..and here’s how it looked at 10am when I got up this morning. The continuous rain and grey skies of the past 342 days gave way to mostly clear blue skies and a healthy dose of sunshine - NICE!
Not much else to report.. Having a low key Christmas, I’m staying in Vancouver and not going back home to the UK this year. Hanging out with David today and tomorrow, and I’m cooking - chicken curry with pasta and garlic bread, very non-traditional! :-)
Today also saw my return to podcasting.. well.. sort of - not quite a regular thing just yet, more like a one-off, but after a 20 week absence from the podcasting scene, I stormed through a new episode of the My World Podcast like I’d never really stopped. Check it out in my previous blog post, or search for it in iTunes (and subscribe - you know you waaaaannnaa!)
Merry Christmas to you all.. feel free to comment, call, or sit there and roll your eyes at me - all options are fine by me!
Proof that it doesn’t rain ALL the time in Vancouver.. although that said, it has been pretty shitty this week. A quick update cos I haven’t blogged in ages.. been a manic week so I figure a quick update here then off to do some work, leaving me free to have a nice chilled evening..
Food Discoveries: Went to a place in White Rock last weekend, called Charlie Don’t Surf. Had an awesome chicken curry with penne, nice ambience, cool location - I’m a fan! Looking online, it’s got really mixed reviews, but I’d definitely go again. In home cooking news, who knew Costco had decent lasagna for one? Cook two of ‘em and you’ve got a decent enough quick’n'easy dinner for two - sorted!
Xbox 360 Love: I bought an Xbox 360 on Friday. While I wouldn’t necessarily categorize myself as “a games player”, I do enjoy the games in Xbox Live Arcade.. currently vying for top position are Puzzle Fighter HD and Lumines Live, both of which I purchased the full versions of after playing the demo versions. If you’ve got an Xbox and fancy playing against me sometime, drop me a line - I’m not bad at Lumines but still seem to get my ass kicked pretty well on Puzzle Fighter.
Halloween: Came and went and I hardly batted an eyelid.. Went out on Wednesday night for a couple of beers with David and Natasha, saw a bunch of people in costume.. always impresses me when people really make the effort.. people at work got right into it, mainly in the call centre and marketing - the “fun” departments.. in technology, the only person who really did anything was Pam.. fair play to her though - she did it well!
Home Buying: I’m not quite there yet.. but I did go to this seminar at Langara College on Thursday to learn about mortgage brokers, realtors, and the importance of a good home inspection. I’m better informed and have some food for thought. I’ve been in my current place 6.5 years and definitely wouldn’t mind a change.. especially after comments made by my landlady on the phone today with regards to paying for the mirror that fell off the wall in my bathroom (see my previous blog entry for the history). Apparently these things don’t “just happen” so someone must have broken it. Uh.. well, they didn’t - it did just break.. 10 year old adhesive that lost its holding power over time perhaps? So I’m meant to replace it? Not sure I fancy the like-for-like option that runs $350 to $400ish.. she made a comment about “paying too much for appliances”.. what, because you had to replace the dishwasher that was leaking and it came to $650 with delivery, installation, and taking the old one away? Considering the only other thing that’s been paid for in the past 6 years was $120 for a replacement thermostat, and that I did all the leg work with getting a replacement dishwasher, I think it’s been a pretty easy ride with a low maintenance tenant thus far..
Oops.. apparently that turned in to a bit of a rant.. It just bugs me that given the general low maintenance nature of my tenancy, we’re going to split hairs over $350 worth of what I’d call “fixtures and fittings”. And to say that it couldn’t have just happened, someone must have done it.. uh.. yeah, right - that’s why the pictures clearly show the adhesive still on the wall - if I’d done it deliberately you’d have thought all of that would have been wrenched off and/or the plasterboard damaged? When renting a property out, there’s this little thing called “upkeep” - maintaining the value of your investment property. Could be as simple as replacing a basic fixture, could be as involved as ripping out the manky old carpet and putting nice value-boosting hardwood flooring in. Oh well - do it once I’ve moved out.. and no doubt haggle with me over my damage deposit in the process.. Moving swiftly on then..
Humour: James sent this to me on MSN today. It’s funnier if you’re from Jersey and get the “in” jokes, but even if you’re not, hopefully it makes you laugh too. The accent is a thick Jersey accent - it makes me want to talk in one all day, just for shits and giggles. Let me know what you think!
There’s nothing better than getting up on a Monday morning to a pissing wet mardy Vancouver day. Now far be it for me to moan (my previous 2 blog entries excepted) but “fuck, honestly!” - this weather really IS getting a bit boring now.. I’m not asking for blue skies and sunshine with a temperature in the high 20s (although that would be nice!) but I’d definitely settle for a dry day or two.. or even three..
