What's that smell?
I'd heard rumours about the layoffs yesterday and hoped you weren't affected. This has got to be one of the most unpredictable work climates in years: layoffs intermingled with strikes, alongside a steady trickle of job hirings.

Glad to hear you had a great weekend, Dina. We went to see a play on the weekend, too. A friend was in Dom Juan by Molière. I knew a couple of people in it, so it was fun to see them in a completely new light. They did a really great job of modernizing the play.

We had quite an experience with Chili on the weekend: she got sprayed by a skunk! Luckily, she only got it on the muzzle, and it was through the fence, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. I spent a quarter of a hour furiously rubbing her with diced tomatoes (no tomato juice on hand), which worked pretty well. Now there's only a faint smell in our downstairs, where she sleeps. Let's hope she learns from the experience...

Layoffs? where?where?
I heard that the company I work for is laying off 20,000 people over the next two years and restructuring. It was on the radio yesterday and in the paper today. I suppose at one time I would have been terror-stricken, but now I'm just blasé. Turns out that our office is staying open because we're one of the cheaper offices due to the dollar, tax rebates, etc. Looks like lots of projects will be transferred here, which is great for us. My particular department is being included in something called Business Unit Global Services. I'm going to belong to BUGS. I'm trying to decide if it's insects or the rabbit.
Went out for a bit of grocery shopping last night with Steve and ran into Rhett. There's talk of the two of them becoming shopping buddies. This can only be a good thing, Rhett's cart was loaded with fruits, veggies and other healthy things, as opposed to Steve's cart with cookies.......

It's not where you are, it's who you're with
Steve and I had a fantastic weekend in Toronto. I actually thought that I'd never write that sentence in my entire life. Guess it goes to show you that the company you keep can turn a city that you hate into a fun city. We arrived a little after 8 and Dan and Libby were there to meet us. We walked back to their place where I met Libby's sister, Mieke, and her dog, Silas. I will talk about Silas later. We all went out to this great Thai/Indian restaurant and then walked back to the apartment and collapsed. Saturday we had breakfast at the apartment. Steve and I brought some real bagels which were added to a table of juice and fruit and croissants, yum yum! We went out and started walking around the town. The initial plan was to wander down to the beaches, but that proved a bit much, so we made it to the St Lawrence market and had sandwiches of breaded eggplant and chicken, very strange! Pretty good though. Along the way, we came upon a concert to recruit new members for the church of scientology. Mieke interrogated them a bit ("I heard you guys are a cult, what's the deal with that?") and took their stress test for a bit of fun. Apparently it involved electric current.....
We went back to the apartment and grabbed an hour of snoozing and then walked to this wonderful restaurant called Tiger Lily's. If this restaurant were in my town, I would probably eat there once a week. The food was so tasty, even the tea was wonderful. The end of the meal was a bit rushed as we realised that the play was going to start in 15 minutes. Libby and Mieke left right away to grab the tickets and Steve, Dan and I grabbed the rest of the food and paid. We got to the theatre a few minutes late, but we hardly missed anything. The play was amazing, terrific Tom Stoppard dialogue and great acting. We grabbed cabs home and collapsed yet again.
Sunday we had a leisurely breakfast of Dan's famous french toast and listened to music and played a bit of Moot. We left to go and meet Steve's mom and aunt at the station just before noon. It was sad to say goodbye to Dan and Libby, we won't see them for a while. Thanks Dan & Libby, we love you lots!
Pat was squeaky-happy to see us and we had a nice lunch at a place called Milestones and then wandered over to the Chapters next door. I bought a book of 5 Tom Stoppard plays, one of them the one we saw the night before. I was also able to get to know Steve's aunt a bit along the way, man she walks fast! We wandered some more and then back to the station where there was another sad goodbye. Steve had thought that the train ride was 6 hours long, but it turns out that it was only 4, which made me very happy! Along the way, we had snacks provided by Libby (what a sweetie). We got home, tired but happy, with the cats interrogating every inch of the luggage.

Getting on a train
Leaving early today to take the 3:40 train to Toronto. I still haven't decided what I'm wearing, I put a few things in the mutual suitcase, but there's always the fear of being unprepared. We found out that we're going to see a play Sat. night. That will be fun, I haven't been to any theatre in ages, but I'm hoping that pants and a sweater will be fine because the idea of packing a skirt and all the fixings sounds like a lot of work. We're going to see Tom Stoppard's Indian Ink. I have no idea what it's about (I'm guessing India), but I'm sure that it will be good, it is Tom Stoppard.
Stopped by the Roots outlet yesterday and bought a t-shirt that was on sale by reason of spelling error. It's an olympic t-shirt with the words, "Olympic sking 2002" printed on it. Oops! It's a very nice t-shirt, and it's a good way to catch people who are staring at my chest.
The boss is back and has brought work from New York. This means that not only am I leaving early, I actually have something interesting to do until I leave, hurrah!

LiteBrite!




which "monty python and the holy grail" character are you?

this quiz was made by colleen

No walk this morning
I left the house ready to walk this morning, but my heal rubbing painfully against my shoe told me that I'd get five blocks and be in extreme pain so I brought the car to work. Probably just as well since I have to pick up heavy catfood on the way home today.
Dina's big adventure
I left at 4:00 yesterday so that I'd have plenty of time to get home and get Steve to the STC meeting. I got to the metro and figured that I'd take it to Villa Maria and then walk home down Monkland from there because I'd have time. The metro was stopped until 5:15 for some reason, so I walked back up to street level and viewed my options. People were lined up at the bus stop and there wasn't a bus in sight, so I decided to start walking and I'd grab a cab when I found one. Off I went and walked, and walked, and walked, all the way to Monkland! By that time it was nearly 5, and I managed to find a cab and got home in time. I estimate that the walk took 50 minutes, but I was rushing. It was not a nice walk due to the heat and exhaust. I do not recommend it.
The STC meeting was very good. Geoff gave a presentation on audience analysis which made me think differently about the way that I view my audience. Afterwards, Steve, Geoff, his girlfriend Shoshanna, Bill and I went out to a restaurant and had a beer and some appetizers and chatted about science fiction, the presentation and the story of the courtship of Geoff and Shoshanna. We got home late and I was bushed from all the walking. Dina had a big day.

Heat wave, day 2
Walked to the metro again this morning. The only damage I've sustained so far is a blister on my little toe. I think that it was caused by a seam in my sock. Nothing that a well-placed bandaid can't fix.
It was 19C at 6:30am. It's supposed to go up to 28 or so, we broke a record yesterday. It's like late July here! There's even a severe storm warning, but it's sunny outside. It's going back to normal this weekend, 9 or 10C, so it looks like April summer will be over.
They cranked up the air conditioning at the office. Yesterday it was a bit warm, so I decided that I would dress a bit lighter. Now I'm cold and wondering if I should hit up a cheap clothing store at lunch for a sweater.
We're going to Toronto this weekend. I wouldn't normally do this by choice, but we're going to visit some friends. As it turns out, Steve's mom is going to be in town as well visiting her sister, so we'll meet up with her too. We're taking the train out on Friday afternoon, so I'm cutting out early from work. I don't think that this will be a problem because now that the rush is over, there's not much to do. I'm making up work for myself and hoping to get another project soon. I've been told that I don't have to worry about my contract being renewed, so we'll see what happens.
There's an STC meeting tonight out on the West Island. I'm leaving a bit early so I can meet Steve back at home and head out. Bill and Justin are also supposed to be hitching rides.

