Good morning folks,
I've recreated the Musing Mailing List and it is ready and available for those who wish to sign-up and get emails sent from me daily. I plan on setting up some automations here on the site to help with automatically sending emails to users as well as update the website at the same time. Feel free to sign-up (link is at the top)!
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, December 6, 2007
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Crazy Busy Times
Howdy folks,
My deepest apologies for the lack of updates lately. As my subject suggests, I have been CRAZY BUSY lately. As you are aware, I have been recently promoted and I find I spend the majority of my day dealing with stupid stuff. That and I'm also still involved deeply with my technical role and am finding it increasingly difficult to juggle my time. It has gotten so bad, in fact, that I've thought about asking my boss to find a replacement for me as I just can't seem to handle the load.
I'm tired.
Have you ever had that feeling where you're so overwhelmed you have no idea where to start and have no idea how you're ever going to finish? I feel that way right now. I have so much stuff on the table and I'm letting stuff fall through the cracks on a daily basis. It is down right embarrassing. For those who know me, you know I hate having things fall through and I hate not keeping track of things at all times. I like to be on top of things at all times and keep an eye on things closely. This new role is having the exact opposite affect on me. It is frustrating and annoying.
Anyway folks, as luck would have it, I have a bunch more work I need to get done today so I need to cut this short. I REALLY want to get back to this but I just can't seem to find the time. Keep your fingers crossed that something good happens soon.
Cheers,
Al
My deepest apologies for the lack of updates lately. As my subject suggests, I have been CRAZY BUSY lately. As you are aware, I have been recently promoted and I find I spend the majority of my day dealing with stupid stuff. That and I'm also still involved deeply with my technical role and am finding it increasingly difficult to juggle my time. It has gotten so bad, in fact, that I've thought about asking my boss to find a replacement for me as I just can't seem to handle the load.
I'm tired.
Have you ever had that feeling where you're so overwhelmed you have no idea where to start and have no idea how you're ever going to finish? I feel that way right now. I have so much stuff on the table and I'm letting stuff fall through the cracks on a daily basis. It is down right embarrassing. For those who know me, you know I hate having things fall through and I hate not keeping track of things at all times. I like to be on top of things at all times and keep an eye on things closely. This new role is having the exact opposite affect on me. It is frustrating and annoying.
Anyway folks, as luck would have it, I have a bunch more work I need to get done today so I need to cut this short. I REALLY want to get back to this but I just can't seem to find the time. Keep your fingers crossed that something good happens soon.
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Time is Flying
Morning Folks,
Wow, I woke up this morning as I always do. I got the kids ready for school, packed their snacks, got them dressed and drove them to school. I stopped off at the Tim Horton's and picked up a coffee and a kiss :) Drove to work as I do almost every single day and as I pull into the parking garage and notice the date on the card reader. November 21, 2007.
Where did the time go? Seems it was only a few days ago we were remembering on November 11th. Now here we are 10 days later and I've made one post and missing at least a good week. How time does fly.
Anway, thought I'd throw that out to you all. Work is fairly distracting right now and I just can't seem to concentrate on a musing. Hopefully things start calming down soon.
Cheers,
Al
Wow, I woke up this morning as I always do. I got the kids ready for school, packed their snacks, got them dressed and drove them to school. I stopped off at the Tim Horton's and picked up a coffee and a kiss :) Drove to work as I do almost every single day and as I pull into the parking garage and notice the date on the card reader. November 21, 2007.
Where did the time go? Seems it was only a few days ago we were remembering on November 11th. Now here we are 10 days later and I've made one post and missing at least a good week. How time does fly.
Anway, thought I'd throw that out to you all. Work is fairly distracting right now and I just can't seem to concentrate on a musing. Hopefully things start calming down soon.
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Remembrance
Morning Folks,
Sorry for not getting a chance to write yesterday, but things were crazy here at the office and I didn't have any time to do anything but work. Today, I've decided to rip myself away for a few moments to write down some thoughts regarding the weekend. As you know, we took some time this weekend to head down and visit family in the South Shore. It was nice to get away and see some folks I haven't seen in a long time. I also got to spend a great deal of time with my Grandfather which is something I've been meaning to do for quite some time but just haven't had the opportunity. Fitting, since it was Remembrance Day here in Canada and my Grandfather is a war veteran. I had the pleasure of talking with him this weekend and hearing some stories that I hadn't heard before. He was in great spirits and was a joy to be around. This weekend brought back a lot of memories for me from when I was younger and used to go and visit my grandparents in the summer time. I remember the lake, the cottage and the fun times with my grandparents. I remember swimming in the cool clean water and we didn't worry about sun burns or catching anything from the water. Life seemed so much simpler.
I miss having my Grandmother around. She was always so happy and always so loving. She didn't get a chance to meet my Daughter and I think she would have fallen in love with her if she had. My Grandfather had a constant smile on his face this weekend as he watched my kids play. My Daughter, who isn't shy at all, had made him something in school last week and gave it to him. She also sat and spoke with him regarding the war and how she was glad he lived and was able to come home. She is so sweet sometimes it's hard to believe she is my child :)
On Sunday we attended the Remembrance Day service. It was a good service wrapped up in tradition an ceremony. Remembrance Day is a lot of that. For me, I could live without all the tradition and ceremony of the day, but I understand why we have it. As I looked at my kids I was a bit saddened by their lack of "care" over the day. Some people just don't realize there were men and women who died for our freedom and men and women who die every day to maintain that freedom. We have troops over in the Middle East who are fighting daily so we can go to bed at night and not have to worry about being bombed in our homes or attacked in the streets. I often wonder if we will ever see peace on this planet with all the fighting that seems to break out all over.
But I digress here; this is about remembering the men and women who fought for our country.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to go visit family this past weekend and I'm glad my wife was able to video record my Grandfather telling stories about the war. That is something we'll hold on to long after he is gone. His life may end one day, but our memories of his stories and the history of his battles will live on forever. As long as I have breath, I will continue to remind my children (and grand children) about their Great Grandfather (or great great grandfather) and how he fought for us.
Kind of touching when you think about it.
Cheers,
Al
Sorry for not getting a chance to write yesterday, but things were crazy here at the office and I didn't have any time to do anything but work. Today, I've decided to rip myself away for a few moments to write down some thoughts regarding the weekend. As you know, we took some time this weekend to head down and visit family in the South Shore. It was nice to get away and see some folks I haven't seen in a long time. I also got to spend a great deal of time with my Grandfather which is something I've been meaning to do for quite some time but just haven't had the opportunity. Fitting, since it was Remembrance Day here in Canada and my Grandfather is a war veteran. I had the pleasure of talking with him this weekend and hearing some stories that I hadn't heard before. He was in great spirits and was a joy to be around. This weekend brought back a lot of memories for me from when I was younger and used to go and visit my grandparents in the summer time. I remember the lake, the cottage and the fun times with my grandparents. I remember swimming in the cool clean water and we didn't worry about sun burns or catching anything from the water. Life seemed so much simpler.
I miss having my Grandmother around. She was always so happy and always so loving. She didn't get a chance to meet my Daughter and I think she would have fallen in love with her if she had. My Grandfather had a constant smile on his face this weekend as he watched my kids play. My Daughter, who isn't shy at all, had made him something in school last week and gave it to him. She also sat and spoke with him regarding the war and how she was glad he lived and was able to come home. She is so sweet sometimes it's hard to believe she is my child :)
On Sunday we attended the Remembrance Day service. It was a good service wrapped up in tradition an ceremony. Remembrance Day is a lot of that. For me, I could live without all the tradition and ceremony of the day, but I understand why we have it. As I looked at my kids I was a bit saddened by their lack of "care" over the day. Some people just don't realize there were men and women who died for our freedom and men and women who die every day to maintain that freedom. We have troops over in the Middle East who are fighting daily so we can go to bed at night and not have to worry about being bombed in our homes or attacked in the streets. I often wonder if we will ever see peace on this planet with all the fighting that seems to break out all over.
But I digress here; this is about remembering the men and women who fought for our country.
I'm glad I had the opportunity to go visit family this past weekend and I'm glad my wife was able to video record my Grandfather telling stories about the war. That is something we'll hold on to long after he is gone. His life may end one day, but our memories of his stories and the history of his battles will live on forever. As long as I have breath, I will continue to remind my children (and grand children) about their Great Grandfather (or great great grandfather) and how he fought for us.
Kind of touching when you think about it.
Cheers,
Al
Friday, November 9, 2007
Freitag
Good morning folks,
Or if you live on the East Coast, good afternoon.
Sorry for the later than usual post, but things have been crazy this morning here at work and I'm in a hurry to get things done so I can begin focusing on my weekend. :) As I mentioned yesterday, we plan on heading down to visit my family in the South Shore and we're quite excited to be able to get out of the city for a weekend and relax with family and friends. It has been too long.
As you've probably noticed, I've made a few changes to the website layout today. I wanted to go with something that really expressed what I was trying to do here. I haven't hit it yet, but I'm getting there. :) I saw another site with this same theme running on it and thought I would really like my site to look the same way (with some obvious tweaks of course) so I embarked on the painful task of making the switch. I hope to have most of the bugs ironed out and fixed up soon, so bare with me.
{slurp}
I trust everyone out there is having a good Freitag. I know I am. For some reason I feel energized today. Perhaps it is the thought of heading out of town for the weekend or maybe because I'm starting to really make a difference here at work and seeing some of the "reward" of my actions. I call them "rewards" because I don't actually get anything other than the gratification of knowing I made it happen.
Work has been BUSY and stressful lately. If you're wondering why, read my last few posts :) That said, it has made the week fly by and the days seem shorter (and it's not because of DST). I don't know how to describe it other than I feel good, I feel happy and it would take a lot of negativity to bring me down right now. SO BACK OFF!
:)
Anyway folks, I've got a pile of work to do and only a few hours to do it in before I start my WEEKEND! Monday is a holiday for some of us Canadians so I'll be seeing you all bright and early Tuesday. Take care and have a safe weekend.
Cheers,
Al
Or if you live on the East Coast, good afternoon.
Sorry for the later than usual post, but things have been crazy this morning here at work and I'm in a hurry to get things done so I can begin focusing on my weekend. :) As I mentioned yesterday, we plan on heading down to visit my family in the South Shore and we're quite excited to be able to get out of the city for a weekend and relax with family and friends. It has been too long.
As you've probably noticed, I've made a few changes to the website layout today. I wanted to go with something that really expressed what I was trying to do here. I haven't hit it yet, but I'm getting there. :) I saw another site with this same theme running on it and thought I would really like my site to look the same way (with some obvious tweaks of course) so I embarked on the painful task of making the switch. I hope to have most of the bugs ironed out and fixed up soon, so bare with me.
{slurp}
I trust everyone out there is having a good Freitag. I know I am. For some reason I feel energized today. Perhaps it is the thought of heading out of town for the weekend or maybe because I'm starting to really make a difference here at work and seeing some of the "reward" of my actions. I call them "rewards" because I don't actually get anything other than the gratification of knowing I made it happen.
Work has been BUSY and stressful lately. If you're wondering why, read my last few posts :) That said, it has made the week fly by and the days seem shorter (and it's not because of DST). I don't know how to describe it other than I feel good, I feel happy and it would take a lot of negativity to bring me down right now. SO BACK OFF!
:)
Anyway folks, I've got a pile of work to do and only a few hours to do it in before I start my WEEKEND! Monday is a holiday for some of us Canadians so I'll be seeing you all bright and early Tuesday. Take care and have a safe weekend.
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Ok, NOW I'm Poor
Good morning folks,
Well, as my musing yesterday mentioned, I had my van in the shop yesterday to get some much needed work done to it. Well today is another day and I'm a thousand dollars poorer.
Ugh
That's right. After getting new tires, oil change, safety inspection and having an alignment done, I had to shell out just over a thousand clams. I wasn't happy with the price, but I was happy with the work. The van seems to run much nicer and a lot smoother than it did previously. I also don't sound like I'm doing 80KM/h in the parkade when I round the corners and my tires are screeching. Overall, despite the loss of money, I'm happy and have peace of mind not only for winter driving but for the occasional check-stop. You see, driving without a valid safety inspection can net you a HUGE fine and possibly have your vehicle towed. Both of which I can live without right now.
So today is Thursday. I am one day away from the weekend and I'm excited about the prospect of heading down to the South Shore to visit family. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to swing it this weekend (after the repair bill), but after putting some thought into it I decided we should do it anyway while the weather is still nice and while my grandfather is still alive. I know that may sound like a horrible thing to say but he is getting quite old now and every year the comment is made about how this could be his "last remembrance day". Every time I hear that I just want to hop in the car and drive down to visit, but every time something comes up and we're not able to get away. Not this time dammit! I've already told work I won't be available this weekend and the kids have already been told we're going.
Of course I'll have to call my mom and ask her if we are still welcome to come down and visit. I don't think she visits my blog on a regular basis anymore. :)
Well folks, the time has come for me to depart and get some work done. Thursday is typically my most busy day at work so I'll need to work extra hard to get things done. Take care and we'll see you here tomorrow.
Cheers,
Al
Well, as my musing yesterday mentioned, I had my van in the shop yesterday to get some much needed work done to it. Well today is another day and I'm a thousand dollars poorer.
Ugh
That's right. After getting new tires, oil change, safety inspection and having an alignment done, I had to shell out just over a thousand clams. I wasn't happy with the price, but I was happy with the work. The van seems to run much nicer and a lot smoother than it did previously. I also don't sound like I'm doing 80KM/h in the parkade when I round the corners and my tires are screeching. Overall, despite the loss of money, I'm happy and have peace of mind not only for winter driving but for the occasional check-stop. You see, driving without a valid safety inspection can net you a HUGE fine and possibly have your vehicle towed. Both of which I can live without right now.
So today is Thursday. I am one day away from the weekend and I'm excited about the prospect of heading down to the South Shore to visit family. I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to swing it this weekend (after the repair bill), but after putting some thought into it I decided we should do it anyway while the weather is still nice and while my grandfather is still alive. I know that may sound like a horrible thing to say but he is getting quite old now and every year the comment is made about how this could be his "last remembrance day". Every time I hear that I just want to hop in the car and drive down to visit, but every time something comes up and we're not able to get away. Not this time dammit! I've already told work I won't be available this weekend and the kids have already been told we're going.
Of course I'll have to call my mom and ask her if we are still welcome to come down and visit. I don't think she visits my blog on a regular basis anymore. :)
Well folks, the time has come for me to depart and get some work done. Thursday is typically my most busy day at work so I'll need to work extra hard to get things done. Take care and we'll see you here tomorrow.
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
After the Storm
Good Morning Folks,
Yes, it is 3 days later since the storm swept through and I'm just getting a chance to write now.
UGH!
Things are not going as well as I had originally planned. I thought taking on this new role at work would be a good opportunity for me. Instead, it has assured me of an early death. Every day I come into work I lose a year of my life. Thank God I have life insurance.
We fared the storm fairly well. Besides loss of sleep, everything went well. We had power most of the weekend and there was nothing major in the way of damage to the place. Granted I don't own the place, so I really don't care. At least we didn't suffer any broken windows or anything like that which would make living a little difficult. Part of the fence in the back was blown down, but other than that everything else seems to have held together fine. In fact, our area was one of the only areas in our part of the city that had power on Sunday, which was good and bad. Good that we had power and were able to do the things we needed to do but bad for my wife who had to work in one of the only Tim Horton's within a 5km radius that had power. She tells me the line ups were double wide zig zagging through the store. The only break they had all day was for a short 15min period where the power did go out and they had to kick everyone out of the store. The power came back and they had a few moments to get coffee on and get some donuts in the oven. I would hate that job.
This weekend we have plans to visit my Mom and family down in the South shore. It has been too long since we've been down that way and I'm looking forward to the trip. Of course nothing is set in stone at this point and pending the outcome of today, we will know whether we're going to make it or not.
Why today you ask?
Well today I finally had the time (and money) to put my van in the shop. We have this yearly safety inspection that needs to happen on all vehicles and I sorta let mine lapse. It is LONG overdue. I knew I would need things like tires and breaks done so rather than take it into the shop for them to tell me that, I decided to just wait until I had the cash to afford it. Here I am 6+ months later and my van is going into the shop to get some much needed work done on it. I'm a bit ashamed of myself really. If I had gotten pulled over and caught in a road check, it would surely have been bad news. Hopefully, after today, the inspection will be up-to-date and the van will be "winterized" and ready. Provided that doesn't cost me a ton of cash, I will be making the trek to the South shore to visit my Mom and family for Remembrance Day.
