I graduated highschool for a reason, and it wasn't to go to college.
So we finally got around to trying to get in and see Untraceable last Tuesday, except thanks largely to the fact poor Trish is currently minus a vehicle, we were left at the mercy of OC Transpo, whom I've bitched about on an occasion or two on here. Now, not that there's a single problem with the bus system at all–cough, cough–but I still suspect that they're the sole reason why we missed by like 10-15 minutes the actual start of the movie. Suckitude galore, seeing as that one was supposed to be pretty good. At least judging by what I've been able to pick up on it. Instead, we decided to see I am Legend (sorry, no IMDB linkage for this one, which is rather odd) instead. It was… well, meh. Best way to describe it. It's a Will Smith movie, so anyone who's watched I, robot or Independence Day pretty much knows what to expect. Sadly I, Robot is probably one of his better movies. Though props do go out to the fact his character actually dies in I am Legend. Really though, as odd as it was to see him take on a more serious role than anything he's done in, say, either of the two movies I've linked to aside from that one, I think that also went towards knocking the movie down a couple coolness points. Nearly the movie's only saving grace was the fact it was actually one of the more believeable zombie movies I've seen. And far enough away that it's almost realisticly possible something like it could happen. Official decision from the opinionated jackass: we should have gone to see Untraceable. I'd watch I am Legend if it came out on TV, but um, I wouldn't pay for it. Wonder if there's a torrent for it on the intarwebz. Further investigation is required.
Stuck by James at 6:16 PM
If I can find a program to use this sucker from the computer, I want this. Neat little price tag, too. Christmas present, perhaps? I won't say no.
Stuck by James at 5:16 PM
Because while it was a pretty accurate summary of my opinion of the current situation on Monday, it doesn't really do a whole lot of explaining, well, anything. So here goes (warning: the below is probably going to be an essay. Deal.).
So back in November, they transferred a lot of the overnight folks–okay, *all* of the overnight folks–over to the XPS division. Now, I have no interest whatsoever in doing hardware related support, which is what that department's primarily involved with. Not that I can't do it–it's relatively easy to do, particularly when you're not the one fiddling with the inner workings of the bustified computer. But that's also the problem; it's too freakin easy. If something physical is broken, it either works, or it doesn't. End of story. You either replace the part, or tell the customer he's an idiot and to RTFM and go on to the next call. The longest and quite probably most irritating part of the job now is more than likely going to be waiting for the diagnostics Dell builds into their systems to finish running and tell me which part I'm going to be replacing. Now, I'm all for easy as pie work, usually. But this is ridiculous easy. In a week or two of doing this, I suspect I'll be able to just coast right through it like it's nobody's business. Not good when it's me. I tend to get into things I shouldn't. Like finding random little tidbits about my coworkers about which to insult them on here. But primarily just… being me. Which can and often times is a little freaky in and of itself–just ask any member of my family! So, yeah. This week I'm going through the retraining process that goes along with a rather forced change of career path. On the bright side, it means at least for the next month or so, I'm back to having 3 days off–and an actual weekend to boot! On the not so bright side, holy late. But that's another rant for another day. Like say, on the weekend when we're being hammered yet again by snow–a third rant for the next 3 days. That one I'll probably fire off tomorrow, when I have linkage to back up my pissedness. In the meantime, though, there be hockey on my television, and I barely watch that anymore. So I go do that now.
Stuck by James at 7:14 PM
So why, then, does my apartment smell like a smoker lives here? The downstairs people suck. That is all.
Stuck by James at 1:05 AM
Thanks largely to the glory that is the ability to check on the weather network, it has been established that, by this time next week, we could very well be seeing a definite increase in the outside temperature. And all I can say is it's about bloody well time. Winter, I love ya, but only until December 26th. After that, now you're just overstaying your welcome. By a long shot. Bring on the 30 degree temperatures and the excuses to book off a week's vacation. Yeehaw! I'm too enthusiastic about this. I blame the fact that I'm at work, and this is my monday, and I'm not looking forward to actually starting in half an hour–it's gonna be busy as hell…
Stuck by James at 9:27 AM
Girl's writings opening new window on autism. And all I have to say on this is… wow. For once, that's the only opinion I can offer. Be afraid. But seriously–the kid's 13. She started doing this, according to the article, when she was 10. I dunno about you, but any 10-year-old kid I've ever met can't be bothered to sit at a computer for more than 30 seconds unless they're getting the chance to blow the crap out of something. I mean, yeah neither can she, but at least there's a reason for that. This is one of those occasions where I kinda wish the crap going on in Iraq wasn't the only thing that gets a follow-up from CTV. Kid's practically half my age and already she's gone and proven she's twice as smart as me. Props to her parents, too–it's way, and I do mean way, too easy to just give up, say I quit, and let the system take care of the kid. I used to go to a school for the blind, and by about my third or fourth year there, I saw an increasing number of people there who *may* have been blind or visually impaired, but who had multiple of other issues going on and their parents, I swear, just decided "Hey, that place'll take them off our hands. Away they go.". Good on you for actually standing up and taking control of the situation. I just hope all the media attention that story's gonna get you guys doesn't add to what I imagine is already a bit of an occasionally stressful time. Either way, go Carly go! And if by some freak accident someone who knows her stumbles across this tiny yet very opinionated blog and wants to give her a place to tell her own story, just get in touch with me. I've got lots of space I'm not using, and I'd love to put some of it into an effort like that. And hey, you fools at CTV, follow up on it a little will ya? Iraq can take a week off.
Stuck by James at 3:15 PM
I'm back at work now. I'm off at 7:00 tonight, barring another 10.5 hour day. Uh, crap on a cracker? The hours I'm billing Dell for are gonna be bloody well insane…
*****************
Ladies and gentlemen. When I left work yesterday, it was snowing like hell. There is more snow in Ottawa's forecast for today. Somebody up there is intent on pissing me off. And it's thinking about working.
*****************
Can someone please tell me, just once, why it is the Writers Guild of America was holding out and being a bunch of royal panzies for the sake of higher royalties to have material streamed over the internet? Are they, perhaps, not aware that if the TV stations weren't doing it, some other generous soul with a nack for getting his hands on free content–not me, RIAA/MPAA, relax–would just do it instead? I mean, not that I haven't thought about it. But really, if that's the only reason they're striking, which is sort of what the article in question's leading me to believe, it is making me contemplate perhaps watching significantly less actual TV content than I already do. Realisticly, I only have a TV right now so I can watch hockey and/or baseball. And since my team's biting the suckitude bullet something fierce, it's going to end up just being baseball. At least this year. And hey, that I can probably get online, too!
*****************
The computer they have me working on at the office has developed a habbit of randomly and inexplicably restarting without warning. No error message, no blue screen, no notta. Just I'm in the middle of typing/reading/whatever, and then kerpoof. I bitched a little about that last night. And I'm still thinking about taking the bitching to our I/T folks and flat out giving them the option. Give me access to something as uber basic/simple/non-retarded as MSConfig and let me tell you what the hell's wrong with this thing. That way all you need to do is replace the faulty component I know exists, and then get out of my hair. I wish I could work in I/T…
*****************
It has been decided. OC Transpo isn't *all* evil. I only took an hour and 15 minutes or so to get here today. An improvement, really, over a week ago. I'm… not quite to the point of irritated. Yet.
Stuck by James at 9:16 AM
Just about nothing scares me nowadays. I mean, hell, I live in a city where a guy could quite easily kick the royal crap out of you in broad daylight as though it wasn't broad daylight. But I was, well, just a tiny bit concerned when the guy I was getting a ride into work with on Wednesday called me up and his first question to me was, "So, are we still employed?". Of course, 5 minutes after we got there he got his walking papers, so I was understandably just a little uh oh. Dell ended up cancelling the building of a second buildinig here, and I seriously thought they were considering closing this one–they did, after all, just slam the door on the one in Edmonton. Apparently though, instead of that, they're just axing my department and shifting us all over to doing actual hardware related tech support. I hate hardware related tech support. There's no actual work involved in it. "Okay, try this. Didn't work, okay run this diagnostic. Did it go ding ding? Cool. I'll replace your hard drive now." As a girl my mom used to work with said, absolute crap on a cracker. Although, I suppose, it's still better than if I'd followed the periodic proddings and moved to Edmonton…
Stuck by James at 10:04 AM
As is only having to work 4.5 hours yesterday. Sadly, that good luck was not meant to carry over to day. But 'twill be made up for. In the form of various after work activities. There's a birthday that needs cellebrating. And if she's not up for that, I'm at least gonna spoil myself.
Stuck by James at 8:21 AM
The calendar says no, but it's lied to me before. I've been back to work for a grand total of a week, and already I'd kill for a week off. It's been *that* busy this week. Add to that the fact that I've actually been making a conscious effort to semi-keep up with the cleaning of my tiny little place, and not just leaving it all for a day off, and I've been pretty busy. Lazy is the preference, so you can probably guess at my state of mind right about now and not be out somewhere in left field. Right field, maybe. I'm just now getting used to the idea of my weekends being Monday and Tuesday, and now we're talking about shifts changing again. So I'll probably wind up with some funky thing like Wednesday and Thursday being the new weekend. Well, as long as I'm not doing the 2:00 to 11:00 thing again, I'll go for it willingly. I did that when I first got out of training–ironicly, it was just about this time last year. Actually, almost exactly this time last year. I won't willingly do it again unless there's, like, no other option. It interferes with the roleplay. And some days, particularly after lengthy stretches of time with the family, my roleplay is the difference between a murderous rage and a nervous twitch. It would be unwise to take such a thing away from me. *rubs hands together*
Stuck by James at 11:16 AM
So on the rare occasions wherein they actually do, it kinda sorta just a little bit surprises the hell out of me. And in this case, the surprise came from the fact that at 10:30 this morning, I had only actually managed to take a grand total of 4 calls. Now, if this was the night shift that wouldn't surprise me. But it's not, and we're usually a whole lot busier than this. Plus I usually don't get lucky enough that I actually have something I can fix on the 4th try. So yeah, it's a little surprising. And now I can waste a break doing all manner of non-work related tasks because, well, they said I can. That I've been doing it all morning though will just be our secret, okay?
