Need more food I think

Fifteen minutes into my lunch and my food is gone. I guess I need to bring more then just a bowl of cereal to eat in the future. If only I could foregolunch to get out of work an hour earlier.....

Be careful what you wish

For the past, oh, let's say three years, I've been wasting my days away at work. Between the rare busy times I would do whatever I could to avoid becoming bored. I would wander around and disturb others who were actually doing work; I would surf the web; and when I was really desperate, I would play around on excel so it sounded like I was working. Of course, I kept a lot of paper scattered on my desk as well to give the illusion I was busy.

At first not being very busy was fun. I was getting paid for nothing. Well, I figured it was work enough just dragging my ass outta bed before the sun crept into view every morning and suffered through the daily commute via the GO train. The past couple years I began to be more vocal about not having much to do and I even began asking others for work. Finally a slow trickle of work began to come my way.

Then we had a change in supervisors and things changed: I was starting to get more work. I received some training that will, or at least should, make moving out of this place easier. Things were starting to look up, or so I thought. With my increased workload also came a constant shadowing by my supervisor. Everyday she seems to be at my desk as soon as I get in and starts bugging me about some sort of work that I really don't care about and really is important enough that it couldn't wait until I got settled. I need time to acclimatize myself to the office every morning. She then returns a few times throughout the day as if checking up on me. Seriously, am I 2 or something?

Don't get me wrong, I do enjoy the increased work. My clock watching has stopped and my days are not dragging into oblivion like they once did, at least for the most part. I just wish the work came without an annoying shadow. Ah well, I wasted an hour of today so perhaps it is time to get something done.

Question for the day

What's the difference between me and a trained monkey?

Answer:
People would pay to see a trained monkey do the work I do.

September 2009 Quotes

Public knowledge has degenerated to a form of entertainment.
- Whitley Strieber (Majestic)

...men of power are randomly dangerous when they are afraid.
- Whitley Strieber (Majestic)

The problem with keeping things...secret is that they are removed from the free market of ideas, and understanding proceeds at a much slower pace.
- Whitley Strieber (Majestic)

We can do without any article of luxury we have never had, but when once obtained, it is not in 'human natur' to surrender it voluntarily.
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

a women's tongue goes so slick of itself, without water power or steam, and moves so easy on its hinges, that it's no easy matter to put a spring-stop on it
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

Never tell folks you can go ahead on 'em, but do it; it spares a great deal of talk, and helps them to save their breath to cool their broth.
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

Youth is the time for improvement
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

All critters of nature are better in their own element.
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

nothin' sets up a woman's spunk like callin' her ugly
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

custom...will reconcile one to most anything
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

The bigger the house, the bigger the fools be that's in it.
- Thomas C Haliburton (The Clockmaker)

There is nothing like looking, if you want to find something
- JRR Tolkein (The Hobbit)

You certainly usually find something, if you look, but it is not always quite the something you were after.
- JRR Tolkein (The Hobbit)

I was thinking...

...not very hard mind you, if I messed around with the contrast on the display for the copier most people I work with probably wouldn't know how to correct it and would spend far too long trying to figure it out.

Where did they find these two?

Late yesterday I was sent an email from someone that I am not too fond of so I didn't read his email until this morning. Thankfully it was something I did not have to do so I told him who to contact. Having done that I thought I was done with it and forgot about it until I received another two emails. Here is how they go.

Super Moron,

Can we discuss?

Moron
>>
Moron,

Come over. thanks.

Super Moron

Thanks for copying me and wasting a minute of my time. And another ten minutes by my writing this.

Another conundrum: noodles or soup?

This past weekend my son, my wife and I went to the in laws Saturday and returning home Sunday, arriving just in time for dinner. Now, if we had thought about it in advance we would have taken something out of the freezer and put it in the fridge Saturday morning before we left so we’d have food to cook upon our return. Of course that didn’t happen so we were stuck searching high and low for food to eat.

Not wanting to order out we settled on packages of Mr. Noodles to eat. Thinking this would not be enough for us I suggested having soup to go with it but my wife rejected that saying that we were already having soup in the Mr. Noodles. I countered saying that it was not soup but noodles so we could still have soup. I mean, the name itself suggests it is noodles and not soup. Perhaps this will be another of those eternal conundrums. Or maybe there is a simple answer that eluded us in our “jetlagged” state.

Nightmare!

Last night I had the worst of all nightmares. I was driving my truck on the highway and was pulled over for essentially warning other drivers about the presence of police. The officer somehow locked my ignition so I had to leave my truck on the side of the highway but he was nice enough to offer me a ride. During that ride I saw the list of lame infractions he had written me up for and so I started questioning him about the validity of them. Apparently my arguing worked because he agreed to drive me back to my truck and let me drive it home.

Up to this point this dream wasn’t so bad but it was about to change in a hurry. As we approached the spot where my truck was sitting I noticed a line of cars parked on the shoulder including a fire truck and an ambulance blocking one lane of traffic. Once my truck came into view we saw the accident: right where my truck sat. The officer stopped at the end of the row of cars and I got out and walked to my truck only to find it more resembled an accordion than a motorized vehicle.

I guess that’s what I get for watching the “Demolition Derby” special of Mythbusters before going to bed.

August 2009 Quotes

It does not often happen that the interference of friends will persuade a young man of independent fortune to think no more of a girl, whom he was violently in love with only a few days before.
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

As soon as you're born you start dying
So you might as well have a good time
- Cake (Sheep Go To Heaven)

angry people are not always wise
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

I often think...that there is nothing so bad as parting with one's friends. One seems so forlorn without them.
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

if you put a limit on your growth, then you're dead the minute you reach it.
- Paul Desmarais

If you think too much about the kind of man you are, you can get very confused…
- Paul Desmarais

Money Making is a natural tendency in these days, but never forget that the men who make the acquisition of riches their sole object in life are poor creatures at best.
- Sir Frederick Williams-Taylor

They say business is the law of the jungle. I think it's the law of life. If you want to live and you want to prosper, you've go to be ambitious. You've got to be ready to sacrifice leisure and pleasure, and you've got to plan ahead.
- Roy Thomson

Jesus doesn't want me for a sunbeam
Sunbeams are never made like me
- Nirvana (Jesus Doesn't Want Me For a Sunbeam)

Money in itself doesn't bring happiness. But often the pursuit of money does.
- Jack Clyne

Money can be a great comfort. In large quantities, there is nothing transitory about it, as there is about power.
- Peter C Newman (The Canadian Establishment: Volume One)

In all societies, two classes of people appear…a class that rules and a class that is ruled.
- Gaetano Mosca

Your mind can be your best friend; it can keep you amused even when there's nothing to read, nothing to do. But it can turn on you when it's left with no input for too long.
- Stephen King (The Jaunt)

the only way to talk to a fool was to ignore him.
- Stephen King (The Reaper's Image)

