want to claim anything to have his car fixed. It also indicates that he was at fault. Anyway, my care was the more damaged of the two.

Anyhoo.. After about a week, I finally get my baby back. All in one piece! Since then I have been somewhat more leary about crossing intersections after the light changes. Oh well.

Brrrrrrr!
It seems that winter has really decided to set in. The temps have dropped. It's snowing. And it's windy! Went out for a walk to the bakery yesterday for a baguette and nearly froze my arse off! I really did not think that the windchill was THAT bad! Oh well. Went out for a coffee and cake early but this time got smart and bundled up a bit more warmly. The downside to the walk was when the ice pellets (yes, there's ice pellets out there right now) hits your face. It stings somewhat!

Anyhoo-hoo... It looks like it will snow some more tonight and tomorrow. After that the temps might start to go up again and instead of snow, it might rain instead! Whoopeee!! What a lovely mess this will make outside! :) Oh well. At least I have my winter tires on!

Listening to:
A CD mix of various music. Currently, the Beatles' "Ticket to Ride".

Under the category of Strange Conversations...
The other day, a bunch of us work were just chatting away at nothing in particular when the conversation fell on the topic of cockrings. Now, I HONESTLY don't remember HOW we got onto the subject, but in any case.. In a room of 4 women and 1 man, we were discussing the issue of cockrings and how they are supposed to be applied. First of all, the guy has never used one before but was curious about it and was wondering how one would "wear" one. Basically, he cannot fathom how something that size can be applied to *ahem* something so large (I don't think there was a whole lost of modesty here). One of us believed that it had to be put on before the climactic act. I seconded that theory and, being the geek that I am, even went on to explain why it should be applied well before any sort of arousal occurs. The gentleman still did not believe it. However, he said he'll let us know Monday if he managed to wear it according to what theory. ;-) We shall soon find out! ;-)

Sunshine, lollipops and rainbows
Yes, for once it's a sunny day here in Montreal. However, I don't think it will last very long. Latest weather forecast indicates rain by this afternoon. :-p Oh well.

No more waiting (sort of). I think I know what my place in life will be. As long as it's interesting, I don't mind. :)

Hungry. Need lunch soon. Darn. It's only 11:20AM. What shall I have for lunch today? Was a bit too lazy to pack a lunch from home. :-p Japanese course is tonight. I really should do a little bit of studying during my lunch hour. Ah, we'll see. :)

More babbling
What more can I say? I am what I am and that's the way it's gonna be. Can't do anything about it and if you've got a problem with that well then you're gonna have hell to pay!

OK, so that was a bit of nonsensical ranting there. Brain tired. Typing tired. Fingers want to go to sleep. Zzzzzzzzzz.

Problems with the metro system here this afternoon it seems. Of course, it just had to happen just as everyone is leaving for the day to go home. And out they came from the metro station. A steady stream of people fed up with waiting for the system to come back up and bring them home. They all line up at the one bus stop. The one bus stop where the bus comes by every 25-30 minutes. I guess it's a good thing that it's not that cold today. I think it was around +4C this evening during rush hour. I think that little spate of Indian Summer we had recently is now no more. Ah well, c'est la vie.

Currently listening to:
CHOM Radio

Musings of the day
It's always good to be busy working on something. Sometimes you may not necessarily *like* what you're doing, but who usually does if it's related to work, right? In any case, I'm usually happy if I'm busy doing something productive.

The skies are slowly starting to clear. This is a good sign. I hope that it will be relatively clear next week for viewing the Leonids! I've been wanting to catch sight of a meteor shower!

Must remember: French fries are bad for you. Salad is good for you!

We are barely mid-November and already they are putting up the Christmas lights for the building here at work. It's TOO EARLY!!! But, alas, what can be done about that?

Right on red in Montreal? The jury is still out on this one.

Re-instituting toll-booths in Montreal? Why not? It would help off-set the cost of the yearly roadwork, which in turn should decrease the budget allocated for roadwork, which in turn should lower our income taxes.... Hmmm.... Maybe this will even force people to make use of the efficient public transit system that is so readily available here? Now, I've been to other places and tolls are not necessarily an evil thing. In Boston, they are using the money collected from the tolls to fund the Big Dig project. In New Hampshire, there is a toll on Interstate 93. I assume that this toll is used towards the maintenance of the roads. Also, there is a toll on the Mass. Turnpike. I think that as long as we know where exactly that money is going, it can't be that bad (unless they say that the money is going straight into the politician's pocket...).

Funny how "Little Bunny Foo Foo" became "Little Bunny Frou Frou". ;-)

Current Vibes
CN Soho Live

Cats and Chicken
Why is it that cats (at least the ones that I've lived with) have this thing for chicken? Whenever I have chicken for supper, it seems that they KNOW when you have chicken for supper. They hover around the table like vultures HOPING that a piece of lovely cooked chicken would fall their way. Hungry little feline piggies! ;-)

Time to unwind and chill out to some funky vibes. (That sounded rather cheesy.)

