24 December 2008
Fabulous

Nicole made a roast and yorkshire pudding for Christmas eve dinner. We were supposed to go to her Grandparents for dinner, however, road conditions were prohibitive for driving out to the Valley.

Had to clear the patio today. There was about 1-1/4ft (between 14-16") of compact snow that has fallen. Pretty sure this is the most I've seen in the mainland, off the hills.

22 December
Vacation

Hurray.

Another course weekend, lots of snow everywhere, worse yet it took forever to get home, which is amusing since we left the earliest as possible, and yet it was the latest for me to get home. From the course it sounds like the test Sunday might get binned, although I think I did fairly well, I know of one maybe 2 small mistakes. Worse yet the first one I could easily of fixed, and I knew it too.

At home today, looking out at the patio, there must be at least a foot of snow. The radio is stating that we'll be getting more. Nuts.

Silly Nicole, with snow on the ground, radio advising against driving, and me telling take a snow day. She still went out, and in 5 minutes was stuck, had one chain on one tire, with the chain going the wrong direction (making it looser, instead of tighter), and then requiring me to bail her out and push the car home. She finally took transit.

18 December
Countdown to Holiday

Close, so close that I can taste it: Winter Leave. Might even have a white Christmas to boot.

Mamma Mia! - Found it insipid. Could only stomach 30min (or less) of it and that was it.
JCVD - Found it entertaining, and yet strange. Ending seemed somewhat forced, however, due to the nature of the movie, there were limited possibilities for good endings.

1 December
Woooooork

Took the new ferry across the straight. Nice and big, however, found I prefer the lounge on the older style of boats.. First time I've gone to the buffet for dinner, was nice.

Taking a course with work, which requires me to take the ferry. Material is good, teaching method is a bit rusty, and politics could potentially be bad. I just want to learn.

26 November
Cannibalistic Fish

Nothing like having a fish tank where the fish eat the weak, or dead.
Took a day off today. Working weekends, so I need a day off, else my sanity would erode.

Madagascar: Enjoyed it, recommend.

21 November
Survived

Workplace inspection is over. Few areas of correction, but nothing show stopping. Now just have to get caught up on the never ending workload.

Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull: Okay, other Indy movies were better.
Hancock:: Okay, better hero movies out there this year.
Get Smart: Good, didn't have high expectations and found it entertaining.
Son of Rambow: Okay, high and low notes, probably not for everyone.
Kung-Fu Panda: Good, pretty amazing what can be done with CGI now.
Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: Good, light entertainment. Turn off brain.
Hellboy 2: Good, entertaining, this might actually be better than the first one.
Empress and the Warriors: Crap, stopped after 10min. Dig how it rains but no one gets wet

14 November
Bad Cooking

Generally I like meatloaf, but somehow I've really gummed it up. Didn't cut the unions small enough and used the wrong type of bread/oat material. I'm not impressed with my cooking ability..

11 November
Lest we Forget

A moment of silence

4 November 08
Pain

Completed my Battle Fitness Test (BFT) today, which consists of 13km carrying 30kg. Feet hurt, and I have blood blisters on both feet (plus a few regular ones, and hot spots). Suffice it to say, I'm in pain.

3 November 08
Gah!

Nicole cleaned the fridge and freezer, reorganized everything, and then set the temperature. Only unfortunate part is the temperature was set to off. I couldn't figure out why everything was thawing in the freezer, until I saw that. Also explains the now bad smell emanating from the fridge.

31 October 08
bleh..

Long work days, long work nights. Now it's a friday, and it's time to par... rest and have a quiet evening. Took my recert for TDG and passed, attended the class to ensure that I would pass, so now I'm covered for the next 3 years, joy.

Seed of Chucky: Wasn't overly bad, but was this meant to be a thriller or a farce? Watched it on TV (after hours at work), so it might've been heavily edited. Probably was too tired to think negatively about it. If nothing better on, bored, and don't have anything to do then might as well watch.

21 October 08
Work thy art my bane

Title says it, sort of a love/hate relation I guess, as all the good that may be done there are enough people who are either lazy or dumb enough to muck things up. Guess I'll just shake my head, carry on, and try not to have lazy or dumb moments.

The Incredible Hulk: Better than the first one. This sequel has it's moments, but it still seems to lack. Wait for it to appear on one of the movie channels, with the new movies.

13 October 08
Dead Turkey Day

Lessons for next year: 1lbs takes 20 min to cook, on average 2lbs per person, 27lbs is too big of a turkey to cook, it would be easier to cook two smaller turkeys than a big one, and ensure that everyone knows exactly what to bring via either written note or email so that there isn't too much food and that there is no confusion or memory loss from what is or may be said over the phone..

11 October 08
Ice Cream Maker

Woot, new toy. Just have to wait 6-12hrs for the thing to freeze.

Have an oversized Turkey ready to go, and have been doing all the phone during the last week and today. Should be a very good day tomorrow, and then a very good sleep come Monday. Only bad part is, because of the size of the turkey it needs to be in the oven no later than 8am, crazy.

