My World

Via digg.com comes this picture of graffiti on a washroom hand dryer which made me snort and laugh out loud:

The comments on the page led me to the picture below, which I also thought was funny (click for larger version):

Now.. where did I leave my Sharpie? ;-)

No podcast on Monday.. was I down the pub? No, I was in bed by 9pm, dying.

How was my weekend? Most of it was spent on the sofa or in bed.

How’s my week going? Meh - it’s a bag of shite!

On Monday at 3pm I was burning up at work.. running a fever nuclear furnace style.. Came home, crashed on the sofa from 5:30 till 9, then went to bed. Went to the doctor yesterday, he reckons strep throat (which I can probably deal with) (although I’m a whiney fucker right now) or mono (which I really hope it isn’t, cos once was enough). I have zero energy, zero interest in anything, I feel generally shit. Have the drugs kicked in yet? Not really.. my throat’s still a manky war zone..

9:30 and I’m off to bed.. I want to be able to swallow without it hurting. I want to have more than zero energy. I want to have a social life. I want to feel less shit. Nuff said? You bet. I’m the world’s worst sick person sometimes, and this would be one of those times.

Slack arsed blog updater.. AGAIN.. So at 1am on Monday (but back-dated so it shows up on Sunday!), here’s what I’ve been up to lately:

Monday: Went to the pub after work, came home to do a much overdue podcast, then vegged and chilled.

Tuesday: Went to Metrotown with Shawn to try and exchange Shanelle’s Guiness hat. Grabbed a crepe on the way home in honour of it being Shrove Tuesday, aka the last day before Lent, and also known as Pancake Day - woot!

Wednesday: Midweek drinking after work. Met Shawn. Shanelle and Mike turned up. Crazy German Adam came along. We persuaded some random guy at the pub to join us too. Good times, good conversations, good people. Drunken Shanelle groping random Kenn (who spells Ken with 2 N’s? he does, apparently) was probably the highlight of his night and one of the most amusing points of ours.

Thursday: I was adamant I wasn’t going to the pub. But I had to, to pick up Shanelle’s scarf which she’d left there the night before. You’d think that would be a quick in-and-out kind of move, right? WRONG. Before I’ve managed to say “I’m only here to pick up…” there’s an open bottle of Stella on the bar. Damn you Jake for being such a good barman. “Ok, one’s alright” I think to myself. WRONG! Nenad from work comes in with his father in law and insists on buying me another. Damn you people, thrusting your booze upon me! I went home with an ever so slight buzz that wore off rapidly, and did some project work.

Friday: A few drinks after work (because it’s the law!) then off to Granville Island for Keg night with Alyson, Nicole, and Nicole’s friend whose name I forget but she was cute as a button and had an awesome New York style accent. Once again it was good times, good conversations, good people. Bussed it back downtown and bumped in to Shawn on the bus. He went to the pub, I went home, sorted.

Saturday: Had a car booked for a few hours so went out to Coquitlam to see Paul and Clare for lunch. Natasha’s 2, almost 3, and a lot more chatty these days. Good times out of the city, before heading back downtown to veg and chill for a bit. Hit the local in the evening but only stayed for one - a minor upset with one of the barmaids put a bit of a damper on the mood. We decided to do a pub crawl so ended up having one beer at Dix, then The Kingston, then Steamworks, then back to the local. Drama resolved, we stayed till closing time, after which I came home, and Shawn got dragged out with Junior for more drinks.

Sunday: Chilled day. I was mostly fine. Shawn was mostly not. He was definitely suffering a bit after last night - I think there may even have been some up-chucking, poor bloke. Pretty much a low key nothingy day. Brian came round after work and we watched A Good Year. Well, I say we watched, it was really more like I watched - he fell asleep half way through. Not sure if that speaks more to the appeal of the film or his level of tiredness after a hard day at work - maybe a bit of both? IMDB rates it 6.6 out of 10. I’d give it a 6. It was alright, quirky in places, dull in others, but on the whole pretty easy entertainment really. It was too late to catch the last bus home so I gave Brian a lift in one of the Co-operative Auto Network cars. No hourly charge between 11pm and 7am, so you only have to pay for kilometers. Number driven? 6. Cost of trip? $2.28 or $1.68 or $1.08, depending on what the rest of my usage was this month. Add a few extra cents for the fuel adjustment charge and it’s still way cheaper than taking a cab and way more comfy than transit. Sorted!