Stuck by James at 10:31 AM
The last couple weeks have been… well, busy as royal hell. Christmas and new years will do that. Of course, and then I wound up on a week's vacation and didn't feel like touching this thing even just to make sure it still worked. But vacation ends tomorrow, and then it's bac to the daily grind, so I figured now's as good a time as any to get back into it. New years was hella fun. Although, for the record, nearly every bar in Ottawa being either closed or requiring a cover charge on the biggest drinking night of the year is just way too over the top. Fortunately for our sanity, Trish managed to keep some alcohol at her place which she and I made quick work of. New years day was spent waking up and getting hammered with snow. We wanted to go for a walk and see what kind of pictures we could come up with, but the weather just wouldn't let up enough for that. I mean, we could have gone for the walk, but pictures were out of the question. So the vote was we'd drive instead. A couple hours and a coffee later, we still had no pictures. But at least we'd killed the majority of the afternoon. I came back to my place after, and there was all manner of flakeyness. Spent pretty much the next week in between being flakey, and talking to an already once mentioned interesting young lady about… whatever came up. Perfect way to spend a vacation. Now, if only she wasn't in the US. The malfunction will be corrected. Wednesday I go back to work, and I know for at least the first couple days, I'm so not going to want to. But, then again… one look at my paycheck will probably make me want to. I just need to hold out 'til Friday. Oh, it's going to royally, royally suck…
Stuck by James at 5:24 PM
Between work, Christmas shopping, and the general insanity that is my life around about this time every year, not surprisingly I've managed a grand total of like 2.5 attempts at entries on this here blog in this here month. I finished my shopping for Christmas about a week or so before, so the only thing I had to really worry about was resisting the urge to take overtime–part of me wonders if that would have been less stressful. Aside from that, they had me doing some testing for work so I can see how much I don't qualify for a bump up in pay grade. But the topper was over christmas. There are actually people in my family who were fooled into believing my sister-in-law had changed. Her clothes, maybe, but that's about it.
Speaking of Christmas, though… people have got to stop hanging out inside my head. It's unhealthy. For everyone. My parents bought me, in no particular order, a new TV, a couple cordless phones, Garth Brooks's newest CD, a new sweater, and things I'm leaving out because i'm too lazy, don't remember, don't want to think, or some weird and wonderful combination of all of the above. It bordered on awesome. So I came back home yesterday, hooked up the new TV, watched part of the game (writeup on that one if I remember when I get home), and then stuck Short Circuit (another christmas gift) into the only thing we could get to play a DVD last night–my ever so kick ass computer system. Ironicly enough it was during that that I decided next year, I'm staying the hell in Ottawa. And it was before that that I decided, with a tiny bit of encouragement from Trish, that I don't plan to be sober come new years night. Oh darn. And All I can really say is I hope 2008 is half as eventful. I couldn't handle 2007's equal in that department. *flops over tiredly*
Stuck by James at 9:34 AM
Staying up all night is a bad idea, even if I do end up talking to a very wonderful young lady in the process. But I did, so I'll probably pay dearly for it today. Not this morning, however. I came in half bagged, and the boss bought me coffee. I'd skipped breakfast, as I frequently do, and the boss brought the team doughnuts. If he could read minds, I'd say he had me pegged pretty good. But I suppose I'll just have to settle for he's just plain awesome. Yay awesome! And now, back to this particularly dragged out spyware call I had to charge someone in order to endure. The things I do for a paycheck.
Stuck by James at 9:14 AM
And it's admitedly my own damn fault. But I still live, at least for the most part. And I'll make a more concerted effort to actually post on here. At some point. Like… maybe on my lunch hour. Maybe. Lord knows I have a lot to write about in a week–is half an hour really enough time? We shall just have to see…
Stuck by James at 9:12 AM
Well, actually, over that now. Over that by… about a week. Which means I've almost had internet access from Ottawa for a year. I wasn't sure whether or not I'd keep my relatively little sanity when I shoved my almost life into boxes and got the hell out of Pembroke. Trish and I were actually talking about this Thursday night, and it kinda made me realize. I don't see me going back to Pembroke any time soon, for anything more than the occasional shortened visit. By shortened, I mean… maybe an evening, hopefully an hour. I'm a different person now, I think, than I was when I moved out. I've learned a lot, and actually gotten some motivation to do something. Oh, I'm still lazy as hell, and would still rather stay home and get paid than go to work, but I like my job, and since I have to do it anyway, I'm kinda glad going to work means going to this office. I overslept yesterday and it pissed me right the hell off. But eh, it happens. Tonight, there be hockey (I'm ordering pizza). I still have 4 games–no, 4 victories–to post about when I get home tonight. And then I'm ordering pizza. Possibly. And I can only say… oh, hell, yes. Okay. I'm gonna just stop here. This entry's becoming a whole lot more random than I'd intended. Note to self: do not blog while half awake, or before coffee.
Stuck by James at 8:47 AM
Sadly, not much was missed in this neck of the woods. Lots of cold, lots more snow, a little tiny bit of damn that's cold, and… well, that's it. Well, besides my team finally stringing together a win or 3 but the obligatory entry that tosses all 3 wins into one very excited update will have to wait until I get home and feel like link searching. For the moment, I have only this to say. What in the hell was I thinking not moving to Florida?
Stuck by James at 11:57 AM
Guess that makes it official. And here I was hoping there might be some small chance for salvation. Oh well, if I'm going to have that particular sister-in-law, at least I can be secure in the knowledge that she will be an hour and a half away from me. I'd prefer a country and a half, but you can't have it all. I hear tell she's done a fair bit of maturing since the last time I saw her. Of course, that, like everything, I shall believe when I see. In the meantime, the farther, the better. For the sake of my sanity and her life.
Stuck by James at 9:12 AM
My father and I both have the same name. So to make it less of a headache on both of us, he goes by Jim, and I go by James. And where the legal, given name is required, one of us will usually stick our middle initial in there as well–which, admitedly, can also be problematic given as that's also the same. In 24 years, I've never willingly answered to Jim–willingly, of course, meaning that there are always those few people who just don't really care either way and call me whatever comes to mind. So when I got a phone call this morning asking for 'Jim', I was admitedly a little confused/irritated. He asked for him by last name, too, so sure, I figured it was going to be for either me or my father–if it's for the latter they pulled the number out of the wrong phone book. I still have no idea who this guy is, and then he mentions that I did a job for him a while back on behalf of the ministry of labour. By this time I've gone from general curiosity to "Zuh?". Okay, so now he's not looking for me *or* my father. Now how do we get him out of *that* awkward situation? worst of it is, he called from a Toronto number, so he just paid Bell Canada some coin to be told to try again. I almost felt sorry for the guy, but… then I figured, I needed some amusement. And that was it. I gotta get a life…
Stuck by James at 11:42 AM
it's pretty much quarter past 2. I'm off in just over an hour and a half. Can I stretch this call out that long? Would it be in my best interest to do so? If it means I can get outa here relatively on time… hell yeah. So… would I? Watch me try.
Stuck by James at 2:17 PM
Well, I do have to say–regardless to what I actually thought about last night's parade, it was still significantly better than last year's Pembroke equivalent. That, of course, in the sense that the child we're forced to affectionately call my brother's fiance was, in fact, not present at this one. Always makes for a perfect evening, if you ask me. More floats than you could shake a stick at, and only one actual band worth noting, but I think I'd of still gone to that one before a return to Pembroke. Plus we got coffee out of it–can't go wrong there, I think. Or if you can, please don't try to. We did kind of come to the conclusion that it'd be nice to probably end up at the Toronto equivalent parade at some point in the near future. It's odd, I spent 3 years living an hour away from TO and never bothered going there for the Christmas parade. Small oversight that was never corrected. Added to the list of things to do when I get around to it. Either way, I rather enjoyed myself. And of course, staying up 'til 4:00 in the morning yacking someone's ear off for no real reason than because we could wasn't too bad either. Yeah I know I had to work the next day, but I'm here. I had caffeine. I have more caffeine in my lunch. If it becomes an issue, it won't be for long. Anyway, back to parade talk. Not all that great overall, I wouldn't say it's something worth videotaping, but it still beat the hell out of Pembroke. Which was all I was really aiming for.
Stuck by James at 9:07 AM
… waste time for the duration of a 1 hour lunch? Well, it sure ain't on Facebook, as certain individuals who shall remain nameless would prefer it to be. Apparently… it's dropping random blog posts about what to do on a 1 hour lunch. I… have nothing. I haven't even seen me a stupid headline all morning. Gees… what's a guy gotta read between calls? Other people's blogs? *scoff*
Stuck by James at 10:49 AM
After going for an unplanned workout last night, and subsequently not getting to bed until about 1:30, you'd think I'd be slightly more tired than I am right now. That whole… 2.5 hours of sleep thing. But, surprisingly, I'm not. Perhaps not surprisingly considering I just regained consciousness–I expect I'll be pretty nearly whiped by about noon today. But, for the moment, I'll take it. Not bad for someone who's spent the last 8 or 9 months working nights. Now, depending on how *this* goes, I may still be looking for another job come January. But I'm not shaking my head at this arangement this morning. Don't wanna disturb the cobwebs.
