I graduated highschool for a reason, and it wasn't to go to college.
The biggest monopoly on Canadian telephone and DSL service is apparently set to become the biggest US owned Canadian monopoly. Thanks largely to a ruling courtesy a Quebec judge. There are no words for this. Except, that is, a thank you. You see, I didn't think the government could sell us out to the US all on its own. Thanks for the help, moron.
Stuck by James at 11:37 AM
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
As I told the whacky bus driver this morning–yes, that one was behind the wheel again–it's minus too damn cold outside. I heard in the neighbourhood of -23. I don't care. It's still minus too damn cold. I wanna go back home and to bed. Because bed is awesomely good.
Stuck by James at 9:31 AM
Fixing apple's. What's worse than fixing Apple's mistakes? Fixing that which they already know about. For the record, I never want to get that involved with anything Apple related again. And this from a guy who's got a well documented hatred of Microsoft. But at least their software doesn't break everything else when you're installing a supposedly updated version. Good job, dipsticks.
Stuck by James at 4:12 PM
It's a sad, sad day when you work for a computer company, doing tech support, and your computer goes on the blink. Mine's already developed this nasty habbit of restarting for no real apparent reason. And now while making someone pay me to fix their brokenness, my computer started to again display its brokenness by half freezing up on me all over the place. There was much of the suckitude. I wonder if they'll let me bring in the beast from home. At least I know that one works.
Stuck by James at 5:25 PM
Another Friday morning which feels more like a Tuesday morning. And another freakishly cold morning. Thank you wind chill for making -12 roughly translate to -19. And now you can go right to hell. And now they're threatening me with snow. I thought I evicted you yesterday? I'll say again, winter sucks.
Stuck by James at 9:44 AM
Well, actually, I despise Microsoft. But Office 2007 for specific reasons. Primarily, it should not take me, who knows his way pretty much around Office products for the most part like the back of my hand, an hour and a half to figure out where the hell they put this or that setting that in the end it takes me 30 seconds or less to change. Nor should it stick document templates in easily corruptable files that it takes a small army to locate. And also takes 30 seconds to fix (read: delete). Microsoft, you suck. That is all.
Stuck by James at 6:01 PM
I made the stupid mistake back in December of showing up to work when I had plenty of warning about a "significant" snow storm that later turned out to be hell, blanketed in white crap. This morning, Environment Canada has released a statement about two potential major storms, one from Alberta and one from Texas, that will quite probably merge and become yet another "significant" snow storm. Now, I don't have a problem with winter–in fact, I rather enjoy it for the most part. Just… not on days when I have to work, and not on a Sunday when it's already gonna be pushing the limits of an hour and a half getting to work. I'm rather tempted, in fact… very tempted, to just schedule Sunday and Monday off. Mother nature, you tend to give me a rather nifty headache…
Stuck by James at 7:21 AM
I've let this little conversation of ours go unhad for way too long, and it shows. Not only are we being hit with snow on average of every second day, but now you go and throw at us temperatures upwards of -18, *before* wind chill, on top of that? And a wapping -29 after? What ever I did to piss you off, you've just given me reason to do it twice over. Oh, yeah, and go ahead and drown us in snow tomorrow. I have the day off. I can freely bitch you out from the comfort of my own, very heated apartment. Ha and such.
Stuck by James at 9:23 AM
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…
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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.
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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!
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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…
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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
So this week's work routine started off as per usual at 7:00 or so on Wednesday. And… got very different after that. A guy I work with got shown the door due to cost cutting measures, or so that's what the rumor mill says anyway. So as of that afternoon, I'm back making regular use of Ottawa's ever so very lovely transit system. So yesterday, I get on in the morning as I suspect I'll be doing for the foreseeable future, and the bus I take to actually get me to work just so happens to be driven by one of the older gentlemen on staff. Which, okay, I'm all for that. I mean, hell, I like the idea in Ontario that you can actually keep right on working 'til you damn well don't wanna. But in certain cases, like yesterday morning… he really should have not wanted to. Harsh-ish? Yeah quite probably. But true. So I catch his bus at 6:00 yesterday morning. It's a pretty straight forward route–through the busy part of Kanata, down a couple back roads, loop around and come back up pretty much up the street from where I work. So my plan was to get off at the corner and just walk from there to work. It wasn't *too* freezing cold yesterday, so I could get away with it. Well, if the moron didn't flat out miss my stop. So rather than be half an hour early for work, I ended up being rather half an hour late. And that's not one of those buses where you can just get off at some random stop and catch one going the opposite direction in 5-10 minutes. There's one bus an hour, it goes one direction, and if you miss where you have to get off, you get to go around again. So I got to go around again. And because it was his last run on that route, I got to go back to the original stop where he picked me up from, call my boss to tell him I'd be late, and hop *another* bus to work. Pretty pretty. But not really. And then coming home after work, I had the pleasure of being driven home by another senior citizen. Who also missed my stop going back. That one, at least, decided it'd be better if he just dropped me off at the halfway point so I wouldn't have as long to wait to catch the second one I need. So I still didn't get home too insanely late last night, all things considered. Pissed me right off though, for sure. And of course this morning, senior citizen number 1 was behind the wheel again when I caught that bus, so to say the least, I wasn't exactly bursting with confidence. But, um, I'm here. And I was here on time this morning. And I didn't kill anyone. But I'm not all that thrilled about the prospect of the return trip. And people might die on that one.
Stuck by James at 9:09 AM
Why else would, out of 3 days I had off, it picked the 4th day when I work to decide there's going to be a freezing rain and flash freeze warning? Winter, you and I haven't had that long and drawn out conversation yet. Does this have to be the start of it?
Stuck by James at 10:13 AM
I was hoping I wouldn't have to take the day off to actually have this delt with, but apparently, someone over at Bell needs to be called back, blasted, and then properly instructed on how best to fix my freakin' phone line so it actually works for more than an afternoon. Apparently, it's not about to fix itself, however. And I'm not waiting until Monday to have it looked at a second time. The call gets made, tonight. And it'll be pretty one-sided. In the meantime… I've received possible alternatives to mother Bell. They will be investigated.
Stuck by James at 7:01 AM
For the third time this month, and the second time in 2 days, I presently have no home telephone line. Which, for whatever reason, has no effect whatsoever on my DSL service. My overall pissedness with the ISP side of my phone company is already well documented, but I've yet to actually make mention to the problems I have with the phone company side of it. Which makes sense, really–until this month, I've had none. But, as it stands right now, I currently have no dial tone. I've had no dial tone since I'm not sure when this morning. I had no dial tone until the technician showed up yesterday at about noonish to replace the phone line. We know it's a problem with the actual building. Meaning, the line going from building to main box a couple streets over. Which means at least it didn't cost me anything to replace it. However, it *should* also mean that once the technician replaced it, it should be fixed. Not so much. Granted, it worked yesterday afternoon. And last night, until I'm not sure when. But she no worky now. And it's not sitting well with me. fortunately, after outage number 1 I got smart and had my home phone number forwarded to my cell, so at least now any incoming calls I should be expecting won't be missed. But I purchased home phone service through these fools for two reasons. It makes teh interwebs cheaper, and I still need to call folks long distance. Not doing that on my cell, thankyaverymuch. So now I'm paying for a phone line I'm only using for internets, and a long distance service I can't use until the internets people start doing their phone company job, too. And all of this comes wrapped in a neat little what the fuck package. Tempted am I to ditch Bell/Sympatico entirely. Except I'm not a big fan of VOIP, and the only real alternative to them for the internet is Rogers. Um, can we say no thank you please? Suggestions are welcome. If the 1.25 of you who actually read this thing have any. Until then, mother Bell can kiss my ass.
