Before we're on our way to Japan again. :-)
Some things are ready. I dragged the packs out of the closet. We picked up a few more necessities. I went through the medicine cabinet for stuff but D told me not to bring the whole pharmacy. %-) So, we'll just bring some Robaxacet, Sudafed, Advil and Claritin. Definitely the Advil, since any type of medication in Japan is pretty weak by our standards.
Going out to lunch with some buddies today. Meet up with E as well before he heads back to Germany. I'm sure he'll have lots to tell to his colleagues back there. :-)
Since we will be in town, we will probably swing by the $ exchange for more Yen. I wonder if there is anything else I need.... Hmmm...
Saturday, March 26, 2005
Tuesday, March 22, 2005
Boring Tuesdays..
How is it that television on Tuesdays is so boring? Is Tuesday some sort of blackhole for television programming? Is that why Tuesdays are cheap movie nights at the theatres around here? Maybe that's it! They've made TV so boring on Tuesday that you just HAVE to go out and catch a movie. Of course, the discounted movie tickets are also an incentive to go.
I haven't gone out on a cheapie movie night in a long time. Or for that matter, I don't think I've gone out to see a movie recently. I think the last time I went to see a movie was during the Fantasia Fest over the summer. Then I saw Cutie Honey and Porco Rosso.
Hmm.. Should see about watching a few movies this summer if possible... I wonder what they have planned as "Summer Blockbusters" this year.
How is it that television on Tuesdays is so boring? Is Tuesday some sort of blackhole for television programming? Is that why Tuesdays are cheap movie nights at the theatres around here? Maybe that's it! They've made TV so boring on Tuesday that you just HAVE to go out and catch a movie. Of course, the discounted movie tickets are also an incentive to go.
I haven't gone out on a cheapie movie night in a long time. Or for that matter, I don't think I've gone out to see a movie recently. I think the last time I went to see a movie was during the Fantasia Fest over the summer. Then I saw Cutie Honey and Porco Rosso.
Hmm.. Should see about watching a few movies this summer if possible... I wonder what they have planned as "Summer Blockbusters" this year.
Sunday, March 20, 2005
Another weekend almost over...
Sunday morning. It's nice and sunny out at the moment. It's actually supposed to get up to +4 today! I think it was quite warm yesterday. It was warm enough to melt away quite ea bit of snow. But it's not all gone yet..
Got lots to do today. It seems we need to go up to the cottage just to check on things. Not sure how much snow will still be lying around up there. So I don't know if we can actually reach the cottage. Oh well.
Just another week and we'll be off to Japan! I still want to go through the guide books and web sites for more information. I would like to have at least a plan A and a Plan B (sunny day activity and rainy day activity). Maybe I am overplanning it a bit?
I stopped by one of the Kyoto tourism web sites that listed events and festivals. It looks like there will be a number of Spring Dances being held. It would be neat to catch one of those. I think they are all held by various geisha houses. It's an annual event. I think it might have even been mentioned in the book "Memoirs of a Geisha". I'll also have to check the books to see if there's any additional information there.
Sunday morning. It's nice and sunny out at the moment. It's actually supposed to get up to +4 today! I think it was quite warm yesterday. It was warm enough to melt away quite ea bit of snow. But it's not all gone yet..
Got lots to do today. It seems we need to go up to the cottage just to check on things. Not sure how much snow will still be lying around up there. So I don't know if we can actually reach the cottage. Oh well.
Just another week and we'll be off to Japan! I still want to go through the guide books and web sites for more information. I would like to have at least a plan A and a Plan B (sunny day activity and rainy day activity). Maybe I am overplanning it a bit?
I stopped by one of the Kyoto tourism web sites that listed events and festivals. It looks like there will be a number of Spring Dances being held. It would be neat to catch one of those. I think they are all held by various geisha houses. It's an annual event. I think it might have even been mentioned in the book "Memoirs of a Geisha". I'll also have to check the books to see if there's any additional information there.
Wednesday, March 16, 2005
Caldera, Big Island, Hawaii
View of the Caldera at Kilauea. You can see offerings to the volcano goddess Pele on the right.
More Luau!
Your traditional hula dancing at a luau. The telling of the history of Hawaii. There were no flaming batons, which are actually a Samoan thing.
Luau, Lahaina, Maui, May 2004
This is the pit where they were cooking the kalua pig (and other luau fixings) all day. This was the ceremonial "get the pig out of the pit" deal.
