20021230

I saw madness today...it was in the form of a handbuilt bass guitar. Other stuff: - I reorganized the links on the sidebar a little and posted links to my eBay auctions. AccordionGuy moved up in the links too, because he emailed me which made me remember that I wanted to do that anyway. If you've got a cool site submit it to me by responding to any blog post and I'll see what I can do. - Did the stats for the site too...people are visiting! Not many, but enough to know that YOU ARE READING! Therefore, you have the ability to let me know that you are reading! Who the heck are you? I also noted that there was a considerable influx of people from my ex-employer who visited before I banned their IP addresses. Sorry, read from home if you wish. - Speaking of my ex-employer...had a nasty dream last night about losing that job. In it they fired me, but kept me on for a few depressing, soul-shattering, painful, mind-numbing days of helping them recoup from losing me. I was willing to help out, but they made it awful. While I very much wish I hadn't lost the job (it's going to make things very difficult for Jen's immigration if I don't find another STAT), I am so glad to get away from the-person-who-shall-not-be-named, who caused me Sunday-night insomnia for months. A friend and his significant other appear to be doing much better together, which makes me lots happy. You know who you are (since I know you read here), gratz! Be excellent to each other! Posted by Greg @ 08:24 PM PST [Link]

20021229

We saw Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers for the second time today. Was even better the second time, honeslty. The first time I was really into the CGI stuff, paying extra-special attention to small flaws in the animation (there weren't many), and where they used doubles (or in one case, a stuffed doll!!! I guess two men on a horse, with one being the portly John Rhys-Davies, would be a bit much). My favourite scene? Thank you for asking - definitely the Ents attacking the land around Sarumon's tower. Beautifully done, Mr. Jackson (and your animators). My favourite scene in the first one was the lady of the woods refusing the power of the One Ring. My god...if I was there I would have pledged my life to worship her in that very moment. After the movie, we got lost on Annacis Island on the way to Ikea. I was hoping to show Jen the wild rabbits that are all over the place down there. No such luck. We were very good in Ikea...we bought what we came for and nothing else. Here is what we got (click for popup): This is our desk before Ikea. This and this are our desks after Ikea. I'm very pleased...so much more space for stuff in so much less floorspace. Say what you like about Ikea ("Ikea is Swedish for no-resale-value!", I heard at a party recently), but if you've got a small space and two people with all their stuff in it, you aren't going to be able to get furniture that works in the regular furniture shops...and you are going to pay bucketloads more for that stuff that doesn't meet your storage needs. Myself, I'd rather buy some Ikea stuff that I am not planning on passing down to my friends' kids and have it fill my storage and utility needs than buy some stuff that doesn't do what I need it to do that will last forever. So...NYAH!! Quick add on: Ikea has this damned cool online Ivar building tool, which helped quite a lot. And it's fun too. Posted by Greg @ 10:05 PM PST [Link]

20021227

I'm selling my current collection of UserFriendly schwag and stuff...Lost my job and want to store up some cash. please click here. I have to say, working for UF was one of the best times in my life...and one of the most disappointing. At the height of the dot-com craziness it all seemed as if we couldn't fail. Then we did. UF is still going strong, but the layoffs were the most disappointing I've ever had to deal with. I really believed in what we were selling, what we were developing, what we were. No other job has captured me like that, no other job could ever have made me continue on as a volunteer. While I desperately try to avoid the negative sort of attachments that come along with keeping things just to keep them, getting rid these sorts of things is difficult for me. The 3rd anniversary party for the strip in 2000 was one of the days that stands out in my memory. Other events in my history that stand out strongly: Hitch-hiking across Canada My graduation party Dropping $100 bills on a sleeping friend Giving the same friend the Worst Haircut In The World The drive home from Seattle with my (then) future wife My wedding night (admittedly only 5 weeks ago, but I doubt this is going to be a fading memory) My work there became a defining period in my life...if the people I worked with ever read this, please take it as a huge compliment. I was touched. Posted by Greg @ 11:17 PM PST [Link]

20021226

Click here I like americans, honestly (I know some of you will doubt this, but I really do). I have travelled in more US states than probably the majority of americans have and, with few exceptions, was comfortable and pleased. I absolutely HATE the arrogance which the US gov't displays against friend and foe alike. Rather than work with others to solve problems, US authorities dictate their will. They act drunk with power. Now the aggressive fools are turning on their own people with the same blatant disregard for fairness and the equality of man. I've got family in the US now, people I care deeply about. I do not wish for others to fight against the US, for fear of the repercussions, but I have to admit a bit of glee when the US leaders lose political points. Posted by Greg @ 11:25 PM PST [Link]

