Saying Goodbye to 2006

And hello to 2007...

So, I'm one of these sad souls not our partying it up in welcoming the new year. Why is that? Maybe because 2006 has been a rather crappy year. Okay, maybe only the last 6 months were. In any case, one way to look at things is that with the new year come new beginnings. Maybe.

If I'm not out partying it up, then what am I doing? Well, this evening I made myself a nice dinner of roast chicken. I popped in a couple of DVDs to watch. Now I am in bed listening to some Matthew Good (In a Coma, disc 2) as the clock slowly ticks towards midnight.

What do I want to see in 2007? I really don't know. However, I certainly want to be happier in 2007 than I have been in 2006. I'm not sure how that might happen, but you never know. Life is supposed to be full of surprises, I guess. All a matter of circumstances. How the stars are aligned with your Zoadiac. Blah, blah, blah.

Okay, enough of the sourpuss act here. I guess I am to some extent slightly bummed, bitter and perhaps annoyed at the whole holiday thing this year. Sure there were days when everything seems alright, but on the whole, it's been "Eh".

Five more minutes. Happy new year, dear readers.

Sweet Lenore

I know this might be more appropriate for Halloween, but depending on what your sense of humur is like, this is great any time of the year.

Lenore

Enjoy!

Holiday Blahs

I wanted to avoid it. I didn't want to see it. I certainly didn't want to experience. However much I tried there was no denying it. The holiday blues are trying to invade.

I've been trying to keep myself busy for the most part during this holiday perdiod. However, there will be times when that black funk just seems to descend upon you. Thankfully, it's not to the point of downright depression, but more of the heavy sighing type of blah.

I've noticed that in the past six months that I have been spending a lot of money on stuff. More than I would normally. I've discussed this with my brother. It seems that both of us tend to buy things when we're down. So far, I've bought the Mac Pro, bike parts and accessories, bags (of course), some clothes, new camera and IKEA furnishings. Oh, and there was that trip to Japan. I guess that could count. It could be worse. I could have gone out and gotten myself a large LCD television. Then I would not have had the room to place it, which meant having to buy a new entertainment unit to place it and all the other electronics. And it would have meant contacting the ex to haul away his television.

I haven't broke the bank yet, but I do need to start keeping an eye on my expenditures. :-p Mustn't get totally out of control.

I need some distraction. My classes at Concordia will start on the 9th. The camera class at Dawson only starts on the 24th. I guess I just need to survive until then. Afterwards, the classes should keep me busy for a while...

Evening in the 80's

So I just finished watching Say Anything. It was one of the John Cusack movies I got for Christmas. All I can say is: "Why can't more men be like Lloyd Dobler?"

I think John Cusack played the role very well. Okay, that might be a somewhat baised opinion since I do happen to like him and his movies quite a bit. :-p

Supermarket Rant

Usually, I don't mind going to the supermarket. I try to make a list of what I need to buy. I think the issue I had today was going to one of these "big box" supermarkets that carries lots of the common items but not enough or none at all of other stuff.

Take for example herbs. I'm planning on making a roast chicken tomorrow. It will be seasoned with an herbed butter. I wanted to find some fresh thyme and sage. What did I find at this store? Lots of parsley, dill and coriander. Oh, and some mint. Aside from that, not much else. *sigh* I guess I will have no choice but to make another trip tomorrow morning to another supermarket. But this is soooo annoying! Why should I have to trek to more than one place to do my grocery shopping? Why are some of these large supermarkets selling FURNITURE??? Isn't some of this space better used to sell grocery items?? I just don't understand it sometimes. If it weren't for the snowy weather we have today, I probably would have trekked over to the other store. But then, being Saturday, it would have been very busy. I hate crowded supermarkets.

So for dinner tonight, I think I will make chicken tikka masala. I bought a jar of Patak's cooking sauce. Probably throw in some carrots and potatoes into the mix.

Tomorrow, as mentioned, a nice roast chicken and maybe some roasted potatoes to go with it. I found a yummy looking recipe for a pasta bake, which I will probably make on Monday. Then, Tuesday, I will prepare a slow cooker recipe for beef and barley stew. Yes, there will be leftovers, but that's where lunch will be coming from! And some will end up in the freezer.

I'd like to try to free up some of the evening time for other things. Since I'm just cooking for one, do I really need to cook every night?

Global Warming?

Ice Shelf Collapses

The weather this year has been somewhat disturbing. We seemed to have experienced prolonged autumn weather. It was still above freezing when I left for my folks for the holidays. This week, it seems that Winter realized that it needed to make an appearance. However, the temps might pop back above 0C again sometime this week.

It's almost January...

Audibles

Earlier this evening, I finally made time to pop in Loudquietloud - A Film About the Pixies. It's pretty good. It documents the bands 2004 reunion tour. The liner notes included in the small booklet gave some explanation to the creation of this documentary. It's interesting to see how each band member is so independent of each other until they hit the stage. In any case, it's a good DVD to watch. :-)

IKEA Disciple

I can't remember anymore, but I might have mentioned that I was perusing the IKEA website to see what I can get. I've been in the mood for a little redecorating/freshening up of my place. There's an old, black IKEA dresser that could be retired (or sold at work) and be replaced with something nicer. Since I got rid of the stationary bike, I needed something to warm up the bedroom area. Anyway, to sum it all up, I went to IKEA first thing in Thursday morning.

However, I needed to go to the SAQ first. The party is BYOB. Mark has also mentioned last night that he forgot to get something and that if I could get something for him since I was planning to go there anyway. Not a problem.

