31 December 2007
All is quiet

Last few days have been pretty quiet, and low key. We've done some tidying, chucking of old stuff, and packed up stuff to be given away. Watched some Robot Chicken, which I think is hilarious, but no movies. One more week and I'm back to work; I'll have to get a cell phone replacement, since it's effectively broken (not being able to receive a call 90% of the time, dial out correctly, pull up who called/contact list, and not check voice mail means thats it's broken).

29 December
Home from the snow

Back home, we weren't too sure if we'd make it as it was snowing plenty in Kelowna, but by Merritt the road improved, and then the Coquihala was ok, few accidents on the way, probably people thinking they're invinsible since they have SUV's or winter tires. It's better to get from point A to point B safe rather than rushing it to same a few minutes.

Last few items to pick up from local boxing week sales (Big Al's and Ikea), and then should be good for the holidays. Trying not to think about being back to work in 10 days. Think happy thoughs and chill.

27 December
More Shopping

Brave I am. Did more Boxing week shopping in Kelowna. Started at future shop, Nicole bought a 4Gb Flashdrive for $28 (bef tax), which is a good price, which would be suprising since one would think they would fly off the shelf, which they would if they hadn't put it in a location that people would walk right by at the front door, either you look at the entire store or you look back at the entrance and they would be seen tucked away. $8 for a 1Gb, or $15 for a 2Gb. Good brand as we use them at work, however, we payed way more than the boxing week price, makes you think about how much these items are marked up (50%-100%+?).

After we went to the Bay and bought 3x Sets of sheets from the Bay's "White Sheet Sale", approx 30-50% off, 310 threadcount should be fabulous, the hole in my wallet less so. Nicole is happy again today that I now have 2x set of shoes for $60, from the Shoe Warehouse. Then to finish the shopping we went to London Drugs and bought some new GE Dect 6.0 cordless phone, will be interesting to see how they work, as the 2.4ghz ones we have are crap (don't work with our Nuker), if we don't like them we'll get take `em back and get a different brand. Plus we bought some pretty storage boxes, which will help with sorting some of the crap we have in cardboard boxes.

As a note to shopping, if you put stuff in your car trunk and want to continue shopping, move your car, as car and product thieves are on the prowl. We saw one car by the London Drugs in Kelowna that have an open trunk with nothing in it, either they forgot to close or they were going to have a bad day.

Movies from the last few days:
A Family Stone: Avertised as a comedy, which we didn't really understand since it was a drama with a few silly moments in it. It ended on a sad note, and the problems and their resolution all just majically happened. Unspectacular holiday movie.
Rush Hour 3: Short movie at not even 90min. Feels lacking and a bit stale compared to the earlier Rush Hours. Look for other good movies first, then this is nothing else is available. Short so okay for quick action, but not many laughs.

Going home tomorrow.

26 December
Boxing Day Sales

After vowing last year to not go boxing day shopping, we went again today. However, since we're in Kelowna, we went to West Bank to do the shopping, which worked very well as the malls there were empty. Picked up a new programable crock-pot at Canadian tire for 50% off, and a few minor x-mas items. Then Marks Work Warehouse, where Nicole was extastic since I got me some corderoy pants. Went to Zellars, unimpressed, didn't even look like they were having a boxing day sale. Then Staples, boxing day sale prices for electronics and PP&S were higher than other places. Back in Kelowna we quickly checked Future Shop, utter mayhem there, didn't bother getting anything.

25 December
Merry Christmas

And to all a good night.

23 December
Holiday

Went to my 10 year class reunion last night at a sports bar in Abbotsford. Interesting to see people and know what they now do, however, the venue sucked. Left about 930pm, as tomorrow we heading on our Holiday vacation to Kelowna.

22 December
Done

Finished all my shopping today. Had three stops, almost no traffic (vehicle or pedestrian), and was done before noon.