For those of you not in the know...Boxing Day is NOT a day to get rid of boxes! Stop this horrid urban legend now! Boxing Day is all about the spirit of the day before it...it's a day where (after you have spent Christmas being good to those in your family and close circle of friends), you help those with less than you. It's a day where the rich help the poor, the high class give gifts to the lower classes, and where a show of equality is given. It's a day where the behaviours that SHOULD be expressed on Christmas, if not all year round, are shown. ...and therefore it has nothing to do with pugilistic beatings either. It's also Jen's birthday! Happy 32! Now I can't say I'm married to a younger woman (for 5 more months). As such, we will be heading out to Fatzo's restaurant for some good barbeque and southern cookin'. Yesterday was lovely...the best Christmas ever. Each of our gifts were full of care and thought of what the other were like. None were supremely extravagant, but they didn't need to be. It's the spirit of love that counts. ... Which is why I get annoyed with people who hate Christmas and refuse to celebrate it because they hate the commercialism and forced feelings of it. Go ahead and hate the commercialism. Go ahead and don't buy a single gift, go ahead and avoid the family you don't like and eating dried-up old turkey and canned cranberry jelly. But why spite yourself by refusing to make things with care for the ones you love? Why ignore the good feelings you have and the chance to relax with those you care about for an entire wonderful day? Why feel pressured to do the things that other people do? I mean, if you are willing to hate Christmas anyway and rebel enough to not celebrate it, why not rebel enough to change the meaning of it for yourself and your loved ones and enjoy it while you can. It's just a day out of the hundreds of thousands you will live through. Like every day, why not make it a special one. Posted by Greg @ 01:04 PM PST [Link]

20021224

...but first: The floating head of Ayn Rand is heading to Mars! (image links are popups) Jen and I went to Simon Fraser University to take some nice pics. We froze, but got some nice mountain and sunset pics. Then today it snowed like crazy for a while. Sick of my pics yet? What would you like me to photograph? Jen and I will be taking trips in and around Vancouver and would love you to tell us what you'd like to see. Is the world changing for better or worse? On one hand, a cop was suspended for refusing to arrest a homeless man sleeping in a parking garage. On the other, homeless people raised $3000.00US from bottle collection and begging, to help the guy out. Back when I worked mall security that was exactly my job. I was sent down thrice nightly to kick homeless people out of the only warm place they could find (hidden well away from public eyes near the parking garage where the mall blew out hot air). It was always toasty warm inside this upscale mall. I usually told the people sleeping there to tell anyone else who came by that they just got there. That way we both got what we wanted. I am searching for a website that I do not know for sure exists. Does anyone know of a site whose entire purpose is to takevarious news articles around the world and compare the propagandization and quote alteration they do? I find it very interesting that various media are replacing 'nigger' with 'Negro' in historical statements (specifically, Strom Thurmond's remarks about segregation from years ago). Posted by Greg @ 05:36 PM PST [Link]

20021223

Yesterday, a punk hero died. Joe Strummer, lead singer of the Clash passed away peacefully at his home. Of course, upon hearing this I had a flood of memories...I was a huge Clash fan in my teens. They were a radical departure from the small (6000 citizen) logging/mining town I lived in. In Merritt during the 80's, everything was either AC/DC, Duran Duran or misc Country and Western. The Clash (and a number of other punk artists) got me through the mindlessness of life in a small town. Memories I have: Songs Stay Free: If anything was a theme song for what I hoped would be my life, this was. It's all about friendships, good times, bad times, homecomings, and being accepted by the people who care for you (and tell everyone else to get stuffed). This, of all Clash songs, was the song that changed me. I sought something that allowed me to think deeply about what friendship meant to me, and while over time I lost the closeness I had with family, my lifelong friendships (and the importance I place on them) grew from this seed. All The Young Punks was secondary to this, but still held the same feeling. Spanish Bombs, The Guns of Brixton, Capital Radio One, Safe European Home, English Civil War, Know Your Rights: My love of punk became a love of arguing politics. The feeling of this came from the Clash's take on musical political activism. I could easily have grown up, much like the rest of the people in my town and family, without thinking about how things could change. I could have just accepted the bad things without a desire to make them better, but the concepts I learned in Clash songs changed that. I've since became less radical than I wanted to be in my youth, but a stupid political action or our leaders attempting to restrict our rights makes me an angry young punk again. Albums Combat Rock: It was their most popular album, but by all accounts, not their best. My brother Chris gave me this, and I still remember him asking me what I want for my birthday (he had just moved out of the house and I was still at home). I said, "A Clash album?". He said, "Which one? The new one?". I said, "Sure". Such was the conversations that Chris and I usually had. When we weren't pissed at each other anyhow. Hits'N'More: A 5-song tape put out by CBS and sold at A&A stores. This tape has a cover which has the first photo of the members of the Clash that I had seen. They look surprisingly clean-cut for the most part, though Joe Strummer looks like he's asking the photographer if he wants his butt kicked. London Calling: This was the first tape I bought from Columbia House. Give 'Em Enough Rope was the second. Cut The Crap was the third. Before then I had copies of these albums. Without a job or any more money than I could scrounge together doing the occasional odd job, or saving meager allowances, I elected to buy albums rather than listen to my pirated copies. That's what music sharing brings - more sales. Burning London; The Clash Tribute: A few years ago I saw that I wasn't the only one who was affected strongly by the Clash. This tribute album contains songs by No Doubt, Third Eye Blind, Indigo Girls, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Silverchair, Moby and more. Well worth buying for Clash fans. ...I own more, but these are the ones that strike me this morning. Concerts Pogues: The one time I saw Joe or the Pogues (I never did get a chance to see the Clash live) was in Vancouver at the PNE Exhibition Hall. Joe had just replaced the old singer of the Pogues who was in rehab for drugs and alcohol. The crowd was jumping and enjoying themselves, but a few asses were screaming "bring back Shane [McGowan]!". It was pissing me off and, when I had an opportunity to do so without getting in a fight, I bodychecked one of the complainants hard enough to send him under the stomping boots of the rest of the crowd. Joe was damned good that night; they did a mix of Pogues songs and Clash songs, and it was the concert that I enjoyed the most so far in my life. I wish I'd recorded that concert, I would still be playing it regularly. Joe was looking a bit tired and a bit old, but once he started going he was fiery and angry and young again. If I knew that some royalties would make their way into the hands of his wife and daughters, I may replace my old tapes with CDs. ... Thank you, Joe. Sleep well. Posted by Greg @ 11:14 AM PST [Link]