I had checked Wednesday night and the SAQ opened at 9:30AM. IKEA opened at 10:00AM. PERFECT! So I got up and headed off to the SAQ first. I found what looked to be a decent Spanish red wine. For Mark (he wanted to pick up a sherry), I found a bottle of Spanish sherry. Then, I went straight to IKEA just as they were opening.

Being the anal person on occasion, I actually put together a list of items I wanted to get at IKEA. I meandered through their maze and made note of where the items could be picked up. The only thing they didn't have in stock were the adjustable legs for the table top I was getting. They did, however, have adjustable folding legs. It was a little more expensive, but the folding aspect of it was an added convenience.

When it came time to pick up the items, the one box that was incredibly heavy was the one for the chest of drawers. Somehow, I managed to convince it onto the cart. After checking out, the tricky part was getting eveyrthing into the car! The cashier said I should be able to find an IKEA person out in the lot to give me a hand. I saw one woman walking back and forth patrolling the lot. I managed to get her attention and asked if she could help find someone to give me a hand. She did find someone. Apparently, they're only suppose to assist when you're by the docking area. Oh well. But he was friendly enough to help load everything into the car.

Once I got home I shlepped almost everything up myself. This required multiple trips. I live on the 3rd floor. There is no elevator. I think you get the picture. So for most of the day, I was putting together the table. That was a bitch and a half because there were no pre-drilled holes for the legs I got. There were pre-drilled holes for the other types of legs, but not these. :-p This meant I had to get out the power drill. Oooooh! It's cordless and the batteries had to be charged. Phooey. Oh well, there was enough juice after about an hour of charging to get the work done.

I had earlier asked Mark to give me a hand with the heavier item. So when he came by to pick me up for the party, we both managed to lug the bloody thing all the way up and up to the mezzanine. F* it was heavy!!

The party was pretty good. I had a good time. It was a tapas party so there were all sorts of nibbles there. There were some people there who were from work, but from different departments. Got to see someone I hadn't seen in a long time. Got to know the name of this one guy who frequented the espresso machine at work. A good time was had by all. I think we finally left at about 3:30AM. By then, I was having a good buzz from some mixed drinks someone was making. However, I will say that I find tequila pretty nasty stuff. Even when it's mixed with other stuff! Wooof!

I think I managed to sleep only a few hours until the cats started to bother me and it was just getting too bright. :-p So I eventually got up, showered, had an espresso and some cereal. Then the challenge to put together the heavy chest of drawers.

I think it took me a good 2.5 hours to put the thing together. Then it took me another hour to find good spot for it. Since the top was a fold up mirror, it needed clearance. Part of the room has a slope from the roof, so the mirror would hit it. I finally found a spot. I emptied out the smaller black chest of drawers and set that aside. I'll have to post some stuff for sale at work.

I guess I should get some stuff taken care of tomorrow. I'm not sure if I will be doing anything for NYE. Maybe get some sleep? :)

Home again

Well, I made it home in one piece. The flight was rather uneventful. However, the plane did have to sit in front of the gate until some ground crew were able to come and guide it the remaining 100 feet in. :-p

I sat next to a woman who has been commuting back and forth between Montreal and Boston for some sort of infusion treatment for her MS. Apparently, it's a treatment that has not yet been approved in Canada but has already been approved for use in the US and other countries. According to her, the treatment has improved her condition quite a bit. She still needs a cane to assist her in walking, but before she had to rely on a wheelchair. That's quite an improvement.

I got home around 9ish. The cats were okay. No mishaps while I was gone. Around 9:30, Mark called to ask about the party the next evening. I said I was still planning on going. Abe might go as well. So I guess we'd meet at my place and then head down.

Anyway, I am pooped...

Canadian Federal Elections

I guess this was done just before the last federal election. I don't even remember when that was (beginning of the year?). Anyway, rather interesting and amusing. :-)

Yeah, I've got nothing better to do than to sit in front of my brother's computer, slowly digesting the ginormous meal served this evening. That was almost 2 hours ago. I think I might be ready for that pie now, Mom!

Bad Fish... again?

Ooog! I did not feel so good after dinner tonight. Mom had bought some fresh fish today to make for dinner. Not even half an hour after dinner I started to get that slight burning sensation in the tummy. Uh-oh. I started to drink some water to try to flush the badness out. Next thing you know I started to get into a cold sweat. Not good. After some minor purging, I just laid down to rest. :-p I don't know if I've developed a sensitivity to fish or what the fish had been swimming in but it seems odd. At least this time, it wasn't as bad as when I had the tilapia fillets over the summer. Boy! Was that bad.

Then again, if it wasn't the fish, it could have been the brownies my sister made. ;-)

Aside from that, it's been a relatively uneventful day. I just took it easy. I played with the twins a bit. I really don't know if I could ever have kids. I'm still very much undecided if I want kids. My niece is quite the suck once she got used to me. Today after dinner (before I started to feel ill), I played with her for a little while. She didn't want me to go. Oh well.

In the meantime, I had been perusing the Ikea web site. Since I opened up the space in the mezzanine/bedroom area, it looks a bit cold. I think a rug in the middle of the space would help warm things up. Considering the cats, I don't want to spend the bucks on a wool rug. The synthetic Ikea rug I have in the livingroom seems to be holding up pretty well to all the abuses of 3 cats (hairballs, barf, etc.). I figure similar rug will work well in the bedroom. I guess I might swing by Ikea either Thursday or Friday. Since I'm not even 5 minutes away I can easily get there when they open and before the hoards arrive. I still need to look into finding a mirror for the front hall closet and maybe one upstairs.