Stuck by James at 4:26 AM
Now, there be actual proof that microwaving your next meal can actually be healthy. Not to mention a whole lot faster than actually cooking the thing. From Lifehacker, an article posted by Yahoo! Foods that pretty much outlines, according to their own research, o'course, the top 8 healthy microwaved food choices. Now, granted, you'd have to be borderline vegetarion to enjoy some of the choices they recommend, but even I have to admit… some of 'em sound pretty good. And anyone who knows me knows if there's a chance I can throw together something to eat in 2 minutes or less, particularly when I know I have to leave in 10, I'll take it. So this… might work. Hm. Note to self: research this further.
Stuck by James at 8:06 PM
apparently someone up there heard me. starting next week I go back to working days. And the sweet shift, to boot. If… you call having to work Sunday, of all freakin' days to work, the sweet shift. But at least it's 7 to 4. As opposed to 11 to 8, or my personal favourite from when I first started taking calls–2 to 11. At least I can catch a rush hour bus home! And watch my hockey! And CSI! And… and… and… oh, it's almost enough to make me forget why I started working nights in the first place. Almost. Except for that 11 to 8 shift, or my personal favourite–2 to 11. They're enough to make a man half crazed. At least if the man in question catches a bus that stops running at midnight when he's stuck on a call 'til 12:30. But that doesn't happen now! … God forbid. Hey, maybe I can get back into my roleplaying…
Stuck by James at 4:26 AM
And all because of a collective clusterfuck that means my entire team misses out on 4.5 hours of training tonight. So now, until 2:00 in the morning at the earliest, barring a natural disaster–they taught us very early in the initial session about the speed of Dell–I get to sit here with my thumb up my ass, doing absolutely nothing except cruising teh interwebs until one of 3 things happen. we get really extremely uberly busy and they tell us they need us on the phones, one or more of us decide we're tired of sitting here and getting paid to not do work–for the record, I so won't be one of those–or plans get changed/reworked/fucked over in such a way that someone higher up than my manager realizes, hey wait a minute, training's been cancelled and there wasn't anything sent out about that. Of course, for the record, I don't think there's anyone higher than my manager so far as this department goes even in the building at the moment. Or there won't be in about an hour and a half. so unless he does a complete 180 on letting us just kinda chill it for a few hours, we're all good 'til 2:00 or 2:30. I love this job. Or maybe it's just the manager. That's a possibility. I'll take it either way.
Stuck by James at 10:22 PM
Surprising, given who I was spending it with. But, my brother and the bitch were barely around long enough to have any significant conversations with, with the exception of supper on Sunday–but, then, they didn't stay all that long afterwards either so I'll take it. So, no one ended up throwing punches, and all and all it was… well… unstressful. Not at all like the family I'm used to going back to Pembroke to visit. Not that it means I'm in a hurry to go back–I subscribe to the theory good things only happen once every 15 years. And that was my family's once. So now, I shall stick to the plan that has kept me alive for 24 years–go nowhere near 95% of the family if at all humanly possible to avoid them. There are, of course, the exceptions to that rule. But they, like me, were also smart enough to get the hell away from the rest of them. Which… is actually why they're the exceptions to the rule. I like it when things work out that way. I like it even better when things working out that way means I don't wind up with one hell of a killer headache. Who says avoiding people is a bad thing?
Stuck by James at 4:19 AM
And I'm home le free. Tonight's insanity done with, I don't have a job for the next 3 days. In 26 minutes. And… oh, my, suh, weet, le, jesus. It's gonna feel damn good walking out of this building in… 25 minutes. The countdown is on. And I *will* leave on time. Or Trish will kill me for keeping her waiting in the parking lot. Eh… maybe coffee will save my life.
Stuck by James at 6:33 AM
Take insanity from one hell of a work week, add in a trip to Pembroke for thanks giving, a pinch of the ultimate in meladramatic families, throw in a sister-in-law I'm told has grown up a bit but still find myself seriously doubting, and what do you get? Me wondering just how many ways I can torture myself that *didn't* cost the price of a trip to Pembroke. But, y'know, 'tis family–so 'tis my turn to take one for the team. Or for society as a whole. I haven't decided which yet. I have, however, decided for 3:00 in the morning, it should *still* not be as busy as it is now. It's unholy. Unnatural. I came to nights to avoid this. I didn't avoid very well. *twitch*
Stuck by James at 3:11 AM
Proof that, after finding pieces of wireless card that have gone mysteriously astray, and after repeated phone calls to Dell techs in a rather mislead attempt to get a straight answer out of said Dell techs, I am still the master of all–well, okay, most–things Microsoft. Except Vista, which I will continue to maintain I will never touch for as long as it exists, lest my job require it to actually perform said job. And, since troubleshooting Vista related phone calls don't require me to have a Vista machine in front of me… you can guess just how much time I'll be spent even investigating that possibility. O'course, if you can't, then… clueless art thou. A cluelessness the level of which not even Vista's suckitude can hope to equal. And… that's all manner of very, very bad. Hm. It's 10 to 5, in the morning, I'm not working, this computer's up and running… what am I still doing awake? Someone wanna tell me? Possibly?
Stuck by James at 4:44 AM
And all because of a little CD HP didn't send me. Round 1, external HD goes on the blink. Or so I thought. Turns out Windows just decided it suddenly didn't know what it was. Well, after getting frustrated with that, I decided to go right on ahead and start following these instructions figuring, y'know–it isn't working anyway so how much more can I possibly screw it up? Turns out that fixed it, at least temporarily. But, about… oh I wanna say 3 weeks later, it went kerpoof again. And, in the attempt to see what flopped this time, Windows seemingly forgot where it put the *internal* HD. Brilliant. So, it continuously went through the endless loop of startup, logoff, shutdown, restart. And it decided to play the welcome and logging off sounds repeatedly as it went through, indicating it *could* find at least part of the OS–really, really, anoying… I turned off the speakers after a bit. I screwed with it a bit, then decided to bug Trish and see if she had any ideas–she's damn near my equal so far as this crap goes, so it made sense. She dinked around with it on her own, got about as far as I did, and I think we both kinda just… randomly decided the thing was getting repaired. Call it the last act of a desperate couple of techs who don't want to do a complete format. So now, after the repair–for the record, a repair instalation of Windows on a 40 GB HD with 512 MB RAM should *so* not take 2 hours to complete–we're right back where we started. Except with a working machine. And an apparently missing Internet Explorer–easily cured by the fact it didn't touch Firefox. So, this little piece of crap lives another day, giving me time to complete the downloads I'd like to complete, and possibly email myself the crap I wanna get off this machine–I don't plan on keeping this for much longer, since I can get a faster laptop for cheap, even if this thing lasts another 4 years. And with the new email setup now, prompted largely by the near catastrophy I just narrowly avoided, I can actually do that and not run the risk of not being able to pick it up on the other computer–which, for the curious, is now hooked up and just awaiting me to get around to installing the drivers. What can I say? Vista lasted about a minute and a half before the format process kicked in. But that's in another entry when I don't feel quite so geeky and want to. This one's rambling on long enough about things probably only understood by about 2.5 people, with the rest going "Zuh?!?!?!". So now, I go do stuff. Like… clean. Or sleep. Or laundry. Or watch one of the CSI eppisodes I can now access again, thanks to a now fully functioning external HD. Hm. The possibilities are endless. Should they feel that way on a 4-year-old machine that only barely meets the minimum specs?
Stuck by James at 11:06 PM
Of course, when you do as much in 2 weeks as I've somehow managed to do in *this* 2 weeks, yeah… it's long enough with no updates. Let's see… where best to start. Vell, I could always start with the usual, easy routine of what had me so busy that I couldn't post to the thing. but… well, that'd take up all of about a sentence. 'Cuz, well, when the highlight of your little bit of time away is getting absolutely soked beyond all repair at the ex, there's not that much of an essay to be written about it. Not that it wasn't still fun–anything that results in making Trish's poor husband nearly lose it is entertainment for me. I'm sorry, was that… um, too mean? Ah well, whatcha gonna do? I'm gonna… well, I guess I'm gonna sit here at my desk and wait for a call. That's what I'm gonna do. And… curse the people for whom I work for stiffing me on a computer. Y'see, I took one of these, customised the absolute hell out of it, threw in a few fancy toys just so I have something to do when I'm bored, and had it shipped to my apartment. Where it promptly wouldn't turn on. I figured it'd be the mobo or power supply, but… eh, I got the max on warranty, so I was gonna use it to the fullest. fortunately mister probably outsourced technician from India agreed with me, so it got set up for a return real fast. And will be returned in… about… um… oh, 5-10 days. Not that it bothers me all that much; everything else works. It's currently sitting in my room right now, hooked up to my ever faithful but still slowly dying laptop. Which makes it sound a whole hell of a lot meaner than it actually is. Not that it wasn't mean when I got it… but… eh, that was like 3-4 years ago. It's a kitten now, in comparison to the potential monsterness of some fo today's systems. and the monsterness of the one currently, um, not working. Stupid computers. If it wasn't for the fact their breaking keeps me employed… okay, I'm over it. And now back to our regularly scheduled taking of calls. Which… just for the record, I haven't actually done since I got off lunch. Granted that was 10 minutes ago. But still. When I get home, and if I don't forget, I have politically motivated pictures to display. And a picture that should have been a bit more threatening than it actually is. Not that I'd know anything about picture quality–I'm going by the opinion of the girl holding the camera. Surprisingly, I'll trust her opinion on a lot of things before most people's. Setting myself up for difficulties? We shall see. Granted she *is* family, but so far… she and I are proving to be exceptions to the family rule. In just about every category. They hate it. I love it. It's all good. And… that's why they hardly call me. But, y'know, you don't hear me complaining about that one. If you ever do, please shoot me.