Stuck by James at 8:28 AM
Well, okay, so I don't. And I did. There's no real such thing as "medicinal marijuana", there never was, and there never will be. And this is only really proven by a supreme court decision that, really, should never have had to happen. But, thank you again, Steven Harper, for reminding me why it is I believe you should be taken out back, tied to a tree next to George Bush, and shot. According to this article, users of "medicinal marijuana" can now actually pick their own grower. Now, how in the hell they intend to enforce something like that in a way that the government can still have its fingers all over it is beyond me, but to me, it sounds an aweful lot like "Buy from whoever you want, and have fun doing it.". Which, okay, I can see the point of it from a constitutional point of view, but still–bad, bad move. Never mind stupid, stupid move. Forever ago, I went on my own mini rant on the subject, after a discussion on a blindness related mailing list I'm a part of–the email that prompted that one was also quoted in the linked entry. I won't just plain up and say it's ridiculous–primarily because really, if you have half a brain, you don't need me to say it. But from the brief look at the outlines points in the judge's ruling, it very much does sound like a choose your dealer type of situation. And I still maintain the opinion that, next to the entire decision to actually allow the idea of medicinal marijuana, this is quite possibly *the* worst decision our dear court system could come up with. It makes me cringe to say it, but I really hope the government decides to appeal this one. For a change, I actually like their idea better. Which… mostly means I dislike it less. But, I suppose if I had to pick between two crappy poker hands…
Stuck by James at 1:57 AM
Bad things happen. For example, yesterday. I went to work, which ordinarily wouldn't be all that big a deal. Except I saw the exact same warning I posted about yesterday, in preliminary form, on Saturday. I guess I should have got the hint when the first three words of the warning are "near crippling snowstorm", but again, shouldn't be allowed to think before 9. So I went into work yesterday morning. And by about noon, we were talking about closing the office. So yes, I'm an idiot. But I survived. And now, I get to take down a list of names of folks I get to send emails to wondering exactly what crack they were on when they decided,, nah… it's not gonna snow up here. You wimps can go to work. Yeah, about that. I think next time I'll just preemptively book the day off. Thanks for a whole load of absolutely nothing, jackasses. You're lucky I happen to like my job.
Stuck by James at 7:36 PM
I have no idea why I think of about 3/4 of the things I do. But apparently some random part of me finds it amusing. I will seak help immediately.
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I think I'm managing to come down with my first winter cold. And a week before Christmas. Go me. At this rate I should be half dead by new years.
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I thought we were supposed to suck this year? The team I'm beginning to love to hate has started pulling themselves together. And I was just beginning to accept another season of golf…
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Conrad Black officially makes less than me. According to this storry (thank you, CTV), he'll be making 12 cents an hour in prison. See, I'd complain, but what expenses has he got there? His food and housing's paid for. Besides, he made enough money breaking the law, he can afford to lose some following it.
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If anyone ever has to know why it is I absolutely despise vista, just try and set up file/printer sharing. You will pull your hair out. I nearly wanted to… thank god today's my Friday. Oh. My. Lord. Good thing I'm not easy to piss off.
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Another spyware call. Another bloody mac user/windows newbie. Wonder how long I can drag this call out before people start pointing fingers at me. Anyone taking bets?
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And lastly, mother nature, please and thank you kindly, stop it with the freakin' white stuff. It's bad enough I get to freeze my ass off on the way to work. Again, bleh. Nature sucks.
Stuck by James at 12:03 PM
It really couldn't hurt. While earlier today I did refer to them rather directly as a steaming pile, there are a few faces I'd love to see stick with the team while the rest of it gets blown to hell. Immediately coming to mind is Sundin, but only because at least as it stands now, he's the best performer this team's got. Who would I most like to see get blown off the roster? Mister good for nothing Ferguson, for starters. Further proof he was a ridiculous choice for GM–he goes out and builds himself a crap team, then tries to fire Paul Maurice because the players he picked are stinking up the place. Sorry Ferg, but… I wouldn't of picked Raycroft or Toskala either. Toronto will officially be known as the place where old fogies go to retire if JFJ has his way. MLSE, do us all a favour please and fire that man. Fire that man now. Before he really gives me a reason to abandon the team I grew up watching.
Stuck by James at 2:34 PM
For the second time in just over a month, my internets decided they would go south on me. Not pretty. It happened sometime between when I woke up at 5, rolled over, checked the time, cursed, and went back to sleep, and when I finally dragged my ass out of bed at about 7:20 or somewhere thereabouts. I have no idea what the hell caused it this morning–probably another attempt to prevent me from continuing to rebuild my video library (a month or so and counting!). At any rate, it's irritating as hell. And making me contemplate the possibility of canning Sympatico as my DSL provider. It's also making me consider the possibility of creating a 'Sympatico' category on here. Hey, I did it for moronic cellebrities. Would this be any different? I didn't think so. In the meantime, Sympatico, fix your crap service.
Stuck by James at 9:38 AM
At least, it sure didn't yesterday. But apparently, someone thought they'd be funny and dump a whole crapload of white stuff on it this morning. And in my half-asleep-ness as I usually am, the fact that it was late November didn't immediately register–so I was, understandably, a tiny bit confused when normally solid ground went crunch. Of course, when I was finally 3/4 awake–thank you, colder than hell snow that still has yet to let up–I just had to wonder if, perhaps, we hadn't already had this discussion at least once. Of course, then the trusty archive of my various random ramblings and rantings that is my blog reasures me that, indeed, we have. At which point, of course, I shall now point out yet again, my parking lot should not go crunch. At least not until December. Or until I find some vacation time. Both applies and either would be awesome!
Stuck by James at 11:03 AM
I've been finding an aweful lot of stupidity floating about the headlines lately. Almost scary, really. Article of stupidity number 1054? Fred Goldman's lawyers will continue to go after O.J. Simpson, no matter how his robbery trial plays out. At first, the article spelled serious grudge/vendetta. Which, okay, the guy killed his son–it's understandable. But really, take a read at that article and tell me it's not more about money and trying way too hard to get his greasy little hands on it. I mean, I know Americans just love a good lawsuit, but come off it already. You can't try a guy for a crime multiple times for a reason. You had your day in court already, Fred my man.
Why I think it's a hell of a money grab:
When news broke that Simpson was in trouble in Las Vegas for a Sept. 13 armed heist of sports memorabilia he claimed had been stolen from him, Goldman's lawyers were back in court so fast that Goldman obtained an order to get the items before Simpson was arrested. The items, including photos, footballs and jerseys, could fetch tens of thousands of dollars if they are found to belong to Simpson.
Yup, money grab alright. He says in the exact same article that all save, like $5000 was taken up already by legal fees. Well gee, freddy, you just added a few more dollars to that bill. How much of that $5000 did you plan to actually keep?
Goldman's $19 million share of the judgment has risen to approximately $39 million with interest, but he knows it's unlikely he'll ever collect more than a fraction, no matter how many court battles he wins.
Good reason to stop trying in my book, bud. Never mind the fact you've *already* gone and doubled your potential earnings. Gees, if you wanted to just give the guy an excuse to start throwing counterclaims back at you, you're doing it. Hm, query to those people insane enough to be studying US law. What's the statute of limitations on a whackjob situation like this before it stops being a punishment and starts being harassment? Inquiring minds want to know.
Stuck by James at 4:46 PM
That pretty much summarizes it. Yesterday, it was bordering on springlike weather. At least to the point where I thought about taking 5 minutes before the bus came and throwing my jacket back inside. This morning? Freaking, cold. I walk out my back door and across the parking lot to where they've stashed my bus stop, and I wanna turn around and grab a coffee. It royally, and painfully, sucked! And it's not about to suck any less, if the weather netework's got anything to say about it. That's it, I'm calling in sick tomorrow. And every day until it goes above freezing. Winter should be illegal. The cold doesn't bother me usually, except when I have to stand in it for upwards of 20 minutes between buses. *Then* it bothers me just a bit. And *then* I get bitchy. Or maybe it's just that then I have a reason to. Same difference.