Heat wave
It's going up to 26C here today! I didn't wear a coat today! I'm just too darn excited about weather! I got up early this morning and walked to the metro instead of driving to work. The walk is a brisk 30 minutes along Monkland, which is a nice morning walk to wake up and clear your head. It was 16C when I left the house and it misted for the entire walk. I don't think that we're going to get any sun today, but we got humidity!
Yesterday was a whirlwind at work. A whole bunch of really dull work has to be done by this afternoon. I didn't stop for lunch and the day zoomed by.
Last night Steve and I walked up Monkland to this great Lebanese restaurant. Good prices and great food that we ate on the terrasse. Yay! Our first terrasse meal of the year. The chicken brochettes were tender and juicy and well seasoned.
We got the strangest phone call last night. I picked it up and did my usual cheery answering of the phone, and there was this guy at the other end. I though that it was one of Steve's buddies and did the "hi, how are you doing? etc etc". The guy asked if I knew who this was, I said "no", then he told me to guess. He gave me hints, such as his eye colour and height, and finally said that we had met at the Cavendish Mall six weeks ago and that I had given him my phone number. Seeing as how I haven't been to Cavendish Mall for over a year, this seemed very unlikely. I asked who he wanted to talk to and he said that the woman in question hadn't given him her name. Poor loser, got the brush off and he was too stupid to realise........
Stupid plasterer
The plasterer was supposed to show up yesterday morning. Steve and I waited and waited. I finally left for work and Steve waited until 9:30 and then left. He lost an entire morning of work. The plasterer finally called Steve around noon to say that he was at another job. He's supposed to come and start Wednesday, we'll see. We've told him to come very early.
The weekend
We had a lovely weekend. Saturday we drove throught the rain to more rain up at the folks and had a good birthday party for my Dad. He really liked the chainsaw. Mom made a feast and a few friends of the family came for lunch, including Louise who was celebrating her 91st birthday. She's still in great shape. When she was in her 80s, she started writing children's books. Sunday was full of moving things around for the plasterer. Steve did almost everything while I was out running a few errands. Later, Maggie and her mom-in-law showed up and we got a belated wedding gift, a wonderful clock in the shape of a wave. We are so spoiled.

Back Online
I'm live again! Does it ever feel good, too. I was really feeling isolated from the world... It took this experience to show me how technology can overcome distance and isolation. And now I'm surfing at light speed! Yahoo!

Kathy, I think you know what my reply would be. IMHO, it'd be great if you could take the work on as a contract. It sounds like the best of all possible worlds: a big, reliable client and the freedom to head into the next phase of your professional life, whatever it may be.

When does a layoff become a layoff?

I am back from the big city...aka T.Owe.... (Toronnah...)

I did my presentation and the end result was the operation was a success but the patient died. I have to do some more work and they want me to go back and give another presentation in 6 months. They loved the idea, (and apparently liked the presentation as well) but wanted it to be developed a little further. That 6 months brings me within another 6 months...The point is, the project will take 7 or 8 months. Now, do you see where we're heading here? My best before date is sometime March 2003.

Yes, I am already being asked to stay on until June 2003, which brings up some interesting issues. I haven't responded as I need to think that one through. Assuming that this is an extension and not a new job offer, it means that I get my package and get to leave during a nice time of year...in other words get my summer off. It also may mean that I can work on contract and do this project and charge a fairly decent rate for it. I don't need to respond for a while yet and plan to wait and see what happens next. So if any of you have any thoughts and observations on this, please feel free to express your opinions.

Dina, you're right, it is a gorgeous day. As for life in the corporate zone, forget it...get out there and enjoy. Life is too short.

Chainsaw Friday!
And a beautiful day it is! 20C and sunny, does it get any better?
Just came back from the gym orientation session. Once a month, this trainer guy does orientation sessions for the gyms at the company. He's a former body building champion or something, he looked like a character from one of Steve's comic books:the inverted triangle top and smaller (comparitively) bottom. He wasn't wearing tights or a cape though, oh well. He showed a group of us how the machines work and such. We have one of those universal gyms and there are so many different cables and attachments that you really can't use the darn thing without someone coming in and showing you. The one thing that we don't have down there is an ellyptical trainer, they're so neat!
After work I'm heading to the hardware store to buy a chainsaw. It's for my Dad's birthday. Tomorrow we're heading for the townships for my Dad's b-day with cake and stuff. Sunday Maggie and her mom-in-law are coming over and we're prepping for the plasterer to come and work one two of the rooms. I hope that we can keep the dust to a minimum, it was such a hassle to clean up last time. Other than that, I'm enjoying the beautiful sunshine, perhaps I'll leave a bit early today.......

Gas sign tease
On the way to Maggie's last night I drove by a gas station with a price sign that runs on a motor (the numbers are on rollers instead of manually changing the prices). It looked like it was going a bit beserk, the first number was moving from 7 to 6 and then back again. The price should have been 74.9, but I'm wondering if you could get the gas for 64.9 if you pulled in at the right time.
Had a nice evening over at Maggie's. She stocked me up with haircare products that she no longer uses and we visited with her mother-in-law who's in from England. Her youngest has decided to change his regular speaking voice to something that sounds like a cross between cookie monster and satchmo. The truly cute thing is that he's 2.
We finally have a break in the weather! It's apparently beautiful outside, must go and see for myself. Tonight is the Vestibule show and before that some people at work are getting together for a beer downtown. This guy that was up from Texas for a couple of weeks is leaving to go back tomorrow. Should be fun!

I want one!

Life Gets Even Faster
Hi everybody! Sorry I haven't given any sign of life for a while (although I've been faithfully checking in on you each day). As Dina and Kathy have been hinting, I've made some real changes lately that are only starting to sink in. For starters, I've given notice at my regular job and will be starting freelancing next week. Don't know if this professional suicide or a smart move, but I decided to listen to the signs (or angels, or whatever higher being you like, depending on whether you talk to some of my friends or my mom), which were all pointing me toward working for myself. In short, I need more flexibility than I can get from an 8 to 5 job and am tired of hearing the usual crap about being at the top of my salary category or field, blah blah blah. So I took the plunge.

In the short term, the pace has definitely picked up as I set up my office at home with a computer, high-speed internet, tax numbers and all the other fun aspects of being self-employed. : P I'm also madly trying to finish a couple of contracts before I start a new intensive gig at a client next week. The upside, however, is I'll be home on Monday when my daughter comes home from school and can hear all about her very exciting day. I can't wait.

Off to Toronto in 10 minutes

Yup, I'm heading down to the centre of the universe by train this time. I am afraid it isn't as exciting as what others of us in this ring are doing, but I get a free facial this time (no doubt needed after I do my presentation tomorrow).

I'll be blogless until Friday, so I look forward to some good reading when I get back.

Did I tell you...The point of this trip is to get approval for a project that I will likely be running but will be unable to complete before next year...You just gotta love working in the corporate world these days....

Happy birthday Daddy!

Silly lethargy girl....
Last night I went home, picked up the movie that we rented and returned it and did some groceries. After being so tired that I could barely move all day, I dragged the groceries upstairs, put everything away, made supper, washed the dishes and made a bean salad and muffins for lunches. Yes, I'm not so smart. When I finally sat down, I really couldn't get up again. Steve had to drag me off the couch and lug me to bed while my muscles and brain said, "nope, not moving". I don't know why I bothered sitting down, there wasn't anything on the tv last night. I tried a new muffin recipe that came out very well and really isn't too bad for you. They have buttermilk in them which meant that I bought a litre of the stuff and used about a cup and a half. I'm trying to figure out what to do with the rest. Any ideas?
So I know that somebody else in the Ring has news, big news. You know who you are (ED), spill it!