My brother and I had a little chat earlier in the basement. We both seem to think on the same wavelength. That's probably why we get along so well. It's too bad he's still single, because he's a great guy. He seems to be resigned to a life as a bachelor for now. He doesn't seem to worried. I'm hoping that one day the right girl will come along. :-)

Christmas Eve Day

Well, it's not quite 9AM here. The whole house is pretty quiet. I guess I like the fact that things are relatively low-key here during the holidays. I personally don't usually like to make a big deal about the holidays. Keep things simple, I say.

Of course, with the events of this past year, one tends to do some reflection. I'm no different.

Today marks 6 months since he left. How do I feel? Well, a hell of a whole lot better than I did 6 months ago! Really, I don't think I feel the pain as much. I won't deny that I don't think about it from time to time, but I don't dwell on it. I think my actions to get and keep myself from getting into a deep, dark funk has helped tremendously. I know that I have a few good friends I can trust. I know that there is still life after personal upheavals.

Without trying to sound too corny, it's lke a small plant that was accidentally stepped on. But with some strength and nurturing, it's able to spring back. It might still have some signs of the steppage, but it will survive.

I think in general, this year has been rough for a number of people. I know for a fact that at work, a few of the guys have gone through their own personal crises. They seem to be handling it pretty good for the most part. I guess being able to keep work seperate from your personal life helps to maintain some focus and semblance if sanity.

That aside... I think my Mom wanted to go to the mall or something with me later. I'm like, "What? Go to the mall on Christmas Eve? Are you f*cking nuts?" Well, I didn't say that to Mom, but my brother told me and I sort of said that to him. :-)

Well, I've already exercised my rights as a consumer yesterday. I think the next time I venture out shopping it might be Wednesday...

Bah-ston

Well, I made here in one piece. It was a bit of a bumpy ride down due to the weather system that was in the area. Finally landed and got to the baggage carousel around 11AM.

My bro and I went down to the Copley/Prudential area of town after lunch to hang out and do some shopping. I came away with yet another bag (small classic Timbuk2 messenger bag) and 2 gargoyles. The gargoyle place on Newbury Street was still open! I've been going by there off and on for over 10 years now. After I get home and find a place for these two new additions, I'll take a couple pics of them.

Almost all packed and ready to go

I've more or less threw what I need for 5 days into a suitcase. I've put the DV cam and camera into my backpack. I've written a short note for my friend who will keep an eye on the felines while I am gone. What have I got left to do?

There are some days when I feel less than inspired. Today seems to be one of those days. I don't know if it's because my mind has already decided to go on holiday before me or what.

Maybe it's the holiday blues or something. Other than seeing family the next few days, there's really not much else that's terribly exciting. Well, I guess it should be fun to see my sister's twins running around. When I saw them last Christmas they were just 6 months old. They'll wonder who this stranger is. I suppose I'll become their doting auntie.

Hmmm, I wonder how things will be at the airport tomorrow morning. I guess I just need to make sure I don't have any gelatinous products with my carry-on. :-p The flight is only about an hour from here to Boston. It's getting to the airport and checking in that will be the pain the proverbial arse. I guess I could look into their online check-in system. Should save me some grief and time.

What goes on in my head...

(I can only imagine what Shawn might comment based on just the title of this entry!)

Just some of us are able to multi-task, I think that sometimes I my mind/thoughts are also multi-tasking in some way. This could explain how during the course of a conversation I might do a total 180 and start talking about a totally different subject. However, for me, my mind had already come up with the logical path from discussion A to discussion B. So it made some sense to me, but not to everyone else. And this tends to drive some people crazy. Don't get me wrong! I don't do this all the time! Just enough for a few people to notice. :D

Sometimes I wonder about my communication skills. I sometimes come across websites where the individual goes on (usually quite passionately) about a subject that is close to the heart. This makes me wonder about my own ability to convey such thoughts and feelings. Or for that matter, it makes me wonder what there is that I am passionate about. I wonder what I might be passionate about. There are so many things that I think about, but I don't think there's really any one thing that jumps out as something that I am absolutely passionate about.

I guess I just like to try to keep things simple. I don't like too many complications. With complications come worries. And I don't like to worry. :-p

One more day...

...Before I am off for a week!! Woohoo!

I've still got some real work to do this morning when I get into the office. After that, it's just some clean up! Tomorrow morning, I fly down to Boston to visit the folks for a few days. I had better rememeber to pack up everything tonight. :-p

Yesterday was somewhat productive and not-so-productive. Amazingly, there was enough food for everyone (and then some) at the office potluck. Most of the cheese I brought did get consumed, but for some reason, the brie was not touched. The cookies... Well, they're gone, of course.

I managed to bake off the rest of the gingerbread last night. This was on top of some laundry I wanted to get done before packing tonight.

Bleah. Not sure what I will be doing the rest of next week when I get back. There's a party Thursday night that I will probably go to. Most of the people there will be from work, so it won't be a total crowd of strangers. BYOB...

Anyway, gotta get the day under way...

Wheeeeeeee!

The Wonders of Roomba

I like my Roomba. It vacuums for me when I don't have the time for it. It will even vacuum for me more often than I would! But I just hate it when something gets caught in it. :-p

I guess I am a geek for gadgets. But practical gadgets mind you. They need to serve a practical purpose before I decide to plunk some money down on it. Some people hire a cleaning person to come by once a week to clean their homes. I don't think my place is big enough to warrant that. Plus, I don't think I could afford it. My one-time investment on the Roomba is doing just fine. All I have left to do is clean the bathrooms and mop the floors.