It is not possible for a man to stand alone for long against a thousand enemies.
- Stephen King (The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet)

people are rarely at their best when they are alone. They usually put their masks of politeness, good order and good breeding aside.
- Stephen King (The Eyes of the Dragon)

boys are sometimes better at pledging vows than they are at keeping them…
- Stephen King (The Eyes of the Dragon)

when great things happen, they usually happen fast.
- Stephen King (The Eyes of the Dragon)

the logic of all the wise old men in the world cannot often stand against the logic of a boy's heart, if the boy's heart is large and kind and loyal.
- Stephen King (The Eyes of the Dragon)

Obviously, she was a woman of good sense and clear discernment, dedicated to raising her son properly and not to be held responsible for any inherent flaws in the material she had to work with.
- Stephen King (The Eyes of the Dragon)

in high school the business of irrevocable choices began. Doors slipped shut with a faint locking click that was only heard clearly in the dreams of later years.
- Stephen King (Cujo)

In matters of life and death...the right time only comes around once
- Stephen King (Cujo)

People in love do strange things.
- Stephen King (Cujo)

sometimes it's good to feel like a fool.
- Stephen King (Cujo)

Stand before this faceless crowd
I wonder why I bother
So much control by so few
Stumbling from one disaster to another
- Blue Rodeo (Lost Together)

Sometimes it was just better-kinder to keep up a front.
- Stephen King (Cujo)

The world was full of monsters, and they were all allowed to bite the innocent and the unwary.
- Stephen King (Cujo)

Escape from boredom

Since I went to the Blue Rodeo concert last night and had a great time (as I did at their concert four years ago) and I need an injection of excitement to get me through the day, I had a great idea to share some concert memories.

The best concert I have ever gone to was Megadeth at the old Maple Leaf Gardens, I believe it was after the release of Youthanasia. The light show and power of the music was simply amazing. Something that just can't be replicated in the more common outdoor venues used today. This is the concert I base all others on. A close second was the Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert I went to two years ago. Wow!

My worst concert has to be Pearl Jam. It has nothing to do with the performance because that was pretty entertaining but it was all to do with the weather. It was an extremely hot day in August, I had no money for food or drink, and it was a day long outdoor event in Barrie. I just don't do well in hot weather.

My first concert was Aerosmith at Exhibition Stadium. I didn't really know too many of their songs but it didn't take me long to get into the music. I can't recall the song they did for the encore but that place was rockin'.

The dullest concert was Guns N' Roses Use Your Illusions tour at Copps Coliseum. Brian May opened and that was fun but Axel Rose spent most of his time on stage sitting on a couch drinking beer. We ended up leaving early and missed Axel walk off the stage prematurely.

The biggest surprise was the Tragically Hip in Belleville a couple years ago. I am not into the Hip that much but I took my sister as her birthday gift. Man can those guys put on a show. I was in awe at how fun that concert ended up being.

The biggest disappointment was Great Big Sea. Again this has nothing to do with the performance because they are a fun band but I found out that I really didn't know too many GBS songs and therefore couldn't get into it as much. More drink and I don't think that would have mattered.

There are two that I remember fairly well. The first being Soundgarden and Metallica at Lollapalooza. I fell asleep during Soundgarden (again another long, hot, day long outdoor concert) and Metallica came out guitars blazing. That was after the release of Load so we were afraid they'd play a lot of crap off that album but they came on with some old heavy stuff. What an entrance! The second memorable concert was Megadeth at the Guvernment. My friend and I started the chant to bring them back for their encore and were fairly close to the stage just off to the left.

The only concert I wanted to be spit on, the Headstones at the pub at Brock University. What can I say I was pretty wasted and had a blast at this one.

I was going to put the funnest concert I was at but there are several that would fall into this category for different reasons so I have left it off. Well, if you read this I know you are just as bored as I am so feel free to comment on your favourite concert or maybe some band that puts on a great show.

Clarifcation

Have you ever watched paint dry? Grass grow? That is more exciting than my work right now.

I may need an afternoon nap after all.

Perhaps delirium has set in

After a late night, almost no sleep and extremely boring work, my day is going by surprisingly well. Perhaps not having any bosses around is a major factor in how well the day is going.

By the way, if you are a fan of Blue Rodeo but haven't gone to one of their concerts yet you should . They will not disappoint.

Question of the day

Coworker: what would you do if another employee touched you?
Me: that depends if I liked it.

Time flies...

Time sure does fly when one is having fun but on the other side of things, time seems to stop all together when one is not having fun. Maybe there is some filing I can do.

Habitual student

Every year students are hired at work and every year they seem to gravitate towards me. Being in my thirties I am far from being a student but every year these hired students seem to treat me as one of their own. Until recently I found nothing wrong with this because they are usually nice enough and, unless they bug me about work, they are not annoying at all (unlike other sections on my floor).

This year as the students arrived and they once again treated me as a fellow student I began wondering why this is so. I came to a two part conclusion. Firstly, even though I am in my thirties, I am still one of the younger people in my office. On top of that, my attitude towards my work and job is closely in line with a student’s attitude. The other part is that my work itself is not that far removed from what a student would do, including ample time to ‘space out’. At times it even seems that I am given ‘make work projects’ just so it looks like I am busy. It is so bad that most students are given work that is more important and more challenging than my menial tasks. (I guess it is evident why my attitude is that of a student now).

I am not sure if I should be glad the students see me as young or if I should see my situation as just sad.

Get me through the day

The only thing that is going to get me through today is the fact that after today, my work week is more than half over. I really like these three and a half day weeks.

Nice surpise

Being a Monday morning, I am extremely tired and really not wanting to be at work at all, especially since I enjoyed a 3.5 day weekend. Despite my unwanting, I grudgingly got out of bed and made it into work, sweating from the ridiculous heat outsdie (I really enjoyed the spring like temperatures we've had this summer until now). My first thought on arriving at my desk, with random papers stacked on my keyboard tray and my phone's message light flashing, was ugh!

I have since noticed that my bosses are inexplicably absent today. It may not be such a bad day after all.

July 2009 Quotes

It's Canada Day, up Canada way on the first day of July
And we're shouting hooray up Canada Way when the maple leaf flies high.
- Stompin' Tom Connors (Canada Day, Up Canada Way)

And if someone down at the football game
Says, “Hey! Why do you scream”?
They’re gonna realize, when we get the prize
We've been wakin’ up the Grey Cup team
- Stompin' Tom Connors (Football Song)

God is great, beer is good and people are crazy
- Billy Currington (People Are Crazy)

To be real was to lose control
- 54-40 (Beyond the Outsider)

Same old, same old every day
If things don't change you're just gonna rot
'Cause if you do what you've always done
You'll always get what you always got
- Aerosmith (Get a Grip)

I don't want to be your idol
See this pedestal is high and I'm afraid of heights.
- Alanis Morissette (Not the Doctor)

Seems every path leads me to nowhere
- Alice in Chains (Rooster)

I wonder should I get
I would but what's the point
When something's gone
It's gone for good
- Blue Rodeo (Already gone)

Fight hard
And the battle is yours
- Bon Jovi (Stick to Your Guns)

God have mercy on the man
Who doubts what he's sure of
- Bruce Springsteen (Brilliant Disguise)

Co-operation is capable of indefinite expansion.
- D.C. Masters (A Short History of Canada)

distance is nothing, when one has a motive
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

every impulse of feeling should be guided by reason
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

there is meanness in all the arts which ladies sometimes condescend to employ for captivation. Whatever bears affinity to cunning is despicable.
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