Why it's so dark

They say that people are adversely affected by the time change we have twice a year. In fact it makes people stupid for about a week afterwards and impairs their judgement. Apparently evidence of this phenomenon is demonstrated in the stock market which usually tends to drop during the week following the change. Think of it as a form of jet lag if you will. How many of us feel really good after an overseas, overnight flight?

These days the only reason we go on daylight time is for the farmers as they are the ones who benefit. I guess given that they produce our food, we have to kind of go along. For those of you who weren't aware, food doesn't come from food replicators seen on Star Trek. ; - )

It's 6:30am, why is it dark?
Something knocked me out completely this morning, I don't know if it was daylight savings time, the grey morning, the light rain, or the walking from yesterday, but I could barely move. By the time I got to work I could have crawled under my desk or better yet, slept in the car in the parking lot. It's starting to get a bit better, but I think that I'll be going to bed early tonight.
Saturday we hung out and relaxed and did a tiny amount of cleaning. Maggie came over in the afternoon and she came with me to the hairdresser. My hair really doesn't look much different than before, just a bit shorter and better shaped. The dead ends are all gone too. It looked pretty good after the hairdresser diffused the crap out of it and it was all curly, of course this morning I only managed to get it to frizz up...sigh.....
Saturday evening we went over to Terence's place for Geek Night and watched many old cartoons and tv shows, it was tons of fun to see things that I watched when I was a kid and see some other stuff that I hadn't even heard of. Thanks Terence!
Sunday we went for a walk. Our mission was to walk to the grocery store in Westmount that sells diet Dr. Pepper, or at least they used to. We walked all the way down Monkland and then down and across. The store was closed (doh!), but we got some veggies (parsley, asparagus, strawberries, scallions), stopped for a sandwich and meandered home. We were walking for three hours, and let me tell you I feel it today :-0
We also picked up some fresh fish. I made this parsley and dill yogurt topping that was very tasty! We cooked up the asparagus that we bought and had a real feast. Sunday night we watched "Ghost World". It wasn't bad, but I found it quite long. For a real review, check Steve's blog.
Steve made bread last night that nearly exploded out of the bread machine. Maybe there was too much water. It flowed over the top of the container and was the consistency of pilsbury biscuits, fluffy but good. It doesn't hold together very well for sandwiches.
Not to be cruel, but I flipped over to CBC this morning and the gentleman reading the news had an obvious speech impediment. He sounded a bit like Elmer Fudd and I had to wonder why he was on the radio at all. Are they letting everyone not locked out of the station have a turn?

Friday-wheeeee!
The week flew by despite the fact that I had very little work and had to keep making up stuff to do. I've finally made an appointment to have my hair cut tomorrow. It's a new place, I want a different look than what my regular guy always gives me. I'd like something that I can live with when it's curly, because lately that's all I've been doing. I can't be bothered to straighten my hair unless I'm going somewhere fancy. This means that I will be paying more money than I normally would, but if the hairdresser comes up with a good cut, then it will be worth it.
Bill keeps trying to make me jealous of her new apartment. Apparently it's bigger than Maggie's house and just as oakafied. Unfortuanately, there are two things about it which would insure that I would never live there:

it's right downtown

there's no parking

Sorry Bill, I'm sure it's beautiful and completely stunning, but I covet my park across the street and my peace and quiet (not to mention the good schools) :-)

Trip to Walmart
What I was supposed to buy: coffee
What I bought:

• coffee (yay! get outta the store, now!)
  
• decaf tea (well, I did want to get some)
  
• cheerios (I have been craving them for weeks)
  
• hand lotion (needed some for the office)
  
• crispy mini rice cakes (better than chips)
  
• potato soup (can you believe it? it's the only place in town that has it)
  
• licorice (better than chocolate)
  
• ponytail things (I can only find one at home...get me out of this store!!!)

Steve's blog today reminded me that three companies that I worked for have been in the business section of the newspaper in the past three days. One is closing their Montreal head office, the second is laying off half it's employees, and the third just got a big contract with the US military. I worked at the first two companies very recently, in fact the three companies that I worked at before this one, have experienced massive layoffs since I left. They obviously overestimated the incredible work I do. The third had many problems after I left, but it has been more than ten years since I was there and they have managed to get themselves back together. Now, am I a harbinger of doom, or do I just have impeccable timing?

Pick me up in the ball room when you're finished
It's a partly-sunny day here, but cold. We had a brief snow squall just now which made me wonder if my decision to stop wearing boots was wise, but the sun is back and I'm feeling much better. Today is payday! I get to go to Walmart and buy a can of coffee at lunch, perhaps browse the rest of the store for useless stuff. There's always something there that I pick up for no reason, damn super stores! Bill went into the Ikea looking for a dresser and came out with coloured straws, we just can't resist the brights colours and low prices. I want to go to Ikea, but I'm afraid to go alone. If I go with Steve, there's a small chance that I will restrain myself. Must buy flurgen wudens!
Watched Greg the Bunny last night. It's like the Muppet Show for adults. The show mixes actors with puppets and is pretty funny. Greg may be cute and fuzzy, but he's got some 'tude.

Walkies
Went for a walk at lunch to get out of the office and wake up a bit, it's very grey and dreary here today. Now that much of the snow has melted you can see the garbage everywhere, it's kind of depressing. I wish that people wouldn't litter, it looks so terrible. Add this to all the people who don't clean up after their dogs, and you have the usual spring landscape. Last night I fiddled with the computer a bit. I got the new Norton Systemworks and have been tweeking my machine since Sunday night. I ordered it from a spam ad I got through hotmail. Even with the conversion from $US, I saved $50. The problem with spring cleaning your computer is that you can't see a difference, you just have to believe it's better and more organized.

The nocturnal life of cats and bread machines
Late at night, after everything's asleep (except maybe our downstairs neighbour's teenage daughters-but that's another story) our cats decide to prove to us that they are not merely fuzzy cushions that sleep, eat, shed and sit where they aren't allowed. They are also creatures of incredible speed, agility, and cunning. In their tiny kitty minds, they glide through the night, catching prey and maneouvering majestically through their domain. In my half-awake mind, they are streaking down the hallway at top speed, slipping on the wood floor, and running into doors. The call of the wild was strong last night, the result being that I was asleep in between frequent thumps.
The other thing keeping me up was the bread machine. We needed bread for sandwiches this morning, so Steve started it last night at around 8. The bread takes about four hours, so it would be ready at midnight. The problem is that it's not good to leave it in the machine for hours after it's baked, because condensation develops as the machine cools down and you end up with a soggy bottom. Someone (me) has to get up and take it out of the machine and put it on a cooling rack. As a result, I often wake up 30 minutes before the machine is finished and then stay awake and listen for the beep. I am a slave to technology and fluffy little warriors of the night. I am so tired.....

I love long weekends!
Happy end of long weekend, boy, I could have used another day off! This weekend was beautiful! The sun was bright and warm and melted a lot of the pesky snow. Friday we cleaned up the house a bit and wandered around. Saturday we went out first thing in the morning to Reno Depot and picked up flowers for my mom. We got a lily, some hyacinths, tulips and some pretty purple things (not sure what they're called). We also picked up a new plant for the bathroom (killed the old one) and this beautiful pacific jade tree/plant. It's huge and was only $20, so we brought it home and set it in the window. Steve's named it Ramona. I hope that Ramona is comfortable in her new home. I discovered the Reno has a 1 year warranty on its plants, I'll keep the receipt just in case :-) After that, we went for a walk in the sunshine, great day!
Sunday we went up to the folks. It was a perfect day for driving, sunny and dry roads. We had a good time visiting and had a big lunch. My grandmother and aunt came over later for tea and dessert. We got lots of chocolate, gonna have to get rid of it or freeze it or something.
Today is rainy and grey, I could have slept in so easily. It's a perfect day for reading in a comfy chair. It's another quiet day at work, I've been told that we're going to get the specs for the upcoming version soon, which means lots of work coming up and some actual writing! Woo hoo! In the meantime, I need a nap......

