Skating on the canal and the leafs are a bunch of thugs

Tonight I went out on the canal with Lisa and Kevin and of course Laura. It was a lot of fun, but I think that I was a drag 'cause my feet don't like my skates. I think that I'll have to get new ones, which is sort of too bad 'cause I have only used these ones like < 12 times since I got them in first year. It's crazy how time flies.
[above edited] I had left out Laura before because 1) I am an idiot and 2) because, well, see number 1...

After skating we went to the Oak right near the queensway for a drink, where we saw the last of the Ottawa vs. Toronto game. Every time I see the Leafs play, I can't help think that they are just a bunch of thugs. If you listen to Toronto fans, they will say that "they just do what needs to get done to win". Ya, sure, whatever. They play dirty hockey, hitting and smacking the other team just to piss them off. What, can't they win by just puck handling and good team work? Well, if they can, they don't. A lot of my family are Leafs fans (since they are in TO) and just write off that this is how to win. Well, other teams don't play dirty, and they win. Grrrrr... Okay, that's enough for now.

Listening to: The Tragically Hip - Fully Completely

Resum&eacute;

One of the things that I never understood when I first started in co-op was just how little time people have to go through resumés and how little they really care. After reading Joel's rant on resumés I can't help but think of how stupid and unprepared I was for just about every interview I had. Only in 4th year when I had some experience and was actually looking for a job do I think that I did "okay". Note, I didn't say "well", I just said okay. It might have looked good, but only compared to the 2nd years.

After I worked at passport for a co-op job, they asked me help them interview some other co-op's. Of course this was ridiculous, I did it anyways. And some of the decisions can down to crazy things like how they acted to questions, if they took off their coat or not. More of a gut feeling than anything. And really, that's a pretty shitty way to pick someone for a job.

Listening to: Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald

Gotta love google

After reading an article on slashdot about how a woman found her blind date on the FBI's most wanted list, I had to laugh. It just goes to show you how much info we now have at our finger tips these days. In a few seconds, you can find so much with google. Have you ever googled for your whole name (in quotes) to find what you can find? My cousin did that a couple of months ago and found all this family tree stuff about her, put on the web by someone we don't even know! That's one way to find distinct relitives...

Another slashdot article was about how Scientists create new form of matter. New? I thought that we had gotten ourselves into enough trouble before making more things that we mess up. Personally, I do love it when I see headlines like that or how something that was a total "fact" turns out to be totally wrong... It always reminds me that we still have so far to go in our science. But I think that we are getting there. Slowly. ;-)

Listening to: Sam Roberts - when everything was alright

I think that the word of the day should be no. That word saves a lot of people a lot of headaches. Right now I think that my boss is saying yes to everything, and it is starting to scare me. I'm the one that is saying no all the time, if only to reign (wrong one, I know) people in. Saying "no, that is not possible" or "we cannot control that" seems to be what I say in meetings. But I think that I am raining on people's parade since they are mostly talking about future stuff. I just want to make sure that people don't think that this will get done any time soon, if at all. Plus, if I say no to everything right away, I get a better feel what is really important to people to have. If I said yes, I think that they would want it to do everything, including making coffee.

In other news, the weather here isn't that great. It took me (over?) 2 hours to get in today... an hour just to get to Kanata. *sigh* And the thing that most annoyed me about the drive in? Someone's car broke down in the fast lane of the 417 where it is only 2 lanes in each direction, and they just walked away. If that happens, try to push your car out of the way. I think that people will help you if you can't do it yourself, since you have stopped traffic anyways. Seesh. Not only does it mean that you make it harder for people to drive, but it also means that the plows are not able to properly clear the road. I am sure that you get charged for abandoning your car in the middle of a road. I think that the cops might at least understand if you tried to move it to the side of the road. Grrr.....

Listening to: Stan Rogers - Barrett's Privateers

Books

I love books. That's simple enough. I've read a couple of good ones in the last month. Well, just this month. The one that I finished today was the Life of Pi. It was really good, and not what I expected at all. It was an excellent book, and I would recomend reading it. It's a Canadian book (the author lives in Montreal) and won a bunch of awards. It's a really fresh look at things. I am not sure if it really is a story, or if it is actually true. And I am not sure that I want to know either. It's something that I will have to think about for a while.