Stuck by James at 1:23 AM
And like anyone on any friday, I find myself very, very reluctant to actually go to work. Is that bad? Survey says… signs are hazy, ask again later. Ah well, at least there's an interest there I might be able to catch for another little conversation before my shift starts. I shall leave the rough translation to your imagination–specifics from me you will not get. Deal.
Stuck by James at 5:43 PM
30 runs scored, and not for the home team. Texas 30, Baltimore… a grand total of… drumroll please… 3. Oh. My. Lord. Not since, and I feel shamed to admit it, Toronto lost 22 to 2 15 years ago did we see something like that. And not since the 1800's before that. Or so history's quoting us, at least. Um, ow. I'd feel bad for Baltimore, except–um, they're in the same division as toronto. And anything bad for them has gotta be good for toronto. If I tell myself that often enough, the same might hold true for the Leafs. But we're not talking about them. Not until October 15th. Or sooner if the withdrawal gets to me.
Stuck by James at 1:09 AM
Because I only have a couple minutes before my shift starts.
And I have managed to make writing this entry last past my having taken my first call. Suhweet. I think.
Stuck by James at 8:24 PM
Weekend starts today. The last time I'll have Sunday-Tuesday off. Starting next week, it'll be Saturday-Monday instead. And… so far, all I know is there will be… probably some coffee, definitely some time spent with the next best thing to a sister, and maybe some beach. Not a bad start to a 3-day weekend. Now if I can figure out just what I plan to do for the other 2 days I'll be in business. Ah, who am I kidding? The rule is simple–whether it's not being home for 3 days, or spending the next 2 sleeping, until Wednesday night at 7:00 when I head out the door, I officially have no job. And it's going to be shweet. Hm. I should be sleeping instead of going out this afternoon. Ah well. I'll sleep plenty when I'm dead.
Stuck by James at 1:50 PM
When I shoved my entire life into boxes and got the hell outa Pembroke way back in December, I acknowledged then that my hockey watching days, unles I wanted to convert to being a Senators fan, were either over or extremely, extremely numbered. Which, naturally, pissed me right the hell off. But, the job was here, the paycheck was here, and considering my schedule now–hello, night shift–it probably wouldn't make much difference anyway. Still, I had thought I was pretty much S.O.L. because the land lord didn't want us putting up satelites and whatnot. That whole securing things to the building thing, and all that jazze. Then I find out I can, just as soon as I go over to the office and sign some stupid piece of paper or something that basicly says I won't try to stick it on the roof. Not that the thought still won't cross my mind to try anyway. So now, it's not what to do since I can't get satelite–it's do I even want to pay the higher price for it, and which semi-monopoly do I want to support? Although, the second question will probably be answered when I figure out which higher price to pay and subsequently answer the first one. At the moment, my choices–neither of them pretty so far–are to give even more money to mother bell, who already has my landline and internet money (Rogers uses Bell's phone lines anyway and I will *not* get cable internet), or Star Choice, who I had living with my parents, but the nasty rumor mill tries to warn me they're expensive as hell. I dunno–I didn't pay the bill the last time I delt with them. Or, I could always just stick with the other evil empire (read: Rogers), and put up with the fact they refuse to offer the channels I'm looking for in Ottawa, which is IMHO about the most ridiculous thing out there–but that's a rant not suited for this non-ranting entry. My choices, of which there are so precious few, are also at the moment… quite crappy. And… quite dependant on me getting off my lazy ass and signing some "I'll behave myself" document. Heh. The idea of me behaving myself is amusing. No snickering, people who know me. That is, unless you're thinking the exact same thing I am–you will never know, for I will never tell. What I will do, though, is… contemplate maybe actually signing that stupid piece of paper. After I make some phone calls. Which I'll do later. Translation: ain't nothing getting done now on that front. So the point of me writing this entry was… oh yeah, right. There was none. Oh well.
Stuck by James at 9:03 AM
… are having just a little tiny bit of a spat right now. It has decided, I will be paying more for my occasional doughnut to go with my coffee. So now, I have to spend the next few months writing an essay on exactly why we'll need to rework our relationship. But first–one last coffee, for old time's sake. Anyone going on a coffee run?
Stuck by James at 10:44 PM
A week's vacation is still not enough. But, 'tis over… and now, back to the usual routine. Anyone with quiz ideas, fire 'em at me. I'm gonna be bored 'til things start picking up around here… at about, oh… 2:00. Ish. Maybe. On the other hand, it *is* July 4th… Okay, I definitely need entertaining.
Stuck by James at 9:43 PM
Yes, I've been busy as hell. Such is the norm when it gets to be, well… any time between about mid-April to about mid-September. Perhaps mid-October if I have a reason to watch the world series. But the reason I've been off the blog wagon lately? I spent the week in Pembroke. Yes, I've lost my mind. It actually wasn't that bad, though–got some niftyness things for my birthday, took mom out for her birthday, discovered a new baseball sim which I currently find myself surprisingly adicted to already (I have 5 teams at the moment), and… just generally had all manner of good times. And when good times are had, good things happen. In this case, the good thing is I didn't shoot my sister-in-law. Wanted to. Really, seriously thought about it. Wished I owned a gun. But didn't. I'm proud of me. And then–back home for me. Where I proceeded to spend all night dinking around on the afore mentioned baseball game, and set up my own league–I was bored and didn't wanna sleep. Sue me. It's really gonna hurt when it's all said and done. But damn, I'll have fun doing it.
And speaking of fun… oh, the plans that are being had for today. Put it this way–I'm leaving here in about an hour at the earliest, and I don't expect to see this place for more than an hour until after tonight's fireworks. And oh, there will be fireworks. There will be loads of fireworks. Which… is actually why I came back. Nothing against Pembroke's display or anything, but–enough's enough already. It doesn't get any better. Time for a different location… a little closer to home. Parliament buildings with cousins it is. If I post again today, it'll be in tomorrow morning's wee hours. But it'll be awesomely fun, and such. And… I've been rambling somewhat pointlessly now for about 10 minutes. Time to go do stuff.
Stuck by James at 7:35 AM
I used to make a regular habbit of taking that ride during my all too frequent visits to Canada's Wonderland, and now, the nastyish rumor mill has gone on to say that, and several related rides at other parks, hit the closed line after an accident that involved one teenaged kid in hospital. Um–oh my. Wow. That's just… not cool. I didn't think there was really anything to cause real injury on a ride like that. It's, maybe, all of 15 seconds of weightlessness and all that jazze. I guess because it's the first I've heard of it it's kinda odd to believe. But, I guess… could happen, hm? Note to self: Think twice before introducing everyone I know to that ride. Or… something. Maybe.
Stuck by James at 12:13 AM
I got this in my email now at least… um… I'm gonna say, uh… twice. But I don't have any family members who'd send me postcards–particularly not from Hong Kong. If the email says whatever.hk, it's not any family of mine. On the bright side, I know how people are managing to deliver viruses and crapola lately. The prospect of a tech support guy finding this in his email is, uh–amusing. Or maybe I'm showing the fact I've been here way too long. That's a distinct possibility. Oh well, whatcha gonna do? I'm gonna go back and pay attention to this call.
Stuck by James at 5:18 AM
So I'm waiting for the local bus that gets me from my transfer point to the office, and this rather nice young lady who just so happens to be taking the same bus pulls up a seat about… oh 5 feet away from me and starts playing a guitar. At first, I figured… okay, it's the beginning of summer–she's probably just doing like those curb-side musicians do and just playing… well, because. But she was good. Nice singing voice, too. Probably someone I met in passing before but eh, still. So I'm just kinda standing there, half listening, and she goes into a version of "Tiny Dancer". I never was really that big of an elton John fan, but trust me, I almost wanted to go back home and pick mine up for the first time in… um… well okay, like 6 or 7 months–I don't have time to play anymore. Sue me. It was a cool distraction before work, though. Who knows? Maybe that whole 6 degrees of seperation theory will come into play here and I'll see her again. Or maybe not. Either way, that was a break from the usual routine from work, and a very pleasant one. If I knew half the other songs she was singing, I might have joined in. Hey–it could happen. I don't suck that badly. Or… so I'm told.
Stuck by James at 12:05 AM
Things like… 5:00 in the morning is the perfect time if you plan to take a walk in Ottawa. The only thing I could hear this morning besides the sound of my own breathing and the birds was… well… more birds. And the occasional car. But nothing like what it'll be at around about midday. Or what it's starting to be right now. Granted, it was only maybe 15 minutes each way, but still. Unless you're walking down Baseline, which on a good day is still insane, it's just… damn peaceful. If there was a park or something along the route I was walking, I could probably kill half the morning there. That is, if I didn't already have plans. But… can of coke gone, blogs hopped, I now go sleep. Who knows? Maybe I'll do it again this afternoon. Or… maybe I'll get some cleaning done. Or maybe I won't. We shall see.