On that note, it’s late, I’m tired, work in the morning… so I’m off to bed!

If there’s one word that sums up last night, it would be AWESOME. And there’s a double meaning there. There’s awesome as in “getting awesome” (aka boozy with it), as well as “awesome awesome” which is like.. the normal awesome? good times?

I did feel slightly “rough as” this morning and have had a pretty low key day, but it’s all good. Last night was all sorts of awesome and I’ve been dippy grinning for most of today (anyone would think I got some!) (let the record reflect: I didn’t).

It was really good to get a bit pissed’n'blissed, have a laugh, good times, great conversations, just an all round good time. If there’s one thing I’m huge on, it’s people who are “real”. Open, honest, genuine, wholesome, good people. So in the spirit of good karma and random compliments, here are some shout outs to people I know:

Brian: I’m glad we know where we stand. Excitement abounds - with Jen, with Dave, with whoever. Onwards and upwards, without trying to sound too cheesy with it - “My friend!”

Jake, Natasha, Sonya: I love you guys. You ply me with booze, bring me food, and promote good times. We have a laugh. It’s always good, never bad - who could ask for anything more? (well.. maybe a shift or two once in a while? hehe)

Mike V: The king of cool - one of those classy people who are all too few and far between in this city. She’s a lucky girl, nuff said.

Rob W: Another member of the “good people” club. Talented, witty, cool. I like you.

Shanelle: The original queen of awesome! With a cheeky grin, a cute hat, and a few pints of Guiness, you’re stylish and awesome like no other!

Shawn: That black arm guy who went away and came back liking the beer. Who’d have thought?! My roommate, my friend, my drinking buddy. I’m glad you’re around.

Apparently I haven’t blogged for a while.. again.. DOH! It’s been a busy 10 days though..

Last Friday: Hit the local after work (aka “The Pub That Shall Not Be Named”) (is that the right phrase? is that what I say in podcast?). Went with some work people, saw the balloons and the Happy Retirement sign across the back wall and knew they knew.. I actually started this blog off saying “My birthday. Happy birthday to me!” then realised that my birthday wasn’t on Friday, it was actually on Saturday.. but Friday was the day I was celebrating.

Work people came and went.. other people came and went.. The staff kept the booze flowing.. threw in a few shooters here and there.. and also appeared with a slice of cheesecake, candle blazing, and sang happy birthday to me! :-) Highlight: Natasha singing in to a fork.

Me, Rob, Shawn, Alison and Shanelle walked Shanelle down to work, then came back to mine and watched The Catherine Tate Show. Funny as fuck! Check out the website for clips and see what you think. I’ve got the DVDs for the first and second series and we watched the first series all the way through. 3 hours later, I’m a huge fan and can’t wait to watch the second series :-)

Saturday: My birthday. For real. Happy birthday to me! Do I feel any older? Not really. Spent all day working on REL8.com, grueling stuff.. Went out with Brian in the evening, and after trekking half way to Saskatchewan and back (aka all round Graville Island then up to 4th Avenue), we ended up at Incendio. Awesome pasta ensued then we came back downtown and watched Smokin’ Aces. Not bad, pretty entertaining, I’d give it 7 out of 10. Brian got me a cool hoodie from American Eagle and some Kinder Surprise Eggs, which always go down a treat :-)

Sunday: More slogging away at the REL8.com thing.. Hit the pub with Shawn and Josh in the evening for a beer and a quick bite to eat, then hit the movies with Josh to see Alpha Dog. Meh, whatever - it was alright, nothing special.. pretty much what I’d expected, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. IMDB gives it 6.6 out of 10, I’d give it a 6.

Monday and Tuesday: Off work sick. Nuff said.

Rest of the week: Back to the grind at work. Girls giving out REL8.com Valentine Adventure tag cards around Vancouver. 30 day review (for my new team lead role) went well. Work was busy, good, productive.

Friday: Went to the pub with work people after dealing with a crisis at work (well, not really, but it was a bit of a crazy “why does this kind of thing always happen on a Friday afternoon?!” type event). Natasha’s birthday, and the booze was abundant.

It was at this point that the phone rang, I chatted for a bit, then realised I’d run out of steam with this blog entry. So with that - it’s on to the next one..

I haven’t blogged in forever. As in, almost a month. In fact, 4 weeks ago today I was blogging about the iPhone and my blogging activities have been pretty sparse since. For this, I apologise. So here’s a mini update, for your entertainment and reading delight! (Why do I always think I’m much funnier than I actually am when it gets late?)