Those who do not complain are never pitied.
- Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice)

June 2009 Quotes

My tea's gone cold, I'm wondering why
I got out of bed at all
- Dido (Thank You)

If you must pull a tooth, it is mistaken kindness to pull it slowly.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Amazing...what clothes will obscure when not designed to reveal.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

The trouble with economizing is that it can be very expensive.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Our people are trustworthy, but we do not wish to subject large numbers to temptations they need not face.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Life is pleasant. Death is peaceful. It is the transition that is troublesome.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Trust...doesn't come naturally to anyone. It is the weakness of humanity that we constantly read the worst into others.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

The body knows what it needs. That's why some things taste good.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

...the conquests of peace should always be held superior to victories in war.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

...it isn't the signing of the marriage book that makes one pregnant. It's the game of bed...
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

It is easy to be generous with someone else's money.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

To want peace and quiet above all else is to hope for death.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

There is no duress like one's own conscience and it is that which makes life so needlessly bitter.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Your private life should be pure. Make no compromise with vice; be able to say "no" in a firm manly manner.
- John H R Molson

You can't miss what you've never had.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

custom often has a habit of being stronger than legality.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

no matter how sure scientists think they are, nature has a way of surprising them.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

It's easier to imitate and overtake than it is to originate.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

life is a symphony of successive losses.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

True terror lay in the anticipation of the unknown.
- Dean Koontz (Dragon Tears)

...we human beings close ourselves off from each other not because of fear but out of an excess of love. We cannot open our hearts to our real feelings about each other because we are afraid it would hurt too much.
- Whitley Strieber (Transformation: The Breakthrough)

When people dismiss such innocent and uninformed testimony, they make a great mistake.
- Whitley Strieber (Communion)

Expression is the dress of thought...
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism, Part II)

All seems infected that th' infected spy,
As all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism, Part III)

But when to mischief mortals bend their will,
How soon they find fit instruments of ill!
- Alexander Pope (The Rape of the Lock, Canto III)

Whate'er the Passion, knowledge, fame, or pelf,
Not one will change his neighbour with himself.
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man, Epistle II)

The learned is happy nature to explore,
The fool is happy that he knows no more;
The rich is happy in the plenty given,
The poor contents him with the care of Heaven.
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man, Epistle II)

By turns we catch the vital breath, and die
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man, Epistle III)

Tell (for You can) what is it to be wise?
'Tis but to know how little can be known;
To see all others' faults, and feel our own:
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Man, Epistle IV)

Praise undeserved is scandal in disguise:
- Alexander Pope (The First Epistle of the Second Book of Horace)

It's all downhill from here

For those of you who are anxious for summer to arrive, Sunday is your day. Keep in mind that after Sunday the days begin to get shorter. After Sunday's peak of almost 15.5 hours of sun, we will see a little less daylight every day until we get to just over eight hours of sun on December 21, 2009. Too bad you didn't stop whining long enough to enjoy the lovely Spring we had because after Sunday, it will be all downhill.

Monday morning encounter

This morning a lady walked in our generally dead silent, cubicle laden office and in a loud voice, not that far off of her normal volume, said 'good morning all.'

My response: 'wow! you're loud.'

Good start to the week

When I get to work every morning I have a ritual, like most others no doubt, that I go through before getting down to work (if I have any). As a general rule, I hate to be disturbed during this time (more so than any other time throughout the day) and if asked about work topics I give answers that I hope will just make the person go away. This morning I was actually able to sound smart when disturbed during my pre-work ritual. The best part, the person disturbing me was my superior. Providing that is the only distraction before I get down to work, today is setting up to be a good one.

It is early Monday morning though so things could still go either way in a hurry. It is still quite odd for me to have so much optimism so early in the week (or at all while at work).

May 2009 Quotes

I'm an outsider, outside of everything
- Green Day (Outsider)

Are we having fun yet?
- Nickelback (How You Remind Me)

Never made it as a wise man
I couldn't cut it as a poor man stealin'
- Nickelback (How You Remind Me)

When you hear temptation call
It's your heart that takes, takes the fall
- Martika (Toy Soldiers)

Bit by bit
Torn apart
We never win
But the battle wages on
- Martika (Toy Soldiers)

Only emptiness remains
It replaces all, all the pain
- Martika (Toy Soldiers)

I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become
- Toto (Africa)

…when all goes well, you are...courted by good luck.
- Dalton Camp

Societies create their own history and tend to wipe out lowly beginnings, either by forgetting them or inventing totally fictitious heroic rescues.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

To be brave is sometimes to be foolish.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

If we only obey those rules that we think are just and reasonable, then no rule will stand, for there is no rule that some will not think is unjust and unreasonable.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation and Earth)

…every society molds its population to fit itself. Customs develop that make sense within the society, and that chain every individual firmly to its needs. - Isaac Asimov (Foundation and Earth)

…it is remarkable what one can do if the need is great enough.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation and Earth)

Bad dreams get rid of bad thoughts and then we're better off.
- Isaac Asimov (Forward the Foundation)

…the cultivated habits of a lifetime are not easily broken.
- Isaac Asimov (I, Robot)

…human nature is an old friend of ours.
- Isaac Asimov (I, Robot)

Men, however large and durable, soon pass. The earth of Canada remains, wondrously broad and fair.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

Politicians for the most part can be perfectly honest, politics never.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

He seldom lost his temper but when the patient man was pushed too far by fools he exploded with cold violence.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964) describing Robert Laird Borden

Divinity that hedges the kings of politics also isolates them from their subjects.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

Noble speech, however, though a useful tool or weapon, is no substitute in politics for the ignoble work of manipulation, cajolery, compromise, healing and bluff that must carry the daily round of democratic government.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

…the [capitalist] system enriches the few, impoverishes the many, debases society by the Law of Competing Standards and drives nations inevitably to war.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

…the primrose path does not make for greatness in any true sense.
- William Lyon Mackenzie King

No man may serve you as he should if he has over his shoulder always the shadow of pecuniary obligations.
- Richard Bedford Bennett

…the Government's promises of yesterday are the taxes of today.
- William Lyon Mackenzie King

…politicians and soldiers of the better sort know how to keep their lips sealed in the nation's interest.
- Bruce Hutchinson (Mr. Prime Minister 1867-1964)

Politics is not magic, black, white or otherwise. It is certainly not an exact science…Politics is an art…the search for compromise without betrayal…above all, service, and not to self.
- Lester Bowles Pearson

Tax harmonization might lead to good thing

I have never been for this tax harmonization taking affect in Ontario on Canada Day next year but in reading an article on it today, there might be some good that comes out of it after all, even if it is done to fool us, the consumer.

According to this article on thestar.com, "Some Liberals are urging the premier to embed the HST...in prices". Now even though this would be done to hide the taxes to reduce the outcry from the consumers, I think this is a great idea. In fact, I think this should have been done a long time ago when the GST came to be (and seat sales on flights but that is another situation all together). The reason this wasn't done before though was because it would be seen as the government being deceptive and trying to hide the taxes, the exact thing being proposed now. Interesting how government opinions change to suit their needs, isn't it?