Stuck by James at 5:52 AM
Typical sickly behaviour for most people probably consists of popping a pill or two… or three if you're some people I know, finding a place to flake out/fall over, and not moving until doing so doesn't provoke pain of the head or other such body parts. Which… would make sense. Unless you're me. Apparently, my typical (as in, apparently, since I just started doing so) behaviour is a little more… I wanna say productive, but stupid might be more appropriate. I've developed a slightly off recovery routine which consists primarily of:
And here I am, should be sleeping, definitely should be working, and doing neither. Unless housework counts. Who needs a doctor? This prescription's working awesome so far.
Stuck by James at 3:08 AM
This is what happens when I can't come up with a more creative title. But… who's counting? Ordinarily I'd be up to my eyeballs in calls… but… thank the gods for system outages, now it's "we're updating, call back tomorrow". And I get paid to just sit here and be all kinds of cute. Or… at least… all kinds of lazy. Lazy is good. Coffee is good. I have no coffee. Entertainment is good. And speaking of entertainment…
Recently the following undocumented Windows 95 error codes were found. Microsoft forgot to explain them in the manuals, so they will be spread via the Internet.
WinErr: 001 Windows loaded - System in danger
WinErr: 002 No Error - Yet
WinErr: 003 Dynamic linking error - Your mistake is now in every file
WinErr: 004 Erroneous error - Nothing is wrong
WinErr: 005 Multitasking attempted - System confused
WinErr: 006 Malicious error - Desqview found on drive
WinErr: 007 System price error - Inadequate money spent on hardware
WinErr: 008 Broken window - Watch out for glass fragments
WinErr: 009 Horrible bug encountered - God knows what has happened
WinErr: 00A Promotional literature overflow - Mailbox full
WinErr: 00B Inadequate disk space - Free at least 50MB
WinErr: 00C Memory hog error - More Ram needed. More! More! More!
WinErr: 00D Window closed - Do not look outside
WinErr: 00E Window open - Do not look inside
WinErr: 00F Unexplained error - Please tell us how this happened
WinErr: 010 Reserved for future mistakes by our developers
WinErr: 011 Window open - Do not look outside
WinErr: 012 Window closed - Do not look inside
WinErr: 013 Unexpected error - Huh ?
WinErr: 014 Keyboard locked - Try anything you can think of.
WinErr: 018 Unrecoverable error - System has been destroyed. Buy a new one. Old Windows licence is not valid anymore.
WinErr: 019 User error - Not our fault. Is Not! Is Not!
WinErr: 01A Operating system overwritten - Please reinstall all your software. We are terribly sorry.
WinErr: 01B Illegal error - You are not allowed to get this error. Next time you will get a penalty for that.
WinErr: 01C Uncertainty error - Uncertainty may be inadequate.
WinErr: 01D System crash - We are unable to figure out our own code.
WinErr: 01E Timing error - Please wait. And wait. And wait. And wait.
WinErr: 01F Reserved for future mistakes of our developers.
WinErr: 020 Error recording error codes - Additional errors will be lost.
WinErr: 042 Virus error - A virus has been activated in a dos-box. The virus, however, requires Windows. All tasks will automatically be closed and the
virus will be activated again.
WinErr: 079 Mouse not found - A mouse driver has not been installed. Please click the left mouse button to continue.
WinErr: 103 Error buffer overflow - Too many errors encountered. Additional errors may not be displayed or recorded.
WinErr: 678 This will end your Windows session. Do you want to play another game?
WinErr: 683 Time out error - Operator fell asleep while waiting for the system to complete boot procedure.
WinErr: 815 Insufficient Memory - Only 50.312.583 Bytes available
Exposed! Now the mystery of the later operating systems has been uncovered! Too bad they didn't do much better with the ridiculousness of the OS's until XP. Ahem… *cough cough* I'm getting paid to say the exact opposite. But if you're reading this blog, you probably weren't on the phone with me as a Dell employee so… um… deal with it.
Yes, I was bored. Again… blame the fact I can't actually help people with 95% of what they call me about. Go tool outage!
Stuck by James at 4:51 AM
A 59-year-old blind pilot manages to fly half way around the world in nearly 2 months? Um… yeah. Suddenly, me doing tech support at Dell doesn't seem quite so exceptional. Not that I thought of it as such, but hey, someone out there did. And now, they have this headline to compare it to. I sure as hell didn't make headlines… thank god. I don't have a face for TV. I should update more often. This looks pathetic when it's been over a week since actual content was posted here.
Stuck by James at 1:38 PM
As some of you know, and most of you don't particularly care, my brother joined the military a few months back. And, as I said then and continue to say now, lord have mercy on this and every other country–they let that man control things that go boom. Okay, requisit jab at my brother aside, we went to see his and my cousin's graduation cerimony thing in Quebec yesterday. Well, okay, so we actually went there on Wednesday but the thing wasn't until yesterday. Sue me. So now he and my cousin, both of whom I would absolutely not want to be near if firearms are involved, are officially soldiers in the Canadian armed forces–also known as those guys with the 30-year-old equipment. The military isn't anything new for us. I mean, I have two uncles and a father who were in the military for upwards of 19-20 years, and one uncle who's still there–he's one of the two, just so we're all on the same page over here. But there's something a little different when you actually get to witness two people being recognised as actually being part of the forces after their training. Or maybe the difference is that for the first time in my life I find myself wondering if municipal roads can actually *be* health hazards. I will point out right now, if ever you find yourself driving through Montreal, get out and walk. You'll actually get there in under 3 hours. *And* your body will thank you. Some of those roads I swear to you felt like a 20-year-old rolercoaster I decided on my last trip to Canada's Wonderland I've subjected myself to for the last goddamn time. I find myself more and more convinced, too, that the sooner Quebec seperates, the better. That topic of conversation actually came up while we were there, and it was sort of decided amongst all parties–Quebec is done. It will seperate, and it will subsequently be cut off from all federally provided funding, services and other projects. The Blocke Quebecois will also be disbanded as a federal party. And then we'll all sit back and watch the natural disaster that'll be the result. Hey, it might as well… I already felt like a foreigner for the 24 hours or so I was actually there. Why not?
Stuck by James at 5:34 PM
I've been off the phone for the last like… 5-10 minutes, conveniently 20 minutes before my shift ends, to update my timecard for lack of a better thing to call it. I've no intention of going back on the phone, and even if I did… I leave in 5 minutes. I'm so not getting a call between now and then. I love my job… way too much. Is that a bad thing? Hm… I think not. Correct me if I'm wrong, o'course.
Stuck by James at 7:53 AM
There's a whole hell of a lot to update yall on, and I have no idea when my next call's coming in, so let's see how much I can cram into a small piece of downtime.
*****************
I never noticed teenagers were quite that whiny when I was one. And, well, I know for a fact I wasn't the slightest–I was too busy not really caring. I bused to work last week, like I almost always do, and wouldn't you know, some chick decided to pick that particular night to complain about the bus schedule, and how the bus was taking too long to get here. Keeping in mind it was about 20 minutes at most. Now, just for comparison, had it been, say, sunday–or, say, good friday (rant on that one to come later)–there'd of been an hour, count it, an hour, between buses going where she needed to be. And I, personally, did *not* want to listen to her cry about it for any longer than I absolutely under any circumstance had to. It was bad enough the bus she was taking just so happened to be the bus I was taking. First thing that came to mind: call a wambulance. I run that route daily–get over it. I did.
*****************
Okay, next up. Parents who want to name their daughter 'Metallica' (link to come when I get back to the computer that has it)? What. The. Fuck.?!?! I'm sorry, but um, ignoring the fact that's almost off the wall as naming your kid 'Legacy' (I've seen it), their excuse for doing it is pretty flimsy. "The name suits her" and "There's already someone with that for a middle name" wouldn't fly with me. It doesn't make sense… it's like me saying I should be allowed to let my 6-year-old drive because people do it in Texas. And your point, exactly, would be… what? One jumps off a bridge, they all jump off? News flash, folks. "Because they're doing it" is what gets kids to smoke. I almost question their parenting skills at this point.
*****************
Why, oh why, dear lord, do you insist on surrounding me with idiots? It's just not fair. People in Ottawa have got to learn what "I'm blind, not an invalid" means. No, fellow passengers who apparently don't know better, "I know where I'm going" does not mean "Please, grab me by the arm and attempt to drag me off the bus". My trip home on Friday morning velry nearly resulted in someone losing their arm because, put plainly and simply, they didn't listen. I don't like people who don't listen. They make my head do hurty things. Hurty things are bad for me.
*****************
It's April. It's baseball season. It should not be raining on Tuesday, snowing on friday, and freezing most the week. Spring has sprung, for crying out loud. Winter's on vacation. Extended. Preferably permanently. People get all uptight about global warming, I say bring it on. No freezing while waiting for buses. Suh. Weet. How can anyone be upset with that? You're all on crack, you are. All of you. I know none of you. None. Environmental issues be damned. I'm sick of freezing. MWA!
*****************
Disclaimer: If you buy any of this crapola, you belong in the category of moron. I will personally make sure you get there. And send a public farewell with you.