Work week wasn't the best, thinking back on it, getting involved with other peoples projects can lead to irritation and dismay (for me). Best to do my own job (plus projects) and keep an arms length from other peoples projects. Think the route to take is more impersonal (for the project), but give more advise or guidance to the other party(ies).

The Gamers: Dorkness Rising: Quite a funny parody. Laughed quite a bit, some of absurdity was great and not too over the top for the material presented. Definite rental.

You don't mess with the Zohan: Disappointing. It was over the top in many cases, which would be ok if it worked and paced well, however in the end it was just too juvenile. Adam Sandler has made some good movies, but this simply seems an abasement of prior work. Moral of the movie is we all can get along, or greed corrupts. Two hours I'll never get back. Wait for it to hit over-the-air TV.

4 October 08
Back to work

Not too sure how it happened, but it seems I only had about 1/2 a day of productive work during the last week. Two days off at a seminar, one day in conference, and then most of the last day was catching up on email. Hopefully next week will be more productive.

A Town Called EUReKA, Season 1: Entertaining. Pilot is very good, few episode after that are a bit shaky, but by seasons end it seems to have it's footing.

Iron Man: Looking for a good action movie? This is it. New movie rental.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall: liked and laughed. bit crude, but for those of decent age I recommend.

29 September 08
4890km

Spent two weeks and drove across Western Canada. It was fun, and we saw a number of sights (Calgary Zoo, Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller, Manitoba Museum, the flatness of Saskatchewan (Hwy 1 hides the fact that it really is flat), Corner Gas Filming Set, Rockies, Banff (overrated, plus having to pay $25 at a toll booth on HWY 1 in Alberta licks, didn't see any in BC)). Had a good visit with friends and family, plus relaxed and zen'd. I love having a fuel efficient car, 800klicks to a tank is fab, except for the part where one realizes they're almost out of fuel and they know there's no gas station close due to it being Saskatchewan.

The Fall: Move had a very similar feel to Pan's Labyrinth, with a dual story/reality going on. Slow at moments, and unfortunately this led to the movie not really gelling together. I really liked the cinematography of opening, slow black and white, felt it had great purpose and significance. Overall felt it was odd, wait for it to hit one of the movie channels.

10 September 08
Broken Transit System

Now that students are back in school, it really shows the cracks in trying to use transit. Wait times of an hour for some lines.

99 B-Line at Commercial is a bit of a joke, instead of people using all three entrances, police have to direct people into one big line. Really seems to slow down the loading process, and create a longer long. All this because people "might" jump on the bus to fill the last few gap's, so called line jumpers. Hilarious. Took the #9, the milk run, takes longer, but after several stops one can transfer to the 99 and use the empty space.

2 September 08
Bad Day

Insomnia, trouble getting out of bed, over rushed breakfast/coffee, couldn't find cellphone, missed bus, overcrowded skytrain, overcrowded bus (school is back in), sky opened up with rain for the last block to work (forecast said sunny). Overall, just not a good day. Good thing was at the end of it all, I found my cellphone.

Big Nothing: Lackluster black comedy, with a lack of laughs and not much wit. I understand the notion of what they're attempting, however the idea that everything is circular or what goes around comes around doesn't yield a good end payoff. Lack of character development, a slow start, and uneven pacing really hamper the overall film. Wait for it to hit network TV, when everything else is a rerun.

21 August 08
Reading

Finished reading the book America (The Book), different in that I haven't read any books to completion in quite a while, aside from publications for work.

Finishing the Game: Mokumentary on the effort to finish Bruce Lee's last movie. Movie's not too long, which is good as it's not the most stellar of movies, but at the same time doesn't make one want to burn the DVD and curse at it for wasting an 1-1/2 hours. I'd say wait for it to hit one of the movie channels.

13 August 08
Fruit

Cutting up all the fruit we still had left from the Okanagan, as it's all getting frozen. Can honestly say pairing cherries is not fun, it's quite tedious. However, putting on a movie helps while doing so.

Find me Guilty: Weird that Vin Diesel has hair. Not action packed, but the movie has good flow, and I think does rather well. Underrated, recommend a rental.

11 August 08
Website Access

Reinstalled my Web Editing and Design software. Can post on the my site and update things now. Also can play with colour, my Wacom tablet is almost happy, now I just have to find my old copy of Painter.

9 August 08
Crazy

Nothing like getting called into work late at night. Looks like something burst, so there's water everywhere. Building maintenance people came in, so it'll get fixed up. Maybe some lessons learned, maybe not, but anything contaminated is now junk.

8 August 08
Fiscal Responsibility

Some people don't have it. It's about a third (maybe half) cheaper to photocopy in colour in house than taking it to Kinko's. Apparently not everyone is aware of this. It's even cheaper to order the info sheets and then buy a $50 stamp and then deal with every sheet. To say the least, I was shocked when I saw the bill (sure I had a confused look on my face when told how much it was), somewhere along the lines of "surely there must be a mistake".