Evening Babble
So, like I've been telling a few people about my blog. Just a few people. My brother, a few co-workers. I know that this blog has been earmarked as public, but just who really just happens upon it? Hmmm... I wonder.

It's so nice to be home after a day at the office (not that I was working hard or anything). It's just nice to come home and be greeted by hungry cats who want nothing more than a clean litter box, food, water and the occasionaly pat on the head or scratch behind the ears. Time to kick back, relax and have a nice drink or cocktail before supper. Afterwards, maybe catch up on some reading or watch a bit of TV or a video. Time to push anything work-related out of mind and relax.

Babbles from a Feline
Meow. Meow mreow mew mew meow! Meow? Meeeow mewwww mew mew mreow mreowww. Mreow. Mreow mreow meow meow mew mew meow. Mew mreow, mew mew meow meow meow mreow mew. Mreow?! Mew mew mew mew! Mreow. Meow. mrew?!

Back to the human
OK, so I just HAD to let him tap in a few words. I'll have to find a bablefish if this keeps up! ;-) But he had better keep those hairballs to himself! Ewwww. Ever had to clean up after a hairball hack? Not a pretty sight. Oh well. At least cats make for a nice hot water bottle at night! Just remember to trim their claws. ;-D

Darkness Falls
It's amazing how the change in seasons affects our general environment. Take autumn for example. After a few months of long summer days and sunsets after 8:00pm, all of a sudden we start to see the sun rise well after 7AM and setting before we even leave the office. Now how depressing is that? Before long, winter will set in and the snow will start to fall. You get up in the morning, it's dark. You come back home from work, it's dark. The only daylight you see is out your office window, that is, if you are lucky enough to have an office with a window. Such are the doldrums and humdrum days of winter.

Current Status
Waiting....

Current Mood
Ever so patiently waiting...

Waiting
Why are we put through this? We wait in line. We wait for news. We wait for our food. Always watiing. Always waiting for something to happen. I suppose it's just a fact of life that inevitably we have to wait for something. No matter how much we try to avoid waiting, it happens.

You try to get there early so you can be the first one in line. However, you still end up waiting because the clerk isn't ready yet. You try to get there before the lunch time rush hits, but you still have to wait because the tables aren't set yet. You want to hear about your job interview, but the hiring manager is out of town for a few days.

Inevitably we all have to wait. *thumb twiddling*

So, just how many minutes or hours are lost waiting? Can someone tell me?

Weather
Cloudy (again). Temperature around +6C. Still mild.

Babble
Blah! It's 8:55AM EST. What more do you want from me? Had my cups of coffee already. Waiting for the caffeine to kick in. I hate having to turn on the lights in the office because fluorescent lighting is just terrible on the eyes. It's either that or sit in a dark office. It's not so bad on the sunny days. Oh? So you think it's nice to have an office with a window? All I see is traffic go by and people coming out from a subway station.

View outside
I see a person distributing what looks to be one of the free dailies. There are a few daily newspapers that are currently being distributed for free in the subway system here. One of them is Metro. I believe that this may have originated in Europe somewhere as I have seen it in the Stockholm subway system. It looks like an interesting enough newspaper, but unfortunately, I can't read Swedish. It's in French here, so that's not a big problem. There's also another free daily, but I can't remember the name of it. It came out around the same time Metro was first introduced here.

Hm... No Ferrari's going by. Wait! They just brought out a nice silver convertible. *sigh* Something to look at at least!

Listening to:
Ministry of Sound Radio

The Weather that was today
Cloudy. Rain in the AM. Sunny breaks. Windy. High of about 16C.

Things of note
Not much really. Got up. Went to work. Tried to figure out my role in the grand scheme of things at work. Of course, anyone I wanted to talk to was not around for one reason or another. I think it's all a conspiracy. They don't really want to give me real work. They just want me to wander the corridors of work for all eternity! Yeah! That's it! That's why I hardly get any email any more. I have been virtually erased! What am I to do? Am I becoming paranoid? Will I soon become delusional? Must have some more coffee. Must make a fresh pot of coffee. Sugar! Need more sugar! What? Is it already lunchtime? I look at my watch. Yay! It's almost time to go home! What have I accomplished today? BUPKISS!!!

Hints of sanity

(This space left intentionally blank.)

Other things of interest
Rosie hints of sunset amongst scary clouds.
Bright yellow Ferrarri convertible driving by.
Swarms of seagulls flying by.
Fallen leaves on big wet piles.

Things still to do
Study my Japanese.
Mop the floors.
Water plants
Clean orchids of scale.
Mist orchids.
Keep said orchids alive.
Breathe.

Interesting site for today
Greggman.com