I finally got rid of the stationary bike. Since I've been using my road bike on a trainer instead, the stationary is redundant. So one of the guys at work bought it and picked it up today. This freed up a nice chunk of space for me. I ended up re-arranging some stuff around. I find that I still need to de-clutter. I've also got these two bedside lamps I'd like to get rid of. They're black with black lampshades. My previous ex had decided on the black. :-p I've posted them for sale at work. No takers yet. I'll have to freshen up that post to stir up some interest. I just want to get rid of them! I managed to get rid of the papasan chair frame. I've just got the cushion to dispose of. *sigh*

Bags Redux

Interestingly enough Matthew Good posted an entry about LV bags. I guess it was somewhat of a rant on the beaucoup bucks spent on the darn things. Personally, I do find LV overpriced for what they are. I guess I am just not an LV type of gal.

However, when it does come to bags in general, I am weak. I cannot tell you how many bags I have acquired in the past 12 months. At least they're not costing me a few hundred dollars apiece! My current weakness is for Crumpler and Kipling bags. I like Crumpler because they're cool looking and practical. I like Kipling because they're also practical and each bag comes with a monkey attached to it. :-)

I guess Crumpler and Kipling are more my style than LV is. Okay, I do have a Coach bag. But it's a classic Coach bag that'll last for years! I don't like the current trendy ones with the ginormous buckles and such. :-p A bit too gaudy.

My 2 cents on the bag subject.

Take the engineers curling!

So this is where we spent a few hours today. I've never curled before so this is the first time trying it out. Since we're playing on ice, the one thing I had on my mind was whether or not I was going to fall flat on my ass! Well, thanfully, I hadn't. However, I got the nod for being the worst player! Well, I guess it was all in good humour. :-)

At about 2:00PM, it was time for lunch. So off we went to Fuji's and their teppanyaki grill. It was your typical japanese teppanyaki place. The food was good and the show entertaining.

Tomorrow: Coffee and Cannoli. I think I will have to skip breakfast...

My buddy Abe just got back from China. Will probably meet up with him tomorrow and shoot the sh*t. He's not sure if he's going to take the offer in China or stay here. He needs to know exactly what his options are before he makes his decision. It doesn't look like it will be easy unless he has something clearly defined.

In a few weeks, I will be back in the classroom. I can't remember if I had mentioned it already in an earlier entry, but I've registered for a couple courses at Concordia's ContEd. As well, I've gone ahead and registered for a Camera Basics course at Dawson. I'm looking forward to the classes. :-) (Yeah, some of you might think I'm somewhat masochistic by doing this.)

The Hash today wasn't so bad. It was a bit long though. Essentially, the walking trail was also the running trail. :-p Sinnerbad and I decided to cut it short and head back to meet up with the runners. The other walkers eventually showed up.

While out on the trail, we went by the Lachine Canal. Saw a couple of photo-ops along the way. Cityscapes I suppose...





I should be a bit more liberal in taking some pics when I'm out on these hashes. You never know what you might come across! :-)

After I left the hash, I went and did a little shopping. I stopped by HMV and picked up a couple of CDs. Then I went over to Indigo and got a couple of books. One of them is an Amy Tam book I hadn't read yet. I think it was her last one.

By now it was about 5PM. I was starving! Since the down-downs were at the pub, there really wasn't much in the way of food. I had alread planned to make a lentil stew when I got home, so I was reeeeeally looking forward to preparing it.

It's a really simple recipe and it's quite good! :-)

This looks cool..

I'll have to keep this one in mind...

Tripping...

I need to go away somewhere...

I guess for the last few vacations, I've managed to go away somewhere. This may have been due to the influence my ex had on where we ended up going. It wasn't that he had all the money in the world to travel with. If we decided that we would go somewhere then we would make it a goal to work towards. In someway, I have him to thank for in waking up the travel bug in me.

I few issues I have in trying to plan my next vacation is that a) I registered for classes at Concordia; b) do I go it alone or look for a small tour; and c) where do I want to go?

The classes I'm taking at Concordia end in March. Then there is a 1 or 2 week break before the next term starts. If I decide on taking a holiday it would have to be during this time. Otherwise, I might have to wait until the summer. It will also depend on where I want to go. Late March might not be the ideal time, weather-wise, for some destinations.

Solo or tour? I'm really not sure about this. Going independent, you have more freedom to decide where you want to go, what you want to see, and for how long. With a small group tour, you have some sort of comraderie there and support. Again, this might depend on where I want to go.

And just where do I want to go? I still haven't quite decided on this. Of course, I do want to work within a budget of sorts. The sky is not the limit here, but I do have some room to manouevre. Where ever I do end up going, I will try to hunt down the cheapest airfares and best deals on accomodations.

There is one tour that seems appealing and that is the Bike/Hike in Provence. It's organized through GAP Adventures. Their prices seem reasonable and the group size is what I would look for. I really don't think I can handle travelling with a coach bus full of people. A friend at work did a Kontiki tour to Spain this Fall and enjoyed it. But everyone has their preferences.

Well, I guess for a holiday I should start doing some homework...

Holiday Gorging

Well, the potluck was fun. There was just way too much food, of course. I really tried to pace myself. I tried not to overeat. I think I did alright. At least I didn't feel like I was about to explode. There were some dips. There were 2 types of lasagne and a couple of salads. The desserts were good (one was my lemon poppyseed cake!). There was a little gift exchange (I got a cute little holiday potpurri sachet).

