Tuesday, December 30, 2003

Big news:

Starting in 2004, all blog entries will have a title. Just like Randy's.

Please carry on with your daily web surfing.
Wow, I'm really sore today. We went snowboarding yesterday at Cypress and we were just givin 'er. 18 runs. I think I'm gonna have to blame Jenee for pushing us so hard. I'm hurting all over today. Good times...

Today is my parents' 32nd anniversary. Happy anniversary to them. I'll see them later for dinner. I wonder who's gonna pay this year? I don't know how it happens, but I always seem to get stuck with the bill.

Tomorrow is the last day of 2003. Usually people go out and have wild parties but this year I think it'll be pretty mellow. Some friends are coming over and we're gonna celebrate here. So if you want to go to a loud, wild, crazy party, my house isn't the place to go. But everyone is welcome to come by. There'll be some food, some drinks, some music, some fun. Well, the food might be a little sparse, but what do you expect? I can barely feed myself sometimes.

Top Ten New Year's Resolutions for 2004:

10. pay off some bills
9. go to church
8. have a relationship that I won't screw up
7. get in shape
6. learn to cook
5. advance my career, even if its just for personal growth and not for money
4. keep close friends nearby and bring the not-so-close-friends closer
3. spend time with my family
2. don't be so shallow
1. smile more

Tuesday, December 23, 2003

Two more sleeps until Christmas. I'm finished shopping! Now I just have to clean my house. What a mess! My tree looks great though. :)

So guess what I did yesterday. Yeah, I'm a nerd but I had to watch it again just to be sure. The first time I saw it, it was very... okay. But now, after watching it again, I can say that I like Return of the King. See, the problem I had with it was that it focussed so much on Frodo and Sam. When I read the book, I liked the stories of the humans. Frodo and Sam were kinda dull. They also left out a couple of things that I really enjoyed in the book, but whatever. Its still a good movie.

I signed up for disability insurance about a month ago and based on my age and health and lifestyle, it was no problem. But because I broke my wrist last year they're still asking me all these stupid questions. "Did you go to the hospital?" "Did you have to stay at the hospital?" "How long did you have your cast?" "Were there any complications with the wrist after?" Look, it was an undisplaced fracture of the distal radius that was casted for 5 weeks. You tell that to your company docs and they'll tell you its no big deal. I've met 90 year-old women that have healed perfectly from the same kind of injury. Now leave me alone until I call you.

Well, Merry Christmas to all. I probably won't be back until after the 25th unless I find myself really bored at some point (doubt that'll happen, too much to do). So take care during the holidays and be safe. And to quote a Christmas card I got... "With a wish for Christmas joy to light your world in a special way and lead you into a new year that shines with God's wonderful gifts."

Sunday, December 21, 2003

Last night was probably the most expensive dinner I've had in years. I mean, Aqua Riva is a very nice restaurant and the service was excellent and the food was great, but I think I'm going to have to stick to Mr.Noodle for the next month to balance my food budget. Oh who am I kidding? The only thing I spend money on is food. Well, maybe on lift passes and DVD's too, but that's all. Sometimes I'll buy beer too. But that falls under food, doesn't it?

The new Sarah McLachlan CD is great. Its very... Sarah. So if you didn't like her before, don't bother with this new one.

Christmas is in 4 days. All I need to finish my Christmas shopping is to buy 8 more gifts. Damn. That means I have to go back to the mall. Every year we all say, "I'm going to finish my shopping early this year." but who ever does? Obviously, the 12,000 people at the mall on December 24th didn't finish early. At least I'm off until Christmas so I can shop during the day and not in the evenings. Maybe I'll even have time to go back up to the mountain one more time.

Thursday, December 18, 2003

You know when you have childhood friends that you don't see in years? You just figure that if they're ever in town, or if you ever go to where they are you'll see them. It would be a great reunion. Telling old stories, catching up with all the things you've missed - it would be so much fun, right? The best part is that there's never a time limit. If you haven't seen them in 10 years, 15 years, or even 20 years, it wouldn't matter. The stories of when you got in trouble at 7 years old would still be the same. There would just be more catching up to do. I always figured that this would be the case. When we went to Regina a couple of years ago for Jeff's wedding it was a big reunion of all the old friends I grew up with. Some of them, I haven't seen since I was 12 years old, and others that I'd never met until the wedding (Gary's son - wow, he looks like a little Gary). But there were a couple of people missing. Its too bad they couldn't come. At the time, I just thought I'd go make a trip someday and see them. But now, I have to apologize. I'm sorry Richelle. I'm sorry I never got to see you. I'm sorry I never kept in contact, and I'm sorry I didn't get to catch up with you and tell old stories again.
The biggest question in my life right now? What am I going to do for New Year's? Maybe I'll just rent a movie or something...

