2003.05.31 @ 2237

Yes, another weekend feels almost blown. I just hope that it is nice weather tomorrow... I sort of want to spend the day outside if it's not too cold / raining. It was supposed to be raining, but I think that they have changed their prediction of what the weather will be. I don't think that they are accurate about it at all. Ah well.

I went to an AudioMan meeting today. I am not as far with the dev work as I wanted to be, and that's not cool with me. :-( I cleaned up some bugs quickly that I knew about. I think that I have more to do tonight. I just want to get it to some place where we can release it and get other people trying it out. If anyone wants to play around with it, they can either check out the web site everyone once and a while (we should have a release in about a week), or you can email me and I'll let you know when there are things to play around with.

I went to my grandma's for dinner tonight. My sister was the biggest pain in the ass ever. I don't think that she really likes hanging out at my grandma's, and she was making a fuss and being really annoying the whole time. Annoying on purpose. Grrr... finally my mom wispered to her that the longer she was annoying and misbehaving, the longer we would stay. Then she stopped being as annoying. Sheesh! Ah well.

Listening to: The Belle Stars - Iko Iko

2003.05.30 @ 1342

Went for a run today (skipped yesterday) in my new asics shoes. My legs didn't hurt at all!! YAY! Apparently I tilt in the inside of my foot (arch down, ankles roll in) and that was screwing everything up. I didn't know that I could run without my legs (and side) hurting. I think that I am going to quickly kick Betty's ass at running... I mean, I can run / walk 5 km, while she has only done a couple marathons. Phsh! Like that is any great accomplishment.

I went out for some italian food last night. It was really great. There is a great place in the centrum (well, not really the "centrum") that is across from the beer store and DQ. Near the end, they wanted to move us so that they could put a couple of tables together for a bigger party. The owner insisted that we have coffee and dessert for free. Have you ever tried to turn down an italian (or a greek for that matter)? It has never worked for me. We didn't end up getting dessert... Laura was way too full. Ah well. Then it was over to O'Connor's to get my ass kicked at pool and foose ball. But it's all good. Ahh! I gotta get back to work!

Listening to: Fleetwood Mac - Rhiannon

2003.05.28 @ 2151

I don't think that running is going to kill me. Maybe. It is going better. My time is still shitty, but that is the way things are now. I am sure that I will improve.

One thing that I love reading Ryan's page is I always learn new slang or phrases. And he always seems to find a definition somewhere. Where he has learned all these (sometimes obscure) lingo is beyond me. I guess that is what happens when someone is SO much older than me. Must be the real world experience. Or the coke-a- cola addiction. Either way.

I found some cool comics that I thought were very funny. There was the first part which was a little strange by itself, but then they just came out with the second part and I killed myself laughing. Maybe I was just in a happy mood... who knows. I sort of want to know what happens next. I guess that is the way of web comics. I think that I have to update the list on the side bar, but I have not gotten around to it. After working all day updating web pages, some times I really don't want to do it when I get home.

Listening to: String Cheese Incident - 6.21.00 - Lonesome Fiddle Blues

2003.05.27 @ 1933

Well, my plans for tonight have fallen through. :-( Ah well. So sad. I think that they will be rescheduled for Thursday, so that is good. Damn sickness! It might be for the best though. It will give me more time to work on AudioMan, something that I really need to do. Sometimes I think that I am doing something wrong, or why would it be taking me so long? Maybe I am just slow... :-( Ah well.

One thing that I really am starting to like, and Ryan will love this, is Test Driven Developement (TDD) or Test First Development (TFD). I was working away the other day, and decisions that make sense in isolation, break the code when put together. Running a test everytime I add a couple of lines of code shows me if I break the code. I like it, I really like it. ;-) And it gives me a (bad or good depending on who you talk to) excuse to not to work on the code. I am not going to touch the code unless a test fails. If I think that something needs to be worked on, I will write a test first that fails, and then fix that problem. If I can't write a failing test, (other than in the case of refactoring), I am not going to touch anything. I sort of like that. ;-)

I have a distinct feeling that I am not going to get in all the things that I planned to do this summer. One thing though, I have introduced my parents to the idea that I will travel when I finish school. Of course their first reaction is "I don't like it" and "I don't think that you should go", but I don't think that they will have too much say if I am paying for it all. Like most things around here, I will just keep quiet and mysterious about them. ;-)