20 December
Holidays & Shopping

Almost done getting all my shopping done. Nicole tried to ensure that by dropping me off at Brentwood Town Centre I would get all my shopping done. Amount done at Brentwood: None. As a side note there is only one washroom in that entire place, at the far end of the food court.. strange. So jumped on the skytrain, went to Lougheed Town Centre, and did most of my Christmas shopping there. Funny how they both can have London Drugs, but the one at Loughheed was the only one willing to give me the time of day, and even greatly assist me in picking stuff out.. again strange.
Stardust: Go rent this movie now. Really good movie that I'd never heard about, until my younger brother mentioned it. It's sort of like The Princess Bride, in that it's fantasy and its querky, and it is really sweet (in a good way).
Grindhouse: Planet Terror. Blood, Blood, and action. It's a very quick paced thiller/gore fest of a movie. Has a cheesy plot, palatable on the first time through, unrecommended for a second. Should note as well that guns and children do not mix.
La Cité des Enfants Perdus: (French w/subtitles) Bizarre. Same feel as Delicatessen in that it's surreal and in denial that anything is wrong, however, doesn't seem to quite capture the essance of that movie even with some of the same actors. But, in the end it is an entertaining watch, and a for the beauty of the movie and setting is watchable a second time.

With all these movie reviews I should make a seperate section or something.

16 December
Christmas Leave

Yesterday was the last day of work until the new year, which will be nice, since my mind and body needs 3 weeks off. For the last week I've been trying to get all the paperwork and things in the office sumed up, and going to the gym, which has left we getting home at 7pm and tired. Friday was a bit of a write-off as a tiny bit of paperwork was done, but was also the day staff Christmas party. By the end of the week (Friday) quite a few things were dealt with, some things I would like to have finished, and then there were several items that while not finished required other tasks, and people to do them, to be completed prior to them being able to be done.
The last day of work before leave (Saturday), with the soldiers christmas dinner, went well. Had one drink, bit of wine and some port. Other than that only egg nog or soda pop. Only weird thing is that my neck hurts, and I can't figure out what I would've done at work to hurt it (Last minute cleaning of office?). Hopefully a pinched nerve or something that will go away soonest, if not ice pack or hot pack should do it, as I've found the exact point where it hurts in the neck (poking it, does that hurt, does that hurt...).

Today we had Nicole's family over for an early Christmas, as we will not be getting together for the big day. Had a big ham, many a gifts, and a new digital camera for me, w00t!

Movies in the last week:
Bridge to Terabithea: Thought it would be more fantasy, a la Narnia, instead it was just dealing with life and tragedy. Apparently this movie received quite good reviews, however, I was not overly impressed, but I expecting something different other than a window into a child's imaginary world.
The Simpsons: Movie. 20min tv cartoon turned into 80min movie cartoon. Other than being long, having several 3d effects and a tiny bit of nudity, it's simply a longer tv show with more plot. Really they could've done most of it over 3 episodes of the cartoon. In the end while an entertaining show, is more suited for DVD than the theater.

6 December
Night at the Movies

Had a long work day. After me and the wife went for a quick bite to eat, as we had a pass to watch a screener of Charlie Wilson's War, at Tinseltown.

Was unsure of the quality and type of the movie we were to see, as I had little to no information on what the movie was about. The little brochure that came with the screener pass was not much help, and in watching the movie the brochure is somewhat misleading. The end result is that I liked the movie, and would recommend people watch this Docu-drama, since I found it entertaining.

Principal star is Tom Hanks, making a good performance, and several other supporting characters. It revolved around the US hatred of the soviets, and how they used and were involved in the Afghanistan war during the 1980s. Quite a short movie at about 100min, and very politically incorrect. I'm sure it will receive an R rating for language, nudity, violence, and references to many things that in today's society one would view as risqué. Movie should be out on the 25th of December.

5 December
Sore

Worked last weekend. Snowed half way through, quite pretty and I didn't mind, however, once the ex was done and packed up to leave we found that the planned route back was either ice or compacted snow. By the end of it 5 vehicles were in the ditch, mine being one. Unfortunately there was no contingency plan, and going down the hill was like following lemmings off a cliff. Worse was once out of my truck, I slid and fell about 5-6 times. Not fun.

Now it's all done, and I've had two days off work with a bit of rest. Body is still sore, and my knee isn't happy with me, but I'll recover with time. Watched the Incredibles when I came home, late, on Sunday and several other movies on my days off watched these movies:

The Incredibles: Good Family Movie
The Bourne Supremacy: Good as the first
The Bourne Ultimatum: Good as the first two. I smell a fourth movie at some point.
Pirates of the Caribbean - At Worlds End: Too long, repetitive, sword fights never ended, and the payoff wasn't all that good, plus Nicole was traumatized. First of the trilogy is still the best.