Well folks, I sent an email to my new boss last night stating my dissatisfaction in my job and how I'm feeling on the edge. He replied back and wants to chat with me. Hopefully some good comes out of this because I AM on the edge. My family can't afford for me to snap at the wrong person and lose this job. Of course they're so desperate for people right now, the chances of getting fired are slim and it would have to be something fairly terrible to lose my job. Good and bad I guess.
{slurp}
Alright folks, I must run and get at the tasks I have piled up. Hopefully tomorrow things will be better.
Cheers,
Al
Yes, it is 3 days later since the storm swept through and I'm just getting a chance to write now.
UGH!
Things are not going as well as I had originally planned. I thought taking on this new role at work would be a good opportunity for me. Instead, it has assured me of an early death. Every day I come into work I lose a year of my life. Thank God I have life insurance.
We fared the storm fairly well. Besides loss of sleep, everything went well. We had power most of the weekend and there was nothing major in the way of damage to the place. Granted I don't own the place, so I really don't care. At least we didn't suffer any broken windows or anything like that which would make living a little difficult. Part of the fence in the back was blown down, but other than that everything else seems to have held together fine. In fact, our area was one of the only areas in our part of the city that had power on Sunday, which was good and bad. Good that we had power and were able to do the things we needed to do but bad for my wife who had to work in one of the only Tim Horton's within a 5km radius that had power. She tells me the line ups were double wide zig zagging through the store. The only break they had all day was for a short 15min period where the power did go out and they had to kick everyone out of the store. The power came back and they had a few moments to get coffee on and get some donuts in the oven. I would hate that job.
This weekend we have plans to visit my Mom and family down in the South shore. It has been too long since we've been down that way and I'm looking forward to the trip. Of course nothing is set in stone at this point and pending the outcome of today, we will know whether we're going to make it or not.
Why today you ask?
Well today I finally had the time (and money) to put my van in the shop. We have this yearly safety inspection that needs to happen on all vehicles and I sorta let mine lapse. It is LONG overdue. I knew I would need things like tires and breaks done so rather than take it into the shop for them to tell me that, I decided to just wait until I had the cash to afford it. Here I am 6+ months later and my van is going into the shop to get some much needed work done on it. I'm a bit ashamed of myself really. If I had gotten pulled over and caught in a road check, it would surely have been bad news. Hopefully, after today, the inspection will be up-to-date and the van will be "winterized" and ready. Provided that doesn't cost me a ton of cash, I will be making the trek to the South shore to visit my Mom and family for Remembrance Day.
Well folks, I sent an email to my new boss last night stating my dissatisfaction in my job and how I'm feeling on the edge. He replied back and wants to chat with me. Hopefully some good comes out of this because I AM on the edge. My family can't afford for me to snap at the wrong person and lose this job. Of course they're so desperate for people right now, the chances of getting fired are slim and it would have to be something fairly terrible to lose my job. Good and bad I guess.
{slurp}
Alright folks, I must run and get at the tasks I have piled up. Hopefully tomorrow things will be better.
Cheers,
Al
Friday, November 2, 2007
Bring on the Hurricane
Good morning Folks,
Sorry for the lack of updates this week, but things have been pretty crazy for me. Let me start off by saying that I've received a promotion here at work this week. Before you start cheering for me, let me say that this is not a welcomed promotion as it adds way more work, way more stress, way more hours to my work life and offers me no benefits or pay increase. Really, what I got was a demotion.
Meh
I won't go into all the minor boring details, but we've had 3 people on my team quit within the last couple weeks. My ex-team lead who was done last week, and one of my co-workers and project manager who are both done today. Since my PM used to be my team lead, he was in line to take over the Team Lead position again. However, since he himself was quitting, they need to find someone else to take the position asap. That is where I come in. The funny part is, I'm not even the most senior guy on the team. This position should have gone to one of two other people on my team, but for some reason I was the one asked.
Why did I take the position?
Well, as I've mentioned to others, I had two choices. I could either take the position, get an official title and do more work or I could reject the position, do the job anyway and get no official title and be driving myself crazy. I guess you could say I choose the lesser of two evils here. So not only am I doing my own work, I am also doing Team Lead duties on top of it all. That in itself wouldn't be SO bad, but we had an issue last week with a guy on our team. He had a bit of a "melt down" here at work and ended up walking out. He'll hopefully be back on Monday, but it has added a lot of strain on the team since he was supposed to be on-call this week (now I am) and he is supposed to be looking over one of our products (now I am). So not only am I doing my job and my TL's job this week, but I'm also doing a third job on top of it all. Needless to say, I've barely had a minute to myself at work to scrape together a musing.
This week has been quite bothersome and I'm starting to "see" things about the company I work for that I'm suspicious about. I won't go into those details because it isn't my place, but I don't like what I'm seeing.
Anyway folks, I was able to get a few spare moments to write, but those moments have come and gone. Hopefully next week is going to be a lot quieter and I can sit down and do some serious writing.
Take care everyone and have a safe weekend. If you're in Nova Scotia, stay indoors this weekend and out of Hurricane Noel's way. Looks like he is going to be hitting us pretty hard tomorrow evening and Sunday so stay indoors if you can.
Cheers,
Al
Sorry for the lack of updates this week, but things have been pretty crazy for me. Let me start off by saying that I've received a promotion here at work this week. Before you start cheering for me, let me say that this is not a welcomed promotion as it adds way more work, way more stress, way more hours to my work life and offers me no benefits or pay increase. Really, what I got was a demotion.
Meh
I won't go into all the minor boring details, but we've had 3 people on my team quit within the last couple weeks. My ex-team lead who was done last week, and one of my co-workers and project manager who are both done today. Since my PM used to be my team lead, he was in line to take over the Team Lead position again. However, since he himself was quitting, they need to find someone else to take the position asap. That is where I come in. The funny part is, I'm not even the most senior guy on the team. This position should have gone to one of two other people on my team, but for some reason I was the one asked.
Why did I take the position?
Well, as I've mentioned to others, I had two choices. I could either take the position, get an official title and do more work or I could reject the position, do the job anyway and get no official title and be driving myself crazy. I guess you could say I choose the lesser of two evils here. So not only am I doing my own work, I am also doing Team Lead duties on top of it all. That in itself wouldn't be SO bad, but we had an issue last week with a guy on our team. He had a bit of a "melt down" here at work and ended up walking out. He'll hopefully be back on Monday, but it has added a lot of strain on the team since he was supposed to be on-call this week (now I am) and he is supposed to be looking over one of our products (now I am). So not only am I doing my job and my TL's job this week, but I'm also doing a third job on top of it all. Needless to say, I've barely had a minute to myself at work to scrape together a musing.
This week has been quite bothersome and I'm starting to "see" things about the company I work for that I'm suspicious about. I won't go into those details because it isn't my place, but I don't like what I'm seeing.
Anyway folks, I was able to get a few spare moments to write, but those moments have come and gone. Hopefully next week is going to be a lot quieter and I can sit down and do some serious writing.
Take care everyone and have a safe weekend. If you're in Nova Scotia, stay indoors this weekend and out of Hurricane Noel's way. Looks like he is going to be hitting us pretty hard tomorrow evening and Sunday so stay indoors if you can.
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, October 25, 2007
What Tomorrow Brings
Good Morning Folks,
It has been a few days since I posted. This is because I've been working from home because my son has been sick with some kind of cold/flu virus. Normally, working from home would be the best time to write, but things have been a lot crazier than that. It brings on a whole new meaning to "What Tomorrow Brings".
First off, as you are all aware, my Team Lead gave his notice a couple weeks back. This is his last week here and we're going to miss his humor and leadership. Well, I found out on Tuesday that our Project Manager has also given his notice. Other than myself, he was the only other person who knew more about the product I support here and with his knowledge leaving, I'll be the "goto guy" for this product and everyone will be asking me questions. Not sure I like that position.
Yesterday, I found out one of my team mates has given notice and will be done next week. This person has been wanting to leave for awhile and I'm happy for him because he is going to be moving on to do something he really wants to do. Lucky Bastard!
This all happened over the last couple days and I am just returning to the office today to find all this out. I can't even begin to gather my thoughts on this to share with you. I'm very confused about my future here and very confused as to the direction I want to take. In one hand, I have an opportunity to take the leadership role of this team and become a manager. The job comes with a pile of new stress, but may have benefits if I work it correctly. On the other hand, I have a job opportunity within the same company to do something a bit more interesting. The issue with solution two is the uncertainty that comes with it. The team will be a new team to the company and it hasn't been fully outlined yet. I may be walking into a disaster, or I may be walking into a great opportunity. What do I do?
For now, I want to focus on today because there is no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. I may find another co-worker quitting today or tomorrow. I may find this leadership "opportunity" forced on me with no way out of it short of quitting. I don't really want to fret about what may happen at this point as the situation is very fragile and I have a LOT of work I need to get done. This is a huge distraction and is causing a lot of doubt and stress among the people here.
So what do I do?
I'm going to start by signing off here and then begin my work like it was any other day. Until told otherwise, my role and responsibility hasn't changed. I will work through the day and hopefully have nothing major to report to you tomorrow :)
By the way, my son is fine now and back in school. As I mentioned, he was down with a bit of a cold/flu virus that kept him out of school all week this week. Tomorrow they have the day off so in total he made it to school one day this week (lucky kid!).
Anyway, take care folks and we'll hopefully see you here tomorrow.
Cheers,
Al
It has been a few days since I posted. This is because I've been working from home because my son has been sick with some kind of cold/flu virus. Normally, working from home would be the best time to write, but things have been a lot crazier than that. It brings on a whole new meaning to "What Tomorrow Brings".
First off, as you are all aware, my Team Lead gave his notice a couple weeks back. This is his last week here and we're going to miss his humor and leadership. Well, I found out on Tuesday that our Project Manager has also given his notice. Other than myself, he was the only other person who knew more about the product I support here and with his knowledge leaving, I'll be the "goto guy" for this product and everyone will be asking me questions. Not sure I like that position.
Yesterday, I found out one of my team mates has given notice and will be done next week. This person has been wanting to leave for awhile and I'm happy for him because he is going to be moving on to do something he really wants to do. Lucky Bastard!
This all happened over the last couple days and I am just returning to the office today to find all this out. I can't even begin to gather my thoughts on this to share with you. I'm very confused about my future here and very confused as to the direction I want to take. In one hand, I have an opportunity to take the leadership role of this team and become a manager. The job comes with a pile of new stress, but may have benefits if I work it correctly. On the other hand, I have a job opportunity within the same company to do something a bit more interesting. The issue with solution two is the uncertainty that comes with it. The team will be a new team to the company and it hasn't been fully outlined yet. I may be walking into a disaster, or I may be walking into a great opportunity. What do I do?
For now, I want to focus on today because there is no way of knowing what tomorrow will bring. I may find another co-worker quitting today or tomorrow. I may find this leadership "opportunity" forced on me with no way out of it short of quitting. I don't really want to fret about what may happen at this point as the situation is very fragile and I have a LOT of work I need to get done. This is a huge distraction and is causing a lot of doubt and stress among the people here.
So what do I do?
I'm going to start by signing off here and then begin my work like it was any other day. Until told otherwise, my role and responsibility hasn't changed. I will work through the day and hopefully have nothing major to report to you tomorrow :)
By the way, my son is fine now and back in school. As I mentioned, he was down with a bit of a cold/flu virus that kept him out of school all week this week. Tomorrow they have the day off so in total he made it to school one day this week (lucky kid!).
Anyway, take care folks and we'll hopefully see you here tomorrow.
Cheers,
Al
Monday, October 22, 2007
Moandays
Good morning folks,
Or should I say, "Happy Moanday". No, that isn't a typo, I misspelled Monday on purpose to make a point. I've heard this term used quite a bit, especially around the "Office" scenario where people go to work in some kind of office building, sit in a cubical and do the same mundane task every day. I am reminded of a comic (as luck would have it, I can't find right now) where there are a couple archaeologists looking over their latest dig. Inside is a perfectly preserved cubicle in your typical present-day office building. They are talking about how in the past, people used to be forced to sit in these small boxed offices and perform mundane tasks. I had a chuckle because it is probably closer to the truth.
That said, I've been putting a lot of thought into my current working environment lately. Right now, it is too damn hot to even think about working as I'm working hard to just stay awake. Seriously folks, it is almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and I'm breaking a sweat, sitting at my desk, doing nothing. *sigh* It is time for a change of scenery and pace I think.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my current Team Lead has given his notice and is almost done. Unfortunately for us, this is officially his last week of work here, and while he is supposed to be here until Friday, never has anyone lasted till the bitter end and has either ended up leaving early the last day or being told to go home mid-week. Either way, I am going to miss the guy and wish him well at his new job (lucky bastard). I'm very jealous to be honest. Sounds like the job he is going to is my dream job and the one I've been looking for since I moved here. Alas, it is time to take action!!
Anyway folks, I'm having issues keeping my thoughts in order with this heat. I hope to have something worthy to write about tomorrow :)
Cheers,
Al
Or should I say, "Happy Moanday". No, that isn't a typo, I misspelled Monday on purpose to make a point. I've heard this term used quite a bit, especially around the "Office" scenario where people go to work in some kind of office building, sit in a cubical and do the same mundane task every day. I am reminded of a comic (as luck would have it, I can't find right now) where there are a couple archaeologists looking over their latest dig. Inside is a perfectly preserved cubicle in your typical present-day office building. They are talking about how in the past, people used to be forced to sit in these small boxed offices and perform mundane tasks. I had a chuckle because it is probably closer to the truth.
That said, I've been putting a lot of thought into my current working environment lately. Right now, it is too damn hot to even think about working as I'm working hard to just stay awake. Seriously folks, it is almost 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit) and I'm breaking a sweat, sitting at my desk, doing nothing. *sigh* It is time for a change of scenery and pace I think.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, my current Team Lead has given his notice and is almost done. Unfortunately for us, this is officially his last week of work here, and while he is supposed to be here until Friday, never has anyone lasted till the bitter end and has either ended up leaving early the last day or being told to go home mid-week. Either way, I am going to miss the guy and wish him well at his new job (lucky bastard). I'm very jealous to be honest. Sounds like the job he is going to is my dream job and the one I've been looking for since I moved here. Alas, it is time to take action!!
Anyway folks, I'm having issues keeping my thoughts in order with this heat. I hope to have something worthy to write about tomorrow :)
Cheers,
Al
Friday, October 19, 2007
Finally it's Friday!!
Afternoon folks,
A bit late today but like my ma used to always say, better late than never. Funny how that never was the case when I was late for supper or late coming home from school. Hmmm
Parenting is a strange force. You remember that "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you!" saying? This usually was spoken prior to a beating of some form which was typically determined by the severity of the offense. You see, my parents taught me cause and effect at an early age. I talk back, I get a spanking. I yell back, I get the wooden (later upgraded to plastic) spoon. I get angry and punch a wall or door, I get Dad.
{shudders}
Of course when the severity of my disobedience increased so did my punishment. After my parents decided I was getting a bit too old to spank, they decided to ground me. Grounding is such a funny term because it comes from pilots who would sometimes be grounded when they broke the rules or disobeyed orders. In the traditional sense, being grounded meant you lost your privilege to fly and had to remain on the ground. While pilots are still grounded today, the phrase was probably originally used by a military father who told his child they were grounded which meant they lost their privileges. This later turned into "grounded from TV" and "grounded from video games" for those of us who enjoyed such things :)
Now that I'm older and a parent, I'm starting to see the benefit of grounding and find using that tactic works well with my children. I observe them and find things they enjoy doing. The easy ones are TV and Computer, but there are also some others like playing outside with friends that usually sets my kids off and typically changes their attitudes quick. I can't say I overly enjoy "grounding" my children, but it is my responsibility as a parent to ensure my children are ready for the world when they reach the right age and are able to cope with things like disappointment, loss and authority. Being able to cope outside of the family unit is the main reason we should discipline our children.
But what do I know? :) I've been a parent for just over 7 years and there are people who are reading this who have been parents for over 30. So let me open up the forum here and see what all you other parents think. How do you discipline your children and what is the main reason for doing so? I look forward to reading some of your comments.