Listening to: Leahy - The Call to Dance Medley

2003.05.25 @ 1523

I think that the phrase of the day has to be crisis averted. That is what you call it when someone digs you out of their spam folder for their email. That is the biggest problem with email now, if you get an email from someone that you don't have on your email list, it's about 99% likely (at least) that it is spam. So that makes the first email the hardest to get through, or heaven forbid, they loose their address book. Maybe I should back mine up again... If something went wrong with my computer, I think that would be the hardest thing to get back in order: my contacts. I don't know how people do it who wipe their drives every 6 months... I am so afraid that I will loose anything, I find it hard to delete anything at all. I am always trying to fight my (inherited) pack-rat tendencies, and most of the time I win. Just not with cyber junk. I guess that is why my hard drive is always close to full... If I've got the room, I fill it. ;-)

Listening to: Philip Glass - Prophecies

2003.05.24 @ 1735

It looks like this week is over. Sens lost last night, the rains started, I have not really done anything to help around the house. A normal day all in all. I was reading Ryan's blog while at work yesterday and I found something really funny. He had a link to Conan O'Brien's Harvard Graduation. It was one of the funnest things that I have read. It was hard not to laugh while at work... I want them to think that I am always working don't I?

I ended up watching the game at Karen's house last night. It's so much nicer and more fun to watch it there than at my house... I think that it's fun because other people (i.e. Karen) yell and shout like I do. I don't have that at home. :-( Ah well. Now that Buffy and hockey is over, I don't know what to do with all my time! ;-) Honestly though, I am finding that this summer is going way too fast. Almost a month has gone by. This isn't cool at all.

I am going to be home for a family dinner tonight... been a while since I have had one of those. At lease durring co-op terms, I am not at school all weekend. Some of the things that I have to get done include getting a parking pass for next fall. I just don't know if I could take the bus all the time anymore for school. It really sucks in the off times.

Oh, if anyone wants to come with me and a bunch of other people to see Great Big Sea at the Ottawa Bluesfest, just let me know. I am trying to get a big group together. So far I think that about 6-8 people have said that they would come. But the more the better. ;-)

Listening to: Spirt of the West - Home For A Rest

2003.05.22 @ 2034

I hurt. Very much so. In muscles that I didn't even know that I had. :-( I have started to run with a lady at work. I am thinking that it is a bad idea, but at this point I am going to stick with it. I just feel like I am going to die and am in pain. But I hear that it gets better... you just have to give it a year or so. :-( At lunch we run the bridges. We start where I work and run down the place de portage bridge, along the Quebec side over to the other bridge, over to the locks, and back to the place de portage bridge and back to work. It's about 5 km. I feel so bad running with this lady because I am by far the weaker runner. But then again, she (when not hurt) runs every day, even in winter, and runs marathons. I just don't think that I am compeate.

Watched the game last night. It was so freaking good. I only really started to watch it from the second period because I thought that it started at 8, which means that I made other people late too. I suck. I just hope that they kick ass tomorrow.

This is the first night that I have been home in a while before dark. Yay me! Now it gives me a chance to work on AudioMan stuff. My week is running out and I better get more done before the code freeze. If I don't get enough done, I am going to have to kick myself in the ass, and considering how sore I am now, that I really going to hurt.

Listening to: Moxy Früvous - Breakfast at Tiffany's

2003.05.19 @ 2103

Back from the cottage. It was a great weekend (weather wise). We have not opened the cottage for a long time, so we had a bit of trouble getting the water in. I think that we would do it differently if we are doing it next year (like have a foot value so we don't have to prime the pump so many times). Ah well. Lessons learned. But one thing that I will say, it is a lot easier to put the dock in than out. ;-) We only have to move it two feet down, and not like 30 feet UP. It was good seeing family too. I played cribbage a bit. It is like riding a bike... and just as much fun. I have to find more people that play it. I had not played it in like two years, which is far, far too long.

Since I haev spent the weekend at the cottage, I don't really have any technical things to talk about. I was going to go over my UNIX book to brush up on things for work, but I didn't really have (or make) time. Going out in the canoe or writting a letter to my friend took higher priority. I needed a bit of a brain break. I didn't even get much of my book read at all! I think that I am going to ease off reading for a bit. I spend a lot of time doing that, and I have a lot of other things to do. I am starting to agree with Peter when he says that if there were 40 hours in a day, it would be about perfect. Almost enough to get everything that I want to do in that amount of time. Almost.