Okay, so it was pretty much your standard holiday potluck with a bunch of women. Most of them were well in the 50's or well into their 40's. But they were very nice people and we had a very nice time. I guess I felt like the odd-man-out when the started to talk about their kids. It seems that their kids range in age from 14 to 30. Ouch! I think I was the youngest there as well.

The other interesting thing to note is that all (except for one, I think) are divorced. Hmmm...

Anyway...

It's Sunday. The usual morning routine I suppose. Enjoying having an espresso now since I have proper espresso cups. Mmmmm.. good java in the morning. I had 3 yesterday. I better go easy on the caffeine today.

The Hash is downtown again. Hopefully the pub *will* be open this time. I wonder if anyone "new" will show up for this week's run. Eh, we'll see...

Yeah, nothing too exciting to report.

On heavy rotation these days: "Avalanche" by Matthew Good.

Who says I'm Old??

I guess I should make it a habit to record any noteworthy thoughts as they come along. However, it's a bit diffciult to do when you're at work trying to do work and not updating your blog.

The thought that just came to mind is about age. I was just reading an entry in Matthew Good's blog (No, Shawn! I am NOT stalking him! Sheesh! I read your blog, does that mean I'm stalking you? ;-) ). I sometimes laugh to myself when he refers to himself "in his old age". He's only a few years younger than I, but he's probably experienced more than I have. I suppose how old you are or how you feel could depend on how much you've experienced in your lifetime to date. On the other hand, I also believe that you're only as old as you feel or act. Most of the time I don't think I act like a 38-year old. Or for that matter, how is a 38-year old suppose to act?

It's funny to note that whenever I do end up discussing age with people, most of the time they think I'm much younger than I am. Must be the being asian thing. :-p But with my re-emerging grays, I think I will be found out soon!

Are we there yet?

Well, I am happy to say that I actually managed to accomplish a few things at work today. One of the guys who has been helping with some testing is leaving for vacation tomorrow. I got the test plant back today because they had some technical issues and the one guy who could help was not in today. So, Ruben and I managed to finish the testing we started on Tuesday.

I would also like to say that Ruben is one of the few people who has the patience to explain to me how some of this stuff works (or at least supposed to). As I might have mentioned, I've been in this group for over a year now and I am still struggling to get a solid grasp of the stuff we're supporting. The problem is that most of the experts in the group are almost always either on the road somewhere or working on an emergency. So when someone like Ruben is around for any length of time, I try to take advantage of that and have him show me stuff. Now I just hope it sticks!

I guess all I need to do tomorrow is go through the logfiles and write up a report. Oh yay, that ought to be so much fun! This should be my last productive act for the week. Next week will almost be a total write-off. There is a team outing on Monday. We're suppose to go curling! I have never curled before. I have seen it on TV, but I have never gone curling before. Apparently, one of the teams did this last year. Hmm...

Tuesday is the annual holiday coffee and cannoli morning break. I better remember not to have breakfast that day. Notary for the mortgage is Wednesday afternoon. Trip to the dentist Thursday morning. Then Friday? I think someone might open the bar in his desk.. That is, if he gets back from Chile...

Uh, yeah..

And this weekend? Well, I have been invited to a holiday potluck on Saturday. I will probably make the lemon-poppyseed cake. I might also try to make the gingerbread cookies on Saturday as well. I better take an inventory on baking supplies tomorrow evening. On Sunday, I will probably go do the hash. It's downtown again, so that should be okay.

*yawn*

I really should try to go to bed earlier. I've been pretty bad about that all this week for some reason. Since my alarm is set to go off at 5:00, it doesn't help if I go to sleep after 11:00PM. :-p Technically, I might already be in bed, but I might still be doing stuff on the iBook.

Speaking of my iBook, I wonder if I should trade it in for a MacBook. They seem rather nice and more powerful. If the performance of my MacPro is any indication then the MacBook would definitely blow the doors off of the iBook. I really should talk to Jonas about selling my Mac Mini (powerPC). Any takers? $400CAD and it's yours! I'll even throw in a Mac keyboard.

Trying to be an Adult

I was watching an episode from the first season of Grey's Anatomy. (There's been so much hype about the show that I figure I'd check it out. So far the series has been entertaining.) In any case, in this particular episode, the title character was bemoaning and comparing the responsibilities an adult has versus when she was a kid. I think I can relate with that. It seems that as we get older and become more involved in certain aspects of daily living, that it's inevitable that we accumulate responsibilities for various things.

We need to make sure our bills are paid on time. We need to ensure that our rent or mortgages are paid. We need to make sure our pets (or kids) are fed and cared for. We need to keep in mind of so many things! I don't remember having so many responsibilities as a kid. All I remember was that I had to make sure I got my homework done and bring home good grades. That was pretty much it.

Tonight I have a condo association meeting. Next week I have to see the notary about my mortgage. When did I grow up?

The Cat Carol

While chatting with some Geek Culture Forum people, the subject about Christmas and music came up. As it turns out, one of the GC administrators wrote this little ditty. I figure, what the heck and bought the song. At first it sounded like any other Christmas song. However, the kicker in the song is when Santa comes along. Hoo boy! I nearly bawled my eyes out! Usually, I am not a huge sentimental ball of goo, but lately, stuff like this just sets off the water works. Am I turning to mush as I get older?

Anyway, it's a cute little song. If you can spare the few bucks, buy it and give it a listen. It seems to set the mood for giving this holiday season.

Apple Cake v2.1 - Success?