Taxes are unavoidable in this economic system, we know that, or at least we should, so we don't need to be reminded of it every time we purchase something. My main concern when I buy that new pair of shoes or food for dinner is the total amount leaving my wallet not how much of it goes to the various levels of government. Can we opt out of paying any tax if we think the amount is too high? No, so there is no reason the tax cannot be hidden in the posted amount. The receipt will still give everyone the ammunition they need to complain about taxes. While they are at it, they should force prices to end in either a 5 or 0 so the penny can be retired too.

It's a bad day when...

...photocopying is the most exciting part of it.

Justice on the tracks

Some douchebag was caught crossing tracks at Union Station this morning. Not sure how the special constable actually caught him since they are generally not really paying any attention to anything but he did. As I passed them the guy was pleading his case. I really wanted to stay and hear what his lame excuse was but thought it best that I keep moving. He should have listened to the customer service ambassador's (I couldn't make that one up if I tried, that is really the person's title) announcement stating "crossing tracks at platform level are prohibited and illegal". Just watching the guy trying to explain his idiocy brought a smile to my face.

Liquid sludge

I can't remember whose slogan was 'good to the last drop', be it Nabob's or Maxwell House's or possibly even Nescafe's, but I put that to practice today. On a rare occurrence I ventured to the dungeons here at work and bought a french vanilla cappuccino, jumbo size of course. For those who don't drink coffee or the sweet cappuccino drinks, they are mixed from very sugary flavoured powder and if one does not constantly keep the drink swishing around, the powder doesn't completely dissolve and settles to the bottom of the cup. Well, with a jumbo cappuccino there is more powder to flavour the water with and when not vigilantly stirred, there is more powder to settle at the bottom.

That is exactly what happened to me today. I was working while drinking the cappuccino so my attention wasn't solely on ensuring my drink was mixed properly. The end result was a large amount of liquid sludge waiting at the bottom of my cup. Of course I couldn't let all that sugar go to waste so I drank it. Well, I tried to drink it but near the end I had to use my finger to help shovel the remnants into my mouth. It was good at the time but I am now starting to regret my decision. Ugh!

Location, location, location!

The old addage about making money in business being about location, location, location, can be extended to several things in life besides locating a successful business. House buying comes to mind quickly as does finding a job, and more recently, even protesting.

That's right even protests in the wrong place will be failures. Case in point, the series of protests by the Tamil community in Toronto. As they continue their protests on the streets of Toronto and in front of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario, they claim more elaborate traffic stopping protests may be on the way since their message is not getting across to government. Perhaps there is a reason their message is not being heard: they are protesting to the wrong government.

Any military action or international support/aid directives come from the federal government, not the Ontario government. The Federal Government of Canada is located in Ottawa, not Toronto and therefore, much to the displeasure of many Torontonians, the power to do anything internationally or even nationally resides in Ottawa, not Toronto. Given this fact, any protest that deals with national or international situations would be better served by being held in the nation's capital, not Toronto.

Maybe, since the protests in Toronto are doing nothing more than angering a large population, it may be time to move these protests to Ottawa where the power to take international action resides. Just a thought.

To Dreamland and back

On the seemingly endless train ride home I generally try to sleep but very rarely do I ever achieve my goal. Thursday was an exception though. I had fallen into dreamland but it was far from peaceful. In my slumber I had totally lost track of time and had the scare of my life: I thought I missed my stop. That somehow I had slept through my stop (which includes 15 minutes of sitting idle) and was heading back into the City. While still mostly asleep I realized the noise on the train was too loud for me to have missed my stop. That conclusion only lead to an even worse thought: my work day was just beginning and had not just ended. In a panic I jerked awake to get my bearings and put my mind at ease. Unfortunately, once I realized where I was and which direction I was heading, I was unable to fall back to sleep.

After that incident maybe it is best that I don’t fall asleep on the train. It would be a lot easier on my heart anyhow.

May the 4th be with you!

Shortly after I got to work this morning and plugged in my iPod to my iLive player a song from Star Wars came on. Like most other times when music sans words comes on I skipped it. But then I decided listening to the music from Star Wars would be fun for the day. So totally oblivious to anything other than getting the work day finished, I began my listening with A New Hope.

Perhaps there was some cosmic reason why I chose today of all days to listen to Star Wars music. Did the force have anything to do with it? As it turns out, today is Star Wars day. Who knew such a day existed. I surely didn't but I am not overly surprised at the same time. The timing of my music choice is just a little curious though.

April 2009 Quotes

This World is bullshit.
- Fiona Apple

…an uninformed public tends to confuse scholarship with magicianry, and love life seems to be that factor which requires the largest quantity of magical tinkering.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation and Empire)

So, you fucked this up again
- Our Lady Peace (Shaking)

Just because you're winnin'
Don't mean you’re the lucky ones
- Guns N' Roses (Breakdown)

Sometimes we're so far off the beaten track
We'll get taken for a ride
- Guns N' Roses (Breakdown)

But if someone really cared
Well they'd take the time to spare
A moment to try and understand
Another one's despair
- Guns N' Roses (Breakdown)

Remember in this game we call life
That no one said it's fair
- Guns N' Roses (Breakdown)

If I see the morning hours
I'll have one more yesterday
- Megadeth (99 Ways to Die)

But I know also, that laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths disclosed, and manners and opinions change with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also, and keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy, as civilized society to remain ever under the regime of their barbarous ancestors.
- Thomas Jefferson

The great monopoly in this country is the money monopoly. So long as that exists our old variety and freedom and individual energy of development are out of the question….The growth of the nation, therefore, and all our activities are in the hands of a few men...who necessarily, by very reason of their own limitations, chill and check and destroy genuine economic freedom.
- Woodrow Wilson

…it takes time to learn many new things and that if they are not learned right, there is a danger a man may lose his self confidence…
- Queen's Printer (Canada One Hundred 1867-1967)

…despite the supreme goodness of God, the nature of man, in so far as he is composed of mind and body, cannot escape being sometimes faulty and deceptive.
- Rene Descartes (Meditations on First Philosophy)

…humans have the elements of control within their grasp, but are too frightened to use them.
- Queen's Printer (Canada One Hundred 1867-1967)

…we should be careful not to lose our freedom in too vigorous attempts to save it.
- Louis St. Laurent

Canada keeps her word and always will.
- Charles Lynch

And if the time ever comes when such newspapers dictate or control the thinking of Canadians on national issues, then freedom ends.
- John Diefenbaker

…the chief evil was that fewer than one thousand persons made the basic decisions in our society.
- J Murray Beck (Pendulum of Power: Canada's Federal Elections)

…the only limitations on how far a student should be allowed to go in pursuit of his education should be the brains in his head and not the money in his father's pocketbook.
- the NDP party (noted in J. Murray Beck's Pendulum of Power: Canada's Federal Elections)

…when old beliefs weaken and dim the people become "charisma-hungry" and want a reassuring leader-symbol.
- Erick Ericson

The human mind resents control.
- Isaac Asimov (Second Foundation)