Maui, Hawaii, May 2004
This is what we gound at the end of a road and after a long walk. The water was incredibly clear and calm as it was protected by some reefs.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Waimea Canyon, May 2004
Since most of my photos are on the iBook, I've finally found a way to upload.. First of many to come.
Meetings, Meetings, Meetings
I guess I just seem to get enough meetings today. I had three of them to be exact. Of course, they were all spaced in such a way that it was hard for me to be productive in between! Blech! I really can't do much with an hour here and an hour there.
I really don't understand how some people spend they're entire day in meetings. When do they actually get to do any real work? If I had to go to meetings the least they could be is productive. I hate coming out of meetings feeling as if an hour has gone by and nothing to show for it.
Anyway.... And life goes on.
I guess I just seem to get enough meetings today. I had three of them to be exact. Of course, they were all spaced in such a way that it was hard for me to be productive in between! Blech! I really can't do much with an hour here and an hour there.
I really don't understand how some people spend they're entire day in meetings. When do they actually get to do any real work? If I had to go to meetings the least they could be is productive. I hate coming out of meetings feeling as if an hour has gone by and nothing to show for it.
Anyway.... And life goes on.
Monday, March 14, 2005
Countdown..
In less than two weeks time, we will be on a flight to Tokyo. It will be a slightly longer flight than last as we will be flying ANA out of IAD. Depending on what reference you use, this will be an approximately 14-15 hr flight. I think I might have to invest in a battery pack for the iPod.
I've also been making a few small purchases online. For example, this neat travel wallet from LLBean to hold all those important travel documents. It was only available in powder blue. Also, ordered a watch from LLBean since I don't want my chrome Swatch to set off the metal detectors (which it has at least once).
One of the fun things about preparing for such a long trip is figuring out if there is something you can get to make the trip easier. I like to try to shop for neat new gadgets or clothing, such as wrinkle-proof, quick-drying socks or pants. Or maybe this is just a great excuse to go shopping!
Right now I am also going through this mental phase at work where I know I will be on vacation soon and can't really think about doing much else. It's not really good, so I have to put in more effort to be more productive. I plan to login to work shortly and work on a few things. *sigh* At least I can charge the hours...
In less than two weeks time, we will be on a flight to Tokyo. It will be a slightly longer flight than last as we will be flying ANA out of IAD. Depending on what reference you use, this will be an approximately 14-15 hr flight. I think I might have to invest in a battery pack for the iPod.
I've also been making a few small purchases online. For example, this neat travel wallet from LLBean to hold all those important travel documents. It was only available in powder blue. Also, ordered a watch from LLBean since I don't want my chrome Swatch to set off the metal detectors (which it has at least once).
One of the fun things about preparing for such a long trip is figuring out if there is something you can get to make the trip easier. I like to try to shop for neat new gadgets or clothing, such as wrinkle-proof, quick-drying socks or pants. Or maybe this is just a great excuse to go shopping!
Right now I am also going through this mental phase at work where I know I will be on vacation soon and can't really think about doing much else. It's not really good, so I have to put in more effort to be more productive. I plan to login to work shortly and work on a few things. *sigh* At least I can charge the hours...
Saturday, March 12, 2005
Two more weeks.
It's two more weeks before our trip to Japan. I am really hoping for some decent weather when we get there. With Spring it's hard to say if it will be a dry Spring or a wet one. In any case, we will pack as appropriate.
In the mean time I have managed to put together a little notebook with notes about hotels and train schedules. D thinks I might be overplanning a bit, but I just want to be somewhat prepared. I guess it's good to maintain a certain amount of spontaneity as well. I dunno. I suppose I am just one of those people who do not like too many (bad) surprises.
Another thing that should get done before we leave is our taxes! :-p We're just waiting for the papers for the 1st 60 days RRSP receipts. I could get the figures online for mine and at least get it going with the QuickTax. Hopefully we won't be owing much to the government this year. Goodness knows they take enough from us. :-p
Also, managed to get a friend to take care of the cats while we're away. We will have to show him how to give Finster his daily insulin. I have to remember to prepare an info sheet for him as well.
Hmm.. The weekend is already half over. :-(
It's two more weeks before our trip to Japan. I am really hoping for some decent weather when we get there. With Spring it's hard to say if it will be a dry Spring or a wet one. In any case, we will pack as appropriate.
In the mean time I have managed to put together a little notebook with notes about hotels and train schedules. D thinks I might be overplanning a bit, but I just want to be somewhat prepared. I guess it's good to maintain a certain amount of spontaneity as well. I dunno. I suppose I am just one of those people who do not like too many (bad) surprises.