I bought a book at I already have, at least in draft form, today. It's something that I have been meaning to buy for a while, if just to review things that I have been taught over and over. It's my SEG 2100 text book by tcl. What I find most amusing is that Rohit, one of the people who kept on helping the prof write revisions, gave the book 5 stars. Right, I am sure that has nothing to do with the fact that he spent a lot of time working with the book and trying to help make it better. It just made me laugh when I saw that. ;-)

The other book that I have read that was pretty good was The Snow Walker by Farley Mowat. It was all about the people of the north, and their stories. I feel that he was recording them on paper because they are an oral tradition, and that is being lost with "modern life", and pretty soon they will be lost. It's quite sad thinking of how a whole way of life will come to an end, but I am sure that it's not the first, and probably not the last. Who knows. As an amusing side note, check out the price on this book. Seesh. That's one to get when you have free shipping.

Listening to: The Monkees - I'm a Believer

Shakespeare is better live

Yesterday Liz invited me to go see Hamlet at the NAC. I just have to say that it was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. However, because of timing and a browser crash, Liz wasn't able to get tickets. They go on sale at 6 pm, and for that show they were all sold out by 6:05.

And considering that it costs less than a movie (shhh! I went as a "student"), it was amazing. There are things that you (I) can't really get from just reading Shakespeare. I think that's because it was meant to be acted and not read in some class. When you see it as a play, you realize just how timeless the story is. It doesn't hurt that it is my favourite play, but that's beside the point.

People are reading this?

One of the psedo-assumptions that I have been going on while I have been using this blog (as well as my last one) is that really the only people that read this are ones that I know in meatspace (thanks to Ryan for always introducing me to new "words"). Now, it's not required because this is on the web and accessed by anyone who could find it, but I never thought that anyone would bother to read my random thoughts, let alone comment on them. I don't think that I should really be surprised, but I am. Weird eh?

I guess it just goes to show how blogging is changing how people communicate. The NY Times had a good article about that (look at me, I am again stealing links from Ryan). Ah well. So, while most people are actually getting less face time, they are communicating more. My concern is about the quality of the communication because most of the time (well, at least with IM), it can be, well, how do I say this nicely?, not very productive. And, for me at least, I need alone time, time without interaction, time without other people. While being with people 99% of my awake time, some times I just need to be by myself, reading a book or just going for a walk with my dogs.

I am finding that I am not turning on IM, or email some times. I turn off my cell phone (or at least set it to "slient"). If they really want me, they can leave a message. I have to define my boarders around what time is my time and what time I will share with other people. I think that this is going to become the socially accepted way of doing things in the future, otherwise it will feel like we belong just to be at the beck and call of others. And like most things, I am sure that this isn't an original thought. We'll see (and shape) what happens in the future. ;-)

[aside] for all the people that I don't know in person that read this, I am sorry, but I can't spell my way out of a wet paper bag if my life depended on it.

Listening to: Default - Live A Lie

It's like a train wreck, I just couldn't look away

On tonight was American Idle, and I just could not look away. Some of the people on that show are terriable! And the funny thing is, I am too, but at least I know it. I hope it's not just that their friends are just too nice and can't tell these people that they actually suck. How hard would it be to wait all that time for your 30 seconds in front of the judges and have them kill themselves with laughter, or worse yet not believe that you are serious? That's harsh, no doubt about it.

It's weird being on the other side of the table

Today at work I sat in on a meeting while my boss interviewed two of my friends (Ryan and Peter). It sure was weird... I didn't have to sit in on the interviews at all, and I am not sure if I hurt of helped at all.

It's weird sitting on the other side of the table I think. But I am sure that it is something that I will have to do all my life. I hope that (for other people) I get better. I totally understand why interviewers have a list of questions: because it can be hard to think up things on the spot.