Celebrity Sharpie?! I had this turn up in my inbox today:

And I have to say.. “Are you fucking kidding me?!” - Click the image above to go to the page where they’re auctioning off this “exclusive, handcrafted Sharpie” featuring 66 Hearts on Fire diamonds and 1,300 Swarovski crystals. It’s allegedly worth $10,000 and the bidding starts at $3,500. Uh.. yeah.. it’s a SHARPIE people! You can get a 12 pack for $10 from Staples! I’m all for donating money to good causes (hello, I’ve done my bit for Bowl for Big Brothers this year!) but this just seems excessively ridiculous. Nuff said.

Birthday Present: In keeping with the “let’s stick images in this blog post” tradition, allow me to present a picture of an early birthday present I received today:

Yes that’s right - I’m the proud owner of a brand spanking new iPod Nano, in silver, with 2 gigs of storage for my aural pleasures. courtesy of Shawn. No more wondering which podcast I’m actually listening to because my Shuffle seems to enjoy playing them in some random, unknown order, despite me putting them in a specific order when I transferred them across. No pressing skip 34 times to get past the Ministry of Sound album I thought I might be in the mood for but actually wasn’t when it came down to it. No siree bob no, I’m now one of those modern iPod users with a clicky scroll wheel, a cute lil’ display, the works! Chuffed to bits? You betcha! (That’s Brit speak for “I’m very happy with it” - if you needed a translation).

Anyone else wishing to purchase me lavish gifts, LCD televisions, private jets, a nice house on a sizeable plot of land etc, let me know - my actual birthday isn’t until Saturday so there’s still time to get something sorted ;-)

REL8 Progress: It’s progressing. Of course, not as fast as I’d like. But I’m doing something special with it for Valentines day, watch this space!

Brian’s Doing It! Congratulations go to Brian for having found a new place to live! After 24 years of living under his parents’ roof, he’s getting ready to leave the roost and move in to a place of his own. Well, sort of - he’s going to be sharing with his friend Jen, but she’s no trouble and they get on well so it should be all good :-) Good on ya both - when’s the housewarming party?

MySpace Madness Ah MySpace, how I loathe thee sometimes. Why dost thou not randomise my “Top Friends” list instead of forcing me to rank them? Why dost thou not list my top friends alphamabetically like wot I want it? The aforementioned friend was put out at being positioned “below” someone who dost not even live in the same country as me (ok, enough with the Shakespearean talk Paul, it just ain’t funny) (ok, point noted!).

I wrote in my profile that I refuse to rank my friends so they’re listed alphabetically. This is great in principal.. until people go changing their names around.. DOH! Change your name from Brian to Some Loud Thunder and yes, you will be bumped around the list when I eventually notice.. Likewise, change your name from Yo Brando to Merlot Brando and you’ll also move places. Use your real name and don’t change it and you’ll do just fine, and my profile won’t make me out to be a liar by having non-alphabetically arranged friends! Ach, whatever - it’s MySpace, it’s online, it’s all good. My “top friends” know who they are really right? (Right? Brian - yes? Shawn? Well.. until you went and deleted your MySpace profile.. other people? get it?!)

And with that.. I’m off to bed.. more blog updates as they happen, and hopefully it’ll be far sooner than a month from now.

PC over and out.

URL: http://www.engadget.com/…/steve-jobs-keynote/

All I can say is wow. And I want one!

Check out the presentation above.. read it.. drool at the sexy pictures.. then send me money so I can have one as soon as it comes out. Seriously - this product could cause me to abandon 14 years of Nokia love and switch. My only worries are that right now they’re talking about a tie in with Cingular and AT&T - will this thing be available SIM-free so I can use it up here on Fido? And if you’re an early adopter and get one when they first come out, will you be kicking yourself 6 to 9 months down the road when they bring out the second generation one?

I arrived at work this morning, after having had the past 3 weeks off (sheer bliss!) to find my desk looking like this:

Those paying close attention will have noticed that all is not well in the mouse department. Closer inspection reveals that my mouse is encased in Jello:

I got to admit, I laughed. It’s a good gag - taken from the TV show The Office where Tim puts Gareth’s stapler in jelly (which is what we call Jello in the UK.. and that stuff you spread on your toast is called jam). Needless to say, the mouse is fucked. I left it there all morning. After lunch, a large crack had formed across the top of the Jello. I threw the Jello out, discovered the mouse was wrapped in cling film, but alas - the gelatinous goop had breached the barrier and my mouse was full of the Jello!