Until next time folks, I must be off. The weekend is just around the corner and I can't wait!!!
Cheers,
Al
A bit late today but like my ma used to always say, better late than never. Funny how that never was the case when I was late for supper or late coming home from school. Hmmm
Parenting is a strange force. You remember that "This is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you!" saying? This usually was spoken prior to a beating of some form which was typically determined by the severity of the offense. You see, my parents taught me cause and effect at an early age. I talk back, I get a spanking. I yell back, I get the wooden (later upgraded to plastic) spoon. I get angry and punch a wall or door, I get Dad.
{shudders}
Of course when the severity of my disobedience increased so did my punishment. After my parents decided I was getting a bit too old to spank, they decided to ground me. Grounding is such a funny term because it comes from pilots who would sometimes be grounded when they broke the rules or disobeyed orders. In the traditional sense, being grounded meant you lost your privilege to fly and had to remain on the ground. While pilots are still grounded today, the phrase was probably originally used by a military father who told his child they were grounded which meant they lost their privileges. This later turned into "grounded from TV" and "grounded from video games" for those of us who enjoyed such things :)
Now that I'm older and a parent, I'm starting to see the benefit of grounding and find using that tactic works well with my children. I observe them and find things they enjoy doing. The easy ones are TV and Computer, but there are also some others like playing outside with friends that usually sets my kids off and typically changes their attitudes quick. I can't say I overly enjoy "grounding" my children, but it is my responsibility as a parent to ensure my children are ready for the world when they reach the right age and are able to cope with things like disappointment, loss and authority. Being able to cope outside of the family unit is the main reason we should discipline our children.
But what do I know? :) I've been a parent for just over 7 years and there are people who are reading this who have been parents for over 30. So let me open up the forum here and see what all you other parents think. How do you discipline your children and what is the main reason for doing so? I look forward to reading some of your comments.
Until next time folks, I must be off. The weekend is just around the corner and I can't wait!!!
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Been Sick
Morning folks,
Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple days but I've been ill. Some would argue whether I've been physically ill or just "sick and tired". :) I'll leave that for you to decide on your own.
Today I have made it into the office and am sitting at my desk staring at my monitors wondering why. The why is what is driving me crazy right now because I don't know the context in which I'm asking the question. I guess you could say I'm feeling a little "blah" today and would rather be home with my wife who has today and tomorrow off from work. We don't get to spend as much time together any more because of her work schedule. Not that she is working when I'm home, but she goes to work so early in the morning that she is in bed shortly after supper time which only gives us 2 (maybe 3 if I'm lucky) hours to spend with each other. None of which are alone because the kids are up and we are making supper, getting homework done and various other things we need to do in an evening before bed time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she is working and is making some money for herself. I still find it odd to walk into a store and not have to buy a bunch of stuff with my money. In fact, last week she picked up one of those Ab Lounger things I've been wanting to work on my growing tummy :) When we got to the checkout, I was getting ready to haul out my wallet when she whipped out her bank card and bought the whole thing. It is nice to have extra money coming in and I've noticed the place seems to be sprucing up nicely with little things like throw blankets and rugs on the floor. It makes our town house feel like a warm home.
It isn't all bad of course. We have weekends together which is nice. On weekends she works, she is home shortly after noon so we get to spend all day and early evenings together. We have started a weekly routine where I will take our son to Dance class in the morning, then we'll go and pick up Katie from work and come back. Then we'll take the scenic route home along the coast and if we can afford it, we'll pick up some food to eat (otherwise we'll wait until we get home to eat). I actually enjoy the Saturday because it gives me a little bit of time to spend with my daughter (just her and I) and it gives the entire family a chance to spend some time together in a neutral setting rather than at home all doing our "things".
Anyway folks, since I've missed a few days at work here I need to run and get caught up. Hopefully I'll see you all here tomorrow morning :)
Cheers,
Alan
Sorry for the lack of posts the last couple days but I've been ill. Some would argue whether I've been physically ill or just "sick and tired". :) I'll leave that for you to decide on your own.
Today I have made it into the office and am sitting at my desk staring at my monitors wondering why. The why is what is driving me crazy right now because I don't know the context in which I'm asking the question. I guess you could say I'm feeling a little "blah" today and would rather be home with my wife who has today and tomorrow off from work. We don't get to spend as much time together any more because of her work schedule. Not that she is working when I'm home, but she goes to work so early in the morning that she is in bed shortly after supper time which only gives us 2 (maybe 3 if I'm lucky) hours to spend with each other. None of which are alone because the kids are up and we are making supper, getting homework done and various other things we need to do in an evening before bed time.
Don't get me wrong, I'm glad she is working and is making some money for herself. I still find it odd to walk into a store and not have to buy a bunch of stuff with my money. In fact, last week she picked up one of those Ab Lounger things I've been wanting to work on my growing tummy :) When we got to the checkout, I was getting ready to haul out my wallet when she whipped out her bank card and bought the whole thing. It is nice to have extra money coming in and I've noticed the place seems to be sprucing up nicely with little things like throw blankets and rugs on the floor. It makes our town house feel like a warm home.
It isn't all bad of course. We have weekends together which is nice. On weekends she works, she is home shortly after noon so we get to spend all day and early evenings together. We have started a weekly routine where I will take our son to Dance class in the morning, then we'll go and pick up Katie from work and come back. Then we'll take the scenic route home along the coast and if we can afford it, we'll pick up some food to eat (otherwise we'll wait until we get home to eat). I actually enjoy the Saturday because it gives me a little bit of time to spend with my daughter (just her and I) and it gives the entire family a chance to spend some time together in a neutral setting rather than at home all doing our "things".
Anyway folks, since I've missed a few days at work here I need to run and get caught up. Hopefully I'll see you all here tomorrow morning :)
Cheers,
Alan
Monday, October 15, 2007
Simply Amazing!
I'm sure you're wondering what could be so amazing that it would warrant a title on my little site. Well, remember that power outage we had last week in our New York building? Yeah, the one that happened last Thursday. Well, we're still dealing with it today. In fact, the issues seem to be worse today than they were on Thursday when this all happened.
As a result, my day has been tied up in dealing with users, engineers and various other factions of IT. I haven't had much time today to even think about posting until now. Of course my time is limited so I'll leave you with some sound advice. If you're in IT, please, please, PLEASE have some kind of organized plan on what you're going to do if you lose power. And no, I'm not talking about buying a UPS. I'm talking about finding a good way to bring all your servers down and back up with as little issue as possible. Run regular (bi yearly) power down scenarios so you can practice this. You'll save yourself (and your customers) many headaches and possibly save the company millions of dollars.
That is all :)
Cheers,
Al
As a result, my day has been tied up in dealing with users, engineers and various other factions of IT. I haven't had much time today to even think about posting until now. Of course my time is limited so I'll leave you with some sound advice. If you're in IT, please, please, PLEASE have some kind of organized plan on what you're going to do if you lose power. And no, I'm not talking about buying a UPS. I'm talking about finding a good way to bring all your servers down and back up with as little issue as possible. Run regular (bi yearly) power down scenarios so you can practice this. You'll save yourself (and your customers) many headaches and possibly save the company millions of dollars.
That is all :)
Cheers,
Al
Friday, October 12, 2007
What Happened to Wednesday and Thursday...
Good morning folks,
As my title would suggest, I seem to have lost two days and have no idea why the thought of posting here didn't enter my mind. To start, let me explain...
Wednesday
This was a very interesting day. My daughter had to go to a clinic in the morning. This was something we booked over a year ago and were not about to miss it because of scheduling. As a result, we ended up dropping my son off at school and racing downtown to make it for the 9am appointment. We made it, with minutes to spare, and I made my way to work. I arrived at work, informed my boss that I would need to leave early to pick up my daughter from the clinic and then proceeded to do some work. This was also the day we all found out our Team Lead gave his notice at work and was leaving us. We had a little meeting about it and before I knew what was going on, I got a phone call to pick up Katie and my daughter.
Off I ran, picked them up, drove back home and dropped her off at school. I was done work for the day so Katie and I went home to do some cleaning and such since we were expecting my cousin's husband to drop by that evening with his boss to do a presentation. The night before we had gone out and bought a sectional couch we found on Kijiji. It is a very nice couch and the price was right. We were busy cleaning that up as it had been held in storage by this older couple and there was quite a bit of dust.
Thursday
All I can say is WOW. No, I wasn't up all night playing World of Warcraft. I walked into work at my regular time and immediately was bombarded with questions about one of the applications I support. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was a major outage in the New York plant so I sat down at my desk and started typing, reading and trying to figure things out. I spent 8 hours of my day on a conference call and trying to stabilize the application I support. It was a LONG day, but it went by surprisingly fast. So fast, in fact, that when I got home I realized I hadn't posted and almost sat down to write, but I got side tracked with getting supper ready for the kids and cuddling on the new couch with the family while we watched a cartoon movie.
This brings us to Friday, today, and I'm TIRED! This week has been a little crazy for me and I'm really looking forward to leaving at the end of the day and heading home. We have plans this weekend to go to a U-Pick place to get some pumpkins for Halloween. It looks like it could be a good time so hopefully the weather is nice and it doesn't start pouring rain on us.
Other than that, I don't plan on doing much this weekend other than planning out a weight loss/workout program for myself. Lately I've begun to notice that I'm not as slim and built as I used to be :) I won't say I'm huge, but it is enough to make me want to do something now before it gets out of control. I plan on hitting the weights again and start building back some of the muscle I've lost. Working at a desk for 8 hours a day is a great way to build fat. Especially when you don't eat properly and on a regular basis. I plan on doing what I do best and do some reading on the subject. I want to find something that works for me and on my time schedule. I will plan to begin this on the weekend and keep at it until I've reached my goal(s). Wish me luck! I plan on documenting my experience, so be looking for a new section under Experiments (Experiments may be getting a name change soon since it really doesn't fit well) where I plan on keeping a record of my progress.
Well folks, it is time to get things rolling and see how quickly I can make this day go by. I'm still looking for a name for my Musings so if you're reading this and have some ideas, feel free to comment and reply with them. If I don't have anything by the end of next week, I'll have to do some kind of crazy Random Title Generator to see if I can come up with something fun.
Have a safe and happy weekend.
Cheers,
Al
As my title would suggest, I seem to have lost two days and have no idea why the thought of posting here didn't enter my mind. To start, let me explain...
Wednesday
This was a very interesting day. My daughter had to go to a clinic in the morning. This was something we booked over a year ago and were not about to miss it because of scheduling. As a result, we ended up dropping my son off at school and racing downtown to make it for the 9am appointment. We made it, with minutes to spare, and I made my way to work. I arrived at work, informed my boss that I would need to leave early to pick up my daughter from the clinic and then proceeded to do some work. This was also the day we all found out our Team Lead gave his notice at work and was leaving us. We had a little meeting about it and before I knew what was going on, I got a phone call to pick up Katie and my daughter.
Off I ran, picked them up, drove back home and dropped her off at school. I was done work for the day so Katie and I went home to do some cleaning and such since we were expecting my cousin's husband to drop by that evening with his boss to do a presentation. The night before we had gone out and bought a sectional couch we found on Kijiji. It is a very nice couch and the price was right. We were busy cleaning that up as it had been held in storage by this older couple and there was quite a bit of dust.
Thursday
All I can say is WOW. No, I wasn't up all night playing World of Warcraft. I walked into work at my regular time and immediately was bombarded with questions about one of the applications I support. It didn't take me long to figure out that there was a major outage in the New York plant so I sat down at my desk and started typing, reading and trying to figure things out. I spent 8 hours of my day on a conference call and trying to stabilize the application I support. It was a LONG day, but it went by surprisingly fast. So fast, in fact, that when I got home I realized I hadn't posted and almost sat down to write, but I got side tracked with getting supper ready for the kids and cuddling on the new couch with the family while we watched a cartoon movie.
This brings us to Friday, today, and I'm TIRED! This week has been a little crazy for me and I'm really looking forward to leaving at the end of the day and heading home. We have plans this weekend to go to a U-Pick place to get some pumpkins for Halloween. It looks like it could be a good time so hopefully the weather is nice and it doesn't start pouring rain on us.
Other than that, I don't plan on doing much this weekend other than planning out a weight loss/workout program for myself. Lately I've begun to notice that I'm not as slim and built as I used to be :) I won't say I'm huge, but it is enough to make me want to do something now before it gets out of control. I plan on hitting the weights again and start building back some of the muscle I've lost. Working at a desk for 8 hours a day is a great way to build fat. Especially when you don't eat properly and on a regular basis. I plan on doing what I do best and do some reading on the subject. I want to find something that works for me and on my time schedule. I will plan to begin this on the weekend and keep at it until I've reached my goal(s). Wish me luck! I plan on documenting my experience, so be looking for a new section under Experiments (Experiments may be getting a name change soon since it really doesn't fit well) where I plan on keeping a record of my progress.
Well folks, it is time to get things rolling and see how quickly I can make this day go by. I'm still looking for a name for my Musings so if you're reading this and have some ideas, feel free to comment and reply with them. If I don't have anything by the end of next week, I'll have to do some kind of crazy Random Title Generator to see if I can come up with something fun.
Have a safe and happy weekend.
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tuesday Already!
Morning Folks,
Yes it's Tuesday already! It was a nice long weekend here and when I awoke this morning I came to the realization that it wasn't Monday, but Tuesday. Imagine my surprise and happiness as I realized my work week was 1 day closer to being over.
Here in Canada we had Thanksgiving this past weekend. It was a great time and we headed over to my sister's place to food, family and fellowship. We were only able to stay a few hours, but they were fun and relaxing which was exactly what I needed to have. Since my better half has started working, I've noticed a great deal more stress and strain on us. Of course that stress and strain seems to be offset a bit by the fact she is making money now and is able to actually buy things without need of my bank card. It is actually quite strange to see her whip out her own bank card and make a purchase or buy lunch for the family. I nice change.
This past weekend was also an epic gaming weekend. Normally I don't stay up super late to play WoW, but this past weekend I had some kind of drive to do so. Both Saturday and Sunday nights were very late for me (later than 2am) and then last night I was up until after midnight. A friends and I decided we were going to run some Heroic instances over and over. For those of you who don't understand what a Heroic instance is, it is a dungeon where 5 players go team up and go into. The Heroic part means we've set the dungeon difficulty level to harder than normal so we can get better gear and something called Heroic Badges. These heroic badges are the primary reason for running these instances since you can buy some pretty nice armor and weapons with them. Well, over the weekend I ended up picking up 17 of these badges. Consider for a moment that the average instance has 3 bosses that drop these badges, and then consider again that I picked up all the badges (poor Bim), that would mean I ran around 5-6 heroic instances this weekend. Not a lot by some standards, but a lot for me when you consider I used to run maybe 1 a week.
Anyway folks, I must run for now since I keep getting side tracked by work. I'll see you again tomorrow!
Cheers,
Al
Yes it's Tuesday already! It was a nice long weekend here and when I awoke this morning I came to the realization that it wasn't Monday, but Tuesday. Imagine my surprise and happiness as I realized my work week was 1 day closer to being over.
Here in Canada we had Thanksgiving this past weekend. It was a great time and we headed over to my sister's place to food, family and fellowship. We were only able to stay a few hours, but they were fun and relaxing which was exactly what I needed to have. Since my better half has started working, I've noticed a great deal more stress and strain on us. Of course that stress and strain seems to be offset a bit by the fact she is making money now and is able to actually buy things without need of my bank card. It is actually quite strange to see her whip out her own bank card and make a purchase or buy lunch for the family. I nice change.
This past weekend was also an epic gaming weekend. Normally I don't stay up super late to play WoW, but this past weekend I had some kind of drive to do so. Both Saturday and Sunday nights were very late for me (later than 2am) and then last night I was up until after midnight. A friends and I decided we were going to run some Heroic instances over and over. For those of you who don't understand what a Heroic instance is, it is a dungeon where 5 players go team up and go into. The Heroic part means we've set the dungeon difficulty level to harder than normal so we can get better gear and something called Heroic Badges. These heroic badges are the primary reason for running these instances since you can buy some pretty nice armor and weapons with them. Well, over the weekend I ended up picking up 17 of these badges. Consider for a moment that the average instance has 3 bosses that drop these badges, and then consider again that I picked up all the badges (poor Bim), that would mean I ran around 5-6 heroic instances this weekend. Not a lot by some standards, but a lot for me when you consider I used to run maybe 1 a week.
