The Happiest Celebration on Earth

Well, I'm back from my conference in Florida. The conference itself was pretty good. A lot of interesting stuff. However, out of the 5 days I spent there, the conference only took up the mornings and first half of the afternoon. The rest of the time was spent in the various parks at Disney World. Animal Kingdom, Magic Kingdom, MGM Studios, Epcot, and Downtown Disney. It was a lot of fun but I don't think its the kind of place I would go to again unless I had kids.

Away Again.

Off to Florida! See you in a week.

Back to Normal

Twice I've gone downstairs expecting to see Shaughn sitting at the bottom of the stairs. For the past 2 weeks every time I go down he jumped up and followed me around the house expecting me to either feed him or take him outside. Brenda and Peter picked him up less than an hour ago to take him home. I kinda got used to having him around. He's a lot of work though. I've been waking up early to feed him and take him outside. Celia says I didn't have to wake up so early and that I'm just a worrywart about the whole thing. He was a good roommate while he was here but it will be nice to see the rug again without all the dog hair.

Wedding

Yesterday was Brenda and Peter's wedding reception. They got married on the cruise ship last week and their reception was at the UBC Golf Course. It was very nice and the food was pretty good. Celia's sister, parents, cousins, aunts, uncles, and old friends were in town from all over the world. I met her dad for the first time, I danced the sprinkler with her mom, and I made gift boxes with her sister and cousin. It was a full week. Anyhoo, they're here for a couple more days, but I'm leaving tomorrow so I won't see them again for a while.

Movie Review

Mission: Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise, Keri Russel, & Maggie Q

Who the hell is Maggie Q? Does she not have a real name? I read that the Q stands for Quigley or something like that. She looks pretty hot in the movie and drives a sweet car. The rest of the movie was okay.

OSN - Oliver's Sports Network

I'm not going to make fun of Ultimate. Seriously, I won't make fun of it. I mean, really, it was a brilliant idea to combine football with a frisbee. Pardon me, it's not a frisbee, it's a "disc". What better way to enjoy a sunny day at the park than to throw your disc around with your friends? The guy (or girl - no discrimination here) that invented this game was a genius. Then, to make it sound like one of those "extreme" sports, he (or she) named the game "Ultimate". There's, like, teams and leagues and tournaments and stuff for this game. I'm not making fun of the game. In fact, I'm the last person who should be making fun of any kind of physical activity. I mean cuz I've gained a lot of weight and I'm really out of shape. Maybe playing a little Ultimate would be good for me. Help me shed a few pounds. Get me out in the sun for a bit of a tan. Help me make new friends and... okay I can't do it any more. Ultimate is so lame.

"Combining the non-stop movement and athletic endurance of soccer with the aerial passing skills of football, a game of Ultimate is played by two seven-player squads with a high-tech plastic disc on a field similar to football."

"high-tech plastic disc"?? Its a fucking frisbee!! Frisbees are not high-tech. They've been around for decades!

Early Riser

I've been waking up at 6am every day since Saturday so that I could take the dog out for a walk. Seriously, I've never woken up that early for more than 2 or 3 days in a row. The dog is so hyper about going out first thing in the morning I feel bad if I take him out after 7am. He's had to hold his pee all night (so did I though) and I'm sure he's gotta go real bad. And since I don't want any 'accidents' in the house, I take him out 3 or 4 or 5 times/day. Actually, I go out for my own sake as well. No, I don't go out and pee in the bushes, but I do like walking around the block with the dog. It's a bit of exercise for the dog and for me as well.

Special Day

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there!

Funny Funny Shit

The Dog

While Celia is away, I'm dog-sitting Shaughn. He's the dog I talked about last year that had a pretty bad seizure. He still doesn't walk too straight and he's kinda clumsy around the house but he's still a good dog. I'll have him at home for the next week. I hope he's good. :)

Inspiration

This past week has been Nurse's Week. So the next time you see a nurse, give him hug and tell him he's your inspiration.

Lost

No, not the TV show. People keep talking about it - about how great it is and how addicting it is. I've never watched it but it looks interesting. Maybe someday I'll download it (in a completely legal manner wtih all copyright laws intact). Anyhoo, I'm talking about lost socks. I was reading a blog about things that go missing and it made me think about my socks. When I lived at home I just figured I had dropped a sock somewhere and someone else picked it up. When I moved out I would do my laundry and one fucking sock was still missing! I guess you just have make a sacrifice to the laundry gods and give up the sock.

Another Movie Review

Aeon Flux with Charlize Theron

Lame.

American Idol

Eliot has to go, Katharine is hot, Paris is annoying, Taylor has heart, and Chris is gonna win.

Movie Reviews

Crash with Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon, and Ryan Phillipe

No wonder this move won. It was fucking great. Someday I'll give my 2 cents about racism. I just don't feel like talking all deep right now.

Mission: Impossible 3 with Tom Cruise and Felicity

For Tom's sake, this movie better kick ass.

Happy Birthday VJ

There once was a man from Moose Jaw,
He liked his beer cold and his fish raw.
He found a good spouse,
and built a big house,
Let's hope he doesn't have problems with the law.

Happy Birthday VJ. We've been friends for over 30 years. Here's to another 30 (at least)!!

When's Your Birthday?

If you tell me your birthday, I'll write you a bad poem.

Happy Birthday Kerri

I wrote you a birthday poem:

There once was a girl from Saskatoon,
She would laugh and laugh like a loon.
But then she moved here,
And discovered some beer,
Now she parties all night and sleeps till noon!

Okay okay, she doesn't really drink beer and I doubt she sleeps till noon or parties all night. But she is a lot of fun to hang out with. Happy birthday!