Every human being lived behind an impenetrable wall of choking mist within which no other but he existed.
- Isaac Asimov (Second Foundation)

…the spell of power never quite releases its hold.
- Isaac Asimov (Second Foundation)

…all life is a series of accidents, to be met with by improvisations.
- Isaac Asimov (Second Foundation)

If it's something you can't help, why hurt yourself over it?
- Isaac Asimov (Second Foundation)

A private point of view means nothing; an official expression of opinion carries weight and can be dangerous.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

A person who expects the completely sophisticated and who guards against it is quite apt never to think of the primitive.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

…zeroing in tightly on a particular problem is self-defeating. Why not relax and talk about something else, and your unconscious mind-not laboring under the weight of concentrated thought-may solve the problem for you.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

I hate this feeling of forever talking to myself.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

If I ask, it matters that I be answered…
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

I don't trust my cowardice not to sieze me by the throat and shame me for the rest of my life.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

Savings amid tax harmonization

Recently the Ontario government agreed to harmonize the GST and PST taxes into one tax. This tax will now apply to more products and services than before because some of those products that were exempt from GST will not be exempt from the HST. In essence, this harmonization will cost each Ontario citizen more money to live. At least I can save $20 by not buying a new wallet because I am not going to have any money to put in it once this tax is implemented. Guess I’ll have to start shopping in the US soon.

Passwords

One of the programs we use at work has been set up to be fairly secure. Every 60 days or perhaps even 60 uses the program asks the user to create a new password. There are limits on what can be used and prevents recent duplications so every time I am asked to provide a new password it takes several tries before I actually stumble on one I can use. And of course this happens when my mind is not in any shape to remember a new password. Today is no exception so I have begun searching for words or terms that probably should not be allowed but are. Childish, I know, but it is all I can do to get back at the man.

One of my last passwords I chose I thought I would have no trouble remembering. It had to do with one of my biggest interests and it was even contained in a picture I used as a desktop background for a while. As it turns out I had more trouble remembering my password when it was always right in front of me than when I came up with some random word to use. Just goes to show that sometimes the most obvious is the hardest thing to see.

White noise

While trying to sleep at work this morning I realized just how much white noise there is in an office building. The hum of the cpu, the hum of air ventilation, two radio's competing for dominance from different corners of the office, the drone of people's voices while talking on the phone or to each other and noises from construction being done outside. Curiously enough there was no sound of keys being pushed.

If this stupid post is no indication for you, I am extremely bored today and have no motivation to do anything in the way of productive work. It is going to be a long, long day.

Useless Fact About Me

I realized something about me while having my blood stolen from me in the name of health. I have different views when it comes to seeing blood depending on the circumstances. I have no problem seeing blood when it is being taken from me with a needle but I don’t really enjoy seeing it from a cut, at least not in large quantities. In other words, I would make a terrible crime scene investigator, cop, health professional and any other occupation that may come into contact with large quantities of blood. Good thing I am an office bitch then, I guess.

Why Won't You Stop

The other day I went to a walk in clinic to have a spot on my back checked out. It had been bleeding for at least a day and showed no signs of stopping, even though the leak did slow down. So there I am sitting in the waiting area with no obvious signs of sickness while the others were sitting with swollen ankles/feet, swollen eye and various cough, sniffles and sneezes. I felt like quite the idiot. The spot on my back was so small and the blood was flowing so slowly that it paled in comparison to the needs of the others.

Anyhow, the spot was nothing and they pretty much had the bleeding stopped before I left but to get even with me for wasting their time, they made me take a blood test.

Stupid Is In The Air

Not sure what is special about today but there seems to be an unusually high amount of stupid people out there today. First off, a lady about a third my size decided to walk into my path needlessly (she angled into it from a safer position) and had she not taken evasive actions right away, it might have been ugly. Secondly, a few minutes later as I was exiting a building and heading down some stairs, another lady walked straight into my path. I moved to avoid her and she countered by moving in front of me again. I so wanted to continue on my path and send her back down the stairs but instead I veered to avoid this idiot. Lastly, a lady, walking on the sidewalk, stopped to allow a car to turn into a parking garage. If that was not stupid enough on its own, there was no one around her; the car would have been able to turn once she passed by.

Today is going to be one of those days.

Day and Night

I don't know what happens during the day but there is a huge difference in people on the long train ride home than on the ride in. Perhaps people get up on the wrong side of the bed every morning or maybe their tiny little brains don't function so early but the commute in to work is generally worse than the ride home (and that is saying a lot because the train ride is never a treat). I would deduce that I am the cause of my morning troubles if the ride home was as inane but since the ride home is vastly different, at the very least it is sufferable, my morning troubles are obviously a result of external factors.

I take the better of the two predicaments and sit against the side of the train, taking up as little space as a three hundred pound man can (I figure dealing with one person is less annoying than being bumped, elbowed, etc by people walking by). Inevitably the person who sits beside me has never met courtesy and snuggles up next to me (I barely get that close to my wife) and opens up a paper, flailing their elbows all the while. Being in cramped quarters the occasional elbow is somewhat understandable but generally the elbows fly all ride long. That isn’t the worst of it though. Like this morning, some people get aggressive and put some force behind the ‘bows as if I can magically make the wall beside me disappear and move over to give everyone the space they want.

It is never like that on the ride home and I generally take up more space going home. Even with taking up more space I receive far less elbows and bumps than I do in the mornings. Make sense to anyone else? Didn’t think so. There is the odd time when I get a ride full of elbows on the way home but those ‘bows are generally benign. Still annoying but it doesn’t reach irritating levels. The main irritant on the ride home is the noise but thankfully the iPod comes with volume control so that is not generally a huge concern.

I wish I lived in science fiction and could just 'beam' into work or perhaps use spells on people to make my commute more tolerable like in the tales of fantasy. The life of an Aes Sedai as created by the late Robert Jordan seems like a great life sometimes. (For those unfamiliar with Aes Sedai and are interested in the fantasy genre, Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series is well worth the read).

March 2009 Quotes

…a man had to look after himself. When all was said and done, that was the long and short of it.
- Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
- Pink Floyd (Wish You Were Here)

…for a man of sensitivity and compassion to exercise great powers in a time of crisis is a grim and agonizing thing.
- Richard Hofstadtler (The American Political Tradition)

No one axiom…can be laid down as wise and expedient for all times and circumstances.
- Thomas Jefferson

Nothing then is unchangeable but the inherent and unalienable rights of man.
- Thomas Jefferson

As with any other strong drug, true first love is really only interesting to those who have become its prisoners. And, as is true of any other strong and addicting drug, true first love is dangerous.
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

Fear wasn't better than respect, but by God it was better than nothing.
- Stephen King (Wolves of the Calla)

Something can be understood. Something can be divined. All cannot be known.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

Our mind wishes to take in everything, yet knows it cannot. There is the paradox. Knowledge must know its own limits.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

Thinking. Learning, remembering, knowing; imagining and creating new ideas; preserving and communicating knowledge over distances in time and space. Not only is it wonderful in its compass and variety: it is unique. It makes us human.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

Knowledge acquired and extended for its own sake is the specific quality that makes us human.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

Mankind speedily become unable to conceive diversity, when they have been for some time unaccustomed to see it.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