Stuck by James at 11:57 AM
Did she receive special treatment? Survey says… quite probably yes! Why else, after all, would miss Lohan spend a grand total of 84 minutes in a cell for a DUI charge that'd quite probably wind anyone else up spending a whole lot more? Even Paris, for all her moronicness and being the reason for the creation of a whole new category on here, spent nearly a month behind bars for the same damn thing. Where's the fairness in that? And this be why I j ust have to say… only in America can you take a public shit and not get called out for it. Only in America.
Stuck by James at 9:09 AM
Apparently, according to a recently published study anyway, this here federal government of ours is adicted to temps. Which, also according to this here study, hurts… just about everyone else's chances of getting their foot in the door. Of course, to this I have only to say–uh, no, not really. Work experience in general hurts that. I should know, I thought about applying for a government job… that's part of the reason why I'm working at Dell. So, while their efforts to do what they're good at and overstate the obvious are appreciated, in my honest opinion they're just the slightest bit off the mark. Besides, Trish rather enjoys temping. Like I'd vote to take that away from her.
Stuck by James at 6:38 PM
So remember when I was looking forward to the day shift because I could catch the decent buses going to and from work? Well apparently, they neglected to make that the case on Saturdays. Now, Sundays is understandable–bus service sucks on a good day then anyway. But I distinctly recall seeing that there was a bus running this morning, at the usual 5:20 or 5:21 time slot, just as it did on a normal day. So, silly little me goes out and freezes his ass off waiting for said bus to show up. 5:45 gets here, and… yup, still no bus. Now, ordinarily I wouldn't particularly care–just go to the next stop and catch another bus that's heading in the same general direction, and I'll meet up with my transfer on the other end. Except the only other bus running that early? One that leaves at… you guessed it, 5:46 in the morning. And that particular bus stop is a 20 minute walk from my house, and from the stop I was currently standing at-. 25 if I decided I couldn't be bothered to cut through my building to get there–it's freezing cold. Yeah freaking right. So thanks to OC Transpo misinforming me, my shift was a writeoff before I got out the door. The end result? A phone call in sick, an explanation to my manager of all of 4 days that I did not, in fact, decide to take a Saturday off whether I had one or not, and… I get to enjoy an unplanned Saturday off. Which, okay, can't complain about that. But it would have been nice to have actually planned that unplanned Saturday off, rather than OC Transpo deciding that I didn't want to go to work anyway. Well, I guess on the bright side, I can get some housework done around here. Eventually. Meaning… just as soon as I figure out whether or not I want to go grab a couple more hours' sleep. It's not like I don't have the option now.
Stuck by James at 10:32 AM
Warning: If you don't want to read the below rant, scroll down to the next entry.
Quebec has officially managed to screw itself over in more than one way, but this time methinks they're desperately looking for any old excuse to cut themselves off from Canada. And as I've said before, I won't miss it any. But really, can they really find so little to complain about nowadays that they need to cry about the fact that, like *every* other government telephone system, you are given the option to choose between English and French instructions at the *beginning* of the interaction? Apparently they answer is yes, because they are. And I can only say one tiny little thing on that one. Jesus fucking christ just cut the chord and be done with it already. I didn't want anything to do with them before, and now if I don't have to bother with them at all, I'll be thrilled. Extatic, even. And headache free! Say, how long before they go running to the US? Anyone placing bets?
Stuck by James at 4:52 AM
The walk and subsequent bus ride to work, that is. Uber, freaking, cold. Somebody must hate me. It's not even January yet, either. Ladies, gentlemen, and people of indeterminate genders, I officially hate winter in Canada. And it's neither snowed nor actually become winter yet. Bloody hell times 6. I wanna go home…
Required dose of optimism: I think the Leafs play tonight. That means pizza. Which means I don't have to cook. I like this arangement.
Stuck by James at 9:02 AM
Dear winter,
I would just like to point out that you have, once again, managed to show up way too freaking early. You aren't supposed to be anywhere near here until December at the earliest. It should not *be* this cold in early November. And there's a nasty rumor floating around that there was a snow sighting this morning. You are not welcome here. Kindly screw off until December.
Sincerely, me.
PS: If it gets any colder tomorrow, you and I are going to have a very long, very one-sided conversation.
Stuck by James at 9:26 AM
I thought I could avoid it. I thought after he got pissed off with her and cancelled the wedding, that'd be it. Then they got back together, but swore they weren't going to try to get married again–always room, then, to call it quits before one of them winds up in jail for murder. So the bomb shell that got dropped a couple days ago just now means this family's screwed. He and my once again future bitch-in-law are, after all, getting married. And I can only say this time, I'm not taking the time off work for it–I can't. I took my last bit of vacation time for their first attempt. They're not coming back to Pembroke for it, it looks like. Which… actually suits me just fine, really. Less of a chance I can attend, then. I saw her all of twice, maybe 3 times since the wedding that never happened. And my opinion of her hasn't changed all that much–she's still an immature bitch. Marrying her will probably cut his life in half faster than any millitary asignment overseas, but… heh, I could never accuse him of being all that bright. A little backwards, maybe–he's from Pembroke, it's expected. Ah well, this this much milage between us and both of us working the hours we are, at least I don't have to talk to his again fiance and again soon-to-be bride/bitch. Hm, on the other hand, I don't really feel sorry for the guy, either–he brought this one on himself. Twice. I still hope they never have kids.
Stuck by James at 3:02 PM
Or at least put a wall around it. Mayhap then the separatist movement will be content. It's apparently not good enough, after all, when someone who isn't even from Canada and has already learned english, and *only* came to Canada to play hockey, doesn't speak french. Sacreligious, I'm tellin ya! What ever will we do about it? Oh, I know, let's throw the world's biggest hissy fit and further prove you're deserving of the moron of the year 2008 award! I've said it once, twice, 3 times before–the sooner Quebec goes buh bye, the better. I have no problem whatsoever with people from Quebec. Or French-speaking people in general. I do, however, have a problem with the holier than thou attitude certain groups in Quebec like to adopt. News flash, folks–thou art not holy. You are not the exception to the rule. If you would like to continue believing you are, you may walk thyself off the nearest cliff. And thank you for trying to screw with my game. even if it isn't my team.
Stuck by James at 11:18 PM
so maybe 2% from a GST standpoint isn't a whole hell of a lot. I'd still rather the 5 cents on a case of coke stays in my pocket rather than makes it to the government. but then, I'm also a cheap little man, too. So when I came across this article that suggests the liberal leader would reverse the GST cut if elected, I was… well… just a little tiny bit pissed. but then, I probably shouldn't be surprised–they haven't exactly been doing a whole lot to save us money when they were in office. A large part of the reason why they now aren't. Well, that, combined with the fact that I, personally, don't want another bloody Quebec Prime Minister. We finally got rid of Cratien… why inflict dion on this country instead? And yes, I'm ignoring the fact they've done a complete 180 so far as what they promise in elections–but then again, you show me a political party that doesn't. Ah well, a penny saved on taxes is a penny kept away from people like dion. I'll take that, too.
Stuck by James at 10:27 PM
You know she's getting exactly what she's after when now she's got a church pretty much begging for its members to send her love during her supposedly troubled period. Keeping in mind, of course, it's a troubled period she brought on herself. This is why I have to laugh at churches from time to time–they make her out like some fallen angel, some innocent thing who's just lost her way. News flash, folks–she was never all that innocent to begin with, nor was she ever that bright to begin with. And now she gets to realize, guess what–people thought you were just another teenaged drama queen in the beginning, and now you're proving it. Good job, moron of the year.