I'm Walking the Plank

The other day I bought a DVD burner. I've held off on buying one because, really, what the hell am I going to burn onto a DVD that I can't burn onto a CD? I buy my movies because I like to have the orignal case (I like the way it looks on my bookshelf) and none of my CD players can read DVDs for music. Then again, I don't burn music anymore because of my iPod. Then I realized that I could burn TV shows and crap like that onto DVDs. So now I'm putting episodes of my legally aquired, high-definition TV series onto DVDs so I can watch them on my humongous TV instead of my itty bitty computer monitor. This is cheaper than buying a humongous computer monitor. Okay, I'm lying. My TV isn't humongous and my computer monitor isn't itty bitty. Is there anything else I can burn onto DVDs?

Grrr

Ignorant

Work is Fun

My boss sent out an email and I couldn't help but laugh at it.

"Hi everyone - as we discussed last week the open house is on May 26. Please ensure any extra items (i.e. blow up snowman, sand, pale and shovel, cob webs, safari hats, etc.) are tidied up for the day. After the open house - it's every man / woman for himself again. "

As you can tell, we have a lot of fun at work. In 2 weeks we're having a minigolf tournament in the office (ie, in the cubicle maze) as a fundraiser. We're setting up holes around the office so people can walk around and get to know everyone else (there's about 200 people in our office space).

The Advantages of Being a Male Nurse

On Friday night when I was working, I had a patient call in the middle of the night. When I got in the room she says she wants me to get "the girl nurse". Okay, fine by me. I went and got my friend Elaine to go in and see what she wanted. As it turns out, she was incontinent and needed her diaper changed. I wasn't there to see it, but apparently it was pretty gross. Generally speaking, you can't pick and choose your nurse. Whoever is there is who you get. Sorry, that's just the way it is. If you want to choose your own nurse, go hire a private nurse and go home. With this said, however, I hardly ever argue with my patients about this. Usually it means they needs something really personal done - like clean up a whole pile of shit - and I'm not one to fight for this job. I should apologize to my coworkers that I pull this on them but, hey, its not my fault some people think only women should be nurses.

Damn Me and My Big Mouth

I know its black text on a dark gray background, but my site meter is at the bottom of the archive list. If you can't read it, dude, get a better monitor. I'm just short of 4700 hits now. That means I need 5300 hits over the next 8 months. Crap, why did I have to set unrealistic goals and then shoot my mouth off about it. Check this out to see why I'm a loser.

Everybody Has a Story Part 8

Last night I picked up another shift at the hospital. I had a patient that was still relatively young (54 yrs old) with a broken hip. "54? That's pretty young for a broken hip," I thought. Reading into it a little more, I saw that the docs thought this too and did a few more tests. As it turns out, he had bone cancer. From what I hear, this form of cancer is one of the more painful ones. He had just found out from his doc earlier in the day and last night he didn't fall asleep until about 5am. Nice guy, too. When I see things like this, I just can't help but think, "Man, that really sucks."

Goals

My goal is to get 10,000 hits by the end of the year. I'm not going to visit my own site more often just to reach my goal, but I'll advertise it a little more. Starting now.


Visit my site!

Metro-man

Yesterday Celia and her friends had a spa night here. All the manicures, pedicures, waxing, and massaging got me thinking: maybe I should get some work done. Manicures and pedicures, I find, are a little... frivolous for me. Massages I'll pass on - they just don't do anything for me. I'm not going to wax anything but I was thinking about getting a facial. I'm very self-conscious about my skin. Its looking uneven and a little rough. If I get a facial once, will I always need/want one after? Can I do a one-time job or do I have to keep up with regular maintenance? I don't expect miracles or anything and I don't expect it permanently fix my face, but if it helps a little once, that's all I want. Next time they have a spa night, I'm getting down with that.

Follow-up Review

iPod. Generation 5 also known as the Video iPod. After having this for about a month, I thought I'd let you all know what I think about it. All comments are made using the iPod Mini as a point of reference. Navigating with the Video iPod is a little slower and the battery dies a little faster. Mind you, the battery issue isn't a big deal because I plug it in every 3 or 4 days. I use my iPod all day at work (when I'm at my desk) and 3 or 4 days is still pretty good as far as I'm concerned. Besides, its a tradeoff for the big, bright, colour screen. Navigation is a little slower but again, I just got used to it and now I barely notice. I don't need a perfect mp3 player, I just want one that I think looks nice and does what I want it to do. My beautiful black iPod gets an 8/10.

Mr. HandyMan

I helped Jeff put together his new barbeque. It wasn't so hard, just a lot of pieces to screw together. I really liked how the instructions would say, "if gas valve connection does not fit correctly, explosion may result." Well, that didn't sound so good but I think we got it right. Jeff and I decided that this summer we'd have a bbq. I'd invite everyone, but it's not my house. Oh what the hell, come anyway. Just bring beer, your own meat, and a little salad or something to share. I'll tell Jeff you're coming, but call when you're on your way...

Long Weekend

Happy Easter!

Theme Night

I haven't been to a club in a long time. Okay, it was just a month or two ago, so let me clarify. I haven't been to AuBar in a long time. I never thought this club was that great to begin with, but it was Denise's birthday and one of her friends was organizing the evening. For the most part, I had a good time but see, the thing is, when I'm at a club I like to people watch. I like to see how these drunk people are interacting with each other and the people around them. I like to laugh at how some loser dude buys drinks for a girl just so he can make out with a drunk chick later in the night. I like to shake my head at the guys that dance behind some girls without the girl knowing and pretend that he's dancing with her. I also like to watch the beautiful people come and go. The well-dressed, well-groomed, well-mannered people. Well, let me tell you something. Other than the group I was with, Saturday night at the AuBar is Ugly Night. Yes, I would almost go so far as to say fugly. If you were there and you're offended now, you should have either walked past me to prove me wrong or hid in the shadows a little better.