Anyway folks, I must run for now since I keep getting side tracked by work. I'll see you again tomorrow!
Cheers,
Al
Friday, October 5, 2007
Fantastic Friday Tastebuds!
It's Friday!
Of course Friday is only relative. For those who work this weekend, Friday is just another day. For those who have worked the last 4 days and are now embarking on the 5th, congratulations, you've made it to the weekend!
Today I want to talk a bit about taste. No, I'm not talking specifically about the types of things you buy or things you wear. I want to talk specifically about eating and how things taste to certain people. Have you ever wondered how something that tastes so good to you can be revolting to others? My brother-in-law and I don't see eye-to-eye on onions. He feels they should be abolished from the earth while I just love them and eat them on everything. Why the difference?
Well, I can't completely answer that question, but I can give you some insight. If you're up for some reading, I suggest you check out The Physiology of Taste by Tim Jacob. Very interesting article that talks about taste and how we taste with diagrams and lots of big words. Have a dictionary handy as you'll need it.
I guess you could compare a person's "taste" with the same mechanism that defines what a person sees as beautiful and ugly. Why does one person look at a piece of art and see beauty and another person sees ugly? Scientists seem to think this type of "taste" derives from upbringing and culture. For example, I'm not a fan of Curry or any super spicy foods, but someone growing up in India or Mexico would love the hot and spicy and in most cases will have a much different tolerance for spicy foods than someone like myself. So why does my brother-in-law hate onions? Other than the obvious reason that he is silly, I suspect there was a childhood incident where he had a bad experience with an Onion (maybe mother's milk after she ate a greasy onion filled donair) which programmed his brain to send a negative feeling when he tastes onion. Or perhaps taste is genetic? I know personally I can eat almost anything but I find my tastes follow closely with my mother. I drink Coffee and eat onions (not always at the same time) and so does my mother; my father, hates onions and doesn't drink coffee (doesn't like the taste). So where down the line does one get the hating onions?
Well, I could go on with examples and theories on why taste is genetics and why it's bad childhood experiences. The truth is, nobody really knows and it could be a combination of both. I'll leave that for you to ponder today.
As I mentioned in yesterday's musing, this weekend is Thanksgiving up here in the cold North. I plan on exercising my taste buds this weekend!
Take care folks, and have a safe weekend.
Cheers,
Alan
Of course Friday is only relative. For those who work this weekend, Friday is just another day. For those who have worked the last 4 days and are now embarking on the 5th, congratulations, you've made it to the weekend!
Today I want to talk a bit about taste. No, I'm not talking specifically about the types of things you buy or things you wear. I want to talk specifically about eating and how things taste to certain people. Have you ever wondered how something that tastes so good to you can be revolting to others? My brother-in-law and I don't see eye-to-eye on onions. He feels they should be abolished from the earth while I just love them and eat them on everything. Why the difference?
Well, I can't completely answer that question, but I can give you some insight. If you're up for some reading, I suggest you check out The Physiology of Taste by Tim Jacob. Very interesting article that talks about taste and how we taste with diagrams and lots of big words. Have a dictionary handy as you'll need it.
I guess you could compare a person's "taste" with the same mechanism that defines what a person sees as beautiful and ugly. Why does one person look at a piece of art and see beauty and another person sees ugly? Scientists seem to think this type of "taste" derives from upbringing and culture. For example, I'm not a fan of Curry or any super spicy foods, but someone growing up in India or Mexico would love the hot and spicy and in most cases will have a much different tolerance for spicy foods than someone like myself. So why does my brother-in-law hate onions? Other than the obvious reason that he is silly, I suspect there was a childhood incident where he had a bad experience with an Onion (maybe mother's milk after she ate a greasy onion filled donair) which programmed his brain to send a negative feeling when he tastes onion. Or perhaps taste is genetic? I know personally I can eat almost anything but I find my tastes follow closely with my mother. I drink Coffee and eat onions (not always at the same time) and so does my mother; my father, hates onions and doesn't drink coffee (doesn't like the taste). So where down the line does one get the hating onions?
Well, I could go on with examples and theories on why taste is genetics and why it's bad childhood experiences. The truth is, nobody really knows and it could be a combination of both. I'll leave that for you to ponder today.
As I mentioned in yesterday's musing, this weekend is Thanksgiving up here in the cold North. I plan on exercising my taste buds this weekend!
Take care folks, and have a safe weekend.
Cheers,
Alan
Thursday, October 4, 2007
A New Theme
Good morning folks,
I've decided to update the theme. While the other theme was nice and sleek, it was a bit confusing for some and difficult to navigate archived posts (even I had some trouble with it). Over the next couple days I plan on playing around with the theme and tweaking some settings until it is configured exactly as I like it.
I'm so excited!
This weekend here in Canada we're celebrating Thanksgiving. I've had discussions with my American friends regarding our "Thanksgiving" and I always find it comical when they ask "What do you celebrate on Thanksgiving?". I don't feel Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate, but a time to be thankful for the things and people we have in our lives. I am thankful for so much I couldn't list it all in one post here. The point is, we set aside one weekend a year (both US and Canada) to be thankful; is that such a bad thing? :)
{slurp}
Gah.. bad habit :)
Things are starting to really get busy here at work. We are working on some pretty major projects and my days seem to just fly by because I'm so busy. I find I'm working more these days because I like getting lost in the work so my work day seems shorter. I've come up with a new saying: "When life starts throwing you a bunch of curve balls, get a bigger mit". There!
Anyway folks, time to do a little song and dance. Hope you all have a fantastic day and evening and we'll see you here again tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Al
I've decided to update the theme. While the other theme was nice and sleek, it was a bit confusing for some and difficult to navigate archived posts (even I had some trouble with it). Over the next couple days I plan on playing around with the theme and tweaking some settings until it is configured exactly as I like it.
I'm so excited!
This weekend here in Canada we're celebrating Thanksgiving. I've had discussions with my American friends regarding our "Thanksgiving" and I always find it comical when they ask "What do you celebrate on Thanksgiving?". I don't feel Thanksgiving is a time to celebrate, but a time to be thankful for the things and people we have in our lives. I am thankful for so much I couldn't list it all in one post here. The point is, we set aside one weekend a year (both US and Canada) to be thankful; is that such a bad thing? :)
{slurp}
Gah.. bad habit :)
Things are starting to really get busy here at work. We are working on some pretty major projects and my days seem to just fly by because I'm so busy. I find I'm working more these days because I like getting lost in the work so my work day seems shorter. I've come up with a new saying: "When life starts throwing you a bunch of curve balls, get a bigger mit". There!
Anyway folks, time to do a little song and dance. Hope you all have a fantastic day and evening and we'll see you here again tomorrow morning.
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
One Way
Morning folks,
Or Afternoon as the case may be today; I'm late, but here.
I had debated on whether I would write today and then forced myself to login and post. Why? Because I said I would post every day and by god I'm going to stick to that promise! :)
I've entitled today's musing as "One Way". As most of you are aware, I live in the city of Halifax. Halifax is a very old city established as a City in the year 1841, and a town in the year 1749. I won't go into a lot of depth on the city I live in, but if you're interested, I urge you to check out This Wiki Article. Because of the age of this place and the fact most of the buildings are now historical land marks, you have a place where roads and intersections were an after thought. If you've had the pleasure of driving around in Halifax, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Yesterday, I left work a little early because I had to pick up my daughter from dance class. I was supposed to be there around 5pm so I left work around 4:45pm to give myself enough time to make it. I didn't drive very far until I realized I wasn't going to make my 5pm deadline. As luck would have it, there was an accident on one of the bridges (I don't take either of the bridges home from work) which was causing wide spread delays across the entire city. I only know of one way for me to get home without having to drive across the confusing streets of Halifax and possibly ending up in a ship yard somewhere. So I stayed my course and inched along for over an hour. I finally arrive at my destination just before 6pm, pick up my anxiously waiting family and we headed off home. If you look at a map of the Halifax area, you will see that the major city part of Halifax exists on a little peninsula. It is because of this that there are only a couple ways to get out of the city and when one of those ways is blocked by an accident, traffic everywhere suffers.
Meh
Anway folks, thought I'd share that short little story with you. Please read the Wiki article on Halifax. I'm sure you'll find it most interesting. :)
Cheers,
Al
Or Afternoon as the case may be today; I'm late, but here.
I had debated on whether I would write today and then forced myself to login and post. Why? Because I said I would post every day and by god I'm going to stick to that promise! :)
I've entitled today's musing as "One Way". As most of you are aware, I live in the city of Halifax. Halifax is a very old city established as a City in the year 1841, and a town in the year 1749. I won't go into a lot of depth on the city I live in, but if you're interested, I urge you to check out This Wiki Article. Because of the age of this place and the fact most of the buildings are now historical land marks, you have a place where roads and intersections were an after thought. If you've had the pleasure of driving around in Halifax, you'll know what I'm talking about.
Yesterday, I left work a little early because I had to pick up my daughter from dance class. I was supposed to be there around 5pm so I left work around 4:45pm to give myself enough time to make it. I didn't drive very far until I realized I wasn't going to make my 5pm deadline. As luck would have it, there was an accident on one of the bridges (I don't take either of the bridges home from work) which was causing wide spread delays across the entire city. I only know of one way for me to get home without having to drive across the confusing streets of Halifax and possibly ending up in a ship yard somewhere. So I stayed my course and inched along for over an hour. I finally arrive at my destination just before 6pm, pick up my anxiously waiting family and we headed off home. If you look at a map of the Halifax area, you will see that the major city part of Halifax exists on a little peninsula. It is because of this that there are only a couple ways to get out of the city and when one of those ways is blocked by an accident, traffic everywhere suffers.
Meh
Anway folks, thought I'd share that short little story with you. Please read the Wiki article on Halifax. I'm sure you'll find it most interesting. :)
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, October 2, 2007
Mathmatics
Good morning folks,
The gods have decided to grant us another day on this planet and therefore, have granted me another day to muse.
Oh Boy!
{slurp} <-- Couldn't resist.
I'm tired. Last night I decided to stay up a bit later than normal and play World of Warcraft. We gathered a team of 5 people and went into the underground water caverns known as the Slave Pens. Normally I turn these runs down, especially when they are starting to form around 10pm. However last night, I was feeling charged and looking forward to running this particular instance. After a couple hours we finished and I ended up sticking around and chatting with some folks for a bit. In the end, I think I hit my pillow at around 1am and was woken up at 4am with a page from work.
I know I know.. My fault :)
Needless to say, I ended up dragging my heels this morning, but I got the kids to school on time (as well as the kids next door) and made my way to the local gas station to fill up my vehicle (at $1.04/liter). Something about the fall air that seems refreshing and invigorating. Despite only getting a few hours sleep last night, I still feel like I got a full night of rest despite my eyes being sore from lack of sleep. Strange feeling.
Well, I would like to thank ad0lph1337 for signing up on my site yesterday and posting their suggestion for my musing name. While that was the only suggestion I received, I don't think naming my Musing "a023d432eeeffac323" is such a good idea. Thank you though! Now, I know there are people out there reading this and I know there are some good ideas floating around. Don't make me come up with this all on my own :) I'll end up using something like "The Musing" or "Musing" as a title... don't think I won't.
Anyway folks, I must hurry along and do some work. I have about 12 hours of work to do in about 7 hours so I best get at it. In case you are wondering about the Musing title. I couldn't think of anything so I put that in there. Today's math question is:
How can you do 12 hours of work in 7 hours?
GO!
Cheers,
Al
The gods have decided to grant us another day on this planet and therefore, have granted me another day to muse.
Oh Boy!
{slurp} <-- Couldn't resist.
I'm tired. Last night I decided to stay up a bit later than normal and play World of Warcraft. We gathered a team of 5 people and went into the underground water caverns known as the Slave Pens. Normally I turn these runs down, especially when they are starting to form around 10pm. However last night, I was feeling charged and looking forward to running this particular instance. After a couple hours we finished and I ended up sticking around and chatting with some folks for a bit. In the end, I think I hit my pillow at around 1am and was woken up at 4am with a page from work.
I know I know.. My fault :)
Needless to say, I ended up dragging my heels this morning, but I got the kids to school on time (as well as the kids next door) and made my way to the local gas station to fill up my vehicle (at $1.04/liter). Something about the fall air that seems refreshing and invigorating. Despite only getting a few hours sleep last night, I still feel like I got a full night of rest despite my eyes being sore from lack of sleep. Strange feeling.
Well, I would like to thank ad0lph1337 for signing up on my site yesterday and posting their suggestion for my musing name. While that was the only suggestion I received, I don't think naming my Musing "a023d432eeeffac323" is such a good idea. Thank you though! Now, I know there are people out there reading this and I know there are some good ideas floating around. Don't make me come up with this all on my own :) I'll end up using something like "The Musing" or "Musing" as a title... don't think I won't.
Anyway folks, I must hurry along and do some work. I have about 12 hours of work to do in about 7 hours so I best get at it. In case you are wondering about the Musing title. I couldn't think of anything so I put that in there. Today's math question is:
How can you do 12 hours of work in 7 hours?
GO!
Cheers,
Al
Monday, October 1, 2007
Musing Name
Good morning folks,
The weekend is over and another week is ahead of us. Are you ready to tackle it head on? Are you ready to face life's challenges for the next 5 days?
I find it funny how we view the work week as life's challenge and the weekend is the time of rest. Truth be told (at our house at least) the weekend is sometimes busier than the traditional work week. I guess you could say my weekend exists while I'm at work? Nahh...
So as my topic suggests, I'm looking for a Musing Name. I was so pumped about doing the Musings again that I didn't spend any time thinking on a name. For those who have read my past musings you will know they used to be called Musings over Coffee. While the name is fine, it wasn't truly something I invented and I wanted to try something new and unique (at least for me). Therefore, Musings over Coffee (for me) is my past and ____________ is my future. I don't imagine my reader base is that large right now, but if you are reading this and you do have a suggestion for a Musing name, please feel free to comment and let me know.
I trust everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Our weekend was enjoyable. The sun was shining the weather wasn't too hot (borderline cold really) and everything seemed to be ticking along just fine. Over the weekend I did some thinking on my Musing and came up with a few great story ideas to write about today. Of course after arriving at my keyboard and starting to type I completely forgot ALL of them so here I ramble trying to remember something and charm you all with my witty banter. Alas, I got nothing.
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt something a bit different to see how it works out. Until then, I will bid you all farewell and hope to see you tomorrow. Don't forget to post and give me some suggestions for my Musing name! :)
Cheers,
Al
The weekend is over and another week is ahead of us. Are you ready to tackle it head on? Are you ready to face life's challenges for the next 5 days?
I find it funny how we view the work week as life's challenge and the weekend is the time of rest. Truth be told (at our house at least) the weekend is sometimes busier than the traditional work week. I guess you could say my weekend exists while I'm at work? Nahh...
So as my topic suggests, I'm looking for a Musing Name. I was so pumped about doing the Musings again that I didn't spend any time thinking on a name. For those who have read my past musings you will know they used to be called Musings over Coffee. While the name is fine, it wasn't truly something I invented and I wanted to try something new and unique (at least for me). Therefore, Musings over Coffee (for me) is my past and ____________ is my future. I don't imagine my reader base is that large right now, but if you are reading this and you do have a suggestion for a Musing name, please feel free to comment and let me know.
I trust everyone had an enjoyable weekend. Our weekend was enjoyable. The sun was shining the weather wasn't too hot (borderline cold really) and everything seemed to be ticking along just fine. Over the weekend I did some thinking on my Musing and came up with a few great story ideas to write about today. Of course after arriving at my keyboard and starting to type I completely forgot ALL of them so here I ramble trying to remember something and charm you all with my witty banter. Alas, I got nothing.
Tomorrow I'm going to attempt something a bit different to see how it works out. Until then, I will bid you all farewell and hope to see you tomorrow. Don't forget to post and give me some suggestions for my Musing name! :)
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Bringing Back the Musing
That's right folks, after a long time pondering and thinking about it, I've finally decided to being musing again. The plan is to start back up on Monday, October 1st, 2007. Of course restarting the musings is only PART of what I have planned :)
I am also going to be making several changes to the website as well as develop a brand new morning routine to accommodate the musings. I will post more on this in my first musing, but I thought I'd give you all a heads up :)
Until Monday then...