Listening to: Underworld - Luetin

2003.05.15 @ 2200

Well the Sens lost. I hope that they just can pick it up for the next couple of games... you can only come from behind so many times before you get totally screwed over. Ah well. And it was a lot harder (and not as much fun) watching the game at my house. Usually I watch it at Karen's house, where she has a big ass TV. Here at home, I am off in a corner, watching a 27 inch tv from about 12 feet away. It just doesn't have the same effect. And it is more fun at her house... more screaming at the tv.

I have gotten my grades back for this semister. I can't really say that I am happy with them, but I am not going to cry myself to sleep either. The part that bothers me the most is the fact that my CGPA seems to have dropped 0.3 since the summer. :-( I am really not happy with this at all. I don't know how it happened either. Unless the co-op resubmit hurt me that much (which I don't think so...). And I a B in ADM, but I don't think that really should have killed my gpa that much. I guess it is all the B's that I have gotten in since september... Not cool. To bring it up to where I want, I'd have to get a bunch of A+'s, and at this point I don't know if it is worth it to me. Probably not.

Listening to: Robbie Williams - Have You Met Miss Jones?

2003.05.14 @ 2244

I have been trying to do test first development now. I think that I am starting to get the hang on it, but I still need to work on it a lot. I think that you just have to get into the right habit and mind set to do it. I don't think that I could really do it well if I didn't already have an idea how the system would work together. I think that it might be a great way to implement things, but I am not convinced yet about how well it can be used to just program. Sometimes I really need my tangents to get things done.

Well, well... it looks like I am the only one reading my site again. If you are reading this, well lucky you. ;-) You are one of the few, the proud, the literate. Before I was doing like 20 page views a day (I didn't think that I had that many friends that would read this), but I just checked and for "yesterday" I had one view. And it was probably me. Sooo, it looks like I don't have to be concerned or careful about what I saw again. ;-) hee hee... Oie. Now I think that I am just going to go to bed... I need to get caught up on sleep. Big game tomorrow, and I have a lot of yelling to get done. ;-P

Listening to: Hams Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard - The General Who Became A Slave

2003.05.14 @ 1856

Something happened yesterday that made me really happy. I got a income tax cheque back from the gov't. Apparently, we miscalculated what I would be back. I thought that we had everything and since we were using some software, we would be pretty much spot on. But, it didn't work out that way. But it worked out in my favour, and by a lot. I was wondering how everyone else at school were going to get back so much money, I couldn't understand why I was getting so screwed. Ah well. It's good to get all that cash back. ;-) Now for the kayak... or trip to Europe... Well, at least the plane fare. (or part of it).

Things are starting to go smoother at work. It only took me about 4 hours to delete a line from 2 files. *sigh* It is because I get this random trouble ticket, which I then have to try and track down. Finding out who is working on what project, if it is in source control, which source control (don't ask), and so forth. I can't change what the latest copy from CVS, I have to use an earlier version and make the change. So, that means making a branch. No one knows how to do it. I don't even know if everyone knows how to roll back. Anyways, so four hours later and it still isn't done. *sigh* I think that until I understand things better, the process is going to kill me.

The game last night was a big disappointment. I hope that they are going to spring back... I know that they have what it takes to win, I just hope that they figure it out too. Sometimes I find them very hot / cold. Ah well. Best of luck, Go Sens Go! ;-)

Listening to: Moby - Go

2003.05.13 @ 1212

Rain, rain, rain. I guess that it is good for the grass, but I don't really like it driving in it too much. It "washes" the car, but it can be sort of annoying. Ah well. Work is going well. I keep on getting problems to fix, and they are all totally different. Which means that I am doing a lot of work tracking down things. Right now they have many types of web pages here, cgi (Perl and C), jsp's, php, static html, javascript, just about everything. But no asp. They are all using UNIX servers, so no MS. And they are storing some things in source control, (CVS, RCS, and now Clear Case), some things have no sc... it can be sort of maddening just finding things. Ah well. That is one reason why I usually don't like the first couple of weeks of any job.

