The Hip - follow-up

Uhmm, I sort of forgot to mention that I have no idea who will go to the show with me. This could open the door to various scenarios. The show is over a month away. I've got time to find someone. :-)

The Hip

So, while checking my emails, I see one from one of the radio stations. It's an offer to purchase tickets for the Tragically Hip show at the Metropolis before they go on sale to the public this Friday. So what do I do? I went ahead and bought a pair of tickets...

Countdown

So I've got 3 more days of work before I am on that plane to Tokyo! I'm looking forward to a much needed vacation! It has been one long summer this year. This will be my first real break since the trip to London in March.

I'll be staying for the most part with a friend in Tokyo. We'll both head off to Kyoto for a weekend to check out the sights there. And before you start thinking it, my friend is just a friend. He's a really cool guy who's given me a lot of help lately. I owe him a lot. :-) Thanks, bud!

I just need to focus on getting a few things done this week. I have to make sure that some things are covered in case something pops up while I am away. I will leave an email address to my team leader in the event they need a question answered that no one else has the answer for. I don't really think that will happen, but you never know. I think I will have a mobile while I am in Japan, but I don't think I will make it available to the folks at work. I will probably give it to my bro in case of emergency.

So that's about it for now. I won't say much else for the time being until I know what else is happening. :-)

Fall is Here!

Yes, it seems that what summer we had this year is now gone. The weather started out a bit warm and muggy and breezy. As the day wore on, the winds picked up and the skies started to clear. Now the clouds are moving back in and the temps are starting to fall. The geese know that it's time to go.

While I was waiting for the rice for dinner to finish cooking, I took a peek outside. And what did I spy? I spied me a rainbow! I quickly grabbed my camera and took this shot. You can see what I mean about the bad weather clouds moving in...





For dinner, I made fried rice. I hadn't made some in a while and this was a good way to start cleaning out the fridge of some perishables before I left on Friday. This fried rice is made with rice (of course), chinese sausage, half a red pepper, one small onion, 2 scallions, one carrot and 2 eggs scrambled. I season it simply with some ground black pepper, oyster sauce and sriracha chili sauce for an extra kick. :-) Yummmm!

"Hola, IT Helpdesk. May I help you?"

There has got to be limits with how outsourced services are being handled. Where I work, they have outsourced IS/IT services. This means that what support we use to rely on local personnel for is now handled by a third party. For any on-site problems, there are some people on-site to handle such cases. However, if we want to report a problem, we have to call this one number that takes us to a central "help desk".

Now, originally, the help desk was located somewhere in Ottawa. If we called outside their normal operating hours, then we would get routed to the help desk in Europe somewhere. Recently, they've announced that the call center will be Costa Rica! What the f*??

Anyway, either way, if we have a problem with the printer here, we call Costa Rica, who in turns calls a technician here on-site. Go figure...

Catch Up

Okay, so there hasn't really been anything earth shattering to write about since last week's tragic events. There's still stuff in the paper about the aftermath. Essentially, it's having to pick up the pieces and moving on. It will be difficult for some. Lessons will need to be learned from all this. The federal government will really need to think long and hard about their idea to scrap the gun registry.

Anyway...

The weekend was not bad. The weather cooperated. I went to Hudson in the morning. It was quite foggy but it burned off during the course of the morning. I got my keys back. I hung out. I bought some treats. In the afternoon, I took a nap. Rather boring and unexciting.

Sunday was not so bad. Some errands in the morning. The Hash out in Rigaud in the afternoon. The sun came out. I think I got more color. Came home pretty tired. Shoulda went to bed earlier. :-p

Today being Monday? Well, what can I say?

In other news, my buddy W is really doing a lot for me! I can use his place as a base of operations for when I get to Tokyo. He might even have a spare keitai for while I am there. What a Bear! I will probably owe him my right arm when all of this is said and done. We'll see how things go. I really hope something good comes of all this!

Aftermath

The gunman was been "neutralized" by police. A first year student was killed. Two other shooting victims fighting for the lives in hospital. These things make you wonder what exactly is going on in the gunman's mind. What warped sense of logic or emotions was going around and around in his mind. Why was no one close to him able to see that something might be wrong? Some questions may never be answered.