It's nice to see that some people miss the CBC's regular programming. It's kind of discouraging being out there on the picket lines thinking everyone's quite happily listening to CJAD and Q92.
A friend called me yesterday and gave me a timely reminder about the Montreal Star. Remember that paper? They went out on strike and everybody figured, "hey, who needs two daily papers?" The Star died soon after. The way I figure it, my job may well be eliminated when we go back, either way. If we win, more permanent positions for casuals, therefore fewer casuals, bye-bye Becca. If we stay out a long time, lost ratings, cut backs, bye-bye Becca.
But who knows which way the wind will blow...maybe they'll recognize the genius displayed in our gang's picket-line snowman (holding a picket saying: __more mr. _ice guy!") and make me the Vice-President of English Programming.
Stranger things have happened at the Corp.

Wish me luck!

My friends found an apartment
After much searching in this terrible apartment hunting climate, my friends Terence and Irene found a very nice upper duplex with very reasonable rent. So, you are asking, why is this place so affordable? The landlord is a psychologist and uses the lower duplex as an office 3 or 4 days a week. He practises scream therapy. Apparently, it's only audible in the front rooms, not the back ones where their bedroom and offices will be. Congrats guys! What a great story!

Getting The Haitch in Aitch--Where it Comes From,

The phenomenon you observe is one that is particular to what you used to be the municipalities of Verdun and Ville La Salle. People pronouncing their "haitches" went to English (Irish) Catholic schools and they passed this pronunciation on to their offspring. Ask your colleagues what part of town they grew up in and it is 98% likely it was either Ville La Salle or Verdun. You may recall Tracey pronounced hers too. The majority of people in that area of town are of Irish Catholic descent mixed with French (naturually).

I ran into this phenomenon for the first time in 1974 when I got my first summer job. Nearly everybody I worked with came from that part of town and I remarked on it at that time as I thought it was so weird. (I still do.)

But the "haitch" phenomenon goes back to England and I believe the Cockneys pronounce theirs that way. I suspect certain areas in Ireland do as well.

Ditto, I want my Daybreak and Homerun Back!! I want Shelly Pomerantz on "All in a Weekend"!!!

I Want My Home Run and Daybreak
Don't know if anybody else listens in on the drive home, but I'm a regular listener and I miss my daily dose. Radio is sooooo boring without CBC Radio One! Now does that make me a certified geek or just somebody who hates top-40 dreck?

Haitch? I just noticed two of my colleagues say this instead of "aitch", as in "the haitch drive." Now where does this come from? Is this a local variation due to the influence of French? Another Canadianism like "aboot"? Must be the 3 years of linguistics I did in my undergrad degree, but I find regional accents and speech variations fascinating!

I got the book!
That book that I requested from booklend.net arrived yesterday complete with a return envelope! What a neat thing! Perhaps I will send back an extra book that I have laying around on the shelf.....

Happy Easter and Hand me the Shovel

Well it looks like great spring skiing coming up this weekend and the Easter Egg hunt will require a snow shovel...a fine tradition when the weather cooperates! ; - )While this may not be spring like weather, it is at least pretty (for the moment) and the air is fresh.

Okay, you're all pelting me with nice heavy wet snowballs and shoving snow down my back as you wrestle me to the ground--but, I thought I should at least say something positive because this will likely be it. There is a saying in Quebec that is something to the effect (excuse the poor French here) "Au mois de mars nous aurons trois belles tempetes du neiges au Quebec". The fact that there is a saying means spring never comes without the mandatory 3 storms and I think we have just had the third one.

The Easter bunny will show up with snowshoes on and I hope as he hops around the neighbourhood that he rips down any icicle lights that are still up. (Some people had their lights on last night..growl = : - ( Face it, for most of the winter there has been plenty of opportunity to take them down--I mean has it really been that cold and snowy that you can't get the lights down (between mid-January and last week?)

Happy Easter anyway! Everybody deserves a nice break this weekend! Have lots of mood cheering chocolate!

Ugh!! More snow!!!
Another 15 cm, how sick are we of this awful white stuff. Maggie told me that since March 18 we've had 53cm of snow, that's practically what we've had all winter up until March 18!
To give us all a little lift, have a look at this.

Hi everyone! I'm too depressed to write anything interesting, I'm afraid, but since you ask, Dina:
The lockout (thank you for calling it that) is ongoing, and looks like it may last a while. The union has called a general assembly today but I couldn't go for family reasons. It's a very frustrating situation because I love my job, and I can't believe they pay me to do it. So I'm not the poster-gal for striking, even if I do understand what the union is fighting for. Mostly I feel like a pawn in a game, ie. I have no control over something that affects my life and the lives of my good friends tremendously. And it's friggin' cold out!!! Could we have a worse week to be on the picket line? The whole thing is so gross...And if I don't see a crocus or a daffodil soon my head is going to explode!

Happy Easter to one and all.

Slightly less common Latin phrases

Alright, where is everyone?
The course is nearly a complete waste of time. They brought over an instructor from Sweden and she really doesn't know anything about the software but the basics. Add this to the fact that nothing was set up ahead of time and that we're all running amok and you pretty much get the situation. It's too bad, because I really need to know how to use this software.... oh well. Looks like I'll just have to learn it myself.
We're supposed to be getting a whole whack of snow later today 10-15cm from what I hear, then ice pellets and freezing rain-blech!

You are Stupendous Man! You are simply amazing, whether you are battling your arch-nemesis Mom Lady, the nefarious Babysitter Girl, or the fiendish Annoying Girl. And you have absolutely nothing to do with mild-mannered Calvin. Take the What Calvin are You? Quiz by contessina_2000@yahoo.com!

Hey guys,
I'll be out in training today and tomorrow, someone else will have to blog :-)
Rebecca, how goes the lockout at CBC?

Could ironing actually be fun?

Brrrrrr!
It's a brilliantly sunny day, so sunny that I heard that there was a 20 car pileup this morning. I has nothing to do with it...... It's also cold, chillingly cold, the kind of cold that says, hey don't mind me, I'll just come right through that parka you got on. The sun is wonderful to feel and it is Friday, so I guess I should quit my bitchin'.
I need to get to a postoffice after work to mail some stuff out. The major thing? A parcel for my nieces that I should have sent out for x-mas, yes, I'm very embarassed. Luckily, they are both teens and are not crushed by my irresponsible attitude towards x-mas presents. I added easter candy and bunnies to make it a bit better. Why did I put it off for so long? Timing, money, general forgetfulness, it's finally getting done though!

Fishy fish
Went for a walk at lunch and wandered over to a tropical fish store. They had everything, even crabs and coral. I was in a foul mood yesterday evening because I was looking for something and couldn't find it. It used to be that I knew where all my crap was. Now, I'm lucky if I know where a tiny portion of it is, the rest exists in boxes piled in a room and down in the storage area of the basement. It's enough to make me scream! Where did it all come from and why don't I have space for it all anymore? Super duper mega garage sale, come on Spring, let's go! Bill and Cecil did come and take some boxes off our hands, course they were empty......thanks guys!
Weather report, more snow today, another 10 cm. It just started, crap..........