Natural Evolution

Last year I bought a silver iPod Mini. I chose the iPod over other mp3 players because it looked good, it was easy to use, and it was just cool to have. Also, the iPod was supposed to change the way I listened to music. Well, I gotta tell ya, I still listen to music the same way but now I carry a lot more of it with me than I ever have. I use it at work a lot sitting in front of my computer. I even bought some cheap-o speakers for work for when I don't want to use the headphones (or earbuds or whatever the hell you call them). Now, after a year, in the interest of evolution and Darwinian theory, I've gotten rid of the old iPod Mini and upgraded to the Video iPod. Okay, not exactly Darwinian Evolutionary Theory, but the new video iPod is pretty fucking sweet. I've even started downloading video podcasts. I'm not going to give you a big review on the iPod, I'm just gonna say, if you're gonna get an iPod, screw the Shuffle, screw the Nano. Get the Big One.

3 Simple Rules

I really like crossword puzzles. Call me a nerd, call me a geek, just don't call me while I'm working on my crossword puzzles. There are some simple rules I follow:

1. I use a pen, never a pencil.
2. I never look at the answers while working on a puzzle.
3. I don't like having other people help me unless I ask.

Why all the rules? Working on the puzzle is a challenge and having the option of erasing answers or having the answers nearby or using someone else's brainpower is like cheating.

Things That Make You Go Hmm... Part 2

1. Why are hemorrhoids called "hemorrhoids" instead of "assteroids"?
2. Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?
3. If one synchronized swimmer drowns, do the rest drown, too?
4. If the "black box" flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn't the whole airplane made out of that stuff?
5. The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
6. I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, "Where's the self-help section?" She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.
7. If you try to fail, and succeed, which have you done?
8. If you ate pasta and antipasto, would you still be hungry?
9. Whose cruel idea was it for the word "Lisp" to have a "S" in it?
10. If God dropped acid, would he see people?
11. If a deaf person swears, does his mother wash his hands with soap?
12. If you spin an oriental man in a circle three times, does he become disoriented?
13. What do you do when you see an endangered animal eating an endangered plant?
14. Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
15. Is there another word for synonym?
16. What was the best thing before sliced bread?
17. If man evolved from monkeys and apes, why do we still have monkeys and apes?
18. Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
19. Why do they put Braille on the drive-through bank machines?
20. Where do forest rangers go to "get away from it all?"

After it All...

Who watched the Olympics? Did anyone flip to CBC and watch one event for like, 2 hours? And in that 2 hours, did you become an expert in that sport? I was watching luge once for about 10 minutes and I suddenly became an expert judge and coach. "Ooo, good positioning. Nice and flat on the sled, barely raising his head." During the summer Olympics I'm usually an expert on diving. Especially synchronized diving.

Lookalikes

VJ, Alexa and I were talking about this a couple weeks ago. Who else thinks Celia looks like a young Sandra Oh?

Who's Da Man?

Wow, in the past 8 months, I've had 4000 visitors to my blogsite. Granted, its probably the same people reading it on a somewhat regular basis. Plus I visit my own site so I can read the comments that people leave. I've been checking the stats on my site meter and there are people from all over North America, Asia, Europe, and one person from Africa that have visited my site. Weird. Now they know all kinds of crap about me. Its a good thing I didn't use my real name in the url. I'm guessing they came across it in with that "next blog" thing in the corner. I did a search once for something and one of the search hits was my own blog because I had the search word in the title of one of my entries. That's just crazy. I'm totally feeling like the man now cuz I'm so damn popular. Four THOUSAND. That's 500/month or about 17/day. God, I'm a egotistic jerk...

Everybody Has a Story Part 7

Last week I worked on the ward. We had to do a patient swap with another hospital and the new patient we got was a 40-something-old man that just had surgery on his ankle. Not a huge surgery but still pretty painful. The thing about getting patients from other hospitals is that we can't do anything until one of the docs at our hospital comes and sees the patient and writes orders. The doc we were waiting for was stuck in emerg so she was a little late seeing the patient. Normally, this isn't a big deal except the guy needed some pain medication. He was pretty pissed that he couldn't get anything especially since at the other hospital he was well pain-controlled. After a little over an hour I decided, "screw this, I'm going to give him the same pain-killers he was getting at the other hospital." even though he wasn't even my patient. This is kinda frowned on cuz I'm giving medication without a doctor's order, but I kinda knew the doc we were waiting for and I was pretty sure she would just order the same thing anyway. So I gave it to him and then left him alone to cool off and to let the medication kick in. A couple hours later I went in to see him and he was feeling much better and was in a better mood. He apologized for losing his temper and thanked me for helping him out. It turned out to be a good shift for me.

Milestones

No, not the restaurant even if they make a great steak. I'm approaching my 4000th visitor (and I don't mean I've gotten my period 4000 times - I'm a guy, I don't menstruate) and I'm going to celebrate. If you're reading this and you scroll down a bit, check if you're #4000. If you are and you send me a picture, I'll post whatever picture you send me. Unless its a picture of me doing something really embarrassing. Keep in mind that I get final say in all entries. If I get more than one entry, than one of you bastards are lying and I'm not going to post anything.

TV Series Review

This is a new first for me.

Grey's Anatomy with Ellen Pompeo, Sandra Oh, Katherine Heigl and a bunch of dudes

This is a great show. I especially like how they always tell each other about interesting patients and they go running to see it for themselves.

Back in the Saddle

On Saturday I picked up a shift at the hospital. Its so weird going back there. Half the people I used to work with are all gone and there are a tonne of new grads hanging out. Back in my bedside days I would have been bossing them all around but now I'm asking them things like, "how do I fill out this new form?" and "where do you guys keep the heparin?" I felt like a new grad. Its fun though, to go back and work with patients again. The bunch that I had were really good. I got to make a few jokes with them, we made some progress in their care, told a few stories, and still got a lot done. It almost makes me miss working on the ward. Almost. I still wouldn't go back full-time unless I absolutely had to.