Top Five Favourite Chocolate Bars:

5. 3 Musketeers
4. Wonderbar
3. Reese Peanut Butter Cup (I know, its not really a bar)
2. Eat More
1. Coffee Crisp

Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Movie Review:

The Last Samurai - Wow. Good shit. You should go see this.

LOTR: Return of the King - Long, but definitely worth the 3-1/2 hrs. You should go see this too.

And that concludes my reviews.

Anyway, just to prove that I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan (and a pretty big geek too), I watched the first showing of Return of the King at 12:05am, Tuesday night. Yup, stayed up until 4am watching this movie. If you really want to know what I thought of it, see above.

Well, the last baby of 2003 (out of my friends) was born yesterday. Congratulations to Tsering and Heather on the birth of their new baby girl (yes, another girl)! That makes 5 or so girls born this year.

I didn't think that I watched much TV, but as it turns out, I'm pretty good with Friends trivia. Maybe not as good as Jeric, Mar, and Lisa (those 3 know WAY too much about Friends) but I think I was able to hold my ground.

Oh, I went snowboarding the other day too. Night boarding at Cypress. Nice snow, but it got a little windy and it hurt my face. My new jacket kicks ass. Even more than canadian girls.

Top Ten Liberties Taken by Peter Jackson in Making Lord of the Rings (in no particular order):
10. the Aragorn/Arwen love thing wasn't a big deal in the book.
9. The Shire was not "scourged" in the movies.
8. Saruman was actually at traitor to Sauron.
7. Gimli wasn't supposed to be comic relief.
6. Tom Bombadil WAS an important character.
5. Faramir was supposed to be a much nobler character.
4. Faramir and Eowyn are supposed to hook up at the end.
3. Merry and Pippin were supposed to become big heroes.
2. What happened to Sam's box of soil from Lothlorien?
1. There were no elves at Helm's Deep.

There you go. If you've read the books, the movies left out a lot but I don't blame them. They were very faithful to the books and were an excellent adaptation for the big screen. Overall, the movie trilogy was good shit. If you're a fan of the movies, I recommend reading the books. What else are you going to do until Star Wars Episode 3 comes out?

Sunday, December 14, 2003

Christmas shopping 2003 as of December 14: Not done. Broke. Frustrated.


I have to say, other than the preparations for Christmas, things seem to be going well for me. I'm liking my job again despite a couple of really bad days, my personal life jumped from a 1 to 8 and still climbing, and everything else is falling into place. Hopefully this lasts a little longer than a couple of weeks. I guess now would be a good time to start thinking about my New Year's resolutions. Exercise more? Save money? Learn to cook? All of these would be good things for me, but I'm pretty sure that none of them will come to pass. I have to find something more meaningful. Less materialistic, less selfish. Something that would make me look back and say, "Yeah, I feel good about 2004." If anyone has any good ideas, let me know. And don't give me any, "be nicer to my patients" or "go to church every week" crap. I mean ideas that will improve my feelings of self-worth and personal growth.

Tuesday, December 9, 2003

Top Ten Things I DON'T Want for Christmas:

10. extra hours at work
9. appendicitis
8. earrings
7. extra bills
6. 10 more pounds
5. unexplained hair loss
4. an STD
3. power surge in any of my electronics
2. a pink sweater
1. another pet in the house
Well I had a friend in town from Calgary. Yup, Renee was here for the weekend and had a great time. Partying, shopping, sightseeing, etc etc... Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to see her while she was here. On Saturday night she called me up to say her and her friends were going to Shine for her last night. Sounds great! What time are you going? Around 11 or so. Oh crap. I have to work Sunday morning. Ok, let's see... get to shine at 1115, stay for an hour or so, 1245. Drive home to Surrey, 1:30am. Shower, get settled for bed and fall asleep, 2 -2:45am. Wake up for work, 6:30am. Let's see, that would be... um, 6 carry the one, subtract that... 3 or 4 hours of sleep. Then on Sunday, I work for 12 hours. Hmm, sorry Renee, I'll have to pass. Its actually a good thing I didn't end up going because Sunday ended up being a really crappy day at work (see below).