20021221

Jen moved from Alabama to Canada, and as complicated and expensive as that might sound, we had things simplified (we thought) by moving 9 large boxes via UPS. We shipped all her stuff a few days before we left to come back here, and expected it all to arrive in one big shipment. The boxes were sent in a group, with one box being the 'lead package' (read that as leeeeed not led, though some were quite heavy). 8 of the boxes arrived on time and relatively unharmed, but one box took a curious and circuitous route from Alabama to Vancouver. Those first 8 arrived on November 25th, the last on December 5th, after we had called them trying to track it down. Here is the list of locations it visited and on what days: 5 Dec 2002 ANNACIS ISLAND, BC, CA 4 Dec 2002 ANNACIS ISLAND, BC, CA   VANCOUVER, BC, CA 3 Dec 2002 REDMOND, WA, US 27 Nov 2002 HODGKINS, IL, US   WEST COLUMBIA, SC, US   DORAVILLE, GA, US   ATLANTA, GA, US 25 Nov 2002 SYLACAUGA, AL, US 22 Nov 2002 VANCOUVER, BC, CA 21 Nov 2002 DORAVILLE, GA, US (RECEIVER DID NOT WANT, REFUSED DELIVERY;PACKAGE RETURNED TO SENDER)   FREDERICTION, NB, CA (POWER OF ATTORNEY REQUIRED;BROKER ASSIGNED, RELEASED FOR DELIVERY) 20 Nov 2002 DORAVILLE, GA, US (RECEIVER DID NOT WANT, REFUSED DELIVERY)   VANCOUVER, BC, CA 19 Nov 2002 DORAVILLE, GA, US (DELIVERY) 18 Nov 2002 DORAVILLE, GA, US   SPARTANBURG, SC, US   KNOXVILLE, TN, US   CINCINNATI, OH, US 16 Nov 2002 CINCINNATI, OH, US   INDIANAPOLIS, IN, US 15 Nov 2002 HODGKINS, IL, US 14 Nov 2002 WEST COLUMBIA, SC, US   DORAVILLE, GA, US   ATLANTA, GA, US 13 Nov 2002 SYLACAUGA, AL, US (SHIPPED) Wow...this package is better travelled than I am! It even made it into Canada a couple times before it managed to get to our doorstep. Someone in Doraville didn't want our belongings...maybe they gave it a swift kick? Whoever mangled it, they sure did an effective job, as shown in the pics below (click for popup): Bradford Exchange "Contentment" plate. It was broken so badly that some of the pieces were missing. Same plate. Back, showing the name of it. Soap dish, corner broke off. This box was inside the big box...well-padded and in perfect shape when shipped. Same here. Looks like someone threw the large box off a back of a UPS truck. Little figurine with a broken leg. Not expensive, not incredibly meaningful, but was well protected. (bad pic) George Foreman grill. Scuff marks and cracks. (another bad pic) George Foreman grill. This thing is tough as nails, I can't even flex the plastic. They managed to crack it nicely. Angels. Three angels in a sturdy box, each in it's own styrofoam-padding place, surrounded by botton batting. The box was fine, one angel lost his halo, another's wings were torn off. The angel box, closed and perfect. The angels: two fallen. Other stuff that was broken and not photographed: a couple wooden cats, and a crockpot. We bought insurance for the package, to the tune of $75US. When we called UPS afterwards they said, "We don't insure personal belongings". They took our money, wrecked my wife's stuff, then told us that they don't cover it. Thanks UPS, I'm sure I will be using you in future. Posted by Greg @ 07:26 PM PST [Link]