I'm probability a bit irritated as a Designer. I want good design on the cheap, but dislike seeing bad design done expensively. Oh well, hopefully it will be a big learning experience for those involved.

6 August 08
Long Day

Above headline should be expressed as a sound. Knowing what the future holds is also the same sound.

5 August 08
Cooking Chef

Nothing like coming home from work and cooking (and making leftover lunch's for the next few weeks). Mock Cabbage rolls, Corn Chowder, and a Rum Cocktail that Nicole happily drank.

4 August 08
Okanagan

Drove up to Kelowna for the BC Day long weekend, which wasn't too bad as it was about $60 in fuel for a round trip. Went up to Myra Canyon to look at the rebuild Kettle Valley trestles, nice view, however the openness and cliffs were not my thing. Went up to Oyama on another day, and spent a good portion of the day enjoying the cool water of Wood Lake. All in all a nice little vacation.

31 July 08
Fireworks

Had a long day yesterday. Standard length working day, quick nap, and then a working evening. After Nicole picked me up from work and we incidentally found a good spot to watch China fireworks demonstration. Arbutus corridor runs just by work, which offers a pretty good line of sight except for the low stuff.

Upgraded to Windows XP. I like.

27 July
Soaked

Went to the garden, just so happened that Nicole picked the wettest moment to go. Once at the garden it became to downpour. Not amused.

Backing stuff up before making the switch. Discovered that the Copy of XP that I have is an upgrade only from W98, will have to find my old install CD.

25 July
Ok week

Week ended alright. As my computer is still pooched, I'm removing W2k and making the leap to XP. Will see how that goes.

Movies during the week:
Dr Strangelove or how I learned to love the Bomb: Very well done, and unfortunate very true. Human stupidity knows no bounds.
Spike & Mike's Classic Festival of Animation: Meh. For the true experience, it's best to go to one of the live events, as the atmosphere and crowd are part of the fun. The animations on the DVD are for the most part alright, however, some of them are downright dull. Also it shows how the CG looks quite old, while the other made from other mediums seem to last.
Airplane: Spoof. Sometimes memories are meant for a reason, going back to watch this movie wasn't all that swell. Some of the jokes are out of date, it being almost 30 years old now.
March of the Penguins: Cute. The documentary that is included shows things in a bit of a different light, a tad darker.
Penelope: Good movie. Recommend.

15 July
Deleted Files

I accidentally deleted some files, tried to recover and no luck. Found a program called Recuva, worked like a charm, perfectly recovered 99.5% of the material with the other .5% being easily accountable. Scary thing is it was able to list every single file that had ever been on the usb drive, including the shipping software that was removed when the drive was bought years back. Best thing about it is it's free, as in beer.

14 July
Good Weekend

Last week ended well to boot. Goes to show what happens when I have one bad day. Spent Saturday/Sunday cleaning the house, much tidier now, and then today out in the Sun plus visited the library. Have several more dvd's to watch, pretty interesting to see what they have, including new releases that things that one would not think they'd find, hurray for Canada, pretty sure the stuff there wouldn't fly in most other countries, as the "think about the children" statement would all of a sudden come up.

Movie du Jour:
Ran: Part of the Criterion Collection, which is a good thing, as they are often high quality reproductions. Moreover, if it's a foreign film it will come with the original language with subtitles, which is only way to watch foreign film, as dubbing simply ruins the emotions. I've watched it years before, but I can certainly say the remastering has really brought forth the colours in the county. As a tragedy it can be tough to watch at times, as those that deserve to get it don't soon enough, and those that don't do. However, I would recommend the film, but ensure that you have something happy after as this is based on Shakespeare. One thing to watch are the many different morals evident through action or reference, such as what goes around comes around or the truth hurts.

Computer is still a bit messed up from the Zone Alarm / Microsoft update. Looks like I'll have to reinstall the system, or maybe upgrade to something new, since there is now corruption taking place.

Here's hoping I have positive Karma this week.

9 July
People are idiots, and so are companies

Got home, long day, not happy with some of the work done, as I don't like sloppy jobs or poor workmanship: lets patch it instead of redoing, it's a temporary solution, or quick-fix types.

Find out once home that I can't use the internet, have to partially re-install windows, takes hours, finally find out that the maker of the software firewall that I use didn't bother to update the program before a big update for Windows came down. Freaking firewall locked me out of the internet, well I never really liked Zone Alarm. Perhaps I should be looking at more of a better hardware firewall (new router), as I'll probably have a less of a fickle time. Or maybe go to BSD or Ubuntu Linux with a hardware firewall.

As probably can be told from above, I'm not happy.

6 July
Emergency Cooking

Deep Freeze was left slightly ajar, so all the frozen meat that was starting to defrost needed to be cooked. Getting my Barbeque on. Mmm dead animal.

Last week was busy, no stat holiday or day off for me, no time to take one off. Meh, if the work load goes down in the next few months, maybe I can take time off. Till then I'm working straight till September.