Well, I left work early enough to get home, have an early dinner and get started on this evening's baking. And here's the resulting Apple Cake v2.1:

It's still not quite perfect, but I think it came out better than v2. I haven't tried it yet. I'm contemplating whether or not to bring it to work or to save it for tomorrow evening's condo meeting. Since I had some time, I went ahead and made some brownies. It's just the recipe from the container for Fry's Cocoa. Still, what can you say about brownies made with 2 sticks of butter and 2 cups of sugar?? Oh, did I mention that I threw in a spoonful of ground espresso? :D

I don't know if the amount of espresso I put it is significant enough to notice, but I guess we'll find out when I bring it in to work! There is a team meeting in the morning and the guy who's turn it is to bring in the treats has been out sick most of the week. I think the brownies will be backup in case he doesn't come in.

The almond biscotti I made last night were a hit. My team leader preferred the harder hazelnut ones, but these were still good. I think during the holidays I will make a batch of both kinds and ship some off to my Marine friend. And anyone else who likes homemade baked goods. :-)

I still haven't gotten around to making the gingerbread cookies! Hmph! Those definitely take more time since the dough needs to firm up in the fridge before you can roll and cut them. The fun part is decorating the cookies afterwards... Gingerbread people for adults... Okay, nuff said.

To some extent, I am amazed at times that I am able to do much at all in my kitchen. The layout of the counter space is very inefficient. Nevertheless, I made do with what I have. :-)

Alright, time to put away the baked goods before they get molested by roaming cats! :-p

A Few Random Thoughts

There's always some commentary on the war on Iraq. And as I've mentioned, everyone is entitled to their opinion on such things.

I guess the one thing I could say is that I have made the acquaintance (on-line) of a young Marine. He's due to be shipped off to Iraq again in January. He seems like a very personably fellow. We usually chat about different things. The one thing I have not asked is about his thoughts on the whole situation in Iraq. I suppose that I am afraid, to some extent, to hear some chest-thumping, "I am proud to be an American" speech. I'm sure many of the enlisted soldiers have their own personal reasons for being in the military. It's their duty to serve their country. Now, whether or not they really wanted to get involved in Iraq, that's another issue. I'm not sure how it works, but I would imagine that it would be close to treason or some sort of insubordination if a soldier were to express his/her dissent in how things are going. But what do I know?

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I've been living outside the US for the past 15 some odd years now. Since then, I've started to get an outsider's perspective on the US. Perhaps I was more ignorant of the politics when I was still living down there. In any case, I don't think I am too keen on moving back to the US just yet. Maybe when Dubya's term is over. There are other factors, of course, to consider before deciding whether to head back south.

Saint Lucia Day

Today is Saint Lucia Day. Since I do work for a Swedish company, there will be a small procession this morning to celebrate Sankta Lucia. There will be some glögg and lussekatt served after the procession. There will also be some singing. The procession is actually quite pretty with the one girl wearing the crown of candles. They usually try to get the dripless kind.

Viewpoints

I suppose a lot of people like to voice their opinion on different things via their blogs these days. It seems to be quite the thing to do. I have nothing against that. I think it's well within everyone's right to make their beliefs known. The one thing I do have an issue with is when people try to force their opinions/beliefs onto you. I would like to think that I choose to believe what I do without any forceful influences.
People can say what they want, what they believe in. Just don't try to shove those beliefs down my throat.

That aside, you will notice that I do not post much about politics and the like. To some degree I feel that what my political beliefs are are my own. If, however, something comes up that really irks me, I might comment about it, but I won't write a huge political commentary about it. That's just not me. I do appreciate those who intelligently comment about things. I don't like those who rant and rave with no real logic to back up those rants.

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This evening, I continued my baking binge. I made almond biscotti. I had a small end piece and it was rather tasty. These biscotti will go well with tomorrow's coffee! I think the guys at work will really like these.

Tomorrow, I will make Apple Cake v2.1. What's v2.1? Well, I'm going to try something different in how the apples are laid out. The problem I had with v2 was that I was afraid of the batter overflowing. I figure if I arranged the apple slices in a certain way then maybe the batter will settle in better. Anyway, we shall see!!

A Nation of Scrooges?

There was an article in the Saturday paper bemoaning the fact that when it comes to charity, we are cheap. Especially here in Quebec. Why is that?

Coincidentally, I won an auction for an indoor parking spot at work for the winter. The proceeds will go to the Montreal Children's Hospital Foundation. The amount is in the 3 figures and they probably didn't think it would get that high. I'll have to ask them how much they thought they would get for the spot when I bring them the check tomorrow. :-)

As well, there was a campaign recently to raise funds for Centraide. Essentially, the goal was the raise $90,000. The company would match whatever the employees gave. The good news is that we reached the monetary goal. The bad news is that only about a quarter of the employees contributed. This seems to give some credence to the article about people here being cheap.

I sometimes think that some people do not know how good they have it until it gets taken away. So why wait until something bad happens to realize what you had? I suppose on the positive, you can get tax credit for donations above a certain amount. But that really should not be the only incentive to give! I think that this past year alone I have given quite a bit to various charities. I gave a pledge to a colleague who did the Walk to End Breast Cancer this summer. I've given to smaller community -driven charities.

After I won the parking spot today, a friend emailed me saying that being single with a disposable income, I was able to win the spot for that amount. I suspect that the other guy vying for the spot is also in the same position. Either way, the money is going to a good cause (in memory of, too).

It's funny, but I don't usually get up on a soapbox on my blog. However, today, I just felt like I had to say something about this subject. So until things change in my life, I think I will continue to give. Even if things change down the road, I still think it's worth the effort to give.

Ugh! Take that away, please!!!