So, long time no blog, what’s new? Hmm.. my parents came to visit for 2 weeks.. work’s been hectic and busy, but in a good way.. I still love my car.. Natasha’s left The Pub That Shall Not Be Named and it’s sad.. I’m still not podcasting.. 95 Crave finally have people doing evenings and weekends.. I’m half thinking I should be looking at buying a place somewhere..
I think that’s about it for now.. don’t really have anything majorly exciting to say or update you with, but thanks for checking in and I’ll try and get back in to the groove and write something mildly entertaining RealSoonNow(tm) mmkay? Cheers then, thanks, bye..
While I’m in a ranty mood, let me also give kudos (or lack of) to restaurants that won’t accept reservations (either all the time, or only on Friday and Saturday nights specifically).
Reason for reserving? My mum’s birthday. My parents are in town, as are relatives from Ontario, and family from deepest darkest Surrey are also coming out to celebrate. Can I book a table for 8? Apparently not.
First up - The Keg. They are unable to take a booking as it’s first come first served. It’d be really nice in an ideal world to head to Granville Island where you have a table booked around 7ish, have a wicked good steak, probably some desert, let the booze flow, then head to Theatre Sports for some comedy afterwards. But no, they don’t take reservations. And after explaining the situation, people flying in from everywhere etc, hoping to maybe, just maybe, score a bit of sympathy (and a table), I get told that no, people would be screaming if that happened. Uh.. why? Why can’t you manage your place well enough to reserve a couple of tables at a given time? A short (5 to 10 minute) wait would be acceptable, but turning up with 8 people at once, anyone want to take bets on how long it would take to get a table? In fact, if anyone wants to be part of a scientific experiment where we test this out, drop me a line and we’ll do it!
Second up - Moxies. The one on Bute at Robson. They don’t take reservations on Fridays or Saturdays. Despite having “The Boardroom” - a nice little private room that would be perfect for our group, it’s a no go. The girl helpfully advises me to try Broadway or West Georgia. Gee thanks, love.. much obliged..
The girl at Moxies on West Georgia sorted me out properly.. I have a reservation, they’ll probably call me on the day or the day before to confirm, they have my mobile number, it’s all good.. So that’s nice.. it’s just a bit of a hike from my place. The alternative would be a table at Earls which is round the corner from my place. Might still be worth checking out. But “Fuck, Honestly!” - it shouldn’t be this hard. What’s wrong with these places that they can’t manage their tables, deal with reservations etc? And I’d be fine with a “if you’re not here within 15 minutes of the booked time, your table’s gone” policy - it would seem only fair.
So.. dinner for 8, some time towards the end of the month.. who’s in?
I’ve moaned before and I’ll moan again.. Ticketmaster SUCK! After purchasing a ticket just now, I got asked if I’d like to compete a BizRate survey.. Hell yes I would!
Here’s my feedback:
How does a $23.50 ticket end up costing $37.30? Almost 60% more than face value? Well let’s see.. there’s the $1.50 Building Facility Charge (dealable), a $6.30 “Convenience” charge (please justify it?), a $3.50 “Order Processing” charge (which is different to “Convenience” HOW exactly?), then to add insult to injury, you want to charge ME for using MY printer instead of getting one of your tickets? $2.50 for that too? Wow.. $13.80 charges on a $23.50 ticket! Yeah - you’ve got yourself a nice little earner there haven’t you?
Here’s hoping the concert is worth it.. that “20 to 30 dollar” ticket ends up being closer to 40.. fucksake!
I’m lying on the sofa, exhausted. It’s been a weekend full of stress and hassle, trying to sort out a working installation of Linux and Asterisk on a server that’s so bleeding edge the heart’s still pulsating.. well.. sort of.. but I can honestly said I’ve never had so much hassle installing Linux on a server.
I’m reading stuff on digg.com and watching Big Brother, and came across this article. It’s not rocket science, but it’s an interesting read, especially in these days of social networking and online connected-ness. Check it out and see what you think.. and feel free to comment if you like too? ;-)
There are things that every person should have in their house. And I’ve realised lately that some of these are missing for me.
The first thing is a drill.. preferrably electric, and cordless.. with interchangeable bits that can be used for screws, bolts, drilling holes, whatever. Luckily, I have one. It was on extended loan to Shawn but I recently got it back and it’s come in useful lately.
Another thing is a torch.. or as they’re called in North America: a flashlight. And I’m not talking about your cheap and nasty promotional keychain flashlight that some company gave you a couple of years ago.. or your slim and sexy LED light thing that sure, can light up a pitch black room a bit so you can see what’s where, but doesn’t really cut it when it comes to actually illuminating something.