Finished all three seasons of Weeds, think the main character is a ditz, hopefully by the end of 4th season there will be some karma or they'll improve the series.

Lars and the real Girl: Bizarre. Starts off whatever, then it gets kinda weird, as the main character is dealing with a mental illness. However, it ends on a very good note.
Run Fat Boy Run: It was ok, maybe watch it once. Would recommend Simon Pegg's other movies. At least it didn't end all fairytale, and life continued.

28 June
Toasty

It is now definitely summer, the sun is out, things are warm, and at night the outside is cooler than indoors.

Received a whole lot of Genealogy information, will take awhile to sort through.

Onto the third season of Weeds. Still good

27 June
Back to work

One day of work, not as bad as last time taking time off, however, always catching up on paperwork and email isn't fun. Something that I shouldn't ever do is assume, as often the other side will also assume, and then neither side does the work. I am happy that some of the people I work with are very competent, so things do get done on short notice.

Watching the second season of Weeds, quite fun. Intro music is now sung with a different style each time, and the ending music always seems to be thematic. Recommend this series.

26 June
Lund

Packed up last Friday, left on Saturday. We went up with no plan, took two ferries, and went to the end of Highway 101, which took us up to Lund. We stayed at Okeover Provincial Park for two days, there were Sand Dollars everywhere and each step was worth $50 as there were oysters everywhere at low tide, the only caveat being they were off limits due to Red Tide. After those two days I had to go to the hospital due to ear infection, at that point we made the decision to go back to Lund and stay at a Sunny Lund camp site. So we stayed there for two nights. Of the following days we spent one over at Savary Island, which does have huge sandy beaches, and very warm waters, and the day after that going up via boat and doing a lunch cruise of desolation sound. Quite Fun. After the option was either move closer to home or just hoof it home all the way. We opted for going home.

20 June
Vacation

Taking time off work for a week. Looking to go somewhere up the sunshine coast, probably start at the top and work our way down.

Have been watching the first season of Weeds, quite fun.

17 June
Ugh!

Work never seems to end. Worse yet, it seems to follow me home.

Went up to Kelowna about a week ago for a funeral/memorial, seemed to me a bit weird, instead of mourning one's life, it was a celebration of one's life. Will be strange, as the person who passed away was quite nice, and overall a good sort.

Movies of late:
300: Was not good, not only was it not good, it really was quite terrible.
Capote: Interesting portrayal of the mentioned person, and the story of his life's opus. However, can say the main character isn't really likable.
Brokeback Mountain: Film had many ups and down, quite slow at many points, and really never quite understood what the big deal with the film was. Main characters are not the best of people, in specific to the relations of those around them, but different times different place. Watch once, after that its a snoozer.
The Barbarian Invasion (French): Nicole ma dit que je dois écrire ceci en français. C'étais un bon film, et je dit au monde d'aller voir. C'est un histoire du vie et du morte avec les amies et la famille. Je pense que je devrais étudier mon français plus, parce que c'est mauvais.

2 June
Bare Face

Steak is good, I like our BBQ. Yesterday went well, no major incidents to report about. I received a 9600GT from Nicole for my B-Day, and quite a surprise from by younger Bro and parents... I received an acoustic guitar. My fingers now hurt.

Shaved off my mustache, Nicole is in shock.

1 June
Blitzed

Ouch. No hangover, just need more sleep.

28 May
No Rest

Been busy. Worked another weekend. Not too sure what to really say other that I'm tired. Good news is I'll be getting some time off work in a week, and then another week off work in a few weeks to sleep and relax, and not think about the next two months.

Just found out that the local library stocks a ton of really good DVD's. Hurray, no need to buy or rent for the next while. Get 5 DVDs at a time, for a week, seems good to me, plus either they're classics or award winners.

Movies of late:
Capote: High pitched voice, conflicting motives, and the protagonist one wasn't too sure whether to feel for him or think his a bit of an ass. Overall the movie was good, and watching through it once would be worthwhile.

18 May
Overdue

It has been awhile, since I've updated.

Brief overview of the last few weeks:
• Filling in my boss, who's away for 3 months. Not easy, and rather stressful, as I'm now doing my current job, and sort of the other.
• Watched two spaghetti westerns: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, also Once upon a time in the West, both of which I thought were quite good.
• Garden plot size has doubled, as we were able to get another plot. So we now have 200sq/ft versus 100sq/ft. Nicole is happy.
• Received a ton of Rhubarb from my Mom. Conrad is happy.
• Borrowed my younger brothers Wii. Fun times, my bro is awesome.
• Bought Super Smash Bros for the Wii. Time disappears too quick.
• Bought a portable shop-vac so we can clean under the deck. Electric toys make Conrad happy.
• Have tons of new Genealogy stuff to sort through, joy.
• Volunteered for a fundraiser that Nicole did, went ok, Nicole was stressed.
• Did about 3 birthdays in that period as well. Plus mothers day.