Cheers,
Al
I am also going to be making several changes to the website as well as develop a brand new morning routine to accommodate the musings. I will post more on this in my first musing, but I thought I'd give you all a heads up :)
Until Monday then...
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, August 16, 2007
5 ways to get back on track!
Have you ever been in a situation where you meant to do something but due to circumstances you have either forgotten or didn't have time? I have been dealing with this very thing and have come up with a few ways to help others get back on track. I won't claim to be an expert on the following as this is something I'm struggling with as well. Hopefully, through this post, I can become a better planner and keep my goals on track.
1) Organization
Being organized is key to keeping things on track. When you are constantly around disorganization you tend to be distracted by it. Take a cluttered room for example. This is something I've been struggling with at my home because I dislike the look of clutter. I read an interesting article on Zen Habits the other day about getting rid of clutter and found it very enlightening. We all struggle with this regardless of our situation. If you have a place to live and you have "things", I can almost guarantee you have clutter. As I've found out over the past years with my wife, clutter isn't always a bad thing if kept in order which is why organization is more important than removing the clutter.
2) Set Deadlines
An easy way to keep things on track is to set a firm deadline. "Sometime next week" is not a deadline and more often than not you will arrive at the end of next week and still have the task outstanding. The goal here is to keep things on track and having a firm deadline is key to making this happen. Rather than saying "Sometime next week", pick a day next week and stick with it. Also, when setting deadlines for things keep in mind your schedule and set goals that are easy to obtain and realistic to the situation. I wouldn't advise setting a goal to paint your entire house in a week. Give yourself some breathing room and give yourself a couple weeks to complete the project. If you're like me, you have enough deadlines and stress at work. Take it easy and enjoy it, but make sure you make that deadline.
3) Work at it a little bit each day
Some projects are simple and won't require this step but others are longer and may extend over multiple days. As in my example in step 2, if you're looking to do something like paint your house, try doing a little bit each day until completion. If you set a deadline for your project for Friday next week, you don't want to start working on your Project on Wednesday next week. Start today! Do a little bit each day and pace it out so you will be finished by Friday next week. If you complete early, great. By working on the project every day, you're showing progress in your project and every day you will feel driven to do more. In most cases, this will result in finishing before your deadline date giving you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
4) Reward yourself
You've completed your project and you've done it ahead of schedule. Why not reward yourself for a job well done? Maybe order in some food or take that significant other out and spend some quality time together in celebration. Whatever you do, don't let this accomplishment pass you by without taking in some self gratification. Remember, if it wasn't for setting that goal and deadline, you wouldn't be where you are today and would still be procrastinating over the issue you meant to do last week. Hold your head high and take pride in your work.
5) Keep it Up!
You've finished your project, you've decided to kick back and take it easy for awhile. Looking around the place you live yields a dozen other things you "could" be doing. Take a note of each thing that requires work and write it down. Now, beside each task set a realistic date for completion. Keep this list handy like on your refrigerator or put it on a calendar. I find the calendar approach the best since you can easily look at it and see when your tasks are due. Every morning when you awake, take a quick peek at your list or calendar and take note of the top 2 tasks that are due first. Spend an hour that day working on those two things only. At the end of the month you will have accomplished so many things around your home, you will be able to sit back and enjoy knowing you haven't put anything off that needed doing.
Good luck with keeping things on track! Feel free to post any comments or additions you'd like to make. I always value the opinions of my readers who have helped make me who I am today. :)
Cheers,
Al
1) Organization
Being organized is key to keeping things on track. When you are constantly around disorganization you tend to be distracted by it. Take a cluttered room for example. This is something I've been struggling with at my home because I dislike the look of clutter. I read an interesting article on Zen Habits the other day about getting rid of clutter and found it very enlightening. We all struggle with this regardless of our situation. If you have a place to live and you have "things", I can almost guarantee you have clutter. As I've found out over the past years with my wife, clutter isn't always a bad thing if kept in order which is why organization is more important than removing the clutter.
2) Set Deadlines
An easy way to keep things on track is to set a firm deadline. "Sometime next week" is not a deadline and more often than not you will arrive at the end of next week and still have the task outstanding. The goal here is to keep things on track and having a firm deadline is key to making this happen. Rather than saying "Sometime next week", pick a day next week and stick with it. Also, when setting deadlines for things keep in mind your schedule and set goals that are easy to obtain and realistic to the situation. I wouldn't advise setting a goal to paint your entire house in a week. Give yourself some breathing room and give yourself a couple weeks to complete the project. If you're like me, you have enough deadlines and stress at work. Take it easy and enjoy it, but make sure you make that deadline.
3) Work at it a little bit each day
Some projects are simple and won't require this step but others are longer and may extend over multiple days. As in my example in step 2, if you're looking to do something like paint your house, try doing a little bit each day until completion. If you set a deadline for your project for Friday next week, you don't want to start working on your Project on Wednesday next week. Start today! Do a little bit each day and pace it out so you will be finished by Friday next week. If you complete early, great. By working on the project every day, you're showing progress in your project and every day you will feel driven to do more. In most cases, this will result in finishing before your deadline date giving you a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment.
4) Reward yourself
You've completed your project and you've done it ahead of schedule. Why not reward yourself for a job well done? Maybe order in some food or take that significant other out and spend some quality time together in celebration. Whatever you do, don't let this accomplishment pass you by without taking in some self gratification. Remember, if it wasn't for setting that goal and deadline, you wouldn't be where you are today and would still be procrastinating over the issue you meant to do last week. Hold your head high and take pride in your work.
5) Keep it Up!
You've finished your project, you've decided to kick back and take it easy for awhile. Looking around the place you live yields a dozen other things you "could" be doing. Take a note of each thing that requires work and write it down. Now, beside each task set a realistic date for completion. Keep this list handy like on your refrigerator or put it on a calendar. I find the calendar approach the best since you can easily look at it and see when your tasks are due. Every morning when you awake, take a quick peek at your list or calendar and take note of the top 2 tasks that are due first. Spend an hour that day working on those two things only. At the end of the month you will have accomplished so many things around your home, you will be able to sit back and enjoy knowing you haven't put anything off that needed doing.
Good luck with keeping things on track! Feel free to post any comments or additions you'd like to make. I always value the opinions of my readers who have helped make me who I am today. :)
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Theme Updated
Just a little note to let everyone know I updated the site theme. I doesn't look any different (at least on the surface), but it is the latest version of the HemmingwayEx theme for Wordpress with loads of fixes and new features :) Can't wait to start using them.
Cheers,
Al
Cheers,
Al
Friday, July 27, 2007
Summer is FINALLY Here!
Good morning folks,
{slurp}
Another Friday is upon us and the gods have decided... "Not today". :)
{slurp}
As my title suggests, Summer is FINALLY here. That isn't to say I live in some transwarp universe where time flows differently. Since the official first day of Summer back in June, we haven't had that many "nice" days to speak of. Yeah it's been sunny, but cool. It's been raining quite a bit, which is good for farmers and trees and water sources. We haven't really had any days this year where it has been really hot, until yesterday and today.
{slurp}
The weather forecast for today is calling for Sunny skies and a high of 34 degrees Celsius (which is approximately 93 Fahrenheit for our Imperial friends out there). Since hot seems to be a relative term, let me tell you, up here in Canada, especially along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, 34 Celsius is HOT. When you factor in things like humidity and wind (of which there is none), you are looking at a pretty muggy, hot and sticky day.
{slurp}
I Love It!
{slurp}
I heard a conversation yesterday about the high temperatures and how this is the affects of Global Warming. I've thought a bit on this term "Global Warming" and I've come up with the following definition. The globe is getting warmer! Genius ain't I? :)
{slurp}
Imagine, if you will, the Sun in our Solar system. Imagine all the planets orbiting around the Sun at quite a fast rate. In fact, so fast that our plant rotates around the sun every 365 days (365 days and 5 hours to be exact). When you're talking millions and millions of Kilometers (between 146 and 152 million depending on orbit) away from the Sun, 365 days isn't that long :) So our earth is "flying" around the Sun. Not only does it move around the Sun, no no, just to add into the mess, our earth also rotates on its own! That's right folks, the earth rotates on its own and it also rotates around the Sun. What does this mean? Well, really no much other than that is how we get our Years and Days, but I'll save that lesson for a different musing :)
{slurp}
Now, with all those moving pieces, things are bound to mess up. Right? I mean, nothing in this world (out out of it as the topic suggests) lasts forever. Therefore, it is only safe to assume that one day either our Sun is going to burn out or we are going to burn up. Regardless of what happens first, life on Earth is going to end. Now imagine for a moment that the only thing keeping our planet in this rotational orbit around the Sun is the gravitational pull OF the Sun. That's right, it if wasn't for the fact we're moving through space, the Sun would pull us right into itself and incinerate Earth. Why doesn't this happen? Well to put it simply, the movement and speed at which the Earth moves is enough to keep it away from the Sun while the Sun's pull on the Earth is great enough to keep the Earth from flying off into deep space. Make sense? If not, look up the term centrifugal force.
{slurp}
So why the lesson on the Earth's rotation? Well, I had started to theorize a potential cause for Global Warming. You see, I'm a firm believer that nothing is perfect. People are not perfect, man made machines are not perfect and therefore, if nothing on earth is deemed "perfect", then nothing outside of Earth should be either. If you believe that, then the orbit of the Earth around the Sun CAN'T be perfect. If the Earth's rotation is off by a simple degree we will see significant changes to our climate and atmosphere. What kinds of changes? I have no idea, but I suspect our ice caps would begin to melt due to the Earth traveling closer to the Sun. I would imagine more UV rays which cause things like severe sun burns and skin cancer. I would imagine there would even be situations where the Sun would burn holes in our atmosphere. Anything starting to sound familiar? :)
{slurp}
Now I'm no scientist, but I do like to think outside the box (maybe I should have been a scientist). How do scientists on Earth know exactly how far away the Sun is? How did the measure the distance? How do they know the distance between Earth and Sun is the same today as it was 50 years ago? I don't believe they do know and I believe most of the "distances" you read about (as I mentioned in an earlier paragraph) are false and inaccurate. So if I can sell you on that fact and the fact that the Earth's rotation around the Sun may be starting to deteriorate, then I think I've just explained to you what is causing Global Warming.
{slurp}
Now, that isn't to say we're not helping things along down here on Earth with our technology, machines and factories. But I don't believe the entire blame can be placed on the Human race. There are other cosmic forces at work here and just because you can't see beyond your own atmosphere doesn't mean there isn't an entire universe of "unknowns" out there.
{slurp}
Well folks, I'll finish off that thought right there ;) Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
Another Friday is upon us and the gods have decided... "Not today". :)
{slurp}
As my title suggests, Summer is FINALLY here. That isn't to say I live in some transwarp universe where time flows differently. Since the official first day of Summer back in June, we haven't had that many "nice" days to speak of. Yeah it's been sunny, but cool. It's been raining quite a bit, which is good for farmers and trees and water sources. We haven't really had any days this year where it has been really hot, until yesterday and today.
{slurp}
The weather forecast for today is calling for Sunny skies and a high of 34 degrees Celsius (which is approximately 93 Fahrenheit for our Imperial friends out there). Since hot seems to be a relative term, let me tell you, up here in Canada, especially along the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, 34 Celsius is HOT. When you factor in things like humidity and wind (of which there is none), you are looking at a pretty muggy, hot and sticky day.
{slurp}
I Love It!
{slurp}
I heard a conversation yesterday about the high temperatures and how this is the affects of Global Warming. I've thought a bit on this term "Global Warming" and I've come up with the following definition. The globe is getting warmer! Genius ain't I? :)
{slurp}
Imagine, if you will, the Sun in our Solar system. Imagine all the planets orbiting around the Sun at quite a fast rate. In fact, so fast that our plant rotates around the sun every 365 days (365 days and 5 hours to be exact). When you're talking millions and millions of Kilometers (between 146 and 152 million depending on orbit) away from the Sun, 365 days isn't that long :) So our earth is "flying" around the Sun. Not only does it move around the Sun, no no, just to add into the mess, our earth also rotates on its own! That's right folks, the earth rotates on its own and it also rotates around the Sun. What does this mean? Well, really no much other than that is how we get our Years and Days, but I'll save that lesson for a different musing :)
{slurp}
Now, with all those moving pieces, things are bound to mess up. Right? I mean, nothing in this world (out out of it as the topic suggests) lasts forever. Therefore, it is only safe to assume that one day either our Sun is going to burn out or we are going to burn up. Regardless of what happens first, life on Earth is going to end. Now imagine for a moment that the only thing keeping our planet in this rotational orbit around the Sun is the gravitational pull OF the Sun. That's right, it if wasn't for the fact we're moving through space, the Sun would pull us right into itself and incinerate Earth. Why doesn't this happen? Well to put it simply, the movement and speed at which the Earth moves is enough to keep it away from the Sun while the Sun's pull on the Earth is great enough to keep the Earth from flying off into deep space. Make sense? If not, look up the term centrifugal force.
{slurp}
So why the lesson on the Earth's rotation? Well, I had started to theorize a potential cause for Global Warming. You see, I'm a firm believer that nothing is perfect. People are not perfect, man made machines are not perfect and therefore, if nothing on earth is deemed "perfect", then nothing outside of Earth should be either. If you believe that, then the orbit of the Earth around the Sun CAN'T be perfect. If the Earth's rotation is off by a simple degree we will see significant changes to our climate and atmosphere. What kinds of changes? I have no idea, but I suspect our ice caps would begin to melt due to the Earth traveling closer to the Sun. I would imagine more UV rays which cause things like severe sun burns and skin cancer. I would imagine there would even be situations where the Sun would burn holes in our atmosphere. Anything starting to sound familiar? :)
{slurp}
Now I'm no scientist, but I do like to think outside the box (maybe I should have been a scientist). How do scientists on Earth know exactly how far away the Sun is? How did the measure the distance? How do they know the distance between Earth and Sun is the same today as it was 50 years ago? I don't believe they do know and I believe most of the "distances" you read about (as I mentioned in an earlier paragraph) are false and inaccurate. So if I can sell you on that fact and the fact that the Earth's rotation around the Sun may be starting to deteriorate, then I think I've just explained to you what is causing Global Warming.
{slurp}
Now, that isn't to say we're not helping things along down here on Earth with our technology, machines and factories. But I don't believe the entire blame can be placed on the Human race. There are other cosmic forces at work here and just because you can't see beyond your own atmosphere doesn't mean there isn't an entire universe of "unknowns" out there.
{slurp}
Well folks, I'll finish off that thought right there ;) Thanks for reading.
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Big Changes Coming
Morning folks,
{slurp}
Hope everyone is having a great Summer. The weather here in Halifax has started to really get nice recently. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to experience any warm days :) Unfortunately, the warmest days so far have happened while at work so I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing them. Luckily this weekend we are heading out to the lake to do some much needed camping. I can't wait to pitch the tent, setup the camp site and head down to the lake.
{slurp}
I have often wondered what it would be like to go camping for weeks at a time. Rather than take a weekend and go camping, I'd like to take a couple weeks and go camping. Of course for something like that I'd like to have a camper of some kind (tent trailer or RV). I think next year I may look into renting an RV or something for a couple weeks and go live out in nature :)
{slurp}
As my subject suggests, there are some big changes coming. Not really big in the sense of life, but big in the sense of what I have planned for this website. Over the next month or so you are going to see some significant improvements and changes. You are going to start seeing some structure and navigation enhancements which are going to really help drive some traffic here and hopefully gain more exposure to the world wide webs :)
{slurp}
What do I have planned you ask? You'll have to wait and find out :) Let's just say, I'm opening the gateway to something bigger and hopefully (if things go they way I hope), I can finally do what I really want to do in life :)
Until then...
{slurp}
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
Hope everyone is having a great Summer. The weather here in Halifax has started to really get nice recently. I was beginning to wonder if we were ever going to experience any warm days :) Unfortunately, the warmest days so far have happened while at work so I haven't had the pleasure of experiencing them. Luckily this weekend we are heading out to the lake to do some much needed camping. I can't wait to pitch the tent, setup the camp site and head down to the lake.