I gotta have a bit of a laugh at the comparison the priest at this church draws, though.
If she were your next-door neighbor in the same situation without the money and success, wouldn't you care about her problems? Wouldn't you pray for her and offer her support and encouragement?
Nope, not really. I wouldn't offer her or loan her squat, to be blatantly honest–I'd be very likely to either have it not returned or have it completely and totally wasted. I like to think I can get along with just about anyone. But not people who so openly make themselves out to be complete and total idiots, and then still manage to draw people's pity based solely on the fact they used to be famous and a somewhat not all that horrible singer. I saw it coming, and I can't say she didn't deserve it. Hey, maybe next time her and Paris can be cell mates…
Stuck by James at 2:49 AM
Ah, Paris. If only you had a clue. But no, you seem to be having difficulty with locating your common sense. Only real explanation, isn't it, for pretty much acting about 13 and throwing one hell of a hissy fit over walking into a porno store and seeing posters of that stupid sex tape of hers on the wall. Now, personally, I was never a Paris Hilton fan–I rather thought she was a stupid tramp. Now, though, after pretty much taking notice that she's proven the number 1 rule about keeping things quiet correct, I've reached the conclusion that she's an immature, stupid tramp. An immature, stupid tramp who has just taken the Streisand effect to a whole new, real life level. You can look at Wikipedia for the definition, or check out Techdirt's website. One of its authors initially came up with that particular phrase referring to most moronic attempts to keep something shushed on the internet, only to have it wind up on about 50 billion places on the internet. Paris, my dear, you have made that list. Shall we define the real life version of the same to the Hilton effect?
Stuck by James at 7:59 PM
And they wonder why people don't speak up when shit happens. The Western University of Oregon, in a brilliant act of absolute unrivaled genius, came about *that* close to expelling a student for violating one of the university's policies. And, for the record, it was a policy that basicly said if a student was found to have accessed confidencial information that was *accidentally* left in a publicly accessible area of the network, the student would be responsible for it and thus have to take the fall. Now, keep in mind the only reason he was known to actually have the information was because he reported it. Do I *really* have to explain how stupid, backwards, and outright brainless that is? The idiot factor of this dumbass move makes it perhaps the most hillarious thing I've posted on here. Ever. If… you find retarded policies and the morons that enforce them hillarious. Of course, if not, there's always other websites–Google's full of 'em. But still, the way I see it, the university has preetty much just told this kid, look, yes we screwed up. But you're not getting paid–you're expendable. If it were me, I'd certainly think twice about reporting anything else I accidentally discover. Just in case they've got a policy against that, too. How much you wanna bet even though they didn't expell him, he doesn't catch it good in the end anyway? That's the danger of technology, I guess–there will always be someone there who doesn't have a clue how it works, and blames everything on people doing what they're not supposed to be doing just because they fucked up in the first place. And I get paid to talk to some of them. Somebody save me.
Stuck by James at 10:18 AM
It, apparently, started last night at some point, and didn't get straightened out until about 6:00 this morning. Not sure if anything I did to correct it actually helped or not, but at least in doing so I could tell it wasn't anything within my control that was screwed. Translation: Sympatico sucks. Loads. But it's still better than Rogers. I'd switch to Primus for DSL–they already have my long distance service, but they still use Bell's phone lines, so that'd just be shooting myself in the foot in the long run. Damn, we need more choices for internet service up here. That aren't dialup.
Stuck by James at 6:53 PM
Way back when, I ranted the hell out of the prospect of Quebec actually being considered a nation. And I distinctly remember saying if and when that day gets here, they should have no say whatsoever in how the *rest* of Canada is run. So what's the Bloc Quebecois go and do now? Why, they decide that rather than just cutting themselves off from the rest of the country and getting it over with, parliament should instead bend over backwards and just kinda rewrite a handful of laws/bills/what have you, including the federal labour code, to basicly say the official language of Canada, that being the only language that actually matters to most Canadians not stuck in the past, is only applicable outside of Quebec. Yet another "except for Quebec" rule, not entirely unlike just about every other law they've managed to push through–minimum wage, anyone? Call me prejudiced if it makes you feel better, but… really, either shit or get off the pot. either follow Canada's rules and regulations *as they're written*, and as they've been written for, like, ages, or get out. And take Gilles Duceppe and his backwards party with you.
Stuck by James at 8:08 PM
Vesa Toskala. The man some have pinned their hopes and dreams for this season on. The man who, in spite of the fact he's still not got a whole lot in front of him–we just happened to score more goals on Saturday, that's all–still pretty much proved 2 losses against Ottawa still doesn't mean we're tanking the season. The man who, as of right this very minute, has given me absolutely no reason as yet to actually fall in love with the guy. Not helped in the slightest I'm sure by having been ker-shmucked by a team who, last year, *did* tank the season. And why? Well, I wanna blame the new guy–'cuz that's just what I do. but really, he's the last line of defense here. granted I didn't exactly watch the game tonight–have I mentioned lately I hate, hate, hate that I can't get half these games, even for 10 minutes, from work? But, that being said… what the hell? Why, for the love of God, did we have little to nothing going all night? Defensively, *or* offensively? Can *anyone* explain that to me? I mean, granted I'm going by Yahoo's ever so explanatory description of the game–it's all I have until I plunk myself down in front of a TV, sue me–but really. If the way to the net was as open most of the game as I'm getting the impression? Oh. My. Freaking. God. Just call off the season now. It'd be less painful. And all you Vesa supporters (I'm looking at you, Boonmaster, I challenge you. If you really think he'll do any better than Raycroft, which at this point is doubtful and growing less likely, prove it. Bets are open in the comments. Not that I think Raycroft's the starter of 07-08, but… neither's toskala if we wanna go cup hunting. Or at least make the first round. And that's the opinion of a Leafs fan stuck in Ottawa.
Stuck by James at 2:06 AM
Warning: this could get very, very long-winded. Possibly requiring it not be posted until the end of my shift–taking one look at how busy we are right now (35 people currently on hold, just for the record) with about 20 minutes before I have to actually start, it might take me that long. So anyvay. I get on the bus yesterday, same old routine I've been doing since, oh… about the first day I started here. Except this time, there happens to be a Senators game. In Ottawa. No big deal, there'll just be a tiny bit of a delay. Except that tiny bit of a delay turned out to be 20 minutes. Which, for those of us keeping score, chalks up one more reason for me to not rely on other people–I recall saying as much at least once on this here blog. Although being at work, I'm not about to take the time to find exactly where. so, I've pretty much missed the bus I normally catch. Which… again, no big deal. I'd just show up 45 minutes to an hour early for work anyway. except the next bus drops me off right smack at 8:00. Which means by the time I haull ass from the bus stop to the office–for the record, they call the cubicle I'm currently sitting in an office–it's kissinig 20 after. And I still have to fire up all the crapola I need to refer to during the process of taking calls. By the time it comes around to actually start working, I have 10 seconds to breathe. Then I go head first into a pile of anywhere from 23 to 31 calls waiting, and don't really come up to breathe again until my break.
sidenote: I'm so not complaining about the job–I love it. It's the other people interfering with the getting to the job that I'm not entirely a huge fan of. The bus driver and I today actually reached a sort of agreement, something I really think they should make law. Every time the Senators win, they should give us a day off to be used when the Senators next play at home. that way, those of us who're sick enough to actually like that particular team can go watch them, and those of us who hate the team (toronto fan over here) and the sudden massive influx of trafic their games provoke can stay home, watch *our* team, or do… anything else that doesn't involve fighting through that mess to get to work. That's it, I've decided. I'm gonna have a look at the Senators' schedule after about January or so, and every game they play at home, I'm booking vacation time for. Before they make me late. Chew on that, mr. Murphy!