With some social engineering, I managed to get a replacement mouse.. and I left my mouse soaking in some warm water with the intent of taking it apart, ensuring it was all totally clean inside, then seeing if it’d live to tell the tale.. but gasp shock horror, when I came back to get it a few hours later, it was gone! Not quite sure who took it (or where) - I guess we’ll see if it turns up. For now, work plods on and I’m kept busy.. oh those crazy kids!

It’s Sunday night.. which means tomorrow is Monday.. aka “back to work after having 3 weeks off”-day.. I’ve been in back in Vancouver since Wednesday late afternoon so here’s an update of what I’ve been up to since then.

Wednesday: The longest day.. EVER.. I couldn’t get to sleep on Tuesday night, and I had to be up at 4:45am on Wednesday, to be up the airport by 6am to make the 7am flight. Finally fell asleep sometime past 1am then woke up what felt like 5 minutes later and really didn’t want to get up. Did the emotional farewell thing at the airport (hate that!) and flew to Gatwick. Stood in line for security screening for about 50 minutes, the place was mobbed. Flew home.. the flight kinda dragged, and I was dead tired by the end of it - now 11pm by my body clock but really only 3pm in Vancouver. Shanelle met me at the airport, told me my accent was thicker, and that I smelled of airplane and travel. Nice, real nice - way to make a guy feel self-conscious!

Came home, showered, felt vaguely more human. I fancied staying up a bit, going to bed when I was really out of it, then getting up the next morning and having zero jet lag, just like I did when I flew to the UK. That wasn’t how it turned out though. I ended up going to the pub with Shawn and Shanelle, then Noelene joined us, then Brian swung by to say hi after he got off from work. Yes, that’s right, Brian swung by. First time I’ve seen him in a little over 3 months. Really nice to see him, and a totally easy going/laid back time too - maybe the group dynamic smoothed over any potential awkwardness? Good times anyway - 5 beers and a mountain of food later, I’m feeling allll good! Went to bed around 11:30pm, wiped.

Thursday: Woke up at 2:15am. Then at 4:45am. Then at 5:25ish when I heard Shawn leave for work. And I couldn’t really get back to sleep after that - bugger! Lazed about a lot, stayed in bed and pissed around on my laptop. Went to the pub in the evening for a bite to eat and a couple of beers, and that was that.

Friday: Woke up less than the previous night, but still earlier than normal. Vegged and chilled then went for a haircut. Went for lunch with Okhtay then came home to veg’n'chill some more. Got invited to the pub by co-workers who were going after work so accepted the invitation and hit the pub for the third night in a row (alcoholic much? you haven’t heard the half of it yet!). Shawn came for a pint, Brian came and met us, then we went off to the movies. Josh phoned, said he’d come join us, and did. I left my umbrella in Starbucks and it wasn’t there after the movie, nor had it been handed in. Fucker, whoever stole my brolly!

Saturday: Met up with Brian and his friend Jen for brunch. Good food, good conversations - nice. She went off afterwards, and Brian and I went to an open house at an apartment he’d seen advertised. They wanted $750/month for a place which really wasn’t all that big - I thought they were ripping the piss a bit. We walked around a bit looking for other places with vacancies, Brian made a few phone calls and left his details a bunch of times. Apartment hunting’s such a pain in the arse sometimes - competition’s fierce, rents are sky high etc..

I had tentative plans to hang out with Charlotte, Ben & co in the evening but I felt pretty wiped - I didn’t really fancy trekking over to 4th Ave and being in a busy bar etc. Turned out she was a bit wiped too so it was ok to take a rain check. Ended up going down my local for food and a few beers - it would have been rude not to, right?

Sunday: Did some more of the cleaning and tidying I started earlier in the week. I had a car booked for a few hours this afternoon and went to IKEA and Home Depot with Shawn. Came home, went to the pub for one (ok, two), came home again, Shawn cooked, I did more cleaning and tidying, we hung out a bit, and here I am - coming up on half eleven and I’m wiped! Definitely need to hit the sack soonish and be all bright eyed and awake for work tomorrow, and how!