{slurp}
I have often wondered what it would be like to go camping for weeks at a time. Rather than take a weekend and go camping, I'd like to take a couple weeks and go camping. Of course for something like that I'd like to have a camper of some kind (tent trailer or RV). I think next year I may look into renting an RV or something for a couple weeks and go live out in nature :)
{slurp}
As my subject suggests, there are some big changes coming. Not really big in the sense of life, but big in the sense of what I have planned for this website. Over the next month or so you are going to see some significant improvements and changes. You are going to start seeing some structure and navigation enhancements which are going to really help drive some traffic here and hopefully gain more exposure to the world wide webs :)
{slurp}
What do I have planned you ask? You'll have to wait and find out :) Let's just say, I'm opening the gateway to something bigger and hopefully (if things go they way I hope), I can finally do what I really want to do in life :)
Until then...
{slurp}
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
WoW Update
Morning folks,
{slurp}
Just wanted to throw up a quick update to the site. Since I don't have a heck of a lot to talk about this morning, I figured I would put up something about WoW. :)
{slurp}
As some of you are aware, I recently leveled a Warrior to 70. I have been working hard and taking in all the advice I can to get this character up to a point where he will be useful in end-game instances. So far I feel I've done quite well with him and at 502 Defense (currently) he is a machine :) A big thanks to Cauldron for all his help and assistance in educating me on the Do's and Do Not's of Warriorism.
{slurp}
Last night our Kara team went back for one final showdown with the Curator before the instance reset today. We downed him easily on our 3rd attempt and I was fortunate enough to pick up the Tier 4 gloves for my Hunter! Despite the rocky start, we moved through Curator and had a successful game of Chess.
{slurp}
I have been enoying the game quite a bit recently. While I wish there were more hours in the day and I wish our raids didn't start so damn late at night (for me), the people and the attitudes keep me coming back and logging in. The new content is still "new" enough to keep me interested and with several instances we still haven't even seen, the future seems even more exciting. I am also thinking of leveling another toon to 70. The logical choice would be my Rogue since she is already level 62, but I was thinking of something a bit different. I haven't decided fully yet what or even IF I will level another toon to 70. For each toon I have at 70, the more work and effort I need to put out to keep their gear up and aquire all the attunements and keys.
{slurp}
Well gang, I must run for now. I hope to have some real world updates soon :) Take care and God bless.
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Successful!
Good Morning Folks,
{slurp}
Well this is officially the last day of the working week for me. Since I have to work next Monday which is when most companies will be taking Canada Day, I decided to take the Friday before. I must admit, this has been a very stressful week for me, but I won't go into that. :)
{slurp}
I found this picture this morning while I was stumbling
I made me start thinking and you know what happens when I start thinking.... :)
{slurp}
What is success?
- an event that accomplishes its intended purpose;
- a state of prosperity or fame;
- achiever: a person with a record of successes;
How does success apply to your own life? Do any of the above "meanings" fit you? You're probably sitting there wondering whether you've been prosperous or famous lately. You're probably wondering whether or not you've achieved anything recently.
What is prosperous?
- comfortable: in fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich;
Unfortunately I wasn't able to find much in the way of alternate meanings for prosperous. Basically, if you're well off and have lots of money (or riches) then you're prosperous. Of course someone making $50k a year in a small town where the cost of living is low may be considered prosperous while the same person living in a large city (like Toronto for example) would be consideredpoor not prosperous. So really, prosperity is relative and shouldn't be something we dwell on.
{slurp}
So this brings me back to success and what exactly defines a successful person. I'm going to sit and dwell on this for a bit, but I'd love to hear what you all think. Feel free to comment and tell me in 100 words or less what YOU would consider a successful person. Is it riches? Is it family? Is it happiness? I look forward to hearing from you :)
{slurp}
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
Well this is officially the last day of the working week for me. Since I have to work next Monday which is when most companies will be taking Canada Day, I decided to take the Friday before. I must admit, this has been a very stressful week for me, but I won't go into that. :)
{slurp}
I found this picture this morning while I was stumbling
I made me start thinking and you know what happens when I start thinking.... :)
{slurp}
What is success?
- an event that accomplishes its intended purpose;
- a state of prosperity or fame;
- achiever: a person with a record of successes;
How does success apply to your own life? Do any of the above "meanings" fit you? You're probably sitting there wondering whether you've been prosperous or famous lately. You're probably wondering whether or not you've achieved anything recently.
What is prosperous?
- comfortable: in fortunate circumstances financially; moderately rich;
Unfortunately I wasn't able to find much in the way of alternate meanings for prosperous. Basically, if you're well off and have lots of money (or riches) then you're prosperous. Of course someone making $50k a year in a small town where the cost of living is low may be considered prosperous while the same person living in a large city (like Toronto for example) would be considered
{slurp}
So this brings me back to success and what exactly defines a successful person. I'm going to sit and dwell on this for a bit, but I'd love to hear what you all think. Feel free to comment and tell me in 100 words or less what YOU would consider a successful person. Is it riches? Is it family? Is it happiness? I look forward to hearing from you :)
{slurp}
Cheers,
Al
Friday, June 22, 2007
Making Sense of it All
Morning Folks Good,
Today I saw a kite flying in the air. The wind picked it up and tossed it like a loving father tosses their child into the air. I stood for a moment staring at the kite and wondered whether a kite would be fun to fly if there was no gravity. Afterall, the whole fun in flying a kite is to defy the laws of gravity and having that sense of accomplishment in having something fly, seemingly by your own power.
We take for granted the little things in life. What has happened to the days of hoops and sticks down the ol' dirt road? What happened to the days when you could let your children run all over the neighbourhood and didn't fear they were being stalked or kidnapped? What ever happened to buying a glass bottle of pop (that's right, glass bottles) and a bag of chips for under a buck?
Has the world around me changed or have I changed?
I'm sure my parents used to worry about things when it came to my safety. But I don't believe there were nearly as many issues in the world as there are today. I often long for the simple life again. The life where I can feel safe walking down the street, where a cross walk means stop when someone wants to cross, where everyone knows who you are and you know everyone. I long for the small town I grew up in and where I felt "safe".
{slurp} (you thought I forgot didn't you?)
Of course in order to move back to the town I grew up in I would need to find something to do to make money. There just isn't the same kind of jobs back there as there are in the city. I can't just walk into the local gas station or video store and get a job paying minimum wage and expect to raise my family off that salary. Can I?
Meh
This is taking me forever to write today. Even though work is VERY light today, I still find I'm getting distracted and pulled away more frequently than normal. With that, I will end this for today and pick up on these ideas again on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!
Cheers,
Al
Today I saw a kite flying in the air. The wind picked it up and tossed it like a loving father tosses their child into the air. I stood for a moment staring at the kite and wondered whether a kite would be fun to fly if there was no gravity. Afterall, the whole fun in flying a kite is to defy the laws of gravity and having that sense of accomplishment in having something fly, seemingly by your own power.
We take for granted the little things in life. What has happened to the days of hoops and sticks down the ol' dirt road? What happened to the days when you could let your children run all over the neighbourhood and didn't fear they were being stalked or kidnapped? What ever happened to buying a glass bottle of pop (that's right, glass bottles) and a bag of chips for under a buck?
Has the world around me changed or have I changed?
I'm sure my parents used to worry about things when it came to my safety. But I don't believe there were nearly as many issues in the world as there are today. I often long for the simple life again. The life where I can feel safe walking down the street, where a cross walk means stop when someone wants to cross, where everyone knows who you are and you know everyone. I long for the small town I grew up in and where I felt "safe".
{slurp} (you thought I forgot didn't you?)
Of course in order to move back to the town I grew up in I would need to find something to do to make money. There just isn't the same kind of jobs back there as there are in the city. I can't just walk into the local gas station or video store and get a job paying minimum wage and expect to raise my family off that salary. Can I?
Meh
This is taking me forever to write today. Even though work is VERY light today, I still find I'm getting distracted and pulled away more frequently than normal. With that, I will end this for today and pick up on these ideas again on Monday. Have a great weekend everyone!
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Getting it Out There
Morning Folks,
{slurp}
It is a beautiful Wednesday morning here in Halifax. The sun is up, the trees are green and full, the ocean is glistening and the hum of the downtown seems less annoying. Yes, it is a good day.
{slurp}
I wanted to talk a bit about fear and censorship today. Too many times we've hit that preverbal backspace key on things we wanted to say but feared the outcome of our actions if we did. During this post, I promise to you I will NOT hit my backspace key (with the exception of a mistype) and I will not sensor what I'm trying to say.
{slurp}
For example, I dislike my job. Now I know for a fact there are co-workers who sometimes frequent my site and will read this. It's no secret folks, anyone who has spent any amount of time looking through my past posts will get the feeling I dislike my job :) My job is boring. I don't feel challenged on a daily basis and at the end of the day I feel a lack of accomplishment and willingness to wake the next day and do it all over again. My job is mundane, repetitive and boring the life out of me. So much so, I've started updating my resume and my Monster profile in hopes of attracting something a bit more geared to my skill level.
{slurp}
I spent 8 years in Calgary training to be a UNIX Systems Administrator. When I applied for my job here, it was to be just that. Imagine my surprise when I moved to Halifax and found out I wasn't doing what I wanted to do and wasn't doing the job I applied and was hired for. It has been almost 2 years since then and my skill in UNIX had dropped quite a bit. My drive and my will has been slowly beaten out of me by the constant mundane tasks and mindless user requests we get on a daily basis. Of course, I'm not alone in this thought. There are other people in my team and in my engagement who feel the same way. In some cases, they don't know any better. Luckily, I do, and can share what an IT company SHOULD be like. Despite all the bitching and complaining I did about my last job, it is nothing compared to being bored all day watching the clock tick by minute by minute.
{slurp}
What else can I do? Nothing of course. I have bills to pay, I have rent to pay and my family to support. We are coming up on the Summer months and plan on doing some camping and getting out of the house and spending time as a family. My job is easy, so I guess you could say it is easy money. I do make a good wage, so things aren't all bad. My team lead (whom I'm very thankful for) has made several comments on how things could be "worse" and how our company isn't THAT bad. Truth be told, the particular engagement I work on is so secluded from the rest of the company, it hardly feels like I work for this company. If that makes any sense.
{slurp}
{slurp}
It is a beautiful Wednesday morning here in Halifax. The sun is up, the trees are green and full, the ocean is glistening and the hum of the downtown seems less annoying. Yes, it is a good day.
{slurp}
I wanted to talk a bit about fear and censorship today. Too many times we've hit that preverbal backspace key on things we wanted to say but feared the outcome of our actions if we did. During this post, I promise to you I will NOT hit my backspace key (with the exception of a mistype) and I will not sensor what I'm trying to say.
{slurp}
For example, I dislike my job. Now I know for a fact there are co-workers who sometimes frequent my site and will read this. It's no secret folks, anyone who has spent any amount of time looking through my past posts will get the feeling I dislike my job :) My job is boring. I don't feel challenged on a daily basis and at the end of the day I feel a lack of accomplishment and willingness to wake the next day and do it all over again. My job is mundane, repetitive and boring the life out of me. So much so, I've started updating my resume and my Monster profile in hopes of attracting something a bit more geared to my skill level.
{slurp}
I spent 8 years in Calgary training to be a UNIX Systems Administrator. When I applied for my job here, it was to be just that. Imagine my surprise when I moved to Halifax and found out I wasn't doing what I wanted to do and wasn't doing the job I applied and was hired for. It has been almost 2 years since then and my skill in UNIX had dropped quite a bit. My drive and my will has been slowly beaten out of me by the constant mundane tasks and mindless user requests we get on a daily basis. Of course, I'm not alone in this thought. There are other people in my team and in my engagement who feel the same way. In some cases, they don't know any better. Luckily, I do, and can share what an IT company SHOULD be like. Despite all the bitching and complaining I did about my last job, it is nothing compared to being bored all day watching the clock tick by minute by minute.
{slurp}
What else can I do? Nothing of course. I have bills to pay, I have rent to pay and my family to support. We are coming up on the Summer months and plan on doing some camping and getting out of the house and spending time as a family. My job is easy, so I guess you could say it is easy money. I do make a good wage, so things aren't all bad. My team lead (whom I'm very thankful for) has made several comments on how things could be "worse" and how our company isn't THAT bad. Truth be told, the particular engagement I work on is so secluded from the rest of the company, it hardly feels like I work for this company. If that makes any sense.
{slurp}
Enough about work though. Let's get back to that first paragraph where I was describing how beautiful it was today and now much I'm liking living in Halifax. If you read my thoughts a year or so ago (after moving here) you will see a sharp contrast in opinion. We have endured some hard times since moving here. Life hasn't been easy and still remains to throw us some challenges, but we tackle them head on and press through. We are currently waiting on a ruling from the court on whether we owe money based on a bad Real estate transaction that took place last year. I'm sure I wrote about the possibility of us buying a house back in August 2006. Well that deal fell through and our Realtor did not protect our rights. As a result, the home owner (who had bought a new house because on paper we had bought hers) ended up having to relist and sell her home again and came after us for the difference. We've been to small claims court twice and are anxiously awaiting the ruling. While I have no doubt we'll owe money, I do hope the Adjudicator will take the time and give a fair ruling. You can bet your ass we'll be going after our Realtor for the balance we end up having to pay plus the hardships we've had to endure through this ordeal.
{slurp}
As a result of the small claims court battle, we've decided we're not going to buy a house; EVER! :) Just kidding of course. We do plan on buying a house someday down the road and this time we'll be keeping it in the family. My brother-in-law, and good friend, has recently become a licensed Realtor here in Nova Scotia and has been bugging me non-stop to sign on with him to get us into a place. Before I do anything, I want to make sure I'm squared away with my creditors and can afford a house. I also want to make sure we are at a place in our lives where we are ready to "own the risk" of a house and are able to dedicate the time and effort needed to upkeep and maintain a house. Buying a house isn't like renting a place. Right now I don't care much about the structure of my townhouse because I don't own it. I play someone else (who does own it) monthly so I can occupy the place, nothing more.
{slurp}
Speaking of which, we are all moved in to our new place (finally). We still have a box or two of misc. things we need to unpack and we still need to figure out how we're going to arrange furniture and stuff to make the place look nice. Having two floors has been a MAJOR blessing for us. The upstairs is mainly for sleeping and playing, while the downstairs is for entertainment, eating and general living. In our last place, all of this was on the same level and very close to each other. Having a distinct separation is nice and it helps to keep things in perspective and separated. The kids are spending a LOT of time outdoors these days. They both have friends who live close by and are constantly outside playing with them. We are still a little on the cautious side because we're not used to our kids being out of our sight. It is hard to say yes when my daughter comes to me and asks if she can go to her friends house to play. Of course we always ensure the friend's parents are ok with the play date and then send the little ones off to the neighbors' house to play. It's strange to go from such a "lock down" we had at the last place to the freedom of the new place. Very very strange.
{slurp}
Well folks, I best end this post before it turns into a novel. I plan on spending more time on the site in the near future. I don't know if I'll make any cosmetic changes as I'm still enjoying the way the site works and looks. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them.
Take care and good luck.
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Super Mario What?
Morning Folks,
{slurp}
Found this image on the net yesterday and it made me chuckle. For those of you who have played Super Mario Bros. will understand the caption :) I'm not certain who drew the picture but I enjoyed it greatly. Hats off to the artist.
Where Does Mario Go When He Dies?
{slurp}
Found this image on the net yesterday and it made me chuckle. For those of you who have played Super Mario Bros. will understand the caption :) I'm not certain who drew the picture but I enjoyed it greatly. Hats off to the artist.
Where Does Mario Go When He Dies?
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
New Experiment
Morning folks,
{slurp}
Hopefully everyone had a safe and happy weekend (what a weekend we had). This past weekend was a long weekend for those of us in Canada. Next weekend is the US long weekend. Summer is just around the bend!
{slurp}
I wanted to make a quick post about a new experiment I'll be working on. I won't divulge the details just yet, but be warned this is something fairly big and not something I'll be able to wrap up in a week, or even a month. If it works out and the experiment is a success, it will be life changing for me and my family. For now, I'll create a link off my Experiments page and post vague details until I am ready to unload the full details to you.
{slurp}
As I eluded to above in my opening paragraph, we had a very interesting weekend. My sister, her husband and my niece were in a bit of a car accident this weekend. Saturday they were taking a trip up to Northern New Brunswick when they hit a huge puddle in the middle of the highway (very raining day). The car hydroplaned and went into the ditch rolling over and landing on its roof. Thankfully everyone is OK and besides a few scratches on my niece from the shattered rear window, everyone was ok sans a few bumps and bruises. We received the phone call late Saturday night and went over to visit Sunday just to make sure everything was ok. Sadly, the Neon 2.0SX is most likely going to be a write off, but at least everyone survived. This would be a great testament for Dodge and how safe their cars really are.