29 November
Long overdue update

Haven't posted anything as of late. The supposed recap that should have happened never did, as I became sick with a Cold and then had it linger for 2 weeks. Most work days consisted of going to work, and then coming home to sleep until the next work day. Work is now happening at a steady pace, and the workload is calming down now, with most exercises done, and the yearly Tech Inspection finished.

Have watched a number of movies, since being back, however I don't remember what all movies were watched.
Ratatouille: Good, recommend.
Blade Runner (Original): It's been quite a while since watching it, seems better in my memory.
Fido: Good, recommend.
Shrek the Third: Okay, not overly impressed.
The Bourne Identity: Good, will have a look at the sequels.
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: Amazingly I've never watched it before, always missed it somehow. Cheesy.
Hidalgo: Alright.

While away in Quebec (During the flight to or back):
30 Rock (TV Show): Hilarious
The Office (TV Show): Painful, in a bad (not good) way.
Paris, Je T'aime: Good from what I saw, however, never finished watching it.

5 November
Back from Quebec

I've been away for two week's taking a leadership course in St-Jean, Quebec. Still quite tired, as there was a 3 hour time difference, and then at the end of it the day light savings time switch. Will have a much more in depth review/write-up of the last two weeks later, maybe in a few days as I'll be quite busy.

14 October
Bread Embalming & The end of Essay Writing

Thanksgiving went off without a hitch, as nothing was burnt and all tasted well. Company was good too, where we had 6 in total, versus the 12 we thought we might have. Nicole stated that as we removed all the innards of the turkey, we were then embalming it with bread for cooking. Though that it was a rather amusing statement.

Have spent alot of time reading articles about peacekeeping, from origins to present day, and can safely say that I am done for now.The Distance Learning portion is now over, so no more articles. Looking back at it, there was a bit of reading, but alot of agonizing over the essays being written.

Watched Blades of Glory today, all I can say is cheese. Also we watched Surf's Up, which while not bad was not exceptional in the story department, however it is amazing what can be done with computer graphics now.

1 October
Long Work Weeks

Been pretty busy with work. Worked 3 14hr days in a row a week ago, and now I'm onto a 9+day work week. Getting tired, the CTO is building up excessively, and I should take some leave. Thankfully the last two weeks and a bit weeks were the most hectic that I'll see for a while, so I should start getting things back on track, and up to date. If all goes well I'll take some days off later this week.

Movie roundup. Haven't watched too many movies since last post. One several weeks back, and one tonight.
Clockwork Orange (VHS): Have seen many times already, great movie for mature audiences.
Knocked up (New Release): Very good movie, enjoyed it quite a bit.

3 September
Clean Up

Friday was a late work day, went in to work later, but left late at night. Spent early part of the day going over more microfilm for genealogy and picking blackberries. Nicole kept on nagging me, since she wanted to get out and about, including going to the Africa Day festival, which in the end turned out to be a disappointment for her, since she though it would be more like the Richmond night market, which in the end it most certainly wasn't. After we went for a little drive, and wound up over at Grouse Mountain, we looked into going up, but they wanted $32 per person and they offered no student/military discount. So we went down to Capilano Suspension bridge, they do give a student and military discount, plus a year long membership if you're a BC resident. So I did my yearly walk across the bridge, and tested my nerves/dislike of heights. Nicole went and did the tree-tops adventure, me, I didn't.

Sunday we cleaned a bit, watched a movie, and I studied some more. The more I read about the end of WW2 the more disgusted I am, it is truly horrid using child soldiers. Albeit the veteran Germans had it right in telling the children to surrender at first sight of the allies.

Monday, we cleaned some more. Our place looks really sweet now, plus we moved the papa-san into the Den, which is still a bit of a mess. Had Nicole's Dad, Grandparents and Great Aunt over so they could see the place, have some tea, and eat some blackberry crumble. After they left Nicole made a really nice seafood Alfredo sauce and spaghetti for Dinner. Then we watched a movie, afterwards I studied some more.