Stuck by James at 8:05 PM
Welp, as some of you know and others of you guessed I'm sure by now, the formerly Vista and now XP computer is up and running. Well, partially. No wireless network support and there's still a rather lengthy list of devices Windows doesn't have drivers for. But I'm slowly piecing that together. Now, here's why every time I have to call tech support, I cringe. And not because I am one. So I call up Del on Monday, because their support site doesn't have a driver for my built-in wireless card. Not for XP, at least–which, okay, no big deal; it came with Vista, after all. So I check the Vista drivers list, like I've been doing with a few other things, and there's none listed there. So I just flat out asked the technician I spoke to on Monday, "does this machine even come with a driver for the wireless card?" Honest question, and a simple enough yes or no question to be sure–if I were sitting on the *other* end of that conversation, I could have probably told myself one way or another in about a minute and a half. But, not with this guy, who first wanted to spend 5 minutes making *sure* I wasn't a moron calling up with the misguided belief that, because I got this new fangled desktop thing sitting in my living room, it automaticly comes with a wireless card. Did I mention I pointed out to him at least once I'm employed with Dell, doing things like network troubleshooting on a daily basis? So I know when a computer's supposed to come with a wireless card–like, say, when in your order information, it says that one was specificly requested. So, we get by that round about, and he finally decides he actually wants to varify whether or not it does. So he tells me to go to their support site–I guess he wasn't listening when I said I've already been there and they don't have it. He finally just decides to put me on hold and do some "research"–for the record, when a hardware tech says they're doing some research, you know they're asking one of their l2's if this is a good enough reason to transfer them to the Dell on Call department. About 20 minutes go by, and he comes back, saying he can't find the wireless card on my system. Insert long, exasperated, frustrated sigh, and me telling him, yet again, that it doesn't give a brand name in the order details, but, and this is where I think I drive the point home that I work for the same company, I tell him the training material *should* say what brand the wireless card option includes for my particular model of computer. Silence. Then he asks to put me on hold again. Another few minutes go by. Presumeably, more "research". Then he comes back, says he thinks he found the brand and model of the wireless card, the exact details I honestly don't remember–for the record, when a technician says "I think", it's never pretty–and tells me that it looks like the support for that particular model is built directly into Vista. And there are no drivers for XP. So, not wanting to argue the point, I hang up, and plug that particular model into the almighty goog. And sure enough, inside of 10 minutes, I could have called that particular technician a liar. But… rather than openly and blatantly advertising the obvious, I just dinked around a bit, installed a few things I needed to install, and called it a night–I had to work the next night, and it was 5:00 or later in the morning before I finally decided to fall into bed. So it got to sit there until tonight, when I ended up not going to work–thank you, public transportation, for showing up early and thus making me miss the only bus that'd actually get me there before I was well into my shift. So I go back to that computer, figuring if the support is built into one version of Windows, the other version should have *something*. So I do a little fiddling, and sure enough, one wireless driver, for windows XP, located and installed. What was that you were saying about it was only designed to work with Vista? Now, the problem comes up that it's telling me to make sure the actual card's turned on. Now, they have a funky little keyboard command where you can do that for laptops, but I wasn't sure about this particular desktop. Cringing again, I called tech support. Shoulda figured it out myself. First guy first of all had the same hearing problem as the last technician I spoke to, in that it took me 3 tries before he accepted that yes, Dell technician who troubleshoots networking problems on a daily basis does have a wireless router, does have it turned on, and does have it in the next room, well in range of the card that is trying to look for it. All I wanted to know was the one thing he either didn't know how or didn't want to tell me–was there a switch or something on the back of the bloody machine to turn the card on manually, or is there a similar command via the keyboard to do so as there is in laptops? He finally at least gets me over to the wireless department, and the girl on the other end actually has a brain. And is using it. If it wasn't against the rules, I'd of done my own troubleshooting at work when I went in tomorrow… there, I'd at least have access to the same things these people do, and could have found the answer in probably 45 seconds, instead of 45 minutes and 2 technicians. Move on, now, to what I have to get done so I can actually get the antivirus software I'm using set up on my other computer. First requires actually getting the password from Sympatico for my current email address, so I can resurrect a really, really old one I haven't used since I moved out of Pembroke nearly a year ago. Now, Sympatico uses Microsoft's hotmail interface–so yes, a uber craptastic service to be sure–to manage their web interface for all things email. So in order to change, create or delete email addresses, I have to log into that craptastic interface. Not an altogether too thrilling experience, to say the least. But, I do it anyway, because for reasons beyond my control, I have to. So I enter my email address, and move onto the next screen to enter my password. And it sits there, loading… and loading… and loading… then shows me the logout screen… then sits there loading… and loading… and loading… eventually, I just said screw it, and closed the window. I can think of a lot of things I'd like to do on an unplanned but certainly not unwelcome night off. One of those is not deal with the idiocy of people I have no choice but to trust to keep methods of accessing services I pay for from going tits up. So instead, I shall go drop in on an RPG I haven't played in forever. I'll curse at the evil that is Hotmail, and the stupidity that is Sympatico's decision to join forces with Microsoft, later. For the next hour or so, I'm planning to have fun. Or something.
Stuck by James at 10:05 PM
Moron. Of. The. Year. Canada Post has given me reason to conduct all my business via email. A new policy has been introduced, with no shortage of resistance, that pretty much means any junkmail that shows up there, whether the person it's intended for or not actually lives there. Brilliance unmatched. Really. Let's just legalise spam by the can over here. Only in the land of ice and snow…
Stuck by James at 8:55 PM
It took a university level student to come up with a study that pretty much advertises the obvious. If gas prices go up, people won't drive as much, and will lose weight. yay obvious! Give this man a Captain Obvious award! Oh, wait… I guess we should actually see this as a scientific fact now, eh? Nothing to do with common sense? Oh–it's the US. As I've said many a time… common sense is a foreign idea to the US. And, like anything foreign, it's either ignored, laughed at, walked on, or deported. Hey, what's it doing on TV in Canada then? I worry for thee, Canada. I thought the worst was already here when Harper was elected. Oh, le sigh. I'd move to britain but I'd probably find something over there to mock.
Stuck by James at 11:31 PM
If I were still in highschool, I'd probably be given a bit more reason not to be. Now, I think I'll start planning my coffee runs based on how close the Tims is to the local highschools. A tim Hortons restaurant made the rather smart decision to force highschool students to buy their shit, and get the hell out of the way so people that matter can actually enjoy their coffee/lunch/breakfast in peace without having to fight with a potential dropout who'd rather hang out at Tims than go to class for a table. Of course, then they went and reversed that decision, proving anyone will cave if enough people cry about it. Of course, now the highschool who's students were crying about the ban has decided to stick its staff in there over the lunch hour to keep the kids from being proper terrors. So basicly, I give it a week and they'll go terrorise and subsequently be banned from the local McDonalds. But at least they'll keep their relationship with Tims squeeky clean. Which is really all that matters, right? When I was in highschool, I went to the Subway halfway across town because the highschool irritated me. with this rather… idiotic decision, I wouldn't blame anyone for avoiding Tim Hortons like the plague now, just for the simple fact of it'd feel like an extension of the highschool. Which I, personally, was trying to avoid. But that being said, even now, not being in highschool, I'll avoid that place if ever I find myself in this particular area, just based on the fact that… uh, well, duh–I'm not in highschool. So why would I bother going to some place where it's being monitored by the highschool staff? What, pray tell, if you so kindly could, would be the point in that? Oh–right, there is none. Go back to banning the highschoolers. Make it a chain-wide ban. It's good for business. Trust me.