I went to Home Depot today. I needed fluorescent tubes cos the ones in my bathroom were on the blink (no pun intended) and only 2 out of 4 in the kitchen were working. While I’m driving there I think to myself “I really need a torch.. a beefy one, dependable and stuff, maybe one of those new super bright big beefy LED torches”. Do you think I could pick one when I was there? Could I hell! There’s the MagLite ones, which are nice.. LED or regular bulb.. then there’s the Energizer ones which look more like a stun gun from 1970s episodes of Star Trek.. and I wasn’t really feeling the love for any of them.. so I left the store without a flashlight, without a copy of my front door key (they were all out of SC4 type blanks - DOH!), just carrying 6 fluorescent tubes and a skip in my stride (but not really). Maybe I’ll hit Canadian Tire up at the weekend and see what they’ve got in the way of torches.
In other news.. my dishwasher’s leaking.. and I see how/where, but I’m not sure why, or if I can fix it.. will a plumber be any better? or is it time for a new one? Whatever the score, it’s hassle I could do without.. but meh, what can you do - life’s rarely plain sailing, so suck it up buttercup and move on to the next big thing.. which for me would be getting a replacement mirror in my bathroom (to replace the one that spontaneously fell off the wall MONTHS ago) and getting my place slightly more clean and tidy and presentable for the imminent arrival of my parents!
HOW many weeks since I last updated this thing? Uh.. about 4 actually.. which is probably at least 3 too many, but meh - what can you do eh? kids these days, honestly..
Here’s the one paragraph update: I took a week off work. I loved it. I got a car. I really love it. I passed the 1000km point last night. I got a GPS unit. I like it, but don’t love it. I’m enjoying my job at the moment. My dishwasher is leaking and I need a plumber. My parents are coming to visit. I’m going to have more time off work. I’ve spent an inordinate amount of time wasting time on the internet. I got a new colo server and have to move stuff over to it.
I bought chow mein earlier. The fortune cookie said “It’s not the hours you put in, but what you put into the hours that count.” - I thought that was kind of cool.
Current mood: Content.
Current thoughts: Does anyone read this? Do I care? Should I bin it off when I move to the new server? Should I use my other domain for my personal blog? If I do, how does that reflect on me personally? Would I be better off dorking around with code tonight instead of chatting on MSN and killing time on YouTube? Are my towels dry yet? Do I have to go to work tomorrow?
Hello friends, it’s been a while.. so while I wait for Josh to come downtown so we can go out for food and a movie, I’ll write a brief update of the happenings of this past week..
The week was fairly busy socially.. I saw Brian for coffee on Monday and hung out with Gus for a bit after work.. On Tuesday I hung out with Rob (aka “Teh RBO”), we did the walk’n'talk thing then came back to mine for some Catherine Tate DVD amusement, which I have to say lifted my spirits after a bit of a brutal day at work. Wednesday I hung out with Josh, we grabbed a bite to eat then saw Shooter which was pretty good - I’d give it 7 out of 10.
Thursday I hung out with Chris straight after work. I had to work late to get some estimates finished off and it always bugs me a bit when I meet up straight after work - I feel like I need a bit of time to context switch from WorkPaul(tm) to LaidBackPaul(tm). It was fine though, back to mine for hockey (in high def - woot!), pizza, beer, then we watched An Inconvenient Truth, finishing the night off with some quality time watching Catherine Tate - he’s also a fan :-)
Friday it was a few drinks after work then home to veg’n'chill.. I have this nagging feeling that I did something else too, but I can’t remember right now what.. I think it was just watching TV and pissing around online..
Saturday was fairly chilled during the day. Went to Brian & Jen’s place in the evening for their housewarming party. Good times had by all, it was a lot of fun.. met some new people, saw some people I knew but hadn’t seen in a while.. drank some beers.. ate some food.. fun! I met Chris afterwards and it was back to mine for some sobering up chilled times and more laughs with Catherine Tate. If Borat was here he’d say “Great Success!”
Today’s been fun.. Booked a Zipcar and went to IKEA with Shawn.. grabbed lunch there (Mmmm Meatballs!) then hit Home Depot and Canadian Tire afterwards. Nice day out so we went for a drive to Horseshoe Bay, grabbed an ice cream there, then headed back downtown to veg’n'chill.. I feel a bit wiped now, but we’re gonna go out to eat with Josh then we’re off to see Fracture which looks kinda good.
And that’s that! The week flew by, very sociable - definitely more so than usual.. the weekend flew by way too fast.. so some last minute entertainment tonight, then bed, and back to work in the morning.. ugh.. ;-)
It’s great when your local pub has a chalk board on the wall in the washroom.. This picture didn’t come out as well as it could have done, but hopefully you can see what’s been written (click the image for the full size version).
I know about the first 4 scribbles (which 2 did I write? go on.. guess.. just have a guess.. it’s easy.. go on.. GUESS!) (Catherine Tate reference, anyone?). The last 2 scribbles were done by someone known to me who thought they’d get in on the act, a night later. Thanks for cheapening our work of art, fuckers!