Saturday Movie Roundup:
Pan's Labyrinth: Spanish, subtitled, and depressing. However, in the end, justice is swift.
Black Snake Moan: Noise level issues, goes from being too quiet that you can't hear to too loud that it's irritating. No epiphany with this movie.
Sunday, movie afternoon:
The Number 23: Movie is pretty messed up content wise, uneven pace, small payout at the end of the movie
Monday, night at the movies:
The Italian Job (The new one): Good action movie

Need to return movies to the Video store tomorrow. Hurray for no late fees.

27 August 2007
3-Way Switch

Another weekend done. I've replaced almost all the light switches in our place, did one of the ones that had a 3-way switch, took a little while to figure out but in the end I was able to do it correctly (place didn't burn down, and I wasn't electrocuted). Still have one more 3-way to do, and then the bathroom switches. After the light switches then it's the electrical outlets. Change all the outlets and switches to the vanity plate style, in small part since everything was poorly painted over, which made it look very ugly indeed.

Going through with this we've noted that the wiring isn't properly colour coded, in part because this is an older place and also in part because the previous owner(s) just painted over the wiring. However, the hot & neutral wires are easy to test with the right tools. Funny how the place we bought nothing seems to be quite.. straight, level or even. Always something to fix.

Weekend and a Movie:
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang - Good movie; we didn't really know what it was about, and didn't have any expectations.
Dogma - Always a good movie, surprised that Nicole had never seen it before (something about the movie being immoral)

Made Banana Bread today as well.

25 August 2007
Relax

It's the weekend and I'm not working. Doing a tiny bit of genealogy updating and page splitting as 250kb is too much for one page. It will really change up as I start churning through all the Ireland microfilm, since then cross continent linking will finally be realized, however, it is a pity they didn't make the microfilm easy to read. Made it through the second week of my distance learning course, now it's time to write an essay for week number three.

19 August 2007
PNE and Richmond Night Market

Yesterday was a busy day. Went in to work for the initial day of the PNE, so that I could help out get things running. Spend a few hours there, plus side is I was able to get tickets for the show home. Later in the day went out to the night market in Richmond, to sum it up: lots of cheap purses, jewelry and clothing, and expensive food. Wandered around for several hours then came home to watch a movie.

Roundup of movies from the last week:
Mr. Deeds - Meh, had several moments, but it wasn't steady. Felt like a comedic Hudsucker Proxy, but not as good.
Mr. & Mrs. Smith - Good, we liked this movie.
Anchorman - Okay, but too many cameos.
The Island - Okay, had various moments where it reminded me of Logan's Run and that THX 1138 movie.

11 August 2007
Long Weekend

Took a few days off work so I could relax and get some paperwork done, plus study up on the ILQ course I'm about to take (Starts on Monday). Looks like it will be reading and essay intensive.
Nicole is a bit still whiney as she doesn't want to do any more school, and has been complaining about essays and take home exams. Something about leaving it to the last minute/day when she knew about it weeks and weeks ago; Pretty sure I was bugging her to at least start it 3 weeks ago.

Thinking about doing a redesign of the site. Minimalism vs. Flashy?

5 August 2007
Lots of Sleep (Back home)

It's been a little while since I last updated, however, I'm now home after 5 weeks of teaching a BMQ course (Boot Camp) out at STC Chilliwack.

2 weeks ago, when I was last home, Nicole and I went and saw the newest Harry Potter movie, the following day Nicole went and bought the last book, which she promptly read and finished by mid Sunday so that I could take the book back out to Chilliwack. It took me until the following weekend to finish reading the book, this is due to lack of time. Last weekend I was duty NCO and marching NCO, small error in that there was a miscommunication and my 2i/c didn't show up, in the end it was for the best as I was able to spend some more time preparing and doing course paperwork, plus finish the book by the Saturday.

Last tuesday we had the Candidates do the gas hut, alas none of them puked. Week before we did the rifle range, no problems there. Right after the range went for a 5km march, made sure I pilled up due to the knee, so all was good.

Final few days of the course, not too many hours of sleep, 3hrs by the last day of course, it seems the instructors get less than the candidates. Everything worked out in the end, graduation happened for them, and then me packing up and going. By Friday night I was passed out and slept for 14hrs, which was fabulous.