Stuck by James at 11:10 PM
Y'know, I don't like repeatedly asking questions made mandatory by the US either, and I live in Canada. But I wouldn't be quite going to these lengths to protest it. My opinion on the US's terrorism policies and whether or not Canada should be in line with them doesn't really matter here–not that they aren't already made quite known or anything. Now, it's about breaking the law. Y'see, yes, it's a crackpot paranoia tactic now. But they've made it law to the point where people can lose their jobs, and companies can be shut down for not following it. so, if it means I get a paycheck every second Friday, I'll jump through Bush's hoops a couple dozen times a day, and listen to people get irritated about it. Like any good law abiding citizen working for any good law abiding corporation. Do I agree with it? read the above link and you'll probably draw your own conclusions on that one. But, they're there, they're probably not going anywhere, and wining about it won't change that. Hm… I wonder, did the physicist decide to go and do business with HP instead? Bet they do the same thing. If they're still in business, they should be. Not that I haven't seen enough questionable tactics in this company, never mind others, to know not everyone will be following that… but… eh, it's not my ass. Hm. I should have taken more than 3 calls tonight. this is getting disturbing.
Stuck by James at 2:25 AM
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
Not only are 95% of people who call me idiots, they're also cheap/expect things handed to them. Evidenced by the guy who proceeded to screw up his system, complete with oh my spyware up the wazu, and then demanding pretty much that it be fixed for free. Yeah, that'll happen. People like that fine gentlemen should have one finger removed from each hand, be shot in both knee caps, and have their computer user's license revoked. And if their computer's halfway decent, like the killer XPS this customer had, it should go to me. That would make the world a better place, I think. And one enthusiastic geek very happy.
Stuck by James at 6:45 AM
Welp, it's official. After 82 miniutes, Nicole Richie's one free flake. If it were you or me, we'd get nailed with a year. Hell, if it were me, they'd nail me with a year and shoot the idiot who let me drive. The irony is, little missy Hilton spent a grand total of 3 weeks in the exact same place for the exact same thing. It must really, really be all kinds of awesome to have money.
Stuck by James at 1:05 AM
Performance reviews are coming up at work. And the timing rocks. I just checked my mail this afternoon, and apparently, my land lord just got approval to jack up the rent by about 2% by April of next year. For those of you who haven't quite caught on yet, yeah, that all kinds of sucks. I like having money–not giving away money. I'll be keeping an eye on the rental demands over the next bit… something tells me, though, I may be looking for a new hole to crawl into when my lease ends. Stupid land lord. Stupid rent. Stupid money I don't have. Stupid me for not having it. I want a raise.
Stuck by James at 2:02 AM
And I never thought I'd be looking forward to it quite this much. Guess that's what happens when you spend nearly 3/4 of an hour explaing that, no, if you power your computer off while frozen, the world will not, in fact, come to an abrupt and firy end. Curious minds can request specifics when I'm not working. For now, let me just say this. Paranoia on that level? Not healthy. Not even close. In fact… I think he's on medication. Or, um, should be.
Stuck by James at 5:00 AM
Dear Sympatico,
Kindly stop blowing sunshine up my ass and lower the bloody prices for a change, rather than continuing to increase them. I've noticed no significant improvement in my service since I signed up, and therefore left scratching my head as to what, exactly, this price hike is supposed to go towards–besides some CEO's pocketbook, I mean. So, please, either start dropping prices, give me something to justify paying the higher prices, or kindly fuck off.
Sincerely,
Me.
PS. I despise form letters, in any way, shape or form. Just for future reference.
Dear Valued Customer,We would like to inform you that as of August 8, 2007, the regular monthly rate of your
Sympatico High Speed Internet service from Bell will increase from $46.95 to $47.95, plus applicable taxes.As always, your Internet access is never shared, even during peak periods of usage.1 Plus, you’ll continue to enjoy:
• Automatically updated and fully supported security solutions, including Parental Controls, Email Anti-Virus, Junk Email Filter and Pop-Up Blocker
• Round-the-clock technical support
• Multiple email addresses and access to Sympatico WebmailIf you have any questions about your continuing service, would like more information about this rate change or wish to respond to this notice, please visit
bell.ca/contactus
. Otherwise, the new monthly rate will be reflected on the corresponding invoice.Sincerely,
Ellen Malcolmson
Senior Vice President, Customer Experience
Bell
Stuck by James at 4:29 AM
Surprise, surprise. Yet another buncha stupidity from people who probably shouldn't be parents. Now, a New Zealand couple wants to name their kid 4Real (uh, 4real? How's the capitalization work for that?). Because they couldn't believe he was actually here. Uh, mm'kay. And the only reason it was denied was because names can't start with a numeral. I think–mind you, this is just one poor sop's opinion–they really didn't wanna come right out and say "Y'know what? Stop with the ridiculous names and we'll approve you.". Dunno why… I've got no problem saying that. Gees, do people have an aversion to Bill or something?
Stuck by James at 11:16 PM
After an Applebee's restaurant accidentally served a 2-year-old a margarita, all the management pretty much said about it was "We're sure it was accidental.". Of course, serving the two in identical containers, you'd think they'd have, you know, expected the mistake to be made eventually. To this, though… I just have one very tiny little question. Which is the more ridiculous? That they were stupid enough to use identical containers in the first place, or that it took something like that to happen before they realized, oh yeah–there's the distinct possibility you could wind up giving a kid alcohol. Inquiring minds want to know. Good call, Kim–people capable of that level of moronicness are beneath just about everyone. I strongly recommend Mcdonalds… the food's not as good, but they don't serve alcohol.
Stuck by James at 6:29 PM
In a relative twist of my usually drama free life–thank God, as if there's one thing I really hate it's familial drama, the mother ended up calling this morning. Not entirely out of the ordinary… she usually picks a bad time to call. So we're doing our usual conversing and whatnot, and talk eventually gets around to a supposed fight I was apparently having with someone. Names were named, but to protect the innocent they won't be named here. It was pretty much asked point blank, though, if the reason said individual hadn't been over lately happened to be because we were fighting/not speaking/whatever. To which I, of course, promptly responded with my own point blank "What the hell?" I mean… it's not entirely out of the realm of possibility that it could happen, or could have already happened and I'm just being clueless, but I don't think I'd not be aware of something like that. Which only leads me to one conclusion. The great Pembroke grapevine's working overtime again. Yes, mom. Me working nights plus person working days just happens to mean we're fighting. If anything… not talking might be more appropriate, but only in the sense that neither of us has picked up a phone/opened an IM window in a grand total of *gasps* a whole week. But that's not quite as gossip-worthy, I guess. Hm, if I sold my family on ebay would I get away with it? Someone already tried selling his mother-in-law…
Stuck by James at 6:04 PM
Lady on oxygen dies after power to her house is cut? Are people really that stupid? And, as if that wasn't stupidity in and of itself, the idiot who turned off this lady's power apparently saw the breathing machine she was using. She died within 2 hours of the power being cut. I mean, I can understand wanting their bill to be paid up, but c'mon. Nothing says "Pay us or we'll kill you" quite like just outright killing her for being behind on a payment or two. On the bright side, they restored power to the place the next day. That was quite thoughtful of them, no?
Stuck by James at 5:02 PM
I've heard a hell of a lot of stupid crap lately, but… um, this takes the freaking cake. I'm sorry, but… a water pipe? A freaking water pipe? I understand it's an African idea/tradition/whatever, but… a water pipe? Really, that's gotta come close to people who find new ways to do crack. I'm not a smoker, but methinks I'd start before I thought about giving that a try. Kinda reminds me of a bong party without the weed. Not that I've been to one, but who's counting? Ridiculous, moronic, guaranteed to kill ya… no wonder it's becoming popular in the western world. Now confirming: 7 out of 10 people are idiots.