I have been listening to The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack. It is a two disk set, and it is really great. It has some somewhat heavy stuff on it, but has a lot of cool "just movie music" music on it. You can get the feel of how the scene in the movie will play out before you even see it. I am trying not to look at the track names so I don't spoil the movie at all. ;-) Sounds crazy, but that is me. I totally recemend getting this. I got it from Wal-mart and it was only like 14$. Pretty good if you ask me. I didn't even know anything about it. One of the DJ's on X-FM said it was good. I loved the music from the first movie, so I did a blind buy. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn't.

The second round three Sens game is on tonight. I'm going to be watching it a friends house (with the big-ass TV). There is a big difference when watching something like that on a huge tv about 5 feet away vs. watching it on a 17 inch tv like 11 feet away. One day it will be mine, oh yes it will be mine.

Listening to: P.O.D. - Sleeping Awake

2003.05.12 @ 2140

Well, another day, another dollar. Well, isn't that what all co-op's get paid? I went into my workplace from last semister and did a demo with Peter today and saw the co-op's that they hired (and I helped interview). Anyways, that interview process was maddness... But getting back to my point, they are the co-op's that I wanted them to hire, but not necessarily the ones that were ranked #1. I am glad that they got the jobs. I don't know how good an experience it will be for them, but at least they will be making cash and not doing data entry.

My eldest brother and family came over tonight. I can't belive how big my eldest neice is getting! She is using 3 word sentences... it's really cute. The coolest thing is that she counts in base 2. She goes: "2, 4, 8". I thought that it was the greatest thing. For some reason the rest of my family who are not so computer nerdy didn't think that it was as funny. Her counting seems to come from the fact that her mom tries to count with her, and getting Jadelynn to do the even numbers. Except Jadelynn doesn't like 6. But I see it as great promise for a eng. / science job when she grows up. I'll help her with math if she wants it when she can count. ;-)

I finally got my co-op report done and handed in. Yay me! Clear sailing from now on. I just have to focus on AudioMan and getting into shape. All I have to do is make a somewhat strict schedule for myself and actually stick to it. I am going to try. I'm too cheap to go to a gym, so I think that I am just going to buy some bug spray and go running around my house, and maybe moving wood / cutting down trees for the "weight" part of my program. ;-) Gotta love living in the country.

Listening to: Great Big Sea - Ordinary Day

2003.05.12 @ 0027

Humm... I seem to have lost a post now, and not just my glasses. It was a good post too. Ah well. It was right when there was a lot of storming going on. Since I have long since closed the browser I was using, those thoughts are long gone. damn damn damn. Ah well. Well, one of the things that I was talking about was how I just got a new pair of glasses. Yay lens crafters. I shouldn't cheer them too much... they did take a ton of cash from me. It is sort of shitty, but there really isn't anything that I can do about it. It would be too hard to work tomrrow (today?) with everything out of focus or much too dark because of my sun glasses.

I don't even remember the reason why I came to do this post now.. *sigh* Maybe it had something to do with me finally finishing my co-op report. Yay me! And I figured that that woman who marked our reports isn't necessarly the smartest. She corrected some of my stuff incorrectly. How bad is that? Ah well. I shouldn't make too much of her, my report needed some work. I think that for me to make a good report, it would take like 10 drafts. And someone else writting it. ;-)

Off topic again, it looks like slashdot has put in the icons next to all their stories again. I am glad about that. I was having to actually read the stories on the page... it was totally slowing me down. I am glad that they changed it back before I bitched about it. Because, as you know, the world's only purpose is to make me happy. Now if I could only convince more people of that, it would be all good. ;-)

Listening to: The Chemical Brothers - Galaxy Bounce

2003.05.11 @ 0043

Lost! My precious are lost. Lost! What I am talking about here isn't any ring, it is my glasses. Some way I was able to loose my glasses today between the back door and my car. I think. I took off my regular glasses and put on my sun glasses, and then put my reg. glasses into the holder, and I THOUGHT I put them into my jacket and then my jacket into the car. Do you think that I can find them? No. I have looked everywhere I could think of. Very frustrating. I guess I'll have to wait till it is light outside to look for my glasses again. Either that or run over to the mall and get another pair, but that would suck ass. Just a note to everyone out there: it is hard to drive home at night with sun glasses on. Just in case you didn't know.