{slurp}
Anyway folks, must get back at it and begin my week of work. Keep watching this space for updates on my new Experiment :)
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
Hopefully everyone had a safe and happy weekend (what a weekend we had). This past weekend was a long weekend for those of us in Canada. Next weekend is the US long weekend. Summer is just around the bend!
{slurp}
I wanted to make a quick post about a new experiment I'll be working on. I won't divulge the details just yet, but be warned this is something fairly big and not something I'll be able to wrap up in a week, or even a month. If it works out and the experiment is a success, it will be life changing for me and my family. For now, I'll create a link off my Experiments page and post vague details until I am ready to unload the full details to you.
{slurp}
As I eluded to above in my opening paragraph, we had a very interesting weekend. My sister, her husband and my niece were in a bit of a car accident this weekend. Saturday they were taking a trip up to Northern New Brunswick when they hit a huge puddle in the middle of the highway (very raining day). The car hydroplaned and went into the ditch rolling over and landing on its roof. Thankfully everyone is OK and besides a few scratches on my niece from the shattered rear window, everyone was ok sans a few bumps and bruises. We received the phone call late Saturday night and went over to visit Sunday just to make sure everything was ok. Sadly, the Neon 2.0SX is most likely going to be a write off, but at least everyone survived. This would be a great testament for Dodge and how safe their cars really are.
{slurp}
Anyway folks, must get back at it and begin my week of work. Keep watching this space for updates on my new Experiment :)
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
All Moved In!
Good morning folks,
{slurp}
What a weekend we had. All I can say is thank God it's finally over. We started moving Friday afternoon and didn't finish until Sunday late afternoon. Katie and I took on the brutal task by ourselves and we did the entire move casually over the weekend in our Minivan. Surprisingly, the only item that did not fit in the Minivan was our Queen sized box spring, everything else fit just fine.
{slurp}
Of course, what would a weekend of moving be without any mishaps. To make matters a bit more unbearable, I was on-call for the weekend as well. Luckly enough there were no pages during the day while we moved, but during both Friday and Saturday night I received about 3 hours sleep total (in both nights). That made for a cranky Al but I tried not to let that show. Moving is stressful enough without the overtired being added into it.
{slurp}
So now we are all in and everything is starting to unfold. The furnature is being organized, the boxes are being unpacked and we are starting to turn this once vacant townhouse into our future home. The kids have really been enjoying the new place as there are other families in the complex with children and we are letting the kids out of the house to play. This is a new thing for us because in our last place there was nowhere for the kids to go unless you wanted them to play in the parking lot. Now we can throw open the patio door and they're gone to a neighbours house or just to play on the patio together. It is a much different atmosphere.
{slurp}
Today our Internet, Phone and Cable get transferred. I won't say I missed having Internet Sunday and yesterday, but I found it interesting how "lost" I felt without having a phone. Internet is something that I deal with daily, but as soon as you want to call home and realize there is no way to contact your family, you get a little edgy. Hopefully the Cable guy shows up at our new place sooner than later :)
{slurp}
Well folks, I must go and get some work done. Today promises to be busy and I must get some work done.
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
What a weekend we had. All I can say is thank God it's finally over. We started moving Friday afternoon and didn't finish until Sunday late afternoon. Katie and I took on the brutal task by ourselves and we did the entire move casually over the weekend in our Minivan. Surprisingly, the only item that did not fit in the Minivan was our Queen sized box spring, everything else fit just fine.
{slurp}
Of course, what would a weekend of moving be without any mishaps. To make matters a bit more unbearable, I was on-call for the weekend as well. Luckly enough there were no pages during the day while we moved, but during both Friday and Saturday night I received about 3 hours sleep total (in both nights). That made for a cranky Al but I tried not to let that show. Moving is stressful enough without the overtired being added into it.
{slurp}
So now we are all in and everything is starting to unfold. The furnature is being organized, the boxes are being unpacked and we are starting to turn this once vacant townhouse into our future home. The kids have really been enjoying the new place as there are other families in the complex with children and we are letting the kids out of the house to play. This is a new thing for us because in our last place there was nowhere for the kids to go unless you wanted them to play in the parking lot. Now we can throw open the patio door and they're gone to a neighbours house or just to play on the patio together. It is a much different atmosphere.
{slurp}
Today our Internet, Phone and Cable get transferred. I won't say I missed having Internet Sunday and yesterday, but I found it interesting how "lost" I felt without having a phone. Internet is something that I deal with daily, but as soon as you want to call home and realize there is no way to contact your family, you get a little edgy. Hopefully the Cable guy shows up at our new place sooner than later :)
{slurp}
Well folks, I must go and get some work done. Today promises to be busy and I must get some work done.
Cheers,
Al
Friday, May 11, 2007
The Friday You'll Never Forget!
Good morning folks,
{slurp}
That's right, I have a coffee this morning and I actually have a few moments to sit and write. First off, let's define the word Friday:
Friday is traditionally considered the sixth day of the week, falling between Thursday and Saturday, as it does in countries that adopt a Sunday-first convention. In countries adopting the Monday-first and in work-based conventions, it is the fifth day of the week.
Now hopefully, here is something you didn't already know :)
The name Friday comes from the Old English word frigedaeg, meaning the day of Frige the Anglo-Saxon form of Frigg, the Germanic goddess of Beauty.
{slurp}
The word Friday in most Romance Languages is derived from the name of Venus such as vendredi in French,
Ahh Friday, how we love this day as it typically is symbolic of the end of our work week. Unfortunately for me, it is only the beginning :)
{slurp}
We're Moving!
Yes, I realize this is very sudden, but we met with our Landlord yesterday and we went over the place briefly with him. We decided that we would like to move in ASAP and forego the paint job (which it didn't really need). As a result, theer are workers showing up there this morning to make a few repairs and touch up some needed paint spots and then we can go ahead and move in. Looks like we'll start by moving some minor stuff today and tomorrow and finish off the big move Sunday (Mother's Day). Looks like we're in for a fairly busy weekend.
{slurp}
So why are we in such a rush to move? Well, this place became available and we went to take a look at it. I think the first thing that attracted us was the fact it was a 2 storey town house with 3 bedrooms. Not only that, the place reminds me a great deal of the Townhouse we had while living in Alberta and those were good memories. I won't say the place is perfect as it could some a few touch ups, but it is perfect for us right now and with it being a lot closer to the school, it will make life a little easier on the mind.
Of course, as luck would have it, I'm on-call this weekend. Not only that, but I need to work tonight from 10:30pm until shortly after 2:00am. Doesn't that sound like a lot of fun? :) Then while I'm moving stuff back and forth between our old place and new place (which is only a 1-2min drive lol) I may get paged and have to find a PC to login to work and... well.... work.
{slurp}
It will all be good in the end though as we'll have this nice place to stay in for the same cost of our current place and a neighbourhood of kids all around us. I'm looking forward to some good times in this place.
Well folks, I must begin my day here at work. I imagine we'll be without Internet for a couple days during this move so I may not get a chance to post any pics or update the site for a few days. I do plan on uploading some pictures though so check back soon for that update.
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
That's right, I have a coffee this morning and I actually have a few moments to sit and write. First off, let's define the word Friday:
Friday is traditionally considered the sixth day of the week, falling between Thursday and Saturday, as it does in countries that adopt a Sunday-first convention. In countries adopting the Monday-first and in work-based conventions, it is the fifth day of the week.
Now hopefully, here is something you didn't already know :)
The name Friday comes from the Old English word frigedaeg, meaning the day of Frige the Anglo-Saxon form of Frigg, the Germanic goddess of Beauty.
{slurp}
The word Friday in most Romance Languages is derived from the name of Venus such as vendredi in French,
Ahh Friday, how we love this day as it typically is symbolic of the end of our work week. Unfortunately for me, it is only the beginning :)
{slurp}
We're Moving!
Yes, I realize this is very sudden, but we met with our Landlord yesterday and we went over the place briefly with him. We decided that we would like to move in ASAP and forego the paint job (which it didn't really need). As a result, theer are workers showing up there this morning to make a few repairs and touch up some needed paint spots and then we can go ahead and move in. Looks like we'll start by moving some minor stuff today and tomorrow and finish off the big move Sunday (Mother's Day). Looks like we're in for a fairly busy weekend.
{slurp}
So why are we in such a rush to move? Well, this place became available and we went to take a look at it. I think the first thing that attracted us was the fact it was a 2 storey town house with 3 bedrooms. Not only that, the place reminds me a great deal of the Townhouse we had while living in Alberta and those were good memories. I won't say the place is perfect as it could some a few touch ups, but it is perfect for us right now and with it being a lot closer to the school, it will make life a little easier on the mind.
Of course, as luck would have it, I'm on-call this weekend. Not only that, but I need to work tonight from 10:30pm until shortly after 2:00am. Doesn't that sound like a lot of fun? :) Then while I'm moving stuff back and forth between our old place and new place (which is only a 1-2min drive lol) I may get paged and have to find a PC to login to work and... well.... work.
{slurp}
It will all be good in the end though as we'll have this nice place to stay in for the same cost of our current place and a neighbourhood of kids all around us. I'm looking forward to some good times in this place.
Well folks, I must begin my day here at work. I imagine we'll be without Internet for a couple days during this move so I may not get a chance to post any pics or update the site for a few days. I do plan on uploading some pictures though so check back soon for that update.
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Lots of Stuff
Afternoon folks,
Apologies for the lack of recent updates. We've been having a lot of things going on in our life and there hasn't been a lot of time for my sensless ramblings. Of course, we are also preparing to move soon and are basically just waiting on our landlord to call letting us know when we can pick up the keys and start moving in. We went down last week and signed a year lease for the new place and are really looking forward to getting in there.
From dealing with the surplus of work (since 3 people on our team have left) to dealing with getting sued over a bad real estate deal last year, life has thrown its fair share of curve balls at us. Luckly I used to play baseball and know how to use my life bat. Everytime a new problem presents itself, I look for ways to overcome.
Again, apologies for the lack of updates recently. Once the move is done and things start to settle down, I'll be right back at it again :)
Cheers,
Al
Apologies for the lack of recent updates. We've been having a lot of things going on in our life and there hasn't been a lot of time for my sensless ramblings. Of course, we are also preparing to move soon and are basically just waiting on our landlord to call letting us know when we can pick up the keys and start moving in. We went down last week and signed a year lease for the new place and are really looking forward to getting in there.
From dealing with the surplus of work (since 3 people on our team have left) to dealing with getting sued over a bad real estate deal last year, life has thrown its fair share of curve balls at us. Luckly I used to play baseball and know how to use my life bat. Everytime a new problem presents itself, I look for ways to overcome.
Again, apologies for the lack of updates recently. Once the move is done and things start to settle down, I'll be right back at it again :)
Cheers,
Al
Friday, April 27, 2007
It's Friday!!
Morning folks,
{slurp}
I'm so glad Friday is finally here. Well, glad and sad at the same time. Today, being the last day of the work week for me, is a good day normally, but today we say goodbye to a friend and co-worker who is leaving the company. This guy was one of the smartest individuals on our team and will be a huge loss. Of course everyone is replacable here at my job, so I doubt there will be any issues.
{slurp}
Plans this weekend consist of multiple dance classes, playing video games, packing and overall staying indoors because it's going to rain most of the weekend. They are actually calling for thunder showers tonight so that should be fun. I hope to get some good gaming in this weekend as well as get some packing done as well. Should be a good time with the family.
{slurp}
I've been debating on whether to start up the daily musings again. Not just posting here on the site but also sending out the daily emails like I used to. I've started getting back into "The Arts" recently with my drawing and writing and I didn't realize how much I miss being able to write daily and draw. It was a piece of me not very long ago and I've forgotten it completely until recently. I'll see how things go with work and such as we have a new guy starting on Monday and we're still down one person after that. I suspect work will get better as time goes on, but I'm on the edge right now and may start looking for something else; even if I have to take a pay cut.
{slurp}
Well folks I need to get back at it. There is no rest for the IT guy who works for a large financial firm :)
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
I'm so glad Friday is finally here. Well, glad and sad at the same time. Today, being the last day of the work week for me, is a good day normally, but today we say goodbye to a friend and co-worker who is leaving the company. This guy was one of the smartest individuals on our team and will be a huge loss. Of course everyone is replacable here at my job, so I doubt there will be any issues.
{slurp}
Plans this weekend consist of multiple dance classes, playing video games, packing and overall staying indoors because it's going to rain most of the weekend. They are actually calling for thunder showers tonight so that should be fun. I hope to get some good gaming in this weekend as well as get some packing done as well. Should be a good time with the family.
{slurp}
I've been debating on whether to start up the daily musings again. Not just posting here on the site but also sending out the daily emails like I used to. I've started getting back into "The Arts" recently with my drawing and writing and I didn't realize how much I miss being able to write daily and draw. It was a piece of me not very long ago and I've forgotten it completely until recently. I'll see how things go with work and such as we have a new guy starting on Monday and we're still down one person after that. I suspect work will get better as time goes on, but I'm on the edge right now and may start looking for something else; even if I have to take a pay cut.
{slurp}
Well folks I need to get back at it. There is no rest for the IT guy who works for a large financial firm :)
Cheers,
Al
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Theme Change
Morning folks,
{slurp}
As the post title would suggest, I've changed the theme. Actually, I've just reversed the theme that was here, but to some it may look like a completely new theme. My dear mother made a comment this past weekend about how "Dark" my site felt (and obviously looked) so I decided to spruce things up a bit.
{slurp}
We're looking to move into a new place! That's right, we are finally getting off our asses and starting to look for something bigger and better. Last night we went to look at a nice Townhouse near our current apartment and fell in love with it. The rent is the same as our current 2 bedroom dungeon and this place comes with an extra bedroom and is two stories. I have captured what I feel is a fairly accurate floor plan below
As you can plainly see, the main floor sports a Den, Kitchen, Dining Room, Living room and a fairly spacious Half Bath. With the exception of the North wall of the Den and Half Bath, the room is a fairly open concept allowing someone in the Kitchen to watch TV in the living room or converse with guests in the dining room. The entire main floor (with the exception of the Den) is all tile and hardwood floor making it an attractive surface to dwell in.
As you can see, the upstairs sports 3 fairly spacious bedrooms and a full bathroom centrally localized in the area. Also upstairs is the laundry room which is a big bonus for us since we currently pay $3.00 for one load of laundry and have to cart our stuff down the hall in our apartment to a laundry room where the dryer never drys anything.
If we get this place we are looking to move in June 1. One of the nice things about it is how much closer it is to my son's school. There is a walking path next to the complex which goes straight up to the school making the journey only half as long as it was prior. Can't wait!
{slurp}
Anyway folks, I must run and get some work done. Looking for a new job is tiresome, so if you know anyone looking to hire a Senior Linux/UNIX Administrator, let me know ok? :)
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
As the post title would suggest, I've changed the theme. Actually, I've just reversed the theme that was here, but to some it may look like a completely new theme. My dear mother made a comment this past weekend about how "Dark" my site felt (and obviously looked) so I decided to spruce things up a bit.
{slurp}
We're looking to move into a new place! That's right, we are finally getting off our asses and starting to look for something bigger and better. Last night we went to look at a nice Townhouse near our current apartment and fell in love with it. The rent is the same as our current 2 bedroom dungeon and this place comes with an extra bedroom and is two stories. I have captured what I feel is a fairly accurate floor plan below
As you can plainly see, the main floor sports a Den, Kitchen, Dining Room, Living room and a fairly spacious Half Bath. With the exception of the North wall of the Den and Half Bath, the room is a fairly open concept allowing someone in the Kitchen to watch TV in the living room or converse with guests in the dining room. The entire main floor (with the exception of the Den) is all tile and hardwood floor making it an attractive surface to dwell in.
As you can see, the upstairs sports 3 fairly spacious bedrooms and a full bathroom centrally localized in the area. Also upstairs is the laundry room which is a big bonus for us since we currently pay $3.00 for one load of laundry and have to cart our stuff down the hall in our apartment to a laundry room where the dryer never drys anything.