I know, I should've gone to see my friend who I've seen once in 15 years. I do feel pretty bad that I didn't get to see her while she was in town. I keep telling her to come visit and look what happens. Well I'll make a trip out to Cowtown someday when its warmer. I'll have to wait for spring or summer cuz there's no way I'm going into the prairies in the middle of winter. So, sorry again Renee. Can I still be in your book?
Top Ten Things I Want for Christmas:

10. A new snowboard. A Burton Custom 158cm.
9. A 5-disc, progressive scan DVD player in black.
8. Monty Python's Life of Brian DVD.
7. Star Trek Movie Collection DVD's.
6. Sony Clie PEGTJ35.
5. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic PC game.
4. A new sweater
3. pair of jeans
2. socks & underwear(boxerbriefs pls)
1. a new car

There. That should help anyone that feels they need to buy me a gift for Christmas.

Sunday, December 7, 2003

I would have to say that today was one of the worst days ever at work. You know on TV when they yell "Code Blue!" and everyone goes running? Well a code blue is when someone's heart stops. The lack of circulation leading to poor oxygen transport around the body makes the skin look blue, hence the term "code blue". Anyway I had my first code blue today in 3 years and 4 months. Basically, my first code ever. We have a code team at our hospital made up of some ICU nurses, an RT, and a couple of docs. They all came running after the announcement over the PA system. It was just like on TV with everyone calling out orders, pushing equipment around and more equipment being set up. When I got into the room, the patient's nurses were doing CPR and I started setting up some stuff. The code team arrived and I became the official person to document everything that was happening (there's always someone to do this). There was no heartbeat, no breathing, no vital signs. The patient was intubated, got a bunch of drugs but to no avail. Eventually, the doc said, "Stop! I'm calling it. Time of death 1630hrs." Then everything stopped. I've never been in a code before and I hope I'm never in one again.

Saturday, December 6, 2003

So anyway, last Thursday I finally went snowboarding. The one thing that I've been waiting for all year. AAAhhhhhhh. Yep, it was as fun as I remembered. We went to Mt. Baker. I tell ya, that's the best freakin mountain around. Not crazy crowded like Whistler and wide open for your boarding pleasure. The best part is when you're going down and you don't know where to go so you just go wherever you feel like going. One problem this year: I'm still a little nervous about hitting some jumps. After last year's little broken wrist incident, I've been a little gunshy. I'll get my confidence up again someday...

I went to a Christmas party on Friday too. That was fun. Free meal, open bar, very entertaining dance show. Those BP people are wild. Is that what happens when you work in an office or are they just all crazy? Had a great time even though I was sober. Thanks to the one who brought me there.

Is anyone out there finished their Christmas shopping? If you are out there and reading this: I hate you. I still have a lot to do and I don't have money. I think I might have to learn to cook or something. Eating out is getting expensive.

Wednesday, December 3, 2003

Day 12 2003-04 Snowboard Season

Still haven't gone.

Monday, December 1, 2003

Wow, the wedding was great. Check out these pics if you want. Mad props go out to all those that had a part in making it happen. Everyone looked great, the place was beautiful, the party was awesome. I think my vodkaseven was a little watered down though. I must have had at least 4 and I didn't even feel it. Maybe my alcoholism is catching up to me...

So I still haven't gotten my car fixed. The thing is just totally f#@ed and if you heard it you'd think it was going to fall apart at any minute. Just imagine: sitting at a red light when *bam!* the tires go flat, the doors fall off, the hood pops open with smoke billowing out, and fluid starts pouring out of the bottom. I feel like that's going to happen to me soon. I guess I should get that taken care of, huh? Its just a car. I've seen too many things at work to make me think my car is important. Sure its convenient, but its just not meaningful. '

Can someone explain to me what fibromyalgia is? I don't believe in it. To me its one of those fictional diseases that hypochondriacs make up. Not to belittle anyone's suffering, but I've met some people that have it and it seems so... I don't know, exaggerated. Now someone's gonna say: "Don't you know what it is? You're a nurse." or "I thought you were supposed to be caring and compassionate." Whatever. I work orthopedics. Its my job to make my patients work hard. So when someone says they need 30mg (or more) of morphine a day without any physical evidence to support it, I become skeptical. Oh well. What the hell do I know anyway.