Stuck by James at 1:50 AM
I always thought the walk from my place to work and back was actually kinda nice. Even when it was upwards of -25 degrees and I'd spend 15 minutes after getting here bitching to no end about the cold. But it actually *is* rather enjoyable, in spite of that. Perhaps one of the most enjoyable things about working here. I'm all for just randomly going for a walk wherever… I mean, it beats the hell out of sitting at home watching TV, and it's apparently doing me some good. But until this week or so, I've always been tossing around the idea of cabbing it instead. Of course, taking the bus and the resulting necessary walk to the office wins out always anyway, both for the cost and… well, because I'm doing something. Today, though, I actually enjoyed my walk home this morning. At least, I think I did–by the time I got home I was probably too whiped to really care. I know for sure, though, it was relaxing making the trip to work tonight. Not for any one particular reason… except that it's actually above freezing, and I'm not spending longer putting layers of clothing on than actually getting out the door. It probably hellps that for the second time this year I was able to open every window in the place. Summer's fast approaching, and that means lots of baseball, pizza, caffinated cold beverages, and leaving that apartment as wide open as I possibly can without making it a security risk. How can you possibly go wrong with a plan like that? Too bad it's only for a couple months out of the year. But, what're ya gonna do? I'm sure not complaining.
Stuck by James at 9:07 PM
The shocking discovery that people pay way too freaking much for rent in Ontario. I mean, I probably don't have much room to complain–I can still aford the not quite modest amount I pay on a monthly basis to the folks who keep a roof over my head. But still. Without getting into specifics, I make per month more than enough to get me by on a day-to-day basis. But that having been said, nearly half what I make per month is sucked up within 2 weeks when the rent's due. Again, I'm not complaining, but if I didn't have a job that pays as well as it is, I'd still be living in Pembroke. Why? Because rent anywhere else is freaking insane. Hell, rent in Pembroke borders on insane some places. If you're lucky, in Ottawa, you can probably get a room for $300/week (I've seen it). Per *week*. That's less per month than I pay and considerably more than any sane person should pay. You almost have to hook up with a real money maker just to get your foot in the door if you can't land a job that isn't in fast food or retail. Not that I want some 18-year-old with a Mcdonald's paycheck and a partygoer personality like I've never seen, but hey, I've been there. I thought about moving out a couple years ago, except… yep, you guessed it. On what I was making, rent per month would kill me. But that's a whole other rent I might get into on a day off when I can devote the whole day to writing said rant. Suffice it to say, though, if they want people to actually be independant, and be contributing members of society, they really should make it a bit easier for people to do so. But then, I never claimed to be able to understand the government. I just pick certain aspects of it and tear into them. Frequently.
Stuck by James at 8:55 PM
Enough ranting for one week. Or until the next time the village misplaces an idiot. Now, we have the just plain unusual. Giving a dog CPR. Now, I wouldn't wanna do that with any of the dogs my parents are currently taking care of (I won't say own, because one of them is mine)–to be blatantly honest, they got breath that'd kill ya. But I guess bad breath is still better than no breath, so it doesn't surprise me all that much that someone's already gone and done that jto a 10-month-old. I dunno. Dogs are kinda like some people's children except better behaved, but… still. There are just some things I won't do. At least not without a nose plug. And that be one of 'em.
Stuck by James at 9:43 PM
A whole shitload's happened since I last had time to breathe, let alone post here, so I'll try to squeeze it all into the half hour I have to write before my shift starts. Lessee… where to start.
There was more, but I forget. If I think of it later it'll get posted. Maybe.
Stuck by James at 10:28 AM
Yes, I know, calendar-wise it's Tuesday. But so far as my work schedule's concerned, today be Friday, folks. And it didn't come a moment too soon… this week has been completely and utterly insane. And it's still not over yet. I start work again in 10 minutes, and I'm expecting to have just as much relative overall insanity to go through. If I'm lucky, I may get 15 minutes to half an hour today to breathe… between phone calls, I mean. When I get home and subsequently have more time to actually do things, I'll summarize my week. Which translates to there will be an essay. And now, I get my crap together 5 minutes before my shift starts.
Stuck by James at 10:50 AM
I'd of thought, at least from a general perspective anyway, people tended to stick to commenting to the more recently posted entries, unless you're a spammer/troll/idiot. So why's an entry I posted in June just now getting a response from the very people it was aimed at? Not that I'm complaining, really–it *was*, after all, exactly what I expected. But really. Oh, and, I personally like this one.
We have long since left our days of ES behind and stand on our own as an inpendant and continuingly succesful game. I do not see the need to drag up old blood.
I wonder if she even bothered to figure out exactly how old that entry is. Probably not… she just heard someone was criticising her MUD, and thought she'd set the record straight. Welp, it's still crooked, but I'll let you have your delusions. I do just have to point out something, though. If you're gonna try rubbing in the fact a place shuts down, it might actually do you a fair bit of good to know the details. Like, say… when it shut down–no, contrary to the one person's comment in the above posted entry, it wasn't in June. But like I said, I'll let you have your delusions. Just don't be too surprised when reality slaps you in the face. I expect another predictable response to this entry in roughly 6 months. And by then, I'll have forgotten what in the hell you're going on about. But oh well.
Stuck by James at 10:04 AM
So in an attempt to stop that obvious plot in its tracks, the bastards have gone and developed ways to put caffeine in baked goods. Go for a doughnut and coffee, and only need the doughnut. Hey, and it'll probably be cheaper for you, too. I promise, whether I give up coffee or not, I will never give up caffeine.
Stuck by James at 10:34 PM
It's damn near 1 in the morning, I technically don't *have* to be in bed for another hour, and I'm bored as hell. Not to mention I need something to read during down time at work… and hardly anyone on my current llist of blogs actually blogs regularly anymore! … Not that I really have all that much room to talk lately but we're not touching that with a 50-foot pole. Besides nothing exciting happens around here anymore.
Speaking of work, though, for the first time since my first day I actually managed to be considered off as of 11:00, as opposed to the typical 11:30, 12, or 12:30 that's been the norm. I'd actually forgotten what it felt like to be off when I'm supposed to be.. pretty sad considering it'd only been, like, 3 or 4 days. It was nice, though, to just get home before midnight (like I'm busing in -27 degrees C temperatures) and actually relax for a bit, rather than get through the door, get crap ready for the next day, then head for bed. Hm… I get paid this week. Rent comes out next week. Crap. Well, I tried. And I've run out of things to say. Dammit people gimme something to read!
Stuck by James at 12:56 AM
I'd originally planned to skip breakfast. But with free coffee and doughnuts floating around, ya think that'll last long? Hell no. These people with whom I work are awesome. And… hey, I even get paid today. Suhweet.
Stuck by James at 7:05 AM
It's all about the olympics in Canada in 3 years. So it probably shouldn't surprise anyone that one of the best Canadian rock bands is donating 50 cents from every concert ticket sold (by the way, they'll sell a boatload of tickets) to a program for Canada's athletes. In a way, this just makes me wanna go take in a concert just to toss my money into the pot. Getting to hear them live doesn't hurt either. I did that last in 2004, when they were touring to promote their then newest album. So I'm overdue. Anyone wanna come?
Stuck by James at 3:19 PM
I sat here and listened to a recording of a phone call wherein the guy that called in was just plain trying to bate the tech agent into an argument, and all I could think is "I know at least one person who does that for fun". Fortunately she doesn't own a Dell computer. Unfortunately, I still pity whoever she gets a hold of when her laptop goes caput. Those people amuse me, and I can deal with them way too well… but someone's gonna end up in tears. Maybe that's the amusing part.
Stuck by James at 1:57 PM
If you're me, and you live in this apartment, then at least Sunday is. That's exactly what I spent the last 2 hours or so doing (I'm being nice, it felt longer). But, it was still nice to actually have the weekend to myself, and get some time to just shut down for a bit. Friday night was dinner and a movie at my cousin's place, and yesterday was pretty much the same with the exception that yesterday I also borrowed her washing machine. Hey, it beat the fuck out of paying a buck and a half per machine per load, thankyaverymuch. When you take into account that, since I moved up here, this is the first weekend I actually had where I was off, and not busier than I would be at work, all told I'd say it wasn't bad in the slightest. Of course, any weekend wherein an afternoon can be killed shooting the shit over coffee can't be any less than awesome. Anyone who disagrees can move on to the next blog. 
The place still probably isn't entirely as clean as I'd like it to be, but… it's definitely clean. So says the stack of dishes sitting on my kitchen counter right now. I love that no matter how busy a week I end up having, I'm always guaranteed at the least two days off with which to play catchup with everything that falls behind while I'm running my ass off. Two days may not always be enough, but for the moment, I sure as hell won't complain. Except, maybe, that they don't pay me to catch up on things around here. But, can't have it all.
Stuck by James at 5:47 PM
Okay, before they shuffle me off to listen to calls, I just wanna point out that this is perhaps one of the most unusual stories I've seen in, well, ages. A 9-year-old girl with the mentality of a 3-month-old is being medically limited in her height and weight. Reading the article, I can definitely agree with what her parents are thinking, really–sure, so she'll live until she's 70, 80 or whatever. But it's not gonna make any difference to her–she'll still probably keep the 3-month-old mentality. They say the treatments they're putting her through are mostly for her benefit, but truth be told, it's probably just as much for theirs–I wouldn't wanna be carrying a 20-year-old girl around because she definitely can't be walking on her own. Can't really sympathise/feel sorry for her because, well, like she knows, cares, or even realizes what's going on. I dunno. There's a whole ethics discussion behind this that I don't wanna get into. The way I see it, they're doing what they think is best for her, and it's probably just as good for them, so I say more power to them. The kid has a right to a healthy, long life, sure, and if this is what her doctors believe will give her that, then… that's really all that matters, no?