If we get this place we are looking to move in June 1. One of the nice things about it is how much closer it is to my son's school. There is a walking path next to the complex which goes straight up to the school making the journey only half as long as it was prior. Can't wait!
{slurp}
Anyway folks, I must run and get some work done. Looking for a new job is tiresome, so if you know anyone looking to hire a Senior Linux/UNIX Administrator, let me know ok? :)
Cheers,
Al
Friday, April 20, 2007
Website Updates
Afternoon folks,
Made some changes to the website today. Nothing major, just basically moved around some pages and created a Projects section to list all my projects and such. I plan on adding more Pages to the site in the near future so I wanted to get things cleaned up to make way for the fun stuff :)
Cheers,
Al
Made some changes to the website today. Nothing major, just basically moved around some pages and created a Projects section to list all my projects and such. I plan on adding more Pages to the site in the near future so I wanted to get things cleaned up to make way for the fun stuff :)
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Whoa!
Life can throw some pretty awesome curve balls at you.
{slurp}
Here I am on a Thursday morning drinking a coffee wondering what the heck is going on. I found out another co-worker has given notice at work (That's 3 from our team, 8 overall from the group in the last 2 months). I have decided to put some serious thought in my future and my goals. Up until recently, I haven't given much thought to my life direction and where I want to see myself in 5, 10 even 25 years from now. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even think a few months in advance normally, so this is a big adjustmet for me.
{slurp}
I don't know how I'm going to deal with this. I don't feel challenged at my job, I don't enjoy the work I'm doing and the company I work for is so cheap I find it hard to belive anyone would stay here longer than a few years. Seriously folks, when you read back through my past posts where I complained about my old job, I take it all back. I would do almost anything to have that job back now lol.
{slurp}
Life is interesting.
{slurp}
Well, as fate would have it, there are still Roll-up-the-Rim cups available. I came to work this morning and was surprised to see the Tim Horton's in our building is serving them still. Therefore, I'll be making some more changes to the Roll Up page and recalculating my data. Look for those changes later today or tomorrow.
{slurp}
Well, need to get some work done today and catch up on a PILE of emails. What'd I'd give to only have one thousand emails a day. Getting 3+ thousand a day is quite painful, pointless and very counter productive.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice :)
{slurp}
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
Here I am on a Thursday morning drinking a coffee wondering what the heck is going on. I found out another co-worker has given notice at work (That's 3 from our team, 8 overall from the group in the last 2 months). I have decided to put some serious thought in my future and my goals. Up until recently, I haven't given much thought to my life direction and where I want to see myself in 5, 10 even 25 years from now. To be perfectly honest, I didn't even think a few months in advance normally, so this is a big adjustmet for me.
{slurp}
I don't know how I'm going to deal with this. I don't feel challenged at my job, I don't enjoy the work I'm doing and the company I work for is so cheap I find it hard to belive anyone would stay here longer than a few years. Seriously folks, when you read back through my past posts where I complained about my old job, I take it all back. I would do almost anything to have that job back now lol.
{slurp}
Life is interesting.
{slurp}
Well, as fate would have it, there are still Roll-up-the-Rim cups available. I came to work this morning and was surprised to see the Tim Horton's in our building is serving them still. Therefore, I'll be making some more changes to the Roll Up page and recalculating my data. Look for those changes later today or tomorrow.
{slurp}
Well, need to get some work done today and catch up on a PILE of emails. What'd I'd give to only have one thousand emails a day. Getting 3+ thousand a day is quite painful, pointless and very counter productive.
Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice :)
{slurp}
Cheers,
Al
Monday, April 16, 2007
Roll Down The Rim
Howdy Folks,
I don't know about other areas, but here it seems there are no more Roll Up The Rim To Win cups at any of the Tim Horton's I frequent. Therefore, I've decided to start my computations on my Roll Up The Rim section. Feel free to drop on over there and take a gander, I should be updating that page shortly after I post this.
I must admit, I'm very disappointed in my winnings this year; maybe I've just been unlucky :)
I've been working quite a bit these last few days, and yes, I worked on the weekend because I was on-call. I've been turning over a new leaf at work and making the best out of the situations I've been dealt. When things try to drag me down, I turn them around and find a positive outlook on them. Of course this doesn't work all the time, but I find by doing so, I have a much better day (or week) at work and seem to get positive feedback from my peers and managers. I also find I strive to make things better which is something I've been seriously lacking since moving here. I guess you could say I've been quite bitter (as you can see from my recent past musings) and I've finally decided that life is too short to be bitter all the time.
I've also come up with a great idea for a book I plan on writing. I hope to have this started this week and I plan on setting some solid goals and following them. I'll post more on this by the end of the week, so keep an eye on this space.
Well, that's all I have for now. I'm in the process of trying to find a good Real Estate lawyer to help with a little issue from last year. Hopefully I can find someone today.
Take care all and remember to wash your hands after you use the washroom.
Cheers,
Al
I don't know about other areas, but here it seems there are no more Roll Up The Rim To Win cups at any of the Tim Horton's I frequent. Therefore, I've decided to start my computations on my Roll Up The Rim section. Feel free to drop on over there and take a gander, I should be updating that page shortly after I post this.
I must admit, I'm very disappointed in my winnings this year; maybe I've just been unlucky :)
I've been working quite a bit these last few days, and yes, I worked on the weekend because I was on-call. I've been turning over a new leaf at work and making the best out of the situations I've been dealt. When things try to drag me down, I turn them around and find a positive outlook on them. Of course this doesn't work all the time, but I find by doing so, I have a much better day (or week) at work and seem to get positive feedback from my peers and managers. I also find I strive to make things better which is something I've been seriously lacking since moving here. I guess you could say I've been quite bitter (as you can see from my recent past musings) and I've finally decided that life is too short to be bitter all the time.
I've also come up with a great idea for a book I plan on writing. I hope to have this started this week and I plan on setting some solid goals and following them. I'll post more on this by the end of the week, so keep an eye on this space.
Well, that's all I have for now. I'm in the process of trying to find a good Real Estate lawyer to help with a little issue from last year. Hopefully I can find someone today.
Take care all and remember to wash your hands after you use the washroom.
Cheers,
Al
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Morning folks,
{slurp}
Today is a day for change. Tomorrow is a day for change. Next week is a time for change.
Sound familiar?
{slurp}
Well I've been sucked in. I swore I would never sign-up and be a member of this ever growing site called Facebook. I swore it with every bone in my being and here I am writing about it.
I've only been a member for a couple days and already I'm finding people (and people are finding me) that I haven't seen in years. It's kind of scary when you think about it. All the technology in the world couldn't bring you together with old friends and classmates, but a simple website is able to do that and much more. How is this possible? A friend at work calls Facebook, "Classmates done right". I couldn't agree more because Classmates was a great idea, just too limited. I mean, not everyone went to school :)
{slurp}
Anyway, wanted to throw this post out there for anyone interested. I feel dirty for even thinking of using this site, but at the same time I find it a little addictive because you never know who will add you as a friend or who you'll find through other friends.
Cheers,
Al
{slurp}
Today is a day for change. Tomorrow is a day for change. Next week is a time for change.
Sound familiar?
{slurp}
Well I've been sucked in. I swore I would never sign-up and be a member of this ever growing site called Facebook. I swore it with every bone in my being and here I am writing about it.
I've only been a member for a couple days and already I'm finding people (and people are finding me) that I haven't seen in years. It's kind of scary when you think about it. All the technology in the world couldn't bring you together with old friends and classmates, but a simple website is able to do that and much more. How is this possible? A friend at work calls Facebook, "Classmates done right". I couldn't agree more because Classmates was a great idea, just too limited. I mean, not everyone went to school :)
{slurp}
Anyway, wanted to throw this post out there for anyone interested. I feel dirty for even thinking of using this site, but at the same time I find it a little addictive because you never know who will add you as a friend or who you'll find through other friends.
Cheers,
Al
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Welcome Back to Camelot
Morning all,
{slurp} lol
We have been graced with yet another day of existance. Life as we know it continues on and we learn to embrace things as they are without thought as to their potential. Seeing is believing and trust in the unseen is often mistaken as religious faith. Of course I'm no philosophy major so I won't go much futher with that. I'm just a guy who enjoys writing and talking about stuff that only matters to me.
:)
{slurp}
The other day my wife received an email from Mythic Entertainment. These folks dreamed up the world of DAoC which is where I spent a lot of time. Of course DAoC was never the time sink WoW was, it was still a small time sink. Well, this email stated that Mythic was looking to offer her a chance to Come Back to Camelot for 10 days FREE to see and experience some of the changes. I used to get these emails but I think my account had the wrong email address attached to it so after I moved to Halifax, I didn't get them anymore. I decided to embark on the quest to figure out my account information which proved to be difficult as I hadn't logged into the game in over a year (during the last 10 day free thingy) and I had changed the password because I was planning on selling the accout on eBay.
{slurp}
After several days of "hacking" away at my account, I finally figured out the password and was able to login. A LOT has changed in the world of DAoC and a lot of the changes were quite welcomed by me. There were a couple "bad" changes, but overall I think the changes were made for the good of the game. The MMOG market is very competitive. Seems like every gaming company out there is trying to (or already has) come out with their own style of MMOG.
{slurp}
To make a seemingly long story short, I started playing DAoC the day before yesterday and have been enjoying my time. Whether I continue with the game or not remains to be seen, but I plan on taking advantage of my 10 days free :)
{slurp}
Well, I must run for now. Remember to avoid bathrooms in the office place and be wary of critters crawling underneath the toilet seats. :)
Cheers,
Al
{slurp} lol
We have been graced with yet another day of existance. Life as we know it continues on and we learn to embrace things as they are without thought as to their potential. Seeing is believing and trust in the unseen is often mistaken as religious faith. Of course I'm no philosophy major so I won't go much futher with that. I'm just a guy who enjoys writing and talking about stuff that only matters to me.
:)
{slurp}
The other day my wife received an email from Mythic Entertainment. These folks dreamed up the world of DAoC which is where I spent a lot of time. Of course DAoC was never the time sink WoW was, it was still a small time sink. Well, this email stated that Mythic was looking to offer her a chance to Come Back to Camelot for 10 days FREE to see and experience some of the changes. I used to get these emails but I think my account had the wrong email address attached to it so after I moved to Halifax, I didn't get them anymore. I decided to embark on the quest to figure out my account information which proved to be difficult as I hadn't logged into the game in over a year (during the last 10 day free thingy) and I had changed the password because I was planning on selling the accout on eBay.
{slurp}
After several days of "hacking" away at my account, I finally figured out the password and was able to login. A LOT has changed in the world of DAoC and a lot of the changes were quite welcomed by me. There were a couple "bad" changes, but overall I think the changes were made for the good of the game. The MMOG market is very competitive. Seems like every gaming company out there is trying to (or already has) come out with their own style of MMOG.
{slurp}
To make a seemingly long story short, I started playing DAoC the day before yesterday and have been enjoying my time. Whether I continue with the game or not remains to be seen, but I plan on taking advantage of my 10 days free :)
{slurp}
Well, I must run for now. Remember to avoid bathrooms in the office place and be wary of critters crawling underneath the toilet seats. :)
Cheers,
Al
Monday, April 9, 2007
Happy Easter
Happy Easter to all!
{slurp}
Ahhh, added the slurp in there for old times sake. I've debated on whether I should restart my coffee musings. When I moved to Halifax I found it difficult to keep up with the musings because I worked odd shifts and my musings were getting sent out at supper time vs breakfast time.
{slurp}
{slurp}
Ahhh, added the slurp in there for old times sake. I've debated on whether I should restart my coffee musings. When I moved to Halifax I found it difficult to keep up with the musings because I worked odd shifts and my musings were getting sent out at supper time vs breakfast time.
{slurp}
Thursday, April 5, 2007
New Layout
Yes it wouldn't be me without a new page layout :)
I stumbled on a theme named Hemingway last night. I really liked the way it looked as it wasn't like the traditional themes out there. After doing some digging around, I found there were several variations of this theme floating around. I looked at most (if not all) of them and finally settled on this one. It is called HemingwayEx and I really like what the Author has done with it. I've made some tweaks and changes of my own and I think I'll keep this one for awhile.
Enjoy,
Al
I stumbled on a theme named Hemingway last night. I really liked the way it looked as it wasn't like the traditional themes out there. After doing some digging around, I found there were several variations of this theme floating around. I looked at most (if not all) of them and finally settled on this one. It is called HemingwayEx and I really like what the Author has done with it. I've made some tweaks and changes of my own and I think I'll keep this one for awhile.
Enjoy,
Al
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Happy Birthday...
To Me?
Well, I guess if you're talking about April the 3rd, then yes. If you ask me whether I've had a "Happy" Birthday or not, I'd have to say Meh.
Well, I guess if you're talking about April the 3rd, then yes. If you ask me whether I've had a "Happy" Birthday or not, I'd have to say Meh.
Friday, March 30, 2007
New Projects
Hey all,Wanted to let you know about a couple new projects I have on the go. First off, let me say that the Roll-Up-The-Rim contest is going well and so far I'm about 1 in 6 for winning a food item. I haven't won anything big yet, but I'm still looking for that LCD TV :)
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I Did It!!
After countless hours of typing, clicking, copy/pasting and a sore ass, I've finally migrated all my posts EVER to this new site.
{slurp}
lol
{slurp}
lol
Random Thoughts
Good Morning Folks,
I have been doing quite a bit of thinking lately. A lot of it is around "The Secret" and what it means to me. I have the complete Audio version of "The Secret" in my vehicle so I can listen to it every day on my way to and from work. I have listened to this every day since I got it and have listened through all four CDs at least 3 or 4 times already. However, this morning I heard something that I remember hearing before, it just didn't stand out the same way as it did in the past.
I have been doing quite a bit of thinking lately. A lot of it is around "The Secret" and what it means to me. I have the complete Audio version of "The Secret" in my vehicle so I can listen to it every day on my way to and from work. I have listened to this every day since I got it and have listened through all four CDs at least 3 or 4 times already. However, this morning I heard something that I remember hearing before, it just didn't stand out the same way as it did in the past.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Posts of Fiendz
Morning all,
I was inspired this morning. I decided to go back through time and gather up all the posts I could find that have ever graced the front page of any of the fiendz.net sites. Let me say, it has been a fun trip back in time and I've had a few good laughs and a lot of cringing.
I was inspired this morning. I decided to go back through time and gather up all the posts I could find that have ever graced the front page of any of the fiendz.net sites. Let me say, it has been a fun trip back in time and I've had a few good laughs and a lot of cringing.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Secret
Has anyone watched this yet?
I must admit I was a little hesitant when I first heard about it. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, take a trip over to The Secret Website
I must admit I was a little hesitant when I first heard about it. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about, take a trip over to The Secret Website
Monday, February 26, 2007
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
It's Official!!
I have broken the bonds of World of Warcraft!
No seriously, I have decided to throw in the towel on this very addictive game. My reasons are mostly personal, meaning I'm doing it for me and my family vs. anything in-game causing me strife. The game itself is good, I love the game play, the graphics and camaraderie but I also love playing with my kids and watching TV and taking part in my Son's homework/projects and reading and writing and all these other things people do daily. By playing World of Warcraft a lot of the time, I've taken those things away from myself and my family. I used to read a lot, I used to write a lot and play with my kids a lot more. Now I find I'm spending a lot of time in front of a PC playing a video game which is NOT where I wanted to be.
No seriously, I have decided to throw in the towel on this very addictive game. My reasons are mostly personal, meaning I'm doing it for me and my family vs. anything in-game causing me strife. The game itself is good, I love the game play, the graphics and camaraderie but I also love playing with my kids and watching TV and taking part in my Son's homework/projects and reading and writing and all these other things people do daily. By playing World of Warcraft a lot of the time, I've taken those things away from myself and my family. I used to read a lot, I used to write a lot and play with my kids a lot more. Now I find I'm spending a lot of time in front of a PC playing a video game which is NOT where I wanted to be.
Friday, February 9, 2007
I'll stick with this one...
I'm sure there have been a few people who visit this site on a regular basis only to be greeted by something completely new :)Â I apologize.
I plan on sticking with this one design for awhile now. I've finally had some inspiration and decided it was past time to do something about it. Check back soon for some major updates and changes.
Al
I plan on sticking with this one design for awhile now. I've finally had some inspiration and decided it was past time to do something about it. Check back soon for some major updates and changes.
Al
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