Another thing that should get done before we leave is our taxes! :-p We're just waiting for the papers for the 1st 60 days RRSP receipts. I could get the figures online for mine and at least get it going with the QuickTax. Hopefully we won't be owing much to the government this year. Goodness knows they take enough from us. :-p
Also, managed to get a friend to take care of the cats while we're away. We will have to show him how to give Finster his daily insulin. I have to remember to prepare an info sheet for him as well.
Hmm.. The weekend is already half over. :-(
Sunday, March 06, 2005
It's been a while since my last posting (re: Re-Org). As some things have changed, other things have not. While the overall work has not changed, how things are being handled has. Some of us were afraid of this happening. It's become "us" and "them". It's very unfortunate that it's become this way.
Some people definitely have not changed. A few of us have been on training courses the past couple of weeks. In one instance, G was supposed to be on this one course, but M decided not to have him away for a 2nd week. So, M decided to take the course in place of G. I wonder about the login in that as the material being taught would be lost on M. Why not another person in the section? On top of that, M had just taken another course the week before last. Again, on that course, I wonder how much use M will get out of it. It's the ol' "use it or lose it".
I had also recently lent to P, I's copy of The Office. P really found it funny and was able to associate some real life colleagues with some of the characters from The Office. I know I could! Funny series with a hint if reality thrown in. ;-)
Anyway, it's finally March! Three more weeks before vacation! Woo hoo!! Looking forward to this trip. It's M's fault if my stuff isn't covered properly. I has tried to get someone on board to learn some of my stuff. Unfortunately, V is one of those people who does what is given and nothing more. This is rather frustrating, I find. I don't understand how some people just don't bother to show initiative or some proactivity in what they do at work. Or, am I just doing too much? Honestly, I feel guilty if I don't have anything to do. The occasional down time is good, but I don't like being idle for too long.
Well, tomorrow is yet another Monday to deal with.
In other things, yesterday I had gone out with a few buddies. One of them was recently laid off. We figure it would be nice to get together for lunch and maybe a few drinks.
So we met up at a coffee place downtown. It took us a little while to decide where to grab lunch. We ended up at a food court of a nearby shopping center. At least there was some variety to choose from! There we just chatted a bit about various things.
Afterwards, we decided it was time for some beer! So we headed on over to this brewpub called Brutopia. I think we hung around there for about 3-4 hrs before we decided it was time for some dinner! For dinner we headed over to Weinstein & Gavinos. Not bad.
Overall, we had a good time. It has been a very long time since I had gone out and had a few drinks with friends. A very long time. Must make a mental note to do this again. :)
Some people definitely have not changed. A few of us have been on training courses the past couple of weeks. In one instance, G was supposed to be on this one course, but M decided not to have him away for a 2nd week. So, M decided to take the course in place of G. I wonder about the login in that as the material being taught would be lost on M. Why not another person in the section? On top of that, M had just taken another course the week before last. Again, on that course, I wonder how much use M will get out of it. It's the ol' "use it or lose it".
I had also recently lent to P, I's copy of The Office. P really found it funny and was able to associate some real life colleagues with some of the characters from The Office. I know I could! Funny series with a hint if reality thrown in. ;-)
Anyway, it's finally March! Three more weeks before vacation! Woo hoo!! Looking forward to this trip. It's M's fault if my stuff isn't covered properly. I has tried to get someone on board to learn some of my stuff. Unfortunately, V is one of those people who does what is given and nothing more. This is rather frustrating, I find. I don't understand how some people just don't bother to show initiative or some proactivity in what they do at work. Or, am I just doing too much? Honestly, I feel guilty if I don't have anything to do. The occasional down time is good, but I don't like being idle for too long.
Well, tomorrow is yet another Monday to deal with.
In other things, yesterday I had gone out with a few buddies. One of them was recently laid off. We figure it would be nice to get together for lunch and maybe a few drinks.
So we met up at a coffee place downtown. It took us a little while to decide where to grab lunch. We ended up at a food court of a nearby shopping center. At least there was some variety to choose from! There we just chatted a bit about various things.
Afterwards, we decided it was time for some beer! So we headed on over to this brewpub called Brutopia. I think we hung around there for about 3-4 hrs before we decided it was time for some dinner! For dinner we headed over to Weinstein & Gavinos. Not bad.
Overall, we had a good time. It has been a very long time since I had gone out and had a few drinks with friends. A very long time. Must make a mental note to do this again. :)
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