And in other news... the Sens won. YAY! As usual I was watching the game at someone else's house, screaming at someone else's tv... But, as everyone knows, my screaming paid off. They won. I am a little horse. But I did it for the team so it's all good. Now I just have to go to bed 'cause we are all going out tomorrow for pancakes for Mother's Day. I just don't know how much my mom will enjoy it. How much can a diabetic enjoy really sugary food? Isn't it hard to sit there with all this food that you know you want to eat? Humm..., well, it wasn't my idea. I am just going for the food. Maybe I'll bring my mom (and sister) some flowers on Monday to make them happy. Ya, sounds like a plan. ;-)

Listening to: Moby - Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad

2003.05.09 @ 2146

I think that I should get an award. I am exceptional at avoiding work. Apparently I get it from my mom... damn genetics. I just don't want to rewrite my co-op report, and I have been doing everything that I can to avoid it. And it is working! Crap. I wish that I wasn't as good at that. But here I am, writting about avoiding writting... hee hee... that's ironic, like swiss cheese. ;-)

I finished reading The Time Machine by H. G. Wells. It wasn't really as I expected. I thought that he would jump around more in history instead of just going to one time. Well, he did, but not to the same level that I thought that he would. The movie was supposed to suck, but I still think that I would like to see it. It might be really interesting to see what he only conceived in his mind. It is sometimes really amazing what people can do, how they can just see what can be. That is one reason why I like sci-fi, or at least fiction set in the future, the best. The authors look at where we could be going, and they show what they see we will find when we arrive. Sometimes they just use the location as a mirror of what today is so that people can look at themselves. Other authors like Clarke have had their predictions come true. It makes me wonder about how many other predictions will be proven true in the future.

I was, for some reason, thinking about perfection today, and how a lot of the time, people preceive other people as perfect. If you talk to the other people, I am sure that they would laugh if you told them this. And that go my noodle noodle-ing... is anyone perfect? Has anyone been perfect? The old stories never have perfect people in them. Even the gods are imperfect and make mistakes in the stories. Everyone makes mistakes. So why do some people aim for it? Is it because they have to aim high? Never reach for things within your grasp because that isn't a challenge and you won't grow that way? I guess the only way to grow is to reach for the stars knowing that one day, even if you don't get them, someone will based on your trials and failures. We all must reach.

Listening to: Rammstein - Du Hast

2003.05.08 @ 2146

Spam spam spam! Yes, that is what I am getting in my inbox these days. I should really just find a damn filter for Outlook Express. Does anyone know of a good one? Ryan talked about blocking downloading images from a remote site. If I could set this up with a on / off switch, I think that would really help things out. Spam is just really starting to piss me off too much. And it seems to ramp up and then go down a lot of the time. *sigh* Just another cross that I have carry.

My stupid school has done it again. They took my pass / fail course and changed it. My "pass" changed into a "satisfactory". They still have a pass there... but no fail anymore. Does that mean that I have now failed my course? I don't think so, or there will be words spoken. But it sure sounds a lot crappier than getting a pass. What the hell is wrong with my school? They never tell us of any changes they do. They just seem to push them through and don't say shit. I SO want to have a meeting with the dean now... and / or go to one of those feedback meetings just to tell them how much they suck. I mean really, how freaking hard would it be to tell everyone that these things effect. This is a bad example, but let's choose another one like, say, changing the program that people are in. Tell the people who the changes affect. *grumble*

One of the things that I have learned after being at work a couple of days is just how far I am behind with web technologies. It isn't really funny at all. My knowledge is old, half learned, and spotty, it's not cool. One of the things that I had no idea is how there are all kinds of standards at w3 for accessing web pages for people with disabilities. Like for all the blind people reading the web... I had no idea. But, of course it is something that I have to be aware of and code for while at work. Oie, I have to get back to doing my co-op report. :-(

Listening to: Swollen Members - Full Contact

2003.05.06 @ 2215

I should be in bed now. I am not. *sigh* Stupid co- op report. I am sure that if I just added to the length, most likely they would just pass me on that. But I am not 100% sure. And I don't want to take the risk. Sooo, I am going through her (the lady that marked it) comments, and I am formatting it to how she likes it. Read: improved table of contents. Now with Dots!!! (You know, because heaven forbid you don't follow the non existent standard or template and just figure it out for yourself. If there isn't a big ass change to the Work Term Report Guidelines, I am going to be pissed off. How can you mark things wrong without telling the students what will be expected what is right and wrong. grrr... I am just bitter 'cause I tried to do less than the min and I actually got caught on this one. Maybe I'll send an email to the woman marking the papers suggesting that she change the document to reflect what she wants. Yes, I think that I will do that.