Watch the penguins

%^&%$#@*!!!!! Snow
It's that time of year again, Spring was in the air, it was getting warm, the sun was shining....then boom, lots of snow! We got closer to 15 cm of snow Monday and I just heard on the radio this morning that we're supposed to get another 10cm today and more Thursday. Blech! I love snow when it comes in December, January, and February, but as far as I'm concerned, when it comes at the end of March and after it is a very unwelcome visitor. A couple of years ago we got 30 cm on April 9, my Dad's b-day, I remember it because I tried to drive up to the townships. It happens every year, I don't know why I'm so disappointed and surprised every time.
I'm pretty busy at work, I have a whole bunch of stuff to complete for Thursday. Despite the schedule and the amount of work to be done, it doesn't feel hectic here and I like that. Still, better get to it!

Weekend - the review
First of all, way to go Willie, we know that you could do it!
The wallpaper in the diningroom has some sort of special power, it gave us other things to do and thus remained intact, smugly stuck on the walls. Saturday we slept in and went to the accountant and by the time we got back, it was time to disassemble shelves to go to Jon's house. Afterwards, the guys came back and were gaming until after midnight. Sunday was nice, so we decided to take a walk instead and generally lazed about. Maybe next weekend.......
It's snowing here, we're supposed to get 10 cm by tomorrow. The good news is that it's going to get warmer tomorrow, so the snow should be gone by Wednesday! Yay! Still, it is a bit depressing to look out the window and see the snow blowing past.....

A Saint Patrick's Day Gift

I don't often post directly to the blog these days, but today I felt that I have something worth (maybe) crowing about. My dog Willie was in an obedience match yesterday and not only did he qualify (meaning he passed, something he hasn't done in 4 years), he also won a first! I wouldn't have believed it except for the fact that I have a lovely ribbon hanging up in my study at home. Willie was tired after all his exertions yesterday and I think today he is only too happy to have a day off. I am thrilled to have bragging rights for a day.

This seems too good to be true........

Friday!
This week has just flown by! Last night I caught a bit of a new show on Fox called "how to make it as a rockstar" or something like that. It's a 20-something guy and his band trying to make it big, with inner commentary. It's definitely worth watching again. I'm hoping that HMV calls today to tell me that my box set o' Cuban jazz has arrived. They did say that it wouldn't take long......need some good latin rhythms for removing wallpaper this weekend.

Newfies take the cup!
It's funny how your brain works sometimes. I often fall back to sleep in the morning with the radio on. This morning was no exception. CBC ws doing a story on ice hockey in Ireland. They've put together a dozen teams or so and they compete for a championship. Apparently, it's really catching on there as a sport that all can come and watch without Catholic/Protestant animosity unlike football or rugby. Anyway, so I'm dreaming while this story is going on and my brain has taken the news story and turned it into Newfoundland winning the Stanley Cup. Perhaps someday Newfoundland will have a hockey team in the NHL, but until then Dina, you're dreaming!

Play with Lego online!!

Not for the religiously inclined: Lordco

Sunshine!!
Another lovely, sunshiny day-what the heck am I doing inside? Didn't do much last night. For some reason, I've been feeling very tired lately. During the day, I have a ton of energy and plan to do very energetic things; when I get home, I can't possibly understand how I thought that I would have the energy to do anything. Lots of stuff to do at work this week and next week, I may have to do some overtime to get it finished. This weekend we are going to start removing wall paper from the diningroom.
Against my better judgement, I watched Survivor last night. Some of the characters are so pathetic that you wonder how the heck they got on the show. There's one girl who is obviously there for one reason: she's got a huge pair of fake boobs and wears almost nothing over them. The show's dumb, but the setting is beautiful! Makes me really want to get to a tropical island.

Check this out! Select Montreal en photos and type in your address I can see your house from here!

Snaps!
I picked up three rolls of pictures last night. These rolls of film have been sitting around for about 6 months. We found them when we were cleaning up the diningroom last month. I thought that one of them was lost for good. I remembered taking certain pictures, but they never showed up in the stuff that we had developed. It's neat to get pictures back. I never know what the heck was on the rolls, and then I'm generally a bit surprised that I would waste my film on so many pictures of the cats. This time they're pictures leftover from the wedding, Robert's second b-day, and the fireman charity strip extravaganza, hardly a single dull picture in the bunch! I promise that I will get around to posting the fireman photos soon........
I made peanutbutter cookies last night and brought the majority in to work today. Steve came home and told me that our friend Dave got layed off. It's a drag, but he didn't really enjoy his job anymore and I'm sure that he'll find something else soon. So many people getting layed off, it makes me wonder where people are getting the money to spend on huge houses and big cars. I drive through Hampstead on my way to work, and you would not believe how many houses are up for sale and sold on the next day-these are $500,000+ homes! Who's still making lots of money and is sure enough about their job to risk those kind of mortgage payments? I guess I'm bad for the economy.....

We seem to be experiencing some technical difficulties.....

Tuesday, still editing.....
I admit that I'm starting to get tired off all this editing and I'm looking forward to finally making the changes in the actual documents. This may seem mundane to you, but I'm thinking it's looking heavenly right now :-)
Last night I made muffins and they don't taste like sawdust or soggy newspaper, so I consider that a job well done. I added cranberries which give them a bit of sour flavour. I also made some bread, gotta love that bread machine, we use it all the time!
In addition, I tuned into the new show, American Embassy. I think that Steve summed it up nicely when he described it as "Felicity goes to London". I had hoped that it would be kind of West Wingy, but the dialogue is poor and the drama is strained. Blonde cutie goes to London to work at the embassy, almost instantly finds herself with two sexy love interests (a CIA guy and a Lord). Her neighbour is a transexual with lots of nice clothes to lend her, and the American embassy looks like some kind of frat house. The episode ended with a sudden car bomb that came out of no where and killed a few honest, American citizens. Ugh! I can't believe that shows like this exist and they cancelled The Tick!! (Yes, I'm still obsessing about that)
Tonight I'm gonna make some cookies and do some reading.

Why don't they just get it over with and call them Smarties?

Weekend review
We had a great weekend! Friday night was dinner at Byblos for Adriana's birthday. The Iranian food was very tasty and flavorful, I'd do that again! We got home late and puttered on Saturday. Saturday night we went to Kathy and Ralph's for fine French fare and excellent conversation. Their oldest dog, Willie, was ready for us, bringing us all his balls and toys to throw and play with. Trevor, the young one, had an attack of "strangers in my house-run!" He finally came up to me by the end of the evening, but was very unsure. He'll probably grow out of that with age. The drive home from the West Island was wild! We had a huge wind storm Sat. night and into Sunday. At times, I heard that the wind got up to 100km/hr. That's a good wind! There was all sorts of garbage and leaves flying everywhere on the road, sort of like a small hurricane or tornado. At certain times, the garbage was moving faster than we were! We got about halfway home when the heavy rain started and lightening. It turned cold overnight and by the time Sunday rolled around it was somewhat snowy, followed by brilliant sunshine and then 15 minutes of snow so heavy that you couldn't see 10 feet in front of you. Bizarre! Sunday was a totally useless day for me, I watched some tv, napped, and did a few groceries. Tonight I'm going to give muffins another try, this time I'm going for a less healthy recipe so they have some flavour....

Just as I suspected.......



Find out what kind of driver you are!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY EVERYONE!!!