Watched a few DVD's during the last week: Office space and Hot fuzz. Quite fun. Then last night 3X with Vin Diesel, not a bad action movie. Friday saw nicole's Parents, then yesterday saw my Parents and my sister-in-law Liz, plus the Niece & Nephew. Tres Cool

Lit up our new (Refurbed) BBQ today for dinner, burnt a few hairs. Nicole was amused by the fwoomp of the propane being lighted as I jumped back and yelled.

Back to work on Tuesday.

22 July 2007
Home for the weekend

It's been 3 weeks since I've been home, but being home for a night is nice. Very relaxing, however, I have to return today and then get studying to ensure I know what I'm teaching for tomorrow. 2 more weeks to go, then it's out of the frying pan and into the fire. Will be finding out this week, what can be done about my knee. Hopefully it will be an easy fix.

2 July 2007
Preparing for the Summer

Been quite busy with work: Verification, which is now more or less done; Canada Day salute, which happened for better or worse; and now off to teach on a course, which is very last moment, since they pulled me off the course I was supposed to take in Shilo (In the last 9 years in me trying to get it, they've cancelled all 3 times I was loaded, except for this year). Only bad news of consequence is my left knee which is still bothering me (One year since the incident, and now worse since May), so hopefully it will get fixed (Physio?) sooner rather than later.

I've spent this weekend going over all my notes on how to do drill, will have 2 more day/nights to prepare and practice. Once this next week is over, I should be able to go full bore with no problem or hesitation.

25 June 2007
Too many boxes

Still unpacking and finding homes for all our stuff. We handed over the keys to our old basement suite yesterday, after we spent the day shampooing the carpets and cleaning. Plus we moved over the last of our items that we're still at the old place. Good news is we'll have a good day of rest on Saturday. Hopefully not too much more unpacking.
On the plus side I'll be going away to teach next week, however, it'll be in the local area instead of out of Province. Can't complain as I'll be housed, fed, and get extra pay.

17 June 2007
Move done

Took possession on the 15th, and spent the day moving carloads over. On the 16th we were able to get a large rental from National, and we took all the furniture and large items over. Was a great boon to have my younger brother helping plus Dan and Goran from work. Now we're down to some smaller items that were left behind. Few more carloads and it will all be done. Will need to go shopping, since some of the items need to get replaced: new weather stripping (they did a poor job of putting it in), metal tubing for the dryer (current is plastic, bad), and lots of little nick knacks. New place is nice, can hear nature for most of the day, and it's very green. Only downside is there is a large road about 50m away, but between us is a bit of a buffer.

9 June 2007
Moving Soon

Another week to go before taking po session. I was able to get my B-Day present today: a LG 22" LCD monitor. It was on special and my old 19" CRT was dying. Will need to calibrate it, so that it matches output to printer, as right now everything is a bit bright.

1 June 2007
28

Another year, another birthday. We've purchased a Condo, and we've spent the last week doing the paper work.. lots of paperwork.

27 May 2007
House Shopping

It's been a somewhat eventful two weeks: Work has been work, however had the Work summer BBQ, and then had a pre-10 year reunion BBQ. It was interesting seeing people I haven't seen in ten years. Some have changed quite a bit (to the point of not recognizing), and others not quite so much.
Today we went out and looked at Condos/Townhouses, since we're now starting to get to the point where we can afford it. We'll keep looking and saving and we should be able to do it soon.

13 May 2007
Mother's Day

Today went well. Visited Nicole's parents for Lunch, then over to my parents for dinner. Had a good visit with my mother (and my younger brother, who was also out for a visit).

Rather fun when Nicole gets annoyed (not at me though). Subject to countless people not bothering to read how to unsubscribe from an email news list, she sent off a email to the countless people who evidently can't read. Reminds me of what happens when she crosses paths with telemarketers and companies with poor service. Entertaining indeed.

12 May 2007
Weekend off work

Hurray, no work. The rivers haven't overrun the dykes yet, so no flooding just yet.
Last night we watched the movie Shortbus. Rated R for very mature content, definitely not for little children, I'm sure some adults would have a hard time of it as well. However, it is a good movie, after the first five minutes of shock value they get to the plot of the movie and how all the characters will interact with each other. At first I was indecisive on the movie, but by the end I liked it. Also the music in it is fabulous.