Think that sums up the majority.

4 May
Out of the Desert, and into the Rain

Back home today from a week (plus) of field work. It's nice having a weekend after working 2 weeks straight, plus having a bed that doesn't consist of the ground, and getting more than 5 hours of sleep a night. However, still feel a bit light after having all the protective wear removed, and my body still thinks it's wearing ballistic eyeware. Guess it's like going from wearing glasses to not wearing them.

Nicole has decided to downsize, which includes her computer, but we've kept the monitor. I must confess that having 2 monitors with Dualview rocks.

24 April
Flu?

What the heck! I'm still sick. Have to wonder how many people I've contaminated.
Next week will be a long week, but I'll just have to think positive, as the week will end.

20 April
Stuffed Nose

Read today that the Flu vaccine for the last season has been found ineffective. Wow. Pretty sure most people could say that considering. BTW I'm still sick, and it's now gone to being a stuffy nose.

19 April
Coughing up a Storm

Started feeling sick late Wednesday, was sick on Thursday, and by Friday I was waylaid in bed. Fever wasn't too bad, however, the overall feeling of unease was very irritating. Plus the coughing up of phlegm, but I did get some sleep though. Getting better now thankfully, but a note to self: don't eat pineapple when sick, as it'll burn going down.

Chocolat: Older movie, thought it would be heavier on the chic flick side of things, however, it turned out to be a rather pleasant movie. Would definitely recommend.

14 April
A weekend in Victoria

Went and did some professional development in Victoria. I wasn't impressed. It seemed cobbled together at the last minute, not all of the lectures were pertinent or simply grazed the surface, and they didn't have any coffee. Curses! They do need to change it to get more people to attend. Maybe bring in guest speakers, as they did that two years ago and the attendance was through the roof. That, and maybe advertise.

Went to a restaurant called Ric's on Saturday night, I was told they'd have good food, just there'd be a bit of a wait. Two hours later, and the food wasn't something to write home about. Guessing something went severely wrong (forgot about us?), however the restaurant picked up the tab which was nice.

8 April
Paperwork

Into work paperwork, after lunch paperwork, at the end of the day more paperwork. Unfortunately burning it won't make it go away, thanks to printers and emails. Had fun going home, slept on the bus and skytrain, however, the knee was bugging me on route, rather unpleasant.

There will be blood: Feels like an Epic movie, as it was very realistic, engrossing, and had custom music. The principal actor basically is the character which results in it being rather spooky. There are many underlying themes to the movie, but at the end it all comes down to power, as in who's on top, or last man standing. Recommend a watch, and a second as well.. A director commentary for the film would've be very helpful, as there are bits that are rather confusing.

6 April
Lots and lots of sleep

Still sore from yesterday. Of the things we found when we did the garden plot were jerusalem artichoke tubers, took some home cooked them up, tasted like salted sun-flower seeds, which makes sense since they're from the same family of plant. As they weren't too bad, will replant so we can grow some more to eat.
Also went shopping for plants today, good thing we have a membership with VanDusen Gardens, we received 10% off.

Also have been working away at genealogy, and am just about done with the 1881 british census.

Charlton Heston passed away yesterday, did some great films like Soylent Green, The Omega Man, and Planet of the Apes. He gave an interesting speech at some university about how culture has changed to be politically correct to the extreme, where if one voices their opinion on politically sensitive topics they get labeled something undesirable (-phobe or -ist), even if for discussion. Speech can heard or read here. Nice touch him calling most of the students cowards.

5 April
Goodness

Went to our new community garden plot. It's 10x10ft, so 100sq feet. Lot was a mess, but after 3 hours we cleaned it of weeds, turned it all over, removed numerous tree roots, have it ready for replanting, and put our bodies in a sore state.

Notting Hill: Cute tale of fame and the ordinary person. Nicole really likes, I found it okay, but it's a british romance, `nuff said. Probably will end up watching it multiple times.

The Waitress: Romantic comedy, with pie making thrown in. Wasn't too sure how it could have a happy ending, but it was able to pull it off in the end. Very good performance by Andy Griffith. Worth watching.

2 April
End of Leave

Not too much happened on my days off, bit of cleaning, bit of cooking, and a bit of genealogy. Will be doing some community gardening, as we've now received our plot, so time to get out the seed and start shoveling.
Called a few places today about getting our bathtub replaced, and I can say that the quotes I received for getting a soaker tub installed seemed down right absurd, even more so since it was 10x more that the cost of the item being installed.

Superman Returns: Entertaining, yet still empty like popcorn. Bad guy, could've been badder or smarter or something to at least flesh him out better. Hopefully it will start up the franchise again. Okay movie, watch once.

Sweeny Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Dark, could've been longer, not too sure about the musical aspect. At least the story ended when the principle character met his fate. Meh, it's ok, of the three this week it's last.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age. I don't like inspiring speeches, they usually come off contrived. Don't know if it's the actor or the main character, but someone needs something over the bone. Ok, not stellar. Seems time passed without any marker, other than you're dead or you're going to be dead. Seemed like there was some revisionism done with the movie and actually history, could also be that they used her entire actual life and condensed it into one small period. Watch once.