…for the free man there should be no element of slavery in learning. Enforced exercise does no harm to the body, but enforced learning will not stay in the mind. So avoid compulsion, and let your children's lessons take the form of play. This will also help you to see what they are naturally fitted for.
- from The Republic of Plato, translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford

…men do right only under compulsion; no individual thinks of it as good for him personally, since he does wrong whenever he finds he has the power. Every man believes that wrongdoing pays him personally much better…
- from The Republic of Plato, translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford

…a man can live well only if he knows clearly what is the end of life, what things are of real value, and how they are to be attained. This knowledge is the moral virtue of man…and constitutes the art of living. If a man imagines that the end of life is to gain wealth or power, which are valueless in themselves, all his actions will be misdirected...It leads to the central thesis that society must be ruled by men who have learnt, by long and severe training, not only the true end of human life, but the meaning of goodness in all its forms.
- from The Republic of Plato, translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford

It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that.
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone)

…what would come, would come…and he would have to meet it when it did.
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire)

Time is making fools of us again
- J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince)

It is important…to be able to reach many kinds of people, for each type has its own variety of use…
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

Oddity is in the mind of the receiver.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

Anything you make forbidden gains sexual attractiveness.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

At the slightest stress, human beings seemed to divide themselves into antagonistic groups.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

If we are always to draw back from change with the thought that the change may be for the worse, then there is no hope at all of ever escaping injustice.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

Emotions…are a a powerful engine of human action…
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

It does not actually take much to rouse resentment and latent fear of women in any man.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

…childishness comes almost as naturally to a man as to a child…
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation)

…I have accomplished in life what I have intended and under what circumstances may one better die.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation)

Violence…is the last refuge of the incompetent…
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation)

It pays to be obvious, especially if you have a reputation for subtlety.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation)

Memories sting when they come suddenly…
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation)

Laugh of the Day

My boss just walked around my area and on the way out told me to stop working there is only 25 minutes left on a Friday afternoon.

I was just pretending to do work just like I have been all but maybe an hour of the day.

A Great Start

There is not much better than starting the day with cold pizza leftover from the night before. I just wish that short-lived moment is not the best part of my day but it likely will be.

Happy Hump Day!

When I first heard this expression I quickly associated it with something totally different than what it really means. Knowing what it represents I must say whoever coined the phrase got the day wrong. For me Monday is the real hump day. After two days of doing nothing, getting up for work Monday morning is the real challenge. Once Monday is done with, the entire process of getting up, going to work and going back home quickly becomes an automatic response with no real thought required, except for those days I try to come up with a believable excuse for not going to work.

Mentioning the weekend in the middle of the week just prolongs the day and at particularly bad times, it prolongs the entire week. It points out the fact that there is something better just ahead; something better than staring at a computer screen for 7 hours a day as if no one was already aware of the better days ahead. Something that gets closer each minute but every time one turns around to grab it that something seems further away.

So I say to you, as my day seems like an eternal sentence in purgatory, happy hump day, the weekend is only two very long days away. The weekend that will seem more like 2 hours than two days. And then we will "punch in punch out, go to work and go back home" (lyrics from Seven Mary Three's song Punch In Punch Out) for another five days.

February 2009 Quotes

…a god is a being of entire simplicity and truthfulness in word and in deed. In himself he does not change, nor does he delude others, either in dreams or in waking moments, by apparitions or oracles or signs. - from The Republic of Plato, translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford

If the mind is kept in use, its powers are inexhaustible.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

Emotion is individual; transient. Reason is permanent.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

The mark of a genius is it’s ability to bide.
- Stephen King (The Stand)

Grief is like a drunken houseguest, always coming back for one more goodbye hug.
- Stephen King (Bag of Bones)

Let us not then speak ill of our generation, it is not any unhappier then its predecessors.
- Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot)

…only the dead could afford oblivion.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

…fear was a poor tool, and one that always cut the user eventually.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

Your [first lover] wears part of your soul as a ribbon in her hair forever.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

Only a fool believed women less dangerous than men, but women often seemed to think men fools when it came to women.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

A man's past belonged to himself and the people who had lived it with him; it was not a matter for gossip with an inquisitive woman.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

…"stubborn" was a redundancy when it came to men.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

…when what they do is hidden, men sometimes deal with strangers in ways they wouldn't if there were other eyes to see. And the quickest to harm a stranger are the soonest to think a stranger will harm them.
- Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

It was easier to be brave…when someone needed your protection.
- Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

Under this flag may our youth find new inspiration for loyalty to Canada; for a patriotism based not on any mean or narrow nationalism, but on the deep and equal pride that all Canadians will feel for every part of this good land.
- Lester B Pearson

Men believe the worst easily, and women believe it hides something still darker
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

Dance with her, and she will forgive much; dance well, and she will forgive anything.
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

What you want is what you cannot have. What you cannot have is what you want.
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

…men love to talk and gossip. All you need do is listen, or even pretend to, and a man will tell you his whole life.
- Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

…what killed you was always what you never expected.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Careless expressions gave away too much to an opponent.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

The Creator had made the world and then left humankind to make of it what they would, a heaven or the Pit of Doom by their choosing. The Creator had made many worlds, watched each flower or die, and gone on to make endless worlds beyond. A gardener did not weep for each blossom that fell.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Straight forward is not always the best way. Sometimes, certain things must be done behind masks, for safety.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Fear is a useful spur to the wits, and to determination, when well controlled. If we have no fear of our enemies, that leaves only contempt, and contempt leads to the enemy's victory.
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

No need to live in trouble until trouble comes.
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

It was all right to feel fear, but sometimes a very bad idea to show it.
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

Words between women need trouble no man's ear
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

…her father had taught her to measure herself by her ability to do the things she'd said she would do
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

Lack Of Motivation

Being a Monday morning I have little motivation to even be at work let alone get any work done. I am usually good after an hour or so to get down to some work or at least pretend to work but today I can't seem to ward off the many distractions. My motivation to work or even pretend to work is non-existent. When I do get to work my concentration disappears on me and after a minute or less of work I revert back to surfing the web (after all there were a lot of games in the NLL over the weekend to read up and I was directed to another sports blog this morning that I can waste time reading). Perhaps I need to hook up my iPod and get some tunes going, at a reasonable volume of course. I'm even getting distracted from my distractions.

It's going to be a long day but at least it is almost half over.

A Canopy of Birds

Have you ever seen the movie The Birds? Here’s the summary from IMDb.com:

A wealthy San Francisco playgirl pursues a potential boyfriend to a small
Northern California town that slowly takes a turn for the bizarre when birds of
all kinds suddenly begin to attack people there in increasing numbers and with
increasing viciousness.

I was 'lucky' enough to catch the tail end of this movie one day last year after leaving work early. My supervisor mentioned this flick to me so when I saw it was on the telly I had to check it out.