Well, the dessert party went pretty well. I might have gone slightly overboard in the drinks department. Oh well. It'll be an excuse for another gathering. :-)

The two-nut chocolate torte came out pretty good despite the fact that I didn't have enough walnuts. I just made up the difference with more almonds. It went quite well with some whipped cream. :) I also put out a cheese and cracker board. Everyone seemed to enjoy a respite from the sugar with the cheeses.

Other desserts? There was pecan pie, tiramisu, Queen Elizabeth cake, muffins, marzipan treats, canolis, assorted pastries... Ugh! Sugar overload! I wish I had taken a pic of all the goodies. Oh well. :-)

Today, I took it easy in the morning. Did some light grocery shopping. I tried to take a short nap before heading off to the hash. I only got to bed last night around 1:45AM. :-p

The hash took place downtown. The hare set a trail for runners but did not for the walkers. So I got volunteered to lead the walkers. The trail for the walk was somewhat lame, but we still covered some distance. The hare f*ed up in that the pub we were suppose to meet and end at was not open until 4PM. Next week's hash is suppose to also take place downtown. Same pub, too. I wonder how that one will go.

We were lucky that we were able to finish up at Pog's apartment. A run to the nearby supermarket to pick up some food items and beer and the post-hash noshing was in the works. Pog whipped up some curries and rice.

Right now, I am pooped. Fresh air and brisk walks seem to be doing that to me. I guess I should go to sleep soon. :)

I have an illness...

I seem to have a tendency to acquire certain things in quantity...

Watches are just one thing I seem to sort of acquire more than one of. The above is just a few that I have. I have a few others that need to either have the battery replaced or repaired.

Another item that I seem to collect a lot of are bags. No, not leather handbags or anything too girly. I currently own 5 Crumpler bags. Don't ask me why. I've also got as many Kipling bags, too. I suppose there are worse things I could be collecting. At least what I do collect serves a purpose!

So, I had earlier mentioned the lights I bought at IKEA. Now, I know I'm no design genius, but I just wanted something festive. Well, here's a pic that better illustrates how I managed to hang the lights:

It's a little blurry, but I think you get the idea. And here's the end result...

Yes. That one plant on the tray does not look very well. It's not mine anyway. Well, actually, I have not been very attentive to my own plants lately either. :-(

Weekend

Well, I think I have a pretty full day tomorrow. I did some cleaning up this evening so that should save me *some* time tomorrow. I need to swing by the supermarket for a few things. Then I plan to make at least the Two-Nut Chocolate Torte. If I have time, I might make the Lemon-Poppy Seed cake. I've already picked up some stuff at the SAQ today after work. I've still got a couple bottles of wine left from the last gathering. Maybe we'll open up one of those. I'd rather have a bit too much than not enough. I suppose I could swing by the SAQ again tomorrow. There's one near the supermarket.

I guess I just like to entertain friends. I want to see everyone enjoying themselves and having a good time. I guess that's why I don't mind bringing in the baked goods to work. The Apple Cake v2, for example, was a hit at work. The recipe I used is a keeper. Although, I think I would like to try the other one again, but using the self-rising flour as indicated. I really want to find out if that was the problem I was having...

Anyway... It's Friday night. So what the H* am I doing here?

Procrastination and Apple Cake

I find that I subconsciously procrastinate in getting certain things done. Usually these things are tasks that I know would/should benefit me somehow. I don't normally procrastinate getting some of the more mundane things, such as housework, done.

What have I been putting off lately? Getting some reading done. I had promised a friend that I would follow a course of action that he had outlined for me almost 2 months ago. One of the things I was suppose to do was read a book. Mind you, it is a technical piece I have to read. In the past two months, I have only managed to finish reading 2 chapters. This is rather pathetic. Why has it taken me so long to finish 2 chapters? It wasn't for lack of time. I think I just subconsciously found other things to do to distract myself from the reading.

So just what exactly have I been doing to distract myself? Chatting. Visiting certain websites on a regular basis. Puttering around the house. A variety of different things depending on the mood and such. This week, I have been baking. My excuse for the baking is that it's the holiday season. I have this need to bake around the holidays. At least, that's my excuse.

I guess I really need to resolve myself to get this "homework" done. I've got to stop procrastinating and finding excuse to put this off any longer. I really need to dedicate at least an hour or two each day to this. I guess another factor in this is motivation. I seem to be lacking some motivation to get this done. I know it's all in my head. I will need to mentally give myself a quick swift kick in the pants to get going again. The intention is there.

Elsewhere...

As mentioned, I have been baking this week. One goal I had was to make an appel cake. On Wednesday, I tried a recipe from the Silver Spoon cookbook. It did not come out too well. :-p

It came out a bit too dense and dry. Yesterday, after doing a quick search, I found another recipe to try. This time, it came out a little better.

This one came out lighter and more moist. The assembly for this one was different in the the apple slices were placed in the bottom of the pan and the batter poured over it. In the first one, the chopped apples were mixed in with the batter. Another problem with the first one was that the mixture became very thick. I'm not sure what the cause for that was. The recipe asked for self-rising flour. I didn't have that on hand so I substituted regular flour with baking powder. Oh well.

Why?

Why? I think this is a sad state of affairs when someone has decided to try to make a profit so that others can try to look popular. First of all, I am not a huge fan of myspace.com. I know that some people use it to promote themselves (such as artists and musicians). Other people seem to use it to keep in touch with friends. But then, this means people "add" other people to they "space" as "friends". And some people seem to have hundreds of "friends". And just how many of these friends are really friends at all? It just seems like a huge popularity contest. So what if you have hundreds of "friends". What does that mean? And some of these people on myspace. You look at their suggestive photos and you wonder just what kind of friends are they looking for in mspace. Then there's the issue of safety for minors who use myspace...