30 March
Cake and more Cake

Nicoles B-Day just never stopped. Saturday we celebrated with her family, and went out to Shabusen on Granville, came back to our place and played Apples to Apples. Then today went out to VanDusen Botanical Garden, did the tour of the garden, and had lunch at the Shaughnessy Restaurant with my Family, then over to Gran's for cake. I'm pretty sure I'm restauranted and caked out.

28 March
Weird Day

Friday was a weird day. Went in to work to do a tiny bit of year end paperwork, and it ended up that I was at work for 7 hours doing paperwork. Weird as it was a day off work, eh.

27 March
Towels

Went shopping for work yesterday as part of year end, and I forgot my notepad at the Linen'n Things. Nicole and I stopped by to pick it up before heading out to celebrate her birthday, however, after picking up the notepad, we browsed the store and bought $140 worth of matching bath, hand, and face towels. Let it be a lesson to not forget things while shopping, thankfully they were all on sale for good prices.
Went out to the Thai restaurant "" in Burnaby for dinner, wasn't too spicy, but I had lots of water just in case, and the portions forced us to take stuff home too.

25 March
Finally Over

The deed is done, and now I get some weekends back, as the course I was helping instruct is over, moreover, I now wear one less hat.
Last weekend was painful, as a last week was a standard work week it then went into a work weekend in the field, with me being constantly on my feet with the main respite being at worst 3 hours sleep for one night, however, I do take my own blame for not eating during road moves, with the constant go go go, it's easy to forget to eat. Came back home on Monday night, and it was wash up and pass out in bed, doing the dead mans sleep, the bed felt so good. Funny thing was during the weekend due to lack of eating, the apple I had on Sunday morning tasted so good, even though I was only able to get 2 bites in on my 1 minute break it was great.

Today I've just chilled. Relaxed, cancelled some of my plastic (why bother, eh!), and watched some films.

Films over the last little period:

Michael Clayton: I liked, because the bad people received what they deserved. However, the good and the bad were not straight good and evil, as the plain people who do not look evil can do horrible bad acts.

Becoming Jane: I liked, found it witty. Some of the historical facts were altered a bit to add spice to the film, but would not detract from casual viewers. Jane Austin fans might have a bit of a tiff.

Elizabeth: I liked, found it empowering and movie indicates how power corrupts and changes people. Why can't everyone just get along?

The Darjeeling Limited: Another movie by writer/director of the Royal Tenebaums, and the Life Aquatic. I found it was a good movie, and for this type of movie, one really needs to watch it a second time to see everything that is a visual metaphor. Short movie, with a few laughs, that is somewhat entertaining.

I am Legend: Same storyline as the movie the Omega Man, except updated. Interesting to note that the main character after 3 years became rather loopy. Different in some respects to the older movie, but it was entertaining and is worth one watch through.

Enchanted: Wow. I liked it and recommend it. It's a very sweet tale that would be passable for many ages, unless your of an age that doesn't like romantic fairytales. Nicole said it was too silly, worse yet was after the movie when I broke out in song.

18 March
No rest

Work feels like it's been break neck speed, even more so with me wearing several different "hats", or having to do multiple jobs that do not mesh well for time management. Worse was last Saturday where I came home and just couldn't turn off, it took several hours and reading a design magazine from front to back to take my head off of work. Mind I was getting price quotes for fiscal year end on my day off on Tuesday (18th), so that is probably no helping at all. I'll be glad when this month is over, and some of the pandemonium will have died down, however there is still over a month of backlog paperwork. Sigh.

10 March
DIY

Bought some new furniture yesterday. Malm series of stuff, and I've spent a good portion of yesterday and today putting it together. Now it's done, joy. May I never have to do it anytime soon again.

8 March
Been a long time, but a good time

Last week was a long week. Worked the weekend and then immediately starting working the week on monday. Strange how I can go from teaching a course to taking a course. Course was interesting, but frightening in its own way, as it was talking about information security on micro/macro level. At the end the only thing that I can say is: lock down the wireless network, install firewalls, install anti-virus, install anti-adware, scan the network for viruses, and check the hardware for hidden usb drives (may contain keyloggers). Scary stuff indeed.

Went to Ikea today. Looking at replacing the bedside tables and dressers, and getting new Malm bedsite tables and upright dressers. Thinking the darker brown, however, we also think white might brighten it up.
Small shop at Costco to pick up essentials and get the tax software for yet another tax year... joy.

My wallet fell apart, or rather it was taken apart then it fell apart. It's been all put back in a new wallet. Pretty sure I still have a small stack of wallets from Christmas past, for whenever replacement time happens.