While crossing the Peace Bridge en route to the HSBC Arena for the Bandits season opener I saw a sight that ripped my mind back to this movie. A flock or ten of birds were covering the bridge just about in the middle of it. They were above the light poles forming a living canopy that stretched from one side of the bridge to the other while being several feet wide. It was an awesome sight but having witnessed Alfred Hitchcock’s imagination on the screen, there was a bit of fear mixed in too, perhaps even terror. Travelling underneath this moving canopy was kind of eerie but we survived the encounter with the birds. Our car, on the other hand, needed a good washing afterwards.

What's A Few Pennies?

There is this Greek place in the underground Path system by my work that I frequent on occasion even though their pricing really irritates me. I usually get the same thing every time I go there and every time I have to scrounge around for three pennies before heading down for some grub. The reason for this is that the food and drink I usually get comes to $10.03.

I don’t think this would be too much of an irritant if they were more diligent about giving back change. I for one never carry change around with me, at least not anything less than our lovely loonie so I usually pay with bills. I used to expect them to give me the correct change but instead they never do. Instead they shortchange themselves and just give me back change to the dollar amount, losing the three cents. In and of itself that would be great but the cashier always makes a point of the three cents.

If the three cents are such a big deal why does the cashier not give back the correct change to the penny? Since this is not done, I assume the extra three cents are not overly important to the business. If this is the case, why don’t they fix their price to an even $10.00? Are they not capable of doing the math backwards? Perhaps they just like irritating people. Rounding up to five or even ten cents would be less irritating then the three cents and the attitude the cashier gives because she is too lazy to count the change.

Where Is My Burger Queen?

Well, here is my story of how I almost met my Burger Queen. It was first year at University and like most Fridays during that year me and my new found friends were drinking. My one friend lived out of town and had not yet joined us so we decided that he could drive us to Burger King quickly before he added to the bottle count…make that can count since the residence didn’t allow bottles.

While waiting for our transportation to BK, I found some props to make use of for our trip. Not sure why but there was a paper BK crown lying around the room (must have been picked up on a previous drunken adventure to BK) that I had to wear for the night. As the beer was hitting me, my creative side came out and I found a bath robe I could wear to go along with my crown. My friend showed up before I could get too creative, much to the relief of the others, and took us to BK.

Wearing the robe and crown I strolled into BK as cool as a cucumber pronouncing that I was the Burger King (come to think of it, I believe my robe was the exact same colour that the real Burger King is sporting nowadays, hmmmm). When I got to the counter I repeated that I was the Burger King and asked the lovely girl behind the counter if she would be my Burger Queen. After the bout of laughter subsided enough I placed my order, we got our food then left before the embarrassment of the adventure was realized.

That was so out of character for me that to this day I am still wondering what got into me, besides the JD that is. There are other fun stories of adventure from my first year but the rest are for others to tell besides I can’t really remember any of them.

Linked To A King

A few days back a friend wrote a note on facebook asking people to add memories of their time together. Immediately I thought of our occasional lunch trips to Burger King. Surely there are better memories than our BK trips, even though these were lots of fun, to share with her. Trying to think of better times to actually type out I stumbled on the realization that my life has been linked with the ‘king’ of burger joints for quite some time.

Way back in high school a group of us frequented the local Burger King almost daily during our spare and lunch. Lots of fun was had both at the restaurant and on the drive. Plus it was a great escape from the school area and all the crap that went with it. Then when I went to university there was a Burger King close to where I was living (and not far from the school) that I made full use of. They also gave a deal to students so that was an added bonus. That was where I almost met my Burger Queen. (A fun drinking story I will get to later). The next year one of my housemates found a BK that was open 24 hours so we were able to fill our hunger at all hours, even if it was a 20 minute drive. We frequently did at 2 or 3 in the morning. Even my girlfriend at the time (now my wife) entertained our midnight cravings of BK and drove our drunken asses the 20 minutes a few times a week.

After all this, I guess I can just go ahead and add my BK story in answer to my friend’s query. As sad as that may seem.

Groundhog Day: Another Custom With a Lost Beginning

Being curious about where the Groundhog Day custom started and having lots of extra time on my hands I decided to look it up on wikipedia. As with most of our customs, Groundhog Day has several theories on how it came to be but none are really stated as the one. Whatever the beginning is, it is pretty sad that we need an oversized rat to give us some hope that winter is ending even though these predictions are even less accurate than the ones professional forecasters give us. Winter has about six more weeks left to it regardless of what Punxsutawney Phil, Wiarton Willie, or any of their other furry counterparts have to say…or should I say what the officials at these various locations have to say.

January 2009 Quotes

Small beginnings of any good thing...are to be cherished and cultivated.
- William Dawson (former Principal of McGill)

It's only natural for people who consider themselves deprived to dislike those who seem to have everything.
- Isaac Asimov (Nemesis)

the simplest explanation is usually the truest.
- Robert Jordan (The Eye of the World)

A man must know when to retreat from a woman...but a wise man knows that sometimes he must stand and face her.
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

Men really were…inconvenient…at times. The best of them found ways to say exactly the wrong thing at the wrong momet
- Robert Jordan (A Path of Daggers)

…every one who receives the protection of society owes a return for the benefit, and the fact of living in society renders it indispensable that each should be bound to observe a certain line of conduct towards the rest.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

A place for everyone and everyone in their place, chosen for them according to their talents and the needs for society.
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

Women did strange things to a man's head.
- Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

Every man had his limits…and a man pushed to them was especially dangerous…
- Robert Jordan (Crossroads of Twilight)

Might as well try to drink the ocean with a spoon as argue with a lover.
- Stephen King (The Drawing of the Three)

Disappointment was never a thing you looked for, but it had a wonderful way of clearing the mind.
- Stephen King (Wizard and Glass)

Wonders are many, but none,
none is more wonderous than man.
- Gilbert Highet (Man's Unconquerable Mind)

The Lord helped those who helped themselves.
- Stephen King (The Stand)

…maybe the greatest talent of all is the talent to work.
- Brian McFarlane (Best of the Original Six)

You are safe in any reasonable sense, but no one is absolutely safe.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

At odd and unpredictable times, we cling in fright to the past.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

Peter: So I'm sitting in my cubicle today and I realized that ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So it means that every single day you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.

Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?

Peter: Yeah.

Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.
- from Office Space

Country roads, take me home
To the place I belong
- John Denver (Take Me Home, Country Roads)

The human mind naturally adapts itself to the position it occupies.
- Charles Hibbert Tupper

Some praise at morning what they blame at night;
But always think the last opinion right.
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism, Part II)

A little learning is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring:
There shallow draughts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism, Part II)

She saw the world through the eyes of a child
Yes she's seen it all and she knows they're all lies
- Soul Asylum (Eyes of a Child)

...a woman who had taken a man to her bed always looked at him with that light of ownership in her eyes after.
- Robert Jordan (The Fires of Heaven)

...women would believe anything about a man so long as it was bad. And the worse it was, the more they had to talk about it
- Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

A woman would do a thing until you were sure she always would, then do something else just to fuddle you.
- Robert Jordan (A Crown of Swords)

Stories have power. Gleeman's tales, and bards' epics, and rumors in the street alike. They stir passions, and change the way men see the world.
- Robert Jordan (Winter's Heart)

Random Quote

Weekends here, good God almighty
Baby, lets get drunk and be somebody
- Toby Keith (Get Drunk and Be Somebody)

Now That's Dedication

I actually cut my lunch break short today to get work done. Is that dedication or what?