Points For Clarification:

1. Yes, I’m friends with Brian again. I won’t lie - I missed having him as a friend, so I’m glad we can be friends again, hang out, walk’n'talk, rip the piss etc.
2. Shawn is now officially my room mate rather than someone who’s staying at my place temporarily while he finds a place of his own.
3. Despite having been to the pub 5 nights in a row, I’m not an alcoholic. Protesting too much? In denial? No. It’s just a joke now - going so often. Can we make it 7 nights in a row? The jury’s out (and I have plans later in the week!) - I’ll keep you posted ;-)

On that note, I’m off to bed. I’ll do my podcast tomorrow, which will hopefully be more entertaining than reading this blog entry.

I’m not sure why I’m calling this “The Week So Far”, as if it’s mid-week, when it’s actually Friday - pretty much the end of the week already.. but it’s only Friday morning, so I guess that makes it alright?

Monday: Christmas Day. Lots of people round here in the morning, 7 for Christmas lunch (me, the parents, my brother + his girlfriend, and my grandparents). Follow up with vegging and chilling, watching the Queen’s speech, the Doctor Who Christmas special, and that feeling of relief at the end of the day knowing that it’s all done for another year.

Tuesday: Boxing Day. Got up late, mooched around, didn’t do much. Went to my aunt’s house in the afternoon for another big family affair. Sat around, chatted, had a couple of beers, watched some Christmas movies on TV, and that was pretty much that. Came home slightly later than I’d have liked, so watched more TV, played Tetris, and went to bed.

Wednesday: Got up late (are you noticing a trend?). Walked to Bel Royal with my dad and had lunch. Walked back pretty quick, it was bloody freezing. Met James Young for a coffee in the afternoon and discussed Jersey versus the rest of the world. He lives in Ireland at the moment and was venting some frustrations with Jersey. I chimed in accordingly. It’s an odd little place, sometimes.. Went to my cousin Donna’s new house to see her, see it, catch up. Nice. Home for a quick bite to eat then out.

Went to the cinema with Glen & Rebecca, her friend Amanda, Glen’s brother and his girlfriend, and saw Night at the Museum. Not bad, easy entertainment, but no “must see epic” either.. 6.5 out of 10 maybe? I’m not big on half points, but 6 seems low and 7 seems generous. Meh - go see it, you be the judge!

Got dropped off at The Italian Job afterwards to join Andy and Katie, Sam, her sister, and Emma, who I knew but whose name I’d forgotten in a moment of brain-freeze, DOH! Emma is Jo Cardwell’s sister, and I knew I knew her, she definitely knew she knew me, but I was having one fo those crazy “I’m back in Jersey and I’m stunningly confused right now” moments. We met up with Rob and went to the Tipsy Toad, played pool, chucked tunes on the jukebox, and got kicked out after last orders.

Walking back, I was absolutely gutted. Turns out Bodyrox (featuring Luciana) played at Platinum nightclub on Boxing Day. BZZZT! I’d have been so up for seeing that! They did the song that I ranted about a few podcasts ago (#62) which of course I now love (not that that’s ever been known to happen before!) and was playing to death, LOUD, right before I left Vancouver to come home for the holidays.

Thursday: The day of fallen through plans. Plans with Philippa fell through. Craig couldn’t make lunch till much later on. I spent the morning doing this and that, nothing major, then went to down with Jon for late lunch and a mooch around. Not much going on downtown (I keep getting pulled for saying that - no one here says “downtown”, they say “in town” - I’m SO foreign these days eh?). Went out and about a bit, had some really good chats, then I went to pick my parents up from work, came home, family meal, then I went round to Katie’s place.

9 of us there in total - myself plus Katie and Andy, Glen and Rebecca, Rob, Sam, Jo, and Dan, who I haven’t seen in years and is also my first ex from something like 13 or 14 years ago. Totally fine, we’re friends, no hassle or drama, although he did pull me on having been back to the rock last year and not having caught up.. s’all good… After they’d all finished eating, we played this awesome game called Articulate! We played as 3 teams of 3 and you have to get your team mates to say a word, thing or name by describing it to them without using/saying what it is you’re trying to describe? Make sense? Possibly not - but check out the website because they have some of the TV commercials they show for the game in the UK that explain it well. It was really nice to just hang out with a bunch of decent people and have some good old fashioned fun playing a board game together. I must be getting old eh..

On that note, I need to go and shave and shower, scrub up and do something with my day.. I’ve got another blog entry in my head on the ups and downs of Jersey versus Vancouver, but it’ll wait.. Watch this space for it sometime between now and the new year ;-)