Stuck by James at 7:12 PM
The teenagers complaining about the bus not being here now, now, now take a back seat suddenly when compared with my latest discovery on my way to work tonight–the grandpa who actually calls the control station for the city buses to complain because one of the doors to the shelter at the stop we both just happen to be waiting at is locked. His reason? "We shouldn't have to walk around to the other door. clearly you can't see, so you must understand that." Uh, let's see… I'm lazy. That's the only reason I was inclined to agree with him in the first place. But, of course… it ain't gonna happen. Why? Because as lazy as I am, I'll walk around the freaking shelter–which, by the way, isn't that big to begin with–before I pick up a phone to bitch about one door being locked. I pointed out to the fool, rather politely I'll add, that in about 10 minutes when the bus showed up it wasn't going to make a difference to him. His response? "The way I see it, I'm doing a service to the public." And the way I see it, you've just wasted brain cells. And some poor soul at the control station's time. Gotta love it. Except… now, you just made yourself look stupid. Which… I guess is what he was aiming at. Figures.
Stuck by James at 2:22 AM
So I'm standing at the bus stop on my way to work tonight, and sure enough, I think those same people were there tonight who were a couple weeks back. I kinda recognised the voices, anyway… at least a couple of 'em. And again, they were complaining because the bus just so happened not to be there when *they* wanted it to be. They had to be not much younger than me, but seriously, I've seen more patient/grown-up 6-year-olds. Quarter to 8 in the evening is not the time to start complaining because the bus isn't here when it shows up at 5 *after* 8 in the evening, oh people of much brilliance (read: morons of the year 2007). Bah. I never thought I'd look forward to getting off the bus and coming to work… but guess what? I was. Thanks a lot, brats. Here's the wambulance's phone number.
Stuck by James at 1:45 AM
And now, Quebec gets to prove it can be the exception not because they're different/better than the rest of Canada, but because they're fucking morons. An explanation:
Are we noticing a patern, here? I think so. Counting the days until Quebec finally seperates… the US can have 'em. I don't want 'em anymore.
Stuck by James at 6:25 PM
After quite the time studying, Stats Canada comes up with the ultimate of revelations. People are overweight thanks to their own daily routines. Zuh. It's the queen of obviousness… sap is in a hurry, swings past McDonalds on his way to insert job title here for which he'll be fashionably late for. And suddenly, before you know it… he's gained 5 lbs in a week. Government analyst, meet common sense. Not that I should talk… I've whipped together my fair share of 2 minute meals 5 minutes before I have to leave for work, or wherever else I happen to be going. But I also acknowledge if it wasn't for the insane amount of walking I do on a daily basis–okay, on days wherein I work–I'd weigh a bloody ton. Not surprising. Not unexpected. And not worth taking up space on the headlines for. If people don't catch onto that without the media's help, they won't catch onto it with the media's help. Remember that rule about not believing what you see on TV? Certain folks think it applies here. Good try, though. Now give me back the tax dollars that went to this piece o' crap.
Stuck by James at 2:59 PM
And people wonder why I have an interest in law. Tech Crunch, who I read more for the snark than the news about startup businesses/websites, is getting slapped with a DMCA takedown notice for an article it posted yesterday about the CEO of rivals.com, a sports website. Specificly, the common opinion that that particular site's partnership with Yahoo would go south just based on the fact the CEO's in some hotness waterness. And now there's the possibility, as remote as it is and as amusing as the situation is, that they'll end up sued for it. Of course, that having been said, I see a long list of takedown notices in this lawyer's future. Starting with TechCrunch, and ending with TechDirt for this article. Oops, guess they'll be suing me, too. Oh damn. Let me know when I should be concerned.
Stuck by James at 2:43 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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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!
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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
Apparently, by 2010 I could be making about as much as that moron at Tim Horton's who, after taking your coffee order for the fifth time, still gives you the wrong one–I live in Ottawa. There are a *lot* of those. That's the plan, anyway, according to our oh so generous provincial government. It's somewhat… depressing to think in a couple years, what I'm doing is gonna be worth just slightly more than burger flipping. I've been living in the wrong province for all these years, that's it.
Stuck by James at 1:35 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
It makes sense to ban the use of things like cell phones and MP3 players inside the classroom, and anyone who tells me differently is on crack. But if you've got a couple minutes between classes, when the most you're doing is probably either hanging out at your locker/at the nearest vending machine/wherever the hell it is highschool kids hang out these days when they're trying to delay actually having to go to their next class, how is it things like that can disrupt the learning process? That's one of the reasons behind a local highschool's decision to ban the use of cell phones, iPods, and other crapola of that nature, *outside* the classroom as well. So basicly, if you get to school 15 minutes to half an hour early like I used to do (I took the bus, sue me), you can't throw on some tunes and kill that 15 minutes to half an hour before your first class. Well, gee. Now you've gone and given them one more thing to do behind teachers' backs. Or off school property a ways where they can't get in shit for it, thus possibly making them late for class. And for what? Because one or two students decide to videotape a teacher in the hall and post said video on youtube. As much as the reasons against the ban given by the students they interviewed irritate me, they do in some ways make sense. If I needed to call a cab to get home, or if something came up, I had a choice… stand in line at a pay phone for anywhere from 5 minutes to half an hour depending on how talkative the person(s) in front of me were, or call on my cell on my way out the door. And, because I hate relying/waiting on other people when not absolutely necessary, guess which option I picked. Now, I'm not gonna sit here and say they were wrong to do anything about what happened, but IMHO, they did the wrong thing. Even one of the parents who supposedly support what the school did say they didn't particularly have a problem. Well, now they do. The person(s) who posted the video pretty much got away with it, and everyone who actually bothered to be responsible–they do exist… I should know, I used to be one when I was going–pretty much gets told "Yes, we know you didn't do it. But you're still being punished.". I dunno, maybe I'm a bit more on the defensive side than I should be, simply because I've been on that side of a policy change thanks to the jackassery of one or two morons. But I still say they went just a little tiny bit overboard. If I had children, I'd be ashamed to send them to that highschool. It's a catholic school, though, so that wouldn't even be an issue. Although… if I had children, I'd be very, very worried. Father material I am most definitely not.
Stuck by James at 2:42 AM
I know, I know, I don't blog for a week and this is the best I can do? Well, I'd originally planned to go into detail on how I've transferred the processing of all the email I get away from DreamHost, but that hasn't actually happened yet, so deal. Anywho. From the only in small down New York department comes this month's most moronic move thus far. A highschool has decided, just on the off chance there might have been kids in the audience, it would suspend 3 students for saying the word 'vagina' while reciting a portion of The Vagina Monologues. Okay, so explain to me what the problem is? I'd understand if this was, say, 10 years ago… you know, when kids at least gave the impression they'd never heard such things. But today? I've overheard conversations between some fourth-graders that involved more swearing per person than Buttercup on a bad day. And a highschool had a problem with that one word? If kid's old enough to understand what's being talked about, they're probably already *saying* a hell of a lot worse. I'm glad I'm not actually in highschool anymore, to be blatantly honest. Public education systems nowadays piss me off. Hell, public education systems when I was going there pissed me off. And speaking of going, I'm going to get ready for work. Night shift time.
Stuck by James at 6:39 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
Surprise. If you work more, you'll spend less time with your family. Apparently, Statistics Canada is just finding that out now. And of course, now it's headline news. Sorry folks, but I coulda told you that and I've only actually had a job for 2 months. It's not a 9-5 world anymore, folks. Hell, it's very near a 24/7 world. When I leave here at the end of an 8:00 shift, the place is still packed. It'll stay that way usually until 11, then everyone but the overnight crew takes off. And we do it again in the morning. If I had family here who wasn't an uncle who's only borrowing my place for a place to crash, they'd shoot me for how much time I don't spend actually home and awake. And yet, people who look for trends like this professionally are just drawing that conclusion now. I worry for these people. I really do.