Are you happy to be a woman at this point in history? I think that women of our generation are in a difficult but exciting time of transition. Sometimes it feels like all the great women's movements are behind us, but there is something changing and shifting in the way we look at ourselves and feel about the world. I think the time of women's greatest achievements and contributions to history is here and just around the corner. Look at our daughters and how different they are from us! It's an exciting time to be girl, in spite of all the awful problems we know about and hear about every day. It's not all rosy,, and I know this isn't (and may never be) literally true, but -- women rule!!

It wasn't Wednesday? Does anyone pay attention?
Ok, yesterday was clearly not Wednesday, where are my editors? Seriously, getting lonely all by myself........
We had a great evening with Guislaine and Ben and the 3 month old chocolate lab puppy, he's so cute!!!! We had yummy roast chicken and good conversation.
When we got home (very late), we were assaulted with a most toxic smell in the stairwell. It was kind of a cross between car exhaust and candle smoke and something toxic burning. We checked the house to make sure that we weren't on fire, and then I sent Steve down to talk to the neighbours. Apparently my neighbour decided to clean his oven yesterday evening, and the fumes not only permeated his house, but wafted up to ours as well. His daughters were hanging out in the basement to get away from the smell which started giving me a headache after we'd been home for 5 minutes. It was pretty much gone by this morning. What kind of moron decides to use something in a can which must have the words, "well ventilated" on it somewhere, in the middle of the winter when all the doors and windows are closed?

Whoop whoop Wednesday
Again, I'm trying to fool myself into staying awake. So far, so good. Scott left this morning and we miss him already. Come back Scott!!! I have discovered that I need new pants. It's either that or lose all the weight that I've put on in the last year,ok, so I should do that anyway, but I need pants now!!!! It's not like all the eating out lately has helped. I'll get some fat pants and enjoy my lovely dinners, then drag myself to the gym :-) Tonight we are heading out for our first dinner of the three night dinner extravaganza.

Blogger Survivor! Blogger Survivor!

Whacky Tuesday
Ok, so it's not whacky, but that's how I'm marketing it to myself so that I stay awake and employed. Still working on the editing and finding tons of mistakes. This is what happens when you don't work with and editor. Last night Scott treated us to BBQ chicken because Windsor doesn't have any. Windsor does not make much in terms of good food. When Scott comes for a visit, he has smoked meat sandwiches, BBQ chicken, Greek food, Chinese, and goes home with a bag of bagels. I gues we are spoiled to have so many good restaurants in our fair city. Friday night, we're going out to an Iranian restaurant for Adriana's birthday. I've never been to one, so it should be an adventure.
Last night I also struggled with my computer and won. Scott purchased Civ III and it would not run on my computer. I updated the video driver and spent another two hours changing settings and upgrading and getting patches. It works now, yay! The strangest bug in the program occurred because I had more than 255 fonts installed. Bizarre, and what the hell do I need all those fonts for?

Just when you thought there couldn't be another 'which X are you' quiz:



take the which one of the trading spaces cast are you? quiz!



http://members.aol.com/chuckchickadee/test.html

Long live periods at the end of sentences!
The coup has taken place and we won! From now on, all sentences will be ended with periods and the world sleeps safer tonight. It wasn't that hard, no one put up much of a struggle.
I'm sooooo sleepy. After the writer's meeting this morning, I was just dead. I think editing the manuals is taking its toll on my energy. These things aren't page turners :-)
All I can think about is putting my head down on my desk and taking a nice, long nap........snore.........

The weekend update
We had a pretty good weekend. Friday night we cleaned and moved the clutter out of most of the rooms into the room opposite the bedroom and closed the door. Of course, you can't actually get into that room, but at least we didn't have to look at the majority of the junk. Saturday we cleaned and then went to the airport and picked up Scott. We all went grocery shopping for the party and then went back home and relaxed and did some prep work for the party. The party was great, most people settled in the livingroom in front of a nice fire and talked and laughed. We had cake and general merriment. Thanks to all who came for the celebration! Sunday was the quiet day. It was beautiful and sunny and warm in the morning, but turned cold and rainy in the afternoon, perfect weather for vegging out. Sunday night I went over to Maggie's for the bookclub. This morning, Steve called Scott and asked him to run the dishwasher. We would normally start it just before leaving in the morning for work, but we didn't want the noise to wake up Scott. Scott called Steve a little later to tell him that the dishwasher had started leaking and was flooding the kitchen! Thank goodness somebody was there to stop the darn thing and mop up, otherwise we would have come home to a flooded kitchen and a very angry downstairs neighbour! Poor Scott! We'll have to take a look at it tonight and see if there's a blocked drain somewhere or a leaky seal. Scott is off downtown this afternoon to do some shopping and wander about. Tonight? Who knows?

Friday!
Again we are at the end of the week! I've started reviewing all the manuals that I will be in charge of (40 or so) and editing them. Funny what you find in documents that four other people have worked on. The first thing is that two people I work with, one my boss, seems to think that imperative steps such as "Click OK" do not require a period. The other four writers here disagree with this and we are planning on staging a coup at the next meeting. It's a sentence for heaven's sake! Besides that, there's the old "press, click, click on" thing that has to be resolved. I'm a minimalist and prefer the least amount of words necessary. People don't want to read, so if you make it easy for them by cutting down the number of words in a procedure, they may actually try to follow it before calling tech support. We're way past the time when you had to write "Using your mouse........" instructions, users are more savvy about these things (unless you're writing for AOL or the internet for dummies). So, that's what I'm doing today. I'll keep everyone updated on the coup.

Stupid elves
Damn cleaning elves never showed up! I'll whack them upside their little felt hats the next time I see them. That means that Steve and I will have to clean the house ourselves before the party tomorrow night. Little bastards! Steve can't understand why I get myself into a small tizzy about straightening up the house before company comes. It's what I was always taught to do and therefore have no power over that part of myself that screams "dust, mop, tidy!!!!!!!!!" before parties and such. Is it wrong? Am I neurotic?
House guest
We are getting an unexpected, yet very welcome surprise visitor this weekend. Scott, Steve's brother, is coming for a visit. We pick him up tomorrow from the airport and Steve and I are thrilled!

Halfiversary!
Steve and I have now been married for six months, half a year!!! So far, it's been marvelous, which is good because I think the warranty just expired :-)

Where's the driver? Travel pod adds new twist to transit

Happy Birthday Steve!
It is the b-day of the Steve today. He opened up presents from me and his folks this morning. Last night I wrapped things and watched some PBS. Lately, it seems that PBS shows a lot of marathon self-help garbage that I can't be bothered with, but it does have NOVA, possibly one of the best programs on tv. A few weeks ago, I watched a NOVA on fireworks that was pretty good, and last night they aired a show on the search for the first tetrapods, the first creatures with four legs that spawned us all, animals, humans, the whole shebang. PBS also aired a show on Tesla last night. A few weeks ago, they did Mandelbrot.
What I like about these one hour documentaries is their ability to explain and teach regular people, like myself, about the sciences. As a tech writer, I can appreciate the process of researching and the editing the content for general audiences and making the information entertaining to watch. I'd love to work on a show like NOVA, it would be the ultimate tech writing :-)

Iguana Throwing
And just when you thought people could not get any weirder...

Funky Fries
Blue fries, purple ketchup... Is this the shape and colour of food to come? Heinz certainly thinks so. One thing's for sure: chocolate fries will not be gracing our kitchen table any time soon. I have enough trouble keeping our rowdy troops in line without firing them up with a chocolate rush!

If you find those cleaning elves, Dina, tell them to come over to our place when they're done at yours. I could use some help, even from little green men.