20021220

Ah ha! We managed to get our butts out of the house for something other than shopping! We took a little trip to the quiet psuedo-fishing mostly-tourist village of Steveston to brave the bitter cold and take winter sunset pics over the fishing boats and the ocean. (Click for popup) Me, on the way up there. Seagull, freezing his nards off. Yep, still the nards; still freezing them. Backlit gulls, flying. Snow, on distant mountain. Beautiful, brilliant sunset. Cruelly, we didn't feed the duckies. They circled us, planning an attack. Boat, cleverly hiding behind lovely woman. Boat, running away. Fishboat, sky. Fishboat, more sky. More fishboat, less sky. Different fishboat, same sky. Cannery, boats, sky, flag, mountain, seagull. Cool. Quick, it's damn cold standing like this. Nice hat. Boats, natural blue. Gulls, flying before we leave. Gulls, flying some more. Was a great afternoon, spending time shivering with Jen! Posted by Greg @ 09:47 PM PST [Link]

I want to be a better programmer. I am a hack, a perl coder, a 'web guy'. I can make your website connect with your database, but I cannot as yet make your desktop dance a waltz with it. I can usually figure out what another language is intending to do (forget Befunge, please), but there is no guarantee I'll be able to code in it. I don't know Java, C, C++, C#, Cobol, Fortran, .NET, VB, or a host of other languages, and I think that anyone who says they know them all is either insane or lying or both. I don't fully understand the implementation of Object-Oriented code in any language, though I do understand why OO exists and what it means. I don't need you to explain to me about the colours and sizes of apples and oranges. I don't know, off the top of my head, what you need to do to create a perl socket, though I have done one before and it worked. I read the readily-available documentation and understand it for the immediate use I have for it. I am not a memorization machine and would rather know where to look up something than fill my brain with stuff that I'll use once and never need again. I want to be a better programmer, to excel in this and to have people look at what I have done with understanding and respect. I want to program in a language that doesn't suck, isn't so limited that I can only use it in a specific small set of circumstances or on a specific OS. I want to know the structure of the language, though I may need to look up the vocabulary once in a while. I want to be able to answer a "is this possible?" question with a large degree of certainty. I need to be able to say "it's a constraint of the language" and be able to either think up a workaround or be able to say that it can't be done. I want to be able to work with the language instead of against it. I want to be able to work, using the language regularly, and it not be something I have to pull out once a month or so for some scripting. I want to keep it in my mind and be happy when I have the chance to do something I haven't before done. I want to be a better programmer, such that I am truly a Programmer. I'd be very happy if someone would comment here and take the time to show me how this can be done, without Zen parables, without the colour of apples, without a vocab lesson, without the words "it'll take years". Thank you for your efforts to make this happen. Posted by Greg @ 12:42 PM PST [Link]

Mellow morning today after my usual late-Thursday gaming night. It's a lot of fun and the folks I play with usually get along (though we tend to not get a whole lot accomplished sometimes). A quick run-down on the night: Being that I missed last week, they told we what happened (was basically getting our butts out of an undergroung lair) Ran into the biggest jerkwad mercenary, then had some difficulty with the GM and other players when this didn't turn out the best and I, a low-level sorceror, took it upon myself myself to insult the intelligence of the big-ass warrior. I felt this was exactly what the half-elf would do, and the ranger (who usually loves picking a fight) didn't appreciate it much. The other big fighter in our group, the barbarian, didn't mind so much. I have a feeling we could have had some good killin'. We searched the village after this jerkwad and his friends left but found nothing. That was about it. We didn't accomplish much, which is not unusual. It's a tender balance between acting bravely and quickly (but possibly dying quicker because of it) and doing more roleplaying and taking things painfully slowly, staying alive, and not getting a whole lot accomplished. I tend to think we are erring on the side of going too slowly these days. Quick linkies: You (canadians, over 18, who have one of a specific sets of illness) can now order pot over the web. If the BC RCMP harass you for it, contact these folks. Then discuss this online here so that maybe the US will open their eyes a little about their archaic drug policies. After all, some pretty famous Canadians did pretty well in the US, whether they smoke(d) pot or not. ....but do pot smokers still have the facilities to use their brains to the fullest? Posted by Greg @ 11:35 AM PST [Link]