Pet Peeve: when I tell people I have a desk job and they ask, "So you're not a nurse anymore?" Get your minds out of that little tiny tunnel! Just because I'm not wiping someone's ass doesn't mean I'm not a nurse. You should be asking this: "So what area of nursing does that fall under?" or better yet, say "Sweet, dude. So you don't come home stinking like someone else's shit anymore."

Busy

I always know when I'm getting really busy at work because when I get home, I can't seem to write in my blog. Right now, I'm working on a couple of different projects at once. It's great cuz it keeps me busy but it sux because now I'm working my ass off without feeling like I'm getting anywhere. Oh well. I think I work a little better when I'm really busy. Or maybe I don't and its all in my head.

Last week I went to Cypress on Monday night. It was great! Even though the runs were all groomed and there was no fresh powder, it was still pretty soft (compared to night boarding last year).

Hmm...

1. When cheese gets it's picture taken, what does it say?
2. When someone asks you, A penny for your thoughts, and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?
3. If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn't it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted?
4. When someone is impatient and says, "I haven't got all day," I always wonder, How can that be? How can you not have all day?
5. I thought about how mothers feed their babies with tiny little spoons and forks so I wondered, what do Chinese mothers use? Toothpicks?
6. If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?
7. What if there were no hypothetical questions?
8. Before they invented drawing boards, what did they go back to?
9. Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday.
10. Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It's just stale bread to begin with.
11. I have as much authority as the Pope, I just don't have as many people who believe it.
12. Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac?
13. If the #2 pencil is the most popular, why is it still #2?
14. I think it would be interesting if old people got anti-Alzheimer's disease where they slowly began to recover other people's lost memories.
15. "I am" is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that "I do" is the longest sentence?
16. If all the world is a stage, where is the audience sitting?
17. Well, if crime fighters fight crime and fire fighters fight fire, what do freedom fighters fight? They never mention that part to us, do they?
18. Honesty may be the best policy, but it's important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.
19. I recently went to a new doctor and noticed he was located in something called the Professional Building. I felt better right away.
20. Why is the man (or woman) who invests all your money called a broker?
21. At a formal dinner party, the person nearest death should always be seated closest to the bathroom.
22. The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.

Movie Reviews

40 Year Old Virgin with Steve Carrell and Paul Rudd

Funny, funny shit.


The Dukes of Hazzard with Johnny Knoxville, Sean William Scott, and Jessica Simpson

It sucked.

Book Review

Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

A real heartwearming, tearjerking, smile-to-your-face-while-you're-crying kinda book. It was okay. If you like to get slapped in the face with meaning of life shit. I like stories with a bit more subtlety. If you ask me face-to-face how the book was, I'll throw it at you and say "did you like that? If you did, you might like the book."

Inadequate

I was reading the Cypress Mountain website and there is a shitload of snow up there. It just keeps snowing. Then I read: "good mountain tires are required". Oh crap. I don't have good summer tires! Can someone please drive me to Cypress Mountain?

It's Nice to be Home

While I was in the Philippines, I realized that I was spending a lot of time with my parents. Since I moved (almost 4 years ago), this was the most I've seen them at one time. Three weeks of mom and dad. Nice at times, but frustrating at the same time. Am I a bad kid?

What's a 4-Letter Word You Say When You're Frustrated?

I'm addicted to crossword puzzles. I used to cut them out of newspapers (or rip the page out of papers I find a Starbucks) but now I just go online and print them off. During my 14 hour flight to the Philippines I had a stack of about 30 of them. When I came home I only had about 3 or 4 left. My goal is to finish them, but I usually have a handfull of squares left. I always hate the ones where you're only missing one letter but you still can't seem to fill it in. Argh!

Sex and the City

I watch this show whenever its on TV and have been for the past 5 months. Its not really my idea to do this. Celia makes me. I don't know why she asks me what I want to watch, cuz I know what we're going to watch. I've seen just about every episode and I know almost all the stories. I actually find the show funny and it has some pretty damn witty jokes. If you've never seen the show, here's a quick rundown:

Samantha: the slut. she'll sleep with anyone.
Miranda: the "liberated" powerful lawyer. she is, however, a little insecure.
Charlotte: the smart but ditzy romantic. she's the spoiled rich girl.
Carrie: she's the one that keeps them all together.

If you watch the uncensored shows, you'll see everyone's boobs except Carrie's. Strange that I thought of that...

All Self-Centered Dorks Raise Your Hand

Okay, I'm a nosy geek. I added a sitemeter at the bottom of my blog to see how many hits I get. Right now I'm at about 3500 since the end of June. Sure, it helps my ego and all, but it also lets me see who is reading my blog at any given time. I don't mean that I know who exactly is reading it (ie, your name and address - but I do know that about some people). I mean I can see that someone from Konglungen, Akershus, Norway was reading my blog on January 14th at 6:14pm, using Internet Explorer 6.0 on Windows XP at a resolution of 1024x768 and their ISP was NextGenTel AS. I can tell they were reading and didn't just accidentally click on it and then leave because they spent 8 minutes on my blogpage. Creepy, huh? I'm just the kind of freak that would look at this information too.

I'm always amazed when I find out someone reads my blog. My friend at work (hi Rene and no, I don't care about your anonymity) mentioned something to me about something I had written in my blog recently. I knew she read it, but I had forgotten so when she said it I was thinking, "How the hell did you know that?" Then my ego kinda got all inflated and shit cuz I then I thought I was the most interesting guy in the world. God, I'm a dork.

Movie & Book Review

This is my first combo review.

Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden &
Memoirs of a Geisha with Ziyi Zhang, Michelle Yeoh and Gong Li

The book is always better but the movie was pretty good too. The 3 main actors are hot. I read the book while I was on vacation. I didn't care that the movie didn't have Japanese actors. Good read, good movie.