Thursday, November 27, 2003

Ok, I just have to complain again. I don't mind if people ask me to help them with their computers. In fact, I quite enjoy it. But I always give them this warning: I taught myself everything I know so there are still A LOT of things that I don't know. My big solution when I have a major computer problem is to just reformat the damn thing and start all over. Sure most people can't do this, but if you want professional tech support, you have to pay big money for it. Buy a computer from Dell or something.

This is my favourite one: "Hey Oliver, something is wrong with my comp. Can you take a look at it?"
"Yeah sure. What's it doing?"
"Its slow and I get all these error messages."
"What do the error messages say?"
"I don't know, I don't read them."
FYI: error messages will often tell you what the problem is. please read them before asking me for help.

Here's another one:
"Hey Oliver, I can't seem to get my email."
"Here, I'll take a look at it. Punch in your password for me."
"Password? I don't know what it is."
"What password did you use when you created your email account?"
"I don't remember."
FYI: how the hell can I help you with your email if you don't even know your password? The whole point of a password is so that no one else can get into it.

Viruses and worms are another favourite of mine. Now this one is my fault: I was helping my mom with her computer so I took it home to back up some of her files on my harddrive (because I was going to reformat hers) but when I connected her comp to my network, I got a worm. The W32.Mimail.I@mm worm decided to creep in and make a home in my comp. It took me 2 and a half hours to clean my system. BTW, if you get an email about your PayPal account expiring, just delete it.


If you haven't already seen Finding Nemo, go watch it! Its hilarious!

As much as I'd like to have the Apple G5 or even just an iMac, they're just too damn expensive. And to buy accessories and peripherals cost more too. Damn that Steve Jobs...

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

I was talking to my friend Dinah (so much for anonymity) and she told me to make my blog more interesting. Maybe talk about my first time, my first period, or my first boyfriend or something like that. I thought about just making it up, but if someone came around and read this over your shoulder s/he might get the wrong idea. So I scrapped that idea. Sorry Dinah, you'll just have to listen to me complain about stuff.

Y'know when I want to watch a movie, I don't bother renting it. I've discovered that its totally worth it for me to just buy it. I mean, $5 to rent it, $7 for the late fee, and then the bother of having to go to blockbuster twice... well, I might as well buy the damn thing and keep it on my shelf like all the other late blockbuster movies that are sitting there. And unless its a movie I don't ever plan to buy, those filipino ripped versions just don't cut it. Especially when its a video camera that's been set up at the theater and you can see the audience's heads at the bottom of the screen. If its a decent version of something like, say, Love Actually, well okay. I'll watch that. But Steve had this version of Matrix Reloaded... man, I thought I saw my uncle sitting in the front row.

Lately I've been thinking about going back to school and maybe specializing in something. Sometimes I think I need to do something different because my current job is getting stale. Then I'll have a good day where my patients don't bug the crap outta me and I'll think, "Hey, I still enjoy this." Damn I'm a compassionate guy. Do you think it would be a waste of money to take some computer classes just for the hell of it? I want to learn about stuff, but I would never change my career like that. I still like my job, remember? Personal development is always good, right?
oops, forgot to do my shout-outs:

thanks to Randy and the rest of KP for such a great time. Pamana was so much fun to be a part of.

thanks to Blogger for making blog so easy to use

thanks to a certain someone for making the past couple of weeks so great

thanks to the hip-hop world for such great phrases like "shout-outs", "fo sho!", and "what's the dilly-o?". Oh where would we be without such creative ebonics?

and thanks to the person that invented sarcasm. What would I do without you?
Ok, now I'm pissed. This is the second time I'm writing this. I just lost all my "original" thoughts because I don't know what I'm doing here. How lame.

So this is my first (actually second) blog thingy. Apparently blog beats out handwritten diaries in 4 out of 5 27+ year old individuals. I have actual literature to support this claim. If you don't believe me, email me at don't-be-such-an-idiot@yahoo.ca. No, don't email me. That email doesn't exist. I'm trying to make a point here.

Well with Christmas just around the corner I decided to start my shopping early. Pet peeves about the Christmas season: can't go snowboarding because all my money is being spent on gifts, use of the word 'xmas', malls are super busy, can't go to Wal-Mart to buy simple things like detergent and toilet paper without waiting in line for 3hrs, and when I have to work Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I don't care how much money I make on those two days, I'd rather have them off to spend with my friends and family. BTW, I don't make that much money on those days.