Anyway, that's just my rant...

I have a little shindig planned for Saturday evening. I will need to clean up the place a bit starting tonight. It's not that the place is a huge mess, but there's some clutter that needs to be sorted out and such. *sigh* Plus, I think the Roomba needs to be cleaned too. I might just have a simple supper tonight.

I'm still a bit frustrated and exasperated with those sites. My visits to them are still very brief. I don't think I will login to them at all tonight. It's just not worth the time and energy anymore. :-p

So this is Wednesday...

:-p

I guess I just seem to be in one of those moods today. I don't know why. Work today was okay. While the knowledgable ones were working on a problem, I felt a little helpless and tried to find other things to work on. Miraculously I managed to kill 8 hours today. Just don't ask me what I did exactly.

I've decided that I would like to take a photography course. Someone recommended Dawson College (yes, the same one where the shooting took place). They have a pretty good reputation for the artsy stuff. Their Cont Ed department does offer some courses in the area of photography. The course Camera Basics sounds like it's right up my alley. There is also the Digital Photography I, but that is on the same night as my other courses at Concordia. I haven't registered yet as registration doesn't start until next week. This should give me a chance to think about it and maybe ask around.

In the meantime, I spent a few bucks at IKEA today. I was getting tired of the 2 black bedside lamps I have. They're the type that turn on/off at the base. I found this one, which I thought was cute and about the right size. Also picked up some more candles, vanilla-scented tea lights, and christmas lights.

Kiwi. This one brought a tear to my eye. I think it was very well done. It's awfully darn cute. And I just don't want to know what happens in the end. Kiwi was happy...

Being in such a mood, I am just finding it frustrating to visit any of *those* sites this evening. Maybe I am a little frustrated by the whole process. I don't know. In any case, I just did not bother to spend much time on those sites tonight. Instead, I worked at devising a way to hang up the xmas lights by the window. They're a drape-style type of xmas lights. I don't have curtain rods on my windows (all blinds). But, I found that using extra long twist-ties (the ones that come with the large garbage bags) did the trick! How? I basically wrapped the twist tie around the top thingy of the blinds. With that, I can hang the lights from it. :-) I'll see if I can take a photo to better illustrate what I did. I guess that was the engineer in me trying to find a solution to a problem.

Finally...

I've finally changed some of the CDs in the CD changer in the car. For the longest time I had the same 6 CDs in there. Recently, I've swapped 3 of them and soon a 4th will be coming out.

What's in there now?

1) Pixies
2) Death Cab for Cutie
3) Bedouin Soundclash/Hot Hot Heat
4) The Deers
5) Bad Brains
6) Dire Straits

I will probably swap the Bad Brains CD for a Matthew Good (Avalanche) one.

Brrrr!

It's cold today. It was also very windy. I hate when it's so windy. It's rattles everything.

Snow has been forecast for tomorrow. Yay! Some real white stuff, I guess!

I sometimes wonder just how much online time is spent perusing some of the dating sites. There are days when I ask myself just why the heck I'm spending so much time logged into some of these sites. It is such a huge waste of time to log in so frequently. When I remind myself of this I instantly logoff and look for something else to do.

Something that I do try to do more often is to update this blog. There might not always be something interesting, but it's just my way to convey my thoughts and feelings for the day. I guess I'm just not very good at relating the details of the day's events. I'm probably better at discussing what was going on in my head as a result of something that's happened. Which leads me to this...

Chemistry. Based on Wikipedia's definition, I wonder just how or when you would know if there is some sort of chemistry between two people. How instantaneous is this chemistry? I find that it's a bit of a puzzle sometimes. Or maybe I'm just a bit thick when it comes to this sort of thing. I suppose that interpersonal chemistry could also be equated to this "clicking" between two people.

Elsewhere....


Finster made a trip to the vet today to have his sudden weightloss looked into. About a month ago he weight in at around 12 pounds. today he was down to about 9. The vet took some blood and x-rays. It seems that he's a bit constipated which could explain a few things. As well, he might be experiencing some pain in the mouth due to the condition of his teeth. So the poor fella had to endure an enema. He did get some fluids to help with some dehydration. The vet gave me a bag of solution for me to help with his hydration at home. On top of all that his heart murmur seems to be be a bit more pronounced. Because of that, he might be at risk if he were to be put under for a teeth cleaning. But there's still one set of blood tests to be done. We will only know on Tuesday what the results are for that. Overall, this was not a cheap trip to the vet. Finster had better have a few lives left! ;-)

Winter? Is that you?

It seems that a cold front is pushing its way into the region. I wonder if we will be getting the -20C temps that the mid-west has been experiencing as of late. In any case, the weather today has been rather icky. This morning started with some ice pellets. Some of this accumulated. There was also a layer of of ice on the cars.

We had our department holiday lunch today. Of course, there were 10 of us who stayed until the bitter end (around 5PM). By then, it was windy and piss-pouring rain. Since the temps were hovering around 0, ice still formed on the parked cars by the restaurant. At least, I managed to get a lift home. The sidewalks, I found, were somewhat icy in patches.

With the weather being rather icky, I decided to pass on the pub crawl tonight. Not only is the weather a factor, but I also got only 3 hours of sleep last night. For whatever reason, I had a heck of a time trying to fall asleep last night. At one point I logged in and found a buddy, currently working in China, online. So we chatted for a bit. By 2AM, I think I fell asleep. Then the alarm went off at 5. :-p

I hope I can get some rest tonight. There's stuff I'd like to get done this weekend. :-)