Things I've Learned in Life

1. I don't know about you, but when you're swimming in the ocean when you're totally drunk, it really helps sober you up.
2. Save all your change. Then, after a couple of years, roll it up and take it to the bank. I did that and I bought 2 iPod minis with extended warranties.
3. Always drink Tequila at the end of the night. That way, when you're throwing up, you don't blame the beer.
4. A good keyboard and mouse makes the difference between "just a computer" and a "cool-looking computer" (I'm a nerd).
5. Coke is better than Pepsi. Jeff might disagree, but the entire population of the Philippines will back me up.
6. Smoking, apparently, is bad for you.
7. If you walk around the house naked, you should close your blinds. Its just polite. Unless you're a woman, then its okay.

Pros and Cons

One good thing about a long haul flight is that the drinks are free and you can watch 4 or 5 movies in a row. The bad thing is that sometimes the movies suck and there's always a lineup for the crappy bathrooms. Then there's always the risk of developing a DVT if you don't get up from your seat. Of course if you have enough to drink, you're up peeing all the time anyway. Maybe I should fly business class instead of economy.

That's Just What You Do on Vacation

I'm not really a big drinker. I'll have one or two but that's usually it. When I was in the Phils, there were more than a couple of nights when I had a little more than one or two drinks. I think I averaged about 6 or 7. On my last night in Boracay I think I had 7 beers (good old San Mig Light) and 2 double shots of tequila. Then we all went swimming in the ocean fully dressed (just shorts and t-shirts anyway). That night ended at about 6:30am. On my last night there, we went out and I "only" had 5 drinks but we were out until 4:30am. I was going to get picked up to go to the airport at 6am. Good think I already packed.

Congratulations

Congratulations to my cousin. He got married on January 7th. It was beautiful outdoor reception in the Philippines.

First Thoughts

Getting off the plane in Manila, I was bombarded with quite a few sensations. The first one is always "it smells like the Philippines." I guess its the smog. Then its "its hot." Well, it is a tropical country after all. Driving to my relatives' house, I get the "it looks dirty and poor". With almost 80million people, any third world country would look that way. I really enjoy going back to the Philippines and I think I always will.

Home is Where the Heart Is

I actually discovered this the last couple of times I was in the Philippines but I've often wondered where I "belong". Here in Canada I'm a visible minority (maybe not so much here in Vancouver, but you know what I mean). I'm not white, I have cultural differences that make themselves evident in weddings, funerals, home life, and personal values, and my family speaks a foreign language. Growing up in a predominantly white society in the prairies, I never really felt like I fit in. Then, when I was 26 I went to the Philippines. My parents still call it "going home" and I tell people that it's "where I'm from". However, when I'm there I still don't quite fit in. I may not stand out in a crowd, but the locals can still tell that I'm not from there, I don't speak the language, and I don't fully understand some cultural idiosyncracies. So "going home" wasn't an experience that was familiar to me. Over the past few years, I've come to the realization that home isn't necessarily where you were born or where your family originated from. It also may not be where you currently live. Home, as they say, is where the heart is, and today I came home.

Home Sweet Home

After a 1.5hr flight from Manila to Hong Kong and an 11hr flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, I'm home! I have so much to say about the Philippines but I won't write one big entry about it. No one likes to read long paragraphs about stuff like that. You'll just have to put up with me talking about it for a long time. Have fun.

Vacation!

I've been here for 2 days and all I have to say is this:

Its fucking hot. Not H.O.T. Not Hott. and not Hawt. Just fucking hot.

Tradeoffs

Today I was supposed to leave for the Philippines. When I got to the airport, my aunt tells me that someone from Cathay approached her and asked if she was willing to fly tomorrow instead of today. In return, she would receive either $400 or a free upgrade to business class. She said she was unable and turned it down. When I heard about this, I went to the Cathay booth and asked about it. The guy there said they were fully booked and this couldn't be done. Okay, fine. I go to check in with my family and my aunt asks the guy at the desk about it again. He says there's one more seat. "I'll take it!" "Do you want the money or the upgrade?" "Money, please." So now I'm home again and I'll be leaving tomorrow, same time but this time with an extra $400 in my pocket. I'm not missing anything in the Philippines by getting there a day late and this amount of cash was my spending money for the entire trip anyway. Yay me.

see you later

I’m leaving for the Philippines tomorrow. I feel like I have a million things to do today, but I can’t get my head straight.

Have a happy new year. Be safe, have fun, and I'll see you in '06.

It's That Time of Year

Every year I tell myself that I'm going to finish my Christmas shopping early. Well this year I did just that. No wait, I did just the opposite. I still have to do some Christmas shopping and there's only about 3 more days that I can actually shop. I only really need to buy one or two things, but going to the mall right now isn't very high on my list of fun things to do. Most of the gifts we needed to get were taken care of a month ago, so I kinda did my Christmas shopping early. I just have a couple more to get. Not too bad, huh?

Favourites

My 5 Favourites

1. Food: Italian
2. Dessert: chocolate mousse
3. Sitcom: Cheers
4. Drink: Coke (non-alcoholic), Vodka-Seven (alcoholic)
5. Soap: Dove

Birthday

I'm very happy to announce the birth of my neice, Elizabeth Ava. She'll be going by her second name (just like Allen and I) so please welcome Ava to the world. Isn't she cute?

I feel like the paparazzi posting a picture of a baby here. I heard Britney Spears sold the first baby pictures for publication to some rag for over a million dollars.

Dear Santa: Please Make it Snow

Dear Santa,

I've been very good this year. All I want is for some snow on the mountains. I went to Cypress thinking maybe I'd see your reigndeer practicing there. I used my snowboard so they wouldn't get away. I didn't see them though and I had a hard time snowboarding because the mountain was a little icy. If you could make it snow on the mountain, I could practice my snowboarding and your reigndeer could practice their takeoffs and landings. So if you could make it snow, I'd be very happy. Thank you.