Today we went to Buntzen lake, up in Anmore. Walked up to the viewpoint and checked out prices for doing canoe/kayak rental. Will be back to do the 12km walk at some point.
After we came back and watched some movies: Night at the Museum is a kids movie not a family movie. I wasn't very entertained, and I pretty sure there is better fare out there for children. Then we watched Music and Lyrics, unfortunately it's not the actors at their best. Beginning and ending worked, however, the middle it felt like they were trying to add too much depth to some of the characters. Felt rather contrived.

9 May 2007
Social Networking

I've gone and done it now. I'm on facebook.
First day for the barbecuing season. Rejoice, the barbeque still works!

8 May 2007
Busy Weekend

Been a little while, since the last post. Nicole had me do up a classmates profile, as there is a 10 year reunion coming up for my old high school. Pretty sure she wants me to get into this social networking thing, bugging me do put up a profile on facebook.

Last Saturday was the Sr. NCO's mess dinner, the meal was long, but there was lots of wine, however there wasn't enough time to fire the miniature guns with the black powder. We only did 3 volleys this year. Received a bit of a flash burn on my right arm from a few stray sparks.

Rest of the weekend was family: Parents on Sunday for some catching up since Christmas (no life and no weekends due to work for 4 months) and then my younger Bro and girlfriend on Monday for a game of Munchkin.

24 April 2007
Quiet Day

Yesterday was our 2 year wedding anniversary. I was planning it to be a bit more of a grand affair, however, it turned low key. Went out to Port Moody for sight seeing, then off to commercial drive for dinner, then home for hockey and a movie. Hockey went very well, with the Canucks taking game 7, and the movie was Stranger than Fiction, it was a good movie.

21 April 2007
Relaxation

Leave pass went in, and was signed off. I now have a week off of work. Fabulous.
Week in review: Had our yearly SAV inspection, which we haven't had for the last few years, all the points were pretty minor and should be easy to correct. Other than that the week was pretty quiet either doing preparation for the SAV or working on the standard routine such as returns, requisitions, acquisitions, and cleaning my desk under the mountains of paperwork (paperwork thou art mine bane).

13 April 2007 (Friday)
End of Week

It's the weekend! How did that happen? Quick week.
Good album: The Life Pursuit by Belle and Sebastian. Very catchy Indie music.

9 April 2007
3 Ticks later, Conrad the Tick Magnet is back home

Over the Easter long weekend I was away with work, the final testing for the course I was on, doing an artillery shoot. It went well, I passed.

Was rather weird, I had never seen a tick before and I was bitten by three while on the Ex. with work, the medics told me to unscrew and pull at the same time, I think it might have worked, however next time I'll use tweezers and an alcohol swab (hopefully no next time). Then after that I wake up today with pain near my scapula, rather nasty almost like when my back was messed up through work, hopefully it will go away.

Watched one of the movies we bought a few weeks back. Art School Confidential. Overall interesting movie, however, didn't think too much of the ending. I can agree with a number of items in the movie though, back when I was taking art at college, often people agreed very easily but criticism was very hard for anyone to do. Something about hurting peoples feelings.
Plus another thing I didn't like, stealing others work and claiming it as your own. That's low.

29 March 2007
Fiscal Year End

Went in to work expecting it to be quick, instead I worked the whole day. I'm supposed to be on leave, funny how this works. Buying sporting goods and fitness equipment was the priority, as if we don't spend it, we lose the money for it.

28 March 2007
Nicole's B-Day

It was Nicole's Birthday yesterday, went out and had dinner at an ethiopian restaurant. Plus we bought a new desk for Nicole and a new DVD player. As we found out when our old cheapie bit the dust, after we had rented several DVD's. Of the 3 we rented: James Bond Casino Royal, good, bit confusing at the end like they had to quickly rap up the ending; Borat, bad, we stopped midway through, we put it as a bit better than School of Rock, but still bad; and Failure to Launch, good, was expecting it to be too much of a chick flick, but it landed somewhere in between, as it had various comedy moments.