Nights of film:
Meet the Robinsons: CG, simple tale. Something to pass the time while watching, but it's not something to run to the video store for. Nicole though it was a good movie.
Beowulf: It's pretty, it looks real and it's in CG, but not too sure if the CG really helped with the movie or it just became a gimmick. However, Nicole says they butchered the storyline, after awhile we both wished that the movie would sum up and end this tragedy.

27 February
Bathroom Fan

Old bathroom fan kicked the bucket, actually it's not so much dead, but whomever owned this place prior and attempted to fix it did a right poor hack job. Taking out the old box and installing a new super powerful and super quiet one.

All the genealogy data that I've worked one while on leave is now up, including several returns for the 1861 Canadian census.

Been a little while since watching a film.
Little Shop of Horrors: It has its moments, and I know it's trying to be dated, however, dreary and dull sums it up, plus the singing isn't very thrilling. Watch once if there's nothing else, don't watch a second time.

25 February
Genealogy

Sifting through all the information I recently picked up. Updated 1851 Canadian Census, and transcribed the 1840, 1850 and 1860 returns for the American censuses. Still missing small bits of information for those censuses either due to misspellings or the returns no longer existing.

23 February
Annual Unknown Sickness

Go figure, take a few days off work and I get sick. Probably from cleaning is my bet, but the doctor at the walk-in clinic says it's an unknown, and should in theory go away. Meh, doesn't hurt, just itchs, and will see how the allergy pills work, if it doesn't go away I've been told to see my regular Doctor.

We went to the north end of Burnaby Lake today, tried few of the trails, and just chilled in the sun. Was nice, as the spit had quite a variety of birds and critters.

Did some more genealogy. Copied the wrong microfilm for Ireland, will have to go back and redo at some point.

19 February
Annual Leave (Vacation)

Hurray. I have a week and a bit off work, burning up the last bits of my annual time off.

Cinema
Annie Hall: Film done by Woody Allan, made back in the 70s, and a comedy that is in line with what he does. Quite a few jokes still are timeless, however, some parts of the film and cameos in the film are period specific. Overall a good movie, and chances are most people have already seen in.
Dark City: Sci-Fi movie with humans living in a world controlled by others, until they are challenged by those that they control. I liked it, and have seen it a few times. Recommend.

14 February
Happy Days

Valentines day is here again, and what a happy day it is. Picked up the wine yesterday, picked up the pork-chops today, then fired up the Grill, and did some cooking. Also made some Sex in the Pan, also known as Pistachio Surprise among other names. Results for the desert were not quite as expected, but boy did it taste good. I'm also a firm believer in usable plants versus cut stems, so I brought home a mini rose bush for Nicole. End result: I made and had a good dinner, plus a happy wife.

7 February
Strata Meet

AGM for the Strata: went saw, listened, a few individuals had grips with several items, the majority were happy. The few individuals would not stop bringing up the issues, until the majority effectively told them to shut up. Went through 2 hours of this, and most of it was over "chicken shit". With a bit of common sense and a bit of math almost all the issues were black and white, with a tiny bit of gray. Some people are just confrontational, lonely, and perhaps overall permanently confused. End result for many "irritation"

5 February
Of drainage holes and mice

Nicole spilt the dirt from a planter, and unfortunately it got under the water heater. As she was incapable of cleaning it up, I did it. So at the same time, sucked up a dead mouse. Nicole was surprised when I said it was a mouse, albeit it was a toy mouse, with pink fluffy ears. Rather funny, however, I'll have to scrub the area down tomorrow, but for the moment the drainage hole is visible and clear.

History of Violence: Character Study, examining how people change and how those around do and do not change over time. I found it interesting, Nicole wasn't overly fond, and overall it had it's violent moments. It's a short movie too, at about an hour and a half.

3 February
Sweet sweet weekend

Another work week done, and I'm spent. Right tired that is.

The Nannie Diaries: Enjoyable, however, I'm too sure how to categorize it other than being a Drama. Apparently the book is darker than the movie and does not end on a light note like the movie does.

1 February
Fun fun fun

Went to see the Gilbert and Sullivan society of UBC production of The Mikado, in Vancouver last Thursday. It was pretty good, and three hours worth of entertainment for 5-10 dollars per person is cheap.

Read the news and was surprised. Someone came to their senses, and the government is making the evergreen line part of SkyTrain. This just makes sense, as it's proven technology, connects with what we have here, and while it may be more of an initial investment, will pay off by costing less per year. Pretty sure the mayors and their backers are pissed, as they were adamant about it being ground level LRT, despite opposition from the public. Should make the citizenry, and me, happy that it's skytrain now.

I get to teach tomorrow. Joy.

29 January
Snow Day

It's snowing. It's snowing quite a bit. Actually there is about 20cm of snow or more. Freaky. If it was a working day for me, chances are I wouldn't be going in to work, as the buses are not all running. However, this is the last day of my weekend. If it doesn't stop snowing, and clear up, it could be problematic me going to work tomorrow.