Stuck by James at 10:35 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 I get up today and decide I'll grab a shower and then maybe get my day started. Okay, nothing all that unusual about that. Now, I should point out it takes about a minute or two, sometimes 5, for the shower to get to a point where it's actually considered something I'd want to spend 15 minutes standing under. Well, I wait the customary 5 minutes or so, and wouldn't you know, the shower's still damn near ice cold. Give it another minute or so, and it's still freezing. My first reaction… what in the name of fucksville? So I start turning down the cold water. Now, at this point it should be hot enough that you run the risk of leaving evidence on your hand you've stuck it under a tap of running hot water. But, surprise surprise, notta. Okay, it's been cold as hell here today, I assume the pipes have just frozen over or something. Except you'd think I wouldn't have cold water either. Well, I've got a shitload of other things to get done, including dishes, so I go ahead and get most of that out of the way. Still no hot water, though, so there goes dishes. I finally decide about 10:00 tonight to go and actually check to see what the hell the problem is, and sure enough, some fucktard decided he'd do me a favour and turn off the water for me. Now, I just know someone's gonna ask me why I didn't check that first, so I'll go ahead and explain. See, the tank is *usually* supposed to be locked, and only one person aside from the land lord has a key to said tank–me. Now, I haven't been down there in a week, and I know that tank's been turned on for the last week, so that kinda rules out any change I should be aware of. Except, it's probably a good idea in general to make me aware if you're replacing the valve on that hot water tank. Especially when, in doing so, you become this building's biggest moron and decide not to put the lock on said valve. Now, for background's sake, each apartment has its own hot water tank and it's supposed to be locked unless, for whatever reason, you're using it to wash your clothes. I dunno exactly how they decide which hot water from which tank makes it into that machine, but apparently they do. So there are plenty of morons afoot, and some of them will receive a phone call from me later on asking them just where the hell they put that lock, and who I can boot in the ass repeatedly for depriving me of my shower. So, yes. Fuck you for turning off my water. And a big fuck you to the idiot(s) who made it possible. You have officially irritated me.
Stuck by James at 3:05 AM
And, of course, to do my laundry I have to make regular trips back and forth from the basement. Keep in mind I live on the third floor, but that's a whole other issue. So every time I have to make a trip down there, to bring clothes down or take the clean ones up, I get a nice healthy dose of weed smell. I've never smoked it, but I've been around enough people to have… I can tell what's going on. Now, personally, I could care less one way or the other, I mean, I can't control what these other fools do in their apartments, but Christ almighty. Not what I want to smell when I leave the laundry room, thankyaverymuch. Ah well, they just let anyone rent apartments here it looks like.
Stuck by James at 11:19 PM
Just another example of a backwards country. A Jordanian father decided his daughter's word and the word of a medical exam weren't good enough, apparently, and shot her for supposedly not being a virgin. Now, granted I'm on the wrong side of the world to really care, but… around here, that's perfectly and totally normal. I wouldn't be surprised if people at 17 weren't shot for still *being* virgins, really. Ah, well. If we can have nutty dictators, we can have off the wall social norms. Thank the gods I don't live there.
Stuck by James at 8:40 PM
Last week I made vague mention to a girl who's been pretty much made to stay child-sized for both her own benefit, and the benefit of her parents. And today (yesterday, I guess?) a rights activist group has apparently decided to focus on the for her parents benefit part of that statement, saying they've pretty much violated her rights and all that crapola. Okay, so everyone's entitled to their own opinions on the matter. But let's look at the facts for a minute. The kid's 9 years old, in the physical sense only. There is no *real* higher brain function there. She can breathe, and generally do all manner of flaling. That's as close to independant as she's gonna get, so says every single medical professional who was involved in her case. Now, I'm not about to go on a disability rights kick, here. I'm the first person who flat out says disabled people in general receive too much pity, sympathy and whatnot already, none of it all that helpful–try patronizing. But Christ almighty, do these people not read the stories they go ape shit all over? I mean, beyond the headlines?
Critics want an official condemnation from the American Medical Association, which owns a medical journal that first published the Washington state case. They also want state and federal officials to investigate whether doctors violated the girl's rights.
Um. State and federal officials had plenty of opportunity to raise a red flag or 6 while it was going on. Or does an ethics panel of that magnitude somehow escape their attention? So not everyone will agree it was such a good idea. Not everyone has to take care of a 9-year-old infant, either. I, personally, am not sure if I agree with *all* of the treatments they've done or not, a fairly complete account of which can be found here. But ya know what? I'm not in that position, and not to sound like more of an asshole than usual, but I hope I never am. Not all of their reasons entirely make sense to me, but hey, disabled or not, an infant mentally or not, completely incapable of taking care of herself or not, she's still their daughter, and if she can't communicate what she needs, then like any other infant who's actually an infant, it's up to the parents to do the communicating *for* them.
Okay, so maybe she doesn't *have* to be 4 foot 5–clearly being taller won't kill her. But I'll say this much. My x-girlfriend weighed about 130 pounds, and I had some fun throwing her over my shoulder. And, for the record, I'm not what most people would consider weak–I'm no body builder, but I can hold my own. It'd be hard on Ashley, *and* whoever ends up taking care of her, lifting that much dead weight. And it's not like she can help, either. Not exactly a fair comparison, but even someone in a wheelchair, most of the time, can at least put some of their weight on their arms with the help of support bars and such while they're being helped to the bathroom. She ain't that coordinated, sorry. She ain't gonna be that coordinated, sorry. So like I said in my last entry, if it helps her parents to be able to take care of her, *and* there's no objections from the people who'd actually be performing the operations, never mind the people who actually enforce their regulations, then… more power to them, plain and simple. And you people who wanna cry it's not what God would have wanted, or bring up some crap about how they're not doing a damn thing in her best interest, you can just pull your heads out of your asses. She has a right to a healthy, long and complication free life. A whole shitload of people obviously agree what they're doing to her will give her that, so this isn't just her whackjob parents using her as the experimental girl.
Besides, let's just go out on a limb here and say some clueless idiot decides to overturn the decision that was already reached regarding her treatments. What in the 7 levels of hell are they gonna do about it? Reverse them? News flash, folks. People had their chance to scream unfair when it was going on. Now, what you think, what I think, hell, what good old president fucktard thinks really doesn't matter. It's done, it's over with, she's a kid for life. Which suits her just fine. Hell, so long as she can be comfortable, fed and played with, anything suits her just fine. You people who're still up in arms over it need a hobby. Preferably one that involves an education in minding your own bloody business.
Stuck by James at 12:23 AM
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
It is not supposed to be cold *inside* a building. Stupid building.
Stuck by James at 12:12 PM
It only took just about 2 months (typical government delay tactics no doubt), but mister sex offender dood has gone from arrested trying to enter Canada after a judge pretty much told him he was allowed to, to being formally deported back to the US. At this point, I would just like to again point out that whoever the hell told these people Canada was a good place to send their creaps to should be summarily shot and pissed on. If it's illegal in the US, it's illegal here. The difference? He'd of done loads and loads of time behind bars here. It's your problem, mister W. You deal with it.
Stuck by James at 9:06 PM
So I went back to Pembroke this weekend to give my parents a hand with decorating their Christmas tree, and–well, duh–because my mother was baking and well… enough said. We ended up doing that, finishing my Christmas shopping for the most part (ideas for Christmas gifts for mom, anyone?), then going to my aunt's (no,