Oliver

ps world peace!

Reality TV

I've already said that I'm not a big fan of reality TV. There are, however, a few shows that I liked. I just discovered another show that was great. It had drama, suspense, action, emotion, comedy, and best of all interesting characters. "What?" you ask? What kind of reality TV can have all these things? Well it's not quite as high-profile as Survivor or the Apprentice but it's also not stupid and pointless like My Big Fat Obnoxious Fiancee. It's Hell's Kitchen with Chef Ramsay. This show rocked! It rocked harder than Motley Crue with a bag of coke in 1985. It's over now and it doesn't sound like they're going to make a sequel so if you missed it, I'm sure it'll come out on DVD or something.

Missed it

On November 25th, I forgot to celebrate the second anniversary of my blog. I can't believe I've been writing about absolutely nothing for the past 2 years. Someday my blog will have meaning. Thank you to everyone that encouraged me to put my thoughts and feelings into a public, online diary. Now I have stalkers and people know too much about me. Thank you, thank you all.

Movie Review

Kung Fu Hustle with Stephen Chow, Wah Yuen, and Qiu Yuen

Action, comedy, wild kung fu shit. Everthing you want in a movie.

Movie Review

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp

I thought it was great.

Tribute

For anyone over the age of say, 27, we probably all remember the immortal words "Wax on, wax off." We don't just remember the words, but we remember the meaning behind them. The deep, spiritual meaning of these simple words. Also, we also learned that "walk left side: safe, walk right side: safe, walk down middle: sooner or later, get squished" and most importantly "Man who catch fly with chopstick accomplish anything." Ah, the wise teachings of Mr. Miyagi. Yesterday, Pat Morita died at 73 by natural causes. Let us all take a moment of silence for our teacher.

Let it Snow Let it Snow Let it Snow

Yesterday we went to Whistler for a little snowboarding. Like the bumper sticker says, "A bad day on the mountain is still better than a good day at the office." Well, this is still true. Down in the village it was raining, at the top of the Blackcomb gondola it was raining, and at the top of the Excelerator chair it was...not too bad. We tried to stay near the Jersey Cream Express cuz that area has some nice easy blue runs for beginners. It was snowing most of the time we were there and up where we were, the snow wasn't too bad. A little wet and sticky, but not bad. Even with a few falls Celia's getting better and I think I might be able to convince her to come up a few more times, even to the local mountains. When we got home, Celia was stiff and hurting bad. Every muscle was aching. She's not awake yet, but when she wakes up today I think she'll be in a world of hurt. Then tomorrow it'll be worse. My right shoulder is a little sore, but I think its because its the way I was carrying my board when we were walking to the car.

Long Weekend

No, it's not a long weekend here in Canada. Only the US has a long weekend this late in November. Well there's probably some other country with a long weekend but I don't know where. It's a long weekend for me because I took tomorrow off so I could go snowboarding. I don't know how much snow Whistler has but it'll be more than what I've got in my office so it's still better to be in Whistler than in Whalley.

More of the Same

Last year I ran a series called "101 Things About Me". Now, since I don't seem to have anything to say, and because my favourite topic is Me, I'm going to continue this series and call it "More Things You Wished You Didn't Know About Me." I'm not going to limit the list to 101 items, not even 1001. I'm just going to keep on going until you really really get sick of hearing me talk about me. Enjoy.

More Things You Wished You Didn't Know About Me

1. I've gained more weight in the past 2 years than I have in the past 15.
2. I only shave twice/week.
3. My favourite wine is Masi Valpolicella
4. I have 5 different phone numbers and 8 email addresses.
5. I have 4 computer monitors at home but I only use 1 (wanna buy a monitor?).

Geek Squad

There's nothing I like more than a new toy. Especially new toys for my computer. I just bought a new keyboard (Logitech G15 'Gaming' Keyboard) and here's my review:

Pros:

1. nice feel when you're typing
2. cool backlit keys
3. sweet LCD display
4. tonne of programmable macro keys
5. lots of user-made applets

Cons:

1. no scroll wheel
2. wired connection
3. lack of support and documentation

I know what you're thinking: "It's just a keyboard." Well screw that, when you use a good keyboard it's hard to go back to a plain-jane, beige, no-extras, clicky-key keyboard.

Nerd Tip #1:
To make your computer look better than it really is, buy cool peripherals. A hot mouse and keyboard and a sweet monitor make it look like you computer rocks harder than Kiss on crack.

I got Nothing

I still haven't gone up to the mountain. Anyone want to go?

New Digs

Today we move into our new office. We used to have an office right by Guildford mall but all of Information Management will now be in the new tower down by Central City. Its a really nice tower and the new equipment we get will be a million times better than what I've been working with the past year. The movers picked up all our stuff yesterday and today we get to unpack and organize our workspace (ie, cubicle).

In other news, congratulations to Neil and Kelly who had a boy at the beginning of November. Noah Robin, no wait, Noah Todd, oh hang on, Noah Drake, no no that's not right. Noah Grayson was 8 lbs and a few oz. and 20-something cm long. Don't expect me to know this stuff. Newborn babies all look alike to me.

I Hate Cleaning Windows

I hate it when your windows (and mirrors) have fingerprints and are all smudgy. I just hate cleaning them. I also hate when Windows seems to be running really really slow and I can't figure out why. I don't know how to fix this kind of crap so I just ignore it until it either goes away or until I am forced to start all over again (ie, reinstall). I could probably use a fresh reinstall anyway. My biggest pet peeve about Windows is when you are downloading something or transferring large files from one drive to another and you get that stupid, useless progress bar. "Oh look, only 5 minutes remaining. What the... now it says 30 minutes!?" Why does it bother to estimate how much time is remaining when it's highly dependent on what else the computer is doing at the same time? Show the bar, forget the time. Just let me know how much data is left to download/move and leave it at that.