20021219

Busy day, rushed day. Woke up, went out to do some on-location consulting, then off to get car insurance and try to get in a little Christmas shopping then home for dinner and out to see Lord of The Rings: The Two Towers Only, the consulting took longer than I expected. Then I found out that my 'air care' emissions testing for my vehicle expired today, so I had to drive off and pay an extra $48 for it, then back to the insurance agency, managed to buy some christmas wrapping paper and a $1.25 stocking stuffer, then a quick meal of excellent thawed spaghetti (always tastes best after a few days in the freezer), then out to Langley's Colossus theatre for the movie. While doing the consulting I had 1.5 cups of coffee, and I don't normally drink it, so I was a little jittery. Tea courses through my tannin-ed veins, coffee is demonic. Jittery and rushed, and not quite normal and my mind is still getting off the "oh crap, I've just been fired" fixation. Jen bought all my Xmas gifts while I was out. I am determined to make this Christmas extra-special for her. For my part, if all of her gifts to me were full of manure, I'd happily use them to grow her flowers. As for the movie....no spoilers! Just a damned good movie, as you were expecting it to be. One question though...the song during the closing credits sounds an awful lot like Bjork, but she's not listed in the soundtrack. If anyone knows for sure who it is, please let me know? Thanks. In other world issues do you feel safer now that California has rounded up hundreds upon hundreds of Middle Eastern residents. Ostensibly it's because of INS concerns, but then shouldn't it be all illegal residents, not just ones from countries who are predominantly muslim? I'm white, non-muslim, and living in another country and this still scares the crap outta me. There's a monument/apology in Stanley Park in Vancouver for the Japanese residents in WWII who were rounded up like this and sent to concentration camps. Have we not learned a thing in 57 years? Posted by Greg @ 01:26 AM PST [Link]

20021217

Well...been an interesting 24 hours, I'd say. I was in a pretty awful mood this morning (not angry, not even annoyed...just sad). It took some quiet time alone and accomplishing writing the text version of my resume. I felt much better after that and arranging some exposure for myself in the local tech market. Everyone I know has been extremely supportive, the emails and ICQs have been pouring in and I much appreciate it. My resume link is up at the top if you are interested. Now I just need to decide whether to try for starting a job this close to Xmas or wait until the New Year. My severance cheque was couriered over this evening so we're ok for the next while. Jen and the divine Miss V. went out and petted little black kitties during the afternoon (well actually, Miss V. bought a BIRD, of all things!)...if Pico wasn't such a freak I'd love to have another, but then again this place is a little cramped with the three of us sometimes (ie. when Pico starts running around, getting underfoot, tearing things apart). It's nice to see him play again, considering that a few weeks ago he was pretty close to death. Here is a photo of him before the surgery, getting sick, etc. He's still missing a lot of hair right now, but I'll get another pic of him soon. Jen sent over a great pic of the new, shaved Pico. In front of a painting that is eerily similar, too :) Posted by Greg @ 09:58 PM PST [Link]

20021216

Today I was fired for blogging my life here. I'm not talking about being let go because I was spending work time writing, which I've never done. Today I was fired because, without naming names, I spoke negatively about a person who had the power to fire me. My ex-employer raised the word 'slander', and I have complied to their wishes to remove the offending blog entries. ...but I still don't feel good about it. I was fired because I expressed my annoyances publicly, rather than hiding them and keeping a forced smile on my face. I was fired because my annoyances could affect the public perception of the law firm where I worked, and the core problem will, as far as I can tell, not be addressed. I have curtailed my words to prevent the future possibility of bad things happening to me although I honestly felt the emotions behind those words. I enjoyed the job, and tried to bring up my issues with my boss repeatedly to get them resolved, without success. When solutions didn't happen I brought my feelings out. I vented here in my blog and received comfort from people who knew me. The firm administrator said that my record of employment would say 'terminated' and not 'terminated with cause' because "we're not sure if there is cause or not". My boss said "it's been nice working with someone who knew what the f*** they were talking about". I think I knew what I was talking about in more than the technical aspects of my job, but I can't talk about those things publicly anymore. I did a good job and spent my work time productively, and while they were firing me they made no complaint about the ways that I conducted myself at the workplace. They sure didn't like me saying what I felt in my own time though. I was fired for talking about work outside work hours. The head of the firm was decent about it at the end, gave me a decent bit of severance, and expressed that there were no hard feelings. I can accept that from him, and I am fairly sure my direct boss doesn't have any either. I don't know whether to block access for my ex-employer to my webserver or not. They discovered by blog because I had shared a link to my wedding pictures with a few employees of the firm, who apparently went looking at what else I had on the site and discovered my blog. From there, someone took that link and brought it to the administration's attention. In some ways I feel a little cheated that this person (who I liked enough to show my wedding photos, which did not include more than 1 or 2 percent of the ~170 person staff) didn't come to me with their concerns, but that is their own issue. I made my thoughts public and that means that the public can read them. I'm saddened, but most of all I am sorry that it came out like this. Had I known the final outcome or even remotely suspected it I might have handled things differently. Personal note: Today is our one-month wedding anniversary. Jen remains the best wife any man could have, and I love her completely. Always and Forever. Posted by Greg @ 12:32 PM PST [Link]