It's always cool to get an insight into the "other side". ;-)

Listening to: Beegees - Staying Alive

Jim vs The Pengiun: take 1

I've been working on getting my linux box up now. A computer that I have not even touched in a year (ya, it's been a waste). So Peter and Eric helped me get it up and running. So far I can ssh, ftp, and get it to see the net, and get the other computers here to see it. What I still have to do is samba up and running. I think then I'll take a short rest. After that though I was to get CVS up and running (tried, I think that it works, but something in Eclipse doesn't like it yet. Will try another cvs client soon); a web server up and running; (maybe) bugzilla; (maybe) apache and tomcat. The last three are not really high priority right now. They will only really be useful when I get a high speed connection. Which I will get. One day. But that's enough for tonight. zzzzz......

Listening to: Moxy Fruvous - Kick In The Ass

All marks are up

I'm finally done (I hope). All my school marks are now in. Yay!

I thought that yesterday was cold..

The weather has outdone itself again. This morning it was -30 C with a windchill that made it feel like -41. People here and elsewhere have been commenting that even though the canal is open, it's too bloody cold to go out! I am not really one for skating because my skates cripple me (but I am going to try new insoles this year) but I always enjoy the beaver tails. ;-)

hee hee... I was a little nervous searching for "beaver tails" here at work, but I guess that google has porn results turned off. Or maybe you just have to search for specific key words. Either way I am not going to try it here. ;-)

I am going to be a link steal-er and use one of Ryan's media blog posts to mention that it looks like the Goonies are back! This was one of my favourite movie from the 80's. I just have to watch it again. I wonder if Spielberg just isn't getting any new ideas, so he's just down to making more sequals.

Listening to: Bif Naked - Violence

I know Kung Fu!

I just read a really interesting thing on slashdot about how Matrix like interfaces are being tested on people as we speak. I thought that this was pretty scarry and cool at the same time. Right now they are only going to be listening from commands from the brain, but I wonder if they will be able to "teach" like they do in the Matrix. And if people started to have those, how could you compeate with them? To keep your job, you'd have to get one just so that if something new came up, you could learn it instantly. Kind of scarry, but I guess it might just be "normal" soon enough.

Almost like (also a /. story) there won't really be punch cards anymore, just hand scanners.

Listening to: Tool - Schism

Not having the tools == frustration

I think that it will be the small things that drive me over the edge in the end. The phrase that sticks in my head is use the right tool for the job. It can be SO frustrating not having the tools that you are used to. In this case it's me using an older IDE (WSAD 4) which doesn't have the things that I am used to. Like (good) code formatting, some macros, Junit testing (it doesn't have Cactus either), or a new enough version of Java (so that I can use things like JavaMail easily).

Then using other things that I am not familiar with like Struts that are not supported in this drives me nuts. I just have to wait for my boss to get back on Monday so that I can sort this stuff out. And it doesn't help that my mouse is sticking. I am going to bring in an optical one tomorrow just so that I don't go crazy by Thursday. *sigh* And I have to bring in more music too... having only 3 CD"s isn't enough.

Listening to: Yann Tiersen - L'autre Valse d'Amélie

Everywhere for everyone

Tickets to see BNL have now been purchased (thanks to Laura). I'm pretty excited about this. It's the first time that I have actually gone to see them live. They are one of those few bands that (I don't think) have not gotten too big for their shoes. They seem to be very down to earth guys. ;-)

The weather here today was really slipperly. It took me a while to get in, but thankfully after about 1/2 way, the bus driver is the one worrying about traffic, not me. But that's not before I almost got taken out by a car close to my house. We were headed toward each other on a turn, both using more of the center of the lane than we should have been. The other guy (or girl, I didn't stop to check) were going way too fast for the conditions. I have new snow tires, I was going really slow, and I still found it slick. Anyways, when I saw them coming, I moved totally into my lane (and I could do so because I was going slow). They tried to move into their lane but they ended up spinning out. I am just glad that they didn't hit me. I stopped and checked that they didn't actually ditch it, and then just carried on. They can turn their own car around.