Solitaire's the Only Game in Town

As I was walking through the Extended Care Unit, I looked into what looked like an Activity Room. There was a piano, a few tables, pictures hanging, easels leaning up against the walls, and a couple computers sitting in the corner. There were a few little old ladies sitting in their wheelchairs doing various things around the room, but what really caught my eye was this little old lady sitting in front of a table playing Solitaire. I mean the real game - with cards. But then what really caught my eye was another little old lady sitting at a computer playing Solitaire too! On the computer!! I thought this was hilarious.

Let it Snow!

There's snow on the mountains! Check out Mt. Baker and Whistler-Blackcomb! I can't wait...

Lucky...

So yesterday I finally decided to see what I could do about my broken harddrive. I figured I'd plug it in one more time to see if it'll work and guess what? It's working again. Maybe it just overheated? I know there's not a lot of airflow where that drive is, so maybe it just got too hot? Anyway, the side panel of my case is off and so far the temp has been pretty decent. I backed up my pictures and anything else that was irreplaceable. I decided that if I lost the music, I'd just recollect it all. I have most of it on CD anyway.

Almost There

One more night shift. Next week I'm on 24hr pager support. The week after that we move into the new office. That's the same week my schedule goes back to normal. I can't wait.

To Go Where 10% of All Men Have Gone Before

I just read somewhere on the internet that George Takei has come out of the closet. He was Captain Hikaru Sulu from the original Star Trek series and 6 Star Trek movies. So, he's gay. Hmm, I guess I could see that now. I think I was blinded by the fact that he was a Starfleet captain. Apparently he's been in a relationship with some dude for 18 years. You know, out of all the Star Trek cast I figured it would have been Spock.

Maybe I should have backed up...

The past week or so my computer has been acting funny. Super slow sometimes, running a little hot, and/or programs failing to load. Weird. I was going to run my computer nerd solution to all computer performance problems: I was going to reinstall Windows. I know its probably a little extreme, but I don't like trying to figure out which spyware is screwing up my system and I don't like having to perform a 23-step process to remove a virus. I'll just reinstall. So this morning I come home from work, check out uselessjunk.com for a second, then head to bed. I wake up around 2pm, look down the hall, and see my computer screen (yes, from 10meters away) with a message that says something like "primary slave failure". Oh crap, that doesn't sound good at all. My primary slave is that bitch in the garage closet, but my other primary slave is my second harddrive and it seems to have crapped out on me. So I disconnect it, reboot, and then think "I have some good news and some bad news. Good news: computer runs okay now, at least it'll boot up. Bad news: I don't know if I can get all the crap off this secondary harddrive, like my pictures, music, etc etc." Believe me, there was a lot of crap on that thing. There must be some super computer nerd out there reading this that can tell me if I'm screwed or if I can get my shit back. And don't tell me to take it to some shop that'll recover my data for $70/byte cuz it was an 80 fuckingGB drive. Man, computers really piss me off.

BTW, the job is going great, I really like it.

Here We Go Again

Tomorrow we go Live. Out of the 4 hospitals in this region, these last 2 hospitals are the smallest ones. They're also the last. After these 2, there will be no major implementations for a few years - just some small upgrades. These last 2 however, are my babies. I've put my blood, sweat, and tears into these last 2 sites and its almost over. Okay, maybe not my blood, sweat, and tears but definitely a lot of hours and a lot of Starbucks coffees. and Tim Horton's coffees. and Guildford Sushi. Anyway, for the rest of the week I'll be working night shifts as part of our 24/7 support. Tomorrow we turn it on and I'm just praying there are no major hiccups. Wish me luck.

Keeping Score

Due to a recent comment written by a sharp-eyed "Anonymous", I've decided on a new, ongoing game. I must admit that although I really can't stand poor grammar and stuff like that, I will undoubtedly make errors. So, for now on I would ask that anytime you find me making these aforementioned errors, please let me know. I will keep track of who notices the most errors and post the scores here in my blog. Once in a while, I will intentionally make an error just to see who picks it up. Keep in mind that the detailed-minded person with the most points will be called "nerd" and "anal-retentive loser" quite often. But please don't let that discourage you from joining in the game.

Rules:

1. typos don't count
2. if I mean to write a sentence fragment, that doesn't count
3. if I mean to write a run-on sentence, that doesn't count
4. all submissions will be judged solely by me and I can change my mind anytime
5. if I meant to do something, like not capitalize some words, that doesn't count
   

Current Score:
Anonymous = 1
everyone else = 0

Movie Review

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou with Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett & Willem Dafoe

I thought it was brilliant. Kinda like The Royal Tenenbaums at sea.

Doun't Minde Me.

I had a friend from the Philippines (who was here visiting) ask me once why I spelled things differently. I told her it was the Canadian way of spelling. Like rumour, or neighbourhood, or colour. She asked why it was like that and I had no idea, that's just the way we spell it in Canada. Does anyone know where this comes from? Is it some french influence or some shit like that?

Arrr, Make 'im walk the plank.

I heard about BitTorrent last year from Rodney. He told me it was the way to download shit off the internet. For the past couple of years I've been using Limewire. Nothing illegal, mind you, just some independently recorded stuff that the artists openly share for exposure (*wink wink*). Anyhoo, I started using BitTorrent and so far it seems pretty good. I should have switched last year.