20021215

Obviously, based on the time of this article, not much has happened since the last one. I really wanted, though, to show you something and make a point. The internet is the biggest protest tool available in the world, surpassing demonstrations, letter-writing campaigns, terrorism, skywriting, and assassination. It communicates past borders, without help from the media, without restriction from government, needing no censors, and spreads faster than radio. If there is one thing you can do to save the world, make sure it's protecting the internet because one day, possibly very soon, you may need it. And while you're at it, post something on the internet that shows people how you feel, because you -HAVE- a voice, if only you use it. Posted by Greg @ 09:52 AM PST [Link]

20021214

It's been a day of lights: It started yesterday night, actually, when I was trying to get a socket-based plugin installed in the bathroom for Jen's handheld hairdryer. This takes some explaining though, so please bear with me. When I moved into this place, I was two days past being dumped by Psychobi*ch From Hell, and I had spent the ast two nights sleeping in the Userfriendly.org offices. I was a complete wreck, and desperately needed something I could call home to lick my wounds and recover my sanity. It was a whirlwind romance and had one of those nasty endings where Person A says: "It's over", Person B says: "Uhhh...why", Person A says: "I don't have to tell you, get out", Person B gets out and tries to figure out a problem more complex than Fermat's Last Theorem without the requisite equation. I was Person B, obviously. So I, desperate to find a place, called every rental ad I could find in an area that I knew had a lot of apartment buildings, and took the second one I found. The first was so vile I never got past the drug dealers at the elevator. This place at least was reasonably clean, though the hundreds of nail holes in the walls and crappy fixtures needed to be fixed/replaced. Specifically, the light fixture in the bathroom is horrid, rusted metal, which is barely attached to the wall. The 4 sockets in it are regular sized, but one of the large (6" across) bulbs has been burnt out since I moved in. Attempting to unscrew a bulb to screw in the two socket plugin, I managed to break one bulb in it's socket and burnt out another and make the entire fixture off-center and tilted. In the end I just removed all the bulbs, straightened the fixture, then replaced all four bulbs with new 100 watt ones. I swear that when Jen stands behind me when I shave or brush my teeth she can see the outline of my skull. This morning we went out to Zellers (for non-Canadians, this is like a crappy Target or Walmart) to return a clamp-on desk lamp that Jen bought. It was missing the actual clamp part of the lamp, so we had to take it back. The annoying part is that this is the second thing we bought from Zellers this month that was incomplete when we got it home. The first time, we bought a $100 set of pots that was missing two lids and returned it for exchange. This time (calmly and nicely, because it's not the customer service reps fault, and they have a crappy job), we took it there and I asked if they wouldn't mind informing the manager that this was the second time we had this happen. The woman, who I think was named Tracy(?), nicely called the manager, said the nicest words I think I've heard someone in a department say in a long time ("I'd like to satisfy this customer") over the phone. Then she returned to us and gave us 20,000 "Club Z" points for our trouble and refunded us the money we paid for the lamp. That's not a huge gain, 20k points is what you get when you spend $200 in the store, but it was a heck of a nice feeling. This evening when we got home we put up the Christmas lights on our balcony. White 'icicle lights', which in the past I have derided as horribly middle-class blandness. I was happy to put these up tonight though; they look nice and it's surprisingly warm-feeling to do christmas-y stuff with Jen, even the typical stuff. Too many years in the past I've done no Christmas things; last year I cooked chili for myself, petted the cat and went to bed late on Christmas day. I didn't open a single present or give anyone anything. As much as I hate the commercialization of Christmas, because I basically hate the commercialization of anything, being alone and present-less on a day when you know 99.9% of people are being with friends or family (whether happily or not) leads one to realize just how alone you can be in a city of 2 million people. It's not loneliness really, just a lack of good feelings. This Christmas I am filled with all sorts of feelings and...well, light. :) Posted by Greg @ 07:13 PM PST [Link]

20021213

Just links and lines tonight, my friends...soon to go watch a movie (either Amelie or Men with Brooms) America The Beautiful (but very scary) - flash animation 2.5 days off work today, I think that's one day over the sick days I had left. I'm a little frightened as to what this will mean for me when I get back. Knowing the HR manager, this means I'll be given a warning letter and the time will be taken out of my pay because "taking it off your vacation is against firm policy". Found a whole bunch of Userfriendly.org schwag. Cool stuff, including temporary tattoos of the characters in the strip. Not sure if I should keep it or eBay it. Cleaned out the storage room (see above) and left a whole box of free goodies in the lounge area of my apartment building. In the box were: a phone, a bike helmet, a cool black&white TV (worked good, but had a big burn mark on the top), some Marvel Overpower cards, some 7 Seas cards, a frame backpack that I carried from Vancouver BC to El Paso TX to Ottawa ON and back to Vancouver, a frisbee, and some miscellaneous stuff. The only thing that I will miss is the backpack, but I don't need material possessions to remind me of the travel. I still have too much stuff. And too little storage. One more trip to Ikea, I swear! Posted by Greg @ 09:51 PM PST [Link]