It was my second day at work today. It looks like I am just going to be doing maintance of pages right now. Not as good as I had hoped, but enough for now. I seem to be in a really good dept. and I like the people. They all seem to be ex-Nortel people. Pretty young, and not with that "I am just going to sit in my job till retirement kicks in" kind of public servent. I think that they are just starting me off small, and when they see what I can do, they are going to give me some dev. work. We'll see. I am keeping my fingers crossed (hence all the spelling mistakes... it is hard to type with crossed fingers...) ;-)

Listening to: Faithless - Tarantula

2003.05.05 @ 2301

Round three, here we come. I hope that everyone else is ready for the Sens to fight for the cup. Actually, maybe it is better if they are not ready, they we'll knock them down 'cause they are already off balance. ;-) Ah well, here's hoping. Good work guys!

I had my first day at work today... well, first day with work people. We spend the whole day at a hotel downtown doing training. I think that it is one of the better training sessions that I have ever been on... I just hope that I can do what the expect of me. I am a bit nervous about that part... I am going to have to work my butt off. I want to get "up to speed" asap, I want them to think that they can rely on me to do the work. *sigh* I am getting stressed and I have not even worked a real day yet.

I really don't have any tech news 'cause I have not been close to my computer (or any) all day. I don't really know what is happening in the world today. Maybe that is a good thing. However, because I have not spend any time on my computer, (and right now I am so damn tired), that means that I have not spent any time on my co-op report that I have to resubmit, or working on ppt projects with Peter, or working on my project course. I just don't really know where the time went. And I still have not caught up on my emails that I have meant to do. This sucks. I need to get more time in the day. Maybe I'll get up at 0500h again, but start working on stuff that I need to get done. Speaking on which, my brain is shutting down... sleep need I.

Listening to: Les Miserables - On My Own

2003.05.04 @ 2121

Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of my life. Ya, whatever. It is also the first day of work for my new job. They have a special training day, so I am supposed to get there for 0715h. Yikes. Know what I just noticed? Today is Star Wars Day. "May the 4th"... you might have to say that last little bit out loud to get it. ;-)

I keep on thinking how things I do now can change things in the future... like, if I reply to an email today, or put it off, how that will effect things. Then I keep on thinking about things like that and smoke starts to pour out of my ears. It comes down to just thinking all the time and not actually doing anything. Something that I am really bad for. *sigh* There are some things that I just should not put off at all. Like painting those stone chips on my car before they rust... and adding "pink" washer fluid to the windshield juicer thing. Damn, sometimes I just get too technical. Sorry.

Moving yesterday went okay. The dust started to bother me quite a bit, as it always does. But I don't feel shitty like I thought that I would, which is really good. One thing that I have to say about moving, if I am going to move you, please, please have everything packed and ready to go... it annoys me to stand around and watch or help you pack. That stuff should have been done before I even get there. I should just be there moving boxes or big stuff. When helping someone to move, I just want to help them move. Not pack and unpack. *sigh* Okay, I am done bitching now.

Listening to: Powderfinger - Not My Kinda Scene

2003.05.03 @ 1222

I've been getting ready to move my friend today. She'll be the first person in one of my close circles that is moving in with her bf. Woah. I'm getting old. When did that happen? Ah well. That and people are moving across the world. And I thought that where I live was far away. Well, I guess the difference is that they will not be going into downtown Ottawa everyday. Small difference.

I read an article that sort of pissed me off. Cringely has been talking about Open Source again... (even mentioned Eclipse too!) and how there are different levels of open source (as he figures) and why. The thing that annoyed me was how he was talking about refactoring as terrible. I'll agree that refactoring for the sake of refactoring is wrong and can lead to problems, but there is a perfect reason for it. Not everyone is perfect. *gasp!* Well, maybe Cringely is perfect, but I know that I am not. I don't write code perfectly the first time. Sometimes I do need to go back, clean things up so that they run better, are easier to read, take a more direct route, etc.... To call refactoring "a programmer�s ego trip and nothing else" is a little too much if you ask me. Ah well. If he didn't piss me off in his article, I wouldn't be writting about it now, and maybe in the end that is what he wants.