I Hope You Like My Music

When I bought my iPod last May I kinda wondered to myself what I really needed it for. I don't often listen to music with headphones, in fact I don't even like listening to music that way. I don't want to carry around another device (on weekdays I already carry a cellphone and a blackberry) that I can drop or lose. Then after a few weeks of using it regularly, I thought, "This is great! I can carry a tonne of music with me wherever I go and the headphones give me a good excuse to ignore people." It was especially great at work where I could pretend not to hear people trying to talk to me. I ended up switching the headphones for a pair of el-cheapo speakers just because the pretending-to-ignore-you thing actually became a nuisance when I really needed to hear someone. So now I have music playing quietly at my desk as I work. Is it too loud? Does it bother people? I don't care. I'll turn it down if you ask me to, but otherwise I hope you like my music.

Reality TV

I think I've mentioned it before, but I'll tell you again: I'm not a fan of reality tv. I've tried a few seasons of some of the shows, but I just can't follow it. One of the things I like about paid actors is that they are always on every season. You get to know the character, you learn their stories, and you grow attached to their struggles. In reality tv, you meet some people who's lives may not be that interesting and when the season ends or when they get kicked off the show they're gone. As in Gone. Like NSync's song. Gone. What happened to them? What happened to their problems? Where did they go? When the new season starts, there's a whole new batch of people who's lives I still don't care about and who's problems still aren't mine. There have been a few shows I've watched where I've like the people, but then they disappear and the new crowd sux.

My Favourite Seasons:

1. Survivor: Outback
2. America's Next Top Model Season 2
3. The Apprentice Season 1
4. American Idol Season 1 & 2

The Stupid Ones

1. Are You Hot?
2. Big Brother
3. The Swan
4. Trading Spouses

Blind as a Bat

The other day a co-worker of mine said she would prefer to have to wear glasses all the time rather than just when she's reading. She even went so far as to say, "I love wearing glasses, I wish I could just wear them all the time." It took everything I had in me to not throw something at her. I've been wearing glasses for over 20 years and believe me, it sucks. Ask anyone with poor eyesight and they'll probably say something like, "I wish I could wake up in the morning and see the clock and the first thing I do isn't reach for my glasses."

Maybe I'm Numenorean and didn't know it.

Apparently Middle Earth wasn't a fantasy.

Movie Review

Flightplan with Jodie Foster, Peter Sarsgaard, and Sean Bean

It was okay. Like Panic Room in a plane.

Brain Food

I enjoy reading. In fact, over the past 3 years, I've probably read more books/year than I have in my entire life, including the time I spent in school. Don't get me wrong, its not a lot of books, maybe 4 or 5 per year, but then again they generally tend to be books over 200 pages, they usually don't have pictures, and the character's dialogue isn't inside a floating bubble over their head. My favourite books are always fiction and usually introduce a different thought process or an alternate society that has subtle differences in morality and ethics. I also like fast-paced "junk food" fiction that pushes ideas on you so fast you can't help but to agree and consider the concept.

Top 5 Favourite Books I've read over the past 5 years (in no particular order):

1. 1984 by George Orwell
2. The DaVinci Code by Dan Brown
3. Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood
4. Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
5. Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Last Wedding Entry

I finally got the pictures from my parent's camera. This one is from Rodney and Jeanette's wedding last week. Do I have a picture of them, you ask? Yes, I do but its my blog. I'll post whatever damn picture I like.

Filipino Jokes

What do you call a filipino that finished med school?
A doctor, you fucking racist.

How do you use "sinigang" in a sentence?
(with a filipino accent)... my cousin, he's in a gang.

Batteries Not Included

I was talking to a friend of mine and she said she was frustrated. I asked her if it was because her batteries died. She wasn't worried though cuz she's an athlete.

Current Events

I was looking at the Cypress website and it looks like they got a dusting of snow on Saturday. See? Rodney and Jeanette's wedding was THAT special. We're already talking about where to go for a snowboarding trip. So far, we're considering Apex, Big White, Sunpeaks, and Silver Star. I need something cheap cuz I'll be just back from the Philippines. Oh, did I mention before that I'm going to the Philippines? Everyone: I'm going to the Philippines. It's my cousin's wedding on January 7 or 9 or something like that. I leave here December 27 and return January 16th. That's great, huh? I just advertised that I'll be out of my house for 3 weeks so people can rob me. Well don't plan on it cuz the house won't be empty. Jerks.

At work there's also the possibility that I can go to Boston for a few days for some software training in December. Nothing special, just a 4-day seminar. But Boston in December is not exactly a vacation spot. Its pretty fucking cold and I left Saskatchewan for a reason. I have a feeling I'm not going anyway. I looked at the seminar details and its nothing new or exciting.

One last thing: I bought new bindings. There was this sale at the local snowboard shop and I bought $379 bindings for $175. They're last year's model, but they're pretty damn sweet. Burton P1. I can't wait to try them out.

Sharp as a Tack

B-

Your senses are pretty sharp (okay, most of the time) And it takes something big to distract you!

How Observant Are You?

Another Wedding

This weekend was Rodney and Jeanette's wedding. Let me tell you something about each of them. Rodney's the kind of guy that tells it like it is. He's the guy you can count on when you need help and the kind of guy that's gets things done. Everything he tries he becomes good at (this makes me so fucking jealous) whether its music, snowboarding, or any kind of sport. Jeanette also tells you like it is and will support you through anything. She's classy, smart, loyal, and fun. It makes me cry tears of joy when I think how these two have grown up to be responsible adults. Okay, I don't really cry but I'm still pretty happy for them. I just want to take this opportunity to tell them both that I love them and I wish the best for them.

Funny Funny Funny

Tonight we went to see Russell Peters at the Orpheum. In case you don't know who he is, he's an indo-canadian comedian from Ontario. He's toured around the world with sold out shows all in China, Europe, the US, and Canada and he just signed a deal with the WB Network for a sitcom. He had a show that circulated around the internet that was pretty fucking hilarious, but to see him live was just amazing. My face and abs hurt from laughing so hard. Try downloading his old act and I promise you'll laugh your ass off.