***

Today has been a somewhat "blah" day. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was yesterday's events. In any case, I need some relief from this. I need happy music! I need cheerful banter!

I think I will go buy some cannolis tomorrow. It will be a treat! I haven't been by the pastry shop in a long while. Good stuff there! Yummm..

A Sad, Sad Day

Well, in case you haven't already heard, there has been a shooting at Dawson College. This is the 3rd time that such a a violent incident has occurred in the city of Montreal.

1989 - 14 women were killed by Marc Lepine at Ecole Polytechnique
1992 - Valery Fabrikant shot and killed 4 members of the faculty at Concordia University
2006 - At least one fatality in the shooting at Dawson College

Just what is this world coming to?

Mystery Package Solved

It's the replacement battery for the 12" iBook. Now, to actually get it. DHL made another attempt to delivery Friday. Looks like they will try again Monday even though I had called to say I would go try to pick it up. Whatever...

Looks like a really nice day today. A bit on the cool side, but not too nippy. I've got a coffee date later. Hmmm, wonder how that will go...

Mystery Package

Hmmm.. Came home a bit late today and found a doorknocker from DHL. I really don't remember ordering anything recenty. The Mac Pro had already arrived via a different courrier. What could it be?

Minor correction: I did not bruise my ass-cheek. It was more like my upper thigh that was slightly bruised by my fall. :-p

Clutz Redux

Ok, it seems that I might have bruised my left bum cheek from that fall Monday. :-p How embarassing. I only noticed the other night when I turned to lie on that side. Maybe not so much bruised as it is a sore muscled.

The past couple of days seem to go by pretty quickly at work. I don't know if it's a good thing or not. I don't feel like I accomplished as much as I hoped. Conference call in the morning...

Possibly an outing to Brutopia either tomorrow or Friday after work! Woo hoo!!! I can use a pint of good brew. I make a general rule to never drink alone. It's more fun to drink and be merry with friends! :)

I ended up getting the Apple AV kit for the iPod. I was feeling a bit bummed today so I decided to spend some money. I hope I don't get bummed too often. That would not be very healthy for my bank account. And no, the Mac Pro purchase was not due to be bummed. ;-)

SPD Clutz

I took my MTB for a spin around the neighborhood with the new pedals which are one side SPD clips and one side regular platform. I nearly took a spill at a stop sign. But I was a total clod at the end of the short spin in the driveway. I totally fell on the left side. I scraped my hand a little. It feels slightly bruised.

I think I will use the platform side when commuting until I get better at unclipping. :-p

In other areas... Why do some men post pictures of themselves in shades. Do they have something to hide? Then there are the "mugshots" with the "deer caught in the headlights" look. And when a profile does say that they are "mysterious", just what the h*ll is that suppose to mean? Sometimes I wonder why I even bother. :-p I guess it's just too darn addictive to just login to see who's there, to see if there's any "fresh meat". Yeah, it can be sad at times. What the heck. I've got nothing to lose. Okay, *maybe* my dignity if I totally flub it. %-p

Happy Labor Day!

Well, I managed to survive this weekend with the parents. I saw them off early this morning. Now I just want to crawl back into bed and sleep some more. However, I don't think I can now because I just did 20 minutes of hard pedalling on the bike. Now I'm wide awake.. At least for the time being.

I think that sometimes I am just one big f*ing goof of a person. I don't understand why I do the things I do. Sometimes I wonder about the situations I get into. Sometimes I feel like I am getting cold feet for now particular reason. Sometimes I feel like I have a bit of a self-esteem issue. Sometimes I feel unsure about myself. Sometimes I feel like I am out to go out of my mind!

In any case, I need to shake some of this off. I need to be myself. If someone does happen to find that somewhat attractive, then more power to them. They're going to need it in dealing with me!

Gaaah!

I think I will go back to sleep now. %-)

Long Weekend!

Well, it's the start of the long weekend. it's been a long while since the last holiday (July 1st). However, it won't be all relaxation I'm afraid. The parental units are coming up for a visit with my bro. This means I need to clean up the joint and make sure it passes Mother inspection! :-p

This might turn out to be a long weekend. But we shall see...