Films:
Le Samourai: French, subtitled. Movie is from the late 60's. It picks up with the hitman creating his alibi, and then doing his hit. He's picked up by the local police, and then hunted down by the very group that had previously contracted him. It's a very simple movie, and lets the viewer connect the dots at the end. It's slower paced, and not very action oriented, but I found it alright. However, it's more those that think and look at the details, than those that want action and just off their brain.
Run Lola Run: German, subtitled. Quite a few newer movies or TV shows take elements that were first introduced by this film. It involves how small actions can have a profound impact of people lives. If I'm not mistaken this is like the butterfly effect of if a butterfly flaps it's wings in one place, half a world away there may be a drastic effect. I liked the movie, found it evenly paced and quite focused. One can turn off their brain and enjoy the action (and comedic elements).

27 January
Sleepy time

Finally made it to the weekend, which is a bit odd as for me it's Monday and Tuesdays. Work weekend went down okay, bit of paperwork with more talking, informing and yelling round it out. I'm very happy the work is done as I'm tired, and feeling a little burnt and crispy like. Good news is I still have a ton of leave left which will get more and more interesting the longer I wait to use it, which could be problematic, so probably take one to two more days off per week for the rest of the fiscal year.

Last Friday went out and did Dine Out Vancouver at Capones in Yaletown. Music was spectacular, food was good, bill made me choke.

Movies:
Hard Candy: Key thing to watching this movie is that it's a psychological thriller, and one should absolutely know the content that they are to watch. Unfortunately we didn't do a thorough enough inspection of the content, and were left a bit traumatized. Neither of the main characters are likeable, or even anti-hero like,, and in a way one hopes they both get caught or done in by the end of the movie. Probably not for the majority of people.
Pieces of April: Quirky, but realistic due to the grit and dirt, American Thanksgiving movie. Found it alright, but ultimately sad, that will by the end result in tears. Probably not the best movie to watch right after the one listed above.

22 January
I like Mondays

I like any day that I have off work too, alas tomorrow it's back to the grind. Yesterday was supposed to be the most depressing day of the year, but not working and sleeping in for me was fabulous.

Went out to Stanley Park, and got some sun in the cold weather. Unfortunately Nicole is sick, and has been sick since Saturday, but seems to refuse bed rest and wants to go out and do stuff, except work and schooling, so I guess she will stay sickish. Silly girl.

20 January
Out of the Cold

Back from a winter wonderland in Pemberton. Work is work. Can say one definite thing: The Tim Hortons in Squamish on the Sea to Sky is not very good as it had long waits, staff were inexperienced, and the debit machines weren't working. One bad day sure, but on the return trip still bad.

Watched the CBC Test the Nation TV Special, interesting idea, most of the answers I know, however several in there that are definitely beyond me. End result is that we scored 47 out of 60, which is not too bad.
Last Friday went out to 5th Avenue Cinema in Vancouver and saw Juno.

Film:
Juno: Go watch it. It's a good comedy, with a few very serious moments. It's on the recommend pile of movies in the theaters right now.
My Sassy Girl: Subtitled. Found it quite good, even though it bounced around and was confusing, but in the end the pieces fit together and everything made sense. Quite Heartwarming.

12 January
Vurk Vurk.. Work

Now back to work, which appears to have everything going at breakneck speed, and also teaching on a basic artillery course. I can kiss my weekends and days off goodbye for quite some time now. I'm extactic.. feel the sarcasm. Curious as to see who at work burns out first; to ensure it's not me I'll need to make sure for these coming months to clock out of work on time, and not do OT.

30 fps:
Live Free or Die Hard: Easy to watch action movie, and I found it quite enjoyable after a day of work.
Robot Chicken, Season 2: Just as good, or bad as the first season.

4 January
Dehaired

Received a haircut today, to the top, which had been growing since November, and to the face, which had been growing since my last day of work mid December. Nice having a smooth face, and the moustache doesn't look too bad.
Went shopping today, picked up a new alarm clock to replace the old: same brand, same model type, just 10 years newer and half the size. Bought a loveseat at a place called EQ3 (in Coquitlam), for dirt cheap (about 75% off), as the store location is having a closing clearance. Plus checked out Rona and Home Depot for Bathroom and Kitchen renovation stuff, and general interest.

Movies:
Paycheck: Good, semi-action movie, based upon a novel by Philip K. Dick. Easy to watch, doesn't make you use your brain, and may add a few calories.
Being John Malkovich: Starts off interesting, then it gets disturbing. For those that like psychological pieces and seeing the underside of humanity.

3 January
Site Cleanup

New layout/look for the site, with a lighter simple feel. Moved the genealogy stuff to it's own directory, and will have to redo those pages as now many links are broken.

Moving Pictures:
Eastern Promises: A gory and tense movie, with an engaging story, which I thought is quite good and would recommend, however, not for the young or faint of heart.
Love Actually: Cute Tale. Repeatedly watchable. PG.
Robot Chicken, Season 1: Many laughs, enjoyed its infantile humour.

1 January 2008
Another Year

Happy 2008.