I then took a couple minutes to share this with you all. Hmmm.

Waiting

The commute in to work today went fairly well today until we approached Union Station and the train slowed and agonizingly inched forward. Impatient to get off the train (not so much to get to work though) this ten minutes felt like an eternity. Whenever you have a machine that is capable of high speeds go slower than an easy jog, time always seems to stand still.

Wanting to see what the delay was all about I scoped out the scene and saw nothing. That's right, all the tracks inside Union Station were abandoned. Nary a soul was stirring, at least on the side I was looking at, the side with all but three tracks on it. After straining my neck some, I saw our predicament. There was a train on our track. So we waited outside of Union while the other tracks sat empty. They did eventually fill up, some even emptying again, while we waited but that didn't make me feel any better about the situation. Finally, our number was called, "Seinfeld table for four", and our workday began.

Just A Man

So today is the day the world changes. Barack Obama gets the keys to the White House.

I for one am not buying all this hype. President Obama does not have lightning bolts shooting from his ass nor can he run faster than a speeding bullet. He is just a man. Just a man with ideas. Some will turn out to be good ones, others bad ones. If he survives his first four years, he will get another four. That's all folks. Then he will go on to make millions speaking at conferences and holding seminars. And our tiny insignificant lives will be no better for him having served his term in office.

So President Obama, enjoy your moment in the spotlight and best of luck living up to even half the expectations that have been put on you. If I am proven wrong so be it, I don't claim to be very intelligent, let alone a political expert.

Browsing the Headlines

While on lunch I like to browse the news and today I found a couple headlines on thestar.com that I just couldn't resist commenting on.

"GO predicts normal schedule for afternoon commute"
- translation: riders can expect the usual delays but they will be far shorter, or at least far fewer, than the ones experienced this morning.

"Lincoln will be at heart of Obama's inaugural"
- would inauguration not be a better form than inaugural in this context?

Answer to My Riddle

I think I have gotten the only guess that I am going to get so here is the much anticipated answer to my riddle:

I am a GO train

(it's mostly green anyhow)

I hope you all, meaning, I hope Stinky T had fun trying to solve my somewhat obscure riddle.

After Christmas Let Down

Several months ago a co-worker came up with a nickname for me and has been using ever since. That is until the new year started.

In early December I decided I needed to figure out a nickname for this person in return. A week went by and I had nothing. A second week went by and I thought I had one, even if I thought it was too Hollywood, but as it turned out, that nickname has been used and tarnished already. So I was left to ponder once again.

I set myself a deadline of Christmas to figure out a nickname for this person, you know, to serve as a kind of present for him. As of now I still have no nickname for him and the lack of creativity on my part has let down my coworker so much that he has stopped using my nickname when we pass in the halls. If only his name was more conducive for just adding a “y” at the end… I don’t think he would have let me get away with something so simple anyhow.

What Am I?

I'm in a good mood today so I thought I'd play a little game with y'all: What am I? Everybody knows how to play so good luck (it should not be that hard because I am far from the master riddler, heck even a preschool riddle could stump me).


I am long and green and not very bold,
The rain and the wind make me feel old,
I fear the snow and the cold,
Even sunny weather puts me on hold
What am I?


That's the best I could do but at least I rhymed! The answer will come later but I am sure someone will figure this out.

Time to Work

Well, it's now almost 10:00 on a Monday morning and I have yet to do anything work related. I guess it's time to start even though I have lots of other stuff I can do to waste the day away. Only problem with that is my desk is bare so I guess it's time to start looking for some work to do. This sucks!

December 2008 Quotes

One of the greatest assets any man or woman can have on entering life's struggle is poverty.
- Richard Bedford Bennett

money is the worst of all contrabands because it commands everything else
- William Jennings Bryan

In a nation with 200 million people, a certain number of deranged people exist.
- Robert A Liston (Politics: From Precinct to Presidency)

I have not seen…any suggested changes that could replace our existing system without entirely eliminating one of the factors in our civilization that has contributed greatly to the progress of the world---that is, individual initiative, coupled with the desire to acheive and succeed.
- Richard Bedford Bennett

It is man alone who brings light to this world. Nature is dark, brooding and cruel. What compassion there is in the earth flows from the sterling heart of man.
- Whitley Strieber (Majestic)

man is more inclined to justify himself, no matter what, than to confess a guilt, admit a wrong, acknowledge a mistake.
- Robin Brockman (The Message)

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
- John Lennon (Imagine)

One science only will one genius fit;
So vast is art, so narrow human wit:
Not only bounded to peculiar arts,
But oft in those confined to single parts.
- Alexander Pope (An Essay on Criticism, Part I)

Be just, and generous when you have the means. Wealth will not take care of itself if not vigilantly cared for.
- John H R Molson

There is nothing dramatic about a mistake not made.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

The tears of the world are a constant quantity. For each one who begins to weep somewhere else another stops. The same is true of the laugh.
- Samuel Beckett (Waiting for Godot)

Men never seemed to understand, or care, when a woman wished to be looked at and when not.
- Robert Jordan (New Spring)

It takes great courage to love one's true self.
- Whitley Strieber (Majestic)

sooner or later even the worst luck changes.
- Stephen King (Cujo)

…if you're not prepared to defend yourself, then you'd better not do it.
- Peter C Newman (The Canadian Establishment: Volume One)

Love it hard and it will love you back hard. Try to play it easy and ease off and the first thing you know, there you are, on the outside, looking in, wondering what went wrong.
- Pete Rose

A good society is one in which the greatest possible number of persons enjoy the greatest possible amount of happiness.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Man's virtue is…the quality which enables him to 'live well', for living is the soul's function; and to live well is to be happy.
- from The Republic of Plato, translated by Francis MacDonald Cornford

A person has to listen to others. He has to allow himself to be influenced to a certain extent.
- Robert A Liston (Politics: From Precinct to Presidency)

a lasting peace must be 'a peace without victory.
- Woodrow Wilson

The desireableness of a life is to be measured by the amount of interest and not the amount of ease in it.
- George MacDonald

there is a greater chance of success if two roads are open then if either one alone was.
- Isaac Asimov (Prelude to Foundation)

And he dreamed of another world
In another time
And another place

Where no man
Has to wear a sign
Saying where he's from
Saying what's his race

And he wants us to believe
This world that he sees
- The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (The World That He Sees)

Happy Birthday!
- Frosty the Snowman

Weight goes up or down as it ought. I shouldn't concern myself.
- Isaac Asimov (Foundation's Edge)

it is the obvious which is so difficult to see most of the time.
- Isaac Asimov (I, Robot)

What counts is the person, not the name.
- Isaac Asimov (Fantastic Voyage II: Destination Brain)

Women do not become exhausted...they only exhaust others.
- Robert Jordan (Lord of Chaos)

…an intelligent following of custom, or even occasionally an intelligent deviation from custom, is better than a blind and simply mechanical adhesion to it.
- John Stuart Mill (On Liberty)

Endings always come too fast,
They come too fast but they pass too slow
- Art Garfunkle (All I Know)