Stuck by James at 12:15 PM
I've said it before, and probably on here, but it deserves being said again. It's a *really* good thing it's just me living here–I couldn't come up with the time to clean up after anyone else. I got home again today at about quarter to 6, or there about, which is pretty much the usual for me now. That gives me just over 3 hours to go through a to do list of varying lengths depending on the day and what I didn't get done the day before, and then it's time for bed, and we do it all over again the next day. Don't get me wrong, I like what I'm doing–at least I'm never bored, but if I had roommates, knowing my luck they'd be lazier than I ever used to be, and well, like I said I just don't have time for that. My day starts between 3:30 and 4 usually, except for this morning but we'll just ignore that because well, I was dead tired coming on noon. And unless it's a weekend, my day ends at about 9. I dunno when it'll end on the weekend, because I haven't actually had a weekend to myself since I moved up here, what with Christmas related things having gone on.
Ottawa's bus system's apparently running some kind of new schedule, so I'm left to figure out a whole new set of drivers. And I was just getting used to the newbie with the accent, too. Ah well, these ones at least give the appearance of being fairly decent, so we'll see. I'm usually an extreme critic of people in general, so I give it maybe 24 hours and I'll have an entry brewing about how brainless at least one of them is. But for now, they seem fairly decent. One even borders on cool… impressive for a bus driver in this city. He will never actually *be* cool, though, until he can magicly remove the need to wake up insanely early to get to a less insanely early but still insanely early shift.
I probably shouldn't complain too much about the shift I've been stuck with for training–I mean, yeah it's early, okay… fucking early, but then again, I get home between 5 and 6 too. If I had a typical 8-5 shift, I wouldn't get through the door 'til about 7-ish, give or take… maybe closer to 8. Suddenly, a quarter to 7 shift isn't so horrible. But I still don't wanna wake up at 3:30 to get there. As I've said often, I love the job, I hate the shift. But I should probably clarify… I like the shift, I hate needing to take a bus to that shift. But, I bus, so I shall now move my lazy self to bed, so the wake-up call doesn't kill me. And… hey, I actually managed not to jump all over the spectrum of thought in this entry, as opposed to the one at dark o'clock this morning. Go me.
Stuck by James at 8:39 PM
No, this isn't going to be one of those regular occurances wherein I blog about things 2 or more days after they happen, or at quarter after 2 in the morning. Okay, scratch the second one. That one's already a regular occurance. The new years party was awesome. A little dancing, a little alcohol, a lot of good food… all that was missing was a very special person, but unfortunately you just can't drive from BC to here and expect to make any kind of short-term appointments. I did have plenty of fun, though, even if for all the alcohol that was consumed I still felt sober. I dunno what they were serving, but oh my god if it got any more watered down it wouldn't be alcoholic. Aside from that, though, the week I spent in Pembroke, some of which got blogged about already, was… eh… so-so. It was nice spending Christmas and new years with my parents, but I coulda done without the sister-in-law. And probably so could they, to be honest, but eh, 'tis life, no? Only having to work for a day last week and getting paid for the whole week was rockin. And I'll get some nifty little $$$ for not working yesterday either. You can tell I've never actually been employed before… the idea of getting paid to not work amuses me. And… hm. I'm a lot more all over the place with this entry than I'd thought I'd be this early. That's not good. I go wake myself up now.
Stuck by James at 2:14 AM
Surprisingly, it doesn't really involve all too much drinking. I mean, yes there will be the not being sober. But this is me we're talking about. There's apparently some form of a party going on on Sunday, and I fully intend to be there this time. Unlike the last few years, wherein I ended up not going for lack of a date, this year I just don't particularly care. I'm going for the food, dammit. If I meet someone, I do. If not, then hopefully the food's good. And this keyboard is pissing me off, so I'm done. Stupid bloody parents' computer…
Stuck by James at 3:55 PM
Yes, I've been absent from blogland. I blame a weekend spent with the Bradie bunch. I thought I'd have time to actually pop on here a minute or two, but… heh, that ain't happening. Go to Pembroke for a small vacation, and wind up with a list of things to do longer than both my arms. In short, uberly uber insane. King of the uber insane. I'd go into more detail, but I only have like 15 minutes to myself here. I will say this much, though. If I see another turkey, it'll be way too soon. Maybe I'll have time later to elaborate on it… or I'll just stick a quiz up here. For now, though? Back to being lectured for me.
I've been hammered by comment spam, apparently. I'll deal with it later.
Stuck by James at 9:21 AM
I'll just get home at the crack of midnight instead. But, I'll take it… why? 'Cuz I likes my sleep, and 3:30 in the morning sucks uber royally. I'll be done my training completely by February, give or take… then they'll probably be all curel at me and make me get up early again. But, for now, I'll take it. If only it started next week…
Stuck by James at 9:13 AM
Training officially gets underway this morning. In fact, I leave here in… about half an hour to get there. And, somewhat surprisingly, at least to me anyway, I'm not as nervous about being there as I was yesterday. Not as excited either, but… still, not as nervous. Now, I think, I'm more nervous about screwing up the new route I have to take, since the bus I just yesterday actually figured out doesn't run as early as I need it to, so now we get to do all manner of improvising. I wonder if I can end up just bumbing a lift off someone tomorrow. It'll be cheaper, me thinks.
Stuck by James at 4:53 AM
And it only took me a small eternity. Seeing as it's now 5:00 in the morning and I've not yet been to bed, I'll try not to make this entry too painfully long. That said, though, I do have one thing to say right quick. Being a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, while living in Ottawa, is quite possibly the only bad thing about living in Ottawa. And only because I've yet to see the Leafs actually play a game since I moved here. Not that it matters really, since the games I missed seem to have been wasted efforts anyway–thanks loads, Mike, for briefly catching me up on the train wrecks that were the last 3 games or so. Hm. I start work in… not counting today, 3 days. And there is a chance I will freeze my ass off on my first day. This, compounded by a 4:30 wake-up call on said first day (by the way, uber le damn!), does not make for a truely wonderful beginning to my working experience. But, on the bright side, I get paid to sit there and listen to someone go on and on about things that probably won't even need to be talked about for another month or so, when they actually, you know, become an issue. So, I'll take it. Hmmm… I had more to say, but after banging my head against a wall dealing with my internet people, and staying up until now getting everything working the way it needs to be, I need sleep. And then, I need to go look over certain individuals' blogs I have missed reading over the last week or so. There will be at least one rant later today, that's a guarantee. But for now, I'm moved in, I'm mostly unpacked save the, like, one or two boxes sitting in my closet, and now I actually have my interweb. And now, sleep. Then cleaning. Then potentially laundry. Then ranting. Or maybe ranting then laundry. Or ranting then cleaning. I'll figure it out later. G'night 'n things!
Stuck by James at 5:00 AM
In the span of two days, I have managed to get every single thing I needed out of the way, and in record time. Which… actually explains my rather lacking blogness for the majority of those two days. And now, paperwork is in the hands of the Dell folks, rental applications are secured, checks made out, final rounds made to make sure everything's packed, and my parents' computer nearly updated. As I write this, a moving van is outside being loaded, and in less than an hour, I shall be Ottawa bound, a one-way trip to a whole new level of oh my god I've lost my fucking mind. And, on that lovely note, I shall be back with a vengance in very nearly a week's time. You are not allowed to miss me!
Stuck by James at 10:41 AM
As we do every year, a good portion of my family–that being a couple of my aunts, a few cousins, my mom, me, and now my future sister-in-law–took in the traditional Pembroke parade tonight, the first time in a long time they actually held the parade in the evening. Not that it was anything too noteworthy, other than the change in time… there was the occasional interesting float, but for the most part, the parade was a little bit on the meh side. I might have been better off going to the one in Ottawa, but of course, that was last week. And there was only one band to start off the thing. Even when compared to last year's parade, this one was a bit disappointing. Also disappointing, though, was that it was the first or second time my sister-in-law had actually been to one of these, and she's lived here as long as or longer than me. Although, I think it's more disappointing that the first or second one she's ever been to sucked so bad as this one. On the bright side, though, at least the parade's suckage wasn't compounded by a loss of feeling in the extremeties, as most often is the case. I just wish that did something for the actual enjoyment factor.
Stuck by James at 11:41 PM
The US has apparently finally wisened up, it looks like. Either that or Slashdot is misinforming everyone. Apparently, you are now able, and legally permitted, to break the software lock your cell phone has when you buy it through a specific provider. As if I haven't said it enough already–it's about goddamn time. Now, I'm wondering how far behind that Canada's gonna be. My guess is not very, but… it's Canada. Don't quote me on that. Ah well, on the up side, though, it does kind of reinforce my opinion on most/all things copyright and restrictive. Finally I don't need to switch providers to get a cell phone I actually like! Um… not that I care about the latest in camera phones, but eh.
Stuck by James at 12:31 PM
It's bloody amazing the things a person can find out when they're not actually doing the work. A friend of mine (that's how you shall be referred to on here 'til you tell me whether or not I can use your actual name, hun, sorry) was doing an essay for a college english course, and the topic was blindness, and whether or not it should be considered a disability. Now, admitedly part of me kinda suspects she picked that topic because she had a bit of an unfair advantage, but hey, whatever works.