Ok, the Canadian Men Rock Too!!!!
I watched part of the game yesterday, of course! What a great win! It was disappointing to hear this morning that a bunch of people took over a downtown bus and trashed it, but they seem to have left the shops alone this time. Why do people feel that they have the right to vandalize things at times like these?
Had a great weekend, the party at Rebecca and Dave's was lots of fun and the food was good too! It's great to get together with friends, especially the ones that you don't see very often. Sunday was spent doing little or nothing, a touch of cleaning, but that was about it. Probably should have gotten more done considering we have a lot to do before the party next Saturday. Time to call the cleaning elves!

Canadian Women Olympic Hockey Players Rock!!!!!
Let's hear it for our ladies, they really know how to do it! Congratulations on your spectacular win and being gracious even when the ref was calling penalties on everything!

Friday!!
Wheeee, almost over for another week! I had a very quick week of work actually, can't complain. My officemate and I finished a project that was supposed to take 10 days in two, so I started in on some other stuff. Unfortunately, I didn't know that someone else was working on the same stuff and so I ended up wasting two hours. Ugh! Now I have to find more stuff to do this afternoon. We're heading over to Dave and Rebecca's housewarming party Saturday night, that should be a blast! They bought a great house in NDG a few months ago perfect for BBQs and social events. We are also planning a trip to Club Price because we are nearly out of toilet paper, that's how we know it's time to go to stock up on all things in bulk. Hopefully, we'll manage to get out without too much extra crap.

Evil Overlord list

Should have said something last month.....
Fox started airing "The Tick" last Fall. It's a tv show based on the comic and it was funny, I mean, really funny! I say was because they cancelled it at the end of January. I had a look, and there are quite a few sites where you can voice your dissatisfaction at Foxs' decision. The Tick's battle cry is "Spoon!", so one campaign is actually asking people to send Fox spoons with their letters.


Here's an example of the dialogue, Tick is talking to his sidekick, Arthur, who has recently decided to give up accounting for a life in crimefighting:
Arthur, I believe in you! I always have! That's why I'm here! Destiny dressed you this morning, my friend, and now Fear is trying to pull off your pants. If you give up, if you give in...you'll end up naked, with Fear just standing there laughing at your dangling unmentionables!
Try to picture this done deadpan by Patrick Warburton, he's excellent!

Attack of the flowcharts
My job today is to go through a whole bunch of flowcharts and make changes. Many of them require huge additions, which requires me to try to cram stuff together and find space where none exists. After that, I have to actually check and see if the darn thing makes sense. Since I was NOT a logic major and have the attention span of a gnat, trying to follow a Voice Channel Seizure at Handoff procedure over 6 flowcharts is my own, private hell.

I am ELMO.

I'm cute, cute, as a button!


Which Sesame Street Character Are You?

A little excitement for the morning
I was working at my desk like a good Ericsson employee when the building alarm started going off. It's one of those beep.......beep.....beep things, really loud and annoying. No one paid any attention to it because it wasn't followed with instructions to evacuate. On it went. I went and got coffee. I came back to my desk, sat down and tried to keep working beep....beeep.....beeeep.....
After a couple of minutes, the alarm sped up beep.beeep.beeeep.beepbeepbeepbeepbeep. People started paying attention, and when the alarm turned into a hospital flatline of death, we decided to leave. Shortly after this, some security guy made an announcement that we should leave and this wasn't a drill. Thanks for letting us know.....
Of course, the elevators didn't work. Now, the main problem with the elevators not working is that a member of our team is in a wheelchair, not one of those regular jobbies, but a fully electric one with tons of support, because he needs it. We left his chair in the 3rd floor stairwell, and two guys managed to carry him downstairs, but we had no where to put him, so ended up bringing out a cafeteria chair which wasn't optimal. A lady from our floor brought her van around so he could keep warm.
The firetrucks arrived and many firemen (yay!) went into the building. We milled for about 30 minutes before we were allowed back in. Problem? Apparently a generator on the roof burnt out and the smell got into the building.
Ericsson, Swedish for "what fire?"......

Steve's at work!
Steve started at Pratt & Whitney today. He was waiting for another offer to come through, but they can't make an official offer for two weeks, so Steve decided to start at Pratt and see if he likes it. If other offers appear, he can always decide to change later. He was out of the house at 7 this morning, about when I get up, poor guy! I stopped by the local supermarket yesterday on the way home and ran into my friend, Adriana. She was there with her mom, but had lost her in the aisles. We talked for a while (she teased me about having bran in my cart-it's for muffins!) then she went off on her mom search again. She passed by me again while I was waiting in line, her mom had gone through the line and was looking pretty mad. I was carrying my purchases out through the parking lot when I was honked at for walking through a parking space that someone was trying to take. I apparently gave the driver one of my patented "looks from hell" before I realised that it was Melissa! We had a quick chat. She was about to grab some supper stuff because her boyfriend was coming over for supper. She's really busy, working full time at Nortel where they're incredibly understaffed, doing her MBA part time in the evenings and trying to take a wine tasting course! I suddenly feel very lazy! I got home, made myself some supper (Steve was playing with Jon last night) and then made muffins, pizza dough, and bread for lunches today. The muffins do not taste as good as the ones in the cafeteria, but they're probably better for me (all that bran, dontcha know). The pizza dough is for supper tonight. I divided it in two and wrapped it up in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge. This morning, there were two balls of expanded dough that looked like they were ready to explode from the plastic at any moment. Hope they don't take over the fridge today......

By the way:
Happy Birthday Coffee Ring!!!!!!!
We've had a great first year, let's keep the coffee perking!

Lunchtime!
Wheh! Busy day so far! We've got to have a whole mess of stuff out by tomorrow, so the peddle is to the floor and the obscenities are wafting from across the hallway as my boss experiences hardware and software problems which are aggravated by the deadline. Luckily, I have no such stress, I'm just busy. Listening to Ben Folds Five (wish I hadn't bought you dinner just before you dumped me on your front porch). I feel like having a big bowl of wonton soup from a restaurant on Queen Mary, it's really good soup. Perhaps I can snag some on the way home. I didn't stay up to watch the ice dancing last night, but I heard that the Canadians fell at the end. At least there won't be a controversy about that. For some reason, the page is taking forever to load right now. Maggie said that she was having problems earlier. It was fine this morning, could be blogger.
Steve update: He has a verbal confirmation from the other company for more money, he's still waiting for something in writing....

Back to the Monday
I had a great weekend. Kuan came up Friday and Maggie came over and we had supper and gabbing the better part of the evening. We got up Saturday and lazed about until Kuan left to spend some time with a couple of other friends. I saw her again Sunday and went over to Maggie's for supper. Steve was a wonderful host and made breakfast and cleaned up after us. He stopped by a game store and won a Buffy the Vampire Slayer t-shirt that was a promo for the card game. He promised that I could wear it too :-)
Steve job news: He got a call Friday from another company that might want to hire him for a permanent position for more money. I'm waiting to hear the latest update, should be today......
Listening to Dido - No Angel, I really like this cd, there's so many different styles on the cd, it's difficult to pin her down. The lyrics are nice as well. What's everyone else listening too lately?

Friday!!
Yippee! It's the end of the week, Kuan's driving up and Steve has a job offer!
Lots of good things going on today. Firstly, it's the end of the week, woo hoo! Secondly, Kuan! How I've missed her! Thirdly, Steve got a call from Pratt & Whitney and they offered him a job. He's thinking about it for the day and then calling them back this afternoon with his answer. I'm good with whatever he decides, but it looks like I'm out of a househusband!
This weekend will be spent hanging out with Kuan and relaxing. Life is good!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Ladies of the Ring
So it's one year already for the Coffee Ring! I guess getting all the members together would be impossible, as we're scattered all over. But I want to let you know how much I appreciate this great place where we can all get together and share ideas and news. I visit the Ring almost every day during the week. It's a great way of keeping in touch with some terrific women. The Coffee Ring was a fantastic idea, Dina. Thanks so much for giving us this place to meet and chat!