Listening to: Yann Tiersen - L'autre Valse d'Amélie

how many email clients can I use?

As I have written in a post earlier today, I am not really happy with Outlook 2000. So I downloaded and tried out Thunderbird. Not as happy with it... my main complaint is that it has a toally seperate couple of folders that you can't remove for each account (trash, sent items, ...). One thing that I like about Outlook (and Express), is that I get all my accounts going to the same inbox, using the same sent items box, etc. And when I click "check mail", it checks all accounts, and not just the one that I have currently active. In all fairness, they are only on release 0.4, and it looks great for that.

One of the smart things that I liked from my 30 minutes of playing with it was how for all the accounts, it had only one smtp server (and presumably when it works for all accounts). So if you went from work to home, you only have to change one line to get all your accounts working again. Nice. Very smart, and very needed for anyone who switchs networks a lot. I don't think that I really gave it a fair trial today, but I was just using it as a distraction from other things (work). Just like this is a distraction for things (sleep). ;-)

Listening to: Ministry - Burning Inside

Radio in Ottawa sucks

Yes, I think that I have had a break though: Ottawa radio sucks. I'm posting this after they have killed the only station that I have been listening to: XFM. I'd put a link to it, but their web site is already down. :-( I think that there is another station that was the country one that has a different format, but that's where the DJ's have been moved to.

I think that I'll just listen to mp3's and CD's that I buy (yes, I do actually buy music). I tried to find links about this, but I have not come up with anything. It's sort of nuts. I think that radio stations tell the public less of what is going on compared to school.

Listening to: Collective Soul - Where The River Flows

Big Fish

I saw Big Fish the other night and I thought that it was a great movie. I'll agree with Kibbee that the previews did give a lot of the things that might have surprised me about the movie, but it kept the most important thing hidden: the story. I thought that it was a beautiful story with a great ending.

It was sad, it was funny, and it was beautiful all at the same time. I have not really been a big Tim Burton fan, but I think that this was his best (that I have seen). Saying that, that probably means that he has upset some of his more traditional fans, but blah. I think that this was one of those movies that isn't about the character that I originally thought. Sort of like Star Wars (ep. 4-6) was not really about Luke Skywalker, even though it might seem that way at first.

The movie was well worth seeing, and perhaps more importantly, worth thinking about.

Listening to: Wild Cherry - Play that Funky Music White Boy

I finally did it: moved to Outlook

I finally moved to using Outlook at my email client. *sigh* I tried to resist for a long time, but fighting spam all the time was too much for me. And it was a big pain the ass too: I couldn't export my email from Outlook Express. I had to move it to Outlook first, then export it. Now I am just trying back up all my school stuff including AudioMan. (I think that I have too many directories). So now that I am using Outlook, I can install SpamBayes which is working well since I had a folder of like 300 spam to train it with. ;-) Now I just have to move to Outlook XP (from 2000) so that I can get Hotmail support. One step at a time.

Listening to: The Tragically Hip - The Dark Canuck

Not just cold, bloody cold

It's been freaking cold here. I keep on checking the weather to see if it is getting any warmer, but I think that I'll have to wait for summer for that. But it's not really bad as long as you wear like 2+ layers every where and leave no exposed skin. ;-)

I was reading an interesting Cringely article today and found something amusing: you can buy jewlery that you see characters where in your favourite tv show wear (like Buffy). I just think that it's funny that people have made a business of this, but I guess that people want this sort of thing.

Other things that got my attention are how paranoid the US has gotten. Even scarier is the second article. It's sort of scary that they allow their citizens to carry guns around, but they are sending out warnings about people carrying books around. It's truely a mad world.

Listening to: The Byrds - Mr. Tambourine Man

The more I know...

The less confident I am in that I will be able to get my work done on time. On my first day my co-worker, the only other Java developer, quit. Her last day was today. It was for personal family problems, and I wish her all the best, but I am getting more and more scared. I have never built a J2EE app before, in an IDE that I have not used, working on a project where nothing has been done. One of the good things about this is that I will be free to do test driven development. *sigh* And nothing is set up yet, not source control, not build / test envs, nothing. Anybody know someone that has tons of J2EE dev experience that is looking for a job?