Spent the day at the LDS center going through Microfilm, after the first 3 hours I was done. However, I still had 3 hours till Nicole picked me up. By the end my brain was fried.

27 March 2007
Back

I was away for almost two weeks, first an exercise in Ft. Lewis, then immediately after up to CFB Comox for Cougar Salvo. Busy few weeks, now it's a few days of relaxation, since I'm on leave.

Hurray.

6 March 2007
200 Dollar Club

Went to Costco.

Spent a good part of the day at the closest LDS family centre (in Burnaby), haven't done any none internet based genealogy in a few years, so I had a look at the microfilm for Ontario. Will have to redo the genealogy section pretty soon, as the amount of information per html file is getting a bit excessive, probably break down the census information per year.

5 March 2007
Time off

Burning annual leave for two days, so I actually get something of a weekend. Rejoice.

24 February 2007
Same old

Finished part one of the course. Did the last test today on Ballistics, and hardest of all the tests that I did, but I still was able to get 95%, not too bad.

I actually get the rest of the weekend off work, nice. Catch up on sleep, plus no longer being sick helps out a lot.

Also of note, I've updated the census information under genealogy. Found my old notes for the 1871 census, made from when I looked at the microfilm. Page is getting pretty large (100+kb), and I haven't even touch the 1901-1911 censuses except for the heads of household.

10 February 2007
Still Sick

So I received 98% on last weekends test, I went into to work for the week, and my sickness is still lingering as an annoyance.

Went out today for a walk, lots of sun, good weather, and in typical BC fashion we can now wear shorts in February. I'm sure the rest of Canada hates us. Went to the mall with Nicole as she wanted new geeky-chic glasses and spring/summer shoes, by the end with me being patient we walked away with 3 boxes of shoes, and a dent in Nicole's debit card.

3 February 2007
Sick

Nicole was sick earlier in the week, and I though nothing of it. Then I caught it as well. Was sent home from work yesterday, and now I'm missing my course today. This really sucks, as I do not like being congested and have a raw nose from the dripping. Went in for a part of the course, did the text, missed two items from some of the questions. I was over thinking some of it, and forgot the basics. doh. Oh well it's only a 70% pass mark, so I do not think I'll of had any problem with it.

28 January 2007
If it bleeds it leads

Been pretty busy with work for the last two weeks, 6 days on and then 1 day off.

Did training over this weekend, and was briefly interviewed by Global TV News. Apparently they used a sound bite from the interview and also showed a brief bit of me ordering my troops up to the objective.

Interesting to note the media became very interested in what we were doing when some bad data was first published by the Province newspaper. However, the article published had no name attached, and it could easily have been done by some back room media hack, it garnered some media attention, and then generated a fair amount of interest for what we were doing. Rather funny, since I've done unaccredited news articles before, and it's easy to get away with bad data, since it's not traced to a proper name. It can easily turn trivial or small issues that be may factually incorrect into rather large headaches.

15 January 2007
Week of Work

Not too much going on. Today was my one day off in the week. Last week was getting back into the jive of everything and taking the course. Strange going from a standard 4 day work week to a full on 6 day work week, while still including various work nights as well. Still have one week worth of annual leave left, will need to take a stress week at some point probably in Feb.

8 January 2007
Back to work

Vacation is over, and I went back to work on Saturday. From now till April I'll be taking my Gun Line Troop Sergeant Major (GATSM) course. So far it's quite interesting, however, there will be a lot of self study to make sure I know everything that I'm supposed to know, plus do some upgrading.

Rented My Super-Ex-Girlfriend and Over the Hedge on Friday. The later was the better of the two. Back doing genealogy stuff again, as I'm currently going through the 1901 census, finding the relevant data for various people then citing it within the notes.

Tweaking the layout and style of the website. GoDaddy, my webhost, doesn't support Cpanel, so I'll have to figure another way to setup PHP software for this site.

1 January 2007
Happy New Year

Last few days have been good. Had some people over for the eve, with vin & snacks. Went out and rented Bon Cop Bad Cop & The Inconvenient Truth a few days back. Both are good movies, the first for being entertainingly good canadian drama and the inconvenient truth for being a very nice and straightforward documentary about how the environment is down the drain.