20021212

I could spend tonight talking about some of my history, but there's so much more to discuss than me. The only problem is, it's hard not to talk about yourself, or your feelings about something. I mean, I could write about my rather pitiful attempts to learn java, but really that's not about java, it's about my impressions of it. No matter what I am attempting to write about, unless I am making a deadly-boring non-fiction listing of something I understand, it's about me. And that's what scares me about the news (nice segue, buddy! Segway?). Every single thing you or I watch or listen to is an editorial, no matter how much we want to believe it's hard fact. And people believe it because it's presented as if it's the only possible listing of facts there is. At the extremities people like Ann Coulter outright lie to the general public and since people would rather believe a conspiracy theory than hard facts, the world just gets uglier and uglier. All I want now is to go to a more beautiful place for a while. But I guess that leaves the crazies in charge. :-( Posted by Greg @ 07:58 PM PST [Link]

20021211

I woke up yesterday (Tuesday) morning and asked Jen, "It's Wednesday, right?". She, in her cold-addled early-morning daze agreed that yes, indeed, it was Wednesday. Unfortunately it wasn't and I resigned myself to having another day of work before the weekend. Jen's been ill all week, I think she has arrived to Canada from Alabama to an entirely different subset of the virii that we all pass back and forth and may not know about. Vancouver diseases are probably different than Alexander City diseases and she didn't have the common resistences. At least that's my theory...unfortunately, since she's now infected me and I feel like the bottom of a sewer workers hip boot. I'm currently going through a revolving cycle of nausea, coughing, sneezing, aching and just generally having no energy. Loading the dishwasher took my breath away tonight. I went in to work today and left after my boss was out of his meetings. All I really have to say about that is that it is rather silly for a company to give you 8 sick days per calendar year, but gets annoyed when someone actually has to use them. It's nice to have the sick days, but silly to not be able to use the sick days you have for fear that it will haunt you when it comes to review time. 2 weeks until Xmas, and the list of cool stuff I would like as presents that I am suppose to give to Jen has two items on it. Currently I am seeking: The Lord of the Rings trilogy + The Hobbit and a power drill (to be used exclusively...do not drill books without proper parent supervision). While there are a million gadgets that I think are cool (after all, I do own the gadgeteer.net domain), I just can't justify the ones that don't have a regular use around the house or can't be carried with me. Maybe I can just ask Jen to buy me shelving for Christmas? I don't think she's going to go for that. I've always had problems telling people the things I 'want', as opposed to 'need', because in my past I have always needed basic things to get along and now I really don't. I've got lots of things that I've worked to get over time and can basically live happily ever after without buying more than food and shelter and clothes to replace those I've worn out. Anything above that is usually covered by either consumerish impulse-buying or really good chocolate :) I'd suggest some form of travel as a worthwhile gift, but doing so is too bloody expensive and complicated and the time off is too hard to get these days. *shrug* There is the flaw in working for someone else and having severe time restraints. Anyone wanna hire me to blog? Posted by Greg @ 07:52 PM PST [Link]

20021210

Cont'd...I can handle a lot of things gracefully - I can accept being told I made a mistake if I did make one. I can accept being told I made a mistake, if I made one, in front of other people. The one thing that irks the bejesus out of me is being dressed down in front of other people when no error occured by me. Especially by someone who doesn't even give me the chance to explain myself. Double-especially by someone who was the one who actually made the mistake. Triple-especially in front of people I have to work wth every day. It really sucks when a set of occurences by a single person can make me begin to hate a job I should enjoy. Posted by Greg @ 12:53 PM PST [Link]

2002127

She has a la la story incompresensible to most but I read the handouts and gleaned a little gleam I had a smart mouth smarter than me I talked a tale on the tail of her talking We sat serene in quietudinal complexities and spoke the very quietest of words while we danced and cursed at each other, smiling. I declared she couldn't scare me so she ran away screaming She was caught then, for parts of her shadowed sunk into the ground and will stay with me until I close my slackjawed mouth. Posted by Greg @ 10:25 PM PST [Link]