I have just read some short stories by Philip K. Dick (only one L... *sigh*). Anyways, they have been pretty good, even if short. I was reading another collection of various artists, and the editor talked about how Dick "portrayed his usually lonely and struggling characters, struddling to do better, almost always going worse". I think that this is accurate. I have read some of his work before, but never grasped it... never liked it as much as I do now. He has written some stories that have been made into movies like: Blade Runner, Total Recall, Imposer, Fantastic Universe, and more recently Minority Report. I have to say that Minority report has the same basic premise as the movie, while being totally different. There are so many cool "future" things in the movie that are not in the book. But the elements are the same. He is definally a great of sci-fi.

Listening to: Moby - My Weakness

2003.05.02 @ 2149

Sad today. Sort of. I think that I am just sad 'cause I am fighting change. Apparently, according to some people, that is what pain, suffering, and leads to the dark side. Well, maybe that just my interpretation of it. (it took me a minute to figure out how to spell that one...). Anyways, I think that I am just getting my post-exams, pre-work blues. It'll all pass in time. I think that I am going to be staying too busy to get too blue. Maybe I'll be more of a mauve or deep green... gotta stay away from that blue colour.

Ryan has set up a blog for me on one of his sites. It is using moveable type. With it I'll be able to do fun stuff including php. And I will be able to play more seriously with style sheets... I think that web technologies are something that really interests me. Whether it has to do with the UI, or just doing stuff like that, I think that it is something that I would like to learn a lot more about. Peter talks about how he really likes databases, and Ryan is more into OO classes with tests that can isolate problems early. It can be hard to do that with most web technologies I guess. I'll figure that out. I just have to out this summer.

I have been really excited about starting work this summer. I was trying to explain it today to some people, but I don't think that it came out right. They gave me a document about their process for projects, and the part that got me excited was they explained things in MSC's and state charts. The part that made me excited was that it seems that they found it easier to explain things like this. YAY! Pictures and flow charts! Ah, I must be in heaven.

Listening to: Moby - Fireworks

2003.05.01 @ 1257

Three things that I just thought of. (1) I figured out my adm mark. And it isn't as bad as I thought that it would be. YAY!! ;-) It could have been worse, but ah well. It is apart of the bottom scrap of my courses, and that is fine with me. As long as it isn't below that.

(2) I keep on thinking about the party last night, and how I think that I was just being an ass for a big part of that. I can't take it back now / change it, but I'll have to watch that in the future. Sometimes I just don't notice that I am doing really dumb stuff till after. *sigh*

(3) Again, it is about the job that I have not yet started. I saw where I am going to sit. I'll be bumping chairs with a lady... that is going to be annoying. But there really isn't anything I can do about that. And some of the people there have actual pod workstations. (I couldn't find a pic... ah well). It's really cool... they are really small, have lights that are motion sensitive and block out the light / glare from the normal lights. And they have a door... sort of like a big shower with a chair and computer. Totally cool.

Listening to: Great Big Sea - Barque in the Harbour

2003.05.01 @ 1204

Rain rain rain... I guess that it goes with spring. It is a nice change from the snow though. ;-) The "surprise" party for Liz last night went well. I totally thought that she had it all figured out, but she didn't and she was really surprised. That was really cool... I think that it comes from the fact that she trusts her friends (for some reason) and didn't think that we would do anything without telling her. It was quite amusing. ;-)

I was able to Meng han before she went back to Montreal. I was really happy that I was able to do that. I didn't end up going out with her on Monday night, and felt really bad about that. I just was sort of brain dead and just wanted to not do anything. Ah well.

I finally gave my brother his b-day present. I think that he was happy with it. I gave him this tiny remote control car and we played with it for at least 30 minutes. It was really cool... definally a good pick. If I ever find that guy at Walmart I'll thank him for pointing it out. And, of course, he will always be able to use the duct tape.

I met with my boss for my new job this summer. They have had a re-org already, and I am going to be put on a different team. But more or less doing the same stuff. And from what they said, I will be able to switch if I want to do anything different. I am just so excited because it seems very "private" even though it is gov't. Too cool. I am just going to have to work my butt off and make them like me. (really like me!)

Listening to: Run, Lola, Run - Believe (Franka Potente)