Holy wind chill!
My goodness but it's coooold out! With the wind chill it's something like -25C! Time to crawl into the caves and hibernate. This cold stretch can't last much longer though, so I guess I'll count my blessings that I don't have an outside job. Speaking of jobs, Steve has an interview today! He got in late last night, so I only saw him this morning, all snug and cosy under the comforter while I had to get up and go outside. He was so cute, but I still wanted to smack him :-)

The first anniversary of The Coffeering is a week away. Anyone have ideas about how we should celebrate?

We were robbed!
I stayed up to watch the pairs figure skating final and it was truly disappointing. I like a good Russian skater as much as the next person, but the Canadians skated better last night and should have won. It must be devastating to go out and have the best performance of your life and be judged second to a performance where someone made a mistake and just didn't have the emotional depth. Figure skating judging is awful and inexact and sometimes corrupt, but that's what happens when you have a sport that's so open to interpretation.

Back to work!
I didn't sleep that well last night. The wind was really blowing last night and our bedroom window rattles, so I kept waking up. Still, not like I have mentally challenging work today, so it could be worse. Had a pretty good weekend. Went up to the townies on Saturday and visited the folks. An old friend of the family gave us our wedding gift-a painting of the Lachine lighthouse and landing on wood. It's really nice. The artist finally finished it and got it to her. We visited and Mom made a ham (!) and then we jumped into the car and headed back to Mtl. We got home, changed, and then left for a Indian restaurant where Irene was celebrating her birthday. We had a great time! Afterwards, we went back to her house and had cake and played with the kitten. Sunday we cleaned the house, I made cookies and we had nice visits with Elizabeth and Samuel, and Francois. Francois came by to play some games with Steve. All in all, a very nice day.
Steve update: He's doing good and has two interviews lined up this week!
Weird dream: I dreamt that Steve was showing me Lord of the Rings action figures and kissing my shoulder.......any idea what that one means?

Friday!
Wheeee! It's Friday and I'm a happy girl! We're very busy, but the deadline was pushed back, so I don't have to work this weekend. I'm sitting at my desk today because I can use my PC. I have my music and I'm editing html files, life is good! I would like to go up and visit the folks tomorrow, we'll see how it goes. I'd also love to sleep in a bit.......

Dang!
Didn't have the right numbers on my lottery ticket, so I had to come back to work. Things are not going very well here. We have to have hundreds of files converted from Frame to HTML by Monday and the conversion isn't going well and I'm working next to my boss because my UNIX machine still hasn't materialized so I'm using his while he's on his PC. In the past few days, I've discovered that my boss swears ALL THE FREAKIN' TIME!!! It's not bad when I'm elsewhere, but sitting right next to him is a real pain in the a**.
I may actually be working this weekend...... go figure!
On the up side, I have a kickass lunch because almost no one was at the STC executive meeting and Steve brought home leftovers. I have turkey chili, cornbread, salad, and a tomato, spinach and feta wrap to go with my usual yogurt and carrots. In addition, there's also this really good dessert with chocolate, whipped cream and raspberries, but I didn't bring that with me. Thanks again to all the people who didn't show up......

Dreams of wealth?
I remembered a snippet of a dream I had last night. I was at a store and found this little wallet for sale. It was wrapped in a ziploc bag. After I paid for it, I opened it and discovered a $20 dollar bill and $120 dollar bill inside. I was very pleased with my purchase (the $120 bill didn't seem to phase me at all). I'm thinking that I should play the lottery tonight.......

I think that the gender gap is a direct result of a wave of pseudo-feminism created by marketing executives. Men are constantly portrayed as idiots and incompetants in commercials, sitcoms and movies. We are doing our men wrong and it's only natural that it will have an effect on the new generations of boys wandering through the school systems lacking self esteem. Boys do commit suicide more than girls. Girl power? It's great, but not at the expense of the other sex........this is my rant :-)

Ah! My Son Is a Taliban!
Salon has a great article on how to detect early on whether your child has Taliban or other extreme religious tendencies. Things to look for include sudden bursts of anger, a really dirty face, and a hovel-like bedroom resembling a cave. Come to think of it, that could be me....

There's also an interesting article on the perceived gender gap now in favour of girls and the differing schools of thought on why boys are beginning to lag behind girls. I'm reading The Wonder of Boys by Michael Gurian and I'm finding some of his observations on how boys are hardwired really fascinating. Coming from a family of all girls, I think I understand dog psychology better than male psychology (even our dog was female!). My pediatrician also talked to me recently about "boy energy" versus "girl energy" and I had to admit there was truth in what she said. It certainly helps me know to understand why my little guy needs to make so much NOISE and throw things around and take things apart.

Nobody could email me, Steve didn't even get my email that I sent him. There were some severe network problems on Friday which could be causing the trouble. In the mean time, I can check my home email through hotmail so mail me there and I'll get it at some point. Maybe this is something that happens to all new employees, I have no idea :-)
I got really busy this afternoon and ended up staying until 6 trying to finish something. I have payroll orientation tomorrow morning, not sure how they're going to fill two hours showing me how to fill out a timesheet. I would give this day a 5 out of ten. Everyone was very nice to me and the day passed nicely. Wish that I hadn't felt so tired, but I'm used to my afternoon naps don'tcha know .......

Your New Email

Hey there! I have tried fruitlessly all afternoon (not all, but several times) to respond to your email and my reply keeps bouncing back. I don't whether anybody else has had this problem. In other words, we're not all ignoring you!

You should be seeing a new colour and a background image. Wait for it to load completely.
I'm at work and managed to get internet access at around 11, my UNIX machine is still not working, and I have no phone. I was mistaken about my officemate, he's actually a rocket scientist..... ack! My boss was hung over from over indulgence caused by the superbowl, which has been pretty amusing to watch as he shows me around the office. I should have some editing to do this afternoon which will certainly speed up a pretty quiet day. I know where the coffee and the bathrooms are, that's enough for one day :-)

It's not too hard to read, but to me it looks exactly the same! Am I missing something?

Thanks Becca!!!! Got tired of the white background, what do you think of this? Is it too hard to read?

You're fabulous Dina; congratulations and good timing, too. You're so fabulous that you will be welcome anywhere you go. Good luck and don't worry. Worrying's never worth it, right? Right!

It's official!
As of Monday, I will be working on contract at Ericsson. I wandered down this morning and signed the paperwork, saw my desk and met my officemate Charles, a tech writer with an engineering degree from MIT (I feel stupid already.....). I'm going to be working on mobile network positioning, tracking people by using their cell phones essentially. There's a lot of work and the project manager had to jump through several hoops to get me in. The team all seem like normal, down-to-earth people which will be a nice change. There's also a chance that this will lead to full-time employment in the future, time will tell.
I took the car in to the garage yesterday and sure enough, there's a short somewhere in the wiring. The mechanics said that the car should be ready sometime this afternoon and will probably not cost me an arm and a leg. It snowed here and then started to rain, so there's a crust of snow and slush everywhere and it's slippery, welcome to winter! I'm looking forward to getting back to work, but at the same time I'm filled with that tiny bit of dread you get when you start at a new place and know nothing. I hope that I do a good job....... :-)