2002122

The title refers to a song that's been off-and-on stuck in my head for years. Working song with sexual overtones: my favourite. Did a little contracting after work today, which I like a lot. It earns me more than work and is usually either much more interesting or much less taxing than my usual workday. Though I do have to admit my work this past couple weeks has been better on both counts. A couple months ago I was ready to apologize to my boss, then tell everyone else to go to hell so I could go home and have a nervous breakdown. There's nothing like working your ass off and being told you are doing a crappy job to make you hate humanity (or at least HR administrators). What really scares me about enjoying my job is that sometimes I have to drop some of my ingrained geek-predjudices and open my eyes to the fact that some thing created by Microsoft are very cool. VBA, notwithstanding the monstrous huge security flaws that have turned Windows machines into so much virus-ridden slagmetal, does a very good job of automating processes in ways that I can't think any Linux or other operating system does. There is a an attempt to make a VBA for linux GNOME Basic) which seems pretty good, but it's not going to have that sort of basic connectivity to an application that I found in VBA for Outlook. That's a shame, because it really could be the 'killer app' that linux really needs. This leads me to the interactivity that I see in the Windows operating system between all sorts of applications that all depends on Windows/Internet Explorer. While I cringe at the ways that Windows forces me to fit into a specific dumbed-down mold, I can't help but relish the idea that if I could just reach into Windows' deepest guts I could build something wonderful. Unfortunately with Microsoft's battle against releasing even one line of it's precious source code, I doubt I'll be able to do so in my lifetime. And that is how Microsoft is stifling innovation, by preventing developers from building from the ground up. Sure, they can entrance me with the simpleness of the high-level stuff; but they will never attract the best and the brightest to build the newest and coolest and most useful because those people (and I) want to know the underlying principles that everything is built on...and see if we can do better. I'll just let out a big *SIGH*, and hope that the killer app for Linux comes a little quicker. Posted by Greg @ 10:23 PM PST [Link]

2002121

Tis the season for gluttony, consumerism, angry drivers, lousy service, death of healthy trees, hurt feelings, revival of familial annoyances..........and new beginnings. I'm looking forward to christmas with Jen, more than I expected. Not sure what to buy her though, and especially not looking forward to the shopping. We've been trying to do our regular non-christmas shopping over the past two weeks without a whole lot of success. As stated before, we've been wanting to buy good furniture, but have been so far mostly unsuccessful. One thing our lack of success has shown me is that I am in the wrong business. Make furniture and the world is your ottoman. We've been in stores where really nice (in our mind: well-built pine or oak, with good dovetail joints on drawers, not a single piece of chipboard, pressboard, particle board, veneer or plywood - sanded smooth, but definitely not perfect). Those pieces are worth about $900 for a simple wardrobe/armoire. The same thing in particle board with crappy plastic coating is worth about 600. I figure that if I had a workshop I could build something I'd be happy with in a good solid days work. It wouldn't be perfect; it wouldn't be sellable in a big-box store, but it would work and be 'real'. Feeling like this really makes me want to get outside this forsaken city and be in a place where I could attempt such things. We went to Lougheed Mall today, had to go there to get passport photos for Jen to attach to her Immigration-requested medical forms. It was hideous and horrible, and during the whole time Jen and I kept muttering/exclaiming/shouting the word: "Stupid!". It's become our shopping mantra. Todays biggest "stupid" thing was that The Bay has a 10% off coupon that they were giving out to all sorts of shoppers...in small print on the bottom of the card it listed the exceptions. In that fairly lengthy list was "everyday value-priced items", whatever that means. Well actually, I know exactly what that means...it means everything that we were buying in that store today. It was a pointless card that to-all-appearances meant nothing and saved the shoppers nothing. It aggravated me and I am just that little bit less inclined to shop at The Bay in future. Way to go on your clever marketing, morons. Jen reminds me: the same woman who told us that the 10% off didn't apply to us asked us the question, "Would you like the receipt in the bag?". No, you sponge-brained bimbotic marketroid, we want it stuffed as far up your perfumed spasming spewhole as you can get your coworkers to reach. After calmly leaving the mall we went to Costco, which was much better, if only because it is large enough that the large volume of people didn't crowd us too badly. We bought some groceries, ate and drank some free samples, and came home to watch a movie. The movie, Reign of Fire, was pretty good. As far as dragon movies go, it sure beat the hell out of the competition (ie. Dragonheart - the most pathetic action movie of the 90's). Or maybe, at the end of a day like today, everything in my past is cast in a negative light. Nah......that's just the Christmas spirit. Posted by Greg @ 09:25 PM PST [Link]

LINKS and STUFF

Aspectus - This is Illiad's (of Userfriendly fame) other project, which is like Slashdot in some ways and like a personal blog in some ways, but cooler than either. Needs more content, and more visitors, but that'll come.

RED MEAT - Oh my. I imagine there is a FBI file on the artist. I never, ever want to meet him. But I will glory in his comic strip. Brilliance and intelligence wrapped up in the tattooed skin of a circus freak and tied with a bow made of blown O-rings.

Imparte.com - Rich's site. Not going to talk about it until he says I can. But go visit anyway.