On another note, Laura and I are planning to go see some naked ladies soon in a show. I think that it will be great. ;-) I love concert adventures. Anyone else want to go? Let me know asap, 'cause I will most likely be buying tickets next monday when they go on sale. I just hope that it is not blocked at work, or that the ticket thingy isn't using some weird port (like when we tried to order Pizza Pizza from school). [aside: Ahhgggh! I hate flash!]

I had better get to bed... I have to set an earlier bed time for myself... this just isn't working anymore.

Listening to: Underworld - Cowgirl

What you can't say

I just read something that is one of the most interesting reads that I have read in the longest time. It is an article all about What you can't say which I found from a slashdot post (of course). It gives an interesting way to look at some of the thoughts that we come across every day and how to determine if they are more universal (like murder is bad), or if they are something that might not be true (like the earth does not move).

One of my biggest complaints about religion is how it can tell you how to think, and what to believe. I think that it's a good idea to be able to get a moral compass, but it is just that, it gives you a general idea of where to go, it does not lay out the path for you. You have to find that way yourself. Otherwise it would be called a moral guide. I wouldn't have anything against a guide if they were always right, but they are just telling you what they think that the compass says, and they could be wrong, or worse yet, misleading you for their purposes. I think that it's better to ask questions and find that path yourself.

In science it is encouraged to ask questions. Break throughs always happen when people ask questions and defey the "common sense" of the day. I love quotes that they show of "scientific people" who have said things that today we take for granted as false. I usually refer to Clarke's first law in my head at these times. It just emphases to me that no matter how much I believe something, I could be wrong. And for some reason, I find that more comforting than knowing that I am always right.

Listening to: Matchbox twenty - long day

Checkmate

It looks like some of the SEG guys have had their checkmate web site up for a little while now. It looks really cool... I just wish that I had Unreal Tournament 2003 and a fast enough connection to play it. When I was playing it at school it sure was a blast. Please pass this along to anyone that you think might be interested. I know that these guys put in a lot of hard work and I hope that they are going to be sucessful. And if anyone gets more traffic than I do and wants to post about this too, please do. ;-)

Return of the Jeem

As you must guess, I am back in O dot. It was a very busy holiday season and it went by way too fast. Much has happened, so there is much news to tell.

First, Christmas has gone smooth, and it has been great to see all the family again. I think that this should happen more often, but some how we only make an effort at this time of the year. It really gets me how fast life goes by when you are just doing day to day things. Crazy.

New Years was spent in London where I finally met Laura's good friend Kim and we had a blast. That's where we tried out the home made bailey's mix. Mmmm... We did the actual New Years party at the London Convention Center, which was pretty good. I have lots more respect for my friend Gillian now too. We were all dancing in a group (me and 6 girls) when 3 gino's came up. I wasn't paying too much attention (read: drunk and only looking at one girl) when they sort of started to dance around the group. Well, I guess the sober people took offence by being ground from behind (duh) and it pissed them off. One of the guys came right in the circle and was dancing and Gillian grabed him and threw him out. He almost fell down she pushed him so hard. They there was words with another one... Gillian held her own and kicked ass. I didn't really have any idea that girls had to put up with that sort of thing. I guess I am just ignorant on that. I actually clued in when Gillian threw the guy out and started to watch very closely because I thought there there was going to be a fight.

Other than that, it has been a pretty uneventful holiday. But excellent none the less.

On another note, I think that I am going to start looking into a digital camera. I was trying to figure out if I wanted to get an mp3 player, but I think that I will have more fun with a camera. If anyone has any info about cameras, please pass them on.

Listening to: Bif Naked - Tango shoes

Home made Bailey's

Here's a great home made version of bailey's that I was in to the other night. We were just missing the coconut.

1 mickey of rye

1 can of eagle brand milk

2 cans of nestle's thick cream

3 eggs

1 tsp coconut flavoring

2 tblspns chocolate syrup



beat n' keep refrigerated

makes 32 ounces