Well, in going through the essay with her, kinda helping her to correct it before she handed it in today, I discovered something a little surprising, and a little disturbing. In the span of maybe a week, she'd not only found a fair bit of information I knew about and used on a daily basis, but she uncovered a few things I pretty much had no clue about. Now, I dunno if that says more about her research abilities or my questionable ones, but… still. The essay must have been a good one, if it managed to teach a blind person a thing or two about blindness, no? It was *her* essay, for *her* english class, and I think in some ways, I ended up learning almost as much as she did. That's not fair! I haven't been in college now for damn near 3 years…. I dun wanna start now! LOL
And now, I go finish getting ready to go to a cousin's birthday party… *mutter mutter mutter* 20 freakin' years old, and she's still been reminding everyone for the last week and a half that her birthday's today. Did she expect 50 screaming kids and a birthday party, perhaps? I guess I aughta make a showing, anyway. Since it sounds like not many people are gonna be doing that. Mm, maybe I'll get lucky and at least one other person will have the hockey game on that I'll be missing otherwise. Why couldn't her birthday be on Tuesday…
Stuck by James at 4:20 PM
I've mentioned before I need furniture for the apartment. There isn't anyone in my family who isn't aware of that. I mean, they've all seen my stuff. I can fill a bedroom just fine, but… heh, I've never had my own place before, so filling the rest of it will require some creativity. Or a mother looking for a bar fridge. My parents bought me a minifridge last Christmas, because… well, I buy a lot of my own stuff, and if it goes in the family fridge, it's lible to get eaten before I can get to it–that was true mostly when my brother was home. But, since the place I'm moving into comes with a fridge, and there will be no brother to eat what I don't get to, I have no use for the one sitting on the other side of the room as of once I move out. I've offered to give it to my parents before, since you know, they're the ones who bought the thing for me and it'd save them going out and buying a second fridge to put in their bar when they've got one that won't be used in 2 weeks anyway. And now, we've decided on a trade, of sorts. She gets the fridge, and I get a new kitchen set. Can't complain with that one, really. I mean, still gotta sit on the floor to watch TV, but at least I've got a place to eat! And one less thing I have to spend my money on. I love my mom.
Stuck by James at 2:14 PM
On the bright side, though, those of you who actually thought I'd be offline for upwards are a month will be pleased–or, perhaps, not–to know it'll only be a week or less. So, yay small fortunes! Or… something. I went into Ottawa yesterday, as I threatened to, and finally got to the signing of the lease. Of course, then we didn't stop there, so spent an hour or two in the afternoon doing a little browsing. Hey, I hate shopping as much as the next person, but I needed furniture. Still do, in fact. So shush already. And somewhere in the insanity that is productiveness, I set up my cable instalation and whatnot, so I *will* have TV the night I move in. Which means I will absolutely not be missing Saturday's hockey game. Unless the bastards put a Senators game on instead, at which point someone will be cursed out to no end. I meant to write this entry last night, but by the time I got home, got everything sorted out, and all that, I was about ready to pass out. So, I kinda half-assed my way through the last entry, shot the shit with a couple people over IM, and then promptly passed out. And now, I go make, find, or invent food. Then finish setting things up for the move. Yay not having a shortage of things to do.
Stuck by James at 12:41 PM
Assuming I can scrounge up the $$$ for it, that is, this is something I could find a use for. Start moving some of my MP3's off this computer… or, hell, just stick the screenreader I use on the thing so I can start fixing other people's computers without having to reauthorize. 'Cuz I just hate that. Merry Christmas to me…
Stuck by James at 8:09 PM
And I should so be in bed by now, but I'm just… well, sleep isn't happening any time soon. And no, it's not because of the half empty can of coke sitting to my left. Although I suspect that probably won't exactly serve to be a sleep aid. So what has me up at this otherwise ungodly hour? Well, for once, it's not talking to a certain very interesting young lady (more on that when I figure out exactly what's going on). Rather, I did in fact get stuff faxed off. And then I got dragged around the mall for an hour or so while my apparent future sister-in-law (by the way, damn) looked at wedding related things. Then we went to another store, where I started pricing out kitchen sets and the like–yes, I'm going to need furniture. Anyone willing to contribute to the "fill James's apartment" fund can do so at their own leasure. I accept all forms of major creditcards, checks, money orders, cash… or you can just buy me things! *nods* 
So, we're looking at one of said kitchen sets, when my cell phone rings. Now, this is like 7:30 or 8:00 at night, mind you, so I'm thinking it's nothing too terribly important–just someone wanting to shoot the shit, that kinda thing–and am about ready to tell them I'll talk to them probably online when I get home. It's a good thing I didn't, though, because it was the phone call that pretty much cieled the deal. I am now the proud rentee of an apartment in Ottawa. The lease gets signed this Friday. Two weeks from then is moving day. And in between now and then, I still have a whole shitload of things to do. I may decide at some point to probably pilfer one of Stacie's ideas, and throw a to-do list up here at some point, just so I don't end up forgetting something. O'course, that doesn't guarantee I won't forget anyway, but at least the next time I look at this thing then I can soundly kick myself for forgetting, and then go about the business of remedying that situation. I'm going to have quite the busy couple weeks… and it's all gonna start tomorrow. And the once half empty can of coke is now empty, which means I should be attempting sleep. Good gawd, the prospect of having something akin to a routine is gonna kill me.
Stuck by James at 1:16 AM
Ordinarily, I don't really pay much mind to the whole rememberence day thing. I mean, I know its importance and everything, but I suppose until recently, it just… never really made much of a difference from where I sat. So what's changed? Well, before, the only people I might possibly have known who I felt deserved this day, I never actually met. One of those was my great grandfather, who died just after the first world war–to put it in perspective, my grandfather was a kid, then. So needless to say I never knew the guy. My dad and one of my uncles are former millitary. I have an uncle who's still in the millitary, and currently serving in Afghanistan. My brother and one of my cousins are going through basic training, and they could end up in Afghanistan or elsewhere. I won't say that bothers me–they said themselves that's one of the reasons they joined–but it does give a day like this a whole new meaning for me. Although, I'd be lying if I said some small part of me didn't hope one of these ceremonies isn't all we're gonna have left of either of them.
Stuck by James at 12:55 PM
And to that end, perhaps someone who randomly happens to read this thing will have an opinion… do I go Gravatar, or do I just leave things as is? I'm leaning towards leaving things as is, but then again, I *am* lazy–that, everyone's well aware. The opinion box, better known as comments, are wide open. However, anyone who comes back with some response akin to 'stop being so damn lazy' will find themselves hunted and summarily shot. Or at the least ignored. You have been warned.
Stuck by James at 11:54 PM
On one hand, I'm mildly encouraged by the fact I'm now exactly where I was almost 2 weeks ago, but on the other, I was kind of expecting to be a little farther along in the proceedings by now. But, I feel a little more confident, at least, in saying I'll actually be able to start this time in December as opposed to the before speculated January. Thank the gods for the huge rental listing that appears to be the Ottawa Citizen. At the moment, I have 3 definite places to look at on Monday, and 2 that I'm hoping will call me back today, to make it 5 in all. I'm leaning dangerously close to confirming that December start date with Dell, too, so the sooner that gets done, over with and settled, the sooner we can get that going. Damn, do I ever feel accomplished. That didn't take much at all.
Stuck by James at 12:20 PM
I've been quiet on here for a very good reason. It's been dead quiet around here the last couple days. I can't even find anything ridiculously amusing to laugh at on here in the news… although, if I wanted to temporarily lower my standards I'm sure I could come up with something. Still trying to find a start date for this little attempt at a job of mine that won't cause me to go completely and totally insane, still trying to find a place to live, still getting irritated at the lack of any real progress with either, you know the drill. And all that whilst making sure someone else doesn't go completely and totally insane thanks to her own problems. By the time everything gets set up on this end, I'm gonna need a small vacation… LOL And now, back to trying to get some answers. And such.
Stuck by James at 2:46 PM
And not for the reasons you'd think, either. He showed up at the house of commons, got booed by the Block Quebecois (who cares about them anyway?), then proceeded to dash any hopes he might have a differing opinion on politics. Instead, he openly admited to being a Harper supporter. Granted, it sounds like it's just on the whole support for the troops thing, but… seriously. "I support Steven Harper" are 4 words I did not want to hear out of the mouth of the man who's opinions I mostly respect. Ah well, no one's perfect. Even he must be allowed his mistakes, I suppose.
Stuck by James at 6:44 PM
If Raycroft had been in net for the Florida game, in which we soundly got spanked, he probably wouldn't have been named one of this week's 3 stars. But, he wasn't, and he was. Ah, I do love the ins and outs of the hockey world. And now, Raycroft has his own personal 3 game winning streek going on. Will he make it 4 tonight? Will the Leafs make it 2 in a row for the second time this season? Well, if not, I won't be the only one uncovering the dictionary of 4-letter words, I'm sure.
Stuck by James at 4:02 PM
Well, that day has come. My parents will have dropped my brother off by now, and are on their way back home. And this house is going to be an aweful lot quieter for the next week or two. And then, a hell of a lot quieter after that as I move to Ottawa in preparation for starting work. Blah, seems just 6 months ago I was complaining about my lack of employment, and his ability to get himself fired from just about any job he chooses. What a bloody difference 6 months make, I tell you. It almost makes me wonder where we'll all be in another 6. Well, okay, so I know where I'll be in another 6. It's everyone else who's the questionmark. Okay, one less thought to cross my mind, then.
Stuck by James at